Simple Faith

Bill Henry: If he allowed it to happen to Job, guess what guys and gals, he will allow it to happen in our lives at times too. I don't understand why God's allowing me to suffer. I don't understand why God allowed this to happen or that to happen. Hey, we may never know exactly why God allowed that, but we do know that God is working in and through that for his perfect will, good pleasure, and for our good. And I don't know about you guys and gals, but I find great peace in that.

Guest (Male): A good friend during a tough time can really be a blessing. But what about when friends make you feel like you've been in the presence of enemies? Well, we enter into the fifth chapter of Job today on Simple Faith with Pastor Bill Henry. And Job very easily could have said, "With friends like these, who needs enemies?"

Here in this section, we see that Bildad, Zophar, and Eliphaz missed the whole point. They assumed that Job was in need of repentance, but nothing could have been further from the truth. Here's Pastor Bill Henry.

Bill Henry: So as we come to chapter five, we remember that at the end of chapter four, we were in the middle of a diatribe, if you will, of one of Job's friends. Back in chapters one and two, Job had gone through much suffering. And then finally in chapter three, after seven days of silence, and even as he's still suffering physically, he finally just kind of lets some of it out, what he's been feeling. He still didn't curse the Lord, but he cursed the day that he was born and wished it never happened and all these other things.

And so Eliphaz, one of his friends, decided, "Hey, I'm going to chime in now and I'm going to give my own diatribe and just kind of go on and tell you advice on why you're suffering." So Eliphaz, if you remember, basically started by giving his own thoughts and own experiences as reference. And that he had never seen the innocent suffer, so it had to be that Job couldn't be innocent.

Then he went on to talk about—you remember that he had a vision and that a spirit that made his skin crawl had appeared to him. And the counsel that the spirit gave him was basically that God trusted in no one and that he simply crushed those whom he pleased. You'll remember the spirit seemed to have said some things that were eerily similar to Satan as he was before the throne of God in chapters one and two. So I believe he's at work here again.

You'll notice that Satan—there'll be direct attacks. Spiritual warfare is real if you don't know it. And there'll be direct spiritual attacks against us. Sometimes it can be physical. Sometimes, as we see here, it can be through other circumstances. Sometimes it'll be in our dreams. A lot of times though, he uses people that are close to us. And let's be honest, even with our own flesh, our flesh will go right along with Satan sometimes. Job's wife: "Hey, just curse God and die." And then we have Eliphaz here just basically bloviating on what he thinks the whole answer to everything is.

We continue with this bloviating in verse one of chapter five. "Call now. Is there anyone who will answer you? To which of the holy ones will you turn?" In other words, basically saying who are you going to call? Ghostbusters? You can't call them either. Look, you can't call upon God. You can't call upon any of the holy ones, referencing probably to angels. There's nobody's going to help you. God's not going to help you. The angels aren't going to help you. You have nobody, buddy. Everybody's against you.

Look at verse two. "Surely vexation kills the fool, and jealousy slays the simple." Vexation here in the Hebrew means grief or wrath or sorrow. And so now he's basically saying you shouldn't have any sorrow, you shouldn't have any grief over all these things. And jealousy kills the simple.

Verse three. "I have seen the fool taking root, but suddenly I cursed his dwelling." If you don't get what he's saying here, suddenly now he's calling his friend a fool. Saying that he's a fool and cursing his dwelling, if you will. And then now in verse four, he goes on to bring up his children and his livestock and his harvest.

"His children are far from safety. They are crushed in the gate." So again, talking about Job, talking about the fool. "And there is no one to deliver them. The hungry eat his harvest and take it even takes it out of thorns, and the thirsty pant after his wealth. For affliction does not come from the dust, nor trouble sprout from the ground." In other words, look, it doesn't just come from nowhere, he's saying. Eliphaz is saying, "Look, you had to have done something wrong, Job. Just confess it, man. Just own up to it, bro. Because it doesn't come out of nowhere."

Verse seven. "But man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward." Verse eight. "But as for me, I would seek God." So, "Hey, if I were you, I'd seek God. And to God I would commit my cause, who does great things and unsearchable marvelous things without number. He gives rain on the earth and sends water on the fields. He sets on high those who are lowly, and those who mourn are lifted to safety. He frustrates the devices of the crafty, so their hands achieve no success."

So again, indirectly, Eliphaz now is—he's called him a fool directly, but now he's basically saying, "Look, for the good people, when you commit your way to God, none of this bad stuff would happen." Obviously, not only is there sin, you're just not very godly. And so because we know that this is what God does, he basically prospers anybody who is his.

It's interesting, we read in Matthew 5:45 where Jesus said, "He makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the just and on the unjust." It can be difficult when we as Christians look around and we might be struggling. Maybe it's financially, maybe it's physically, maybe it's in some other area. And we see others who are not struggling, that are in the world, that aren't Christian, or if they say they say they're Christian but they're living out in the world, and yet they seem to be being blessed by God. They're making money, they're healthy, they're doing all these things.

We need to remember, beloved in Christ, that most times—and I would say all the time—the main way that God blesses his people is spiritually. You see, all these things God knows—we were just singing, God knows that we have need of the things of the earth. He knows that as he gives rain to the earth, he sends water on the fields, verse 10 in our text. He sets on high those who are lowly, and those who mourn are lifted to safety. He frustrates the devices of the crafty, so that their hands achieve no success.

So again as we see sometimes the evil prospering, we can begin to question sometimes the goodness of God. We can begin to kind of almost look at other people, even other Christians, and say, "Hey, whoa. There's something wrong in your life, bro. You have some kind of unconfessed sin. If you just confessed your sin, you wouldn't be sick anymore. Or if you had enough faith, you'd be rich and healthy, wealthy and wise and all these things."

And yet even Jesus says once again, Matthew 5:45, "He makes his sun rise on the evil and the good." What is it that someone said, a wise man once said? Basically, for the unsaved on earth, this is as good as it's ever going to be for all eternity. And yet for the Christian, this is going to be the hardest it's ever going to be for all eternity.

And guys and gals, just remember that the things that the Lord allows to go into our lives, remember that he's allowing it for a reason, that he works all things together for good to those who love him and those who are called according to his purpose. Again, the world tells you to take your mind off of that. Even, sadly, much of the church today.

Be careful. Look at verse 13. He continues on, he doesn't let up. "He catches the wise in their own craftiness, and the scheme of the wily are brought to a quick end." Now, remember, he's not saying this basically to encourage Job. He's saying these things to blame Job. Verse 14. "They meet with darkness in the daytime and grope at noontime as in the night. But he saves the needy from the sword of their mouth and from the hand of the mighty. So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts her mouth."

So again, once again, Eliphaz is blaming Job directly for his suffering. Basically saying in different ways, the Lord would rescue him if he were innocent. Now, again as we mentioned last week, and likely will mention many times throughout the book of Job because it's very pertinent for the church today, that this is what the manifestation movement today—they call it the manifestation movement in the church today. When I was younger, it was called the Word Faith movement and all these different things. Benny Hinn, Kenneth Copeland, Kenneth Hagin, Marilyn Hickey. You just go on and on with all these heretics that would teach this false gospel.

It's a really sad thing, again, that if you're sick or if you're poor, et cetera, and you're a Christian, it's all your fault. You have some hidden sin in your life. You just don't have enough faith. I remember many years ago, I met a lady as we were going to Calvary Costa Mesa together, her and her husband, and they were very down-trodden. She ended up singing in a worship band I was in. And she had lupus. And lupus, if you don't know, is a disease that makes your body, different parts of your body, attack itself at different times. It can be your nerves, it can be your sight, it can be your heart and just all these different things.

So she was in a Word Faith movement, "name it and claim it" if you will, "manifest through your words" kind of church. And they ended up crashing and burning because she was there for several years and all these people just kept blaming her because she was never healed. And she came out of it crushed, like, "I'm a terrible Christian, I'm this and that." And it was really sad. But it was neat to see her come under some good biblical teaching, that the Lord brought healing into her life. Not physically—she ended up dying of lupus—but man, she had this peace before that because she knew that this wasn't a result of some sin that she had in her life.

Now, as we talked last week, I'm going to say it again, could there be sin in our life that brings sickness? Of course there can. And can lack of faith also affect? Of course it can. But again, we need to understand that Job's friend here is charging him now. That Job was, basically in verse 13, he had his own craftiness, implying again that Job is in sin and that he was simply hiding it and he was kind of crafty about hiding his sin.

Yet remember from God's own mouth in chapters one and two, God said a couple different times that without a doubt, Job's suffering had nothing to do with his faith or with sin. Matter of fact, it did have to do with his faith in a way, if you will. God said, "Is there anybody that is more upstanding in all the earth? No." And so again, we need to understand too that Jesus—we talked about this last week, I'm going to say it again—Jesus addresses this false theology several times through the gospels, along with other places in his word.

John 9:1-3: "As Jesus passed by, he saw a man who was blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, 'Rabbi, who sinned? This man or his parents, that he was born blind?' And Jesus answered, 'Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.'" And I believe that's exactly what's happening as we continue in Job. And as we go on, especially when the Lord finally enters the conversation, that that is exactly what God has allowed to happen in Job's life.

If he allowed it to happen to Job, guess what guys and gals, he will allow it to happen in our lives at times too. I don't understand why God's allowing me to suffer. I don't understand why God allowed this to happen or that to happen. Hey, we may never know exactly why God allowed that, but we do know that God is working in and through that for his perfect will, good pleasure, and for our good. And I don't know about you guys and gals, but I find great peace in that.

Look at verse 17. "Behold, blessed is the one whom God reproves. Therefore, despise not the discipline of the Almighty." And again, he's saying, "Hey, Job. Look, man, you should be rejoicing. Blessed is the one whom God reproves. God is reproving you, therefore despise not the discipline of the Almighty." So again, you know, what he's telling him actually is the truth, but the truth is he's also accusing Job of sin that isn't there.

Beloved in Christ, is it true that God blesses those whom he reproves? It is. Psalm 94:12: "Blessed is the man whom you discipline, O Lord, and whom you teach out of your law." Hebrews 12:5-6: "And have you forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons? My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by him; for whom the Lord loves he chastens, and scourges every son whom he receives."

But notice what Eliphaz is doing. Eliphaz is using truth to sneak in a lie. You see, when you hear a false teacher or maybe even somebody comes to you and they're giving you 90 percent Scripture and maybe 95 percent, but then they're twisting and contorting that last five percent or adding onto it or taking away from it or taking it out of context. We need to be careful of this. And don't listen to when somebody tells you something, it's like, "Hey, this is what the Bible says." Really, let's go look at it. "Do you know the Bible says that there is no God? Do you know that? I can show you right to the place where it says there is no God." Well, yeah. Let's take it in context and go back and it says, "The fool has said in his heart, there is no God."

Be careful. There's so many Scriptures that the world today likes to throw at us. And it always comes with a portion of truth. That's how Satan works. "Hath God truly said you shall not eat of any of the trees of the fruit of the garden?" And Eve: "Yeah, that's basically what he said. We can eat everything except this one tree." And we have to be careful because Satan always twists and that's what people do. And that's what Eliphaz is doing as he's tearing down more and more.

If I could encourage you guys and gals as we're going through this, if you have people in your life that are continually tearing you down, take a break from them. It's okay to shut them off. "Well, isn't it more loving not to?" Hey, you know what? If you're crashing and burning in the midst of it, then that's not of God. If you're finding you're stronger and stronger in the midst of it, praise God. But no, if somebody just continues to attack and, like what's happening here, it's okay to say, "Hey, hit the road, Jack. I love you, I'll pray for you, but man, look. This what you're saying is not true. It's not of God." And especially if someone names the name of Christ.

Go read 1 Corinthians 5 and 6 and how Paul deals with that. It's very strong because remember, a little leaven leavens the whole bunch. Bad company corrupts good morals. Be careful what you allow into your mind, especially by those who are your family and those who are your friends. Be careful because if they're continually spewing these things at you and attacking you—and again, I'm not talking about witnessing. I'm just talking about this. Be careful to let them into your personal zone. That's where these guys are. They're in his personal zone.

But again, let's take a step back real quick. So Eliphaz, what he's basically doing here is he's judging Job. He's basically claiming to know why Job is suffering. He knows why Job is suffering. That's what he's saying. And if we take another step back, have we ever done this with somebody else? Have we ever looked at somebody from the outside and judged them? I'm going to raise my hand first. I still do it sometimes. And if we're honest with ourselves, we all have that tendency. Why? Because we all have this stuff right here. It's called flesh. Anybody have this stuff hanging on your bones right now? Yeah. And it loves to judge other people.

Maybe even as Christians, the flesh in us still likes to judge others because it makes me feel better. You find somebody that's really spiritual. Okay, I gotta find a flaw so I'm more spiritual than they are. And it's a terrible thing. But we have to be careful. Have we ever done this with someone, a friend, a family member, a Christian brother or sister? Tearing them down instead of building them up?

That's what we're supposed to do by the way, as the body of Christ. We're to edify. The word 'edify' in the Greek literally means to build up. Are we those who are building up or are we tearing down? I know sadly so many marriages, even Christian marriages, they just tear each other down. Tear their children down or the children are tearing the parents down, all in the name of Jesus, if you will. Man, that's terrible.

But again, it can be so easy to fall into judging another man's servant. Paul had to warn the Roman church. In Romans 14:4 he said, "Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls, and he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand." It's one thing if Job was in blatant sin and he was being approached by Eliphaz and saying, "Bro, you're in this sin. God calls this sin, you need to repent." It's the same thing today. But if we don't know, how about we show love and we show grace and we show mercy? Be careful, man. Be careful is all I'm saying.

Now, some people hear these words, "Oh, grace, mercy. What are you talking about? We need more legalism!" It's like, "No thanks. No thank you." My old pastor used to say, "If I'm going to err, may I err on the side of grace." Again, that doesn't mean a license to sin. But Eliphaz definitely isn't erring on the side of grace.

Look at verse 18. "For he wounds, and he binds up; he shatters, but his hands heal. He will deliver you from six troubles; even in seven, no evil shall touch you." Again, talking about the one who is righteous and God will do these things for them. Verse 20. "In famine he will redeem you from death, and in war from the power of the sword." So again, he's charging, "Hey Job, if you just simply repent, receive the Lord's punishment, his chastisement, the Lord would heal you. He'd deliver you. That's who he is. He would heal you, deliver you from six troubles, no, seven." Notice even death and the power of war and the sword, he would have peace in his life.

Look, anyone who takes just a momentary look around today, even here in the church, people that you know and love have died in war that love Jesus. They've died in hospitals or at home or in some accident or have been attacked. So he is so far off. But again, how wicked it is to do it in the name of God. Even more so. It's one thing to say, "Hey, it's my opinion that this and that." No, but to do it—"Well, if you were really a Christian, if you were really godly." Man.

Verse 21. "You shall be hidden from the lash of the tongue. You shall not fear destruction when it comes. At destruction and famine you shall laugh, and you shall not fear the beasts of the earth."

Guest (Male): This has been Simple Faith with Pastor Bill Henry from Simple Faith Calvary Chapel in Vancouver, Washington. Today, we brought you a message from Pastor Bill from his series in the book of Job. It's our sincere hope and prayer that you've been blessed by the words you've heard from Pastor Bill today.

And if you'd like to share today's message with someone, it's available at our website to either watch or listen, and you can even download an audio MP3 version. We have a large number of Pastor Bill's messages archived, and you can find them all at simplefaith.org. That's simplefaith.org. Click the Media tab, and if you'd like to contact us, just click the Contact tab on our website. And there's a tab at the top of our homepage where you can also send us a prayer request.

You can also call us at the church at 833-BY-GRACE. That's 833-294-7223. And if you'd like to write to us, our mailing address is Post Office Box 55, Battle Ground, Washington 98604. Here at Simple Faith Calvary Chapel, we have two services on Sunday morning at 9:00 and 10:45, and a great time of study in God's Word Wednesday night at 7:00 PM. We'd love to have you come visit us, and make sure you say hi to Pastor Bill and let him know you listen to Simple Faith.

For more information and directions, go to simplefaith.org. And you can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Thanks for joining us today. Be sure to join us next time as our series in Job continues here on Simple Faith with Pastor Bill Henry. And be sure to join us for the Saturday edition of Simple Faith and our series in 1 Thessalonians. This program is brought to you by Simple Faith Calvary Chapel in Vancouver, Washington.