That Man Was Blameless and Upright (Job 1:1-2:10)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.040 --> 00:00:06.759 The sermon text for this morning is the Reading Job Chapter One and all the 2 00:00:06.839 --> 00:00:11.789 way through job chapter two, verse ten. So the reading is from the 3 00:00:11.830 --> 00:00:15.830 book of Job, beginning at the beginning of chapter one and going all the 4 00:00:15.869 --> 00:00:21.190 way through chapter two, verse ten and the sections where job becomes to suffer 5 00:00:21.190 --> 00:00:26.339 a great many things, but this is the reading of God's word, so 6 00:00:26.500 --> 00:00:30.100 please give your attention to it as such. Job Chapter One, Verse One 7 00:00:30.260 --> 00:00:38.850 through Chapter Two Verse Ten. This is God's word. There was a man 8 00:00:38.969 --> 00:00:45.009 in the land of ooze whose name was job, and that man was blameless 9 00:00:45.409 --> 00:00:52.399 and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. There were 10 00:00:52.439 --> 00:00:58.799 born to him seven sons and three daughters. He possessed seven thousand sheep, 11 00:00:59.719 --> 00:01:06.310 three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of Oxen and five hundred female donkeys, 12 00:01:07.269 --> 00:01:11.030 and very many servants, so that this man was the greatest of all the 13 00:01:11.109 --> 00:01:17.590 people of the east. His sons used to go and hold a feast in 14 00:01:17.709 --> 00:01:22.140 the House of each one on his day, and they would send and invite 15 00:01:22.180 --> 00:01:26.620 their three sisters to eat and drink with them. And when the days of 16 00:01:26.700 --> 00:01:32.700 the feast had run their course, job would send and consecrate them and he 17 00:01:32.780 --> 00:01:37.769 would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of 18 00:01:37.890 --> 00:01:42.569 them. All for job, said. It may be that my children have 19 00:01:42.730 --> 00:01:49.799 sinned and cursed God in their hearts. That's job did continually. Now there 20 00:01:49.840 --> 00:01:53.480 was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, 21 00:01:53.519 --> 00:01:59.280 and Satan also came among them. The Lord said to Satan, from 22 00:01:59.319 --> 00:02:05.069 where have you come? Satan answered the Lord and said from going to and 23 00:02:05.269 --> 00:02:09.949 fro on the earth and from walking up and down on it. And the 24 00:02:10.030 --> 00:02:15.099 Lord said to Satan, have you considered my servant job, that there is 25 00:02:15.300 --> 00:02:22.740 none like him on the Earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God 26 00:02:22.939 --> 00:02:29.819 and turns away from evil. Then Satan answered the Lord and said, does 27 00:02:29.900 --> 00:02:35.210 job fear God for no reason? Have you not put a hedge around him 28 00:02:35.250 --> 00:02:40.930 and his house and all that he has on every side? You have blessed 29 00:02:40.969 --> 00:02:46.719 the work of his hands and his possessions having creased in the land? But 30 00:02:47.759 --> 00:02:53.319 stretch out your hand and touch all that he has and he will curse you 31 00:02:53.400 --> 00:02:59.990 to your face. And the Lord said to Satan, behold, all that 32 00:03:00.150 --> 00:03:05.550 he has is in your hand, only against him. Do not stretch out 33 00:03:05.550 --> 00:03:12.069 your hand. So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord. Now 34 00:03:12.150 --> 00:03:15.659 there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in 35 00:03:15.780 --> 00:03:21.259 their oldest brother's house, and there came a messenger to job and said the 36 00:03:21.340 --> 00:03:27.610 oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, and the Sabians fell upon 37 00:03:27.729 --> 00:03:31.530 them and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, 38 00:03:31.530 --> 00:03:38.810 and I alone have escaped to tell you well he was yet speaking. 39 00:03:38.050 --> 00:03:44.719 There came another and said the fire of God fell from heaven and burned up 40 00:03:44.759 --> 00:03:51.840 the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to 41 00:03:52.000 --> 00:03:58.990 tell you well he was yet speaking. There came another and said the Chaldeans 42 00:03:59.030 --> 00:04:02.949 formed three groups and made a raid on the camels and took them and struck 43 00:04:03.030 --> 00:04:08.430 down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped 44 00:04:08.789 --> 00:04:15.180 to tell you well he was yet speaking. There came another and said your 45 00:04:15.259 --> 00:04:19.699 sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, and 46 00:04:19.939 --> 00:04:26.529 behold, a great wind came across the Wilderness and struck the four corners of 47 00:04:26.610 --> 00:04:30.810 the house, and it fell upon the young people and they are dead. 48 00:04:31.810 --> 00:04:39.600 And I alone have escaped to tell you. Then job arose and tore his 49 00:04:39.759 --> 00:04:46.240 robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped, and he 50 00:04:46.399 --> 00:04:50.839 said, naked, I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I 51 00:04:50.959 --> 00:04:59.509 return? The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the 52 00:04:59.550 --> 00:05:03.670 name of the Lord. In all this, job did not sin or charge 53 00:05:03.750 --> 00:05:10.660 God with wrong again. There was a day when the sons of God came 54 00:05:10.819 --> 00:05:15.500 to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them to present 55 00:05:15.579 --> 00:05:20.420 himself before the Lord. And the Lord said to Satan, from where have 56 00:05:20.569 --> 00:05:27.009 you come? Satan answered the Lord and said from going to and fro on 57 00:05:27.089 --> 00:05:31.410 the earth and from walking up and down on it. And the Lord said 58 00:05:31.410 --> 00:05:38.519 to Satan, have you considered my servant job, that there is none like 59 00:05:38.680 --> 00:05:45.480 him on the Earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns 60 00:05:45.560 --> 00:05:50.629 away from evil. He still holds fast his integrity, although you incited me 61 00:05:50.670 --> 00:05:57.189 against him, to destroy him without reason. Then Satan answered the Lord and 62 00:05:57.310 --> 00:06:01.470 said, skin for skin, all that a man has, he will give 63 00:06:01.670 --> 00:06:08.339 for his life. But stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his 64 00:06:08.540 --> 00:06:14.220 flesh, and he will curse you to your face. And the Lord said 65 00:06:14.259 --> 00:06:18.730 to Satan, behold, he is in your hand. Only spare his life. 66 00:06:20.329 --> 00:06:25.329 So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and struck job with 67 00:06:25.569 --> 00:06:30.410 loathsome sores from the soul of his foot to the crown of his head, 68 00:06:30.490 --> 00:06:35.120 and he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself. Well, 69 00:06:35.279 --> 00:06:41.560 he sat in the ashes. Then his wife said to him, do 70 00:06:41.639 --> 00:06:46.870 you still hold faster integrity? Curse God and die, but he said to 71 00:06:46.949 --> 00:06:53.550 her, you speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we 72 00:06:53.709 --> 00:06:58.750 receive good from God and Shall We not receive evil? In all this, 73 00:06:58.870 --> 00:07:02.300 job did not sind with his lips. That's far the reading of God's word. 74 00:07:02.379 --> 00:07:06.420 Please be seated. Well, if there ever had been a man born 75 00:07:06.500 --> 00:07:13.139 in Adam's line in the way that made him just ordinary, who could have 76 00:07:13.220 --> 00:07:18.250 avoided all suffering by being righteous, then job is that man. You would 77 00:07:18.250 --> 00:07:27.329 think. Look how righteous job is and how his righteousness is true righteousness, 78 00:07:28.290 --> 00:07:33.759 not just a show of fake righteousness. Everything in that first chapter of job 79 00:07:34.000 --> 00:07:42.199 shows that job is sincere in the righteousness that he has. Verse One Describes 80 00:07:42.240 --> 00:07:48.790 Him as blameless and upright and that's the description to take at faith value. 81 00:07:49.430 --> 00:07:56.790 Job Is truly blameless. He is truly upright. The text simply says it 82 00:07:57.029 --> 00:08:03.259 and is speaking truly when it does. But also job's uprightness comes out quite 83 00:08:03.339 --> 00:08:07.579 clearly in what unfolds in chapter one of the text. One way we see 84 00:08:07.579 --> 00:08:13.529 job's uprightness there in our text is through what he does in verse five and 85 00:08:13.930 --> 00:08:18.970 in Verse Six. In those verses, versus five and six of chapter one, 86 00:08:20.250 --> 00:08:28.959 job makes sacrifice for his kids just in case they have sinned. Preemptive 87 00:08:28.040 --> 00:08:37.120 sacrifice for sin that might have been or else might not have been. Job 88 00:08:37.240 --> 00:08:43.269 Doesn't know, but he makes sacrifice anyway. What this shows is how deeply 89 00:08:43.389 --> 00:08:50.710 God cares about pleasing his God. He's so concerned that his kids not offend 90 00:08:50.750 --> 00:08:56.340 God that he'll offer sacrifice even just in case they have sinned, not even 91 00:08:56.419 --> 00:09:01.139 knowing for sure that they did, but still doing it just in case and 92 00:09:01.340 --> 00:09:07.740 not even asking them again. What this shows is that job really cares about 93 00:09:07.820 --> 00:09:16.529 God with sincerity. Job's truly upright. It's not just a show that job 94 00:09:16.769 --> 00:09:20.889 is putting on here. He really is righteous. That shouldn't be questioned. 95 00:09:22.649 --> 00:09:28.639 You also see that job is righteous by what the Lord says up in Heaven, 96 00:09:30.639 --> 00:09:35.120 right there in verse eight of Chapter One. The Lord says there to 97 00:09:35.200 --> 00:09:39.149 the Devil that job is a servant of God who's the most righteous on the 98 00:09:39.269 --> 00:09:46.750 earth in that day. Isn't that essentially what the Lord's words imply? Now 99 00:09:46.830 --> 00:09:50.549 that's a pretty remarkable thing, isn't it, for God to hold up this 100 00:09:50.830 --> 00:09:56.659 man above all the others, all others alive on the earth in this day. 101 00:09:56.700 --> 00:10:03.179 Job is singled out as the one, the most righteous of all in 102 00:10:03.340 --> 00:10:09.370 this day. And so highly does God think of job and his righteousness that 103 00:10:09.610 --> 00:10:16.809 here he chooses to use him in a challenge with the devil. This man 104 00:10:16.970 --> 00:10:24.039 is so righteous that God deems him worthy of using him to contest Satan's doubts 105 00:10:24.440 --> 00:10:33.360 and Satan's charges and Satan's accusations and insinuations. Again, that's remarkable for a 106 00:10:33.480 --> 00:10:37.950 man who is just an ordinary man to be used in this way. So 107 00:10:39.110 --> 00:10:43.629 we see, job stands out on the Earth for true righteousness. This is 108 00:10:43.789 --> 00:10:50.940 clear from what the Lord says in heaven. Yet even though this man stands 109 00:10:50.980 --> 00:10:56.259 out for his righteousness, this doesn't keep him from having to suffer, does 110 00:10:56.379 --> 00:11:03.299 it? For even still for all the ways job is righteous, he still 111 00:11:03.340 --> 00:11:11.409 ends up losing so much under God's hand. And yet the thing is that 112 00:11:11.610 --> 00:11:18.879 his righteousness only stands out even more after all that he loses. For when 113 00:11:18.960 --> 00:11:24.039 the time comes for job too survey what he's lost, what does he do? 114 00:11:26.679 --> 00:11:33.909 He only blesses God. He will not curse his God. Losing his 115 00:11:33.029 --> 00:11:41.309 animals, servants and children, he blesses the Lord in Verse Twenty One. 116 00:11:41.590 --> 00:11:46.950 Naked, I came from my mother's womb, he says, and naked shall 117 00:11:46.990 --> 00:11:52.059 I return. And the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away, but 118 00:11:52.259 --> 00:11:58.820 still job speaks a blessing upon the Lord's name in that verse. It's the 119 00:11:58.899 --> 00:12:05.330 same also in verse ten of Chapter Two, where job once again refuses to 120 00:12:05.529 --> 00:12:11.730 curse the Lord. There he loses his health, the support of his wife. 121 00:12:13.210 --> 00:12:18.639 Even still, job refuses to speak ill of God. He continues to 122 00:12:18.679 --> 00:12:26.240 hold fast to God in that moment, and what this shows is job's remarkable 123 00:12:26.600 --> 00:12:31.149 righteousness. By holding fast to the Lord, even in what he loses, 124 00:12:33.230 --> 00:12:39.509 job shows that the Lord was correct when God told Satan that job really was 125 00:12:39.669 --> 00:12:45.820 righteous and that job was a true servant of God who had true love for 126 00:12:45.980 --> 00:12:50.340 God. See, Satan had questioned if job was sincere. He had wondered 127 00:12:50.340 --> 00:12:54.419 if job only served God, because God had blessed job and prospered him, 128 00:12:54.419 --> 00:13:01.809 keeping him safe from loss. But how job responds to his sufferings? Puts 129 00:13:01.929 --> 00:13:13.360 to rest Satan's doubts, Satan's accusations, Satan's insinuations. And yet, even 130 00:13:13.399 --> 00:13:18.320 with this being true about job, that he is truly righteous and it's not 131 00:13:18.399 --> 00:13:26.799 a show, this did not preclude him losing almost all that he had. 132 00:13:26.990 --> 00:13:35.629 Since righteous job loses everything in this text. Someone as righteous as job in 133 00:13:35.710 --> 00:13:48.460 our text loses tenzo animals, multiple servants and ten adult children in one afternoon. 134 00:13:50.139 --> 00:13:56.809 Righteous job loses everything. Nothing is spared. Also then, on that 135 00:13:56.929 --> 00:14:03.649 second occasion, he loses his health, he gets covered in painful deep sores 136 00:14:05.490 --> 00:14:11.480 and his wife turns against him when he needs her the most, when he 137 00:14:11.679 --> 00:14:16.039 trusts in God. She's done trust in God. And this is where he 138 00:14:16.080 --> 00:14:22.399 ends up, after all else that he lost. You See, Beloved, 139 00:14:22.480 --> 00:14:28.269 if righteousness could prevent suffering in this life, you would expect job to not 140 00:14:28.429 --> 00:14:35.870 have to suffer. But job, who is righteous, still suffers great loss. 141 00:14:35.909 --> 00:14:43.379 Even though he is righteous, he still suffers loss. But the question 142 00:14:43.700 --> 00:14:50.139 is why? Why has job lost all this. What is God's purpose in 143 00:14:52.059 --> 00:14:56.970 the lost job suffers here? One thing that we should notice is that it 144 00:14:58.169 --> 00:15:05.289 is not due to sin that job suffers, or because he's not righteous after 145 00:15:05.330 --> 00:15:11.440 all. Notice it's actually the opposite. Job Actually suffers because he is righteous. 146 00:15:11.960 --> 00:15:18.480 The reason God let Satan Cause job to suffer is because God's pleased with 147 00:15:18.600 --> 00:15:22.629 job, not that job sinned. If you know much at all about this 148 00:15:22.830 --> 00:15:28.470 book of Job, then you know that job's friends will accuse him of sinning 149 00:15:28.509 --> 00:15:33.309 and that they will think that he's hiding some sin and that that's what explains 150 00:15:33.350 --> 00:15:39.379 all the loss that job's suffered. But here in job one and two, 151 00:15:39.940 --> 00:15:45.500 it is made clear that the reason job suffers is actually because he's righteous. 152 00:15:45.539 --> 00:15:52.250 It's because God has become so pleased with him that job becomes the target of 153 00:15:52.370 --> 00:15:56.289 all Satan's fury. So one thing to note is that job does not suffer 154 00:15:56.450 --> 00:16:03.450 for sin, but for righteousness. That's why he suffers. He suffers because 155 00:16:03.490 --> 00:16:07.679 the Lord is pleased with him, not because the Lord has been offended by 156 00:16:07.720 --> 00:16:12.840 him. Yet another thing to keep in mind also is that God does have 157 00:16:12.960 --> 00:16:18.360 a plan to restore all job's fortunes when this book plays out. By the 158 00:16:18.440 --> 00:16:22.029 end of the book, God restores what job lost and gives it back in 159 00:16:22.190 --> 00:16:27.389 the end. So the fact that job is righteous and that he suffers should 160 00:16:27.389 --> 00:16:32.789 be seen as something that is only for a time. God will not leave 161 00:16:32.830 --> 00:16:38.500 righteous people to suffer forever. He will prosper them in the end. But 162 00:16:38.620 --> 00:16:42.539 the last thing to notice is that, although job here is truly a righteous 163 00:16:42.580 --> 00:16:49.529 man, his righteousness can't prevent him from suffering, because his righteousness still isn't 164 00:16:49.529 --> 00:16:56.570 good enough to achieve that. After all, job is still just a regular 165 00:16:56.649 --> 00:17:02.240 man, although righteous, a man who has fallen in Adam, a man 166 00:17:02.360 --> 00:17:07.559 who has not done enough to win eternal life or all safety from suffering loss. 167 00:17:07.640 --> 00:17:11.799 Only one man could do that, and that man is not job. 168 00:17:12.079 --> 00:17:18.589 Although job is righteous, it's still not enough to win eternal safety from suffering 169 00:17:18.829 --> 00:17:23.589 forever. Only one man, Jesus Christ, could do that. Could do 170 00:17:23.750 --> 00:17:30.619 that. But beyond all this, why is job suffering loss? It turns 171 00:17:30.660 --> 00:17:36.539 out that there is something more to the why of it. Job Shull fers 172 00:17:36.660 --> 00:17:41.859 as a display of God's glory. Job Suffers to show that the Lord is 173 00:17:42.339 --> 00:17:49.450 worth serving. Job demonstrates that God is worth it to serve, even in 174 00:17:49.690 --> 00:17:55.769 times when he is not giving his blessings. Remember the charge that was made 175 00:17:55.769 --> 00:18:00.240 by the devil. That job only serves God because the Lord Prospers Him. 176 00:18:02.480 --> 00:18:07.759 Well, that job holds fast even when God Withdraws Blessing. Shows Satan that 177 00:18:07.920 --> 00:18:14.269 he has misjudged this man job. But this also shows at the very same 178 00:18:14.309 --> 00:18:22.990 time that the devil has misjudged the glory of God. That job holds fast 179 00:18:22.069 --> 00:18:27.859 to God. Well, God withdraws his blessings, shows that God is worthy 180 00:18:29.299 --> 00:18:37.180 still win. He withdraws his gifts, that God himself alone is worthy to 181 00:18:37.339 --> 00:18:41.490 be praised and worshiped by those who come to know him. And in this 182 00:18:42.609 --> 00:18:49.650 as job serves this purpose. Here, job serves as a prototype of what 183 00:18:49.849 --> 00:18:56.799 God has in mind for his church, those saved by Jesus Christ. Job 184 00:18:57.039 --> 00:19:03.440 is a servant of God with a status of righteousness that is known only in 185 00:19:03.960 --> 00:19:10.710 heave and who suffers to demonstrate God's glory to those who are up in heaven, 186 00:19:11.670 --> 00:19:15.509 these heavenly beings, those sons of God mentioned in the text. He 187 00:19:15.710 --> 00:19:22.950 is a servant of God who suffers with this righteous status without understanding all the 188 00:19:22.230 --> 00:19:29.740 reasons why. And this is what we are called to as God's Church in 189 00:19:29.859 --> 00:19:37.059 Christ. Any FESIANS, the third chapter, in the ten verse, Paul 190 00:19:37.180 --> 00:19:44.130 says that God has purposes known up in heaven, concerning his church, in 191 00:19:44.329 --> 00:19:48.490 whom he demonstrates the very center of his wisdom, and that up in heaven 192 00:19:49.170 --> 00:19:56.680 God uses his Church to showcase his glory, his wisdom to these heavenly beings. 193 00:19:56.920 --> 00:20:00.799 Isn't that exactly what's Ha happening in the book of Job? God is 194 00:20:00.920 --> 00:20:07.789 demonstrating his wisdom through his righteous servant, demonstrating his wisdom and his glory to 195 00:20:07.869 --> 00:20:12.069 heavenly beings. We, just like job, are used by God to showcase 196 00:20:12.750 --> 00:20:18.670 his wisdom to beings assembled in heaven. That's what Paul says in He Feesians, 197 00:20:18.710 --> 00:20:22.180 chapter three, verse ten, and we are used in this way, 198 00:20:23.059 --> 00:20:32.299 much like job, often without understanding what God's doing or why. In in 199 00:20:32.420 --> 00:20:37.529 this we are just like job as a people who have a great status of 200 00:20:37.609 --> 00:20:45.089 righteousness known up in heaven. Our suffering isn't because heaven rejects us but, 201 00:20:45.369 --> 00:20:53.200 like job, because God's pleased with us. Through Christ. God's purpose is 202 00:20:53.519 --> 00:21:00.359 to showcase us to those in heaven as trophies of his, who display his 203 00:21:00.519 --> 00:21:04.869 glory, who shut down the charges like that made by Satan that it's not 204 00:21:06.109 --> 00:21:11.190 worth serving God if he won't Prosper. You know, in us God upholds 205 00:21:11.309 --> 00:21:18.029 his own glorious worth, using us to show that he is worth it to 206 00:21:18.190 --> 00:21:23.539 serve, even when we are suffering under his hand without our understanding the why, 207 00:21:25.460 --> 00:21:29.859 much like job, and all this is part of God's own great, 208 00:21:29.859 --> 00:21:33.930 glorious plan to bring us to the day when we will come to him, 209 00:21:33.970 --> 00:21:40.210 when will enter his presence to serve him forever, a people redeemed by the 210 00:21:40.250 --> 00:21:45.250 blood of the savior, who went about serving God here on the earth even 211 00:21:45.289 --> 00:21:52.119 when they were suffering under his sovereignty, people whose righteous status was secure in 212 00:21:52.359 --> 00:21:59.240 heaven, even if people on Earth might sometimes feel cause to question whether these 213 00:21:59.319 --> 00:22:03.910 people can really be the target of God's pleasure, the target of God's affection. 214 00:22:03.950 --> 00:22:10.470 All of that will be revealed on that day that is to come. 215 00:22:11.509 --> 00:22:17.180 Heaven's purposes, what God was doing with our lives, God's pleasure, with 216 00:22:17.299 --> 00:22:21.740 us in it all and through it all, our great status of righteousness in 217 00:22:21.819 --> 00:22:26.259 Jesus Christ, even if, even though in this life we, like job, 218 00:22:27.259 --> 00:22:33.769 often suffered great loss, on the day that is to come we will 219 00:22:33.849 --> 00:22:40.089 come to see how God was at work glorifying himself in US and through us, 220 00:22:40.569 --> 00:22:45.119 in all that we suffered, how he was using even our sufferings to 221 00:22:45.240 --> 00:22:52.079 showcase his glory to beings in heaven, perhaps even unbeknownst to us, much 222 00:22:52.200 --> 00:22:56.200 the way he used job with Satan, and job never came to understand his 223 00:22:56.319 --> 00:23:00.910 sufferings, even to the end of his life, not until he went into 224 00:23:00.950 --> 00:23:04.509 glory, with job able to understand his sufferings. The same may yet be 225 00:23:04.630 --> 00:23:10.509 true for us, and the same surely is true to some degree for us. 226 00:23:11.789 --> 00:23:15.619 And when that day comes that our God is bringing us to, we 227 00:23:15.779 --> 00:23:19.579 will on that day praise God, glorify him on that day even more than 228 00:23:19.619 --> 00:23:25.180 we did in this life. We will confess on that day that all our 229 00:23:25.299 --> 00:23:32.289 sufferings were worth it to sir of this God. But then also, when 230 00:23:32.410 --> 00:23:37.930 that day arrives, we will be there to witness the thing that job longed 231 00:23:37.009 --> 00:23:42.720 for, the thing that we ourselves long for so often, a time in 232 00:23:42.799 --> 00:23:51.440 a place when the righteous will never suffer again. And that's because, when 233 00:23:51.519 --> 00:23:55.359 the day comes that we are all waiting for, we will, on that 234 00:23:55.480 --> 00:24:00.549 day, enter the life that Christ has one for us by his perfect righteousness, 235 00:24:02.869 --> 00:24:07.509 that righteousness that is so much better than the righteousness of job and the 236 00:24:07.630 --> 00:24:12.779 life that Christ has one for us is a life where there is true absence 237 00:24:12.819 --> 00:24:22.859 of suffering forever. Clothed with Christ's perfect status, will then get his reward, 238 00:24:23.329 --> 00:24:30.650 perfect life, without suffering, loss anymore, perfect blessing from God and 239 00:24:30.849 --> 00:24:34.849 from being with God, in his presence. From that day on, he 240 00:24:34.970 --> 00:24:40.920 will prosper US always, and even though it is worth it to serve him 241 00:24:40.920 --> 00:24:45.799 at times when he doesn't prosper us in this life, then he will be 242 00:24:45.960 --> 00:24:53.029 pleased to prosper US forevermore in perfect blessing, and on that day we will 243 00:24:53.710 --> 00:24:57.670 take pleasure in blessing his name. Yes, may we do so today, 244 00:24:57.750 --> 00:25:02.910 maybe we do so now, but on that day our words will echo the 245 00:25:03.670 --> 00:25:07.339 words of job in a much more glorious fashion, as we will bless the 246 00:25:07.380 --> 00:25:12.220 name of the Lord for all of that entire age, the entirety of the 247 00:25:12.460 --> 00:25:17.460 life to come. We will rejoice in the God who has freed us from 248 00:25:17.460 --> 00:25:23.970 all suffering and we will live before him forevermore to praise his name. Church 249 00:25:25.049 --> 00:25:32.170 of God. That day that I'm speaking of is the day that God has 250 00:25:32.369 --> 00:25:38.440 destined you for as your great inheritance through the righteousness of Christ, your savior. 251 00:25:40.640 --> 00:25:45.680 That day is promised as a day of blessing to all who trust in 252 00:25:45.799 --> 00:25:49.829 the work of Christ, a day of blessing, a day of being with 253 00:25:51.029 --> 00:25:56.470 God. It is foreshadowed here in the book of Job Well, may it 254 00:25:56.589 --> 00:26:00.230 please our God to bring all of us to that day by His grace, 255 00:26:02.309 --> 00:26:07.259 even though our road might lead through hardships. May it please God to sustain 256 00:26:07.380 --> 00:26:11.900 us as his servants, those who serve him, yes, even in suffering, 257 00:26:12.700 --> 00:26:17.259 those who serve him, all to display his glory in us. May 258 00:26:17.339 --> 00:26:21.609 it please him to use us in this way until that day. Amen, 259 00:26:22.930 --> 00:26:22.410 let's pray