They're pleased to the book of Job in the Old
Testament. The book of Job. We have been thinking
this fall since the 1st of October about trusting
God in life change. And today we want to think
about a change in a sense of security. Because
that may well be what Job experienced. It's something
that you and I experienced. I remember as a child
straying from my mother in a department store
and finally realizing that I couldn't see her
anymore. I remember the fear that gripped my
heart and the hot tears that coursed down my
cheeks as I realized that I was lost. My security
was gone and I ran up and down the aisles until
finally I found her. And I remember too the relief
that came to me when I realized that I was safe
again. Perhaps you've had an experience like
that in your life. A feeling of security is a
human need. If a child is deprived of a sense
of safety, that child will detrimentally be affected
in his development. Children need to have security.
Can you remember some of you who are old enough
being in grade school or perhaps even high school
back in the 1950s and being taught how to duck
and cover? You remember them talking about the
possibility of atomic war in the United States
and bombs being dropped on us by Russia? And
we were told how to get under our desks and cover
our heads. Well, that wasn't a real strong lesson
in security, let me tell you, for an elementary
age kid. You wondered if the world was going
to last till tomorrow. All of us face insecurities
in life. The wife needs security that she's the
most important person to her husband. The husband
needs to know that his wife admires him. An employee
needs to know when he's done a job well and that
his or her work is valued. Any of us needs security
of friends who care and understand. Besides people
kinds of security, there are other kinds of security
that we need. I remember my grandmother who would
not come to visit us because she wanted to be
home when the Social Security check came. Now
never mind that it would come two weeks after
she got back from the visit. She had to be there
in case it came early, two weeks early. Now that
would be a case for the government. The loss
of security at any time is distressful. And all
of us have at some time or another, in some way
or another, felt that kind of distress. Whatever
it was or whoever it was that we depended upon
failed us and we were left vulnerable and fearful.
My point is this that everyone has a basic need
of feeling secure. When we think of life change,
Job experienced such sweeping change as none
of us has ever experienced. In one day, he went
from comfortable security to the loss of nearly
everything, yet he did not lose his faith. We're
going to begin reading in verse 1 where it says,
in the land of Uz, there lived a man whose name
was Job. This man was blameless and upright.
He feared God and shunned evil. He had seven
sons and three daughters, and he owned 7 ,000
sheep, 3 ,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500
donkeys, and he had a large number of servants.
He was the greatest man among all the people
of the East. His sons used to take turns holding
feasts in their homes, and they would invite
their three sisters to eat and drink with them.
When a period of feasting had run its course,
Job would send and have them purified. Early
in the morning, he would sacrifice a burnt offering
for each of them, thinking, perhaps my children
have sinned and cursed God in their hearts. This
was Job's regular custom. Verse 13, One day when
Job's sons and daughters were feasting and drinking
wine at the oldest brother's house, a messenger
came to Job and said, The oxen were plowing and
the donkeys were grazing nearby, and the Sabaeans
attacked and carried them off. They put the servants
to the sword, and I am the only one who has escape
to tell you. While he was still speaking, another
messenger came and said, The fire of God fell
from the sky and burned up the sheep and the
servants, and I am the only one who has escape
to tell you. And while he was still speaking,
another messenger came. and said, The Chaldeans
formed three raiding parties and swept down our
camels and carried them off. They put the servants
to the sword and I am the only one who has escaped
to tell you. While he was still speaking, yet
another messenger came and said, Your sons and
daughters were feasting and drinking wine at
the oldest brother's house when suddenly a mighty
wind swept in from the desert and struck the
four corners of the house. It collapsed on them
and they are dead. And I am the only one who
has escaped to tell you. At this, Job got up
and tore his robe and shaved his head. And then
he fell to the ground in worship and said, Naked
I came from my mother's womb and naked I will
depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken
away. May the name of the Lord be praised. In
all this, Job did not sin. So Satan went out
from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job
with painful sores from the soles of his feet
to the top of his head. Then Job took a piece
of broken pottery and scraped himself with it
as he sat among the ashes. His wife said to him,
Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse
God and die. And he replied, you are talking
like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from
God and not trouble? In all this, Job did not
sin in what he said. In this story from Job,
we're going to learn where we can find an unshakable
security. You see the issues that we face really
are these. What is it that makes us feel secure,
what threatens that security, and where can we
find security that cannot be violated or broken?
And so let's form those issues into questions
and look at Job's story and come up with some
answers. What encompasses your security? That's
the first question. What encompasses your security?
Security can be a rather abstract idea, therefore
we need to quantify it in some way. Have you
ever been asked, how's it going? Or how's the
world treating you? You see, those are questions
that are asking us to in some way quantify our
feelings of security. How do you measure your
security? Let's take a look at Job. Job was a
righteous and godly man. God had blessed Job.
And yet it might be argued, as Satan seemed to
have, that it was the very blessings of God that
made him so secure. His blessings from God included
important things, family. He had seven sons and
three daughters, according to verse 2. A large
family, and especially a family with many sons,
was very important to the ancient Orient. He
had the blessing of possessions, many possessions.
In fact, he was the greatest man of that region.
And then Job had health. His age at this point
may have been 60, 70 years. He lived another
140 after this. He was in the patriarchal period,
probably around the time of Abraham, around 2000
BC when he lived. And so he had a long and full
life. He had good health. Aren't these essentially
the same things by which we measure our security,
our family, having them near, being close with
them, having harmony in the home? That's very
important to all of us. And then possessions?
Yes. We do tend to gain a sense of security by
what we possess. How much is in the bank? Our
ability to gain more. Do we not also measure
our security by our health? I've walked with
Pastor Lutz the last couple of weeks as he's
gone through this process of trying to determine
what that spot in the lung is. And I have felt
with him that threat. to life, to security that
he felt. There are other ways that we measure
our security. Some are more psychological. We
feel more secure when we're in control. We feel
more secure when we're being heard by those that
we're speaking with, or when we are accepted
by others. We're more secure when we think we're
making a difference. or we have meaning in our
world. When our soul needs are being satisfied,
then we have a sense of security. But, how secure
are these things? Though we often measure our
security by these matters that I've mentioned,
by these increments, The fact is that none of
them, none of them is certain and lasting. It
might be wise for all of us to take some time
later today and to consider how we truly measure
our sense of security. And that brings me to
a very important second question. And that is,
what endangers your security? First, how do you
measure it? But then, what endangers that sense
of security? Well, obviously anything that can
affect what we've just talked about can make
us feel insecure. If we were to put it into one
word, we would say what threatens or endangers
our security is change. If something changes
in our families, in our possessions, in our health.
in our sense of well -being internally, our sense
of being in control, our sense of making a difference
or being accepted. A change in any of those things
comes as a threat. Now what was it that threatened
Job? Well, in the first place Job was threatened
by people. The Sabeans and the Chaldeans. two
different groups, later who came into more prominence
in that part of the world. But they're mentioned
here in the book of Job as those who attacked
Job's possessions. And as a result of that, he
lost. He lost what was important. People were
a threat. People are a threat sometimes to your
security and mine. And then events. threatened
Job's security. There was the lightning, probably
the meaning of the fire from God. There was this
wind that came out of the desert, a dust storm
perhaps. These natural disasters, these calamities,
these events threatened his security. These kinds
of things threaten our security as well. Events
in our lives that work review. that bad choice
regarding stock, a lawsuit that is filed, a doctor's
report, an accident. All of these events can
threaten our sense of security. And then we see
something else that Job really did not see, but
we're told about. And that is that our sense
of security can be threatened by Satan. Look
back in chapter 1 again in verse 6. The scene
shifts from on earth in Job's circumstances to
a scene in heaven where it says one day the angels
came to present themselves before the Lord and
Satan also came with them. The Lord said to Satan,
where have you come from? Satan answered the
Lord from roaming through the earth and going
back and forth in it. Like a roaring lion, says
Peter, seeking whom he may devour. Then the Lord
said to Satan, have you considered my servant
Job? There's no one on earth like him. He's blameless
and upright. A man who fears God and shuns evil.
You see that's repeated again. This is God's
evaluation of Job. Does Job fear God for nothing?
Satan replied. Have you not put a hedge around
him and his household and everything he has?
You've blessed the work of his hands, so that
his flocks and herds are spread throughout the
land. But stretch out your hand and strike everything
he has, and he will surely curse you to your
face." The Lord said to Satan, very well then,
everything he has is in your hands, but on the
man himself do not lay a finger. Then Satan went
out from the presence of the Lord. And that's
when Job's troubles began. What we have here
is some insight into cosmology. That's not the
same as cosmetology. Cosmology is how you understand
the universe to operate. What we have here is
insight into a biblical worldview that incorporates
into human events the reality of an invisible
spiritual realm. And what we see is that Satan
was able to threaten Job's sense of security.
And we understand how it happened through this
conversation that's recorded. And I think that
we can say also that a sense of security can
be threatened by God. God gave permission to
Satan to do this. And there are times when God
interferes in our lives. and messes up our sense
of security too. However, however, he never touches
your base of security except for some ultimate
and greater good. Because God is not the enemy
of your security. Indeed, God wants you and me
to enjoy a deep and abiding security in our lives.
See, all of these things endanger Job's security.
And like Job, you and I live in a fallen world
of constant change, where sin's consequences
make security in people or in things, even those
that are the blessings of God, tenuous at best.
It is easy for these Securities that we've talked
about to be threatened because of the kind of
world that we live in. That brings me to a third
question. That is, what ensures your security?
Is there any security that lasts? Is there any
security that is sure? What ensures your security?
Now I'm sad to say that for the lost person,
there is no such thing. For the person who is
outside of Jesus Christ, who has no relationship
with God through faith in Christ, there is no
guarantee of security in this world. There are
no assurances for that person. There's nothing
to rest upon. But for those of us who trust in
Christ, there is a guarantee. There is something,
there is someone to ensure our security and that
is the person of God Himself and the powerful
promises that He has made to us. Is it not interesting
that even Satan acknowledges that God had placed
a hedge around Job? Notice that in verse 9. Verse
10, have you not put a hedge around him, his
household, and everything he has? The word hedge
comes from a verb that means to entwine. The
idea is to entwine something for protection.
So the point is that God had placed a hedge of
protection around Job and his family. and all
that he had because Job was a godly man. And
coupled with that we see even Satan acknowledging
you, God, have blessed the work of his hands.
So God had blessed Job. And may I say to you
that this double blessing of protection and the
blessing of God upon the work of our hands is
the norm of the believer's life and experience.
That is the normal situation that we live under
by God's grace. Listen to these words from Deuteronomy
33. The eternal God is your refuge and underneath
are the everlasting arms. He will drive out your
enemy before you saying destroy him. So Israel
will live in safety alone. Jacob's spring is
secure in a land of grain and new wine where
the heavens drop dew. Those words spoken to ancient
Israel, but applicable to the blessing of the
believer. Psalm 5 verse 12 says, For surely,
O Lord, you bless the righteous. You surround
them with favor as with a shield. Notice that.
The blessing of God. The protection of God. That's
the norm for the Christian. Psalm 34 verse 7.
The angel of the Lord encamps around those who
fear Him, and He delivers them. 1 Peter 1 5.
Speaking of believers, he says, who through faith
are shielded by God's power until the coming
of the salvation that is ready to be revealed
in the last time. The norm of the believer's
experience is for God's protection and God's
blessing upon his life. In Job's case, Satan
was given permission to test Job. And yet God
limited Satan's strike. He said, you may go this
far and no further. You see, Satan has none of
the attributes of deity. He is a demigod. He
is not a true God. He is a creature. He is responsible
to God. Even here we see that he comes to present
himself before God. And He is able to do this
work only because God gives Him license to do
it. God keeps Him on a leash. But why did God
allow the suffering of His servant? Why did He
allow all of the things that might be His sense
of security to be stripped away? One commentator
says the primary purpose of Job's suffering unknown
to him was that he should stand before men and
angels as a trophy of the saving might of God
an exhibit of divine wisdom What job really was
in this time of trial was a weapon in the hand
of God to destroy the lie of Satan That lie being
that Job served God only because God blessed
him. That's a lie. And yet it was Satan's accusation.
And so God allowed these circumstances to go
as they did so that he could prove Satan's lie.
The security of the believer, your security in
mind, rests upon what we know to be true about
God. That God is wise, that God is loving, that
God is mighty. All of these things are true of
Him. And whatever may change in our circumstances,
however our sense of security may be shattered,
we can go back to this rock -solid foundation
of who God is and who we are in Jesus Christ.
That cannot change. And it is that which ensures
our security. Listen to the words of the psalmist
in Psalm 46. God is our refuge and strength and
ever -present help. in trouble. Therefore we
will not fear though, listen now, the earth give
way and the mountains fall into the heart of
the sea, though its waters roar in foam and the
mountains quake with surging. We will not fear
because God is our refuge and strength. The National
Geographic had a very interesting article in
a recent issue regarding recent theories in tectonics.
That is the study of how the mantle of the earth
moves on the magma below it. As we stand anywhere
upon the earth, below us there is constant movement
and change. And sometimes that change produces
earthquakes. And sometimes it produces volcanoes.
Nowhere can you find security in this world.
The psalm says the mountains may quake. The seas
may roar. But I have security in this, that the
Lord is my refuge. He is an ever -present help
in times of trouble. The word trouble means narrowness.
When I'm squeezed, when I'm in distress because
of change in my world, God is my refuge and strength.
And so in conclusion I want to say this, that
ultimately your security in mine rests on your
relationship and my relationship with God. That's
where our security rests. It does not rest upon
the ownership of family, of possessions, of health,
of reputation. For all of these things can change.
They are tenuous. They are temporal. They can
be God's gifts to us, but they also can change.
And they are certainly out of our control. But
your relationship with God is unchanging. It
is unchanging. Therefore, let who Jesus Christ
is and who you are in Jesus Christ, if you are
a believer, be the foundation for your feelings
of security. Anything else can and eventually
will change in your life. But the one thing that
will not change is Jesus Christ and the relationship
that you have to Him. Listen to the words of
the Apostle Paul. Who shall separate us from
the love of Christ? And then he mentions seven
endangerments to our security. He says, shall
trouble? Or hardship? Or persecution? What about
famine? Or nakedness? Or danger? Or sword? Notice
the seven? He says, no, in all these things we
are more than conquerors through him who loved
us. And if that's not enough, in verse 38 of
Romans 8, he goes on to list ten more endangerments
to our security. He says, I'm convinced that
neither death nor life nor angels nor demons,
not the present nor the future nor any powers
nor height or depth or anything else in all of
creation, ten things, all of which threaten security.
He says, none of these things will be able to
separate us from the love of God. that is in
Christ Jesus our Lord. None of them. Can you
imagine the captain of a ship being driven in
a stormy sea? Having an anchor on board and trying
to find a suitable place on board the vessel
to put the anchor. First he puts it on the bow
of the ship. ship is tossed in the waves. Then
he decides to put it back in the middle of the
deck of the ship and still the ship is tossed
and torn. Finally he puts it down into the hold
of the ship and still there's no success. The
ship is still tossing in the waves. What's the
problem? That anchor isn't made to be put on
the ship. The anchor is made to be cast overboard
into the sea and to go down and to hold on to
the bottom. And when the captain puts that anchor
over, it holds fast and the ship is stable and
secure. And you and I can try to throw the anchor
of our faith into the things that we have. Or
the anchor of our faith into the people around
us. We can throw the anchor of our faith on the
good income we have at work. or name a thousand
other things that we tend to find our sense of
security at. None of them is made for that anchor.
The anchor of faith is made to be grounded in
God and the promises of God. And when we throw
that anchor overboard, it will find a rock in
Jesus Christ on which to hold fast. So are you
facing some loss in your life right now because
of anxiety and fear and sorrow? If you have a
relationship with God, you can base your security
on that which cannot change. And like Job of
old, you can say the Lord gave family. The Lord
gave my possessions. The Lord gave my health.
And the Lord has taken away. But blessed be the
name of the Lord. Because Job, though he was
self -righteous, though his faith wasn't all
perfect, nonetheless had a faith that persevered.
His anchor was cast over unto God, and his faith
stood firm. You know the amazing thing? We have
no evidence that Job ever learned in his lifetime
what you and I know about his experience. We
have no evidence he ever understood what took
place in the heavenlies. and why all this trouble
came to him. But as a result of it, he got a
deeper understanding of God. He got a clearer
vision of God. His self -righteousness was broken.
His faith renewed. And God blessed Job doubly.
Everything that he had before was restored to
him times two. Even his children, because he
got ten more children after this to be added
to the ten children who were still with the Lord.
So God bless Job. Today my plea with you is to
place your faith for your security in Jesus Christ.
And if you're not a Christian, to understand
that you cannot have security in this world,
because we live in a changing world. The only
place to find security is in the changeless Christ.
And He invites you to come to Him and to place
your faith in Him for the forgiveness of your
sins. He invites you to have a relationship with
Him. That will be the rock upon which your anchor
can grab and rest through the storms that come
in a world like we live in. Let's pray. With
our heads bowed, perhaps you this morning are
passing through a time of trouble as did Job.
Probably not to that extent. Very few ever have
experienced the trouble that Job had. But nonetheless,
your life seems to be tossed and turned in a
raging sea of change. And what you have depended
upon for your security is being stripped away.
Will you today be sure that you have a relationship
with God? If you've not trusted Christ, will
you do it? If you have, will you remember who
you are in Christ? and let your sense of security
be found in that relationship with Him. Father,
I pray that you by your Spirit will do that work
in our hearts that will bring about a change
of attitude about things in this changing world.
I pray that you by your Spirit will help us to
see and to believe. The security is found only
in your Son. And may we not go away from here,
any of us, with the anchor of our ship resting
on the deck somewhere. But may it be overboard
where it belongs, anchoring us to the rock that
is Christ. In this I pray in Christ's name, Amen.