It does turn to that portion
of Scripture that we read in the book of Job chapter 33. Drawing your attention for a
while tonight to words that we find here at verses 23 and 24.
Job chapter 33, 23 and 24. If there be a messenger with
him, and interpret to one among a
thousand to show unto man his uprightness. Then he is gracious
unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit,
I have found a ransom. Deliver him from going down to
the pit, I have found a ransom, or as the margin says, an atonement. I want us to consider that ransom
that has been found. That ransom that has been found. As I said, here in chapter 33,
the speaker is this man called Elihu. He begins speaking at
chapter 32, and it's a long speech that runs through to chapter
37. Interestingly the name Elihu
literally means my God himself and he does speak as one who
would stand in the place of God as we see in verse 6. Behold
I am according to thy wish in God's stead. I also am formed out of the clay. Some say that Elihu in many ways
is to be understood in terms of the Lord Jesus Christ himself
because he is God of course and yet he is also man there was
a body that was formed and fashioned for him from the human nature
of his mother he is the true son of Adam in that sense although
preserved from every taint of original sin I'm not saying that
we're necessary to understand that this Elihu is the Lord Jesus
Christ, but it's interesting that there are those who do make
that statement. Elihu, my God Himself, is the
fourth that speaks with Job besides
God himself speaking to him at the end because earlier we have
these three men Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar speaking from chapter
4 through to chapter 31 and as I said before we really have
cycles of speeches each one of these men speak and then Job
will answer what he has to say. But they are such poor comforters,
these friends of Job, and in a sense we see him rebuking them
there in the language of chapter 16. I have heard he says many such
things, miserable comforters are ye or they don't seem to
have any real understanding of the situation that Job has been
brought into in the mysterious dealings of God with him. And so they are silenced as it
were and then it is this man Elihu who begins to speak. The beginning of chapter 32.
So these three men cease to answer Job because he was righteous
in his own eyes. Then was kindled the wrath of
Elihu, the son of Barakal, the son of the Buzite, of the kindred
of Ram. Against Job was his wrath kindled,
because he justified himself rather than God. Also against
his three friends was his wrath kindled, because they had found
no answer, and yet had condemned Job. And then again there, at verse 15, they were amazed,
they answered no more, they left off speaking, says Elihu, when
I had waited, for they spake not, but stood still, and answered
no more, I said, I will answer, also my part, I also will show
mine opinion. Now there's no doubting that
this is a real person, that he's speaking, we're told who he is,
the son of Barakal the Buzzite. Now Buzz was the nephew of Abraham. He was the son of Nahor as we're
told back in Genesis 22 verses 20 and 21. This is something
of the man who is speaking. But he's part of the inspired
word, it's really the word of God inspired by the Holy Spirit
that we have before us in these verses that I want us to turn
to, verses 23 and 24. If there be a messenger with
him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to show unto man
his uprightness, then he is gracious unto him and saith, Deliver him
from going down to the pit, I have found a ransom. Two things I want us to consider
as we come to the text. First of all, the ransom paid. The ransom paid by the Lord Jesus
Christ. And then secondly, that repentance
that God provides for His people. That's the division that I want
to follow then. First of all, to consider the
ransom. And it is the ransom, really,
that is the grounds of forgiveness. There is a need for the sinner
to confess his sins. Where there is that confession
of sin, it will issue in forgiveness. Look at what we're told here
at verse 27. He's speaking of God. He says, "...of God he looketh
upon men, and if any say, I have sinned." and perverted that which
was right and he profited me not he will deliver his soul
from going into the pit and his life shall see the light now
we're not to think in view of what being said in those two
verses that the confession of sin is the grounds for the forgiveness
of sins confession might issue in in the forgiveness of sin, but
it's not the grounds. The grounds is to be found in
the ransom price that is being spoken of here at the end of
our text. God says that he has found a
ransom, found an atonement. That is the only why the only
way whereby a God who is holy and righteous and just can pardon
the sinner because the debt that is owed to the law of God that
law that is a holy and righteous and just law that debt must be
paid all by nature of course are under the law of God and
all are debtors to do the whole of that Law of God. And if a
man should obey all the Law of God and yet offend in one point,
James says he is guilty of all. And the Law will demand its weighty
debt. It must be paid, the soul that
sinneth it shall die. That's the language of the Law.
The wages of sin is death and without the shedding of blood
there can be no remission of sins and so the price must be
paid there is a ransom and remember how we are told quite clearly
in scripture what that price is oh it's not silver and gold
I think of the language that we have there in Peter's first
epistle, those familiar words, 1 Peter 1, verse 18, for as much
as you know, that you were not redeemed with corruptible things
as silver and gold from your vain conversation received by
tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of
Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spots. There is the
price that must be paid in order for there to be the forgiveness
of sin. There can be no other Why? No other way at all. Though men
might have their dreams and imagine how these things can be accomplished,
but God's Word is so abundantly clear with regards to the necessity
of redemption, a ransom price being paid. Again, look at the
language that we have in the Psalms, Psalm 49. Verse 6, they that trust in their
wealth and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches,
none of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give
to God a ransom for him. And then at verse 15, the psalmist
says, but God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave,
for he shall receive me. It's only God himself who can
find that ransom price, because it is God himself who has provided
the price. He has provided the Redeemer,
even the Lord Jesus Christ who gave himself. a ransom for all
to be testified in due time says the Apostle Paul. I came not
to be ministered unto but to minister and to give my life
a ransom for many says the Lord Jesus Christ. So the ransom prayed. In the first place here We have
to recognize that this is the only ground whereby the sinner
can know the forgiveness of his sins. God has provided it. God has found it. Deliver him from going down to
the pit. I have found a ransom. So what do we see? We see here
so much of the grace of God, as it says at the beginning of
verse 24, then He is gracious unto him. Then He is gracious
unto him. Oh, God looks, you see. God looks
upon His creation, God looks upon this world, As we see at
verse 27, he looketh upon men, he looks, he looks for something
very rare. If any say I have sinned and
perverted that which was right and he profited me not, he will
deliver his soul from going into the pit. What a rare thing it
is that God is looking for. We know how sin is common to
men. Sin is very much of man. God
created the man and created him in his own image after his own
likeness. God sets him in the garden and
gives him his commandment concerning the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil that he must not eat thereof and he disobeys. All sin is of man. But the sense of sin, the realization
that we are sinners, that doesn't come naturally to man. That is
of God, though all are sinners in God's sight, there are but
few so in their own. How true it is. A sinner is a
sacred thing. The Holy Ghost has made him so. God is looking for something
very rare. He looks. If any say I have sinned
and perverted that which was right and he profited me not.
How few are brought to that realization. They all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. But God looks. And God looks. And God looks deep. He looks
into the heart of man. One could say thou God seest
me, neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight.
All things are naked and open to the eyes of him with whom
we have to do. But God looks. And how is it
that God looks upon men and examines men? Well, I mention three ways
really whereby God looks. He comes, surely, to look upon
us in terms of His holy law. I'm thinking of the context here,
you see, what's being said throughout this chapter. Look at what we
have back in verse 16. Then He opened up the ears of
men and sealeth their instruction that He may withdraw man from
his purpose and hide pride from man. How does God do these things? he does it in terms of his law,
that law that is a holy law. You'll remember the language
that we have when Paul's writing to the church at Rome there in
the third chapter of that epistle, he said, we know that what thing
soever the law saith, it saith to them under the law that every
mouth may be stopped. and all the world become guilty
before God therefore by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be
justified in his sight for by the law is the knowledge of sin. Oh God examines men in the light
of that law that he has given to man that law which is really a revelation
of himself and as it is a revelation of himself, so it reveals to
us what man should be, who was made in God's image and after
God's likeness. But how the law finds that sinner
out. The open of the ears of men.
You withdraw man from his purpose. You hide pride from man. Man,
that proud creature. that the law of God exposes him
for what he is. He's a sinner. The law worketh
wroth, says the apostle. But God doesn't just look upon
men by means of that law of His. Does He not also come to men
sometimes by the way of chastenings? And certainly that's spoken of
here in the chapter. At verse 19, Elihu says concerning
God and the ways of God, his dealings with man, he is chastened
also with pain upon his bed, the multitude of his bones with
strong pain, so that his life abhorred of bread and his soul
dainty meat, his flesh is consumed away that it cannot be seen,
and his bones that were not seen stick out. Yea, his soul draweth
near unto the grave, and his life to the destroyers." Oh,
there is God's dealing in the way of chastening. The Lord's
voice crying, you see. Hear ye the rod, and who hath
appointed it, says the prophet. It's the hand of God, it's the
rod of God. And it's spoken of, it's spoken
of, for example, there in the language of that 107th Psalm
that deals with men in the different circumstances and situations
of their life here upon the earth. Look at the language there in
Psalm 107, verse 17. Fools, because of their transgression
and because of their iniquities, are afflicted. Their soul abhors
all manner of meat. They draw near unto the gates
of death. Then they cry unto the Lord in
their trouble, and He saveth them out of their distresses.
He sent His Word and healed them and delivered them from their
destructions, all that men would praise the Lord for His goodness
and for His wonderful works to the children of men. That God
should take account of men, that God should deal with men in that
fashion? Is it not a mercy that God shows
us, as Saul shows us, what we are, be it in the light of his
holy law, or be it in his dealings in Providence, his afflictions?
Or David could say, it is good for me that I have been afflicted,
that I might learn my statutes. God has to be dealing with us,
teaching us, all the time, afflictions. No afflictions make us see, what
else would escape our sight? How very foul and dim are we,
and God, how pure and bright. There are these various ways
whereby God comes then, and looks upon men and deals with men. But then ultimately, we think
of the way God comes in grace, how God comes in the gospel. He comes in the Lord Jesus Christ,
that blessed one. Here in verse 23, if there be
a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to show
unto man his uprightness. Who is this one, this messenger,
this interpreter? One among a thousand. Can we not think Here, rightly
in terms of the Lord Jesus Christ himself, the chiefest among 10,000
he is. The chiefest among 10,000 in
the language of the Son of Solomon. Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ.
It is here in Christ that we see the grace of God, that blessed
visitation that has come from heaven itself. then he is gracious. We read
here at verse 24, then is he gracious unto him. It's the Lord
Jesus Christ who comes as that one who is the image of the invisible
God, that one who comes to reveal the God of all grace, Remember the language that we
have there in 2 Corinthians 4, 6. The God who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness, says Paul, has shined in our hearts
to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. Oh, the knowledge of the glory
of God. It's there in the face of the
Lord Jesus Christ. He is that one who reveals God. No man hath seen God at any time.
The only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, we're
told, he hath declared it. And what a declaration. And what
a revelation we have in the Lord Jesus. Or there be many who say,
who will show us any good? The psalmist says, Lord, lift
thou up the light of thy countenance upon us. It's in the countenance
of Christ. the face of Jesus Christ. He
who is God's image. He who has come to reveal God
to sinners and to reveal God in all his grace, in all his
mercy, in all his loving kindness. We can think of the The blessing
that Aaron and his sons was to pronounce upon the children of
Israel, the Lord bless thee and keep thee. The Lord make his
face to shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee. The Lord
lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace. Oh, it's the Lord Jesus Christ,
is it not, that we're to think of there. And we see it in the
course of the Lord's own ministry. the way in which he deals with
the sinner, the way in which he deals with Peter, who had
denied his Lord, and denied him with curses. There in Luke 22,
61, how the Lord turned. He turned and looked upon Peter,
it says. And Peter remembered the word
of the Lord, and he said before the cock crow, Thou shalt deny
me thrice. And Peter went out and wept.
Oh, what bitter tears. This is the way in which the
Lord shows himself to be a gracious God, so that the sinner might
come into the possession of the blessing of that ransom, that
atonement, that the sinner might know what it is to receive the
forgiveness of his sins. Then he is gracious unto him
and says, deliver him from going down to the pit. I have found
a ransom. It's in the grace of God that
we see it in the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, ultimately. And so what is it that we have
here? We have that provision, the provision of repentance. And that repentance that will
issue in the forgiveness of sins. The ransom is the ground But
the repentance is that that God brings His people to. They must
receive. They must receive that atonement
that is being spoken of here at the end of verse 24. God has
found it. But how does it come into the
possession of the sinner? There must be that reception
of it. in the language there in Romans
5.11, by whom we have now received the atonement, the reconciliation.
For the Lord Jesus, by His death upon the cross, He has reconciled
the sinner to God. That sinner who was in a state
of alienation and enmity is made nigh by the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ. But how does He come to possess
it? Well, there must be that that we've already intimated
in what follows here in verses 27 and 28. He looketh upon men,
and if any say, I have sinned, and perverted that which was
right, and he profited me not, he will deliver his soul from
going into the pit, and his life shall see light. Now, here in
verse 27, we have the language of repentance, which is what
repentance involves and entails. And we see how repentance is
spoken of. It's spoken of previously by
those friends. They were poor comforters. Yes,
they were on the whole, but they did say quite remarkable things,
striking things at times. For example, look at the words
of Zophar back in chapter 11. is he not speaking here of repentance
chapter 11 verse 13 if thou prepare thine heart and stretch out thine
hands toward him if iniquity be in thine hand put it far away
and let not wickedness dwell in thy tabernacles isn't that
the language of the repentant sinner, putting away sin, turning
from his sin, turning to his God, and it's not just Zophar
we see something similar in the language of Eliphaz also. He speaks in chapter 22 and see
what he says there at verse 23, if thou return to the Almighty
thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from
my tabernacles." Again, it's the language of repentance, turning
away from iniquity, returning to the Almighty. Repentance is
very much being spoken of. And we remember how the Lord
Jesus Christ Himself, when He comes, In the grace of the Gospel,
he proclaims the message of repentance and faith. At the beginning of
Mark's Gospel, after John was put into prison, we're told,
Jesus came into Galilee preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of
God, saying, Repent, and believe the Gospel. That's how we're
introduced there at the beginning of Mark to Christ's ministry. It's a ministry in which he proclaims
the necessity of repentance and of faith. And of course we see
the same in Christ's forerunner, the ministry of John the Baptist. What was his baptism? It was
a baptism of repentance. And that ministry is spoken of
in Matthew, well it's spoken of in all of the Gospels of course,
but there in Matthew chapter 3, in those days we're told came
John the Baptist preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying,
Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is
he that was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah saying, the voice
of one crying in the wilderness Prepare ye the way of the Lord,
make his path straight. And the same John had his raiment
of camel's hair and a leather girdle about his loins, and his
meat was locust and wild honey. Then went out to him Jerusalem
and all Judea and all the region round about Jordan, and were
baptised of him in Jordan, confessing their sins." Oh, it's a message,
it's a baptism of repentance. and so we have it here in the language that is being
spoken by Elihu, those who would come to receive this blessed
ransom, this glorious atonement that God has found the ground
of forgiveness but repentance is that that must be known and
experienced in order to come into the possession of that blessed
ransom. And real repentance clearly flows
from a right view of sin. He looketh upon men, we're told
in verse 27, and if any say, I have sins, and perverted that
which was right, and it profited me not. He will deliver his soul
from going into the pit. Now, observe here, there are
certainly at least three aspects. We see how repentance flows from
a right view of sin. and that right view is seen in
the word of God, seen in the law of God. First of all, the
fact that God's law is a holy law. What does he say in verse 27?
He look at the bombardment, if any say, I have sinned. I have
sinned. And what is sin? Sin is that
transgression of the law of God. Oh, our man is such a rebel against God. Our man will not submit
to the authority of God, will not bow to the word of God, to
the commandments of God. He's a rebel. And yet, he is
ever always dependent upon his Creator. It is God who made him. It is God who constantly sustains
him. All his life is a life of complete
and utter dependence. In God he lives and moves and
has his being. Apart from God he would have
no existence at all. But what does man say? Who is
the Lord that I should obey? Well, that's the language of
Pharaoh. But is it not applicable to man
in general? Who is the Lord? or we will not
have this man to rule over us, they say of the Lord Jesus Christ.
But here is that important part of repentance, the recognition
that God's law is a holy law, and that sin is the transgression
of that law that God himself has given. if any say I have
sinned and perverted that which is right not only the holiness
of the law but the rightness or the righteousness of the law
of God what is the law? it's really a revelation of God
in it God declares himself he shows something of his greatness
something of his glory We see that quite clearly when Moses
recounts the Lord of God when they're on the borders of the
Promised Land. God had brought them out of Egypt, God had taken
them into the wilderness, brought them to Mount Horeb. God had
descended upon the mounts of Sinai there in Horeb and had
spoken those 10 words, those 10 commandments. But then there's
that repetition after the 40 years of wilderness wanderings
when they're on the borders of the promised lands. Remember
how the commandments are repeated there in the fifth chapter of
the book of Deuteronomy. And it's interesting because
we learn something more concerning that law. In Deuteronomy 5.24 Moses reminds them, he said Behold,
the Lord our God hath showed us His glory and His greatness. And we have heard His voice out
of the midst of the fire. We have seen this day that God
doth talk with man, and He liveth. And He's speaking of the giving
of the commandments. What did God do? He showed us
His glory and His greatness. The law is a revelation of God. And that's why we must recognize
that it is a holy law, a righteous law. Old Paul says it there in Romans
7, the law is holy, the commandment holy and righteous and good. And what is being confessed here
in verse 27, I have sinned and perverted that which was right. All sin is perversion, it's iniquity. And the basic meaning of that
word, iniquity, is a thing that is twisted and warped. God made
man upright. And they have sought out many
inventions. Not just the recognition of the
holiness of God's law, but also the righteousness of that law
of God. But then there's also a third
aspect with regards to this repentance whereby a man comes to discover
that ransom that God himself has found and provided. There's
also the goodness of God's law. We referred just now to the language
there in Romans 7.12 where Paul speaks of the law holy and the
commandment holy and just and good. For the law is not only a holy
law and a righteous law, and a just law, it's also a good
law. It's a good law. It's a law that
it fitted to man. It's a law that really suits
man. When we think of man as he comes
from the hand of his creator God, made in the very image of
God, made in the likeness of God, if the law is a revealing
of God himself, well, is it not that that is appropriate for
the man who is also made in that image of God? It's fitted to
make the observer of it a happy person. And what do we read here? He perverted that which was right,
and it profited me not. All men have to prove by their
folly, by their sin, by their disobedience, by their transgressions,
that there is really no profit in sin. It profited me not. Isn't that the theme that really
runs right through the book of Ecclesiastes? All that man does
in that state of rebellion against God, it's all vexation of spirit. There's no profit. What shall he profit a man if
he gained the whole world and lose his own soul? Ask the Lord
Jesus. Or what shall a man give in exchange
for his soul? How the sinner has to be brought
to this to see that there's no profit in his rebellion against
God, that Lord of God. All our man despises, despises
God, despises the Word of God, the ways of God, despises the
Lord of God. Again, the language that we have
as the apostle addresses himself there to the church at Rome in
Romans chapter 2 Verse 4 he says, "...or despisest
thou the riches of his goodness, and forbearance, and longsuffering,
not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance."
Ultimately it's that, you see. It's not so much the holiness
of the law, or the righteousness of the law, it's that goodness. That law that is good. And ultimately, of course, that
goodness is to be seen not so much in the Lord of God, but
we see that goodness of God primarily in the Gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. How the Lord is meant to serve
that Gospel, That law that's not made, says
the apostle, for the righteous man, but for the lawless, the
disobedient, the ungodly and for sinners. This is how God brings the sinner,
as it were, to his senses. It's not just a matter of God
dealing with him in terms of his law. but that law must ultimately
bring the sinner to this that there is hope and there is hope
not in the law as we said that's the ministry of condemnation
that only brings death to the soul though of itself it's a
good law but he cannot assist man in his sinful condition there
is a greater provision that is made now there's a new covenant
There's the covenant of grace, there's a mediator of that covenant,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Or this one who is being spoken
of in verse 23, the messenger. If there be a messenger with
him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to show unto man
his uprightness. Where will man find uprightness? Where will man find true righteousness? Where can the sinner be justified?
only in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ and so
in order to receive this ransom to receive the atonement the
sinner must be brought to the Lord Jesus himself and that's
part of his experience of repentance even It's not just a matter of
that conviction that comes by the holy and righteous law of
God. There's also that that is brought
to him in the gospel. Law and terrors do but harden
all the while they work alone, but a sense of blood-bored pardon
soon dissolves the heart of stone when the sinner is brought to
see the horror of sin, more especially in the sufferings and the agonies
that the Lord Jesus Christ had to endure in order to pay that
ransom price. And He is that One, of course,
who has been exalted. To give that repentance, that
true evangelical repentance, Him hath God exalted with His
right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, we're told, to give
repentance to Israel and the forgiveness of sins. All that godly sorrow, it comes
when we have a right view of sin and see the horror of it,
the vanity of it really. If any say I have sinned and
perverted that which was right and it profited me not He will
deliver his soul from going into the pit, his life shall see the
light." All that godly sorrow, it works as repentance to salvation,
not to be repented of. Whereas the sorrow of the world
only works death. Here then we see a ransom that
has been found. and is found in the Lord
Jesus Christ and the repentance that is provided by God for those
who must come into the receipt of that blessed ransom to know
the pardon, the forgiveness of all their sins. If there be a messenger with
him, an interpreter, one among a thousand to show unto man his
uprightness, Then he is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver
him from going down to the pit. I have found a ransom. He looketh upon men, and if any
say, I have sinned and perverted that which was right, and he
profited me not, he will deliver his soul from going into the
pit, and his life shall see the light. Lo, all these things worketh
God oftentimes with man, to bring back his soul from the pit, to
be enlightened with the light of the living. Oh God grant that
we might know that, being enlightened by God with that light of the
living, that God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness
might shine in our hearts to give that knowledge of his glory
in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. Well the Lord Be pleased
to bless his word to us.