All right, let's look at Job
31. This is Job's final defense. That's what I've entitled the
message. There's 40 verses in this chapter. I don't know that
we'll be able to read over them all, but what I want you to understand
is this. You know, many people when they
read this verse, and you may have already read this chapter
rather, and many commentators when you look at it just at face
value it sounds as if job is doing some bragging here in fact
many of the commentators will tell you that job is in the depths
of self-righteousness here one commentator that i was reading
on this reading the message by he said job wasn't was not in
the depth of self-righteousness but he was on the brink of it
And I certainly don't want to give anybody any more than what
God's Word gives them in these areas. I think you could certainly
make a case that Job went too far in some places in his defense
of himself, maybe in this chapter. But I don't agree with them that
Job is in the depths of self-righteousness or the brink of self-righteousness
here. Now again, maybe he went too far. And listen, I'll say
this much to every believer, if you're a believer, One of
the greatest struggles that you have and that I have as believers
in the Lord Jesus Christ is the struggle we have with remaining
self-righteousness. It's there, isn't it? That's
part of the warfare of the flesh and the spirit. We have to fight
it because we love ourselves so much. So I'm not going to
say that Job didn't have self-righteousness in him. He certainly did. All
of us do. We have to fight that in the
warfare of the flesh and the spirit. But I don't believe that
Job's words here reflect self-righteousness and I think if you will consider
what's at the heart of what he's saying here. He's defending himself.
He's defending himself. And there are two things that
are at the heart of Job's answer here that I think you have to
keep in mind to understand what he's saying and where he's coming
from. And the first thing you have to keep in mind is the grand
question of this whole book. And that's simply this from Job's
point of view. Why? Why am I suffering like
I'm suffering? Why am I suffering? Now Job did
not claim sinless perfection in himself. And I'm sure he would
say that if God were ever to give him what he deserved, it
would be eternal damnation and suffering beyond even what he's
going through here. But Job, he doesn't understand
why he above all men, and he is above all men, suffering this
way. Why? And of course, we're not
really going to get the answers that God gives to Job until God
answers Job out of the whirlwind. Now we know why, because God
stated it at the first of the book. And we'll see more of that. But God's going to give him some
pointed answers. It may not be answers that satisfy
the natural mind. Well, it's not answers that satisfy
the natural mind. But it would satisfy the spiritual
mind. So that's the first thing at the heart of it. Why am I
suffering this way? Now the second thing that's at
the heart of Job's answer is this. You remember his three
friends? This right here concludes the section of the debate between
Job and his three friends. And then next time we'll take
up in chapter 32 with a young man named Elihu. And then God
answers Job. But you remember his three friends
had said, well, Job, we know the answer to the question why
you're suffering the way you do. It's because of sin in your
life. It's because you're a hypocrite.
And they even brought specific charges as they go along. They
said, you haven't treated the poor right. You haven't treated
the downtrodden right. You've been a false judge in
your work as a civil magistrate. You've done all these bad things.
Or there's some secret sin that you're harboring, and you're
trying to hide it from God, like Adam did. And that's why you're
suffering. Well, that's at the heart of
Job's answer here. What's he doing here as he concludes
this in chapter 31? He's defending himself against
the false charges of his self-righteous friends. That's what he's doing. Now, you remember what God Himself
said of Job over in chapter 1, verse 1. Job's an upright and
a perfect man, one who feared God and has chewed evil. God
knew Job's standing before Him in Christ. That's what it is
to be upright and perfect. That's a sinner saved by the
grace of God. A sinner to whom God has been
merciful. A sinner who stands before a
holy God with a clear and clean record because he's been washed
in the blood of Christ and clothed in the righteousness of Christ.
And to say that he feared God and eschewed or avoided evil,
fought off evil, is to say that he's a born-again man, a regenerated
man, one who has life, spiritual life, the one who's been given
a new heart, a new life, a new spirit, one who has been brought
to faith in Christ and repentance of dead works, one in whom the
love of God has been shed abroad in his heart so that he seeks
to serve God in every way motivated by grace and gratitude and love,
not by legalism. So that's what God said about
Job. Keep that in mind. Well, these friends had brought
false charges against Job, and Job is trying to answer their
charges. He's trying to defend himself
against those charges. And I think if you would consider
this and read this chapter, it would help you to understand
more of what Job's doing. Think about this. Have you ever
been on the receiving end of a false charge? Have you ever
been that way? Well, I have. And men, you have,
too, in some way, form, or fashion. But you're going to defend yourself.
Job's proclaiming his innocence in these areas. That's what he's
doing. He's not pleading. Now, Job,
when we go there, and remember what we read in Psalm 26? That
was David talking. You know what David was doing
there in Psalm 26? He was defending himself against false charges
brought by Saul, who was attacking him. And he talks about his innocency. Well, neither David nor Job,
in speaking of their innocency, were pleading their obedience
as the ground of their salvation before God. That's not what they're
doing. That's not what Job's doing here. And neither David
nor Job were denying that they were sinners. David knew he was
a sinner. Job knew he was a sinner. He
said it all along. Job is not trying to commend
himself unto God here, but he's simply trying to vindicate himself
against these false charges. Now, think about this too. Now,
we who know Christ and trust Him for all salvation, We who've
been convinced of sin by the Holy Spirit, we know who we are.
We don't really see it the way God sees it. But we know our
sin. We know our impotence. We know
our depravity. We've been convinced of sin by
the Holy Spirit. And we've been brought to conviction
of sin. A broken and a contrite heart.
And we know this, that if God were to judge any of us, by the
standard of righteousness based on our obedience based upon our
work based upon our efforts none of us would stand in their right
psalm one hundred thirty verse three lord if that lord should
have marked iniquity who would who would stand none of us we have no less we have no desire
if you don't crash if you know you're saying I guarantee you,
you have no desire to stand before God in your own righteousness
by your worth. The only way you want to stand
before God is in Christ. Isn't that right? Oh, that I
may know Him, be found in Him. That's our desire. But what,
let me ask you this though. I'm talking to you who fit that
description. Let's say, let's say somebody
went down here and robbed Fifth Third Bank. just walked out with
all the money. And somebody walked in here and
looked you straight in the face and said, you're the one that
robbed that bank. What would you do? Would you say, well,
I'm a sinner. I must be guilty. Take me to
jail. Is that what you'd do? No, you wouldn't do that at all.
You'd say, oh, no, I didn't. I did not rob that bank. Now,
if you had robbed the bank and you're lying, that's a different
matter. But you see, that's what Job's
doing. He's been accused and he's not guilty of what they've
accused. He is a sinner before God. He's not a perfect man in
himself. He's perfect in Christ. But he's
not guilty of what they accused of him. They said, Job, you're
a hypocrite. A fellow told me one time, he
said, well, aren't we all hypocrites? And I told him, I said, well,
I'll tell you this much. If we're all hypocrites, we're all going
to hell. Because that's what the Bible says happens to hypocrites. Job, you remember back over in
Job 27 and verse 8, he said, what is the hope of the hypocrite?
Well, he has no hope. His hope is in himself. Now let
me ask you, is your hope in yourself? Is your assurance and peace and
comfort and safety in yourself or in your works or in your efforts?
If it is, you are a hypocrite. Because that's what a hypocrite
is. And of course we know if somebody says one thing and means
another or has another, the opposite, that's a hypocrite too. But I
want to tell you something. My hope is not in me. And my
hope is not in you. My hope is in Christ. Job's hope
was in Christ. He said, I know my Redeemer liveth. And I'll see Him. He'll stand
in the latter day and I'll see Him. in the flesh, that glorified
body. And we know also the heart's
deceitful. You know, in Jeremiah 17, in
verse 5, when the Lord says here through the prophet Jeremiah,
he says, Thus saith the Lord, Cursed be the man that trusteth
in man. That's a hypocrite, isn't it?
And maketh flesh his arm. In other words, his flesh, his
works is his power, the reason he thinks he's saved. and whose
heart departed from the Lord. You see, if you trust in man
and make flesh your arm, you're departing from the Lord. If you're
seeking salvation by your works, you're not getting closer to
God. You're getting farther away from God. It says in verse 6
of Jeremiah 17, for he shall be like the heath in the desert
and shall not see when good cometh. There's no good for such a person.
But he says in verse 7 of Jeremiah 17, blessed is the man that trusteth
in the Lord and whose hope the Lord is. Is that your hope? The
Lord of glory, that's the God of all grace, that's Jehovah,
that's Christ. He shall be as a tree planted
by the water, spreadeth out her roots, shall not see when the
heat cometh. But he says in verse 9, the heart
is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. Who can
know it? Well, we can't even discern our own hearts, our own
mind, our own affections, our own will, our own soul. So what
do we do? Well, verse 10 is the answer.
You know, I used to quote that verse all the time and stop there.
But verse 10 is important. of Jeremiah 17. And here's what
it says. It says, I, the Lord, search
the heart. You see, the Lord doesn't deceive. He just tells the truth. I can
deceive myself. You can deceive me. But the Lord
never deceives. He says, I, the Lord, search
the heart. I try or test the reins, what drives you, motivates
you. even to give every man according
to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings. Now,
what are our ways? Well, if it's the ways of grace
in Christ, there's no deception there. So look back here, Job
31. I believe that's the key now. That's the key. Listen to what
he says in verse 1. He says, I made a covenant with
mine eyes. Why then should I think upon
a maid? I'm not going to lust anymore. That's what Job said.
You think he was successful? Well, not according to God's
word. That's what Christ taught in
the Sermon on the Mount. The law of God, it reaches the
heart. The eyes, that's one of the members.
That's one of the physical members that is an instrument of sin.
And the Bible tells us not to use our members as instruments
of sin. And we're to fight it. What's
Job saying here? He's saying, it's my goal. It's my goal not
to lust after a woman anymore. I'm going to fight sin. He'd
resolved within himself to war against sin, against the flesh,
not to sin. Now again, he's not claiming
sinless perfection. If that were true, he would not
have to make this covenant at all. Did you know that? If Job
were claiming sinless perfection, he wouldn't have to make that
covenant. He wouldn't have to make a covenant with his eyes.
I'm not going to do this anymore. Why do we even have to make a
covenant like that? I'm not going to use my hands
for this purpose or my feet for this purpose. I'll tell you why,
because we're sinners. We have to resolve in our minds
not to do these things, to fight these things. Paul said, that
which I want to do, I cannot do. But I want to do it. I want to be perfectly conformed
to Christ. I can't make it. Oh, wretched
man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? Over in Romans chapter 6, listen
to this. Listen to Romans chapter 6 and
verse 11. You know, he's talking about
the death of Christ to sin. Christ died unto sin. Now, how
did Christ die unto sin? Sin imputed. Sin charged to Him. He was made sin. He didn't die
to the desires of sin. He had no desires of sin. He
didn't die to the contamination of sin. He had no contamination
of sin. He died to the penalty of sin,
sin's charge to him. And he died for his people, the
scripture says. And so in verse 11, look at Romans
6 and verse 11. He says, likewise, in the same
way that Christ died unto sin, reckon, now that word reckon
means an accounting. And it's the same root word as
impute. This is the accounting that I'm
to make of myself if I'm in Christ. Likewise reckon you also yourselves
to be dead indeed unto sin. How are we dead to sin? We're
dead to sin's penalty. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus. We can't, who shall lay anything
to the charge, the reckoning of God's elect? It's God that
justifies, who can condemn us? It's Christ that died. So we're
dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Now look at verse 12. He says, let not sin, therefore
reign, control, dominate in your mortal body, in your eyes. Job
said, I'm going to make a covenant with my eyes. I'm not going to
lust after a woman. Let not sin, that's what Job
is saying, I'm not going to let sin control in my eyes. He says that you should obey
it in the lust thereof. Now let me ask you this question.
Why would you even have to think about fighting sin and not letting
it reign in your mortal body if you're dead to sin? If you're
dead to the desires of sin, why would you have to do that? If
you're dead to the contaminant, you wouldn't. He's talking about
two different things. When he says you're dead to sin,
he's talking about our standing in Christ. When he's talking
about letting not sin reign in our mortal body, he's talking
about the flesh that's still with us, the residuals of the
old man who's dead. And so what's Job doing here?
He's a justified sinner, resolving within himself not to sin. But our efforts not to sin, our
efforts to be sinless, do not save us. Now do they? Because if they do, then we're
not saved. We're miserable failures. On
your best day, on your best day, You will not be able to make
yourself righteous or good enough to be saved. That's what I'm
saying. If Job dug a hole and put himself
in that hole and buried himself over and he never looked at another
woman, I guarantee you, memories would serve. That's the way it
is. Oh, wretched man that I am. Our
efforts not to sin, our efforts to be sinless do not make us
righteous. That's not what Job's trying
to do here. He's not trying to make himself righteous before
God. He's simply telling these people,
look, you've accused me of being a hypocrite. I'm at war with
sin in myself. I'm not a hypocrite. I'm at war
with this thing. Our efforts not to sin, our efforts
to be sinless do evidence the power of God's grace. And how
does that work out? We look to Christ, our advocate,
who is the propitiation for our sins. And we rest in Him. Rest in Christ. Look back at
Job 31. He says, For what portion of
God is there from above? And what inheritance of the Almighty
from on high is not destruction to the wicked and a strange punishment
to the workers of iniquity? That is a punishment that comes
from God. That's a strange punishment. Doth not he see my ways and count
all my steps? You can't hide from God. What
I do outwardly, you see. What I do inwardly, you don't
see. God does. If I walked it with vanity, or
if my foot hath hastened to deceive, look at verse 6, he says, let
me be weighed in an even balance that God may know mine integrity.
God knows my heart. That's what David said in Psalm
26. I'm a sinner saved by the grace of God. I have no hope
of salvation but Christ. God knows that. I had a fellow
tell me one time, he said, I don't believe you preach from your
heart. I asked him, I said, how would you know my heart? God
knows my heart. He says, let God, that God may
know my integrity. This word integrity, you see,
Job, he's not meaning that God would enter into judgment with
him in respect to the justification of his person in God's sight.
That's not what he's talking about. He knew that that's only
by the righteousness of Christ imputed. The blood of Christ
applied to him and not by his own. But his view here is to
the justification of his cause in his case before men. And he
speaks of his integrity. What is a believer's integrity?
I'll tell you what it is. It's his faith in Christ. It's
his testimony of Christ. It's his conduct before men in
these areas in which he's confused as they glorify and honor Christ. Not as they point out me and
not as they give me accolades. The Bible says in Matthew 5 and
verse 16, let your light so shine before men that they may see
your good works and do what? Glorify your Father which is
in heaven. What is the light? The light
is the gospel of Christ. I want men to see Christ. I want
them to look to Christ, not to me, not to my works and efforts,
but I don't want to do anything to dishonor my Savior. And I
even have to fight the flesh in that area. Listen, we do have
a desire of the flesh, even to dishonor Christ. We have to fight
that. Job sought to live unto the Lord
by God's grace with a view to the glory of God, motivated by
grace and gratitude and love, not by legalism. this even balance. What if God were to weigh my
works, my best efforts, my best intentions, my best motives,
my best efforts to love against the perfect obedience unto death
of the Lord Jesus Christ? Where would I be on that scale?
You know what the Bible calls it? Iniquity. Iniquity. I wouldn't measure up. Not even
close. I wouldn't even be on the scale.
My hope is in Him and Him alone. Now beginning here at verse 7,
Job begins to talk about his public conduct. And he says, if my step hath
turned out of the way, and mine heart walked after mine eyes,
and if any blot hath cleaved to mine hands, then let me sow,
and let another eat, yea, let my offspring be rooted out. In
other words, if I am a hypocrite, and if I have done all these
things you accuse me of doing, then let it be the way it is. My suffering and all of that,
if my, verse 9, if mine heart hath been deceived by a woman,
or if I have laid wait at my neighbor's door, that is to rob
him, Then let my wife grind unto another, let her be a slave to
somebody else, and let others bow down upon her. Verse 11, for this is an heinous
crime, yea, it is an iniquity to be punished by the judges.
In other words, you ought to arrest me. If what you're saying
is true, you ought to take me to court. Verse 12, for it is a fire that
consumeth the destruction and would root out all mine increase.
If I did despise the cause of my manservant or my maidservant
when they contended with me, what then shall I do when God
riseth up? If my servants, if my slaves
accuse me and their charges stick, then how am I going to stand
with God? God judges according to truth. God is without prejudice. God has no respecter of persons. If you accuse me and those charges
stick, how am I going to stand with God? You see, I need a mediator. And when he visiteth, what shall
I answer him? Did not him that made me in the womb make him?
And did not one fashion us in the womb, that is, the servant
and the master? If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or
have caused the eyes of the widows to fail, or have eaten my morsel
myself alone, and the fathers had not eaten thereof, see, they'd
accused him of treating the poor wrongly, not feeding, not helping.
That was a lie. Job hadn't done it. Job had been
very charitable. with his abundance. He says in verse 18, for from
my youth he was brought up with me as with the father. I have
guided her from my mother's womb. That is the poor and the rich.
They're the same in that sense. Verse 19, if I've seen any perish
for want of clothing or any poor without covering, If his loins
have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece
of my sheep, if I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless
when I saw my help in the gate, then let mine arm fall from my
shoulder blade, and mine arm be broken from the bone. In other
words, it's like he's calling down covenant curses on himself.
If what you're saying is true. Verse 23, for destruction from
God was a terror to me, and by reason of his highness I could
not endure. These things are true. How could
I hold my head up? How could I come before God and
proclaim righteousness even by His grace? Verse 24, if I make
gold my hope. Now, what he does here in these
next verses, he says, I'm not trusting. When I was rich, I
didn't trust in my riches, didn't trust in my gold. If I've made
gold my hope, where it said to the fine gold thou art my confidence
if I rejoice because my wealth was great and because mine hand
had gotten much if I beheld the sun when it shined or the moon
walking in brightness and my heart has been secretly enticed
or my mouth hath kissed my hand what he's talking about is worshiping
the sun or the moon I didn't worship the sun or the moon I
worship God Verse 28, this also were an iniquity to be punished
by the judge, for I should have denied the God that is above.
I haven't denied. You know, in all of this stuff,
you know, even when Job is wrong in his complaints, and he does
say some wrong things, and God's going to answer him and correct
him out of the whirlwind, even then he did not deny the God
of all grace. Now, why didn't he? Because of
the grace of God. It's not because Job is so strong.
It's not because he's such a good fellow. It's because of God's
grace. Listen. If God brings us unto Himself
through Christ, that's an act of His sovereign grace. If God
keeps us, whether we're in prosperity or adversity, it's the sovereign
grace of God. If we enter glory in the end
of this thing, it's by the sovereign grace of God. It's all of grace.
throughout. Verse 29, if I rejoice at the
destruction of him that hated me, or lifted up myself when
evil found him. You know what he's talking about
here? He's talking about love thy neighbor as thyself. I've been thinking about that,
preaching a message on it, because, you know, that's a convicting
command. It's a command of conviction.
You know why? Because God doesn't let us pick our neighbors. He
tells us who our neighbors are. And who are they? Well, look
at verse 29 again. If I rejoiced at the destruction
of him that hated me. Now, it's natural to rejoice
at the destruction of your enemy, isn't it? But it takes the spirit
of Christ for us to weep over the destruction of our enemies.
He says in verse 30, neither have I suffered my mouth to sin
by wishing a curse to his soul. You see, and let me tell you
something, that kind of love has nothing to do with feeling.
It has to do with what we know as taught by the Spirit of God
concerning the love of God to us, herein is love. Not that
we love God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the
propitiation for our sins. Christ died for the ungodly. Even when we were yet enemies,
the scripture says. Christ died for the ungodly.
Think about it. Verse 32. Or verse 31. If the men of my tabernacle,
that's my house, said not, said not, O that we had of his flesh,
we cannot be satisfied. The stranger did not lodge in
the street, but I opened my doors to the trap. If my own household
turned against me, And he said, I allot strangers, I gave them
shelter. All of these things, you see,
Job is proclaiming as his defense. Not as his righteousness before
God. He proclaimed Christ as his righteousness
before God. But he's answering these charges.
Now in these last verses, this is interesting. Here's Job's
appeal to the Lord. And listen how he starts this
out. Look at verse 33. He said, if I covered my transgressions
as Adam by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom, and you may have
in your concordance there that as Adam is after the manner of
men, after the manner of men acting like Adam, following our
natural father Adam. Remember what Adam did when he
disobeyed God? He sought to cover his transgressions
his shame, his nakedness with those fig leaf aprons, trying
to hide them. And he hid himself from God.
That's hypocrisy. That's what he's talking about.
That's natural hypocrisy. Hiding from the Lord when we
know better, trying to hide from men, trying to conceal something
that is wretched and deserves condemnation. And Job is saying
here, I'm not doing that. You see, here we have the issue
of salvation. How is God going to justify a
sinner? Not by fig leaf aprons of religion
and works and ceremony, outward professions. How is He going
to justify a sinner? The Bible teaches us, by the
blood of the Lamb, by the righteousness of Christ imputed. And you see,
when you see Christ in that way, you cannot hide iniquity in your
bosom in the sense in the sense of not dealing with it because
god the holy spirit forces it to the surface and brings it
to the point to where we say like that publican god be merciful
to me the sinner i have no answer i've got no answer for these
things god but when men When men accuse us falsely, you say,
here's what he says, look at verse 34, did I fear a great
multitude or did the contempt of families terrify me? That
I kept silence and went not out of the door? Did I try to hide
myself away from them? Verse 35, oh, that one would
hear me. Behold, my desire is that the
Almighty would answer me and that mine adversary had written
a book." What's he saying? I want God to tell me why I'm
suffering. I want the Almighty to tell me.
I don't want you, Eliphaz. I don't want you, Zophar. I don't want you, Bildad, telling
me. you bring in charges against me he says you're my adversaries
write it down put it in writing what Job is wanting to say there
is I want to face my accusers bring it before the courts prove
your charges now I tell you what there's nothing wrong if anybody
ever accuses you falsely of you bringing that same argument say
put it in writing and bring it before the court bring it before
the people That's why the scripture has
a set formula for accusing an elder or even accusing a brother
or sister in Christ. It says, two or three, you go
to them first, try to resolve the issue. If it doesn't get
resolved, you bring two witnesses. And put the word I before witnesses,
two eyewitnesses. Don't just go out and find two
people who agree with you. It's got to be two eyewitnesses.
And if that doesn't do the job, you bring it before the church.
That's what Job is saying here. Verse 36, look at it. He says,
surely I would take it up on my shoulder and bind it as a
crown to me. In other words, I have nothing
to fear from you. If you brought a charge, you
know, I was thinking about Peter and Paul. You remember when Peter
was at Antioch? And he was sitting there having
a good time eating with Gentile brethren. And when certain came
down from James and the church of Jerusalem, certain Jews, well,
you remember what Peter did? He got up and he switched tables
and Paul saw him do it. And Barnabas followed Peter,
so he followed his dissimulation, his separation. What was he doing? He was bringing the gospel of
God's grace into question. And you remember what Paul did?
He withstood him to the face. He brought a charge. Peter, you're
wrong. Oh, what you've done there. Peter
couldn't deny it. He didn't say like, Job, well,
I'm innocent, Paul. I'm not doing... No, it was open
and above board there. You see, he couldn't take it
up on his shoulder and bind it as a crown. You know what he
had to do? He had to repent. And he did. God brought him to
repentance. God brought him to conviction
over there to the point to where Peter Proclaim loudly, God is
no respecter of men's persons. In Christ, there's neither Jew
nor Greek, bond or free, male nor female. We're all one in
Christ. We're all equally saved in Christ,
equally justified, equally forgiven, equally righteous, equally certain
to be glorified in Christ. We're brothers and sisters in
Christ. That one new man, the church,
Verse 37, he says, I would declare unto him the number of my steps.
As a prince would I go near unto him. Job is saying I would take
account of all my steps. I would examine myself, is what
he is saying. And as a prince would I go near
unto him. As one whom God has uplifted
by His grace. I'd go to him saying, Abba, Father,
God be merciful to me. Lord, forgive me. Now isn't that,
isn't that in a sense the life of a believer? God forgive me
for Christ's sake. Verse 38, if my land cry against
me or that the furrows likewise thereof complain, if I've eaten
the fruits thereof without money or if I've caused the owners
thereof to lose their life, in other words, if I've wronged
anybody in this area, let thistles grow instead of wheat and cocoa
instead of barley. Job's appealing to the Lord.
I'm innocent of those charges. I didn't do that. I'm a sinner. I have no hope but Christ. I
have no plea but His blood and righteousness. I need God's forgiveness
daily. If God were to mark iniquities,
I wouldn't stand. I have no righteousness but Him.
I have no hope but in Him. I'm not a hypocrite. I know my
frame. I even have to make a covenant
with my eyes. Not to lust. I have to resolve
within myself every day to serve the Lord and it's a battle every
day. I'm with Paul, O wretched man that I am. Who shall deliver
me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ
my Lord. That's what Job's saying. But
your accusations against me are false. I'm not going to admit. I admit I'm a sinner. I admit
I deserve hell based on my best efforts. But I'm not going to
admit to what you say. That would be hypocrisy. You
know, if Job admitted to what they were accusing him, it would
have been hypocrisy. It just wasn't true. So he says
in this verse 40, he says, the words of Job are ended. Now, Job's going to speak again.
But what it's talking about, the words of Job are ended in
this debate. Job is going to say no more to
his three friends in this debate. It's over. You've accused. I've answered. I appeal unto
the Lord. And that ends that section and
then we'll hear from this man named Elihu for a few chapters
and then God will answer Job out of the whirlwind. Alright.