This morning we'll be looking
at the book of Job, chapter 14. Job, chapter 14. Most who know
a little about God's Word agree that the book of Job is the oldest
recorded book in the Bible. And in the book of Job, there
are many eternal questions that are posed to us, questions we
need to be able to answer, things we need to seriously consider. In Job chapter 14, beginning
with verse 1, I read, ìMan that is born of a woman is of few
days and full of trouble.î Few days. The psalmist prays to the
Lord to teach us to number our days that we might apply our
hearts to wisdom. And wisdom is Christ. He is the wisdom of God. But
the psalmist says, teach us to number our days, for man is of
few days. Literally. Days. Whether 40,
50, 60, or 70 years, yet it comes down to days. Oh, the brevity
of life. I just turned 45 years old, and
I feel like I should still be 15 years old. And perhaps someone
listening this morning is 50, 60, 70 years old, yet you feel
as if you should still be young. The days have flown by. James said this life is a vapor,
like an early morning fog which doesn't last long at all. I continue to read in Job 14,
verse 2. Man cometh forth like a flower. Our little children are such
beautiful little fellows. They're so gorgeous, and yet
they soon grow old. They die as old people, like
we do. They are cut down, it says. And man, he fleeth as a shadow,
like a shadow that doesn't last very long. He's here for a moment
and quickly gone. And Job says this short life
we live is full of trouble, full of sin. That's our biggest trouble. That's what brought on all the
troubles of this world, this life. Sin, sickness, sorrow,
death. And so we have few days in this
earth. And then Job asks a question
in verse 3. He says, Does thou open thine
eyes upon such a one? In other words, O Lord, do you
look on such a brief life as this? Do you look on such a finite
creature as man is? Do you look on such a one and
do you bring into judgment with it? Do you even consider, is
man worth considering? That's what the psalmist said
in Psalm 8, verses 3 and 4. I read, David says, When I consider
thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars
which thou hast ordained, What is man? What is man? Such a finite creature that God
is mindful of him, that God would even stop to think on such an
insignificant creature. Or, he says, a son of man that
thou visitest him. Would God leave his heaven, the
eternal God, who orders and rules and reigns over the universe
and time? Eternality, would God leave His
heaven to come to this little ball of dirt, this little insignificant
planet to deal with such an insignificant creature? Yes. That's what God
did in the person of His Son. God did think upon man. Here's what God says concerning
man in Psalm 14, verse 2. The Lord looked down from heaven
upon the children of men to see if there were any that did understand
and seek God. And he concludes, they are all
gone aside, that is, out of the way, far from God. They all together become filthy,
sinful, wretched. There is none that doeth good,
no, not one. That is what God beholds when
He sees this planet, a corrupt generation, a corrupt nation
of people that are corrupt and in their sin. I was visiting
in Mexico not too long ago, and we entered a village, and there
were many people, and it was a wild scene. It was a little
primitive village, and it was a wild scene. There was fighting
and yelling and cursing going on, and there were two drunken
men rolling around on the ground, a dirt in their blood. It was an ugly sight. Filthy,
awful, and ugly sight. But this is the same all over
the world in every country. Men and women full of cursing
and bitterness and anger and wrath and malice and sin. This world is a depraved place,
a rotten place. And you really only have to look
within your own heart to see. the wretchedness and the filth
and the dirt of sin that is there. I mean all of us. Because all
of us are born filthy sinners upon this earth. And then Job
asked this question in Job 14. This vital, eternal question. A question concerning salvation. He says in Job 14 verse 4, Who
can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Who can bring a clean
thing? Who can make such an unclean
creature as man to be clean in God's sight? We must be clean. We must be righteous. We must
be holy for the holy and righteous and just God to accept us. We
must be pure to live in God's heaven. Well, how? How? Well, I read another psalm. In Psalm 24, look at what Psalm
24 says if you want to follow along. In verses 3 and 4, this
question is asked, who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Who shall get into God's presence,
God's heaven? Who shall stand in His holy place? For the Scripture says, the righteous
Lord loveth righteousness and hateth iniquity. And all He sees
in us and all He sees in this planet His iniquity and sin? Well, the psalmist answers in
Psalm 24, verse 4, well, he that hath clean hands, that is, never
performed any sin, never committed actual sins. Well, who can say that? Well,
none of us. And it goes on to say, he that hath a pure heart.
You see, God looks on the heart, not just the actions, but the
motive. Not just the deeds, but the thoughts.
A pure heart, that is a holy, sinless, perfect, pure heart. Why? That excludes all of us. Well, then he says, well, who
shall ascend unto the hill of the Lord? He that hath not lifted
up his soul unto vanity. That is, he that hath lived a
perfect life, and in his thought and his motive, in his heart,
he hath nothing but the glory of God. on his mind and in his
heart, nor sworn deceitfully, no words have come out of his
heart, no complaints, no bitterness, only thanksgiving and praise
and worship to God. My, my, my. That rules us all
out, doesn't it? Well, Job asked the question,
who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? How shall unclean
man? How shall he that is unjust before
God be justified with God? That's a serious question, isn't
it? Well, look back at Job 14. He says in verse 5, man's days
are determined. The number of his months are
with God. God has appointed his bounds that he cannot pass. His
days are determined. His months. are determined by
God, set, his bounds are set, are appointed by God. This is
not fatalism. This is the truth. This is God's
Word. Man's days are appointed by God,
his Creator. God has set his bounds. The day
of his death is determined by God, the means of his death.
Days, remember, it's just days. And we have but days left upon
this earth. When I was 15 years old, my best
friend, who was also 15, I found him in a basement room, asphyxiated. He lay dead in my arms, 15 years
old. My oldest brother died in Vietnam
at 21 years of age. My sister, only 42 years of age,
died of cancer. Were their lives cut short? No. Their days were appointed. All
the days, they were given by God. They were appointed. Do
you see how important this is, what I'm saying, what you're
doing, what you're hearing? Hebrews says today is the day
of salvation. Today. There may not be a tomorrow. Our Lord tells us not to boast
of tomorrow. We don't know what a day may
bring. There may be no tomorrow. But then Job, in Job 14, our
text, talks about a tree. In verse 7, he says, there is
hope of a tree. If you cut down a tree, it may
sprout again. A tender branch will sprout out
of it. Not if you dig up the root, though.
But some trees, if you cut them down, they may grow again. We
have a tree around here, a locust tree, that it refuses to die. cut down many locust trees on
my little farm. And shortly thereafter, they
start sprouting again. They grow back. But what about
man? Verse 10, he says, Man dieth, and wasteth away. Man giveth
up the ghost. And where is he? Where is he? All of us have buried someone
or someone we know or love. We've put them in the ground.
Where are they? Where are they? We put their
bodies in the ground. Well, do they live again? Where
is that person? We put their body in the ground,
but where is their soul? Verse 12 says, "...man lieth
down, and riseth not, till the heavens be no more. They shall
not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep." In other words,
that body is going to stay there no matter what, and it eventually
will turn back to the dust. You see, this body is just a
half, but man is a living soul. The body dies, but the soul goes
somewhere. Where? Verses 13 and 14, Job
says, Oh, that you would hide me in the grave. Verse 14, If
a man dies, shall he live again? Shall he? Well, I'll tell you
the answer. Job tells us the answer in Job
chapter 19. Job tells us the answer to this
question. Who can bring a clean thing out
of an unclean? If a man dies, shall he live
again? Here's the answer to both of those questions. In Job 19, he says in verse 25,
Job says, I know that my Redeemer liveth. My Redeemer, my righteousness. How shall God justify this unjust
creature? How shall God bring clean thing
out of an unclean? Who shall ascend unto the holy
hill of the Lord?" Well, it was a man. His name was Jesus Christ,
the Son of God, who came down here to do what He did for His
people, like Job, like those who trust Him. He came down here
to justify them by the righteous life He lived before God and
to impute that righteousness to His people, to Job, to all
believers. Christ gave that perfect life,
that just life, He lived to them. And then He laid down His life. He became sin for them. Those who were sinners, He became
sin, took their sins upon Him. The Lord had laid on Him the
iniquity of all of His people. And Christ paid for those sins,
thereby justifying them from all unrighteousness, from all
their guilt. Job said, that's my Redeemer,
and I know He lives, and He'll stand not the latter day upon
this earth. And He did. Christ came, stood upon this
earth, lived upon this earth, perfect before God to present
us, God's people, perfect before God. And in verse 26, Job says,
Though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh I'll
see God. I'm going to live before God.
I'm going to live with God. How, Job? by my Redeemer, in
my Redeemer, in Christ my Redeemer. Because He lives, I live also. Yea, this body will be destroyed,
but my soul will live with God because Jesus Christ, my Redeemer,
lived as a man here and now ever lives before God, and I live
in Him by faith. I hope that's your confession,
your confession of faith. I hope Christ is your hope of
life. Well, until next Sunday, good
day.