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thunday, June 29, 1972 The News
In tern ation al
Sunday School
Lesson
LESSON FOR JULY 2. 1972
LESSON TEXT:
JOB 23: 42: 1-6;
HEBREWS 12:5-11:
I PETER 5:6-7.
Pursuing our topic for today,
our studies lie in the well
known, well-read Book of Job
Calamity seemed to pursue the
good and faithful Job troubles
which would have broken the
faith of a lesser man; instead,
Job's faith became
strengthened immeasurably.
A non-Hebrew, Job was an
ardent believer in Hod
Wealthy, and the father of a
large family, he had-in the
vernacular of the present day
everything going for him "
Satan, however, dared Cod to
let him test this devoted
follower, and, so sure of Job's
faith was God. that He per
mitted him to be put to the
severest tests- tests that would
have broken the faith of lesser
men Job lost his wealth, and his
lamilv The only one that
remained was his wife; but she
when Job was finally stricken
uith a dread disease) finally
turned on him crying that he
might as well " urse God and
die "
It was a common belief in
Job's day and time that those
who suffered misfortune were
being punished for some sin.
This was the attitude taken by
some of Job's friends, but Job
stoutly maintained he had done
nothing to bring his troubles on
his hapless head He felt that if
he cold but confront God, they
could talk things out and reach
a satisfactory conclusion. This
is the context of those verses
which would make the reader
inclined to think that Job was
rebuking Cod He simply lived
in a period before Christ, and
therefore knew no mediator to
plead his case with the
Almighty With the advent of
Christ on earth, every Christian
is blessed in having Him as our
go-between" one who will
plead our cause with love and
compassionate concern!
Job was not possessed of this
comforting knowledge, and at
one period his soul did, indeed,
crv out; as did Christ, Himself,
cry-"My God, My God-why
hast thou forsaken me'".
In our travails, does God
seem far removed from us
even to the point of "hiding'"'
Or are we merely looking in the
wrong places9 Do we- as did
Job fluctuate between hope
and fear'' Or i again like Jobi
find that the deeper our need,
the stronger our faith becomes''
The whole context of Job is
that man has access to God. We
have it through Christ our
eager advocate The Book also
teaches that reasoning alone
will not always solve the
problems that perplex us so
sorely ; sometimes our solutions
lie in apparent adversity, for
out of tribulation can come a
more persevering heart' If our
faith is strong, it will grow, as
Job's faith grew ; it will mature,
until we. ourselves, become
worthier Christians and wor
thier servants in Christ.
That elusive "something"
that is in all of us wants to
believe, and although faith does
not always come easily, we
must remember that a life lived
without faith is no easy thing ' It
is an emptiness a void -wherein
man can kill his most
precious possession his soul!
Kaith, to be meaningful, must
be exercised A limb on a body
becomes atrophied and withers
away if it is not exercised and
nourished regularly So it is
with faith
Job s story contains three
essentials for the aspiring
Christian, Ml God's greatness
is openly acknowledged; (2i
Humility is apparent; and i3i
repentance is expressed. Before
we, like Job, can claim an
audience with God, we must
possess these attributes.
Job, who lived before the
reassuring advent of Christ,
cried triumphantly and
positively .."1 KNOW!". Do
J In telling R lika it k, lb
Bible caution lu against
trading a aclf-ccnterad Ufa: .
; "Ha that lovcth hm Ufa ahalt
oa it." (John 12:25) '
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