Job chapter 5. Several years ago, I preached
one time from this portion of scripture. And the title I gave it at that
time was, Eat the Fish, but Throw Away the Bones. Some of you know Nancy Parks.
Her and Sue Thacker, Kevin Thacker's mother, were good friends. And
Sue was reading a book. And she told Nancy, she said,
there are just some things about it I don't like, some things
in it I don't like. And Nancy said, well, Sue, just
eat the fish and throw away the bones. And so that's what we're
going to do tonight. We're going to eat the fish and
throw away the bones. But I titled this message, True but Not So. True but Not So. Now, Eliphaz
is still speaking to Job concerning all that has happened to him. This is a continuation of chapter
4, where Eliphaz started speaking. And as I said last week, Week
or week before last, Eliphaz says a lot of things that are
true, but they're not so. They're not applicable to the
believer. And I thought of an example. This past week, I was driving
on 210 and on the bulletin board of
a so-called church. It had written on there, God
loves you. God loves you. If we are speaking
to believers, that is true. That is true. You that believe
the gospel, I can say to you with a full confidence, God loves
you. God loves you. He loves you in
Christ. That's so. That's true. But if
we are speaking to unbelievers, I cannot say that. I cannot say
that, so I can't do it. I cannot say that God loves you. I can say God's wrath abides
on you. It is this kind of preaching.
It is taking truth and misapplying it. And it's this kind of preaching
that God loves you that promotes no fear of God. It promotes no
fear of God. You're not going to fear someone
who loves you. Outside of Jesus Christ is God's
wrath, not God's love. God's love was in the ark, not
outside of it. That's misapplying truth. God
loves sinners. He loves sinners in Christ. But
those who hate God, the wrath of God abides on them. That's
what the Scripture says. And we have to teach that. I'm
not going to tell some God-hating rebel that walks in here that
God loves you. No, I'm going to say, you're
in trouble, buddy. You're in trouble. You're hanging right
over hell. And only God is keeping you from
dropping right in right now. That's the truth. That's not
a lie. That's the truth. And I wish that these preachers
around here and around the world would get back to that preaching,
telling the truth and applying it properly. It is of the utmost importance
that we rightly divide the word of truth and apply it correctly. This is why Paul wrote to Timothy
in 2 Timothy 2.15, Study to show thyself approved unto God, a
workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the
word of truth, rightly dividing the word of truth, and rightly
applying the word of truth. So my responsibility tonight
is to rightly divide the word of truth and to apply it correctly.
Now, as I said, Eliphaz is on the same subject, that afflictions
are a sure mark of sin. Therefore, Job must have sinned
or is living the life of a hypocrite. And he continues this course
of conversation. And I tell you, when you really
understand what's being said, it's brutal. It's brutal. But there are some things he
says in this chapter that are And if you and I can get a hold
of it, it's great, it's comforting, it's really comforting. But here
are some things that are true, but not so. Now first thing he
says to Job, he says, Job, call and see, call upon any of the
saints, call upon the angels, call upon the saints and see
if any of them will stand with you on this, Job, on your complaints,
what Job said in chapter 3. Look and see if God has dealt
with any of his saints like this, Job. This is the way God deals
with rebels. Well, that's true, but not necessarily
so. That's also the way God deals
with his children. He sends afflictions upon them.
He does. He says, here in verse 2, He
said, For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly
one. Man's foolishness kills him.
That's true. Man's sin. True, man's sin destroys him.
Sin is the ruin of every man that dies in his sins. But not
so for the believer. Not so. Sin does not ruin us
because Christ took it away. Christ is the remedy for our
sin. Sin shall not have dominion over you. You are delivered from
the power of sin. You've been delivered from the
guilt of sin. Yes, foolishness, a man's foolishness,
a man's sinfulness will destroy him. But I tell you what, you
that are in Christ, Your sin's not gonna destroy you, and you
and I sin every day, don't we? We sin enough today to send every
one of us to hell, but it's not gonna destroy us, because the
Lord Jesus Christ took it away. He took it away. And he says here in verse three,
and these first few verses here, verse three through five, Job
is, he's directing this, Eliphaz is directing this at Job. He
says here in verse three, I have seen the foolish taking root,
but suddenly I cursed his habitation, or I saw that his habitation
was cursed. Well, it is true. God allows the ungodly to take
root. He allows them to prosper. David
said, I was envious at the prosperity of the wicked. God prospers them. As I said years ago, if he didn't,
you and I'd have to run all the businesses, and then we'd all
be having to deal with, we'd be goat herders. Who wants to
do that? He prospers them for our sakes. He prospers these men who have
these corporations, he does it for our sake. It may be that a corporation,
a huge corporation, Makes billions of dollars. There might be one
or two sheep that work there, and that's the reason why. No, God allows the ungodly to
take root. They prosper in this world, but
don't mistake their prosperity as God's favor. Their prosperity
is for you. It's for you. Their prosperity
has a curse in it. You drive by the... home of a
wealthy family who knows not God, who believes not on the
Lord Jesus Christ. Absolutely everything they have
will turn into a curse in the judgment. They'll give account
for every penny that's gone through their hands. But listen, not
so the believer. The blessings God gives to a
believer has no curse in it. There's no curse in it. Someone was telling me not long
ago about, they were, a believer was telling me, they're troubled
about making money. I said, don't be troubled about
that. Ask God to give you a heart and wisdom to use it. Somebody
has to support the gospel. There's no curse in the blessing
of a believer. There's no curse in it. God blessed
the work of Job's hands and He put no curse in it. There was
no curse in it. That's not why Job lost everything.
That's not why he lost everything. Listen to Proverbs 3.33. The
curse of the Lord is in the house of the wicked. That's where the
curse is. But He blesses the habitation
of the just. There's no curse in what Job
owned. I know if God has enabled you
to enjoy the fruit of your labors, there's no curse in that. Not
to you who believe Christ. But here's what's happening.
Eliphaz is putting Job beside the foolish taking root. Job
being rich at one time and then losing everything. And Eliphaz
is saying there was a curse in it, Job, but no, there's not. No. There's a lesson in it, not
a curse. There's a lesson. And notice what he says here
in verse 4. Now let me go back and read this together. He says,
Call now if there be any that will answer thee, and to which
of the saints wilt thou turn? For wrath killeth the foolish
man, and envy slayeth the silly one. I have seen the foolish
taking root, but suddenly I cursed his habitation, or his habitation
was cursed. His children are far from safety,
What just happened to Job's children? What happened? They all died,
didn't ten of them. You see what a nail he's driving
here right into the heart of Job? He said, his children are
not in safety. Well, you know, it's true. All
who are outside of Christ are not safe. You can put all the
locks on the doors you want. You can hire a security team,
like the president. You're going to have the Secret
Service. And I'll tell you this, you're
not safe. But you who believe God, you're
safe. David said, thou makest me to
dwell in safety. Thou only, he said, makest me
to dwell safely. It's true. All who are outside
of Christ are not safe. They are exposed to the wrath
of God. But not so the believer. All
of God's children are safe. You're safe. Safe in the shepherd's
fold. They will not stand in judgment.
That means there in verse 4, his children are far from safety.
They are crushed in the gate. That's where judgment took place,
was at the gate of the city. That's where they executed judgment
on anybody. And he said their children are
not safe in the gate of the city. They're subject to judgment and
destruction. You're not. Not God's children.
You're safe. He's applying this to Job, and
what he's saying is right, but it's applied to the wrong person.
Job losing his children was not an act of judgment on Job. We have to be careful. We've
got to be careful when we say, well, that's God judging him.
We've got to be careful. God was not, this is not an act
of judgment on Job losing all 10 children. It was their appointed
time. It was their appointed time and
way to die. That's the way God appointed
it. You know, they were individuals. And God appointed their time,
their life, just like he did Job's, just like he has yours
and mine. Their time was appointed of God,
the way they'd die was appointed of God, and the lessons that
would be learned from it, that we are even learning now, is
appointed of God. It's appointed of God. And then
he says here, verse 5, you'll notice he says, verse 4, "...his
children are far from safety, they are crushed in the gate,
neither is there any to deliver them, whose harvest the hungry
eat up and take it even out of the thorns, and the robber swallows
up their substance." Turn back over here to Job chapter 1. It says in verse 14, And there
came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were plowing,
and the asses feeding beside them. And the Sabeans fell upon
them, and took them away. Yea, they have slain the servants
with the edge of the sword, and I only am escaped alone to tell
thee. Look at verse 17, While he was
yet speaking, there came also Another, and said, the Chaldeans
made out three bands and fell upon the camels and have carried
them away, yea, and slain the servants with the edge of the
sword, and I only miscaped too long to... Now look what he's
saying now, who's harvested the hungry. He's saying, Job, what's
happening to you is happening to you because you're so sinful,
or you've done something, or you're a hypocrite. This is what
happens to the wicked. No, this is also what happens
to God's children. This is what happens to God's
children. Sometimes he gives and sometimes
he takes away from his children. It's true, one man gathers and
another man eats it. It's true that the hungry will
eat up the harvest of the unbeliever. It's true. But not so the believer. Not so the believer. What we
have in Christ, we will enjoy. And what He's given us in this
life, He's given us to enjoy. Don't be afraid to enjoy it. No one can take what the Lord
has given us. No one can eat it up. Our true
riches are laid up in heaven where moth and rust doth not
corrupt, and thieves cannot break through and steal." Our riches
are true riches. No one's going to eat up what
Christ has given us and what we have in Jesus Christ. They're
not going to be destroyed. No one on this earth, Satan and
all the demons of hell, cannot destroy what God's given us in
Christ. What we have is sure. It's sure. He says, although afflictions
do not come from the dust, although affliction cometh not forth of
the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground. Well,
that's true. That's true. Because of sin,
men are afflicted by God. It doesn't just happen. Trouble
doesn't just happen. It doesn't just jump up out of
the ground on you. You know, like you're walking down the
road and all of a sudden it jumps up on you. No, God does afflict
the wicked. He does punish the wicked. But
not so the believer. Our affliction, all of our afflictions
are appointed of God. I mean, right down to a headache. Vicki's listening to me tonight.
She's been sick for two days and splitting headache. Right
down to the headache. God's given it to us. It's an
affliction. It's a trial. Job said in Job 23, 14, For he
performeth the thing that is appointed for me. See? This was
appointed for Job before creation. I'm 67 years old. Everything
in my life was appointed for me. You know, when I was, and I barely
remember it now, but when I was about six years old, they said
I had rheumatic fever and rheumatoid arthritis, which evidently I
didn't, but they said I did, and I had to miss school a lot
that year, and went to the doctor all the time, getting shots.
My knees were swollen, and I had to stay in the house, and my
brother and sister went outside, and it just, I was envious of
them. I remember that. You know, that was appointed
of God. That was appointed of God. They put me in the hospital
and I was in there. I can just remember balloons
on the rooms, all I can remember. But that was appointed of God.
All my afflictions have been appointed, even before I believed
they were appointed. Although afflictions don't come
from the dust or the ground, no, they don't. They come from
God. To the unbeliever, He afflicts them for their sins. He punishes
them for their sins. But for the believer, He afflicts
us for our good, our spiritual good, whatever it may be. It's
for our good and His glory. Job said there, He performeth
the things that's appointed for me, and many such things are
with me. In other words, this is not the
last trial. You know, when Abraham was told to offer up Isaac, they
say that was his greatest trial. It was not his last one. It's
not the last trial. You get over this one, another
will be right on the heels of it. Yet man, he says, is born to
trouble as the sparks fly upward. Well, that's true. Man is born
to trouble because of sin. Sin is the cause of all trouble,
isn't it? It's the cause of all trouble.
It's the very root of it. His day or life, which is compared
to a day, is one of trouble, trouble, trouble, and it's going
to end in trouble. But not so the believer. Not
so. He's born to glorify God in his
daily life, and his life will end in glory. Your life's going
to end in glory. When I preached in Williamsburg
a few weeks ago, I said, let me read you, the way I started
the message, I said, let me read you your future. And I took him
over to Revelation chapter, I think it was, I believe it's chapter
21. Be no more sadness, no more sorrows, no more tears, new heaven,
new earth. I said, here's your future. Oh, you, we are, we, we, listen,
we are born to glorify God and our life is going to end in glory. That's where it's going to end
up at. But it seems like that maybe Eliphaz softened a little
bit here in the next few verses, but I think, I was thinking about
this today, but I think the Lord turned him for Job's benefit,
because I mean, he's being hammered here. He's saying to the Lord,
Job, the reason this is happening, you're wicked. The reason your
children died, it's because you're wicked. The reason you lost everything,
it's because you sinned. You sinned, you're wicked. Now
this is why. I mean, this is why he's telling. Then all of
a sudden he turns here, and he says this, and there's a barb
in this. Or is it stabbing this? In verse
eight, he said, here's what I would do, Job, after he telling him
all this, here's what I would do. I would seek unto God and
unto God would I commit my cause. Now in the original, it reads
like this. I would seek unto God, surely
I would. You know what he's saying? Now,
Job, this is what I would do. I know, I know if I was in your
situation, this is what I would do. We don't know what we would do
until we walk in the same shoes. We don't know. We don't know. We don't know what we would do.
I have to tell you this one. Vicki's listening to me. She
goes, what did you tell that for? But her mother's got dementia. She hallucinates right now a
lot. I was at the bar drinking the other day, she told him.
She said, but he only had one beer. That's what she told him. Well, Vicky was up there last
week. She goes, you're cheating on John. She goes, Mom, I'd never
do that. She's telling me this. She said,
I told her I'd never do that. I said, don't say that. I said,
don't say you'd never do that. Don't say that. By the grace
of God, I won't do that. But if He lets me go, I'll do
it. I'll do it just as sure as I'm
standing here. Oh, he says, I would seek unto
God. Surely I would. This is exactly what I'd do.
I know I'd do that. No, you don't. You don't know
yourself. This is the best thing to do
when under afflictions. When under trial, here's the
best thing to do. We cannot have a better thing
to do. Commit your cause to God. Just lay at His feet. Lay at His feet. See, that's
what he says here. What's that verse? I would seek
unto God, I would call upon Him, I would pray unto Him, and unto
Him I would commit my cause, my situation. That's what I'd
do. Well, that's good advice. That's
what we should do. By God's grace, we should do
that. We should seek the Lord. James 5.13 said, Is any among
you afflicted? Let him pray. Let him pray. A fervent prayer of a righteous
man availeth much. Commit your cause to him, who
alone can save. Cast all your care upon him,
he careth for you. Jesus Christ is the only one
who can support us through the afflictions. He sends our way. And he's the only one that can
remove them. You know, Paul, when he had that thorn in the
flesh, what did he do? He said, I prayed three times.
And the Lord said, my grace is sufficient for you. But he prayed. He took his cause
before the Lord. And that's what we're told to
do here. And it's a sign of grace in the heart when afflictions
run us to Christ and not from Christ, when they draw us up
closer to Him. But now here's the reason why
we are to call upon Him and to commit our calls to Him. In verse 9, "...which doeth great
things, unsearchable, marvelous things without number." We should
expect great things and marvelous things from God. He's able. Ain't
nobody else able. Nobody else is able. But He is. He's able. And He gives us here
three things that He's great in. God does great things in
nature for our good, who giveth rain upon the earth and send
waters upon the fields. He does that for your sake. If
it were not for you, it would rain hell, fire, and brimstone.
That's what it would rain. But for His elect's sake, He
sends rain upon the earth. It's supposed to rain tomorrow.
90% chance of rain. That's for you. Enjoy. Enjoy. It's for you. Let creation
be your teacher when you are down. Let creation be your teacher
when you are down. For as surely as he waters the
earth... I want you to get this. I thought
about this today. For as surely as he waters the earth, he shall
send showers of blessings on your head. If he has sent an affliction,
he will send the blessing. It's right on the heels of it.
And then God does great things in the kingdom of men for our
good. Look in verse 12. I'll come back to verse 11 in
a minute. God does this for our good. He
disappointed the devices of the crafty so that their hands cannot
perform their enterprise. Well, let's build a tower to
Babel, or I mean, let's build a tower to heaven, the Tower
of Babel. But let's build a tower to heaven.
God allowed them to build it within the inch that he purposed,
and then he took it down. He took it down. He frustrated
their enterprise. They got together, they're going
to work their way to heaven. We're going to build this tower
and this is how we're going to go to heaven. We're going to
reach right into heaven. And then God confused their language
and called it the Tower of Babel. He takes the wise in their own
craftiness. People get together and they
just devise this and devise that. They get their council meetings
going and all their board meetings going, and then all of a sudden
it doesn't work out, and they're thinking, why didn't it work
out? Because God Almighty, He takes
the wise in their own craftiness, and the counsel of the forward
is carried headlong. It crashes it. They meet with
darkness in the daytime and grope in the noonday as in the night. But here's the point. Our Lord,
He lifts up one, He brings down another, He disappoints, He directs,
He confuses. He does all of this for the good
of His elect. He does all this with the children
of men. They get together and they say, we're going to do this.
Well, maybe you are, maybe you're not. If the Lord will, we'll do this
or that. But other than that, you might, you might not. But
then, listen, God does great things in the kingdom of grace
for our good. And this really finishes out
this chapter. It says back there in verse 11,
to set up on high those that be low. God brings us low that
He may set us up on high. He brings us down that He may
lift us up. And those which mourn over their sins, I mean the whole
world mourns, but those who mourn over their sins may be exalted
to safety. Where's our safety? Christ. Christ. And in verse 16, So the poor
hath hope. Now, not all poor people have
hope. It's the poor in spirit he's talking about. The poor
hath hope, and iniquity stoppeth her mouth. Who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? God stops the mouth. Iniquity,
we can't be charged with it. You know, Satan is called the
accuser of the brethren. He may accuse us and charge us
with iniquity, but it's not going to stick. It's not going to stick
because it's gone. It's been taken away. And he shows us here, we see
here how the believer is a paradox. This is why people don't understand
you. He or she is a happy person,
at the same time afflicted. At the same time afflicted, they're
happy. Have you seen an unbeliever like that? Have you seen someone
who does not believe God, under affliction, happy, able to rejoice? Verse 17, Behold, happy is the
man whom thou correcteth. Blessed is the man, happy, blessed
is the man whom God corrects. Therefore despise not thou the
chastening of the Almighty. John Trapp said this, For the
believer it is life out of death, happiness out of misery, assurance
of deliverance out of deepest distresses, and to believe God
upon his bare word, and that against sense in things invisible,
and against reason in things incredible. Happy. Happy. Blessed. Blessed is that
man whom God corrects. And sometimes the correction
is severe. Look at Job. What's going on
here? There's a form of correction
in all of our trials, I think. I do believe. Not without sin. I said to someone the other day,
as far as God as far as being guilty of sin
or God punished me for chasing me for sin, I said, it's just
like pick a day, pick a sin. It's that. Oh, sometimes it hurts because
it says in verse 18, for He make us sore. Sometimes He bruises
you. He bruises you. I can remember
when my mom and dad whipped me. They whipped me with a switch.
They'd be put in jail right now. They would be put in jail. But they did not overwhip me.
I cannot remember them overwhipping me. But I remember them whipping
me with a switch with shorts on. And that hurt. And it left
whelps. I mean, I had whelps on my legs.
I had whelps. And back then, you could go to
school. It was like you got straightened
out, didn't you? Man, Jeremy cut his leg one time with opening
up a box that had those staples in it. And later on, he went
to the doctor for something else. She saw that scar. She goes,
what happened there? She looked at Vicky real serious.
What happened? Vicky told her. I understand, too. I understand
abuse. I understand there's kids that are abused. But it says
here, he make us sore. He bruises. It hurts. Listen. It hurts to
have a broken leg set right, doesn't it? You break a leg,
it hurts. It also hurts when they set it.
If you want it to be right, they've got to set it. And that hurts. Of course, nowadays they can
numb it, but not back then. For he maketh sore, and if he
does so, listen, This applies to God's children. When God makes
sore, I promise you, He'll bind it up. He won't leave it alone. Now, Mom and Dad couldn't bind
up the whelps that they gave me. But now God can bind it up. He woundeth. He woundeth the
heart. and his hands make whole. When he wounds, listen, as a
skilled surgeon, he cuts where he needs to cut, and then he
sews up the wound with grace and heals it. What about the trouble? What about the trouble I'm going
through? What about the trouble I'm in?
That's what I want to know about. And I can understand that. You
know, when I'm in trouble, that's what I want to know about. Well,
look at this promise. Look at this promise. First of
all, we see in verse 19, the succession of trouble. He shall deliver thee in six
troubles. The succession of trouble, trouble, trouble. And God's promise
to deliver. He shall deliver thee in six
troubles, yea, in seven. That's a certain number for an
uncertain number. Seven stands for the number of perfection. There shall no evil touch thee.
No evil shall come from the chastening hand of our Father. And here's
the key. He shall never fail to deliver
you. He shall never fail. He shall
deliver thee in six troubles, troubles coming upon troubles,
and they're always going to be there. But in seven, he said,
there shall no evil touch you. In all your troubles, there's
no evil in it. And then he says here, and I'll
wind it down. He says in verse 20, "...in famine
He shall redeem thee from death, and in war from the power of
the sword, that sword of justice." Did He not save us from the power
and redeem us from the power of that sword of justice? He
sure did. "...But God's wrath shall not
rest on the redeemed, because it fell on the Lord Jesus Christ. Thou shalt be hid, Your life is hid with Christ
in God. Thou shalt be hid from the scourge
of the tongue, neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction
when it cometh. Are you afraid of God's wrath
coming on this world? I'm not. You who believe, you're
not afraid of God's wrath coming on this world. You're not afraid
of destruction. You're not afraid of everything
falling apart, coming unglued. You're not afraid of it. You're protected. You're protected. Nothing happens in this world
that God does not first protect and take care of His elect. I'm trying to think of a scripture,
same time I'm talking over in Revelation, where they were given
a plague to put upon the earth, but they couldn't do it until
they had secured God's elect, God's church. Until they had
put the mark on them and secured them, they couldn't do anything
until they were safe. We have nothing to fear. Verse
22, "...at destruction and famine thou shalt laugh." That's the
attitude of the believer. I mean, you know, when destruction
and famine is happening, what's going on in the world? They're
falling apart. The world is falling apart. But
you're not. You're not. You'll laugh. You'll laugh. And you'll not
be afraid of the beast of the earth. Listen, God makes even
creation be on our side. For thou shalt be in league with
the stones of the field and the beasts of the field. They shall
be at peace with you. God's creation is at peace with
you. The earth is not going to open up and swallow you like
it did Korah. It's not going to do that. Peace
is our lot. Look at verse 24, and thou shalt
know that thy tabernacle shall be in peace. Your dwelling is
in peace. Your dwelling in Christ is in peace. Isn't it? It's peace. Aren't you glad God saved you?
This is for you. Whatever age we die at is full
age. Job's 10 kids, I don't know what
they're, there's 10 children, whatever age they were, they
died at a full age. Didn't they? They died at a full
age. Thou shalt come to thy grave
in a full age. It doesn't matter if you die
at 20 or at 80 or at 90. It doesn't matter. Somebody died
at 20 and said, oh, his life was cut so short. No, it wasn't.
That's all that God gave him. That's all God gave him. And that was his full age. And
like a shock of corn cometh in in his season, ripe, ready for
the picking, ready, mature. Lo, this we've searched it. So
it is. Hear it. Know it for thy good.
Eliphaz was sure that what he said was true. And he said a
lot of good things. But he replied to a lot of things
wrong. He replied a lot of truth wrong
to the wrong person. And that's dangerous. That's
dangerous. You know how dangerous it is
for me to tell a God-hating sinner that God loves him? You know
how dangerous that is? He said, well, I'm OK then, aren't
I? No, you're not. It's dangerous
to misapply truth, and especially when you misapply it to the wrong
person.