— This post is adapted from my recent sermon, “The Light of God,” on 1 John 1:5-10 —

In sixth grade a few friends and I built a rather large fort in a forest near our neighborhood. With all the ignorant imagination of young men we decided one day to build a fire for our forest castle. (It’s an amazing grace of God we never set the entire forest ablaze.) Early on we were quite terrible at getting a fire going, but that all changed one day when a friend showed up with a large white can labeled, “Ignition Fluid.” And so if you every came to our fortress in the winter after that day you’d find a blazing furnace to warm your bones.

Just like certain substances have unusual power in accelerating the growth of a fire, some elements have special force in fueling the light of God in every church’s fellowship. 1 John 1:5-10 says a fellowship of light is a fellowship of holiness. Let’s simply meditate on the two fuels for holiness – the fire of God – I find in this text.

2 Fuels for the Light of Holiness

The fuel of humility. What we see throughout 1 John is that the false teachers were pursuing and perpetuating a spiritual elitism, and their pride was destroying the church. May God protect us from such inflated views of our personal holiness. False spirituality (“I’m a Christian, but I walk in constant unrepentant sin”; “I’m a Christian who doesn’t struggle with sin at all”) fractures congregations. It takes great humility to walk earnestly and joyfully with people of different perspectives and preferences. If we earnestly and eagerly situate ourselves in God’s light and gospel, we will be in the fertile soil for humility to grow in our midst – and the light of holiness to shine.

The fuel of honesty. This is clearly assumed within the culture of confession John advocates (cf. 1:9). God’s light reveals our sin; we cannot hide from Him. We reveal our honesty with Him by confessing our sin to Him. Honest confession to God and one another brings holy cleansing. A joyful fellowship is one free in the joy of Christ; free from the burdens and stains of sin. Oh, may Spirit-wrought honesty perpetuate our lives so that we may together live in the light of God’s glory and grace.

God is light and so His people must walk in the light. Humble and honesty are necessary for a church to shine.

–This post is adapted from my recent sermon, “The Light of God,” on 1 John 1:5-10.–¹

In 1 John 1:5-10 the apostle’s loving boldness is on full display as he “launch[es] us into,” according to David Jackman, “one of the greatest theological statements of the whole Bible.” It’s a statement we want to feel as the pulsating engine behind the first half of this book, and maybe even the book as a whole. It’s telling us what must be true about our life together if our joy is indeed going to be complete in our fellowship with Christ.

The Foundation of Light

In 1:5 John says Jesus gave me a message to proclaim, a message about who God is. If you could announce to the world one characteristic of God, what would it be? Fill in the blank in this sentence, “God is _______.” What came to your mind? God is love, compassionate, gracious, sovereign, good? Notice as 1:5 continues what Jesus, through John, wants us to know – first and foremost – about God as 1:5 continues, “God is light.” How many people today revel in the proclamation that “God is light”? What does it even mean that God is light?

The Old Testament is full of references to the light of God. And ordinary the light of God refers to His salvation, revelation, and separation. And it’s that third facet John has in mind here, the separation of God from everything in the universe. He is utterly and unalterably holy; “in him is no darkness at all.”

So God is the foundation of a fellowship of light, and now what John is going to do in 1:6-7 is give us a few “Implications of Light.”

The Implications of Light

In studying this passage throughout the week I began to feel like a spectator at a theological tennis match. To follow John in the rest of the passage means our heads must be on a swivel as he keeps bouncing back and forth between the negative claims of the false teachers and the positive realities of a people living in light.

And notice how the doctrinal ball falls in their court in 1:6, where the apostle says, “If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.” The false teachers were like spiritual double agents; they claim allegiance to God, but actively live for the kingdom of darkness. John minces no words here, “A person who lives unreservedly, unrepentantly, and habitually in darkness cannot be in fellowship with the God of light, and are lying if they say otherwise.” It’s a shot across the bow, a warning, to any who would profess to be a Christian while living as if Christ hasn’t changed their life.

We should also see from 1:6 that what we believe about sin shows what we believe about God. Whenever sin is flippantly addressed, you have a God flippant about sin; a God unknown to the Bible. But wherever sin despised and with God’s help put to death, you have a God who seeks the death of sin. In what ways does your view of sin reveal your view of God?

See now how John bounces from the negative to the positive in 1:7, “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” 1:7 gives us two implications for living in the light as God is in the light.

Implication #1: We have corporate fellowship. You’d expect – wouldn’t you? – John to say, “If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with Him.” But John says we have fellowship with “one another.” Many commentators call the false teachers the “secessionists” because they broke away from the fellowship; they went to pursue godliness on their own. But John is saying that’s not godliness at all. It’s biblically impossible to have fellowship with God without having fellowship with one another. Do you recognize your need to consistently be in corporate fellowship with God’s people? The world will lure you to think things of earth are more important than gathering with the citizens of heaven. The Worm named Satan will tempt you to isolation, thinking you don’t need God’s people. But consistent fellowship with God’s people reveals the light of God and helps keep us in the light of God.

Implication #2: We have cleansed fellowship. “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light . . . the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” The language here is continually, a more literally translation would say His blood “keeps cleansing us from all sin.” One of my greatest fears in life is whenever Emily wants to get something from Ikea because self-assembly furniture is the bane of my existence. Especially when the set of little boy bunk-beds has hundreds of pieces that go into the construction of the edifice. So we spent one Sunday afternoon putting the beds together and painting them with an oil-based paint. When clean up time came regular tap water couldn’t wash away the point from our hands, something stronger was necessary to cleanse us from the stain. Such is the case when it comes to the stain of our sin.

If you aren’t a Christian, what will you do with the sin the Bible says stains your soul? It’s a stain of unbelief that will lead to death if it isn’t washed away. Good works can’t wash it away and superhuman effort can’t wipe it clean. What you need is the cleansing blood of Jesus. Jesus went lived a perfect life and so when He hung on the cross, He was as a spotless lamb led to slaughter. Jesus, the Lamb of God, shed His perfect blood in His death on the cross, to pay the penalty for your sin and cleanse you from all unrighteousness. The cleansing blood of Christ is offered to you, will you take it by turning from your sin and trusting in Jesus?

What can wash away my sin, nothing but the blood of Jesus . . .
Oh precious is the flow! That makes me white as snow.

What do you find most precious? What is most valuable to you? Wherever your mind floats in the free minutes of the day reveals what is precious to you. Oh may we increasingly find like John, and like Peter in 1 Peter 1:18, of supreme value to us! This is the ocean of grace in which our souls must swim as a church, let us jump in with joy. What ocean of power are you swimming in today?

So: a faithful church is a fellowship of light. God’s light is its foundation (1:5) and a corporate life constantly being cleansed by the blood of Jesus is what it means to walk in the light.

———————————————————————————————

An excerpt from my recent sermon, “A Message of Light and Love,” on 1 John 1:1-4.

THE CENTER OF FAITH

John writes, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life.” So this prologue is all about “the word of life,” but what is the word of life? Look at how in 1:2 John gives a parenthesis of sorts to describe the word of life, he says, “the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us.” It seems right to say in light of 1:1-2 that the word of life is a message and a man.

For those of you who’ve read John’s gospel you can’t help but see the similarities the two prologues have, for they focus on the man of Christ and the message of Christ, Him who was “from the beginning.” And that which was from the beginning, John says, “was made manifest.” The word of life came. I want you to see a couple things from these verses about Jesus’ coming.

• His coming was historical. Twice John says the “life was made manifest.” Jesus, God of very God who has existed from eternity past, came to be born of a virgin. John says in his gospel prologue’s primary verse, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory” (John 1:14). Jesus appeared in history. Our faith is not based on mystical truth, theoretical belief, or subjective intuition, but on the actual – historical – life and ministry of Jesus Christ. This fact is oh so important in the letter because we will soon hear how the chief error coming from the false teachers among John’s flock was their conviction that Jesus didn’t really come in the flesh. He’ll say in 4:2, “By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God.”

• His coming was experiential. John says he and the apostles “have heard . . . seen with our eyes . . . looked upon and . . . touched.” John’s experience of Jesus is a foundation for his authority in this letter.

• His coming brings the eternal. At the end of 1:2 John writes we “proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father.” Jesus came from eternity in order to bring people into eternity. If you’re in here tonight and are not a Christian, I hope you will keep coming back for this series. Jesus brings eternal life, John says. Your sin will lead to eternal death, but if you trust in who Jesus is and what Jesus did – He will bring you into eternal life with the Father.

These three dimensions of Jesus’ coming not only mean Jesus is central to faith, but also that our faith is personal and is a proclamation. Notice how John gets to the heart of the matter at the beginning of 1:3, “that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you.” A proclaimed Christ is the center of true faith and fellowship. Do you long for, pray for, and rejoice in the proclamation of Jesus? If you are a Christian, do you have increasing delight in hearing about Jesus? Are you more captivated with Christ this year than you were a couple years ago? Our weekly gatherings are where we rally around the announcement of a crucified King.

Which gets us then to a couple purpose statements we find in the last two verses of our text, the truth that Jesus is “The Center of Fellowship.”

THE CENTER OF FELLOWSHIP

Look at the end of 1:3. John says, we proclaim this word of life, “so that you too may have fellowship with us, and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.” Now, we need to accurately get our heads around this idea of fellowship. In most circles today when Christians and churches talk about fellowship it normally doesn’t mean much more than church members hanging out while eating food. But the fellowship John desires is so much deeper in its spiritual soul. G. Campbell Morgan said the word “fellowship” is “a rich and spacious word, full of suggestiveness, almost impossible of full and final translation.” This is not the fellowship of shared identity like you might have with someone who went to the same university or college. It’s not the common association you have with people who root for the same sports team, no matter how emotional that unity could possible be. No, this fellowship is the living communion of people who have a shared, living experience of Jesus Christ. This means, when church members meet together and no one can speak of the way Jesus is moving, mending, and leading in our lives than we shouldn’t call it fellowship at all. When you meet with other Christians, what subjects dominate your conversation? The degree to which your conversations are Christ-centered is the degree to which you are experiencing real fellowship.

We need to recognize from the outset of this book that John is telling us true fellowship is more about corporate experience than personal experience. This letter is going to beat that drum until its truth pounds its way into our hearts. The Christian community is one where the force and energy of collective celebration in Christ supersedes personal preference about Christ. Jesus is the center of faith and fellowship.

THE STARTING BLOCKS OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE

The movie I watched, more than any other, in my childhood years was Chariots of Fire. Have you ever seen it? It’s tells the story of two sprinters competing at the 1924 Olympics: Eric Liddell a devout Christian from Scotland and Harold Abrahams, an English Jews who runs to overcome prejudice. Many scenes from the movie are indelibly inked on my brain, but for whatever reason one shot I thought about this week was when Abrahams takes a little handheld shovel to dig two holes in the track for his starting positions. Starting blocks didn’t come into popular use until 1937.

We know from the rest of the New Testament that the Christian life is a race, and I think our text gives us the two starting blocks for our race. If we are going to start well and thus run well, I believe our text is telling us we launch from two particular things.

Learn about Jesus rightly. He came from the Father to take on flesh in order to give us eternal life. AW Tozer once famously said, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” I think John is saying, “The first thing that comes into our minds when think about Jesus is the most important thing about us.” Who is Jesus to you? Who is Jesus to us? Oh, may He be everything to you, to us! Furthermore, this tells us our faith is a thinking faith. Thinking rightly about Jesus is, literally, a matter of eternal life and death. And 1 John tells us our learning ought to lead to living. Which leads to the second starting block . . .

Live in Jesus joyfully. 1:3 tells us John is writing this message for fellowship, but notice he give another reason in 1:4, “And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.” Do you find an other-worldly joy when you are with the people of God, celebrating and exalting in out fellowship with the Son of God? Learn about Jesus rightly so you may live in Jesus joyfully.

These then are our starting points: learning about Jesus rightly and living in Jesus joyfully. For Jesus is the center of faith and fellowship.

Who is worthy to open the scroll that contains God’s plan for the redemption and judgment of nations?

Revelation 5:1-4 says no ordinary power or person is worthy to open the scroll, but John’s weeping is about to change to worship for we see in 5:5-10 that “The Lamb is Worthy.”

THE LAMB IS WORTHY

The suspense and sorrow is broken for someone has been found for look at what happens in 5:5, “And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” Notice the two identifications of this worthy figure. First, he is “the Lion of the tribe of Judah.” All the way back in Genesis 49 the patriarch Jacob prophesied that the ultimate ruler of God’s people would come from Judah and his lion-like character would lead him to triumph over his enemies. The second qualification is that he is also “the Root of David.” Various Old Testament prophecies said God’s the perpetual ruler of God’s people would come from David, who belonged to the tribe of Judah. But this conqueror isn’t merely common descendent of David, which would make him a branch of David, this victorious Lion is the root of David. Surely Judah’s fierce and fighting Lion can open the scroll!

But notice the stunning paradox in 5:6, “And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain.” Do you see the surprise? The conquering Lion is the slaughtered Lamb. It is the central paradox that God “achieved His triumph and delivered His people, not through the fireworks of military might, but through the weakness of crucifixion.” So too do we now fight our spiritual battles not with military might or political power, but with endurance, purity, and faithfulness to Christ, even to the point of death.

The Lamb stands in the center of heaven as one who had been slain, and the apocalyptic vision is a slain lamb “with seven horns and with seven eyes.” Horns in the Bible frequently symbolize strength and the rest of 5:6 tells us the seven eyes represent the fullness of the Holy Spirit. So this Lamb is no ordinary slaughtered sheep, for the seven horns and seven eyes symbolize the Lamb’s perfect power and knowledge. The Lamb is worthy!

What comes next is what W.A. Criswell called, “The most dramatic moment in all of redemptive history.” Look at 5:7, “And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne.” No one in the entire universe was found worthy to take the scroll, in utter fear would any other person or being approach the throne of God, but with complete confidence the Lamb takes the scroll from the Father’s right hand. And the Father extends the scroll to Him, in effect saying, “It is time to bring my plan for the nations to fruition.”

Look now at 5:8, “And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.” Their new song of 5:9-10 begins,

“Worthy are you to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
for . . .

This song gives us three reasons for the Lamb’s worthiness to take the scroll of history and open its seals.

1. His ransom is final. “For you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God.” He was “slain.” He was slain once and for all, and His blood effectually ransomed people for God. He didn’t make salvation theoretical or merely possible, it was the final ransom and redemption for sinners like you and me.

2. His ransom is universal. Jesus’ blood ransomed people “from every tribe and language and people and nation.” God’s plan to save the nations is accomplished through the work of Jesus on the cross.

3. His ransom assembles. He “made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.” Jesus doesn’t just redeem His people, He assembles them into a kingdom of ruling priests. Which, importantly, was the original purpose of man in the Garden of Eden: to serve as priests and vice-rulers on the earth. He is worthy because He was slain, and His final, universal ransom assembles God’s people into His new covenant kingdom.

If you’re in here tonight and are not a Christian I pray you would understand the incredible news of the Lamb’s has accomplished. Should you remain in unbelief and sin Jesus’ opening of the scroll is most terrifying, for it means that God’s justice will eventually fall on you. But if you turn from your sin and trust in Jesus’ work of salvation Jesus’ taking of the scroll means God’s blessing and grace rain down on you in eternal life. And you can be among that number if you trust him as your Lamb, and submit to him as your Lion, and join the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders and the millions of angels to worship the King of kings with all your heart.

The Lamb alone is worthy to bring God’s purposes to pass and thus is ultimately “Worthy of Worship.”

WORTHY OF WORSHIP

I remember many years ago playing for our country’s national soccer team against Haiti in Ft. Lauderdale. The Haitian population is strong in the area and it felt as though we were playing an away game. Whenever the Haitians connected two or three passes together the crowd would erupt and you’d think they had scored a World Cup winning goal. It actually unnerved me a bit in the last 5-10 minutes of the first half and at half time the coach looked at me and simply said, “Get your composure back.”

Well, if several thousand loud voices were enough to overwhelm my heart, I can only imagine what happened to John in this vision. In 5:11 John hears “the voice of many angels, myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands,” which is something like a heavenly choir of over one hundred million crying out with a loud voice,

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might
and honor and glory and blessing!”

In a stunning turn of events, the same worship of the Father back in chapter four is now extended to Jesus. To Him belongs all “power and wealth and wisdom and might” and so He is due “honor and glory and blessing.” Who receives your highest honor? What receives your greatest glory? What power or majesty receives your strongest shouts of joy?

Notice how the worship of the Lamb is expanded outward, from the four livings creatures and elders, to the myriads of angels, and now in 5:13-14 the worship of Jesus extends to the whole universe, for notice what John says there, “¹³ And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying,

“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”

¹⁴ And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and these elders fell down and worshiped.

He is the Lion who has conquered.

He is the Lamb who was slaughtered.

And so He is the Lord who reigns sovereign over history.

Let us behold the soul-thrilling glory of Christ.

SOUL-THRILLING IMPLICATIONS

Blaise Pascal once said, “Man’s sensitivity to little things and insensitivity to the greatest things are marks of a strange disorder.” Oh, how true that is especially in light of this text. We long for the praise of little men more than to praise the greatest God over the universe. We love pieces of green paper more than God. We love balls of pigskin more than His Son. Our first parents, Adam and Eve, showed us how prone we are to love fruit more than the Father. May God raise our small affections and little adoration tonight.

As we begin to close I simply want to meditate on four things implications for life from beholding this soul-thrilling glory of Christ.

Beholding this soul-thrilling glory of Christ leads us to . . .

Live fearlessly. This lamb-like lion, the elder says, “has conquered.” What is your greatest fear? The satanic Worm who seeks to destroy us? The sin that you feel powerless to conquer? The prospect of death? Revelation 5 reminds us those vaunted foes have lost and will lose, so we live fearlessly.

Preach zealously. He “has ransomed people for God from every tribe, tongue, nation, and language.” We declare the gospel zealously because it’s the power of God to save the nations. The salvation of the nations is the capstone of Christ’s worthiness, so we can share the gospel with confident zeal – for this is the reward of His suffering.

Pray earnestly. Remember what the elders held back in 5:8? “Golden bowls of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.” Not a single prayer for “His kingdom come” is ever lost. What encouragement we have here for our prayers, for this text is telling us that we are never nearer the throne of God than when we our soul bends in prayer. Live fearless, preach zealously, pray earnestly, and finally . . .

Love passionately. A glory-filled and soul-thrilled person is one who increasingly loves Jesus with peculiar passion.

I remember one time sitting in a large Presbyterian church in Dallas waiting for the service to start. Soon I heard a trumpet blast of voices singing “All Creatures of Our God and King”, but there was no choir on the stage and this was no recording. I eventually realized the choir was seated above me in the balcony and oh how the church couldn’t help but be taken up in praise to God.

The choir of angels sings above us now the glory song of Christ and let us join in as we behold the soul-thrilling glory of Christ.

This post is adapted from my recent sermon, “Worthy is the Lamb,” on Revelation 5.

After hearing a series of unimaginable promises about her soon-to-be-conceived son, Mary asks Gabriel that obvious question in Luke 1:34, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” To Mary, the possibility of bearing a child is unimaginable.

Notice how Gabriel responds in 1:35, “And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.” This verse is like a masterpiece of art in the museum of God’s truth, it deserves our deep gaze and rapt attention. Everything about our faith hangs on this truth.

WHY THE VIRGIN BIRTH MATTERS

How can a virgin bear a child? How can a human baby be a divine king? Answer according to Gabriel, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.” The word for “overshadow” appears in the Old Testament when God hovers over the tabernacle, and then again at the Transfiguration when God “overshadows” the mountain. The Father will “overshadow” by the Spirit coming “upon” Mary.

And did you see the sovereign result of this sovereign working of God in 1:35, “therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.” Do you see it? The divine sonship of Jesus depends on the virgin birth by the Spirit. This is why we can never say, as many people have throughout the centuries, that the virgin birth is a meaningless myth. If we lose it, Gabriel says we lose the divinity of Jesus. And if that happens we lose salvation.

To further cement certainty in Mary’s mind notice what Gabriel says next in 1:36-37, “And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” Elizabeth, who carries John the Baptist in her belly, was old and barren. It was humanly impossible for Elizabeth to conceive, yet she has. And Mary will can trust in Gabriel’s word, “For nothing will be impossible with God.” Our God is Lord of the impossible and unimaginable; the virgin birth is our perfect proof. Do you know a God who can do impossible things? Who performs wonder that science says are impossible? That logic says can’t come to pass? Or do you have a God who can only do what man’s knowledge says is possible to do?

REJOICE IN HUMILITY

Let’s see how Mary responds to the unimaginable promises of Gabriel in 1:38, “And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.” Oh may our response to God’s surprising promises and power be like Mary’s, may He help us rejoice in humility. What’s your ordinary stance before God’s word? Is it one of prideful questioning? Fearful doubt? Or joyful humility?

When we see the baby king, let us rejoice! Rejoice from grace, for power, and in humility. Rejoice in the unimaginable birth of Jesus.

IN WONDER AND WORSHIP

Two weeks ago we celebrated Owen’s three-year-old birthday and one of my sisters got him some twelve inch long Avengers action figures. The joy of childhood delight is a wondrous thing to behold. Owen has never seen an Avengers movie or cartoon, but he does have Avengers pajamas and t-shirts and has watched two collective minutes of Avengers action on YouTube. But my how he loves Hulk, Captain American, Thor, and Iron Man. Well he opens up these actions figures at his birthday party and his face was the portrait of childlike wonder. Never before had he conceived of possessing these figures of power and courage.

The correlation to our souls stance towards Christ became so clear to me in that moment. When we come to the birth of Christ we come to the greatest gift of God; a savior born to die for sinners. Let me mention two things in closing that I long to be true of us as we come to the virgin birth.

Come in wonder. Oh how I long for Christ to captivate my attention – our attention. Captivation depends on wonderment. There is wonder aplenty in our text. As Thomas Watson says, “[Christ] was born of a virgin, that we might be born of God. He took our flesh, that He might give us His Spirit. He lay in the manger that we might lie in paradise. He came down from heaven, that He might bring us to heaven. And what was all this but love? If our hearts be not rocks, this love of Christ should affect us. Behold love that surpasses knowledge (Eph. 3:19)!”¹ What brings your soul delightful wonder? May the glory of Christ increasingly captivate you in wonder.

Come to worship. For most of us, one month or so of every year is spent walking on a road marked “Christmas: The King Has Come” and may we always follow it to the intended destination: worship. Come in wonder and come to worship. With newfound meaning and delight let us rejoice in the unimaginable birth of Jesus.

This post is adapted from my recent sermon, “The Baby King,” on Luke 1:26-38.

I spent my 10^th-11^th grade years in Florida playing soccer full-time with a group of 19 other guys from around the country. For two years we lived with each other, fought with each other, and played at the highest level of soccer for our age.

When it came time to say, “Goodbye,” I knew I’d never again spend time with these friends in such a unique – and intense – environment. Even though I’ve not spoken with many of them for some time, I still remember much about each one.

That sensation of saying “farewell” came again this week as our church finished a fourteen-week study of Job. The older I get the more I realize three simple truths: 1) life is short, 2) my ministry is even shorter, and 3) Jesus could come back at any moment. Which means the overwhelming likelihood is that I will never preach through Job again. The overwhelming likelihood is that most members in our church will never hear another sermon series on Job. This is a friend to whom most of us said, “Goodbye,” on Saturday night.. And as we did I wanted to think about a series of things we should remember about this man and His story.

Five summary statements on wise suffering according to Job.

WISE SUFFERING ACCORDING TO JOB

Display God’s glory through your suffering. This is where the story of Job began. Satan said, “Let me take everything from Job and he will curse you. You are only worth worshiping when it brings wealth.” And so God lets the wrath of the Worm falls on Job, but Job never curses God. If you are going through suffering, how might the Snake be tempting you to renege on the glorious worth of God? Might God be using your suffering, like Job’s, to display His glory through your response to the pain? God’s glory is more important than our comfort. Like Job said, “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the ”

Trust God’s sovereignty over your suffering. The book of Job is nothing if God isn’t sovereign over everything in the universe. From our peaking behind the veil of heaven in chapters 1-2 to the whirlwind of 38-41, the God of Job is the God who rules and controls all things. Will God’s sovereignty bring chaos or comfort when you suffer? Will you complain at or cling to God’s sovereignty in your suffering? Which leads to point number three . . .

Cherish God’s mystery within your suffering. If ever there was a place in the Bible to answer the question of how exactly God’s sovereignly rules over evil and suffering, this might be it. But while we get an undeniable portrait of a God who reigns over everything, including the terrors of evil, we are not told how exactly this works out. The book is full of exaltation in God’s mystery. God doesn’t give every answer we want to hear, but every answer we need to hear. The degree to which you are able to cherish God’s mysterious purposes for your suffering will be the degree to which you can persevere through what is often confusing pain.

Remember Christ’s advocacy in your suffering. One the resounding themes in the book is Job’s desire for an advocate, a mediator, to plead his case before God. He is looking forward to the Redeemer who lives and advocates for His people before the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ. “There is one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.” Do you feel alone in your pain? Deserted by God? Remember that Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us. He pleads for God to rain down mercy on His people.

Persevere unto eternity in your suffering. After God revealed Himself in the whirlwind Job’s silence represented his willing submission to suffer until God would take him home. Will you take the short perspective on suffering – get me out of this now! – or the long perspective – it’s only for a brief moment in time before I am with God in glory forever?

This post is adapted from my recent sermon, “The End of Suffering.”

In Job 40:15-41:34 God challenges Job to a wrestling match with two beasts: Behemoth and Leviathan.

Regardless of the actually identity of both beasts (I happen to think Behemoth is a hippo and Leviathan a symbolic sea creature of evil), the purpose of the challenges is clear: God alone can defeat the powers of death and destruction. You can’t do it, I can’t do it, Job can’t do it, but God can. Psalm 104 even tells us that God created this sea monster to “frolic” before him in the remote regions of the ocean rarely sailed upon by human. To the weakness of Job the sea monster is the embodiment of terror, but to almighty God leviathan is just a playful animal in his ocean pool.

FAILING THE TEST OF SOVEREIGNTY

God’s second speech from the whirlwind makes Job consider two overarching questions: “Can you reign in sovereign authority? Rule in sovereign victory?” The answer clearly is, “No, Job, you can’t. But I can and I do.” It’s almost as though God has sat Job down in His whirlwind classroom and given him a standardized test of sovereignty: “Do you know this? Can you do that? Have you seen this? Can you conquer that?” And at each point Job has failed the test, and in our text particularly, he has failed the test of justice and strength.

And we have all failed God’s test. We have tried to be the sovereign over our lives, but our sin only shows our weakness foolishness. The path of sin is the path of self-sovereignty and it’s a path that leads to death. If you are in here tonight and are not a Christian, I want you to see the terrifying power of sin, it’s a monster that you cannot defeat. No amount of effort, goo, or individual strength will cause sin to submit to you. But the good news of Jesus Christ, the gospel, is that God has overcome our failures and beaten sin. He did that by sending His Son Jesus Christ to be born of a virgin, to live in perfect obedience, to die on a cross in the place of sinners, and three days later He rose again. If you would turn from your sin and trust Jesus’ sin-slaying, death-defeating work, everlasting joy and life is yours in Christ.

God has asked Job if he can reign from authority and rule in victory, and now the question at the beginning of chapter 42 is, “Will you respond in simple humility?”

SIMPLE HUMILITY

Look at 42:1-6,

Then Job answered the Lord and said:

² “I know that you can do all things,
and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
³ ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’
Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
⁴ ‘Hear, and I will speak;
I will question you, and you make it known to me.’
⁵ I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,
but now my eye sees you;
⁶ therefore I despise myself,
and repent in dust and ashes.”

If you were to go out to a wheat field during harvest time you’d notice some heads stand up taller than the rest. It’s only those heads that are most mature and well-filled that bend low to the ground, and only the empty heads stand up tall.

God’s whirlwind has filled Job with a true understanding of God and he is brought low in humble repentance; he is nothing compared to this God. How will you respond to this encounter with the God of the whirlwind? It is wise for us to think about the fullness of what we’ve seen from God’s sermon in the storm by mentioning two implications from our text.

FROM COMPLAINT TO CONTENTMENT

First, the problem of complaint at God’s sovereignty. Job wanted God to show up and vindicate him as an innocent suffering and explain why he’s made to suffer so deeply for nothing he’s done. Like Job, our complaints suggest we are wiser than God. And that is a problem God will always answer in some way; Job complains and gets a whirlwind rebuke. God shows up, but there is no explanation why or justification for His sovereign dealings in Job’s suffering. Instead there is a thunderous interrogation with the main thrust of, “Listen and look at my unfathomable greatness!” The complaints of man never further the glory of God. Where in your life right now might you be prone to complaint at God’s sovereignty? Maybe like Job, more than you need to understand God’s sovereignty in your life you need to hear God’s sovereignty over your life?

Second, the power of contentment in God’s sovereignty. Job’s overwhelming encounter with God moves him from spoken complaints at his suffering to silent contentment in His suffering. Here’s why I say contentment: what we see from chapter 42 is that Job is willing to lose everything, to suffer, and to die even without any hope of vindication. But he is not willing to give up on the God who has come to him in sovereign grace. What powerful contentment awaits those who see and submit to God’s sovereign care. Will you complain at or cling to God’s sovereignty over your suffering?

Job will never speak again, but oh how his silence shouts to us – and the kingdom of darkness! Job’s hush is the declaration of God’s supreme worth. Satan said way back in chapter one, “God you are not worth worshiping if people get nothing from you? If Job only gets pain, he will curse you.” Job gets nothing but His sovereign God and it is enough. Surrender to God’s sovereignty will keep you steadfast in suffering.

This post is adapted from my recent sermon, “The Sovereign Speaks Again.”

Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind,
Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?

As he sat among the ash heap with his friends a fierce storm blows across the landscape and out of it pours forth the voice of God. Job has repeatedly said he wants to come to God’s courtroom to speak with the Lord, but the arrival of the whirlwind reminds us that God meets and speaks with man on his own terms.

Job has spoken confident words as if he knows the fullness of God’s governance with the world. He’s said in 12:22 that God brings “deep darkness to light” and in 9:5-6 that God brings disorder where there ought to be order. And so God challenges Job to a confrontation over words and knowledge, look at 38:3,

Dress for action like a man;
I will question you, and you make it known to me.

The language here is taken from the world of wrestling. My boys are in the stage where they like to wrestle with daddy and it’s not uncommon for one of the to cry if the wrestling match doesn’t go their way. I often will say something like, “If you want to wrestle you’ve got to tough it up.” And in many ways that’s what God is saying here to Job, “You want an answer from me? You want to teach me? Well then, man up, for here I come.”

BEHOLD THE MYSTERIOUS KNOWLEDGE OF GOD

Look at what God says in 38:4-5,

“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding.
Who determined its measurements—surely you know!

 Let’s not miss how stunning God’s answer is. He doesn’t offer an explanation for why Job suffers, he doesn’t give some justification for His sovereign dealings in Job’s life, instead He summons Job to an interrogation. In chapters 38-39 God asks Job a series of 43 rhetorical questions. The barrage of questions that come now in chapters 38-39 function as something like a jackhammer to Job’s soul. A spiritual jackhammer was not what Job expected to hear; God is often mysterious in speech towards men. The words from the whirlwind are not what Job wanted to hear, but what he needed to hear. Might something similar be true of your life? Could God even be speaking to you now on what you need to hear, but you are missing it because it’s not what you want to hear?

God’s 43 questions can be broken down into something like seventeen short subsections. Because we don’t have time to look at all seventeen I’m just going to break up God’s speech into it’s two basic and more general parts. The two main points Job needs to hear: 1) God is sovereign over the inanimate world (in other words, the parts of creation that don’t breathe). Notice what he says in 38:8-11,

“Or who shut in the sea with doors
when it burst out from the womb,
when I made clouds its garment
and thick darkness its swaddling band,
and prescribed limits for it
and set bars and doors,
and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther,
and here shall your proud waves be stayed’?

Did you notice the stunning word picture of how God controls the sea and darkness, two common ANE symbols of evil and chaos? He controls it like a mother controls a baby. He lets the sea burst from the womb, He wraps up the darkness in swaddling clothes, and “prescribed limits for it.” God is saying, “If I order evil in this way, do you not think I do the same with your suffering Job?” As one commentator says, “In some mysterious way even darkness is necessary to show forth the light of God’s goodness.” I wonder if you will trust God sovereignty even when evil and suffering seem to rule on this earth. Will you condemn him as impotent? Decry him as cruel? Or cling to His mysterious goodness?

God goes on to talk about his control of the morning, seas, and recesses of the deep. And notice now the questions of 38:18-21,

Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth?
Declare, if you know all this.

Where is the way to the dwelling of light,
and where is the place of darkness,
that you may take it to its territory
and that you may discern the paths to its home?
You know, for you were born then,
and the number of your days is great!

Here then is a key implication from the first part of God’s interrogation of Job: Man’s knowledge is limited. It’s a dangerous thing to presume to know what God is doing in any given situation, our knowledge is so limited, yet God knows the expanses of all the inanimate world. There is incredible mystery in this speech. And it is not cowardly to get to a point when thinking about God and say, “I’m not sure how that all works out.” The great Dutch theologian Herman Bavinck said, “Mystery is the lifeblood of dogmatics.” An infinite, incomprehensible God cannot be fully comprehended by finite minds. And that is what Job is discovering.

He goes on to say He reigns sovereign over the snow (38:22-23), rain and lightning (38:24-28), ice (38:29-30), planets and constellations (38:31-33), clouds (38:34), and then look at the amazing question of 38:35,

Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go
and say to you, ‘Here we are’?

What an incredible picture! God is saying, “Do the lightning bolts report to you each day and say, ‘Here we are, where will you send us today Job?’ No, but I give every bolt its intending destination.” There is no one like our God.

Several years ago the BBC and Discovery Channel spent five years on the most expensive nature documentary ever commissioned: Planet Earth. I’m sure many of you have seen it. The series comprises eleven episodes, each of which features a global overview of a different biome or habitat on Earth. And the images and videos are simply stunning? The animal world is more majestic and wild than anything we can imagine.

And that is exactly the point God makes in the remainder of his interrogation.

BEHOLD GOD’S MAJESTIC POWER

For God is not only sovereign over the inanimate world, but 2) God is sovereign over the animate world. And this world is wild.

In 38:39-41 God says the wild is full of predators and prey, and notice now what he says in 39:5-6,

“Who has let the wild donkey go free?
Who has loosed the bonds of the swift donkey,
to whom I have given the arid plain for his home
and the salt land for his dwelling place?

Skip down to 39:9-10,

“Is the wild ox willing to serve you?
Will he spend the night at your manger?
Can you bind him in the furrow with ropes,
or will he harrow the valleys after you?

Now look at 39:19-20,

“Do you give the horse his might?
Do you clothe his neck with a mane?
Do you make him leap like the locust?
His majestic snorting is terrifying.

Finally, see 38:26-27,

“Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars
and spreads his wings toward the south?
Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up
and makes his nest on high?

The animal world is wildly majestic and who controls all of it? The sovereign God who speaks to Job in the whirlwind. Which leads to a couple other implications for Job and us: Man’s power is limited. When compared to God’s power over all creation our power is just a drop of water in the ocean of God’s omnipotence. John Calvin wrote at the beginning of his Institutes that true knowledge of who we are only comes when we have a true knowledge of who God is. “We are led to acknowledge our frailty only when we have measured ourselves against the majesty of God,” he wrote. The question for Job, and for us, is which power will you cling to? The power that struggles to even climb a small mountain, or the power made the mountain with a word?

We also need to see from God’s interrogation that man’s wisdom is limited. Look back at 38:36-37,

Who has put wisdom in the inward parts
or given understanding to the mind?
Who can number the clouds by wisdom?

The wisdom of God is matchless compared to the wisdom of men. So, there is another question God means to storm forward in our minds: Whose wisdom will you follow?