Come,
let us reason together
In humility receive the word
implanted, which is able to save your souls.
But
prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude
themselves.
James
1:21-22
They searched the Scriptures daily, to see whether these things were so. Acts 17:11
Speaking With God
In Acts 2:42 we have revealed among other things that the early church was continuing steadfastly in prayer. These people truly believed in God and the teaching of the apostles of Jesus Christ. They demonstrated a great desire to speak with the Almighty and to reason with God. Prayer should be the very breath of every faithful Christian and stands as a severe test of faith in God and His Divine word. To the man void of faith, prayer is but a vain cry in the wilderness with no one to answer. But to a man of faith, it is an address through Christ Jesus to the Father who can manifest the power to respond and delights when His children come to Him with their petitions and supplications.
Many religionists however, who emphasize prayer, teach it, talk about it and pray in public worship simply have not understood that God has established certain conditions and guidelines for man to conform to before he can expect his prayers to be answered. The purpose of this lesson is to set forth some of these factors and conditions relevant to speaking with God.
For this particular lesson I would suggest that we go back into the Old Testament and as we consider some things in the O.T. I would like us to study about a man identified simply as Job. But for starters, let’s look at what Job had to tell his friends Zophar the Naamathite, Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite who had wrongly accused, tormented and insulted Job, in Job. 19:7-26; --- “Behold, I cry, `Violence!' but I get no answer; I shout for help, but there is no justice. 8 "He has walled up my way so that I cannot pass, And He has put darkness on my paths. 9 "He has stripped my honor from me And removed the crown from my head. 10 "He breaks me down on every side, and I am gone; And He has uprooted my hope like a tree. 11 "He has also kindled His anger against me And considered me as His enemy. 12 "His troops come together, And build up their way against me And camp around my tent. 13 "He has removed my brothers far from me, And my acquaintances are completely estranged from me. 14 "My relatives have failed, And my intimate friends have forgotten me.
15 "Those who live in my house and my maids consider me a stranger. I am a foreigner in their sight. 16 "I call to my servant, but he does not answer; I have to implore him with my mouth. 17 "My breath is offensive to my wife, And I am loathsome to my own brothers. 18 "Even young children despise me; I rise up and they speak against me. 19 "All my associates abhor me, And those I love have turned against me. 20 "My bone clings to my skin and my flesh, And I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth. 21 "Pity me, pity me, O you my friends, For the hand of God has struck me. 22 "Why do you persecute me as God does, And are not satisfied with my flesh? 23 "Oh that my words were written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book! 24 "That with an iron stylus and lead they were engraved in the rock forever! 25 "As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, And at the last He will take His stand on the earth. 26 "Even after my skin is destroyed, Yet from my flesh I shall see God;” --- I dare say, anyone who would strive to live a life faithful to the God of Job may well expect to experience some of the persecution poor old Job had to tend with. Loss of family, friends and neighbors. And sometimes they may get the feeling that they are just hanging on by the skin of their teeth. But in the midst of all of this alienation and estrangement there is one thing we must keep foremost in our minds;--- “I know that my Redeemer lives!”
Now as we go back and look at this man Job, you’ll find first of all that he was a very religious man. The Bible says in the very first verse of the first chapter that Job; --- “was blameless, upright, fearing God, and turned away from evil.” --- But as you look a bit farther into chapter one, you will find that Job was an extremely wealthy man.
Now sometimes the question is asked, how can a wealthy man be right with God? --- Many times people are led to believe that if a man is rich he will be lost, and if a man lives in poverty he will automatically go to heaven; and friends that’s blatantly wrong. But we should be quick to understand that a man needs to be careful and not put his trust in uncertain riches. --- Nowhere in the word of God can be found where it condemns the idea of wealth. A man most certainly can be wealthy and be in fellowship with God and use his money in a manner which would be pleasing to God and glorify God. And Job was a very wealthy fellow.
Also if you will notice in the first few verses of Job 1; that not only was Job a religious man and a wealthy man, but also he was a very happy family man. --- He was married and had been blessed with sons and daughters and they certainly enjoyed a happy home life. So as we continue reading we’ll find where the sons and daughters would get together just as some of us do today and have what we would call, a common meal. So far, so good. All is going well.
But then about this time the Devil enters the picture and makes a serious accusation about Job unto God. The devil said to God, “Now the reason that Job is a religious and happy man, is because you have built this hedge around him to protect him, and if you will just let me take away his possessions, I’ll show you a man who will deny you and curse you to your face.” --- God said to Satan in 1:12; --- “Behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not put forth your hand on him.”
And so we begin to read where Job lost all his land, where he lost all his possessions, and then on top of all this he received the most devastating news that all his sons and daughters had been killed. So in answer to this tragedy, we read in 1:21; --- “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” --- And through all this, Job did not blame God nor did he curse the Almighty; and don’t you know how this must have kindled the devil’s wrath?
So now the devil comes back to God and said in 2:4-5; --- “Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life. --- However, put forth Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh; he will curse You to Your face.” --- Once again the Lord spoke to Satan and said (Vs. 6); --- Behold, he is in your power, only spare his life.” --- The Lord granted permission to Satan to anything to Job, inflict the most horrible pain, so long as he did not kill him. Consequently, poor Job came down with all these boils. Have you ever had a boil? I have and they can be very, very painful from all the poison that gathers up all around each boil. But Job had boils from head to toe, all over his pain wracked body.
Then as if things couldn’t get worse, his wife comes up to him and said, “Why don’t you just curse God and die?” Job’s response is found in 2:10; --- “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?” Job said, I will not curse my God. He did not sin with his lips.
Next thing we know, is that these three friends come to Job with their human philosophy and saying; --- “Now Job, you are suffering and the reason for your suffering is that you have sinned.” Their philosophy was that anytime a person was suffering, this was a sure sign that this individual was guilty of some kind of sin. Of course we know that when a person sins he suffers, but not all suffering is a result of sin. That’s vain philosophy. Job’s contention is; --- “I’ve not done anything to cause my God to do this to me.” In Job 10:7; --- “According to Thy knowledge I am indeed not guilty; yet there is no deliverance from Thy hand.” --- Now that’s what he told his friends, and that will cause you to appreciate what he had to say in Job 13:3. Job says; --- “But I will speak to the Almighty, and I desire to argue with God.” --- Now, let me suggest to you that you take this passage and let it burn in your heart. Job said, “The time has come when I want to speak with the Almighty and I want to reason and argue with my God.
Now the first thing I would call to your attention is what Job is affirming in that statement. When Job said, “I would like to speak to the Almighty and reason with my God”; he is affirming first of all the fact;
1. There is a God: --- Job, do you believe there is a God, and that He is real? --- “Yes I believe!” And when Job made this statement, he is affirming his faith in God.
I would like to remind you that back in Job’s day and time (just like today), there were many who absolutely denied the existence of God. --- Sometimes some people think they have come up with some form of “new wisdom” when they declare, there is no God. --- The Psalmist David declared in Ps. 14:1; --- “The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” --- But now if you were to go back in Job’s day and see old Job sitting among those ashes with all those festering boils completely covering his pain wracked body and ask him; --- “Job, I want you to prove to me that there is a God, how do you know, Job?” --- Job would look you square in the eye and say, “By faith I know God is!”
Mothers and fathers, here is something you should instill in your children’s minds and don’t ever be ashamed of it; and this is with the aim of is to simply teach your children that there is a God by faith. --- I’ve heard where children would come running home from school and ask their parents to prove the existence of God to them so that they could go back and prove it to some atheistic teacher who had tried to convince them that this God business is just a myth.
How do you want me to prove there is a God? Through some test tube? Through some kind of scientific reasoning? --- Let me tell you my friend about scientific reasoning; --- When it’s all over and done with, it still boils down to the fact that I believe there is a true and living God! It’s that simple. Of course I realize that there are those skeptics who would say that’s plain silly. And some of these people who teach the so called “theory of evolution”, and think they’ve discovered wisdom. --- Now I’ve never paid much attention to this evolution thing, for one thing, it changes so often. Back in my school days (I never went to college), but they were teaching this particular theory. Now this my friends is really getting with it! This is true wisdom if you want to call it that.THEORY: Someone just decided (they don’t know how or why), that dead matter mysteriously sprang to life and that somehow or another it got into the water and took on a life form. Then somehow this now live matter became a tadpole. --- Then later this tadpole crawled up out of the water and morphed into a reptile. Then a few million years later they found that thing up in a tree identified as a monkey. --- Lo and behold this one monkey developed a sore on his tail. The sore got to itching and bothering the monkey so bad that he proceed to rub that sore spot against a limb, and finally he just kept rubbing until his long tail fell off. --- Then when he mated with the next monkey they had a short tailed monkey and that’s one reason we are not like the monkey that way today. --- Now that’s real wisdom, isn’t it? As a matter of fact, we don’t have a tail at all. But then you come along and say; --- “I believe that God is the creator of all heaven and earth and everything in it.” --- Don’t you ever be ashamed to say; “I believe in God.” That’s real faith.
Now, the second thing I would like to point out for your consideration. Job is not only affirming that there is a genuine God, but also that;
2. God is a Person: --- God is a being, a personality. Listen to what Job is saying; --- “But I will speak to the Almighty, and I desire to argue with God.” --- And that’s the contrast between the God Job believed in and the god of idols. You can’t speak with and reason with an idol. You just try it sometime. Carve one out of wood and set it somewhere and try to talk to the dumb thing and see if it will talk back to you. --- Smack him in the face and see if he will curse you. Ask him to bless you and see if he will. He can’t do one thing but just stand there.
But our God is alive, He is the genuine thing. And Job said, “I want to speak with the Almighty.” --- Job is affirming that my God is most surely alive, that my God is real, and I would this day that I might impress upon the hearts of young men and young ladies to believe and understand that God is alive and He is always there for us. One of the most beautiful hymns we sing sometimes, written by bro. A.W. Dicus; “Our God, He Is Alive”: --- “There is beyond the azure blue, a God concealed from human sight. He tinted skies with heav’nly hue, and framed the world with His great might. --- There is a God, He is alive, in Him we live, and we survive; From dust our God created man, He is our God, the great I AM.”3. God is Near: --- This is the third thing which Job is affirming. Job, where are you? “Down here on earth.”
Where is God? --- “Up in heaven.” --- Well can you talk to Him Job? Job said; “I want to speak with the Almighty.” --- Do you mean that you are going to talk with Him face to face? Job said, “Oh, no.” --- Job said that even though God is in heaven and I’m down here on earth, God is close enough that I can talk to Him and pour my heart out to Him, and I want to talk with my God.
Sometimes I wonder if we truly realize just how near God is. --- Do we get the notion that since He’s way off up yonder and we’re down here on earth that He can’t really hear us? That I’m just talking to the wind? Or do I understand enough to know that when I speak unto the God of heaven, He is near enough to hear? --- Again quoting from the Psalmist in Ps. 145:18-19; --- “The Lord is near to all who call upon Him. To all who call upon Him in truth. --- He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He will also hear their cry and will save them.” --- So don’t you ever think you can get so far away from God (distant wise), that He cannot hear you. --- Now the forth thing that Job is affirming; 1. God is, 2. God is a person, 3. God is near; but also;
4. God Cares: --- You know, when you study your Bible, sometime you need to just close your eyes (I didn’t say close your minds), and try to visualize and go back and pretend you’re living back then and it will make so many things come alive for you. --- Now, try to visualize old Job sitting out there in the street, having those dirty, filthy sores all over his body and the young people come running by and laughing at him and kicking at him and making fun of him. These young people didn’t care about Job. Why, he was just an old man out there with ugly boils all over his body. What difference does it make to them about Job? --- And then there was those who walked by him saying; “Who is that man with those sores all over his body?” “Who is that man?” --- Then someone answered, “Why, don’t you know him?” “That’s old Job, he used to be the one who owned all that land out yonder and had so much wealth.” --- And they would say, “That’s Job?” And right on by him they would go. These people didn’t give one hoot about poor old Job.
But I’ll tell you my friends of one that cared; --- GOD CARED! --- And so Job said all the others may pass me by, they may forget about me, my friends may turn their backs on me, but my God cares and I want to speak to my God. And I want to reason with my God because my God is most concerned. --- Listen to the words of Job in Job 19:25-27; --- “As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, And at the last He will take His stand on the earth. --- "Even after my skin is destroyed, Yet from my flesh I shall see God; --- Whom I myself shall behold, And whom my eyes will see and not another. My heart faints within me.”
5. Greatest Honor: --- The fifth thing Job was affirming was that the greatest honor he ever had was to be able to talk to God. --- I call to your remembrance that before Job was afflicted by Satan, he was a very wealthy man and a very prominent and well known citizen. And when Job came to town all the people would greet him with honor. Don’t you know that all the politicians of that day would stumble all over themselves just to shake Job’s hand? --- Politicians haven’t changed much, have they? They want money today and they wanted money back then and they knew Job had it.
Job, what’s the greatest honor you’ve ever had; talking to men who when they see you coming through the gates of the city they would run, saying, “Here comes Job”? --- Job said, “NO! The greatest honor I ever had was talking to God! Because that’s something no one can take away from me.” --- Job is saying; --- “Now I would desire for you to know that my God is, He is alive, He cares for me and what a tremendous honor it is to talk to Him.This naturally brings me up to this point; --- What a great spiritual blessing it is to be able to talk about prayer and to be able to pray to the Almighty. A person needs to be able to talk with God and reason with God, and it makes no difference whether you’re young, old, rich or poor. --- Which in turn brings up a very serious question; ---
Where must a man be in order to talk with God?
Somebody might ask, “Do you mean to tell me that you have to be in a certain place such as a church building?” --- No! But I’ll inform you where you need to be; you must be IN CHRIST JESUS! --- Eph. 1:3; --- “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” --- Where must one be to receive spiritual blessings? Paul says by inspiration, in Christ.The apostle Peter goes on to explain by quoting the Psalmist in 1 Pet. 3:12; --- “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears attend to their prayers, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” --- So a man must be a righteous man, he must be in Christ and he must be in fellowship with God, or else God will not listen to him, nor answer his prayers. --- The prophet Isaiah put it thusly in Isa. 59:1-2; --- “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not so short that it cannot save; Neither is His ear so dull that it cannot hear. --- But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, so that He does not hear.”
Now that brings me to another serious question (one question always leads to another doesn’t it?); --- HOW does one get into Jesus Christ? --- Now suppose I were to advise you in the wrong direction in answer to this question, just look at what you would miss. --- You would first of all miss the salvation of your soul. You would miss the privilege and honor of talking to God, and this is the very reason I would urge you to open your Bible and make sure that I instruct you in God’s way and not in something I or any other man might say. The proper question; what did God tell a man he must do in order to get into Christ?
Gal. 3:27; --- “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourself with Christ.” --- Should one dare to ask, were they baptized into Christ without faith? Of course not. In Mark 16:16 our Lord said; --- “He that believes and has been baptized shall be saved;” --- Why do you suppose it is necessary for a man to go under the water in order to be forgiven of all past sin? Because God commanded it to be so and that’s the only reason I know why.
Accordingly, God said when an individual is baptized, he is baptized into Christ; and when he is baptized into Christ he has put on Christ (or the nature of Christ), and then, and only then is he able to go to the Father in prayer. --- Consequently, anyone who is not a Christian misses the wonderful blessing of speaking to the Almighty in prayer. This is what the apostle Peter refers to in 1 Pet. 3:12; --- “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and His ears attend to their prayer, But he face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” Please also note; Ps. 34:15-16.
Now then, why dear friend do you suppose Earl Wilburn needs to speak to God today? --- I know why Job did, but I need to be concerned as to why this writer needs to talk to the Father. --- And you know what else? I’m concerned about why you need to talk to God. --- I need to make this as plain and simple as I know how; I implore you, and I’m talking directly to your heart; if you are a Christian there are several reasons why you and I need to be talking to God.A. We need to be going to our God in prayer on behalf of our nation. The apostle Paul admonished young Timothy in 1 Tim. 2:1-3; --- “I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, --- for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. --- This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,” --- Now someone might say, “you’re not going to start preaching to me about saluting the flag are you?” Let me just say this; I wouldn’t be the least bit ashamed to. --- And furthermore, with all its faults, I love our country and a lot of men and women have shed their life’s blood just for the privilege we have to be able to come together in worship our God without fear of being mistreated in any manner, and we need to thank God for them.
I don’t know why it is that so many mothers and fathers will raise their children and they never talk to God about NOT letting them get into war; but rather they wait until their son or daughter gets into uniform to go to war, then all of a sudden they see the need to pray that God will somehow get them out of it.
Do you know what’s wrong with so many of us? --- We simply take far too much for granted don’t we? --- We think that God is just going to let this nation of ours stand on and on. How long will He let it stand? --- I just can’t help but wonder how long, when practically every time a man gets up in front of a microphone to make a speech he takes the name of God in vain, and when the name of God becomes nothing more than a by word (even among some claiming to be Christians). I just can’t help but wonder how much longer God will let a nation live that confesses faith in God in one breath and in the next, damns the precious name of God! We had better be doing some serious praying about our great country; --- if we don’t, who else will?
B. I need to go to my Father in prayer about my home life. This particular area is where we really should focus this whole lesson on. As the old adage goes; --- “As the home goes, so goes the nation”. We need to focus for now on my home life and your home life. In Eph. 6:1-4 the apostle Paul says; --- “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. --- HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER (which is the first commandment with a promise), --- SO THAT IT MAY BE WELL WITH YOU, AND THAT YOU MAY LIVE LONG ON THE EARTH. --- Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”
Any home without prayer is not the home God would have it be, and fathers, if the only time your children hear you pray is in a public prayer, then I pity you and I pity your children. --- Parents, we must be spending time teaching our children to believe in prayer. You may think you know all the answers to every problem, but I can assure you that there will come times when you are going to need help from a higher source than man’s wisdom.
C. I need to talk to God about my sins. Yes, MY sins. --- Every preacher, every elder, every teacher, every mother and father and every child of God needs to talk to God about their sins. The Bible says in 1 Jn. 1:9; --- “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (vs. 10) goes on to say; --- “If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His truth is not in us.” --- Please note that the apostle John included himself, and if the apostle John needed to talk to God about his sins, then rest assured, Earl Wilburn needs to talk to God about his sins. You know what one big problem is? --- A lot of our young people hear us confessing their sins rather than our own.
Now pay close attention to what I say; --- I should never let one night go by without speaking to God and reasoning with God and pouring my heart out to God asking my God to please forgive me of my sins. I would hate to know that had I died in my sleep I still had sin plaguing my soul.
D. I need to go to God in fervent prayer about those lost in sin and on the road to hell. --- Paul wrote to the church in Rome out of his great concern for the lost Israelites in Rom. 10:1; --- “Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation.”
Paul, let me ask you a question; are you not an Israelite by blood? --- Yes indeed I am says Paul. Are you praying that the Jews might be saved? --- Yes again. --- Then do you believe Paul that some of your own kin folks are going to be lost? --- Yes again. --- Well, what are you doing about it Paul? --- Paul says, well, for one thing I’m preaching to them of Christ crucified, but another thing I’m doing is that I’m praying that something might be said or done that would humble my fellow Jews and bring them to Christ.
I fail to comprehend how that anyone who claims to be a faithful Christian and yet not make the grade when it comes to praying earnestly for those who are lost and headed for a devil’s hell. --- You might have the finest of preaching, attend a host of classes on personal work, go out and knock on every door in your neighborhood on a weekly basis and still marvel as to why there are not more souls baptized into Christ; --- but have you possibly thought that it could be that we’re just not talking to God about the lost as often as we should? --- I need to talk to God about people who are lost and hell bound, that’s for sure. And another little line goes right beneath that; --- when you begin to realize that a person can die (perhaps someone close to you) and spend eternity in that place of outer darkness and burns with fire and brimstone, it will make you want to talk to God on their soul’s behalf. Now won’t it?
E. I need to talk to God about those who are sick. --- Now you talk about a fellow who sees the need to pray for the sick and injured, you’re looking at him. I believe what James says in Js. 5:16; --- “Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.” Question: --- Do you believe in modern miracles? No! So if you don’t, exactly how do you pray to God to heal the sick? Please notice with me the difference. --- I believe in prayer and I believe in praying for the sick and afflicted with all my heart. But I do not ask God to perform some miracle, for the days of miracles have long ago ceased.
But if one of our children were to get sick or injured we would take them to the doctor and pray to God that through the proper care and medications that child might be healed, wouldn’t we? --- But if I believed in miracles I wouldn’t even bother taking him to the doctor. It’s natural healing versus supernatural healing and Thy will be done and not mine. And finally;
F. I believe in praying at the time of death. Someone might well ask; --- “Do you mean to tell me that you believe in praying for the dead?” --- No sir, not at all. The bible teaches that after a person dies it’s too late to pray for them. Heb. 9:27; --- “And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once, and after this comes judgment;” We’re to pray for the living who may have lost some loved one.
For instance; at the time of the death of someone’s father, this can give you one of the most helpless feelings in the world. As you observe the wife, daughter and perhaps a son gathered around with tears streaming down their cheeks and looks of total despair in their faces that so often comes at the time of death.
You can’t turn to the wife and say; “There’s your beloved husband alive and well, there he is.” --- You can’t turn to the son and say; “Here’s your daddy, go on over there and give him a hug.” --- You can’t just smile at the daughter and say; “Look, your father is alive!” --- You simply don’t have the power to punch the button; you are absolutely helpless.
But dear friend, you are not helpless. You can say to this bereaved heart crushed family; --- Lets pray to God and reason with God that He will give this family strength and courage to bury their loved one and face life, looking to Christ. --- But dear one, when you are in such a condition that you can’t talk to God, you are in the most terrible condition.
If perhaps you are not a Christian and you continue in rebellion of God’s Divine will, one of these days you are going to cry out; “WHY, O WHY DIDN”T I OBEY GOD?” --- And wouldn’t it be a terrible thing if you are out of Christ, or not in fellowship with God and one of your children or one of your close relatives were badly hurt this very day and you cannot even talk to God about them? --- You may think you don’t need God, but there will come a time when you will desperately want to talk to Him.
Please don’t turn you heart away from the Christ who gave His life’s blood for you.
Humbly submitted
Earl Wilburn
Questions and comments more than welcomed: ewilburn@austin.rr.com Please don't delete this from your files, as who knows that while you may not at this time be moved by these scriptures, but perhaps in time you might want to refer back to this and come to know better the love of the Lord. --- EW
