New Testament Answers to Job

These New Testament answers to Job are suggested in John Benton's book PC World

 

Job 14:14 If someone dies, will they live again? ...
John 11:25 Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die;

Job 23:3 If only I knew where to find him; if only I could go to his dwelling!
John 14:9 Jesus answered: ‘Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, “Show us the Father”?

Job 9:33 If only there were someone to mediate between us, someone to bring us together,
1 Timothy 2:5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus,

Sermons on Job

So now all 21 sermons on Job are on my sermon website here.

A hundred sermons

Readers may be interested to know that there are now one hundred of my sermons on my Preached Sermons blog. This includes a series on Ezekiel and one on Job almost complete - just four sermons to add. Most of my sermons are on computer and so to put them up is usually the work of only 10-15 minutes (checking, reformatting and removing my illustration, application and similar personal prompts). I hope to have the last four sermons on Job up soon. Anyone contemplating a series on Ezekiel or Job would benefit I feel from a look at least. I'm not sure what to put up next. I have lots of material.

High Wycombe

It's been rather busy this week so I haven't mentioned my trip to High Wycombe last Lord's Day. The pastor, Raymond Zulu, was away in his native South Africa and so I came and preached on Romans and Job to decent sized congregations with a good spread of ages and international backgrounds (though dominated by white South Africans it must be said). The church building was erected in the seventies and has all the advantages and disadvantages that brings. it is set on a hill with a commanding view. I had a very pleasant afternoon in the nearby countryside with members of the congregation. More on the church here.

Accepting Trouble

Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I shall depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised. Job 1:21

These words of Job are famous. They are often used in funerals. They were spoken following one of the most unimaginable series of disasters ever to befall an individual. At the beginning of the day Job was a prosperous man with a large family. Yet in the course of just one day, he lost all his oxen and donkeys, all his camels and sheep, most of his servants and, worst of all, his ten grown up children. It is hard to imagine a worse scenario, unless it is losing your health - and that is what happened next! We are unlikely ever to face troubles of that magnitude though we may begin to get close to it. The lesson from this verse is how to react in such situations. Job basically says five things here. Some of what he says we simply have to accept. Other ideas we may struggle with.
So first, we come from our mothers' wombs naked. That's a simple fact. No-one brings anything into this world. As for naked I shall depart I am not aware that many people are literally buried naked but the thought that 'you can't take anything with you when you die' is pretty easy to establish. On this bedrock Job erects his next two points. Firstly, that everything we have has been given to us by God - intellect, health, family, worldly goods, life itself. Equally, if we lose anything - mental or physical faculties, family, worldly goods, life itself, it must be because he has taken it away. Some struggle with that idea but it is hard to fault the logic. Finally, we come to Job's challenging conclusion - may the name of the LORD be praised. Of course, it is easier to praise God for giving than for taking but he is sovereign and ought to be praised at all times. As Job says to his wife in 2:10, after things have become worse again, Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble? Satan's contention was that Job only served God because of God's gifts. Here Job proves him wrong. Would we do the same?