Joseph's Coat, George Herbert

Sorrow ... such is his will

Who changes all things, as he pleases best.

For well he knows, if but one grief and snart (pain)

Among my many had his full career,

Sure it would carry with it even my heart.

And both would run until they found a bier.

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Blameless, Just, Fears God, Avoids Evil (Job 1)

"Job...was blameless and just, one who feared God and avoided evil" (Job 1:1b). "...a man blameless and just, who feared God and avoided evil" (Job 1:8). "Does Job fear God for nothing?" ("Would Job worship you if he got nothing out of it?") Satan replied (Job 1:9).

What is the relationship between perfect character and perfect life (Job 1:1, 8)? Are the two inevitably related? This question is at the heart of the book of Job.

Job 1 directly and indirectly poses all kinds of theological questions:

• the relationship between human conduct and divine reciprocity (blessing).
• the seeming arbitrariness that is a part of divine freedom (God does whatever pleases himself - Ps 115:3; 135:6).
• the vulnerability of humanity in the face of tragedy.
• the possibility of God's disinterest in our suffering.

Job's description by the narrator (Job 1:1) and by God (Job 1:8):

• A pair of adjectives (blameless, just) and a pair of phrases (fears God, avoids evil).
• "Blameless and just" are synonyms that occur together in Ps 37:37 in portraying a wholesome person, "a man of shalom."
• "Fears God and shuns evil" are used to characterize the wise (fears God) and moral (avoids evil).
• Job is beyond reproach in every way:
• personally (blameless). Integrity.
• socially (just). Justice.
• religiously (fears God). Spiritual.
• morally (avoids evil). Moral.
• This fourfold affirmation suggests completeness, even perfection. He is "an impossible example" of human excellence (Brenner 1989).
• "Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and all people" (Lk 2:52, NLT). Being healthy intellectually (wisdom), physically (stature), spiritually (in favor with God), socially (in favor with people).
  
• "He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God" (Mic 6:8). God's desire is for justice, mercy and humility.
  

Satan cleverly challenges Job's motivation and God's assessment of Job.

The narrator and God (Job 1:1, 8) mentions four things, but Satan focuses on only one thing: Job's fear of God. Satan is devilishly clever. He concedes the claims about Job's character--the things that are evident in Job's public appearance and conduct. But why is Job living such a good life? What is his human motivation for being good? Is it because God has protected him and blessed him? Does Job love God for God or for what God's blessing?

Job's reaction to overwhelming personal loss and tragedy (Job 1:21) is:

• not to blame natural events or human enemies (the Lord has taken away),
• not to forget God's blessing (the Lord gave),
• not to close his eyes to reality (has taken away), but ...
• to praise the Lord for both good and evil.

The first 2 chapters of Job constitute its prologue. They introduce the principle characters and key issues.

1. Scene 1: Job's perfect life (1:1-5).
2. Scene 2: An assembly in heaven (1:6-12).
3. Scene 3: A test of Job (1:13-22).
4. Scene 4: An assembly in heaven (2:1-6).
5. Scene 5: A test of Job (2:7-10).
6. Scene 6: An assembly on earth (2:11-13).

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What you do in the Lord is not in vain. N.T. Wright

"What you do in the Lord is not in vain. You are not oiling the wheels of a machine that's about to roll over a cliff. You are not restoring a great painting that's shortly going to be thrown on the fire. You are not planting roses in a garden that's about to be dug up for a building site. You are--strange though it may seem, almost as hard to believe as the resurrection itself--accomplishing something that will be come in due course part of God's new world. Every act of love, gratitude, and kindness; every work of art of music inspired by the love of God and delight in the beauty of creation; every minute spent teaching a severely handicapped child to read of to walk; every act of care and nurture, of comfort and support, for one's fellow human beings and for that matter one's fellow nonhuman creatures; and of course every prayer, all Spirit-led teaching, every deed that spreads the gospel, builds up the church, embraces and embodies holiness rather than corruption, and makes the name of Jesus honored in the world – all of this will find its way, through the resurrecting power of God, into the new creation that God will one day make. That is the logic of the mission of God. God's recreation of his wonderful world, which began with the resurrection of Jesus and continues mysteriously as God's people live in the risen Christ and in the power of his Spirit, means that what we do in Christ and by the Spirit in the present is not wasted. It will last all the way into God's new world. In fact, it will be enhanced there." N.T. Wright, Surprised by Hope, pp. 219-220 . Your work is not in vain -- because of resurrection.

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What to Do with Your Pain - ABCDE

Pain Makes You a Philosopher (Sermon at West Loop on Sep 9, 2018).

1. Accept it, not avoid it.
2. Bear with it, behold it, not blur it or bury it.
3. Confront it, not complain about it.
4. Deal with it, not deny it.
5. Embrace it, not erase it.

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Pain Makes You a Philosopher

Pain: The Problem, the Solution, the Big Picture.

1. Think about pain.
   
2. Is pain any good?
   
3. What can you learn about your pain?
   

What does Mr. Google say? Pain makes you…

• stronger
• feel alive
• beautiful
• grow
• human

Some lessons learned:

• You need a coach/mentor/helper (Prov 27:17).
  
• You need to train yourself to improve (1 Tim 4:8).
  
• Face your weakness, or you'll remain weak.
  
• Misc: victim, discouragement, perseverance, sin.
  
• Your attitude determines your altitude of life (Col 3:1-2; Dt 4:29; Jer 29:13).
  
• Relativity: if you're with a lovely person hours seem like seconds, but if you're with an unpleasant person seconds feel like hours.
  

Life Lessons Learned

1. The Problem--pain. Pain is good (Heb 13:7, 11; Jas 1:2-4; Rom 5:3-5). It exposes/reveals the real me—who I truly am at my core. Don't waste your pain!
2. The Solution. Meditating, contemplating God's word (Ps 1:2; 119:97) is the immediate/efficacious solution.
3. The Big Picture. God is my shepherd all my life to this day (Gen 48:15).

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The Kind of Man Paul Was (Acts 20:17-38)

In Paul's farewell address to the Ephesian elders, Paul expresses himself and reveals the kind of man he is.

1. Transparency (Ac 20:18): You know how I live.
2. Humility (Ac 20:19). I serve God with great humility.
3. Vulnerability (Ac 20:19). I serve God with tears.
4. Tenacity (Ac 20:20, 22-23, 25). I have not hesitated to preach, despite hardships.
5. Clarity (Ac 20:21). People must turn to God.
6. Priority (Ac 20:24). Testify to the gospel of God's grace.
7. Integrity (Ac 20:26, 33). I am innocent.
8. Totality (Ac 20:27). I proclaim the whole counsel of God.
9. Responsibility (Ac 20:28, 32). Oversee and shepherd others.
10. Melancholy (Ac 20:29-31). I never stopped warning you with tears.
11. Industry (Ac 20:34-35). I showed you hard work.

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Whoever Dwells in God's Shelter (Psalm 91)

"For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go" "For He will give His angels orders concerning you, to protect you in all your ways" (Psalm 91:11, NLT, HCSB).

Troubles abound in life. No one's life is ever trouble free. No one's life is ever always a bed of roses. We may not think so, but even Bill Gates' life is hard. Life gets better, then it gets worse. Uncertainty in life is a certainty. Unpredictability should be predicted. Unexpected events should be expected. Life is like that.

How do we deal with such a life? Psalm 91 deals with such a life head on. Simple trust will bring us into a place of strong defense (Ps 91:2), the personal warmth of divine care, pledged defense (Ps 91:4) and a host of heavenly guardians every step of the way (Ps 91:11). Psalm 91 wants us to know that those who truly trust God are a protected species.

Psalm 91 is one of the most beautiful of psalms. This more than most Scriptures, brings great hope and promise to those who believe. The key word to describe Psalm 91 is security. Psalm 91 is a highly artistic way of expressing a fundamentally important fact: we are always totally secure, because God always has our back. It describes God's ongoing sovereign protection of His people from the ever-present dangers and terrors, which surround humanity. The original setting may be that of an army about to go to battle. Most of the terrors mentioned in this psalm are left undefined, no doubt intentionally, so that no kind of danger is omitted from application. Believers in every age can read Psalm 91 to learn that nothing can harm a child of God unless the Lord permits it.

1. God's protection (1-13).
• The confidence: God is my refuge (1-2). Theme stated: Sure protection. Affirmation of protection.
• The dangers: life's threats (3-8). He will save you (Ps 91:3) and cover you (Ps 91:4).
• The journey (9-13). He will command his angels concerning you (Ps 91:11).
2. God's pledge (14-16). Theme confirmed: Divine protection.

[ When life is hard. The people of God are always totally secure. A psalm for every believer every day. God's protection. God's affirmation of man's testimony. The protected species. Divine wings and guardian angels. An offer you can't refuse. Find refuge in God. Safer in a war zone than in a suburban house.]

(91:1-4) God protects us in two ways. 2 contrasting metaphors are used for God's protection: a fortress filled with shields and ramparts; and a mother bird gathering her brood underneath her wings. The fortress has walls of impregnable strength. Spears and arrows make not a dent. The mother bird, howevr, shelters with wings that are essentially fragile. She shelters her young from burning heat or rain and cold only by bearing them herself. These 2 metaphors point to the cross where the absolute righteous power and the tender, sacrificial love of God combine and shine forth brilliantly, both equally fulfilled.

God's majesty and meekness are fully manifest in Christ. "Let us wonder! Grace and justice join and point to mercy's store; When through grace in Christ our trust is, justice smiles and asks no more; He Who washed us with His blood has secured our way to God." John Newton, Let us love and sing and wonder.

(91:5-13) What can hurt and harm you? God seems to promise that nothing bad will ever happen to believers. Satan suggests as much when he quotes Ps 91:11 to Jesus in the desert wilderness (Lk 4:9-12). The devil wants us to think that God's promises have failed if he lets us suffer. But God saves us "in trouble" (Ps 91:15) not from it. Paradoxically, Jesus says that under God's care "not a hair of your head will perish" and yet "they will put some of you to death" (Lk 21:16-18). The only things faithful people can lose in suffering are things that are finally expendable. The real you, the one God is creating (Phil 1:6; 2 Cor 3:18; 4:16-17) cannot be harmed.

Do I value worldly things over grace, love and holiness? Do I value money, nice houses or condos, gourmet food, investing money, personal success, etc more than my Lord or my relationships? If I do then I will be easily discouraged by trials and troubles. My false may be harmed. My false self is based and built on my appearance, my social status, human approval and my standing in the church and community. These wax and wane and can be affected by a myriad of forces, the economy, aging, declining health, criticism and slander, etc. But they can never harm my true identity as a child of God. They in fact only make me stronger. When I lost a lot of money, God's unending everlasting love (Jer 31:3) became real to me. When some in the church viewed me as a negative person and a bad influence, it was God's mysterious way of helping me find my true freedom in Christ (2 Cor 3:17; Gal 5:1; Jn 8:32). Lord, teach me how to grow into your likeness in my afflictions.

(91:14-16) In these 3 verses there are 7 promises and 3 conditions. The 3 conditions:

1. Loving God.
2. Acknowledging God.
3. Calling on God.

If we are in Christ, God promises to (the first 4 are practical, the last 3 take us to a horizon beyond our sight:

1. rescue us
2. protect us
3. answer our prayers
4. be by our side in trouble
5. give us honor (glory)
6. give us endless eternal life
7. give us a salvation of body and soul (Rom 8:11, 23-25)

How much do we toss in bed at snubs, at being ignored, disrespected? Criticism always feels like death. How much do we crave for applause, approval, praise, respect and recognition from others? These are addicting and enslaving--as much or maybe even more than porn, alcohol and drugs. The esteem and worth we strive so hard to achieve and to get from others God bestows on us (Ps 91:15b).

1. What happens to those who dwell in the shelter of the Most High (1; Mt 11:28)? What does "dwell" mean? What type of a believer is this?
2. What is the key to God taking care of us (2)? Do you feel absolutely secure in the knowledge that God is protecting you? What will God do for those who trust him (3-4)?
3. What are the four parts of a Hebrew day (5-6)? How should a true believer feel 24/7?
4. How secure are you when you see calamities all around you (7-8)? [The flood. The plagues. The crimes. The terrorism.]
5. What can never happen to you if you make God your habitation (9-10)? Why (11)? What will they do, so that you won't dash your foot against a stone (12)? How does Satan misquote verse 11 (Lk 4:9-12)? Does this mean that nothing bad will ever happen to believers (Lk 21:16-18)? In what way can believers never be harmed (Phil 1:6; 2 Cor 3:18; 4:16-17)?
6. What 7 promises does God make in 91:14-16? On what 3 conditions do these promises rest?
• How do you rate on the 3 conditions? How can you improve?
  
• Do you expect God to fulfill the 7 promises of 91:14-16 in your life? Why or why not?
  
• The phrase "I will protect him" in 91:14 literally means "I will set him inaccessibly high" or "raise him to a high, secure place". What does this literal meaning add to your understanding of God's protection?
  
• Count how many times the word "will" is used in Psalm 91 in the NIV. How does the continual use of this word emphasize the message of Psalm 91?
7. How can you deliberately take refuge in God? How can you avail yourself of God's protection? Think about/answer the following:
• Make a list of fears and troubles for which you want to trust God for deliverance and protection.
• How will you go about doing what you need to do?

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