STRUGGLING WITH SIN WITHIN DURING SUFFERING--Job 23:1-7, 15-17; 24:1, 4-6; 42:3-4
Proposition: When you are suffering, it is easier to agonize over the loss of God’s outward blessing and proper relationship to God Himself, than keep an upbeat attitude and keep from sinning in one’s inward spirit.
Objective: My purpose is to give hope those who are struggling with sin even when there seems there is no answer to our suffering.
INTRODUCTION:
Illus: The ’L I T T L E’ things that impacted lives on 9/11…
The head of a company survived 9/11 because his son started kindergarten that day and he wanted to be there to take him to class. Another fellow was alive because it was his turn to bring donuts. One woman was late because her alarm clock didn’t go off in time. One was late because of being stuck on the NJ Turnpike because of an auto accident. One man missed his bus. One spilled food on her clothes and had to take time to change. One’s car wouldn’t start. One went back to answer the telephone. One had a child that dawdled that day and didn’t get ready as soon as he should have. Of all things, one couldn’t get a taxi to stop that morning to pick them up. The one that struck me was the man who put on a new pair of shoes that morning, took his usual various means to get to work but before he got there, he developed a blister on his foot. He stopped at a drugstore to buy a Band-Aid. That is why he is alive today. Now when I am stuck in traffic, miss an elevator, have someone else’s actions delay me or just turn back to answer a ringing tele-phone... you know, all the little things that usually would annoy me - I want to stop think to myself, this is exactly where God wants me to be at this very moment.. Next time your morning seems to be going wrong, the children are slow getting dressed, you can’t seem to find the car keys, your car doesn’t start, you hit every traffic light, don’t get mad or frustrated -- God is at work watching over you. God may actually be blessing you with all those annoying little things even though we may not understand their possible purpose. That was the problem Job had. He didn’t know that God was watching over him and sparing his life. He didn’t know that Satan was causing all these problems and God did not allow him to touch his life. He was struggling within that even though he did not “sin with his lips,” Sin is not just an outward demonstration but also an inward struggle that causes us to sin at times. Remember Paul writes in Romans 7:14-17: “For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. 15For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. 16If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. 17But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.” He wants to live right, he wants to say the right things and think the right things, but before he knows what has happened, he has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. When God says something is good, the flesh wants just the opposite. When the Law says something is bad, the flesh says that it is good. It is a contest between the old man and the new man.” Job didn’t have the revealed Laws of God that shaped many of the lives of the OT saints.
IS JOB GUILTY OF SECRET SINS? The third cycle of speeches starts in chapter 22 with Eliphaz once again, and he is making the same weary point insisting that Job is a wicked man, and now most starkly, "Is not your wickedness great? Are not your sins endless?" (22:5). Eliphaz is ramming that point home to a godly sufferer who’s lost his children, his possessions, and his health so that he is a broken man sitting in pain on a dung heap scraping the matter from his wounds. Here is Eliphaz, with no subtlety or affection, declaring to Job that his wickedness is great and so he’s got what was coming to him. Something happens to Job through this long conversation with his three friends. He begins with utter dismay and he cries out against the wisdom of God in giving him birth. The duration of his disease had almost defeated the initial stand of faith that he took at the first. In every speech up ’til then Job had expressed the conviction that he would certainly die and go to the grave in misery. He longs for it. But there is a gradual change in the way he talks about dying. At first in 7:9-10 (his response to Eliphaz) he is sure that death is the end of everything, In his response to Bildad, he is still sunk in despair about death: "Let me alone, that I may find a little comfort before I go whence I shall not return to the land of gloom and deep darkness, the land of gloom and chaos, where light is as darkness." His suffering goes right on. God seems utterly arbitrary in the way he parcels out suffering and comfort in this life. He struggles within to the point of sinning against God. He finally puts them to silence. Job longs to plead his case before God 23:1--24:25 In Chapter 23 Job is asking, "Why is God so seemingly absent from human affairs?" He begins with expressing his own longing for God: He is having a bad day physically, but he cries, "Oh that I knew where I might find him, that I might come even to his seat! I would lay my case before him and fill my mouth with arguments. I would learn what he would answer me, and understand what he would say to me." {Job 23:3-5}. Though his pain increases his frustration grows because he cannot find any way to get into contact and argue the point with God and get some answers to his problem. Many times we have seen this. Job feels that if he could get a chance to lay out before God the situation as he sees it, God himself, in his basic justice, would admit that he was right. That expresses a great deal of confidence that God is a God of justice. Job says "I don’t understand what I am going through. I felt I’ve been doing the right thing and still this torment goes on, but I know that God will explain it to me some day." That is as high as his faith can rise at the moment.
I. ANGER (animosity): BITTERNESS (23:2) “Even today my complaint is bitter.” In 7:11, Job states, "Therefore I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.” “Complaint” means a contemplation; by implication an utterance: - babbling, communication, complaint, talk” due to his “bitterness” means “painful, biting, cruel and harsh.” Job makes it clear that his dispute was not with men but with God, and he emphasizes this fact here. It seems that God is doing this on purpose, even when he tries to find some meaning win what happens. It seems that God’s face is hidden from God in every direction and he becomes more bitter that leads him to a sinful attitude in his spirit against God. His friends urge him to return to God and that bothers him as well.
1. Despair: God is hiding from me (23:1-7)--v. 3 “Oh that I knew where I might find Him.” He shows the seeming just cause of his struggle that leads to complaining and concerning that Eliphaz had exhorted him to return to God, (Job 22:21) he declares that he desires nothing more, but it seems that God would not be found of him. How does a mere sinful man go about finding God? His friends tried to comfort him when they did have all the facts. That did not help him feel any better.
Illus: Top 10 comments that make a pastor joyful
10. "You went 25 minutes over? Surely not, Gee pastor...we were so moved we didn’t even notice!"
9. "Since we’re all here, let’s just start the service early."
8. "Please! No more announcements! Let’s get rid of anything in the service that takes away time from your preaching."
7. "Put out some extra chairs next Sunday. I’ve invited our entire neighborhood to come with us."
6. ""Could you and Susan teach a parenting class? Your kids are the most spiritual and well-behaved we’ve ever seen!"
5. "We need bigger offering baskets. These are too small!"
4. "We love change. We hate being in a rut."
3. "We’d like to send you to a pastor’s conference in Hawaii.
2. "Just take the whole year off to write your next book."
...And the number one thing that brings joy to a pastor
1. "You remind me of Billy Graham."
2. Determination: God is frightening me (23:13-17)--v. 15, “Therefore I am terrified at His presence.” Since it seems that He has “no plan” of any kind, it is easy to become bitter rather than to have a profound veneration for One who is infinitely wise as well as Almighty. The fear of an Almighty Being, who has an eternal plan, which we cannot doubt is wise, though it is not plain to us, can be a fear mingled with confidence. There is a fear rather than joy in not knowing or understanding the reason for the trials we face.
3. Disappointment: God perplexes me (24:1-15)--v. 1--“Why do those who know Him see not His days?” “Why doesn’t God have specific days to hold court? Then I could attend and tell Him what I think of the way He is running the world.” “Why are we kept in the dark?” Sometimes we are puzzled, bewildered and confused at what God is doing and we become bitter.
Illus: There is a story told about a little girl whose mother planned to celebrate her fifth birthday by impressing all the relatives. The little girl’s mother paid no attention to what kind of party her daughter wanted. Instead, she forced her daughter to wear a dress her daughter didn’t want to wear. She also made her daughter learn a song that she was supposed to sing in front of everybody at the party. When the day of the party arrived the little girl pouted over having to wear the dress. And when it came time to sing the song, she refused. Her mother said, "What are you going to do?" "Nothing," said her daughter. Then her mother pinched her and said again, "Aren’t you going to sing your song?" "No," was the reply. So the mother took her daughter by the arm and drug her upstairs to the parents’ bedroom and shut her up in a closet. About a half hour later the mother came back and said, "What are you doing in there?" Her little girl said, "I’ve been having a great time. I’ve been spitting on your clothes. I’ve been spitting on your shoes. I’ve been spitting on your walls. I’ve been spitting on the carpet. Now I’m waiting for some more spit." Sometimes we get so angry all we want is more spit.
Hopefully these are moments that we quickly pass through and then move beyond them. But what about those situations when the anger doesn’t leave us so easily? Times when life is so hurtful and unfair that we might want to spit at life itself, or even God? The Book of Job has caught people’s attention because it’s about a man who is angry at God. Job can find no reason why God should be causing him to suffer so terribly. So he cries out in anger at God: (Job 7:11) ""Therefore I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.” Job’s suffering had led him into a spiritual crisis. A great part of this crisis was due to Job’s beliefs about suffering and God. To put it simply: Job, like the others of his day, believed that God caused everything to happen just the way it happened. If life was going well for you it meant that God was pleased with you. God was rewarding you with His blessings. On the other hand, if life was going badly for you it meant that God was displeased with you. The bad things that were happening to you were punishments from God. The final chapters of the Book make it clear that Job regrets his speaking as he had, “Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”
II. ARROGANCE: PRIDE TAKES OVER (27:5-6) “My heart shall not reproach me as long as I live.” He speaks as a prideful man, rather than being humble. He was hurting too much.
1. Defense (vvs. 1-6) “I will never say that you men are right; I will insist on my innocence to my dying day. I will never give up my claim to be right; my conscience is clear.” This reminds me of the Pharisee Jesus told about (Luke 18:10-14).
2. Denunciation (vvs. 7-12) v. 7--“May my enemy be like the wicked”--In the East, it was not enough for accused people simply to affirm their innocence; they also felt compelled to call down the wrath of God on those who said they were guilty. Who were his enemies? Anybody who agreed with Job’s friends that he was guilty of sin and deserved to be punished by God. While this conversation had been going on, many people had likely gathered around the ash heap and listened to the debate; and most of them probably sided with Bildad, Zophar and Eliphaz. Job could see the spectators nod their heads in agreement with his friends, and he knew that he was outnumbered.
3. Declaration (vvs. 13-23) --v, 13 “This is the portion of a wicked man with God.” Job teaches a lesson about the power or hand of God. He describes God’s judgment of the wicked. On the day when God vindicates Job, this is what will happen to his enemies. They will die and their widows will not mourn for them, a terrible insult in the Eastern world. The wicked will lie down rich and wake up poor. The death of the wicked will not be peaceful. Terrors will come in at night like a flood and carry them away. Death, to a Godly man, is like a fair gale of wind to convey him to the heavenly country, but, to a wicked man, it is like an east wind, a storm, a tempest, that hurries him away in confusion and amazement, to destruction. How do you explain the events of the tsunami? Job’s friends would have believed that they were killed because they had sinned.
Illus: The Rev. James Pathinathan does not believe he can work miracles. He preaches to a church with about 700 families every Sunday at a picturesque church called St. Peter’s, on a serene stretch of beach, and nothing too much out of the ordinary has ever happened to his flock. That is, until the morning after Christmas 2004. Because of a special event, he decided to move the service that day to a chapel a mile inland. Some 1,500 worshipers, mainly fishermen and their families from communities by the sea, showed up. When the deadly tsunami struck, they were at services--and were saved. Those who didn’t go, who overslept, or didn’t have a bicycle, or simply had other things to do, were not as fortunate. The sheer randomness of who lived and died in the disaster has caused many to either thank or blame the Almighty; the whims of chance seem an insufficient explanation. A woman decides to walk this way to her aunt’s house and lives; if she had walked that way, she would have died. A boy who climbs one palm tree survives; the one in the next gets swept away. But the story of St. Peter’s church stands out as an unusual example, in which the decision of whether or not to go to church that Sunday meant the difference between life and death. "We know God loves us," says Pathinathan, who insists his decision was not a miracle. "There are things that happen that are earth-shattering, but you just accept that you don’t understand why." That day was a special day for the church, so Pathinathan thought it would be a good idea to hold services at a roadside place. It started late, at 7:20, because the public-address system was not working. Then, because one guest preacher went on and on and because Pathinathan let the service go on--until just before 9 a.m. "Just as the was finishing the services we heard people shouting, ’The sea is coming! The water is as tall as the palm trees!’" says a 46-year-old who used to be a fisherman. "It was very calm, with no wind, so we were all confused. But people said all of Mullaittivu had been swept away, so we all started running. It wasn’t until that evening that we went back. There were bodies everywhere, and we could not recognize where our house used to be." When he returned with his wife and two grown sons, they found that 11 people in their family had been killed. "In my village, 26 men lost their wives," he says. "It was our faith that saved us." If services had ended even 10 minutes earlier, the worshipers would still have gotten home in time to fall victim to the deadly wave. "All I know is that 1,500 more people would have died, and that would have been the end of the Christian community in Mullaittivu," says Pathinathan, an unassuming man with mild eyes. Of the seven churches he is in charge of in Mullaittivu, four were destroyed; St. Peter’s now looks like an ancient ruin on the rubble-strewn beach. But there are others in Pathinathan’s congregation who feel abandoned by God. One man who lost his son screamed at the pastor, "Your God is blind!" It turned out that he had had two sons--one was a healthy boy, and one was handicapped. The one killed was the healthy son. The Rev. Paul Satkunanayagam, a U.S.-trained psychologist and minister, is one of the founders of a center for war-traumatized children in Batticaloa. He believes that tragedy spawns the same helplessness felt during wartime: "Always, the human mind creates an enemy. Here, you can’t blame a human, so people blame God." It could also be a simple case of running out of alternatives. At the university where Satkunanayagam works, over 1,000 refugees are camped out. One group of refugees approached the minister, saying they were interested in converting from Hinduism to Christianity. "Our God has failed us," they said. "Maybe yours will do better?"
III. ANGUISH (agony): REBELS AGAINST GOD (34:37) “For He adds rebellion to his sin”-- ”Rebellion” means “sin” and “transgression.”
1. Rebuke: God is unjust (34:1-15) “Hear my words, you wise men”--Elihu chides Job and his friends for their wrong views of God. Elihu is addressing to the three friends who considered himself an authoritative messenger of God whose words should be heeded (32:8; 33:4). His words should be heard with discernment and discrimination, differentiating between good and bad, truth and error. Elihu rebukes Job by quoting him when Job, “I am innocent, but God denies me justice.” (v. 5) Neither can the Almighty ever do wrong (v. 10). God is incapable of injustice. He can do only what is good and right. Think about that, Job. How about you? God can only do right, Elihu contended. Never would God do what is evil, since He is the Source of righteousness and justice.
Illus: Jack Hyles tells this, “I was in East Chicago, Indiana, several years ago. I knocked on a door. A lady came to the door. I said, ‘I’m Pastor Hyles.’ She said, ‘Yes, I know who you are.’ Then she said these exact words (I’ll never forget it): ‘I was in your church last Sunday. I have just got to say three things to you.’ I said ‘What are they?’ She said, ‘Your pianist played too fast, and your singer sang too fast, and you preached too fast, and I couldn’t get out of that place fast enough. And besides, if all I’ve heard about you is true, you’re not much anyhow!’ ‘Lady, they are all true.’ ‘What?’ ‘They are all true. I am not much. Really, I mean it. I am just a sinner. Lady, I hope you will pray for me. I want to be better. I hate me worse than you do. If you will just let me come in, I will tell you some of my sins. I want you to pray with me that I will do better.’ She opened the door all the way, and tears began to roll down her cheeks. She said, ‘I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.’ In fifteen minutes, she was a child of God. Then she came to our church the next Sunday and was baptized. Do you know why? It was because the preacher said, ‘I have sinned.’"
2. Reproof: God is IMPARTIAL (34:16-20) v. 16 “If you have understanding, hear this.” Elihu shifts his address from the three friends and Job to Job himself. God would not be fit to be the sovereign ruler over all if He despised justice. We sin and fall short of doing that which is right, but God always does the right thing. God pronounces kings to be inferior and impotent. “He does not take the side of rulers nor favor the rich over the poor, for He created everyone.” (Mes)
3. Refocus: God KNOWS ALL (34:21-37) v. 21-“For His eyes are on the way of man.” There is no night dark enough, no shadow deep enough, to hide those who do evil. “He watches every step we take.” He sees all and knows all. In different ways Elihu makes it plain that Job is not suffering because of his suffering. “Job, you don’t have time to listen to God.” Job bristles with deviance and defends himself until God gets His attention in 38:1 when God’s reveals Himself from the whirlwind. Then Job realizes that he is not as smart and has the answers as he thought.
Illus: “Little Judy was riding in the car with her father. She decided to stand up in the front seat. Her father commanded her to sit down and put on the seat belt, but she declined. He told her a second time, and again, she refused. ‘If you don’t sit down immediately, I’ll pull over to the side of the road and spank you!’ Dad finally said, and at this the little girl obeyed. “But, in a few minutes she said quietly, ‘DADDY, I’M STILL STANDING UP ON THE INSIDE.’”
We could never learn to be brave and patient, if there was only joy in the world. --Helen Keller
CONCLUSION:
1. Job sins in his spirit when he seeks an explanation for his suffering.
2. Job learns that there may be a purpose in suffering in God’s plan other than punishment for sin, even though others may not realize it and give words of advice that hurts rather than helps.
3. During trials, one can either become bitter rather than better. It can make us better. You may say all the right words in all the right places, but a bitter spirit spreads like cancer through your system and your spiritual life and fruit begin to wither and die.
4. Job’s learns that one’s outward actions may be right but his inner attitude and outlook on life may be sinful.
5. Outward circumstances do not determine man’s relationship to God. A right relationship is determined by a personal encounter with God.
6. We need to say with Job, “I have sinned” (Job 7:20 KJV). All sin is a self-defilement, a self-corrupting, a twisting of one’s own character and a bending of one’s integrity. Spurgeon: This is the repentance of the man who is a child of God already, an acceptable repentance before God.
Illus: Haldor Lillenas, founder of a noted music-publishing company, made his way to the United States from Scandinavia. His first years in this country were hard, but a kind lady befriended him and taught him the English language. More importantly, perhaps, she told him the story of Christ and led him to know the Savior in his heart. Many times, she sang to him a comforting song entitled God Leads His Dear Children Along.
Years later, he began thinking about the song that had been so meaningful to him in his youth and decided to find out something about its writer, C.A. Young. He discovered that the songwriter had passed away, but that his widow was living in a nearby town. Haldor drove out to the little town and found her in a poor house. His excitement mounted as she told him this story:
My husband and I were married while we were very young. God gave us a wonderful life together; he led us from day to day. We had so much of Jesus. But then God took my husband. Now God has led me here, and I’m so excited and glad about it! God has used me in this place. Isn’t it wonderful that God leads his children day by day and step by step?
Many people come to this place and they are so sad and in such great need. They need help and comfort. I have been able to cheer many of them and lead scores of them to the Lord Jesus Christ. How thankful I am that God has brought me to this place, where I can be of so much help to these people!
Haldor Lillenas was deeply moved by Mrs. Young’s words and excited that he had found more than just a story behind a gospel song. He had found a Christian woman completely surrendered to God’s will for her life.
God Leads His Dear Children Along
by G.A. Young
In shady, green pastures, so rich and so sweet,
God leads His dear children along;
Where the water’s cool flow bathes the weary one’s feet,
God leads His dear children along.
Some through the waters, some through the flood,
Some through the fire, but all through the blood;
Some through great sorrow, but God gives a song,
In the night season and all the day long.
Sometimes on the mount where the sun shines so bright,
God leads His dear children along;
Sometimes in the valley, in darkest of night,
God leads His dear children along.
Some through the waters, some through the flood,
Some through the fire, but all through the blood;
Some through great sorrow, but God gives a song,
In the night season and all the day long.
Though sorrows befall us and evils oppose,
God leads His dear children along;
Through grace we can conquer, defeat all our foes,
God leads His dear children along.
Some through the waters, some through the flood,
Some through the fire, but all through the blood;
Some through great sorrow, but God gives a song,
In the night season and all the day long.
Prepared by:
Gerald R. Steffy,6206 N. Hamilton Road
Peoria, IL 61614 E-mail: grsteffy@yahoo.com
for MY SERMON NUGGETS sent out weekly.
