Have You Heard of the Steadfastness of Job? // Job 22-27

Well, good morning, Cross Church Phoenix. How are you? >> Good morning. I am Pastor DJ, the pastor here at Cross Church Phoenix. And if I haven't gotten a chance to meet you yet, come find me afterwards. And we got the second half of We Care Weekend um coming up after this service. We got the barbecue fellowship celebration in the back. So, come join us. I don't think yesterday could have gone any better. Um yesterday was phenomenal. That was awesome. And uh I do want to thank any and all of you uh who helped who volunteered and helped put that on. Thank you. I am grateful uh very much so for uh your contribution. Uh what you heard at the beginning of the service is the click track and uh it it sets the tempo and uh I don't we'll figure it out, but I didn't realize the pressure as the drummer uh the pressure that I'm under to set the right tempo without it. Right? So, I'm like, "Think of the chorus. Do that so that it doesn't mess up Matt or Jordan." Uh, so, all right. I think we did. All right. Just let you know, the spirits took over and it was a beautiful time. Uh, if you would now open your Bibles to Job 26. And if you don't have a Bible, the one in the seat back in front of or around you is our gift to you, then you can take it, you can have it, and uh you can mark it, underline it, highlight it, use it for your own personal study, and then bring it back next week. But make that your Bible. That is our gift to you. We will be covering this morning chapters 22 through 27, but 26 will be what we read together um when we stand in a moment. In the New Testament book of James in chapter 5, James writes, "Behold, we consider those blessed who remain steadfast." Then he says, "You have heard of the steadfastness of Job and you have seen the purpose of the Lord." How the Lord is compassionate and merciful. That is James 5:1. The way that James writes, "You have heard of the steadfastness of Job assumes that you've ha you have." James the writer, New Testament writer, is is presuming he's he's assuming that his audience has read Job, learned of his endurance through suffering, and knew his story. And I'm glad that we're going through this together because Job usually isn't at the top of the list of books that Christians read. In fact, I thought about asking like how many of you, you don't have to raise your hand if you don't want to, but how many of you before this series had ever read the book of Job? So, a good mix. Like 9:00 was a good mix as well. Some have, some haven't. Um, but I've talked with a a handful of people throughout this series who said, you know, this is the first time I've ever read this book. Um, so in the spirit of James statement, right, you have heard, I wanted to take what he said and make it turn it into a question and use it as our heading this morning. Have you heard of the steadfastness of Job? And if you don't have a handout, there's some on the tables in the back there. You can grab one and or follow along on the screen here. Have you heard of the steadfastness of Job? And this morning, we're going to cover what is round three. Uh if you know anything of the book of Job, he's suffering immensely. And he's visited by three friends. And these friends names are Elephaz, Bildad, and Zofar. And they kind of are friends, but they're also kind of just annoying. Um and they're not very helpful. And you'll see that this morning. But the book of Job has these rounds. I've been, if you think of it as a boxing match, these are kind of like these spiritual emotional boxing matches. And so, round two was last week. This is round three. And as you'll see, Elephaz and Buildad are the only ones who will speak. Our third friend, Zofar, uh, just keeps his mouth shut this time, which is probably the smartest thing any of the friends have done all the whole book. Um, so hey, we commend Zofar for that. Um, but let's pray together before we get in. Father, I thank you for this morning. We thank you for your word. And God, we uh pray that this time together is honoring and glorifying to you above all. God, no matter what happens, uh, technical things happen for reasons unknown. We don't even change anything and then all of a sudden it's changed. Uh, God, you are in control and sovereign over our service. And we thank you for that, God. and we just praise you and thank you that uh no matter what happens, we get to glorify and honor you. I pray that you would give each of us ears to hear what the spirit has to say to the church here at Cross Church Phoenix this morning in Jesus name. Amen. Well, if you would stand as me with stand with me as we read God's word together. And if you are unable to, that's okay. Just stand with us in spirit as we honor God's word. And like last week, I just want to read one a portion from a chapter, but we'll be covering from a broader view uh all chapters 22 to 27. But I want to read 26:es 6-14. And Job is speaking and he says this, "Shal is naked before God and Abdon has no covering." Abdon is another name for the dead, the departed. He, he's speaking of God, stretches the northern skies over empty space. He hangs the earth on nothing. He wraps up the water in his clouds, yet the clouds do not burst beneath its weight. He obscures the view of his throne, spreading his cloud over it. He laid out the horizon on the surface of the waters, and the boundary between light and darkness. The pillars that hold up the sky tremble, astounded at his rebuke. By his power, he stirred the sea, and by his understanding, he crushed Rahab. We'll talk about that later. By his breath, the heavens gained their beauty. His hand pierced the fleeing serpent. These are but the fringes of his ways. How faint is the word we hear from him? Who can understand his mighty thunder? Amen. Thanks. You can be seated. If you were with us last week or watched it online, you'll know we had some back and forth. I'm going to take a more chronological approach this morning. So, if you go back to 22 and then we'll stay in line. First, have you heard of the steadfastness of Job? Number one, how he endured false accusations against him. If you go back to 22, Elephaz kicks off round three. He starts off with the fact that God doesn't need man. Uh God can run the universe just fine without man's help, which of course is true. But then he gets right back into the same old song and dance. And if you haven't been with us, uh Job has been suffering basically from the beginning and be this all began in chapter 3. Now his three friends have this theological principle in their mind. It's called the retribution principle of suffering. All that means is from the three friends point of view. The only reason anyone suffers is because God is punishing for them them for their sin. That's it. God would never allow anyone innocent to suffer. That is not true. But it is the friend's viewpoint. And you can just think of the gospel already refutes that, right? Christ is innocent and yet suffered. But that is the perspective of these guys. So Elephas picks it right back up. This is round three. Same old thing from before. And in verse four, Elephaz is assuming that God trying to speak for God is correcting Job for his sin. And so he sarcastically says, "What? Do you think God would correct you for your piety?" Meaning like your good standing before God. Elephas is saying, "Job, you're suffering because God is punishing you for your sin and he's trying to correct you, but you're so stubborn, you won't take it. That is Elephaz's assessment and he is of course wrong. But in verse 5 of chapter 22, the accusations, false accusations start to fly from Elephas. He says Job's wickedness is abundant. And then he goes on this rampage against Job's character. He says n we could summarize verses 5 through9 is bringing to Job. He's basically saying Job was a rich man who abused the needy and the poor. If you remember in the first few chapters um of Job, we learn that he's got all kinds of animals and flocks and herds and he's got these servants who work the land and he's got this great thing going on. That's to say that he was wealthy in his day. Uh to have that big of a herd of of sheep and flocks and all this stuff was to say that you were wealthy. So Elephas is picking up on this and saying, "Job, you were a rich guy who abused and oppressed the poor." Elephas's claims obviously are completely baseless. And he's saying Job not only abused the poor and needy but included widows and orphans in this. And that's a serious accusation because all throughout scripture God commands the protection of the poor widows and orphans. And so after saying a bunch of stuff and I'm encouraging you to read it because we can't um read every every word though I I want to. I encourage you to on your own and in Bible groups. But Elephaz will say some other things. And then in verse 23 of chapter 22, basically Elephaz says, "You know what, Job? I recommend um you repent and return to the Almighty." He's basically saying, "Job, here's a solution to all of your problems and all your suffering. Repent. Do good." And then if you read through, it says, "God will listen to you. He will restore you." And Elephaz even says God that that God will carry out the decisions you make. Oh, that's nice, right? He will carry out the decisions that you make and God will basically just be, you know, pro Job again. But what we know is that Job is not suffering for his sin and something bigger is going on. Remember, and we've talked about this throughout the series, that our approach to Job will be a high theology, a high view of God. And if you remember from the first few chapters, God is allowing his own character to be put on trial by Satan. Remember, Satan came to God and said, "Job only loves you because you manipulate him into loving you, because you blessed him with all this stuff." So, basically, Job just likes your stuff. He doesn't like you. if you took away his stuff, he wouldn't like you anymore. And so God says, "All right, try me. Well, try Job, right? And see if that's true. See if Job doesn't love me for who I am." And as we're seeing throughout this series, Job is remaining steadfast. And that is this is James assessment in chapter 5, right? The steadfastness, endurance of Job. But have you ever had a false accusation brought against you? I have. ones that hurt maybe multiple and you know it's not true. You know that your conscience before God is clear. Yet the accusations continue to gain traction and and you're genuinely innocent. You think, "Have I done anything? There's no sin that I'm harboring in my heart. There's nothing for me to repent of that I can recall throughout." Job has been thinking in his mind. I can't think of anything that I've done. And if he did, he was like, I would I would repent. You're genuinely innocent, and yet you feel like there's nothing you can do. Sometimes all you can do is just endure. All you can do is remain faithful and trust that God knows your heart more than any human being could ever claim to. False accusations though we must remember are not an excuse to repay evil for evil or slander someone else. They slandered me so I'm going to slander them. Right? There's we can't use false accusations against us as an excuse to sin. That is very important. We trust the Lord. Truth will prevail. God knows the hearts of all people. So I just want to encourage you. Job endured false accusations and may we do the same. Well, have you heard of the steadfastness of Job? Number two, how he endured though God felt distant from him. If you look at Job's response in chapter 23, it's kind of nice because he kind of just ignores Elephas. Um, and he expresses how distant he feels from God. As you read through the chapter this week, you'll see Job can't find God anywhere. No matter which direction he goes, he says, "If I go east, west, north, south, every way Job looks, he can't seem to sense or to feel God's presence." But verse 10 uh of chapter 23 is key. Verse 10, yet he Job's talking about God. Yet God knows the way I have taken. Job is saying, "I have no idea where God is right now. He feels distant in my suffering. But I do know this. While I don't know where God is, God knows where I am." We saw last week too like how Job will use that word know. It's intentional especially in Hebrew. It's kind of cool to see. But you know, the friends have been like, "You don't know God. You don't know this." And he's like, "You know what? Yes, I do know." And if you remember last week, he's like, "I know my redeemer lives." And here he's like, "I know. Yet I know. I know. I know. And he what? Knows the way that I have taken." Job is trusting in God. He doesn't know where God is, but he knows that God knows where he is. And God knows, Job is saying, "God knows my heart." And he goes on, he says, "Uh, he knows. God knows that I've not departed from his commands." Verse 12, um, I've treasured God's words. This is Job pouring his heart out, saying, "My heart hasn't changed toward the Lord, toward God. I love him." But Job is entrusting himself to God. He will accomplish what he has decreed for me. Job doesn't know what God's accomplishing. Uh, but he trusts God anyways. And Job is steadfast in his faith in God, though God feels distant. But have you been there before when God felt distant from you? And this is why our trust, right, our faith is in Christ and not our feelings. I love that we saying what I won't be formed, molded, shaped, led by, guided by feelings, [snorts] but what I'll hold fast to what is true. Hold fast to what is true. We are emotional beings. Of course, we are. We feel the pains and sorrows of this life. So did Jesus Christ. He wept at Lazarus tomb. Uh he he he poured his heart out before the father in the garden of Gethsemane before he went to the cross. He he weeps over Jerusalem. Oh how I would have taken you in but you would not right God gathered you like a mother hand gazard tree. He's Jesus Christ experienced these two fully God. Yes. And fully human. Let's not forget that. And at times, God may feel distant to us and our emotions may lead us to feel things that are not true. We're not guided by feelings. Nowhere in scripture, search it yourself, but nowhere in scripture will you find a command or an exhortation to follow your feelings. I share with first service, not in my notes, right? But like it's not like there's a third Peter chapter 1 where Peter says Peter an apostle of Jesus Christ follow your feelings. Uh let that guide the way um and be the light that guides your path. That is nowhere in scripture. What you do have is emotions described in scripture. It's all over the Bible. Yes and amens. Read the Psalms. Emotion is but it's never given the authority to guide us. God in his word is always pointed to as the authority in your guide, my guide. When we are experiencing these things, we are guided by the Holy Spirit of truth. We are guided by God's word, his promises that are unchangeable regardless of how changeable we are. Job in verse 13 says what? God is unchangeable. Our feelings may change based on our circumstances, but God doesn't. The scripture says Jesus Christ is the same what yesterday, today, and forever. >> Amen. So may we like Job endure when God feels distant. Well, have you heard of the steadfastness of Job? How he endured? Number three, the wicked seem to prosper, though the wicked, excuse me, seem to prosper around him. In chapter 24, Job uh begins his own diet tribe, his own lecture on how about how wicked people seem to get away with everything. He he gives kind of a basically a twochapter response to Elephaz. And the other friends have given lectures on the wicked and made a bunch of stuff. Now, Job's going to take his turn and say, "This is uh the wicked. This is the plight of the wicked and what they do." But Job's approach is, you know, the wicked seem to get away with everything. Uh verse two, they move boundary markers. And that was actually a big no no. Um Deuteronomy 27:17 actually God says, "Cursed is he who moves his neighbors boundary mark and all the people shall say amen." So to that we say, "Amen." Uh Deuteronomy is like all of Moses like reiterating things and he writes this stuff and he says, "And all the people will say amen." Don't move your neighbor's boundary line. Okay? Don't try to steal his property. All right? But he goes on uh more seriously to say, "The wicked steal flocks and they what? Abuse the fatherless and widows." Job verse three, Job is saying they the wicked people do that, but that's not him. And he accuses wicked people of a whole new low. In verse 9, it says the fatherless infant is snatched from the breast and used as collateral. Wicked people steal a nursing child uh uh and this was going on those days right from their mother and hold on to them as collateral until the mother has to pay off some kind of debt. That's truly wicked. And Job will go on to say the poor suffer and have no clothes, no food. They work for the rich but go thirsty. And look at what Job says. We won't shy away from it here. Right here's where he starts, I think, to let his frustration and motion kind of get to him. But look at the end of verse 12. Job says, "Yet God pays no attention to this crime. The wicked continue in their murder and adultery." As he as he continues, I'll be saying, "God is not paying attention to it." This is how he feels. He feels like God is letting this go unchecked. That's not true. But that's how he feels. He says, "The murderer and the adulterer sin under cover of darkness." Verse 16, if you remember what Christ had to say uh in the New Testament, right? And this is the judgment. The light has come into the world and people love the darkness rather than the light. Why? Why did people love darkness rather than light? Because their works were evil. There's a reason why there's no windows at strip clubs, right? So you can cover dead serious though. Why? So you can sin in secret in darkness. That's why. So it is, you know, a little lighthearted but also very serious. Why? Why isn't there a nice big old wide open thing? Oh, because people want to hide their sin. I believe that that is an illustration of the shame that comes with it. Um, but there you have it. Uh, sinning under cover of darkness. Ultimately though, Job knows that God will take care of it. So this is why we read the whole chapter, right? We don't want to take one statement out um and build this whole thing on it. We read the whole chapter. And at the end of chapter 24, Job does come to grips with the fact that God will bring judgment against evil. It says he says uh he'll dra God will drag away the mighty. And he's talking about the evil by his God's power. His God's eyes will watch over their ways, the wicked people's ways, and they, the wicked, will be brought low. Job endures though the wicked seem to prosper. And you can look around our world today and think kind of the same, right? Wicked people seem to be doing just fine, disobeying God, and even be elevated into positions of authority. Why do children go hungry while evil people feast? Whereas the justice for the unborn or the child or sex trafficking victims or the exploited people in our world who suffer violent abuse, what we see in the scriptures is that God welcomes our pain and hurt. He welcomes us pouring our hearts out to him. This is Job just pouring his heart out to God. Why is this? This doesn't give us license to accuse God of sin. And I don't believe Job is doing that either. But Job is letting it all out. And that is okay. Because in the end, we trust God to bring justice. The Bible is very clear about this. He says, "Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord, not yours." Doesn't say vengeance is yours. Do whatever you want. Uh vengeance is the Lord's. It is God's not yours. So may we like Job endure though wickedness seem to prosper. Well, have you heard of the steadfastness of Job? How he endured number four, pessimism and discouragement. In chapter 25, Bill Dad gives his final uh words here and thankfully for us they're they're brief. He'll say some true things though. God is in the heavens and his light shines on everyone. Yes. And as we talked about in a previous sermon, we addressed that foundational question that Billad brings in uh verse 4. How can a human be justified before God? We addressed that. Job wrestled with it. So does Bill Dad. We addressed that in a previous sermon. I'm not going to hit that again. But then we find a second question in verse four. Quite interesting, right? Can one born of a woman be pure? And his implied answer of course is no. Of course not. But I just think it's so glorious like little nuggets of Christ as we look in the New Testament what Christ is born of a woman, the Virgin Mary, and he is as pure as can be. And then Billad goes on to basically say, "Humanity is worthless." This is his pessimism and discouraging words here. Humans are maggots and worms. Well, isn't that just encouraging? He's saying, "Job, you're just a lowly maggot whom God isn't all that interested in." And by now, he's like, "I need new friends." Um, right? Like, come on, guys. But what Bill is doing is he's picturing the if we take everything that's been said before, Job, what Billite is doing is he's basically saying, Job, um, this is the picture of you. You are like a maggot standing before the glory of God trying to be pure in his sight. And this is what it looks like, Job. And you know, is is God going to listen to such a small thing arguing his case before God? Uh probably not. That is Bill Dad's stance. One commentator, his name is Douglas O'Donnell, he made a good observation that I appreciated. He said, "You know, Bill Dad does have a right message, but he's got the wrong audience." To the proud or arrogant person who believes that they could stand before God with their own righteousness and be pure in God's sight, they are wrong. They are wrong. And it would be like a maggot trying to present itself holy and righteous to God. Attempting to stand before God, pure in your own righteousness, is impossible. But that's not what Job's saying. nor has that been what Job has even claimed all along. That is not the message that Job needs. Job needs encouragement, not further discouragement. We know Job understands the holiness of God. He understands and knows God's view of sin. That's why in the first few chapters, we know what he got up early every morning and made sacrifices to God on behalf of his kids just in case they sinned. It didn't even say only when they sinned. Job would rise early, sacrifice to God on behalf of his kids just in case they sin. That's how serious Job took sin. In his walk with God and his children's walk with God. Job takes sin seriously. Knows he needs God's forgiveness and grace. Bill that again is misapplying things to Job. And you can see Job's reply in chapter 6 basically like right wow how helpful you are and he mocks Bill dad a little bit and then refocuses his attention on God. The rest of the chapter he says God hangs the earth on nothing. God lays out the horizon and the boundary between light and darkness. I sent out a video if you're interested on the church weekly email and if you didn't get it I can send it to you on that. an astronaut named Jeff Williams who spent time in the International Space Station refers to Job 26 in some of his photographs saying you can only see this if you're off of Earth showing the inspiration of God. He God uh Job is saying God he stirs the sea and crushed Rahab. This word Rahab is not the woman Rahab. It's a word that technically means the enemy. It's rah is evil um in in the scripture in Hebrew and then it's rahab like the presence of the enemy. God destroys that, crushes. And Job ends in verse 14 saying, "These are just the fringes of God's ways. This is just scratching the surface of how great and majestic God is." But have you ever had to endure pessimism and discouragement? We see the answer here when you're struggling with those things is to focus on God's majesty and glory. And he is greater than anything you're going through. It also might be encouraging to remember you are made in the image of God, not a worthless maggot. God gives mankind dignity and said it was very good when he made us. So you turn your eyes upon God in times of discouragement. Lastly, I know I got to wrap up here. Number five, have you heard the steadfastness of Job? Number five, how he endured by trusting God's ultimate sovereignty over him. Chapter 27, I'll kind of summarize. Job is maintaining his integrity. He's rejecting his friends last speeches and trusting God's sovereignty. Now, I do want to hit verse two real quick. It says something that might catch your eye. Job says, "God deprived me of justice." Now, he's not accusing God of sin. He is acknowledging the fact that God hasn't vindicated him yet. God isn't vindicating him at the moment. God isn't revealing the truth at the moment um with his friends, but he will soon. And it may sound repetitive in this series, but it is a running theme we must hit. We can endure suffering by trusting God's sovereignty and control. He is God. We are not. In chapter 7, I'm sorry, chapter 27:E 19, I want you to take a peek at that. Job says, "The wicked lie down wealthy, but when they die is gone." In Luke chapter 16, I'm going to close with this. Jesus shares a story of a rich man who lied down wealthy until he lied down permanently and died. He eventually had his last night of wealth. This rich man had nice clothes, feasted sumptuously every day, and prospered. There was a poor man who would come to the rich man's gate begging for food. His name was Lazarus. Lazarus sat at the rich man's gate covered in soores that the dogs licked. A little, you know, a little imagery before we go to lunch. Um, sorry, but it's the truth. Lazarus is covered in these soores, kind of like Job is. um the dogs come and lick Lazarus sores as he's suffering greatly and all Lazarus wanted was food from the rich man's table and he is ignored. Eventually Lazarus dies and the scripture says that the angels take him to Abraham's side or Abraham's bosom and then later the rich man dies too. The rich man finds finds himself in torment uh in Hades. Jesus is telling this story in Luke 16. You can read it later. So this is Jesus speaking. The rich man sees Abraham and Lazarus a far off. There's a great chasm between them. He says,"Abraham, send Lazarus to help me." Like he has any authority in in Hades, right? Like he still thinks he's hot stuff. He's kind of hot stuff, but in a different way, right? And sorry. And he says, "Send Lazar." No. And Abraham says this, "Remember that you in your lifetime received your good things and Lazarus bad things. But now, and that is a scary final, terrifyingly eternal. But now, now you rich man, you are in anguish and Lazarus is comforted and you can read the rest on your own. But I wonder, this isn't in the Bible. This is just DJ who puts him. I like to put myself in character shoes. I wonder if Lazarus ever asked from time to time where God was in his suffering as he was starving, as he was poor, as he begged for food and the dogs licked his sores and the rich man didn't care. Where was God in his suffering? But God knew the hearts of both men. He knew the state of the rich man's soul and he knew the state of Lazarus's soul. And one got temporary pleasures on earth and wound up in hell. The other had temporary suffering on earth and wound up with the I say that to say this. There's no no need to be envy of the wicked. God will sort it out in the end. And now you've heard of the steadfastness of Job. Amen. >> Our challenge is to model his endurance in the trials of our own lives like James 5 tells us. And what we learn is this not only reveals the book of Job not only reveals the steadfastness of Job, but also the Lord's what? Compassion and mercy. And we'll see that as we progress through. I want to invite the worship team up as we prepare to sing our last song. Let's close in prayer. Father, I thank you for this morning. We thank you for your word. We pray your blessings upon our fellowship to to happen in just a few minutes. I I am so grateful and thankful for the work that you're doing in the lives of your people and in this community and through this wonderful church. God, I am so humbled and honored and grateful to be a part of what you're doing here at Cross Church. It's all about It's all about you, Lord. It really is. Just to sit back and and do what you've called us to do, but then watch you just do what you're going to do. And I thank you for that. Pray for any who are suffering. Pray for any who who feel maybe a few or all of these things either distant from you or discouraged by wickedness, prospering, or um dealing with false accusations. Uh whatever it is, Lord, that they would like Job look to Job as their example to endure, stay faithful, remain steadfast in their walk with the Lord, knowing that God will sort it all out in the end. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Let's stand as we sing our last song. And I'll have to [music]