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WEEKLY
Volume 1 Number 47
22 April 2007
Gold Has Been Tried
(Message delivered by Pr Hien
Nguyen at the Sunday Worship Service, 2 pm, April 15, 2007)
Text:
Job 23:8-17
Gold is rare, precious and valuable. We cannot use
gold right away in nature. To get gold, people are to mine it from the
ore, crush it into small pieces in special machines, wash it in water to
separate it from sand, earth, or gravel, and then burn it and refine it
in fire to separate it from all the dross or rubbish. After getting pure
gold people burn it, melt it and mould it into the shapes they want or
make golden ornaments or jewellery.
The Bible tells us that God
does purge, purify and refine His servants and children, “And he
shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the
sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer
unto the LORD an offering in righteousness” (Mal 3:3). Job
acknowledged the refining work of the Lord in his life, so in his great
trials, he said, “But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath
tried me, I shall come forth as gold” (Job 23:10). Then, would you
and I like to be raw material or refined gold? May God help us see and
appreciate His refining work in our lives so
that we may be submissive and thankful to Him even in our difficulties
and trials.
Job’s Trials
The trials Job suffered were very great (1:13)
and heavier than the sand of the sea (6:2-3):
The loss of material
wealth: Job was
very rich and wealthy, but because of Satan’s accusation against his
faith, God allowed Satan to take away all the material wealth he had in
order to test him (1:10-11).
The loss of children:
Job had ten children—seven sons and three daughters (1:2)—whom he loved,
and for whom he prayed and offered burnt offerings continuously (1:5).
God permitted Satan to take away his children together with his
possessions (1:12-19).
The loss of good health:
Seeing Job’s perseverance, Satan accused him of believing in God because
of good health (1:4-9), and God let him torture him with sore boils from
the sole of his foot unto his head.
The loss of respect and
support: Job
used to be highly respected by the aged, the princes, and the nobles
(29:6-11), but now his wife, his relatives, his friends and even his
servants despised him (19:14-19). Especially, his three friends
mercilessly and falsely accused him of his sins when they saw his great
sufferings. This may be the worst that Job was suffering. Job was
accused of telling lies (11:3), despised for not knowing God properly
(11:7-12), condemned for his iniquity (11:5-6), and told to repent to
get the blessings from the Lord (11:13-19) because the wicked will
surely be punished (11:20). They assumed that Job was suffering the
punishment of the wicked due to his iniquity.
Thank God that in his great trials, Job blessed the
name of the Lord, worshipped Him and did not sin nor charged God
foolishly (1:20-22; 2:10). Praise the Lord for His sufficient and
sustaining grace that Job was able to trust in the Lord in his great
sufferings. Job sometimes desired death in his depression, but he never
attempted to commit suicide, saying, “Though He slay me, yet will I
trust in Him,” (Job 13:15a). James encourages Christians who are
suffering persecutions to persevere until the end as Job did, saying
“Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience
of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very
pitiful, and of tender mercy.” (James 5:11).
Nevertheless, as a human
being with a sinful nature, Job’s sinful “self” was exposed by God
Himself and in the end he abhorred himself and repented in dust and
ashes (42:5). Indeed, this is a part of God’s refining so that Job might
come forth as gold (23:10).
Gold Was Refined
What did God purge and purify Job from?
Self-Righteousness:
God considered Job a perfect and upright man, one that feared God and
eschewed evil (Job 1:1, 8; 2:3) though His Word says, “There is none
righteous, no, not one” (Rom 3:10), and “The heart is deceitful
above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” (Jer
17:9), and “all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags” (Isa
64:6). Yes, only God, and Himself alone, has the right to justify
sinners if they believe in Him and receive His atoning sacrifice and
salvation in the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (Rom 3:22-26). And before
the Lord Jesus came into the world, the sacrifice of a lamb was a type
of Christ which pointed to His atonement. This is why God could justify
the Old Testament saints like Abel (Gen 4:4; Heb 11:4) and Abraham (Gen
15:1-18; 17:1-22; Heb 11: 8-10,17-19) etc.
Here it is God, who had the
right to justify Job (1:1, 8; 2: 3) because
Job believed in Him and His atoning sacrifice. Job used to rise up early
in the morning, and offered burnt offerings, and Job did this
continually (1:5). It is a sad thing that in his great trials, Job
forgot to do this. All his arguments and his three friends’ did not
mention anything about this atoning sacrifice. Not only did Job forget
that his righteousness was from God, but he also tried his best to
defend his righteousness before the harsh and false accusations of his
three friends. Job mentioned “my righteousness” twice (6:29; 27:6). Can
“my righteousness” stand before the holy and righteous God? Absolutely
not! God challenged and rebuked Job and he did learn to abhor himself
including his own righteousness, his own integrity, and his arrogant
words without knowledge.
Self-goodness:
All the good works that a saved believer can do is also by God’s grace
alone. It is God who works in him to will and to do of His good pleasure
(Phil 2:13). Therefore, it is proper to say like Paul, “But by the
grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me
was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not
I, but the grace of God which was with me” (1 Cor 15:10). It is true
that “A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven”
(John 3:27). Job really needed to learn the lesson of humility. Instead
of giving all credit unto God’s grace that helped him to do good works,
Job seemed to boast of his good works and we can recognise his many I’s:
“Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless,…and I
caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy. I put on righteousness, and
it clothed me: my judgment was as a robe and a diadem. I was eyes to
the blind, and feet was I to the lame. I was a father to the poor: and
the cause which I knew not I searched out” (29:12-17).
How about Job’s present
situation? Could he now say that he was eyes to the blind, and feet to
the lame, and father to the poor? It is a lesson for him to learn that
without God’s grace and blessings, he could not do any good
works! Moreover, after encountering God directly and
personally, he did abhor himself and repent in dust and ashes (42:6).
Self-Justification and
Complaining: Complaining and murmuring against God are
sins, “Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were
destroyed of the destroyer” (1 Cor 10:10). When we complain or
murmur against God, we mean that God is not good, not right, not fair,
not just, and because we are not happy with His will or His way, we
complain or murmur!
Job, in his great depression and sufferings
and before the false accusations of the three friends, he sometimes did
lose his control, and complained against God and said words to defend
himself: “I will complain in the bitterness of my soul…How long wilt
thou (God) not depart from me?” (7:11, 19)
“He (God) teareth
me in his wrath, who hateth me” (16:9-14). “Know now that God
hath overthrown me, and hath compassed me with his net. Behold, I cry
out of wrong, but I am not heard: I cry aloud, but there is no
judgment. He hath destroyed me on every side, and I am gone… he
counteth me unto him as one of his enemies” (19:6-12). “As God
liveth, who hath taken away my judgment; and the Almighty, who hath
vexed my soul” (27:2).
By these complaints, Job
implied that God was wrong and unjust and that he did not deserve this
great suffering. He did not know that he was reproving His Maker and
condemning his God! However, God was so gracious to him, spoke to him
directly, showed him his arrogant attitude and words, “Wilt thou also
disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be
righteous?” (40:8). After that Job repented, he abhorred himself and
repented in dust and ashes.
God’s Sovereignty and
Loving Care
God had a higher purpose in
Job’s life when He allowed Satan to touch him and sift him. Satan wanted
to destroy Job, but God did build him up in the knowledge of God, of His
sovereignty, His justice, and His loving care. Moreover, Job did learn
more about his sinful “self.” He did know human sinful nature but he had
never abhorred or disgusted his “self” and repented in great humility
until he encountered his Maker, the holy and righteous God. Job already
knew that when God tried him, he would come forth as gold (23:10), and
surely after having gone through his trials, Job did experience it and
did come forth as gold: he was refined from the dross of
self-righteousness, self-goodness, self-justification, self-will, and so
forth. He did learn to be humble and submissive to His Maker and His
just dealings no matter what might happen to his life. Satan failed
because Job did not curse God as he tempted him through trials, through
the foolish suggestion of Job’s wife, and through the false accusations
of Job’s three “friends.” God’s grace was sufficient for Job to see him
through the trials. Praise the Lord!
It is God’s will and providence that the life of Job
and his great sufferings were recorded in the Holy Scriptures for the
comfort and learning of His people in all ages. James reminds Christians
of the patience of Job and the tender mercy of God so that they may
endure their sufferings with joy (James 4:11). Through our trials we
will know more about God and ourselves. God is always sovereign and
just. Is it true that God is never unjust even if He puts all men in
hell? Absolutely true! If a man really knows God’s righteousness, his
total depravity, and his justification based on God’s grace in Christ’s
atonement alone, he will be submissive to the Lord in his trials and
realize that his sufferings are still much lighter than the sufferings
in hell which he deserves. Only by this heart-knowledge can he give
thanks and praise to the Lord for His mercy endures forever. Moreover,
he understands that the trials from his righteous and loving Father are
necessary for his spiritual life because he is being purged, pruned,
refined, purified, and conformed into the image of his Lord Jesus
Christ.
Job must have realized that it
was God’s grace and mercy that he could repent and stand firm in faith
until the end, not because of any good things from him. Like Peter, who
was sifted by Satan, but Peter could repent and stand firm in faith
because the Lord Jesus had prayed for him (Luke 22:31-32).
Reward and Blessings
After having learnt the lesson from the Lord in
humble repentance, Job was brought out of his trials. His three friends
who accused and condemned him were required by the Lord to come to Job
with sacrifices so that Job could pray for them. And “also the LORD
gave Job twice as much as he had before” (42:7-10). Job had also
seven sons and three daughters. As human beings with eternal souls, once
we die we are not finished like animals. So Job did have double the
number of children, twenty altogether! After this Job lived an hundred
and forty years, and saw his sons, and his sons’ sons, even four
generations (42:16). What a blessing! Job must have tasted God’s
goodness and praised the Lord for His faithfulness and mercy for the
rest of his life.
Conclusion
It is not easy for you and me
to suffer a long-lasting trial with false accusations and condemnations
from others, even from our friends. It is a really hard testing! Sooner
or later, our sinful “self” will be exposed if it has not yet been
crucified with the Lord Jesus and does not die daily (Gal 2:20; 1 Cor
15:31).
Therefore, if we can learn to be submissive to the
sovereignty of our Maker and to trust in His justice and loving care no
matter what may happen to us without any murmuring or complaint, we may
pass the test that God wants us to go through. Furthermore, we shall
know the Lord and ourselves more. We shall love and exalt our Lord more
and abhor and abase our “self” more. It is by God’s grace alone that we
are saved, justified, sanctified and transformed to be like Christ, even
the good works we can do is by God’s grace alone. To deal with Satan’s
accusations, we are to hide ourselves in the righteousness of our
Saviour Jesus Christ and trust in His atoning blood and the Word of God
until death (Rev 12:10-11). Moreover, it is Christ who pleads for us who
trust in Him (Rom 8:33-34; Heb 7:25). Truly, when God tries us, we shall
come forth as gold. Praise be to Him alone. Amen.
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