Bible Heaven/Bible Heaven.iso/online/mhcc21/v21000

Text File | 1994-03-02 | 6KB | 102 lines

21007
 #20-22 Bildad here assures Job, that as he was so he should
 fare; therefore they concluded, that as he fared so he was. God
 will not cast away an upright man; he may be cast down for a
 time, but he shall not be cast away for ever. Sin brings ruin on
 persons and families. Yet to argue, that Job was an ungodly,
 wicked man, was unjust and uncharitable. The mistake in these
 reasonings arose from Job's friends not distinguishing between
 the present state of trial and discipline, and the future state
 of final judgment. May we choose the portion, possess the
 confidence, bear the cross, and die the death of the righteous;
 and, in the mean time, be careful neither to wound others by
 rash judgments, nor to distress ourselves needlessly about the
 opinions of our fellow-creatures.
21010
 * Job acknowledges God's justice. (1-13) He is not able to
 contend with God. (14-21) Men not to be judged by outward
 condition. (22-24) Job complains of troubles. (25-35)

 #1-13 In this answer Job declared that he did not doubt the
 justice of God, when he denied himself to be a hypocrite; for
 how should man be just with God? Before him he pleaded guilty of
 sins more than could be counted; and if God should contend with
 him in judgment, he could not justify one out of a thousand, of
 all the thoughts, words, and actions of his life; therefore he
 deserved worse than all his present sufferings. When Job
 mentions the wisdom and power of God, he forgets his complaints.
 We are unfit to judge of God's proceedings, because we know not
 what he does, or what he designs. God acts with power which no
 creature can resist. Those who think they have strength enough
 to help others, will not be able to help themselves against it.

21023
 #14-21 Job is still righteous in his own eyes, ch. #32:1|, and
 this answer, though it sets forth the power and majesty of God,
 implies that the question between the afflicted and the Lord of
 providence, is a question of might, and not of right; and we
 begin to discover the evil fruits of pride and of a
 self-righteous spirit. Job begins to manifest a disposition to
 condemn God, that he may justify himself, for which he is
 afterwards reproved. Still Job knew so much of himself, that he
 durst not stand a trial. If we say, We have no sin, we not only
 deceive ourselves, but we affront God; for we sin in saying so,
 and give the lie to the Scripture. But Job reflected on God's
 goodness and justice in saying his affliction was without cause.

21031
 #22-24 Job touches briefly upon the main point now in dispute.
 His friends maintained that those who are righteous and good,
 always prosper in this world, and that none but the wicked are
 in misery and distress: he said, on the contrary, that it is a
 common thing for the wicked to prosper, and the righteous to be
 greatly afflicted. Yet there is too much passion in what Job
 here says, for God doth not afflict willingly. When the spirit
 is heated with dispute or with discontent, we have need to set a
 watch before our lips.

21034
 #25-35 What little need have we of pastimes, and what great need
 to redeem time, when it runs on so fast towards eternity! How
 vain the enjoyments of time, which we may quite lose while yet
 time continues! The remembrance of having done our duty will be
 pleasing afterwards; so will not the remembrance of having got
 worldly wealth, when it is all lost and gone. Job's complaint of
 God, as one that could not be appeased and would not relent, was
 the language of his corruption. There is a Mediator, a Daysman,
 or Umpire, for us, even God's own beloved Son, who has purchased
 peace for us with the blood of his cross, who is able to save to
 the uttermost all who come unto God through him. If we trust in
 his name, our sins will be buried in the depths of the sea, we
 shall be washed from all our filthiness, and made whiter than
 snow, so that none can lay any thing to our charge. We shall be
 clothed with the robes of righteousness and salvation, adorned
 with the graces of the Holy Spirit, and presented faultless
 before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. May we
 learn the difference between justifying ourselves, and being
 thus justified by God himself. Let the tempest-tossed soul
 consider Job, and notice that others have passed this dreadful
 gulf; and though they found it hard to believe that God would
 hear or deliver them, yet he rebuked the storm, and brought them
 to the desired haven. Resist the devil; give not place to hard
 thoughts of God, or desperate conclusions about thyself. Come to
 Him who invites the weary and heavy laden; who promises in
 no wise to cast them out.
21045
 * Job complains of his hardships. (1-7) He pleads with God as
 his Maker. (8-13) He complains of God's severity. (14-22)

 #1-7 Job, being weary of his life, resolves to complain, but he
 will not charge God with unrighteousness. Here is a prayer that
 he might be delivered from the sting of his afflictions, which
 is sin. When God afflicts us, he contends with us; when he
 contends with us, there is always a reason; and it is desirable
 to know the reason, that we may repent of and forsake the sin
 for which God has a controversy with us. But when, like Job, we
 speak in the bitterness of our souls, we increase guilt and
 vexation. Let us harbour no hard thoughts of God; we shall
 hereafter see there was no cause for them. Job is sure that God
 does not discover things, nor judge of them, as men do;
 therefore he thinks it strange that God continues him under
 affliction, as if he must take time to inquire into his sin.