Alright, let's open our Bibles
to the 20th chapter of the book of Job. 20th chapter of Job. I've entitled the message this
evening, The Tragedy of Self Condemnation. The Tragedy of
Self Condemnation. The reason I come to that title
is we're hearing tonight in chapter 20 from a man named Zophar. Look at verse 1. Then answered
Zophar the Neamathite. He's answering Job. He's one
of Job's three friends. And this is like so many of the
other speeches that we've heard from these men. Eliphaz and Bildad
and Zophar. And what happens here in their
own words as they speak the truth, much of the truth concerning
God's judgment against the wicked. And that's what Zophar basically
does here. And he's applying that to Job
when he talks about the wicked. You understand that when they
talk about God's judgment of the wicked, they're saying true
things. God will judge the wicked. God
is a righteous God. God is a holy God. He cannot
clear the guilty. And what that means is that in
order for us to be accepted before a holy God, the guilt has to
be removed. And of course, we know the only
way guilt's going to be removed is through Christ. And that's
by God's grace in Christ, who took our guilt. I heard a preacher
say one time that guilt cannot be transferred. Well, if it can't
be transferred, we're in trouble. Now, you mark it down because
it can be and it is. That's what imputation is all
about. God imputing our sins to Christ, making Him responsible. You know what guilt is? It's
liability to punishment. You deserve punishment. And we
know because of our sins, that's what we deserve. But Christ took
our guilt and He died for our sins. But here so far, just like
His other two friends, He's talking about the plight of the wicked. In the last verse, look at verse
29, he says, this is the portion of the wicked man, of a wicked
man from God. What he's going to say is what
a wicked man deserves from God. That's his portion. That's what
that means. That's what he's earned, the wages of sin. And
he says, and the heritage appointed unto him by God. So by God's
sovereign decree, upon the vessels of wrath fitted for destruction,
this is what they get. And rightly so. But what is so
tragic about this, as well as in the other two, is the very
truth that they speak in the way that they're thinking, the
way they apply them, is that they condemn themselves. And
that's tragic. And I thought about that because
you know Job. We read Job's responses. And Job responds as a flawed
man, doesn't he? I mean, he's just a man, just
like us. He's a clay pot, just like the
rest of us. He knows the truth. He knows
His Redeemer. We talked about that last time.
He said, I know My Redeemer liveth. What a hope that is. What joy
and peace that passes all understanding and knowing that My Redeemer
liveth. And Job, you know, that's a gift
from God. That knowledge there, that's
the knowledge of faith. That's the same thing as saying,
I believe, you see. I know whom I have believed,
Paul wrote. And I'm persuaded that that's
a gift from God. And yet Job is still learning.
He's got a lot to learn, doesn't he? There are things he doesn't
know, especially about the God of providence, the workings of
Almighty God out of His sovereign will and good pleasure. We learn
every day, don't we? And we've got a lot to learn.
And Job speaks out of his ignorance in many of those areas, says
wrong things even in those areas, but underlying Job's responses,
even in his flawed responses, even in his ignorance, underlying
his responses is his hope and his assurance in the grace of
God and the promised Redeemer. And you know, I thought about
that because, you know, we're to be growing in grace and knowledge.
That means we learn. But underline even our ignorance. If we know Christ, our hope is
still built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness.
And there's my hope. I hear things, you know, sometimes
we preachers, you know, we'll learn something and we'll get
all on our high horses about it and act like, well, you should
have known that all along, you know, or something. Or, well,
I can't fellowship with you anymore because you don't agree with
me. No, our hope, our hope underlying every, even in our ignorance,
even in our groping in the dark, is Christ and Him crucified. and His blood and righteousness.
And if you need something other than that, other than Him, to
give you the hope and assurance and to hold us together, then
there's something bad wrong there, isn't there? We need to understand
that. But one thing that struck me
about these men, especially here in Zophar, the Nehemiathite,
listen to what he says in verse 2. He's answering Job, he says,
Therefore do my thoughts cause me to answer, for this I make
haste, And he says, I have heard the check of my reproach. You've attacked my character,
Job. That's what he's saying there.
The check of my reproach. He said, in the spirit of my
understanding causeth me to answer. I've heard you talk, Job. And
what we have here is an example of the darkness of the natural
man. Now Job had spoken about his faith. I know my Redeemer
lives." He'd spoken about his confidence in his kinsman Redeemer. Even though he himself was going
through all this tragedy, all this sickness, and he'd spoken
of his faith in none other than the Lord Jesus Christ who would
come in the future and redeem his people by the sacrifice of
himself to pay their sin debt in full and establish righteousness
for Job and for all God's people, his elect people. Job had spoken
the truth of God's grace in Christ. And you know the Bible says those
are things that angels desire to look into. But things which
Zophar, Bildad, and Eliphaz didn't even care about. And really saw
as an insult. That's what Zophar is expressing
here. He says, you've insulted me.
He's speaking out of anger. And the reason I thought about
it this way is this, how many people, how many people that
you know and I know, who are just so convinced in their very,
in the fiber of their being, that what they're doing and what
they're saying is right. And yet when you tell them about
our hope in Christ and Him alone, it's like an insult to them.
That's what this is about. Zophar, he's been listening and
regarding these words as an insult. What you're saying, Job, is an
insult to me. What you're saying to me is that
my good works are not good works at all. That my righteousness
is not righteousness at all. That my hope is a pipe dream,
no hope at all. My assurance, my refuge is sham
religion. And so he sees what Job is saying
as an insult. And once again, we see how we've
seen through all these men that the natural man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit of God. For they're foolishness unto
him, neither can he know them because they're spiritually discerned. One old writer said, Zophar is
content to draw the inspiration for his advice from the dunghill
where they found Job. Think about it. The dunghill
of false, self-righteous, works religion. You know, that's what
Paul called it when God converted him. He said, I do count it all
but dung that I may win Christ and be found in him, not having
mine own righteousness, which is of the law. Zophar, like the
other two, he uses that same old script that all natural men
ultimately use, and that's this, focusing on God's punishment
of the wicked. And that's true. God will punish
the wicked. But here's the issue. And even
they stated in the form of a question that they themselves cannot answer.
How can a man be just with God? I can understand how God can
punish the wicked. God's holy. Isaiah said that,
holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty. God's just. He judges according
to truth. All sin deserves death and condemnation,
not just one, not a million. All sin deserves death and condemnation. But the question is, the question
that we need to confront is how can a man be just with God? How
can God be just and justify the ungodly? A man told me one time,
he said, I knew I was saved, when I come to the conclusion
that God would be just to damn me. And I just looked him straight
in the eye and I said, now let me tell you something. I said,
you're right. God would be just to damn any of us if he did. Isn't that right? But that's not salvation, friend.
Salvation comes when we come by revelation of the Spirit of
God to understand how God can be just to save a sinner like
me and like you. That's the good news. If it were
only that God would be just to damn us, that wouldn't be good
news. We're sinners. If the court pronounces you guilty,
would the judge be just in sentencing you to life imprisonment or even
death? Of course he would. That's no
surprise. We all know that. But how could
the judge be just and let us go free? When in man's court,
that's an impossibility, isn't it? You can't do it. But in God's
court, there is a way. Job's expressed that way. Zophar
says, it's an insult to me. The preaching of the cross is
foolishness to them that are perishing. Zophar thinks he's
right. He knows he's right. He's convinced
he's right. He has a hope, and his hope is
in his own works. His hope is in his own way. And
so one who comes along and preaches salvation for sinners by the
free sovereign grace of God based upon the blood and righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ without our works, in fact our works
condemn us, our works get in the way, our works corrupt it.
And he says, that's foolishness. You've said things, Joe, that
I have to answer. I can't keep quiet and I've got
to do it quickly. I've got to make haste, Zophar
said. Somebody needs to hold you in check. You've offered
up nothing but reproach to me. Zophar's like the world. Christ
said in John chapter 3, He said, this is the condemnation that
light has come into the world. And men love darkness. and hate
the light because their deeds were evil. That's what Job is
saying by implication here to these three men. Your deeds are
evil. Your best attempts to save yourself and to make yourself
acceptable, to make yourself righteous before God, that's
evil and that is so contrary to the natural man. That is foolishness. It's even an insult. You mean
to tell me that all my efforts to do right are nothing in the
sight of God? I mean to tell you that all your
efforts to do right in the sight of God aimed at saving yourself
are not only nothing, they're actually an insult to God. They're
an insult to God. I'm telling you the truth. They
insult His honor. They insult His holiness and
they insult His Son. If righteousness come by the
law, like Zophar is saying, like Bildad is saying, like Eliphaz
is saying, then Christ is dead in vain. You're saying He did
all that He did in His obedience unto death for nothing. That's
an insult. God was in Christ. Now think about this. God was
in Christ. Who is God? That's the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the triune Godhead engaged in
that one person, God the Son incarnate, reconciling the world
unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, not charging
them with it. He charged them to Christ. Christ
died for them. And whenever you come before
God seeking salvation, favor, blessing, justification, sanctification,
glorification, any of it, based on your works." That's an insult
to his son. That's how bad this thing is.
So, so far, he's focusing on the punishment of the wicked.
But the irony of the whole thing is, is he really doesn't know
the difference between the wicked and the righteous. In the Bible,
who are the wicked? The wicked describe all men and
women without Christ. Is that simple enough? That's
really what it is, isn't it? If you don't have Christ, what
are you in God's sight? An abomination. Wicked. The righteous refers to all men
and women in Christ by virtue of God's grace in Him. And in
describing here the wicked and their punishment, Zophar doesn't
realize that he's really describing himself. He's condemning himself.
What a tragedy. And he's convinced in his mind
that he's right. Job, I know this is right. Listen
to what he says. Look at verse 4. He says, Knowest
thou not this of old, since man was placed upon the... Hadn't
this been the case all along, Job? Are you denying the foundation
of life and creation itself? God punishes the wicked. He rewards
the righteous. Verse 5, that the triumphing
of the wicked is short or short-lived. And you know, even if it goes
on through this life, that's true. He says, and the joy of
the hypocrite but for a moment, though his excellency mount up
to the heavens, his head reach into the clouds, that's the pride
of man, isn't it? Yet he shall perish forever like
his own dung. And when I see that, I always
think about Saul of Tarsus, you know, all his works, all... And here's Job sitting on the
dung heap. I think about Hannah's prayer where she said, God lifts
the beggar off what? Off the dung heap. You see, this
is a way of describing man's pride. Zophar says in wickedness,
but I'm going to tell you something, it can describe man's pride in
religion too. Because that's wickedness in
the sight of God. They which have seen him shall
say, where is he? That wicked, where is he now?
Verse 8, he shall fly away as a dream, He shall not be found,
yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night. The
eye also which saw him shall see him no more, neither shall
his place any more behold him." As he describes the pride and
the glory of the wicked. That's man without Christ, although
he doesn't realize that. We can think of so many ways
in which men lift themselves up in all kinds of ways. We can think about materialism.
Get all you can get. Be all you can be. Think about
a totally depraved sinner. Be all you can be? Think about
it. And then men lifted up in riches.
The Bible says in Jeremiah chapter 9 and verse 23, Let not the wise
man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his
might. Let not the rich man glory in
his riches, but let him that gloryeth glory in this, that
he understandeth And knoweth me, that I am the Lord, which
exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth.
For in these things I delight, saith the Lord." And the fulfillment
of every one of those things that he lists there is in Christ
and Him crucified. Every one of them. If you glory
in the fact that you understand and know the Lord, the covenant
God of salvation, The God who saves by grace, that's who that
is. The God who justifies the ungodly. That He's a God of loving
kind, love. God is a God of love, yes sir.
But He's also a God of justice and righteousness and truth.
The only way all those things can come together in their proper
order and in their proper time is in the person and work of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Nowhere else. Look at verse 10. Zophar says, the wicked, now
he's talking about the wicked. He said, his children shall seek
to please the poor and his hand shall restore their goods. What
he's talking about is the wicked man trying to make restitution
there for his wrongs. And he'll do it in different
ways. It's like the one who goes to confession or the one who
gives money to the poor. And it says in verse 11, his
bones are full of the sin of his youth, which shall lie down
with him in the dust, though wickedness be sweet in his mouth,
though he hide it under his tongue. It says, though he spare it and
forsake it not, but keep it still within his mouth. In other words,
he may hide it outwardly, but it's still inward there. That's
what he's talking about. What to him is sweet and right,
you see, will turn to bitterness and poison. And isn't that the
way God describes man's natural religion? The sweetness of man's
works will turn to poison. His false gospels, it's like
poison on their lips. Verse 14, yet his meat in his
bowels is turned. It is gall of asp within him. That's the poison. You see, he
says, he has swallowed down riches and he shall vomit them up again.
God shall cast them out of his belly. Isn't everything he's
saying here true? It is. Verse 16, he shall suck
the poison of aspen, vipers tongue shall slay him. I thought about
Romans chapter 3 when it talks about those who preach a false
gospel, those who don't lead sinners to Christ, how they have
the poison of aspen in their mouth. Verse 17, he shall not
see the rivers, the floods, the brooks of honey and butter, that
he expects, that's what he's talking about, He says, that
which he labored for shall he restore, and shall not swallow
it down according to his substance, shall the restitution be, and
he shall not rejoice therein. He's going to get what he deserves.
He's going to get justice. Verse 19, listen. And here's
the disappointment of the wicked man. He says, "...because he
hath oppressed and hath forsaken the poor, because he hath violently
taken away a house which he builded not, surely he shall not feel
quietness in his belly, he shall not save of that which he desired."
He's not going to get what he's after. Whatever prosperity, peace,
or assurance Verse 21, there shall be none of his meat be
left, therefore shall no man look for his goods. And look
at verse 22. He says, in the fullness of his sufficiency,
he shall be in straits, dire straits, that's what that is.
Every hand of the wicked shall come upon him. So he gets all
these things that he's after. and he feels like he... like
that rich man in Luke chapter 12, you know, all of his barns
are full. He's blessed in his mind. What
am I going to do? Build bigger barns. And then
where does he find himself? Oh, this night thou fool, this
night thy soul shall be required of thee. In his sufficiency. You know, the Apostle Paul said
this, our sufficiency is of God. It's not ourselves. It's not
the things we accumulate. It's not the things we do. They're
insufficient. They're insufficient to save
us. They're insufficient to put away our sins. They're insufficient
to make us righteous. All of it is. Our sufficiency
is of God. And that's not only for the ministry.
Now that's what Paul's talking about. It's for salvation. But
look at verse 23. He says, when he's about to fill
his belly, God shall cast the fury of his wrath upon him and
shall rain it upon him while he is eating. There's so many
times as I've gone through the book of Job here and I listen
to these men, I think about Matthew 7, 21 through 23, when those
false preachers stood before God in their sufficiency expecting
to receive the fullness of blessing. And they say, Lord, Lord, haven't
we prophesied in your name? Haven't we cast out demons? Haven't
we done many wonderful works? Only to hear him say, depart
from me ye that work iniquity. I never knew you. In other words,
they're going to be ashamed. The Bible says that Christ is
a stumbling stone and a rock of offense. That's what he is
to Zophar. Job preached Christ. Zophar tripped over. He was trapped
in his own works. Self-condemnation. And it says
in verse 24, he shall flee from the iron weapon and the bow of
steel shall strike him through. I want to go to, in just a moment,
we're going to go to Isaiah 54 that Brother Doug read. But what
he's saying is the very weapons that he uses to protect himself
are going to be his undoing. That's like a man's works. The
works that he thinks so highly of that he thinks will earn him
God's favor and blessing will be his undoing. That's this tragedy
of self-condemnation. Verse 25, it is drawn and cometh
out of the body, yet the glittering sword cometh out of his gall.
Terrors are upon him. Verse 26, all darkness shall
be hid in his secret places. A fire not blown shall consume
him. It shall go ill with him that
is left in his tabernacle, his whole house. And then look at
verse 27, the heaven shall reveal his iniquity. Oh, how true that
is. How true that is. That's how
those fellows that stood before the Lord, they thought those
things were good. Preaching in His name, casting
out demons, doing many wonderful works. What did heaven reveal
about them? Their iniquity. Man's works and efforts, aims. at saving himself, making himself
righteous. That's iniquity in God's sight. And somebody says, well, why
is that iniquity? What does iniquity mean? It means it doesn't balance
out. Inequitable. That's where that
word comes from. It doesn't equal righteousness. That's why we need the gospel.
Therein is the righteousness of God revealed. That's equitable,
you see. I need not my righteousness by
my works. I don't need your right. I don't
need the righteousness of me. I need the righteousness of God.
Where am I going to find that? Job said it, I know my Redeemer
liveth. I'm going to find it in Christ. He's the only place to find.
He obeyed unto death, even the death of the cross. to make things
equitable, equal, balance out before a holy God. It's not my
works balancing out, my good works balancing out with my bad.
It's coming in the name of Christ, pleading the blood and righteousness
of Christ. That's the only thing that equals
the justice of God, the holiness of God. So the heaven shall reveal
His iniquity. And that's why in conversion,
that's why in the new birth, these things are revealed. Remember
Christ told His disciples in John chapter 16, that when the
Holy Spirit comes, He's going to convict the world of sin and
of righteousness and of judgment. And he says there in verse 9,
of sin because they believe not on me. In other words, without
Christ, nothing equals out. Nothing balances out. It's all
iniquity. Without Christ, all I am and
all I do in the sight of a holy God is sin. That's why we need
the Redeemer. That's why we need the kinsman
Redeemer. Verse 27, the earth shall rise up against him. Verse
28, the increase of his house shall depart, and his goods shall
flow away in the day of his wrath. Everything that he thought was
good and profitable, sufficient, will flow away in the day of
God's wrath. Now, verse 29, here's the conclusion. This is the portion
of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed unto him
by God. Now that's Zophar's sermon. And
again, what he says is true. Problem is, he doesn't know the
difference between a truly wicked person and a truly righteous
person. Those who are wicked are those
who stand in themselves, no matter who they are, no matter how religious
or irreligious they are. Without Christ, it's wickedness.
And those in Christ are those who are righteous before God.
no matter what the world thinks of them. That's so, isn't it?
That's God's assessment. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. He said that by deeds of law
shall no flesh be justified in God's sight. Now that's where
we have to come to. What are we in God's sight? How
can I know what I am in God's sight? I must go to His Word. Now turn to Isaiah 54. Now Zophar talked about the heritage
of the wicked. Let me just conclude tonight
with the heritage of the righteous. And I thought about this when
I read this passage, I thought about Job. You know he's talking
about Israel here under the Old Covenant. And in spite of their
natural inherent barrenness and sinfulness and depravity, God
kept them together for 1,500 years as a nation to accomplish
His purpose through them, and that main purpose was to bring
Messiah, to bring Christ through that nation. And then He was
through. But here we have in prophecy
a picture of the glory of christ and the fullness of his people
who by nature are barren spiritually we're born dead in trespasses
and sins aren't we we're born without hope we're born without
any power or will to save ourselves but yet he says like like that
that those who were barren when there will be children offspring
a generation that will be produced in their borders. What's he talking
about? He's talking about the generation
of the seed of God in Christ. His generation. Psalm 22 spoke
of that. His generation. In other words,
that which comes from the death of Christ is the birth of his
people, the birth of his nation, his spiritual nation. And he
says there in verse 5, look at it, of Isaiah 54. He says, thy
maker is thine husband. God has joined himself to his
people. He chose us before the foundation
of the world and gave us to Christ. And that union cannot be broken.
Not even by the fall of man. We're ruined in that. We fell
into condemnation in Adam according to the covenant of works, but
that didn't break our union with Christ. We're still in Him, even
though we didn't know it. Our birth in sin, we're born
dead in trespasses and sin, but that didn't break that union.
He says, the Lord of hosts is His name, and thy Redeemer, the
Holy One of Israel. Remember Job said, I know my
Redeemer liveth. The God of the whole earth shall
He be called. In other words, nothing's going
to defeat Him or stop Him. He says in verse 6, For the Lord
hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit and a wife
of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God. For a small moment
have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee.
Job, he's feeling pretty forsaken, isn't he? Sitting out there on
that dung heap, on that ash heap. Lost his family, lost his health.
He says in verse 8, in a little wrath hid I my face from thee
for a moment, but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on
thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer. You see, even as Job speaks,
now he speaks of this same Redeemer that Isaiah speaks of. And he
says in verse 9, he says, for this is as the waters of Noah
unto me. You know what that means? God made a promise and he swore
by himself in that promise. And nothing's going to change
it. He told Noah, he said, I'll no longer destroy this. I will
never again destroy this world by flood. Set the rainbow in
the clouds to remind us of the mercy of God and the promise
that he made. He says, for as I have sworn
that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so
have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee nor rebuke
thee. Verse 10, for the mountains shall depart and the hills be
removed, but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither
shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that
hath mercy on thee. Now what is the covenant of his
peace? It's the covenant of grace. You see, the chastisement of
our peace was upon Christ. That is the punishment that we
deserved that would bring peace between God and his people was
put upon Christ, not upon us. This would answer some of Job's
questions. Job knows that he has no other
hope but Christ. If we have no other hope but
Christ and we trust in Him, that tells us that God has been merciful
to us. It tells us, according to God's
Word now, not according to how we feel and not according to
how we look, that there is peace between God and us. Is there
peace between God? You might not feel at peace at
a given moment, like Job. You may be in turmoil. But if
your only hope of salvation and forgiveness and righteousness
and eternal life and glory is Christ and Him alone, Christ
and Him crucified, God's word assures you that you're at peace
with God. There's peace between you and
God. that's mercy that's covenant now God you say well well I don't
always I don't always do well well you don't and neither do
I sometimes we mess it up royally but God you see the covenant
of peace is not conditioned on your doing well the covenant of peace is not
conditioned on my doing well The covenant of peace is conditioned
on his doing well. You see what I'm saying? Should
we do well? Yes. Should we try hard to do
well every day? We get up in the morning, we
lay down, and we all try hard to do well in all ways. But that's
not what this covenant of peace is based on. That's not where
the mercy of God lies. It lies in the mercy seat in
the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at verse 11. Now here's
where I really thought about Job. O thou afflicted, tossed
with tempest, and not comforted. Now that's the way Job feels,
isn't it? Tossed, afflicted, not comforted. Behold, I will
lay thy stones with fair colors, and lay thy foundations with
sapphire. That's precious stones, that's
what he's talking about. not the wood, hay, and stubble
of this world. He says, and I will make thy
windows of agates, that's something like rubies, and thy gates of
carbuncles, and thy borders of pleasant stones. And all thy
children shall be taught of the Lord, and great shall be the
peace of thy children. Now look at this. In righteousness
shalt thou be established. Whose? Jehovah Sid Canoe. The Lord our righteousness. That's
our establishment, Christ. And when we sin, we have an advocate
with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And he said, Thou
shalt be far from oppression. You see, Zophar has been talking
about the wicked being oppressed. But God's telling his people,
Thou shalt be far from oppression. Why? Because you're established
in Christ, the righteousness of God in Christ. for thou shalt
not fear, that is, these legal fears, or fear from the world,
and from terror, for it shall not come near thee. Behold, they
shall surely gather together, but not by me. Now here's three
men, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, gathering together against Job.
That's what they're doing, ganging up on Job. And he said, they'll
surely gather together, but not by me. That's not saying that God is
not sovereign over this and this is not predestinated and purposed
according to his sovereign good pleasure and will. But what he's
saying is they won't be speaking for me. They won't be telling
you the truth. Alright? And he says, but not
by me. Whosoever shall gather together
against thee shall fall for thy sake. Now listen to what he says
here, verse 16. Behold, I have created the smith
that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth
an instrument for his work. I have created the waster to
destroy. Now here's what he's saying.
They're forming weapons against you. That's how they made swords
back then, had a blacksmith. And they're forming instruments
of war against you. That's what these three men are
doing to Joe. Their instruments of war are
their words, their legalism. They're condemning words. See,
Zophar, who has been insulted by Job's pronouncement of grace
in Christ, he is forming his words to condemn Job. and he really thinks he's right
he thinks he himself is righteous and he's blessed because he's
doing the right thing he's doing right before God and Job has
some secret sin that he's trying to hide and that's why he's being
punished and so he's thinking he's condemning Job and hoping
that those words will just get Job on the right track so he's
forming weapons but look at verse 17 of Isaiah 54 no weapon that
is formed against thee shall prosper. And every tongue that
shall rise... See, this is an emblem of this
legalistic condemnation that is so natural to man whereby
he's insulted by the gospel. No, every tongue that shall rise
against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. Now he says, this
is the heritage of the servants of the Lord. Zophar speaking
of the heritage of the wicked, Isaiah the prophet speaking of
the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and listen to this,
this is so important, listen to what it says, and their righteousness
is of me, saith the Lord. You see, these three men, they're
talking about a righteousness that man works out before God. by which they're convinced in
their minds. They have it, they've worked
it, and God's blessing them for it. But that's not the heritage
of the servants of the Lord, the bond slaves of Christ. Their
righteousness is of me. Now, you know what God says to
those three men at the end of the book of Job? In Job 42 and
verse 7, you can look at it. He says, you've not spoken the
things which are right by me. You've not told the truth. And
what happens to them? Well, we'll talk about that when
we get there. But isn't that something? That's
the tragedy of self-condemnation. Man thinking that he's right,
doing the right thing, trying to do right, and yet by his own
acts and his own mind, his own words, he condemns himself. Oh,
thank God for his grace. And we can say, I know my Redeemer
liveth. All right, let's sing blessed
be the name. Hymn number 32 is our closing hymn.