Alright, let's turn back to Job
chapter 18. Job chapter 18. Now, I've entitled
the message tonight, The Wicked Trapped in His Way. The Wicked Trapped in His Way.
And I got that title from verse 10 of chapter 18. He's talking
at Bildad here. the second person that brought
accusation against Job you know Eliphaz was the first one and
Bildad and then a man named Zophar this is Bildad's second second
speech to Job and here in verse 10 Bildad is talking about the
wicked and he says in verse 10 the snare is laid for him in
the ground a trap and a trap for him in the way the wicked
a trap is laid for him in the way and that's why i titled this
the wicked trapped in his way but let me begin this message
by by giving you a quotation here i heard this uh... on tape a man quoting one of
the most popular preachers today probably in the world but especially
in the United States of America. He's got one of the largest congregations,
and his books sell like crazy. I mean, I heard him say one time
that he doesn't even take a salary from his church because he makes
enough money off those books. And he claims to preach Christ,
claims to preach salvation by grace, but I want to give you
this quotation. And here it is, word for word. He's telling his
congregation this. And he says, if you will simply
obey God's commands, he will change things in your favor. That's all. Simply obey his commands. God, I'm still quoting now, God
is keeping a record of every good deed you've ever done. And
in your time of need, because of your generosity, God will
move heaven and earth to make sure you're taken care of. Now,
most of you probably know who that is. His name is Joe Osteen.
Preaches out in Texas somewhere. But I asked the question when
I first heard that. And I said, well, who preached
that? Well, he preached it. But you
know, he could go by many names. He could go by a lot of different
names. He could go by the name Eliphaz. Because that was Eliphaz's
message to Job. What was Eliphaz preaching to
Job? Job, if you'll just simply obey
God's commands, He will turn things in your favor. His name
could have been Zophar. Tonight, his name is Bildad. that's who we're going to study
tonight what bill that says to joe and you see bill dad is preaching
that same false gospel of salvation and blessing based on the works
and the will and the ways of me and that's what that is and
many thousands of people follow this man because that's the way
of the natural man That's just natural. Remember Job said that
to Eliphaz back earlier in this book. He said, Eliphaz, what
you're saying is not anything new. That's man by nature. That's
man fallen. Salvation by works. That just
comes natural. That's why the Bible says, The
natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God,
neither can he know them. They're spiritually discerned. It takes a work of God the Holy
Spirit to turn us from our natural way of salvation by works, which
is death, condemnation, and bring us to Christ and salvation by
the grace of God in Him. And that's the issue. That's
the issue here in the book of Job. Even in Job's suffering,
as I told you, don't look upon Job, the book of Job, As God
trying to prove anything to Satan, and I've read a lot of commentaries
who say that, that he's trying to prove to Satan. God's not
trying to prove anything to Satan. Satan, when he challenged this
issue, he wasn't even challenging Job, he was challenging God.
Challenging the grace of God. And these men, Eliphaz and Bildad
and Zophar, Job's three miserable comforters, friends, they're
challenging the grace of God too. Look at verse 1. It says,
Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and he said, verse 2, How long
will it be ere you make an end of words? That's just another
way of saying, Job, why don't you shut up? How long are you going to talk
this nonsense? Well, what was Job saying? Well,
I know Job messed up a lot. I know he complained a lot. You
would, too, if you were in his shoes. I would, too. We're saved
by grace, but we're sinners saved by the grace of God. But Job's
words, what Job testified of, and the tenor of Job's life even
through this suffering, was the recognition of his own sinfulness
and his need of God's grace his need of a mediator whom Job saw
as the promised Messiah, his need of Christ and he's going
to state that in his answer to Bildad one more time in Job chapter
19, I know my Redeemer liveth that's our only hope of salvation
in a Redeemer And a Redeemer is one who is able to redeem. Sinful man cannot redeem you
or me. A Redeemer is one who's willing
to redeem. If sinful man understood what
it took to redeem sinners, he would never even be willing to
do it. And we need one who's appointed of God the Father.
In other words, we need Christ, the Redeemer of His people. the
one who took our place on calvary's cross and shed his precious blood
as the full payment of all our sins job's words are the gospel
that's what he's been talking about he told his three friends
he said look if what you're saying is true then there's two things
you've got to answer number one how come we're not all suffering
like i'm suffering because we're all sinners and that's what we
deserve We don't deserve anything better, that's what we've earned.
And the second thing you've got to answer is why has God singled
me out for this purpose? And why aren't you suffering
too? And so Job sets forth the need of salvation by grace, the
need of the God-man. That's what he's talking about
when he says, I know my Redeemer liveth and he shall stand in
the latter day over in Job 19. That's what he's talking about
when he brought sacrifice to the altar. Remember, Job worshipped
by sacrifice. That picture is the Lamb of God. Just like Abel's land, that pictures
the God-man, God in human flesh, offering himself without spot
to God for the sins of his people imputed, charged to him, in order
that he might make a propitiation, a satisfaction to God's law and
justice, and thereby enable God to justify sinners like us. That's
what he's talking about. And to Bildad, those things are
just words that he doesn't want to hear. Job, why don't you shut
up? Look at you. He says in verse
2, he says, Mark, that means consider. You need to consider
what you're saying, Job. Well, let me tell you something.
You're right. Job does need to consider what
he's saying. I need to consider what I'm saying
tonight. You need to consider what I'm
saying. And when you speak things concerning God, Concerning man
and concerning salvation. We need to market. We need to
really consider what we're saying think about what we say This
man here When he makes that statement, he really needs to consider what
he's saying, you know, that is nothing more than a blatant Expression
of salvation by works But people don't believe it they don't believe
that it's works they'll call it grace and So he says, Mark,
and then afterwards we will speak, Bildad says. Now he charges Job
with foolishness. He's saying, Job, you're not
considering what you say. And he's especially irritated
that Job has treated his advice and Zophar's advice and Eliphaz's
advice with so much contempt. Their advice, as I said, it's
been the essence of the false gospels of salvation by the works
and will of men. Their advice, let me tell you
what their advice does, and here's how you can tell. Their advice
to Job would divert Job away from the glory and the peace
that can come from Christ and him crucified alone. And it would
direct Job to look to himself for his help and his hope. That's
what it does. Look at verse four. He says,
he teareth himself in his anger. Now, what he's saying is Job
is tearing himself up in sorrow and anger. He charges Job here
with contempt for them and pride and arrogance here. And he says,
shall the earth be forsaken for thee? Job, do you think the world's
gonna stop just for you? And shall the rot be removed
out of his place? You think the whole world, the
course of nature and providence and God himself is all going
to give way to you? And then he says in verse 5,
Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out. He says, And
the spark of his fire shall not shine. Now, remember, I've told
you as you read the advice of these three miserable comforters,
Eliaphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, remember that much of what they
say is true. I mean, what he said, the light
of the wicked shall be put out. That's exactly right. And the
spark of his fire shall not shine. That's true. The light shall
be dark in his tabernacle, that's his house. And his candle, his
lamp, what do you use a lamp for? To give light, to guide
you, shall be put out with him. Him and his lamp will be put
out. Now all that's true, but you
remember, they're speaking true things, but they're applying
them wrongly because they're speaking as if God visits every
transgression equally and immediately with punishment. And God doesn't
do that. If He did, we couldn't speak
as Paul did in Romans chapter 3 of the long-suffering of God.
God suffers long. The Bible says in Romans chapter
9 that He bears with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted for
destruction. So He does. Sometimes we see
examples of God's immediate wrath connected with certain sense
and and don't don't categorize those same for example you remember
an analysis of fire when they tried to to lie and cheat in
order to gain and did it under religious profession god struck
them both day now does god always strike everybody who does that
did immediately in this not know let me tell you something ultimately
and eternally and finally The light of the wicked will be put
out. Their life will be put out. Their prosperity will be put
out. You remember we read that in, I think it's Psalm 73, where
the psalmist said that he didn't understand why the wicked would
prosper and why he would be in such sorrow and distress. And
he said, I didn't understand it until I went unto the house
of God and heard God's word and I understood their end, how it's
all going to end up. That question is asked quite
a bit. Why do the heathen prosper? Well, they do for a while. Some
do. Many do. But he won't last, you
see. So what Bildad is saying here
is true, but he's applying it wrongly. And basically, he's
missed the truth a million miles. Look at verse 7. He says, the
steps of his strength shall be straightened, or shortened, or
weakened. In other words, his strong stride is going to be
weakened. And his own counsel, now this
is where I'm going with this, and this is where I got the title,
his own counsel shall cast him down. Now what's Bildad preaching?
What's his counsel? Well, we read it in that quote
of the modern day preacher. If you'll simply obey God's command,
if you'll turn over a new leaf, if you'll repent, He'll change
things to your favor. That's all simply obey. God's
keeping a record of every good deed you've ever done and in
your time of need because of your repentance or your works
or your love or your generosity, God will move heaven and earth
to make sure you're taken care of. Now let me tell you something
about that. If you're a child of God, as Job is, If you know Christ, if you're
a sinner saved by the grace of God, I guarantee you upon the
authority of God's word that He will move heaven and earth
to take care of you. He will. He has. And he'll continue. He'll move
heaven. But it will not, in any way, shape, form, or fashion,
to any degree, at any time, at any stage, be because of your
generosity. Well, preacher, does that mean
we're not to be generous? Oh, no. We're to be generous
in every way. But not in order to gain or maintain
God's favor. We're to be generous. We're to
be obedient because God has freely and unconditionally been favorable
toward us in Christ. That's the difference. And it
may not sound like much to most people, but I'm going to tell
you something. It's a big, big difference. Oh, we ought to be
the most generous people on earth. Why? Well, I've often told you
the story about the man who was in debt a million dollars and
didn't have a penny to pay it. He decided he'd go down to the
bank and cast himself at the mercy of the banker. Well, you
know how much good that was going to do, don't you? So he went
down to the bank and he told the banker, he said, I need to
talk to you. He said, I know I owe a million dollars, but
I don't have a penny to pay. Not one, not one red cent to
pay you for that debt. The banker says, well, what is
your name? He says, let's look at your books. And he opens up
the book, and he sees the name here, and he says, wait a minute.
He said, this says here you don't owe a dime. Somebody came in
and paid that debt for you. You're free and clear. We have
no legal hold on you. You owe no debt. Somebody's already
paid that debt. Boy, could you just imagine the
feeling of relief that would come over you if somebody did.
Oh, my soul, what a burden lifted off of your back. The banker
says, yes, somebody came in and said, put so-and-so's account,
put his charge to my account. Impute it to me. Charge it to
me. I'll pay it. And he paid it.
So you get up. And you think, boy, I'd like
to know who that is. The banker says, well, hold on
a minute. There's something else. There's more good news. It says
here that he placed a million dollars in your account. You're
a million dollars to the good. He said, charge that to him.
Give that to him. Impute that to him. Not only
are you free of your debt, you've got a million dollars to the
good. First thing you're going to want to know is, who did that
for me? And then, if you were to find
out later on that it was one whom you regarded as your enemy? Boy, things would change then,
wouldn't they? Wouldn't you want to thank Him? Wouldn't you want
to show your gratitude? He did that when you didn't deserve
it. See, that's the whole thing about grace, grace, grace. That's
what it's all about. Bill Dad's preaching another
message. It's works, works, works. And you remember Job claimed
to be righteous, not perfect in himself, but righteous in
Christ, the promised Messiah. He said, I need an advocate.
I need an umpire, he said. Remember, he used that term.
Bildad's point is that Job is a wicked man. You see, all this
is directed at Job. Look at verse 8. It says in verse
7, His own counsel shall cast him down, verse 8, for he is
cast into a net by his own feet. You know what that means? It
means he goes into the trap of death, the net, willingly, by
his own feet. Nobody's forcing him in there.
You see, that's the way it is, man, by nature. He'll willingly,
he'll willingly, by his own will, and this is the bondage of the
will now, go into death. You say, well, he doesn't know
it's death. That's right. It's because he's darkness. He's ignorant.
But when the way of life is presented to him, by nature he won't have
it. Why? That doesn't give him any glory.
That doesn't give him anything to be proud of, anything to brag
about, boast about. It says, and he walketh upon
a snare. A snare is a trap. Verse 9, the
djinn, that's a trap. It was like a trap they used
to catch birds with. and i guess what what bill that
is trying to say here's no matter how high man can go he's going
to he can get uh... the wicked he's going to get
trapped the jinn shall take him by the heel and the robber shall
prevail against him his goods and you know joe had been robbed
they had come down and taken everything that he had so this
is directed towards joe but then he says in verse ten he says
the snare is laid That's in, you might have in your concordance,
hidden. It's a snare that's hidden for him in the ground. He doesn't
know it's a snare, but it's there. Just like men by nature, they
don't know this. Just like what that preacher
said, he doesn't know that that's a snare that'll trap him and
bring him to death if something doesn't change. And that's what
he's saying. The snare is laid for him in
the ground and a trap for him in the way. The wicked trapped
in his way. That's what he's talking about.
Now, you know, Bill Dadd, he's invoking what many call the law
of retribution. Sowing and reaping. What you
sow, so shall you reap. And what he's saying here is
God punishes the wicked. That's true. If the law of divine
retribution is unchangeable, and if Job refuses to repent,
then Job will just continue to throw himself against that fixed
law and god's gonna punish him for all sent out there joe think
that he's above this that's what bill that aside how do you think
you're above the law jobs not saying he's above the law He's
just simply saying that if there's any hope for him, it's got to
be in the grace of God, whereby we see Christ who kept and fulfilled
the law. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness to everyone that believeth. And as Bildad
sees it, the moral order of the universe is set in stone. Since
God is going to punish the wicked for their sins, and here he lays
these things out. What's going to happen to the
wicked? This is the catalog of the troubles of the wicked, all
designed to appeal to Job's conscience. and get him to reform. But as
I said, he misses the truth by a million miles. Think about
it. You know what? When you see and
hear the absolute, strict, and unchangeable law of retribution,
what is that? It means God must punish all
sin, period. He can by no means clear the
guilty. What should that do for us? I'll
tell you what it should do. It should show us and bring us
to see that we're deserving of nothing but death and damnation.
We're sinners. And it should bring us to see
our need of God's grace and mercy in Christ. And that'll make a
sinner merciful and compassionate towards other sinners. He'll
say, there but for the grace of God go I. Well, he says here,
the light of the wicked will die with him. He'll be trapped. He'll be robbed. He'll be defeated
by his own counsel. And by these words, here's what
happens. By these words, Bildad condemns
himself. That's what he does. By the words
of that preacher, who said, just obey God's commands and He'll
turn everything to your favor. He's keeping a record of all
your good deeds. And He'll give you what you deserve,
what you've earned. By His own words, He condemns
Himself. That's what this is talking about. In the book of Romans, let me
just read this to you. In Romans chapter 11, where the apostle Paul is talking
about the election of grace. And David, he quotes from David,
quotes from the Psalms, from Psalm 69, which is a psalm of
Christ, a messianic psalm, and said, David said there, speaking
as a type of Christ, he said in Romans 11 and verse 9, it
is quoted, let their table be made a snare, a trap, That's
what Bildad's talking about, a trap for the wicked. He said,
let their table be made a snare and a trap and a stumbling block
and a recompense unto them. Verse 10, let their eyes be darkened
that they may not see and bow down their back all the way. What's David talking about when
he says let their table be a snare? That table is representative
of their worship, their service. their ideas and their views of
God and themselves. Which again, was the self-righteous
religion of salvation by works. And what David is saying there,
in light of the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord
Jesus Christ, which is required for the salvation of a sin, he
said in light of that, and their rejection of that, let their
worship, let their way, let their notions of salvation and how
God's, let it be a snare to them. Let it be a trap. to them. Over
in Romans chapter 9, Paul spoke of Israel, which followed after
the law of righteousness. But they didn't make it, he said.
He said, because they sought it not by faith. They didn't
seek righteousness in Christ. They sought it by works of the
law, and they stumbled at the stumbling stone. That's literally
a trap, a snare. In other words, when Christ actually
came and preached His message of grace, the grace of God and
the salvation of sinners in and by Him, they were trapped. They were snared in their own
words, in their own false gospels. And they rejected Him, and they
shall be ashamed if they die in that state. That's what that's
talking about. Turn back to Matthew chapter
12 that I read as our Scripture reading. As I said, this is a
portion of scripture that many people go to try to prove that
there is an unpardonable sin. And as I said, there's been much
discussion and debate, books written, messages preached on
what is the unpardonable sin. Well, I'm here to tell you this
passage is not preaching the unpardonable sin. the unforgivable
sin. What this passage is preaching
is simply this, that without Christ, without the grace of
God, without His cleansing blood and His righteousness imputed,
no sin can be forgiven. All sin deserves death. There's
not just one sin. that Christ is unable to pardon. Listen, no sin. He's able to
pardon. Listen, the Bible says, 1 John
1, the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from what? All sin. And I've heard people say, as
Christ said here, look at verse 32 of Matthew 12. He says, Whosoever
speaketh a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven.
But whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not
be forgiven him neither in this world neither in the world to
come and i've heard people say what i didn't say anything blast
uh... blasphemy against the father
against the sun and you can be forgiven but don't say black
don't speak any blasphemy against the holy spirit or can't be for
that's not what that's teaching at all what you have to understand
is the context first of all what you're talking about he's talking
about how these men these pharisees how they looked upon the Lord
Jesus Christ. They didn't look upon Him as
God with us. They didn't look upon Him as
the Messiah, the Savior of sinners. They didn't look upon Him as
God and man in one person. They didn't look upon Him as
the one who would come and die for their sin. They looked upon
Him as being in league with the devil. That's what they did. They rejected the gospel of God's
grace. They rejected Jesus Christ. And
here's what I'm saying. If you, listen, if you reject
Jesus Christ as the one and only Savior of sinners, the Lord our
righteousness, the one mediator between God and men, there is
absolutely no hope of you ever being forgiven of any sin. You say, well, why does he single
out the Holy Ghost here? Well, what is the office of the
Holy Spirit? What is He sent to do? His office,
specifically, is to convict sinners of sin and drive them where? To Christ for all forgiveness. And to not do that is to blaspheme
the Holy Spirit. But it's not only to blaspheme
the Holy Spirit, my friend, it's to blaspheme the Father and the
Son too. But it's the specific office of the Holy Spirit to
bring a sinner to Christ. And to reject Christ and die
in unbelief means this, no sins forgiven. Not just one, but none. Without Christ there is no forgiveness. of any sin. One sin, ten million
sins. There's no forgiveness without
the blood of Christ. But in the blood of Christ, all
sin is forgiven. Righteousness established. And
this is what they were saying. Look at verse 34. He says, O generation of vipers,
He says, how can you, being evil, speak good things? Now, what's
he talking about? He's talking about their religion.
He's talking about their false gospel. Just like this fellow
who made that statement about salvation by works. You can't
speak good things. Now, listen. Now, understand
what I'm saying. There are unbelievers who can
say some good things, some true things. You all know that. We
read it right here in Bill Dad. What did Bill Dad say? He said
the wicked's gonna, they're gonna die. They're not gonna win. And
he's right. That's a good thing to say. What's
he talking about? How can you being evil speak
good things? He's talking about the gospel here. You can't preach
the gospel. You don't believe it. You've
rejected Christ. You preach salvation by works. For out of the abundance
of the heart the mouth speaketh. Now this is true of any sinner.
who expresses any hope of salvation based on any other ground but
Christ and Him crucified. Christ's blood and righteousness.
Whatever his hope is, as he expresses it, he'll be brought down by
his own words. For out of the heart proceed
evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness,
and blasphemies. Think about that. his words as
he expresses his hope. What is your hope? Tell me what
your hope is. What is your assurance of salvation? People say, what is your testimony?
Let's hear your words. And listen, don't get me wrong.
I know some people cannot express themselves in ways that they
really believe in their hearts sometimes. I know that happens.
There are people who just, you know, trip over their own tongues,
you see. But that's not what this is talking about. This is
talking about promoting and preaching in words a false gospel. And
his words, as he expresses his hope, give evidence of the state
of his heart, whether or not his hope is in himself or is
his hope in Christ. give you an example of that Matthew
chapter 7 verses 21 through 23 remember what the Lord said many
will say unto me in that day the day of judgment Lord Lord
all right now what is their hope how do they express it Lord Lord
haven't we prophesied in your name Lord, Lord, haven't we cast
out demons? Lord, Lord, haven't we done many
wonderful works? Their words tell you what their
hope is. They're not pleading Christ.
They're not pleading for the mercy of God in the blood of
Christ. They're not pleading His righteousness imputed. They're
pleading what they think they've been enabled to do. That's their
hope. And Christ said, Depart from
me, ye that work iniquity, I never knew you. Paul wrote in Galatians
chapter 1 and verse 6, he said, Though we or an angel from heaven
preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached,
let him be anathema. They preach any other gospel
than the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace in them by
the Lord Jesus Christ. Their words condemn them. Look
on Matthew 12. So he says in verse 35, A good
man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good
things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth
evil things. But I say unto you that every idle word that men
shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of
judgment." Now, if that verse 36 means what I grew up hearing
it means, and means what most of you have heard that it means
in certain places, We ought to be scared to death all the time. Me and you, if we're honest. Every idle word. You ever speak idle words? What's
he talking about here? He's talking about the idle words
of a false gospel here. That's what he's talking about.
Their way of salvation. Remember he said, except your
righteousness exceed the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees,
you shall in no way, no case enter the kingdom of heaven.
Their words do not point sinners to Christ for salvation. That's
an idle word. That's a worthless word. It's
a deadly word. And he says in verse 37, for
by thy words thou shalt be justified, vindicated. What is your hope? Tell me about your hope. Tell
me about your salvation. Well, I walked in awe when I
was 12 and I got baptized. Is that your hope? Idle words. Idle words. Is it possible that somebody
could have heard and believed the gospel at that time? It's
possible. But I'm going to tell you something.
Their hope was Christ and Him crucified and risen again then,
and it's Christ and Him crucified and risen again today. I don't
have to look back to my teenage years to tell you about my hope. I can tell you right now, today,
what my hope is. And he said, by thy words thou
shalt be condemned. That's what Bildad is saying
without knowing it. Think about it. He's expressing
these things, and he thinks he's got some wisdom. But the snare
is laid for him in the ground and a trap for him in the way.
he's going to be condemned by his own words hey joe you better
straighten up and get right with god buddy and when you do he'll
turn his favor he'll turn everything to your favor not so bill that
everything is really in our favor even when we're suffering even
joe You know why? Because all things work together
for good to them that love God, who are the called according
to His purpose. So what are we to do? Well, the wise man in
Proverbs said, keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of
it are the issues of life. What does that mean? That means
keep your heart fixed on Christ and His finished work and His
glory and His love and His word. Here's my hope. That's why you
often hear me quote that passage or that hymn that says, My hope
is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus'
name, on Christ the solid rock I stand. All other ground is
sinking. I love that hymn because it expresses
my heart. It expresses my hope. Let me tell you something, those
aren't idle words. Those are words of life. Words of wisdom. Words of hope.