Alright, back in Job chapter
one. The title of the message this
evening is, A sinner justified in Christ. A sinner justified
in Christ. Now for many of you that may
seem like a statement of the obvious. Because If there is
any sinner justified at all, he's justified in Christ. Isn't
that right? There's no justification before
God. What is it to be justified? It's
to be declared not guilty. It's to be righteous before God. And the only way that can take
place, according to God's word from Genesis to Revelation, is
by the grace of God in Christ. But the reason I I wanted to
deal with these first five verses as we embark upon our journey
through the book of Job. I believe it's necessary if we're
going to understand this book and the message of God for us
in this book and in the experiences of Job, the words of Job, even
the words of his three miserable comforter friends. and later
on a man named Elihu, we're going to have to understand exactly
who God says Job is. And I put it that way, not just
who Job is, but who God says he is. Now that's what we have
here in these first five verses. Who does God say that Job is? How does God view Job? Because
what he writes here, I mean, some of these things that you
read about Job here, man can see. I mean, you know, you've
got a man here who had 7,000 sheep. You can't hide that. You had a man here who had, it
says, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, that's 1,000 oxen, because
a yoke makes two. Pulling together. 1,000 oxen,
all of these things. 500 she asses, a very great household. In verse three there, that word
household refers to his fields, actually. It's all that he owned.
Not just the big house on the property, but everything. And
it was great. You can't hide that. So men do
see some of these things. But who is this man, Job? There
was a man, look at verse one, there was a man in the land of
Uz. As I said last Wednesday, we don't really know where this
land is. We, somewhere in the Middle East,
maybe Northeast Arabia, Northeast of, maybe in Syria, some say
around Damascus. We don't know for sure, but that's
not important. We know that he was born and raised on this earth
and that means he was born dead in trespasses and sins. That
means he's a fallen son of Adam by nature, Job was. Nothing special
about Job as to his nature because the scripture says that we are
all born dead in trespasses and sins if we're born of Adam. The
only one who was ever born who was not born that way is our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who's the seed of woman He wasn't
born of Adam, he was born of a virgin, conceived in the womb
by the Holy Spirit. Job wasn't like that. Job was
just like me and you, in that sense. And so he was born, and
then, land of us, his name was Job. I told you, Job, the name
means persecuted. That's what it means. And of
course, we can certainly see how that fits with Job. I'm sure
that God, in his providence, gave Job that name for a purpose.
And he says here about Job, he says that this man Job was perfect
and upright. Now this is how God describes
him. This man was perfect and upright.
And I know this because in the next message when Satan is allowed
an audience with God, when the Lord says, have you considered
my servant Job? And then how he describes Job
there, but he says he's perfect and upright. What does perfect
mean? It means complete. Job was a
complete man, that's what it means. Now, no sinner by nature
is complete. People talk a lot today about
the number six, six, six, six, that's the number of man. It
represents incompleteness, imperfection. Seven is completeness. Seven
is perfection. Man, by nature, will always be
a six. He'll always be incomplete. The
only way he can become a seven, be complete, is in Christ, who
finished the work. And remember I quoted Colossians
chapter 2, verses 9 and 10. You know what that says? In him,
in Christ, dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Now what
that means is, in the person of Christ, in the God-man, So
this is talking about Christ as mediator in Colossians 2 there. In the God-man dwells the completeness,
the complete perfection of the Father and the Son and the Holy
Spirit. No imperfection, no incompleteness
at all. Just completeness. So in Christ
dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily and then it
says ye, that is, his people, His church, His sheep, are complete
in Him. So that when we consider Job's
completeness, if we're going to interpret Scripture with Scripture
and understand this man, then we understand that his perfection
here, his completeness here, is in Christ. This is his standing
before God in Christ. And then it says he's upright.
What does that mean? That means straight. He was a
straight man. And that means he wasn't crooked
and perverse. Now what is that talking about?
It's just another way of speaking of the fact that he was a man
justified before God. So perfect and upright speaks
of his standing before God in Christ. And then it says, and
one that feared God. Now to fear God here, as you
know in the scripture, it doesn't mean this is not a phobia fear,
that kind of fear that that makes a person afraid in terror so
that he runs away from God. Adam and Eve had that fear when
they fell. They hid, you see. And that's
why man, man's natural fear of God, what does it lead to? It
leads to like false religion. He tries to hide behind the fig
leaves of false religion because he's got a phobia. It's a fear
of the wrath of God and a shamaness. But now this fear here is the
fear That's the beginning of wisdom. It's the fear of faith. It's a reverence and a respect
for God. And what this speaks of is the
work of the Holy Spirit in Job. This speaks of, here's a man
who's been born again by the Spirit, regenerated, converted
by the Spirit. Perfect and upright speaks of
his standing before God in Christ. That's the work of Christ for
Job. Feared God and is chewed, that
means he avoided or departed from or even hated evil, speaks
of the work of the Holy Spirit in Job. The work of Christ for
Job, that's the ground of his salvation. The work of the Holy
Spirit in Job, that's the fruit of his salvation. So he feared
God. He worshipped God. He respected
God. Now this is, as I said, this
is God's assessment of Job. And I mentioned this Wednesday
night when I introduced Job, how so many commentators, when
they go to that verse, they speak of Job's reputation in the community,
Job's honesty in business, and I don't doubt one moment that
Job was a reputable honest man, hard-working man, responsible
man. That's what we all should be. That's not the issue here, but
yes, should a believer be an honest person? Yes, the most
honest person you can find. Should a believer be a hard worker,
a moral person, an honorable, yes, yes. But you have to understand,
this is not speaking of Job's view, the view of men of Job
in the community. He did have a good reputation,
you'll see that later. This is speaking of how God views
Job. This is speaking of the same
thing we talk about in Romans chapter eight when we say, who
shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God that
justifies. In other words, God's the one
who did this. It's God who did it. That's why for the life of
me, I can't understand these fellows running around here talking
about the doctrine of imputation as if it's some kind of a fake
or legal fiction. Because it's something God does,
and in doing so, he justifies the sinner. And I'll tell you
what, God doesn't do anything fake or fictional. If God looks
at Job as a perfect and upright man, let me tell you something,
Job is a perfect and upright man, whether you see it or not,
or whether I see it. You're gonna see a lot of imperfections
in Job as you read through these scriptures. You're gonna see
a lot of flaws in this man, a lot of weaknesses, as we do all of
us. But God says of him, he's perfect
and upright. And let me tell you something
too, if you don't know this already, it'll bog your mind. Whenever
we go through the book of Job and you see all of his flaws
and all of his weaknesses and all of his sins, his standing
before God doesn't change one iota. And you know why? Because Christ doesn't change
one iota. We have an advocate with the
Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. Now, somebody says, well, how
do you know all that, preacher? Well, listen to me now. Here's
Job. A man, just like any of us, born
of Adam. What does the scripture say about
all men and women without exception born of Adam? I could take you
through Genesis to Revelation. I'm not gonna do that, don't
be afraid. But just think about this one. Let me give you one
example. Galatians 3.22. Paul quoting from the Old Testament. And here's what he says. He says,
the scripture hath concluded. Now what scripture is Paul talking
about? He's talking about the Old Testament. He's mainly talking
about the first five books, the Law of Moses, but he's talking
about what the prophets taught too. The scripture hath concluded
all under sin. All under sin. Now Paul didn't
say, by inspiration of the Spirit, that the scripture hath concluded
all under sin except Job. Now did he? No, it says all under
sin. That includes Job, if Job's part
of that all there. And he says, in order that the
promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. Now who is that? That's the people
of God. That's the elect of God, redeemed by the Lord Jesus Christ.
The scripture says in Romans chapter 3 and verse 10, there's
none righteous, no not one. That is man by nature. Does that
include Job? Yes. All have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. Except Job? No, Job too. That's it. It says in verse 20
of Romans 3, just read it a while ago. Therefore by deeds of the
law there shall no flesh be justified in God's sight for by the law
is the knowledge of sin. Job is not an exception to that.
And this brings us back to the question of all questions that
lies at the heart of the gospel that's posed two or three times
in the book of Job Twice by Job, once by one of his friends. And
that's this, as Job said it in Job chapter nine and verse two,
I know it is so of a truth, but how should man be just with God? How is that even possible? If
you ever come face to face with that question, realize you're
coming face to face, that you can only find the answer in the
gospel of God's free and sovereign grace in Christ. And then one
of Job's friends, a man named Bildad, in Job 25 and verse 4,
he asked it this way, he says, How then can man be justified
with God? And he went on to say this, he
said, Or how can he be clean that is born of woman? Now, was
Job born of woman? That is through man now. Yes,
he was. How can such a man be perfect
and upright? How can he fear God and His true
evil, being dead in trespasses and sin? I'll tell you how. It
takes a sovereign work of God's grace in Christ. And that's the
only way. Job was complete and justified
before God. He was a sinner saved by the
grace of God in Christ, the promised Redeemer. And it wasn't by his
own works. You see, this book is all about
our need of God's grace in Christ. This book, including Job, is
about our need of the forgiveness of our sins, which can only come
through the blood of the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ.
This book, including Job, is all about our need of a righteousness
that we cannot produce, one that must be produced for us by a
Redeemer. assurity, the grace of God. So he was perfect. He was complete. He was a sinner saved by the
grace of God. And he was straight. He came
to God through the only way, the straight and narrow way,
which is Christ. And he was a sinner saved by
grace. He was one that feared God and
eschewed evil. He had faith in Christ. He looked
forward. by promise to the coming Redeemer. Now before I move on, I want
you to go back to Romans chapter three. I want to answer a question
that has come up, and that's this. Now here's Job. Mentioned Wednesday night that
some people, and I believe they're right, consider Job to be the
oldest book of the Bible. Job himself may have been a contemporary
with Abraham. may have lived during that time
I know he lived during the times of the patriarchs we can see
that in verse 5 but but he lived back then so that means he lived
a thousand years or more before the coming of the Lord Jesus
Christ now Job is a sinner was a sinner justified in Christ
washed in the blood of Christ, clothed in the righteousness
of Christ. Now, how can that be when Job lived a thousand
or more years before Christ actually came and died on that cross?
That blood wasn't even shed yet. The righteousness wasn't even
established yet. That didn't come until Calvary.
Now how can Job be justified by that which was not yet performed
in time? And I'll tell you why. How? There's
two things you've got to keep in mind. Number one, you've got
to keep in mind the covenant of grace. That's number one. There was a covenant made before
the world began. between the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit. It's called the everlasting covenant
of grace in which the Father chose a people and gave them
to the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And here's the second thing you've
got to understand. In doing that, Christ, the Son
of God, the second person of the Trinity, was made the surety
of the covenant. He's the surety. He agreed to
all the terms of the covenant. Every condition, every qualification,
every stipulation, every requirement to save those people whom God
chose and gave to Christ was placed squarely upon the shoulders
of the Lord Jesus Christ as surety. And therefore comes the promissory
note, you might say. The promise. God promises to
save sinners in Christ alone. Now let me ask you this question.
or read these verses. Was there ever any doubt that
that promise would be fulfilled? Absolutely not. That's why David
could lay on his deathbed and say the Lord has made a covenant
with me that is ordered and sure in all things. That's why it's
called the sure mercies of David. It was so sure and certain that
the Son of God would become incarnate and walk this earth and keep
the law perfectly and die on that cross that God applied it
by promise to every one of the Old Testament saints. They were
justified by Christ based upon what He would accomplish on Calvary
in their day. And that's what Romans 3 is saying
here. Look back at Romans 3 and look at verse 24. Or 23, he says, all the sin that
comes short of the glory of God. And he says, being justified
freely, without a cause, unconditionally. However Job was justified, it
was nothing in Job, just like us. Just like us after the cross. We're justified in the exact
same way, based on the exact same ground. Christ and Him crucified
and risen again. And he says, by his grace, through
the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Now that redemption in
Job's day had not actually taken place in time. Christ had not
yet paid the price. But there was a promise from
a holy God that he would do it, and there was a surety already
set up. And based on that promise, God
justified every one of those Old Testament saints. Look at
verse 25. Whom God hath set forth. Now if you've got a concordance
in your Bible, look and see what that word set forth actually
means. That phrase set forth actually
means. If you've got it. If you don't, here's what it
is. It's foreordained. Now what does that mean? That
means it was set up before the world began. That's covenant
language. There's the covenant. And it says, to be a propitiation. What is that? That's a satisfaction.
Christ was set up before the foundation of the world, even
before Job was ever born, even before Adam ever fell, Christ
was set up to be the satisfaction, the sin offering, the sin bearer. The sins were imputed, charged
to Him. And it says, through faith in
his blood, that is, his death, to put away those sins and establish
righteousness, to declare God's righteousness, God's justice,
in justifying the ungodly. Remember the question, how can
a man be just with God? Right, here's the answer. Job
knew it, even though it had not yet taken place. You know what
Job said in Job 19? He said, I know my Redeemer liveth,
and he'll stand on the earth in the latter day. He's talking
about Christ. Job saw that. And it says to
declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are
past. What's he talking about? He's
talking about Job. He's talking about Abraham, Moses,
David, Enoch, Abel, the whole hall of faith in Hebrews 11.
He's talking about every one of those elect of God in the
Old Testament. who were justified. He looked
at Noah. He said, Noah, this day has God
seen you righteous. In this day. How? Based upon
what Christ would come and do as our surety. For the remission
of sins that are, and it's through the forbearance of God, through
the long-suffering of God. Why didn't God just, God just
kill them all? Because he made a covenant. Based
upon the work of a surety who would come and do the work, his
wrath would fall upon Christ. And all of it, verse 26, to declare,
I say at this time, his righteousness that he might be just and the
justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Now here's what I'm
saying. Job, the first way he's identified
in this book, in scripture, is he's identified by the grace
of God in Christ. His standing in Christ. He was
a man of faith. He feared God. He was a man of
repentance. He eschewed evil. He believed
Christ. He repented of dead works and
idolatry. He looked for the coming of the
Savior by the sure promise of God. And God justified him based
upon the work of a surety to come. It was a promise. And there
was never any doubt that it would ever be accomplished. That's
how Job was justified. Now look back at Job chapter
one. Now Job, we can see already he was blessed spiritually. He was blessed just like you
and I are blessed if we're in Christ. Blessed with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. And I'll tell
you that's enough. But Job was a man whom God blessed
materially here on this earth. And abundantly. Listen to what
he says. It says, there were born unto
him, verse two, seven sons and three daughters. And his substance
also was 7,000 sheep and 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500
she asses and a very great household. So that this man was the greatest
of all the men of the East. He was, whatever, however much
Job had, he had more than anybody in the East. God says that. I believe that's literally true
of Job. I believe he was the richest
man of his day. The richest man of the land.
And in every way, and the indication here is that Job used it wisely. He used it honorably. The indication
here is that he was blessed, that he was a hardworking man,
that he was an honest man. But you and I know there are
a lot of hardworking, honest men that don't have hardly anything.
But God blessed this man. And Job used it wisely. In fact,
you could say, I believe from the context here, that Job was
a man who was a good steward of the grace of God and the things
that God gave him. He used his substance to glorify
God. He was like, he took the advice
like the preacher in Ecclesiastes, you know, that it's not wrong
for a man or woman to enjoy their labor here on earth, but you
enjoy it in a way that honors God. You enjoy it in a way that
recognizes God for who he is. And that's the issue here. So
he was, he was the richest man. You think about that. To be justified
in Christ and to be the richest man in the world, my soul, there
was nobody better off than Job. Ain't that right? Nobody better
off than Job. Both in this world and the next.
But look here, it says in verses four and five. Now here is the
reality of Job's salvation. and I want you to see this. It
says his sons went and feasted in their houses every one his
day. In other words, it seems like
his seven sons took turns, and whenever it was one's day, then
he had the feast, and the other's day, they had the feast. And
then it said and called for their three sisters to eat and drink
with them. Now we don't know a whole lot
about Job's children. We know this, they were grown
They had families of their own. But we know this too, during
the age of the patriarchs, the male head of the family was the
priest of the family and he offered sacrifices for the family. Look
at verse five. It says, and it was so when the
days of their feasting were gone about that Job sent and he sanctified
them. Now that means he set them apart.
He set them apart in a specific way. What it means, it doesn't
mean he made them holy. No man, a man can't even, we
can't make ourselves holy. There's no way I can make you
holy. And I know there's a lot of mythology and religion about
that. Like you can go to some man and
he can put his hand on you and make you holy. Even the apostles
could make men holy. Now they could transfer spiritual
gifts. In that sense, they couldn't
make you holy before God. They couldn't purify you. Like
I said, man can't purify. So what does it mean he sanctified?
It means he set them apart. Now, how did he do it? Well,
listen to it. He says, Job sinned, he sanctified
them. Now, how did he do it? He rose
up early in the morning and he offered burnt offerings according
to the number of them all. He offered burnt offerings for
them. That's how he sanctified. That's how he set them apart.
Now you know what that burnt offering stands for, but hold
on to that thought, we'll come right back to it. He says, now
listen, now why did Job do that? Now these were grown men who
had their own families, and you know it says when they ate and
they drank, then they asked their three sisters. Apparently, apparently
the three sisters, either they weren't married or if they were
married, they had husbands that weren't devout, didn't fear God.
We don't know for sure. But here's what it says. Here's
why Job did what he did. Job offered burnt offerings for
his children. And he did it, it says, for Job
said, according to the number of them all, for Job said, it
may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts,
thus did Job continue. Now what does he mean by that?
You read that, what do you think of? It may be that my sons have
sinned. I'll tell you, I believe the
Lord has blessed me with two great sons. But I don't go around
saying it may be they have sinned. I know they have. And I believe Job knew that too
about his sons. He knew they were sinners. We're
all sinners. Like I said, there's only two
kinds of people here on earth. You're either a sinner lost in
your sins or a sinner saved by the grace of God in Christ. That's
it. That's the only two. So what does he mean? It may
be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts. That's
important. Now, what's Job saying here?
He's not doubting whether or not his sons are sinners. Yes,
they're sinners. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. He's talking about something specific that
is connected with the offering. And under God's rule and commandment
at that time, during the time of the patriarchs, the male head
of the household was to be the priest of the family and he was
to offer burnt offerings before the Lord for the sins of his
family. And I believe what he's saying here is he believes his
sons just didn't care anything for that. They didn't do it. They cursed God in the, you know,
that's what it was. You know, when Cain, now think about it.
When Cain, you know, Abel and Cain. Cain brought the blood
of the lamb for a burnt offering, didn't he? What was Abel saying when he
brought the blood of the lamb for a burnt offering? He was
saying, Lord, I'm a sinner. I have no right to come before
you. If you gave me what I deserved,
I would be damned forever. Lord, I need a mediator. I need
a substitute. I need a righteousness I can't
produce. I'm looking to Christ. You know
what Abel did when he did that? He honored God. He honored God,
didn't he? He, as one old writer put it
this way, he ascribed to God the honor of every attribute
of his nature. God is God. I'm a sinner. If
I'm saved, it's by mercy. It's by grace. That's what Abel
was saying. He honored God. Now, when Cain
brought his works, the works of his hands, saying, Lord, this
is good enough. There's no blood, no death, you
see, without the shedding of blood, no forgiveness, no righteousness.
Remember Romans chapter 3 there, verse 25, threw faith in his
blood to declare his righteousness. What Cain was doing dishonored
God, it actually cursed God. So for a sinner, under God's
system, at this time, to not offer burnt offerings. If I was
living in that time, in that area, and I failed to offer burnt
offerings as the head of my household, as the priest of my household,
unto God, for my family, then I would, in essence, be cursing
God. I would be dishonoring every attribute of his character. That's
unbelief. That's like a man today who's the head of his family,
but doesn't have his family under the preaching of the gospel.
It's the same thing, my friend. It really is. See, Job recognized
that his sons didn't care. So what'd he do? He said, well,
it may be that my sons have failed to bring an offering before the
Lord. They've cursed God. And so he did it for them. That's
how much this man loved his children. That's how much he cared for
their souls. And so as I said, we don't know
much about his children, but we know this. It seems from the
context here that either they didn't do it very often or they
didn't do it at all. They didn't act the priest of
their family. They didn't care anything for the honor of God.
They didn't fear God and His true evil like Job did. They
didn't worship the Lord. But Job took it upon himself.
Not only was he concerned for his children, he's also concerned
for the honor of God. The honor of God in Christ. He led them in worship, that's
what he did. You know, Job is a type of Christ
here himself. Job as the high priest of the
family going into the presence of God with the blood of an animal.
That's what he did. Notice what kind of offerings
that Job offered. He offered burnt offerings. You know what
that means? That's the blood of an animal. That's the sacrifice. And he did it for each one of
them. Because they each one had their own families. He did it. Christ going into
the holiest of all with his own blood for his people. He's our
great high priest. Job knew that there was no hope
for himself or his family except on the ground of the blood of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Job knew there was no forgiveness
without that blood. He knew there was no righteousness
without that blood. And he offered these sacrifices
of burnt offerings. This right here in verse five
is God's answer to the question in the book of Job that hadn't
even been posed yet. How can a man be just with God?
How can he be clean that was born of a woman? Right here it
is, through the burnt offering. which typifies the Lord Jesus
Christ, the grace of God in Christ. Here's the mercy seat, right
here. And here's a mercy beggar coming.
What's he doing? He does what mercy beggars do,
he begs for mercy. But not on the basis of some
unfounded compassion or empty love or empathy on the basis
of the burnt offering, the blood of the lamb. That's the only
way you and I are ever gonna be saved. How can God be just? God answered that question and
Adam and Eve didn't even ask it. When he shed, when he slew
an animal and made them coats of skin, he established, what
Job is doing right here in verse five was established as the way
to come before God, approach God, seek God, his favor and
his blessings all the way back in Genesis chapter three in verse
21. When God slew an animal. and
make coats of skin. That's a picture of the blood
of Christ, the shed blood as the full payment for all our
sins. Job knew that. In one place, I can't remember
what passage it is, he said, he was getting so frustrated
with his three great friends accusing him and trying to figure
out what was wrong in his life, he said, I can't win with you
fellas, I need an umpire, I need someone to stand between us,
I need somebody to make the right call here because you're not
doing it and I'm not doing it. You know who can make the right
call? God. who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect.
It's God that makes the right call. It's God that justifies. I tell you, whenever these preachers
start talking to you about illegal fiction and all that stuff, you
just say, God's already made the right call for him. And it's
not you. I don't have to look to you or
any preacher. God's made that call. Who can condemn us? It's
Christ that died. Yea, rather he's risen again.
That's the issue. Well, he worshipped. Job confessed
his faith in a Redeemer who would one day come. And this proves
that Job was looking to Christ for all of salvation. This proves
where Job's justification lie in the promise of a coming Redeemer
pictured and typified in that burnt offering, that one who
would bear away his sins, Christ who was made sin, Christ who
knew no sin, that we, including Job, might be made the righteousness
of God in him. He did it just like Abel, just
like Noah, just like Abraham. He believed in the God of Abraham.
He made burnt offerings for the forgiveness of his sins and those
of his family and to consecrate or sanctify his family under
the Lord. And as a justified sinner, Job,
like Abraham, like Abel, like Noah, like the rest of them,
a member of the covenant of grace before the foundation of the
world, and because through looking to Christ, he received the righteousness
of Jesus Christ, charged to his account, already charged to him,
and he believed God's promise. Just like Abraham, he believed
God, Job did too. You say, well, Job, he sure got
caught up in his own self-justification later on. Yeah, he did, but so
did Abraham. He told a bunch of lies. He tried
to figure out things for himself, too. There's another sinner saved
by grace. If you're looking for men who
are perfect in themselves in this book, you're not gonna find
it. You're not gonna find it. Job
believed God's promise, and he offered sacrifices for sin on
behalf of himself and his family. He knew his need of the grace
of God in Christ. He knew what he must have and
what God had freely provided. Okay. We're gonna have a baptism
tonight. Brother Brandon Tussey's gonna
confess his faith in Christ. So Brandon, if you wanna come
back and come through this door, and Joe's gonna, what song you
gonna lead? 438. 438 footsteps of Jesus. Let us stand as we sing, please.