Ultimate Trust

Ultimate Trust

ULTIMATE TRUST

(Job 13:15)

"Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him."

Let us pray…

Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for the opportunity to once again gather together in your name to seek your face. Almighty God, please let the words of my mouth be your words and give us all ears to hear that we may be exceedingly blessed to the glory and honor of your son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Good morning saints of God! What a great day to be alive—alive in Christ!!

To many of us, the Old Testament seems like a very long book (actually a long collection of books) filled with much blood and guts or much dullness…long lists of rules and regulations, etc.

So this morning I have prayerfully decided to condense the entire Old Testament down to 9 words…one simple sentence spoken by a man of God approximately 3,000 years ago.

These 9 simple words make a very short sentence, yet these simple words are infinitely profound and yield tremendous power and great peace.

I dare say, if you will receive these 9 simple words this morning, you will not only understand the essence of the entire Old Testament, but you will understand the essence of all truth including the New Testament and what it means to be a true Christian.

Now you say: okay preacher! What…what are the 9 simple words, this one simple sentence, which explain the Old and New Testaments…and which unlock the meaning of being a true Christian and a true saint of God?

Here beloved, here are the 9 simple words spoken by a true man of God approximately 3 milleniums ago. It was Job, that suffering saint, who said amidst his fiery trial: "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him." (Job 13:15)

Let me say it again:

"Though God slay me,

Yet will I trust him!!."

There beloved, there you have it, in 9 simple words, what it means to be a true child of God, yea, a true saint of God…you simply must "truly trust God" with your soul and eternal welfare.

Let me briefly highlight to you the extreme context, that is, the dire situation in which Job spoke these incredible words, words that, in my opinion, may be the greatest words of faith and trust recorded in the entire Holy Bible.

In one day, Job, who was righteous man and an exceedingly rich man (the richest man in the east), lost all his material possessions. You might say it was something like a God-fearing Bill Gates (the Microsoft magnate and currently the richest man in America), losing his entire wealth (his money, his livelihood, his prestige, his employees, his friends)…all lost in one day…

And not only did he lose all this, but Job lost all his children—all 10 of them! Just think of it, 10 children all lost on the same day he lost his great materialistic fortune.

And then, on another day soon after, Job was struck with a severe illness, a foul illness with boils from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. It was such an awful illness that Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped the foul sores while he was sitting in the midst of dirty ashes.

And to make matters even worse, at this despondent moment, this moment of intense grief, and sorrow, and utter despair, Job’s wife says to Job: "Do you still hold your integrity? Curse God and die!" Wow!—what a bad word—a crushing word—like a cold hammer of dejection and rejection!

So, there you have it, Job, who had been an exceedingly prosperous man…was now a man in ruins...and his current mood, his current state-of-mind could best be explained by some of his acquaintances who said from afar, "they saw that his grief was very great" (Job 2:13). Yes, Job’s grief was very great indeed…

For Job was now a man in ruins, a man who had lost his great financial empire. He had lost his future employment. He had lost his servants (many of whom had probably been dear friends). He had lost all his children—10 children! He had lost his health, in fact, now he had a foul illness with oozing boils of severe inflammation and a foul stench. It seems the only thing Job had not lost was his wife, who now, like a millstone around his neck, only added to this grief and torment by her wishing that Job was dead!

It was from this awful pit…this deep, dark valley of torment and despair that Job proclaimed: "Though He slay me, yet will I trust him."

"Though God slay me,

Yet will I trust him!!"

Saints, I want to stop a moment, right now, and exalt Job. In sports, when an athlete makes a great play and scores the winning touchdown for the national championship, or hits a grand-slam homerun in the bottom of the 9^th to win the world series, or makes a knockout punch with 10 seconds remaining in the last round to secure Olympic gold, the fans applaud wildly in total jubilation!

Beloved, in a vision by the power of the Holy Spirit, I see Job’s fiery trial as a boxing match which goes something like this…

For 12 rounds satan has been pummeling Job with vicious punches. It is a sickening thing to watch. Job has been taking a horrific beating like few men before or since. He is bloody and badly bruised. He has almost been knocked senseless. It is an awful spectacle to behold. Even the holy angels of heaven are covering their eyes with their wings for their beloved Job is being brutally beaten up by the ruthless and exceedingly evil satan, the prince of darkness.

But then, out of nowhere, as time is expiring in the 13^th round, I see the beloved Job swing one tiny punch. And the punch is this: "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him." Yes, even though God lets me die a miserable death, I will trust in His goodness…

It looks like a frail and fragile punch thrown by a broken man who is only one short step away from death, yet the tiny punch lands squarely on satan’s head…

And then I see, unbelievable as it may seem, satan, who had been pounding Job viciously, ruthlessly, mercilessly, he suddenly stops in his tracks as if stunned…a look of disbelief covers his evil face…he staggers, he wobbles, and then he falls…knocked out cold!!

The holy angels of heaven are ecstatic and erupt in thunderous jubilation flapping their golden wings in glorious applause!!

Job is victorious! Hallelujah!

O praise God! Yes, let everything that has breath praise ye the Lord!!

We don’t actually see Job crowned champion with a double-portion of God’s blessing until the last chapter in the book of Job (chapter 42)…but the knockout punch was delivered in the 13th round (Job chapter 13, verse 15)…"Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.")

Dear saints of God, Job’s victory is a most beautiful foreshadow of our Lord Jesus Christ’s victory on the cross of Calvary. Jesus indeed went all the way to the cross in the same spirit…" even though He slay me, yet will I trust Him." Our Lord Jesus Christ said: "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit" (Luke 23:46).

That is, Jesus said in essence, Almighty God, Abba Father, even though you have asked me to die for the sins of others, I trust you that you are looking after my eternal welfare. I trust you that this story will have a happy and glorious ending and my joy shall be full.

Happy and glorious and joyful indeed!! For now beloved, whose name is the name that is higher than any other name? Jesus! And now who has been given all authority in heaven and in earth? Jesus! And now who is the King of kings and the Lord of lords? Jesus! And now whose name is the only name whereby men might be saved? Jesus! Jesus—the most powerful and glorious name in all creation!!

Dear precious saints of God, maybe you, this very day, have been taking a brutal pounding from satan the devil. Maybe he has been pounding on you in terrible ways and it seems that all hope is lost. You are in financial despair, your body is sick and diseased, you have suffered much loss, your marriage is a disaster, your life is more like a bad nightmare than a pleasant dream. You almost feel like giving up…

No my beloved brothers and sisters, I want you to remember Job…or as Almighty God Himself said: "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?"

Yes beloved, consider Job today, and imitate Job today. Say: even though I don’t understand all these terrible hardships and fiery trials, I truly believe you are a good God and are lovingly looking after my eternal welfare and my story will have a happy ending. Lord, I trust you totally with my soul.

And this is the victory! As we totally trust God with our life and with our soul, we can be assured that God, our loving Heavenly Father, shall lead us to a "double-portion" of His grace and goodness. We can be assured that, as we totally trust this omnipotent God, like Job, we shall ultimately be blessed in great and glorious ways even unto eternal life in paradise through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Let us pray…

Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for your servant Job who trusted you through some of the greatest hardships ever recorded. And Lord, we thank you even more for your son Jesus, who went all the way to die on the cross for our sins that we might receive a pardon and inherit eternal life.

Lord God, we simply proclaim your goodness today and we offer you our trust, simple trust. In the midst of our sickness and disease, we trust you. In the midst of our poverty, we trust you. In the midst of our loneliness, we trust you. In the midst of our troubled marriage, we trust you. In the midst of our being blind, or deaf, or crippled, we trust you. In the midst of our fear, or depression, or sorrow, or loss, or imprisonment, we simply trust you…

Lord, even if you let us die in the midst of our fiery trial or tribulation, we truly trust that you will raise us up into everlasting glory in paradise. Lord, we absolutely trust you with our life, and trust that, by your amazing grace in Christ Jesus, our story will have a happy and glorious ending. So here is what we offer you today, Heavenly Father, our hearts filled with absolute unconditional trust in your infinite grace and goodness in and through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen.

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Page last modified 06/22/06