If you're qualified, your skills and knowledge have likely been tested. The scriptures point out how we believe in our skills and knowledge related to God and Jesus, yet they can fail any testing quite easily. Concluding Job's story and checking out Paul's predicament with the church in Corinth can point us to the priority focus for our attention.
Job has been demanding an audience with God. He is sure that God has made a mistake and earnestly desires to point out God's mistake to God. We can already sense that Job hasn't quite tested his thinking. But then again, he has had numerous exchanges with his friends who have found his claim doesn't hold up, but for the wrong reasons. Job is undeterred until ....
God grants him the audience. Needless to say, God is pretty ticked. God makes short work of any standing Job thought he might have. Job expected to make his case - putting God on trial in effect. Instead, God hammers home God's own case against Job's presumption. Ouch.
Paul has a difficult task in 1 Corinthians. From afar in Ephesus, Paul is trying to deal with a conflict that has engulfed the newbie church in Corinth. We can identify at least three different groups having made particular theological claims about Jesus and his Way, claims besides Paul's own version of the gospel. Paul's qualifications have been called into question. Paul blows off their judgments, asserting that the Lord is Paul's only judge.
Like God's slam of Job, Paul takes a couple of shots at the Corinthian dissenters. In the end, Paul tries to return their focus on what truly matters. You can find out what Paul told them in the sermon video below and the downloads below the video panel.
Job has been demanding an audience with God. He is sure that God has made a mistake and earnestly desires to point out God's mistake to God. We can already sense that Job hasn't quite tested his thinking. But then again, he has had numerous exchanges with his friends who have found his claim doesn't hold up, but for the wrong reasons. Job is undeterred until ....
God grants him the audience. Needless to say, God is pretty ticked. God makes short work of any standing Job thought he might have. Job expected to make his case - putting God on trial in effect. Instead, God hammers home God's own case against Job's presumption. Ouch.
Paul has a difficult task in 1 Corinthians. From afar in Ephesus, Paul is trying to deal with a conflict that has engulfed the newbie church in Corinth. We can identify at least three different groups having made particular theological claims about Jesus and his Way, claims besides Paul's own version of the gospel. Paul's qualifications have been called into question. Paul blows off their judgments, asserting that the Lord is Paul's only judge.
Like God's slam of Job, Paul takes a couple of shots at the Corinthian dissenters. In the end, Paul tries to return their focus on what truly matters. You can find out what Paul told them in the sermon video below and the downloads below the video panel.
| 10-18-15-ff-answers.pdf |
| 10-18-15-judge_for_yourself.pdf |