Job

Today on Renewing Your Mind.

Curse God. Joe curse God and die.

If you curse him to his face. Maybe then God in his rage will strike you dead and you will get some relief, but Job was patient and someone is facing gravely complete.

We often say the patience of Job's trials were by any measure about as devastating as anything we can imagine yet trusting God to do it today on Renewing Your Mind, Dr. RC Sproul continues a series great men and women of the Bible. I've had some funny experiences at teaching missions and speaking at conferences. So one of the things that happens frequently is that when I finished making a come down from the platform and people come up to me with their Bibles and asked me to sign their Bibles. Have you ever seen anything like that.

I never heard of such a thing. All my life may have all the speaker signatures all over the father Bible and they asked me to put down their my life verse and the first time I saw that I should much like excited no idea. I never knew the English tradition. The people have picking one verse out of the Bible and making that their life verse and so I was casting about trying to think of a burst that I could write down next to my name so I wouldn't look out of place in the only person selling the book without a burst verse that I chose was Romans 1212 or I believe Paul gives us a summary of the Christian life where he says there are three things that we have to do that we ought to rejoice in our hope to be patient in tribulation, and to be constant in prayer and when I think of what it means to be patient in tribulation, and defined the basis for my joy in our hope, which lies ahead. The person that I believe most embodies that triad of virtues that the apostle gives us is of course the most famous patient man of all time. Job is ever a man was subjected to tribulation and was called upon to hang on to his face and his devotion to God in the midst of travail. It was Joe in the time that we have. This morning I want to look briefly at the story of Job, you know how it begins it opens almost like the opening scene of a play or drama is about to unfold and we have a little glimpse into heaven, where Satan comes in in a belligerent mood. He's been rocking to and fro about the earth and he's challenging God and sort of making fun of God for the corruption of the human race. It's like he's gleefully sign look here, God of these people that you've made there on my side. They don't follow you. They follow after me and God says have you considered my servant Joe there's a man who is righteous. There's a man who loves me there's a man who obeys me but still Satan is cynical and he said ha does Job serve God for not what does that mean he sank to see serve you for nothing. Don't you see God that the only reason that he serves you is for what he gets out of it you put a hedge around him, you blessed him with all kinds of property he's probably the wealthiest man in the world. He has everything anybody ever could hope for property prestige children are lovely wife is romantically fulfilled everything he has. It certainly is a fair weather fan God take away his possessions take away his wealth and to be just like everybody else. So God makes a deal with Satan in the drama thousands of all right will put Job to the test.

I'll remove that hedge that I put around and I'll let you Adam you can go after his possessions.

You can go after his property, but you're not allowed to touch him. What happens Satan comes down and focuses all of the power of his malice against Job that he can muster. In fact, a part from Jesus and perhaps Adam and Eve in the garden. I doubt if anyone in the history of the world was exposed to a more violent attack on the person from Satan than Job was. So the story unfolds the drugs cattle are stolen and then God gives Satan more rope to use against Job and Job's children are killed and he is brought into a situation of unbearable grief and then as it gets worse.

His body is now exposed to Satan and he's attacked with miserable afflictions housing handle. We read in the third chapter of Job Job's complaint in verse one after this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. He said May, the day of my birth parish in the night that it was said is for Michael remember the day my son was in the nursing it's a boy.

What that means to a father is one of the happiest, most treasured moments in a person's life when their child is born, Job says made that they be cursed when that midwife came out of the tent and said it's a boy. When we do with the the day in the year that we are born we celebrated every year. It's her birthday.

It's a time of festivities of joy. Joe says May, my birthday be blot off the calendar, I really want to remember it today of darkness last morning stars become dogmatic rates for daylight in vain and not see the first rays of dawn court did not shut the doors of the room on me to hard trouble for my eyes. Why did I not perish at birth and I as I came from the womb. Job is saying I wish I would have been stillborn. Job pleads with God for one thing, he said God I have one request and one request only that I might Job wanted to die but he wanted to die with integrity.

His wife was so moved his suffering that she wanted to commit a mercy killing, as it were. She loved him so much that she came to him and she said what curse God. Job cursed God and die.

If you curse him to his face. Maybe then God in his rage will strike you dead and you will get some relief, but Job was patient, but patient, in the sense that he had a plastic smile on his face and was whistling in the dark through all of this misery and affliction, but he was patient in the sense that he did two things he hung on and he refused to curse God complaint, and he complained loudly that he challenge God as he asked a lot of questions, but even after he asked all of his questions. He made what I believe was one of the most heroic statements ever to come forth from the lips of a human being in the midst of abject misery. He cried out, though he slay me, yet will I trust. The Bible says. Just show live by faith and what that means is not believing something because you're not sure whether true or not.

It means that just show live by trust by trusting God, let me go back to where I started for Paul crystallizes the Christian life when he says rejoice in your hope, the patient in your tribulation that our joy is vested in the future because God guarantees and God promises a future for his people, and so our joy as pilgrims and strangers and sojourners in this world in this valley of tears is the God has prepared a place for us and God has promised a better world and a better situation that will be consummated with the victory of Christ. And therein is our hope it's not hope. Like we use the word hope in the English language. Usually when we talk about hope it has to do with things that are uncertain if somebody says to me, will a Steelers win the Super Bowl this year.

I say I hope so. Which means that is my desire that is my wish that part of my future fantasy that the Steelers will win one for the thumb and all I can rejoice once more when I say I hope so.

That's not the same thing as saying I know it with inner certainty in full assurance. I don't know who's gonna win the Super Bowl. And so when we use the term hope we talk about our desires with respect to an uncertain future. When the Bible speaks about hope it doesn't mean that the Bible talks about hope, that is certain hope cannot fail. I hope in which you will never be disappointed or never be embarrassed.

The New Testament calls hope the anchor of the soul.

Why, what is it that makes it certain God has promised and Job was a man who had very little joy, but there were still a part of his Spirit in the midst of his tribulation that rejoiced elsewhere.

He says I know that my Redeemer liveth and I will see him standing on that they know this week we can sometimes take too much a lip text, the word there and the Hebrews go well and when he says I know that my Redeemer's. He's not necessarily saying I know that there is a Messiah coming to save me for my sins. He saying I know that there is one who will vindicate my prayers, who will restore me someday. The degree of of content that he had in his mind at that.

History is up for speculation. But one thing he was certain that God would not allow this pain and this suffering and affliction to be the last chapter, and so he groaned in the present, but he never lost his confidence in the future we just interject something here as you work very well know, we understand life in terms of three dimensions of time passed, the present and the future. Are you ever afraid. Afraid we afraid. I'm sure that the things that you would frighten you, are not always exactly the things of frighten me, and of the things of frighten remain up in the things of frighten you as so we have different things were afraid of some people afraid of snakes on people for the cat. Some people pretty close and places of people for the trains and sewer. But one thing that I know none of us is afraid of his yesterday is normally afraid of past that we may be afraid of something that we did yesterday in terms of its future consequences.

I we may not we may be afraid to somebody go find out what we did yesterday but again that's still a fear of the future is nobody's afraid of yesterday. I would afraid of cast dry. It's all over. It can't hurt us. It can inflict any pain on us. The only pain I can ever experience his pain in the present but one were in that pain. And in that presence. We can't wait for it to be over. And that's what Job is going through an un-remitting pain. This constant day after day, hour after hour, minute after minute.

Job indoors and in addition to his pain.

Part of the worst thing the mention of that pain is the ones he counsel to assist him in his pain are the very ones who increases Job's friends come with pat answers with self-righteous judgments and they say the reason this is happening. Job is because you are a sinner and the implication is this a backup. There's a certain element of truth in these accusations that the friends make without sin in the world, there would be no suffering and there is a sense in which all suffering goes back to the reality of sin, but the theological error that is in view here in one of the great lessons of the book of Job is that we can never draw the conclusion that a person suffers individually in exact proportion to the degree of his personal guilt that was settled even after Job was written for centuries.

The Pharisees didn't get that message and they came to Jesus with the man born blind and I said I do sin, is this the manager's parents and Jesus says neither this man is been affected that the kingdom of God might be manifested in so what Jesus says is don't you dare have a simplistic view of sin and suffering. Yes. Bottom line, if there are no sin in the world would be no suffering in the world but the error of Job's friends was they saw a man in so much misery that the conclusion I came to was what he must be the chief of sinners, because God wouldn't allow this much pain and suffering unless it was directly proportionate to the man's guilt and so they're all over Job trying to get Job to repent and Job are still walking around saying what I do when my special repent. I don't understand this amount of torture with respect to my sin I could do was trust God again I remind you that Jesus quotes an accent on endurance. He who endures to the end, the same will be sent anybody can have faith for five minutes but the one who can do it over the long haul. That is the one who is pleasing to God and in a people Asheville Thomas RC if I'm in pain or from having trouble. Is it okay to ask God why and I said yes but you can the word why can be a question or an accusation not come home among voices why you write Reading a question that's a thinly veiled statement that could be translated.

You are late for a bad reason, right. So how we ask God why is very significant. Job was bold and he wanted to God, why we didn't accuse God, but he did want to know why. So finally Joseph God, I want to hear from you. I want your answer to my suffering and my pain or the answer comes scary for chapters God appears to Job. Finally, and what does he say it looks nonracist. Who is this who is darkening counsel with words without knowledge really asking me why you want to play on trial Job you want to ask recent questions I answer your question refers to answer some of mine desires a question you take this exam. You pass this exam that I give you a PhD in theology at all will give you the final chapters of the answers in the back of the book, but first you have to take your exam Job will review when I formed the foundations of the world spring up Job Joseph sparrow's I Job. Can you set the boundaries of the heaven of snow's Job.

Can you bind the sweetness of the Pleiades canoe on the belt of Orion. Think of that image when you were a child and they walked on the street on a summer night new teachers try to tell you about the constellations in the sky, Ursa Major and Ursa minor and Cassiopeia spent all that you forgot that you, but you remember the drinking gourd you remember the Big Dipper you can see the Big Dipper and what one do you remember Orion certainly remember Orion with the three stars right in a row. The form up his belt. Orion the Hunter up there in the sky. I used to walk I still do it. I looked on and I look up in the sky and I see Orion and I think of his belt being made up by three stars millions and millions and millions of miles apart and I think of this question. Can you on goal the belt of Orion Joe saying nope and go to say I can you send the bird south in the winter. Can you find food from the lien.

I can have her for chapters. This interrogation goes on and it really on the surface it looks like God is simply bullying Joe and then Job speaks they said I heard of you by the hearing of the year. Now I have known you and I will take my hand and place it upon my mouse and repent in dust and ash. This God ever answer Job's question does he say were the reason you're suffering. Job is because of this particular incident that happened when you were seven. He never answers the only answer he gives to Job is himself. He said here range.

Look at me understand my omnipotence understand that I have created the world. I take care of the animals understand Job that I can unbuckle Orion's belt understand my awesome power and understand my holiness and you will know this Joe, but no omnipotent, sovereign holy God will ever leave you or forsake you. Even in this Job your answer is not in my words, your answer is in the and in our relationship, trust nature and Job and God stored Joe so that his and was greater than his beginning because God had Joe the book of Job is a textbook for this unit.

We learned about God's sovereignty is care for his people and how we should respond to suffering. Glad you joined us for the Saturday addition to Renewing Your Mind.

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