Sermon 4, Job 1:6-8
- Actively avoid all wrongdoing
- We need help to do this
- Satan is out to get us! But God is in control of all things.
In this sermon, Calvin talks about two honors given to us by God. (1). That God chose to redeem us via a man and not via an angel. (2). That scripture has been made accessible to us.
Calvin also makes the interesting point that great wealth could not, in Job’s case, lead him into wrongdoing. And so, the Devil uses another approach, namely afflictions.
Just thinking ahead, and I recall Christopher Ash discussing this in his exposition, one of the big flaws in the Comforter’s arguments to Job is that they do not acknowledge the agency of Satan in human affairs. This theme is presented very clearly by Calvin in this sermon.
Quote's
“…God is in charge of the world and that nothing happens which is not under his control.”
“…God works through the angels to direct human affairs…”
“When a child obeys his father, he does not do it against his will but because he has the inclination to do so, nature instructs him to do so, and he possesses a love which incites him to do his duty.”
“If Satan’s power were not limited, he would have immediate authority over us.”
“God is good enough to conform to our needs because we cannot reach his level.”
“…he [God] wants to be understood also by the dullest dimwits that can be found.”
“That is the way God tests what kind of people we are, whether we live uprightly with men without wronging them…”
“…in his [Job’s] example we are advised that we will never serve God without encountering great difficulties…”
“There were as many vices in the world then as we have now…”
“When we see that vices are like bad air, let us get out of there.”