Lord, we thank you once again
for bringing us this place to worship you. Lord, we hope and
pray that it is our desire alone to be found in Christ this morning.
Lord, we ask you that you be in our presence. Give us ears
to hear. Be our understanding. Be our
teacher this morning. We pray that God speaketh today.
Lord, keep us looking to you alone as our only source of hope.
Let us look to you for all the things we need. calls us to know
what our great need is in a Savior, Lord. And at the same time, calls
us to know Your grace is sufficient for these things we ask in Christ's
name. Amen. So if you would, turn to Job
33. And Job, from my understanding,
I can't say this for sure, but I've heard a lot of people say
it's the oldest book in the Bible. But we're going to look at Job
33 today, and it's a picture of God saving a sinner. And He
does this the same way He does it throughout the Bible, by His
sovereign grace and because He has a ransom, and that's Christ. But we'll start reading. We're
going to read verses 8 through 30. Job 33. So surely thou hast spoken in
my hearing, and I have heard the voice of thy word, saying,
I am clean without transgression, I am innocent, neither is there
iniquity in me. Behold, he findeth occasions
against me, he counteth me for his enemy, he putteth my feet
in the stocks, he marketh all my paths. Behold, in this thou
art not just. I will answer thee that God is
greater than man. Why dost thou strive against
him? For he giveth not account of any of his matters. For God
speaketh once, yet twice, yet man perceives it not. In a dream,
in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon man and
slumberings upon the bed, then he opens the ears of men and
seals their instruction. that he may withdraw man from
his purpose and hide pride from man. He keepeth back his soul
from the pit and his life from perishing by the sword. He is
chastened also with pain upon his bed and multitudes of his
bone with strong pain, so that his life abhorth 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. If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one
among a thousand, to show a man his uprightness, then he is gracious
unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit,
I have found a ransom. and his flesh shall be fresher
than a child's, he shall return to the days of his youth. He
shall pray unto God, and he will be favorable unto him, and he
shall see his face with joy, for he will render unto man his
righteousness. He looketh upon men, and if any
say I have sinned, it perverted that which was right, and it
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.
So I know John is preached in Job on Thursday nights. I don't know if he got here,
but you know, just kind of a back story. Job, where Job is, he's
lost everything he had, everything he had, and he had a lot. And
where we find him now, we're with three friends. And what
these three friends are doing are trying to give him hope.
And he spent time with these three friends, but all they do
is tell him to look for himself for deliverance. They tell him,
Job, you must have done something to deserve all these afflictions.
You know, just admit your sin. God will forgive you of your
sin and take away these afflictions. But what Job was looking for,
this deliverance, was his earthly troubles. And he had many of
them. We know what they were. But they
had no answer for him. And what Job called these three
friends, and these friends are in air quotes, right? He called
them miserable comforters, is what he called them. And they
tried to put him under the law, but as we know, there's no hope
or peace in the law. They had no answer for him. And
that's the case with every sinner that Christ deals with. But there
was another. there was another and his name
was Elihu. And Elihu was right here with
these three friends listening to him the whole time, but he
kept his mouth shut because he was younger. But at some point,
Elihu had enough. And if you look in Job chapter
32, it says, when Elihu saw that there was no answers in the mouth
of these three men, then his wrath was kindled. And these
friends were basically false prophets. And here Elihu is a
gospel preacher. And y'all hear John say this
all the time of these names, especially in the Old Testament,
Elihu's name means he is my God. And Elihu confronts Job with
his own words when he justifies himself and blames, basically
blaming God, complaining about God here. And he tells him what
his real problem is, and his real problem is his sin nature. That's our real problem. It's
not earthly problems. And before we get self-righteous,
because what Job says, consider what Job went through. I mean,
y'all remember this. He lost his family. He lost his
lands. He lost his money. He lost his
cattle. He lost his health. And where he was at when rereading
Job 33, he'd been sitting on this ash heap, on the dung pile,
basically is what it is, for days listening to these three
friends talk. And he's confused, confounded, depressed probably. He hadn't eaten or slept in several
days. Hadn't drank anything. Have you
ever been there before? I mean, if that was me, I'm sure
I would have crumbled a lot earlier. I would have probably been like
Job's wife. You remember what she said? Just curse God and
die. So before we think about what
Job says here, just think about how we would be, because if it
wasn't for God keeping us, that's exactly what we would do. We
would say, curse God and die. And whether we admit it or not,
and we won't, you know, we keep it to ourselves, we won't say
anything when strong afflictions come to us, and they will, and
we face these trials, we say, why me, Lord? In our hearts,
that's what we do, and you don't have to answer that question
if you do, because I'm not going to, but that's what we do. Job
thought here, he said, I've not sinned to deserve this, God's
not right in punishing me, that's what he said. And Paul said about
these troubles, about these afflictions, you remember what Paul said,
he said, for our light affliction which are but for a moment, worketh
for us a far more exceeding eternal weight of glory. But these afflictions,
these afflictions are light, that's what Christ said, that's
what God said, it's written. But I couldn't say that unless
God said that, because our afflictions to us are not light. But God
said they work in us, they're just for a moment. They work
in us a far, far exceeding and eternal weight of glory. And
it's God who teaches us this, but this is what Elihu confronts
Job with here. And look in verse 8, he says,
Surely thou hast spoken in my hearing, and I have heard the
voice of thy word saying, I am clean without transgression,
I am innocent, neither is iniquity in me. And Elihu says, I've heard
you say this, God is dealing with me in an unjust manner.
That's what Job's saying right here. And Elihu's like, I heard
you say that. I've heard you argue with God. It's what Job
is doing. Why me? I don't deserve this.
That's what Job is saying here. But in times of extreme afflictions,
we do the same thing. The same thing. Peter did it. Paul did it. Paul said, Lord,
take this thorn in my flesh from me. Three times he asked for
that. What did God teach Paul? My grace is sufficient. That's
what he said. Lord, help my unbelief. We just
don't trust God. That's our nature. But Job was
a God-fearing man, and he says, right here he says, I'm clean
without transgression, I'm innocent, neither is there iniquity in
me. But he's talking about inwardly here, he's not, in Christ he
is righteous, but he's talking here, you know, not in himself
is he free of iniquity. He's not innocent, but Job's
saying, Lord, I'm innocent, why are you doing this to me? He
can't reconcile it. But look in verse 10, he says
again, he even says more, behold, he find occasions against me.
He counteth me for his enemy. Job is saying God is counting
me for his enemy. I'm his enemy is what he's saying.
All these things are against me, Lord, but the thing is right
here is exactly the opposite. Exactly the opposite. When did
God reconcile us in Christ? When we were yet enemies. Yet
Job's saying, Lord, you count me as your enemy, but God said
he worketh all things according to his purpose, not ours. And
this is what Ephesians 1.11 says, in whom also we've attained an
inheritance being predestinated according to the purpose of him
who worketh all things after the counts of his own will. And
in verse 11, moving forward, he said, again, Job's complaining.
He puts my feet in the stocks and marks all my paths. He puts
my feet in the stocks to humiliate me and hinder me and suspiciously
washes all my paths. He locks me up and arrests me.
And here's Job's heartache. His heartache is that this is
what's happening to him. But what a mercy this is that God
would do this. Why do we glory in infirmities? It's not that I like my leg broken,
but I like where it puts me. Paul said, I glory in infirmities
that the power of Christ rest on me. And a lot of times it
seems like in Job here that God does break the legs of his sheep.
I mean, why would God do that? For what purpose? But I'll tell
you this, if God breaks my leg, breaks the leg of his sheep,
that sheep's going to stay right at his feet. If God breaks the
legs of his sheep, when he moves the herd, he picks that sheep
up, puts them on his shoulders, and he carries it with him. That's
what these infirmities are. That's what these trials are.
And this is what he's teaching Job and every sinner. And that's
prone to wander. Lord, I know it. That's what
we are. We're wandering sheep. When he breaks our leg, that's
a mercy. When he puts my feet in the stock, that's a mercy.
And who else would you want to mark all your paths? If he marks
your paths, he's not marking your iniquities, because we can't
stand for that. In verse 12, he says, Behold
in this, and this is when Elihu has had enough, and he said,
Behold, Job, look, behold in this, thou art not just. I'll
tell you what the truth is, that God is greater than man. And
Elihu rebukes Job and says, Job, you're wrong. No matter how God
deals with you, He's right and just. I remember Scott Richardson
saying, God doesn't do things because they're good, right,
and just, and true. They're good, right, just, and true because
He doesn't. He doesn't answer to anybody. God is greater than
man, Job. He owes man no explanation. He's
the creator of all things. God is wisdom. I remember Rupert
saying, we're as dumb as a bag of hammers. I don't know if y'all
remember Rupert saying that. But God is eternal, everlasting. The Ancient of Days, we're a
vapor. God is greater than man. God is wisdom. God is holy. Man, we're nothing but sin. Sin
is my name. Sin is my nature. The best thing
I do is sin. And to deny this is to deny the
Word, to call God a liar. That's what it is. God is true
and just, and that's all we are. And Christ is called the Son
of the Highest. God is the Highest. And in Psalm
113, it talks about how high God is. It says, "...who is like
unto the Lord our God, who dwelleth on high, who humbleth himself
to behold the things that are in heaven and earth." He has
to humble himself to behold heaven. That's how high God is. Why do
you contend against God, Joe? In Romans 9, it says, Nay, but,
O man, who art thou that replyest against God? Shall the thing
formed say to that thing that formed it, Why hast thou made
me thus? Hath not the potter the power
over the clay of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor
and one to dishonor? Consider this, Job, God is greater
than man. That's what Elihu's saying to
Job here. Why do you strive against him? In verse 13, Why dost thou
strive against him? For he giveth not account of
any of his matters. God does not have to explain
Himself or give account to anybody for anything. And I remember,
and John says this a lot, and it's true, is that Man's biggest
offense, problem, is God being God. That's our biggest problem. Until the issue of sovereignty
is settled, there's nothing but enmity against God, and there's
no hope. The issue with everything we have is God's right to be
God, and this is the pit we need to be delivered from, and this
is what Elihu's telling us. And the infinite mercy here that
God is greater than man, as great as God is, what does He do? He condescends to save sinners.
That's what God does. Of all that God could concern
Himself with, He concerns Himself with dogs and worms to save His
people. And this is where God begins
working with man. Look at verse 14. For God speaketh
once yet twice, yet man perceives it not. How many times has God
spoken to you or me over the years? Once, twice, 10,000 times,
yet we don't hear it. How many times in Providence,
listening to the Gospel, reading the Bible, in afflictions and
trials, hearing the Gospel preached is God speaking. That's how God
talks to people. He speaks through His Word. And
the thing is, just like Joppa, we won't hear it We won't hear
it until God gives us ears to hear. That's what God does. And
what we'll say is, Lord, we don't need it. No, thank you. We don't
want it. Man perceives it not. And it says God speaketh once,
yea, twice, and I'm glad he doesn't stop, doesn't just stop there.
I'm glad he doesn't just say it once. But in Job, look in
verse 15 and 16. And this is Elihu talking to
Job. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep
falls upon men and slumbers upon the bed, then he openeth the
ears of men and sealeth their instructions. And this is when
we're asleep spiritually, when we don't suspect anything or
see it coming, and it'll take us completely by surprise. But
the truth is that nothing a sinner does ever takes God by surprise.
And we won't see this coming. We don't see salvation coming.
Whatever you think, you won't see it. We're absolutely blind. And He gets man all alone and
in secret. There won't be any second opinion. You can run to
your parents or run to your family to find out if this word that
God tells you is true. He's going to convict you and
convince you of your sin. And there'll be nowhere else
to turn. Because only a sinner needs to be delivered from the
pit. And He causes man at this point to fear, to fear God when
faced with this sovereignty. But like God said, the fear of
the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. And what is this, when
He opens the ears and seals their instructions, what happens is
man hears something he's never heard before. Because you couldn't
hear it. What is it? What are these instructions?
And I tell you, they're terrifying instructions. These instructions,
what He says is, you know, I could destroy you right now. I could
kill you right now. You are dead, condemned on account
of your sins. That's what God tells man. And
there is nothing you can do about it. Nothing. Why would God do
this? Why would He say this to man?
I ask myself that. Why would He tell man that we're
so bad, there's nothing that can save us? Why would He cause
us to see our real nature? And here's why in verse 17, that
he may withdraw man from his purpose and hide pride from man.
So what is our purpose? Our purpose is our work. This
is another thing I remember Rupert saying, our work is a dead level
sprint to the pit. That's what Rupert said. Our
goal, our aim is to utterly destroy ourselves if we can. That's our
work. That's our purpose that God is
doing all this to withdraw us from. And He stops man dead in
his tracks. Stops him right there. To keep
him back from His purpose and our desire to destroy ourself.
We're so sinful. We are so sinful that we hate
our own soul and oppose our own salvation. We oppose our own
salvation. And if not for God intervening
or leaving us alone, We die. Like John says all the time,
Lord save me or else I die. That's what he says. And that's
the absolute truth. He hides pride from man. How
does he do that? By showing us who we are. We
love the darkness and he shines his light on us. And we see ourselves
for what we are and that kills all our pride. That's how God
does that. We find ourselves to be nothing. And Spurgeon said
this, Though crushed to atoms, every particle of our nature
reeks with conceit. They ground to powder, our very
dust is pungent with pride, yet we still look to deliver ourselves
for self-deliverance. And He humbles us and puts us
in the mud and the mire, makes us to see there's nothing in
us to love, and what we do see is His absolute sovereignty.
And He kills our pride, and we see ourselves, and that terrifies
a sinner. I mean, that's terrifying. He
keeps, in verse 18, He keeps His soul, back of His soul from
the pit and His life from perishing by the sword. So who is it that
keeps all this time and all this affliction? Who is it that keeps
man from the pit of destruction, from our soul going to hell?
It's God. The whole time we think He's
doing the absolute opposite. That He's killing us. That He's
trying to utterly destroy our souls. This is what we need to
be delivered from. And when God speaks now, it's
stop working, stop striving. It's finished, the work is done.
He makes us mercy beggars like Hannah, like we talked about
last week that John preached on. Beggars on a dunghill, that's
what we become. This labor to rest, what is a
labor to rest? To come boldly before His feet
as beggars for mercy and grace. That's what He's telling us now.
This is what we need to be delivered from to keep our soul back from
the pit, like John just said last week. This pit that we never
stop falling, it never ends. And there's wailing and gnashing
of teeth. And in 2 Corinthians, it says
to one, these instructions that he gives us, to one, the Savior
of death unto death, and to another, the Savior of life unto life.
And there's no middle ground. And who is sufficient for these
things? And God is. That's who's doing this work
the entire time. And that's what he's doing here with Job, just
like with every sinner. But man thinks he's absolutely
on the edge of death, but all along it was God keeping us back
from the pit and perishing. All along it was God. But if
you look in verse 19, it says, he's chastened also with pain
on his bed, and the multitude of his bones with strong pain.
And this is a physical picture of what's going on inside our
soul, inside of man's soul. It reveals what is going on in
our heart. And it's a bad picture. The contents
of the heart, the filth, the guilt, the horror that man sees
within himself is a picture. To my crush to Adams, that's
what this will do. It causes us to see the desolation
of our sin nature completely separate from Christ. This is
what Elihu's telling Job. We find out we're guilty. We
sinned against the light. That's God. And we see against
thee and thee only we sin. Nothing else. We see nothing
else but this. And this is a deadly disease. There's not a disease on the
face of this earth that compares to this one. Nothing. But God
alone makes it center to be put in this place. Yet He continues
to work with man. Look at verse 20 and 21. He does
this so that his life abhorred bread and his soul dainty meat,
even his favorite dishes. His flesh is consumed away that
cannot be seen. His bones that were seen stick
out. Here Job's enjoying life. getting
along just fine, and all of a sudden, everything he used to love, everything
we used to love, that we found comfort in, we find no comfort
in it, and we can't stand it. Everything we used to take pleasure
in makes us sick, and this is how God worketh oftentimes with
man. He teaches us our depravity.
Instead of taking pleasure in sin, it becomes our burden. And
we can't get away from it. There's no hope, no light, nothing
there. All the things we used to hate.
And we look for comfort in anything. We'll look to everything but
Christ for comfort. Everything. We'll even look...
I even remember thinking, I sit in a gospel church. I've heard
the gospel for 20 some years. Surely that's something to be
recommended. I go out and eat with a gospel preacher on Sunday.
Surely there's something in that that would recommend salvation.
But the gospel won't sound like any gospel at this point. All
it'll do is condemn you. And when those thoughts come,
you just get buried further and further in the mud. And we'll
find out, like Solomon, that all is vanity. That's what Solomon
found out. Everything I look to is nothing
but vanity. And this is when the thoughts
of death enter man's mind. That's what happens. How can
I sleep at night when I face eternity without Christ? Complete
separation. When I'm awake, that's all I
think about is my sin. When I'm asleep, that's all I
dream about is my sin. I can't get away from it. It's
like a nightmare. Have you ever woken up in a nightmare
and for about two or three seconds you're scared and then you're
good? Well, you don't wake up from this. It's just constant
eating at your soul. We find ourselves worse than
Judas. You'll find yourself worse than Judas. You'll call Paul
a liar when he says that he was a chief of sinners because you
have found a sinner that's too bad for God to save. That's what
God shows you. Man sees no goodness. He thinks
God's getting ready to destroy him and he knows he's dying.
All work is vanity. But the whole time, it's God
working with man for his own good to withdraw him from that
purpose and hide his pride and keep him back from the pit. Look
in verse 22. It says, yea, his soul, I mean,
it's getting bad. Yea, his soul draweth near unto
the grave and his life to the destroyers. I mean, this is death's
door. It's where a sinner finds himself. And who is it that's brought
man to this point? It's God. He's brought man and
Job to this point to see his purpose in sin. And this is where
God brings every sinner to the absolute end of himself. There's
no hope or relief. And all we see is our sin and
our need to be delivered from it. He mortifies the flesh. I
don't know another way to put it. He mortifies the flesh. makes
a man sick of himself, and flesh can't mortify itself, only God
can do that. And he says this in Romans 7,
8, 9, and 10, For I was alive without the law once, but when
the commandment came, sin revived and I died. And the commandment
which was ordained to life, this is God working in us to life,
we found to be unto death. And you may say this sounds pretty
bad, all this talk about bones sticking out and not eating.
I can assure you it's way worse than that. It's way worse than
that. But I'll tell you what's worse
than that is Christ leave us alone. That's what's worse. Whatever it takes. I remember
praying, Lord, before I knew what I was talking about, before
I knew my purpose that was hidden, Lord, whatever it takes, save
my soul. Well, I'm convinced in the flesh,
if we knew in the flesh what it took, we'd like, Lord, you
can keep that. I'll tell you this, I'm glad
God didn't ask me for permission to save my soul. We'll say no thank you, Lord.
And if you ever find yourself in this place, where you're absolutely
the end of yourself, the end of your rope, with no hope, no
light, I mean nothing, that's a good place to be. To be found a sinner, because
that's the only people that God saves, is a sinner. Job in verse
23, if there be a messenger, I love these words, if, but,
if there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among
a thousand, to show a man his uprightness, How can I be in
right standing with God if I'm dead with no hope? Because it
won't seem like it. Well, who is this messenger,
this interpreter? One among a thousand. And that thousand is just for
comparison. It's just one. There's just one. And that's Christ. It's the Lord
Jesus Christ alone, only. He's our interpreter, our mediator,
our advocate. He knows God's will because He
is God. He's the one that interprets
all this to our soul. Christ is our teacher, showing
us our desperate need. And in verse 24, it says, then,
then He is gracious unto him and saith, deliver him from going
down to the pit. I have found a ransom. And then,
that's an important word, then, and not until then, not until
this point, at the last step, ends God's way in His time according
to His purpose for man's good, then He is gracious unto him. Then grace comes and says, deliver
this man from the pit. This is His commandment, the
commandment of the King, and it doesn't ask for something
in return or put conditions on it. It says, deliver him. And
right here, grace lays hold of a dying sinner and saves him
right where he's at, right there. And that's the nature of grace.
And what it reveals to man is that the Lord hath appeared of
old unto me, saying from Jeremiah, Yea, I have loved thee with an
everlasting love. Therefore, with loving kindness
have I drawn thee. And all along, all along, what
man finds, it was God drawing him, drawing him to himself in
love to deliver him from the pit. That's what this word was.
Unbeknownst to man, free and irresistible and infinite grace
saved to the uttermost. Why would God deliver somebody
from the pit and is gracious to them? Why would He do that?
Because I have found a ransom. He says, Thy sins which are many
are all forgiven. Go and sin no more. That's what
God says. And to the dying man, I have
found a ransom. If you ever hear more comforting
words than this in this life, I'd like to know. There'll never
be any. He just shouldn't pay it. He
was the ransom. He became that. All God demands of us is found
in His ransom in Christ. And what grace does, it does
something for a man, but to a man at the same time. It delivers
and saves him, but at the same time, it makes him righteous
in Christ. It does it all at once. Paul
asked, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? Well, right here it says, deliver
him, I have found a ransom. All my hope, God worketh all
these things for us because I have found a ransom." And for the
first time, God will say, look unto me and be ye saved, all
the ends of the earth, for I am God and there is none else. And
for the first time, man will do that, will stop and behold
God. And you'll know what John Newton
meant when he said, amazing grace, how sweet the sound. You will
not know what that song means until this point. and his flesh shall be fresher
than a child," verse 25, when this is said, "...he shall return
to the days of his youth." And just like Job was covered from
head to toe, from the top of his head to the bottom of his
feet, he's restored with skin from his youth. And it doesn't
matter if you're 90 years old. This is a new creature. This
is a new creature. All things are new. And look
at verse 28. He says, He will deliver his
soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see a light."
His soul is delivered. He sees Christ. This is man.
He's talking to Job. Darkness and all this confusion
are gone. All your hopelessness is gone. And man will see himself
for the first time completing Christ. And in verse 29 it says,
"'Lo, all these things worketh God oftentimes with man.'" I'm
glad it says oftentimes. He could stop it once. He could
stop it twice. He never stops working with man,
never stops saving his soul. He restores my soul. That's every
day. Keeping man from his purpose.
And we talk about Job being the patience of Job. I think Job
33 is the patience of Christ. That's what it is. And the purpose
is to bring back his soul from the pit, to be enlightened with
the light of the living. And I was reminded of a verse
that kind of went right along with this, to bring back his
soul from the pit, to be enlightened with the light of the living.
It's 2 Corinthians chapter 4. It says, for God, and this is
how infinite the gospel is, For God, who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ." And that's Job 33. It's what we just read. We see Jesus Christ is our ransom. And all along, in Job 33, all
along it was God. All along it's God working with
man to hide our pride, to withhold us from our purpose, deliver
us from the pit, by commanding the light of Himself to shine
in our hearts and expose who we are, to show us who He is.
Deliver Him, that's what He said, deliver Him. That's His commandment.
It's not a question. To give us a light of the knowledge
of the glory of God, I have found a ransom, and that's our light.
But I'll tell you this, I'm glad God does what He will, when He
will, with whom He will, how He will, and doesn't think one
thing of what I think. It does not consider anything.
I'm glad that He is sovereign in all things, but especially
salvation. That He delivers His people because
He has found a ransom. That's the only reason. And it
is finished, and salvation is of the Lord. I do think about,
in this chapter, I think about Job here and all the people throughout
the ages and everybody that's ever met Christ that has been
through this, that they thought it was bad luck or just cruel
and undeserved afflictions from Christ, from God, or whatever
it was to bring them to a certain place. But all along, it was
God working with man. causing us to be confronted with
our sin, with the gospel of Jesus Christ, quickened by the Spirit
of God, who's working with us to deliver them from the pit
because he's found a ransom.