Job: Real Faith

I. Introduction
A. We’ve now covered the story of Job. And now, in the last three sermons, I’d like to look at the things we can see from a bird’s eye view of Job.
B. There are two great theological issues which Job addresses.
1. One is about the relationship between a person’s suffering and his sin. We’ll talk about that on Nov.14.
2. The other is whether there is true faith and love for God in the world, or whether all people are driven only by self-interest, even the ones who appear to be the most righteous. We are going to focus on this one this morning.
C. Job 1:6–11 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. 7 The LORD said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the LORD and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” 8 And the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?” 9 Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason? 10 Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.”
D. Job 2:1–5 Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the LORD. 2 And the LORD said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the LORD and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” 3 And the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil? He still holds fast his integrity, although you incited me against him to destroy him without reason.” 4 Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give for his life. 5 But stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face.”
II. In these two passages, God points out the righteous Job to Satan, and Satan responds by claiming that Job would curse God if only God would remove His blessings. And in both cases, God does remove His protection and gives Satan permission to wreak havoc on Job’s life and body.
A. And Job suffers greatly. We’ve talked about all that. But at the end of the story, there is no explicit resolution to this dispute between God and Satan. There is no place at the end of the book where God says, “I told you so” to Satan. God answers Job; God answers Job’s friends; but, at least in the story as we have it, God never answers Satan.
B. However, in the end, it is obvious that Satan was proved wrong. This is implied by the fact that Job never does curse God, but repeatedly professes faith in God through his trials, and by their precious reunion in the last chapters, and by God’s affirmation of Job in addressing Job’s friends.
C. Job did not love God merely because He was blessing Him in earthly ways, as Satan had claimed.
III. So, God dangles this man Job in front of Satan, virtually begging him, it seems, to take up the challenge. But why did Satan take the challenge? Why didn’t Satan say, “Of course Job is going to be faithful to You! He’s a very righteous man! Now, why don’t you choose a spiritually tiny person instead of a spiritual giant? They will curse you if you allow them to suffer.” It seems to me that Satan was eager to try to prove the falsity of Job’s faith for two reasons.
A. One reason was to maximize the damage. Think of the potential impact of Job potentially cursing God! This man who has been so highly respected, this man who has been such a model of faith for so many – so many people looked to his faith in order to be strengthened in their own faith!
1. Job’s denial of God would have shaken the faith of the people throughout the whole region!
2. But I think there’s an even bigger reason than this.
B. I don’t think Satan’s claim was just about Job. It seems to me that Satan jumped at the chance to negotiate with God about Job because Job was the very person he wanted to bring down.
1. If Satan won the same contest over some lukewarm believer, then he would have proven that one person isn’t a true believer. But if he wins the battle over a giant of righteousness like Job, then in a sense he has proven that no one is a true believer! He has disproven faith itself! Because if Job is not a true believer, then nobody is.
2. If the strongest man in the world is too weak, then that proves that there is no one strong enough.
3. So, in accusing Job, Satan was accusing all believers, for Job was the best of the bunch.
4. Satan is not just picking someone and claiming that he is false in his faith. He is picking the cream of the crop, the best among the righteous. If anyone is sincere in faith, it is Job.
5. If Job’s faith could be shown to be insincere, then faith itself would be shown insincere, for if the righteous Job didn’t have true faith, no one had true faith.
6. Satan was claiming that no one really loved God, that no one had true faith. By charging Job, he was charging every believer. He was questioning the reality of faith itself.
7. I think that’s the point of Satan’s claim.
IV. You see, there was no dispute between God and Satan over the reality of false faith.
A. There is going to be wood, hay and stubble which will burn up on the last day. There’s no debate about that.
B. It was not absurd of Satan to suggest that someone might serve the Lord not out of sincerity but purely out of self-interest, not out of love for God but out of love for one’s earthly welfare.
C. There is plenty of false faith in the world, probably even a majority. The Bible talks about it a lot. There is always a Judas around, even in the Lord’s inner circle.
D. Of course, we can’t see into the heart like God can. And people can be fantastic actors. So, we have no way of seeing who is sincere in their faith and who is not.
1. Satan’s ability to counterfeit far outshines our ability to discern.
2. Even the disciples of Jesus had no idea who He was talking about when He said one of them would betray Him (John 13:21-22). So, we have to think the best and stay out of the guessing business.
E. If you think of the people you walk with in Christ as a crowd walking down the road together on your way to Zion/Jerusalem like they did before the Passover in the OT, I can guarantee that in your lifetime some of those folks you walk with in Christ will turn their backs on Christ. We’ve seen it plenty in this church. It’s not the same group that leaves which will also arrive.
V. True faith
A. But the dispute between God and Satan was over whether there was true faith, whether there were in fact true believers among those who professed to believe.
B. But when Job’s faith proved true – in spite of everything Satan threw at him – it proved that there is a faithful remnant (Rm.9:27), there is gold, silver, and precious stones, there is real godliness in the earth, that all faith is not phony, that all faith is not self-serving, that all faith is not selfishness dressed up in a religious disguise, that all love of good and right is not just an act.
1. It proved that there ARE people who have true faith, who aren’t believers just because it gives them some earthly advantage, but they really, sincerely seek and love the Lord.
C. This is a very relevant issue today. Many accuse Christians of all being hypocrites.
D. Are there Christian hypocrites? Are there people who claim and pretend to be Christians but in their hearts they aren’t? Absolutely. Judas was one. And there are many today. But Job proves that the real thing does exist.
1. But some non-believers act as if they have proven Christianity to be false when they find one false believer. “Aha! This famous preacher denies the faith – that proves it’s all a sham! That proves they’re all phonies!”
2. But, of course, logically that doesn’t prove the falseness of all believers!
3. Does Judas disprove the validity of the other disciples’ faith?
4. Does Benedict Arnold disprove the sincerity of George Washington’s love of his new country?
5. Why is it so shocking that there are false believers?
a. Aren’t there false spouses – who don’t really love their mates? false patriots who don’t actually love their countries? false politicians who aren’t actually trying to serve the public?
E. The story of Job gives us no method of deciding whose faith is true and whose is false. But it definitively tells us that true faith does exist in this world.
VI. One might have thought that no one’s faith could have survived the suffering Job experienced. Doesn’t everyone have a breaking point?
A. This introduces the question of how Job was able to survive. It’s pretty simple actually.
B. Job survived because God strengthened him. God is the One who gave Job faith, and He was the One who kept it alive.
C. This is the case for all true believers. True faith can survive any pressure because ultimately faith is not something that bubbles up from the depths of the human soul. It is God who gives true faith, and therefore God who keeps it going.
D. The fact is that God’s power can trump human weakness. The power of God’s Spirit in His people can overpower sin, corruption, and weakness of faith.
E. The story of Job shows us what would happen if any true believer experienced Job-like suffering.
1. We would definitely struggle – just as Job did – but we would survive in faith – as Job did.
2. Why would we survive? Because it is God who sustains us, not we ourselves.
3. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me! (Phil.4:13)
4. He is the One who is able to keep us from stumbling and to present us blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy. (Jude 24)
F. Of course, none of this applies to someone who is not truly the Lord’s, to someone who merely tries to act like a Christian but who doesn’t really know Jesus, to someone who really cares only about their earthly security and prosperity.
G. (NOTE: This is also how we can trust Scripture.
1. Some cannot accept the Bible as the very word of God because it is written by men. They say, “How can imperfect people produce a perfect message?”
2. But when it comes to Scripture, God’s power trumps human weakness.
3. God refused to allow the authors’ human imperfections to make the text imperfect.
4. When God wants to eliminate human error, He can and does – infallibly.)
VII. This is why, even though we can’t ultimately know what is the condition of a person’s heart, perseverance in faith even through suffering is one of the best indicators we have of true faith.
A. And abandoning the Lord as a result of those trials proves the faith was not true.
1. 1John 2:19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.
B. We also see this in the parable of the sower.
1. Remember that with the rocky soil and the thorny soil, there are pressures introduced into the equation:
a. “When tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, he falls away,” or “the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.” Matt.13:21-22
2. You see, pressures expose what’s really going on inside. Some are shown to be true, others false.
C. Jesus proved that He was true – by means of His righteousness in the face of suffering (Heb.12:2)
D. Of course, Job’s test wasn’t only about proving Job’s faith (and faith itself), but also about improving Job’s faith. The fire of suffering burns off the dross of impurity.
VIII. I said earlier that I think Satan was not just trying to disprove the authenticity of Job’s faith, but trying to disprove the authenticity of ALL faith. Well, I’d like to say something more about that.
A. It seems to me that Satan was not merely claiming that Job’s faith is untrue, he was not just claiming that all faith is untrue, but he is also charging God with being untrue.
B. You see, in His word, God tells us a lot about Himself. His attributes, His character, His powers, etc. And a lot of folks act like that’s the only important thing to know about God. Is there a God? And, if so, what’s He like? But there’s something else extremely important which God tells us in His word. He tells us about His mission, His project, His work, His purpose in creation.
1. What is that mission, that project, that work, that purpose?
2. God has invested Himself in mankind: in sinful, broken, flawed, foolish mankind.
3. From the foundation of the world God determined to create a people for Himself, a bride for His Son, a temple made of living, human stones in which He would dwell forevermore.
4. He would accomplish this by the sending of His Son, to bear the burden of their guilt on the cross, and by working in them by the power of His Spirit to draw them to Himself and give them the gift of faith. This is what the Bible’s all about.
5. But if Christ’s bride doesn’t actually love Him, if His bride marries Him for His money while having no true affection for Him in her heart, if she rejects Him when some of her benefits are temporarily withdrawn, then the whole mission is in vain, and all of God’s interest in and blessing of these people proves empty.
6. If the gates of hell DO prevail against the church of Jesus, then Jesus Himself is shown to be false. (Matt.16:18)
C. This means that it wasn’t only Job’s faith which was proved by his spiritual survival through the suffering. It was also the faithfulness of God.
1. He really does preserve His saints!
2. He truly is the One who is able to keep us from falling!
3. He really does come through for His people.
4. Little did Job know that even when he felt like he was dying, God was keeping him alive. Even though He felt like God had abandoned him, God was actually right there with him – helping him, strengthening him, upholding him!
D. In 1000 ways, God has made it clear that He will never forsake His people – including the story of Job. And after Job, He has added many strong promises and guarantees. He really wants us to feel sure about His faithfulness.
1. Listen to Hebrews 6:17–19: “When God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul.”
2. “How firm a foundation, you saints of the Lord Is laid for your faith in His excellent word! What more can He say than to you He has said – To you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?”
3. God’s faithfulness to His children is an absolute promise we can build our lives on.
4. God has staked His own reputation on it. His own character.
5. Even when we FEEL like He has forsaken us, we can trust that He will never actually do that.
6. God wants His children to have the utmost confidence that He will come through for them.
a. That’s part of why God gave us the book of Job. In it we see that God is faithful even when it looks like He’s not.
7. Job is not the ultimate hero of the book of Job – God is! Job’s victory is His victory! And Job’s vindication is His vindication!
E. What a help this book is, then, when we are experiencing suffering or fear that feels like it is beyond our ability to survive. We don’t need to fear even if the earth around us gives way – because God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. (Psalm 46:1-2)
1. Remember when Peter walked on the water, but then he took his eyes off of Jesus because of the winds and the waves, and began to sink? Well, if God left us to ourselves, we would all begin to sink under pressure. But when Peter began to sink, what did Jesus do? He reached out and lifted him up! And that’s what He does for us too – at just the right time. (Matt.14:22-33)
2. We may panic, we may get angry with the Lord, we may have very little faith. But it makes all the difference in the world when Jesus is in our boat. It means the boat won’t sink. Not because we’re great sailors, not because the storm isn’t really that bad, but because Jesus is in the boat and He’s not going to let it go down. He loves us! He has chosen us for Himself! We are linked to Him, and if we were to sink, He would sink with us. And that’s not going to happen. (Matt.8:23-27)
F. Just like with Job, our God will sustain us in faith. We may complain like Job did, we may even deny Him like Peter did, but we will never betray Him like Judas did. (Luke 22:31-32)
1. I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me. -2Timothy 1:12 (Cf. 1Peter 1:5.)
2. I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. -Philippians 1:6
3. My sheep hear my voice, & I know them, & they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, & no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. -John 10:27-29
4. Job survived because God won’t allow any of His precious sheep to be snatched from His strong hand! And that’s why you and I will survive as well.
G. You know, on the last day, when God’s children are rewarded for enduring to the end, for finishing the race and fighting the good fight, they won’t walk around celebrating and give each other high fives. They will fall down and give the glory to the Lamb, for He is their champion! He is the One who won their salvation! And He is the One who sustained them on their long and arduous journey!