Sermon Tone Analysis

TEXT: Job 1:1-3

TOPIC: Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People?

Bobby Earls, First Baptist Church, Icard, August 11, 2002

BIBLE SURVIVORS SERIES, Message 38

SLIDE 1 – TITLE SLIDE

1.

I want to introduce you to a man named Job.

He was the Ben Cartwright of the Old Testament.

He was a great, gracious, godly man who was universally loved and respected both on earth and in heaven.

SLIDE 2

2.

He was a man marked by great faithfulness.

"There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil."

(v.1)

The word for shun in the Hebrew literally means "to turn off."

Job was so holy, so consecrated, that sin was a complete turn-off to him.

"Then the Lord said to Satan, 'Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?'" (v.

8)

SLIDE 3

3.

He was a man marked by a great family.

"And seven sons and three daughters were born to him."

(v.2)

Not only was his family a large family, it was a godly family.

"So it was, when the days of feasting had run their course, that Job would send and sanctify them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all.

For Job said, 'It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.'

Thus Job did regularly."

(v.5)

At the end of every day all of his sons and daughters would gather together with their father and have family devotions and worship the Lord together.

SLIDE 4

4.

He was a man marked by great fortune.

"Also, his possessions were seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys, and a very large household, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the East."

(v.3)

Money was no problem for Job.

He lived on a ranch that made the Ponderosa look like a dump.

In fact, he probably was the richest man on the face of the earth.

It is important to remember that his wealth came from God.

For he said in v.21, "The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away."

SLIDE 5

5.

He was a man marked by great fame.

We are told he was the "greatest of all the people of the East."

The word greatest carries with it the connotation of loudness or heaviness.

In other words, Job carried a lot of weight.

When he spoke everybody listened.

He was the E. F. Hutton of the East.

Everybody knew him.

His name was a household word, and a magic key that could unlock any door.

SLIDE 6

6.

He was also a man of great favor.

He was kind and generous.

Not only was he wealthy, but he was a great philanthropist.

He tells us himself that he was a friend of the fatherless, a help to the widow.

He fed the hungry, clothed the poor.

He gave shelter to the orphan.

(31:16-22) In other words, Job had it all.

7. Then in one day he went from being a prince to a pauper.

He went from a billionaire to a bum.

He lost everything.

Now he did not lose it because he had done something wrong.

He lost it in spite of the fact that he was doing everything right.

Job learned firsthand what it is like when life isn't fair.

8.

No man in the Bible, outside of the Lord Jesus Christ, suffered more than Job.

Outside of Jesus no man suffered more unjustly and unfairly than Job.

But from Job we can learn some lessons that will show us up, and stand us in good stead when we get that pink slip, that bad doctor's report, that tragic phone call, and we realize that life isn't always fair.

SLIDE 7

I.

The Troubles Job Endured

SLIDE 7 – MASK 1 FORTUNE

1.

During the Great Depression they called the day the stock market crashed, Black Monday.

Well Job had the blackest of all Mondays.

In one day he lost his fortune.

"Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house; and a messenger came to Job and said, 'The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, when the Sabeans raided them and took them away--indeed they have killed the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you!' While he was still speaking another also came and said, 'The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them; and I alone have escaped to tell you!' While he was still speaking, another also came and said, 'The Chaldeans formed three bands, raided the camels and took them away, yes, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you!'" (vv.13-17)

SLIDE 7 – MASK 2 FAMILY

2. Then he lost his family.

"While he was still speaking, another also came and said, 'Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, and suddenly a great wind came from across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young men, and they are dead; and I alone have escaped to tell you!'" (vv.18-19)

In one day Job lost those that he loved, and he lost the things that he loved.

SLIDE 7 – MASK 3 FITNESS

3. Then he lost his fitness.

"Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord, and struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.

And he took for himself a potsherd with which to scrape himself while he sat in the midst of the ashes."

(2:7-8)

SLIDE 7 – MASK 4 FRIENDS

4. Then to add insult to injury, he even lost his friends, as he tells us in chapter 19:14, "My relatives have failed, and my close friends have forgotten me."

5.

In one day he went from sunshine to rain, from joy to pain.

He went from blessedness to brokenness, from happiness to heartache.

But before we try to investigate the why of it, we need to understand the how of it.

SLIDE 8

A. These Troubles Were Activated By A Satanic Force

1.

Now the trouble starts back in chapter one.

"Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them.

And the Lord said to Satan, 'From where do you come?'

So Satan answered the Lord and said, 'From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.'"

(vv.6-7)

That is a very revealing picture of the Devil.

He is a restless creature.

He is always looking for a place to cause trouble.

He is always trying to see what he can get into.

I Peter 5:8 reminds us, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour."

SLIDE 9 – MASK 1 PRESENCE

2. But we also learn some other things about the Devil.

First of all, we learn that Satan does not have the presence of God.

He is not omni-present.

He can only be in one place at a time.

SLIDE 9 – MASK 2 PERCEPTION

3.

But in v.8 we learn that the Devil does not have the perception of God.