Might please God to bless us
together this evening as we consider his word. Let us turn to the
book of Job chapter 16 and read in verses 19 to 22, the last
four verses in chapter 16 in the book of Job. Also now behold,
my witness is in heaven and my record is on high. My friends
scorn me, but mine eye poureth out tears unto God. Oh, that one might plead for
a man with God, as a man pleadeth for his neighbor. When a few
years are come, then I shall go the way whence I shall not
return. No doubt we are familiar with
the life of Job, and we recognize as we read this book how the
Lord dealt with him in a very sovereign way. And I'm sure that
we have this account of Job to encourage the Church of God in
a day and age in which they live because Job suffered greatly
and he was criticized greatly but he was blessed greatly and
it's good to see how the Lord saw fit to deal with his servant
Job. Remember you know God spoke of
Job he was just an upright man it wasn't as though he was a
poor Christian or a Somebody that didn't set a good example,
he set a very good example. And yet God saw fit to allow
Job to be greatly tempted, and indeed to be greatly afflicted,
and to have great trial come into his life, one thing upon
another. So that in reality today, as
we think of Job, well we cannot think really of a worse situation
that could develop. We may think sometimes that We
have difficulties in our lives, but it's good if we compare them
with Job, and we'll find that they're very small by comparison
with what God's servant Job had to endure. And not only did he
lose virtually everything, and yet we find that his three friends
came, and they sat down for some time before him, and then they
began to talk to him one at a time. to describe what they thought
was right and where Job was wrong. And of course in some things
they were right, but in some things they were wrong. And the
problem was they did not really understand the situation that
Job was in. They didn't really appreciate
how God was dealing with him. And they only measured their
own thoughts and their own expressions by their own understanding. And
it was often defective. It did not in fact ring the right
note. And so we see that Job had to
carry on and of course Job wasn't very happy with some of the things
that were spoken and he didn't always speak advisedly. Nonetheless
we can understand how poor Job was in his life and how greatly
he suffered. And so we come down to this 16th
chapter and by this time his three friends have all addressed
him And he comes and we read what he said. He tells us, I've
heard many such things. Well, did he think they were
good things? He said this, miserable comforters are ye all. You see,
he thought they'd come, no doubt they may have thought they'd
come to instruct him, perhaps to comfort him, but it didn't
work out that way. And he makes this statement,
they were indeed miserable comforters. That's how he felt. They weren't
comforting to him at all. And he says, shall vain words
have an end, or what emboldeneth thee that thou answerest? You see, he didn't speak well
of the words that they spoke. And he names them as vain words. Vain words to him. And he says,
I also could speak as ye do, And if your soul were in my soul
stead, I could heap up words against you and shake mine head
at you." So he just tells them how he could respond. But we
notice that God's Spirit was upon him, so he did not speak
things really inadvisedly. And we're thankful that we have
an example of a godly man here facing opposition and yet willing
to sustain it and to just make a very simple statement of the
condition and the situation. He tells us, he says, though
I speak my grief is not assuaged and nor I forbear what am I eased. But now it's made me weary, now
it's made desolate all my company. And he goes on, we read it together,
these two chapters, which give some indication of what Job was
passing through. The reality of it, and it wasn't
just words, it was the expressions of his soul. But we're thankful
to know that he was able to look up. What a blessing it is in
our lives when In the midst of difficulties and trials and temptations,
were able to look up. And that's really what Job did. Come down to the 16th verse,
19th verse, and he speaks and says, also now behold, my witness
is in heaven, and my record is on high. What he's saying is
this, God knew all about him. And those other friends did not
understand. But God knew, and that's true
in our lives today. God looks at us, God knows all
about us, and God realizes and knows the very situation that
he's calling us and caused us to walk in. It's not an unknown
way to our God. It might seem an unknown way
sometimes to us, but it wasn't to, it isn't to our God and it
wasn't to the God of Job. and Job was therefore able to
say, behold. And it's really speaking to these
three friends, he says, well, look, behold, listen to what
I've got to say. My witness is in heaven. I have someone who is the true
witness. I have someone who looks at my
very being, into my heart, He knows my every concern, my every
desire. It's not hidden. And what may
appear outwardly may not be right, but God looks at the heart. God's the witness. And so Job
is able to tell his friends this, my witness is in heaven. Well, surely that's an encouragement
to us, isn't it? Because as we know down through
the ages, People have been misjudged. People have been set at naught.
People have thought wrongly of them. They don't understand. But God knows. And what a mercy
it is to have a confidence in God. Job had this confidence
in his God. He said, behold, my witness is
in heaven. And of course, there are a number
of records in the Word of God which speak to us about the witness
and the apostle Paul. when he wrote to the Romans,
he was able to tell them these words. He says, first, I thank
my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken
of throughout the whole world, for God is my witness. God was the Apostle's witness.
And we know, of course, what the Apostle Paul had to endure
in his journey through life after that time when he was converted
on that Damascus road, then his troubles began. And then he endured
much hardship and much opposition, but he's able to say, yes, for
God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel
of his son. And without ceasing, I may mention
of you always in my prayers, making request if by any means
now at length, I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to
come unto you. He was able to tell the church
at Rome of the situation in his life and to commend to them his
belief that God was his witness and that he served him in the
spirit. He knew that God observed what
he was doing and what he was saying and what he was thinking.
See, God knows our thoughts. No one knows your thought, no
one knows my thought, but God knows them. And therefore God
is that perfect witness to know everything. And that may be a
very solemn thought sometimes. We think, well, my thoughts haven't
been very good. In fact, perhaps we may think
our thoughts have been very wrong. They may have been very evil.
They may not have had good motives at all. And yet, on the other
hand, there may have been those good desires, those secret prayers,
those cries unto God, and we're thankful then that God is our
witness, God is my witness. And again in the same epistle,
the apostle speaks in the ninth chapter, and he tells us, I say
the truth in Christ, the first verse, I lie not, my conscience
also, bear me witness in the Holy Ghost. He had the answer,
a good conscience, before God. And that's a great issue, isn't
it? For you and me as we journey on through life to have a good
conscience before God. And so he was able to tell the
Romans, I say the truth in Christ. Yes, it wasn't anything that
was in any way untrue. It was true. And he says, I lie
not. And that's a blessing, you know,
to be able to confirm a statement like that. Because it's very
difficult, as I've said sometimes, in our lives to be totally truthful. It's very hard sometimes to be
totally truthful. Because we may just alter things
a little bit. And however small that little
bit may be, it is effectively telling a lie. Now, the apostle
was able, with a good conscience before God, to be able to say,
I say the truth in Christ, I lie not. My conscience also, bear
me witness in the Holy Ghost." It wasn't as though he had an
easy path. He says, that I have great heaviness
and continual sorrow in my heart. Well, there we have the testimony
of one of God's children. He didn't say, well, it was a
relatively easy path. He says, I had great heaviness. Continual sorrow in my heart
now as we pass that way Perhaps not in the same depths by any
means like the Apostle did yet perhaps in some measure again
to realize That in that condition in that situation God is our
witness God knows the condition that we're in because He has
caused it to come to pass for our good And that's good, isn't
it? when you and I can recollect
that God is dealing with us as sons and daughters, not as a
castaway. No, but he's dealing with us
as his children. And what a wonderful thing it
is then, that although we may be sometimes to our own feelings
in great heaviness and continual sorrow in heart, to realize the
blessing is, yes, we have a God who's a witness to everything
in my life nothing's occurring which is not in accordance with
God's will and nothing's occurring which is not for my spiritual
good. The Lord does everything for
his people's good and as we may be able to remember that, it
makes it all right. It makes difficult situations
come right. We're able then to come and to
thank God that we are not being left to wander on in this poor
old world. But God is taking notice of us
and God is dealing with us in love to our souls. That's very humbling, isn't it?
The Lord's dealing with us in love to our souls. And so here,
Job was able to testify, and now, also now behold, my witness
is in heaven. Well may we tonight be thankful
that God, the great God in heaven, is looking down not only upon
us in a physical way, but looking right into our hearts and discerning
everything which we're thinking. No thought is hidden from Almighty
God. And how good it is when we realise
that, again and again to think of it, that the Lord God looks
into our hearts, nothing is hidden. And so says Job, behold my witness
is in heaven, and my record is on high. There was a record in
heaven of what Job had done, what Job had thought, and there's
a record in heaven my friends, with regards to what we've done,
what we've said, what we've thought, there's a record in heaven. Now
are we thankful for it? Well, in one sense we should
always be thankful for it, but it may sometimes make us tremble
to realize that those things which have gone through our mind
and perhaps we've said and done haven't really been God-glorifying. In actual fact, they may have
been very evil and very sinful. And yet, Job's able to say here,
my record is high. It's true. It's true for every
one of us. There's a record in heaven of
every deed and every thought that you and I have done while
we've part upon this earth. There's nothing secret. Everything
is revealed to Almighty God. And so Job here, as he's speaking
to his friends, remember they're sat there listening, And Job's
now speaking to them. They've said their peace and
that they were of course to carry on speaking, but they'd said
pieces and now Job responds to them in this way and speaks very
carefully and yet very honestly and tells them, yes, my witness
is in heaven and my record is on high. And it's a good thing
to know that we have that record, a witness heaven our God is the
witness to everything that occurs in our lives every single detail
you know as we understand that that should really influence
our situation we have the account of Samuel Samuel was a prophet
of the Lord he was a man of God and he tells us he says behold
here I am witness against me before the Lord, and before his
anointed. And he asked the question, whose
ox have I taken, or whose ass have I taken, or whom have I
defrauded, whom have I oppressed, or of whose hand have I received
any bribe, to blind mine eyes therewith, and I will restore
it you. And they were able to say, he
spoke that there was the witness, and they said, Thou hast not
defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither hast thou taken aught
of any man's hand. And he said unto them, The Lord
is witness against you. And his anointed is witness this
day that ye have not found aught in my hand. And they answered,
He is witness. Well, Samuel was thankful. that the Lord was his witness. And I hope we're thankful today
to know that God is our witness. And so the man of God goes on
speaking to his three friends, and then he tells them, he says,
my friends scorn me, but mine eye poureth out tears unto God. His friends scorn him, poor Job,
right down, cast down, and his friends scorned him. That wasn't
very encouraging for him, was it? It wasn't easy to bear, was
it? But he did bear it. And what
did he do? Did he retaliate? He spoke to
his God. And we were told, but mine eye
poureth out tears unto God. He knew the secret. He knew where
to go. He poured out his heart in tears
to his God. His God heard. His God knew what
he was doing with Job. Job wasn't going to be left there.
Job was going to be tested. He was going to be tried. But
he wasn't going to be left in that condition. And don't forget,
Job didn't know that when he was in this place. He didn't
know about the deliverance. He just trusted in his God. He just poured out his heart
to his God. And he poured it out like this,
in tears. He was burdened. He was overcome
as it were. And yet, he came to his God and
he poured out his heart. But, my nice, poureth out tears
unto God. What a favour it is when the
Lord blesses us with a spirit of prayer, perhaps in a condition
like Job was. He didn't go around complaining
at everyone else, he just said what the Lord had done, how he
touched him. He told them, my friend schooled
me, but then he says, mine eye poureth out tears unto God. He knew that God was his helper. God was his friend. He'd known
the blessing of the Lord in days past, wonderful favours he'd
enjoyed, and now his faith was being sorely tried. Sorely tried. And perhaps our faith may be
sorely tried. We wonder whether the Lord was
in anything, or whether it was all imagination. Well, you see,
Job was tried, and the Lord did not leave him. No, the Lord knew
every thought, every word of Job. And he was brought, as you
well know, to the end when he confessed his true state. He didn't say, well, I'm a grape
chap. No, he didn't. He said he abhorred himself and
repented. in dust and ashes. Now what brought
him to that place? The work of God. The spirit of
God brought him to that place. So he recognised before a holy
God that he abhorred himself. Well, what grace there was that
Job enjoyed. What a privilege if you and I
are blessed with that situation, are brought to it It didn't suddenly
occur, did it, in Job's life? It wasn't a sudden change. No, it was a gradual process.
There were all these arguments brought to him. But it wasn't
until the Lord came and spoke to Job, then he really realised
his true condition. And the Lord spoke and explained
to Job how great he was. And then Job became very small. and very insignificant. And that's
a good mark of grace, isn't it? Just like John the Baptist, he
must increase, I must decrease. There was no great I, was there,
in John the Baptist. And so we see there wasn't eventually
in Job's life. Job was at some stages quite
proud of what he was doing and how he felt, but we see here
we get insights in his statements as to how he really felt before
God. And that's a relevant thing.
Sometimes we may be tempted to react. Job was, but when he came
as it were before God, then he was a different character. And
then it was that he came like this, and he said, yes, mine
eye poureth out tears unto God. It's good, isn't it, when we
can come and be sorry for our condition, sorry for our sins,
and plead the name of the Saviour. Come to Him, casting all our
care upon Him, believing that He cares for us. My friend scorned me, but mine
eye poureth out tears unto God. Now, we don't pour out tears
unto God. unless we're in a position that
the Lord's brought us into. We don't suddenly produce tears,
but when the Lord works in our heart, when the Lord touches
our conscience, the Lord moves our spirit and reveals to us
something of the evil of our heart, it's then that we come
mourning before our God and pouring out tears unto God. What a blessing it is when the
Spirit of God moves us to a condition like that. And it is, my friends,
the Spirit of God. You and I cannot bring ourselves
to a condition like this because by nature we're proud. We don't
want to confess our sins. We don't want to admit our mistakes. We don't want to confess our
faults. But you see, when the Spirit
of God comes and touches our heart and moves our spirit, then
it is that we come to our God and we pour out tears unto God. Now we then see here what appears
to be a very beautiful view that Job has. He comes and he says,
oh, that one might plead for a man with God as a man pleaded
for his neighbor. Well, who is going to plead for
you and me? is going to plead for us? Who's
going to understand our situation? Who's going to come to us where
we are and plead for us? Surely there's only one person,
surely that is the Lord Jesus Christ. we not observe here,
Job, blessed with living faith. It may have been very hazy, but
we can see here really, as it were, his faith stretching out
when he says, oh that one might plead for a man with God. It
almost seems that Job recognised here that God was a righteous
and holy God, and he wasn't able because of his sinful situation,
to come directly and plead with God. And so he cries like this,
oh, that one might plead for a man with God as a man pleaded
for his neighbor. Well, it's a wonderful favour
if you and I, my friends, are able to come to our God, pleading
the virtue of the Lord Jesus Christ. What it means is this,
really. means that the Spirit of God
has showed to us our unholiness, our unsuitableness to approach
unto our Father in Heaven directly by ourselves. Because God is
a holy God and cannot look upon sin. But I think that we have
a great and glorious Saviour who can and does plead for his
people. The great God, the blessed Saviour,
takes our prayers, our cries, and presents them to his Father. And the truth is, they are accepted
for Jesus' sake, accepted in the Beloved. The Lord presents
them. What a wonderful thing it is to have and advocate with
the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. So naturally speaking
in our law courts a barrister presents the case of the accused
to the judge and they present the case because they're more
able than the individual perhaps to frame their own defence and
therefore the barrister as an advocate presents their case
and I'm sure when the Spirit of God shines into our heart
and shows us our guilty state. We don't know really how to present
our situation, our case to God. All we can do is to come and
plead for mercy. And here we have this situation,
this picture before us. Oh, that one might plead for
a man with God. Oh, that Lord Jesus Christ would
present our prayers. You know, we must never be satisfied
with the purity of our prayers. My friends, sin is mixed with
all we do. Even in our prayers, sin is mixed
with them. And we need them to be taken
and presented to our God. Our God, the Father, through
the merits of our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, that one
might plead for man. Do we come like that sometimes
to our God? Oh Lord, do present my prayers.
bring them to my Father, that they might be heard and they
might be answered. I'm so poor, I'm so sinful, I'm
so poverty stricken, and I haven't always realised it. Sometimes
I've just rushed in as it were, but oh have mercy upon me and
look upon me. Oh that one might plead for a
man with God as a man pleaded for his neighbour. Well, it's
a wonderful picture, isn't it? To think of the Lord Jesus Christ
pleading on our behalf. Not only is it a lovely picture,
my friends, how humbling it is to think that Almighty God should
condescend to do that for you and me. Utterly unworthy. Why should God, as you might
say, take notice of such a sinner? Such a wretched person. Why should
he come and take our prayers and present them to his father?
It's because of his love. Love to us. Amazing, isn't it? His loving kindness. Oh, how
great. How great it is to realise the
favour of Almighty God. We need to have The Lord revealed
to us what it is, that the great God should come and remember
us. In our low condition, as Job
was here, as we come to sometimes, to think that the Lord looks
upon us, and we think of all the people in the world that
he's concerned with, and yet he has time to come where we
are. and to remember us. You know,
no doubt, no wonder is it that we read those words, remember
me. How humbling it is to think almighty
God should remember us. And so here we have Job exclaiming
these words, oh that one might plead for a man with God as a
man pleaded for his neighbor. This gives a simple illustration
we can understand a man pleading for his neighbour, just like
that. Isn't it amazing that God should
come and do that for unworthy sinners? Well, here we have this
expression that Job makes to his friends as they sat there
listening, and then he tells them, when a few years are come,
then I shall go the way whence I shall not return. Again, It's
a blessing if you and I realise the shortness of our life. Because
if we realise our life is but short, and the longest we haven't
got long to live, it should influence the way that
we react in our life. And Job therefore brings this
before these three friends, and just tells them, when a few years
have come, I shall go the way whence I shall not return. Yes,
there was that way set before him, that way of eternity, and
there was no way back. No way back. Once he passed out
of time, he would be forever in that eternal state. And true
it is, for each one of us, when that time comes, it's a one way,
We enter, we go out of life into eternity and there's no returning. There's no coming back. Oh that
we might then be ready for that great day. And it's important
that we are reminded of our frailty and that we're reminded of the
shortness of our life and that we understand that, as he says
here, a few years And if we compare it with eternity, well, it's
minute, isn't it? We cannot notice it, really.
The few years is absolutely nothing in comparison with eternity.
When a few years are come, then I shall go the way whence I shall
not return. This is not the only time, of
course, when Joe makes reference to his end, when he is speaking
to his three friends. And it's good when we reminded
of the certainty of eternity before each one of us, so that
we might recognise the shortness of our life and to be prepared
and to be found like Job, acknowledging the mercy and the favour and
the blessing of God to him and really where his hope was. His hope was not really in himself,
hope was in his God. His hope was that his God would
appear for him, that his God would direct him, that his God
would hear his prayers, that God would present his prayers
and that God would receive him unto himself. We have the evidence
then here in these few words of a child of God. A child of
God being taught by the Holy Spirit of God in a way that was
for his eternal good. And so we should never, therefore,
complain in our lives about the path the Lord sees fit for us. Because, let us always remember
those words which I often refer to, he led them forth by the
right way, that they should come to a city of habitation. And
this was the right way for Job. And my friends, your path and
my path will not be the same path as Job. but it will be a
right path. It'll be that path which brings
us to that position where we confess our condition and look
to our God just like Job did. Now, just passing on just for
a moment, the next chapter, of course, formulates these two
chapters which was a response that Job gave to his three friends
before Bildad continued to respond. But these two chapters are really
very precious and there's a wonderful statement in this and we sang
it in our first hymn and here it is in this ninth verse and
it's this, the righteous also shall hold on his way. Now then,
Job was able to confirm that. and it's good isn't when you
and I can sing a hymn like we did and to realize the truth
of it, it's a wonderful foundation truth, the righteous shall hold
on his way. To those who are blessed to know
that they have a witness in heaven, the records on high, to also
know that this is true, And we are righteous, not in and of
ourselves, but we're righteous because of what God has done
for us, in giving us his righteousness, and therefore we shall hold on
our way. Isn't that an encouraging thought?
As we may think perhaps sometimes, because of the evil of our heart,
that we might fall by the way, that we may make shipwreck, we
may perhaps be destroyed. The devil is trying to do that
all the time. But I think that we shall not be destroyed because
this word is true, the righteous also shall hold on his way. And he goes on and says, and
he that has clean hands shall be stronger and stronger. I believe what that means is
if you and I are depending upon God, if our trust is in him,
then you see, Our hands will get stronger and stronger, because
we're not relying on our own strength. We're like the Apostle
Paul, who was able to tell us, I can do all things through Christ
that strengthens me. My friends, there's the secret.
Let us hold it fast. Let us not depend upon our own
abilities, very foolish if we do, but to be found looking to
Jesus. recognising that he it is that
gives us that help and that support and that strength shall be stronger
and stronger. Yes, our strength then will not
decay. You see, it will gain because
we're dependent upon what our God has done. We're not relying
upon ourselves, we're relying upon that great and glorious
finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ and we know that that
work was complete and that work was successful. And he finished
that work that his father gave him to do. And because of that,
that righteousness which he gives can never be taken away. He has
never shed his blood in vain. He's never died for anyone who
is lost. No, he's died for those with
whom he equips and gives his righteousness. Well, here's Job
saying yes, he's telling us this, behold my witness is in heaven
and my record is on high and therefore he's able to say yes
and the righteous also shall hold on his way and he that hath
clean hands shall be stronger and stronger. Well, we're thankful,
I hope, for the life of Job, and we're thankful for the detail
that is given in the Word of God to encourage us as we travel
on through life, in the day and age in which we live, and to
realise that Job's God is the same yesterday, today and forever,
and may we know that Job's God is our God. Amen.