Yes, You Can Ministry

Job 28

Job 28:1-2 “Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place where they refine gold.  Iron is taken from the dust, and from rock copper is smelted.”

Job, in the middle of his agony and torment knew in his heart that God was preparing him for a work. We see in these verses that Job had an insight into how God would prepare him for the good work that laid ahead for him. Job did not, nor can we, fully appreciate the glories that await us after we go through the trials, and are refined like gold so that we shine God’s glory.

Malachi 3:3 says, “And He(God) will sit like a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the Lord offerings in righteousness.” The tribe of Levi was one of the original tribes of Israel. The tribes, in the Old Testament, represent the New Testament church, we who have chosen to follow Christ. (That is not to say Christians have replaced the Jewish nation as God’s chosen people. They were, are, and always will hold that position, but because they chose to reject Christ. We too get to share God’s glory as the Bride of Christ.)

The purifier’s fire is not a happy place of joy, but just as gold must be placed in the fire to remove its impurity’s sometimes God must also place us in the fire to remove our impurity’s, and mold us into the image of His Son, so that we will shine brightly with His Glory. One lesson that we could/should learn from Job is that even though he had a partial understanding of the refining process he still did not like being “burned”. We may not like the process that it takes to make us into the image of Christ, but we should understand that it’s necessary for our improvement.

Job 28:3-22 “Man puts an end to darkness, and to the farthest limit he searches out. The rock in gloom and deep shadow. He sinks a shaft far from habitation; forgotten by the foot, they hang and swing to and fro far from men. The earth, from it comes food, and underneath it is turned up as fire.  Its rocks are the source of sapphires, and its dust contains gold. The path no bird of prey knows, nor has the falcon’s eyes caught sight of it. The proud beasts have not trodden it, nor has the fierce lion passed over it. He puts his hand on the flint; he overturn’s the mountains at the base. He hews out channels through the rocks, and his eye sees anything precious. He dams up the streams from flowing; and what is hidden he brings out to the light .But where can wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding? Man does not know its value, nor is its place in the land of the living. The deep says ‘It’s not in me’, and the sea says ’It’s not with me. ’Pure gold cannot be given in exchange for it, nor can silver be weighed as its price. It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, in precious onyx or sapphire. Gold or glass cannot equal it, nor can it be exchanged for articles of fine gold .Coral and crystal are not to be mentioned, and the acquisition of wisdom is above that of pearls. The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it, nor can it be valued in pure gold. Where then does wisdom come from? And where is the place of understanding? Thus is it hidden from the eyes of all living, and concealed from the birds of the sky. Abaddon and death say, ‘With our ears we have heard a report of it.’”

Man can do, and has done many great things. Just to mention a few, man invented the wheel, man learned how to make fire, man discovered gravity. This may not seem like much now, but to those who lived then it these were all great discoveries, and they were all necessary to continue life and prosper. Man discovered that we could make a combustible engine. They figured out how to fly, and now we can send a 10,000 pound aircraft through the skies. Man figured out how to sail to the moon, and return home. All of these are great achievements that man has accomplished, and we should be very proud in all that we have done.

However, with all of our accomplishments there is still one thing that we are unable to do.  No man has ever found the path to wisdom. I’m not talking about knowledge, because for most people knowledge is easily acquired. Go to school, read books, study science, math, etc., and you can get knowledge. But wisdom is totally different, some of the smartest (book wise) people I know are also some of the most “clueless” people I know. Wisdom, unlike knowledge, cannot be learned in a classroom, nor can we buy it by attending an Ivy League University. Wisdom is either had or not had, and true wisdom can come from only One Source.     

Let’s go all the way back to the Garden of Eden. God created the world, and He placed Adam and Eve in the Garden, a Perfect Paradise. But, Satan tricked Eve into believing that they could get wisdom apart from God. Many people believe that still today. But, there is a fallacy in that line of thinking. Satan, the serpent, convinced Eve that if she ate of the fruit that her eyes would be opened, and she would be like God, knowing good and evil. 

The fallacy is this. God is the Creator, and He placed the tree of knowledge in the garden, so He is the source of all knowledge (wisdom). Apart from God wisdom is impossible to acquire. Psalms 111:10 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all those who do His commandments; His praise endures forever.” Wisdom comes from God, PERIOD! Philippians 2:5 says, “Let this mind be in you; which was also in Christ Jesus.” (King James Version) And what mind was what? Mark 6:2 says, “And when the Sabbath day had come He began to teach in the synagogues; and many hearing Him were astonished saying,  ‘From whence hath this man these things? And what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by His hands?’”(KJV)

Jesus (was God in the flesh) had a mind of compassion for people, and He was the epitome of wisdom. The only way that we can gain wisdom is by sitting at His feet, and imitating the life that He lived. We live in a world that magnifies individualism, and we say that no one who is not their own person is very wise, but true wisdom can only come from God through Jesus Christ.

I Corinthians 2:6-8, “Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; but we speak God’s wisdom, in a mystery, the hidden wisdom, which God predestined before the ages to our glory; the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age have understood, for if they understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory.”

Job 28:23-28, “God understands its way, and He knows its place. For He looks to the ends of the earth, and sees everything under the heavens. When He imparted weight to the wind, and metered out the waters by measure, when He set a limit to the rain, and a course for the thunderbolt then He saw it and declared it; He established it, and also searched it out. And to man He said ‘The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding.”

I Corinthians 1:26-29, “For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of this world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong. And the base things of the world, and the despised; God has chosen the things that are not to nullify the things that are; that no man should boast before God.”

God has chosen us, as Christians, no matter how smart you may be. Whether you have a PhD or an Elementary school education God has chosen you to stand before Kings and Prime Minister’s and share the true source of wisdom, and if you feel unworthy to do so that’s o.k. because remember Moses also felt unable to stand before the Pharaoh.(Exodus chs. 3-4)

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