YEar 3 Day 147

Year 3 Day 147


Pray (AC-ts) 


Read — Job 1.1-22 


Message Scott Woodburn 


“First posted Year 1 Day 23 - 13 April 20” 


The book of Job is one of the oldest in the entire Bible, a substantial book with 42 chapters and a book that is a difficult read. We meet Job in the very first verse and he is described as blameless, upright, someone who turned away from evil and a man who fears God (v1). He was a family man (v2) and a successful business man (v3). Indeed he would often intercede for his family just in case they sinned against God in their hearts (v5). However, by the end of the chapter Job has lost everything due to the malice of Satan. We are told various things about the enemy in this passage. He is a wanderer with no place to call home (v7). He is limited in his power (v12). He is accountable to the Lord (v6). He hates the church of Christ and wishes to destroy it (v10-11). How can any of us stand against such a foe? Thankfully this chapter also shows us that the Lord is in control of our trials. If Satan was in charge we would be utterly undone. Yet here we see the enemy having to present himself before God - when God calls, Satan must answer. Satan is not given a free reign but is limited by the Lord - when God commands, Satan must obey. We have all probably grown up with an image of Satan as God's equal. These two great beings are locked in a cosmic battle with the outcome unknown. None of this is true. There is only one God and His name is Yahweh (Deuteronomy 6.4). Satan is not God but was part of God's creation before rebelling against the Lord (Ezekiel 28.11-19). God is sovereign over Satan, over us and over our trials. I'm keenly aware that what I have just written can seem very distant from the sting of our trials. We know that God is sovereign, we believe that He is for us, we know that He is good, but why does He allow me to suffer? What is His purpose in the sickness of my child? What is His purpose in the collapse of my marriage? My brothers and sisters I will not patronise you by offering you an incomplete answer. In my limited mind I simply cannot fathom the purposes and plans of Almighty God. But I offer you Biblical certainties to close. Firstly, our faith is not a guarantee of struggle free living. The Christian can expect trials of various kinds (1 Peter 1.6, John
16.33). Secondly, sometimes Satan plays his part in our struggles (1 Peter 5.8), sometimes they come as a result of our sin (1 Corinthians 11.27-30). Thirdly, the Lord does have a purpose in our trials, we may not see it, it may seem incomprehensible to us, but the Lord does have a purpose in our trials and it is good (Romans 8.28). Finally, this fallen world is collapsing in on itself. It cannot and will not last (Romans 8.19-22). All that blights us will one day be put under the feet of Jesus (1 Corinthians 15.25-26). Not yet, but soon. Oh Lord! Speed that day we pray! Until then, with broken hearts, dashed dreams and tears in our eyes, we worship. “Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” (v21) 


Pray (ac-TS) 


Sing  


WSC  
Q27 Wherein did Christ’s humiliation consist? Christ’s humiliation consisted in his being born, and that in a low condition, made under the law, undergoing the miseries of this life, the wrath of God, and the cursed death of the cross; in being buried, and continuing under the power of death for a time.
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