Our Deep, Sufficient, Deserving, Eternal God

[0:00] We are going to do kind of an overview of Job, and as we go through that, one of the things that stands out to me the most about Job is how God questions Job out of a whirlwind of all things.

[0:24] It's probably one of my favorite passages in the Bible, how God just questions Job and shows him, where were you when I laid the foundations? And those are some of the things we are going to talk about.

[0:36] And so about a couple weeks ago while we were at camp, I was like, I'm going to teach on Job before I even got to camp. As we worked through camp, each day we talked about something different. We talked about how deep, how sufficient, how deserving, and how eternal God is.

[0:56] And as I read through Job, I saw each and every one of those things. And so tonight as we work through Job, we are going to talk about how deep, how sufficient, how deserving, and how eternal God is.

[1:10] So before we start talking about those things, we're going to kind of do a little introduction here about Job and who he is and kind of his life.

[1:21] So if you want to open your Bibles to Job, we're going to read Job 1, 1 through 5. So 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.

[1:36] They were born to him seven sons and three daughters. 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.

[1:50] His son used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. And when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and consecrate them, and he would rise early and in the morning offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all.

[2:06] For Job said, it may be that my children have sinned and cursed God, and the hearts this Job did continually. So a couple of things we can kind of see about Job from these verses.

[2:19] The practical things we see was that he was a farmer and that he was extremely wealthy. And wealth in those days was obviously accounted by how many cattle you owned, the sheep, those sort of things.

[2:34] That was considered wealth, and obviously we can see that he possessed a large amount of those things. And so those are just kind of the practical things we see about Job and who he was.

[2:47] Now we also kind of turn to the spiritual things, right? We actually see that Job was a God-fearing man. He offered sacrifices, right? And so he was a man who wanted his children and himself to know who God was and be safe from God's wrath by offering these sacrifices.

[3:10] And so that also tells us something a little bit more about Job is that his story is from the time of the patriarchs because he was offering self-sacrifices. There was no system yet set up as the temple was or the tabernacle that they had to offer sacrifices.

[3:30] So we see Job. He's a family man. He's a God-fearing man. And then after these first five verses, right, we see something really bad happen to Job.

[3:45] He gets tested. And Satan, all the sons of God present themselves to God and say, and God goes to Satan and says, hey, what are you doing here?

[4:00] And he's like, well, I've been roaming around the earth, you know. And God asks him, well, have you seen my servant Job? And Satan says, well, you've put a hedge around him.

[4:13] You've protected him. And so God allows Satan to go to him and he takes away his family.

[4:24] He takes away all of his wealth. He takes away everything but his health at this point. And then yet still Job says the Lord takes away and it's okay because God provided it in the first place.

[4:43] And so now Satan attacks Job's health right after that. And we then see Job's three friends come along and try to tell Job, hey, this is what's happened to you.

[5:02] The reason you're in this position is because of something that you've done, right? That you're not right with God, that you disregarded the wisdom of the ancients, that he just deserved to suffer.

[5:16] And so that's where we're going to be spending most of our time is kind of in these speeches, in this discourse. And throughout these, we are going to look at how God is deep, how he is sufficient, how he is deserving, and then how he is eternal.

[5:32] So the first thing we're going to talk about is God is deep. Job 11, 7 through 8. So if you guys want to turn your Bibles to that. So we are going to be bouncing around a little bit through Job.

[5:46] So I hope you guys got your quick fingers tonight as we go through. I'll try to make it as easy as possible. So Job 11, 7 through 9 says this.

[6:05] Can you find out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limit of the Almighty? It is higher than heaven. What can you do? Deeper than Sheol, what can you know? Its measure is longer than the earth and broader than the sea.

[6:19] And so these verses, this part of this discourse comes from Zophar. And Zophar is kind of telling him that you actually deserved worse than what you actually got.

[6:33] And so in the middle of all this, he talks about who can find out the deep things of God. And we kind of get to see, right, how deep he really goes.

[6:46] When we talk about the ocean, right, and how deep it is and how it actually has a bottom. But God is deeper than that. God is deeper than any ocean that we will ever find.

[6:59] And he knows things that we will never be able to understand. And sometimes that can be a little scary for us. We're not sure how to deal with that information, how to take that in.

[7:10] And so, but we also understand that it doesn't have to be. With how deep that he is, we have to rely and trust on him even more because he does have the answers.

[7:27] And he knows our greatest needs. And the best part is that he invites us into that. I'm going to bounce over to Jeremiah here real quick.

[7:37] And I'm going to read Jeremiah 33.3. Call to me and I will answer you and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known. God understands that we may not understand everything about him.

[7:55] But all we have to do is ask and he will tell us those deep things. God is willing for us to dive into his depths of who he is and see the greatness of everything that he is for us.

[8:14] And it's up to us as Christians that we see God and how deep he is and understand that we have to do the right things in order to be able to see who God is.

[8:32] That means that we pray and read the Bible, that we understand that as we pray and read, we will understand the depth of how of God.

[8:44] And I don't think we will ever be able to plumb those depths while here on earth. I think we will never see the full majesty of who God is until we get to heaven.

[8:54] And I can't wait for that day. And so, but we need to pray. We need to read the Bible so we can continue understanding the depths of God.

[9:05] So the next thing we're going to talk about is how God is sufficient. This was a day when we talked about the sufficiency of God that hit me pretty hard. And I'm going to talk about that here in just a second.

[9:20] But Job 17.15, he asks the question, Job does, where then is my hope?

[9:31] Who will see my hope? He's lost. He does not know where his hope comes from. And he is really kind of confused at this point.

[9:48] But then in chapter 19, verses 25 and 27, he says, For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will stand upon the earth.

[10:02] And after my skin has thus been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God. Here we see that Job understands that his Redeemer lives.

[10:15] That at the end of it all, that even when his own flesh is destroyed, that his Redeemer lives. And so, he talks here about how that he will one day see God stand on earth, even though his flesh would be destroyed, that he would see God for himself.

[10:37] Now, this tells us that even though that everything that Job was going through, no matter the hardship, no matter what he was facing, that he had a Redeemer that lived and breathed and was sufficient for him.

[10:51] And he will meet our needs and will be there for us through everything we face, even to the point of death. And so, on Tuesday, I actually met with Cameron and Nick and had some lunch with them in Chick-fil-A.

[11:05] And after they had left, I sat there preparing this lesson. And in walked this father and mother with their son with special needs.

[11:20] And they were in their 60s, and this son had to have been in his 40s at this point. And one of the things that surprised me and something that I saw was that no matter the outburst that this child had, no matter what was going on, this father was taking care of his son.

[11:46] You know, he definitely looked tired, but he didn't once turn away from his son or look disgusted or upset that he had to deal with this child.

[11:59] And just like this father showed love and care for this son, our own God shows us love and care.

[12:10] And the nice thing about our God is that he never gets tired. He never gets weary. No matter the outbursts that we have in our lives, no matter the things that we do, God loves and cares for us and will always be sufficient enough for us.

[12:30] So, God is going to meet our needs, whether they are physical, emotional, or spiritual. So, the next thing here is God is deserving.

[12:44] So, we're going to turn a few more pages here and we're going to be in Job 37. And these passages are all about the majesty of God.

[12:58] Verse 5 says, God thunders wondrously with His voice. He does great things that we cannot comprehend. And verse 16, do you know the balancing of the clouds, the wondrous works of Him who is perfect in knowledge?

[13:16] Verses 21 and 22, and now no one looks on the light when it is bright in the skies, when the wind has passed and cleared them. Out of the north comes golden splendor.

[13:28] God is clothed with awesome majesty. And then verse 23, the Almighty, we cannot find Him. He is great in power, justice, and abundant righteousness. He will not violate.

[13:41] So, here we see a God that is deserving. He is clothed in splendor. Nobody actually wants to look at the sun when it comes out from the clouds.

[13:55] It's so bright. When you come out of a dark room out into the sunlight, you turn your eyes from that. And, God is so much brighter than that.

[14:08] God is so much more. And, these passages, this passage here, really hits home about who God is and His majesty and what He, that He is deserving of all the love and devotion that we have.

[14:26] And, that love should play out in obedience. how we are obedient to God. That means that we should obey God with all our heart, our soul, mind, and strength.

[14:38] Now, we do this out of love and not just a simple obedience to a command that was given to us. the last thing we're going to talk about is God is eternal.

[14:49] I know the lesson's short tonight. It's been a while, and I teach youth, and their attention span is like 30 minutes long. So, so, so, God is eternal.

[15:00] So, this is coming up to some of my favorite passages. And so, Job 38, and, this whole passage talks about how the Lord answers Job and just goes on and on asking him question after question, like, where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?

[15:25] Where were you when I shut the seas and told them how far they would come? He talks about how he has seen the gates of death and overcome them.

[15:38] And that he, he was and always will be. So, we're going to jump all the way to Revelations 22, 5. And it says, and night will be no more.

[15:51] They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. It definitely says it best, that he will reign forever and ever.

[16:09] And I can't wait for that day. God is eternal from end to end. He's the Alpha and the Omega. And so, because God is eternal, we have a job as Christians to help add to that eternal kingdom by sharing the Word of God.

[16:35] And, when we do that, we get to see more and more people get added to that eternal kingdom daily. So, throughout Job, we've obviously seen how deep God is, how sufficient, how deserving, and eternal He is.

[16:51] And, the last little bit of Job talks about Job's repentance and his restoration. So, Job obviously looks to God and tells Him, God, You can do everything.

[17:07] That, I talked about things that I truly just didn't understand. He then understands that he needed repentance. And, Job needed forgiveness of his sins.

[17:19] And, this is something that we all have to realize is that we need forgiveness of our sins. And, something that I've come to learn this week is that every time I get up here and teach or on Wednesday nights or Sunday mornings that I should not assume that everyone that comes to church is saved.

[17:42] That there are those that are lost among us. And, that kind of hit me hard this week because sometimes when I teach, I teach to Christians. I don't teach to the lost sometimes.

[17:54] And so, for me, I have come to learn that I have to teach to the lost. something else that I learned this week is that God cannot be put in a box.

[18:07] Those that went to camp this week will realize that no matter how hard we try to fit God into this perfect box or picture of what we think he is or who he is, he always exceeds our expectations.

[18:20] He's always going to be deeper and more deserving and more eternal and more sufficient than we can ever realize. And so, at the end of all this, we realize that Job is now going to be restored by God.

[18:38] The very end here. And, as we as Christians, are we going to let God restore us? Will we seek rest in Him? And, so, our whole theme for camp this last week was glory.

[18:56] And, this glory that we have is, is all due to God. And, we have to give Him glory.

[19:09] And, in doing so, that includes that we pray and read the Bible, that we let Him meet our needs physically, emotionally, and spiritually, that we have to obey with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and that we will share the eternal kingdom to those around us.

[19:25] Now, how are you guys doing in these things? I know that I'm not perfect and never will be. My wife can attest to that. She will be the first to tell you that I am not perfect and that I need help in these areas of my life as well.

[19:43] And, we're all sinners. We are going to struggle every day to do the things that God has called us to do. And, with His help, we can accomplish those things.

[19:54] And, we can accomplish the call that He has placed on our lives. So, I'm going to share a little bit about my week and dive in a little bit more in depth than I did on Sunday night a little while ago.

[20:06] when we came back from camp. And, I kind of said that I expected to go to camp picking up broken pieces of students and helping God put them back together. I had no idea that God would break me.

[20:22] And, while I was there, it was the first day we talked about sufficiency that hit me the hardest. They played a video that morning of a youth pastor, I think he was at the time, about him and his wife, they were pregnant.

[20:39] And, how she ended up passing away and lost the child. And so, it hit me pretty hard because most people don't know this story, a few of you do, but when me and my wife were living in Joplin at the time, our sister-in-law, her cousin was expecting her fourth child.

[21:04] She had no way to take care of this child. She was, you know, on the fence about getting an abortion or whether she should put it up for adoption or, you know, keep it.

[21:15] And so, she decided that she was going to put it up for adoption and she was going to do a private adoption and so we had talked and had some discussions and throughout all of this, she had decided that she wanted this child to come live with us when it was born.

[21:33] So, me and my wife had gone through our home study, had gone through trying to find a lawyer and getting everything all worked out that we needed to get worked out. And throughout all of this, we kind of knew that she had a history of drug abuse.

[21:50] She was clean at the time. But a few months before this child was supposed to be born, she overdosed. And she lost the child.

[22:03] We lost a child. And it hit me hard much more than I realized at the time because I was trying to be strong for my wife.

[22:19] And this week I realized how much I had not dealt with this problem, this overhanging idea that I was not good enough to be a father because why would God take this child away from me?

[22:34] And I realized that God is sufficient, that He will provide. Sorry. That He would see me through this.

[22:48] Cameron and Eric have been there for me. they have been a great blessing on my life this week. And so So God, I know, is sufficient to see me through this, that He will provide, that God has a plan.

[23:13] And then the next day, God hits me again. He hits me with, what are you doing with the call that I've placed on your life?

[23:26] And He has shown me that I have not obeyed that call. He's called me to the ministry. And through talking with Pastor Mike and others, there's a long road ahead.

[23:45] I'm not sure what that looks like. I'm not sure what God has planned for me. But I do know that I needed to be put back together by God this week.

[23:58] That I needed to realize how deep, how sufficient, how deserving, and how eternal He was. And so I'm going to leave you with a quote by John MacArthur.

[24:14] It is when believers are out of answers, confidence, and strength, with nowhere else to turn but to God, that they are in the position to be most effective. No one in the kingdom of God is too weak to experience God's power, but many are too confident in their own strength.

[24:33] Physical suffering, mental anguish, disappointment, unfulfillment, and failure, squeeze the impurities out of believers' lives, making them pure channels through which God's power can flow.

[24:44] I realized this week, or that week at camp, and in the coming weeks that followed, that God is deserving, God is sufficient, God's eternal, and that week at camp as I read through Job, and he just pointed out all these little things to me, it was just amazing that no matter where you turn in the Bible, no matter what passage you read, that you will see those answers, you will see those things of who God is and his nature, and what he wants for us.

[25:18] So, I hope that we as Christians, those of us that are here tonight, that are Christians can go out from here and realize the same things that I have, that we're all broken, that we all need to be put back together by God, and I hope that you will be willing, just like Job was, to repent of his sins and realize his folly, and God restored him.

[25:46] Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for this day, Lord, and thank you for this opportunity that I've had, Lord. I know that it was brief, Lord, but in it, Lord, you will show us who you are, God, that you are deep, God, that you are sufficient, you are deserving, that you are eternal, God.

[26:05] God, open our eyes to those things, God, and help us, lead us down those paths, Lord, that you would have us go, and in your son's name we pray. Amen.