Joab's Fire Chapter 19 Discussion Questions

When we demonstrate mercy to our brother or sister in the Lord, we make the Gospel appealing to the unsaved.

In the last chapter, Dixon left the soddy angered over the way Nathaniel and Barty treated Joab. Nathaniel had indicated he'd been listening to Abbadon, who suggested that Joab was experiencing this because of some hidden sin.

We then looked at the churches of Galatia. When Paul first took the Gospel to them, they’re attitude toward him was one of grace and mercy. When the Judaizers came and told the churches they needed to do this and that, in essence saying that Paul hadn’t spoken the whole truth, they followed the Judaizers.

Paul’s response was, “Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?” Gal 4:16. It would seem, therefore, that armed with ‘new information’ on how one was to be saved the churches of Galatia took on a judgmental attitude toward Paul and his teaching.

We learned last week that our response to someone who suffers should not be to despise them and judge them. When we judge another we are not esteeming them. We are holding ourselves above them. When we judge a brother or sister, holding them to a standard we set, we enslave ourselves to that standard as well, even as a judge must obey the laws he upholds. Our respond should be in humility and with love.

Love looks for the good and doesn’t dwell on problems. Love, while it rejoices in truth, thinks no evil. If we recognize that we have weaknesses too, and choose to love our friend that suffers, we’ll have a better testimony before the world.

In chapter 19, Joab chastises Nathaniel and Barty.

Who was Joab concerned with in this chapter? Dixon

What did Joab want from his friends? Comfort

Let’s go back to Galatians.

In Galatians 5:13 Paul writes: “For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve on another.”

When we accept Jesus Christ as our Saviour, we are no longer bound to the law, and do not have to pay the fine for our sins…which is death. We are freed. We can now choose to do right without living in fear of, if we do wrong, we will go to hell. That is a result of God’s grace and mercy.

Just as we have received that grace and mercy, so we should extend it to our sister in the Lord. Does this mean we do not correct someone when we know the fault? No.

Read Galatians 6:1-3

“Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.”

First, we need to know what that fault is. We shouldn't automatically assume a fault. We mustn't listen to heresay, believe it, and then conclude a person suffers because of what we heard said was a fault or weakness.

Then we need to have a spirit of meekness, being careful that we don’t fall into temptation.

What might we be tempted by?

• to commit the same sin or have the same fault as the one we attempt to help.
• Pride. To consider ourselves better Christians than the man we seek to help.
  

Sometimes we are not aware that we do this. We go into the "counseling" session and talk about how we have gone through the same problem and how we didn't allow ourselves to struggle as our friend is. Or we start patting ourselves on the back for such wise words coming from our mouths, and forget to give God the glory.

When we have set out to restore that friend in a spirit of meekness we are able to help him.

But here, in our story, neither Nathaniel nor Barty know what sin Joab may have committed. They can’t restore, they can only assist, comfort, love.

The churches of Galatia showed Paul compassion when he was with them. They desired to help him in his infirmities. It wasn’t until after they listened to those who spoke against Paul and the truth did they acted as though Paul was their enemy. At least, this is how it seems.

How often have we treated someone as an ‘enemy’ shunning them because we have judged that their situation is a result of their sin, even when we do not know what that sin might be, when we’ve listened to gossip instead of truth?

How does this look to those who are not saved?

Romans 2:4 tells us that it is God’s goodness that leads us to repentance. His goodness entails kindness and graciousness.

If we desire to have a right testimony before the world, we need to treat our fellow Christian with the same kindness and graciousness—the same goodness. That is how we reflect God in our lives.