FBC Morning Light – April 15, 2022

Well, a good Friday morning to you. This is a day we reflect upon and remember our

Lord's death and the crucifixion. We gathered together on Maundy Thursday evening last night and reflected upon that death on the cross.

But all of this is looking forward to Resurrection Sunday just a couple of days away. On that particular morning, just a reminder of our schedule of service for the day.

We're having an early service at 8 o 'clock, a sunrise service. This will be a relatively brief service at 8 o 'clock.

And then after that service at 8 .45, we'll have a brunch together from 8 .45

until Sunday school time at 9 .30, Bible study in Sunday school at 9 .30.

And then 10 .30, the regular morning service, a worship service celebrating the resurrection of our

Lord from the tomb. So, if you can make it on the Lord's Day for any or all of those services,

I encourage you to do so. It would be a great blessing to you, I know, and we'll enjoy our fellowship together around the things of the

Lord. Today, we're back in the book of Job. Once again, we're going to see that a little theological truth can be misapplied to great hurt because we don't see things that God sees.

We don't see the whole picture. We don't see beneath the surface.

That's a warning for us. We want to be theologically accurate.

We need to be theologically accurate, but we want to be careful that we don't misapply an aspect of theological truth to the neglect of other truth.

We see this now in the response of Zophar, another one of Job's friends.

Notice how he rightly says in chapter 11, verse 6, at the end of the verse, he says,

Know therefore that God exacts from you less than your iniquity deserves.

I'm reading that from the New King James. Know therefore that God exacts from you less than your iniquity deserves.

I can say amen to that. I know that that's true.

I know if I got what I deserve, it would be far worse than anything

I've experienced. This is the mercy of God, that he does not deal with us as our iniquities deserve and merit.

But the problem is, Zophar is looking at all of the misery that Job has experienced, and he is assuming that all of that misery – the loss of his children, the loss of all of his possessions, the loss of his health –

Zophar is assuming that all of that is a consequence of Job's iniquity.

It's God's judgment on him for his sin, and he is saying that in all of this woe and misery that you've endured, you haven't received what you deserve.

God hasn't exacted out of you everything that your iniquity deserves. It's not exactly very helpful.

It's also not accurate, because his assumption, again, is that Job's misery, his woe, his losses, are expressions of God's judgment, and that's not the case.

But because he assumes that and he misapplies that theological truth, he's going to create other problems for him in his thinking along the way.

He rightly says, notice in verses 7 to 10, that the depth of God's wisdom and understanding are unfathomable.

Here's what he says, can you search out the deep things of God? No. Can you find out the limits of the

Almighty? No. He says they are higher than the heaven. What can you do?

You're right, they are. They're deeper than Sheol, the grave. What can you know?

I agree, I can't fully comprehend God. Their measure, the limits of God, of the

Almighty, their measure is longer than the earth and broader than the sea. Yes, I would agree,

I affirm that. I can't fully comprehend him. If he passes by, imprisons, and gathers to judgment in verse 10, he says, then who can hinder him?

Agreed. If God is determined to pass judgment, then he's determined to pass judgment.

Nobody's going to hinder him. I agree, I affirm that. There's theological truth, but then comes the problem of misapplication.

He fails to apply the truth properly and he assumes that Job's condition is the result of God determining to gather to judgment and Job therefore can't hinder him.

So he failed to see how this all applies to Job's circumstances.

So in verses 11 and 12, he says, for God knows deceitful men, he sees wickedness also.

You see him looking at Job in a particular way. Will he not then consider it?

For an empty -headed man will be wise when a wild donkey's colt is born a man.

He's basically saying, look, you're an empty -headed man.

You're not going to be wise until a colt is born a man. In verses 14 to 20, he said, if iniquity were in your hand and you put it far away and would not let wickedness dwell in your tents, then surely you could lift up your face without spot.

In other words, if you just repent of your sin and you get rid of it, then you could hold your head high.

He goes on, because you would forget your misery and remember it as waters that have passed away and your life would be brighter than noonday if you would just repent.

Though you were dark, you would be like the morning, and you would be secure because there is hope.

Yes, you would dig around you and take your rest in safety. You would also lie down, and no one would make you afraid.

Yes, many would court your favor. But the eyes of the wicked will fail, and they shall not escape, and their hope, loss of life.

What's Zophar's basic message here? God, in the depths of his work against you,

Job, that you can't fully understand, is punishing you for your sin.

If you would just repent and turn from your sin, then your darkness would be turned to light, and you would have hope and joy, and you could lift up your head again, and you would be well again, and all would be good, and the birds would sing, and the sun would shine, and the rain would stop, and the gloom would end.

He's taking true theological points and applying them inappropriately because it's only one part of the picture.

He doesn't see the whole thing. That is an error that is too easy to make.

Let's be sure we don't follow in Zophar's footsteps. Let's see all of the truth and hold it together, and then we can see things more accurately and apply that truth more appropriately.

Father, deliver us, I pray, from the errors of Zophar. Truly, O Lord, your ways are past finding out.

Truly, there's a depth to your work, and truly you deal with us less than our iniquity deserves.

But Father, let us be careful not to see those truths to the exclusion of others, that you have other purposes in mind, even for difficulties and hardships and trials that come our way.

So bless these thoughts to our hearts, we pray, and we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. All right, well have a good rest of your

Friday, and hope the Lord will give you a wonderful weekend, a good Resurrection Sunday, and let's worship our risen