Episodes
Thursday Feb 15, 2024
So Great A Salvation Part 5
Thursday Feb 15, 2024
Thursday Feb 15, 2024
So Great A Salvation
Part 5 – The Who, What, Why of Salvation
“9 If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.”
Romans 10:9-10 New Living Translation
Who decides who is saved has been a question asked for centuries!! There are two extremist views in regard to salvation – there is “hyper-Calvinism” that says God has decided all things and there is nothing we can do about it. Then there is the opposite end, “universalism”, which says that God will grant salvation to all, regardless of creed, race or religion.
However, there is a third way. But we need to see these two “isms” in the balance of Scripture. Firstly, God does choose individuals to fulfil His purposes (Romans 9) and He chooses those who are, or will be, saved (John 15:16). These chosen ones are called the elect. However, it is also His will that all people should be saved (1 Timothy 2:3-4) and that nobody should perish (2 Peter 3:9).
So in reading those two statements, it is imperative that we accept both these Scriptural statements as equally and absolutely true. When we use words about God with a time element such as 'chose', 'elect', we need to use these considering God's infinite time framework (timelessness), and not in our human finite time framework. So God offers salvation to all, and leaves the responsibility to take up the offer with humans.
Very often Christians will realise that although they thought at the time, they were making their own free decision to follow Christ, looking back they can see how God led them to that point. We choose; he elects. That is a puzzle we will never understand the answer to but that is the way that it is.
As a Christian Disciple you have taken up God’s offer of salvation! But now what? What happens after the decision to become a Christian has been made? The answer to that, in the next podcast!
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Wednesday Feb 14, 2024
So Great A Salvation Part 4
Wednesday Feb 14, 2024
Wednesday Feb 14, 2024
So Great A Salvation
Part 4 – The Christian is to Walk In The Spirit
Today we are looking at the process by which the Christian is declared clean, righteousified and sanctified. Or you may know it as, walking in the Spirit
The Process by which this is achieved, is by the Christian Disciple devoting him or herself to righteousness (Romans 6:19,22) with a desire and choosing to be holy, submitted and consecrated to God. Christian Disciples are to put off the old nature - crucify the passions and desires (Ephesians 4:22; Galatians 5:24; Colossians 3:5) and put on the new nature created to be like God (Ephesians 4:24; Colossians 3:12-14).
This is done by a work of God (1 Thessalonians. 5:23, Philippians 2:13) for the Christian is indwelt by God the Holy Spirit from the moment of conversion, and therefore a Christian Disciple is to ‘walk by the Spirit’ and ‘be led by the Spirit’ (Galatians 5:16,18).
This is done by:
- Desiring holiness. Feed the new nature with God’s Word in order to renew our mind.
- Communicating with God. Talk to Him!! By doing this sin will be starved.
- Confessing known sin immediately, consciously allowing Christ total control in all circumstances
Remember the Holy Spirit lives within the Christian Disciple and empowers you and I - we can overcome sin and temptation by relying on His power to overcome rather than relying on your own strength. But we do have to accede control to Him. That of course, can be very difficult to do.
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Tuesday Feb 13, 2024
So Great A Salvation Part 3
Tuesday Feb 13, 2024
Tuesday Feb 13, 2024
So Great A Salvation
Part 3 - The Christian is Declared Clean
However. There is a problem with the words ‘justified’ and ‘righteous’ in English. They sound so different but translate as two words which are very similar, because they share the same root in Greek. We could replace ‘justified’ with ‘righteousified’, and know what it meant better, if only there was such a word in English!
So we are justified (or ‘’righteousified’) – treated as though we are righteous in the eyes of God (Romans 3:24,26). We receive the gift of righteousness and so will reign in life (Romans 5: 17) and the list of the Christian Disciples sins is nailed to the cross of Jesus Christ (Colossians 2:13-14).
Sanctification
Then there is sanctification or cleansing of which there are 3 stages.
We have been sanctified and made holy (Hebrews 10:10) by the death of Jesus Christ and we are washed clean (1 Corinthians 6:11). As a result, we are challenged to become increasingly sanctified. (2 Corinthians 7:1). We are also being transformed into the image of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18) and conformed to His likeness (Romans 8:29-30). We are to be living sacrifices, transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:1-2). This holiness is the pursuit of moral excellence, not just obeying the law, and is by necessity a high standard (1 Thessalonians 4:3-8) because we have to do with a Holy God. We are sanctified and cleansed and we are to go on being sanctified and cleansed. We will only be fully and completely holy and pure before the Lord when we join him in the new heavens and the new earth (Philippians 3: 20-21)
In principle, we are saints, and God has already declared all Christian Disciples sanctified. We have been set apart - separated from sin, therefore we have been made holy (Hebrews 10:10) and we are washed and sanctified (1 Corinthians 6:11). In practice, as growing Christian Disciples, we should be perfecting holiness, being careful to avoid the contamination of sin (2 Corinthians 7:1). Christian Disciples are to work hard at the process of becoming Christ-like (Romans 8:29; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Colossians 3: 1-4). That is done by renewing our minds in order to transform our character (Romans 12:1-2). The standard all Christian Disciples are to attain and maintain is as Peter says: “Be holy, because I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16)
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Monday Feb 12, 2024
So Great A Salvation Part 2
Monday Feb 12, 2024
Monday Feb 12, 2024
So Great A Salvation
Part 2 - God’s side of Salvation
29 Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
31 So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized. 34 Now when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household. Acts 16:29-34 New King James Version (NKJV)
Regeneration
Regeneration is the new birth, being born again, becoming a new creation. A regenerated person does not receive a new spirit or personality, but the Holy Spirit recreates the moral basis of our character, setting it free to act according to God’s will giving the desire and ability to seek and follow God. It involves:
- Being born again (John 3:3-6)
- Washing by rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5)
- Becoming a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17)
- Becoming a new person created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness - being renewed in the image of the creator. (Ephesians 4:24; Colossians 3:10)
- Made truly alive (Ephesians 2:5)
Justification
Justification is a change of our status before God. As it is an act by which the sinner is acquitted and declared righteous in God’s sight (declared free from the penalty of sin). Remission of sin and its penalty equals forgiveness. The basis of this justification is in Romans 3:26, where Jesus Christ is said to be both Just and the one who justifies.
Because God is holy, sin must be dealt with, He cannot arbitrarily forgive sin. The judgment and penalty of sin, which is death, was poured out on Jesus Christ who is our substitute. He takes our sin instead of us. Therefore justice has been done, because God is just. By faith in Christ we are declared righteous as a free gift, and Christian Disciples are therefore justified.
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Sunday Feb 11, 2024
So Great A Salvation Part 1
Sunday Feb 11, 2024
Sunday Feb 11, 2024
So Great A Salvation
Part 1 – What is Salvation?
29 Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
31 So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized. 34 Now when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household. (Acts 16:29-34 New King James Version)
Salvation has two sides to it. There is God’s side, which may seem obvious. But there is also the human side of salvation. God provides the salvation, but it is the human’s responsibility to take it.
Salvation includes several parts. Initially there is a call (Romans 8: 30) when the Spirit starts to speak to, and be heard in, the life of the individual. That then leads to conversion, or as Jesus put it in Matthew 18:3: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” That means a voluntary change, turning from sin to God. That is the concept behind repentance. From there, that point of beginning the life of a Christian Disciple, it is a dynamic life and not passive. But what does this entail in regard to salvation?
What must I do to be saved is a question asked in the book of Acts. “Believe in the Lord Jesus” is the reply according to Acts 16:30-31. To believe does not mean just head knowledge; but believing in the heart (Romans 10:9), relying on the finished work of Christ for salvation. That is the human response to God’s offer of salvation.
But what is God’s part of the deal? That is for next time!
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Thursday Feb 01, 2024
Sermon - The First Deaconate Acts 6v1-7
Thursday Feb 01, 2024
Thursday Feb 01, 2024
Sermon - The First Deaconate
Acts 6v1-7
In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, "It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word." This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them. So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.
Introduction
So far in the book of Acts, we can see that the Church has come under attack by the
- The world (persecution),
- satan (deceit & moral compromise)
Now a new crisis appears. Unable to destroy the church by way of persecution and deceit, satan now tries to create a split in the church by getting believers to argue and fight with each other. If satan had succeeded in creating an implosion within this church, the only church in existence at the time, then the effects could have been devastating. The media in our world loves to report about anything negative to do with Christianity and the church. So any form of dissension, pressure splits and arguments within the Church, is often reported with an almost earnest gleefulness by the media. From this Bible passage, four questions quite naturally arise.
- What was the problem?
- How was it resolved?
- What happened after it was resolved?
- How can we apply it to church life, 2000 years after the event?
The Problem! (v1)
- Good news - they were growing, but this had caused a problem!
- Bad news - Some widows were not being cared for!
Hebraic Jews = always had lived in the then nation of Israel, spoke mainly Aramaic and some Hebraic. Well used to life in a Jewish society, the Temple and avoiding those who were not Jews - the Gentiles.. Grecian or Hellenestic Jews = were part of the Jewish Diaspora, born elsewhere within the known world and had returned to Jerusalem. These mainly spoke Greek, and well used to working with Gentiles. Widows were important to God, because justice is important to God. God is a God of justice and mercy. In the Old Testament, under the Law of Moses, God commanded provision for those who were widows, oppressed or uncared for. There was no NHS at the time in Jerusalem. The Apostles would have known about God caring for the widows and in Jesus teaching about justice for the poor and the oppressed. We know this because if you remember from Acts 2 and 4, people were selling and sharing possessions and ensuring that people within the Christian community were being looked after and cared for. This included making sure that everyone got fed, particularly those who had no family to care for them. Somehow, unintentional or not, this group of widows were missing out. What to do?
The Solution! (v2-6)
Three things about the solution
Transformation of the Apostles - James, Peter & John particularly (v2) Its not stated here, but a transformation had taken place! Only a few short time ago, the disciples of Jesus had refused to wash feet as an act of service (Peter); some had wanted positions of power and greatness (James & John). Their old nature must have started asking questions and prompting them to react negatively. The world has attacked the church, satan has attacked the church, and now satan would have been using the Apostles old nature to attack the church. But - as they are transformed by the indwelling Holy Spirit and now have a new nature, the nature of Jesus Christ, they react much more righteously and judiciously.
All together now! (v2-5) Notice they gathered all the believers together for a church meeting. The gave their opinion or judgment if you like, that their ministry or time would be better spent doing what God had called them to do - to be leaders of the Church, praying, preaching, evangelizing and discerning how best to apply the 3 years of teaching that they had had when traveling with Jesus Christ before His ascension. Their time, rightly so, was best spent doing that, for that was their ministry of service. But other people in the church gathering, who had a ministry of service and overseeing the food distribution, could spend their time doing that! So what of these seven men with Greek names? They were elected by the whole church, both Grecian and Hebraic, to perform this duty. They may already have been doing it, but now were being set apart especially for this role. These men were controlled by the Holy Spirit and were wise. They were chosen to give relief to the leadership so that the Word of God and prayer would not be hindered.
Commissioning (v6) Interestingly enough, the word diakonia is translated here in the NIV as ministry. Another way to translate it is as deacons, as our sermon title suggests. But, they were not deacons in the way the Paul uses the word as part of a church government in 1 Timothy 3. Rather they were deacons, set apart for this specific task - it was their ministry. It may well have been from here, that Paul developed what some parts of the universal church understands of the role of deacons. So these seven men, were prototypes as it were, for the Paul-ine idea of deacons. Note also that the Apostles didn't say their work was more important than serving. They were just following what God had called them to do, just as God had called these seven men to take responsibility for providing food for the widows. So they were commissioned by God, by the laying on of hands and set apart to perform it. We know only of Steven and Phillip and that they continued doing other ministries as well as this.
The Result! (v7)
Growth and witness = conversion of former enemies...
(v7) Growth and witness = reasoning and transformation Now that the Apostles had time for their dedicated and unique ministry, all the widows could be fed, and all believers able to participating within the life of the church. Not only that, Stephen was instrumental in reaching the Apostle Paul (Acts 7:58). Philip was instrumental in reaching the city of Samaria and won over for Jesus Christ, the Ethiopian Eunuch who then took the gospel to Africa. (Acts 8)
This growth was where the word of God increased in its effectiveness in the lives of those unbelievers who would listen to the gospel. This growth was not merely addition but multiplication! It was explosive! So explosive that even former enemies were becoming converts! Sadducees were Jewish believers who didn't believe in a bodily resurrection - yet they came to faith and started to believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. It's not hard to imagine that some of those Priests coming to faith in Jesus Christ were former persecutors of the Church! They were watching the church to see how best to attack and debate them. Yet found that they were joining the church, rather than continuing to oppose it. The church was preaching one thing and acting upon it. There was no hypocrisy within the church. The church was transparent - it lived as it believed. The church was seen as transformative and servant-like.
While the Church continue to reason with others about the validity of Jesus Christ's claims to be the Messiah, it would have not been effective if lives were not being transformed. If lives were not being changed, then no amount of reasoning alone would have seen the growth in numbers being added to the Church. Just as transformation and change alone would not have been the catalyst for growth, without the reasoning behind it.
Conclusion
Transformation As we have seen here, the first Church was a radical community of believers, growing quickly. The church today, also needs to be a community that is seen to be radical by the surrounding society. At Pentecost, the church community began when the Holy Spirit filled the Disciples (Acts 2v4). The hallmarks of this community were commitment and transformation. This community was radical. It was where people's lives were being changed as the Holy Spirit filled them. Instead of being a withdrawn people filled with fear of retribution from the Roman government and Jewish leaders, they became a people filled with boldness and joy.
This church in Jerusalem grew by being a radical community imbued with radical individuals engaging with others and serving. It was a church where every member was asked and expected to play some role. Imagine this church here, if nobody straightened the chairs, vacuumed the carpets, made the tea and coffee etc. All vital parts of church life, and everyone can participate in the life of the church. I was glad to see in the handout Steve gave me that all members were encouraged to participate in some way within the life of the Church here in Bearwood. Today's church will grow by building a strong community. And by church, I don't mean just Bearwood Chapel, but all churches in this area, this country and this world. In working with other local churches, a church community can be created which involves joining together isolated and solitary individuals where people are imbued with love, shown caring for each other, particularly the frail, elderly and young. Despite small differences in worship style and non-essential doctrines, local churches working together can show a world looking in, that all local churches are unified in some positive aspect. In doing this, churches can be a visible symbol of the invisible link that unites all churches.
And we can do it, with what somebody once called a "creative passion for the impossible." An inherent human need is the need to belong, and by fulfilling relational needs, the radical church community will become relevant to the people within it. It will then also become relevant to those who are on the outside and looking in. And people are looking in, all the time, whether you want them to or not. When systematic persecution comes to this country, and it will, local churches will need to work with each other and show that Jesus Christ is the reason for our hope and faith. This is shown partly be caring for those who are in need within the community as a whole, and not just in the Church. This involves improving present societal conditions, rather than remaining a conservative community, which merely repairs the status quo. In doing this, today's church will be emulating characteristics of this church we have read and heard about this morning. Jesus Christ is glorified, honoured as the Church community's spiritual health gets stronger and the community bonds in unity. I know of churches that are good at one thing but not the other. Some churches are excellent at social care and social justice, but are very weak in regards to teaching from the Bible and prayer. I know others who are the opposite - are faithful in prayer and bible teaching, but neglectful in regards to social justice. The church must be both as it endeavours to spread the good news of Jesus Christ. The church must be a community of people, willing to be holy. By holy, I mean living a life of constant transformation into the image of Jesus Christ. Being transformed by the Holy Spirit as God's Word is read, studied and applied to your life. It is by being holy, that the church will grow, as we have seen with this church in Jerusalem. The role of the community engaged in radical transformation is to help people to be holy and not merely happy. Happiness will flow from holiness, but holiness will not necessarily flow from an induced ‘feel good factor'. Good leadership, as we have seen this morning, stems from good accountability to each other and to the whole church community.
Ministry for all - serving! The Christian life is not to be static or inactive. The Christian life is to be dynamic and active. As we have seen the word "deacon" here denotes ministry. Ministry is any service for Jesus Christ When you serve as God's deacon in this way, God's honour is released. That's why the embryonic Church in Jerusalem grew and flourished. This is done because service shows the beauty and glory of Jesus Christ to those being served and to those watching. That is to be our motive for service. I don't know you. I don't know how or why or if you serve in the Church here in Bearwood. But I do know that ministry and serving in some capacity is for all Christians. In some parts of the worldwide church, ministry is only ever used of the clergy, missionaries and other "professional Christians". And, with a few exceptions notably the Brethren movement, this was the case in most Christian denominations until 40 or 50 years ago. But since then, service and ministry has returned to its New Testament roots. Service and ministry is the domain of all those who would profess to call Jesus Christ as LORD. Serving and ministry should never to be about what you and I can get out of it. When that is the motive, God is not glorified. God's glory and supremacy is our goal as Christians. Spiritual growth comes from serving rather than being served. This is because what ever is given in service of God and others, faith grows and Jesus Christ gives back even more. Jesus speaking in Matthew 25v15-30 tells of the rewards for faithful service and the penalties for being faithless. Serving others is a sign that you are trusting God and having faith in God. Serving God and others is the mark of a spiritually maturity and through service, the greatest servant of all, is reflected: Jesus Christ, who came to serve and give his very life for others (Mark 10v45). As Christians, we are to be as Jesus Christ (Romans 8v28; Philippians 2v5) and to serve. Yet if we are honest, we sometimes feel incapable, just as Moses did (Exodus 3). An excellent example to follow is that of the deacon Stephen. As the church, we are dependent upon each other, just as one part of the human body has dependence on another part. That is why we serve each other and use the gifts generously given by God. If we are Christians here today, you have spiritual gifts and talents, and you have a responsibility to discover and develop them (1 Timothy 4v14)! As we have hopefully seen today, God has called all Christians into one ministry or another and equipped them to fulfill that ministry. So find where in this church, you can serve. Ask the elders and other Church leaders, how they think you can serve here. Finally, if you would not call yourself a Christian here today, then I would urge you to look at this Church. You maybe here having investigated Christianity rationally but still need a bit more for one reason or another. In that case, I would urge you to see how this church cares for the poor and the widows of this area and the world, and match that against its dedication to Jesus Christ. Or you may be here, because you have seen the transforming work of this church with the poor and the widows, but feel you need a bit of something else. Then I would urge you to match this transforming work in individuals against what the Bible says and rationality. Maybe you are in one of those camps, you want to cross the line to faith, but just can't quite get there. Ask one of the Church leaders here, how they might be able to help you. Let's pray.
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Saturday Jan 27, 2024
Job - Why God? - Part 10
Saturday Jan 27, 2024
Saturday Jan 27, 2024
Study 10: Study 10: Job 40:15 - end
Two surprising chapters
The book of Job ends with two very surprising chapters. The first because of its content, emphasising what has gone before and the second because it appears to stand the whole book on its head!
Here is the first part of the first of these chapters (which is actually in the chapter before). It is about Behemoth whose name means something like the ‘beast of beasts’. He is a terrifying creature, very like a hippopotamus with some supernatural additions.
As if that is not enough we now go on to read about the Leviathan. He is just as dangerous sounding as Behemoth, very like a crocodile, again with some supernatural additions.
We may well ask “what was that all about?” There is no other Biblical reference to Behemoth and not many to Leviathan, though it is possible to see that this latter is a sea or water monster. Both are possibly linked in the culture and literature of that area in that time with gods, the god of death and the god of evil or the Satan himself. Their dual role is strikingly similar to that of the dragon and the beast from the sea of the book of Revelation, the twin figures of evil. Both have power, strength and savagery far beyond human ability to match. Therefore, since they are the creation of the Lord, part of his world and under his control, they set a marker for power, which the Lord stands far beyond. Also, particularly with Leviathan who rules over the sea, which was the well-known symbol of the chaotic, they stand as markers of the chaotic nature of the Lord’s world. Thus they reinforce the statement made in our last study that this is an essentially chaotic world and it is no good pretending otherwise, however difficult it may be to fit that into a scheme of theology and our understanding of the ways of the Lord.
Now we come to the final words of Job in the first 6 verses of the last chapter. Job has finally come to a realisation of what he has been doing wrong and how he can remedy that. He now realises how high above him the Lord is, that all his attempted arguments against what has happened to him were a waste of breath. The Lord has a plan and a purpose for him, although he is unable to see what that is and how it will work out so that he could only see it as part of a chaotic world and accept that it is in the hand of the Lord. He is deeply sorry and upset by what he has done and said so he repents – not of sins in the ordinary sense but of his failure to acknowledge the place and power of the Lord in his life.
The author of the book of Job has brought it to a point, a single climactic statement in a way strikingly similar to the way John would do with his gospel many centuries later. John brings his book to the climax statement “My Lord and My God” by quoting the words of Thomas, obviously intending and hoping that his readers will make that same statement for themselves. Our author brings us to the statement of Job, “My ears have heard of you but now my eyes have seen you!” also obviously intending that we should echo that statement for ourselves. John continued by quoting the words of Jesus, “because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” and if our author had had access to those words I think he too would have used them. We are not going to see the Lord, not likely to do so any way in this life; we are not going to be able to understand all his ways any more than Job did; we are going to get confused by all we hear about him as Job did; but with the eyes of faith we can see him; with the knowledge we do have we can believe – and then we are blessed – his promise, not my assertion.
Question: when did you start hearing about Jesus? When did you begin to see him – to see him properly in the sense Job means? What was the trigger that changed you from hearing to seeing? Could you make that, which was the trigger event for you, into the trigger event for someone else?
In verse 7 we leave behind the poetic dialogues that have constituted most of this amazing book. We are back into the simple prose of the first 2 chapters and this part chapter – the frame of the poetic stuff. Here it is.
The obvious first reaction is surprise. Job has been right all along and his 3 friends have not (Elihu does not get a mention – a major reason for thinking the speech of Elihu was a late addition to the story). So Job, described as ‘my servant’ and thus equated with people like Moses and David, is to act as a priest for them. We must also note that if what these 3 guys said was all so wrong how can we define the truthfulness of scripture – inerrancy, suggesting nothing was in error, does not seem to be the best word to use in spite of its popularity.
And then we are told what Job’s future was. What has all the argument been about if Job was headed to such a lovely future? But is it really such a wonderful future? He gets exactly the same size family as he had before but the first family died and their deaths will have left a scar that will never completely heal. People are people and cannot be substituted one for one just like that. Not even if his daughters are now so much more beautiful than the ones he had before and have such wonderful names. And all those animals, just twice as many of each variety as he had in the first place, did that make life any easier?
We can have no possible expectation of six thousand camels etc. but we know things Job did not know. When Job said, “I know that my redeemer lives” it was only a hope. For us it is a certainty. Because we live after Jesus, who died, rose again and ascended into heaven to prepare a place for us we have a much superior hope to that of poor old Job. We have been told by the writer to the Hebrews that “we have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. We have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. We have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood.”
Yoiks, WOW, Hallelujah and Hooray.
One final comment: this is a great book of the Bible, perhaps unfairly neglected (that really means that I didn’t know it very well at all until I started looking into it for these notes!). Also, more than most of the scripture it will mean different things to different people. I have attempted to chart one particular way through it for my own good and, hopefully, yours as well. Don’t let it stop there. Read it, think about it, meditate on it for yourself and find your own way through this challenging and thrilling writing. May the Lord bless you in so doing.
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Friday Jan 26, 2024
Job - Why God? - Part 9
Friday Jan 26, 2024
Friday Jan 26, 2024
Study 9: Job Ch 38:1–40:14
The voice from the whirlwind
Finally, at last, after all the human argument, the LORD speaks out of the storm - or the whirlwind as most of the translations translate the word here. Even now if we expect conclusive answers to all the questions Job and his friends have thrown up we are going to be disappointed. There are some answers but also some fundamentally unanswered questions; questions that will never find an answer in this world. it is a huge passage but it all needs to be read together. It will lose its force if I break it up into short bits. So here it is.
Perhaps the first thing to notice in the very first verse is that it is the LORD, Yahweh, who is speaking. This is the personal name of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob given to Moses at the burning bush. I have been referring to God as the Lord throughout these studies because I reckon that is the way that we commonly think of him. By doing so we tend to confuse God the Father with Jesus, but that is no bad thing. But in fact ever since the beginning of the arguments at the start of chapter 3 he has been spoken of as God or God Almighty. Suddenly the relationship is much closer.
Job has been dismayed by not having the felt presence of God with him. He said: “If only I knew where to find him; if only I could go to his dwelling! But if I go to the east, he is not there; if I go to the west, I do not find him. When he is at work in the north, I do not see him; when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him.” Now, suddenly, the Lord is there in front of him in somewhat terrifying fashion.. Not quietly, soothingly, but in the whirlwind. In C. S. Lewis’s famous children books Aslan, the lion, stands for Christ. The children are warned, “ he is not a tame lion”. Our God, the same as Job’s, is not tame.
We started study one with 4 questions:
- does the cause/effect principle operate in the moral and social world?
- has the Lord left us with a basically chaotic world?
- how can we live wisely in this sort of world? and
- can we trust in the reliability of God if he presides over this sort of world?
To these we must now add a fifth from Elihu’s arguments - are the problems of life caused by the Lord’s need to discipline us for our good? But this last is not considered in these chapters.
We have, I think, a clear answer to question 2: yes, this is a chaotic world. most of the first of these chapters is about the chaos of the weather. In many parts of the world the weather does tend to change according to a fairly steady pattern: warmer (or cooler) every day than the day before. It doesn’t work that way in the UK where a weather pattern scarcely exists! There was clearly enough variation in the weather of the land of Uz for it to be described as chaotic. The next chapter adds to that impression of uncontrollable chaos. 6 animals are described. The first 4 are all just about as wild and untameable as they could possibly be. The last 2, the horse and the hawk, though tameable are depicted as fierce and wild. Chaos rules. OK.
The trouble is that the systematic theologies and the Bible dictionaries, drawing on a wide range of scripture say something quite different. Things like: “God upholds his creatures in ordered existence … and governs all events, circumstances and free acts of angels and men.” They can, of course, quote a wide range of texts about counting the hairs on our heads and sparrows falling etc. and are quite right in what they say. This is one of the points where the Wisdom literature (Job, Ecclesiastes, Proverbs) challenges the more conventional outlook of the bulk of Scripture. It is a useful and important challenge. God is in control, but we are not God, so to us it all looks thoroughly chaotic as it did to Job and his friends. Some people seem to think they are only being properly spiritual if they relate everything, good or bad, immediately back to the hand of the Lord. But that is not what the book of Job does. We have been told that all the calamities that fell on Job had a secondary cause. So, although in the last chapter of the book we shall read about “all the trouble the Lord had brought on him” that doesn’t remove the sense that the events described in these 2 chapters are at a second order remove from the Lord and the pervading sense of a chaotic world right through the book and particularly in these last chapters. From our perspective the world is a chaotic place as it was to these guys.
Question: have you thought through how you think about and deal with the traumas of life?
Be aware that not everybody will have the same answers to that question. Everyone’s answer will depend on many factors such as personality, church culture, society culture, experiences, etc. it is important to have thought these things out and to have an answer to that question so that you do not lose faith when trouble hits. To say “I no longer believe because this or that happened” is pathetic. The book of Job is designed so that will not happen.
The answers to questions 1 and 3, concerning the cause/effect principle and the way to live wisely are not much in view here. But they don’t need to be. The whole book has repeatedly raised the CEP only to show that it does not work, either directly in context or by contrast with the terrible disasters that afflicted Job. Living wisely has also appeared throughout the book. In this passage we are asked “who has the wisdom to count the clouds”, obviously expecting the answer “only the Lord”, thus emphasising that he is the true, only and complete source of real wisdom. We are also told that the ostrich lacks wisdom simply because the Lord did not give her wisdom. Only in the fear of the Lord, in honouring and trusting him, is wisdom to be found.
When we have finished probing and analyzing we need to be careful that we have not missed the real force of this speech from the whirlwind. In total it is saying: look at this world in which you live; thrill to the never ending pageant of the weather; be awe struck by the variety and the majesty of the animals that inhabit it; realize how small and insignificant you are. When you, Job, have regained your sense of proportion, stopped agonizing about an impossible desire for what you think would be justice, only then will you be able to accept you are where you are and start living again, start moving forward, gain wisdom. And as it was for Job, so it is for us.
Unfortunately many of us will have one big disadvantage Job did not have. So I want to share with you one huge question to which I do not know the answer. It comes to my mind because these chapters are so full of the natural world. I am a small town boy who has always loved the countryside, enjoyed the wind and the rain as well as the sun and escaped to the hills and the country as often as possible. So these 2 chapters are very meaningful to me and give out a great picture of the Lord and his ways.
Question: But most of the world’s peoples live in big cities with concrete underfoot and smog overhead. Perhaps that describes your circumstances. If so, how then, where then, do you get your pictures of the Lord from?
I know many people live vibrant and meaningful spiritual lives in such situations. I hope you do. But how? Think about it. Discuss it with your friends and draw strength from what the Lord tells you together.
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Thursday Jan 25, 2024
Job - Why God? - Part 8
Thursday Jan 25, 2024
Thursday Jan 25, 2024
Study 8 : Study 8: Job 32-37
A young man sounds off.
The next 5 chapters of the book of Job are rather strange. The discussion between Job and his 3 friends has come to its end. A young man called Elihu speaks up with a 5 chapter long speech, an uninterrupted harangue in fact. Unlike the 3 friends he is an Israelite and he is young. He is not mentioned anywhere else in the book as the others are. All of which makes many people think his contribution is a late addition to the book. Perhaps. But we have it as a part of scripture so we need to look at it and may expect to get something from it.
Four main points arise from what he said, of which only one really contributes much to the argument of the book.
1. He is a brash and arrogant young fellow who says things that do not make him a very likeable character;
2. After announcing that he is going to tell the 3 friends what they should have said, he says a great deal that is not significantly very different;
3. His main new argument is that by what has happened God has been training Job, disciplining him to straighten him out – which we may well question given the harshness of what happened to Job;
4. In his last chapter he says things which do serve as a preparation for the following word from the Lord.
I am not going to Job all these 5 chapters, you will be glad to hear, but pick out verses from various places to follow the scheme above.
1. Arrogant Elihu. Job 32: 6 – 12, 17 – 22; 33: 1 – 3; 34: 1 – 4; 7 – 10b; 36: 1 – 4. Oh dear! Not a nice lad, I think. Fortunately not all, or not many, young folk are like that. Not much to learn there except possibly what not to do and say!
2. Ideas repeated. After claiming to know better Elihu is unable to get away from the basic cause-effect principle that dominated the comments and advice of the 3 friends. Listen to this: JOB 34: 5 – 12, 21 – 28; 36: 5 – 12; 34: 11. They all take us right back to the CEP that we have seen has to be rejected. And now to point 3, which is much, the most important new idea Elihu advances.
3. The discipline of the Lord. We might accept what he says on this subject except we have to remember the appalling multiple disasters that Job has experienced. They make it very difficult to accept the validity of Elihu’s arguments. Here is what he said: JOB 33: 14 – 30; 36: 5 – 16. He thinks that Job is simply experiencing the discipline of the Lord, designed to aid his spiritual life by developing his wisdom. So he says Job 33: 29, 30. Half-truths are always dangerous and this is a half-truth.
The writer to the Hebrews says in Hebrews 12: 5 - 11 “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son. God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it… have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement”
Yes, but surely there are limits to what can be called discipline before it degenerates into abuse. Those who experience difficult childhoods: perhaps the early death of their mother or being sent back home at an early age for schooling and not seeing their parents who are working in another country for many years, being forced to toughen up and become self dependent at an early age, often rise to high positions in society. But would we consider such things desirable? Surely not. Somewhere we have to draw a line between what is a strengthening discipline and a result of the Normal Chaos of Life. And this must apply to the Lord and his people as well as families on this earth. What happened to Job must fall into the NCL category. So – sorry, Elihu – but I think you are entirely wrong and have overstepped the mark in telling Job he has been disciplined by the Lord.
It is also hard to find NT examples of discipline at all. What Jesus did in delaying his journey to the house of Martha and Mary as their brother Lazarus lay dying might be said to have a disciplinary effect strengthening their faith, but I find it hard to think of any other examples where he acted like that.
Question: do you agree?
4. Preparation for the word from the Lord. Living in UK we get plenty of poor weather but only very seldom is it really bad weather. Tornados, really heavy rain, extreme cold or dangerously hot weather we do not get. But in most of the world these things are awe-inspiring, dangerous and life threatening things that happen regularly. So to express his view of what the Lord is like Elihu uses these illustrations. He says: Job 36: 27 – 37: 13.
He then challenges Job to explain these things Job 37: 14 – 16. And then he equates Job’s inability to understand the way of the Lord with him in his private world with his inability to understand the weather. It is one picturesque way to talk about the NCL!
It is hard to know what to do with Elihu when Paul says “all scripture … is profitable …”! Elihu’s declared aim is to seek wisdom and he has a deep trust in the Spirit of God to do that in 33: 1 – 4 when he says “But now, Job, listen to my words; pay attention to everything I say. I am about to open my mouth; my words are on the tip of my tongue. My words come from an upright heart; my lips sincerely speak what I know. The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life.” , though we may argue with much of what he said. He has a high view of the Lord when he says : “So listen to me. Far be it from God to do evil, It is unthinkable that God would do wrong, that the Almighty would pervert justice. Who appointed him over the earth? Who put him in charge of the whole world?”
But I missed out verse 11 where he falls back into CEP thinking, saying “He repays everyone for what they have done; he brings on them what their conduct deserves.” He is presumably trying to correct Job here though it was not so much that Job denied the justice of God as that he was annoyed that he could not connect up with it. Elihu calls strongly for repentance when he says “Suppose someone says to God, “I am guilty but will offend no more. Teach me what I cannot see; if I have done wrong, I will not do so again.” Should God then reward you on your terms, when you refuse to repent? You must decide, not I; so tell me what you know.” It is even questionable whether Job failed to repent. By promising not to repeat his errors he at least promised the most neglected part of repentance! Jesus always looked to people’s future as much as their past when he said “go and sin no more”!
Probably Elihu’s best contribution is the good part of the half-truth I accused him of earlier. He says: “God does all these things to a person — twice, even three times — to turn them back from the pit, that the light of life may shine on them.”
That is fine provided we don’t go on to say that correction is the purpose of suffering. Yes – we will experience suffering in this life; yes – we can learn many valuable lessons from it and grow because of it; no – we cannot and must not go on to equate our suffering with our potential for growth any more than we can equate it with punishment for ours sins. Someone has rightly said “ the greatness of Christianity lies in the fact that it does not seek a supernatural remedy for suffering but a supernatural use for it”.
Thank you, Elihu for forcing us to think about these difficult things.
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Wednesday Jan 24, 2024
Job - Why God? - Part 7
Wednesday Jan 24, 2024
Wednesday Jan 24, 2024
Study 7 : Job 29-31
Job’s self-assessment.
We now come to two long speeches: the first by Job, summarizing his thinking, is 3 chapters long; the second by a new guy, Elihu, is 5 chapters long.
Job cannot have been an old man when the disasters struck him. However long he lived (another 140 years according to the last chapter) he was only middle-aged for he had time to have another complete farming career and a considerable family. But much of what he describes in these chapters is remarkably similar to the common experience of an old person in western culture. Up to about 100 years ago most people in the world only lived in one or two or three places their whole lives long, often one as they grew up and just another subsequent to marriage. Consequently as they grew old they would be surrounded by people they had known for a very long time: family, friends and acquaintances. For many today things are very different. Education and job opportunities take us to live in many different places. Sometimes parents demand a weekly visit but that tends to be a disaster, as it leaves one not really belonging in either the place of residence or the parent’s home area. As a result of this mobility we will often enter old age and retirement surrounded mainly by strangers. The situation Job describes in a totally different culture and for very specific reasons is extraordinarily like that which may be your experience, as in part it is mine, or as it may be yours at some future date.
JOB 29: 1 – 6.
Assuming you are or have been married and had a family you will remember that it was great fun when you were in your prime and they were growing up. We then did all sorts of things: building sand castles, playing with toy trains etc. that we now have no excuse to do!
JOB 29: 7 – 25.
Our experience would have been, in detail, very different from Job’s yet it probably had much the same effect. We probably had a job, which gave us status. We mattered. We were somebody. Even if we had no very exalted role, not in charge of anybody else, we still had a position in some firm or organisation or in the family. We may not have realised it at the time but we drew strength from that sense of significance. But, if like me you are old, you will find it easy to relate to what Job says next.
JOB 30: 1 – 15.
What a magnificent phrase that is: “God has unstrung my bow”. Job no longer has the strength, or the will, to pull the bowstring back far enough to send an arrow far enough to matter. I used to pride myself on my ability to run upstairs two, or even three, steps at a time. No longer. Now an old man I go up sedately one step at a time. That is my equivalent to having my bow unstrung.
Question: if you are getting older – what is your equivalent to the unstrung bow: loss of strength or beauty or what?
More significantly, with retirement often comes a great loss of status. (More in Western societies than in those of the Third world where there is usually some role even the aged are expected to fulfil). No one now looks for your advice; no one looks up to you as someone that matters.
Question: that is not true in all societies. How good is the one in which you live at using the advice and gifts of old folk?
If circumstances mean that you, an older person, no longer live where you spent most of your working life then it may well feel as though you are being mocked by younger people as Job was, even when they are being polite to you.
JOB 30: 16 – 41.
Old age commonly brings aches and pains in joints and muscles! Job thinks of these as the work of God “tossing me about in the storm”. We think about such things in a very different way but the experience is just as real; my right ankle, left knee and left shoulder all ache! It is indeed like being tossed about in a storm.
Unfortunately Job’s final chapter is a bad note to end on, here it is: JOB 31: 1 – 40.
Each of us will have a different life story to tell. As we get older we tend to reminisce more and more, telling the old stories of what has happened to us and what we have done. Family and friends may get fed up with stories of the “good old days” if we tell them too often, and they may not have been all that good. It is easy to fail to realise how much the world, and probably our society has advanced during our lifetime.
In our society, and many others, loneliness coming from the mobility of our lives or the smallness of our family can be the curse of old age for many. It probably was not Job’s problem although the depth of his grief will have tended to isolate him from other people.The element in the equation that is not considered in the book of Job is the role that the company of the Lord’s people should play in the life of those in distress or in old age. In Job’s day they were the people of Israel – but Job was probably not an Israelite – and in our day it is the local church. Sadly, because of the extreme individualism in modern Western society, it may not be very good at supporting the struggling. Even when it tries it is usually a case of one individual helping another rather than any sense of a corporate action supporting an individual. Other cultures in other societies often do these things much better.
Job has succeeded in summarizing very accurately most of the problems of old age. I, for one, can relate to his mutterings very easily (I am now 80 years old). The trouble is that in all these 3 chapters there is very little positive at all. We have to wait until Elihu has had his say and the Lord speaks out of the storm clouds before we get any positive encouragement. Every good doctor makes a careful diagnosis of what is wrong with a patient before he prescribes a treatment or picks up his scalpel. This is the diagnosis – particularly if you are in your later years.
This has been a strange study to write. There is very little that is positive here. But it is important to think about the situation we, or other people, are in. that is diagnosis.
Question: can you think out what might be the cure for you? For others?