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1. Near Antwerp a city of northern Belgium, on the Scheldt River, north of Brussels, is a convent of monks. These monks take a perpetual vow of silence; they dress in rough sackcloth; shave their heads; sleep on hard boards; and eat bread, sour milk, and vegetables. Everyday, the monks go to the garden, to look at an open grave – this grave awaits, the first monk, to die.
2. I think most of us when we think about the book of Job, all we think about is his suffering. And yet, Job lived for many many years in great prosperity before his suffering ordeal, and many years after it.
Sadly many of us are just like that! All we tend to focus on are the hard times, the suffering and the trials. But if truth be known, we have spent far for years in prosperity then we have in grueling suffering.
3. The Joy’s of Job.
Job 1:1 (NKJV)
1 There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil.
I. First, the joy of Possibility.
There was a man – this is not a fictional character, but a real man.
A. He is presented in a plain historical fashion.
B. God presented Job as much a historical person, as He does Noah and Daniel (Ezk.14:14,20)
C. James, holds up Job as a historical example of patience in the midst of suffering (Ja.5:11)
Here is a man! Not a tree, or a chipmunk, but a man, and that in itself is a cause of joy!
“Men and woman actually are, and sense themselves to be higher than forms of the creation around them…For one thing, men and woman have “God-consciousness,” which animals do not have…Herein lies our true worth. We are made in God’s image and are therefore valuable to God and others.
God loves men and women far beyond His love for animals, plants, or inanimate matter. Moreover he feels for men and woman, identifies with them in Christ, grieves for them and intervenes in history, to make each of us into all He has determined we should be.”
[Foundations of the Christian Faith, Boice]
These nuts that leave their money to their dog is a good example of mixed up priorities.
Not long ago a man swerved to miss a dog, and a result hit Ann and my grandson. Such is the twisted thinking of Fallen mankind.
It is possible that man, who is created in the image of God, to have fellowship with God and that is the greatest joy afforded on this planet. 2 Chron. 16:9
If you’re a human being, you were created in the image of God. With the wonderful possibility of having fellowship with God. We have a mind that we might know God; Emotions that we might experience God’s love; A will that we might obey God. Job was a human being and that in itself is a cause for great joy.
II. Furthermore, the joy of having Property.
in the land of Uz – we don’t know for sure where exactly this place was but its not all that important that we know.
Job was a rancher, and based on the size of his livestock, he must have owned much land. He is not a city boy but a man living out in the country.
I, more accurately the bank, owns 5 acres out in the country – it is beautiful and a sheer joy to be away from buildings, traffic, and city sounds. I remember when we lived right next to the church; I found a tree in the back of the church and spend many hours in it with my Bible.
C. S. Lewis counseled his friend Malcom to see the Creator behind the creation:
“To be sure, we must enjoy the sunlight in the woods. But these spontaneous pleasures are patches of God-light and one must let one’s mind run back up the sunbeam to the sun.
Vernard Eller, “Clearly the view of the stars are intended to give one an awareness and enjoyment of God…The motive is not just the enjoyment…but the sole motive is the enjoyment of God Himself.”
I can picture Job sitting out on the porch in his rocking chair, surrounded by the open space, cattle, and trees. Looking up at the stars, and rejoicing in the God who made it all!
III. Thirdly, the joy of Piety.
A. He was Flawless.
Blameless – the Hebrew word tam often is referring to an animal sacrifice as “spotless, without blemish, no defects or flaws.”
This word is often translated “perfect” – in his PRACTICE Job was NOT perfect (6:24; 7:21; 9:20; 42:6), he is a sinner like the rest of us. This word is used of Jacob, another proof that it does not refer to practical perfection (Gen. 25:27).
And yet in his POSITION Job was perfect! This is only through the offering of a perfect sacrifice. Job offered sacrifices to God (Job 1:5), which ultimately pointed to Christ.
Mcgee, “We are told that Job was perfect. What does it mean when it says he was perfect? It means he was perfect in his relationship to God, in the sense that he had offered the sacrifice (v.5).”
The OT saints, according to Rom. 4, were given “imputed righteousness” just like we are, based on faith in the coming substitutionary death of Christ.
In and of ourselves we would all have to apply Rom. 3:10-22, but…
John Piper, “Gusty guilt means learning to live on the rock-solid truth of, what happened for us, when Jesus Christ died on the cross and rose again from the dead. It means realizing that, in this life, we will always be sinful and imperfect. Therefore, in ourselves we will always be guilty…
But the Biblical truth of justification [means that] I am legally absolved of guilt and credited with a righteousness that I don’t have…The best news in all the world to the “ungodly” who grieve under the cloud of darkness and guilt, is the news that God, by faith alone, counts them as righteous because of Christ…This justification is by grace alone [not mixed with our merit], through faith alone [not mixed with our works] on the basis of Christ alone [not mingling His righteousness with ours], to the glory of God alone [not ours].”
Rom. 5:19; 10:4/ 2 Cor. 5:21/Phil. 3:9/etc.
That is the foundation and from it the Holy Spirit can produce righteousness in our lives, at least to a limited degree… Gen. 17:1/Psa.119:1
B. He was a faithful Follower of God’s Requirements.
Upright – a faithfulness to follow God’s requirements. I Ki.15:5
The word lit. “straight” is the idea that Job did not deviate from God’s standards.
Job lived during the time of Abraham, so he lived before the Law of Moses was given, of course Job was not a Jew. I suppose the basic requirement that was given, was related to the offering of the animal sacrifices.
C. He was one who Feared God.
and one who feared God – Hartly, “It stands for a solid trust in God. One who fears God, loves him devoutly. Therefore he approaches God reverently, filled with awe and deeply conscous of God’s contagious love. In daily life he expresses his fear by striving to please God in faithful obedience inspired by love.”
To fear God and to love God seems like almost a contradiction – the fear of God tends to draw us away from God, while the love of God draws us toward God.
In the physical realm there are two opposing forces – centrifugal force, which directs something away from a center; and there is centripetal force which directs something toward a center. If you take a bold and tie it to a string and whirl it around – you have these two forces operating, both are needed to keep it going. If you remove one of these forces then it shuts down.
A healthy hesitancy away from God, with a hearty moving toward God is always the needed tension for a godly life. If we lose either one of these we shut fellowship down.
D. He Forsook evil.
shunned evil – he turned away from, he removed, he departed from anything that was morally wrong. Job 28:28/ Prov.3:7/ I Pet. 3:11
We need to view sin for what it is – a vicious intruder that would love to kill our testimony, family, fellowship, and joy.
I read this true story, the man is Tim Hanzer.
“I have never been a great hunter. I try from time to time but never with any success. I’m 46 and have never got my picture taken with dead meat. My son shot a deer at age 14 on his first day of hunting.
However, I did shoot a dog. This statement always gets me into trouble. There is a big social no-no around dog killing. So let me tell you what happened. I was hunting up in Michigan’s U.P., around Rice Lake with some other hunters. I have been up early and ate a great hunting camp breakfast, so I fell asleep. I was awoken by two wild dogs, which were deciding which part of me to eat first.
When I moved they began to growl. They continued to circle me and growl. Then I remembered I had a shotgun. I picked up my old 16-gage shotgun and shot one of the dogs in the head. It dropped dead and the other dog escaped into the woods.
Not very long after my successful dog hunt, some of the other hunters showed up to help me track my deer. They asked, “What did you get?” They expected me to say, “A spike horn buck? But I said to their amazement, “A Dog!” Sometimes in life, we must kill what endangers us. That is very true when it comes to our soul, we must kill the sin that destroys our walk with God.”
To the world, it looks like living such a godly life, would be to deny the joys of life – but just the opposite is true! The ungodly are miserable! They are not having any real lasting fun!
Righteousness and Rejoicing are always two sides to one coin.
A Holy Heart is always a Happy Heart!
Neh. 8:10/Psa.16:11; 32:11; 97:11/I Jn. 1:4-5/etc.
Pascal, “All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end. The cause of going to war, and of others avoiding it, is the same desire, in both of them…Happiness and fulfillment is the motive of every man, even of those, who go out and hang themselves!
There was once in man a true happiness, of which, now remains to him, only the dark and empty trace, a void which he, in vain, tries to fill…But, the infinite abyss can only be filled by an infinite and immutable object, that is to say, only by God Himself.”
Johnny Palmer Jr.
www.strugglingthruscriptures.ning.com
www.blogtalkradio.com/strugglingthruscriptures
