Making The Right Judgment – I'm Following Jesus

King James Bible Study – “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” – Mark 8:34

Date: Sunday, January 10, 2021
Chapters: Job 22-26
Message: Making The Right Judgment

Hello My Friend,

As faithful, saved, born again Christians, we may fail God a thousand times a day, but if our faith in Christ never wavers, there is always hope that one day we will never fail Him. Amen! Sometimes, without realizing it, we do tend to mix the Law with grace, and we need to be careful of that. Not in the sense that we think we are going to lose our salvation if we sin again, but that we must follow all these rules or our salvation is vain. I have heard preachers say that if you are saved and still doing the things of the world, then you are not saved. Well, once we get saved, Jesus does change us as we walk with Him, but that change does not happen over night. In fact, we will always be a work in progress until God brings us home. Therefore, we need to keep reminding ourselves of one thing, [Luke 6:37-38 Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: 38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.]

[Judge not, and ye shall not be judged:] Remember, there is a difference between judging someone and righteous judgment. Righteous judgment is not being critical of someone of known sin, rather telling them of your concern for what it is that they are doing. Righteous judgment is also thinking out the matter before we confront someone who may not even have sin in their lives. Job’s friends are a perfect example of those who judge you before they have had a time to think about the matter. They assumed that since Job was suffering so much that he had to have some sin in his life, and therefore, he needed to come clean and repent at once. Eliphaz decided that since he could not convince Job that he is guilty, perhaps he can reason with him.

[Job 22:1-5,21-26 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said, 2 Can a man be profitable unto God, as he that is wise may be profitable unto himself? 3 Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous? or is it gain to him, that thou makest thy ways perfect? 4 Will he reprove thee for fear of thee? will he enter with thee into judgment? 5 Is not thy wickedness great? and thine iniquities infinite? 21 Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee. 22 Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart. 23 If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles. 24 Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust, and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks. 25 Yea, the Almighty shall be thy defence, and thou shalt have plenty of silver. 26 For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto God.]

[and thine iniquities infinite?] Eliphaz believed that every time Job spoke he only made things worse on himself, that if he would just repent, God would turn things around for him. You know, while this is true for all who are knowingly living in sin, we do have a right to defend ourselves without judgment? And just because people are suffering with affliction that does not mean they are living secret sinful lives. Job responds with this very sentiment.

[Job 23:1-11 Then Job answered and said, 2 Even to day is my complaint bitter: my stroke is heavier than my groaning. 3 Oh that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat! 4 I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments. 5 I would know the words which he would answer me, and understand what he would say unto me. 6 Will he plead against me with his great power? No; but he would put strength in me. 7 There the righteous might dispute with him; so should I be delivered for ever from my judge. 8 Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him: 9 On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him: 10 But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. 11 My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined.]

[I would know the words which he would answer me,] Faithful Christians are not blind to the Law, and to be honest, neither are so are not so faithful Christians. They know that God has not changed His stance on sin, but if we are going to judge someone based on one sin, then we too are guilty of all of them. This is where grace comes in, [James 2:8-10 If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: 9 But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. 10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.]

[But he knoweth the way that I take:] The longer we walk with Christ the more we wonder if the life we are living will ever come close to reflecting Jesus, but God does know the way that we take, and while it may not be perfect, it is one that leads to eternal life. We do not have to be perfect because we have the perfect one in us as as long as God sees Him we are perfect. With that said, we do have to make sure that we are living a humble life, one that reflects Christ, and not our own achievements, [Matthew 23:12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.]

Job is beside himself at this point, how the wicked can just ignore God and be blessed while he is having to deal with all this and no explanation whatsoever, but he did know one thing, they too will face God. [Job 24:1-2,12-16,23-24 Why, seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty, do they that know him not see his days? 2 Some remove the landmarks; they violently take away flocks, and feed thereof. 12 Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded crieth out: yet God layeth not folly to them. 13 They are of those that rebel against the light; they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof. 14 The murderer rising with the light killeth the poor and needy, and in the night is as a thief. 15 The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me: and disguiseth his face. 16 In the dark they dig through houses, which they had marked for themselves in the daytime: they know not the light. 23 Though it be given him to be in safety, whereon he resteth; yet his eyes are upon their ways. 24 They are exalted for a little while, but are gone and brought low; they are taken out of the way as all other, and cut off as the tops of the ears of corn.]

[yet his eyes are upon their ways.] God knows all and sees all, but that does not mean He pays attention to all. Think about it, would you pay any mind to someone who is constantly criticizing you, wants nothing to do with you, and in fact, is against everything you stand for? They may be exalted for a while, but they too will face Jesus, but the judgment is far worse than anything we whom are saved will receive, [Luke 13:27 But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.]

I do not know how long Job’s friends had been there with him, but I imagine it seemed like a lifetime to Job as Eliphaz, Zophar, and Bildad constantly criticized every word he spoke to defend himself. Bildad continues, questioning Job when he said that he knew he would be justified before God. [Job 25:1-5 Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said, 2 Dominion and fear are with him, he maketh peace in his high places. 3 Is there any number of his armies? and upon whom doth not his light arise? 4 How then can man be justified with God? or how can he be clean that is born of a woman? 5 Behold even to the moon, and it shineth not; yea, the stars are not pure in his sight.]

[How then can man be justified with God?] Oh, thou fool, one can be justified with God, you just need to know the right person. There is only one way to be justified before God, Jesus Christ. While the people of Old Testament times never even seen nor heard of the name Jesus, they knew that the only way to salvation was the Lord, [Romans 3:24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:]

Although Job felt like God had taken away his understanding of what was going on and that his soul was being tormented he knew that the Spirit of God was with him. And he was not about to let any of these men make him believe otherwise, [Job 26:1-4 But Job answered and said, 2 How hast thou helped him that is without power? how savest thou the arm that hath no strength? 3 How hast thou counselled him that hath no wisdom? and how hast thou plentifully declared the thing as it is? 4 To whom hast thou uttered words? and whose spirit came from thee? Job 26:11-14 The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his reproof. 12 He divideth the sea with his power, and by his understanding he smiteth through the proud. 13 By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent. 14 Lo, these are parts of his ways: but how little a portion is heard of him? but the thunder of his power who can understand?]

[Lo, these are parts of his ways:] There are many things of God that we will never understand, that even science cannot explain, but He does not want us to know everything, He wants us to trust and depend on Him. And let me tell you, there is a very good reason as to why God keeps certain knowledge from man, and even Satan does not know everything about God, [Proverbs 3:3-6 Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: 4 So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man. 5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.]

Jesus Christ Magnified: [Job 23:6 Will he plead against me with his great power? No; but he would put strength in me.]

Today’s Prayer: God, When I am facing affliction it feels like I am all alone and everyone is on my case about something. It is a big challenge to find You in the midst of affliction, but I know You are always with me and that Your hand never leaves mine. Lord, give me Your power to endure all affliction, give me the wisdom to know how to handle the situations that pop up, and fill me Your mercy and grace so that I never lose hope of a blessed end to them, with Your glory shining through. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus, Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,

Christina

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