YOUR STANDING BEFORE GOD

 

Job 23:10-12  But he knows where I am going.  And when he has tested me like gold in a fire, he will pronounce me innocent.  For I have stayed in God’s paths.  I have followed his ways and not turned aside.  I have not departed from his commands but have treasured his word in my heart.

Job was a man who knew his standing before God.  He lived life in such a way that the sufferings he was going through did not cause him to doubt his righteousness.  He didn’t understand why he was suffering, but he knew that all was well with his soul.

Job knew that God knew him and the righteousness of his heart.  He knew that God knew that he was going to be with Him once he died.  There was no shred of doubting on Job’s part.  We too can know where we are going when we die.  In fact, we must know it if we are going to overcome the many ups and downs of life. 

Sometimes our faith is tested.  We go through sufferings and tough times to find out just how real our faith really is.  It is easy to maintain faith when all is going well.  It is in the bad times that we discover how things really are in our souls. 

Job knew that God was going to declare his soul innocent.  He knew that God would not find fault with him.  How could he be so sure?  He stayed on God’s paths.  He did not get side-tracked by life.  He lived a righteous life all the time.  He sought always to know God’s ways and lived them.  Knowing God’s ways was a priority in Job’s life.  Job determined in his heart that he would only do what he knew what God wanted him to do with his life. 

Job treasured God’s Word in his heart.  Because he owned them for himself, he was able to live them out on a daily basis.  We too can live by God’s Word when we value it enough to hide it in our hearts so that we can be constantly directed and influenced by it.  There is no short cut to godly living.  We must always live by God’s Word.  It is only then that we can have bold confidence in our standing before God both now and forever.

I KNOW MY REDEEMER

 

Job 19:25-27  “But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and that he will stand upon the earth at last.  And after my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God!  I will see him for myself.  Yes, I will see him with my own eyes.  I am overwhelmed at the thought!”

The issue before us today is how well we know that our Redeemer lives.  How do you know our Redeemer lives?  Do you know it’s true because that is what you have been taught, or do you know it because you experience it daily in your life?  There is a huge difference between what we know in our heads and what we know to be true in our hearts.

How well do you know your Redeemer?  Are you on good terms with Him?  Do you know Him well enough to know it when He speaks to you?  Do you know Him well enough to know the will of His heart for you?  Do you know Him well enough to trust Him with your very life?  Do you know that He always loves you and has your best interests at heart?  Do you know that He will NEVER leave or forsake you?  Do you know that He loves you so much that He will never leave you alone and let you fall into sin without trying to stop you?  Do you know Him well enough to stake your life on Him?

If you really know your Redeemer, you will know that you will see Him with your very own eyes.  You will be so captivated by the reality of it that it will permeate every detail of your living.  You will live in expectation of seeing Him and it will fill your heart with so much joy that you can scarce contain it.  Think about it.  Dear friend, there is coming a day in which you will see Jesus face to face.  You will see Him in all His love, glory, majesty and holiness.  Not only will you see Him, you will talk to Him and be with Him forever and ever!

Whatever you may be going through in this life, it pales in light of what is yet to come for you.  You may have the worst life possible here on earth, but if you have Jesus, you will find that it is indeed worth every moment of your misery now.  If you have Jesus, your reward will be greater than any life you may be able to know here on earth.  You will see Jesus and He will set you free from all sin and entanglements of this life.  He will clothe you in garments of pure holiness and love.

Don’t look around you and pine for what you see here on earth.  Look above you and pine for the things you see in heaven where your Redeemer is today.

THE DEMISE OF THE WICKED

 

Job 18:5-7  The truth remains that the light of the wicked will be snuffed out.  The sparks of their fire will not glow.  The light in them will grow dark.  The lamp hanging above them will be quenched.  The confident stride of the wicked will be short-lived.  Their own schemes will be their downfall.

We need to understand this truth.  God prevails over the wicked in heart.  There is nothing but darkness and emptiness, which characterizes their lives.  They have no hope beyond this life.  Whatever they may know, experience, or do in this life will be their reward.  In eternity they will be like everyone else who has denied or rejected Christ.  They will spend eternity in eternal torment understanding that it is well-deserved and did not have to be that way.

There is hope for the wicked while there is still life, but once life comes to an end, there is no more hope.  The longer one lingers in the darkness, the dimmer the light becomes.  Linger long enough and the light simply will go out. 

If you are counting on the pleasures of this life to satisfy your soul, you will regret it forever.  If you think that your legacy on earth is going to ease your suffering in hell, think again.  If you think that there is no God to fear or answer to, you will have a very rude awakening.  If you think you know what you are doing and that your way of life is a better way, you will soon find out just how wrong you really are.

The truth of the matter is that there is only one way to live that will spare any of us from an eternity in hell.  Our relationship with Christ before we die determines where we will live eternally.  We cannot be in Christ and live in the darkness of evil.  The evidence of our salvation is how we live.  Words will not cut it.  Saving faith results in godly living.  Profession of faith without practice of faith means nothing. 

 Dear friend, stay out of the darkness of the wicked.  It only leads you away from God and if you stay there it will destroy your soul.

GOD IS ALWAYS GOOD

 

Job 17:6-9  God has made a mockery of me among the people; they spit in my face.  My eyes are dim with weeping, and I am but a shadow of my former self.  The upright are astonished when they see me.  The innocent are aroused against the ungodly.  The righteous will move onward and forward, and those with pure hearts will become stronger and stronger. 

Even in the midst of the suffering he was going through, Job expressed his faith in God.  He knew God to be true to His Word.  God does not abandon His children.  God is good and His goodness doesn’t depend on our good circumstances.

The righteous do not buckle underneath or let themselves become entrapped by their circumstances.  They face their circumstances with determination.  They do not waver in their righteousness.  Instead, they move onward and forward.  They trust in God’s character.  They do not waver in their confidence in God.  They keep on moving towards God and not away from Him.

The righteous in heart do not sin against God by blaming God for their difficulties.  Instead they lean on God and allow Him to make them stronger because of them.  The more struggles they go through, the stronger they become.  Faith is never made stronger through the comforts of life.  In fact, life’s comforts will usually make one’s faith weaker.

Dear friend, do not let life’s struggles throw you.  Trust in God when you go through them.  Learn from them how faithful God is to you.  Let the Lord grow you and make your faith stronger.  Do not sit under your circumstances, rather keep on moving forward.  Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus and you will soon find yourself not underneath your circumstances but on top of them. 

HOPE

 

Job 14:14-17  If mortals die, can they live again?  This thought would give me hope, and through my struggle I would eagerly wait for release.  You would call and I would answer, and you would yearn for me, your handiwork.  For, then you would count my steps, instead of watching for my sins.  My sins would be sealed in a pouch, and you would cover over my iniquity. 

Job was overwhelmed by his troubles.  He was miserable.  His sufferings dominated his life.  His friends were no help to him at all.  In fact, they only made things worse for they were judging him for his struggles instead of comforting him through them.

The one thing that helped Job is hope.  Job was able to endure his sufferings because he believed that there was much more to life than his present sufferings.  He believed that even if he were to die in his sufferings, it would be worth it all because he would see God and be with Him.

We cannot predict or control our sufferings.  They come without regard to who we are.  They come in varied degrees.  Some of us suffer a lot, some far less.  No amount of self-will can make them go away.  What matters is how we handle ourselves when they come.

As children of God we have hope.   We understand that this life is not the end of the story.   Our lives may fall apart and rot away, but we have hope.  No matter what we may have to deal with in this life, we have eternal life with Christ on the other side of our lives.  No amount of suffering can take our hope away from us.  We have God’s guarantee that better days are ahead for us.

Dear friend, don’t give up; don’t buckle underneath the heavy load of suffering.  Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus.  He is the author of our salvation and He is the finisher of it.  He has in store for you a life that is beyond your ability to comprehend in its glory.  The life that waits for you in heaven is pure, without sin and any of its side effects on life.  This life is a joyous life without any suffering or pain.  It is an eternal life of celebration of life in God. 

Look up, dear friend, it is worth it all.  Someday soon we shall see Jesus!

NUMBERED DAYS

 

Job 14:5  You have decided the length of our lives.  You know how many months we will live, and we are not given a minute longer. 

God is in control.  We will not live a day longer or less than God has determined we will live.  This truth should cause us to pause and think.

God does not tell us the date on our death certificate.  He withholds from us the details of when and how we will leave this life.  Graciously He spares us from the anxieties we would live with if we knew the details.  There could be no peace in daily living if all that was on our mind was when and how we would die.

Not knowing the details should inspire us to not waste our time on earth.   We are given just so much time on earth to be right with God and prepare for our deaths.  Our tomorrow may never come.  Each day and moment is a precious gift of God.  If we squander it, we will not see God except from afar. 

The issue before us today is our readiness to die.  Since we don’t know when that will be we must be prepared at all times for our death.  It is foolish to think that there is plenty of time left for us to get right with God.  It is foolish to think that we can determine when we will turn our lives around and live rightly before God. 

God knows when you will die, you don’t.  God knows whether or not you will even be able to choose to live for Him later in life, you don’t.  God alone knows how many more opportunities you have to get it right.  Are you ready to die?

JUST BE QUIET

 

Job 13:15  “Please be quiet!  That’s the smartest thing you could do.”

Sometimes just shutting up and being quiet is the best thing we can ever do.  There are times in which to say anything just makes matters worse.  Job’s friends simply didn’t understand this simple truth.  They insisted on telling Job what he was doing wrong to cause all his troubles.  They insisted that his physical problems were caused by his spiritual problems.

Sometimes we think we know so much when in reality we know so little.  We can easily show our ignorance by opening our mouths.  We often do more harm than good when we offer advice that is misguided.  Sometimes a troubled soul just needs a listening ear.  They need others to not try to fix them, just understand them.  Sometimes we need others to just be there to show support and concern, nothing else.

We can learn much by just being quiet.  When we are quiet we can listen with our heart instead of just with our minds.  We can gain understanding what troubled souls are feeling and thinking.  We can learn how to pray for them in their troubles and then perhaps offer godly advice when it is right to do so.

If you want to be a real help to those troubled in life, learn to be quiet.  Not everyone needs your wisdom nor welcomes it.  Ask the Lord to help you bridle your tongue.  Ask Him for wisdom to know when to be silent and pray and when to offer wisdom and guidance.  Ask Him to keep your heart humble enough so that you don’t have to be the savior of troubled souls.  And, ask Him to forgive you for those times you have done more harm than good by opening your mouth instead of just being quiet and waiting on Him on behalf of others.