(soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) >> All right, good morning, church family.
Happy Lord's Day. Hope you had a good week with the Lord. As always, it's a privilege for us to gather together for worship. And this morning, we're going to start with the hymn, "Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus." And like many hymns, this hymn was written in the midst of and as a result of great tragedy and loss.
In 1880, Louisa Stead lost her husband in a tragic accident when he drowned in the ocean trying to save a young boy. And it was from this experience of losing her husband in these dark moments of sorrow and grief that she turned to her savior, Jesus Christ, and she wrote the lyrics, "Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, just to take him at his word, just to rest upon his promise and to know, thus saith the Lord." And through these verses, Louisa expressed her complete reliance on God's promise and found peace and hope in trusting the savior who carried her through every trial.
So in the same way, as we sing this well-known hymn, may we find strength and solace in knowing that we serve a savior, we have a savior who loves us deeply and will carry us through every storm, every trial, every circumstance that life brings us. Let's sing together. >> 'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, just to take him at his word, just to rest upon his promise and to know, thus saith the Lord.
Jesus, Jesus, how I trust him, how I prove to more and more. Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus, oh, for grace to trust him more. I'm so glad I learned to trust the precious Jesus, the Savior, friend, and I know that he are with me, will be with me to the end.
Jesus, Jesus, how I trust him, how I prove to more and more. Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus, oh, for grace to trust him more. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, how I trust him, how I prove to more and more. Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus, oh, for grace to trust him more. Oh, for grace to trust him more.
>> All right. Good morning, church family. If you guys are here for the first time, welcome to Berean Community Church. We have a welcome table outside. So if you wanted more information about the church and just our core visions and what goes on during the course of the week, you can stop by there.
I have a couple of announcements that I want to just call your attention to. The first one is for all the ladies that are at our church. Next Saturday between 8 to about 12.30 p.m., we have a very special woman's conference, and the theme is Set Apart. If you haven't signed up for it already but you want to come, please do sign up so we can take into account how many refreshments we need, how many tables we need, et cetera, et cetera.
So it's $15, and a light breakfast is included. So if you have any questions, you can contact Nicole Mose. Two weeks from now, this is for all the members of our church, we have a mandatory members meeting, which is quarterly. And after this one, we're going to have a service fair.
So if you wanted to figure out how to serve in this church as we keep growing, there are going to be opportunities for you to just plug in and get involved as well. 2 p.m. Sunday, April 21st, we will have a fundraiser lunch, so you don't need to leave the campus.
Our career missions team is going to make food for us, and obviously you have to pay for it. So just know that that's going on as well. As we've been mentioning the last several weeks, we have a special seminar on May 4th at 9 a.m. here in the sanctuary, and we're going to be looking at how to think through biblically the sensitive subjects of abortion, birth control, and IVF, in vitro fertilization.
So don't miss that. We've moved things around our calendar so that everyone can participate and come to that. So the other announcements, you can look on your app or online. We're going to take a time of offering, and we have a physical box in the back over there near the exit.
Otherwise, you can give your offering to the Lord just through electronic transfer. And after the praise set, we're going to have our sister Hope Jin come up. She's going to share her testimony and be baptized. But let me pray for us. Lord, we come before you this morning just eager to hear from you, asking you to feed your sheep.
And, Lord, that you would take the center stage and that your word would be proclaimed, that Christ would be honored and held in high esteem, and that we would walk out of here as fed and changed people. So we thank you, Lord, for the joy of gathering together this Lord's Day, and pray this in Jesus' name.
(soft music) (crowd chattering) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) ♪ Now why the spirit I believe ♪ ♪ Is not the Father put to grieve ♪ ♪ The spotless Son for us ♪ ♪ Where the righteous judge of men ♪ ♪ Condemned before that debt of sin ♪ ♪ Now canceled at the cross ♪ ♪ Jesus all my trust is in your blood ♪ ♪ Jesus you rescued us through your great love ♪ ♪ You rescued us through your great love ♪ ♪ With atonement you have paid ♪ ♪ And by your death have fully paid ♪ ♪ The debt you have borne ♪ ♪ No wrath remains ♪ ♪ No wrath remains for us to face ♪ ♪ We're sheltered by your saving grace ♪ ♪ It's grateful with your blood ♪ ♪ Said Jesus ♪ ♪ Jesus all my trust is in your blood ♪ ♪ Jesus you rescued us through your great love ♪ ♪ How sweet, how sweet the sound of saving grace ♪ ♪ How sweet the sound of saving grace ♪ ♪ Christ died for me ♪ ♪ How sweet the sound of saving grace ♪ ♪ How sweet the sound of saving grace ♪ ♪ Christ died for me ♪ ♪ Steal my soul and owe this peace ♪ ♪ The merits of your great high peace ♪ ♪ You bought your liberty ♪ ♪ You lighted on his precious blood ♪ ♪ Don't fear your banishment from God ♪ ♪ Since Jesus said to me ♪ ♪ Yes he has ♪ ♪ Jesus all my trust is in your blood ♪ ♪ All my trust is in your blood ♪ ♪ Jesus you rescued us through your great love ♪ ♪ How sweet the sound of saving grace ♪ ♪ How sweet the sound of saving grace ♪ ♪ Christ died for me ♪ ♪ How sweet the sound of saving grace ♪ ♪ How sweet the sound of saving grace ♪ ♪ Christ died for me ♪ ♪ Jesus all my trust is in your blood ♪ ♪ Jesus you rescued us through your great love ♪ - Amen.
♪ I will trust my savior Jesus ♪ ♪ When my darkest doubts before ♪ ♪ Trust him when to simply trust him ♪ ♪ Seems the hardest thing of all ♪ ♪ I will trust my savior Jesus ♪ ♪ Trust him when my shape is small ♪ ♪ For I know the shield of Jesus ♪ ♪ Is the safest place of all ♪ ♪ Jesus, oh may Jesus ♪ ♪ Help me trust you more and more ♪ ♪ Jesus, oh may Jesus ♪ ♪ May my heart be ever yours ♪ ♪ I will trust my savior Jesus ♪ ♪ He has set his way as first ♪ ♪ And my path of life is chosen ♪ ♪ He leads to everlasting rest ♪ ♪ Jesus, oh may Jesus ♪ ♪ Help me trust you more and more ♪ ♪ Jesus, oh may Jesus ♪ ♪ May my heart be ever yours ♪ ♪ Jesus, oh may Jesus ♪ ♪ Help me trust you more and more ♪ ♪ Jesus, oh may Jesus ♪ ♪ May my heart be ever yours ♪ (gentle music) ♪ On that cross how it was laid ♪ ♪ How it was laid ♪ ♪ I can go now ever trusting ♪ ♪ In the one who died for me ♪ ♪ What can I do ♪ ♪ For your gift has given me ♪ ♪ Such mercy ♪ ♪ I can go now ever trusting ♪ ♪ In the one who died for me ♪ ♪ I can go now ever trusting ♪ ♪ In the one who died for me ♪ ♪ I can go now ever trusting ♪ ♪ In the one who died for me ♪ ♪ I can go now ever trusting ♪ ♪ In the one who died for me ♪ ♪ I can go now ever trusting ♪ ♪ In the one who died for me ♪ ♪ Jesus, oh may Jesus ♪ ♪ Help me trust you more and more ♪ ♪ Jesus, oh may Jesus ♪ ♪ May my heart be ever yours ♪ ♪ Jesus, oh may Jesus ♪ ♪ Help me trust you more and more ♪ ♪ Jesus, oh may Jesus ♪ ♪ May my heart be ever yours ♪ - Amen, you may be seated.
- Thank you. Okay. I was raised in a Christian family and grew up going to church. God blessed me with family and friends who have prayed for me my whole life and who brought me to solid Bible teaching churches. Throughout my life, the Lord has shown me so much mercy by giving me an easy time to spite my ignorance, sinfulness, and acknowledge selfishness.
Growing up, I never had doubts that the facts of the Bible were true. During elementary and middle school, I probably would have told you that I was a Christian 'cause I believed that Jesus died on the cross for my sins. My life, however, was no reflection of this. I didn't consider the Lord and his way, and his will in the way I lived my life, and I kept myself at the center of my thoughts and actions.
Every decision I made and desire I had was rooted in pride, and I had no thought to devote anything the Lord had blessed me with back to him. Looking back, though, even though I knew the Bible to be true, I had not accepted it as truth in my own life.
I had failed to acknowledge the weight of my own sin and my need for a Savior. Around high school, God revealed to me my lack of true salvation. I knew that I hadn't truly accepted Christ as my Savior because I had no assurance of faith. Despite that realization, I still carried on in my sinful ignorance.
I knew that works couldn't save me and that the prospect of my salvation had already been predetermined before the beginning of time, so I waited for the Lord to save me without seeking him back. Aside from routine attendance at church and the occasional prayer for God to save me, I was done in my walk with Christ.
By God's grace, I was able to go to college not too far from my home and continue going to the church that my family was attending at the time. Being in a campus ministry, I was struck by how many people young as I was had such a fervent and constant love for the Lord.
This piqued my interest, and the occasional thoughts I had about wanting to be saved before became more prevalent. It began to weigh heavy on me, and I became more eager for a relationship with God. Through this all, he blessed me with people in my life who could answer my questions and pray for me, and they all encouraged me to consider his death and resurrection and to pray to learn about the God I wanted to love.
In my search for him, I learned that my sin made me helpless before the throne. My sin kept me apart from him, and it's only by his mercy that I could have a relationship with him. Though I had said prayers of repentance before, I now understood why it was necessary.
Understanding more now how my own sins had crucified the son, I prayed a new prayer in which I repented and professed my desire to live a life for the Lord, submitting to his will and dismissing my own. The Lord was in full control of my salvation. None of this was my own doing, and it was all according to his will.
Since then, until my senior year, I went through occasional seasons of doubt about my assurance of faith. I doubted that the Lord had really saved me, but faithful leaders encouraged me to consider God's justice and promises. My doubt was rooted in lack of faith and a distrust of the Lord, which is a sin that hindered my spiritual growth.
This also called for repentance. As always, the Lord showed me mercy in granting me assurance, which has been such a blessing. I now desire and pursue a true relationship with him that's not driven by transaction, but by a love for my maker. As I've prayed for him to grow me in my faith, he has granted me peace in knowing that his plan is perfect.
As I've prayed for him to grow my love for his people, he has placed so many people in my life who faithfully reach out and offer me opportunities to join in fellowship. And as I asked him to help me love him more, he continually demonstrates his own love for me.
It's so clear that he has been good in my life. Though I have committed to life with the Lord and apart from my sin, I still struggle to set aside my pride and selfishness and I fail often. But compared to my life before Christ, I have an understanding that I can't overcome my sins by my own efforts.
My sanctification is his doing. It's clear that I can never do enough to be deserving of God's love and protection. And it's only through his grace that I'm a beneficiary of these things. Nothing I do will make me deserving and I love him for giving me these things, or for giving these things to me despite that.
I am here today 'cause I want to be baptized in an act of obedience to the Lord. I pray that in sharing my testimony with the body of Christ, the other members might hold me accountable to living out the gospel and being a light. (audience applauding) - Hope, why don't you come on up?
I've always kind of wanted to have baptisms where we dunk the person and then hold them down for about two minutes so they can experience what union with Christ in his death feels like. And then her dad said, "Let's do it." (audience laughing) I'm just kidding. But it's an honor to have Andrew up here with me.
You want to scoot up a little bit and take my left hand? It's gonna be quick, okay? It's not gonna be two minutes. (audience laughing) Hope, do you understand when you go into the water, you're being united with Christ in his death, and when you come out, you're united with him in his resurrection?
- Yes. - I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. (audience applauding) (audience cheering) - I'm always encouraged when we have just the father up here helping with the baptism. Most likely, this is an answered prayer from when the child was in the womb, and so this is a very special moment.
If you have your Bibles with me, please turn to the book of Job, chapter 42. And I want to read verses seven to nine. And it would be helpful for you to keep your Bibles open to Job as we will be flipping through it, or you can follow up on the screen.
Job 42, seven to nine reads, it came about after the Lord had spoken these words to Job that the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, "My wrath is kindled against you "and against your two friends, "because you have not spoken of me what is right, "as my servant Job has.
"Now, therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls "and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, "and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves, "and my servant Job will pray for you. "For I will accept him, so that I may not do with you, "according to your folly, "because you have not spoken of me what is right, "as my servant Job has." So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as the Lord told them, and the Lord accepted Job.
Let's pray together. Father, as your word is proclaimed, would you be just high and lifted up? Would you receive just the worship and the glory that you're due? Cause us, Lord, to listen, both with fear and trembling, but with great boldness and joy, knowing that you delight in your children.
We pray that your word will bear fruit in our lives, in this church, and in the community around us. So would you really bless our time together? We pray this in Jesus' name. So week after week, and Sunday after Sunday, we gather together like this for worship. We join together to sing of a God and to declare and affirm truths of a God who is infinitely different from us.
We have been created in his image, but we know, at least theologically, that his ways are not our ways, and his thoughts are not like our thoughts. And the scriptures tell us that as high as the heavens are above the earth, so are his ways and his thoughts so much higher than ours.
And there are biblical truths that most every one of us in this room will affirm as truth and consider to be in accord with sound doctrine. For example, God is good. God is love. He is worthy of all of our worship. Would you say amen to those three truths?
I would, and I believe most of you would as well. How about the next following statements? God is all-powerful, God's will is perfect, he makes no mistakes. Amen? A lot of you are nodding. If you are affirming that all the statements I just made are true, you are affirming then that God has not made one single mistake in your life.
Every single person, every circumstance, every humbling failure, every hardship, and even trauma has been ordained on purpose in your life by this God. This God who is good, this God who is love, this God who is perfect in power, and who is worthy of all of our worship. Not one single mistake.
Now there may be some discomfort now welling up in your hearts. There may be a slight disconnect in what you believe and confess to be theologically true from how you emotionally feel about these truths. There may be a little bit of a pushback in your heart, and it's possible that you can't quite put a finger on why.
God is good, he is just, he is merciful. In his goodness, justice, and mercy, God ordains affliction and suffering, even on those who are innocent, especially on those who are innocent. If you're coming up with a biblical theology, you cannot but land on this conclusion. And this suffering of the innocent, of the righteous, is very much a part of God's good, pleasing, and perfect will.
Our faith is founded on this. And by way of reminder, we just celebrated this profound truth a week ago as we walked through the events of the Passion Week, of Good Friday, and of Resurrection Sunday. Isaiah 53, four to five, reads, "Surely our griefs he himself bore, "and our sorrows he carried.
"Yet we ourselves esteemed him stricken, "smitten of God, and afflicted. "But he was pierced through for our transgressions, "he was crushed for our iniquities. "The chastening for our well-being fell upon him, "and by his scourging we are healed." Beautiful passage. And this Isaiah 53 passage continues on in describing the suffering, innocent Messiah, and it gets even better, and more profound, and more uncomfortable in verse 10.
"The Lord was pleased to crush him, putting him to grief." The Lord was pleased to crush him. Again, these are all truths that we affirm, truths that we confess, but truths that nonetheless leave us feeling a little uncomfortable, or a lot uncomfortable. The Lord's ways are not our ways, the Lord's thoughts are not our thoughts.
In God's people, week after week, we do our best to worship in spirit and in truth, and at times, this in-truth part may be profoundly uncomfortable. And this has always been the case. So it's no shock that a book like the Book of Job, filled with uncomfortable doctrinal truths, has been a beloved book of God's people for thousands of years.
Some believe that the Book of Job may even be the first book written in the Old Testament. It's a very uncomfortable book. And at the same time, it's a very comforting book. The passage that I read for you in the beginning is found in the very last chapter of the Book of Job.
Job 42.7.9 comes just after one of the greatest statements of worship we see in the entire scriptures. And it comes just before we read about God's double-recompensing Job for all that he suffered and lost. And Job 42.7.9 is the passage that we'll primarily be looking at today and launching off of.
And Job 42 reads like a standard happy ending. But if you're familiar with the book, you know that the first 41 chapters are filled with nothing remotely happy. Most people immediately think of the theme of suffering when the Book of Job is mentioned. And suffering, of course, is the backdrop of the book.
A good, loving, all-powerful God will allow his beloved children to suffer. It is profound and mysterious, but the book ends with a great reward for Job, the persevering, suffering servant. And because of this, and because we all like happy endings, it's a well-loved book for many Christians today. Nadrez, if you like the Book of Job, you've read it.
Yeah? The Book of Job has long been one of the favorite books of the Hebrew nation as well. And but for reasons beyond the seemingly unfair sufferings of a righteous man, the Book of Job is a fascinating book. Job the man is a very fascinating character. First of all, there is no indication that Job is an Israelite.
The Book of Job begins with a mention of a place that is outside of Israel in the land called Uz, which we cannot easily identify today. The geographical places named in the book suggest that Job is a Gentile, likely an Edomite. No one knows who wrote this lengthy book.
No one knows when it was even written. But most scholars place Job after the time of Noah and before the time of Abraham. And as I mentioned before, it could very well be the oldest book in the Bible. And what's fascinating is you have to remember the people of Israel are a very proud, ethnocentric people, and yet this book, whose main character is a godly non-Israelite living outside the borders of Israel, has been celebrated throughout all of Israel's history.
There is not a mention of any Mosaic law or any significant covenant. Without any acquaintance with Moses and the prophets, it nevertheless appears that Job is intimately familiar with the god of whom Moses and the prophets spoke. The Book of Job uses the name Yahweh 31 times. And we don't know how Job learned it.
We don't know why he uses it. We know from Exodus chapter 33 that no mortal man can see God and live, but it seems that this Gentile man beheld God with his physical eyes. Again, fascinating. Who was this man? How righteous was this man that he didn't perish upon beholding Lord Yahweh?
So it almost feels like a fairy tale for the Hebrew people. It would be a natural and logical thing to categorize the Book of Job as a fairy tale if not for all the mentions of Job and references to the Book of Job all over the Bible. Many Psalms read similarly to sections of Job.
King Solomon, it looks on the surface, borrowed from Job as there are many parallels to verses in Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. Isaiah chapter 40 verse 13, Isaiah quotes Job. The prophet Ezekiel mentions Job. And to help us to understand how real and how historical Job the man was to the people of Israel, I wanna read you a couple verses from Ezekiel.
Chapter 14 verses 13 to 14. Son of man, if a country sins against me by committing unfaithfulness and I stretch out my hand against it, destroy its supply of bread, send famine against it, and cut off from it both man and beast, even though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job were in its midst, by their own righteousness they could only deliver themselves, declares the Lord God.
So Yahweh God speaks of Job to the prophet Ezekiel. Job is a Gentile man, and he is and has always been a well-known symbol and beacon of righteousness to all the people of God. The Apostle Paul quotes the book of Job twice, Romans 11.35 and 1 Corinthians 3.19. The first is a quote from Job 41.11, the second one is out of Job 5.13.
Now this is a pretty lengthy introduction, but since this contains a somewhat familiar story, and because many people have varying thoughts, presumptions, and opinions on this book, I wanted to hedge in our thoughts and our collective focus. And I wanted to anchor our understanding that the main character of the book of Job is not Job the man, but omniscient Yahweh, who is sovereign over all the universe.
Make sense? The main character of the book of Job is not the man Job, it is God. The main character of the book of Job is Yahweh God who burns with anger at false doctrine and misrepresentations of his nature. He is a God who burns with anger when he is misrepresented, but one who absolutely delights in his servants, especially when they speak rightly of him, even in the face of suffering.
So I wanna provide you with the outline of Job 42, verses seven and nine, to help you track the thought flow through this passage. And hopefully the title of the sermon, God's Suffering Servant, helps you remember and track the outline. God's Suffering Servant. First, we're gonna look at verse seven, the character of God.
And you see God's anger burn against three well-meaning individuals. And then conversely, we can see what delights the heart of God then we're gonna be looking at the second point, just the backdrop of suffering, and we're gonna be looking through the context of the book of Job for this, especially chapters one and two.
And then we'll be looking at the third point, which is the acceptance of a servant, verses eight and nine. The Lord calls Job, my servant Job, six times in the book, and three times in verse eight alone. So it's almost with a great sense of pride that God refers to Job, as we'll soon see.
Verses eight and nine mention twice that God accepts Job for the purpose of forgiving the folly, the heresy, and the blasphemy of his three friends. So it's fascinating. And we're gonna look into that. And then at the end, we're gonna see what appropriate responses and applications that we can draw today from this ancient but timeless text.
Okay, so let me read Job 42, seven to nine again for us. It came about after the Lord had spoken these words to Job, that the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, my wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends, because you have not spoken to me what is right as my servant Job has.
Now therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams. Go to my servant Job and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves, and my servant Job will pray for you, for I will accept him so that I may not do with you according to your folly, because you have not spoken to me what is right as my servant Job has.
So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Amethyte went and did as the Lord told them, and the Lord accepted Job. So we get a glimpse into the character of God in verse seven. And in these verses, we can observe that God's anger and his delight are connected with his glory and to the truths of his character and nature.
And that's consistent with other parts of scripture. God must and will be presented as holy, amen? All creation must accurately declare the glories of God. And in verse seven, we see that God's anger, his wrath is kindled by misrepresentations of him from Job's three friends. You have not spoken of me what is right.
So from Job chapter three to chapter 31, there are three cycles of dialogues between Job and his three well-meaning friends. And as a result, God's anger is kindled. But before we look into why God's anger burns, I wanna walk us through what Job's three friends did right. Okay, so if you have your Bible, turn to Job chapter two, verses 11 to 13.
Now, when Job's three friends heard of all this adversity that had come upon him, they came each one from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Amethyte, and they made an appointment together to come to sympathize with him and comfort him. And when they lifted up their eyes at a distance and did not even recognize him, they raised their voices and wept.
And each of them tore his robe. They threw dust over their heads toward the sky. And then they sat down on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights with no one speaking a word to him, for they saw that his pain was very great. So in some ways, these three men, they get a pretty bad rep.
And unfortunately, their bad rep has been recorded for all of human history. But they were very well-meaning. And that's more than evident. They hear of Job's suffering, and then they intentionally come together to sympathize and to comfort Job. And I believe that they were genuinely horrified at Job's appearance and his lot.
And they wept. This is a loud weeping. It's a wailing. Job's body is covered from head to toe with horrible boils and slimy blisters. He was their friend who had lost everything. So they wept. And these three men sat and camped with him for seven days and seven nights.
I don't know how many of us could sit just silently with someone for even seven awkward minutes. But these three men just sat for seven days and seven nights without speaking a word to him. So they're good friends. So what did they do? And what did they say that was so wrong, wrong enough to incur the wrath of God?
I combed through chapters 3 through 31. And if you comb through chapters 3 through 31 and carefully examine these men's speeches, it's actually very difficult to discern where they were wrong. Some of what they said would actually make very good Bible memory verses. And I'll give you a sample of something Eliphaz the Temanite said.
Job 5.13, "He captures the wise by their own shrewdness, and the advice of the cunning is quickly thwarted." Does this look familiar? This is what Apostle Paul quoted in 1 Corinthians 3.19 as scripture. So how did these men err in what they said? The overarching assumption of these men was that Job was suffering because he had done something wrong, because he had somehow violated God's laws.
If you suffer, that means you offended God and God is cursing you. That was their logic. And though it is true that there are serious consequences and repercussions to our sins, Job was simply suffering because God purposed it. God okayed it. God had determined it to be part of his good, pleasing, and perfect will.
Job had done nothing wrong. And Job's good, loving, omnipotent God purposed his sufferings. And he was justified in doing so. He remained good in doing so. He was still the everlasting God of love in doing so. He delighted in Job while doing so. God allows for suffering, and this allowing of suffering does not go against his attributes of goodness, love, wisdom, and justice.
And I want to repeat that. God's allowing for suffering, and this does not go against his attributes of goodness, love, wisdom, and justice. God is creator. He is a king of kings and lord of lords. He's the author of life. He is the potter. You and I are but the clay.
God ordains man's physical sufferings from disease. God ordains emotional suffering of loss, disappointment, and tragedy. He ordains financial ruin. He ordains social suffering. He even ordains national sufferings, and yet remains a God who is perfectly good, perfectly loving, and perfectly just. Are you uncomfortable yet? Is there not some discomfort that is in your heart?
Job's three friends fail to affirm all of these truths. And though Job becomes more and more whiny throughout the course of the book-- man, this man just whines throughout for chapters. He becomes super whiny. And though he complained a bunch of how all of his sufferings felt unfair and unjust, he almost always spoke rightly of God.
So I want to read a couple of passages for you. Job 1, 20 to 22. "Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head. And he fell to the ground and worshipped. He said, 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 of this, Job did not sin, nor did he blame God." Job 2, 9 to 10. "Then his wife said to him, do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die." Satan was strategic in leaving the wife alive.
"But he said to her, you speak as one of the foolish women speaks." So he's calling his wife a dummy. "Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity? And in all this, Job did not sin with his lips." So in this confession, Job points to God as not only the source of good, but also the source of adversity.
We need to watch our lives and doctrines closely. We need to accurately proclaim the excellencies of God and present him as holy, as completely other, far different from us. We don't need to try and sugarcoat difficult doctrines to make them more palatable to the world. We never need to apologize for God.
We just need to know God and make him known accurately. Amen? As Charles Spurgeon once said, the word of God is like a lion. You don't have to defend the lion. All you have to do is let the lion loose, and the lion will defend itself. Blasphemy, by definition, is an impious utterance or action concerning God.
So it's to speak defiantly or irreverently about God. Blasphemy. Heresy is belief or opinion contrary to any biblical truth of God. So any form of these misrepresentations of God kindles his anger. When we suffer or when those around us suffer, this doesn't mean that we go up in their face and says, God has ordained this.
Ha, ha. Like, you don't do that. It doesn't mean that we don't act with grace and compassion. We don't-- it doesn't mean we don't listen. But we must always take care not to fail in speaking of God what is right, especially when we see or when we are going through great suffering.
We need to weep with those who weep. But while we weep, it is absolutely imperative to take great care to represent Yahweh God accurately. Amen? This brings me to our second point, which is the backdrop of the suffering. If you have your Bibles, I'd like for you to turn to the beginning of the book of Job.
If you're new to the church or to the faith and you've never heard of Job, allow me to help you get better acquainted with him. Job chapter 1, verses 1 to 3. "There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. And that man was blameless, upright, fearing God, and turning away from evil." I'm going to pause here.
Don't ever be so proud to think you are ever suffering like Job unless you're confident that you're completely blameless and upright like Job. So Job's suffering is unique. Verse 2. "Seven sons and three daughters were born to him. His possessions also were 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and very many servants.
And that man was the greatest of all the men of the east." So we see that Job is a righteous man. Job 1.1 describes him as one who was blameless, upright, fearing God, and turning away from evil. So we see that he has seven sons, three daughters, 11,000 animals, and very many servants.
So it's almost countless number of servants that he has. Countless. But he's going to be left with only four. Now I want to read down chapter 1, verse 6 to 9. "Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them.
The Lord said to Satan, 'From where do you come?' Then Satan answered the Lord and said, 'From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.' The Lord said to Satan, 'Have you considered my servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.' And then Satan answered the Lord, 'Does Job fear God for nothing?
Duh, you've blessed him.'" And we see that Satan, the accuser, comes into the presence of the Lord. And what this text reveals to me is that there is great delight and joy when God describes Job. Did you guys see this? He's proud of Job. I almost want to read it like, "This is my beloved servant Job, in whom I am well pleased.
Look at him." Then Satan asks permission to tempt Job by ruining his life. And unbeknownst to Job, God approves. Job 1 verse 12, "Then the Lord said to Satan, 'Behold, all that he has is in your power. Only do not put forth your hand on him.' So Satan departed from the presence of the Lord.
And on one single day, the following things happen. A group called the Sabaeans slaughter all of Job's many servants with a sword. They leave one alive. They take all 500 oxen, 500 female donkeys. And at the same time, the Chaldeans come. They slaughter all the rest of his servants.
They take 3,000 of his camels. They, too, leave one single man alive. At the same time, a great wind comes from the wilderness, blows a large house into the air, and drops it on all his kids while they're having a party. So all seven sons and three daughters and all of their young friends wiped out.
And what is called the fire of God, which is actually the fire that Satan wielded, burns up all the rest of the servants who are watching the 7,000 sheep, and they leave one. So on one day, Job loses all of his wealth. He loses all of his servants, with the exception of four.
And remember, Job is a righteous man and a righteous boss. And righteous bosses are very careful to tend to their people. They're all dead. He probably knew them by name. He probably cared for them, loved them, gave them provisions, all dead. And then he lost every single one of his 10 children, horrible in and of itself, and all their friends, whom he probably loved as well, whose parents were his friends, probably.
So he has to face the accusation, because of you, our kids are all dead. And he has no explanation. He has no defense. So imagine the overwhelming grief, the guilt, the pain. The money being gone is nothing compared to everything else. And it says at the end of the first day, we looked at that passage earlier, that Job fell to the ground and worshiped and did not sin or blame God.
Strike one, Satan, he failed. He failed in his efforts to tempt Job. And then we get to chapter 2. Satan asked permission a second time. And again, unbeknownst to Job, God gives Satan permission to mess with even Job's body and his health. And the only thing, the only rule that Satan has to follow is to not go all the way and kill him.
Job 2, 6 to 7, so the Lord said to Satan, behold, he is in your power. Only spare his life. Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. Job chapter 2, verse 7, there are boils from the sole of his feet to the crown of his head.
I looked up what a boil was, because I've never had one. A boil is a very painful, pus-filled bump that forms under the skin when bacteria infect and inflame one or more of the hair follicles. You guys track it? The average human body has 5 million hair follicles. Oh, Job got messed up.
Job is suffering. His is a holistic suffering, physical, social, emotional, financial, marital, and probably spiritually, he had tons of questions. And though he does not sin, Job asks many chapters worth of questions that have since been posed by humanity for centuries upon centuries. How can a good God allow for the suffering of those he loves?
Have you guys heard people ask that before? Job asks, and God never gives an answer. Very important question. Job does not get an answer from the God who delights in him. Chapters 38 to 41, God actually shows up and rebukes and silences Job. Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge?
Where were you when I laid the foundations of the world? Tell me if you have knowledge. And Job is never made aware of the fact that the primary reason for his suffering was God's delight in him. The primary reason for Job's suffering was God's delight in him. He is never told that all hell on earth broke loose into his life, not because of sin, not because of unrighteousness, but because he was righteous.
Because there was no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil. So as far as we know, Job is never told of Satan's requests, never told of his activities. But one thing we do know is Satan, the current prince of the world, has to ask permission.
He has always had to ask for permission. Luke chapter 22, in the New Testament, Jesus tells Peter that Satan has asked permission to sift the disciples like wheat. You guys know this passage? It reads, "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat. But I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail.
And you, once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers." So to sift like wheat means to shake someone apart, to break someone down, to irreversibly injure. And what's very insightful here is that the "you" in verse 31 is in the plural. The rest of the "you's" are all in the singular.
So Satan has demanded permission to sift you all, all the apostles, all you disciples, like wheat. But Jesus says, "I have prayed for you," singular Peter, in regard to whatever Satan had wanted to unleash on Peter to dissuade or to harm Peter, to cause Peter to be just like Judas, Jesus said, "No." And that "but" at the beginning of verse 32 is a very important and operative word.
There are things that take place in our lives and in our world because Satan temporarily is maneuvering behind the scenes. And that should not come as a surprise. Ephesians chapter 6 tells us that our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
But for us who have put our faith in Christ Jesus, we have confidence in a few things, right? We learn from scriptures like Romans 8 that there is no condemnation now for us who are in Christ Jesus. Nothing can separate us from the love of God. You are eternally secure if you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen? Tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword may and will be ordained for your life here. For all who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. Try not to run away from that. But if you are in Christ, if you persevere in his grace, you are going to hear, "Well done, my good and faithful suffering servant." This brings us to our third point, the acceptance of a servant.
Job 42.8, "Now, therefore, take for yourself seven bulls and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves. And my servant Job will pray for you, for I will accept him, so that I might not do with you according to your folly, because you have not spoken to me what is right, as my servant Job has." So Eliphaz, the Temanite, Bildad, the Shuhite, Zophar, the Naamathite, went and did as the Lord told them, and the Lord accepted Job.
So God tells Job's three friends to offer a sacrifice of seven bulls and seven rams. And the only other place we see this in the scriptures is Numbers 23 by Balaam, the false prophet. So this may have been some kind of traditional burnt offering for sin, but God commands them to go and receive prayer from Job.
Now, we see this sort of thing in other parts of the Old Testament. But Job's three friends are told to go and receive prayer from Job, and from the text, it appears that they were to go to Job for God's forgiveness, not so much for any kind of healing.
And Job is functioning like a priest here. The prayers of Job, the righteous man, would be powerful and effective for the forgiveness of their sins. This is fascinating. I find Job to be one of the most Christ-like figures in the Old Testament. Job was God's beloved, accepted servant. He is blameless and upright.
He suffers in every way imaginable. He is made an example. He is afflicted. He is misunderstood. And like the suffering Messiah, Job, too, is esteemed by those around him as stricken, smitten of God, afflicted. And what's fascinating is that, like Christ, our great high priest, Job's intercession leads to the forgiveness of these blasphemers and the heretics.
It's fascinating, because even in the text, it doesn't say God receives Job's prayers. Your ESV and your NIV says God accepts Job's prayers, but the word "prayer" is not attached to those words in the original language. So if you look at the NASB or the LSB, it just says God accepts Job.
Fascinating stuff. So what are we supposed to take home from what we're seeing here? What are we supposed to make of this? Well, first, if you feel like you can relate more to Job than to his three friends, I want to rebuke you for your pride. You and I are way more like Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar than we are like Job.
Amen? All right. We resemble those three dumb, flawed men more than this righteous, suffering servant. So how do we respond? Well, first, when we encounter God's truths, even in our seasons of great suffering, we need to respond like Job did. I want to point your attention to Job 42, 1 through 6.
Then Job answered the Lord and said, "I know that you can do all things "and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. "Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?" And he's quoting God. "Therefore, I have declared that which I did not understand, "things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
"Hear now and I will speak. "I will ask you and you instruct me. "I have heard of you by the hearing of the ear, "but now my eye sees you. "Therefore, I retract and I repent in dust and ashes." So the only appropriate application is repent, worship, and trust.
The world has no answer or explanation to a Christian's joy in the midst of great suffering. God wastes nothing. He ordains all things either for your sanctification or for the sanctification of others. In other words, God ordains all things either for good or for your good. Perhaps God is using your life.
Repent, worship, trust, intercede. And I'll leave you with a passage that is very full of application. It comes from James 5:10-16. "As an example, brethren, of suffering and patience, "take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. "We count those blessed who endured. "You have heard of the endurance of Job "and have seen the outcome of the Lord's dealings, "that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.
"But above all, my brethren, do not swear "either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath, "but your yes is to be yes and your no, no, "so that you may not fall under judgment. "Is anyone of you suffering? "Then he must pray. "Is anyone cheerful? "He is to sing praises.
"Is anyone among you sick? "Then he must call for the elders of the church "and they are to pray over him, "anointing him with the oil in the name of the Lord. "And the prayer offered in faith "will restore the one who is sick, "and the Lord will raise him up, "and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.
"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." Fascinating stuff. In the beginning of the book, it says, "Consider it all joy, my brothers, "when you encounter various trials, "because you know that the testing of your faith "produces endurance." If the Lord has ordained suffering in your life, it may actually be so that he will use you to minister to other people through your worship.
Trust him. And when others around you suffer, proclaim his truths and move them to trust him as well. Amen? Let's pray together. Lord, I thank you for just your word, for your examples that you give us in your book. You are God in heaven, we are on earth. Lord, help our words just to be few and cause us to worship in spirit and in truth.
Spirit and in truth, no matter how uncomfortable at times that truth may feel. You are holy, you are the potter, we are but the clay. Do with us, as you will, for your glory, for we know that when you are glorified and magnified, we joyfully celebrate with you. We thank you, Lord, for this morning and pray this in Jesus' name.
Let us stand together for the closing praise. (gentle music) ♪ Worthy of every song we could ever sing ♪ ♪ Worthy of all the praise we could ever bring ♪ ♪ Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe ♪ ♪ We live for you ♪ ♪ Jesus ♪ ♪ Jesus, the name above every other name ♪ ♪ Jesus, the only one we could ever sing ♪ ♪ Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe ♪ ♪ We live for you ♪ ♪ Oh, we live for you ♪ ♪ Holy, there is no one like you ♪ ♪ There is none beside you ♪ ♪ Open up my eyes in wonder ♪ ♪ Show me who you are and fill me with your heart ♪ ♪ And lead me in your love to those around me ♪ ♪ Jesus, the name above every other name ♪ ♪ Jesus, the only one we could ever sing ♪ ♪ Worthy, worthy of every breath we could ever breathe ♪ ♪ We live for you ♪ ♪ Oh, we live for you ♪ ♪ Holy, there is no one like you ♪ ♪ There is none beside you ♪ ♪ Open up my eyes in wonder ♪ ♪ Show me who you are and fill me with your heart ♪ ♪ And lead me in your love to those around me ♪ Sing, I will build.
♪ I will build my life upon your love ♪ ♪ It is a firm foundation ♪ ♪ I will put my trust in you alone ♪ ♪ And I will not be shaken ♪ ♪ I will build my life upon your love ♪ ♪ It is a firm foundation ♪ ♪ I will put my trust in you alone ♪ ♪ And I will not be shaken ♪ ♪ Holy, there is no one like you ♪ ♪ There is none beside you ♪ ♪ Open up my eyes in wonder ♪ ♪ Show me who you are and fill me with your heart ♪ ♪ And lead me in your love to those around me ♪ ♪ I will build my life upon your love ♪ ♪ It is a firm foundation ♪ ♪ I will put my trust in you alone ♪ ♪ And I will not be shaken ♪ ♪ I will not be shaken ♪ - Now, may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the eternal love of God the Father and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with each and every one of us who worships in spirit and in truth now and forevermore.
Amen. ♪ God sent his Son ♪ ♪ They called him Jesus ♪ ♪ He came to love ♪ ♪ He went for gifts ♪ ♪ He went in doubt ♪ ♪ To buy my pardon ♪ ♪ An empty grave is there to save your land ♪ ♪ Because he lives ♪ ♪ I can face tomorrow ♪ ♪ Because he lives ♪ ♪ All fear is gone ♪ ♪ Because I know ♪ ♪ He holds the future ♪ ♪ And life is worth the living ♪ ♪ Just because he lives ♪ ♪ Sing like never before ♪