Heaven’s Safety

I believe in miracles. I've seen a soul set free. Miraculous, the changing one, redeemed through calvary.

I've seen the lily push its way up through the stubborn sod. I believe in miracles, for I believe in God. Lord God Almighty, we need miracles.

Rain them down upon us, I plead. Amen. I am missionary Richard Yerby in Japan coming to you again from the steep mountains of central Japan this morning, driving up a winding mountain pass.

There was a black bear on the highway in front of me. He got out of my way and I went on my way without bothering to spend any time with him. Bears are increasing in number here down through the ages.

All the 20th century, just about, people enjoyed hiking and camping in these mountains. It's such as that, just about being completely quit because of the danger of bears. They have attacked several different people.

I can't recall if anyone has been killed by a bear, but I think so. But the Old Testament tells about the Lord punishing us with beasts of the earth. And we see them increasing in places, wild hogs, deer, eating up crops.

Wild hogs here destroy crops and they also attack people. Uh, truly we're living in perilous times. Makes me pray even more earnestly, even so come Lord Jesus.

Today is sermon number eight in my series on Job. I've titled it Heaven Safety as I've been preaching on safety several times. Job said, I was not in safety, neither had a rest, neither was a quiet.

And I want to pick up where I left off on my last sermon. As I was preaching against Christians, merchandising Jesus, selling books and recorded preaching and teaching. Some feel like they just must sell it in order to stay in business.

There's several Christians who never sell it and are firm testimony that that's not the truth. It's not necessary to sell Jesus to get it out the gospel in print or audio and such. And God have mercy on those who do it mainly for high profits.

And some of them do make high profits that filthy lucre and unrighteous mammon looks so appealing to them. God help us to love thee with all our hearts, not love mammon. I will continue where I left off the last time by saying, likely many Christians who merchandise the gospel honestly believe there's nothing wrong in doing so.

Still, if they are mistaken about that, which I totally believe they are, their sincere belief about it doesn't make it any more right. No doubt, many believe that require money in return for that which they minister is the only way that they can be able to continue getting out Bible teaching. I say, oh, ye of little faith, God have mercy on all of us for our lack of faith.

I believe the love of money, which is the root of all evil is one main reason Christians merchandise our savior and his holy word. They love money more than they love their precious Lord and more than they love obeying him and more than they fear upcoming judgment. And what a large price, large markup in price above cost there usually is on such written and recorded material.

How tempting that profit, that lucre is. Another main reason for selling Jesus that it just seems so unsafe to freely give Bibles books, audio, video, and such materials that cost money. No money will come in.

I'll go broke. I might be thinking along that line. Well, if it be so, then so be it.

Go broke and glorify God in your poverty instead of shaming him by putting him up for sale. Freely give Christ commands in Matthew, the gospel of Matthew. Christ never said it was safe.

He simply commanded us to do it. And if you are like Job, you will not be concerned about safety in this matter. Your foremost concern should be obedience to the righteous judge of all the earth.

When my heavenly Lord and Master called me to serve him as a missionary in Japan, he made it clear to me that I was to never, ever sell him in any fashion at all. He also led me to not stick a money bucket under people's noses, that is, take up an offering, when I assemble people in his name. When anyone freely gives unto me, I receive it with thanksgiving, pray for our Lord to repay them fourfold or more, and use it in the Lord's work.

But I don't sell the words of the Bible to anyone. I give them free, nor do I take up offerings, nor do I make appeals for money, because I know it greatly glorifies God who refrained from doing these things. And I don't care at all about how unsafe it may be, because I do want to glorify my God, the God of great glory.

I also want to be like Job, perfect and upright. You pray for me that I will be perfect and upright in my Lord's sight. During my first 10 years as missionary here in Japan, my Lord instilled such a burning desire within me to get out the gospel to the multitudes of lost Buddhist Japanese idolaters around me, that often I would use most of what little money that came in to buy Bibles and other literature to get out free to lost Japanese.

And sometimes that would result in me going without anything to eat for days or even two weeks or more at a time. But praise God, that was being like Job too, as he said in chapter 23, verse 12 of Job, I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food. You ever harbor any attitude like that? That's how necessary each of us should esteem the words of God.

And I thought that with those words so necessary to us believers, how much more necessary should I consider those words of eternal life to the masses of lost and dying souls around me, perishing daily. So it just seemed a natural thing to do, to buy Bibles and good Christian literature for those perishing souls, instead of buying food for me. Let's pray, Almighty Lord God, please help me to esteem the words of thy mouth just as highly as Job esteemed them.

I pray that all of us souls on earth would do this also, amen. After I've been in Japan 10 years or so, I began tent making as the Apostle Paul did to earn his living. At times I have worked four part-time jobs while also preaching the word.

In the late 20th century, sometimes I worked 20 hours a day or so. Now in the year 2025, my ancient carcass doesn't hold up to such a long day, but I still labor to my ability and ever am so blessed by it. It is so blessed it be.

Some of you might be wondering, well, just how old is that old missionary? I want you to read in my autobiography to find out. My autobiography is on my website. That website is christisall.us. Separate the three words with two dashes, christ-is-all.us, and open up the book link, and I think the first one listed on my list of books is my autobiography titled, We Are Journeying.

And if you want to read chapter three of that autobiography I tell of my birth and when it happened, I invite you there. I thank God that he honored what I did, blessing my obedience by steadily adding an increase of funds so that to date, the year 2025, by God's grace and from his most abundant provision, I have freely given away over 30 tons of Christian books, literature, and Bibles in several different countries, mainly the U.S. and Japan. God be the glory for this that I have been able to impart so much for free, though I have no sympathy for those who say I must put a price on it.

Don't come around me with that finding. Therefore, I well know from experience that it is not necessary at all to put a price on Bibles and Bible literature in order to keep a new supply coming in. Other Christians who have obeyed Christ's command to freely give have also found that to be true.

You who merchandise our Savior are without an excuse for shaming him so. Offering him to people for a monetary price, just as the merchants of the world offer their worldly merchandise to the public. Laying it safe by requiring a monetary return on that which costs us money should not be considered at all.

Instead, obedience to the Bible is our only option in such spiritual matters. Don't think about the safety of your wallet. Be like Job and be able to say, I was not in safety.

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, this is quite a surprise to me to hear that it is a sin to sell Bibles, Christian literature, and such. Seeing so many Christians do it makes it hard to believe that it is wrong.

In my doubts, I need thee to clearly tell me if it is wrong to do such. Please, Lord Jesus, in thy Holy Spirit, give me clear discernment in this matter, a strong desire to do right in it, and help me to always obey thee regarding this. Amen.

Lord Jesus, I now pray also for the many people who do merchandise the gospel, because if it is a sin to do so, there sure are a lot of people in a heap of trouble with thee, the judge of all the earth. If those who sell the gospel are doing wrong, please send thy Holy Spirit to convict them of it, and by thy power help them to cease doing it. Lord, thou knowest that we are weak and frail humans, and must have thy help to do that which is right and which glorifies thee.

So I beg of thee to please give us that help. Thank thee, Lord, for hearing and answering this prayer. Thank thee for dealing with many Christian believers to do right.

Amen. Not being in safety was the top priority of this perfect and upright man named Job. Therefore, I believe it was the main thing which made him so great and pleasing in God's sight, so perfect and so upright in God's sight.

A handful of believers with the same priority can turn their world upside down for Christ. I want you to be one of them, but most important of all, God, your creator, desires that you be like Job in this matter. Daily call on Almighty God to help you overcome your human weaknesses and to help you to be brave like Job.

God is your helper. Boldly stand against Satan, sin, and wrong. When the devil gets mad and says, I'll kill you, then you reply, that's all you can do, you old murderer.

Then fight back at him even harder. Love your Lord God more than you love your own physical life, your own skin. The devil is completely powerless against such a believer, and that believer is the powerful weapon on earth that God has against the forces of evil, because nothing short of death can possibly stop him.

Revelation 12, 11 says of the overcomers, and they love not their lives unto the death. What can the devil do against such a person? Sure, he can kill his physical body, and as soon as he does, two or three more believers of light persuasion will immediately stand in his place to fight for the Lord of hosts. God delights to have his armory full of weapons like Job.

Will you be one of them? I pray that you will. You please pray for me that I too will be like Job in this matter. I was not in safety.

It was the first thing that came to Job's mind when he thought about behaving himself as best he knew how before God. Lord God on high, please help us all to be more like thy servant Job. Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, please send thy Holy Spirit to teach me just how important and how pleasing it is to thee for me to be like Job by not being in safety. Create within me a burning desire to be exactly like him in this matter. By thy unlimited power, change me.

Make me bold. Give me the courage I need to stand for thee and to fight against evil. Help me, Lord, to also teach this matter of not being in safety to other Christian believers.

Please use me to guide and help many other Christians to become like Job, to put aside their own safety, and to boldly go forth conquering in thy name. Have mercy on me, Lord, and forgive me for having greatly failed thee in this matter up till now. And from now on, help me to do right concerning cowardice and seeking safety.

I pray for Brother Richard as he also desires to be like Job concerning safety. Please empower him to be like Job. I pray for all other Christians too that they will become like Job by not being in safety.

Truly, our help is in the name of the Lord. Please look down upon us in merciful kindness and help us all by granting these petitions of mine. Dear Heavenly Father, I most omnipray all this in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and for his precious name's sake.

Thank thee, Lord God in heaven, for hearing my cry, and thank thee for answering in an abundant measure. Amen. That concludes what I have to say on Job's confession of I was not in safety.

Next, he says, neither had I rest. So, I want to move on to that second outstanding characteristic of Job as he declares in Job 3, verse 26, neither had I rest. This is the second thing that came to Job's mind as he lamented the terrible disaster that had come upon him for no apparent reason.

Therefore, I believe it is his second priority in following God. What does this scripture mean? It means that Job would work for God all day, giving him a full day of labor. Then when the day's work was done and it was time to quit and rest, each and every day Job did not quit and rest.

But instead, many days he just kept right on working, giving God that overtime. He kept working when others rested. Right here is a major difference between a normal Christian believer versus one who will set the world on fire for God.

Overtime, burning the midnight oil. Right here is the cutting off place between the normal church and one that will turn the community to Christ. Overtime.

And anytime you see a Christian or a group of Christians or a church shaking up this old world for God, rest assured that they are giving God some overtime. Alone with God on high in intercessory prayer. Alone in Bible study.

Alone in sermon preparation. Alone in thanksgiving and praise to God. Going witnessing at every opportunity available.

Making opportunities to witness, visitation, bus visitation, rising early on Sunday morning and eating Sunday lunch after 2 p.m. in order to run that bus route. Out preaching in public. Passing out tracks.

Cleaning the church building late at night. Cutting the grass on the church lawn early Saturday morning. Running to the hospital any time of the day or not to comfort the sick and dying.

Neither had I rest. When the normal Christian worker has finished his normal day's work and has gone home to enjoy his evening meal, then enjoy his newspaper, TV, magazine, novel, computer, that beloved cell phone, easy chair, and such. Usually along with enjoying an abundance of delicious treats to eat, the Job-like believer will be laying aside rest often into the wee hours of the night.

Instead of resting and engaging in pleasure, he will be laboring for his Lord and Master. If he is like Job, he will not be at rest a lot of the time. Most people are at rest.

And anytime you see a church move in mountains for the cause of Christ, rest assured that there are many among the pastor, deacons, teachers, and other members who are giving God some overtime. Much of it doesn't show on the surface. Much of it is done alone and is not boasted about.

But when victories are being accomplished, rest assured that there are some Jobs who are toiling away after hours. Neither had I rest. Back in the late 1970s, I was listening to a recorded sermon by Dr. Jack Hiles, pastor of a church in Indiana, in which he mentioned that he recently had trouble delivering his Sunday morning sermon because of fatigue.

He said that the reason was because during the previous week, he had not gotten more than three hours of sleep any night. That is one reason Dr. Hiles accomplished so much for God. He often worked for God over 20 hours a day, and sometimes 24 hours a day when he prayed all night.

And people might argue, yeah, and that is what killed him at age 75. I think very likely so. And in time, while he was still living toward the end of his life, his severe brain fatigue was diagnosed as global amnesia.

I understand that's an official medical term for the brain naturally shutting down to rest when it is severely strained over an extended period of time. It just quits working for you for a period of time. He freely made his choice.

I personally do not go that far. But you think on the much that he accomplished during his life up until age 75. Amongst believers who accomplished much for their Lord, many of them do not reach extremely old age.

Many Joe Black believers shortened their time on earth by fervently laboring long hours with little rest. Typically, their long hours of labor go unnoticed by most people around them. Often much of this overtime is done alone, therefore not highly visible to others.

But our master is always carefully looking down on it with great interest. And even if no one else knows you are like Job in this matter of foregoing rest, your God is certainly aware of it. So let's do strive to please him concerning rest.

Long after the normal Christian has ended his day of labor and has entered into his daily relaxation and rest, the believer who's like Job will still be going at it hot and heavy many evenings, many nights, willingly laboring for his Lord and master. Neither had I rest. Look at Job practicing this second priority, rising up early to intercede in prayer.

In Job chapter 1, verse 4, And his sons went and feasted in their houses every one his day, and sent and called for their three sisters to eat and drink with them. To a large degree, Job's children are living to eat, drink, and make merry. But meanwhile, what is father doing while children are partying? Job chapter 1, reading verse 5, And it was so when the days of their feasting were gone about that Job sent and sanctified them and rose up early in the morning and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all.

For Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts, thus did Job continually. Being close to God, Job is concerned about their souls, and he knows how likely their merry feasting activities will make them careless and lead into sin, even if only careless thoughts of the heart and mind that displease God. So look at Job rising up early in the morning and interceding, offering up burnt offerings for each of them.

They are partying, playing, and being careless. Job knows that and also knows that there is a chance that his sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts, possibly without the guilty ones being aware of that sin. Job is not even sure that has happened, but to be on the safe side, while they are living it up and having a good time, he is going to intercede anyway.

He is going to be laboring for God on their behalf, looking out for their spiritual welfare. Neither had I rest, says Job. Christian parents, if you do not want your children to perish in eternal hellfire, then you must do much frequent and long interceding for them before the throne of grace.

In this evil high-tech world that the devil has built, there is so much sin and evil readily available that is highly appealing to young people. God forbid they get trapped in those cesspools, evil unthought of by any person until the late 1900s. My time is up now and I'm going to have to shut up.

Lord willing, I hope to continue next time. I love you and the Lord, I appreciate you. God bless each one of you.