Now I want you to turn back in
your Bibles to Job 16. Last time I concluded the message
with these last few verses beginning at verse 19 of Job 16. And you
know there's no break here. The chapter division here is
just for our convenience so that we can quickly find these Scriptures. But there's no break here. This
is Job's answer. to Eliphaz, his friend who tried
to comfort him but in a way that really put a burden upon Job
with false religion, false notions of God, misrepresentations of
God. You know, at the end of the book
of Job, the Lord tells his three friends. He says, you have not
spoken that which is right concerning me, concerning God. And I want
to go down into verse 17, but I want us to go back up to verse
19 of chapter 16. I've entitled this lesson, My
Record in Heaven. My Record in Heaven. And I'll
tell you something, I hope that I can deliver this message with
the zeal that I had in studying for it. Because this is something,
I'll tell you. To me, you know, there are a
lot of doctrinal truths that set Christianity apart from the
rest of the world's religion. We can talk about a lot of things
there, couldn't we? Certainly we could talk about
the glorious person of our Savior. That'd be at the top of our list,
wouldn't it? He is both God and man in one
person. We're Christians, we follow Christ,
who is Emmanuel, God with us. And we could talk about God's
sovereignty in creation, His sovereignty
in providence, and especially His sovereignty in salvation.
We could talk about the doctrine of total depravity. And you know,
I know that's a big term, you know, people may not understand
it, but understanding sin is essential to understanding our
need of grace. I heard a message one time on
total depravity and the title of the message went like this,
why do I need salvation by grace anyway? Well, it's because we
are by nature dead in trespasses and sins. And that certainly
sets the truth of what we believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ
and the Word of God apart from the rest of religion, man's natural
self-righteous religion which speaks up and speaks, talks up some spark of
goodness in man, some spark of that preachers or philosophers
or some kind of a guru needs to flame, you know, to get people
to make the right choices in life. And they call that salvation.
So we could talk about that. But this truth here tonight,
my record in heaven, I believe is one of the most glaring examples
of what sets true Christianity apart even from false Christianity. It's so connected to the sovereign
grace of God in Christ. And it's something we're going
to see that the natural man cannot and will not receive. You know,
the natural man can give mental agreement to a lot of truth.
But I believe this point right here pretty much stops him in
his tracks. You know, we know it takes the
Spirit of God to bring a sinner to bow. Bow to Christ and bow
to His truth and His Word. That's regeneration. That's life
from the dead. And so we could talk about that
too, but let me give you an example. You know, I was listening to
a message on this, and the preacher that I was listening to, it was
a good message, but he made this statement, and I call it the
understatement of understatements. He said this, three words, God
transcends us. God transcends us. Now, that's
an understatement, isn't it? You say, well, what does that
mean? Well, that means simply God is high above us, isn't He? God is so high above us. Paul,
he wrote about it by inspiration of the Spirit in Romans chapter
11 when he talked about, oh, the depth of the riches of God's
grace, His ways past finding out. The question was posed in
the book of Job. Can a man by searching find out
God? And even, listen, many things
we cannot know and I believe we'll never know about God because
God is always God. And even in glory, when we are
in perfection within ourselves, have perfect minds, perfect hearts,
perfect eyes. John spoke of that in 1 John
3. He said, we'll see Him as He is. What do you mean? We see
Him now. But as Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians
13, we see through a glass darkly. But then, when we're glorified
with it, we'll see Him perfectly with unhindered eyes. But still,
even then, with a perfect mind, perfect bodies, that never gets
sick again, there'll still be a limitation on us because we'll
never be God There'll still be a transcendence about God that
we'll never fathom. And we'll spend eternity glorifying
Him and worshiping Him in Christ. So there are a lot of things
we cannot know about God. But what we do know, now we do
know some things. The Bible says that. That's not
me just saying that. The Bible says that. In fact,
John said it this way in 1 John 2. He said we know all things.
You know what he meant by that. He didn't mean we know everything.
He means we know all things that are vital and revealed for salvation
concerning how God saves sinners, concerning Christ and who He
is. But what we do know, God has graciously and powerfully
revealed it to us. He's taught us. Now, He uses
a clay pot to do that. You know what I'm talking about,
don't you? We have this treasure in earthen vests. He uses a man,
a preacher. to teach us these things. He
uses human beings that He sends and equips with the gospel to
do it. But He's the one doing the teaching, and if He isn't,
you won't learn it savingly. That's right. You won't know
it savingly unless God teaches you by His Spirit. Now here's
Job. Job did not know many things. In fact, we read Job's response
to these men, and we see that he's ignorant of a lot of things.
He's ignorant of what went on in Job chapter 1, when Satan
came and challenged the Lord God. And God said, have you considered
my servant Job? Job doesn't know about that.
We do. We have that advantage over Job. Because God's revealed
it to us. It's in His Word. I can take
you there and read it. You read it. Job didn't know that. And
here he is. who was once the greatest man
of the east, the richest man, the wisest of men, and now out
there on the dung heap, the ash heap of the city of us, and he
just doesn't know why, why, why, why. A lot of things he doesn't
know about God. You know, people People get bogged
down in a lot of things that they can't know. I hear arguments
all the time over how do you reconcile the sovereignty of
God and the responsibility of man. We don't have to reconcile
them. The Bible says both are true.
And we're to go on and live our lives with responsibility, knowing
that the secret things belong to God and the revealed things
belong to us. I know this. God is sovereign.
And God holds me accountable. Now I know both those are true.
And I can spend my life to the point of getting a headache about
it and die, and I'm still going to find out both are true, and
I'm still going to be just as ignorant as I was trying to reconcile
things which I view as an enemy, which I shouldn't. And I shouldn't. So Job, he's wrestling. He's
struggling. He's groping in the dark here. and i'll tell you we would do
the same we do the site in a lot lighter affliction that what
joe but here's one thing that joe net and this is what i want
major on that here's one thing he knew he knew that he needed
a savior a substitute an advocate Now that's what he knew. Look
at it in verse 19 of chapter 16. He says, Also now, behold,
my witness is in heaven, and my record is on high. I'm appealing
to God here. I'm appealing to heaven for my
record. Eliphaz and Bildad and Zophar
had brought charges against Job. They charged him. Satan had already
brought a charge against Job. What was the charge? He's a hypocrite.
He's only serving you because you make Him rich, you make Him
healthy, you give Him all these good things. Anybody would serve
you for that, wouldn't they? He's only serving you for what
He can get out of you. But you take it all away, He'll
curse you. He charged Job. He challenged God, but He charged
Job. Challenge the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ, the grace of God in Christ. And so Job is under
the charge. of men. He's under the charge
of Satan. And so he says, my witness is
in heaven, my record is on high. Verse 20, my friends scorn me,
my friends deride me, but mine I pour without tears unto God.
I'm throwing myself at the mercy of God, like that old publican,
God be merciful to me, the sinner. That's the only hope we've got.
That's the only way we can go as sinners and find help. And
then he says in verse 21, listen, Oh, that one might plead for
a man with God. I need a media. I need somebody
better than me, somebody greater than me, somebody higher than
me. to stand between me and God and
plead my cause as a man pleadeth for his neighbor or his friend."
And I told you last time, when I saw that, I always think about
Christ being called the friend of sinners. Your master eats
with publicans and sinners. What kind of man is he? He's
the friend of publicans and sinners. That's what he knew. He knew
his record is in heaven. And his record had to be manifested,
had to be dealt with through a mediator, a substitute, an
advocate. That's what he knew. And this
is what he says now, look at verse 22. He says, when a few
years are come, then I shall go the way whence I shall not
return. He's talking about death here. Job felt like he was dying,
he was going to die, and I can understand that. He was sick. God had allowed Satan to take
away his family, take away his possessions, and then take away
his health. And he says, I'm going the way
of death. I'm not going to return to this earth. He says in verse
1, look at chapter 17 now. He says, my breath is corrupt. And what he's saying there is,
I've suffered so much I can't even breathe. That's what he's
actually saying, literally. My days are extinct. The days
are gone to me. The graves are ready for me.
It's like the earth's going to open up and swallow me, see?
Graves are ready. That's what I'm looking... As
far as this life is concerned. Now, Job's not talking about
eternal life here, because he'd already said, my record's in
heaven. He'd already answered the question, if a man dies,
shall he live again? I'm waiting for the change. But
he's talking about life on this earth. Now, do you understand
that? Job doesn't understand what's happening to him. He's
groping in the dark and he sees life here on earth as nothing
but the desire of the grave. And he says in verse 2, he says,
are there not mockers with me, men who mock me? Doth not mine
eye continue in their provocation? All they do, they claim to be
comforters. They claim to be wise advice
givers, advisors. But all they do is provoke me.
All they do is bring corrupt things into my mind. And I'll
tell you what those corrupt things actually do. And this is something
we can learn here. The corrupt things that men and
women bring to us, either by way of charges or by way of advice,
thinking they're comforting us, are the things that will take
our minds and our hearts and our eyes away from Christ and
Him crucified and risen again. You see, their message was, Job,
get your eyes on yourself. You know what? That's the worst
place we can get our eyes on. If we want hope now, If we want
peace, if we want assurance, if we want salvation, if we want
comfort, if we want instruction, the worst place I can look is
to me. Now, there's nothing wrong with self-examination, but that
self-examination is meant to drive me more to Christ. And
then look at what he says in verse 3. Listen to this. He says, Lay down now. Now, he's
praying to God here. and he says lay down now put
me in a surety with thee who is he that will strike hands
with me you know what he's saying there he's saying God lay down
a pledge for me with yourself in other words he's appealing
to God's pledge here that's what he means that's what it literally
means he's appealing to God's promise that is wrapped up not
in Job's condition, and it's not founded upon or conditioned
upon Job's goodness or power or faithfulness, but it's all
in God. It all has to do... It's an appeal
for God's promise and pledge of a security. That's what he
means there when he says a surety. Put me in a surety with you. I want security through a surety
based on the nature of God. put me in a surety with thee,
with God. And when he says there, who is
he that will strike hands with me? He's actually making a statement
there. And he says, who but... it really
should read something more akin to this. Who but God can accomplish
this and strike hands with me? In other words, the striking
of hands is the striking of hands between the surety and the one
he's standing for. So he's saying, who in the world
could put up security for me but God alone? Man can't do it. So he cries out for his surety.
Job knows the surety. He knows him as Messiah. That's how Job knows Christ,
the Messiah, the Anointed One. The one to be sin of God. How
do you know Job knew that? He says he knew it. And then
his worship by sacrifice. The sacrifice of a substitute. The blood sacrifice. So in essence,
Job knew the Lord Jesus Christ. There were some details that
he didn't know because they hadn't been revealed yet. But he knew
the surety. He knew what had to be done.
He knew the surety had to come and sacrifice Himself and satisfy
the justice of God for His sins. That's what that sacrifice, that
worship by sacrifice, calling upon the name of the Lord by
sacrifice meant. You see, Christ is the surety
of God the Father's appointed. He's the one mediator between
God and men. He always has been, always is,
and always will be. There never has been another.
Christ is the one who himself engaged himself and agreed to
be the surety of the better covenant. Book of Hebrews says that. And
this was known to the Old Testament believers, the saints who had
been regenerated and converted by the Spirit. It was known to
Job, testified and manifested through his worship, through
sacrifice. And his prayer was the prayer
of faith here. I need a surety. Lay down a promise, a pledge
for me according to thy nature and put me in a surety with thee. Christ has been surety for His
people from eternity. Do you realize that? He's been
a surety for His people. When God chose us before the
foundation of the world, He chose us in Christ. And in essence,
by promise, Based on the future work of the surety, He blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ
Jesus. We speak of a salvation that
was given us in Christ Jesus, that means His suretyship, security,
given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. That sets us
apart from the rest of this world, doesn't it? He drew nigh, Christ
drew nigh to God on our account. And He struck hands with His
Father. That's covenant language. When
the striking of hands here means a covenant. Well, this is the
everlasting covenant of grace. This is the covenant of redemption.
He agreed with the Father and the Holy Spirit in the salvation
of His people and the way it was to be accomplished through
His death on the cross. He gave His Word as our surety. And He's faithful to His Word.
Great is thy faithfulness. Let God be true and every man
a liar. He never went back on His Word.
He posted His bond. That's Himself. He gave Himself. The Father gave up His only begotten
Son for us. He gave His bond to His Father
for us, that He'd save us. And upon that promise of surety
shipping, the engagement of Christ, all the Old Testament saints
were pardoned, justified, and certain to be glorified by that
promise in that surety. He promised and bound Himself
to pay all our debts, to satisfy the justice of the law for all
our sins to bring in an everlasting righteousness for us even Jeremiah
called him the Lord our righteousness David prayed and wrote that our
righteousness is of God and to bring us all safe to glory in
time he put himself in our room in our stead as our substitute
and he laid down his life a ransom for us and upon that basis here's
this man thousands of years before that actually took place in time,
saying, and with every believer, who else but God could or would
do that for me? An undeserving, wretched sinner
like I am. Job knew his record was in heaven,
and that he knew his record in heaven could only be secured
in Christ His surety. Turn over to 1 John chapter 3
that I read. I told you I'd connect this.
And I want you to see this. A lot of people get so confused
about this chapter. And I understand that. But you
see, that's why I said this about this truth setting true Christianity
apart from the rest of religion, false religion, all of false
religion. Here's the fact of the matter.
And here's what Job is actually saying, I believe, when he says,
oh, that one might plead for a man with God. This is what
Job means when he claims to be righteous. He's not claiming
to be a perfect man in this world and in himself. He's claiming
perfection in Christ. And here's the fact of the matter.
God sees no sin in His people according to our record in heaven
if we're one of His. Now get hold of this. I'm going
to tell you something. I've studied them. I've studied
religion until I'm sick and tired of it. I've studied world religions. I've studied denominations. Now
get hold of this. I hope this gets hold of us.
That's what I hope. According to our record in heaven,
We're sinners now, but according to our record in heaven, before
God Almighty, God sees no sin in His people. Look at 1 John 3 and verse 1. Behold, what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us. That we, what's John saying? Sinners, like us, like me, like
you. should be called the sons of
God. It might be conceivable to be
called the captive of God, or the slave of God, or the conquered
of God, but the son? Be called a son of God? To be
a full-fledged son who has an inheritance, who has all the
rights of sonship that we should be? What love that is! And he
says, therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
Why? Why didn't Eliphaz and Bildad
and Zophar recognize Job's standing in Christ? Same reason that people
don't know what a real Christian is today. They don't know us.
They don't know our Lord. What's a real Christian to people?
Somebody that does what they're supposed to do or joins the church
or gets baptized or reformed or something like that. Nothing
wrong with any of those things in and of themselves except joining
a church and getting baptized if you do it for the right reason
where the gospel is preached. But you see, he says in verse
2, look here, 1 John 3, Beloved, now are we the sons of God. That's
not something that we have to achieve We're already there. Christ said in John chapter 8,
if the Son, the Son of God sets you free, you're free what? Indeed. And it does not yet appear what
we shall be. You can look at me, I can look
at you, and you can talk about perfection in yourself all you
want, but I don't see it, and I could talk about it too, and
I know you don't see it in me. It doesn't yet appear what we
shall be. Perfect, perfect body, glorified, But we know, now here's
something we know, now how do we know it? By God's revelation
that when he shall appear, Christ shall come again and we shall
be like him, perfectly conformed to the image of Christ. David
said it, I'll be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness. For
we shall see him as he is. We'll see him in the perfection
of glory. That's what it's talking about.
Not through a glass darkly. now look at verse three and every
man that hath this hope in him in Christ if you have that hope
in Christ that's what he's saying here if you and I have that certain
assurance of glory in Christ we purify ourselves even as he
is pure in other words we align with Christ we're washed in his
blood and clothed in his righteousness And then he says in verse 4,
whosoever committeth sin transgresses also the law, for sin is the
transgression of the law. That's the definition of sin.
Now, in the context, John, the Apostle John, is speaking specifically
of those who apostatize from the faith. Now he's speaking
of those specifically. They had at one time had a profession
of faith in Christ, but for whatever reason, being seduced away by
false preachers or being torn away by persecution, they had
left the gospel, totally denied it, and turned against it. That's apostasy. And that's the
specific sin that he's talking about throughout this chapter.
But if you want to know the definition of sin, it's transgression of
the law. You see, you can't keep the law. I can't keep the law. We must have one to stand in
our place, one to plead for a man with God, who is our friend,
who is our surety, to keep the law for us. you say and so look
what he says in verse 5 and you know that he Christ was manifested
to do what to take away our sins that's why he came to take away
our sins now he says and in him is no sin in Christ is no sin
now the Bible tells us that in Christ personally there is no
sin that's true But the crux of what's being spoken here is
this. And how do I know that? Well,
look at it. Look at it again. Verse 5. And you know that He
was manifested to take away our sins. Now what does that mean?
Well, as we stand in Christ, as we are considered in Him,
washed in His blood, clothed in His righteousness, in our
case, according to our record in heaven, there is no sin. That's what that means. And then he says in verse 6,
whosoever abideth in him sinneth not. Now there's two ways that
can be looked at. If you abide in him, you'll never
leave him. Job says that on over in chapter
17 when he says, the righteous also shall hold on his way. He'll
persevere in the faith. I'll get to that another time.
But it also means this, as long as we're in Christ, here's our
record in heaven, no sin, no charge, righteous in Him. And let me tell you something
now, this is what sets true Christianity apart, that'll never change,
it cannot diminish, it cannot end, it's the righteousness of
God. And He says, whosoever sinneth,
He could be talking about unbelief. He could be talking about apostasy.
Have not seen him, neither known him. Now go back to Job 17. You see, there is much sin in
us. And I'll tell you what, you can't
read the book of Job and know that this man is a sinner. And yet he cries out, my record's
in heaven. Think about it. There is much
sin in us, even as sinners saved by the grace of God. 1 John 1 says, if we deny that,
we call God a liar. There is much sin done by us,
even as sinners saved by the grace of God. Yet, in Christ,
our surety, according to our record in heaven, God holds no
sin against us. David knew that. You know how
he stated it? Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord imputeth not iniquity. He knew that was the non-imputation
of sins. And he knew it was real. Christ, our surety, came into
the world to destroy sin, to purge, remove, and take away
the sins of His people. And I'll tell you what, He's
done it. For He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified."
He purged our sin by Himself. He purged our sins. We read it
in Hebrews 1, 3. And then He sat down at the right
hand of God. And He ever lives there to make
intercession for us. He finished it. He got the job
done. He didn't do His part. And the rest is up to you. I heard a preacher say one time,
he said, if it's true that God has done His part and the rest
is up to you, then there's no use praying to God for the salvation
of sinners. Pray to the sinner, because the
rest is up to Him. You know, that's true. Why pray to God? He's done all
He can do. That's not the God of the Bible. The God of the
Bible is our surety. Think about this. My records
in heaven is yours. What does your record say? What
does my record say? It says all the sins that I've
committed, all the sin, my sin was imputed, charged, laid upon
Christ. He was made sin. He bore them
in His own body on the tree. He endured and satisfied the
wrath of God for them and He carried them away. He bore them
away. He redeemed me from the curse
of the law. He made an end of my sins. He
justified me, sanctified me by His blood. My sins are so completely
blotted out that He does not remember them. That's the way
He put it. So as to charge me with them. I'm in Christ. I am righteous in Christ. And I don't have to blush to
say that. Now, if I said I'm righteous
in myself, I ought to be red-faced. But I'm not. I'm righteous in
Christ, by His righteousness imputed. That's my record in
heaven. How do I know that? God said
it. It's not feeling now. As God
looks upon His people in Christ, He cannot find a single sin for
which to punish us with eternal death. Christ took our eternal
death. We stand before God in all the
perfection and all the worthiness of the Lamb of God slain from
the foundation of the world. Accepted in the Beloved. That's
the way Paul wrote it in Ephesians 1. And that's a position of favors
it can't be improved on. To try to improve on that is
to deny it. If righteousness come by the
law, then Christ is dead in vain. If you be circumcised, Christ
the prophet you know. You see, to try to improve on
that is to deny him. That's unbelief. That's what
Job's friends are trying to get him to do. Now, you need to improve
on that, Job. That's a denial of our surety. And it can never
be diminished. Job's complaining, Job's ignorance,
Job's groping in the dark. Can't diminish it. And it cannot
end. And this is what the natural
man cannot understand. Look back at Job 17, look at
verse 4. Now the natural man cannot get a hold of that. Because
of self-righteousness and ignorance. And he says here, he says, for
thou hast hid their heart from understanding, therefore shalt
thou not exalt them. Job's friends, they couldn't
do this, they were sinful men, and they were without understanding.
You see, to be ignorant of this is to be lost. To be ignorant
of this is not to be exalted. You see, the sinner, saved by
the grace of God, whose sins were put away by Christ on the
cross, that sinner is exalted in Christ. But he says, you've hid this
from their heart, from their understanding. Christ said in
Matthew 11, 25, He said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven
and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise
and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Those who see
their sinfulness, and their total dependence upon God for salvation.
And then he says in verse 5, He that speaketh flattery to
his friends, even the eyes of his children shall fail. Now
that flattery that he's talking about here is the false gospel
of salvation as the reward of works. That's what Eliphaz and
Bildad and Zophar are peddling here to Job. Salvation, blessing,
favor with God, as the result of your works. And that's flattery. You know what flattery is? That's
false compliments. You tell a sinner that he can
earn or deserve God's salvation, God's favor, God's blessings
by his work, that's the highest form of flattery that you'll
find. In fact, this could read that way. False messages, false
gospels, you might say. And so that's flattery, that's
self-righteousness, you see. And he says, if that's the case,
even the eyes of his children shall fail. What he means is
light will be cut off from the eyes of his children. What's
he going to teach his children? Salvation by works. Well, my
friend, that's not light, that's darkness. What are you going
to teach your children? Teach them to look to Christ.
Tell them the truth of salvation by God's grace in him. Look at
verse 6. He said, He hath made me also
a byword of the people, and aforetime I was as a tabret. Now Job is
complaining here. And he's talking to God in his
prayer. and he's saying God has made me the object of scorn and
ridicule and that when he says before time I was as a tabret
that's literally I was people I was one who people spit at
that's what that literally means they spit at him they scorn him they spurn him And then look
at verse 7, he says, Mine eye also is dimmed by reason of sorrow,
and all my members are as a shadow Job could hardly see for crying.
Nothing but a shadow of his former self. You know, this proves here
that the fact that God sees no sin in us according to our record
in heaven in Christ doesn't in any way imply that we don't sin
or that God fails to observe it. We're still sinners. And we still suffer some of the
consequences of sin in our physical bodies. That's what Job's talking
about. You see, our record in heaven is not a matter of our
condition here on earth. It's a matter of divine justice.
The record books of heaven record no iniquity against God's people
in Christ, no transgression, no sin. Who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who
can condemn us? It's Christ that does. God will
not impute sin to His people, His saints. He will not require
satisfaction to the law from His saints. Christ, our surety,
accomplished that, and that's recorded in heaven. Our sins were made His and were
justly imputed to Him when He was made sin for us. He paid
for them. Our sins have been forever wiped from the book of
God's offended justice by our Savior's precious blood. And
therefore, what Job is going through is by no way a satisfaction
to justice or a payment for sin. Christ has, by the sacrifice
of Himself, put away our sins, all of them, past sins, present
sins, future sins. They were charged to Him, laid
upon Him, punished in Him, put away by Him. And He made an end
of them. And in Him we're fully justified
from all things, so much so that the eyes of God's holy law and
justice, we have no sin. All of that. Look at verse 8. Job says, upright men shall be
astonished at this. And the innocent shall stir up
himself against the hypocrite. An upright man in the Bible is
a justified sinner. One who stands in Christ, saved
by grace. True believer. And even we as
believers will be astonished at these things. Look at what
Job's going through. What is that all about? If we
didn't have chapters 1 and 2, we'd be just as ignorant about
the whole thing as Job. Think about the things in the
Scripture that astonish us. Think about the things about
ourselves that astonish us. I mean, it's amazing, isn't it?
He said, the innocent shall stir up himself against the hypocrite.
What he said, innocent describes those who are so in God's sight
by His grace through Christ. And what he's saying is they
won't agree with Job's friends. They'll stand against that self-righteous
message. There are a lot of things we
don't know, but we know this, our salvation is by God's free
and sovereign grace in Christ. You know that, don't you? I know
that if God were to ever give me what I've earned, or what
I deserve, it would be eternal damnation. Verse 9, the righteous
also shall hold on His way. What is His way? It's the way
of grace. It's the way of Christ. His way is the way of righteousness
in Christ. It's the way of faith. It's the
way of repentance. What he's talking about, he'll
persevere by the grace of God. He'll hold on for dear life.
That's what he means. Hold on for dear life. There's
a rough ride in store for us. We're going through a wilderness
now. It's a rough ride. But God's on the throne. Our
record is in heaven. God will not let His people go.
and will hold on for dear life. And he that hath clean hands
shall be stronger and stronger, clean in the sight of God." That's
the product of God's grace in Christ. That's our cleanliness,
His blood washing away our sins. The cleansed heart is the heart
that's being convicted of sin and driven to Christ. The conscience
that's being cleansed by the blood of Christ. And what he's
saying is those who have such clean hands, they'll be stronger
and stronger, they'll grow in grace and in knowledge of our
Lord and our Savior. They'll look to Christ more,
they'll cling to Christ more, they'll love Christ more, they'll
trust Him more, and they'll see they need Him even more and more
throughout all these rough things that we have to go through that
we don't know much about. But he contrasts that with the
wicked. Look at verse 10. But as for you all, do you return
and come now? For I cannot find one wise man
among you. Job's talking to his friends
now. He said, come back, try it again. I don't see any wisdom
there. He says in verse 11, my days
are past, my purposes are broken off, even the thoughts of my
heart. Talking about this life now. You make plans in this life,
don't you? You have goals in this life.
Well, so did Job. You have thoughts about things
in this life. So did Job. But he's saying now
it's all gone. The things of this life that
I thought about, hoped about, had goals set for, he says in
verse 12, they changed the night into day. The light is short
because of darkness. In other words, it's getting
darker and darker. If I wait, the grave is my house. The longer
I live, it's still going to be the grave. I've made my bed in
the darkness. I've said to corruption, thou
art my father to the worm, thou art my mother and my sister.
I'm set for death. That's what he means there. I'm
going to die. And then he says in verse 15, and where is now
my hope? As for my hope, who shall see
it? Talking about the hopes and dreams of this life now. He said,
they shall go down to the bars of the pit when our rest together
is in the dust. Me and my hopes. Me and my dreams. We all rest together in the pit,
they're gone. That's what he's contrasting
here. What's Job saying? He's saying there's no hope in
this life. Even if you're a healthy person, a wealthy person, even
if you're on the mountaintop, there's still no hope in this
life. The hope that his friends offered
him, that's a dead hope. Their hope was a dead hope. What
is our only hope? Well, my record is in heaven.
That's my hope. My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness. And I dare not trust the sweetest
frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. And on Christ the solid
rock I stand, and all other ground is sinking sand. All right.