Participants: Rowland Nwsou
Series Code: FC
Program Code: FC000319
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00:31 Welcome to Faith Chapel, my name is Pastor
00:34 Rowland C. Nwosu, the pastor of the All 00:37 Nations African Seventh- day Adventist Church 00:39 in San Bernardino, California and the 00:41 President of the Adventist hour International 00:44 Ministries in Loma Linda, California. 00:48 When life has been so unfair to you, 00:52 when things have not worked out the way 00:54 they ought to be, when you have prayed your 00:56 best prayers, when you have played by the 00:59 rule and things have not worked out. 01:04 Trust God, he will never fail you. 01:07 Let us pray. Thank you Father, 01:10 for the opportunity to share and to receive 01:13 your word, help us to trust you in the good 01:17 and in the bad times, when times are rough 01:21 and hard, help us to be faithful and Father, 01:24 we pray for strength as we go through our 01:27 life's experiences in Jesus 01:30 precious name we pray, amen. 01:34 The Bible speaks about a man. 01:38 A righteous man from the land of Uz, 01:41 his name was Job. He was blameless and 01:44 upright, he was righteous and Godly he was a 01:48 man rich and famous. Job was spiritual and 01:52 faithful. In fact the Bible tells us that this 01:56 man was the greatest man of all the people 02:00 in the East, telling us that it is possible to be 02:04 a rich and still be a Godly righteous man. 02:10 Reading from the Bible, the Bible text, 02:13 the Bible text that we want to read Job 02:16 chapter 1 verses 6-7 says that, 02:20 Now there was a day when the sons of God 02:25 came to present themselves before the Lord, 02:28 and Satan also came along them. 02:33 And the Lord said to Satan, "From where do you 02:36 come?" So Satan answered the Lord and said, 02:40 "From going to and fro on the earth, and from 02:44 walking back and forth on it." So Satan had been 02:51 busy manufacturing evil on the planet earth, 02:57 he had been going to and fro deceiving the people 03:01 on earth. He made them sin yet he comes in 03:05 the presence of God and accuses them of not 03:08 being faithful, of not being righteous, 03:11 of being unworthy to represent the planet 03:14 earth in the presence of God. That is what the 03:18 devil does. So in that encounter, in that 03:22 discussion God challenged Satan's presentation, 03:28 in Job 1 and verses 8-11 we read that the Lord 03:34 said to Job, "Have you considered My servant 03:38 Job, that there is none like him on the earth, 03:43 a man blameless and upright man, and one who 03:46 fears God and shuns evil?" So Satan answered the 03:51 Lord and said, "Does Job fear God for nothing? 03:56 Have you not made a hedge around him, around 04:00 his household, and around all that he has on every 04:04 side? You have blessed the work of his hands, 04:08 and his possessions have increased in the land. 04:12 But now, stretch out your hand and touch all that 04:16 he has, and he will surely curse you to your face!" 04:21 Wow! Do you see, you know it was, 04:24 Satan was accusing God of bribing Job to 04:29 worship him, to serve him. Satan accuses 04:36 God of giving Job favors so that he can serve 04:41 him. Another way of saying that is that the 04:46 Satan says to God you are buying your loyalty, 04:53 your obedience from the people, 04:55 from the people on earth. What a challenge. 05:00 So God was put in a situation where he had 05:02 to prove to Satan that Job was a man who 05:06 served him from his heart who chose to serve 05:10 him. So in this passage God demonstrates his 05:14 confidence in Job, he declares his trust for 05:19 Job. God confirms that Job is a blameless and 05:22 upright man who will shun evil in spite of 05:26 what he had, in spite of the blessings that he 05:29 had received from God, what a testimony that 05:32 God had on Job. So in the next verse we read 05:41 that God himself gave authority, 05:46 gave permission to Satan to prove himself, 05:50 to prove that Job was right, to prove that Job 05:54 serves him from his heart. And I've asked 05:57 myself wow! Can God depend on me, 06:00 can God have that kind of trust in me? 06:03 Can God have that kind of confidence and trust 06:06 in you? So the Lord in verse 12 says, 06:09 So the Lord said to Satan, "Behold, all that he 06:13 has is in your power; all that you have all that 06:18 he has is in your power and only do not lay a 06:22 hand on his person." So Satan went out from 06:26 the presence of God. This one verse turned 06:31 Job's life around. Destroyed his family, 06:37 God gave him the permission to go and try 06:40 him out,s but notice that the Bible says that 06:44 Satan went out of the presence of God. 06:48 My dear brothers and sisters nobody goes out 06:51 of the presence of God and remains the same 06:54 and notice what the Bible says that Satan went 06:57 out of the presence of God and evil followed him. 07:04 He went to ferment evil to torment Job, 07:08 to destroy Job and when so, 07:10 when Job goes out, when Job stays in his house 07:17 with his family when his family relaxes and 07:21 enjoys and lives their daily lives something 07:25 terrible was about to happen unbeknown to Job. 07:32 When I was preparing this sermon I wanted to 07:35 title this message, can God really trust me or can 07:43 God really trust you? So as I prayed and 07:47 reflected upon the question, as I talk about 07:51 the experiences of Job, as I looked at my four 07:54 children, as I look at what the Lord has given us 07:58 the life, the health, I can began to wonder if 08:03 God can really trust me, if God can really 08:07 depend on me, if God can really depend on us, 08:10 if God can really depend on you. So, I've 08:12 found out, I discovered that the question should 08:15 not be if God can really trust me but if I can 08:20 trust God, if you can trust God. So that's how 08:25 we come to talk now of this question of this 08:27 sermon, that you can really trust God. 08:32 Can I really trust God? Yes. You can trust God, 08:37 I can trust God, because God has proven himself 08:40 that he does not fail, he cannot fail. 08:47 So you see the devil leaving God's presence 08:51 and begins to work his work of evil. 08:56 Now notice that Satan leaves God's presence 09:01 and goes to instigate the Sabeans from Sheba 09:05 to attack and raid the servants of Job, 09:12 they took away the oxen and the donkeys, 09:15 killed all the servants and left one person to 09:18 go and report the mayhem. Servants destroyed, 09:23 oxen destroyed. And in verse 16, Job chapter 09:29 1 verse 16, "while this messenger was still 09:32 speaking another also came and said, 09:36 the fire of God fell from heaven and burned up 09:40 the sheep and the servants, and consumed 09:43 them; and I alone have escaped to tell you!" 09:50 Question, how did this servant know that this 09:54 fire was fire from God? This is what the devil 09:58 intended for the servant to blame God to do, 10:03 to blame God for the fires that destroyed Job's 10:09 servants, sheep and all his oxen. 10:15 The Bible says that Satan will cause fire to come 10:20 even from heaven to deceive the very elect. 10:24 And as if these were not enough while this 10:28 servant was still speaking Satan starred 10:30 up another group of people, the Chaldeans 10:33 from Babylon as agents, they organized 10:35 themselves into three groups they attacked 10:38 and raided another group of servants of 10:40 Job and killed all of them and took their camels 10:44 and they left one servant again to come and 10:48 report to Job. While the servant was still 10:53 speaking, we read that, another servant came 11:03 reporting and says your sons and daughters 11:05 went eating and drinking in their older brother's 11:09 house and suddenly a great wind came from 11:12 across the wilderness and struck the four 11:15 corners of the house and it fell on the young men 11:18 and they were dead and I alone have escaped 11:22 to tell you. Dear friends, the devil stirs people to 11:27 start trouble. The devil uses people to attack 11:31 other people, he chooses some people willing 11:35 to afflict war, harm, pain on other people. 11:39 He uses people to devise his plans and to 11:44 accomplish his plans. It's not sad, it is sad, 11:51 it is sad to say that you can find devil's 11:55 agents at home, at school, at your work, 12:01 yes even at the church. There maybe members 12:03 of your committee, but I want you to notice 12:07 something that Job did after all these 12:14 circumstances, after all these attacks on his 12:17 person, after all these attack on his family, 12:20 upon all these things in one day. 12:25 Job 1 verses 20 and 21, my Bible says, 12:32 Then Job arose, tore his robe, 12:38 and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground 12:42 and worshiped. And he said: "Naked I came from 12:47 my mother's womb, and naked shall I return 12:51 there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken 12:55 away; Blessed be the name of the Lord." 13:02 What a faith! Incredible! A man has lost all he 13:09 had in one day, his riches, his possessions, 13:12 his family. And worst of, he's been told that this, 13:20 that this, that all these things have come from 13:23 the man, the person, the God that he has 13:27 worshiped and served his life. 13:31 Can the Lord trust you to respond like Job 13:37 responded in his predicament? Can I, 13:40 can God trust me to respond when situations 13:45 are not so convenient? The Bible testified that 13:50 in all this Job did not sin nor charged God with 13:57 any wrong, in all this Job did not sin nor charged 14:05 God with any wrong. In other words Job 14:08 trusted God although he did not understand 14:11 what was happening he trusted God, 14:13 can I trust God, can I trust God, can you trust 14:17 God when situations are so bad, when things 14:20 are not working your way, when you can not 14:22 pay the bills, when you can not do the things 14:25 that you really should do, can do. I see if these 14:32 experiences were not enough Satan did not 14:35 stop there. He was disappointed because Job 14:38 had not sinned, Job had not cursed God, 14:41 he was angry, he was furious, he had started 14:44 with attacking Job's motive in the first place, 14:48 that was the first part of his attack on Job, 14:52 then he went after his possessions but that also 14:55 failed. Satan also went after his children that 14:58 also failed, he failed to move him, 15:01 then the Bible says there was yet another 15:03 meeting in the presence of God. Where the sons 15:07 of God met again. Satan came back with a 15:12 request to attack Job's health and God said in 15:16 this situation Job chapter 2 verse 3, 15:22 Job chapter 2 verse 3 we read in this that, 15:27 Then the Lord answered and said to Satan, 15:32 have you considered My servant Job, 15:36 that there is none like him on the earth, 15:40 a blameless and upright man, one who fears God 15:44 and shuns evil? In other words God says to 15:47 Satan again, I told you, I told you this man is a 15:51 righteous man and then and he says, 15:54 And still he holds his integrity, although you 15:57 incited Me against him, to destroy him without 16:01 cause." God tells to Satan I told you that I've 16:07 trusted this man that he serves me from his 16:11 heart, it's his choice to serve me, he is 16:14 not serving me because of all those things 16:17 that he's been blessed with, don't you see he 16:21 still holds to his integrity, to his choice 16:24 of obedience to me. Then in verses 4 through 16:30 7 we read that. So Satan answered the Lord 16:37 and said, "Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man 16:43 has he will give for his life. But stretch out 16:48 Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, 16:52 and he will surely curse you to Your face!" 16:56 And the Lord said to Satan, "Behold, he is in 17:00 your hand, but spare his life." So Satan went 17:04 out of the presence of the Lord. 17:11 Again Satan left, I'm not sure if he was there till 17:17 the end of the meeting, but he left because 17:20 he had an evil agenda, he went to attack Job 17:23 again, this time from the tip of his hair, 17:28 from the very root hairs on his head to the 17:32 very soul of his feet boil, boil all over and he 17:40 could not comb his hair. Job I can imagine Job 17:43 not able to comb his hair or to stretch his hand, 17:46 or to even lie and lie down comfortably or 17:50 even stand on his feet, or put on clothes on 17:53 his body. Have you had one boil before? 17:58 Have you ever had one boil? Do you see how 18:00 painful one boil is? Can you imagine boils all 18:04 over your body? Including the bones painful, 18:09 painful, painful I can imagine Mrs. Job at this 18:14 point talking about why? Why, what have you 18:20 done man? What have you done wrong? 18:23 Have you been cheating on me? Ha, ha, 18:26 is that, is this, have you contracted AIDS, 18:29 or what is it that is what are you hiding from 18:33 me? Did you get this from somewhere, 18:37 have you been sneaking around, what, tell me, 18:40 what, have you not been telling me, why is Lord 18:44 allowing you to go through these things?" 18:47 Can you imagine day and day, after night after 18:51 night, Job hearing this from his wife. 18:55 I don't know what Mrs. Job told him but the 18:57 Bible says that she herself did ask her 19:03 husband to curse God and die. 19:08 You must have been cheating on me, 19:10 she must have said. You see many of us are 19:13 like, you see many of us are like Mrs. Job. 19:20 We have aware of analyzing things and it 19:23 has to be somebody's fault. We think of, 19:26 we think it is no use doing good or being good, 19:30 we think it does not pay to obey God or to 19:36 obey the Lord. We see prosperity of the wicked 19:40 and we think it does not help to play by the rule. 19:49 Mrs. Job said in Job chapter 2, in Job chapter 20:00 2 verses 9 and 10 the Bible says, 20:04 Then his wife said to him, "Do you still hold 20:08 fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!" 20:12 But he said to her, "You speak as one of the 20:16 foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept 20:20 good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?" 20:26 In all this Job did not sin with his lips. 20:35 The most beautiful part, the most beautiful part, 20:40 Job did not sin with his lips. 20:46 Can the Lord brag on me, or brag with me, 20:50 brag with you. Can the Lord depend on you; 20:57 can the Lord depend on me? But as I said 21:01 earlier, we can trust God; you can trust God 21:07 regardless of all that we go through. 21:10 The three Hebrew boys trusted God even in 21:14 the fiery furnace and God did not fail them. 21:19 Moses trusted God when he came to the Red Sea 21:25 God did not fail him. Daniel trusted God when 21:29 he was thrown into the lion's den but God 21:33 did not fail Daniel. Joshua trusted God when 21:38 his enemies around him and surrounded him, 21:44 God was still faithful to Joshua. 21:47 David trusted God when he went out to fight 21:51 with the Giant Goliath. God was faithful to David, 21:58 God did not fail him. You can trust God, 22:02 you can depend on God, you can trust God in 22:06 times of trouble, you can trust him in your times 22:09 of difficulties. There are people around the 22:13 world from the Old Testament to the 22:16 New Testament, even in today's world who can 22:20 stand and say yes I trust God, I can trust 22:26 God he will not fail me, I stand here to testify 22:31 to you today that I trust God because he has 22:37 not failed me, because he will not fail me. 22:42 Ruth was a young lady, parents have died. 22:52 Didn't have, she was a little, little girl, 22:56 born three months when born, but his, her parents 23:01 died, three months when she was three months 23:05 and then she was given away to a little girl 23:08 who had just gotten married, who was not 23:11 pregnant. For some reason this girl chose to 23:16 nurse Ruth. And miraculously the Lord 23:23 provided breast milk for Ruth. At an age, 23:28 this lady was about in her 20's and there was 23:31 breast milk in her and she fed, 23:35 Ruth fed from this 20 year old girl. 23:40 Today this man standing here is the son of 23:48 that little girl who was nursed by a 20 year 23:53 old girl, who was not, who have not had a 23:56 baby but had the breast milk. Yes, you can 24:02 trust God. So many souls have tested him as 24:07 Psalm writer says, through all the course of 24:10 time, some still reach out to him with broken 24:14 hearts and minds but everyone of them will say 24:19 without exception that they find that Jesus 24:22 never fails. Jesus never fails. Trust God he will 24:29 not fail. I stand here again to testify to you 24:33 that Jesus never fail, that God can be trusted, 24:37 you can trust God because he will never disappoint 24:40 you. It does not matter what you're going 24:44 through, you might go through experience as 24:47 such as Job's, you can go through circumstances 24:51 that may not be as terrible as Job's, 24:54 but they feel that you are experiencing again 25:00 Job's situation, trust God. There is something 25:06 you may not understand we do not know what 25:09 is going on in the spiritual realm. 25:14 Could it be that the devil is bringing charges to 25:19 God on your behalf, telling God to try you? 25:25 Wishing the devil, wishing to take you, wishing 25:30 to destroy you or your family, wishing to 25:33 destroy me or my family. The objective today 25:38 in this message is for you, it's for me to be 25:42 encouraged to go through what we are going 25:45 through, bearing in mind that God is willing and 25:50 able to deliver us from this particular situation, 25:56 because God did not disappoint anyone who 26:01 have trusted in him in the past. 26:06 God throughout the years has been faithful, 26:11 you can trust God. God did not disappoint the 26:15 woman with the issue of blood, so if you are 26:18 a woman this day, trust God. He will not fail 26:23 you. God did not disappoint Mary and Martha 26:28 regarding their brother Lazarus. 26:33 God did not disappoint them, God raised him up. 26:39 So trust God, he will not fail you. God did not 26:43 disappoint in Mary the mother of Jesus when 26:46 he asked a favor from Jesus in that wedding 26:53 that took place in Cana of Galilee, 26:58 even though Jesus said to her woman, 27:01 what does your concern have to do with me? 27:05 So trust God, he will not disappoint you. 27:10 There are great benefits to trusting God. 27:13 If you trust God you may find a realm on your 27:16 mount Moriah. If you trust God you may gain 27:19 back double what you have lost. 27:21 If you trust God you may be carried off by a 27:24 chariot of fire, if you trust God you may cover, 27:29 he may cover the mouths of lions all around 27:33 you, if you trust God he may have to cause 27:36 his son to stand still until you conquer your 27:40 enemies, if you trust God and continue to trust 27:43 God your lost acts might float in the rivers 27:47 of your life. Trust God, he will not fail you, 27:51 trust him he will not fail you, 27:53 because he never fails. |
Revised 2014-12-17