I Will Praise You In The Storm
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Introduction
Sermon Introduction
Good Morning, Church.
I hope it is well with you all on this Lord’s Day.
So, as I was preparing for this sermon this week...
I came across an article on the Voice of the Martyrs website.
Here is excerpt:
Opening Illustration
Opening Illustration
On the morning of July 7, 2012, Pastor John Ali Doro heard shouts and gunshots near the compound that included his house and church.
“The Fulani are coming!” people yelled.
The Fulani, a mostly Muslim ethnic group who raise cattle in Nigeria, are becoming increasingly radical.
Dressed in black and armed with automatic weapons, they were attacking Pastor John’s village of Maseh, in Plateau state, and other nearby Christian villages.
The Fulani wanted the Christians to leave so they could take their land.
Moments before the Fulani arrived, Pastor John dived into a ditch to conceal himself from the armed attackers who were surrounding the church.
They were shooting any Christians they saw outside the building, including those trying to flee.
Others huddled inside the church, screaming for help.
Pastor John lay in the ditch, shocked and terrified by what he was watching.
“I was confused,” he said, remembering the tragic day.
“I didn’t know what to do. It was like a dream.”
Pastor John knew that if he ran to the building to try to save those inside, he would be running to his death.
He could do nothing but pray and endure the screams of those who had taken shelter inside the church.
Pastor John watched in horror as the attackers began to set the building on fire.
“Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar!” [God is great!] shouted the Fulani attackers over and over.
Mingled with their chants were the screams and cries of the believers trapped in the burning building.
As the church burned, Pastor John heard one of the attackers say, “Let’s see if their God can save them now.”
The Fulani attackers were forced to retreat when Nigerian Special Forces arrived.
But it was too late for the 44 people who had died inside...
Including Pastor John’s wife, four of his seven children and two of his grandchildren.
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The depth of Pastor John’s suffering is hard to imagine.
Yet even in the midst of terrible grief, he prayed for the men who had killed his wife, children and grandchildren.
“I just threw everything back to God,” he said.
“I prayed God would help them to understand that this is evil so that they can stop.
I also asked God to help me to be able to use my life to propagate His Gospel, because I knew that I could have died in the attack.”
It was only by God’s grace that he could pray such a prayer, because the temptation to grow bitter toward his family’s killers was great.
“It’s painful, and it’s hurting,” he said.
“When they did all that and I lost all my family, it’s very painful.
But there’s nothing you can do to change the situation once it’s already happened, apart from lifting it to God.”
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What a powerful testimony, Church.
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Now, please turn your Bibles to The Book of Job.
We will be conducting our study in Chapter 1 and focus on verses 20 through 22.
Our message this morning called “I Will Praise You In The Storm”
Opening Prayer
Opening Prayer
Before we consider our text, please join me in prayer...
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Let turn to our text for today:
Reading of the Text
Reading of the Text
20 Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped.
21 And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”
22 In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.
To better understand our text that we are studying....
We need to look at the background.
We need to look at our first point, The Strom.
1) The Storm
1) The Storm
So, lets look at a summary of the previous 19 verses of the opening chapter of Job.
Job 1:1 reads:
1 There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.
Job was blameless and upright in the eyes of the Lord.
This did not mean that he was perfect or lived a sinless life.
We know this because Scripture says in 1 John that if we claim to have not sinned we make God to be a lair.
Scripture also says in Romans that we all fall short of the glory of God.
But we can also look at the Book of Job itself and see that Job, by his own confession, made it clear that he was not without sin.
Consider Job 6:24 when Job says:
24 “Teach me, and I will be silent; make me understand how I have gone astray.
And when Job said in Job 7:21:
21 Why do you not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity? For now I shall lie in the earth; you will seek me, but I shall not be.”
And for good measure consider remember what Job said in Job 9:20:
20 Though I am in the right, my own mouth would condemn me; though I am blameless, he would prove me perverse.
So, Job was in right standing with God.
He had a relationship with God because he had genuine saving faith.
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Job was also very blessed as we see in the following verses:
2 There were born to him seven sons and three daughters.
3 He possessed 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 female donkeys, and very many servants, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east.
Job had it all.
A large family, wealth, respect in the community, and a relationship with God.
You can’t ask for more!
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But look further down at verse 7 and 8 and see the amazing events that happened:
7 The Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.”
8 And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?”
God, not Satan, but it was God who first mentions Job.
God said, “Have you considered my servant Job?”
This is vital to understanding God.
The events that are about to happen to Job is a part of God’s perfect plan.
God is sovereign, not Satan.
God is in control, not Satan.
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Have you ever considered the conversations in heaven going on about you?
If you are a believer in Christ then it is likely that God has said to Satan:
“Have you considered my servant Jimmy?”
“Have you considered my servant Calvin?”
“Have you considered my servant Julie?”
“Have you considered my servant Wayne?”
“Have you considered my servant Gloria?”
“Have you considered my servant…?”
Fill in the blank.
And remember, God is sovereign and in full control.
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Lets go down a few more verses and pick back up the conversation at verse 11.
11 But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.”
Satan is constantly speaking against you and is attempting to build up a case against you.
He accuses us but we can’t forget that we have an advocate in heaven who fights for us...
Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
Yet God fight for us does not mean our like will be sunshine and roses.
Jut look at the following verse:
12 And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.
Satan is operates only in the areas that God allows.
So, if you are going through hardship, remember that God is fully aware because it is all part of the plan...
And if you are are in Christ then you are promised that all things will work out for your good in the end.
But, before we can get to our eternal reward, we have to first live our lives in obedience to our Master...
And that means we may experience the loss of our lively hood and possessions or like Job the loss of or loved ones.
Verse 18 and 19 read:
18 While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house,
19 and behold, a great wind came across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”
Other than the few servants that survived to give Job all this bad news...
And a faithless wife that told Job to curse God...
This man of faith lost:
Many servants
500 female donkeys
500 yoke of oxen
3,000 camels
7,000 sheep
Three daughters
And seven sons...
All in one horrific and nightmarish moment.
So, how did Job respond?
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Lets turn to our text to find out.
Please bring your attention to verse 20 as we discuss our next point, Grieving in the Storm.
2) Grieving In The Storm
2) Grieving In The Storm
Verse 20: Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped.
First, it is okay to grieve.
That is what Job did.
The passage says Job tore his robe and shaved his head.
You see Church, the act of tearing one’s outer clothing and shaving ones head was a very common practice in the time of Job.
These actions where considered an act of violent grief.
The Bible records many similar examples:
Consider Reuben’s reaction when Joseph was sold into slavery in Genesis 37:29:
29 When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he tore his clothes
And a few verses after consider Jacob’s reaction the the news when he thought Joseph died:
34 Then Jacob tore his garments and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days.
David’s reaction is similar to the report that his son, Absalom, was murdered in 2 Samuel 13:31:
31 Then the king arose and tore his garments and lay on the earth. And all his servants who were standing by tore their garments.
Likewise Ezra's reaction to news of Israel's disobedience to God is to be considered too in Ezra 9:3:
3 As soon as I heard this, I tore my garment and my cloak and pulled hair from my head and beard and sat appalled.
Even in the Middle East today you will many see a person rip there garments while in severe grief.
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So, as you go through the storm, don’t bottle it up.
Shed your tears.
Find a brother or sister in Christ’s shoulder to cry on.
Come to your church family so we can mourn together.
As Scripture says in Romans 12:15:
15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.
Even Jesus wept.
And because we have a high priest who knows what it means to be human and experience the things we experience...
We can find comfort in the truth found in Revelation 21:4:
4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
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But as we grieve let us not forget what Job also did.
Job fell on the ground and worshiped our mighty and amazing God.
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And this takes us to our next point, Praising in the Strom.
3) Praising In The Storm
3) Praising In The Storm
Verse 21: And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”
How many of us really understand this?
We really need to if we don’t.
The Lord gives...
And the Lord takes away.
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Everyone is okay with the first part.
The Lord gives...
Sign me up…I’ll take two!
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But, the Lord takes away...
That’s a harder sell.
Especially when most of the time we don’t know the reason for our own suffering.
Job was not aware of the conversation with God and Satan.
But Jobs suffering does have a purpose...
God’s purpose.
The same is true for you, Church.
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But, nobody wants to talk about that.
That’s why most “churches” don’t talk about this.
Its harder to “grow a church” by talking about how believers will suffer.
But Jesus never hide that fact.
Jesus said in Luke 14:25-33:
25 Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them,
26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.
27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.
28 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?
29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him,
30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’
31 Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?
32 And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace.
33 So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.
If you are not willing to sacrifice it all...
Then you cannot be His disciple.
The Lord gives and the Lord takes.
Only a follower of Christ can accept that fact.
Only a follower of Christ will praise God for what He gives...
And praise Him for what He takes away...
So, as you go through the storm, sing loudly His praise...
For He is worthy and deserving of all praise at all times.
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Remind yourself of Acts 16:25:
25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them,
Silas and Paul, while in prison sang hymns of praise to God.
Additionally, this act served as a witness to the other prisoners.
May we learn from this example.
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Our next point is having Assurance in the Strom.
4) Assurance In The Storm
4) Assurance In The Storm
Verse 22: In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.
Lest we forget, I want to repeat myself.
Job, who was faithful and blameless lost:
Many servants
500 female donkeys
500 yoke of oxen
3,000 camels
7,000 sheep
Three daughters
And seven sons...
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Yet, despite all this...
What did Job do?
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Correct, he did not sin or charge God with wrong.
John MacArthur said, regarding this verse:
“Hasty words against God in the midst of grief are foolish and wicked.
Christians are to submit to trials and still worship God...
Not because they see the reasons for them, but because God wills them...
And has His own reasons which believers are to trust.”
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Church, this reminds me of a song I love by the Casting Crowns.
Maybe you heard of it.
It’s called “Praise You In This Strom”
Some of the lyrics go like this:
“I remember when I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry, You raised me up again
But my strength is almost gone
How can I carry on
If I can't find You?
But as the thunder rolls
I barely hear Your whisper through the rain
"I'm with you"
And as Your mercy falls
I'll raise my hands and praise the God who gives
And takes away
And I'll praise You in this storm
And I will lift my hands
For You are who You are
No matter where I am
And every tear I've cried
You hold in Your hand
You never left my side
And though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm”
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As a Child of God you can be reassured that He is with you.
So, don’t sin or blame God.
Instead raise your hands and praise the God who gives and takes away.
Instead praise Him in your storm.
Closing Illustration
Closing Illustration
As this message comes to a close...
I would like to share an illustration given by the Prince of Preachers, Charles Haddon Spurgeon:
A gardener had been especially careful in tending one particular rose, which was very fair to look at.
But when he went one morning to his favorite rosebush, he found that the flower, of which he had taken such care, was gone.
He was very upset, for he thought that some bad boy had stolen into the garden and taken away his best flower.
He was complaining very bitterly of his loss when someone said,
“The master has been down in the garden this morning, and he has been admiring this rosebush, and he has taken away that fine bud of which you were so proud.”
Then the gardener was delighted that he had been able to grow a flower that had attracted his master’s notice.
Instead of mourning any longer, he began to rejoice.
So should it be with anything on which we have set our hearts.
Let each one of us say to our Master, “My Lord, if it pleases you to take it, it pleases me to lose it.
Why should I complain because you have taken from me what is really your own?”
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Wow...
What a great perspective that we as believers should have.
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Looking at Job, we see what it looks like when a man of faith, although not perfect but in right standing with God, suffers for God’s purpose.
It points us to another narrative recorded in Scripture.
This time of someone who truly was sinless and perfect who suffered and paid a debt that He did not owe.
This points us to the perfect and finished work of Christ on the Cross.
The work that saved sinners like us including a righteous man like Job.
For without Job believing in future coming messiah, he would not have been considered blameless.
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Remember this...
Bad things happening to good people does not happen.
Even to you or a man like Job.
For Jesus clarified that only God is good.
But one time in the event of all of human history...
Something bad did happen to someone good.
And that happen at Calvary nearly 2000 years ago.
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If you already surrendered your life to Christ then may this message encourage you when you go through the storm.
If you do not yet know Him then today is the day to believe with your mind and heart that Jesus is Lord and that the Father raised Him...
Today is the day to trust in the Lord that gives you joy even when you are going through a storm.
Today is the day!
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All the Glory to God.
Amen.
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Now if you will all stand to your feet...