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A Useless Sermon

A Useless Sermon
May 20, 2018

Scripture: Job 4 and 5

I. Yes, you reap what you sow, but the wheels of God’s justice sometimes grind slowly.

A.Eliphaz seems to begin his sermon to Job in a respectful manner. He says in Job 4:3, “Behold, you have instructed many, and you have strengthened the weak hands.” But we see how wrong Eliphaz thinks Job is in vs. 6 where he asks Job, “Is not your fear of God your confidence, and the integrity of your ways your hope?” If Job really did fear God, if he really were a righteous man, then, clearly, he would not be having this suffering which he is dealing with.

B. Eliphaz reminds Job that you reap what you sow in Job 4:8. He says, “Job, in God’s universe, you get what you deserve. If you do good things, God will reward you with good things. But if you sin, you will be punished. You will suffer.” So, since Job was suffering, logically what did that mean according to Eliphaz? Job must have sinned. And to be suffering as much as he was Job must have sinned big time. But the whole truth about reaping what you sow is that sometimes the wheels of God’s justice grind very slowly. God’s punishment is not always immediate for sin. Nor is God’s reward for righteousness immediate. God is patient.

II. Yes, God is holy, but humans can be righteous before God.

A. A spirit says something to Eliphaz that everybody knows about God in vs. 17: God is holy. We read in vs. 17: “Can mortal man be in the right before God? Can a man be pure before God?” Man, on the other hand, sins. Even angels according to vs. 18 are unclean in comparison to God. And how much more impure are people according to Eliphaz in vs. 19? So, Eliphaz, is saying, “Job, admit it, you’ve sinned. Stop pretending that you are getting anything other than what you deserve. You are in danger of attacking God and accusing Him of being unjust. So, Job, repent.”

B. In Job 5:1 Eliphaz hints at something that will prove to be the whole truth that is found later in the Bible, “Call now, is there anyone who will answer you? To which of the holy ones will you turn?” Eliphaz is inviting Job to seek a mediator: someone who will stand between him and God so that Job can be judged righteous by God. There is such a mediator for both Job and for us. And that mediator’s name is Jesus. 1 Timothy 2:5: “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”

III. Yes, God disciplines His people, but sometimes the innocent suffer.

A. The truth is Eliphaz says in vs. 17, “Blessed is the one whom God reproves; therefore despise not the discipline of the Almighty.” Job should accept the discipline of God for his sin, Eliphaz says. Is it true that God does discipline us when we sin? Definitely. See Hebrews 12:7. But the whole truth is that innocent people suffer also. And if you don’t recognize that innocent people suffer, like Eliphaz you will speak cruel words to innocent people like Job. Not only that, if you don’t believe that innocent people suffer, you will speak lies about God. One of the lies that Eliphaz spoke about God is in Job 4:7: “Remember, who that was innocent ever perished? Or where were the upright cut off?” We know, of course, that Eliphaz and Job lived before the days of Jesus. But look at the cross. What is the name of an innocent man who perished? Jesus!

Application:
The whole truth about suffering is only found in the cross and resurrection.

Sources:
The book of Job
Commentaries on Job by Francis Andersen and Christopher Ash
“For the Love of God” by D.A. Carson