for us on Sunday night. We were trying to cut back on the amount of music she has to prepare, and she told us at the music planning meeting this past week, you can choose other songs, okay? So, well, we will next time, you see that, but we appreciate her being here. And just to make reference, Zachary is here. It's good to have Zachary with your grandmother here, huh? So there you go, buddy. Appreciate it. And I guess you all have met my friend, Gary, and his wife, Cheryl. They are regulars at our Thursday night Bible study. So Gary's a veteran of the United States Army. Served well. All right. And Sam has his friend here from, where are you from? I'm sorry. Well, we're glad to have you here tonight. So, if you have your Bibles, and you can, we also have the sermon notes in front of you, I trust. If not, there's some in the lobby. But we're looking at Job chapter 2, verses 7 through 10. I don't know if you ever played this when we were a kid. You played football, and one person goes down, everybody piles on. You ever play that? They had certain names for that that, you know, I wouldn't repeat right now. But it was always interesting, if you were on the bottom, And there were some people, they just keep piling on. You see how big the pile can get? You start to lose your breath in the bottom because there's no air, number one. Number two, everybody's squashing you down. All right, so that's the scene we're looking at tonight. And some would say this is what Job went through, because it was kind of like a pile on, okay? And we're looking at Job chapter two, verses seven through 10. Before I get that, let me point out a couple of things. Piling on is not God doing us disservice, he's actually doing a service to us to draw us closer to him, number one. And number two, he is working in us, as Paul found, his grace is sufficient, and his strength is made perfect in our weakness. And sometimes what is happening is he's drawing us close to him, and he's filing away and letting us see our weakness, as we declare our weakness before him, we find our strength. Let me point out why in the book of 1 Corinthians 2, verse 12, some people know this by heart when it says, let him that thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. Okay, so when we think we're gonna stand, we think we can stand up to any trial. I don't know about you, but when I read this, I say, if I was there in Job's shoes, I wouldn't be able to stand either. But Job did stand, didn't he? He did like, as one writer said that Heath and I were reading this past week, when he wrote a commentary on Job, it was like, when we overcome by the power of Christ, when we are going through these temptations like Job did, what we're doing is crushing the head of the serpent. I like that. That means we're real overcomers. But in the next verse, he says in 1 Corinthians 10, that there is no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man. But God is faithful, who will with the temptation make a way of escape that you may be able to bear it. So he is there with us because we can't endure anything on our own. And when we think we can, we're only fooling ourselves. But we know that we do endure temptations and trials because God sees us through and he is faithful. So let me just quote to you from Romans chapter five, verses three through five, where he says, not only so we glory in tribulations, Knowing that tribulation works patience and patience experience and experience hope. And hope makes not a shame because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given to us. When we feel piled on and we feel helpless, God helps us and the Holy Spirit ministers to us within and we sense the love of God like never before. As I said when I went through my one breath from death experience in Denver in 2005, I wouldn't give a million dollars for what I received during that time because God was with us. Couldn't explain it. He was just there with us. I wouldn't want to do it again for a million dollars, but I wouldn't take a million dollars for what happened. that God was with us in a very special way. Well, tonight we're looking at the second affliction of Job. I'm really calling this the first part of a three-part pile-on on Job, because he's already been piled on, the fact that he, you know, he lost everything, and he was a very, very, very rich man, and then he lost his children. OK, and now he's going to lose his health. And then he gets clobbered by his wife, who tells him to just trash it and cash it in. And then next week we'll begin, or next time, because I think Keith is preaching next Sunday. So the week after that, we'll look at how he's actually going to be piled on by his friends. And that pile on is gonna take a while, okay? But we're looking at Job tonight, in Job chapter 2, verses 7 through 10. Let me pray. Father in heaven, we thank you for this time in the book of Job, and how we thank you for your servant that sustained great affliction. And yet you were with him, and he came through with flying colors. We just thank you for that and thank you that as we study this and understand as we've gone through the behind the scenes things of the... the confrontation of Satan versus God, and how God allowed Satan to now come against Job the second time. Father, we understand from those workings that you're not against us, but you have a purpose for this all. And so we give you thanks that as we look into the things written aforetime, we through the patience and comfort of the scriptures also might have hope. So Father, give us great hope and strength as we consider Job tonight in this second affliction, as we pray in Jesus' name, amen. We understand that God doesn't cause the affliction directly, although he's in charge of everything. He simply just withdraws his hand to allow Satan to bring it on. However, God does set limits on Satan as we see here tonight. There were limits that God said, you can go wreck his life, but you can't take his life. So the purpose of Job was to bring Job closer to God. and to bring out worship as he did in the first temptation when he rose, rent his mantle, shaved his head, fell on the ground, worshiped. And he said, naked I came out of my mother's womb and naked shall I return hither. And he says that the Lord gave, the Lord take away, the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. And all this says Job did not sin with his mouth. So we find Satan returning to Job after a confrontation with God. And God said, Have you considered my servant Job? And then Satan accused him of of hedging me in or or not really paying attention as as or as he says in the when he says when he says he the Lord said to Satan, Have you considered my servant Job? There is none like him in all the earth. Blame us an upright man who fears God and turns away from evil. He still holds fast his integrity, although you incited me against him to destroy him without a reason. And Satan answered the Lord and said, skin for skin, all that a man has, he will give for his life, but stretch out your hand and touch his bone and flesh, and he will curse you to your face. That's the challenge that God has said, or that Satan has said to God. And the Lord said, behold, he is in your hand, only spare his life. So tonight, as we look at verse seven through 10, we're looking at the test in verse seven. The relief in verse eight, the torment in verse nine, and Job's response in verse 10. Let me read it, seven through 10. So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And he took a piece of broken pottery, which was to scrape himself while he sat in ashes. Then his wife said to him, do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die. But he said to her, you speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God and shall we not receive evil? And all this Job did not sin with his lips. First of all, let's consider the very fact that Satan went out from the presence of God. Whenever you see that someone leaves the presence of God, it's not a good thing. I'll just point out a couple of them. In Genesis chapter three, it says that when Adam heard the sound of the Lord walking in the garden in the cool of the day, the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of God. Not a good place to be without the presence of God. In Genesis chapter four, Cain went out from the presence of God and settled in the land of Nod. Not a good thing. And of course, the person that we know that was fleeing from the presence of God was Jonah, right? He rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. Well, it says here, and I just wanted to point this out, in John chapter 3, Jesus says, everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light unless its works be exposed. OK, let's just understand that many times God's children get this way when they're backsliding. They just stay away, right? They want to stay away from other Christians. They want to stay from light. And that's the reason why they love darkness more than light. Many times that's what they've been feeding on is darkness. But I want you to notice it says that Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and he struck Job. I was kind of studying on that word struck. And it's kind of like when he says when The Lord said about Midian when he called him to go and defeat the Midianites, he says, he says, I will be with you and you shall strike the Midianites. I like to think about strike is like punch him in the face, right? Okay, I'm going to strike the Midianites. Exactly. That's what happened to the Lord Jesus Christ when he was held for the mock trial that took place and the answer that high priest of the guard there didn't like what he said and struck him with his hand right in his face. So, okay, that feeling then being struck in the face, that is what Satan did to Job, but he kind of struck, it says that he went out from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with loathsome sores, loathsome sores. What are loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head? Many people think of, I think the King James actually translates that as boils. If you've ever had one boil, you know, that gets, you know, just gets annoying and hurts. And there's a little fever with it. Okay. And it hurts. Can you imagine being covered with boils from the sole of your foot to the top of your head? I can't even imagine that. I can't even imagine what that was like. And it's interesting. It's not leprosy, because leprosy is totally different. But in the book of Numbers, it says anybody who has leprosy is put out of the camp, right? And where do we find Joe? Well, we find him. He doesn't have leprosy, nonetheless. But we find him outside. I don't think it was in his courtyard that he sat in ashes. I believe it was outside the camp, because it was, you know, something putrid. He was there with broken pots, and he was sitting in ashes. And we'll talk more about that in a moment. So with all, we're not told it's not, we're not told it's leprosy. We see him outside the camp. And so you consider his humiliation outside. He was a very rich man. He was the greatest man in all the East. It says in the book of Job chapter one, verse three. So, you know, so we think about the pain, the fever, the infection way of, this is really, he was demonstrating his helplessness by sitting in ashes and uh, It just doesn't know, you just can't will yourself better. That's what I'm getting at. You'd like to, wouldn't you? If you ever had a boil or a serious injury like that, you'd like to just, if I could just make myself better, just for a moment. You can't get there. All right. What do we do? Well, this is a side note, but I'm gonna just point out, we'd look to God's promises. I'm gonna give you a couple promises to go to found in Psalm 34 verses three through six and verses 17 and 19. Oh, magnify the Lord with me. Let us exalt his name together. I sought the Lord and he answered me and delivered me From all my fears, those who look to him are radiant, and their faces never be ashamed. This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. It is important to go to a promise like that that you have experienced in the past. Has God been with you in the past? And so here's Job. I don't know that he had promises of God, I can't get any record that he had anything of the revealed word of God as far as written down. He's not in an era when they had that. So we're not, we don't know of anything. So he was relying upon his conversations possibly with God, however that took place. And so he's relying back on that, but we have the promises of God. And when I want to get to is I think it's on your outline there that Psalm 34 verses 17 through 19, particularly verse 19, when the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and deliver them out of their troubles. The Lord is near to the broken hearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. That is an important promise to understand. So let's talk about relief in his suffering. in verse eight. And he says, he took a piece of broken pottery, uh, with which he to scrape himself while he sat in ashes. I can't imagine that. Can you take it a piece of a broken pot and just scraping himself? Uh, let me get some things behind that. But first let's talk about him sitting in ashes on Jeremiah six and verse 26. It says, Oh my daughter, my people put on sackcloth and roll in ashes. Make mourning as one for an only son, most bitter lamentation for suddenly the destroyer will come upon us. Okay, so that we would find that mourning and lamentation is a reason for sitting in ashes. We don't do that in this day. Maybe we should. There's something probably therapeutic about it when you feel like you're just in the ashes and so you sit in ashes, okay? I'm not advocating. I know that would probably be a gross thing. Okay, but consider the fact that people warmed things with wood, and so there was always a pile of ashes around, to demonstrate the fact how low they felt they would sit in ashes. And there's one that's particularly interesting in the book of Jonah, when the word was preached to the king of Nineveh, this is a pagan king, he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. So here we have ashes, a symbol of mourning, lamentation, or repentance. Okay. An outward sign. All right. Let's talk about the scraping himself with pottery. I was, I just can't get my hand or my head around this. I understand. And then I read something. This is totally off of studying the scripture. So hold on. Okay. Do you know that actually when you cause pain, it actually ignites your dopamine receptors to help you feel better. And that blows my mind. So he was bringing pain by scraping. So the rebound after that scrape was to actually take away from the overall pain that he had. Believe it or not, this has actually worked. And the person I read about this said this is a reason why many times people are going through emotional or physical, some what? Yeah, okay, hold on to that thought. Yeah, that's right. But sometimes people are going through some very difficult times, physically, mentally, whatever, they'll go and get tattoos, okay? And the tattoos are making little cuts, right? And so there's pain involved. But this writer said that the people get tattoos and piercings because the pain inflicted actually causes them a sense of relief of what they're feeling. Okay, so I can't imagine doing that. The closest I ever came to a tattoo is after I finished the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii. And everybody was getting these tattoos with the M dot on it, you know, the little M with the dot above the Iron Man. And I was thinking about doing that, and Jan said, you know that that guy does not have his, it's not paid copyright for that. And I looked at her and I said, yeah, probably not. And she said, and you think that he's clean? I mean, you think everything? I said, I don't need a tattoo. It was just as well. Okay. But it's interesting how people start to cover themselves with tattoos. And this may be the reason. Okay. As Gary said, it is a form of self-mutilation that they're actually trying to find relief to a bigger problem, and they get a little pain from the tattoo artist. And the problem is it doesn't last long, and so they get another tattoo or another piercing. Okay. I'm off the track, but let's go. Job's case, this was temporary relief from pain when affliction was, when the scraping stopped, he had a temporary relief. Well, could it be more than that? Where it says that when we think about the Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit, where he heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds, the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit and a broken and contrite heart. So Satan afflicted Job with boils from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet. Job is outside the camp and sitting in ashes and finding only relief by scraping himself, afflicting pain to enjoy the moments, temporary moments of relief when he stopped. Let's talk about the spiritual warfare that's going on here. Because when you're sick and in pain, it's really hard to be spiritual, isn't it? You ever notice that? You'd like to be. You'd like it when you're in the, when you're having the flu and you're just feeling like, you know, like crud. You'd like to be really spiritual at that time, but it's hard, it's hard to concentrate praying. It's hard to be, to feel yourself towards God. It's, you know, you might try to read the scriptures and you, it's a real case of monkey mind because you can't really focus on that. So when I looked at that, I said, you know, here's a couple of scriptures that go with it. Psalm 6 and verse 6, where the psalmist says, I am weary with my moaning. Every night I flood my bed with tears. I drench my couch with weeping. This is why sometimes I look at Job and when I'm getting to an overall picture of Job, I think it's a living lamentation. He is actually bringing it before God. He looks to God, but I think what he's doing is offering a complaint. We'll see more of the complaint when he gets to answering his friends. But I think what we're getting here is the physical way that he is expressing his total reliance upon God and the fact that he's, as he says, he'll even say this, that he's weary with his moaning. In Psalm 25, it says, the troubles of my heart are enlarged, bring me out of my distress, consider my affliction and my trouble, and forgive my sins. Psalm 69, of course, is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, but here's what David writes and says, Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in deep mire where there is no foothold. I have come to the deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me. I am weary, and my crying out, and my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for God." This is not a planned thing. Well, this is planned for me, but it was after I had already published the notes. So I want to turn to the book of James chapter five. This is a burden of mine that I keep, I keep bringing up. Okay. Because there are many people that are carrying around some heavy burdens. physical, emotional, relational, whatever they are. I wrote a book about this, and I'm not pushing my book, but if you want a copy, I'll get you one. I'm not making any money on it, but anyway, I'm not trying to push my own book, but this is a burden of mine as a pastor that says, you know, here's relief in suffering. So why would you suffer if you know this is available? Just why? Okay, here's what it is. Is anyone among you suffering? This is James chapter 5 verse 13. Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed. OK, so I understand that people go through suffering for many times. I notice there's a lot of people in our church that are suffering with a lot of pain. There's people suffering with recurrence of disease or whatever it is. So when I wrote the book, I said, it's good. I believe that this is good for sickness, but it's also good for any other ailment that we have, mental, emotional. financial, whatever it is, I believe we can do this. What is the case? Well, you call for the elders of the church. See, it's not the elders. Sometimes the elders will stand up in churches and make this scene and say, come on up. It's not that. It's that you call for the elders. You're the one that acts in faith. You call for the elders of the church. And the elders, well, what do we do? Well, when in doubt, just follow the book. Anoint with oil, which is a sign of the blessing of the Holy Spirit. It is not the Holy Spirit. It is not magic oil. It is not woo-woo oil or whatever you want to, you know, sometimes they use 10W30. No. I used some olive oil. But the point is, they're doing that to follow what the scriptures say, and they're praying for that person. Now, how does that, is that an instant relief? No, we're not saying that. He says, well, you'll be healed. What does that mean? It means that there's a relief in suffering. You might still have the problem. You might still have the problem, but there's something about it just like Paul experienced in 1 Corinthians or 2 Corinthians chapter 12. when he prayed three times that the thorn in the flesh be taken from him, and what is the response? Paul, my grace is sufficient for you, and my strength is made perfect in your weakness. And so Paul says, well, most gladly then I'll bear this burden, because when I am weak, then am I strong. Well, that's grace, isn't it? Isn't that a healing from God that gives that? Okay, so what I'm getting at is many people suffer needlessly. And I don't know how God will work in that. All I know is that, excuse me for not asking permission for this, but Dottie was going to go through chemotherapy because she had breast cancer, okay, and she came to me and wanted to have the elders anoint her with oil, and I asked permission to have it done in the morning service as a demonstration. Well, God not only saw her fit, saw her, he healed her, Not just some supernatural way to that, but all healing is from God, right? And so Dottie went through the chemotherapy like a rock star, okay? And she had this wonderful attitude through the whole thing because she knew the presence of God was with her. And not only that, but when she finished and she rang the bell, what was it? I forget how much it was, but Morton Plant paid her a rebate, okay? So I would just look at what God has done, okay? But what I'm getting at is relief for us. Why would we suffer needlessly? Why not just do what the Bible says? And James chapter 5 says, if you got a problem, you call for the elders of the church. You call, they'll answer, okay? Now, it takes you calling. whatever the need is. And I don't, you know, the nice thing about it, the elders are very receptive to those calls. When I was real sick into death last year, I called for the elders of the church, and we met, and they prayed over me, and they anointed me with oil, okay? It took a whole year long to what happened, but there were different prospects of what happened. And, you know, I'm much better today than I was a year ago, okay, and I thank the Lord for that. Sorry, I'll get off my soapbox and get back on the text. All right, back to Joe. So Job's affliction is he lost everything, of course, and he was a rich man. He lost his children. He lost his health. He's in constant pain, probably a fever from infection. And now we have the torment of his wife. His wife said to him, do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die. Now a wife is supposed to be a helper. All right, and that's not much of a helper. You just curse God and die. Just get out of this, Job. Get out of the problem. So Mrs. Job is neglecting her call as a helper. Now, I believe if you are faced with this, someone close to you saying, why don't you just give up? Why don't you just take this medicine to kill yourself? I think that's when we apply what Luke chapter 14 verses 26 and 27 says, when if anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers, sisters, yes, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. That doesn't mean that you take out a warfare against other people. It means that you're not listening to them. You listen to Jesus over everything else, okay? And that's what Job is doing here. I mean, the world wants us to do exactly what Mrs. Job was considering, is get out of suffering by whatever means. You don't deserve to suffer. That's what the world says. And if it means committing suicide, do that, because they do not see the value of suffering. Follow with me. Hebrews chapter 12. Therefore, seeing we are surrounded with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight in the sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us." The cloud of witnesses, who are those witnesses? Well, Hebrews chapter 12, this is a profound statement, so stand by. Hebrews chapter 12 follows Hebrews chapter 11. Got it, okay. And Hebrews chapter 11 is what? They call that the hall of faith. And if you look at the suffering of those people over and over and over again, they did not give up. And many of them suffered, especially when you read the last part. So there's a cloud of witnesses that says, suffering is not bad. Suffering does us good. And if you have any doubt about that, verse 2 of Hebrews chapter 12 says, looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him did what? Endured the cross, despising the shame, is set down at the right hand of God. Consider him who endured such contradiction of sinners. Now, when we want to get out of suffering, okay, and don't get me wrong, James chapter 5, we get out of the the suffering because we turn it over to God, his way, and he gives us special grace. But as far as trying to end the suffering our own way, like killing ourselves, no. We lose out on the fact that God has a purpose for suffering in our lives. So here's Job's response. He said to her, you speak as one of the foolish women, which speak, shall we not receive good from God and shall we not receive evil? And all this Job did not sin with his lips. OK. He said, you speak like. He's not calling her a foolish woman. He's not calling her names. He said, you speak like a foolish woman. How would a foolish woman speak? Proverbs 9 says, the woman folly is loud. She's seductive and knows nothing. In other words, she seeks pleasure. She avoids affliction and is ready to give up the slightest moment. Well, remember Jesus said that's the person that the gospel falls on rocky ground. When the little affliction comes, they're gone. Okay, so because it has no roots and may endure for a while, but tribulation comes, it's gone. So this is not an assessment of Mrs. Job's spiritual state, but his assessment in calling her, he didn't call her a foolish woman, he just says, you sound like a foolish woman. What does a wise woman look like? She builds her house with her hands and nobody tears it down, an excellent wife who can find, she's far above the price of jewels, strength and dignity are her clothing. And he as a wise man says, shall we not receive good from God and shall we not receive evil? What he's pointing to is what is taught in Romans chapter 11, actually 9, 10, and 11, as well as chapter 2, that we receive not only good from God, but evil. He has a purpose for the kindness that he shows us, and he has a purpose for the severity that he shows us. Both are meant to draw us to repentance to God. So whatever we receive from God, that's meant to draw us closer to him. But God's assessment, I think, is just beautiful when he says, in all this Job did not sin with his lips. Just like in the first affliction, okay? It's a good assessment. When afflictions come, as we'll see next time, when his friends arrive, the torment begins, okay? So we need to be ready for affliction. We need to be ready when it seems to be piling on and knowing that God has a purpose for it. Again, Romans chapter 5, verse 3. We glory in our tribulation knowing that tribulation works patience and patience experience and experience hope. Hope makes not a shame because the love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Let's pray. Father, thank you for this time in Job tonight. Thank you for your servant Job and what we can learn from him. And even in this second affliction that he went through, thank you, Father, that you have promised to be with us when we go through times of affliction, that the word in 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 13 is, but God is faithful. Oh, Lord, help us to call upon you and be ready to serve you and to turn to you in every hour, just as you promised in your word. When in doubt, just take the word of God. Thank you, Father, for this time and your word as we pray in Jesus' name, amen.