If you turn again to the passage
we read, Job chapter 11 Job chapter 11 Job has been addressed now by
Eliphaz and Bildad and now comes the third of his so-called friends,
the third of these comforters of Job with his answer to Job's
words. Then answered Zophar the Naamaphite
and said, Should not the multitude of words be answered? And should
a man full of talk be justified? Should thy lies make men hold
their peace? And when thou mockest, shall
no man make thee ashamed? For thou hast said, My doctrine
is pure, and I am clean in thine eyes. but O that God would speak
and open his lips against thee, and that he would show thee the
secrets of wisdom, that they are double to that which is.
Know therefore that God exactive of thee less than thine iniquity
deserveth. Canst thou by searching find
out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty
unto perfection? Tis as high as heaven, what canst
thou do? Deeper than hell, what canst
thou know? The measure thereof is longer
than the earth and broader than the sea. Oh that God would speak and open
his lips against thee. and that he would show thee the
secrets of wisdom that they are double to that which is. Know
therefore that God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity
deserveth. Oh, that God would speak. Well, we've heard a lot in this
book of Job of what men have spoken. We've heard a lot of
their words, both from Job himself, and also the so-called friends
of his, his accusers. Much is said in these words. Many truths are said, but much
wrong is said. And much truth falsely applied
is said. Much false judgment is made. But in saying this, oh that God
would speak, Zophar echoes what Job might
feel also. Here is Job in the midst of suffering,
at the brink of death, having lost all, having lost his family,
having lost all that he had, having lost his health, he's
in the greatest of suffering, and here his accusers come and
find fault. Here they find fault with him.
And I'm sure Job felt, oh, that God would speak and answer and
set forth the truth. But Zophar's desire was that
God would speak and open his lips against Job. He felt the fault lied with Job. Indeed, he says unto Job, know
therefore that God, exactive of thee, less than thine iniquity
deserve. If this great sorrow, this great
trial, Job, is less than you deserve, so wicked are you. You deserve worse. Oh, that God would speak. Men
may say what they will. Against and for. These men may have spoken against
Job. Job may have sought to defend
himself. But what we need, what you need
and I need, is for God to speak. He has the final word. his word
is the truth. Men try to take the truth and
reason with the truth, but are led into error, except
God speaks and except God guides. Much that these men said contained truth, but it's always
truth in part. All they could see is a legal
judgment. All they could see is the potential
of sin in Job and God's wrath kindled against him. They knew little of God's grace
and mercy. They knew little of the gospel
of Jesus Christ. We need God to speak, not the
wisdom of man. We don't need to hear the wisdom
of man. The wisdom of man leads to destruction. There is a way that seemeth right
unto a man, but the end thereof is destruction, is death. We need to hear the wisdom of
God, not the lies, the reasoning, the deception of man. We need to hear the truth. Yes, we've heard Eliphaz, we've
heard Bildad and now we hear from Zophar here. Eliphaz found
fault with Job, implying that some sin of Job, some secret
sin perhaps, because Eliphaz couldn't really point to anything
he'd seen. But some secret sin of Job must
have brought this judgment, this trial upon him. You see, it's
very clear from the opening chapter of Job that God sets him forth
as a faithful servant, a perfect and an upright man. These friends
of Job hadn't seen anything to find fault in him. He was upright. He worshipped God. He was faithfully
prayed. So they perceived that this that
came upon him must be due to something hidden, something secret. Job was living a double life,
he had something hidden from them that he must have done or
thoughts he had, desires he had and God was chastening him, God
was judging him because of them. There must be some sin in Job.
Bildad went further, implying that either Job had sinned or
his children had sinned. And whichever that had brought
the trouble upon him, perhaps his children had done some sin
and Job hadn't prayed for them and God was rebuking Job for
what they had done. And now Zophar. the Nehemiah
fight. This third friend goes further
still, claiming that the trouble that Job endures is less than
what he deserves. That if God spake and showed
him what he really is, he would judge him greater, more greatly
than what he was experiencing. This was a light touch, Job.
Seek God whilst you've got time. Don't you know what he could
do to you? Surely you're a sinner. Go and
plead your case with him before he destroys you. Yes, he went further. Oh, that
God would speak and open his lips against thee. Know therefore
that God exactive of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth. Oh, what a condemnation. What a condemnation. There's
little comfort in these friend's words, are there? What a condemnation. and that he would show thee the
secrets of wisdom, that they are double to that which is.
Know therefore that God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity
deserveth. So many men, religious men even, can do little but find fault
one with another. It's in our fallen hearts. It's
in our fallen nature of sin to just justify ourselves by pushing
others down. To think better of ourselves
by finding fault in our neighbor or in our brother. Oh, we can
see all the faults in another, but we can't see the beams in
our own eyes. In the beginning of Romans when
Paul shows that all men are sinners, Jews and Gentiles alike, he describes
how men accuse one another. They just find fault with one
another, judging one another. And that's all we're like by
nature. All we do is go around finding
fault. Knowing the judgment of God that
they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only
do they do the same, but they have pleasure in them that do
them. Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that
judgeth. For wherein thou judgest another,
thou condemnest thyself, for thou that judgest doeth the same
things. We are sure that the judgment
of God is according to truth against them which commit such
things. And thinkest thou this, O man, that judges them which
do such things? And you do the same, that thou
shalt escape the judgment of God. And yet we do. All we do is go around finding
fault. And Zophar looked upon Job who
was suffering and said, He must have sinned. When Zophar really
is revealing unto us by this attitude that he knows he's a
sinner himself. And he knows what he thinks in
secret and has done in secret. And therefore he looks on Job
and thinks maybe Job's done the same things and God is judging
him. When really he reveals that he's
the greater of the sinners here. They all found fault with Job.
and they were all sinners alike. We're all the same. We're all
under the same condemnation by nature. We've all gone astray. We all fell in Adam when Adam
disobeyed God. We've all turned our backs upon
God. We're all guilty sinners. Then who are we to wag a finger
at another? This is made plain in John chapter
three. Well, we read there, as Moses
lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the
Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should
not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world
that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth
in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God
sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that
the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him
is not condemned. But he that believeth not is
condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name
of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation,
that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather
than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that
doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light,
lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh
to the light that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are
wrought in God. He that believeth not is condemned
already because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten
Son of God. We're all condemned. We're all
by nature in the darkness of sin. And that sin condemns us. And the condemnation of sin is
that light has come into the world. Christ in the Gospel came
into this world and set forth the light of God, the righteousness
of God, the mercy of God, the love of God. He manifested the
righteousness of God when he laid down his life upon the cross. He was lifted up as Moses lifted
up the serpent in the wilderness. He was lifted up before mankind
as the savior of sinners. And every one of us turned our
backs upon him. Every one of us in hatred because
of our sin, as it were, cried out with the multitude on that
day, crucify him, crucify him. Every one of us turned from the
light because we loved the darkness rather than the light because
the light would reveal our deeds as being evil. So we condemned
Christ. We took the nails and nailed
him to the cross and had him lifted up and crucified him. We condemned him and said we
will not have this man to reign over us. Every one of us in our
hearts did the same to him in our sins. We condemned Christ
in the way that Zophar, Bildad, Eliphaz condemned Job. There was Job suffering before
them and they found fault with him. And when we hear the gospel
of Christ, what do we do? We turn our backs upon him, we're
apathetic, we don't care for him, we don't wish to have him
rule over us. We want to live our own lives
and do our own sinful, wicked deeds in silence, without having
Christ. presented unto us, we don't want
to know him, so in our hearts we crucified him. We loved the
darkness and our deeds of evil, so we would not come to the light,
we would not believe on the name of the Son of God. And as such
we're condemned already. Oh, we may condemn like Zophar,
But our condemnation, when we condemn another, we're condemning
Christ. When we turn our backs upon Christ
in the gospel, we nail him to the cross, and we're condemned
already. But God sent his own son into
the world. not to condemn the world, but
that the world through him might be saved. He lifted him up as
Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, as that to which
man should look for salvation, that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world
that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth
in him should not perish but have everlasting life. God made
this world, this creation, which he called good, and he made Adam
as a picture of his son Jesus Christ. The last Adam, the perfect
man and God loved the world he made and he loved his son and
he loved the people chosen in his son. And he so loved that
world and he so loved his son and he so loved that people chosen
in him that he gave his own son to deliver that people from death. He did not love every individual. because the wicked perish and
those who never know Christ are condemned and lost. But he loved
the world he made for his son and he loved his son and he loved
that people he gave to his son chosen from before the foundation
of the earth. and he gave his son to redeem
that people, to redeem the elect, to redeem a chosen, to redeem
Job. Poor condemned Job. to save him,
and deliver him, and wash him from his sins, and make him pure
and perfect in Christ. He came not to condemn, but to
save. He came to save Job. He came
to deliver Job. He came to wash Job from all
his sins. He came to wash Job in the blood
of Christ, so that for Job he could say, there is therefore
now no condemnation. to them which are in Christ Jesus. He loved him, and he gave his
own son for him. But oh, how Zophar looked upon
Job! And oh, how he looked through
Job upon Christ! and said, as it were, this has
come upon thee because of something that was done. Sophia's attitude
to Job was our attitude, our attitude by nature towards Christ. He reveals himself for you. Oh,
that God would speak and open his lips against thee. But Job trusted God. Job believed God. Job waited
upon his God. He trusted in His mercy. He trusted in His grace. And
whatever men may say of believers in condemnation, whatever the
accuser of the Brethren may say, whatever men may whisper in our
ears, whatever the accuser of the Brethren may whisper in our
ears, whatever wicked words he may come with, Whatever condemnation
he may seek to exact upon us, whatever he may say, whatever
men may say, we know, we know that in Christ, if we have faith
in him, we are forgiven of every sin. We know that there is now,
therefore now no condemnation. We know, Job knew. Do you? Do you? We who believe in Christ
know, do you? Paul makes plain in Romans 8,
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus,
who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. For the
law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free
from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do,
in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son
in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in
the flesh. that the righteousness of the
law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh
but after the spirit. There is therefore now no condemnation. No condemnation. What then shall we say to these
things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who
is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea,
rather that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of
God, who also maketh intercession for us. If God be for us, who can be
against us? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth so
far? It is Christ that died, yea,
rather that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of
God, who also maketh intercession for us. Yes, Job had a saviour
who made intercession for him. He had one who pleaded his case
before God. Zophar thought that if God spake,
God would come down in judgement on Job. But Job had a hope in
heaven. Christ had gone in to the Holy
of Holies with his own blood on Job's behalf. And he spake
on his behalf. And he said, I have washed him,
I have cleansed him, I have saved him. The work is finished, he
is justified. I've saved Job. and no matter
what sins he may have done in his lifetime, no matter the multitude
of sins that he's fought, the multitude of things that he's
done in his own weakness, he's perfect in my sight. I've cleansed
him, I've washed him, I've saved him, he's perfect. He's perfect. Oh that God would speak, Zophar
says. Oh that he would. Oh that he
would, oh that he would come then and speak truth. And we know that he did at the
end of the book of Job. We know that finally God spake
and justified Job because he was chosen in Christ. Oh that
he would speak today when men come and condemn and
judge. When your heart condemns and
judges, oh that God would speak and settle the truth in Christ.
Oh that he would. But do we hear? Do you hear? When God comes in the gospel
and preaches Christ unto you and speaks unto you in this word,
do you hear? Do we? Job says in chapter thirty-three,
for God speaketh once, yea, twice, yet man perceiveth it not. By
nature, we can come and we can hear the word of God read. We
can hear sermons preached. We can hear the best of preachers
set forth Christ clearly and we don't and it seems foolishness to our
natural heart. We don't receive it. Indeed,
we rise up in condemnation. Once more, we take the hammer
and nail Christ's hands to the cross with our sins and say,
I will not believe. God speaketh once, yea, twice. Oh, that he would not cease to
speak to us. Oh, that he would not say, you've
heard. and you've turned, you've heard
and you've turned, you will hear no more. Oh, that he would not
leave us to what we deserve, but that he would tenderly, repeatedly
come unto us, constantly reminding us of his son, constantly setting
him forth and saying, here is my son. Believe on him. Oh that he would have mercy upon
us. Samuel when he was young and
lived in Eli. Eli's lived with Eli. In the
house of the Lord. Began to hear the Lord speak.
And he thought it was a man. He thought it was Eli. And he
kept returning to Eli. Until Eli said it's the Lord
Samuel. Go here. We read and it came
to pass at that time when Eli was laid down in his place that
his eyes began to wax dim that he could not see and now the
lamp of god went out in the temple of the lord where the ark of
god was and Samuel was laid down to sleep that the lord called
Samuel and and he answered here am I and he ran unto Eli and
said here am I for Lie down again. And he went and
lay down. And the Lord called yet again,
Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to
Eli and said, Here am I, for thou didst call me. And he answered,
I called not my son. Lie down again. Now Samuel did
not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet
revealed unto him. And the Lord called Samuel again
the third time. And he arose and went to Eli
and said, Here am I, for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived
that the Lord had called the child. Therefore Eli said unto
Samuel, Go lie down, and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou
shalt say, Speak, Lord, for thy servant hereof. So Samuel went
and lay down in his place. And the Lord came and stood and
called us at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered,
Speak, for thy servant hereof. And the Lord said to Samuel,
Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears
of every one that heareth it shall tingle. In that day I will
perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning
his house. When I begin, I will also make
an end. Samuel, Samuel. Yes, the Lord came unto Samuel. And he did not perceive, he thought
it was the word of man. And we may hear the gospel, and
the Lord may call unto us through the gospel, and we may think
this is just a man speaking. And there may come a day when
finally we hear the Lord speaking unto us. Speak, Lord, thy servant
hereof. Oh, that we would hear not the
words of men, but the Lord. Rather than this speech, in Exodus
20, then they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will
hear, but let not God speak with us, lest we die. There's a fear
and a trembling under the law. where we don't want to hear God
speak because we know our sin. And we know that if he speaks
unto us, he can only speak in judgment. We will be condemned
and we will die. But there comes a time when we
hear the gospel and if God gives us hope, and leads us under the
foot of Jesus Christ, under the feet of Him, leads us to the
cross where we may wish to hear Him speak in mercy and grace
unto our souls. Yes, we don't want to hear the
word of God in judgment. That's the word Zophar wanted
to bring down upon Job. Oh, that we might not hear that
word. O that we might not hear, hear O my people, and I will
speak, O Israel, and I will testify against thee. I am God, even
thy God. O that we might hear God come
unto us in grace. We need to hear What we read
of in Psalm 85, I will hear that God, the Lord will speak for
he will speak peace unto his people and to his saints. But
let them not turn again to folly. Oh, that he would come unto us
as he came to Job and speak peace unto us. For I am the Lord, I
will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass. It shall be no more prolonged,
for in your days, O rebellious house, will I say the word and
will perform it, saith the Lord God. O that God would speak peace,
mercy, salvation. Zophar cried, O that God would
speak. Oh, that God would speak and
open his lips against thee. He simply wanted God to condemn
Job. Yet God had spoken. God had spoken. But did Zophar hear? And could
he see? Before him, Job's suffering. set forth Christ in the gospel. And by Job and through Job, God
had spoken. But could these three men see?
They sat there in the silence for seven days and seven nights
when they saw Job's suffering. How great his suffering. And
then when they came to speak, all they could do was condemn.
And we may come and hear the gospel in silence. We may hear of the hours of darkness
that Christ suffered. Those three hours in the darkness
in which he was made sin, in which the wrath of God poured
down upon him, in which he bore his people's sins, in which he
drank the cup of God's wrath to the dregs, in which he finished
the work of salvation. We may hear in silence, but do
we hear? Or do we begin to speak and to
condemn and to turn away? The Lord had spoken. Zophar just
couldn't see and never heard. And he's spoken to us. He's spoken
to you. But have you heard? Have you
seen? Oh yes, the Lord has spoken in
the gospel, in his Son. Hebrews 1 says, God who at sundry
times and in diverse manners spake in time past unto the fathers
by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his
Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he
made the worlds. He's spoken. in his son in the
gospel. Have you seen him? Have you heard
him? Zophar condemned. Your heart may condemn. But God
in Christ in the gospel justified. Poor Job. Despite all that he
suffered, despite all that he had from men, Despite all the
words, the wicked words that they threw at him in condemnation,
he had a God that justified him, that had mercy upon him, that
loved him, that saved him. All Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar
could do is look upon Job and find fault. They judged, they
accused. And yet right here in front of
them, right here in their midst, Right before them God was setting
forth the Gospel, He was presenting unto them in Job a picture of
His own Son Jesus Christ. Before them was God setting forth
Christ the suffering servant. He displayed unto them His Son
in suffering, a picture of His Son at the cross. Christ suffered
the just for the unjust, the innocent for the guilty, the
one who bore the sins and judgments of God against the sins of his
people. He set him forth. And here Job
suffers as a picture of him and all they could do is find fault. Are you like that with Christ?
With the gospel? Always finding fault. Always
finding a reason why you turn away. Always finding fault with
his people. Oh, they're like this and they're
like that. They're deluded. They're foolish.
They're so dour. They're so strict. They won't
have fun. They won't do the things I want
to do. Always finding fault. Well, go ahead, for life is brief. Man by nature eats, drinks, and
is merry, and then tomorrow he dies, and then God will find
fault with him for eternity. Oh, that we might be delivered
from such foolishness and brought unto Christ, and come to know
that in Christ there is no condemnation, In Christ there is free mercy
and grace unto wretched sinners such as you and I. It is God
that justifies. It is Christ that died the innocent
for the guilty. And here Job was sat in front
of them, right in front of them, depicting him. Can you see Christ
in Job? Can you see Christ in the gospel? Can you see? Can you hear? Has the Lord spoken unto you? Oh, that the Lord would speak. What shall we say then to these
things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who
is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea,
rather that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of
God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us
from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress,
or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, for thy sake
we are killed all the day long, we are accounted as sheep for
the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are
more than conquerors through him that loved us for I am persuaded
that neither death nor life nor angels, nor principalities, nor
powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor
depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us
from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. None separated Job. from the love of his God in Christ
Jesus his Lord. None shall separate any child
of God from that love. Oh has God spoken unto you. Oh that God would speak his love,
his mercy, his grace in Christ to the salvation of his people
and the glory of his name. Amen.