Sermon Tone Analysis

Gods sovereignty and Job’s suffering.

God saw four important characters in Job;

He was blameless

He was upright

He was one who Feared God

He turned away from evil

Lets take a look at Job’s Prosperity

His character (Job 1:1).

Job was “perfect and upright”

He was not sinless, for nobody can claim that distinction;

Job was complete and mature in character and “straight” in conduct.

The word translated “perfect” is related to “integrity,” another important word in Job (2:3, 9; 27:5; 31:6).

People with integrity (people who keep their promises) are whole persons, without hypocrisy or duplicity.

In the face of his friends’ accusations and God’s silence, Job maintained his integrity; and the Lord ultimately vindicated him.

The foundation for Job’s character was the fact that he “feared God and shunned evil.”

“Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding” (Job 28:28).

To fear the Lord means to respect who He is, what He says, and what He does.

It is not the cringing fear of a slave before a master but the loving reverence of a child before a father, a respect that leads to obedience.

“The remarkable thing about fearing God,” said Oswald Chambers, “is that when you fear God you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God you fear everything else.”

His Family (Job 1:2).

Job was prosperous in his family.

The events in Job took place during the time when a large family was seen as a blessing from God (Gen.

12:2; 13:16; 30:1).

The children must have enjoyed each other’s company since they met frequently to celebrate their birthdays.

This speaks well of the way Job and his wife raised them.

Job was a Godly man and wanted to be sure his family was right with God. he offered prayers and sacrifices for the covering of any sin his family have commited against God

This is a foreshadowing of Jesus Christ who was the sacrifice for all sin.

Notice vv.5 says; “This was Job’s regular practice”.

His Material Possessions (Job 1:3).

In those days, wealth was measured primarily in terms of land, animals, and servants; and Job had all three in abundance.

He acknowledged that the Lord gave this wealth to him (Job 1:21), and he used his wealth generously for the good of others (4:1–4; 29:12–17; 31:16–32).

Job would have had no problem obeying what Paul wrote in :

Being rich did not turn him away from God.

Now lets take a look at,

Job’s adversity

The sons of God refers to Angels.

All angels answer and report to God.

Several important truths emerge from this scene, not the least of which is that:

1. God is sovereign in all things.

no matter what happens in this world and in our lives, God is on the throne and has everything under control.

He is on the throne of heaven, the angels do His will and report to Him, and even Satan can do nothing to God’s people without God’s permission.

“The Almighty” is one of the key names for God in Job; it is used thirty-one times.

From the outset, the writer reminds us that, no matter what happens in this world and in our lives, God is on the throne and has everything under control.

2. Satan has access to God’s throne in heaven.

3. God found no fault with Job, but Satan did.

4. Satan can touch God’s people only with God’s permission, and God uses it for their good and His glory.

A second truth—and it may surprise you—is that

2. Satan has access to God’s throne in heaven.

Many people have the mistaken idea that Satan is ruling this world from hell.

But Satan will not be cast into the lake of fire until before the final judgment (Rev.

20:10ff).

Today, he is free to go about on the earth (Job 1:7; 1 Peter 5:8) and can even go into God’s presence in heaven.

This third truth is most important:

3. God found no fault with Job, but Satan did.

God’s statement in Job 1:8 echoes the description of Job’s Character in verse 1, but Satan questioned it.

The word “Satan” means “adversary, one who opposes the law.”

This is a courtroom scene, where God and Satan each deliver different verdicts about Job.

God said “Not guilty!” (1:8; 2:3; 42:7)

There was nothing in Job’s life that compelled God to cause him to suffer.

But Satan said “Guilty!” because he is the accuser of God’s people and finds nothing good in them (Zech.

3; Rev. 12:10).

Satan’s accusation against Job was really an attack on God.

We might paraphrase it like this: “The only reason Job fears You is because You pay him to do it.

You two have made a contract: You protect him and prosper him as long as he obeys You and worships You.

You are not a God worthy of worship!

You have to pay people to honor You.”

God allows Satan to test Job’s faith

A fourth truth emerges:

4. Satan can touch God’s people only with God’s permission, and God uses it for their good and His glory.

Phillips Brooks said, “The purpose of life is the building of character through truth.”

God is at work in our lives to make us more like Jesus Christ (Rom.

8:29), and He can use even the attacks of the devil to perfect us.

rom 8.28-29 “28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;”

lets read how Job reacted;

Job’s statement of Faith

Job looked up and uttered a magnificent statement of faith: “The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21).

Instead of cursing God, as Satan said Job would do, Job blessed the Lord!

Anybody can say, “The Lord gave” or “The Lord hath taken away”; but it takes real faith to say in the midst of sorrow and suffering, “Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

Satan is on the Attack again.

Lets read starting in Ch.2

Some of the so-called tragedies in the lives of God’s people have really been weapons of God to “reprove the enemy and the avenger” (Ps.

8:2).

The angels watch the church and learn from God’s dealings with His people (1 Cor.

4:9; Eph.

3:10).

We may not know until we get to heaven why God allowed certain things to happen.

Meanwhile, we walk by faith and say with Job, “Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

Job’s three friends said Job was suffering because he had sinned, and that was not true.

Elihu said that God was chastening Job to make him a better man, and that was partly true.

But the fundamental reason for Job’s suffering was to silence the blasphemous accusations of Satan and prove that a man would honor God even though he had lost everything.

It was a battle “in the heavenlies” (Eph.

6:12), but Job did not know it.

Job’s life was a battlefield where the forces of God and Satan were engaged in a spiritual struggle to decide the question, “Is Jehovah God worthy of man’s worship?”

Job’s answer was yes.

job 23.10

(play gold refinery video)

You and I too may have to go through the furnace to bring glory to our God and maker.

If so, don’t be afraid!

By faith, just say with Job, “Blessed be the name of the Lord.

“Trust the past to the mercy of God, the present to His love, and the future to His providence.”

St. Augustine

There are many who come into the church longing for an easy Christianity, an easy to understand and easy to follow religion; a religion with no mystery, no problems, no snags; a religion that would allow us to escape from our miserable human condition; a religion in which contact with God spares us from all strife, all uncertainty, all suffering and all doubt; in short, a religion without the Cross.