Stop Complaining, God is Just!
Job 34
March 13, 2016

We are now studying the final human discourse of the book of Job.
(Certainly God has yet to speak)

We heard from Job and three of his friends repeatedly.
31 chapters of this book carried us through that mess of a debate.

And when the smoke cleared nothing was solved.
• Job’s friends had repeatedly sought to condemn Job without cause.
• Job had sort of pushed back so hard against their accusations that he actually
began to accuse God of being unjust.

It was a mess.

And this stalemate is what produced this sermon from Elihu.
Elihu was the youngest of the friends and therefore
Was hesitant to stand and speak to the situation.

But because of his:
• Holy Zeal
• Spiritual Wisdom
• Genuine Humility
• Deep Conviction
• Absolute Impartiality

Elihu was compelled to enter the conversation.

You can easily divide what Elihu has to say up into 4 main points.
Each of these points is devoted to two things.
1) Defend God’s character
2) Rebuke Job’s complaining

LAST WEEK we listened as Elihu told Job to
Stop complaining because God was great.

Elihu quoted Job’s rant which was recorded in Job 13
• About how God could find nothing on Job,
• So God invented things against Job,
• And then punished him for it.

And specifically Job was angry because
God wouldn’t give an account of why He was doing such things.

Elihu stepped in to tell Job that he was not right in uttering such things
Because God is greater than man.

That is to say, God’s ways are higher than man’s, God’s wisdom is greater than man’s, God’s purposes are better than man’s.
If you take the things God does and why He does them…
And you take the things man does and why he does them…

And you set them both side by side.
You’ll see that God’s ways are always enormously greater.

It was the concept behind what Isaiah said:
Isaiah 55:8-9 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.”

Then Elihu explained to Job that God had been speaking to him.
• God had been speaking through terrifying dreams.
• God had been speaking through intense pain.

Both of those, Elihu reasoned, were for the purpose of crushing pride
And leading man to repentance and ultimately redemption.
It was not destructive in nature, it was redemptive in nature.

Therefore, Elihu was very adamant with Job that
He shouldn’t complain about God bringing hardship into his life
When all God was doing was working on Job’s behalf.

Elihu told Job to stop complaining because God is great.

TONIGHT we move to the second point of Elihu’s lecture, which we would summarize as: STOP COMPLAINING, GOD IS JUST

If you will remember Job had been flirting very heavily with this line.
Job actually reached a point where he began to believe that
He, and not God, was the just one.

His thinking went like this:
• I know I am innocent
• I also know God is punishing me
• So if God is punishing the innocent, that must mean that God is doing
something that is not right.

Therefore, it is me and not God who is the just one in this situation.

You will actually see Elihu recount Job’s words to him in this matter,
And correct Job for saying them.
So after defending God’s greatness, Elihu stands to defend God’s justice.

Before we get into that, I want to make sure we are all on the same page when we talk about “Justice”.

• What exactly is it?
• What is Elihu talking about when he mentions it?

The justice Elihu is referring to is spelled out throughout the chapter.

(10-12) “Therefore, listen to me, you men of understanding. Far bit it from God to do wickedness, and from the Almighty to do wrong. For He pays a man according to his work, and makes him find it according to his way. Surely, God will not act wickedly, and the Almighty will not pervert justice.”

It is clear from that passage that according to Elihu,
God does not offer improper judgments.

The word for “justice” in the Hebrew is MISHPAT (mish-pot)
And it speaks of a proper judgment.

Elihu is saying that God is not corrupt.

We further see his meaning later:
(17-19) “Shall one who hates justice rule? And will you condemn the righteous mighty One, Who says to a king, ‘Worthless one,’ To nobles, ‘Wicked ones’; Who shows no partiality to princes Nor regards the rich above the poor, For they all are the work of His hands?”

From that verse we have an even better understanding
Of what Elihu means when he says that God is just.

To Elihu, the opposite of justice would be partiality.
A just judge would rule with justice regardless of the person,
A wicked judge would show partiality based on who was being judged.

Elihu strongly holds that God does not do this.

Deuteronomy 10:17 “For the LORD your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God who does not show partiality nor take a bribe.”

2 Chronicles 19:7 “Now then let the fear of the LORD be upon you; be very careful what you do, for the LORD our God will have no part in unrighteousness or partiality or the taking of a bribe.”

• Job had begun to claim that God was perverting justice and that he was wrongly oppressing him.
• Elihu takes strong offense so as to say that God never perverts justice.

3 things
#1 THE ISSUE
Job 34:1-9

Now you should notice that Elihu has changed his primary audience,
At least momentarily.
• Chapter 33 was directed at Job.
• The beginning verses of chapter 34 are directed at Job’s friends.

(1-2) “Then Elihu continued and said, “Hear my words, you wise men, and listen to me, you who know.”

It is possible that Elihu could be speaking sarcastically here since these three men had been humiliated by Job, but that isn’t necessarily the case.

Elihu is angry at them to be sure, but nothing has suggested that
He would fail to offer them the respect that the aged deserve.

What we see is that Elihu takes issue with their inability to address Job’s claims. And Elihu wants them to rethink their stance.

(3-4) “For the ear tests words As the palate tastes food. “Let us choose for ourselves what is right; Let us know among ourselves what is good.”

If you’ll remember
• Part of the reason Elihu was mad at the three friends was because
they had “condemned Job”.
• But the other reason he was angry was because “they had found
no answer”

Here he wants them to consider the answer.

(5-6) “For Job has said, ‘I am righteous, But God has taken away my right; Should I lie concerning my right? My wound is incurable, though I am without transgression.’”

There again Elihu quotes Job.
Job 9:20-24 “Though I am righteous, my mouth will condemn me; Though I am guiltless, He will declare me guilty. “I am guiltless; I do not take notice of myself; I despise my life. “It is all one; therefore I say, ‘He destroys the guiltless and the wicked.’ “If the scourge kills suddenly, He mocks the despair of the innocent. “The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; He covers the faces of its judges. If it is not He, then who is it?”

It is clear that Job claimed that God was unjustly punishing him.
Elihu reiterates that claim to his friends.

Then Elihu says:
(7-8) “What man is like Job, who drinks up derision like water, who goes in company with the workers of iniquity, and walks with wicked men?”

Now this is another one of those statements that I told you about earlier
Where we would wonder if we agreed with Elihu.

• We know that Job was “upright and blameless, fearing God and turning away from evil.” God made that abundantly clear.
So it seems strange to us that Elihu could make such a statement.

We agree that few people have drank as much “derision” (scorn) as Job,
But the concept of him walking with wicked men baffles us a little.

It tends to make us think maybe Elihu isn’t right.
But as we said, God did preserve his sermon, and did not rebuke it so we really don’t want to get into the habit of questioning those who speak in Scripture, especially when God doesn’t correct them.

Let me help you understand what Elihu is and isn’t saying.
• Elihu isn’t saying that Job physically ran around with the wicked and did wicked things.
• Rather, Elihu is saying that Job’s words put him in the company of wicked men.

Let me take you to the end of the chapter real quick.

Job 34:36 “’Job ought to be tried to the limit, Because he answers like wicked men.”

This is the issue.
Elihu is merely saying that Job’s negative words
Sound more like the words of a wicked man than they do a man of God.

And to further emphasize his point,
Elihu quotes Job one more time.
(9) “For he has said, ‘It profits a man nothing when he is pleased with God.’”

Now first you should know that
Even Job admitted that these types of words are the words of the wicked.

Job 21:14-15 “They say to God, ‘Depart from us! We do not even desire the knowledge of Your ways. ‘Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him, And what would we gain if we entreat Him?’”

Job knew that it was the wicked who said there was no value in pleasing God.

And yet Job did say:
Job 9:29-31 “I am accounted wicked, Why then should I toil in vain? “If I should wash myself with snow And cleanse my hands with lye, Yet You would plunge me into the pit, And my own clothes would abhor me.”

So Elihu is right.
• Job was speaking like wicked men.
• He had said that he was righteous and God had afflicted him unjustly, and therefore there was no use serving God.

And if you are following along, Elihu is angry that
Job’s other friends were not able to accurately refute Job for this.

THAT IS THE ISSUE.

So Elihu calls these three men and basically says, “Have you not heard the words that Job has spoken? Do you not have an answer for him?”

And of course, the truth was, they didn’t.

That is The Issue
#2 THE ANSWER
Job 34:10-15

Now because they had no answer for Job,
Elihu gives them the answer here.

(10a) “Therefore, listen to me, you men of understanding.”

I’m about to give you the proper answer to Job’s foolish words.

And we can break this section down into three important things
That Elihu wants these friends to remember.

1) REMEMBER GOD’S JUDGMENT (10-11)
(10-11) “Therefore, listen to me, you men of understanding. Far be it from God to do wickedness, And from the Almighty to do wrong. “For He pays a man according to his work, And makes him find it according to his way.”

Elihu reminds these three friends that God is an honest Judge.
• He does not “do wickedness”
• He does not “do wrong”
• Instead, “He pays a man according to his work”

And of course you know that this is a universal truth of Scripture.

Hebrews 9:27 “And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment,”

Paul said:
Romans 2:5-11 “But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who WILL RENDER TO EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God.”

Jesus said:
Matthew 13:47-50 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea, and gathering fish of every kind; and when it was filled, they drew it up on the beach; and they sat down and gathered the good fish into containers, but the bad they threw away. “So it will be at the end of the age; the angels will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

He said again:
Matthew 16:27 “For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and WILL THEN REPAY EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS.”

Revelation 22:12 “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done.”

You get the point.
God judges, and He judges righteously.

Now certainly He doesn’t always do it in this life (which was the error of Job’s friends) but God does judge righteously.

Job had attested that there was no value in pleasing God,
Elihu says that is absolutely not true.
The value will be clearly seen at the judgment.

At the judgment,
God will not punish the righteous, nor will He acquit the wicked.

There is value in pleasing Him.

Remember what the writer of Hebrews said to those struggling Hebrews?
In chapter 6 he was warning them of the danger of apostasy.

He had told them that those who claim to have a relationship with God and then fall away cannot possibly be brought to repentance, and then he likened them to ground that refuses to use the rain God provides and thus ends up being burned.

But then the writer of Hebrews said this:
Hebrews 6:9-10 “But, beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and things that accompany salvation, though we are speaking in this way. For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints.”

You can hear his point.
God isn’t unjust. God doesn’t forget the fruit you demonstrated.
Your faithfulness to God and His people will not be forgotten.

Jesus said:
Matthew 10:42 “And whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward.”

There is value in pleasing God because God is just.

Remember His judgment
2) REMEMBER GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY (12-13)
(12-13) “Surely, God will not act wickedly, And the Almighty will not pervert justice. “Who gave Him authority over the earth? And who has laid on Him the whole world?”

We already know that God does not pervert justice,
But here is a question you should ponder.

Who determines what justice is?
You?

When Elihu asks “Who gave Him authority over the earth?”
He is asking, “Who put God in charge?”

“Who is God going to answer to for the way He operates?”

And of course you know that the answer is no one.
• God put God in charge.
• God answers to no one.
• And justice is defined by God, not you, and not Job.

Justice is defined by what God does.
Therefore it is impossible for God to act unjustly.
Whatever He does, that’s what justice is.

Remember God’s judgment, remember God’s sovereignty
3) REMEMBER GOD’S MERCY (14-15)
(14-15) “If He should determine to do so, If He should gather to Himself His spirit and His breath, All flesh would perish together, And man would return to dust.”

Typically men say that God is unjust
When God does things that they don’t think they deserve.

Pain or suffering or affliction and man cries out, “That’s not fair!”

All they really reveal is that they have a skewed understanding of “FAIR”.
Elihu reminds here that if it weren’t for God,
Man wouldn’t even have a life to live, much less a “fair one”

Remember when James was warning about making all these plans in arrogance without consulting the will of God?

He wrote:
James 4:15 “Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.”

This is an area where our American understanding works against us.

We are all familiar with the statement from The Declaration of Independence:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Now as far as humans relate to humans we certainly agree.
No human has the right to steal life from another human, etc.

But understand that God is under no obligation
To provide any of those things.
He does provide them however out of His mercy.

But we can’t shake our fist at God and say He’s treated us unfairly
When our entire being is nothing more than a gift from Him.

This was the argument Paul made when defending God’s justice.

TURN TO: ROMANS 9:10-18

It has never been a matter of God being fair.
If God were fair, we wouldn’t have life at all, and if we did,
We’d most certainly be condemned to hell because of our sin.

But God, because He is merciful, has given us life and offered us mercy.

So we never have the right to complain to Him for getting a bad deal.
We have been given a tremendous deal.

Elihu tells Job’s friends that this is how they should’ve answered.
• You should have reminded Job of God’s judgment.
• You should have reminded Job of God’s sovereignty
• You should have reminded Job of God’s mercy

But Elihu was angry at Job’s friends because they told him none of that.
All they did was try to prove that Job had sinned enough to deserve it.

The Issue, The Answer,
#3 THE REBUKE
Job 34:16-37

Elihu now turns his focus back to Job
In order to once again correct the misguided grumblings of Job.

If I could give you a quick summary of Elihu’s rebuke here, it is this:
He rebukes Job for wrongly accusing God
And in the process taking up the words of the wicked.

• Job complained that God was unjust and there was no value in pleasing Him.
• Elihu reminds Job that not only is that absolutely untrue, but only the wicked
who deserve judgment would say such a thing.

Elihu will start out by reminding Job of:
God’s impeccable record of justice and impartiality.

(16-20) “But if you have understanding, hear this; Listen to the sound of my words. “Shall one who hates justice rule? And will you condemn the righteous mighty One, Who says to a king, ‘Worthless one,’ To nobles, ‘Wicked ones’; Who shows no partiality to princes Nor regards the rich above the poor, For they all are the work of His hands? “In a moment they die, and at midnight People are shaken and pass away, And the mighty are taken away without a hand.”

I know in our day it has become common place to criticize and lambast our leaders, but in Job’s day that was not the case.

If there was anyone whose good side you wanted to be on, it was the rulers of the day.
• They had the ability to make life really good for you
• They had the ability to take your life from you.

Perhaps no one received more partiality than the rulers of the day, and yet Elihu reminds Job that God certainly wasn’t one who gave it.
• God has absolutely no problem calling a king a “Worthless one”
• God has absolutely no problem calling a noble a “Wicked one”
• God didn’t favor the “princes”
• God doesn’t favor the “rich above the poor”

They are all equal to Him because they are all “the work of His hands”

If you want a good example of this, I’ll show you one of my favorites.
• King Jehoshaphat was king of Judah, and Ahab was king of Israel.
• They wanted to go in together and fight against Aram.
• Jehoshaphat asked that they first inquire of the Lord,
• So Ahab called all his prophets and they all prophesied very favorably.

1 Kings 22:5-6 “Moreover, Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Please inquire first for the word of the LORD.” Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, “Shall I go against Ramoth-gilead to battle or shall I refrain?” And they said, “Go up, for the Lord will give it into the hand of the king.”

But Jehoshaphat could tell that they were only there to flatter the king
For their own evil purposes.

1 Kings 22:7 “But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not yet a prophet of the LORD here that we may inquire of him?”

I love King Ahab’s response:
1 Kings 22:8 “The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the LORD, but I hate him, because he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.” But Jehoshaphat said, “Let not the king say so.”

Well Micaiah comes and first sarcastically says
The same thing all the other prophets said,
But Ahab knew picked upon the sarcasm and told him to speak the truth.

1 Kings 22:17-18 “So he said, “I saw all Israel Scattered on the mountains, Like sheep which have no shepherd. And the LORD said, ‘These have no master. Let each of them return to his house in peace.'” Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?”

And this was just one of many examples where God would send one of His prophets to do anything but flatter the king.
• Isaiah did it with Ahaz
• Jeremiah did it with Zedekiah
• John the Baptist did it with Herod

God does what no man does, He is totally impartial,
Even with the most powerful of the world.

Job has no right to question God’s justice
When it is obvious that God does not show partiality.

Elihu goes on to explain why God is able to ALWAYS JUDGE SO ACCURATELY, and it is because God is OMNISCIENT.

He knows man perfectly and so He always judges man perfectly.
(READ 21-30)

You can see that God knows these wicked rulers.
He knows everything they do,
And so God has absolutely no problem punishing them.

In particular for their oppression of the poor.

The point is obvious, you can’t question God’s justice.
It is always on display.

And then comes the rebuke of Job.

Elihu here quotes Job again.
(31-32) “For has anyone said to God, ‘I have borne chastisement; I will not offend anymore; Teach me what I do not see; If I have done iniquity, I will not do it again’?”

He is reminding Job of how he approached God and demanded that God tell him what he did wrong so that he could fix it.

Job 7:20-21 “Have I sinned? What have I done to You, O watcher of men? Why have You set me as Your target, So that I am a burden to myself? “Why then do You not pardon my transgression And take away my iniquity? For now I will lie down in the dust; And You will seek me, but I will not be.”

Job 13:23 “How many are my iniquities and sins? Make known to me my rebellion and my sin.”

Certainly asking God to search your heart
And reveal your sin are not bad things.

But it is evident here that, at least from Elihu’s perspective,
That is not what Job was doing.

Job wasn’t honestly asking for God to show him his sin.
Job was daring God to find sin in him.

Job was convinced that he had done nothing deserving of such treatment So he demanded God to show him what the problem was.

Elihu here is dumbfounded, basically saying, “Have you ever heard anyone talk to God like that?”

And Elihu asks Job (33) “Shall He recompense on your terms, because you have rejected it?”

That is to say, “You have rejected God’s terms by calling them all into question. Do you really expect God to have to answer to yours?”

And then he tells Job “For you must choose, and not I”

Again saying: “You are going to have to figure out if you are going to submit to God, or if you are going to try and force God to submit to you.”

And let’s hear your answer: “Therefore declare what you know.”

Elihu is calling Job on the carpet for his arrogant demands of God.

And if that were not enough, he reminds Job of what his words sound like.

(34-37) “Men of understanding will say to me, And a wise man who hears me, ‘Job speaks without knowledge, And his words are without wisdom. ‘Job ought to be tried to the limit, Because he answers like wicked men. ‘For he adds rebellion to his sin; He claps his hands among us, And multiplies his words against God.'”

It is important to note that these are NOT Elihu’s words.
He is merely saying that this is what any wise man would say to your demands.

• Anyone who heard what you said would determine that you speak “without knowledge” and “without wisdom.”
• Anyone who knows anything would hear your words and say that you ought to be “tried to the limit” because you talk “like wicked men.”
• Anyone who knows anything and heard you would say that you are adding “rebellion” to your sins and multiplying your “words against God.”

And so Elihu’s rebuke of Job becomes clear.
STOP COMPLAINING, GOD IS JUST

• You shouldn’t open your mouth and call God into question like you
have, that is something the wicked do.

• Furthermore God doesn’t deserve your attacks, His track record of
justice is impeccable.

SO WHAT DO WE TAKE AWAY FROM THIS?

1) Regardless of what you face in this life, know that God is not treating you worse than you deserve.
• After all, He didn’t even have to give you life to begin with.
• And anything beyond eternity in hell is certainly more than we deserve.

2) A heart that grows bitter against God for trials in life is not a heart that demonstrates righteousness.
• God has called His children to give thanks in all circumstances, not to grumble when things go poorly.

3) Never lose sight of who God is and what He deserves. Your difficulties do not change the fact that God deserves glory.
• We certainly would say that Elihu felt compassion for Job in his suffering, but there was no way Elihu was going to let Job malign God because of it.

And that is an important distinction.
God is just, He always does what is right,
And at the end of your life it will be more than evident
That you have been treated far better than you deserved.

Don’t be like the wicked who only complain about God,
Be like the redeemed who are grateful for God,
And glorify God.

STOP COMPLAINING, GOD IS JUST

Romans 9:14 “What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be!”

The Father’s Discipline
Hebrews 12:3-11
March 13, 2016

Max Lucado wrote:
“God loves you just the way you are, but He refuses to leave you there. He wants you to be just like Jesus. Isn’t that good news? You aren’t stuck with today’s personality. You aren’t condemned to grumpy-dom. You are changeable. You are tweakable. Even if you’ve worried each day of your life, you needn’t worry the rest of your life. So what if you were born with a sour outlook, you don’t have to die with one. God will change you. And He will change you to be just like Jesus. Can you think of a better offer? Jesus felt no guilt; God wants you to feel no guilt. Jesus had no bad habits; God wants to do away with yours. Jesus had no fears; God wants the same for you. Jesus had no anxiety about death; you needn’t either. God’s desire, His plan, His ultimate goal is to make you into the image of Christ…God loves you just the way you are, but He refuses to leave you there. He wants you to be just like Jesus.” (Lucado, Max; Just Like Jesus; [Word Publishing, Nashville, TN 1998], inside front cover)

There is a reality that every believer must wrap their minds around.
THERE IS A GOAL FOR YOUR LIFE

Paul wrote:
Romans 8:28-29 “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;”

This has always been the goal.

Understand for a second what we are talking about here.
When I tell you that God is a Savior certainly you agree.

But when I ask you what God desires to save you from,
That is where many go off the reservation.

If I ask, “What does God desire to save you from?”
Many today will answer, “Hell”.

It’s the common understanding that there was this loving God up in heaven
That saw people falling into hell that He had to do everything possible
To save them from that horrible fate.

Do you want to know the problem with that?
• God created hell.
• It is God who casts those people into the hell that He created.

If the only purpose was to save men from hell; that was easy;
Just abolish hell, do away with it; stop sending people there.

And indeed many today have tried to adopt that very theology stating that:
“A loving God wouldn’t send anyone to hell.”

Others have mocked the notion saying,
“How can God claim to love people if in the end He throws them in hell?”

Well could it be that main goal of God was not to save you from hell?

The main objective of God is not to save you from hell,
But to save you from sin.

Now granted a benefit of being saved from sin is that you don’t go to hell,
But sin is the problem, sin is the issue.

WHY?
• Because God is holy, and He has declared that you must be holy.
• And every person who isn’t holy is an offense to Him.
• In fact, those who are not holy, He casts them into hell.

So God’s objective has been to send His Son to save people from sin.

Don’t believe me?
Matthew 1:20-21 “But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

Listen to John the Baptist:
John 1:29 “The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

Listen to Peter:
Acts 5:30-31 “The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had put to death by hanging Him on a cross. “He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.”

Listen to Paul:
Acts 13:38-39 “Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things, from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses.”

Or
Colossians 1:19-22 “For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven. And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach”

The main problem of humanity is not hell.
The main problem of humanity is sin.
• It is sin that is offensive to God.
• It is sin that ruins lives.
• It is sin that cursed this world.
• It is sin that brings eternal judgment.
And so the objective of God has been to save people from sin.
God’s objective is to MAKE PEOPLE RIGHTEOUS.

Somewhere along the line we have forgotten this.
Somewhere along the line we assumed that God’s greatest desire was to make me happy or comfortable or healed or “blessed” or prosperous.

Somewhere we began to believe that God is fine with me just like I am,
I simply need to receive God’s acceptance and learn to accept myself,
And then force you to accept me like I am.

NO

God’s desire has not changed.
Leviticus 11:44a “For I am the LORD your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy.”

Well wasn’t that Old Testament?
Matthew 5:48 “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Well wasn’t that before the cross?
1 Peter 1:14-19 “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.” If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth; knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.”

Holiness has always been the goal.

So the question is how does God go about making us holy?

And the first answer is a big one: THE CROSS
• It was Jesus’ death on the cross that satisfied the wrath of God.
• It was this same Jesus who then imparted His righteousness to us.

2 Corinthians 5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

Romans 8:1-4 “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

The cross became the means of our justification before God.
Those who believe in Jesus are now declared righteous
Because of what He did on the cross.

But let’s be honest, I know how I live.
• Could I really say that I lived perfectly righteous this past week?
• Could I really say that I spoke perfectly righteous this past week?

No, and none of you would.

So what did the cross actually do?
And is God ok with the final result?

Here it is: The cross made you POSITIONALLY righteous before God.
The cross declared you righteous even though you weren’t,
And welcomed you into the family of God.

I am positionally righteous.

I am NOT PRACTICALLY righteous.
I blow it and so do you.

The next question is:
ARE WE TO ASSUME THAT GOD IS OK WITH THIS?

God took such issue with sin that
He actually crushed His only begotten Son to deal with it.
So are we to assume that all of a sudden God is no longer concerned about our sin?
And of course the answer is NO.

God still cares very much that you be righteous (practically righteous).
• That is why Paul said God is working to conform you into the image of His Son.
• That is why Paul told the Philippians the work God started in you, He would still complete.

So, one more question.
HOW DOES GOD DO THE WORK OF MAKING ME RIGHTEOUS?

Well, the cost of making you positionally righteous was the suffering of His Son.
What do you suppose the cost of making you practically righteous will be?

…now you’re getting it. (our suffering)

God uses suffering to make us practically righteous.
God uses pain to conform us into the image of Christ.
God uses discipline to cause us to share in His holiness.

And when you understand the necessity of holiness
And the way that holiness is achieved, then you will begin to understand statements like the one Paul made to the Philippians:

Philippians 3:10-11 “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”
You say, how could anyone desire suffering?
They couldn’t unless they understood that suffering was the means of holiness and they desired holiness more than comfort.

How badly do you want to be holy?
How badly do you want to please God?

That was the question last week wasn’t it?
Is there anything more important than living a life that is pleasing to God?

• We talked about the race, we talked about the things that hinder,
• We talked about the sin that entangles, and about throwing it off
• So that we could run this race God has ordained for us.

And for the ultimate example the writer took us to Jesus who “for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

So again we ask the question.
Is there anything more important than being pleasing to God?
• Are you willing to be pleasing?
• Do you want to be pleasing?

Let me rephrase it:
DO YOU WANT TO BE COMPLETELY SAVED FROM SIN?

Because if you only want to be saved from hell,
Then you are missing the whole point of salvation.

But if you want to be saved from sin,
Then you are tapping into the heart of God,
And you are ready to understand
The important role of suffering in your life.

That was something these Hebrews had failed to understand.
When Jesus was preached, and forgiveness was offered,
They jumped right on the bandwagon.

But then something strange happened; they began to suffer.
And each of them was faced with the decision of whether they wanted Jesus or comfort?

The writer spent the first 9 ½ chapters telling them to pick Jesus,
Because only in Jesus can you be pleasing to the Father.

And the writer is now telling them to embrace the suffering
Because that is God’s method of making them like Jesus.

And that is the theme he carries on with this morning.

So, if you’ve ever been confused about suffering…
• If you’ve ever been confused about God’s role in suffering…
• If you’ve ever been confused as to why God allows suffering…
• If you’ve ever been confused as to whether God causes suffering…

Pay attention here because the writer lays it out for us beautifully.

So let’s pick up where we were last week.
• We had a runner who walked through the hall of fame and who saw all those
displays that reminded him of the faith of the saints of old.

• The runner then approached the track and was asked to take off anything that
would keep him from running to the best of his ability.

• And then the gun sounded and the runner was asked to run, and to run with
endurance, and to fix his eyes on Jesus while he ran.

Well about now the runner is far enough into the race that:
• His side has started to cramp.
• And his throat is starting to hurt.
• And his legs are starting to ache.
• And something in his knee feels funny.
• And there is no end in sight.

And all of a sudden the runner is contemplating quitting
Because it’s just too hard.

And so the writer comes up beside the runner to explain to him
Why the race is so hard, and why he should embrace the pain
And move forward anyway.

His instruction is PRECISELY WHAT YOU AND I NEED TO DO
Every time we suffer.

There are 4 things the writer asks our tired runner to do.
#1 CONSIDER THE CROSS
Hebrews 12:3-4

(3) “For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

The writer just told us in verse 2 how Jesus “endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

And the writer emphatically told us to “fix our eyes on [Him]”

Here we understand what he meant.
• When the struggles in your life get difficult…
• When the pain is real…
• When the persecution is intense…
• When the suffering seems too much…

The writers wants you to answer a simple question.
Would you say that your suffering is harder or easier than the cross?
(obviously my suffering doesn’t compare)

And yet, despite the hardship of the cross Jesus endured it.

On the cross “sinners” were brutally attacking Jesus.
• Should we read about how they beat Him?
• Should we read about how they spit on Him?
• Should we read about how they nailed Him to a cross?
• Should we read about how they plucked out His beard?
• Should we read about how they mocked Him while He was dying?
And Jesus endured.

And incidentally, this was not because He had no other choice.
We remember the incident when He was arrested when Peter tried to save Jesus
By attacking the Roman cohort that was arresting Him.

To Peter Jesus said:
Matthew 26:52-54 “Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place; for all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword. “Or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels? “How then will the Scriptures be fulfilled, which say that it must happen this way?”

The point is that Jesus could have quit…but He didn’t.
And His trial was far more difficult than ours.

So when you grow “weary” and when you are tired and think of giving up, then “consider Him who endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

And just in case you need a little PERSPECTIVE the writer adds:
(4) “You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin;”

In other words, your suffering doesn’t compare.
So the first thing we need in the midst of our suffering is a little perspective.

• Yes, it’s bad…
• It may be far worse than anything you’ve known…
• It may be worse than anything anyone around you has known…

But it’s not worse than what Jesus faced,
And if He didn’t quit then you shouldn’t either.

So Consider the Cross
#2 REMEMBER THE SCRIPTURE
Hebrews 12:5-6

Notice the soft rebuke that the writer gives to these people.
“and you have forgotten…”
These people were beside themselves in the midst of their pain
Because they had forgotten what the Bible says about suffering.

And so the writer quotes it for them (Proverbs 3:11-12)
(5-6) “MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM; FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES.”

That passage gives tremendous insight to those who suffer.

If you’ll notice it gives two negative commands.
(That is: two things you shouldn’t do)

1. “Do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord”
2. “Nor faint when you are reproved by Him”

TWO THINGS THAT WE ARE ALL PRONE TO DO ANY TIME WE SUFFER.

He says “Do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord”

What does this mean?
“regard lightly” is the exact same word rendered “despising” in verse 2.

KATAPHRONEO, it means “to think down”.
Remember we talked about how Jesus didn’t hate His suffering,
Rather He didn’t think much of it.

In a sense He just disregarded it, He let it go, He let it roll off His back.
He just didn’t think it was any big deal.

Well the word is used here as something we should not do.
We should not “regard lightly” the Lord’s discipline.
AND SOMETIMES WE DO THIS.

Please understand that God is sovereign.
• Nothing happens outside of His control.
• Not even your pain.

The danger is that when the Lord brings suffering in your life
That you don’t give any thought to what God might be using it for.

Many times we suffer and all we can think is, “When will this be over?”

And we don’t give any thought to the reality that
God just might be using this to accomplish His purposes in my life.
Hence, we think little of what God might be doing.

Many of you have been with us as we are studying Job on Sunday nights.
• You are all familiar with the fact that Job suffered immensely.
• You should also know that in this suffering Job grew a little bitter and actually
began to demand that God explain why He was doing this.

One of Job’s friends (a young man named Elihu) explained it to Job.
Job 33:19-22, 29-30 “Man is also chastened with pain on his bed, And with unceasing complaint in his bones; So that his life loathes bread, And his soul favorite food. “His flesh wastes away from sight, And his bones which were not seen stick out. “Then his soul draws near to the pit, And his life to those who bring death…Behold, God does all these oftentimes with men, To bring back his soul from the pit, That he may be enlightened with the light of life.”

Elihu told Job that God specifically brought that pain into Job’s life
To accomplish a spiritual purpose.
In Job’s case it was to crush his pride.

THAT IS THE POINT.
God doesn’t just randomly afflict people for no reason.
There is always a reason.
He doesn’t just delight in hardship.

The writer says you should be careful not to overlook this reality.
You should be careful not to “regard lightly” what God might be doing.

The SECOND THING you shouldn’t do is “faint when you are reproved by Him.”

You’ve seen that word “faint” before too.
In verse 3 it was translated “lose”

It is EKLUO in the Greek and it means “to loose” or “to enfeeble”
It carries the idea of letting your body go limp, or go weak.
(Hence: “faint”)

It would be a person who, in the midst of their pain,
Just decided to throw in the towel and give up.

The Bible says here DON’T
• Don’t overlook what God is doing
• Don’t quit while He is doing it

Now this would be a good time for someone to say,
“SHOW ME ONE GOOD REASON WHY I SHOULDN’T?”

(6) “For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives.”

Because the pain you are dealing with is evidence that God loves you.

Now many people have forgotten that, and so when suffering hits
They sort of lose their mind and feel abandoned by God.

You should never feel abandoned by God in the midst of your pain. In fact, according to the Bible, you should know God loves you.

So Consider the Cross Remember the Scripture
#3 RECOGNIZE THE PURPOSE
Hebrews 12:7-10

Now I realize that saying your pain is evidence that God loves you
IS A BIT DIFFICULT TO SWALLOW.

The writer knows that too,
So he gives an earthly illustration to help you grasp what he means.

(7) “It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?”

Well, first let’s answer that question.
“what son is there whom his father does not discipline?”

Well, this kind:
(8) “But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.”

The only sons God doesn’t discipline are those who aren’t His.
God disciplines His sons.
And the writer wants you to understand that.

The pain you are in is not evidence that God is angry at you.
Your pain is evidence that God loves you.

In fact, He loves you like a father loves his son.
He is concerned about how you turn out, so He disciplines you.

Proverbs 19:18 “Discipline your son while there is hope, And do not desire his death.”

Proverbs 23:13 “Do not hold back discipline from the child, Although you strike him with the rod, he will not die.”

Proverbs 22:15 “Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; The rod of discipline will remove it far from him.”

Proverbs 13:24 “He who withholds his rod hates his son, But he who loves him disciplines him diligently.”

His purpose is to mold you.
His purpose is to save you from death.
His purpose is to release you from foolishness.
SEE, DISCIPLINE IS NATURAL

(9a) “Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them;”

Certainly we didn’t like it, but as we’ve grown,
We’ve begun to see how important it was that our fathers disciplined us.

(9b) “shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness.”

When we grow up we realize that our father was not trying to harm us when he used to spank our rears. He cared enough about us to make sure that we turned out the way we were supposed to.
And we are grateful.

But even then, the truth was, that all our fathers could do was discipline us “as seemed best to them”.

IN SHORT, IT WASN’T PERFECT.

• We might all be able to think of times when the discipline was timely and
effective and exactly what we needed.

• We can probably also think of times when maybe it wasn’t quite deserved, but
dad was just having a bad day.

His discipline wasn’t perfect,
But all in all it was needed and we respect him.

The question is, Can we not then “be subject” to God whose discipline is always perfect?

Your father was trying to
Mold you into the person he thought you should be.
But God is molding you into the person He knows you must be.

God disciplines us “so that we may share His holiness.”

DO YOU GET IT?
God was so concerned that you be POSITIONALLY righteous that He sent His Son to suffer on the cross.

He is so concerned that you be PRACTICALLY righteous that He sends suffering into your life as well.

It is that suffering, that pain, that discipline that He uses to make you holy.

Philippians 1:6 “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”
He began making you righteous at the cross,
And He is not about to stop short of completion.

In fact, let me read the passage we started off with one more time.
Romans 8:28-30 “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.”

God is not about to let a single child of His fall short of glory.
That is why He is doing this.
RECOGNIZE HIS PURPOSE.

Consider the Cross Remember the Scripture Recognize the Purpose
#4 SUBMIT TO THE PROCESS
Hebrews 12:11

I realize this is hard (at least it is for me)
But the writer sums up his point in beautiful fashion here.

(11) “All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful;”

We all agree…It’s hard

(11b) “yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”

Sorrowful now…Fruitful Later
This is your training, submit to it.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

• God is at work to make you holy.
• God is at work to make you just like Jesus.
• And the means by which God does this is discipline.
God is simply finishing what He started.

SO, HERE IS WHERE THE RUBBER MEETS THE ROAD

• The writer can explain to all these suffering Hebrews about how God loves
them and is making them holy.

• I can explain to you that in your suffering God loves you and is making you
holy.

BUT HERE IS THE KICKER:
You are only going to accept that if
You can wrap your mind around the importance of being holy.

If being holy is not important to you,
Then you are never going to embrace your suffering.

So let me show you real quick why being holy is so important.
Look down the page a little to verse 14

Hebrews 12:14 “Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.”

“sanctification” is the process by which God makes us holy.
The writer is talking about the same thing.

And he reminds us that if we don’t receive this “sanctification”
We will not “see the Lord.”

i.e. will not be saved.
Because God’s desire is to save us from SIN

In short…HOLINESS MATTERS
And God loves you so much that
He’s not about to let you face eternity without it.

If I can finish the quote we started with:
“Where did we get this idea that we can’t change? From whence come statements such as, ‘It’s just my nature to worry.’ ‘I’ll always be pessimistic. I’m just that way.’ ‘I can’t help the way I react. I have a bad temper.’ Such thoughts are not from God. He can no more leave a life unchanged than a mother can leave a tear untouched. His plan for you is nothing short of a new heart. If you were a car, God would want control of your engine. If you were a computer, God would claim the software and the hard drive. If you were an airplane, he’d take his seat in the cockpit. But you are a person, so God wants to change your heart. God loves you just the way you are, but he refuses to leave you there. He wants you to have a heart like His. He wants you to be just like Jesus.” (ibid)

Suffering seems strange when you assume that
God’s purpose is to save you from hell.
This causes us to think God must not want us to suffer.

But when you realize that God’s plan is to save you from sin,
Then suffering begins to make sense.

1 Peter 4:12-13 “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.”

Through the process of discipline He is accomplishing that goal.
• So consider Jesus and what He went through.
• Remember what the Bible says about why God is doing this.
• Don’t take this process lightly.
• Don’t give up in the middle of it.
• Endure, and submit yourself to God’s purpose because He loves you and is only saving you from sin and making you holy.

Stop Complaining, God is Great!
Job 33:1-33
March 6, 2016

Well, as you know we are now examining
THE FINAL SERMON of the book of Job.

We’ve heard extensively from Job,
And we’ve heard a couple of times from Job’s infamous 3 friends.

However, those conversations fell flat.
Job’s friends were unable to handle Job’s logic
And Job has entered a bit of a pity-party.

TO THIS ELIHU HAS RISEN TO THE CHALLENGE.
It may not seem like it, but Elihu actually has more to say in this book than any of Job’s other friends.

And his purpose and point are pretty clear.
He is preaching to defend God and to correct Job.

We actually spent a couple of weeks examining THE CREDENTIALS that Elihu had which make him a qualified counselor.
• Holy Zeal
• Spiritual Wisdom
• Genuine Humility
• Deep Conviction
• Absolute Impartiality

Elihu was the right man for this job.
TONIGHT we begin to listen to exactly what he has to say.

You can rather easily break Elihu’s sermon down into 4 basic points.
Each of those points confront an area of Job’s complaining
And defend an area where God has been attacked.

Elihu is in this thing to defend God and silence Job’s complaining.

And so at the outset of these messages
It is probably important to set a sort of benchmark here
About complaining or grumbling.

I don’t know if it is our “freedom of speech” mentality in America or our fascination with social media and the need to comment on things, or what.

But what is apparent is that we as humans
Don’t seem to have any problem airing our opinions.

Coupled with that is a comfort in complaining
When we don’t like the way things are going.

• Complain about your boss…
• Complain about your parents…
• Complain about your friends…
• Complain about the president…

Basically anyone who makes decisions that appear to mess up my life or my plans seems to become fair game to a little grumbling.
I should remind you that such a mindset is not Christian, nor is it ok.

The classic example here would be the children of Israel.
You will remember them as the 40 year grumblers.
• They didn’t have water
• They didn’t have food
• They didn’t like the Promised Land
• They didn’t like manna
• They didn’t like Moses telling them what to do

It was about them that the writer of Hebrews wrote:
Hebrews 3:7-12 “Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, “TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS AS WHEN THEY PROVOKED ME, AS IN THE DAY OF TRIAL IN THE WILDERNESS, WHERE YOUR FATHERS TRIED Me BY TESTING Me, AND SAW MY WORKS FOR FORTY YEARS. “THEREFORE I WAS ANGRY WITH THIS GENERATION, AND SAID, ‘THEY ALWAYS GO ASTRAY IN THEIR HEART, AND THEY DID NOT KNOW MY WAYS’; AS I SWORE IN MY WRATH, ‘THEY SHALL NOT ENTER MY REST.'” Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God.”

Paul chimed in on the warning:
1 Corinthians 10:1-10 “For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and all ate the same spiritual food; and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased; for they were laid low in the wilderness. Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved. Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written, “THE PEOPLE SAT DOWN TO EAT AND DRINK, AND STOOD UP TO PLAY.” Nor let us act immorally, as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in one day. Nor let us try the Lord, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the serpents. Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer.”

It’s really easy to peg that generation of people
As a people who were dissatisfied with God.

• They were dissatisfied with God so they worshiped idols
• They were dissatisfied with God’s commands so they acted immorally
• They were dissatisfied with God’s provision so they grumbled

And we are adamantly warned not to be like them.

The Bible in fact gives a separate and exact opposite command.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 “in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
A very important part of living a life of faith
Is demonstrating gratitude instead of grumbling
In the middle of life’s most difficult challenges.

• Gratitude says God is sufficient even in the midst of hardship.
• Grumbling says God is insufficient in the midst of hardship.

Our culture may say that it is ok to complain,
But rest assured Scripture does not.

So it is understandable that Elihu devotes a great deal of his sermon
To addressing Job’s complaints.
Tonight we are going to examine the first leg of Elihu’s sermon.

REBUKE JOB’S COMPLAINING AND DEFEND GOD’S GREATNESS.

To grumble about God is to say that He is anything but great.
And as we said Elihu’s holy zeal would not stand by
And allow God to be portrayed as anything but great.

#1 THE ENGAGEMENT
Job 33:1-12

What you have here is similar to the opening statement made by Elihu.
He is explaining once again why he is speaking.

These verses read like is almost like one army lining up against another.
Elihu is literally squaring up for battle.

And has he does so those QUALIFICATIONS we talked about the last two weeks will once again become APPARENT.

In the first three verses you once again see his DEEP CONVICTION and his ABSOLUTE IMPARTIALITY.

(1-3) “However now, Job, please hear my speech, And listen to all my words. “Behold now, I open my mouth, My tongue in my mouth speaks. “My words are from the uprightness of my heart, And my lips speak knowledge sincerely.”

We see that he is not seeking flattery or partiality,
But is instead speaking “from the uprightness” of his heart.

We see that deep conviction as those words he spoke of previously which were about to make his belly burst are about to come out in the form of his “knowledge”

He knows what to say and he is not afraid to say it.

We see his SPIRITUAL WISDOM
(4) “The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.”

Once again giving reference to where his knowledge comes from.

We see his HOLY ZEAL
(5) “Refute me if you can; array yourselves before me, take your stand.”

Spoken like a general ready for battle.
He is not about to back down.
God has been challenged and he must speak.

And we see his GENUINE HUMILITY
(6-7) “Behold, I belong to God like you; I too have been formed out of the clay. “Behold, no fear of me should terrify you, Nor should my pressure weigh heavily on you.”

Elihu is definitely the right man for the job.

Listening to what he says here actually reminds me of David standing before Goliath.
1 Samuel 17:45-47 “Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted. “This day the LORD will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the LORD does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the LORD’S and He will give you into our hands.”

David’s strength was in God, not in himself,
But David was also full of holy zeal
That was not about to see God maligned.

You can feel that same conviction dripping out of Elihu.
• He is angry
• He is ready for battle
• He knows the truth
• And He stands to present it

He is operating in the role of a herald.

So first the engagement
#2 THE EVIDENCE
Job 33:8-12

He said earlier:
Job 32:11-12 “Behold, I waited for your words, I listened to your reasonings, While you pondered what to say. “I even paid close attention to you; Indeed, there was no one who refuted Job, Not one of you who answered his words.”
Elihu wasn’t rash in his speech.
He wasn’t an arrogant man who just wanted to hear himself talk.

Elihu listened.
He listened to those who were preaching to Job and he listened to Job.

Obviously listening is important to anyone
Who is going to step into the role of a counselor.

And we know Elihu listened,
Because he hear begins quoting what Job said back to Job.

(8-9a) “Surely you have spoken in my hearing, and I have heard the sound of your words: ‘I am pure…”

Remember the words of Job?
Job 12:4 “I am a joke to my friends, The one who called on God and He answered him; The just and blameless man is a joke.”

• Job definitely claimed to be “pure”.

• Elihu also recounted that Job claimed to be “without transgression;”

Job 23:11 “My foot has held fast to His path; I have kept His way and not turned aside.”

• He heard Job claim to be “innocent and there is no guilt in me.”

Job 9:20-21 “Though I am righteous, my mouth will condemn me; Though I am guiltless, He will declare me guilty. “I am guiltless; I do not take notice of myself; I despise my life.”

Job 10:7 “’According to Your knowledge I am indeed not guilty, Yet there is no deliverance from Your hand.”

Job 27:6 “I hold fast my righteousness and will not let it go. My heart does not reproach any of my days.”

It is clear that Elihu had been listening.
Job had indeed said all those things many times over.

What is apparent (which you will see in a minute)
Is that Elihu seemed to be latching on to one statement of Job
More than any other.

Job had already been engaged in the battle with two of his friends regarding his suffering.

The third friend to speak was Zophar
Who had by far the harshest statement for Job up to that point.

Job 11:4-6 “For you have said, ‘My teaching is pure, And I am innocent in your eyes.’ “But would that God might speak, And open His lips against you, And show you the secrets of wisdom! For sound wisdom has two sides. Know then that God forgets a part of your iniquity.”

• Zophar wouldn’t hear this “innocent” talk from Job.
• Zophar was convinced that Job had so much sin that God even forgot
part of it.

This harsh rebuked prompted a very definite response from Job
He began to address God and said:
Job 13:22-28 “Then call, and I will answer; Or let me speak, then reply to me. “How many are my iniquities and sins? Make known to me my rebellion and my sin. “Why do You hide Your face And consider me Your enemy? “Will You cause a driven leaf to tremble? Or will You pursue the dry chaff? “For You write bitter things against me And make me to inherit the iniquities of my youth. “You put my feet in the stocks And watch all my paths; You set a limit for the soles of my feet, While I am decaying like a rotten thing, Like a garment that is moth-eaten.”

Job actually began to challenge God’s treatment of him.
• Job challenged God to tell him his sin.
• Job challenged God to expose his iniquity.
• Job accused God of writing bitter things against him
• And Job accused God of punishing for those things God invented.

It seems that Elihu never forgot that statement
For he is reminding Job of it here.

(10-11) “’Behold, He invents pretexts against me; He counts me as His enemy. ‘He puts my feet in the stocks; He watches all my paths.’”

Sometimes people need to hear what their words sound like,
And that is what Elihu does here for Job.

Job you said:
• I am innocent
• God invents evil against me
• Then God punishes me for evil I didn’t do

The implication there is obvious.
I am doing right and God is doing wrong

I’m not saying Job really felt that way, but when his words were spoken back to him, it is obvious how they sounded.

And Elihu is quick to take that evidence, lay it at Job’s feet
And quickly correct him.

(12) “Behold, let me tell you, you are not right in this, For God is greater than man.”

There is the first distinction between the rebuke of Elihu
And the other three friends.

The other three argued with Job too, but they always said, “You are not right, for we know you are a sinner”

Elihu has a different reason for rebuking Job,
And it is that “God is greater than man.”

What does he mean by that?
Well, let’s look at the third point.

The Engagement, The Evidence
#3 THE EXPLANATION
Job 33:13-33

Here Elihu summarizes Job’s basic complaint before God.

(13) “Why do you complain against Him that He does not give an account of all His doings?”

That was precisely Job’s complaint. (chapter 13)
• “How many are my iniquities and sins?”
• “Make known to me my rebellion and my sin.”
• “Why do you hide Your face..?”

Elihu understands what Job is getting at.
Job wants an explanation.
Job wants God to answer for what He is doing.

And Elihu is quick to point out that complaining in such a way to God
Is unwarranted for God is greater than man.

Furthermore Elihu wants Job to know that God has not been silent.
In fact, God does speak to humanity.

(now please understand that Job is most likely the oldest book in the Bible.

Ever since Moses and certainly in the New Testament, we appeal to Scripture as the place where God speaks, but that wasn’t an option in Job’s day.

But Elihu wants Job to know that God is not silent.
God does speak and God has spoken

In fact Elihu will show Job that God speaks in two ways.
1) HE SPEAKS THROUGH DREAMS (15-18)
(15-18) “In a dream, a vision of the night, When sound sleep falls on men, While they slumber in their beds, Then He opens the ears of men, And seals their instruction, That He may turn man aside from his conduct, And keep man from pride; He keeps back his soul from the pit, And his life from passing over into Sheol.”

Elihu says that one of the ways in which God communicates
Is through dreams when man sleeps.

During those dreams God will “open the ears of men”
And God uses those dreams for one main purpose.

“That He may turn man aside from his conduct, and keep man from his pride; He keeps back his soul from the pit, and his life from passing over into Sheol.”

Elihu says that God uses dreams to warn men
And to change the conduct of men
So that they will not follow a path of destruction.

Why is this relevant to Job?
Job 7:11-15 “Therefore I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit, I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. “Am I the sea, or the sea monster, That You set a guard over me? “If I say, ‘My bed will comfort me, My couch will ease my complaint,’ Then You frighten me with dreams And terrify me by visions; So that my soul would choose suffocation, Death rather than my pains.”

Elihu brings this up to Job because Job had already stated that even when he tried to sleep he was bothered by dreams and visions that terrified him.

Could it be that God was already addressing the complaining and grumbling and bitterness of Job?

Elihu certainly thinks so.

He is speaking through dreams
2) HE SPEAKS THROUG PAIN (19-22)
(19-22) “Man is also chastened with pain on his bed, And with unceasing complaint in his bones; So that his life loathes bread, And his soul favorite food. “His flesh wastes away from sight, And his bones which were not seen stick out. “Then his soul draws near to the pit, And his life to those who bring death.”

In addition to dreams Elihu says that God speaks through pain.
• God brings hardship on to the life of man.
• Pain that will cause his soul to draw near to the pit.
• Pain that will cause him to draw near to death.

One would ask: HOW DOES THIS HELP?
That is what Elihu explains next.
(23-28) “If there is an angel as mediator for him, One out of a thousand, To remind a man what is right for him, Then let him be gracious to him, and say, ‘Deliver him from going down to the pit, I have found a ransom’; Let his flesh become fresher than in youth, Let him return to the days of his youthful vigor; Then he will pray to God, and He will accept him, That he may see His face with joy, And He may restore His righteousness to man. “He will sing to men and say, ‘I have sinned and perverted what is right, And it is not proper for me. ‘He has redeemed my soul from going to the pit, And my life shall see the light.’”

According to Elihu, God brings pain into the life of man
Which causes him to cry out in prayer.

His affliction and prayer motivates the angels to intercede on his behalf
The result of this prayer and intercession
IS THAT MAN WILL REPENT AND GOD WILL RESTORE.

See verse 26:
“Then he will pray to God, and He will accept him, That he may see His face with joy, and He may restore His righteousness to man.”

From this point man will actually begin to be an evangelist of sorts
As he will go and express to other men how he had sinned, but God redeemed him from the pit of death and placed him on the path of light.

So Elihu simply points out that Job’s pain
Was also a way for God to speak to him.
That through his pain God was purifying him.

Now this is one of those statements
(as I told you would occur at the beginning)
That make it hard to know if we agree with Elihu or not.

• After all, it is clear at the beginning of this book that Job was a righteous man who feared God and turned away from evil.

• And yet we have decided that since God doesn’t correct what Elihu has to say, that he must be correct in his assessments.

That means here that Elihu
Is not rebuking Job for any sin he committed prior to his pain,
But rather for the bitterness and complaining
That Job had in the midst of it.

According to Elihu Job’s response to his pain
Revealed pride that Job had hidden in his heart.

• It was pride and arrogance on Job’s part that would cause him to respond to affliction the way he did.

• It was pride and arrogance on Job’s part that would cause him to think that God was wronging him.
• It was pride and arrogance on Job’s part that would give him the audacity to approach God and demand that God give an account of what He was doing.

This pride and arrogance were not readily noticeable during Job’s life of ease and prosperity, but certainly became apparent during his affliction.

According to Elihu, one of God’s purposes for Job
Was to bring about this affliction to purify him of this pride.

That is precisely what Elihu brought up in verse 17
“That He man turn man aside from his conduct, and keep man from pride.”

So according to Elihu, God has not been silent with Job.
• God has spoken through those dreams that terrified him.
• God has spoken through that pain that was meant to crush his pride.

And then Elihu brings some PERSPECTIVE to the situation:
(29-33) “Behold, God does all these oftentimes with men, To bring back his soul from the pit, That he may be enlightened with the light of life. “Pay attention, O Job, listen to me; Keep silent, and let me speak. “Then if you have anything to say, answer me; Speak, for I desire to justify you. “If not, listen to me; Keep silent, and I will teach you wisdom.”

Here is what Elihu meant when he said previously that Job should not say such things because “God is greater than man.”

God often times does this peculiar work of
Terrifying dreams and terrible pain.
And He does it for one reason.

IT IS NOT TO HARM MAN, IT IS TO SAVE HIM.
“To bring back his soul from the pit”

In short,
• All that God is doing…
• All that God is allowing…
• IS FOR THE PURPOSE OF REDEMPTION NOT CONDEMNATION

WHY?
Because God is greater than man!

• When men terrify other men, it is typically for selfish reasons…
• When men inflict pain on other men, it is typically done out of cruelty…
BUT GOD IS NOT LIKE MEN
GOD IS GREATER THAN MAN.
God uses things like this to actually make us better, to purify us, and to save us from the pit of destruction.

It isn’t destructive, it is redemptive

And Elihu wants Job to know that
This is the explanation for what is happening in Job’s life.

And he wants Job to get it.
(31-32) “Pay attention, O Job, listen to me; keep silent, and let me speak. Then if you have anything to say, answer me; speak, for I desire to justify you.”

That is, I desire for you to be justified.
I desire for God’s purposes to be completed in your life.

And doesn’t that sound just like John the Baptist?
• John was preaching a message of judgment and condemnation, but not because John wanted people to be condemned.
• John preached judgment so that people would repent and find justification.

Elihu, like John, is a herald.

SO WHAT DO WE TAKE AWAY FROM THIS OPENING COUNSEL FROM ELIHU?

1) That suffering is not an excuse to turn on God because suffering is not an indicator that God has turned on you.

In fact suffering may be the greatest indicator
That God is working for you.

We have this human inclination wired in to us that if you love someone you will make their life as easy as possible.
• You won’t resist them
• You won’t rebuke them
• You won’t hold them back
• You won’t punish them

This is the popular mindset of how to raise children today,
And we can all see how that is working out.

Our society actually says that all children need is total acceptance and love when you raise them.

I’m certainly for giving a child love, but even I understand that sometimes love has to come in the form of a paddle to the butt.

What does Scripture say?
Hebrews 12:4-11 “You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin; and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, “MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM; FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES.” It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”

Suffering is not an indicator that God has turned on you.
It is an indicator that God is working on you.
Therefore suffering is not a reason for you to turn on God.

That is why Elihu was quick to tell Job that
He was not right to challenge God the way he had.

The next thing we should learn
2) God is always working for your good, even if His methods seems strange to you.

God most certainly isn’t working for your harm.
God most certainly isn’t working for your destruction.
God is working for your good.

Now, as we said, His methods sometimes seem strange to us,
But if we were as great as God, then we’d understand.

That is where faith comes in.
Job didn’t know what God was doing,
But at the very least he should have known what God wasn’t doing.
God was not seeking to destroy him.

We talked about it with Joseph back in Genesis when we were talking about God’s PROVIDENCE.

We talked about how trusting God’s providence is believing that the worst possible circumstances can actually produce the most amazing good.

It doesn’t always look that way, but we know that is what God is doing.
Sometimes God uses pain and resistance
To produce the results that are required.

Athletes know about this.
• They know that you have to train your body to perform.
• They know that a little pain is required if your body is going to produce.

Should we expect any less for the soul?

Paul wrote to Timothy:
1 Timothy 4:7-10 “But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women. On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance. For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers.”

If the body must be disciplined to perform, so must the soul.
The difference is that where bodily discipline has only a little profit, soul discipline is highly valuable because it produces godliness.

You and I both know people who are workout fanatics.
There is certainly nothing wrong with that. (I’m just not one of them)

But we know people who are committed to pushing their body and working out.
I saw a friend on facebook the other day who was scrawny in high school and apparently has been working out because he’s huge now.

I can only imagine the pain and discipline he had to endure
To get his body in that kind of shape.

But you know he understood that pain was going to be part of it.
I doubt he woke up the next morning sore after a hard workout
And thought God must be mad at him.

He knew what was happening.

WELL THAT IS TRUE SPIRITUALLY AS WELL.

Didn’t we learn it from James?
James 1:2-4 “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

This little bit of pain is necessary, God is using it to perfect you.

That is precisely Elihu just told Job.
• God terrified you with dreams and brought pain into your life so that He might purify you. More specifically so that He might crush your pride.

And Job wasn’t the only one God ever did that to.
But look at Paul.
2 Corinthians 12:7-9 “Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me — to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.”

Do you realize that God did the exact same thing
To Paul that He did to Job?
Pain for the sake of crushing pride.

But the point is that it wasn’t to harm Paul or Job.
It was for their own good.

That being the case, Elihu tells Job to quit complaining
Because God is a great God
Who is doing great things on his behalf.

That’s his first piece of instruction.
We’ll move on next time.

The Perfecter of Faith
Hebrews 12:1-2
March 6, 2013

As you know we are working our way through Hebrews
And most recently we just worked our way through the faith chapter.
The writer gave us 40 verses of some great examples of faith.

He knew that the recipients of this letter were struggling with endurance.
He knew they were contemplating falling away from the faith.
So he sought to inspire them with some great examples.

We saw THE REWARD OF FAITH
Abel, Enoch, Noah

We saw THE FOCUS OF FAITH
Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph

We saw THE COURAGE OF FAITH
Amram, Jochabed, Moses, Israelites, Rahab

We saw THE ENDURANCE OF FAITH
Gideon, Barak, Jephthah, Samson, David, Samuel and others

These were great examples of faith,
And they should most certainly inspire us as the writer will say here.

But NONE of these men or women were the BEST example of faith.

Each of these people exhibited great faith at points in their lives
And yet each of these people also had moments of failure.

Not all of them have their failures listed in Scripture, but most of them do.
• We are familiar with Noah’s drunkenness
• We are familiar with Abraham’s affair
• We are familiar with Isaac’s bad fathering
• We are familiar with Jacob’s lying
• We are familiar with Moses’ murder
• We are familiar with the Israelites grumbling
• We are familiar with Rahab’s prostitution
• We are familiar with Gideon’s tests
• We are familiar with Samson’s lust
• We are familiar with David’s affair

And we certainly are under no misconception that
Men like Abel, Enoch, or Joseph were always perfect.

They were great people who exhibited great faith,
And they should motivate us.

BUT NONE OF THEM IS THE CHIEF EXAMPLE OF FAITH.
That person isn’t even listed in Hebrews 11.
That person doesn’t get listed until Hebrews 12.

Of this person the writer reminds us that
He and He alone absolutely perfected faith.

That is to say that no one ever did it better.

So while we have MANY EXAMPLES, we only have ONE LEADER
And of course you know by now that it is Jesus Christ.
The others should inspire us, but only One warrants our total devotion.

And so having looked at some vitally important aspects of faith,
THIS MORNING we look at “The Perfecter of Faith”

Now before we get to Him and what He did, the writer does have some strong words of encouragement to us that we must not miss.

I feel certain that you are familiar with these verses as they are some of the most popular quoted verses in our world.

The whole objective of the writer is simple.
• Having expressed the need for faith in chapter 10
• Having explained faith in chapter 11
• The writer now expects faith in chapter 12

So let’s begin looking at these wonderful verses.

3 things
#1 THE MOTIVATION
Hebrews 21:1a
“Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us,”

You are familiar with the fact that the writer here
Is using the analogy of a race to express his desires.

One might entitle this section: “APPROACHING THE TRACK”

And here we are talking about all that
The runner might be thinking about as motivation.

The writer mentions that “great cloud of witnesses”

Now, this DOES NOT suggest that these witnesses are sitting in the stands watching us run and we must be careful not to disappoint them.

“witnesses” hear DOES NOT mean “those who are watching”

The word “witnesses” translates MARTYS in the Greek.
It’s where we get our word for martyr.
These were people who sacrificially lived their lives for God,
Not people who just watched other people live it.
These people are not spectators, they are examples.

These are the people who we just studied in the previous chapter.

Don’t picture the runner entering the coliseum looking at the fans,
Picture him walking through the hall of fame,
Looking at the statues of those who ran before.

The writer is not asking to run to please them,
He is asking to run like they did in order to please God.

And so literally in chapter 11 we just walked through the hall of fame.

WE BEGAN IN THE HALL OF LEGENDS
• We saw the statue of Abel and remember how his faith cost him his life, but his faith also earned God’s favor.

• We saw the statue of Noah and wondered what it must have felt like to spend 100 years building a boat.

NEXT WE TOURED THE HALL OF PATRIARCHS
• We saw the tent Abraham lived in, we saw Isaac’s baby shoes, and the taxidermied head of that ram caught in a thicket.

• We saw the staff where Jacob leaned when he blessed his boys.

• On the back wall hung Joseph’s torn up and bloody coat that his brothers used to convince their father that he was dead. We were reminded how he never lost the faith.

• Over to the right you’ll see the basket where Moses was hidden as a baby, and we marveled at the faith it took for his parents to defy a king.

• To the left we saw that scarlet threat that Rahab hung out the window to make sure she wouldn’t be destroyed during the fall of Jericho.

WE WALKED THROUGH THE HALL OF WARRIORS.
• We saw the life-size cardboard cutout of Goliath, and there sat the sling that David used to bring him down.

• There on a table was Gideon’s fleece right next to his broken pot and his trumpet.

WE WALKED THROUGH THE HALL OF MARTYRS.
• It was a sacred and quiet march as we contemplated the pains and agonies of living through such peril for your faith.

THEN WE WALKED INTO THE FINAL ROOM OF THE HALL OF FAME.
• On the wall stood a single plaque which read, “And all these having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect.”

And now we make our way toward the exit,
And we see that the tour guide is
Passing out a souvenir to everyone who visited.

He is handing them a baton and he is saying, “Therefore, since we have been surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,”

And now you understand the motivation.
They should inspire you to get back up and run.

The Motivation
#2 THE MANDATE
Hebrews 12:1b

“let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,”

If the first part of this verse could be called “Approaching the Track” then this part should be called “LOOSENING UP”

If you’ve ever watched Olympic runners you are well aware that most of them run in as little as possible.
• They don’t want anything bulky
• They don’t want anything heavy
• They don’t want anything that restricts movement

They want to be as free as they possibly can to run.

That is precisely what the writer is talking about here.
And if you’ll notice there are TWO THINGS
That he knows that must be cast aside.

“let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us,”

One of the things on that list you expected to see.
“sin”, and we will get to that one in a minute.

But FIRST the writer says to “lay aside every encumbrance”.
Obviously if he mentions “sin” in a moment
Then he isn’t talking about sin here.

He is just talking about things that hinder you from running.

“encumbrance” comes from a Greek word that simply means “a bulk or mass”

You’ve probably seen the Olympics,
But you’ve probably never seen a sprinter run
With a sack of feed on their shoulder.

He is not necessarily talking about sinful things here,
Just things that get in the way.

This is where we often find that list of “doubtful” things.
Is it a sin to go to such and such party?
No, but will it hinder or help your Christian walk?

Is it a sin to listen to country music?
Possibly not, but will it hinder or help your Christian walk?

You already know the classic Baptist one. “Is it ok to drink a bear as long as I don’t get drunk?”
And you already know that the answer is “no”.
But we should ask if it helps or hinders your Christian walk.

You get the idea.

What is the goal?
• If your goal is to have fun, then the party fits the bill.
• If your goal is to cry, then listen to that country music song.
• If your goal is to satisfy the flesh, then drink that beer.

But if your goal is to win the race and live a Christian life,
Then it might change your habits.

• There is nothing wrong with eating donuts and drinking chocolate milk, but you won’t find many distance runners making a habit of it, because it is counterproductive to the goal.

• I’m sure many of those female sprinters also enjoy wearing designer shoes and nice dresses, but you won’t find them wearing them while running the race.

You understand the point of the writer.
You are supposed to be running so throw off what hinders.

I talked to a young man about this, this week.
He loves track, in fact, he told me he is the fastest sprinter in the school, but his grades aren’t good enough to let him participate.

My wife will tell you that I am no role model for the importance of getting good grades, but if bad grades are hindering you from running, then you have a problem.

We’re talking about removing the things that are holding you back.

We’ve talked about this before, regarding participation in ministry.
• We can’t go on a mission trip because we already allocated our time.
• We can’t give our money because we’re already committed through debt.
We place things in our life that hinder us
From running the race to the best of our ability.

Not only that, but you should also “lay aside…the sin which so easily entangles.”

Now here we have to use some of that grammar we learned back in school and see that the writer here used the definite article regarding “sin”

He used the word “the” which implies he is thinking of a specific sin.

Certainly all sin should be laid aside,
But here he mentions “the sin which so easily entangles us,”

No, he doesn’t mention specifically what it is,
But in light of what he’s been talking about throughout this letter and especially the last chapter, it stands to reason that he is talking about the sin of UNBELIEF

He actually introduced it early on.
Hebrews 4:1-2 “Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it. For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard.”

Certainly any sin can entangle you and keep you from running,
But none so easily as unbelief.

A sprinter may disqualify himself for
Using illegal substances or for an illegal start,
But a runner that doesn’t believe he can win
Isn’t likely to show up at all.

The writer here is asking the Hebrews to “lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us,”

And then of course – TO RUN
“and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,”

The “race” here that is mentioned is the Greek word AGON,
It’s where we get our word for “agony”.

This is a marathon
This is a hard race
BUT IT IS OUR RACE.

You didn’t choose when you would be born.
You didn’t choose where you would be born.
Your race was “set before” you by God.
And all there is for you to do is “run with endurance”

• No runner ever won anything by being sluggish of the blocks.
• No runner ever won anything by quitting halfway around the track.

I’m not saying your race is easy, but it is your race.

In 2008 the NFC championship game between the New York Giants and the Green Bay Packers was played in Green Bay. The temperature was -4 degrees, the wind chill was -24 degrees. Obviously no sane human wants to endure that.

But Michael Strahan began a chant on the New York Giant’s sideline. “We’re in it. We might as well win it.” And they did. The win sent the Giants to the superbowl and Brett Favre to Minnesota.

Your race may not be pleasant, but it is your race.
So throw off the things that hinder and the things that entangle AND RUN.

THAT IS THE MOTIVATION AND THE MANDATE

#3 THE MODEL
Hebrews 12:2

Like I told you at the beginning; all those people in chapter 11 can be very inspiring, but they can also be used negatively if you are willing to.

I can go to you and say – RUN LIKE NOAH
And you could say, “You mean get drunk and pass out in my tent?”

I could say – RUN LIKE JACOB
And you could say, “You mean cheat my brother and flee the country?”

I could say – RUN LIKE DAVID
And you could say, “You mean have an affair and kill the woman’s husband?”

That is why those in chapter 11 can only motivate us so far.
THERE IS BUT ONE PERFECT EXAMPLE.

The writer said that we should be “fixing our eyes on Jesus”
The writer calls Him “the author and perfecter of faith”

“author” translates ARCHEGOS (ar-kay-gos)
It means “one who takes the lead in”

He was the leader in faith
He pioneered the trail
Others showed us glimpses of it, He did it right.

In fact He was the “perfecter of faith”
“perfecter” translates TELEOIOTES (ti-la-oh-tace)
It means “perfectly accomplishing”

He did it better than anyone.

So obviously there is one example to end them all.
We are motivated by all of those in chapter 11,
But we emulate the one listed here in chapter 12.

Let’s look at His race
1) HIS OBSTACLE
“the cross”

I know this isn’t the first thing mentioned in the verse,
But clearly this was the race that was set before Him.

You are familiar with how the cross worked – (SUFFOCATION)
The cross was Rome’s way of crushing rebellion

CONSIDER THE PAIN
Isaiah 52:13-14 “Behold, My servant will prosper, He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted. Just as many were astonished at you, My people, So His appearance was marred more than any man And His form more than the sons of men.”

Psalms 22:6-8 “But I am a worm and not a man, A reproach of men and despised by the people. All who see me sneer at me; They separate with the lip, they wag the head, saying, “Commit yourself to the LORD; let Him deliver him; Let Him rescue him, because He delights in him.”

Psalms 22:14-18 “I am poured out like water, And all my bones are out of joint; My heart is like wax; It is melted within me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, And my tongue cleaves to my jaws; And You lay me in the dust of death. For dogs have surrounded me; A band of evildoers has encompassed me; They pierced my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones. They look, they stare at me; They divide my garments among them, And for my clothing they cast lots.”

There is no doubt that the cross was a horrific place to die.
• It is no wonder Jesus prayed in the garden “let this cup pass from Me”

CONSIDER THE SPIRITUAL ANGUISH
Psalms 22:1 “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Far from my deliverance are the words of my groaning.”

We are all familiar with Jesus question from the cross.

Scripture is clear what was occurring:
2 Corinthians 5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

This wasn’t just about physical pain,
This was about the spiritual judgment of holy God.

CONSIDER THE WEIGHT OF HIS MISSION
Isaiah 53:4-6 “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.”

Everything that is hard about this sin cursed life, Jesus bore.
There has never been a race so difficult as His.
There has never been a weight so heavy as His.

So, how did He do in this race?
2) HIS RESPONSE
“endured the cross, despising the shame”

“endured” translates HUPOMENO (hoo-pa-man-o)
MENO = “abide” like in John 15:4 “abide in Me”
HUPO intensifies it – “to bear up courageously”
So it literally means “to abide under”

JESUS DID
• Even when faced with crucifixion
• Even when they dared Him to come down

Matthew 27:42 “He saved others; He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel; let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe in Him.”

Imagine if while running your difficult race, everyone around you was begging you to quit? How much harder would that make it?

Jesus determined to stay on the cross.
• He could have bowed out.
• He could have come down
• He could have called 10,000 angels, but He chose to run His race.

The Bible also says “despising the shame”

“despising” translates KATAPHRONEO
Literally – “to think down”

1 Timothy 4:12 “Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe.”

Romans 2:4 “Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?”

Matthew 18:10 “See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven.”

It doesn’t mean He hated the shame.
It means He didn’t think the shame was any big deal.

We have trouble enduring because we think too highly of our self.
• We don’t think we deserve such hardship…
• We don’t think we deserve such ridicule…
• Jesus didn’t let either of those things bother Him.

He “thought little” of it.

GIVES NEW MEANING TO:
1 Corinthians 3:18 “Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise.”

Jesus faced the hardest challenge any man has ever faced
And He handled it perfectly.

3) HIS MOTIVE
“for the joy set before Him”

HE SAW THE CROSS AS AN OPPORTUNITY.
• To save sinners
• To glorify His name

He embodied everything the writer spoke of in chapter 11,
About people who had the right kind of focus.

Jesus looked past the pain and the shame of the cross
To “the joy set before Him”
He kept an eye to eternity.

And that is why HE COULDN’T BE SIDETRACKED
In Matthew 4 Satan offered Him the world:
Matthew 4:8-9 “Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.”

In John 6 the crowds offered Him a throne:
John 6:15 “So Jesus, perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone.”

In Matthew 26, Peter offered Him escape:
Matthew 26:51 “And behold, one of those who were with Jesus reached and drew out his sword, and struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his ear.”

In John 19, Pilate offered Him a pardon:
John 19:9-11 “and he entered into the Praetorium again and said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. So Pilate said to Him, “You do not speak to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?” Jesus answered, “You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above; for this reason he who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.”
HE WAS FOCUSED
It is tremendous perspective that can look past the present pain
To see the future result.
• Jesus wasn’t trying to have His best life now.
• Jesus wasn’t trying to find comfort
• Jesus wasn’t looking for earthly fame

JESUS WAS RUNNING THE RACE THAT WAS ASSIGNED TO HIM.

4) HIS RESULT
“and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Many times in the book of Hebrews we have read that fact
And seen Jesus as the High Priest,
But there is much more here than just “Jesus the Intercessor”.

This verse speaks of Him in terms of victory.

TURN TO: ACTS 2:22-36

Acts 5:29-31 “But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. “The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had put to death by hanging Him on a cross. “He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.”

Ephesians 1:19b-23 “These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.”

• Jesus ran the most difficult race ever attempted.
• He threw off the things that hindered and ran with endurance
• He could not be sidetracked
• He faced those hardships because He was looking to the reward
AND AS A RESULT HE WAS GREATLY REWARDED

The point of the writer is becoming pretty clear isn’t it?

Can I ask you a question?
IS THERE ANYTHING MORE IMPORTANT THAN LIVING A LIFE THAT IS PLEASING TO GOD?

• I know we are in an election season and who you vote for is pretty important.
• I know many of us have families and providing is important.
• We are told to take care of our retirement…
• We are told to take care of our health…

• We’re about to start Little League Baseball and we all know how important that is.

There are all sorts of things in life that we do, but honestly, are any of them as important as living a life that is pleasing to God?
So the idea is that if anything in life is keeping you from obeying God, then obviously it has to be tossed aside.

It would be like a sprinter who spends a ton of time planning his wardrobe, fixing his hair, and making his traveling plans to get to the track, but who never prepares himself to run.

Don’t lose sight of what is the most important thing here.

Paul said:
1 Corinthians 9:24-27 “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.”

• God didn’t place me here to play golf
• God didn’t place me here to run Little League
• God didn’t place me here to build furniture

He placed me here to run my leg of the race as faithfully as possible.
Regardless of what my leg of the race may look like.

I don’t know what you’re facing
I don’t know what you fill face
But I do know you were appointed for this race – RUN IT!

Run it like Jesus ran it.

In fact, we’ll look at this verse next time, but look at verse 3.
Hebrews 12:3-4 “For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin;”

That’s the real issue isn’t it?
That we might “grow weary and lose heart”

That is the issue facing the Hebrews.
• They were being maligned
• Their property was stolen
• They were being thrown in prison

The solution to a better life was easy…get rid of Jesus.
The writer says, NO!

Jesus didn’t give up on you, don’t you give up on Jesus.

I don’t know what you face, but I know you were appointed to face it.
It is your race, so run it.

• Throw off the things that are keeping you from living for Christ.
• Throw off the sin of unbelief that causes you to be stagnant.
• Step up to the line and run!

And the whole time you run, keep your eyes focused on Jesus,
Who is your chief example.

Hebrews 12:1-2 “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

The Sermon of Elihu – part 2
Job 32-37 (32:11-22)
February 28, 2016

Very early on in the story of redemption
We run into two brothers who are at odds with one another.

• One has pleased the Lord, one has not.
• The one was displeasing rose up and killed the one who was.

To that surviving brother, the Lord asked, where his brother was.
To that Cain asked, “am I my brother’s keeper?”

It’s a really good question.
Do I hold any responsibility at all for my brother?

And Scripture answers that question with a resounding “YES!”
We are all in this thing together.

That is why Paul told Timothy:
2 Timothy 4:2 “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.”

Paul told the Corinthians:
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”

Paul told the Galatians:
Galatians 6:1-2 “Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.”

He wrote to the Romans:
Romans 12:15 “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.”

Even Jesus spoke of the intense responsibility
We have toward our brother.

• He wrote in Matthew 18 that if your brother sins you have the responsibility to go and confront your brother and do everything within your power to pull that brother out of sin.

• In Matthew 7 He said that when you go you had better examine yourself first simply so that you will be able to see clearly when you try to remove that speck from your brother’s eye.

We are responsible for our brother.

That means that as the body of Christ
We often find ourselves in this role of counselor/encourager.
As we said this morning life is hard.
Sin has wrecked everything.

Now sickness and tragedy and disease and death
Are real issues that people face.

We all know several people struggling with life right now.
• People who need an encouraging word…
• People who need a reminder of hope…
• People who need a compass of direction…
• People who need some Biblical perspective in their pain…

BEYOND THAT
• Our world lies in the power of the evil one whose sole objective in life is
to “steal, kill, and destroy”

• Peter tells us that our enemy the devil “prowls around like a roaring lion
seeking whom he may devour”

And his temptations are everywhere.
Especially in our day of smartphones and internet.

Temptation is real and that only increases the need
For Christian accountability and encouragement.

I am prone to temptation, you are prone to temptation.
And the only way either of us survive this thing
Is when we have the continual encouragement of a brother.

• One who is not afraid to “reprove, rebuke, and exhort”
• One who is not afraid to “go to a sinning brother”
• One who is not afraid to “find that straying sheep and bring them home”

We find ourselves in this role continually.
We find ourselves in need of this role continually.

Now certainly it is possible to look at this thing
Only through the eyes of sovereignty.

We can say,
• “Hey, God has to change the heart” (and that’s true)
• “Hey, God has to convict the soul” (and that’s true)
• “Hey, God has to open the heart” (and that’s true)
• “Hey, God has to call them out” (and that’s true)

But we can never lose sight of the fact that
God uses His church to accomplish these divine purposes.

• He saves sinners and yet He sends evangelists to do it.
• He comforts those who mourn and He sends the compassionate to do it.
• He confronts those who stray and He sends a brother to do it.
Failure to embrace this important role
Is a failure to understand how God seeks to use His church.

You may remember what God had to say to Ezekiel.
Ezekiel 34:1-6 “Then the word of the LORD came to me saying, “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to those shepherds, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Woe, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock? “You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat sheep without feeding the flock. “Those who are sickly you have not strengthened, the diseased you have not healed, the broken you have not bound up, the scattered you have not brought back, nor have you sought for the lost; but with force and with severity you have dominated them. “They were scattered for lack of a shepherd, and they became food for every beast of the field and were scattered. “My flock wandered through all the mountains and on every high hill; My flock was scattered over all the surface of the earth, and there was no one to search or seek for them.”‘”

The Lord condemned the wicked leaders of Israel
Because they failed to understand how important it was
For them to shepherd God’s flock.

To this God promised to send a “Good Shepherd” who would gather this flock back together, and Jesus did that very thing.

And certainly we are not ignoring that God does appoint men to
Literally “shepherd” His flock as overseers or pastors.

But there is also a continual reminder that
This is the responsibility of the entire church.
WE ARE IN FACT OUR BROTHER’S KEEPER.

That being the case this life is going to present you with
Plenty of opportunities to be a comforter or encourager or exhorter
Or even a confronter of your brother.

If that is true, then you must certainly understand how to do it well.

And that is where we are here in the book of Job.
We literally suffered through 31 chapters of
Some of the worst counseling that has ever been given.

Job suffered like no man had suffered and instead of giving genuine Biblical encouragement to Job, his friends sought only to condemn him.

• They spoke no words of comfort…
• They spoke no words of encouragement…
• They only went on a witch hunt to find sin they couldn’t prove.
• And even though they had absolutely no evidence of any sin on Job’s part, they chose to condemn him anyway.

It was the worst counseling job in the history of the world.

Instead of producing peace and hope and faith in Job,
All they managed to do was push Job towards arrogance, self-pity,
And confusion regarding the plans of God.

By the time we came to the end of chapter 31
The whole situation was in a mess.

Job is walking in the pinnacle of arrogance.
He has actually begun to take his righteousness, compare it to God’s righteousness, and is coming to the conclusion that he has been more just than God.

Job’s friends are sitting off to the side
Having been utterly defeated by Job’s logic and now have nothing else to say.

What is worse, God is on His way,
And the whole situation is about to get REAL!

IN STEPS ELIHU
We don’t know where he came from, we don’t know when he showed up,
BUT HIS ROLE BECOMES CLEAR TO US.

He has come as a herald to make straight the way of the Lord.
God is on his way and Elihu is trying to clean up some of the mess before He arrives.

What we are finding in Elihu is what a true counselor must be.

Over the course of the next 6 chapters
We are going to look at how Elihu carries himself and what he has to say
And learn a great deal about how to be the right kind of counselor or encourager
To our brother in the midst of his trial.

Last week we started looking at the first major point:
#1 HIS CREDENTIALS
Job 32:1-22

This first chapter of the section doesn’t record any of Elihu’s counsel.
It is merely a chapter devoted to why he is speaking.

And as we said this is very important.
Many of us are often caught in that very dilemma.
• Do I speak?
• Do I remain silent?
• Do I answer?
• Do I overlook?
• Who am I to step and offer my two cents?
• Who am I to step up and give advice?
• Who am I to step up and rebuke?

We’ve all been there.
I do hear the statement a lot from a lot of different people.
“I just don’t like confrontation”

Look, if you DO like confrontation then you are sinful.
• Galatians 5 says that “enmities, strife, disputes, dissensions, and
factions” are all deeds of the flesh.

• Titus 3:10-11 “Reject a factious man after a first and second warning, knowing
that such a man is perverted and is sinning, being self-condemned.”

No Spirit-filled individual who is seeking to do God’s will
Is looking for confrontation.

Paul even told us to pray that it won’t have to happen.
1 Timothy 2:1-2 “First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.”

It would be great if we never had to do it.

And that means that I can’t think of a time when the need arises
That there won’t some internal question regarding
“Should I?” or “Shouldn’t I?”

That confusion and internal struggle is going to be there.

What we want to know is: How do I know if I’m the one qualified to handle this situation?

So we are looking at THE CREDENTIALS
We started working through it last week, we saw the first 3 that Elihu had.

1) HOLY ZEAL (1-5)

The phrase is repeated 4 times.
Elihu had BURNING ANGER

The reason was because
• God was being MISREPRESENTED BY JOB’S FRIENDS who sought to condemn a man with no proof.
• And God was being MALIGNED BY JOB who chose to justify himself while accusing God of injustice.

And this reality provoked anger in Elihu.
We likened it to Jesus clearing the temple
Because “Zeal” for God’s house and consumed Him.

Jesus was a meek individual.
• We read passages about how a bruised reed He won’t break or a smoldering wick He wouldn’t snuff out.

And yet He had a fire and burning anger for the hypocrisy of the Pharisees
And for the corruption of the worship they instituted in God’s house.

And we are reminded that a person who does not have
A holy zeal for God makes a terrible counselor.

If you’re only hope is that people will like you better,
Please don’t step into the circle.

We call those types of counselors – ENABLERS
They’ll tell anybody what they want to hear because it makes them more popular.

Elihu had holy zeal
2) SPIRITUAL WISDOM (6-10)

Here we were reminded of perhaps the most important truth of all.

We learned that Elihu actually felt under-qualified to speak up.
The reason was because he was younger than the others.

But then he realized what it is that actually qualifies a person to speak
And that is the indwelling of God’s Spirit.

(8) “But it is the spirit in man, and the breath of the Almighty gives them understanding.”

• It is not your education that makes you a good counselor
• It is not your experience that makes you a good counselor
• It is not a degree in social psychology that makes you a good counselor

THERE HAS ONLY EVER BEEN ONE COUNSELOR
That is the Holy Spirit

John 14:16-17 “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.”

He is the PARACLETOS – “one who comes beside to help”
• NASB translates it “Helper”
• KJV translates it “Comforter”
• NIV translates it “Counselor”

However you slice it, the job of comforting and counseling
And confronting is the job of the Holy Spirit.

That means that the only truly qualified people to counsel
Are those who are filled with the Spirit of God.
Only they have the divine perception and spiritual discernment
To rightly divide the truth and accurately address the situation.
You may be young
You may be inexperienced
But it is the Spirit of God that qualifies a person
To step into the role of counselor.

We saw his Holy Zeal, We saw his Spiritual Wisdom
3) GENUINE HUMILITY (11-14)

And this of course is the most necessary balance
To the holy zeal we talked about.

• Elihu was right to have that burning anger, after all God was being maligned.
• Elihu was right to know that he had every right to speak up.

And yet we initially find him sitting in patience,
Attentiveness, discernment and humility.

“I waited for your words, I listened to your reasonings…I even paid close attention to you”

In other words Elihu wasn’t so arrogant as to assume that
He was the only person qualified to speak.

He was humble enough to sit by in silence and give way to those
Who should have been good counselors.

The problem was that they were not good counselors
And this thrust Elihu into action.

BUT WE DID LEARN THAT HUMILITY IS IMPORTANT.

One thing WE DIDN’T MENTION that I would also add tonight
Is the importance of humility as it pertains to obedience to God’s plan.

God is clear about things like going to your brother, encouraging your brother, exhorting your brother, even disciplining your brother.

Those who refuse to do that (even under the banner of just being compassionate) are actually revealing arrogance.

Let me give you an example:
• 1 Corinthians 5 tells us about that sinning brother who was sleeping with his
father’s wife.

1 Corinthians 5:1-2 “It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father’s wife. You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst.”

Paul said their refusal to address the situation was actually arrogance.
WHY?
It was arrogant to think that they could handle the situation
Apart from God’s divine instruction.

Paul assured them that this little bit of leaven would leaven the whole lump
And they would not be able to contain it.

The point is, humility is vitally important in this role of counselor.
• There must be enough humility to understand that God can use whomever,
however He likes.
• And there must be enough humility to realize that God’s plan must take
precedent over human plans.

So we saw the first three credentials of Elihu.
Holy Zeal, Spiritual Wisdom, Genuine Humility
4) DEEP CONVICTION (15-20)

This actually runs very similar to the holy zeal we saw earlier.

WITH ONE DIFFERENCE.
• Holy Zeal implies the anger in regard to how God is treated.
• Deep Conviction implies knowing the truth regarding how to address it.

If you have zeal, but no wisdom or conviction
You still find yourself in a difficult scenario.

There must be zeal, but there must also be a conviction of
WHAT IS RIGHT, WHY IT’S RIGHT, and WHAT TO SAY.

Elihu certainly had that.
(15-20) “They are dismayed, they no longer answer; Words have failed them. “Shall I wait, because they do not speak, Because they stop and no longer answer? “I too will answer my share, I also will tell my opinion. “For I am full of words; The spirit within me constrains me. “Behold, my belly is like unvented wine, Like new wineskins it is about to burst. “Let me speak that I may get relief; Let me open my lips and answer.”

Not only did Elihu have a burning desire to speak,
But he knew exactly what to say.

He was “full of words”
And he had to speak the truth.

We have seen this mentality before from a very famous prophet.
Jeremiah 20:8-9 “For each time I speak, I cry aloud; I proclaim violence and destruction, Because for me the word of the LORD has resulted In reproach and derision all day long. But if I say, “I will not remember Him Or speak anymore in His name,” Then in my heart it becomes like a burning fire Shut up in my bones; And I am weary of holding it in, And I cannot endure it.”

Every time Jeremiah opened his mouth it caused more trouble for him.
This reality caused him to decide to quit speaking.

But there was a problem.
He had “the word of the LORD”

That is to say, he knew what was right, he knew what to say.
And when he tried to sit quiet he sounded just like Elihu.
That truth burned a hole in my heart and forced its way out of my mouth.

Amos said:
Amos 3:7-8 “Surely the Lord GOD does nothing Unless He reveals His secret counsel To His servants the prophets. A lion has roared! Who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken! Who can but prophesy?”

And that was Elihu.
It was more than just a fire, it was a conviction.

He knew the truth, he had studied the truth,
And he knew that what he was hearing from Job and his friends
Was not the truth.

HE HAD TO SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT.

And this is why it is so important that you and I have a knowledge of the truth before we step into the role of counselor.
ZEAL is good, COMPASSION is good, HUMILITY is good,
But if you don’t know the truth how can you possible give the right kind of encouragement?

1 Timothy 4:7-10 “But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women. On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance. For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers.”

2 Timothy 2:14-18 “Remind them of these things, and solemnly charge them in the presence of God not to wrangle about words, which is useless and leads to the ruin of the hearers. Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, men who have gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and they upset the faith of some.”

And again:
2 Timothy 3:14-17 “You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”

Have the zeal, have the compassion, have the humility,
But you had better also have the truth.

How do you expect to give Godly counsel without it?

It is a necessary credential, and one that Elihu had.

Holy Zeal, Spiritual Wisdom, Genuine Humility, Deep Conviction
5) ABSOLUTE IMPARTIALITY (21-22)

Elihu lets it be known right from the outset
That he has NO ULTERIOR MOTIVE HERE.

“Let me now be partial to no one, nor flatter any man. For I do not know how to flatter, else my Maker would soon take me away.”

What Elihu is talking about is the human inclination
To bend the truth or the counsel based on the recipient.

If you will remember James came down very heavy on this issue.
James 2:1-4 “My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism. For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes, and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, “You sit here in a good place,” and you say to the poor man, “You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,” have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives?”

James spoke of having “evil motives”

• It is naturally easy for us to come down hard on people we don’t value or don’t like or who can’t do anything to us in return.

• Conversely it is much more difficult to come down hard on people we do like, or do value, or who can make life much more difficult for us.

It is called favoritism and those who have it
Cannot be effective counselors.

Think of John the Baptist here.
It made no difference to John who you were.

Chief priest, Roman Centurion, or common Jew didn’t matter.
John addressed them all with the absolute same counsel.

Luke 3:10-14 “And the crowds were questioning him, saying, “Then what shall we do?” And he would answer and say to them, “The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise.” And some tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Collect no more than what you have been ordered to.” Some soldiers were questioning him, saying, “And what about us, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not take money from anyone by force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages.”

Later in the chapter he reprimands Herod the tetrarch for his immorality.

He was impartial, and he should have been.

Romans 2:11 “For there is no partiality with God.”

The question at its core is:
WHO ARE YOU TRYING TO PLEASE?

Those who flatter and show partiality do so in order to please themselves.
Flattery is a means of deception intended to make you like me more.

Those who refuse flattery and partiality do so in order to please God.
It may make them hate you, but that is not the primary concern.

If you seek to be an effective counselor who is usable to others in their life
Then partiality cannot be a part of your makeup.
It wasn’t for Elihu.

So there you have the first real point to being a counselor.
We look at the CREDENTIALS

Counselors are sorely needed in our world,
But they must meet a certain criteria.

They must have HOLY ZEAL (a love for God)
They must have SPIRITUAL WISDOM (be filled with God’s Spirit)
They must have GENUINE HUMILITY (to allow God to work in His way)
They must have DEEP CONVICTION (a knowledge of God’s truth)
They must have ABSOLUTE IMPARTIALITY (with a desire only for God to be pleased)

If that is you, then please, by all means step up to the plate
This world is in need of people who will reach out
And step into their situation with them.

• The sickly need to be strengthened
• The diseased need to be healed
• The broken need to be bound up
• The scattered need to be brought back
• The lost need to be sought
• The unruly need to be confronted

The ministry of the Lord requires counselors who will do such things.
If these qualities are not yours then I encourage you to take the necessary steps to become qualified.

And the main fix is that you fill yourself with the word of God.

• This is the means of being filled with the Spirit,
• Which will also change your passions
• And gives you a zeal for truth.
• It will create humility in you
• As well as drive you away from flattery.

Fill yourself with God’s word so that you may be useable in all situations.
There are the credentials, when we come together next time
We’ll begin to listen to exactly what Elihu has to say.