Now let's turn back in our Bibles
to the book of Job chapter 2. Job chapter 2. We have seen in these opening
verses of this very intriguing book of the Bible, very good,
great book of the Bible, we've seen Job, the man, established
from the word of God that Job is a sinner saved by God's grace
in Christ. And I'll tell you, that's the
greatest thing that can be said about any of us, isn't it? Sinners
saved by the grace of God in Christ. We sing that hymn sometimes,
only a sinner saved by grace. This is my story. To God be the
glory. I'm only a sinner saved by grace. It's an amazing thing that by
the grace of God that we can sing about our sinnerhood in
that sense, isn't it? Only a sinner. Well, that's what
Job is. He's one, a man who was justified
by the grace of God in Christ, justified by the righteousness
of Christ imputed to him, which he saw as a promise given him
by God, a reality in his day, in his time. We see him as a
man of faith, for it's only by the grace of God through faith
that he can make the statements that he made from the heart as
recorded here by the Holy Spirit. Having lost all of his possessions,
saying, naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall
I return. The Lord gave, the Lord taketh
away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. The Lord himself said
of Job here in these words, there's no one else like him on earth.
What separated Job from the rest of humanity wasn't his goodness
or his worthiness, it was Christ. The grace of God in Christ. And
so when Job loses everything, he still praises God. That's
grace abounding in the chief of sinners. But here he is now,
here in chapter 2, before he was the greatest man of the East.
That's what the Bible called him. But now, here he is, we
find him a pitiful wretch, banished to the town of Dump and Dunghill. That's where he's at. And he
still refuses to curse God, even though his wife told him to curse
God, and Job still refused to curse God. What do we see there? More grace abounding in the chief
of sinners. When I think about that, I think
about what the Lord recorded in the Gospel of John. And he's
speaking of Christ. And he said in verse 16 of John
1, if his fullness have all we received and grace for grace. That's what Job is living on
here. The fullness of Christ. Not the
fullness of self. Not the fullness of this world.
That's been taken away from him. His health has been taken away
from him. He's living on the fullness of Christ and grace
for grace. That's a good biography for all
of us. Grace for grace. That's what I need. Today, tomorrow,
and however long the Lord lets me live, when I take my last
breath, it'll be grace for grace. The law can't do that for us.
He said the law was given by Moses, a mere man, another sinner
saved by the grace of God. But he says grace and truth came
by Jesus Christ. Job had a good hope of salvation.
eternal life and glory. But that does not mean, now listen
to this, that does not mean that Job has all the answers to life's
problems and all the answers to the reason why God works the
way he does in Providence. We know some things. You know
the Bible teaches that when God saves us, he teaches us. He teaches
us some things that we know. But there's still a multitude
of things we don't know, isn't there? And that's Job. Right
now, he's completely bewildered and utterly heartbroken. Now, why? Well, here in verse
11, we move into the heart of the book. And we find a series
of speeches that run from, or you might say, a series of dialogues
or debates, actually. It runs actually from Chapter
3 all the way to Chapter 31. And first we hear from Job in
Chapter 3. And then we hear from three of
Job's friends who come from afar off. And they're introduced here
in Chapter 2. And then Job responds to each
one. And keep in mind, when you read
through these chapters, And you're hearing from Job and you're hearing
from his three friends. Keep in mind there's a younger
man on the scene named Elihu. And he's listening in. And then
we hear from him beginning in chapter 32. But here's the thing
about it. All the speeches come to an end
when God speaks. When God answers Job. And all these speeches, all these
questions about why. You see, when all the speeches
come to an end and God answers Job's question, He does answer
him. And it may not be the answer that the natural man wants and
is satisfied with as to why all these things are happening. God speaks to Job from out of
the whirlwind. You probably remember reading
that in the past. And that's recorded in the end
of the book, up through chapters 38 through 41. Now, I'm going to begin here in verse
11. I want you to look at Job 2 and verse 11. And I've entitled
this message, even though I'm preaching from Job 2 and Job
3, I've entitled this message from the first line in Psalm
130. Out of the depths I cry. That's the title of the message.
Out of the depths, I cry, because we're going to see Job crying.
We're going to see him suffering. We're going to see him bawling
out of the depths of his very soul. But let's look. Here we
find, first of all, we're introduced to Job's three friends. Look
at this, verse 11 of chapter 2. Now, when Job's three friends
heard of all this, all this evil that was come upon Job, And I
want you to think, you know, this is several months later.
Job's been on this dung heap. He's been on this ash heap for
several months. They came, everyone, from his
own place. There's Eliphaz, or Eliphaz,
however you want to pronounce it. He's the Temanite. Teman
was a city in Edom, named for the grandson of Esau. And then
there was Bildad the Shuhite. He was probably... Abraham had
a son named Shuah by his wife Keturah. Maybe he's a descendant
from them, the Shuhite. We don't know for sure. It doesn't
matter. And then in Zophar, the Naamathite. Naamah was probably
in northern Arabia. And it says, for they had made
an appointment, that is, together, they had gotten together, they
heard about Job's problem, they'd gotten together to come to mourn
with him and to comfort him. Now that's why they are labeled
throughout this book as the comforters, but we're going to find the miserable
comforters of Job. Several months have gone by,
and they leave their homes to seek out their friend Job, and
they come with the intention to comfort Job. That was their
intention. And it says here, "...and when
they lifted up their eyes afar off, and knew him not..." What
he's saying here is that when they saw Job, they didn't recognize
him. This is not the same man that
they knew. He'd gone so far downhill, He's
practically starving to death. The sores on his body, I don't
know if it was leprosy or whatever, but they couldn't recognize him.
They lifted up their voice and they wept. It brought tears.
And they rent, they tore everyone his mantle, his cloak, and sprinkled
dust upon their heads toward heaven. This was that culture,
that was their way of expressing their grief and their sorrow.
and their pain. Just at the sight of Job, no
words spoken. And look at how grief-stricken
they were. Now listen to this, it says in
verse 13, So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days
and seven nights, and none spoke a word unto him, for they saw
that his grief was very great. They didn't speak for a week. I didn't think that was possible. But you think about that. Now,
there's just one thing I want you to see about this portion
here as we introduce these three friends. And they must have loved
this man, Job. And they knew him. They were
friends of his. And they came from afar off.
Traveling that day wasn't as easy as it is in our day. They
came from afar off, and they came with the intentions of comforting
him. Now, as we go into the book,
you're going to find that they really do not comfort Job at
all. They intended to. And they were
sincere about it. Look how sincere they were. They
wept when they saw him. They cried. They tore their cloaks. They threw dirt up in the air.
And they sat down there on the ground right on the same dung
heap with Job and didn't speak a word for seven days, for a
week. That's sincerity now. I don't believe they were just
playing games. But what we learn from that, turn over to Romans
chapter 10, what we learn from that is this, and it's a lesson
in the scriptures that I believe is so plain that people tend
to forget, and especially in the matter of salvation, we should
never forget this lesson, and that's this. Sincerity and compassion
will do us absolutely no good, no real good, without truth. And that's the issue with these
three men. They want a comfort job. And some of the things they
speak are truthful, but some are not. And they end up being
miserable comforters. Though sincere, though compassionate,
They had no real truth for Job. And, of course, we can see how
empty that is when it comes to dealing with each other. But
what about with salvation? People today think, well, if
you're sincere enough or if you're compassionate enough, that's
enough. Paul dealt with that in Romans chapter 10 when he
spoke of his own countrymen. Look at verse 1 of Romans 10.
He says, Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for
Israel is that they might be saved. You know, it's good. It's good for us to be able to
speak a word of comfort to our brothers and sisters in Christ.
It's good, isn't it? To be able to do that. Concerning
their salvation. And I know we can't judge each
other's hearts. I know that. But I'm talking
about as far, you know, we're commanded to receive one another. And those who don't believe the
gospel, who don't know Christ, we're commanded not to receive
them into the fellowship. We're to be kind now, we're to
be compassionate towards them, but we're to be truthful. But
it's a comfort to speak a word of comfort to each other. Comfort
and peace, you say. But what Paul's saying here is
I can't speak a word of comfort to my countrymen. in this matter
of salvation. And I'll tell you, Paul was sincere
about it. You know, over there in chapter
9, he said, I could wish myself were cursed for my countrymen
for their salvation. That's sincere. Paul wasn't just
waxing eloquent there. He was sincere. He was compassionate. He loved his countrymen. But he could not He couldn't
lie to them. He says in verse 2, for I bear
them record that they have a zeal of God. They're sincere and dedicated,
but not according to knowledge, not according to truth. He said,
what are they ignorant of? Well, they're ignorant of God's
righteousness, God's justice. You know, when we get to chapter
4 of Job, we're going to see that Eliphaz, Eliphaz, that he
was ignorant of God's righteousness too, God's justice. And what
Paul's talking about here in Romans 10 is how God justifies
a sinner. Because he'd just spoken before
about Israel trying to make themselves righteous before God by their
works. A sinner who does that is ignorant of God's justice.
He's ignorant of God's judgment. He's ignorant of God's holiness.
He's ignorant of God's way of salvation. Cain was ignorant
of that. And he says, and going about
to establish their own righteousness have not submitted themselves
unto the righteousness of God. You see, the only ones that we
can speak a word of comfort to in this matter of salvation are
those who have been brought by the Spirit of God to be submitted
to the righteousness of God. Well, what does that mean? How
do I know if I'm submitted to the righteousness of God? Well,
read verse 4. For Christ is the end, the finishing, the fulfillment
of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes. It's
to be submitted to Christ. Are you submitted to Christ?
Are you submitted to his blood as the only way of forgiveness? The only forgiveness from sin,
from God. Are you submitted to Christ as
the only way of acceptance? The only way of justification,
the only righteousness before God, or are you looking somewhere
else? Because if you're looking for somewhere else, if you're
looking to someone else or in yourself or anywhere in your
works or anything, your experiences, I've got no word of comfort for
you in this matter of salvation. But I can tell you this, you
better repent of all that other junk and run to Christ and submit
to Him. and his righteousness imputed.
Receive it by faith. Receive him by faith. Now look
back at Job chapter 3. Now, this shows us that although
Job continued by the grace of God to praise the Lord, he was
still in sorrow and grief over his earthly condition. Now we
sorrow too, but we don't sorrow like those who have no hope,
the scripture says. But let's look here in chapter
3 at Job's lament. You know what a lament is. It's
an expression of sorrow. Lamentations. Expression of sorrow. And one of the things you think
about here, you know, everything you've read about Job here, you
know, he was an upright, perfect man, feared goddess, chewed evil.
Lost everything he had, but he still praised God. Lost his health.
His wife turned against him. He still praised God. And here
you come to chapter 3, and you learn something that you knew
already. And that's this. Job is human
after all. He's human after all. And it
says in this passage, you look at it, you read it, in this lament
we see Job, now he never, now I want you to notice this as
we read through this, he never knowingly and openly curses God
as Satan's desire was. Satan said, you know, you take
all these things away from me, he'll curse you. Job never does
that. But we do see this in Job, we
see the sinfulness of human reasoning, aren't we still? subject to that
at times, and the sinfulness of human understanding in these
matters of God's providence, especially in our trials and
in our sufferings. I've told you all this before,
and I mean it. When I go through these trials of life, I never
come out feeling good about me, but I always come out feeling
better about Christ. And as Job tries to figure this
thing out and understand it, he begins to see that there's
a wall between the infinite mind and wisdom of God and his own
limited mind and wisdom. And it's a wall he can't scale
and he can't break down. And I want you to notice this
too as we read through this. This book of Job is not a lesson
in theology and doctrine. A lot of people will try to take
statements, even statements made by Job's three friends, and they'll
try to develop doctrinal positions and theologies, and you can't
do that. Sometimes what Job says and what these three comforters
say is just flat wrong. That's right. But the Holy Spirit inspired
the writer of the book of Job to record these things for our
learning. Job will be in need of correction. Job's friends will be in need
of correction. Sometimes we may even question
his faith. I've heard people say, you know,
there's an argument among some commentators over whether or
not Job was saved at the start of this book. Some of them say,
well, he was lost at the start, but he got saved at the end.
That's crazy. What does God say about him at
the beginning? He's upright, perfect, fears God. No unsaved
person fears God. Read it in Romans chapter 3.
There's no fear of God before their eyes. No unsaved person
fears God with that reverence and respect and the honor of
God's character. Job is a man of faith, but he's
still a man. We who know Christ, we're people
of faith, but we're still human beings. And we mess up all the
time, don't we? Even believers will sin in these
matters and see a need for repentance. And we'll see that God often
commends Job for speaking correctly about him, while at the same
time rebuking Job and his friends for misrepresenting the ways
of the Lord. We see Job sin vividly. But we're
also made to realize that Job is still a justified sinner.
He's justified through the merits of the coming Redeemer in whom
he's placed his trust. I know my Redeemer living. He
knew God would redeem him from his sin. He knew God's righteousness
and his people in Christ would finally be vindicated in all
these things. And he's an example. Job is an
example of us all and how much we continually Throughout our
lives even as say sinners need the grace and mercy of God in
Christ and how much We have no hope of salvation in ourselves
but only in Christ his blood and righteousness alone and So
he cries out of the depths the first thing he wishes for here
in chapter 3 is this he wishes he'd never been born Have you
ever said that I wished I'd never been born. I He says in verse
1, After this opened Job his mouth, and he cursed his day.
That's his birthday. That's what he's talking about. And Job spoke and said, Let the
day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was
said, There is a man child conceived. You know, when they come out,
and used to, it was kind of like a pleasant surprise. Come out
and say, it's a boy, it's a girl. Now you know beforehand, you
know. That's what he's saying. He said, curse the day when they
came out and said, it's a boy. Verse 4, let that day be darkness. He says, let not God regard it
from above, neither let the light shine upon it. A day of darkness. Verse 5, he says, let darkness
and the shadow of death stain it. The shadow of death, that's
a phrase that's often used in the Old Testament. Think about
Psalm 23. Yea, though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, I'll fear no evil, for thou art
my comforter. He says, let the darkness and
the shadow of death stain it. Let a cloud dwell upon it. He
says, let the blackness of the day terrify it. And as for that
night, let darkness seize upon it. Let it not be joined unto
the days of the year. Don't even put it on the calendar.
That's what he's saying there. The day of my birth. Let it not
come into the number of the months. Lo, let that night be solitary. Let no joyful voice come therein. No joy, no happiness. He says
in verse 8, let them curse it that curse the day who are ready
to raise up their morning. A lot of different views on that
verse there. You might have a concordance
in your Bible. And that phrase there, mourning, if you look
in your concordance, it might be translated leviathan. Leviathan. What does that mean? The idea here is that the powers
which hold destructive forces, that keep destructive forces
in check, like Leviathan. Now Leviathan is a mythical creature
usually, or sometimes recognized as a mythical creature, but sometimes
they apply the term Leviathan to something like the whale,
sometimes even the hippopotamus, sometimes an alligator or a crocodile. Leviathan, for example, in Isaiah
chapter 27, you don't have to turn there, Leviathan is portrayed
as an enemy of the church there in Isaiah 27, from which God
will protect his church from the destructive force, Leviathan.
And I believe what Job is saying here, he's wishing here that
The day of his birth would be a day of destruction, not a day
of life. Like Leviathan and those who
curse the day and call upon Leviathan to destroy either their enemies. In this case, Job talking about
himself. So he wishes That night on which
he was conceived would be blotted out of the historical record.
Look at verse 9. Let the stars of the twilight
thereof be dark, let it look for light, but have none, neither
let it see the dawning of the day, because it shut not up the
doors of my mother's womb, nor hid sorrow from mine eyes. He
curses the day that he was born. Why were any of us born? You
ever think about that? What purpose were we put here
on this earth? I can tell you for every one
of us. And it will be fulfilled in every one of us in one way
or another. And that is for the glory of
God in Christ. That's why we were born. You
say, well that's the right way to think. Yes it is. But Job
is not thinking right. at this point in his life and
he goes on. Here's the second thing he brings up. He wishes
he had died at birth. Well, I was born, but I wish
I had died at birth. Well, think about this. Why does
God allow any of us to live on past birth? Well, it's for his
glory in Christ. To use us for his purposes. But look at verse 11. He said,
Why died I not from the womb? Why did I not give up the ghost
when I came out of the belly? He says, why did the knees prevent
me, or why the breast that I should suck? Why did I get any sustenance? For now, should I have lain still
and been quiet, I should have slept, and then had I been at
rest. Now, Job reasons. He's saying,
well, would it not be better just to die and get it over with
than to be where I am now on this dung heap in misery? Now again, now let me remind
you, Job is not speaking theolog... you know, somebody asked the
question, well, didn't Job believe in an afterlife here? Yes, Job
believes in an afterlife, but he's not thinking about that
at this point in his life. You ever been to that point?
You're not thinking about these things theologically and doctrinally. He's... Job is thinking out of
his sorrow, his grief, his pain, He speaks of death and the grave
here, not that he doesn't believe in the resurrection of the dead
and the afterlife, he does. Again, Job 19.25, I know my Redeemer
liveth and shall stand in the latter day on the earth. But
he's looking within. He's looking within himself.
I'll tell you what, how many times we do that and find out
that's the worst place we can look. He's viewing it out of
his sorrow, and he's looking at death here, not in a theological
way, but an end to his suffering. I just want to quit suffering.
That's what he's saying. He wouldn't take his own life.
He hoped that God would take it for him and bring him to an
end of his pain. You know, he's not the only believer
who ever talked like this in the Bible. You know, Elijah talked
like that. It's recorded in Kings. Wished
I'd never been born. Wished I'd died at birth. Jeremiah,
he got so, you know, they call Jeremiah the weeping prophet.
He was so discouraged with Jerusalem and Judah in his day and he sorrowed
so much over the people that he said, I wished I'd never been
born. But what Job is going to be reminded
of is that death, just simple death, as a relief from all our
suffering and pain, is not the solution to the problem. You see, to find, really, the
only solution of finding real relief from sin and suffering
is in Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible
says in Isaiah 53, by His stripes we are healed. Now, that's not
talking about physical healing. That's spiritual, eternal healing,
where there'll be no more pain, no more sorrow, no more weeping. You see, we will die, but death's
not the answer. The grave's not the answer. Life
in Christ is the answer. This body is dead because of
sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. My hope is
in Christ and His blood and righteousness alone. Job knows that. He's just not thinking about
it at this point. He's going to be reminded. And
he's going to repent. That's why we need to repent
every day. You know Isaiah made this statement
in Isaiah 57. Look at verse, well let's read
verse 14 of Job 3. He says, He says, I'm going to
sleep and be at rest. Now, the sleep there he's talking
about is the sleep of this body in death. The soul doesn't sleep.
And he said, I'll be at rest. Rest from the pains and sorrows
of this world. The Bible does talk about resting in death,
but it's our rest in Christ. It's not just resting in the
grave. It's our resting Christ. Christ is our Sabbath. And look
what he says in verse 14. With kings and counselors of
the earth, which built desolate places for themselves, or with
princes that had gold, who filled their houses with silver. Isn't
that something? You know what he's talking about
there? He's talking about death is the great equalizer in some
ways. Men like kings and counselors,
kings, they have their kingdoms, but when they die, where's their
kingdom? It's gone. Counselors, they have their human
wisdom, but when they die, the human wisdom is gone. Princes,
they spend their lives building monuments to themselves, seeking
to amass great wealth, but it all comes to nothing. That's
what Christ... Look over at Matthew chapter
6. That's what Christ was teaching in the Sermon on the Mount. Look there in verse 19. Matthew
chapter 6. He says, lay not up for yourselves
treasures upon earth where moth and rust doth corrupt and where
thieves break through and steal. I thought, you know, every time
I read that verse, I think about those Egyptian pharaohs building
their pyramids and just stuffing them full of gold and silver
and jewels. And then thieves break in. There's
always those grave robbers. They break in and steal all that
stuff. And he says, but don't, he says in verse 20, but lay
up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor
rust doth corrupt and where thieves do not break through nor steal.
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Down
there in verse 33, he says that he says, but seek ye first the
kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be
added unto you. Where's your heart? That's the
key, isn't it? Jeremiah said, in Jeremiah 9,
let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, nor the mighty man
glory in his might. Let not the rich man glory in
his riches, but let he that glorieth, glorieth in this, that he knoweth
and understandeth me, that I am the Lord. An exercise of loving
kindness and judgment in this world. Why? That no flesh should
glory in his presence. Look back at Job 3. Look at verse
16. He's seeking relief from his
misery now. He says, or is it a hidden untimely
birth? I had not been, that is, stillborn,
or an abortion, as infants which never saw light. There the wicked
cease from troubling, there the weary be at rest." Talking about
the rest of death now. But as I said, that's not the
answer. Verse 18, there the prisoners rest together, they hear not
the voice of the oppressor. The small and great are there,
and the servant is free from his master. Master and servant
are the same in that issue. And that's right. But again,
the grave is not the answer. In fact, it's really not the
great equalizers. For those who die without Christ,
the utter horror of eternal death and perishing begins. But for
those who die in Christ, they cease from their labors. It is
a rest. It's a blessing. And there is
a freedom there, because in Christ there is no bond nor free, no
master and slave. There's nothing but freedom in
Christ. Well, look at verse 20 now. Thirdly,
Job wishes he could die then and there. All right, he said,
I wish I'd never been born. Since I'm born, I wish I'd died
at birth. But since I didn't die at birth,
I wish I could die right here and now. You ever been there? I wish I could die right here
and now. No reason to live, he says. Why doesn't God just take
us on to be with Him? Well, I can tell you why. He's
not finished with you. He's not finished with me. He'll
take you when He's finished. When His purpose is fulfilled.
But look at verse 20. He says, "...Wherefore is light
given to him that is in misery, and life unto the bitter in soul?"
Why did God even give me life, is what he's saying. Well, it's
for His glory and His good. Like I said, Job is not thinking
that way at this point, at this moment in his life. He says in
verse 21, which long for death, the soul that longs for death,
but it cometh not, and dig for it more than for hidden treasures,
like a person that's out here trying to find jewels. He said,
I'm in such a state of mind that if I'd find death, it'd be like
finding the most precious jewel on earth. Hidden treasure. That's how much he longed for
death. He says in verse 22, he says, "...which rejoice exceedingly
and are glad when they can find the grave." He says, "...why
is light given to a man whose way is hid, and whom God hath
hedged in?" Remember, Satan told God, he said, you've hedged Job
in. And God's people are hedged in by His grace and His power.
And these trials make, you know what, one old writer said, these
trials that we go through, they make us cling harder to the hedge,
to Christ. He says in verse 24, for my sign
cometh before I eat. What he's saying there is I'm
so in desperate situation, I can't even eat. And my roins are poured
out like waters. These are the moanings and the
bellowings. He says, verse 25, for the thing
which I greatly feared has come upon me. He's talking about disfavor
from God here. Job, he begins to express what
he feared most, the loss of God's favor. Now, listen, if we were
ever in God's favor, we'll never be out of God's favor in Christ.
But because of our sinfulness and our weakness, we, like even
David of old, read some of the Psalms. We fear the loss of God's
favor and we think about that. He says, He says, for the thing
which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was
afraid of is coming to me. I was not in safety, neither
had I rest, neither was I quiet, yet trouble came. He's thinking naturally here.
We do that sometimes. He's thinking back on his past
life, and he thought everything was fine. He thought he was in
safety and in rest. He thought he was settled. But
then he finds out it's all not the case. What's the problem? Well, we're seeing here Job as
a sinful human being, again a sinner saved by grace in his failures. And it's a vivid reminder of
what we are as sinners, still, even sinners saved by grace.
We continually need God's grace. We continually must look to Christ
for our hope, our peace, our safety, our quietness, our relief. When we look within, we're going
to be disappointed. And if we're not, what is that?
Self-righteousness. We must continually be brought
to repentance from ourselves. Godly sorrow over sin. Trials
like this show us what we're made of and who we are. And how
do we know what we're made of and who we are? I'll tell you
exactly how one of God's children finds out continually what he's
made of and what he's in need of when he comes to value more
and more the glory of God in Christ. And then when we see
Job in his success and his obedience, it's a vivid reminder of the
power of God's grace in Christ and that we stand in the righteousness
of Christ and not our own. It magnifies the grace of God.
As I said, trials like these bring us near to God in Christ.
They drive us out of ourselves to Him and to Him alone. And then also we see when Job
is in his suffering, it's a vivid reminder that God's in control
and that he promises to turn evil and suffering into good
for his glory and our good because why? Because Christ has fulfilled
all righteousness for us and nothing can separate us from
him. Out of his suffering comes our
forgiveness. In fact, suffering comes before
glory. That's another thing that's here.
Why? because of sin. And it shows
us that no amount of suffering that any human being can go through
can atone for our sins. Job will be glorified not because
of his own suffering but because of the suffering of Christ on
the cross to come. And so this suffering here is
a preparation for glory. That's what it is. And then We
see, by example from Job here, and I hope you've already seen
this from your own experience, I know I have, that we just are
not yet perfect within ourselves. We're continually being conformed
to the image of Christ, growing in grace and knowledge of him
who lived in affliction and sorrow under his own death forest, We
suffer for righteousness' sake. Paul wrote in Romans chapter
8 and verse 16, he said, "...the Spirit itself beareth witness
with our spirit that we are the children of God. And if children,
then heirs, heirs of God, and joined heirs with Christ, if
so be that we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified
together." Job crying out of the depths. Have you ever cried
out of the depths? Well, let me just show you this
and I'll stop. When he cries out of the depths,
here's what he says. He says, If thou, Lord, shouldest
mark iniquities, Lord, who shall stand? You know why Job was a
perfect and upright man? It's because God didn't mark
his iniquities. What does that mean? Does that
mean God was unaware of his iniquities? Oh, no. God was very well aware
of Job's frame, just like he's well aware of ours. But it means
he didn't charge him with sin. He didn't impute sin to Job.
He'd already imputed it to Christ, who would come in time and die
for those sins. And so the psalmist writes, and
I believe Job learns this even more. He knew it, but he learns
it even more. You know, isn't that something how, by the grace
of God, we keep learning what we already know? by experience,
and that's what we do. Oh, we'll learn some new things.
I know there's nothing new under the sun, but, you know, just
like one old writer said, there's no new revelation, but there
is new light, new illumination of that. We'll learn new things.
But a lot of times, we just keep learning what we already know.
That's what Job's doing. And here's what the psalmist
says. He says, but there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be
feared. There's forgiveness with God. And God's not like Job's
three miserable, comforting friends. God is a real comforter. He's not a miserable comforter.
God doesn't browbeat us. He doesn't whip us with the black
whip of the law. He just keeps on holding on and
keeps on calling us and drawing us with cords of love and grace
in Christ. All right. Let's sing, Azar. Closing hymn, hymn number 356,
Near to the Heart of God. 356. Let us stand as we sing, please.