March 18, 2026
Since church was canceled last week due to a blizzard, I am holding off on the communique about the sermon that has not yet been given.
I turn my attention to Job’s well meaning but misguided friends.
Remember Satan accused Job of serving God only for what he could get or for earthly benefits. Job confesses that God is the one who ‘gives and takes away’ (1:21). However, his friends insist that it is ourselves who control God’s reward of earthly blessings or their removal based upon how we live. In other words, the righteous always prosper and the wicked always suffer. From this assumption you can see the direction his friends are going. They fall in line with the Accuser who says mankind serves God only for what he can get. Job of course argues against that. We cannot explain God’s actions because we do not have God’s wisdom and he sees the future.
Eliphaz recognizes Job’s righteous living in the past but with what he sees in the present he concludes he must have committed a terrible sin. He operates on the principle of retribution. The upright never perishes (4:7) while the unrighteous receive trouble. Bildad assumes the only explanation for the tragic death of Job’s children is open sin against God.
So, Job’s friends concluded that he needs to stop claiming he is innocent of wrong doing and repent. (Job 5:17; 8:5-6)
The problem with Satan, Job’s friends and many today is a faith that is less than genuine, trusting in God only for what they perceive to be temporal benefits. Faith then is self-serving and worship is for what one can get and not what one can give.
Job’s friends and people today fail to understand the doctrine of justification for sinners. Becoming right with a perfect and holy God can never be accomplished through human achievement. We can never live up to God’s standards because we are not perfect. Therefore, there must be a different way or we will all, without exception face eternal damnation.
Ephesians 2:8-9 It is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God not by works, so that no one can boast. Bar all human effort and surrender as a spiritually impoverished person to God’s grace (unearned love and favor) and place complete faith and trust in Jesus Christ who died in our place and rose from the dead. By grace through faith alone we receive Jesus’ righteousness and become right with God. All sin is washed away through the blood of Christ now and forever.
Pr. Bob Snitzer
By the Way:
Today, 4:30 Confirmation class.
Sunday 22, 9:00 Morning worship. Sermon: Understanding How it All Fits Together Job 23:1-17
Sunday March 29, 4:00 the Dramatization of the Living Last Supper. Invite a friend.
Past communiques and sermons can be read and heard on our website: www.pilotknob.org and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PilotKnobLutheran
Our service also airs on: KGLO 1300 AM at 10:00 AM, and KIOW 107.3 FM at 7:00 AM. Spread the word.
Isaiah 55:10-11 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
