Now let's open our Bibles to
the book of Job, chapter 4. Job, chapter 4. Well, we've, in these first three
chapters of Job, we've seen almost, you could say, a lifetime
of things that just amaze us. This man Job, one of God's choice
servants, a sinner saved by the grace of God, a sinner who was
so blessed in this life, more than any man of his day, the
greatest man of the East, and then by God's sovereign providence
and allowing Satan to test the grace of God, not only to test
Job, but to test the grace of God. God allowed Satan to bring
this man down to the lowest depths and dregs of society. The man
who had everything now has nothing. In chapter 3, he cries. Well, and through that, he still
blessed God and praised God, but in chapter 3, he cries out
of his pain and his sorrow. being the human being that he
is, just like all of us, couldn't understand what was going on,
why, and what God's purpose in this specific trial. And so he really speaks out in
his sin. We see the human side of Job. And we know that even despite,
you know, I've always said this as I read through the scriptures
and I go through my life, you know, that if God saves any of
us, he saves us in spite of ourselves. I believe that's true for every
one of us that God saves in spite of ourselves. Salvation is by
grace. And here in chapter 3, we see
Job As a sinful human being, though he is a sinner saved by
grace, though he is upright in Christ, his standing in Christ
has never changed. That's the amazing thing about
God's grace. Job changed a lot. Job's circumstances
and his situation changed a lot. But he was the same in Christ
as he always was. Upright, perfect, justified,
forgiven, blessed of God in so many ways. I was thinking about
the passage that Brother Bill read in the study out of Ezra
chapter 9, where Ezra made the statement of something like this. I'm not quoting verbatim, but
he said, whatever punishment God brings to Israel, it's much
less than what we deserve. And that's the way you've got
to look at Job. That's the way you've got to look at ourselves.
Whatever we go through in the way of chastisement in this life,
I guarantee you, I mean, you may not think that way going
through it, as Job didn't think that way in chapter 3, but it's
much less than what we deserve. We need to understand that. And
so here Job finishes his lament. And now his three friends begin
to speak. And in chapter 4, we're confronted
with a man called Eliphaz, or Eliphaz. Eliphaz the Temanite. He's probably the oldest of the
three friends of Job. And being the oldest, they consider
him the wisest. That's not always the case, but
we hope that it is. And so out of respect for him,
they allow him to speak first. And what he says to Job is important. He speaks in chapter 4 and chapter
5 before Job responds to him. He has a basis of sound reasoning,
Eliphaz does. And it goes something like this.
And we can see the wisdom in this. And here's what it says.
Righteous behavior brings forth blessing. And sinful behavior
brings a curse. Now that's so. But Eliphaz, his
conclusions and his judgments that he surmises in his human
wisdom is all wrong and flawed. You see, Eliphaz, he believes
that there's a direct connection between the degree of someone's
sin and the amount of suffering they have to endure. That's a
human reasoning there. It's not true, but it's a human
reasoning. And so he begins to counsel Job. You need to remember now, him
and the other two friends, their goal was to comfort Job. So they
think that what they're saying is a comfort, even though there
is a correction connected with it. But I want to bring this,
I want to show you where I'm going. I've entitled this message
in the form of a question. The title is, Shall a mortal
man be just with God? Shall a mortal man be just with
God? Now, that title came from verse
17, but if you'll look at verse 17 of chapter 4, it's asked in
a different way. And I didn't mess up. by titling
the message the way I titled it. Eliphaz, he asked this question.
He says, shall a mortal man be more just than God? Then he says, shall a man be
more pure than his maker? Well, the answer to that question
is unequivocally and absolutely no. A mortal man will never be
more just than God. A man, sinful man, will never
be more pure than his maker. That's a no. But I want to take
us to the question of questions that comes out of this. And that's
this. Shall a mortal man be just at
all with God? Is it possible? Shall a mortal
man be just with God? That's where I want to go with
this. So let's start in verse 1. of Job chapter 4. It says, Then Eliphaz the Temanite
answered and said, If we say or if we attempt to commune with
thee, to talk with you, to have a word with you, Job, will you
be grieved? Will you be angry? That's what
he's asking. Would you be angry if I told you some of my thoughts
and ideas? But who can withhold himself
from speaking? Now, what he's saying there is,
if I attempt to talk with you, will you be angry? But he said,
I'll be honest with you, I can't shut up about this thing. I've
got to say something here. Somebody's got to say something. And it's Eliphaz. So he says,
Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened
the weak hands. You've helped a lot of people,
Job, with your counsel, with your wisdom, with your comfort,
He says in verse 4, "...thy words have upholden him that was falling,
and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees." What he does,
he commends Job for helping others. And the language here, you know,
you've heard this, you've probably heard this language before about
instructing many, strengthening weak hands, strengthening the
feeble knees, the weak knees, people under trial and under
grief, under duress, they get weak knee, they can't stand up,
They become physically involved. Turn over to Hebrews chapter
12. Paul uses this language when he's talking about the chastisements
of God upon his people. And he says very plainly, and
very, very well here as he's inspired by the Holy Spirit,
that if God loves you, if Christ died for you, If you're a sinner
saved by the grace of God, a true child of God, then you're going
to be chastised. That's a given. And he says if
you're not chastised, now what is chastisement? Understand that
first. You know, chastisement is not
punishment in the way of payment for sin, you see. And that's
important when we come to the book of Job. Job was not paying
for his sins. Let me tell you something. If
you can pay for your sins, you're your own redeemer. But you can't
do that. I can't do that. It's impossible
for us to pay for our sins. Now there is a payment to be
made. But you can't do it. And I can't do it. That's why
death and hell are eternal in that sense. But chastisement
is not punishment in the way of payment for sin. It's the
punishment. It's the correction. In fact,
it might even be a better word. It's the correction of a father,
a loving father, to his children. And that's what he does. It's
correction. And if you're a child of God, you're going to be corrected.
You need corrected. I need corrected. We're going
to be corrected. Sometimes those corrections come
in the form of harsh punishment. Sometimes it's a light punishment.
But this is what he says here, and he says in verse 11, look
at Hebrews 12, and he says, if you don't have that chastisement,
that's a sure sign that you're a bastard, not a son, an illegitimate
child. That's what that means. You're
not really a child of God. Those whom God loves, He corrects.
He chastens. And it's for their good and His
glory. But look at verse 11. Now listen to this. He says,
Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous. When you're
going through that correction, it's not a happy time. Job is
not happy here. Read chapter 3 again. He's not
on some religious drug. He's not in some kind of euphoria.
He's not saying put on a happy face no matter what you... Job
is hurting. He is hurting. Just like you
would be hurting and I would be hurting. Just like we have
hurt and we'll hurt again. He's hurting. And he's not... Listen, you might fool people
with this false religious facade, but you can't fool God, can you? He sees the heart. But it's not
joyous. He says, but grievous, burdensome,
verse 11 there, Hebrews 12, it's grievous. But he says, nevertheless,
afterward, after you go through it, it yieldeth the peaceable
fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereof.
And you know what that peaceable fruit of righteousness is? It's
when you emerge from that trial as you are brought through by
the grace of God, you emerge from it. Loving Christ more,
valuing Christ more, resting in Christ more. That's what that
is. It's not self-righteousness.
It's not, well, God put me to the test and I passed. No, it's
my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness.
And look what he says in verse 12. He uses the same language
that Eliphaz used. Wherefore, for this reason, lift
up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make
straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned
out of the way, but let it rather be healed." And that's a recognition
that this is good for me. Job's going to come to that.
You'll get through 40 chapters before you see it, but he's going
to come to that. Go back to Job 4 now. So Eliphaz
begins with a commendation to Job. You've helped a lot of people. You've strengthened a lot of
people. You've helped a lot of people lift those weak hands
and straighten those weak knees. You've been a comfort to many
people. You've pointed them to Christ.
That's what we do when we comfort them. I know we try to say the
right things. You know that sometimes we don't
know the right things to say when somebody's going through
trials. Sometimes it's better just to shut up for seven days
like these fellows They should have shut up for another seven
and in that view of things But but you know, sometimes we don't
know what to say, but we do know that by the grace of God We'll
get through and that's it That's it. It's not our strength It's
not our power is it? But look at verse 5. He says,
But now it is come upon thee, and thou faintest. You're giving
up, Job. Now, Job didn't give up, but
his language sort of indicates that, doesn't it? He says, It
toucheth thee, and thou art troubled. And I thought about that when
I read it. I said, Well, son, don't you realize what happened
to this fellow? What happened to Job? And he says in verse
6, is not this thy fear, thy confidence, thy hope, and the
uprightness of thy ways? Now, he begins here with a reference
to Job's esteemed reputation, and then he insinuates that Job
is a hypocrite. That's what he's saying here.
You've helped a lot of people, now it's happened to you, and
look what's going on with you. He's saying Job does not practice
the things that he's taught others. He's saying, Job, you don't practice
what you preach. You ever been told that? Somebody
told me that one time, and I said, well, I preach salvation by the
grace of God. And that's our practice, isn't
it? We don't always live up to the
things of God's Word. But what he's saying here is,
Job, you're a hypocrite. Now, Job wasn't a hypocrite.
He still had confidence in God. We can read other passages in
the book of Job. I've quoted this one so many
times, Job 13 and 15. He said, though he slay me, yet
will I trust in him, though he slay me. In Job 19 and verse
25, I know my Redeemer liveth. And that he shall stand at the
latter day upon the earth, and though my skin, after my skin,
worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God,
whom I shall see for myself personally. And mine eyes shall behold, and
not another, though my reins be consumed within me." You see,
Eliphaz, I believe he's going at this wrong. He's saying, Job,
is not this thy fear, thy confidence? Is the fact that you fear God
your confidence? We do fear God. If we've been
born of the Spirit, we fear God. No man by nature fears God. There
is no fear of God before their eyes. But if we're born of the
Spirit, we believe God. We rest in Christ. We trust God. We worship Him. We serve Him. Not perfectly. Not perfectly,
so as we cannot have any confidence in what we do, even as we're
empowered by the Spirit. And Paul said this, he said,
it's Christ living in me anyway. Whatever I do, it's not me. I'm
just the instrument. But it's Christ in me, living
through me. And what is our hope? Well, it's
not the uprightness of our ways, We should strive to be upright
in all our ways, but that's not our hope. Our hope is Christ.
Our confidence is Christ. And that's what Job says. But
Eliphaz is turning it around. And look at verse 7. He says,
Now remember, I pray thee, whoever perished being innocent, and
where were the righteous cut off? Now hold that thought right
there. Whoever perished being innocent,
or where were the righteous cut off? And he says, verse 8, we'll
come back to that in just a moment, but look here. He says, even
as I have seen they that plow iniquity and sow wickedness reap
the same. Now you know what he's saying
there. He's using that axiom. What you sow, so shall you reap.
Paul spoke of that in Galatians chapter 6 when he was talking
about giving to support the ministry. It's what he was talking about.
And he was talking about sowing to the truth. And I know false
preachers have taken that to a new science, haven't they?
Sowing your seed and all that. Well, we do so to the Spirit
when we support the gospel ministry, when we support the truth, evangelism,
the church, whatever. In that way, in the truth, we
do so to the Spirit and we'll reap the Spirit. Because that's
salvation. And it's not conditional salvation
there at all. Because what we sow to and what
we support is salvation by grace, not by works. It's not our sowing
that earns salvation for us, you see. It's our sowing that
evidences our love for Christ and his truth. But Eliphaz speaks
the truth here, doesn't he? Look at verse 9. He says, he
says, "...by the blast of God they perish, and by the breath
of his nostrils are they consumed." He contends that Job's troubles
are the result of some secret sin. And he uses that, what you
sow, so shall you reap, to back it up. Now again, understand
now what I'm saying here. It's true that what we sow, so
shall we reap. But it's not true, and you know
it's not true from God's Word, that we always reap suffering
in this life in direct proportion to our sin. Now if that were
true, there wouldn't be a one of us in this building or outside
this building who'd be able to walk in this world and hold our
heads up. If we always suffered in direct proportion to our sin,
we would be, Job chapter 3 would be our lives. That'd be our lifestyle. That'd be our, that'd be it.
Yes, we would never as, and if that, listen, if we always suffered
in proportion to our sin, then why does the question, why is
the question posed in Scripture, why do the heathen prosper? David
asked that question, didn't he? Now it's true that sin brings
death, but it's not true that every single sin is met immediately
in proportion with what it deserves. And thank God, isn't that right?
We who know our sin, who know ourselves. And you know what
this does? It really shows us the foolishness
of trying to understand the ways of God and the sufferings of
others through the lens of our own limited understanding of
this world and everything. You see, Eliphaz, he's like Job. He didn't know anything about
the heavenly court. God and the sons of God coming
to give their account and then Satan being summoned He didn't
know anything about what was going on behind the scenes. You
see, it's like that tapestry illustration. You've heard that.
You know a woman who sews a tapestry. If you looked underneath it,
and when she finishes the tapestry, you look underneath it, all you
see is a bunch of garbled colored threads with no pattern. But
if you can look on the top of it, you see everything coming
together in its pattern. You can make out the shapes,
you can tell what it is. But see, in these matters, what we're
doing is we're looking up at the bottom of the tapestry. It
seems all confused and garbled to us, but we don't see what's
on top. God's purpose, God's plan, God's
providence, God's way. And so Eliphaz is speaking from
the bottom up, not from Godward down. And therefore his advice
to Job is utterly self-centered and natural. Turn over to John
chapter 9. Look here. Now this is the natural
man's thinking. Right here. Listen to this. This
is the disciples. This is how we all think by nature
and this is why we must all be taught of God in every area. Not just in salvation. That's
the main area. But in all areas. Look at John
chapter 9 and verse 1. Here it says, as Jesus passed
by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. Now listen to
this. This is his disciples. His disciples
ask him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man or his parents,
that he was born blind? See, they're using the same philosophy
that Eliphaz the Temanite is using. Well, look at the answer,
verse 3. Jesus answered, neither hath
this man sinned, nor his parents. Now, was he saying this man and
his parents were sinlessly perfect? Well, you know better than that.
That's not what he's saying at all. Every man and woman born
of Adam is born in sin. We were ruined by the fall and
we're ruined in our birth. Isn't that right? We come forth
from the womb, speaking lies." Sinful, fallen human nature.
But what he's doing, he's answering their question. There is no specific
sin that you can point to that he did, certainly, or his parents. This fellow was born blind from
birth. What sin could he have committed?
But neither his parents. But now look at his answer now.
He says, Jesus answered, neither hath this man sin, nor his parents,
but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. That's
why he was born blind. that the works of God should
be made manifest in him. Do you know why Job is suffering
like he's suffering? That the works of God may be
manifest in Job. Eliphaz didn't know that. He's trying to make a direct
correlation. What you sow, so shall you reap, Job. You must
have done something. You must have done a humdinger
of a sin to get where you're at, fella. We got to just figure
out where it's at. We'll look back at Job chapter
4. Now verse 7, look at verse 7. He says, Remember I pray thee,
whoever perished being innocent, or where were the righteous cut
off? Technically speaking, this is a clear statement of the absolute
justice of Almighty God, right there. And shows that God must
always act according to His holy law and justice in all things.
Whoever perished being innocent? No one. Who was ever cut off? Where were the righteous ever
cut off? Never. In that sense. Think about it. This is a statement of God's
justice. Think about this. Let me give
you these things. Let me read you some scripture.
Let me read you one in Revelation chapter 21. Verse 27. Let me ask you a question. Who's going to enter heaven?
Who is going to enter heaven? Listen to Revelation 21 and verse
27. Now this supports what Eliphaz
says here about the justice of God. Now Eliphaz is applying
it in a wrong way. He is now. But the statement
itself, standing on its own merits, is true. God is a just God. He does not punish the innocent,
and He does not cut off the righteous. It says in Revelation 21 and
verse 27, talking about heaven, talking about the presence of
God, it says, "...there shall in no wise enter into it anything
that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh
a lie, but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life."
What's he saying there? You've got to be perfect to enter
heaven. I've got to be perfect to enter heaven. That's a given. God cannot accept anything less. Now listen to this. Turn to Proverbs.
Look at Proverbs chapter 17. These are statements of absolute
fact. And here it is. Look at Proverbs
17, and I'm saying this in light of a lot of different confusions
and heresies that are going around today. Listen, God cannot and
will not pretend that a sinner is righteous and justify that
sinner. God cannot justify the ungodly. If God, listen, if God declares
you righteous, you know what that means? That means you're
righteous. That's exactly what that means.
Look at Proverbs 17 and verse 15. It says, "...he that justifieth
the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are
an abomination to the Lord." God's absolute justice in all
things. And then, consider this. God
cannot condemn a just man. He cannot slay a righteous man.
He cannot punish an innocent man. You know, Abraham dealt
with that when he met the angels. They were going into Sodom. He
said, will you punish the righteous with the wicked? Shall not the
judge of all the earth do right? Scripture says. Romans chapter
2 says, God always judges according to truth. He will not slay the
righteous with the wicked. And then, here's the thing. Look
across the page there from Proverbs 17. Look at Proverbs 16 that
I read. Now here's the issue now. Here's
where it's coming to. This is for Job and his situation.
This is for you and me and our situation. The only possible
way for a man, a mortal man, to be just with God, for the
unclean to be made clean in God's sight, is for God himself to
find a way in mercy and in truth to make a sinner perfectly righteous.
God has to find a way. Look at Proverbs 16 and verse
6. Listen, it says, By mercy and
truth iniquity is purged. Not just by mercy now and not
just by truth. But by mercy and truth iniquity
is purged and by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil.
You see that? And then the passage that Brother
Jim read, Psalm 85, let me just read that to you there. Psalm
85 and verse 10, or verse 9 rather. Listen to what he says there,
Psalm 85 verse 9. Surely his salvation is nigh
them that fear him. Job was a man who feared God,
wasn't he? And glory may dwell in our land. Look at how he says,
here's God's salvation. Mercy and truth are met together. They've got to be consistent.
They've got to come together. They've got to be reconciled.
Mercy and truth. God's mercy to sinners and God's
justice to sinners. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other. They've embraced. He says in
verse 11, how's that going to happen? Well, truth shall spring
out of the earth. Who's that? That's the Lord Jesus Christ.
and righteousness shall look down from heaven." Who's that?
That's the Lord Jesus Christ. God in human flesh. He's from
heaven. He's the Son of God. The second
person of the Trinity. He sprung out of the earth. He
was made of the seed of woman, according to the flesh. He came
to this earth and He suffered and bled and died. He kept the
law perfectly and based on the sins of His people, charged,
accounted, imputed to Him, That innocent person was made guilty. When God punished his innocent
son, it was for the guilt of his people charged to him. And
God was just in doing so. He didn't condemn the innocent.
Christ was made sin. He didn't become a sinner. He
wasn't made a sinner. There was no sin infused or imparted
to him. But he was cursed. He was made
a curse. under the judgment of God for
our sins charged to him. And he died and he was buried
and he sprung out of the earth in his resurrection because he
brought forth an everlasting righteousness of infinite value
whereby God could be both merciful and truthful to himself. And
there's the answer. Now go back to Job 4. Now look at it, verse 10. Eliphaz makes this point, he
says, "...the roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce
lion, and the teeth of the young lions are broken. The old lion
perishes for lack of prey, and the stout lions' whelps are scattered
abroad." What he's saying here, he's using kind of like an illustration
to show that not even the fiercest of beasts can escape God's judgment. You see, even the strong and
upright Job has been brought down and punished for sin. There's
no man or woman that's above this, you see. And then listen
to what he says in verse 12. Now listen to this. He says,
Now a thing was secretly brought to me, and mine ear received
a little thereof, in thoughts from the visions of the night,
when deep sleep falleth on men. You know what he's saying there?
He said this information was brought to me in a dream. I saw
this in a dream. And he says in verse 14, and
he claims all this come to him in a dream, but we'll see he
speaks things that are opposed to God's word. He says, fear
came upon me in trembling, which made all my bones to shake, and
then a spirit passed before my face, the hair of my flesh stood
up. This is real. You ever heard people say, I
had a dream and it was real? That's what in life has to say.
This is real. He says in verse 16, it stood
still, but I could not discern the form thereof, this spirit
that passed before his face. And the image was before mine
eyes, there was silence, and I heard a voice saying..." Now
here's what he heard in his dream. Verse 17, "...shall a mortal
man be more just than God? Shall a man be more pure than
his maker? Behold, he put no trust in his
servants, and his angels he charged with folly." That's speaking
of the fallen angels. How much less in them that dwell
in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed
before the moth? They are destroyed from morning
to evening, they perish forever without any regarding of it.
Doth not their excellency which is in them go away? They die
even without wisdom." Now again, he claims he saw all
this in a dream. You know, in the Old Testament,
there were times that God did reveal things to his prophets
in dreams and visions. The problem is, is this. Whatever
is revealed in this dream or vision, is it consistent with
the Word of God? Isaiah recognized the need for
that. Isaiah 8.20, he said, "...to
the law and to the testimony, if they speak not according to
this word, it is because there is no light in them." Jeremiah
recognized that when he stood against the majority of false
prophets. And he said this in Jeremiah
23, he said, The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell his
dream. And he that hath God's word, let him speak God's word
faithfully. What is chaff to the wheat, saith
the Lord. Here's what Eliphaz claimed to
have heard. He's telling Job, Job, in questioning
your situation the way that you did in chapter 3, you're questioning
the justice of God in punishing you. As if to say, you're a better
judge than God is. Well, shall a mortal man be more
just than God? And the answer's no. Absolutely
not. God is more just. God is just. Let God be true. And every man
of what? A liar. That's the situation,
isn't it? He says, all these things that
you're complaining about, you're complaining against God. Well,
the issue that's raised, as I said, the answer to the question Eliphaz
poses is no. No, mortal man will never be
more just than God. Man, sinful man, will never be
more pure than his maker. But let's consider this, as we've
already talked about. Shall mortal man be just at all
with God? Is that possible? Notice he says
there in verse 17, mortal man. You know what mortal means? That
means death. Dying. Mortal man speaks of man
under sin. In death, the wages of sin is
death. Man fallen in Adam. That's what
mortal man speaks of. Ruined, ruined by the fall. In
the day that you eat thereof, dying thou shalt die. Mortality. For as by one man sin entered
into the world, and death by sin, for that death passed upon
all men, for that all sin in Adam. By one man sin entered
into the world. Mortal man. Mortal man speaks
of man by nature, dead in trespasses and sins, ignorant in darkness.
No eyes to see, no ears to hear, no heart to love and understand
the truth of Christ. No will to come to Christ. Now
man by nature thinks he's more just and more compassionate than
God. He does. That's why Paul raises
those objections in Romans chapter 9 when he speaks of the sovereign
electing grace of God. First thing man does, oh that's
not right, that's not just, that's not fair. Mortal man does think
he's more just than God. But he's not. But shall mortal man be just
at all? You know, mortal man is man getting
just exactly what he deserves. Isn't that right? The wages of
sin. Can a mortal man be just? How can God be both a just God
and a savior of mortal man? We've already read it. God will
by no means clear the guilty. By deeds of law, mortal man shall
not be just with God. By deeds of law shall no man
be justified in his sight. David said it, if thou, Lord,
shouldest mark iniquities, who shall stand? No mortal man. No
mortal man. David wrote in Psalm 143, listen
to this, Hear my prayer, O Lord, give ear to my supplications,
in thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness thy
justice, and enter not into judgment with thy servant, for in thy
sight shall no man living be justified. That's mortal man. How is it possible for mortal
man to stand before God, justified, righteous, not guilty in God's
sight, and have life, immortality? Isn't that right? Mortal man,
what does he need? He needs immortality. How does immortality come? It
comes through righteousness. Mortal man has none. He has none. He can work none. The best of
mortal men cannot be righteous. before a holy God. Therefore,
the best of mortal men in himself, in themselves, by their best
works, can only achieve mortality. Am I right? Turn to Romans chapter
4 with me. Now remember David said, we read
this last in the last message, I believe, in Psalm 130. You
turn to Romans 4. Out of the depths I cried. That's
David's cry in Psalm 130, like Job's cry in Job chapter 3. And he said, Lord, if thou, Lord,
shouldest mark iniquity, who would stand? Now, you know what
that tells us? The only hope for mortal man
to be justified is for God some way in His justice not to mark
iniquity. Now what does that mean, mark
it? It means mark it down. It means put it on your record.
It means hold it against you. It means charge it to you. It
means impute it to you, account it to you. You owe it. It's on
your record. Mortal man. Well, listen to what
David says in verse 6 of Romans 4. Even as David also describeth
the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth, charges, accounts
righteousness without works. Now, whose righteousness do you
reckon God accounts to his people? It's the righteousness of God
revealed in the gospel. It's the righteousness of His
Son, for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to
everyone that believeth. And then he says in verse 7,
saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose
sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute, charge, account, sin. Who do you think
God accounts them to? Who do you think He charges them
to? He must give, He must, listen, Without shedding of blood, there's
no forgiveness. God doesn't just not account
them to you, then throw them up in the air somewhere. He's
got to put them somewhere. And I know that kind of language,
you know, we've got to be careful. Sin's not a substance or anything.
He's got to lay it to somebody's charge in order for Him to be
just, in order for Him to do what He said there back in Job
4 and verse 7. He's got to do something with
the sins of his people, his elect, his church, his sheep. They've
got to be paid for. There's a debt that must be paid.
Justice must be satisfied. He's going to show mercy, but
he's got to do it in truth. Now, what's he going to do with
it? For he made him sin, Christ who knew no sin, that we might
be made the... for us, that we might be made
the righteousness of God in him. He laid them to the account of
His dear Son. He gave them to Christ. And the
preaching of the gospel is infiltrated at the heart of it with the preaching
of that great exchange, that substitutionary work of Christ
wherein He who was made sin died the death of His people, mortal
men and women, His elect, His sheep, satisfied the justice
of God, and brought forth righteousness whereby God could be just and
save such sinners. And in the preaching of that
gospel, light and life and immortality is revealed, 2 Timothy 1, 8-10. That's it. Now shall a man, a sinful man,
be more pure than his maker? Turn to Hebrews 10 and then I'll
quit with this. Hebrews chapter 10. You see, this is the way. You
see, these are the issues that are at the forefront of the book
of Job and that come to the forefront through his suffering. Job is
a man in need. We all are. He was a mercy beggar. We all are. But look at Hebrews
chapter 10. How then can a man be just with
God? How can he be clean that is born
of woman? Who can bring a clean out of
an unclean thing? Not one, Scripture says. Man's
born in sin. Shall a man be more pure than
his maker? No. But shall a man be pure at all?
Well again, not by his works. But how? How can God be just
and righteous and true to himself and still purify, cleanse a sinner? Well, look at Hebrews chapter
10 and look at verse 10, talking about the death of Christ, the
offering of Christ, by the which will we are sanctified through
the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every
high priest standeth daily, ministering and offering oftentimes the same
sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this man, this
person, this God-man, after he had offered one sacrifice for
sin, sat down on the right hand of God, from henceforth expecting
till his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering
he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified." That's
how. Through the one offering of Jesus
Christ. for his people. And as a result
of that, look down at verse 19, he says, "...having therefore,
brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,"
there's the way, "...by a new and living way, which he hath
consecrated," that's he's the one who made it, he's the one
who did it, For us, as our substitute, through the veil, that is to
say his flesh, and having a high priest over the house of God,
let us draw near with a true heart, an honest heart, a purified
heart. How? Purified by faith in Christ. The blood of Christ, the heart
purified by faith, in full assurance of faith, looking to Christ,
resting in Christ, having our hearts sprinkled Now what's that
sprinkling? It's by the blood of Christ.
That's the application of the reality of His death for our
sins from an evil conscience. What's an evil conscience? It's
an unbelieving conscience. It's a legal conscience. It's
a conscience that condemns because you haven't done enough. But
you see, that true heart is a convicted heart. It's a contrite heart,
it's a broken heart that comes in full assurance, not of have
I done enough or I have done enough, but comes in full assurance
of knowing that Christ has done it all. He's done it all. And that's why Job said, I know
my Redeemer liveth. And he'll stand in the latter
day and I'll see him with my own eyes. All right.