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E-pistle

FreeWay Foundation            May 23, 2014

 

Though he slay me, yet I'll trust him

(Job 13:1-28)

Dr. Curt Scarborough

 

 

I.  Concentration:  on the contents of this chapter

            1.  Job called his friends "forgers of lies" and "worthless physicians,"

     and he told them to be silent and quit showing their ignorance,

     vv. 1-5.

            2.  Job accused them of speaking wickedly and deceitfully for God

     with

     "platitudes . . . proverbs of ashes," and he warned them that some

     day God would search out and rebuke them, and the dread of the

     Lord would fall upon them, vv. 6-12.

            3.  Job commanded them to shut up and let him speak . . . "then let

     come what may," (v. 13); he was ready to state his case which, he

     thought, would vindicate him (v. 18); he reached a mountain-top

     confession of faith when he proclaimed:  "Though he slay me, yet

     will I trust Him," (v. 15), vv. 13-19.

            4.  Job, in his despondency, prayed for two particular favors from the

     Lord, after which, he said, they could communicate with others about

     his situation, vv. 20-28. 

II.  Meditation:  on Job's prayer to God

            1.  The first of the two favors Job requested was that God would not

     withdraw His hand far from him . . . that the Lord would not forsake or

     abandon him, v. 21.

            2.  The second favor was that God would not frighten him, v. 21.

            3.  "Then," Job said, "call and I will answer," v. 22 . . . asking the Lord to

      take the initiative and speak first.

            4.  "Or," Job suggested, "let me speak, then You respond to me," v. 22.

III.  Revelation:  on Job's great confession of faith in God (v. 15)

            1.  Job recognized God's power and authority to take his life.

            2.  Job stated the possibility that God would "slay" him, but the implication

     was that he hoped the Lord would not take that step.

            3.  Job thought through his entire situation, and again made the conscious

     decision to refuse to renounce God before he died, Job 2:9-10.

            4.  Job chose to believe in God's justice, to maintain his faith in God's grace,

     and to trust his future to God's mercy . . . no matter what!

IV.  Applications:  as a Christian, I need to . . .

            1.  Know that the Lord will never leave me nor forsake me.

            2.  Through repentance and faith, keep the lines of communication open

     between the Lord and me.

            3.  Rely upon the boundless love, mercy, and grace which the Lord freely

     extends to me.

            4.  Serve the Lord faithfully, with unwavering trust and confide in Him.

 

 

 

 

Praying with the affection of Christ

(Philippians 1:8-11)

Dr. Curt Scarborough

 

I.  Concentration:  on Paul's prayer for the Philippians (vv. 8-11)

            1.  That your love may abound still more in knowledge and all discernment.

            2.  That you may approve the things that are excellent.

            3.  That you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ.

            4.  (That you may be) filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by

                 Christ Jesus, to the glory and praise of God.

II.  Meditation:  on the spiritual traits in this text

            1.  Spiritual vision, v. 9.

            2.  Spiritual values, v. 10.

            3.  Spiritual virtue, v. 10.

            4.  Spiritual vitality, v. 11.

III.  Revelation:  on spiritual discernment regarding these ideas

            1.  Abounding love results from knowing Christ intimately and discerning

                 His will . . . SPIRITUAL VISION.

            2.  Such love (knowledge and discernment) causes a believer to be pleased

                 with (accept and commend) things that are worthy, choice, and remarkably

                 good . . . SPIRITUAL VALUES.

            3.  Spiritual vision (#1) plus Spiritual values (#2) produces SPIRITUAL VIRTUE:

                 integrity – "sincere and without offense," v. 10.

            4.  Spiritual vision (#1) plus Spiritual values (#2) plus spiritual virtue (#3) produce

                 SPIRITUAL VITALITY . . . fruitfulness:  "filled with the fruits of righteousness,"

     v. 11.

IV.  Applications:  as a Christian, I need to . . .

            1.  SPIRITUAL VISION – knowledge and discernment of God's love.

            2.  SPIRITUAL VALUES – accepting and commending God's best.

            3.  SPIRITUAL VIRTUES – integrity:  sincerity without offense.

            4.  SPIRITUAL VITALITY – bearing much fruit.

 

PRAYER:  Lord, give me greater knowledge of Your love and greater discernment of Your

                    purpose.  Help me to prioritize the things which are spiritually excellent and

                    valuable.  Strengthen me to walk in unfailing integrity.  Use me to produce

                    abundant fruits of righteousness.  AMEN

 

 

GREAT EXPECTATIONS

On the first day of school, a teacher was glancing over the roll when she noticed a number after each student's name,

such as 154, 136, or 142.  "WOW! Look at these IQs," she said to herself.  "What a terrific class."  The teacher

promptly determined to work harder with this class than with any other she ever had.

Throughout the year, she came up with innovative lessons that she thought would challenge the students,

because she didn't want them to get bored with work that was too easy.  Her plan worked!  The class

outperformed all the other classes that she taught in the usual way.

Then, during the last quarter of the year, she discovered what those numbers after the students'

name really were:  their locker numbers!

Taken from "Good Stuff"

 

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