I invite you to turn to Job chapter
22. Job chapter 22. We have an interesting question
asked by Eliphaz to Job in Job 22 verse 2. This is what he says. Can a man be profitable unto
God as he that is wise may be profitable unto himself? This question is an important
question. It's a question that every person
has to decide, I believe, sometime in his life, those who come to
know the Lord. The idea today is that man is
indispensable to the will and the purpose of God. Eliphaz did not have the background. Eliphaz did not have the knowledge. Eliphaz did not have the understanding
to answer his own question. But to Job, a man who has been
accused by his friends, his dear friends, of being a great sinner
because of all the things that's come about upon his life. That
is why, Job, that's why you're having all of these problems.
Not once did Job ever say that I'm not a sinner. All Job could
say is, I know that my Redeemer liveth." For every child of God,
that's his testimony. It's his testimony. It's not
that I'm any good. It's not that I'm righteous.
But there's one thing I do know and that is that my Redeemer
liveth. This morning our pastor spoke
about the hearing ear and the seeing eye. Without that, without
a person having not just the knowledge of God, but having
his mind and sight open to the reality and the graciousness
and the goodness of Almighty God, we know nothing in this
life. Aliphaz's friends, or Job's friends
like Aliphaz, they only knew what they could see with their
natural eye. This afternoon, If we do have
an eye of faith, an eye that has been opened by the grace
of the Lord Jesus Christ, not by the knowledge of historical
fact, but a knowledge that has been given to us by God, something
that has opened our eyes, opened our ears to the understanding
that Almighty God is supreme, that Almighty God is the one
that's made the world, who brought me into this world, and the one
that I should worship, that I should honor, whatever I do or say should
be to the glory of Almighty God. Aliphaz says again in our passage,
can a man be profitable unto God? What is your answer? What is your answer to that?
My answer is no. There is no way that I can be
profitable unto God. How can a man like we are, how
can we do anything to profit an infinite, all-sufficient God? What qualities could I ever acquire
to do something, to add to Almighty God's wish and command. Sufficiency is an attribute of
God, a being that needs to be understood and universally proclaimed. All sufficiency implies self-sufficiency
and independence. This attribute of the great and
glorious God teaches us many wonderful things. But like Aliphaz,
when we come into this world, we are blind. We're deaf to the understanding
of what God is and what God is doing. Somehow or another, within
every man, We have an understanding within ourselves that we can
rise above ourselves. can become something that God
would appreciate. That I can be something that
God is going to put His thumb approval upon me. And because
of what I'm going to be, because of being maybe a good father,
maybe being a good teacher, maybe being a good carpenter. For an
example, I know this man. And he is a nice man. He's a
math teacher. He's a very smart and a very
good math teacher. He's a professional teacher.
He is a, I say a professional teacher in this way. He's so
good that a school district would hire him and pay him a lot of
money to come into a school district because he can sit down with
students and evaluate them and determine what they are lacking. And his purpose for being in
this job is to bring those school, all those school grades up. to
make that school district acceptable so they can get more money from
the federal government. That's what he does. He's a pro. They hire him for that. And this
is what the man said to me. He said he does it all for one
reason, that he might gain with God. In his mind and heart, he
teaches and he would leave the house at six o'clock and get
home at eight o'clock at night. His whole day, his life is dedicated
to the purpose of teaching these kids, teaching them algebra and
trigonometry and all the things that they need to know to pass
the state exams. He lives and breathes this. That's
all he talks about. He's a math teacher and he does
it for one purpose, that he may win the favor of Almighty God. It's a true story. He actually
exists. This is where Aliphaz was. Aliphaz asked the question, can
a man be profitable unto God? The world says yes. Yes, you
can achieve greatness. You can win the favor of God
by your actions, your goodness, your deeds. The opposite is true. Man cannot achieve approval unto
God. We have the approval of God in
Christ Jesus. If we know Him, if we know the
Lord today, we have the love and the mercy of God upon us. But there's been nothing that
we've done in this life. There is nothing we've ever said.
There's no place I've ever gone. There's no sermon we've ever
preached that has contributed one thing. to bringing me to
a level for the approval of Almighty God, because as the preacher
said in the Vestibule this afternoon, even God sees folly in the angels,
created angels. There is no goodness apart from
Almighty God. There are three things this afternoon
I want to bring to your attention concerning this one verse in
the Word of God. And first of all, it's this.
Let us ever remember that God needs nothing from anyone. Now isn't this contrary to everything
that people are teaching and preaching up and down in churches
today? That God needs nothing from anyone. Today, I'm afraid it is so. that creatures feel that they
are indispensable in the purpose and the decree of God. That their place with God, they're
not replaceable. But as we read the Word of God,
we'll see that God set people aside and brought up others all
the time. The self-existent God is a self-
is a God who needs nothing and no one. He is perfect, complete
and happy and satisfied in Himself. We can add nothing to Him and
we can take nothing from Him. In Romans 11, verse 35 and 36,
the Word of God says, Who hath first given to Him and it shall
be recompensed unto Him again. For of Him and through Him and
to Him are all things to Him glory and forever. All that there
is is found in our Lord Jesus Christ. It's not found within
us. A few months ago there was a
grandchild born in my family and I want to tell you he's the
greatest grandson in the world. There's no grandson like my grandson.
He is sharp. You look into the boy's eyes
and you'll just see greatness. I do. But there is nothing within
that grandson of mine that can merit grace and mercy with Almighty
God. Nothing. No waters of baptism
will bring out and develop that child to love and to serve God. No Christian baptism will bring
out the mercy and the love that God has for His chosen people. No good father like his father.
He's got a wonderful father. I trained him myself. You know,
there's nothing that my son can do for Him that will bring out
the mercy and the grace of God. That boy, that boy Marshall,
is totally dependent upon God's loving mercy upon his boy's life. He has no hope apart from the
saving grace of God to know the Lord Jesus Christ. We stand in
need of God. He alone supplies our every need
and supports us in life. By Him we exist. In Him we live
and we move and have our being. He upholds us by His Word and
His power, but God needs nothing from us. Psalm 15, verse 7, Hear,
O my people, and I will speak, O Israel, I will testify against
thee, I am God, even thy God. I will not reprove thee for thy
sacrifice, or thy burnoffing to have been continually before
me. I will take no bullock out of
thy house, nor he goat out of thy foal. For every beast of
the forest is mine, and the cattle in a thousand hills. I know all
the fowl of the mountain, and the wild beasts of the field
are mine. If I were hungry, I would not
tell thee. For the world is mine, and the
fullness thereof. Will I eat flesh of bulls and
drink the blood of goats? Offer unto God thanksgiving,
and pray thou, vow unto the Most High, and call upon me in the
day of thy trouble. I will deliver thee, and thou
shalt glorify me. all that we know, all that we
read in the Word of God. We have the work of God's people
in all of Israel. They offer their sacrifice and
all of those things. But what God is saying, your
offerings are not acceptable. Your offerings make no difference
in what I desire. Our worship service, the acts
of obedience and faith, the great sacrifices add nothing to Almighty
God. Just like those great feasts
in the time of Israel, thousands of lambs, thousands of books
were sacrificed and burned upon the offering day after day to
burn those offerings unto God. And it was a sweet savor, yes,
but did it make a difference? It was a labor of the people
before God. But did it make a difference
in the attitude and the purpose of Almighty God toward one soul
in the Kingdom of Israel? It didn't change God. It didn't
change His opinion. It did not make Him do anything. It was an exercise of labor. It was an exercise of worship
to Almighty God. You're coming today here to this
service as an act of worship. But because you come as an act
of worship, will that add to you? Will that bring you before
God? Will that make you more acceptable
before God because you came here today? No, it will not. It will not. Our God's will and
purpose is set before the foundation of the world. It is my duty,
it is my pleasure to come and worship Almighty God in this
place, to hear His Word, to sing His praises. It is a worship,
a work unto God, unto Him. But all the worship, all of the
work, all the service and all the obedience unto God does not
change God's work. purpose and will toward us. In Luke 17, verse 10, So likewise,
ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded
you, say, We are unprofitable servants. We have done that which
was our duty to do. Titus 3, verse 8, This is a faithful
saying And these things I will that thou affirm constantly that
they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain
good works. These things are good and profitable
unto men. It is profitable that I come
here today. It is a blessing that I come
here today. To come here once a week and
to have fellowship with you and to speak to you is a comfort
to me. Did you get that? You are a comfort
to me. Coming here, being with you inspires
me, makes me want to serve Him, makes me want to continue to
come, makes me want to come and to absorb the fellowship and
the worship around Almighty God. But yet again, it does not change
God. It does not profit us with God
and His purpose toward us. God is an infinite great, so
thoroughly self-sufficient that no creature can add anything
to Him, take anything from Him, hinder His work, imply His purpose,
or in any way alter Almighty God. The second thing is that
God, all of what we've said so far, our Heavenly Father is able
to supply our every need. Our Lord God is able to supply
all the needs of His people. I get myself, I think, sometimes
in a mess. I do certain things because I
want to help people. And I forget sometimes that all
that I do does not really do anything much for anybody. I
can take someone to work, and I can take them to a doctor,
and I can take them to a grocery store to buy groceries, and that's
a benefit. That's a benefit to that family.
I can get them over a hump. but all that I can do and all
that I can say is of no value when it comes to influencing
that family unto the grace of Almighty God. It is my God. It is my Lord who supplies my
personal needs, who supplies the needs of every family on
the face of the earth. There is nothing that happens
that does not come about from the will and the purpose of Almighty
God. And then the last thing that
I want to say this afternoon is concerning our self-righteousness. Aliphaz was filled with self-righteousness. Aliphaz could be a prototype
of all humanity. Aliphaz could only see what he
could see through his own eyes and hear through his own ears
a forecontrast to that of Almighty God. Man is filled with self-righteousness. But it's kind of hard to see
how all of mankind is guilty of the same thing. We all walk
on the same track of self-righteousness. Somehow or another within every
person there is something that tells us that we have some part
in this great work of Almighty God. There is some goodness within
me that I can give or to share with another. But man is so self-righteous
that he's blind. Not only is he blind, but he
cannot hear the Word of God. This causes him to be deficient. Where God is all-efficient, we
are all deficient. We are not able to bring up,
to produce the righteousness, the goodness, to present ourselves
before Almighty God. When we stand before our Heavenly
Father, and you will, You will stand there either alone or someone
will stand there for you. Those who are in Christ Jesus,
we have an advocate with the Father who is our legal, judicial
representative to take our place. because we have not the standing
to stand before Almighty God and petition the court of his
supremacy. When you go into a courtroom
in our society, unless you have been given special permission
from a standing judge, you cannot come before his bench. If you're a recognized attorney
and you have a license and you're in good standing, then you will
be accepted to come and speak before a judge. But in a natural
scene, you're not able to because you're not qualified to. You're
not a member of the bar. The only person who is qualified
to stand before Almighty God is one who has never sinned,
who is all of righteousness and mercy. Do you want someone that
has been hurt, who's lame, who's blind, who is deaf to represent
you before a court of justice in this land? Just think about
standing before Almighty God and standing with tattered clothes,
standing with a speech that is not good, standing not on two
feet but maybe on one leg and petition Almighty God that you
are worthy to walk into the gates of heaven. It's not going to
happen. It's not going to happen. We
need an advocate. We need an advocate that is perfect
and cleansed and sinless to stand before us in that day. But poor old Aliphaz, he asked
that question about can a man be profitable unto God. If there is no profit within
you, there is no value within you, what is man standing before
God when we give our last breath and we stand before Almighty
God? No chance. No chance. If you had no chance to stand
before Him in this life, you'll have no chance to stand before
Him in that life. Alphas brings an interesting
point to our discussion this afternoon. I Corinthians 1 verse
30, Of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who in God is made unto us wisdom
and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, that according
as it is written, he that glorieth let him glory in the Lord. All that is in us is granted
by God. For it is by and through Him
that Christ Jesus comes and are all of the blessing of Almighty
God. I think about Aliphaz. I've been
reading through the book of Job. And I think about Aliphaz and
it dawned on me, Aliphaz is just like any other man. But what
he thought in his question is the same question that natural
man asks. Is there any prophet? In his
mind, there's got to be a little prophet. Just like the preacher,
and preach a few funerals, and you preach a funeral. The family
sits over on the side generally, and the family wants to hear
the preacher say something to the effect that there's some
goodness in this man. that this man was a good father,
and this man was a good worker, and this man did this, and he
belonged to these associations. All of that is trying to build
up profitability for this man to stand before God. But when
the preacher preaches a sermon, he'll preach a sermon like this.
He'll read the obituary very quickly, and then that's the
end of that one. Then he goes to the gospel and
lets the gospel speak for itself. Today I want Christ to speak
for me. I want the Lord to be my advocate. I want him to be my Savior in
this life and my Lord in glory in heaven. May God bless you.