Sermon 2172. Patient Job and the Baffled Enemy

A SERMON DELIVERED ON THURSDAY EVENING, AUGUST 28, 1890,

BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly." Job 1:22.

THAT is to say, in all this trial and under all this temptation, Job kept right with God. During all the losses of his estateand the deaths of his children he did not speak in an unworthy manner. The text speaks admiringly of "all this." And a great"all" it was! Some of you have many troubles-but what are they compared with those of Job? Your afflictions are mole-hillscontrasted with the Alps of the Patriarch's grief. "All this"! He was suddenly reduced from a peer to a pauper-from a manof great wealth to a person in absolute poverty-from a happy father to a childless mourner! Who can measure or fathom "allthis"? Yet, "In all this Job sinned not." Here was the triumph of a gracious spirit. Ah, dear Friends, if God could upholdJob in all this, you may be sure that He can support you! Look to Him for this Divine support.

"All this" also alludes to all that Job did and thought, and said. He was full to bursting with swelling grief. He shavedhis head and tore his garments. And he lifted up his voice unto the Lord his God-but, "In all this Job sinned not." He roseup, for he was a man of action, a man of a sensitive and powerful mind, a man of poetic energy who could not fail to expresshis emotions in striking symbols-but "In all this Job sinned not." This is a great deal to say of a man when you see him inthe extreme of trial. If in patience he can possess his soul when all the arrows of affliction are wounding him, he is a man,indeed.

May we ourselves so live that it may be said of us in the end, "In all this he sinned not. He swam through a sea of trouble.The roll of his life story is written within and without with lamentations-but in all this he did not dishonor the name ofhis Lord. He did and said many things-but in them all he was patient, resigned, obedient and never uttered a rebellious word."Let us think of the wonderful case of Job in a practical way, desiring the Holy Spirit to make us like he was!

I. Our first head shall be, IN ALL OUR AFFAIRS THE MAIN THING IS NOT TO SIN. It is not said, "In all this Job was never spokenagainst," for he was spoken against by Satan in the presence of himself and very soon he was falsely accused by men who shouldhave comforted him. You must not expect, dear Friend, that you will pass through this world and have it said of you in theend, "In all this no one ever spoke against him." I heard say of one man, "He was a man who never had an enemy." I venturedto add, "nor a friend." He has no friend who never had a foe.

Those who secure zealous lovers are pretty sure to call forth intense adversaries. A man who is such a chip in the porridgethat he never offends, is pretty sure to be equally flavorless in the other direction. The trimmer may dodge through the worldwithout much censure, but it will seldom be so with an out-and-out man of God. Because he is not of the world, the world willhate him! The blessed and holy Lord Jesus was slandered to the utmost. God, the Ever-Blessed, was Himself libeled in Paradise,itself, by an old servant who had turned into an old serpent! Therefore you must not wonder if you are also abused!

To go through life without calumny is not a thing to be expected-but it is anxiously to be desired that we may go throughevery phase of joy or of sorrow without falling into sin. Neither is it a chief point for us to seek to go through life withoutsuffering, since the Lord's servants, the best of them, are ripened and mellowed by suffering. Amos, the herdsman, was a bruiserof sycamore figs-a kind of fig that never ripened in Palestine unless it was struck with a rod and thus was bruised. I fearthere are very few of the godly who will fully ripen without affliction. The vine bears but little fruit unless it makes theacquaintance of the knife and is sternly pruned. I fear that much fruit will seldom be forthcoming without much tribulation.

A high character might be produced, I suppose, by continued prosperity, but it has very seldom been the case. Adversity, howeverit may appear to be our foe, is our true friend and, after a little acquaintance with it, we receive it as a precious thing,the prophecy of a coming joy. It should be no ambition of ours to traverse a smooth path without thorn or stone. Rather letus ask-

"Shall Simon bear the cross alone, And all the rest go free? No, there's a cross for everyone, And there's a cross for me."

Dear Friends, I think, also that it should not be our ambition to go through the world without sadness of heart. It is truethat heaviness of heart is worse than bodily suffering-"A wounded spirit who can bear?" Some persons, however, seem to endureterrible trouble without much feeling. They are case-hardened, stout-hearted, thick-skinned persons- and truly I have halfenvied them at times and almost prayed to lose that sensitiveness which causes fear-but it would be a very doubtful blessing.We need to be tender that we may feel the slightest touch of God's hand. "Be you not as the horse, or as the mule, which haveno understanding, whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto you."

The Apostle says, "Though now for a season, if need be, you are in heaviness through manifold temptations." Many read it asif there were a necessity for the trial and so, indeed, there is. But the necessity in the passage has reference to beingin heaviness. If you can bear trial without ever being heavy, it is scarcely a trial to you. "The blueness of a wound cleansesaway evil." It is the ache of the ache-it is the sting of the wasp which works effectively on the heart. If we do not smartunder the rod, what is the use of it to us? Therefore I would not have you ask that you may be kept from sadness of soul-butI would have you pray seven times a day from the very heart of your being, "Lord, keep me from sin." May it be said at thelast, of every one of us, that in all this we sinned not!

Remember, if the Grace of God prevents our affliction from driving us into sin, then Satan is defeated. Satan did not carewhat Job suffered, so long as he could but hope to make him sin. And he was foiled when he did not sin. He must have regrettedthat he tried him, when he found that he could not make him sin. I think I hear the Fiend muttering, "Give him back his camels.Give him back his sheep, if by the loss of these his patience and resignation are made manifest." If he could not extracta rebellious speech from Job, the Tempter had lost all his cruel efforts-his malice had spent itself without result. If hecould not make the good man sin, nor charge God foolishly, he was defeated and God was glorified!

If in enduring your particular trouble, my dear Friend, you do not fall into sin, you are more than a conqueror over him thathates you. The arch-enemy will fly away confounded from you if you are able to resist him while darkness covers your soul.If you conquer him in your hour of grief, you conquer, indeed! May your conflict with Apollyon be like that of Christian in"Pilgrim's Progress," and to you, also, may a monument be erected, bearing this inscription-

"The man so bravely played the man,

He made the Fend to fly;

Whereof a monument I stand

The same to testify."

If you do not sin while under the stress of heavy trouble, God will be honored. He is not so much glorified by preservingyou from trouble as by upholding you in trouble. He allows you to be tried that His Grace in you may be tested and glorified.

When one Winstanley, years ago, built a lighthouse on the Eddystone Rock, he said that he was sure that it would stand anystorm that ever blew and he should himself like to be in it in the fiercest tempest that ever drove adown the Channel. Itcame to pass that he was in his own lighthouse one night and there came a tremendous blast which swept him and his lighthouseclean away so that he was never heard of again. He courted trial because he believed in his work- God permits trial becauseHe knows that His wisdom and Divine Grace have made us able to bear it. The lighthouse which was afterwards built on the Eddystonehas had all manner of storms beating upon it but it has outlived them all, and therefore its builder's name is held in honor.

Even thus our God is glorified in every trial of His saints when their grace enables them to endure with patience. "There,"says He, "see what Grace can do, what suffering it can endure, what labors it can perform!" Grace is like an

athlete performing before the great King and His heavenly court. A cloud of witnesses look down upon the feats of Faith andnote with joy how it achieves everything which the Lord appoints it to perform. It even enters into contest with Satan, thefiend of Hell, and gives him a signal overthrow-and He that made the athlete and trained him for the contest is honored thereby.If you do not sin in your trouble, your endurance of trial will bring glory to God!

Remember, furthermore, that if you do not sin, you yourself will be no loser by all your tribulations. Sin alone can injureyou. But if you remain steadfast, though you are stripped, you will be clothed with glory! Though you are deprived of comfort,you will lose no real blessing. True, it may not seem a pleasant thing to be stripped and yet if one is soon going to bedit is of no great consequence. It is no easy thing to part with wealth-but if thereby you are unburdened-the loss is a gain.A child of God may have the knife sharply cutting him, but if it only removes the superfluous wood, it may be of the utmostbenefit to the fruitage of the tree-and that is the main thing.

If the metal in the pot loses none of its gold, all that it does lose is well lost and is, indeed, really gained. Though youare reduced in circumstances, what does it matter if you are enlarged in spirit? Though you are sick in body, what does itmatter if your soul's health is furthered? To sin would be terrible-to abide in holiness is triumph! In all our afflictionmay there be no defection. The Lord may send us a ton of trouble, but this will be better than an ounce of sin! Do not letall your prayer run after deliverance from sorrow, but first of all pray, "Let not any iniquity have dominion over me." Seekfirst the kingdom of God and obedience to Him, and then deliverance shall be added unto you.

We are permitted to say, "Lord, keep us from trouble," but we are commanded to pray, "Deliver us from the Evil One." Shouldtrials come to us, even like those which happened to Job, it shall be well with our souls if our hearts are not drawn or driveninto sin.

II. And, now, a second thought arises out of the text. IN ALL TIME OF TRIAL THERE IS SPECIAL FEAR OF OUR SINNING. It is wellfor the child of God to remember that the hour of darkness is an hour of danger. Suffering is fruitful soil for certain formsof sin. Hence it was necessary for the Holy Spirit to give a testimony to Job that, "In all this he sinned not." It lookedas if he must sin but yet he did not sin-and this is recorded by Inspiration as a memorable fact. He still held fast his integrityand bowed before the will of the Lord.

Dear Friends, if you are approaching a season of trouble, watch and pray that in entering upon trial you may not also enterupon sinning. Many have sorely grieved their God by what they have said and done in the hour of sorrow. For instance, we areapt to grow impatient. We murmur against the Lord. We think our trial is too long, or that prayer is not answered when itought to be. If God is faithful, why does He not hasten to deliver His child? In the olden time He rode upon a cherub anddid fly, yes, He did fly upon the wings of the wind-why are His chariots now so long in coming? The feet of His mercy seemshod with lead.

Petulance and complaining are sins which easily beset those who are severely tried. Men are apt to have bitter thoughts ofGod when He puts His hand into the bitter box and brings out the quinine of sorrow. Of the two sexes, women usually carrythe prize for patience, especially in bodily sickness. As for us, who are made of rougher stuff, it is to our shame that weare, as a rule, very impatient of pain. We do not so much lose our patience as show that we have none! Job, under his firstset of trials was not swift to complain, for you have heard of the patience of Job which the Holy Spirit takes care to mentionin the New Testament.

We are even tempted to rebellion against God. I have met with cases in which rebellious words have been uttered and even spokenagain and again. One said in my hearing, "God has taken away my mother and I shall never forgive Him. I can never think ofHim as a God of love as once I did." Such words will cause a child of God more pain than the loss, itself, would have occasioned.I heard one say of his dying child, whom I was called in to visit, that he could not believe that God would be so unjust asto take his daughter from him. Indeed, he spoke so rebelliously that I, with all gentleness, but with deep solemnity of soul,admonished him that I feared the Lord would visit him for such proud speeches.

It was clear that his child would soon die and I feared that he would die himself, when the shock came, because he so stoutlyquarreled with the Lord. I said to myself, "A child of God cannot speak in this way about his Father without coming underfurther chastisement." It came to pass as I expected and he, himself, was laid low. Grieved as I was, I was by no means surprised.How can we rebel against God and hope to prosper in that rebellion? With the stubborn He will show Himself stubborn and weshall find out what a world of misery that will bring us! Oh, for Divine Grace not only to

yield because we must, but because we trust! May we say, "It is the Lord-let Him do what seems good to Him"! Before that temptationJob did not fall, for in this respect he sinned not.

We may also sin by despair. An afflicted one said, "I shall never look up again. I shall go mourning all my days." Dear Friend,why not be cheerful again? Are God's mercies clean gone forever? You are bid to believe always. "Who is among you that walksin darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God." In the dark is the place fortrust, not for despair! A child that is sullen will probably make for himself 10 times more misery than the rod, itself, wouldcause him. Who dares despair while God bids him trust? Come, if you are as poor as Job, be as patient as Job and you willfind hope ever shining like a star which never sets.

Many sin by unbelieving speeches. I have repeated one or two naughty things that God's children have said, but Job said nothingof the kind. He bravely said, "The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." Men have beendriven into a kind of atheism by successive troubles. They have wickedly argued-"There cannot be a God, or He would not letme suffer so." Beloved, you must not speak as the foolish do-and such speech is sheer folly. Your mouth would be greatly defiledif you were thus to vex the Holy Spirit. Has the Lord saved you and will you speak against Him?

I have no time to say more where so much might be added. The Lord preserve us in trying times from sinning either with heart,or hands, or lips.

III. Notice, thirdly, that IN ACTS OF MOURNING WE NEED NOT SIN. Listen-you are allowed to weep. You

are allowed to show that you suffer by your losses. See what Job did. "Job arose and tore his mantle, and shaved his head,and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped." And "in all this Job sinned not." The mother wept much over her child andyet she may not have sinned-a mother's grief and a mother's love are sacred things. When a dear child is mourned over, thosemay have been not only perfectly natural tears, but even holy tears.

The husband lamented sorely when his beloved was taken from him. He was right. I should have thought far less of him if hehad not done so. "Jesus wept." But there is a measure in the expression of grief. Job was not wrong in tearing his garment-hemight have been wrong if he had torn it into shreds. He was not wrong in shaving his head-he would have erred had he tornout his hair, as some have done whom despair has turned into maniacs. He deliberately took the razor and shaved his head-andin this he sinned not. You may wear mourning-saints did so in other times. You may weep, for it may, perhaps, be a relaxingof your strained emotions. Do not restrain the boiling floods. A flood of tears without may assuage the deluge of grief within.

Job's acts of mourning were moderate and seemly-toned down by his faith. I wish that Christians did not so often follow theway of the world at their funerals, but would try to make it clear that they sorrow not even as others that are without hope.You may wear black as long as it does not become the ensign of rebellion against the will of the Lord. Job's words, also,though very strong, were very true-"Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return." If we say no more thanthe truth, we may say it if the tone is not that of murmuring, although, perhaps sometimes it might be better to be altogethersilent, like Aaron, who held his peace.

David said, "I opened not my mouth; because You did it." If we cannot maintain a golden silence, yet let our speech be silver-wemust use nothing less than precious metal. Job mourned and yet did not sin, for he mourned and worshipped as he mourned. Thisis what I commend to you who are mourning at this time. If you must fall on the ground, worship there before the Lord! Ifyour heart is bowed down, emulate the holy ones who fall on their faces and worship God! I believe that some of the truest,purest, sweetest and strongest devotion has come to God from hearts that were breaking with grief. Remember, then, that inacts of mourning there is not, of necessity, any sin.

IV. But, fourthly, IN CHARGING GOD FOOLISHLY WE SIN GREATLY. "Job sinned not" and the phrase which explains it is, "nor chargedGod foolishly." Here let me say that to call God to our judgment seat at all is a high crime and felony! "No, but, O man,who are you that replies against God?" Woe unto him that contends with his Maker! The Lord is absolutely Sovereign and Hegives no account of His matters. We are usurping fools when we pretend to sit in judgment upon the Judge of all the earth!

In the next place, we sin in requiring that we should understand God. What? Is God under bonds to explain Himself to us? Dowe threaten to revolt unless He will put Himself right with us? Blessed be His name, He is inscrutable and I am glad to haveHim so! Do you want your God to explain His dispensations? Are you not content to believe Him? The demand for explanationis unbelief! This is, indeed, making yourselves to be wiser than God! Let us bow before Him without a question.

He is Jehovah and that ends the matter! He would have His children feel that what He wills is always best. Bow before Godand prostrate your desires and thoughts and judgment before His Throne. What He does is wise and true and kind-and of thiswe are sure. We can very easily charge God foolishly, but we had better not charge Him at all, for who are we that we shouldcall the Eternal to account?

We charge God foolishly when we imagine that He is unjust. "Ah!" said one, "When I was a worldling I prospered. But ever sinceI have been a Christian I have endured no end of losses and troubles." Do you mean to insinuate that the Lord does not treatyou justly? Think a minute and stand corrected. If the Lord were to deal with you according to strict justice, where wouldyou be? If He were now to call you to account for your sins and lay bare the naked sword of Justice, what would become ofyou? You would be at once in despair and very soon in Hell! Never charge upon the Lord a failure ofjustice, for this is tosin with a vengeance.

Some, however, will bring foolish charges against His love. "How can He be a God of love if He permits me to suffer so?" Youforget that word-"As many as I tenderly love," (for that is the Greek word), "I rebuke and chasten." The more the Lord lovesyou, the more surely He will rebuke any and every evil that He sees in you! You are so precious to Him that He desires tomake you perfect in every good work to do His will. God prizes you much, my Sister, or you would not have to be so often groundupon the wheel to take away all your warts and make the jewel of your soul to shine.

"Oh," said a worldling to me when I was in great pain and weakness of body, "is this the way God treats His children? ThenI am glad I am not one." How my heart burned within me and my eyes flashed as I said that I would take an eternity of suchpain as I endured sooner than stand in the place of the man who preferred ease to God. I felt it would be Hell to me to havea doubt of my adoption and whatever pain I might suffer was a trifle so long as I knew that the Lord was my God. Every childof God under such a taunt would feel exceedingly jealous for the honor of his Lord.

Beloved, we are willing to take the Divine love with every possible drawback that can be concerned-for the love of our Fatheris a weight of Glory-and all the sorrows of time are but "light afflictions" and they last but for a moment. How sweet tohear the Lord say-

"In love I correct you your gold to refine; To make you, at length, in My likeness to shine"! Alas, at times, unbelief chargesGod foolishly with reference to His power! We think that He cannot help us in some peculiar trial. Throw to the winds suchfears-they are unworthy of us and dishonoring to our Lord! Is anything too hard for the Lord? Through flood and fire He willbring us in safely.

We may be so foolish as to doubt His wisdom. If He is All-Wise, how can He suffer us to be in such straits and to sink solow as we do? What folly is this? Who are you, that you would measure the wisdom of God? Shall an owl begin to compute thelight of the sun? Or an ant estimate the eternal hills? Shall some tiny animalcules, sporting with myriads of others in adrop of water, begin to trace the bounds of the sea? What are you? Who are you, that you should set your judgment againstthat of the Lord God Almighty? Less than nothing, will you censure the Infinite? A worm of the dust, will you arraign themighty God? Be this far from you! Job did not so, for he sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.

V. Lastly-as I must close in haste-TO COME THROUGH GREAT TRIAL WITHOUT SIN IS THE HONOR OF THE SAINTS. If we are tried andcome forth from it naked as when we were born, we need not be ashamed. And if we come out of it without sinning, then thegreatness of the affliction increases the honor of our victory. "In all this Job sinned not"-the, "all this," is a part ofthe glory with which Grace covered him.

Suppose that your life was all ease. Suppose that you were brought up tenderly from a child. Suppose that you were well educated,left with a sufficient fortune to gratify every wish and happily married. Suppose that you were free from sickness, liftedabove care, grinding labor and heavy sorrow-what then? Assuredly you could never be noted for patience! Who would ever haveheard of Job ifhe had not been tried? None would have said ofhim, "In all this Job sinned not." Only by his patience couldhe be perfected and immortalized!

Suppose that your record should be-from birth a sufferer, throughout life a struggler. At home a wrestler and abroad a soldierand a cross-bearer-and, notwithstanding all this, full of joy and peace, through strong believing-tried to the uttermost,yet found faithful. In such a chronicle there is something worth remembering! There is no glory in being a featherbed soldier,a man bedecked with gorgeous regimentals, but never beautified by a scar, or ennobled by a wound. All that you ever hear ofsuch a soldier is that his spurs jingle on the pavement as he walks. There is no history for this carpet-knight. He is justa dandy. He never smelled gunpowder in his life, or if he did, he fetched out his scent-bottle to kill the offensive odor.

Well, that will not make much show in the story of the nations. If we could have our choice and we were as wise as the LordHimself, we should choose the troubles which He has appointed us and we should not spare ourselves a single pang. Who wantsto paddle about a duck pond all his life? No, Lord, if You will bid me go upon the waters, let me launch out into the deep!Those who are uplifted to the heavens by the billows and then go down again to the deeps as ocean yawns-these see the worksof the Lord and His wonders in the deep! Discomforts and dangers make men of us and then we deal no more with childish things,but with eternal matters!

If we had no troubles, we should in the end be dumb for lack of themes to speak upon-but now we are storing up incidents worththe telling to our Brothers and Sisters when we join the family circle before the Throne! Tried souls can tell of the infinitemercy and love of God, who helped them, and delivered them! Give me an interesting life, after all, and if it is to be aninteresting life, then it must be one that has its full share of trouble as Job's had! Then shall it be Heaven to hear theverdict of the great Judge-"In all this My servant sinned not." The honor of a Christian, or, let me say, the honor of God'sDivine Grace in a Christian, is when we have so acted that we have obeyed in detail, not forgetting any point of duty. "Inall this Job sinned not," neither in what he thought, or said, or did-nor even in what he did not say, and did not do-"Inall this Job sinned not."

We are apt to purpose that we will shut ourselves up in our own room and never go out into the world again, or attempt tospeak or act any more. Surely, that would be a great blank and a blot upon our lives. No! No! No! We must not say, "I willspeak no more in the name of the Lord." Go on speaking! Go on acting! Go on suffering! Breast the wave, Christian! Swim tothe other shore and may God's infinite mercy be seen in bringing you there! Crowd your life with action and adorn it withpatience, so that it shall be said, "In all this he sinned not." God grant us a detailed obedience, a following of the Lordfully, a perfect working out of the minute points of service!

I feel that I must add just this. As I read the verse through, it looked too dry for me and so I wet it with a tear. "In allthis Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly," and yet I, who have suffered so little, have often sinned and, I fear, intimes of anguish, have charged God foolishly. Dear Friends, is not this true of some of you? If so, let your tears followmine. But yet the tear will not wash out the sin! Fly to the Fountain filled with blood and wash there from sins of impatience,sins of petulance, sins of rebellion, sins of unbelief! These are real sins and they must be washed away in the blood of theLamb. Oh, how dear that Fountain is to us! How dear to you who have often to lie in bed and suffer-for you still sin! Howdear to us who have health and strength to serve God, for we see sin in our holy things and we need to be purged from itsdefilement! You that go into business every day and mix up with all sorts of persons, how much you have need of daily washing!Come, Beloved, let us go together and say, "Lord, forgive us."

I should like to say a little to some of you who are not God's people. Suppose I were to sum up your lives and wrote it outin this fashion: "Was fond of gaiety. Spent many days in frivolous amusement. Was sometimes drunk. Occasionally would useprofane language," and so on? How falsely should I speak if I were to say, "In all this he sinned not"! Why, in all this youhave done nothing else but sin! God has loaded your tables, clothed your backs, kept you in health and prolonged your lives-andin all this you have done nothing else but sin and act foolishly towards God! I want you to come, then, to that same Fountainof which I spoke, and cry tonight, "Wash me, Savior, or I die." You have been the very opposite of Job. You have sinned inall your comforts and your mercies, and have never shown due gratitude to the blessed God! You have only done evil againstHim! The Lord bring us all to His feet and then may He help us in all future troubles to stand firm and not to sin.

I know that some of you are entering upon fierce trials. You have the prospect of it on your minds, tonight, and sitting hereyou feel depressed about it. Do not begin to despond, but be doubly diligent in prayer! Be more concerned to be kept fromsinning than from suffering and pray daily, "Lord, if You will lead me by this rough road, yet keep my feet that I stumblenot, and preserve me even to the end with garments unspotted from the world! I will ask no more of You but this one thing.Holy Father, keep me as a dear child, obeying and serving You with all my heart, soul and strength, till I go up higher todwell with You forever!"

May the Lord hear you all in the day of trouble and preserve you to life's last hour, without spot and blameless! Then shallHe be glorified in you and you shall have joy. Amen, and Amen.

PORTION OF SCRIPTURE READ BEFORE SERMON- Job 1.