Thank you, James. Let's open
our Bibles to Job 17. Job chapter 17. Now, I'm going
to do something a little different. As you know, we go verse by verse. We've been verse by verse through
this book of Job. And I've covered chapter 16 and
17, which is one of Job's answers. answering the charges of his
friends, the self-righteous legal charges that they brought against
Job. And Job has appealed to several
things throughout this book in his answers. He's appealed to
the absolute sovereignty of God in all things. And I'll tell
you, I don't, you know, I was thinking back before I really
heard and knew the gospel, the true gospel, and how I was so
adamantly opposed to what I did not know at that time the Bible
taught concerning that subject, the sovereignty of God. And I
pretty much waged war on it, you know. And I've told you before
that one of the ways the Lord brought me to a saving knowledge
of these truths is my determination, my self-righteous, fleshly determination
to prove them wrong from the Bible. And in that process, the
Lord brought me to see it. But I was thinking about that
because, you know, it's hard to see how someone could just
read the surface words of the book of Job and not know that
At least the Bible teaches that God is sovereign in all things.
That God declares the end from the beginning. That God works
all things after the counsel of His own will. That God is
in control of this thing. He's in control. He's either
in control or it's all out of kilter, and if it's all out of
kilter, we're in a mess. But He's in control, isn't He?
And what's glorious about that, he has a purpose for his control.
And that is his glory and the salvation of his people through
Jesus Christ. And Job has appealed to that.
He's appealed to the grace of God. The absolute mercy and grace
of God. Back over there in chapter 16
and verse 19. When he said, my witness is in
heaven and my record is on high. That's what he's appealing to,
the grace of God in his own salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ.
And the fact that we must go by God's testimony and not by
what we see with the physical eye. We don't judge by sight.
We don't walk by sight. We walk by faith, what God says. And in that we see that he appeals
for a mediator. He knows, Job knew that in order
for him to have a right standing before a holy God and not be
consumed by the justice of God that he had to have a mediator.
He had to have an advocate. And that mediator and advocate
had to be one who is himself God And yet, who is man? And that's what he says there
in verse 21 of chapter 16. Oh, that one might plead for
a man with God as a man pleaded for his neighbor, his friend.
He'd said that back over in other chapters about his need for a
substitute. It's our only hope. And then
down here in chapter 17, I want you to look at verse 9. This
is my text. for this evening. I want to go
back to this verse because I believe this verse states one of the
major themes of the book of Job. And he simply says this, he says,
the righteous also shall hold on his way. The title of this
message is the righteous holding his way. The righteous also shall
hold on his way. And he that hath clean hands
shall be stronger and stronger, or add strength unto strength,
what he's saying. And I want to talk to you a little
bit about this issue of the righteous holding his way. Now, to understand
what God's Word means in a verse like that, we have to answer
some questions from the Word of God. And the first question,
and this sort of gets back to the basics now. This is like
a primer. on righteousness and you know
I need that every now and then I hope you feel that way too
I need to do that I need to you know this would be a good way
if you want to talk to somebody about the gospel who's who's
never really heard it this would be a good place to go one of
the many many many good places to go but the first thing that
you have to understand about this if you're going to enter
into it You know, I want to enter into this, don't you? The righteous
also shall hold on his way. I'd like to be able to say that
about myself. How about you? He that hath clean
hands shall be stronger and stronger. How in the world? So the first
question you have to consider is this. Who are the righteous? Simple, isn't it? Now the problem
is this, man by nature has his own idea of who the righteous
are, don't we? And we know what man by nature
thinks because if we've been born of God, we used to think
that way. Who are the righteous? Well,
people would say, well, those who go to church, those who've
been baptized, those who are sincere and dedicated. You know
that's the first main issue that is really raised in the Sermon
on the Mount. Look over at Matthew chapter
5. You understand something about
the Sermon on the Mount. Do you know who the Sermon on
the Mount was preached to? It was preached to lost religious
Jews under the Old Covenant. That's who it was preached to.
And the Lord started out with what we call the Beatitudes.
He's describing there the citizens of the kingdom. The point he's
making is this, that the citizens of the kingdom of heaven, the
true citizens, the citizens of the spiritual kingdom of heaven,
are not those who are physically connected to Abraham. Remember
John the Baptist cut them off at the pass on that one back
in Matthew 3. He said, say not in your... He said, repent. Oh,
the Pharisees and the Sadducees repent. He said, and don't say
in your hearts that you're Abraham's seed. That'll do you no good.
A physical connection with Abraham will not save you, will not make
you righteous, and will not get you into heaven. And then they
boasted of their circumcision. Well, physical circumcision means
nothing in the kingdom of God. Paul wrote, God forbid that I
should glory save in the cross. That's the finished work of Christ
on the cross. He said, By whom the world is
crucified unto me, and I unto the world. And he said, In Christ
Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision.
That has no bearing on my salvation, but a new creation, he says.
A new creation in Christ. So he tells them what the true
citizens of the kingdom are. and the third thing that they
would boast of in that for their confidence of salvation would
be there they would say we keep the law of Moses well they didn't
but they would say they did and of course you know how that is
when men boast that they keep the law they always lower the
standard it's always got to come down you see that verse I read
it this morning Romans 3 23 says for all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God it means we've missed the mark the
mark we see that mark in Christ You want to know how much you
have to love God and love your neighbor? Perfectly, just like
Christ. Anything less is sin. Falling
short. And so look at what he says in
verse 20 of Matthew chapter 5. He says, For I say unto you that
except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the
scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no case enter into the kingdom
of heaven. Now these were men who claimed to be righteous men.
You know who the Pharisees were. Look over at Luke chapter 18. Look there. Now this, I tell you, it's good
if you can consider this this way historically. These are the
kinds of things that the Lord taught to the public in His public
ministry there that would just hit people right between the
eyes now i mean this is this is radical here we don't realize
that sometimes i think we see it in history i'm telling you
what now this would be like walking into the most religious segment
of our society uh... who everybody who's anybody judges
to be saved or to be righteous and saying you're uh... you're
lost You're not righteous. And this is what he said, look
at verse 9 of Luke 18, he spake this parable unto certain which
trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others.
And you know the parable, two men went up to the temple to
pray, the one a Pharisee. Everybody thought a Pharisee
was right. Now let me tell you something, the Pharisees didn't
have horns and a tail, folks. And I think sometimes we get
the idea that these were just you know, openly, outward. I'm
sure they had their religious rejects and all that, just like
we do today. But these were well-respected
men whom the general public looked up to for spiritual guidance.
These were men who studied and learned and scriptures. They wrote commentaries. That's
what the scribes and the Pharisees were. And they trusted in themselves
that they were righteous. Well, two men went up to the
temple to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a public. Now,
what was the Pharisee's claim of righteousness? Now, this is
where you've got to look at this. He had a claim of righteousness.
Now, let me tell you something. If you claim to be saved, in
essence, whether you know it or not, you're claiming to be
righteous before God, because that's what God does when He
saves a sinner. He makes that sinner righteous.
Job said the righteous is going to hold on his way, whatever
his way is. Well, what was their way? All
right, now here's the Pharisees' claim of righteousness, and I
want you to notice something here. It's very important. Verse
11. The Pharisees stood and prayed
thus with himself, God, I thank Thee. Now, whatever he's going
to claim, the first thing he does is he thanks God for it.
Do you understand that? In other words, he's not saying
this is something I've done in my own power, but I thank God
for this. And he says, I thank thee that
I'm not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as
this publican. And you know who the publicans
were. The Pharisees were the ones that everybody looked up
to. The publicans were the ones that everybody looked down on. So what was this Pharisee's claim
of righteousness? He thanked God that he wasn't
like a publican. And that was his claim of righteousness.
I thank you, Lord, that I've been enabled to do this. He says,
and look at verse 12, he said, I fast twice a week. I give tithes
of all that I possess. You see that? I'm not an extortioner. I'm not an adulterer. I'm not
all this, that, and the other. Thank you, Lord, for making me
this way. And that was his claim of righteousness.
Well, he says in verse 13, And the publican, standing afar off,
would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote
upon his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. Now what was the publican claiming
here? The publican actually is not
claiming righteousness, but he's claiming his need for one. And
if you look up in your concordance that word, be merciful, you know
what you're going to find it is? Propitious. You know, there's two words for
mercy in the New Testament. One's for compassion. But there's
another one that is, it's a word that's related to an Old Testament
term that reaches back to the mercy seat. In the holiest of
all, the holy of holies, we're the blood. And that's what the
publican is asking for. I need a mercy seat. I need a
substitute to satisfy... I am not righteous in myself
and I cannot make myself righteous in myself. God, I'm at your mercy. I need the righteousness of God. Don't need the righteousness
of men. Well, how does... Here's the
second question. It's all about who are the righteous. Well,
here's the second question and it'll answer it. How does a sinner
become righteous? Well, go over to Romans chapter
9 with me. Men have their idea about that.
What makes a sinner righteous before God? And you know what
people think. You know how you, if you're,
listen, if you know Christ, You've been born again by the Spirit,
you know what you used to think. I know what I used to think.
What made me righteous before God. Or we'd say maybe this way,
what made us at least good enough to go to heaven. Maybe not perfect
yet. Of course, righteousness, as
you know in the Bible, is perfection. It is. Perfect satisfaction of
God's law and justice. But over here in Romans chapter
9, look at verse 31. Now what does the Bible say?
We read this this morning. Romans 3 and verse 10. Just don't
turn there. But what does it say in Romans
3 and verse 10? It says there's none righteous, no not one. Who
does that apply to? That applies to every son and
daughter of Adam by nature. We fell in Adam in the sin. And among Adam's posterity, all
whom he represented, there's none righteous, no not one. None
of us who deserve any blessing, any salvation from God. None
of us who have earned it. Sinners. That's what we are.
Who deserve condemnation. Man at his best state. Altogether
what? Vanity. You read that in the
study. Psalm 39. Best of us, worst of
us. The most religious, the most
irreligious. But look at Romans 9, 31. It says, But Israel, which
followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law
of righteousness. Wherefore, or why? Because they sought it
not by faith. Now, what is it to seek righteousness
by faith? Well, hold on just a second.
He said, But they sought it by the works of the law. They stumbled
at that stumbling stone. Now he begins to quote from the
Old Testament, Isaiah. He says, As it is written, Behold,
I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense, and whosoever
believeth on him shall not be ashamed. Read on, verse 1 of
chapter 10. Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for
Israel is that they might be saved. Bear them record. They
have a zeal of God. They're religious, but not according
to knowledge, for they, being ignorant of God's righteousness
and going about to establish their own righteousness, have
not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. Well,
now, how does a sinner become righteous before God? But it's
not by his works. Romans 3 and verse 20, Therefore
by deeds of law shall no flesh be justified, same word, made
righteous in God's sight. For by the law is the knowledge
of sin. How does a sinner become righteous? Look at verse 4 of
Romans 10 since we're already there. For Christ is the end
The finishing, you might say. The fulfillment. Same word that
he used when he said on the cross, it is finished. Form of the same
word. Christ is the finishing of the
law. It's precepts and it's penalty.
It's justice for righteousness to everyone that believe it. What is it to seek righteousness
by faith? It's to seek it in Christ and
find it in Him alone. Look back at Romans chapter 3. I've already spoken of one part
of that. There's none righteous, no, not one. But he says in verse 20, read
that again. But now, or therefore by the
deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified, declared
not guilty, declared righteous, in God's sight. Now that's the
key. It's in God's sight. You see, this doesn't have anything
to do with how we look at each other. Now that's important because
we have a witness. And we're to glorify God in our
witness. But when it comes to how a sinner is justified before
a holy God, the only thing that matters is how God sees me. How
God sees you. You're either in Christ or you're
not in Christ. And he says here in verse 21,
but now the righteousness of God. Now that's what we need.
That's how a sinner is made righteous before God. That's the righteous
man. He has the righteousness of God, not the righteousness
of man. Not the righteousness of works, but the righteousness
of God. This is what Noah preached. He
was a preacher of righteousness for 120 years while he built
the ark. This is what our Lord is teaching. Seek first the kingdom
of God and His righteousness. All these other things will fall
in place. So here's what he says, that now the righteousness of
God without the law is manifested. And it was preached by the law,
Moses, the law of Moses was about this. How do you know that? Well, look at the law of Moses. Think about the types and the
pictures and the shadows that were in that law, the altar,
the priesthood, the blood of animals. What was that picturing,
typifying, foreshadowing, symbolizing, teaching, prophesying? The blood
of Christ. The work of Christ, the Messiah.
For the salvation of sinners. The justification before God.
And he says, he says in verse 22, even the righteousness of
God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ, I believe that's talking
about the faith of Christ. which is his faithfulness to
accomplish what he agreed to accomplish before the foundation
of the world when God chose a people and gave them to him. And he
said that, he said, all that the Father giveth me shall come
to me. Why is that? Because he's going
to die for them. He's going to fulfill the law.
He's going to keep the law. He's going to fulfill the law.
He's going to satisfy justice. He's going to pay the debt in
full. He's going to put an end to sin. He's going to finish
the transgression. he's gonna bring in everlasting
righteousness Daniel 9 24 and he says it's unto all that
is preached unto all and upon all that is imputed to them that
believe charged to them how do I know the righteousness of God
has been charged to Micah how do I know that my sins were charged
to him and he died for me how do I know that his righteousness
is charged to me How do you know that? You believe
in Him. Rest in Him. Plead His blood
as the complete, final, full, eternal payment for all your
sins. Plead His righteousness alone. And He says there's no
difference. For all sin comes short of the
glory of God. Look at verse 24 of Romans 3. Being justified. Being declared righteous. That's
what that means. Freely. That means without a
cause. In other words, there was nothing
in us to cause God to do this there's only one answer somebody
says well why did God choose me and pass by another the only
answer that the Lord himself gave to that question is in Matthew
chapter 11 and he said for so father it seemed good in thy
sight period but there's no reason in us it's the election of grace
isn't it No reason, no cause. He didn't look down through a
telescope of time and foresee what you would do or not do.
God's not a crystal ball gazer. And then he says, he says here,
being justified freely by his grace. So this justification
is by his grace. That's unearned and undeserved.
And how does this grace come? How can God be just and give
me this grace? How can He remain holy and true
to Himself? He must punish sin. How can He
do that? Through the redemption that is
in Christ Jesus. Through the payment. The fullness
of the payment. Verse 25, Whom God set forth. That word set forth you might
have in your concordance. It means foreordained. Christ
is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. We're talking about
a salvation. Let me tell you something. If
you're saved by the grace of God, you're the recipient of
a salvation that was given you in Christ Jesus before the world
began. That's what scripture says, 2 Timothy 1. And he said
he was sent forth to be a propitiation. That old publican said, God,
be propitious towards me. Be a mercy seat. Well, where
am I going to find a mercy Christ? He was set forth. He was foreordained
before the foundation of the world to be a propitiation and
look at through faith in his blood, his death. His death is
my righteousness. his payment of my debt, to declare
his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past." I believe
that's referring to the Old Testament believers. They were justified
in their lifetime based on the righteousness that Christ would
come in time after they were gone and establish here on earth. It was by promise. That's what
Romans 4 teaches. Abraham was justified by promise. Abel And he says, through the
forbearance of God. What that means is this. Why,
when Adam fell, why didn't God just snuff him out right there? What about Abel? Why didn't God
just, Abel was a sinner. Abel deserved damnation. Based
on, why didn't God just snuff him out right there? Go right
on up through the Old Testament. Why didn't, how could God forbear? suffer long with them I'll tell
you why because God had a purpose before the foundation of the
world that was wrapped up in the surety Jesus Christ the Lord
of glory the Son of God the second person of the Trinity and he
would come to this earth in an appointed time according to that
promise and work out a righteousness that Abel enjoyed the benefits
of it thousands of years before it actually was brought out on
the cross. And you know why? You see, that's
the God who calls things that are not as though they were.
There's the certainty of it, you see, right there. And that's
how he did it. So he says in verse 26, to declare
I say at this time his righteousness that he might be just and justifier
of him which believeth in Jesus. Now, here's the third question
back in Job 17. What does a righteous person
do? Well, Job puts it succinctly
here. By inspiration of the Spirit, he says this, the righteous also
shall hold on his way. And then he says, he that hath
clean hands. Who are those who have clean
hands? They're the same as the righteous. What are the clean
hands here? They're the hands cleansed by
the blood of Christ. That's what they are. You can
be like Pilate and wash your hands in water and soap. And
it'll get the physical dirt off, but it won't wash away one sin.
You can be like the religionist and get baptized, and we should
be baptized. We who know the Lord, we who
are believers, we confess Christ in believer's baptism. But my
friend, you can get baptized, as the old preacher said, until
every tadpole in the creek knows you by your first name, and it
still will not wash away one sin. You can confess your sins. Should you confess your sins?
Not to a man, but you confess them to God. But listen, confession
will not cleanse your hands. It may make you feel good for
a little while, but it won't cleanse your hands. You can join
a church. You can give money. You can do
like the Pharisee. You can pay tithes twice in the
week instead of once a week. You can fast twice in a week.
And you might cleanse your palate, but you will not cleanse your
hands from sin. We said it this morning. What
can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. And that's who the righteous
are. Sinners saved by the grace of God. That's what the righteous
are. Listen, what will a righteous person do? What will a righteous
man do? What will a righteous woman do?
Will he sin? You bet he will. Paul spoke of
it in Romans 7. Oh, wretched man that I am! Who
shall deliver me from the body of this death? He said, the things
that I want to do in following the Lord and keeping His Word,
I don't do, he said. The things that I hate to do,
sinning against God, that's the things I do. Do you know that's
a righteous man talking? Do you believe that? There's
a lot of people who don't. They say, oh, no, Paul had to
be talking before he was saved then. You know, number one, he
speaks in the present tense. I've read commentators that say,
well, from Romans 7.14 to Romans 7.25, Paul's talking about before
he was saved. Now, first of all, he's speaking
in present tense. In fact, if you want to talk
about Paul before he was saved, read Romans 7.1 through 13. He
talks in past tense there. when I didn't know the law, when
I was bringing forth fruit unto death. And then he switches from
past tense to present tense in Romans 7, 14 through 25. And
then in Romans 7, 14 through 25, he's describing a struggle
which the scripture describes as a warfare of the flesh and
the spirit in other places. That's a born-again person. That's
a righteous man. Will he sin? Yes. Job knew that. He told his three friends. He told Eliphaz and Bildad and
Zophar. He said, well look, he said,
if what you fellas say is true, if God, listen, if God blesses
us immediately every time here on earth because of our good
works and punishes us immediately every time here on earth because
of our sins, then none of us have any hope. That's what Job
said because we're all sinners. We're all sinners. Will a righteous man complain?
Oh yeah, Job does some complaining, doesn't he? Complains a lot. In fact, it gets worse when we
get on to reading here. Will a righteous man doubt? Yes,
he'll doubt. But thank God that he is faithful. Christ is faithful to keep us,
preserve us, What will a righteous man do? I'll tell you exactly
what he'll do. He'll hold on his way. That's what he'll do.
And he'll grow. What is his way? Well, his way
is the way of Christ. That's his way. I am the way,
the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. The righteous man is one who recognizes that because
he is a sinner in himself, he does not dare approach God without
Christ. Without the blood. Hebrews 10.
Remember what he talks about there? How we have boldness to
enter the holiest? How? What does it say there?
You remember? By what? The blood of Jesus. Our prayers, our worship, our
praises, they come up to the Father through the Son. And without the Son, they're
nothing but a stench in His nostrils. Without the blood of Christ,
there's no hope for us. His way is the way of Christ.
His way is the way of righteousness, not in Himself. You know, it's
amazed me, especially in the last five years, And it shouldn't
amaze me. You know, men are determined
to find something in themselves that they can call righteous.
They're determined to. And they're going to theologize
and philosophize until they get it down there somewhere. And
somebody said, well, don't we have the presence of the Holy
Spirit within us? Yes, we do. And He is righteous, but He's
not me. He's God, the third person of
the Godhead. And when He saved me, when He
births me again, He doesn't change me into anything that is God
or divine. He gives me life from the divine.
I become a partaker of the divine nature, which simply means this,
that I am brought into fellowship with the divine nature. Now,
what is the divine nature? Who is the divine nature? Father,
Son, Holy Spirit. There's the divine nature. And
when the Holy Spirit brings me into a saving knowledge of Christ,
He brings me into fellowship with the Father, the Son, and
the Holy Spirit. He didn't change me into anything
divine. First of all, divinity cannot
be created, and it cannot change, and it cannot die. That's the
nature of God. But men are determined to find
something in themselves that they can call righteous. Well,
my friend, The righteous man's way is the way of righteousness
in Christ. Yes, he was made sin. Christ
was made sin. How? Our sins were charged, accounted,
imputed in. He bore our iniquities. He bore
our griefs. He died. Christ who knew no sin
for us that we might be made the righteousness of God and
never forget the last two words of that verse, in Him. In Him. That's the righteous
man. The righteous man, his way is the way of God's grace. Romans
5.21 says that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so grace might
reign through righteousness unto eternal life. Never forget these
last words, by Jesus Christ our Lord. He is Jehovah Sid Canoe. He's the Lord our righteousness.
His way is the way of grace, love, and gratitude. That's His
motive of service. That's the newness of spirit
that Paul speaks of in Romans chapter 7. in light of Christ, in the light
of the glory of God, in the face of Jesus Christ, not as mercenaries
trying to earn our way into God's favor and blessings, and not
as legalists trying to work our way out of God's disfavor, out
from under His wrath, but we serve Him as willing, loving
bond slaves. whose debt to God's law and justice
has been paid in full, and who've been given a wealth of blessings
that we can't even begin to imagine the depths of. Blessed with all
spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. An inheritance
that's incorruptible. You know why it's incorruptible?
Because you and I didn't have anything to do with it. We're
just the recipients of it. We receive it. It's one of His
making. Washed in His blood, clothed
in His righteousness. The way of the righteous man
is the way of spiritual, eternal life. It will never change. We
can never lose it because of our Savior. It's the way of truth. The truth about God. The truth
about ourselves. The truth about Christ. It's
the way of faith. It's the way of repentance. And what will
He do? He will hold on His way. Now let me give you this. Number
one, by the grace of Almighty God, the righteous man will persevere
in the faith. And why? Because of the grace
of Almighty God. He will hold his way, let me
give you these three reasons for that. Number one, he'll hold
his way, he'll persevere in the faith because of the work of
God the Father. Listen, turn over to Philippians
chapter one, look at this with me. Philippians chapter 1. This notion that men have that
you can be saved one day and lost the next, that's not the
way of the righteous. That's the way of the wicked.
It really is. It's the way of the unbeliever.
Look at verse 6. Philippians chapter 1 verse 6.
Paul writes, being confident of this very thing, that he which
hath begun a good work in you will perform it. That is, perfect
it, finish it, until the day of Jesus Christ. He'll perfect
it. He started it, he'll finish it.
Christ is the author and the what? The finisher of our faith.
Paul said, I am persuaded that he is able to keep, not only
to give, but to keep that which I've committed unto him against
that day. What have I committed unto him? My whole salvation's
committed to Christ. None of it's committed to me.
It's all committed to Christ. He's able to keep that which
I've committed unto him against that day. He's able to save to
the what? The uttermost them that come
unto the Father by Him. Look across the page there, Philippians
2 and verse 12. Here's an exhortation for believers
to persevere. And he says it this way, look
at it. Wherefore, my beloved, as you've always obeyed, not
as in my presence only, but now much more my absence, work out
your own salvation with fear and trembling. Now that doesn't
mean try to get saved by your works. It's really kind of like this,
work out of your salvation. You've been saved by grace, work
out of that. In other words, obey God, persevere
in the faith, and do it with fear, that's reverence and respect
for the God of grace, and trembling, that's knowing that without Christ
I'm nothing. But now look at the next verse.
For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of
His good pleasure." If you do persevere in the faith, if you,
like the righteous person, the righteous man, keep on your way,
then it's only because God has preserved you by His grace. That's
it. That's it. Christ said, My sheep
hear My voice. They know Me. I know them. He
said, They follow Me. He said, and no one shall pluck
them out of my Father's hand. My and my Father are one. Here's
the second reason. The righteous man will persevere
in the faith because of Christ's great work of redemption. Turn
to Romans chapter 8. His great work of redemption. Look at Romans chapter 8. Look at it. Verse 28. We know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
called according to His purpose. And listen to this, for whom
He did foreknow, that's foreordain, He also did predestinate to be
conformed to the image of His Son that He might be the firstborn
among many brethren. Moreover, whom He did predestinate,
them He also called, and whom He called, them He also justified,
and whom He justified, them He also glorified. Do you notice
that's all past tense? In God's purpose and mind and
will, it's a done deal. But go on, verse 31. What shall
we say then to these things? Well, if God be for us, who can
be against us? He that spared not His own Son,
but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him, with
His Son, freely, unconditionally give us all things? That includes
final glory. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who
is He that condemneth? It's Christ that died, yea rather,
that is risen again, who's even at the right hand of God, who
also maketh intercession for us. As long as He's making intercession
for us on the ground of His blood and righteousness, we cannot
be lost. There's therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ. Then look what he says in verse
35, Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation,
distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, sore, as it's
written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long. We're
counted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we're
more than conquerors through him, through Christ, that loved
us. For I'm persuaded that neither
death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers,
nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, depth, nor
any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love
of God. which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Now if that's not eternal
security in Christ, I don't know what is. That's why the righteous man,
as Job is saying, that's why he shall hold his way. That's his way. And then lastly,
turn to 1 John chapter 2. The righteous shall hold his
way because of the work of the Holy Spirit in us in the new
birth. and in His indwelling presence.
Over in 1 John 2 verse 18, He says this, He says, Little
children, it's the last time. And as you heard that Antichrist
shall come, even now there are many Antichrists, whereby we
know that it is the last time. Now how did John and these people
here recognize Him? Verse 19, They went out from
us, But they were not of us. Now to go out from us there means
they left the gospel of Christ. It means they apostatized. They totally left the truth.
They didn't just start going to another church. Now let me
tell you something. I don't believe in church hopping
and stuff like that. But listen, listen. Those who leave the gospel,
they leave where the truth is preached and they go somewhere
where the truth is not preached. And I know that we have to be
under the ministry that God leads us to where the truth is preached.
And he says they left the gospel. He said they weren't of us. Look at verse 19. For if they
had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us.
They would have held their way. That's another way of saying
that. The way of Christ. That they might be made manifest
that they were not all of us. That's why they went out. They
went out from us, but they were not of us. But he says in verse
20, but you have an unction, that's a power, from the Holy
One and you know all things. That's the work of the Holy Spirit
in us. He's brought us to conviction.
He said in verse 21, I have not written unto you because you
know not the truth, but because you know it, and that no lies
of the truth. The truth, you're in the truth,
and the truth has been put in you. Look across the page of
1 John 3. He says in verse 9, Whosoever
is born of God doth not commit sin. What's he talking about
there? He's talking about the righteous man holding his way.
He'll never leave Christ. That's what he means. That's
the context. Read the whole context. I don't have time to do it all
tonight. He doesn't commit sin in the sin. Hey, he's a sinner,
saved by the grace of God. He struggles with the warfare
of the flesh and the spirit, but he'll never leave Christ.
For his seed, that word seed there is his children, his offspring,
children of God. That's what that word is. Remember,
he started off this chapter saying, he said, Behold, what manner
of love the Father hath bestowed on us, that we should be called
the sons of God. We're called children of God.
Now, his seed, his offspring, his children remain in him. That's in Christ. The righteous
hold their way. And he cannot sin. He cannot
leave Christ. Why? Because he's born of God. He's born of God. Now you may
be, as a believer, you may be able to do a lot of things that
you don't, that you know aren't right. But you'll never totally
leave Christ. Not if you're a child of God.
And you'll grow. That's what he says. He that
hath clean hands, he'll get stronger and stronger. He's like the righteous,
that tree that flourishes by the waters. because of the life
he put within us and the nature of that life is such that it
must grow and by God's almighty grace he'll grow in grace and
in knowledge and in his love and his love for and faith in
Christ that's what he'll do that's what the righteous man will do
he'll hold his way he'll suffer like Job he'll go through a lot
of trials and tribulations but by the grace of God he'll hold
his way alright