Job 5:15-27
15 But He saves the needy from the sword,
From the mouth of the mighty,
And from their hand.
16 So the poor have hope,
And injustice shuts her mouth.
17 “Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects;
Therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty.
18 For He bruises, but He binds up;
He wounds, but His hands make whole.
19 He shall deliver you in six troubles,
Yes, in seven no evil shall touch you.
20 In famine He shall redeem you from death,
And in war from the power of the sword.
21 You shall be hidden from the scourge of the tongue,
And you shall not be afraid of destruction when it comes.
22 You shall laugh at destruction and famine,
And you shall not be afraid of the beasts of the earth.
23 For you shall have a covenant with the stones of the field,
And the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you.
24 You shall know that your tent is in peace;
You shall visit your dwelling and find nothing amiss.
25 You shall also know that your descendants shall be many,
And your offspring like the grass of the earth.
26 You shall come to the grave at a full age,
As a sheaf of grain ripens in its season.
27 Behold, this we have searched out;
It is true.
Hear it, and know for yourself.”
This scripture in Job speaks of a son of God’s inheritance.
I have experienced God’s hand in my life for many years. I know that God has saved me from the sword. There are so many things in life that can go wrong. I was abused as a child by a visiting family member and could never tell anybody about it, especially my parents. Guilt and fear then became part of my life. I became a very fearful child. I feared most things, especially the dark. I had a close friend die in a car accident. So, whenever we drove in the car, I feared being killed in a car accident. There was hardly anything I did not fear.
One Sunday morning we had an oldish lady visit our Sunday school class. She used a flannelgraph story to tell us about a mother hen. The mother hen had told her little chickens that when a big spooky bird comes close to them that she would call her little chickens to run and hide under her wings. One off her little chicks decided that he was strong enough to look after himself, so when the big dark bird cast a shadow over their coup he decided not to hide under his mother’s wings with the others. He continued to pick up little bits of seeds and enjoy himself basking in the sun. Suddenly the fearsome bird dived into the coup and swooped up the gutsy chick and carried him away.
Our Storyteller then explained the first verses of Psalm 91.
Psalm 91 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress;
My God, in Him I will trust.”
3 Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler
And from the perilous pestilence.
4 He shall cover you with His feathers,
And under His wings you shall take refuge;
Then the dear old lady invited us to ask Jesus to live in our hearts.
I was the very first to respond and since then I have been a child of God.
I do know that I have lived in the presence of Jesus since then. Whenever I feared anything from that day, I quoted Psalm 91 and hid under the wings of Jesus. But never got rid of my guilt. Kept my secret deep in my heart.
I have learned that secret sin is the power of evil rooted deep down inside our lives. Although I believed in Jesus and lived to minister His word from a young age, I still carried one fear. I feared the judgment of people and never told anyone about my guilt.
This guilt affected my life and kept me in bondage for many years. Although I ministered and taught the word I battled with secret sins. I could not believe that I could ever be free of my past. You begin to believe that God’s mercy overlooks your weakness. I believed that God forgives and forgets each past action.
Sin in a Christian who fully loves God and others is the inability to define if they are succeeding or failing in God’s eyes. This understanding becomes a selfish desire to continue in sin whether it hurts or disappoints others.
Blaise Pascal a religious philosopher said, “One-half of the ills of life come because men are unwilling to sit down quietly for thirty minutes to think through all the possible consequences of their acts.
The Word of God does say; Galatians 6:7-8 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. 8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.
Although God forgives sin, I believe God allows the consequences of sin, like fire to bring to the surface and purify us from the tragic results of sin. One clear result is that we do not reach the goal that God has set out for our lives.
Matthew 1:21 She will bear a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus [the Greek form of the Hebrew Joshua, which means Saviour], for He will save His people from their sins [that is, prevent them from failing and missing the true end and scope of life, which is God].
To be full of God and in His perfect image is God’s goal for our lives. He created us to be like Him, but when we live contrary to His standard, we sin.
1 John 3:4 Everyone who commits (practices) sin is guilty of lawlessness; for [that is what] sin is, lawlessness (the breaking, violating of God’s law by transgression or neglect—being unrestrained and unregulated by His commands and His will). Amplified Bible, Classic Edition
Sin has wages it demands from us.
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
I do believe and have experienced that as a spiritual leader, the consequences can be more severe.
James 3:1 My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.
Sometimes sin also leads to the consequences imposed on us by society. Certain sins are illegal. When we are caught committing these sins, even if we repent and are restored to the experience of full life in God, we may suffer legal consequences.
No man is an island, and sin is never a strictly personal act. It always has an impact on the lives of others. When a parent sins, it affects a spouse, children, extended family, and each of the relationships connected to these people.
Robert Louis Stevenson a Scottish novelist wrote, “Everybody, soon or late, sits down to a banquet of consequences.” Make sure that your consequences will not be God’s judgment because you have not believed His promises. Let your banquet of consequences be eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Although there is a tempter and we give in to our own inner imaginations and thoughts, God has sent his own Son who was tempted in every way just like us. He never sinned and could pay the ransom price for each one of us.
John 10:10 The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).
Once you have sinned, the penalty is earned and the consequences are real. The Bible teaches there is nothing you can do to save yourself from the death sentence. God has decreed that the penalty for sin can only be satisfied through death.
We need salvation from the death penalty. Many believe salvation is a guarantee of heaven in the future. They believe it is a kind of fire escape, to be ‘saved’ from eternal damnation in hell. ‘saved’ to be with God in heaven.”
Salvation is generally viewed as the act of accepting Jesus as Saviour. Once you have done this, you are saved from hell and are headed to heaven. Nothing about how we live life on earth, except you must remain holy and do good to earn yourself a nice big reward in heaven one day.
But is this what “being saved” really means? There is much more to it than living holy to get a reward in heaven.
What exactly do we need to be saved from, and how are we saved?
Salvation is the act of God to deliver us from bondage, sin, and condemnation and transfer us to the kingdom of his beloved Son in the here and now.
Colossians 1:13 [The Father] has delivered and drawn us to Himself out of the control and the dominion of darkness and has transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.
Salvation involves our death. There was a day when I came to my senses and realized I had died with Christ. My old man no longer lived and I was resurrected into a new life in Christ Jesus.
Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
Once I realized this fact, the old guilty Colin no more had power or influence over the new resurrected Colin. When I look back now, I cannot even recognize that old man. He is dead and buried. After years of inner struggle and then the loss of almost everything. I can live in the victory Christ has gained for me.
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
I want to encourage you, to let go of your past, and consider yourself to be dead to your old man. You can live in the Kingdom of God and you can enjoy your inheritance today. With Christ as your life, you cannot miss the goal of being full of God today. You cannot miss it!
Judges 20:16 Among all this people were seven hundred select men who were left-handed; everyone could sling a stone at a hair’s breadth and not miss.
Hear it, and know for yourself. Job 5:27
Amen
