Heart Worship (cont.)
One account that reveals the heart of a Christ like man, is the book of Job. Of course, only a limited scope of this man's heart can be gleaned, but there is much that can be understood about the proper heart attitude. The previous post emphasized that believers don't know their own heart, but the Lord has providentially orchestrated each and every circumstance in the life of a believer to do His will. The life of Job was a life of yieldedness and patience. Job seemed to have a firm foundation in his knowledge of God and that shines through in this book, along with his patience and heart attitude
There is a key element about Job’s heart attitude that is presented at the beginning of the book. That is the fact that the believers attitude is observed by others. Firstly, God then the angels and finally, man. God sees everything in the believers heart, but men and angels can not see the heart, but only the outward display. Unfortunately, it is human nature to draw conclusions based on that outward display.
Job's heart attitude towards God is recorded in the first chapter.
"And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb,
and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD."
It seems that a lot of christians believe that the heart attitude is all that matters when worshipping and serving the Lord, and they are right, however scripture also teaches that there are more spectators of our testimony than God alone. This heavenly scene in Job 1:6, where God suggests Job as Satan's test subject, the sons of God are also present. When Satan is testing Job, Satan's angels, but also the sons of God, or angels, are observing the testimony of Job. Job may not have understood that angels were observing him, but it is reasonable to conclude that from this passage, and also the New Testament tells believers this clearly in 1 Corinthians 4:9b.
"...for we are made a spectacle unto the world,
and to angels, and to men."
Believers are made to be a spectacle unto the world. What a testimony we can have before the world when obedience, reverence, and Christ-likeness is manifested! Paul writes later in chapter 3 in 2 Corinthians that believers are "our epistle...known and read of all men." Only God knows the heart of man, but men see the outward testimony and observes closely how Christ-like a believer is, especially if that believer is in the process of witnessing. It is hugely humbling to remember that men are watching our testimony. Job had a human audience. His wife and his 3 comforters. Job's wife even suggested to "curse God and die", but Job's heart was set on establishing a testimony before God and men. Christians seem to forget that unbelievers are watching, but the Holy scriptures remind believers that a testimony of God is "known and read of all men."
Angels also watch believers. A unique perspective on the book of Job is that God gave us a behind the scenes look into how Satan needs permission from God to cause trial in our lives. When a trial comes along, it is easy to conclude that it is our fault and of course this is most often the case since we still have a sin nature, but it is possible that God is using the trials in our life to teach the angels more about himself. Trials certainly teach the believer more about God , and of our own sin nature, but our trials also are a teaching tool for the angels. God reminds us of that in at least 2 places of scripture, in Job chapter 1 and 1 Corinthians chapter 4.
Everything a believer does is definitely seen by God and He will judge all of our works, but they are seen by men and angels also. All the new trends in the christian realm are teaching others how believers view God. The popular worship movements and questionable ministry organizations are teaching others an improper view of how a true believer views God, but also individual christians that are firmly settled in their convictions but dipping their toes in the waters of these trends and movements, are, in that sense, saying it is ok and nothing is wrong over here. In other words, believers that are not entirely practicing the doctrine of separation are confusing others by doing so, believers and unbelievers. For instance, a believer who is firmly settled in his/her convictions and what the Bible teaches, but desires greatly to reach the lost in the Homosexual demographic, would have a very confusing testimony if that believer chose to dip his toes in those waters. The believers testimony before men includes evangelism, of course, but coupled with the practice of complete separation.
"For God is not the author of confusion,
but of peace..."
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