Righteousness out of Pain

If my little girl comes running and screaming into the house with a giant wooden splinter stuck in her hand, whose fault is that?

If you’ve been with us as we’ve looked at the story of Job, I hope you are quick to answer, “I don’t know.” Job has shown us that in painful and difficult times, as desperately as we want answers to our questions, they aren’t going to come easily, and they may not even come at all—at least not in the way we expect.

Now, not having answers doesn’t mean that we should ignore the possibilities.

Job’s friends argued that Job’s troubles came because there was some unconfessed, hidden sin in his life. Job responded that they were completely wrong. And we know they’re wrong too. Job was a righteous man.

But saying that Job’s suffering is not a result of sin, doesn’t mean that suffering is never the result of sin. You need to understand that. Job’s pain is not a consequence of his sin. But there are some occasions where pain and difficulty are the result of sin.

We have numerous examples in the Bible where God brings immediate, consequential pain on an individual or a group of people for sin. It starts in Genesis 3 with the sin of Adam and Eve, and it continues all throughout the Old Testament with people like Cain and Onan and Miriam and Korah and Moses and Achan and David and Solomon, and the list goes on.

This is not a principle that only applies in the Old Testament. I was reminded this week of John chapter 5, where Jesus finds a man whom he had just healed, and He says to him, “Stop sinning, so that nothing worse happens to you.” Now, he could have been speaking about final judgment, but this is not the only passage that connects sin with potential or actual painful consequences.

I’m going to give you a list of seven passages. And this could be something you study on your own this week, or that you talk about with your FLG. We’re not going to turn to every passage, but I just want you to see this theme for a moment throughout the New Testament. God can and will use pain, either as a direct consequence for sin, or as a form of discipline to grow us in holiness. So, God uses pain both to correct present sin, and he uses pain to prevent future sin.

First, there is the record in the first half of Acts 5 where a man named Ananias and his wife Sapphira are put to death immediately for lying to God in front of the church. And the church learned a lesson.

Secondly, at the end of Acts 12, we read that Herod Agrippa heard the crowds proclaim that he was a god. He did not correct them. He did not give God the glory, and so, Acts 12 says, he was stricken by God and eaten by worms.

According to one historian of the first century, Herod was stricken in that moment with severe pain in his stomach and died 5 days later. This was probably some parasitic worm that God judged him with for his arrogance and pride.

A third passage is the second half of 1 Corinthians 11, where Paul rebukes the church because of their divisions and arrogance. They’re taking the Lord’s Supper, which is supposed to be an expression of unity, but in their hearts they don’t have a sincere desire to pursue the love Christ intends for the church. So, in 1 Corinthians 11:27, Paul says they eat and drink judgment on themselves which is why many of them were weak and sick, and even dead.

A fourth passage is 2 Corinthians 12, which talks about Paul’s “thorn in the flesh.” Paul says it was a messenger of Satan that harassed him, but more significant that Satan’s intent, is God’s design. And Paul says that the pain was given to him to keep him from becoming conceited. In this case, it wasn’t a direct punishment for sin, but it was something ordained by God for Paul’s good.

A fifth passage is Hebrews chapter 12 which talks about God discipling us as our heavenly Father, similar to how an earthly father disciplines his own children. There is pain that God introduces in our lives, but it’s meant to produce righteousness. It’s part of our training. The passage doesn’t explicitly say that the discipline is a direct consequence of sin, but it definitely allows for it. God uses pain to make us holy.

Passage number 6 is James chapter 5, beginning in verse 13, where Christians who are suffering are instructed to pray. Those who are sick are told to call for the elders. And it says that the prayer of faith will bring healing, and if the person has committed sin, he will be forgiven. Then it goes on to talk about confession. So, again, there’s a connection between sickness and sin.

Lastly, number 7, there is the end of Revelation 3, which is Jesus’ letter to the church in Laodicea. Jesus has very strong words for them, and He says in verse 19, “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.”

We know that those who belong to Christ will have no condemnation. That means that there will be no eternal judgment, and our heavenly Father will never turn His back on us. But it does not mean that we will never face either the direct consequences of our sin, or some divinely orchestrated consequences for sin.

Sin can be a possibility we consider when difficulty comes, but we need to be cautious, for ourselves and for others, about immediately concluding that pain and difficulty is a result of some sin.

We don’t want to be like the disciples in John 9. when they saw a blind man and asked, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

Do you remember Jesus’ response? He said, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.” And then He went on to heal the man.

So, when pain comes, either for you, or for someone else, we can’t immediately know whether the root cause is a person’s sin or something else.

But since sin is a possible cause, there is a place for personal evaluation. Pain leads us to examine our lives.

This is what we’re going to see today as we continue in Job. (And I know that was a long introduction.) This morning, we’re looking at Job’s closing arguments in responding to his friends. It seems like months have passed since his troubles started, and Job continues to be certain that this is not a result of sin. He’s not saying he’s perfect, but he denies that this is some sort of divine punishment or judgment.

Hearing a righteous man like Job affirm his own righteousness is convicting, but it should also spur us to pursue righteousness in our own lives.

Today, we’re looking at chapters 29-31, and like I’ve done before, I want to give you a summary of the message. We’ll just get it one sentence at a time. The message of chapter 29 is simple. Life was good before all this. Life was good before all this.

It's a pretty basic message, so we won’t spend a lot of time unpacking it. I encourage you to read the chapter on your own. But just look at the opening 6 verses. Job 29:1-6.

And Job again took up his discourse, and said: “Oh, that I were as in the months of old, as in the days when God watched over me, when his lamp shone upon my head, and by his light I walked through darkness, as I was in my prime, when the friendship of God was upon my tent, when the Almighty was yet with me, when my children were all around me, when my steps were washed with butter, and the rock poured out for me streams of oil!”

Butter and oil are symbols of blessing and abundance. Job could feel God’s blessing, God’s protection. His family was united.

As the chapter continues, he talks about how the people in the community honored him. He had a respected reputation in the community. People sought out his advice.

He helped others, including people he didn’t know and those who were suffering. He opposed the oppressors. In verse 19, he compares himself to a blessed tree with strong roots and branches.

Look with me at the final verse of the chapter, Job 29:25. In thinking about how he helped others, Job says this—I chose their way and sat as chief, and I lived like a king among his troops, like one who comforts mourners.

There’s that word we seen a number of times before—comfort. Job comforted people. Job helped others. And the tragedy is that now nobody can help him. Nobody can bring comfort. And that’s the major shift we see in chapter 30. Job lost everything.

Look at Job 30, verse 1—But now they laugh at me, men who are younger than I, whose fathers I would have disdained to set with the dogs of my flock.

Job isn’t insulting these men, but he is pointing out that now, even the lowest levels of society mock him. He is at the absolute bottom. This is a complete reversal.

The summary is this—Now everything has been turned upside down. Life was good before all this, but now everything has been turned upside down.

Verse 10 says that those who were the lowest in society now spit at the sight of Job. He is the quintessential failure. In this case, however, it not something Job deserved. It’s not like he was engaging in shady business deals, and it all came crashing down on him. This was completely unexpected and absolutely painful.

Look at verses 15-17. Job 30:15-17—Terrors are turned upon me; my honor is pursued as by the wind, and my prosperity has passed away like a cloud. And now my soul is poured out within me; days of affliction have taken hold of me. The night racks my bones, and the pain that gnaws me takes no rest.

I know that some of you know what that’s like. There’s no relief, not even the relief of sleep.

But still, Job recognizes that God is not detached from what is happening, and that adds another sentence to our summary. Job feels as if God Himself has abandoned him, so the next part of our summary is this: God, why are You against me? God, why are You against me?

Look at verses 19-23—God has cast me into the mire, and I have become like dust and ashes. I cry to you for help and you do not answer me; I stand, and you only look at me. You have turned cruel to me; with the might of your hand you persecute me. You lift me up on the wind; you make me ride on it, and you toss me about in the roar of the storm. For I know that you will bring me to death and to the house appointed for all living.

Job expects to die in this situation. And he has no idea why God has done this.

In verse 30, we get a glimpse into part of his suffering in the past months. Job says—My skin turns black and falls from me, and my bones burn with heat. His skin is dying. He has a constant fever. We don’t have to know what his medical diagnosis would be today, but we know that he’s suffering. This has been such a tremendous reversal for Job. Why? What has Job done to deserve this? That’s what Job wants to know.

And in responding to what his friends have been telling him, Job affirms his integrity one final time in chapter 31. We can now add one more simple sentence to our summary, and that is: I am innocent. Life was good before all this, but now everything has been turned upside down. God, why are You against me? I am innocent.

In chapter 31 Job is calling curses on himself if he has sinned, and he’s doing it as a way of declaring his innocence.

As a kid, I heard the expression “cross my heart and hope to die.” What did that mean? It meant, “If I’m lyin’, I’m dyin’. May I die if I’m not telling you the truth.” That’s the heart behind Job’s confession, and he addresses various possibilities. Let me list them for you.

First, in verses 1-4, Job addresses lust in his heart. He says, “If I’ve looked with lust at another woman, God would know, and may calamity come.”

In verses 5-8, he talks about shady business practices. He says, “If I’ve lied or stolen, if greed has manifested itself in any way, then may all my crops be ruined.”

Thirdly, he returns to the issue of sexual purity in verses 9-12, but this time he addresses external action. He says, “If I’ve made advances toward another woman, may my wife serve another man.”

Number four, in verses 13-23, Job talks about being unfair to his servants or to the poor. He says, “If I’ve withheld from them, if I have failed to stretch out my hand to help them, then may my shoulder be dislocated. May my arm be broken from its socket.”

Number 5, Job addresses greed in his heart in verses 24-28. He says, “If I’ve trusted in riches or coveted more than what I have, may I be punished by the judges. That would be unfaithfulness to God.”

Lastly, as the chapter comes to a close, Job mentions some other potential sins toward people. If he rejoiced over the ruin of his enemies, if he was stingy, if he didn’t take care of the people under his authority, if he lied about himself to impress people, or if he acted hypocritically in any way, he would be willing to bear the penalty of that. But Job is innocent.

Let me add one final element to Job’s message here, and I’m going to put in into the form of a question. The question is this: Who will hear my case? … Life was good before all this… but now everything has been turned upside down… God, why are You against me? I am innocent. Who will hear my case?

Look with me at verse 35. Job 31:35—Oh, that I had one to hear me! (Here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me!) Oh, that I had the indictment written by my adversary! [36] Surely I would carry it on my shoulder; I would bind it on me as a crown; [37] I would give him an account of all my steps; like a prince I would approach him.

It's like Job is willing to go on record with his defense. He is saying it under oath. He’s willing to sign his name to it. And he’s asking if those who attack him are willing to do the same and then have a judge hear the case. That’s what Job is after. He wants a righteous judge who will bring out the truth.

The chapter ends with a final curse that Job expresses. It’s the curse that his land would produce thorns and weeds instead of wheat and barley. That takes my mind back to God’s curse on the world in Genesis 3. “May the curse of God come upon me, if I have sinned to deserve this.” And the final words of the chapter tell us: The words of Job are ended.

If this were the Psalms, we might expect a “Selah” at this point. Pause and let this sink in.

One major lesson for all of us, whether you’re suffering or not, is this—Can you express your righteousness the way Job did? Would you be able to say what Job said?

Is sexual lust gone from your eyes? Are you living a life of sincerity and honesty? Has greed been pushed out of your life? Have you rejected words and actions that open your life up to sexual immorality? Do you treat others fairly? Are you gentle and gracious with your spouse and with your children? Do you share what you’ve been given by God? Do you help others who are in need? Are you trusting in God rather than in the things you have? Are you content with what he’s given you? And do you live with love toward those around you? Do you show people compassion? Is your life open to others?

If you can say “Yes” to all of that, I think you’re self-deceived. I think you have either lowered the standard or rated yourself higher than you should. In either case, you’re not looking at things honestly and accurately anymore. You’ve got a blind spot.

We now have had the Lord Jesus walk among us. We now have the fullness of the New Testament from His Apostles. And what the word of God shows us is that none of us can measure up.

Job isn’t saying he is perfect. He’s mentioned his sin before. But the case he’s making is that he doesn’t deserve what has happened to him.

I just want to extend that eternally, and ask, “Do you deserve to be saved forever?” The biblical answer is “No. You don’t.” Even if God started all over with you today. If everything in your record was wiped perfectly clean, the way you live this week would qualify you for eternal judgment. That’s how holy God is, and that’s how sinful you are. And so am I.

The Apostle Paul, even after bring converted and giving his life to serve Christ, said, “Wretched man that I am!”

So, then, how does anyone get saved. How are we forgiven and reconciled to know God?

The righteousness of Job points us to the answer. Job was innocent in that his suffering was not a direct punishment for any sin. But Job points us to Jesus Christ who was absolutely and perfectly innocent. He was without sin. And yet, He chose to face the Father’s wrath so that He could take the place of sinners. God made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

This is the gospel of Jesus Christ. If you will trust in Him, if you will believe that He died and was raised again for you, and if you will surrender your life to Him, your sin will be credited to Him, and His perfection will be credited to you. You will be made a child of God.

Job’s hope was to stand before God one day and be declared innocent. If you trust in Jesus and have surrendered to him, you have the same hope. You have that certainty.

Just like with Job, Satan is our accuser. He wants God, and he wants others, and he wants us, to look at our lives and say, “Look at what a sinner this is! He deserves to be judged forever! He doesn’t love God!” But Jesus stands in heaven, having cleansed us by His sacrifice, and He says, “You are innocent, because I have paid the price of your sin, and you are covered in my righteousness.”

Does that mean our sin disappears in this life? No. It disappears from God’s record, but it doesn’t go away in this life. What we receive, at salvation, however, is the Spirit of God within us empowering us to say, “No” to sin. In Christ, you are no longer a slave.

And by the grace of God, and as you grow in your faith, you will see more and more victory in your life over sin. That’s part of why Christians are called those who conquer.

And so, now, as we think about Job’s example of purity and integrity and honesty and love, we can exert ourselves to move in that same direction, always depending on the Holy Spirit. And God, who began a good work in us, will bring it to completion one day.