God's sovereignty and creative power are revealed in His response to Job's questioning from the whirlwind in Job 38. The sermon highlights God's rhetorical questions about the earth's foundations, the sea, the morning, and the constellations to demonstrate Job's limited understanding compared to God's infinite knowledge and control. The core lesson is that humanity's perspective is minuscule, and true wisdom lies in acknowledging God's supreme authority and trusting His ways, even when they are not understood. The message concludes by emphasizing that genuine repentance and reliance on God's character are essential for spiritual growth and peace.
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I invite you to turn this morning to the book of Job, chapter thirty-eight. We want to conclude our studies this morning by taking a look at Job, chapters thirty-eight through forty-two. We have a long way to go this morning. We're going to try to cover it briefly so that you may study it on your own. Verse one, Job thirty-eight. Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up now thy lines like a man. For I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.
Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Declareth thou hast understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof? If thou knowest, or who hath stretched out the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? Or who hath laid the corner stone thereof when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy? Who shut up the sea with doors when it breaks forth as if it had issued out of the womb? When I made the cloud the garment thereof in the thick darkness a swaddling bag for it and break up for it my decreed place and set bars and doors and said, Hitherto shalt thou come and know for them.
And there shall thy proud waves be saved. May the Lord bless the reading of his word. Let's pray together. Our Father, in the precious name of thy dear Son, we ask of you this morning that as you revealed yourself in a most notable way to Job, Reveal yourself to us. And may it please you, our Father, to give us an insight into your ways and into that which you're doing that we may indeed glorify you. Work in us. Give thy people food this day.
For Jesus' sake. Amen. As we studied the book of Job, we examined two basic themes. One was the revelation of Satan and his ways, and the second that we're dealing with this morning is the revelation of God and his ways. It's very interesting how we observed Satan, who he uses, and why he uses them, and for what purpose he uses them, whether it was Elipaz or Bildad or Zophar, whether he used a man with an experience, or whether he used a legalist. or whether he used the traditionalist.
He had one purpose, and that was to cause Job to curse God to his face. But Job maintained his integrity. Job won the day through it all. But on the other hand, while we see the defeat of Satan in this chapter, and I couldn't help but rejoice when I read that last verse this morning in our Bible reading. where God says, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further. God says that to the oceans. You may go so far, but no further. And God said that to Satan. You can go so far, but you can't take Job's life.
And I find that my life is under the control of a sovereign God. So while we see Satan and his activity, we also see God God had designs for Job that Job didn't know about. And God has designs for us when he permits certain things in our lives as well. God is going to reveal himself to this man, Job. And in order to prepare Job for that revelation, he used another man, Elihu. And we studied him in our last study, two Sunday nights ago. We studied Elihu. And as we studied him, We found that he became that which Job longed for in chapter nine.
In chapter nine, Job was cried out, oh, that there was a mediator, a days man between us that could lay his hand on God and bring both of us together. And I thank God that we have a mediator in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. For there's one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. But now, in the chapter we began to read this morning, we see that there's a storm brewing. There's a storm. A tornado. And God is going to speak to Job out of the tornado. It was interesting to watch the news this week. On the Noose River in North Carolina, there was a spot that was a tornado over the water.
And there were two men in a fishing boat about a hundred yards away. And they put that fishing boat at high speed to get away from it. And they thought they were fortunate that they could get away from that water spot. It was captured on television, on film. And when I watched that, I thought, God spoke to Job out of the whirlwind. That must have been an awesome thing for Job to have God invite him and speak to him. face to face on the whirlwind. And I'm going to take these four chapters this morning, and we're going to pick out certain things that God asked Job.
God asked Job questions. And these questions are very, very important. And you'll notice the second verse. God asked the question, who is this at darkness counsel by words without knowledge? In other words, what God is saying to Job, he's saying, Job? You've maintained your integrity through all that you've gone, but you don't know in some areas what you're talking about. Did God say that to Job? Yes, we've just read it. He did. And then God asked the question, Job, you remember when we were back in chapter twenty-nine, thirty, and thirty-one?
how we look at the personal pronouns that we find there. The personal pronoun I, me, my, and mine. But now God asks the question, and he says to Job, where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Job, where were you when I created? That question should be in the frontispiece of every book, every college textbook on geology. You see, the theory of evolution that is so prevalent today is a religion. It is a religion of the natural man, the natural man who's trying to search out God.
But the problem is, the Word of God says, the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them. The theory of evolution is based totally upon what man thinks happens. You see, I like the revelation that we have in the Word of God. Genesis one one. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. I have never met a man yet who was there when God created. But God was there. And it's God who is telling us, I created the heavens and the earth.
You see, but man doesn't trust God. And therefore man devises a plan, a theory, and he teaches the theory as fact. But God, when he speaks to man out of the whirlwinds, and it's quite interesting. I listened to a man who lived through a tornado in Massachusetts. He got out of the car and he laid in a ditch. He was afraid to stay in the car. He said it sounded like a few railroad trains. They win. And the sound of the tornado coming down the tracks. Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
God says. Well, you see, man today. He digs up a fossil and it has a tag to it. It says so many million years old. It's a funny thing. You see, Dr. Leakey, he finds a skull in Africa. He looks at it. He says, this is two million years old. But then Mrs. Leakey is not going to be outdone by her husband. She goes over the mountain and she finds one. And she digs it all. Oh, this is two billion. They look at it. There's one thing that evolutionists need. Very definitely. They need a lot of time. God simply says in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
It's interesting when you listen to those who tell you how long it took the Colorado River to make what we know of as the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River. Took millions of years, you know. And then Mount St. Helen blows its top. And God does in an afternoon. What evolutionists tell us, it took millions of years to do in Colorado. It is amazing, friend. But why do I say this? I say it to ask the question, where were you, God says, when I laid the foundation of the earth?
What was the problem of Israel before the captivity? What was the problem with Israel? The problem with Israel is the same problem that we have today. And if you study the prophecy of Isaiah, especially chapter forty-four and forty-five, who created And time and again in the prophecy of Isaiah, God says, I am he that stretched out the heavens. I created the heavens and the earth. But the children of Israel at the time of the captivity, before they went into Babylon, they were becoming so well educated that they were giving the gods of their imagination, the gods of the land in which they were to manifest the blessing of knowing the one true God.
The gods are worshipped by the heathen. They gave them credit for these things. So the problem was who created. And that's the problem today. The gods of the educators? Or is it the God of the Bible, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ? You know it's amazing. Who was there at creation? God was. But you know there's something else. Verse seven. says, when the sons of God sang together, and all the, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy. And Bible scholars tell us that this is an Old Testament reference to the angels.
The angels were present when God created the heavens and the earth. God and the angels were there, and it's best to consult, I believe, and take their word for it. But you see, That leads us to something. If God didn't create, put it in the area of supposition. If God didn't create, if this world exists today because of some evolution from one stage to another, then I really don't have to give an account to God, do I? And that's what modern man wants.
modern man of all things he wants to escape giving an account to God man wants to be his own boss he wants to be the master of his own faith and you see that's the theme of the second song where natural man says about God let us break their bands of thunder and cast away their cords from us I don't want any cords is a natural man's statement that link me to God that tie me to anything. I want to do what I want to do and I want to do it when I want to do it. Well then, with us to a second question. If God didn't create, who is to say what's right and what's wrong?
For if God didn't create, then we have no Bible. For the Word of God tells us in the beginning God created. And if I can't trust Genesis chapters one and two, then I can't trust John three sixteen either. And I can't trust Exodus chapter twenty, the deck of all. If God did not create, the thing is, God said to Job, and he began in the beginning, where God begins with every man in his word. He began with creation. Where were you? Job, you use that personal pronoun I so much. Where were you when I created the heavens and the earth?
Where were you? When I laid the foundation of the earth. And then in verse twelve God asked another question of chapter thirty-eight. God says to him, Has thou commanded the morning since thy days? Ah, what a question. Job, did the sun rise this morning because of you? What a question for God to ask. In other words, he's saying to Job, Job, who is really in charge of creation? By whom do all things consist? As we read in Colossians, one, concerning the person of Christ. Job, have you commanded the morning since your days?
And verses thirty-one and thirty-two, he speaks of the constellations. He says in verse thirty-one, can stop, bind the sweet influence of Pleiades, Or they'll lose the bands of Orion. Canst thou bring forth Mazaroth any season? Or canst thou guide our tourists with his sons? God is asking questions concerning astronomy. The heavens declare the glory of God. So we read in Psalm nineteen verse one. And God is asking these questions of Job. And will you consider the heavens? We must ask the question, what is man?
God is so great, and man is so small. Now, we've got to keep in mind, what is God doing? God is making a good man better by asking these questions, by giving him a good look in the mirror. So God talks to him about the natural creation. things which we know man can't control under any circumstances. Creation or the constellations that move through the heavens. But what about the creation that God did put under man's dominion?
What about that? Can we control that? When I read Genesis two and Genesis three, I learn that God gave man control, authority over. Thou? over fish and over flesh. The animal creation is under the dominion of man. The creation in the seas, in the waters, is under the dominion of man. And I find that the birds of the air are under the dominion of man. And you see, this is very vividly displayed in the life of our Blessed Lord.
Here's a perfect man. God's dear son comes on earth. The last Adam, the first Adam, lost dominion through sin. But the last Adam is restoring dominion to man through obedience to him. What did our Lord do? He demonstrated that he is in full control over the fish. He is. In Matthew chapter seventeen, when Peter made the mistake of talking about the tribute money, Our Lord said, don't worry about it, Peter. I tell you what you do. We don't want to offend anybody. You just go down to the lake, throw in the line, and the first fish that you comes up, you just open its mouth, and the money will be there.
You pay your tax and mine. Who controls the fish? The Lord of Glory. He didn't go to the bag that Judas held. He went to the sea. The fish are under the control of our sovereign God. That was proven to Jonah. Jonah learned that great lesson in a strange theology, in a good theology, in a strange seminary, that salvation is of the Lord. But notice, our Lord has control over the piles of the hair. Did you ever try to keep a whisper quiet, Never try to keep on quiet.
Remember when the night our Lord was betrayed by Judas, our Lord said to Peter, Simon, Simon, Satan has desired to have thee that he might sift you as wheat, but I've prayed for you, and you're going to deny me three times before the rooster crows. Imagine that. In other words, Our Lord has such dominion that that rooster kept quiet. And the scripture says that when Peter denied the Lord the third time, immediately, the rooster crowed. Did you ever ride a cult that no one else had ever ridden before?
I tried. I didn't stay on his back long either. I know what... I used to live near a riding academy, and we used to do a lot of riding. And I'll never forget the time I was riding in the barn. But we won't go into that detail. Our Lord on Palm Sunday. They put garments on a coat that had never been written before. And then the people waved palm branches at it. And then they shouted, Hosanna! Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
And that cold just carried him along. Who has dominion, friends? Here's a dominion that God gave to Adam. But Adam walked through sin. So what does God say to Job? What does God say to Job? He said to Job, Command the hawk. Come at the fly. Command that eagle up there. Does the eagle rise at your command? Notice verse twenty-six of chapter thirty-nine. Well, there are no twenty-six verses, are there, in chapter thirty-nine. Oh, I'm in chapter forty.
Twenty-six of chapter thirty-nine. It says, Does the hawk fly by thy wisdom and stretch our wings toward the south? Does the eagle mount up? At thy command? Oh, we amend the day, who think they are so great. God simply asks the question, There's a bird that I put under the command of Adam. And you don't believe that Adam sinned and sinned past upon all men. I demonstrated in my dear son that he has full control of all things under heaven. Whether it's the wind and the waves, or whether it's the animal creature, the falls of the air, or the fish of the sea.
But you don't believe me. You command. Command that eagle to mount up. Oh, because of sin. Man lost control of the natural creation. You see, but then when you get over to chapter forty, verses one through eight, God accuses of Job. God accuses Job. of doing that to others, and ask if he would try to do that with him also. Chapter forty, verse one, moreover the Lord answered Job and said, Shall he the contender through the Almighty instruct him? That same question is mentioned as a statement, and really a question in Romans of heaven.
Who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who had first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again. He that recrueth God let him answer him. Then Job answered the Lord and said, Behold, I am vile. What shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth. Once have I spoken, and I will not answer. Ye twice, but I will proceed no further. But the Lord didn't quit. Then answered the Lord unto Job out of the whirlwind and said, Turn up thy Lord, and now like a man, I will command thee, and declare thou unto me.
Will thou disenow my judgment? Are you going to just keep quiet Job and run away? Do you think it's going to go away that way? Do you know there are a lot of people who have that idea? Israel had that idea at Jericho. You remember when Moses sent the spies into the land from Cadesparnia, Numbers chapter thirteen. Two men came back with a good report, but the others came back with an evil report, and the people believed the evil report. They said, we saw great walled cities. In other words, they saw Jericho. That's what Jericho is known for. It's great walled. Joshua fit the battle of Jericho, and the walls came tumbling down.
See, they didn't believe God. They didn't believe God. Will thou disenow my judgment? Because you think you can run away? Israel thought they could. And for thirty-eight years they wandered around hoping that it would go away, but the walled cities didn't come down. They were still there for their children. They were still there. The walls of Jericho came down by faith. So we read in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews. You see you. Our Lord says that Job will not condemn me that you may be righteous.
And this question must be asked of everyone who doesn't believe in the doctrines of grace. Will you condemn me? God says that you may be righteous. As you know, beloved, when we come to the last chapter... Chapter forty-two, we have genuine repentance on the part of Job. Job, we read in verse one of chapter forty-two, then Job answered, The Lord and said, I know that you can do everything, and that no thought can be withholded from thee. Who is this that hitheth counsel without knowledge? Therefore have I uttered that I understood not?
Things too wonderful for me, which I knew not. Here I beseech thee, and I will speak. I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me. I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear. But now mine I seeeth thee, and I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes. What a repentance. I abhor myself. You know, we can go down. Or we can go to the bathroom and we can look into the mirror. And we'd be instructed by the psychologist today to look in the mirror and say to ourselves at the beginning of each day, I love you.
You ever try it? You know, when I look in the mirror, I have to look at that face that's coming out. And I have to say to that face, I know you, you rascal. I know that in you dwells no good thing. I have to say that when I look in the mirror. And I know that you are nothing. For the word of God says, if a man thinketh himself to be something, when he's nothing, he deceiveth himself. And the scripture says if a man thinketh he knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing as he ought to know it.
And I look at myself and I can say, you're nothing. But I can pause and close my eyes and say to my Heavenly Father, thank God you're everything. And not everything is made available to me. In the person of your dear son. And through the redemption that has been provided at Calvary's Cross. You know, in Job forty-two, God leaves Job and he goes to Job's three friends and he talks to them. Those three comforters. And they tell them, you misrepresented Job. Now God didn't cast those three men away. Because they didn't know any better.
They only used natural reasoning. And how wonderful of God. But you see, God's going to turn the captivity of Job in verse ten. And when did he do it in verse ten? And verse ten is an interesting verse. And the Lord turned the captivity of Job when he prayed for his friends. And what did that call for? That called for genuine forgiveness on the part of Job. These men had not told the truth of Job. He called for genuine forgiveness. Do you have a forgiving spirit? Or do you harbor a grudge? God turned to captivity when Job prayed for his friend.
And that's the essence of the so-called Lord's Prayer. Forgive us our debts as we forgive those who are indebted to us. Or the other translation is forgive us our trespasses. as we forgive those who trespass against us. You know when I read the book of Job, the captivity of Job came to an end when he prayed for his friends. But how long did God continue to deal with him? When we started our lessons in Job back on Father's Day, I pointed to this chapter and showed that in the latter end of Job he had twice as much as he had before.
Instead of twelve thousand, he had twenty-four, etc., etc. And then he had seven sons and three daughters. How long did God deal with him? Well, to have ten children, that takes quite a few years, doesn't it? And he had ten children before this. So Job's wife had twenty children. Job was a great man. How long does it take to raise a flock of camels that numbers in the thousands? God was dealing with Job over a long period of time.
What is the purpose of God? You see, that brings us to application number one this morning. And to apply this truth. When God wants to teach us repentance. God chooses the best man he can find. He doesn't choose the scum of the better to teach us repentance. He teaches us to the best that he can find. Job, a man who held to his integrity, and he showed the importance of what it means to come before God and acknowledge who he is and repent before him.
And God teaches us here great lessons on our approach to God. Do we have an idea that we can push God into any old corner or into any old mold that we like? We can't. He's the creator of the universe. He's the commander of everything under heaven. And because we have been redeemed from a life of sin, does it mean that we can do anything that we like? Our God is a God of repentance. And our brother read this morning from Acts chapter eleven at the Lord's Supper the last verse that he read.
He said this, God has granted to the Gentiles repentance of the life. And when God would have teach us the doctrine of repentance, he takes the best man possible. and shows that the best that Adam can ever produce, even if he's in Christ, there is a continuous need to repent before the God of the Bible. What's God's purpose? God's purpose in Job is to make a good man better.
What's God's purpose for you? God's purpose for you is in the last verse in second Peter to make a good man better where we're commanded but grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That brings us to application number two. God's purpose in his dealings with Job was twofold. Number one, to cause repentance. But number two, was to claim reliance. To claim reliance, can God be trusted? Oh, beloved, when I read through the book of Job, the one thing I learn is that the God of the universe, the God of creation, the God of redemption, is a God who can be trusted.
The second thing I learn about him in claiming reliance is that God is righteous. God is righteous in all his acts. And I love the New Testament commentary on the book of Job. It's James chapter five, verse eleven. It ought to be good because it's James that we're reading here. Where we read in chapter five, verse eleven, behold, we count them happy that endure. You heard of the patience of Job and how he saw the end of the Lord, that the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy. Beloved, our God, can be trusted.
Does he have your reliance? Does he have your reliance? I sat with a man yesterday afternoon who had a guitar in his hand. And before I left, I had to go home because it was supper time. And he said, I'm going to pick one for you before you go. And with... his guitar pick he picked just as I am without one plea but that thy blood was shed for me and while he picked I didn't sing to him but I sang to myself because I claim claim reliance upon that just as I am without one plea but that thy blood was shed for me and that thou bids me come to thee O Lamb of God, I come.
And then he picked the second or another standard. It has about six or seven. And I put words to that. And these are the words that I really love out of that hymn. Just as I am, thou wilt receive. Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, release. Because I promise, I believe. O Lamb of God, I come. My friend, have you ever come to him? We're talking about the one who said, Job, where were you when I created and laid the foundations of the earth? Job, what do you know about Orion?
What do you know about Pleiades? What do you know about those constellations that declare my glory? Job, tell that eagle to fly. When he says to me this morning, he says, Philip, you don't know what you think you do. You're so small that I want you to claim reliance upon me. Have you ever come to him? You never have. He's the only one who can ever say it.
And he's the only one who can ever give genuine comfort. He's the only one who can give you genuine peace. There isn't any other. And I tell you, when I look in the mirror, I don't say to myself, I love you. I say to myself, I know you. And I, like Job, must repent in just the nation. But I can say with assurance, I know him. I know him. And I find everything in him. Everything that I need. How about you?
Let's pray together. Our Father, we ask you now that you would take this word. Blessed to every heart. We commend this company to thee and to the word of thy grace, which is able to build us up. and give us an inheritance among all that are sanctified. Father, we thank you for repentance. We thank you for that repentance of the life. We thank you for that continuous repentance as you teach us more about yourself. How great thou art. And Lord, may thy people, as they grow in the grace and knowledge of thee, rejoice in what is ours.
because of a relationship to you. We commend each one to you in the name of him who has all authority in heaven and in earth and who is so altogether loveless, even our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.