The Magnum Opus of Faith

You see, for Job, it is the loss of fellowship with God. It is the loss of relationship and friendship that are the greater losses to Job than this fortune, the fact that he was viewed as a great man in the East. Job considered the loss of intimacy with God to matter, his testimony with his family to matter, his credibility with his associates to matter. So, let me to the question, what do we value? What would we consider true losses? Imagine that you were to lose everything and all you had left was your faith. Everything is gone except your faith in God and your relationship with him. Now, here's the hard question.

Would that be enough? For you, that's a hypothetical question. For Job, it was real. He lost his wealth, his status, his children and his health and all he had left was God. And in the midst of that, Job made an incredibly profound profession of faith. Today on Wisdom for the Heart, Stephen Davey has a message for you called the Magnum Opus of Faith. Well, we're in the book of Job, chapter 18 today, where we pick up our study.

We're going to cover chapters 18 and 19. I have a few books in my library that I pull out periodically to read, to talk about the struggles of the Jewish people during World War II in the concentration camps in one particular camp, according to one journal entry of another Jewish man. He told the story of how on one occasion, a group of Jewish men were assigned to carry stones from one end of the camp to the other. And it was rumored among those in the camp that those stones were going to be used for a building. No, others said we're going to use them for some road near the camp.

And so they would go back and forth with their guessing. Day after day, the men would haul these stones with their backs aching and their bodies groaning under the weight from one side of that camp all the way over to where they were told to dump the rocks. And soon the stones formed an enormous mountain and they finished their task. That night as they lay on their bunks, they had in their hearts a slight flutter of accomplishment and somewhat a sense of anticipation. The next day these men were ordered into the camp yard as usual. Their new assignment was delivered. They were told to carry the same stones back to the other side of the camp where they had been at the beginning. With crushed spirits they began and it became apparent their task was meaningless. Once the mountain was moved, they were told to start over.

And those men who were in that detail, it was interesting, this one recorded as they lost hope, they began to waver and eventually every one of these men died. Hardship without meaning is a heavy burden. The loss of purpose makes a life of pain that much more difficult, doesn't it? Without a future, without a sense and anticipation of some hope, like the tentacles of a vine, despair wraps itself around the human heart and chokes off hope. And as far as Job is concerned, God has assigned him to carry rocks from one point of his life to the other and then back again and then back once again. No plan, no future, no meaning, no hope.

And to make matters worse of course, these friends have shown up and they deliver now their second round of speeches. Eliphaz has already delivered his and now Bildad, the black and white, steps forward with very, very discouraging words as he paints for Job the picture of death for the unbeliever. He paints four scenes hoping to sort of coerce from Job a confession that he is unrepentant. Though he doesn't hold out repentance as an option, he simply says, Job, because you are not repenting, this is what death is going to be like for you.

If you can imagine being the pit of despair, having this message delivered to you. The four scenes are like these. The first is a picture of a darkened tent.

Look at verse five of chapter 18. Indeed, the light of the wicked goes out and the flame of his fire gives no light. The light in his tent is darkened and his lamp goes out above him. This scene of death painted for Job is a scene of a lamp hanging in a tent and suddenly the lamp is snuffed out. Maybe it's a gust of wind that comes through the opening and it smolders for a moment.

The wick is glowing red for just a second or two and then it goes out and the final wisp of smoke disappears. He says, in effect, Job, you can ignore the fact that you are going to die. God is snuffing out your life, but it's going to happen anyway. The second scene is of a trapped animal. Look at verse nine. A snare seizes him by the heel and a trap snaps shut on him. A noose for him is hidden in the ground and a trap for him on the path. The third scene is of a pursued victim.

Look at verse 11. All around, terrors frighten him and harry him at every step, literally dog him at every step of the way. His strength is famished. Calamity is ready at his side.

It never leaves him. There's no escape, Job. He's saying, surrender now before it's too late. The final scene painted by Bildad the Bruiser is this scene of an unmarked grave. Verse 17 says, memory of you is going to perish from the earth. He is implying it of Job. You will have no name left anywhere.

The message paraphrases this paragraph to read, just listen. This is of the unbeliever who dies. Their lives go up in smoke. Acid rains soaks the ruins. Their roots rot and their branches wither. They'll never again be remembered. Nameless and unmarked graves. They are plunged from light into darkness, vanished from the world, and they leave empty handed, nothing to show for their life on this earth.

This is what happens to perverse people. This is how those ignorant of God end up. Thank you so much, Bildad the Burden Maker. He just adds rocks to the mountain that Job is already having to move.

To him, it seems to have little meaning. Did you notice how Bildad opened in verse two of chapter 18? How long will you hunt for words? Now go to chapter 19 and look at Job as he begins to respond, verse two.

How long will you torment me with words? While Bildad described the terrors of death, Job now will respond by describing the troubles of life and so many things are lost. As I reread and read over again and reread chapters 18 and 19 and trying to climb back into this scene and listen carefully to what each man said, I couldn't help but notice by way of contrast how they viewed life so differently. Bildad describes the things that he challenges Job, the losses that he says Job, you're going to lose these things. And then Job will respond by talking about the things that he also senses that he is losing and they are two different sets of losses.

Bildad says, look Job, you're in trouble. You're going to lose your physical health, verse 12. You're going to lose your financial security, verse 14.

You're going to lose your reputation. You were the greatest man in the east and that is all going to be past tense, verse 17. In chapter 19, Job describes what he believes to be his losses. In verse seven, he talks about losing a sense of justice. In verse eight, he talks about, he bemoans the loss of insight. He says, oh, there's darkness across my path. In other words, I don't know how to walk.

Yes, there is darkness. But what bothers me is I don't know the next step to take. Verse nine, he says, I am stripped of credibility.

Forget reputation. There's no credibility in this existence. Verse 10, he says, hope has lost me. And that's what's crushing him. In verse 11, he talks about the loss of intimacy with God. He says, God now considers me to be his enemy. That's loss.

See the difference in these sets of losses? In verses 13 to 19, Job goes on to talk about how he loses all of his relationships with people. Verse 13, he says, my acquaintances are estranged from me. Verse 14, my relatives have fallen away from me. Verse 14, the latter part, intimate friends are now gone.

Even coworkers aren't the same. Verse 15, he says, my maid doesn't respond to me and my servant does not answer. Verse 17, he says, my breath is offensive to my wife, meaning the diseases that I have.

Even she won't come near me. He's lost his relationship with immediate family. He says, I am now loathsome to my own brothers. Verse 17, the community at large despises me.

He says, even the children mock me. Verse 18. Verse 19, he says, my business partners have abandoned me.

My associates, my associates abhor me, he says, and those I love have turned against me. You see for Job, it is the loss of fellowship with God. It is the loss of relationship and friendship that are the greater losses to Job than this fortune, this honor, the fact that he was viewed as a great man in the east.

Bildad thought that losing fame and fortune and physical strength were what really mattered. Job considered the loss of intimacy with God to matter, his testimony with his family to matter, his credibility with his associates to matter. So led me to the question, what do we value?

What would we consider true losses if we were to lose everything? Are we known for our relationship to Christ? Are you known in the community, in the neighborhood, on the campus, in the corporate scene, wherever in the shop, are you known first and foremost for your connection to Jesus Christ? And if you lost that, that would be significant beyond your ledger and your accounts and stuff.

Are we known as a church for our connection to Jesus Christ? See, that kind of reputation is worth pursuing and would be a true loss. I got a similar sounding email of what some consider to be true loss and what believers would consider true gain. Great testimony. This couple in our church, they talked about how they just in recent weeks lost their business, their finances along with it.

They know that their home is headed for foreclosure as they declare bankruptcy. Yet the email went on to evidence faith in Christ and trust in the sovereign glory and grace of God. From this deep pit of anxiety and fear, they reached the pinnacle of assurance and faith. There in the pit, they gave a testimony of what really mattered the most.

Would you believe that in the midst of this difficult scene, as deep as the pit is, as surrounded by mountains of rocks that Job is surrounded with, that he's moving one at a time, so to speak. In the middle of this, you have one of the highest pinnacles of scripture ever revealed through an individual. Would you look at verse 23 where Job says, oh, that my words were written. Oh, that they would be inscribed in a book.

And I couldn't help but laugh. Well, they will be, Job. People are going to be reading them now for several thousand years. He says, verse 24, that an iron stylus and with lead, I wish they were engraved in the rock. Many believe this is a reference to his tombstone, some marker. He said, he said, carve it into my headstone. I want you to remember this more than anything else.

What is it, Job? Verse 25. As for me, I know that my redeemer lives and at the last he will take his stand on the earth, even after my skin is destroyed. Yet from my flesh, I shall see God whom I myself shall behold and whom my eyes will see and not another. Talk about a pinnacle of assurance and faith. Don't forget, it's coming out of the pit. The depths of his difficult experience.

This is it. I know that my redeemer is alive. One of the most famous musical oratorias, as you know, is called the Messiah by George Handel. It's considered his magnum opus, which means his most magnificent operation or his greatest work, his most renowned achievement. I found it interesting and not surprising as I researched it, and I'll let you know why I was pointed in this direction a little later, as I researched the history behind this composition. And I found it interesting and not surprising that this magnum opus of Handel was written while he was in the pit.

It was rumored that this piece was composed while he was in the Tower of London. That was only a rumor of those who didn't like him. And it wasn't true, but it was true that he was suffering from insurmountable debt. Add to that the fact that he had only recently suffered a stroke. The left side of his body was paralyzed and causing him great pain. Most days Handel could barely afford rent and food. He was despondent and discouraged.

His biographers record that one night in 1741, defeated and depressed, he wandered the lonely streets until dawn when he returned to his shabby room. And when he got there, on the table was a thick envelope, sheets of paper. And they had been delivered by Charles Jennens, a musical associate of his, who encouraged, who was wanting to encourage him. And he took those texts out of the envelope and they were nothing more than Bible verses scribbled out on paper of the prophecies of and the fulfillments by Jesus Christ, the Messiah.

George tossed the pages aside and climbed into bed, but he could not sleep. Some of the words that he had quickly read climbed in there with him. Words like, comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light. It is the glory of God.

And that one word, hallelujah. He got up and he went to his piano and he began to write. He was left-handed. Because of his stroke, he had trouble writing the notes and script. And so it was poorly written and somewhat strangely curved, but it didn't stop him. For three weeks straight, he composed, hardly stopping to eat or sleep.

He refused to see anybody. And at last, after 22 straight days, a friend gained entrance into the apartment. And when he did, he found George Handel at his piano, sheets of music strewn everywhere around him, and tears were streaming down his cheeks. And he looked up at his friend and he said, and I quote, I do believe I have seen all of heaven before me and the greatness of God himself. It was indeed his magnum opus.

And when it was first performed in London, King George was in the audience and he, at the Hallelujah Chorus, stood and removed the crown from his head, which began the tradition today where we stand at that point. From this pit of fear came this great pinnacle of faith. From the depths of his anxiety comes this incredible demonstration and declaration of assurance. And one of those texts, if you know the oratorio, you know where I'm headed, but one of those texts incorporated into the Messiah is this text in Job chapter 19, verse 25. I know that my redeemer liveth. And let me just say this, because it struck me that before this was ever, before it was ever the magnum opus of Handel, it was the magnum opus of Job.

Before Handel ever put it into music, Job was singing it. And it just amazes me to hear this crowning achievement of Job's faith, though surrounded by the mountains of despair, he says, but as for me, I know that my redeemer lives, whom I myself shall behold. Not only is the redeemer going to reign triumphantly on the earth, not only is there going to be a future with God and man, fellowshipping together as they once did in the garden as Job knew full well, and much more so, Job says, and this is most significant, I'm going to be there, not my, my redeemer is going to reign somewhere. He says, my redeemer will reign and I am going to be there with him.

That is the wonderful motivation of this faith that keeps you moving. I shall see God. We will one day look into the face of our redeemer who is the full expression of deity. You know, it occurred to me in this declaration of faith, you have so many doctrines. You have the doctrine, if you took that particular view of the incarnation, you have the doctrine of the atonement, you have the truth of the resurrection of Christ, the future physical resurrection of Christ, the future physical resurrection of those who believe in Christ, the literal reign of Christ on the earth, all of that packed into the magnum opus of Job's faith. And ultimately he says, I expect I'm going to die, but this isn't the end. With mine eyes, I shall see my redeemer.

Amen. We close by telling you the story of Stephen Lawson included this in his commentary on Job of a great missionary couple. The Morrisons, Henry Morrison and his wife had served in Africa during the late eighteen hundreds without the advantages that our global staff have now and the wonderful privilege we have of seeing them as they come back and forth on furlough.

In this day, you basically got on a ship and you sailed and you stayed there until you either died and were buried there or you were able to come back. They had served for 40 years. They had not yet ever returned to the States since having left.

This particular voyage signaled the end of their very fruitful missionary career in Africa. As the steamer headed into New York Harbor, they had wondered if anybody would remember them. They talked together if anybody would be there to greet them.

This was before the days of cell phones and fax machines, and they didn't even know if their mission knew when they were going to arrive and if anybody from the mission would be there to greet them. As the steamer pulled into New York Harbor, Henry Morrison and his wife stepped to the railing of the ship's upper deck and they were astounded to see hundreds of people there. Banners and posters saying, welcome home.

People smiling and cheering. Henry, his biographers say he turned to his wife and said, sweetheart, they have remembered us. They have come to welcome us home. But unknown to them, sequestered away in private quarters and hidden from the rest of the passengers knowledge was Teddy Roosevelt, a passenger who had returned, was returning from a big game hunt in Africa. The banners were for him. The waving, smiling people were there to greet him.

He and his wife were detained from disembarking until the president and his entourage got off the steamer. The Marine Corps band was there and they began to play Hail to the Chief. And Henry Morrison said to his wife, and I quote, it doesn't seem right that we have served the Lord faithfully these 40 years in anonymity, but we have been faithful to God.

President Roosevelt comes to Africa to shoot some game and the whole world welcomes him home. It just doesn't seem right that we have come home and there is no one to even greet us. Henry's wife looked up at him and gave that now famous response when she said, but Henry, we're not home yet. We're not home yet. One author commented further, if we were given all we wanted here, our hearts would settle for this world rather than the next. Listen, God is forever luring us up and away where we will certainly find what we so keenly longed for. Home is not here.

It's there. How do you get from here to there? Your Redeemer, the Messiah, Jesus Christ. And for those of you who know Christ personally and you have invited him into your life to become your Redeemer, you're not moving rocks from one location to another.

It is in pain without purpose. Even though you may never write a book, stand on a platform or share your testimony with many, you are building a life which is nothing less than a monument of faith in the provision of Christ now and the presence of Christ physically, literally, visibly later. And so you keep singing the lyrics of your own personal faith in Christ. There is a Redeemer who is alive. He is mine. I will see him one day. I will see him with my own eyes when he comes to reign.

I will be with him reigning triumphantly with him in glory forever. These are the lyrics, ladies and gentlemen, to the magnum opus of your own faith, your own faith. Not just Job's, not just Handel's, not just Morrison's, your faith. He's your Redeemer.

So don't stop singing as you head home. Our faith is rooted in the gospel. And here at Wisdom International, we have a resource called The Gospel According to Job. Did you know that important aspects of the gospel are revealed way back in the Old Testament?

And we see truths of the gospel in the Book of Job. We'd like to get this resource to you, and we're making it available today to anyone who makes their first contact with our ministry. Call today and we're going to send you a copy of Stephen's booklet, The Gospel According to Job. Give us a call at 866-48-BIBLE. That's 866-48-BIBLE. Stephen will have another lesson from God's Word tomorrow here on Wisdom for the Hearts. All right. Okay.