Alright, let's look back at Job
chapter 36. Now these next two chapters,
chapters 36 and 37, are the concluding remarks of this young man named
Elihu speaking to Job, setting things straight according to
the Word of God, speaking to Job's three friends. And in these
next two verses, I'm dividing, I'm gonna deal with one chapter
tonight and then the next chapter Sunday night, but the title of
the message for both of them is The Chastening Hand of God. The Chastening Hand of God. This is part one, and then chapter
37 will be part two as we conclude Elihu's remarks. And I want to
just start right in here. This is an issue that I believe
that is vital for every true believer to understand as to
what God's word teaches us about chastisement. And these two chapters
have a lot to say about the reality of the chastisements that God
has for his children. But let's just look at here in
the first two verses, chapter 36, it says, Elihu also proceeded
and said, suffer me a little, bear with me a little, and I
will show thee that I have yet to speak on God's behalf. In
other words, he's simply saying here that I'm telling you not
my opinions, I'm speaking the word of God. Elihu claims to
be speaking for God. He's like Paul the apostle, like
all the apostles, and like all true preachers of the gospel,
when Paul described it in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 20 as we
are ambassadors for Christ. In other words, I hope and pray,
and I know you do too, that when I'm up here preaching to you,
and whoever it is preaching to you, that they're not speaking
on their own. or their own words that were
preaching and speaking the word of God and I'll tell you we need
to be careful when someone claims to have a word from God because
not everybody does you know it might be true they might have
a word from God it might not be true the Apostle John warned
the churches in Asia Minor about that in first John chapter 4
when he said believe not every spirit Don't believe everybody
who comes claiming to speak for the Spirit of God. You have to
listen critically. And understand when I say that,
I don't mean you listen trying to find fault. It means you listen
with an ear to check them out and to gauge their words, judge
their words by the Word of God. John said not everybody that
comes speaking this word is speaking by the Spirit of God. They don't
speak the doctrine of Christ. Paul had a lot to say about it.
The book of Galatians is full of it. He started out, he said,
if we or an angel from heaven come preaching any other gospel
than that which we preached unto you, let them be anathema. The
gospel of God's free and sovereign grace is the only gospel. The
gospel which tells the truth concerning God and His holiness
and His justice as well as His mercy and His grace. The gospel
that tells the truth about God and His sovereignty in all things. The gospel that tells the truth
about man and our sin and our depravity and our spiritual deadness
to show us that if God saves any of us, it is truly and solely
a matter of sovereign mercy. And it's not because of anything
in us. It's not because we're better
than anybody else, or less rebellious, or less obstinate. It's not the
free will of man. It's not the works of man. It's
Christ alone, and that's the gospel. It tells the truth of
Jesus Christ, who He is, God in human flesh, no less than
God Almighty, and perfect man in one person. Immanuel, God
with us, the Word made flesh, great is the mystery of godliness.
Any so-called gospel that doesn't identify and distinguish him
as such is a false gospel. And whoever's preaching it, I'll
tell you what, they're not speaking for God. They're not an ambassador
of Christ. The gospel that tells the truth
about what He actually accomplished on Calvary, not only to save
His people from their sins, but to secure them in that salvation
by His blood, which put away all our sins, and His righteousness
charged to us, whereby we stand complete and whole before God.
The gospel that tells the truth about how God gives life to dead
sinners through His Spirit, from Christ as He gives us, brings
us to faith in Christ under the preaching of the gospel. All
of those things. Paul wrote about it again in
2 Corinthians chapter 11. He said if they come preaching
another Jesus or another gospel by another spirit, he said, don't
bear with them. Isaiah the prophet spoke of it.
He said in Isaiah chapter 8 and verse 20, he said, to the law
and to the testimony, if they preach not according to this
word, light in them. So that's how we're to listen.
Now Elihu says, I'm speaking on God's behalf. Well, how do
you know Elihu is telling the truth? How do you know Elihu
is preaching the Word of God, for example, and that the other
three fellows, Eliphaz and Bildad and Zophar, that they were not?
Well, notice, consider the difference between their messages. First
of all, Elihu sought to recover Job. And that's the way the Word
of God is to be approached in a believer's situation. To recover. You see, the three friends of
Job, they exalted themselves and they put down Job. They really... Elihu is seeking
to recover Job. They sought to condemn Job. Job
was a man of God. He was a sinner saved by grace.
He was a man of Christ, a man of faith. And God said so. And whenever a man of faith goes
awry on any subject or in anything that he's to be corrected, he's
to be recovered. Remember Paul wrote about that
in Galatians chapter 6 and he said, You who are mature and
complete and knowledgeable in the Word of God, you be careful
to recover a fallen brother. You don't condemn him. And that's
what these other three did. They tried to condemn him. Secondly,
Elihu sought to bring Job to godly sorrow unto repentance. Paul wrote of that in 2 Corinthians
7, verse 10. You see, mourning over sin is
a godly sorrow that works repentance. The other three, the three friends,
they sought legal sorrow unto death. Salvation by works. And then thirdly, Elihu spoke
of the greatness of God to put things in their proper perspective.
In other words, whenever we're dealing with things in Providence,
the first thing we need to understand and be confronted with is not
to look within ourselves to see if we measure up, because we
don't. And it's not to look around to
see how many people are with us or how we compare to them.
The only way that we can put all this in perspective is to
begin with the greatness and the glory and the majesty of
God. That's what Elihu has been talking about. God is righteous
in all His ways. The other friends, they spoke
of Job. They said, Job, look within yourselves,
find out what's wrong. They spoke of themselves, looking
within to find answers. But Elihu ascribes righteousness
unto the Lord. And that's what the Word of God
does. Well, let's look on. Verse 3, he says, "...I will
fetch my knowledge from afar, and will ascribe righteousness
to my Maker. For truly, my word shall not
be false. He that is perfect in knowledge
is with thee." Elihu's saying he's going to speak of things
that are revealed by God. He's going to speak of things
that from afar, in other words, again, this is not the opinions
of men. This is not the product of man's
reasoning or man's intellect. It's not the product of any think-take
among men or any discussion. This is knowledge from afar because
it comes from God who is so high above us that we can't even imagine
the distance. That's what he means by that.
And whatever it is, whatever God tells me, I know this. I'm
going to ascribe righteousness, justness to my Maker. God's my
Maker. He's your Maker. God put you
together, He put me together, and He breathed the breath of
life in our nostrils. Whatever we have, ultimately,
is given from God. And whatever we're going through,
He has a purpose for it. We're going to talk about that
in just a moment. But whatever it is, however we feel, however
we think, however ignorant we are, whatever we try to figure
out, I'm going to ascribe righteousness to my Maker. God is righteous
in all His ways. And I'll tell you what, when
you think about that, always look to the cross. Always look
to Christ. If you want to see the height
The Ebenezer, as it were, the Shekinah glory of God, in His
righteousness, as well as His mercy and His grace, looked to
Christ hanging on that cross, dying for the sins of His people.
And I want to tell you something. If He's righteous there, He's
righteous in everything below that. How can God be just and justify
the ungodly? We don't know that. There's no philosophy, no religion,
no theology that man has ever come up with to render God or
their God as a righteous judge as well as a loving father. I
preach that all the time on our TV program because I really believe
that that is the missing note in so-called Christianity today. But Elihu knew. Job knew about
it. That's why he said, I need an umpire. Remember that? I need
a daisman betwixt us. That's umpire. I need somebody
to stand in between me, a sinner, and a holy God, and make the
right call. That's what he's talking about.
Well, who's going to do that? Well, there's one God and one
mediator between God and men. The man, Christ Jesus. He's it. And that's why Job looked. He
was running the race looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher
of his faith, because he said it. He said, I know my Redeemer
liveth. And he'll stand in the latter
day upon the earth. So he's going to speak these
things. God is righteous in all his ways.
Now Job had actually, in his complaining, in his ignorance,
had said just the opposite. He said God was not fair. God's
not acting towards me justly in these matters of providence,
in the things that I'm suffering. Don't get too down on Job about
that. We've done the same thing. We've
done the same thing, and worse. But I'll tell you what, we know
God is righteous in saving us, isn't He? By His grace through
Christ. Well, let me tell you something,
if He's righteous in saving me, He's righteous in all His ways
towards me. If He's righteous by His Son,
His holy, harmless, undefiled, beloved Son, who died for my
sins, charged to Him, and gave me a righteousness, charged to
me, I guarantee He's righteous in all His ways. You can mark
it down. Now look at this next set of
verses. Here's where Elihu begins to get into some teaching on
this thing of chastisement. And what he's going to tell Job
is he's going to tell Job that, Job, God corrects the righteous. Now that might sound like, what
do they call that big word, an oxymoron? If you're righteous,
why would you need correcting? Well, simply because this. Keep
the distinction. We who are in Christ are righteous
in Him. Now you see what I'm saying? He is the Lord my righteousness.
But I'm not righteous in myself, that is, in the way of perfection.
I'm still full of sin. Job's still full of sin. Even
though he was upright and complete, perfect in God's sight, even
though he was a man who feared God and eschewed evil, as God
said, he was still a sinner saved by the grace of God. Righteous
in Christ, but yet imperfect in himself. And therefore God
corrects the righteous. That's the chastisement of the
Lord. And it's really vital that we understand the chastening
of the Lord. Now this chastening, we think
of chastening as punishment. And that's okay to a point, but
don't take it too far. It's not punishment in the way
of payment for sin. Now what is the wages of sin?
Death. That's the only payment for sin.
There's no other payment for sin. Did you know that? Now,
there are consequences of sin. We can talk about that all day
long. But if you're going to talk about payment for sin, there's
one payment, and that's death. In the day that you eat thereof,
you shall what? Surely what? Die. There's it. There's the wages of sin. What
did God do when He removed the fig leaf aprons off of Adam and
Eve? What did He do? He slew an animal. He killed
an animal. He shed blood. Why? Because without
the shedding of blood, no remission, no pardon, no forgiveness of
sins. He taught that lesson all the
way through the Old Testament in the sacrifice of animals.
The soul that sinneth it must surely what? Die. Now there is
no other payment for sin. And that payment for sin is either
going to be the eternal death of the sinner or the equivalent
of eternal death in a sinner's substitute. One who God appoints,
one who's qualified, and one who's willing. And that's exactly
why Jesus Christ, the Redeemer, had to die. So when you talk
about payment for sin, don't talk about chastisement. you
say, because that don't fit. Chastisement is not payment for
sin, even if you call it punishment. Christ paid for my sins, and
there's no more payment. Jesus paid it all, all the debt
I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain.
He washed it how? White as snow. That means there's
nothing left to do. No payment. But what is chastisement? It's correction. Correction,
that's exactly what it is. You know, even in our prisons
today, we call them correctional facilities. They don't do a whole
lot of correcting. I'm not, listen, I'm not blaming
them now, don't get me wrong. There's not much correcting going
on, but that's what we call them. And this is what our Lord referred
to in John 15 when He talked about the vine and the branches. He's the vine, you're the branches,
every branch that bears fruit, he says he purges or he prunes. That's that chastisement. He's
pruning. Job's being pruned, you see. We go through these trials of
life that God sends, these tests of faith. He's pruning us, all
right? And then that's what he talked
about in Hebrews chapter 12. Now remember I told you to hold
your finger there and put a marker there because I'm going to be
referring back to it. This is what he's talking about. He had
just talked about in Hebrews chapter 11, a list of his people
who had suffered greatly in this life, many of whom even died
for the cause of Christ. What did he call it? It's the
chastisements, every one of them, it's the chastisements of the
Lord. And how does he put it? He talks, and what does he say?
Now these chastisements, now he tells us later on, we'll get
to this in a minute, he tells us these things aren't pleasant.
What Job is going through here is not pleasant. If anybody think
it's pleasant or try to portray it that way, they're just a hypocrite.
They're just lying. It's not pleasant at all. It's
grievous. but he and and what happens when
we go through these things is is we we think about quitting
that have you ever done that i have religious quit let's just
throw up arms and and quit And that's why he says in verse one
of Hebrews 12, wherefore seeing we're encompassed about with
so great a cloud of witnesses. Now, whenever you want to quit,
think of Job. Whenever you want to quit, think
of David. Think about what David went through. He was a man after
God's own heart. He was the chosen king of Israel. And how many years was he chased
by Saul? Had to live in a cave. Think
about that. Think about some of God's choice
saints. Moses, you know, who had been
elevated as a prince of Egypt and then had to go out and be
a shepherd for I don't know how many years. But anyway, he said,
we're surrounded by this cloud of witnesses. Let us lay aside
every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us. You
know what that sin that so easily besets us is? It's fainting.
It's quitting. That's what he's talking about.
Somebody said it's unbelief. Well, that's what fainting and
quitting is. It's unbelief, you know. And he says, and let us
run with patience. That's endurance, the race that
is set before us. And how do you do that? Looking
unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. That's how we do
it. Think about what our Lord went through to save us from
our sins. The contradiction, you know,
You know, when men accuse me, it's not really a contradiction.
I am a sinner. I may be falsely accused, and
I'll defend myself when I'm falsely accused, but it's not such a
contradiction because I am a sinner. But when we accuse Christ, what
a contradiction. Here's the Lord of, here's love
incarnate. And they said he was of the devil. Think about it. But he says,
consider him. And he says in verse four, you've
not yet resisted unto blood, you haven't yet been killed for
the faith, have you? Like many of these, striving
against sin. And then he says, verse five,
have you forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto
children? This is quoted from the Proverbs.
My son, despise thou, not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor
faint when thou art rebuked of him. You may be going through
a hard trial like Job, and you may not be able to trace it to
some particular problem in your life or some particular sin. You may not be able to, but I'll
guarantee you God has in mind for His child a rebuke, a lesson
that will be for His glory and your good. Hard to think that
way, isn't it? Isn't it hard to think that way?
Sure is. That's the flesh. He says in
verse six, for whom the Lord loveth, he chastened. If he didn't
chasten you, that means he didn't love you. That's right. This chastening, how do you tell
a man like Job, Job, these are all signs of the love of God
towards you. False preachers will tell you
no. You send in your seed, you get
10,000 back. That's the sign of God's love.
or you get sick and he heals you, that's a sign. But Job,
how do you tell a man like Job these are signs of God's love
to you? Now let me tell you something,
all suffering is not the same and all suffering is not a sign
of God's love to everybody. Who's he talking about here?
He's talking about those who are looking unto Jesus the author
and finisher of their faith. That's what he's talking about.
They're the children of God. And he says, for whom the Lord
loveth, he chasteneth and scourgeth every... You know what scourge
means, don't you? It means whips. Gives them a whipping. Scourges
every son whom he receiveth. Think about that. He receives
them. How does God receive a sinner? Through Christ. Washed in his
blood, clothed in his righteousness. And so he says in verse 7, if
you endure chastening, God dealeth with you, underscore this, as
with sons, as with children. This chastening is one of the
evidences of the love of God for his people in Christ. It's
an evidence that we are his children. Paul said it this way in Romans
8, Abba, Father. Abba, Father. For what son is
he whom the Father chastiseth not? But if you be without chastisement,
whereof all are partakers, all children of God, all his children,
then are you bastards, illegitimate children and not sons. So think
about that. Go back to Job 36 now. We need
to understand that. We're not paying for our sins
here on this earth. Christ paid for my sins on Calvary. And he paid it in full. I am
righteous in the sight of God, in the person and work of my
Savior. That'll never change, no matter
whether I'm sick or healthy, rich or poor, hurting or in pleasure. Christ paid for my sins. Now,
he says in verse 5, listen, he says in Job 36 verse 5, he says,
Behold, God is mighty, and despiseth not any. He is mighty in strength
and wisdom. Now, what he's talking about
here is his children whom he chastens. People take that verse
there and they say, well, see there, God doesn't despise any.
Well, he hated Esau. Now, isn't that what the scripture
says? Oh yeah, but that means he loved him less. That's not
what that means. That may be what somebody wants
it to mean, but that's not what it means. The psalmist said,
God hateth all workers of iniquity. He's talking about the non-elect
there. He's talking about the reprobate.
But he despises, you know, really what it really means here is
he's saying God is no respecter of persons. God is no respecter of persons.
He doesn't despise any because they're poor or they're rich
or whatever situation they're in, you see. He's mighty, verse
5, in strength and wisdom. God has all power and God has
all wisdom. Verse 6, He preserveth not the
life of the wicked, but giveth right to the poor. Now, I don't
believe Elihu here is saying the same thing that Job's three
friends said when they said, well, God always blesses the
righteous and He always punishes the wicked in every situation
in this. See, they were wrong. But what Elihu is talking about
is that God's dealings with men ultimately and finally. And here's
what he's saying. Those who are wicked, they may
be in a time of prosperity now. here on this earth. They may
be at ease now. They may be healthy now, but
God's not going to preserve the wicked. Their ultimate end is
eternal damnation. Without Christ, here's what he's
saying, without Christ, whatever you're going through now, whether
it be a time when you're on the mountain or in the valley, without
Christ, God will not preserve you ultimately. You will perish. But he giveth right to the poor,
justice, righteousness. He's talking about eternal life
there to the poor. The poor in spirit. And that
refers to a child of God. Blessed are the poor in spirit.
Verse 7 says, He withdraweth not his eyes from the righteous.
Job, God hasn't left you or abandoned you. That's what Elihu's saying.
But with kings are they on the throne. In other words, the righteous
will prosper as kings. Now, that may not be so in this
life. Think about old Lazarus sitting
outside the gate with the dogs licking his sores. He didn't
live like a king here on earth. But I'll tell you what, he's
living like a king now, isn't he? Think of the old thief on
the cross. He wasn't living like a king
here on earth, but he is now, today. Thou wilt be with me in
paradise. You see? He said, with kings
on the throne, yea, he doth establish them forever. Whatever you're
going through in this life, Job, God's established you forever.
We're established in Christ. We stand on the rock, Christ
Jesus. You know what that means? That's
establishment. That's security. That's a firm
foundation. And they are exalted, exalted
in Him. Verse 8, and if they be bound
in fetters and beholden in cords of affliction. Now this proves
what I'm telling you is the truth here now. He's talking about
the righteous being established, living like kings and being established
forever. But if they be bound in fetters,
like Paul and Silas in the jail at Philippi, and beholden in
cords of affliction. If they're going through trials
of affliction here, you see, They may suffer. Verse 9, then
he showeth them their work and their transgressions that they
have exceeded. Now listen to what he's saying.
First of all, it's apparent from God's word and from our experience,
we know that the righteous suffer in this life. In fact, the Lord
said, actually there's two ways in which we suffer. Think about
this. And that suffering, now remember,
for a child of God, that's the chastisement of the Lord. It's
meant to teach and correct us for growth. That's what that
pruning is all about. There are two ways in which the
righteous suffer in this world. The first one is suffering persecution
over the gospel. suffering persecution from the
unbelieving world because of our identification with Christ
and his people. Blessed are you when men shall
persecute you and revile you and say all manner of evil against
you. Christ said in John 15, 18, marvel not if the world hates
you. It hated me before it hated you. They'll throw you out of
their church services, John 16, their synagogues, and think they're
doing God's work. They'll murder you. That's one
way we suffer persecution. The second way is the suffering
that is common to all men as the result of our sin, which
is the death of this body. Believers get sick, don't they? I know the health and wealth
gospel, they imply that they don't. I don't know how they
get around that. I guess nobody challenges them.
But believers get sick, believers lose their money. Job, he got
sick. He was covered with boils. He
lost his family, lost his home, lost his health. Believers go
through that just like unbelievers. Sometimes believers prosper.
Sometimes do unbelievers. But all that's the, what the,
this body is dead because of sin. Now, you may not be able
to trace it to one specific sin or anything like that, but it's
all because of sin. I mean, all the nasty effects
of death and sickness and sorrow in this world is because of sin.
We fell in Adam. This world is not our home. But
look at verse 9. It says, Then he showeth them
their work and their transgressions that they have exceeded. What
he means is in these chastisement for God's people, he's showing
us where we've gone astray or he's doing it to keep us from
going astray. That's right. He's shown us where we've gone
over the boundaries. It may be just a matter of pride.
It may be just neglect. We don't know. But look at verse
10, he says, he openeth also their ear to discipline and commandeth
that they return from iniquity. He's disciplining his children.
Another way of putting it this way, putting it, is he's discipling
us. That's where the word discipline
comes. Are you a disciple of Christ? Am I a disciple of Christ? Well, if we are, he's going to
disciple us. He's going to discipline us.
You may think, well, I don't need any discipline today. I
may think I don't need any discipline today. I need discipline every
day. Even in areas that I'm even ignorant
of. And He's going to turn them from
iniquity. Look at verse 11. Verse 11, He
says, If they obey and serve Him, they shall spend their days
in prosperity and their years in pleasure. Now you think about
what people do with a verse like that. He's talking about spiritual
prosperity. It's not always physical prosperity.
It could be sometimes. But obedience and service that
he's talking about here, obey and serve him, disobedience and
service, are evidences under such afflictions that we are
the children of God. Now go back to Hebrews 12. Let
me show you this. Look at verse 11 of Hebrews 12. Now he says here in Hebrews 12,
11, now no chastening for the present, that is when you're
going through it, seemeth to be joyous. And then go back and
think of Job. That's an easy one, isn't it,
as far as understanding that. But grievous, it's a burden,
it's heavy. Brings you to sorrow, brings
you to tears, brings you to making your address on a dung heap outside
the city. That's where Job is. Nevertheless,
afterward, it yieldeth, this is the yield of God's grace and
power, the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which
are exercised therein. Now, I've told you before, going
through trials, Whenever I go through a trial, I never come
out on the other end of it feeling good about myself. Because I
tell you, I know myself well enough, I'm going to complain,
I'm going to gripe, I may even accuse God. And I'm the worst in that area. It's hard to even get it off
my mind when I'm going through it. But he says afterward. It yields the peaceable fruit
of righteousness. Now what do you suppose that
is? Well, you've got to go back to the context. Looking unto
Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. That's the peaceable
fruit of righteousness. You know what you do coming out
on the other end of that trial? You come out looking unto him
more. growing in grace, more grace
and knowledge of him, depending on him more. That's the peaceable
fruit of righteousness. It's not being proud of ourselves,
but it's thanking God. Thank you, Lord, for bringing
me through. Thank you for your son who saved me from my sins. And that's why he says, for this
reason, lift up the hands which hang down and the feeble knees,
make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame
be turned out of the way, but let it rather be healed. The
great physician healed us. He heals our souls. Look back
over at Job 36. Now, in verse 11, he's talking
about his children going through chastisement and his purpose
for them And they will spend their days in prosperity and
their years in pleasures. And you know what that's talking
about. That's talking about eternally. Job right now is not in days
of prosperity and pleasure. But he will be. That's the ultimate
end of all things. And he realizes that, just like
the psalmist said in Psalm 119, 65, he said, or verse 67, he
said, before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now I've kept
thy word. He said in verse 71, it is good
for me that I've been afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes. The psalmist said that. But now
look here, verse 12. Now here he's talking about the
unrighteous. But if they obey not, they shall
perish by the sword. Now no believer, no one in Christ
is going to perish by the sword in this, that means to pass away.
Now we know that some of God's children have died by a sword.
But what he's talking about here in perishing means eternal damnation. So he says, If they obey not,
they shall perish by the sword, and they shall die without knowledge. What is knowledge? This is life
eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and
Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent. If you know Christ, you
have knowledge given you by God. You may not know everything,
but you know Him who is everything. You cannot die in Christ, die
in the faith, without knowledge. These die without knowledge.
And he says it here, verse 13, he says, but the hypocrites in
heart heap up wrath. Now who's he talking about here?
Talking about unbelievers. They cry not when he bindeth
them. In other words, when they go
through trials, They don't cry out unto the Lord. God be merciful
to me, the sinner. They go elsewhere like Zophar,
Bildad, and the other one. I can't think of his name. But
anyway, they go elsewhere. They go to their works. They
go to their religion. They don't run to Christ, the
author and finisher of their faith, you see. They don't plead
His blood and righteousness as their only hope, my Redeemer
that liveth. Verse 14, they die in youth and
their life is among the unclean. Now that doesn't mean they're
all gonna die at a young age from this world. It means that
their soul is going to die in that sense, eternal death. That's
what it's talking about. This is the wicked. And their
youth speaks of life no matter how long it is. Short compared
to eternity. Methuselah lived 969 years, compare
that to eternity. It's a short time. And he says
their life is among the unclean. You know what that word unclean
is? It's the same word that the Old Testament uses for sodomite. Like a sodomite. What does he
mean? Is he just talking about the
sodomites? Is he just talking about the homosexuals here? No!
He's talking about any sinner without Christ, and he's simply
saying that even though they may claim godliness, they'll
be judged just like the Sodomites. You remember Isaiah used similar
language in Isaiah chapter 1 when he was bringing an indictment
against religious Judah and Jerusalem? And he said, you rulers of Sodom,
you rulers of Gomorrah, what he was saying to them is that
with all your religion, With all your supposed righteousness,
which is no righteousness at all, you're no better off under
the judgment of God than the sodomites. What's the point? Here it is. Without Christ, we're
nothing, less than nothing. Without Christ, we're doomed.
And those who go through trials, even unbelievers, you know, suffering
comes upon both the righteous and the wicked, but for the righteous,
It's evidence of God's love for us in Christ and that we're his
children. But for the wicked, you know
what it is? It's a foretaste of eternal damnation to come.
Rebels who refuse instruction that will perish by the sword.
Look over at verse 15. Yeah, verse 15, it says, He delivereth
the poor in his affliction and openeth their ears in oppression.
In other words, a lot of times these sufferings for the righteous
are just to say, listen to God, hear the word of God. It's good
for me that I've been afflicted that I might learn thy statutes.
We need to be taught constantly. Verse 16, he says, he says, even
so would he have removed thee out of the straight into a broad
place where there is no straightness and that which should be set
on thy table should be full of fatness. It's in essence what
he's doing here. He's saying, Job, if only you
would learn from this affliction. Or Job, you haven't responded
well. Now you know there were times that Job did respond well.
You remember when he came to his wife and he said, he said,
the Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of
the Lord. He said, my Redeemer liveth. But there are times he
didn't respond well. When he said God was not fair
or just. Job was not suffering for any specific sin in his life.
But Job had sinned in his suffering, accusing God. Only a sinner saved by grace. That's what we're saying, isn't
it? And he says in verse 17, But thou hast fulfilled the judgment
of the wicked. Judgment and justice take hold
in thee. You see, just as suffering is
not necessarily the result of some specific sin, it's always
for our learning, our growth, our development, our perseverance.
And we're humbled and we learn from that experience to do what?
To depend more on God. let loose of this world. You
know, a lot of times it's God weaning us away from this world
and driving us closer to Christ. Job had acted like the wicked.
Is that possible for a true believer? You bet it is. That's what he
means there when he says, thou hast fulfilled the judgment of
the wicked. Judgment and justice take hold on the... In other
words, Job, you're acting like the wicked but judgment and justice
will take hold of you look at verse 18 because there is wrath
beware lest he take thee away with his stroke then a great
ransom cannot deliver thee in other words now listen to what
he's saying he's not threatening Job with condemnation but he
is making this point whatever we go through in this life in
trials and suffering my friend if it doesn't drive us to Christ
more then there's no ransom at all I mean, what does that prove? If this trial doesn't drive me
to Christ more, even more, that peaceable fruit of righteousness,
what does it say about me? I'm a hypocrite. I'm an unbeliever. And look back over at Hebrews
12. What example does he use of that? Esau. He uses Esau as an example. Esau went through trials. Even
though the trial that Esau went through that drove him to sell
his birthright was nothing. The man was hungry. That's right. But what does that show? What
did Esau show? He sold his birthright. What does that mean? Selling
his birthright was an equivalent of rejecting the God of Jacob,
the God of the covenant, rejecting Christ. And if this trial drives you
away from Christ and not to Christ, what are you? Well, it says here
verse 16, verse 15, looking diligently, lest any man fail of the grace
of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you and
thereby many be defiled. Have you ever known somebody
go through a trial and then they just quit worship and they quit
everything? You wouldn't even know they ever
were a believer as they claimed. Well, they never were. They never
were. Leave the gospel? Leave the God
who is my heavenly Father, my Abba Father? He says in verse
16, lest there be any fortificator or profane person as Esau, who
for one morsel of meat sold his birth, just because he got hungry,
he dropped it just like that. A little trouble comes along,
boom, they're gone. Doesn't drive them to the Word,
doesn't drive them to Christ. You see what he's saying? And
Esau sought repentance, but he didn't get. And it wasn't repentance
over dead works. It wasn't repentance unto life.
It's just because he lost his birthright. Well, I'll hurry.
Let me go back to Job 36. Let me get through this, and
then I'll quit. Those who do not learn from affliction
are hypocrites. Those who are not driven to Christ
more are hypocrites in heart. And they're judged under final
falling to where nothing will deliver. And that's what he means
there. He said, then a great ransom cannot deliver. In verse
19, will he esteem thy riches? Will your riches deliver you?
No. Your gold, all the forces of your power, your strength,
will that do it? Desire not the night when people
are cut off in their place. The sleep of night won't deliver
you, even death won't deliver you. Take heed, regard not iniquity,
for this hast thou chosen rather than affliction. Don't walk with
the hypocrites. That's what he's saying. Behold,
God exalteth by his power. Who teacheth like him? Well,
let's quit there. You know, who teaches us like... You know the lessons You know,
Ron was a teacher for so many years. We had a lot of teachers
here. I was a teacher for you. You know, sometimes I taught
and it just didn't get through. Well, let me tell you something
about God. Who teaches like Him? It always
gets through to His people. In some way or another, it'll
get through to His people. All right.