Our name | Mission | Vision | Leaders Ministries | Schedule | Directions | Contact Home   Gateway Church gathers for worship Sundays at 10:30 a.m. Location: 6425 Jefferson Rd. (Hwy. 129) in Athens, Georgia. For directions, click here. Ministry of the Word: Recent sermons Our quarterly e-magazine Gateway Today For the Gateway family Pastor Jerry's Weekly E-Mail A GATEWAY SERMON SUMMARY AUDIO The test of righteousness Jerry Varnado, pastor Gateway Church, Athens GA October 5, 2003 Main Scripture texts: Job 1:1-4,6-12; Job 2:1-10. The Book of Job puts before us one of the most serious and thorny of all theological questions: Why do godly people suffer? The answer is rooted in the accusation Satan makes against Job. The heart of Satan's accusation is that Job's motive in seeking to please God is so that Job can get blessings from God. Satan is saying that the "godliness" of the righteous is actually evil -- because it flows from selfishness, not love. If this is true, God is shown to be a fool. His whole enterprise in creation and redemption is radically flawed. God does not ignore this accusation. Instead, He seizes the opportunity to allows righteousness to vindicate itself. Within limits, God lets Satan have his way with Job. The message of Job is sixfold: 1) God treasures the righteousness of His people, particularly those who suffer without cause. 2) Satan attacks the truly righteous in an attempt to thwart the purposes of God. 3) More is at stake in our lives than our comfort. Human suffering is often intricately intertwined with the unseen cosmic struggle between good and evil. 4) We should love God more than all His gifts. 5) We should trust God's love and goodness, even when we can't understand why certain things happen. 6) In the end, true righteousness wins the victory and Satan is silenced. I've seen righteousness vindicated in my own life. I was a broken man, but when I turned to God through Jesus Christ, when I loved and obeyed Him simply because of who He is, He did a work of restoration in my life beyond what I could have ever imagined. He can do the same for you. Supporting texts: Job 42:1-6 | Isaiah 55:8-9 | Job 28:28 A mp3 audio file of this sermon is here. (Download to a PC by right clicking on the link and choosing "Save Target As." Mac users: click, hold, and choose "Download Link to Disk." Depending on your connection speed, the file may take several minutes to download.) An audio tape of this sermon is available free of charge (U.S. requests only). Request a tape by calling or writing the Gateway Church office. Please specify tape number 031005a: The Test of Righteousness. © 2003 Gerald R. Varnado To the Gateway Church home page How to contact us