Genuine Faith, Job 1-24

As we have mentioned in our sermon series, one of the major themes of the entire Bible is God’s sovereignty or providence over everything. The sovereignty of God is the Lordship of God and refers to his control, authority, and relationship with creation.

The book of Genesis reveals the providence or sovereignty of God. Everything happens according to God’s plan and his intentions. From the very beginning the Bible reveals God as Faithful and True.

From the beginning of the book of Genesis God establishes His authority with the command that his will is to be obeyed. Not only does Genesis unfold the sovereignty and authority of God, it also reveals Him as personal, gracious, and loving. In Genesis, God establishes His covenant as the basis his relationship with sinners. The sovereign Lord of all creation has promised to redeem us and establish us as His people through covenant.

At the end of Genesis Joseph told his brothers “You planned evil against me; God planned it for good to bring about the present result—the survival of many people.” Genesis 50:20 (CSB) Genesis ends with the understanding that God is working all things together for the accomplishment of His plans and purposes. And, we know through the NT that God works things out according to His plans in ways that are good for those who love him.

So, with the understanding that God can work out the evil intentions of men for the good of His people and His plans we come to the book of Job.

Job is likely the oldest book of the Bible. Genesis deals with creation, but Job was written before the time of Moses, and Moses wrote the book of Genesis. We don’t know who wrote the book of Job, but we do know that since his death is recorded in chapter 42 we know that Job didn’t write it.

Job was a real person who lived in the time of the Patriarchs. What that means is that we believe that he lived before or during the same time period as Abraham and Isaac. At the beginning of the book we find out that Job had lived long enough to have ten children who were all grown and had their own homes. Then we find out at the end of the book of Job that he lived another 140 years and had ten more children, seeing up to four generations born, and became even more wealthy than before. Because how long he lived, the absence of a reference to the law, and the fact his wealth was determined by his livestock and belongings we date the life of Job to around 2200-2100 BC.

The book of Job is one of the five wisdom books of the Bible. Wisdom literature is personal and provides a way for us to understand God, our relationship with Him, and what practically we see what faithfulness and disobedience look like. In particular we see the relationship between God and loss, suffering, or pain in our lives.

I believe that the book of Job provides much needed instruction and even correction to the circumstances of our country and the church today. Many American Christians and church-goers are struggling to make sense of our current political, social, moral, and religious situation.

The steady and rapid decline in the morals and ethics of our country is cause for great concern. The current threat to religious liberty is on the minds of many people in our church and our country. And by threat to religious liberty I don’t mean whether or not every group has a right to worship, I mean something deeper and more foundational than the right to gather for worship. The threat to religious liberty exists through the continued push to force Christians and others to go against their core values and beliefs and conform to the culture or the government. Religious liberty means that the majority cannot impose or force its beliefs on others to the detriment of conscience.

You cannot compare the persecution of Christians in ISIS occupied territories of the Middle East with what Christians are facing in our country. I think we have to be careful to call it persecution when there are brothers and sisters losing their lives in other parts of the world. I do think it is safe to say that things have changed for Christians in America.

In today’s America, being Christian is different than it was 50 years ago. I think it is safe to say that being Christian in America is incredibly different today than it was 25 years ago. In a 2016 Time magazine article entitled Regular Christians are no longer welcome in American culture, Mary Eberstadt wrote, “We must also acknowledge that when some Americans citizens are fearful of expressing their religious views, something new has snaked its way into the village square.”

The loss of standing is different for Christians in our country. The fact that being a Christian might have a negative financial, social, or political impact is new territory for most of the American church. The experience of many Christians in our country has left them asking “what have we done wrong?” Or “Why is this happening to us?” The current state of affairs in our country has many people wondering how all this fits into God’s plan for them as individuals, our country, and the world.

The book of Job provides a setting and presents a message that you need, I need, Harrisburg needs, and the American church needs.

A quick glance at Christian news media and social media platforms reveals some common concerns about the state of the church today. You see concerns over attendance, giving, online versus in-person, formal versus informal, music styles, etc. You can even see or hear some of these same concerns by members of our church on any given week. But, the problem with those concerns is that they don’t require a move of the Holy Spirit to turn them around.

You can get more people to attend a church without focusing on Jesus, there are churches that do it all the time.

You can get people to give more to the church without focusing on the kingdom of God, there are churches that do it all the time.

You can get people to dress up or dress down without focusing on the work of the Spirit in the church, churches do it all the time.

You can argue over styles of worship and use different styles of worship without ever considering what the Bible says about it, churches do it all the time.

I would point out that for most people and churches these issues only serve to distract from the real issue facing the church today. The real issues in the church won’t be fixed with more people, more money, better camera angles, nicer clothes, or a different set of instruments on the platform. The issues facing the American church are gospel-centered issues that can only be resolved by the power of the gospel and the work of the Holy Spirit.

Instead of addressing the surface level issues that have plagued generation after generation of Christian or church-goer…

The book of Job presents us with the opportunity to evaluate the genuineness of our faith and love for God.

Job begins with one of the most dramatic scenes in the Old Testament. Look with me at Job 1:1–10 (CSB), “There was a man in the country of Uz named Job. He was a man of complete integrity, who feared God and turned away from evil. 2 He had seven sons and three daughters. 3 His estate included seven thousand sheep and goats, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys, and a very large number of servants. Job was the greatest man among all the people of the east. 4 His sons used to take turns having banquets at their homes. They would send an invitation to their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5 Whenever a round of banqueting was over, Job would send for his children and purify them, rising early in the morning to offer burnt offerings for all of them. For Job thought, “Perhaps my children have sinned, having cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular practice. 6 One day the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them. 7 The Lord asked Satan, “Where have you come from?” “From roaming through the earth,” Satan answered him, “and walking around on it.” 8 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? No one else on earth is like him, a man of perfect integrity, who fears God and turns away from evil.” 9 Satan answered the Lord, “Does Job fear God for nothing? 10 Haven’t you placed a hedge around him, his household, and everything he owns? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.””

When Satan says in verse 9, “Does Job fear God for nothing?” I can’t help but think about us. Have we loved God and been committed to Christianity because of the benefit that it was for our personal lives? Has the American church loved God and practiced its faith because of the increase of our possessions and standing in the land?

Satan accuses Job of only loving God for the secondary benefits and blessings that come from obeying God. He argues that once obeying God or being faithful to God does’t bring the secondary or worldly blessings that Job will abandon his integrity and faith.

Could Satan make the same argument for us? For you? With each passing decade our country has become more and more sexually immoral. And, as the sexual revolution has unfolded in our country many professing Christians have recanted their strong biblical values in favor of fitting and maintaining the status quo of our culture.

As the culture around us becomes increasingly hostile toward biblical truth we find ourselves asking each other and the Lord why? Why is this happening to us? We find ourselves asking what should we do? How should we respond to the struggle, discomfort, and or suffering that we may face as Christians?

Not only does Job help us to think through the current cultural moment, the book of Job presents us with the opportunity to learn how to understand or interpret any or all suffering that we experience in this life. Many people struggle to see how we can learn anything from suffering, but through the book of Job God reveals that our discomfort or suffering can happen for more than one reason.

The book of Job helps us learn to stop and ask, “Am I going through these circumstances because I have sinned or because God is growing me spiritually?”

Let’s take a look at these two options and how we should respond to each one:

What do I do if I am being tested so I will mature in my faith?

First, I feel the need to point out that the book of Job presumes a mature and solid faith. Job is mature in his faith and because of that He is faithful in the way that He lives for God. Remember God pointed Job out to Satan, not the other way around. Because the book of Job presumes a mature faith I think it takes faith to understand and make sense of how Job responds to God and the suffering he endures.

Faith is, “Believing that God is who he says he is and that he will do all that he has promised.” - Andy Stanley

Hebrews 11:1–2 (ESV), “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the people of old received their commendation.”

Job receives his commendation from God based on his faith. Job 1:8 (ESV), 8 And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?”

So… What do I do if I am being tested so I will mature in my faith?

Seek God through His Word

In the midst of your testing and struggle turn to God by digging into the Word.

In writing about why to study the book of Job, Eric Ortlund writes, “The book is teaching us that painful loss can become an avenue for God himself to reveal himself and draw close in a way he never has before.”

John 8:32 (CSB) says, “32 You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” By turning to God through His Word you find the freedom from your own perspective and are able to grow and mature according to God and His Word, rather than your perspective and insights.

Turning to the Word aims your mind, heart, and life in the direction God desires.

Admit how hard it is to the Lord and the church

Job readily laments to God how hard the struggle is. He takes every pain and loss to the Lord. But, He doesn’t question the goodness of God or the sovereignty of God. Job wrestles with the Lord in an honest and trustworthy way that we see in an even better way through Jesus.

Jesus wrestled with His impending crucifixion in the Garden of Gethsemane. He brought his struggle to the Father without losing any doubt or trust.

Not only do you need to bring where you are to the Lord, you don’t need to go this alone. Jesus brought 3 disciples to the Garden to pray with him. Job had three friends to talk this through with him. In both situations the friends failed. But, we see in Job’s friends and in the disciples the fact that we are not in this alone. In the same way that Jesus is better than Job, we can do better than his friends.

Rest in the promises God has made

Psalm 145:13 (CSB) says, “13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom; your rule is for all generations. The Lord is faithful in all his words and gracious in all his actions.”

God has a purpose for your testing, and like Job said in Job 23:10 (CSB), “10 Yet he knows the way I have taken; when he has tested me, I will emerge as pure gold.”

You can trust the Lord and rest in His promises. And like Romans 8:28 (CSB) says, “28 We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.”

Even in the midst of struggle and difficulty we can lean on verses like Jeremiah 29:11 (CSB), “11 For I know the plans I have for you”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“plans for your well-being, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”

Rejoice in your salvation

Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 (CSB), “16 Rejoice always, 17 pray constantly, 18 give thanks in everything; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

In the midst of loss, pain, and suffering you have your salvation. God doesn’t test us to make us doubt our salvation. God tests us to deepen our faith and our joy in our salvation.

Remember the reason

The testing of the Lord brings forth maturity.

James 1:2–4 (CSB) says, “2 Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.”

This means that even though Job lost so much, he actually lacked less than before because of the maturity he gained through the trials. This doesn’t mean that Job was lacking in nothing because of the increase of his wealth and family. No, it means that when we are tested and endure the trials we are more mature and more complete in our faith and faithfulness to God.

Paul goes so far as to say that we should boast in our afflictions in Romans 5. He writes in Romans 5:3–5 (CSB), “3 And not only that, but we also boast in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, 4 endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. 5 This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

The blessing of our trials and sufferings is God. He reward for enduring our trials and suffering is God. There is nothing of greater value than God and we have “more of Him” and less of ourselves on the other side of our trials.

But, what if there is sin in my life that I am being disciplined for? You may come to see your sin through your personal walk with God, through the preaching of the Word, or even through the loving confrontation of a brother or sister in the church. But, regardless of how you come to see that the struggle is God’s discipline I think we all find ourselves asking:

What do I do if I am being disciplined for my sin?

Remember that God disciplines those He loves.

Proverbs 3:11–12 (CSB), "11 Do not despise the Lord’s instruction, my son, and do not loathe his discipline; 12 for the Lord disciplines the one he loves, just as a father disciplines the son in whom he delights.”

Repent and rest in God’s forgiveness and grace (Psalm 51)

Steps to true repentance:

Acknowledge the specific sin (vs. 1-3)

David had been confronted with his sins by Nathan

Cry out for mercy and forgiveness (vs. 1)

Trust in the cross of Christ (vs. 7)

that it was enough… Jesus made a once for all sacrifice Hebrews 9:26)

Depend on the Holy Spirit (vs 11)

Joyfully share (vs. 12-15)

Pursue obedience (16-17)

Press on and persevere

Hebrews 12:11–13 (CSB) 11 No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. 12 Therefore, strengthen your tired hands and weakened knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated but healed instead.

When God’s discipline has resulted in repentance and the pursuit of righteousness or obedience you are to press on and persevere.

Strengthen your tired hands and weakened knees. Make straight paths by following the Word of God. Even though you are tired God will help you in the pursuit of faithfulness.

But, as Thomas Watson said, “Til sin be bitter, Christ will not be sweet.” - Thomas Watson

This means that as long you are planning and plotting to sin again then you have not truly seen the awfulness of your sin or the sweetness of the grace of God through Jess Christ.

Our culture has decided that sin is sweet and the gospel of Jesus Christ is bitter. That means that Christians who label sin bitter and Jesus as sweet will continue to be out of step, uncomfortable, and potentially under attack.

And, when it comes to what’s happening in our country I think that through the same cultural moment God is disciplining and testing those He loves for their good and His glory.

The book of Job presents us with the opportunity to evaluate the genuineness of our faith and love for God.

If we love God then we will repent when we are confronted and disciplined for our sin.

If we love God then we will press on and persevere in our faithfulness in the face of discomfort and even persecution.

What about you?

Do you have a genuine faith in Christ and love for God?

We are not called to have a certain amount of faith, just a genuine faith. It’s not the amount of faith you have that saves you, it’s who you have your faith in that saves you.

The present and potential future will continue to expose those who don’t have faith and refine those who do. Which one are you?

Prayer…

Invitation to come to Christ with a genuine faith