Learn from Elihu that God sends Suffering to Save his People from Pride and to Purify them
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WHAT DOES ELIHU CONTRIBUTE TO THE THEOLOGY OF SUFFERING?
So let us look now as we close, what Elihu contributes to your theology of suffering. And I think in this he contributes three important lessons to your theology of suffering.
1. You are still a Work in Progress even if you are as Holy as Job was
You are not perfected yet. You are not holy yet. You are in progress. You are still in this process.
Do you remember what we read in Job 1:1? I want you to think about this for a moment. You know the culture of Uganda, to the best I can tell, highly honours those who die. The place of burial is provided and it is usually back in the village in a family plot and a tombstone is usually erected and some kind of name is on the tombstone. In my culture, we often put a few saying or descriptions of the people when they die to give an idea of who they were. We also write on their tombstone their dates of birth and death.
Now what I want to ask you for a moment is this: when you die, do you think the words of Job 1:1 can be written about you on your tombstone by those who come to bury you? Would you like these words to be written on your tombstone which say, "There was a man (or a woman) in the land of Uganda whose name was so and so (and you put your name there). And that man (or woman) was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil."
Now, our hearts might say, "I would like to have that on my tombstone." But I don't think there are too many of us who would say, "Yes, I would instruct my family to put that on my tombstone after my death." Why not? "Well", you might say, "it sounds a little bit arrogant. It sounds a little bit presumptive. I think I better wait for God to say that about me rather than for me to say that about myself. So keep it off my tombstone!" You see, most of us, wouldn't be arrogant enough to do that. Because we realize that that would be an expression of pride.
So what does this mean for you who are willing to admit that you are less holy than Job? And most of us would admit that "Yes I am less holy than Job!" What does this mean for you? It means that you are not as pure as you need to be or maybe as you sometimes claim or sometimes imagine. And you have a pride problem too, even as Job did. And you even have a remaining sin problem too, even as Job did. And so don't be surprised if God addresses and exposes your pride problem and your sin problem through suffering. That is his method. And don't be surprised that he opens your ears through pain. It is all as a demonstration of His grace. It is all as a demonstration of His mercy.
2. Suffering is God's Gracious Gift to Refine, Purify and Sanctify you
Elihu says to Job's three friends, "You are wrong! Job isn't being punished for his sin! He is being refined and purified. You are missing the point!" Job's suffering is not a punishment for his sin. Suffering is not a punishment for your sin if you belong to Christ and if you have come to Him by faith and you have come to Him to take away your sin and to make you right in His eyes. Instead, suffering is God's refining process to expose your sin, to burn away your impurities and to grow you to be pure and stronger.
3. In Ordaining and Permitting you to Suffer, God does not do so as your Enemy or Judge, but as your Father
Elihu says to Job, "You are wrong, Job! God is not arbitrary. God is not capricious. God is not putting you through chaotic, meaningless affliction. God is your Father. Satan has meant your suffering for evil, to destroy you; but God loves you and ordains your suffering (even your prolonged or long-term suffering) for your good. This is the great lesson of the book of Job.
If you are one of God's children, if you are a true Christian and you are one who trusts God; if you are being led by the Holy Spirit and if God has given you a new heart and planted in your hear a worship of him and a love for Him and for His word and for His people; and if your sins are covered by the blood of Christ: you will suffer. "Everyone who desires to be godly in Christ Jesus will suffer", Paul says to Timothy in 1 Timothy 3:12. And when you do suffer, it is not punishment for your sin, so don't think of it that way. Christ has carried your punishment already on your behalf. Christ was punished on your behalf when He went to the cross. There is no double punishment for your sin, there is no double jeopardy, there is no double liability and there is no double exposure to judgement and loss. Christ doesn't pay your punishment and then require you to pay it again. According to Romans 8:1, there is no punishment, no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Instead of punishment for sin, there is only a kind, gentle, merciful, sin-addressing, pride-withering surgery. And in some cases, there is severe surgery as it was in the case of Job.
Suffering doesn't come inappropriately, without reason. Suffering doesn't come chaotically and unplanned for you. No, suffering is carefully planned and designed by God. Affliction is always designed and God is the designer. Suffering is careful, wise surgery; and God is the surgeon. Suffering is expert therapy, and God is the therapist.
And the purpose of God's designer suffering, and the purpose of God's designer affliction, and the purpose of God's designer therapy is this: to refine and purify your faith, to enlarge and deepen your holiness, to expose and kill your pride and to save your life from sin and destruction. In so doing, God gets the glory. His fame is spread. His grace is showcased and exalted.
And so, let me close by just reading some familiar passages to you from the New Testament.
1 Peter 1:6-7, "In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith--more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire--may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ."
Hebrews 12:10-11, "For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it."
2 Corinthians 1:8-9, " For we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead."
And then 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, "So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
Romans 5:1-5, " Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him, we have also obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we exult in the hope of the glory of God. An not only this, we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance, and perseverance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."
James 1:2-4, "2 Consider it all joy, my brothers, 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 nothing.
Let us pray.
Father, we thank you that you were not done with Job after the false counsel of his three friends. You didn't leave Job to stay in confusion. You sent a clear word, you sent a fuller word to show Job what you were up to. And as a surgeon, you were addressing the problems of pride and indwelling sin. And Oh God, we are all candidates for your surgery because we are full of pride and full of indwelling sin. And there is not one among us who is righteous.
We thank you that suffering has a purpose. We thank you that you are in the process of making us like your Son. And we thank you that we can even welcome these trials and suffering as friends because of your purpose that you achieve through them.
Thank you for the message of Job. Thank you for the teaching that this message brings to our hearts. And now we pray that you will send out this day to bear fruits for your kingdom and with this new understanding to trust more in you and to exalt you our Father. And we pray in Jesus name, Amen.
Page 5 ⇦ Previous
WHAT DOES ELIHU CONTRIBUTE TO THE THEOLOGY OF SUFFERING?
So let us look now as we close, what Elihu contributes to your theology of suffering. And I think in this he contributes three important lessons to your theology of suffering.
1. You are still a Work in Progress even if you are as Holy as Job was
You are not perfected yet. You are not holy yet. You are in progress. You are still in this process.
Do you remember what we read in Job 1:1? I want you to think about this for a moment. You know the culture of Uganda, to the best I can tell, highly honours those who die. The place of burial is provided and it is usually back in the village in a family plot and a tombstone is usually erected and some kind of name is on the tombstone. In my culture, we often put a few saying or descriptions of the people when they die to give an idea of who they were. We also write on their tombstone their dates of birth and death.
Now what I want to ask you for a moment is this: when you die, do you think the words of Job 1:1 can be written about you on your tombstone by those who come to bury you? Would you like these words to be written on your tombstone which say, "There was a man (or a woman) in the land of Uganda whose name was so and so (and you put your name there). And that man (or woman) was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil."
Now, our hearts might say, "I would like to have that on my tombstone." But I don't think there are too many of us who would say, "Yes, I would instruct my family to put that on my tombstone after my death." Why not? "Well", you might say, "it sounds a little bit arrogant. It sounds a little bit presumptive. I think I better wait for God to say that about me rather than for me to say that about myself. So keep it off my tombstone!" You see, most of us, wouldn't be arrogant enough to do that. Because we realize that that would be an expression of pride.
So what does this mean for you who are willing to admit that you are less holy than Job? And most of us would admit that "Yes I am less holy than Job!" What does this mean for you? It means that you are not as pure as you need to be or maybe as you sometimes claim or sometimes imagine. And you have a pride problem too, even as Job did. And you even have a remaining sin problem too, even as Job did. And so don't be surprised if God addresses and exposes your pride problem and your sin problem through suffering. That is his method. And don't be surprised that he opens your ears through pain. It is all as a demonstration of His grace. It is all as a demonstration of His mercy.
2. Suffering is God's Gracious Gift to Refine, Purify and Sanctify you
Elihu says to Job's three friends, "You are wrong! Job isn't being punished for his sin! He is being refined and purified. You are missing the point!" Job's suffering is not a punishment for his sin. Suffering is not a punishment for your sin if you belong to Christ and if you have come to Him by faith and you have come to Him to take away your sin and to make you right in His eyes. Instead, suffering is God's refining process to expose your sin, to burn away your impurities and to grow you to be pure and stronger.
3. In Ordaining and Permitting you to Suffer, God does not do so as your Enemy or Judge, but as your Father
Elihu says to Job, "You are wrong, Job! God is not arbitrary. God is not capricious. God is not putting you through chaotic, meaningless affliction. God is your Father. Satan has meant your suffering for evil, to destroy you; but God loves you and ordains your suffering (even your prolonged or long-term suffering) for your good. This is the great lesson of the book of Job.
If you are one of God's children, if you are a true Christian and you are one who trusts God; if you are being led by the Holy Spirit and if God has given you a new heart and planted in your hear a worship of him and a love for Him and for His word and for His people; and if your sins are covered by the blood of Christ: you will suffer. "Everyone who desires to be godly in Christ Jesus will suffer", Paul says to Timothy in 1 Timothy 3:12. And when you do suffer, it is not punishment for your sin, so don't think of it that way. Christ has carried your punishment already on your behalf. Christ was punished on your behalf when He went to the cross. There is no double punishment for your sin, there is no double jeopardy, there is no double liability and there is no double exposure to judgement and loss. Christ doesn't pay your punishment and then require you to pay it again. According to Romans 8:1, there is no punishment, no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Instead of punishment for sin, there is only a kind, gentle, merciful, sin-addressing, pride-withering surgery. And in some cases, there is severe surgery as it was in the case of Job.
Suffering doesn't come inappropriately, without reason. Suffering doesn't come chaotically and unplanned for you. No, suffering is carefully planned and designed by God. Affliction is always designed and God is the designer. Suffering is careful, wise surgery; and God is the surgeon. Suffering is expert therapy, and God is the therapist.
And the purpose of God's designer suffering, and the purpose of God's designer affliction, and the purpose of God's designer therapy is this: to refine and purify your faith, to enlarge and deepen your holiness, to expose and kill your pride and to save your life from sin and destruction. In so doing, God gets the glory. His fame is spread. His grace is showcased and exalted.
And so, let me close by just reading some familiar passages to you from the New Testament.
1 Peter 1:6-7, "In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith--more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire--may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ."
Hebrews 12:10-11, "For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it."
2 Corinthians 1:8-9, " For we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead."
And then 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, "So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
Romans 5:1-5, " Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him, we have also obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we exult in the hope of the glory of God. An not only this, we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance, and perseverance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."
James 1:2-4, "2 Consider it all joy, my brothers, 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 nothing.
Let us pray.
Father, we thank you that you were not done with Job after the false counsel of his three friends. You didn't leave Job to stay in confusion. You sent a clear word, you sent a fuller word to show Job what you were up to. And as a surgeon, you were addressing the problems of pride and indwelling sin. And Oh God, we are all candidates for your surgery because we are full of pride and full of indwelling sin. And there is not one among us who is righteous.
We thank you that suffering has a purpose. We thank you that you are in the process of making us like your Son. And we thank you that we can even welcome these trials and suffering as friends because of your purpose that you achieve through them.
Thank you for the message of Job. Thank you for the teaching that this message brings to our hearts. And now we pray that you will send out this day to bear fruits for your kingdom and with this new understanding to trust more in you and to exalt you our Father. And we pray in Jesus name, Amen.
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