SUBMISSION IN THE HOUR OF BEREAVEMENT

JOB 1:1

A. AND, BEHOLD, THERE CAME A GREAT WIND FROM THE WILDERNESS, AND SMOTE THE FOUR CORNERS OF THE HOUSE AND IT FELL UPON THE YOUNG MEN, AND THEY ARE DEAD...THEN JOB AROSE, AND RENT HIS GARMENT...AND SAID THE LORD GAVE, AND THE LORD HATH TAKEN AWAY; BLESSED BE THE NAME OF THE LORD"
  1. The experience of Job is well known to most of us in the audience this afternoon:
    1. He lost his property, and he lost his children by violent death
    2. In that hour of bereavement, his wife suggested to him to curse God and die
  2. But that man of God:
    1. Refused to break his relationship with the Lord and Master
    2. He was not unmindful to the many blessings the Lord gave him in his happier days
    3. Our text reveals of Job's submissiveness even in the hour of great sorrow and bereavement B. SUBMISSION IN THE HOUR OF BEREAVEMENT
  3. Is a severe test of our trust in God:
    1. It was for Job
    2. It was for Abraham when the Lord asked him to sacrifice his only son - Gen. 22:1-12
    3. It was for the woman whose child died suddenly - even after the child had been given her as a reward of her faithfulness
  4. Our difficulty in an hour like this:
    1. We feel the painful loss of a loved one that was our hope and encouragement
    2. We are tempted to compare our lot with others, who are not touched by such a grief, and we wonder why?
    3. We have sought to do what is right, served the Lord to the best of knowledge and ability
    4. Yet, here we are, having to part with one dear to our very life
  5. But beloved:
    1. Could we see the future as God sees it, we would not complain in the bitterment of our soul
    2. We would submit to the will of our God, even when darkness hides the reason of our bereavement
    3. Someday, I shall understand that God loves us just the same; He gave, and He hath taken away C. THOUGHT FOR THE COMFORT OF THE SORROWING
  6. God knows what is best:
    1. He allowed Job to go through great grief so that we - this afternoon, could be comforted as he was in the end - James 5:11
    2. He allowed Lazarus to die and Mary and Martha to sorrow but for a short time, only to bring their brother back to life again - John 11:22-42
    3. It is possible that the Lord allowed this dear son of yours to be taken from you through death to give him back to you in the resurrection of the righteous dead - that you might have him for all eternity
  7. Said the Lord to perplexed Peter:
    1. "What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter" - John 13:7-8
    2. Said the Lord to Martha, "Thy brother shall rise again" - John 11:23
    3. Cried the prophet Jeremiah, "Thus saith the Lord, a voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not.
    4. "Thus saith the Lord, refrain thy voice from weeping and thine eyes from tears, for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the Lord; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy. And there is hope in thine end, saith the Lord, that thy children shall come again to their own border" - Jer. 31:15-17
  8. In an hour like this:
    1. We must look ahead - beyond the grave to the second coming of Jesus Christ and the resurrection of the dead
    2. We must thrust the Lord that He takes only to give back again
    3. He knows the future of this boy and does not want him to lose eternal life
    4. We must rest in the promise of the Lord as Job did and as Jeremiah admonishes us to do
    5. "The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord"


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