You remember that last week,
Zophar had accused Job of being a wicked man and he laid out
what was the end of everybody that was wicked. And he never
had any hope, never gave any comfort, never gave any light,
never gave any kind of assurance at all to anybody. It was just
cruel, cruel. Man, cruel man, and a harsh man,
and a unfeeling man, and a man with no compassion, after Job
had asked him to have pity upon him. You know, God's done this
to me. God's hand has touched me. So
he dealt with all of those. Now Job's gonna answer so far.
Job's gonna answer. And Job is, God gives him some
wisdom, gives him some wisdom. And these men, the things that
they said to Job and how they treated him was terrible, terrible,
terrible. But Job answered and said, I'll
do this four or five verses at a time. Hear diligently my speech
and let this be your consolations. Suffer me that I may speak as
for me and mock on as for me is my complaint to man and if
it were so should not my spirit be troubled. Now Job was absolutely
conscious that he was right, that he was right in the sight
of God. And the way they treated him, that he was a sinner above
anybody else that they knew. He was the greatest sinner. He
was a horrible sinner. And that because of his sufferings
was so great that he had to be an awful, awful sinner. But I
tell you, no matter what they said about him, the root of the
matter was in him. God had done this, and still
God said he was a perfect man, an upright man, and he eschewed
evil, and he feared God. And he really believes that about
himself, too. First of all, he said, oh, hear
diligently my speech. I want you to listen clearly,
really, really pay attention to what I'm saying. That's what
he said. And he says, listen diligently to what I've got to
say. And he felt strongly. Strongly that what they said
about him was wrong, and then he said let this be your consolations
And what he's saying is is that your consolations to me is not
absolutely worthless Absolutely worthless to me you have no consolation
whatsoever So you let this be your consolation because I'm
going to tell you how things really are and so you know And
he said, if I get any consolation, it has to be from the Lord. And
so I want to tell you that your consolations are nothing. Let
this be your consolations. That you know that I'm not going
to agree with you whatsoever. And then second thing he said
was this. He had confidence in speaking. He said, suffer me
that I may speak, or allow me that I may speak. Let me speak. You all have been doing a lot
of talking. Let me speak a while." And then he said, after I speak,
and after I've spoken, he said, keep on mocking. Keep on mocking. Now, ain't that something? He
says, you know, go ahead and mock on. After you hear me and
what I've got to say, you just go ahead. After you've heard
what I've said, you go ahead and just mock on. And though
they mocked Job, there was nobody, nobody more mocked than our Lord
Jesus Christ. His whole life was mocked. The
scripture says they hate him without a cause, and especially
when he was in Pilate's hall, especially when he was for Herod,
and especially before the Jews at the last, they mocked him
and derided him. But he said, suffer me, when
I've said what I want to say, You just go ahead and walk on.
I'm certain, I'm certain that I'm right. I'm certain that I'm
right, and I don't care what you say about me. I know what
God says about me. And I tell you what, he's conscious
of what God's done for him. And look what he said here in
verse three, excuse me, verse four. As for me, is my complaint
to man, He said, if you heard me complain to you, that's what
he said, if you heard me complain to you, if you heard me complain,
if you heard one word out of my mouth complaining to you,
telling you how bad things are, you know David said, I pour out
my complaint to God. To God. He said, if I got something
wrong, I'm gonna tell the Lord about it. I'm gonna complain
to God about it. And that's what he's saying.
As for me, is my complaint to man, you think that I'm complaining
to you? No, no. And if it were so, if
it were so that I did that, should not my spirit be troubled? My
spirit, what he's saying is my spirit would not be troubled.
My spirit would not be troubled. And I tell you what troubles
me, he said, what troubles my heart is the way you talk to
me and the way you, your opinions about me. You do not consider
what God's done for me whatsoever. And then he goes on and say,
mark me, mark me, go ahead and put a mark. Listen to what I
got to say and be astonished and lay your hand on your mouth.
Lay your hand on your mouth. Don't talk, but worship. You
know, when you think about people, and let, you know, mark me and
be astonished. And what happens is, is that
people, they'll look at somebody and they'll make a judgment.
And that's what they did with him. He said, do you know that
there's a lot of men in the scriptures that have suffered? Who suffered
more than Jacob? Jacob said, my days are few and
full of trouble. Who suffered more than Joseph
did at the hands of his brother? Daniel suffered at the hands
and he got so dark and those days that God in his Providence
turns out the light and that's what's happened to Job and he
said if you'll just mark me and you think that I'm wrong and
if you just Listen to what God's done. You lay your hand on your
mouth and you'll shut up You'll quit talking and you'll go to
worshiping and that's what the scripture says stand at all and
sin not sin not And I tell you Job He's getting tired of this,
I believe he's getting weary with it. But oh man, mark me,
mark me, mark me. And then he goes and starts answering
this Zophar about all the wickedness that he accused him of. And he
says there in verse 7. Wherefore do the wicked live?
Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, and yea, are mighty
in power? Now this fellow over here, Zophar,
accused him of being wicked, and there wasn't nothing good
ever gonna happen to him. And Job said, now listen, he
gonna answer them about this old subject, about wickedness. And he states facts in relation
to this. First he says this, how many
wicked men have grown old? How many wicked men, just because
a man's wicked, that don't mean he ain't gonna get old, and that
don't mean he's not gonna prosper. That don't mean that he's not
gonna be troubled. That's what Job's telling them.
Yeah, not only will he get old and become old, he'll get mighty
in power. He'll have power. In fact, I
think the more wicked people are and the less conscience they
have, the more power they have. They get to positions of great
power, and that's what Job is saying. And you think about this,
when our Lord Jesus Christ stood before Pilate, and stood before
Herod, and stood before all that judgment hall, you just imagine
how wicked those people were, what they did to the Lord Jesus
Christ. In fact, Peter said, you with
wicked hands have done this. And all those men lived to be
old. They lived to be old. All those
fellas live to be at old age. And I'll tell you what, and that's
what he says, people think just because they're wicked that they're
gonna, listen, a lot of wicked men live to be old and getting
mighty in power and getting wealth. And that's what Job said. He
didn't, we're so far said that can't happen, that won't happen.
Oh my. And then he just starts describing
how depraved the human race is, how depraved the human mind is.
Go with me down here in verse 14. Here's what they say, and here's
what depravity says, here's what men say. They say unto God, depart
from us, we desire not thy knowledge. Oh my, here's something about
a wicked man. Their character, they say unto
God, depart from us, we desire not your knowledge. And ain't
that what they said about our Lord? And then they said there,
what is the Almighty that we should serve Him and what prophet
should we have to pray? And you know, here's the thing,
our Lord Jesus Christ, they came to Him, and here's what they
said, and this is what they say, we will not have this man to
reign over us. And here's the situation, every
man, every natural man, says in his heart and in his mind,
depart from me, I don't want you, I don't need you, I don't
want anything to know about you. We've got people that if they
had the ability, they would ungod God, get him off his throne and
bring him down and take his power away from him. And that's what
they thought they was doing with the Lord Jesus Christ. This man
blasphemes, he says he's God. This man blasphemes, he says
he's one with the Father. And that's what they said, we'll
not have this man to reign over us. And I'll tell you what, and
they said, what's the Almighty? This is how wicked, they have
hostility in their mind toward God. Oh, they desire, Lord, I
don't want you. I don't want you. I don't want
your presence. Depart from us. Oh, banish God. And then how
about they don't like his knowledge. They don't want anything. We
don't desire the knowledge. We don't want to know you. We
don't want to know you. And that's what Job is saying
here. That's what you fellas did. I tell you about what God's
done. I tell you about how God is. And I tell you about how
God took the crown off my head. Tell you how God left the root
of the matter in him. And you know what you say? I
don't care what you say, Job. That's not the knowledge of God,
and I don't want it. And I tell you what, we desire not the knowledge
of His ways. And then, oh, what rebellion
they have. And then they say, what's the
Almighty? What is the Almighty? Who is He? That's what Pharaoh
said, who is the Lord that I should obey Him? And I tell you, you
know, the Scriptures tells us in two places. Psalm 53 and Psalm
14. You know what they say? There is no God. There is no
God. What they're saying is that I
don't desire God. I don't want to know God. I don't
want anything to do with God. And there's a multitude of people
in this world that's that way. I remember a woman, she was way
up in her 80s. Way up in her 80s. Began to talk to her about God. about the way God is and what
God requires a man. She was way up in her 80s and
she just went to flipping her feet and she says, listen, God
ain't never done nothing for me. Died when she was 85 years
old and with that much hatred in her heart. Don't talk to me
about God. My own father said, don't talk
to me about him. I've got that all figured out.
But I tell you what, there's people, and the fact that people
don't come to him and don't bow to him and don't acknowledge
him tells me that, listen, I believe what you're saying, but I don't
know if I want to trust it or not. And that's what they're
saying here. Oh my, what depravity has men got? How depraved are
they that they don't want the knowledge of God? And Job goes
over here to another place, said equate thyself with Him. Of all the things you want to
be acquainted with in this world, of all the things you want to
know in this world, and all the people you want to know in this
world, make this to be your main object in this world. Equate
yourself with Him. These fellows said, oh, listen,
Job, you don't know what you're talking about. Job said, oh,
listen, I know this. Huh? Oh, my. What is the Almighty that we
should serve Him? What authority does He have over
us? What authority does He have over us? And you know what this
tells me? You know, nobody will come out
and say these things that these men are saying. Nobody will come
out and say that. But everybody lives this way. They live like
they don't want to know God. They want Him to depart from
them. What's the purpose in serving Almighty God? What profit is
there in it? And they won't come out and say those things directly.
But here's what they do, they live like God doesn't exist. It's called practical atheism.
They live like God does not have any power or authority over me
in this world. It's called practical atheism.
And how many Baptists live that way? How many Pentecostals live
that way? How many Methodists live that
way? How many Presbyterians? They live like God does not matter. They'll go to church on Sunday
morning. They will not get up and talk about God the way Job's
talking about Him here. But in their lifestyle and in
their actions and the way they live, they live like God does
not have no authority or power or profit in serving Him. Y'all
understand that? They live like an atheist. Practical
atheist. Oh my. And I tell you, he said,
Job said all this, and then he says, what prophet is it that
we should pray unto him? Now you're talking about selfish.
Selfish. Oh, what prophets? What am I
gonna get out of it? What am I gonna get out of this?
What are you gonna do for me? If I do this for you, what are
you gonna do for me? If I serve you, what are you
gonna do for me? If I serve you, what are you
gonna give me? And that's what he did. And then look back up there in
verse seven then. Oh my, that's why I go back up
there and he says, oh, he saw the wicked. They're very prosperous.
Everybody think the wicked's going, they're very prosperous.
They become old and they become mighty in power, become very,
very wealthy. They have great property. Look
what it says down there. It said their houses, in verse
nine, their houses are safe from fear. They're not afraid. They're not afraid. You know,
you look at all the people in the world, you look at the wealthiest
men in the world, Those men are billionaires and billionaires
and billionaires. Do you ever hear any of them
say anything about God? And you think that they fly around
their own jets, live in mansions, and do all that, and people think,
well, the wick is going to happen. Listen, payday, it don't have
to happen in this life. But here's what he says, their
houses are safe. Oh, oh, Zophar says, listen,
God ain't gonna let nothing. He's gonna tear down their houses,
burn them down, do everything else. But he says their houses
are safe from fear. And God's not against them. God's
not got his rod out there beating on them over it. Oh, they're
persons. They're in good shape and they're
persons. Mighty in power, your houses are safe, and look what,
and then God not only prospers them, but if they got a big farm,
and look what he says here, their bull genders and felleth not,
and their calf, their cow calfeth and casteth not a calf. He said
everything they do comes out just right. Just exactly right. They got a field full of cattle.
They got the best bull money can buy and the best field to
put them in. And that's what he's saying.
He said, do you think God's going to mistreat the wicked? He said,
the wicked go on and prosper no matter what anybody says about
them. And that's what they were, that's what they're excusing
him of. And he's trying to tell them that that's not the way
it really is. And then not only is their property
and persons safe, but look what else else it says down there.
And their children, their children, their posterity. Look at this
posterity. They send forth, in verse 11,
they send forth their little children like flock. And their
children even dance. They have a big time. They love
to play and dance and skip around. Oh, his children are wonderful,
huh? They're established before their
eyes. And look what it says, and then they love to dance.
They love to have a big time. They love to have fun. And they
take the timbrel, harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ. Oh,
they love to have a big time. When I was over at Kingsport,
oh, they got a house full of young'uns over there. I mean,
kids everywhere, from little bitty ones to six, seven, eight. Went outside and there was eight
or ten kids just playing in the dirt, just having a big time.
Just little girls sitting right in the middle of all of them,
just sitting there all sprawled out in the dirt and everything,
you know. That's what their children, this is the righteous, their
children, but he says the wicked does that. Their children flourish,
too. They send them forth as a little
flock. They got so many. They send them
forth that we're cared for, that we're attended for. They don't
have anything that they're without. And he said, listen, they like
to skip, and they like to dance, and like to have fun. And we're
going to let them do it. Oh. And they like that music. They love good music. Listen.
Look what he says now, and he's showing them how God, you know,
Zophar, I remember last week, I had a hard time dealing with
that, because he just, he had no comfort, no assurance, it's
just wicked, wicked, wicked, all that's gonna happen to him.
Job's showing them how the wicked can prosper, no matter what anybody
says. And then he says thirdly, he
said, I saw the wicked men happy and living and dying. Look what
he says there now. In verse 13, they spend their
days in wealth. Wealth means they have great
wealth, that they're happy, they're enjoying everything that goes
on. And then, you know, and then
in a moment, they go down to the grave. It don't worry them.
They're not afraid of that. They're not worried about it.
Wealth means merge, sudden death to them's a blessing. David said
there's no bands in their death. There's nothing that scares them
and bothers them. They don't have to lay and linger
in disease like Job is right now. And oh, you say that the
wickedness brings suffering and ruin in this world. But I'll
tell you what, you look at these fellas. Look at these fellas.
They spend their days in wealth. And then just gone, just like
that. Gone just like that. That's the
way I walk, old snap of a finger. But oh my. And then he goes on
to say, and then he noticed there in verse, look at verse 16, 17
here. We have to go down through here and deal with these for
a few minutes. And look, their good is not in
their hand. Their good is not in their hand.
The counsel of the wicked is far from me. What Job is saying,
he said, you know, their good is not in their hand. And I don't
want no counsel from the wicked like what you've been giving
me. What you've been giving me. Oh my, they're saying that the
counsel of the wicked is far from me. They say, and that's
what Job, oh listen, I don't want to hear anything you say.
I don't want to hear anything you say. I don't want to hear
anything you say. Then he goes on to say about
the wicked. He says here, how often is the candle of the wicked
put out? He's saying, do you ever see the wicked? Their candles,
it don't happen very often. That's what he's saying, don't
happen very often. It don't happen very often. How often does the
candle of the wicked go out? Job doesn't mean that this frequently
occurs, but it seldom, seldom occurs. It means that the wicked
are not overtaking calamities too often. Their candles don't
go out very often. Their destruction don't come
very often. And God distributes sorrows and His angers that God
treats all men alike. You know, our Lord said it this
way. He said, I cause the rain to
fall on the just and the unjust, on the righteous and the wicked.
And God, you know, He don't judge, He don't look at men's character
as to what He does for them in this world. If He had to look
at men's character as to what He's gonna do for us, nobody
would be saved. Nobody would be saved. And He
don't look at men's character and with whatever they're doing
in this world and how much they accomplish in this world, because
God Himself, He says there's no respect. And here's the thing
about it. Most people think that something bad's gonna happen
to them if they do this, that, and the other. But God's not
judged like that. God doesn't judge like that.
He'll let a man go, and go, and go, and go, and go, and when
he dies, don't care how wicked he is, how wealthy he is, he's
in the grave and nobody even thinks about it. Big, big monuments
to him. People go see him, go to where
they are. Go see the grave and make great
remarks about what a great man he was. But Job says this, their
candle don't go out very often. Don't go out very often. I tell
you, God, He's the one in control of destruction. He's the one
who distributes sorrows, and He does it in His anger. And what He's saying is, how
often have you seen this? And here's the next thing He
says, how often have you seen them as stubble before the wind,
as chaff before the storm carried away? You don't see that. If
you don't see that, tell me where you see that at. That's what
Job's asking these fellows. You say that I'm a wicked man?
Why ain't God cast me away? Why didn't He put out my candle? Why ain't He cast me away? Why
ain't I weaned and chaffed before Him? God deals with them just like
He does anybody else. And I tell you, you know, our
Lord asked this question. He said, when that tower fell
on all those men and Siloam killed 18 of them, He said, you think
they were sinners above everybody else? You think they were sinners
above everybody else? This is what Job is, he's answering
them. You think they were sinners,
and I'll tell you what, our Lord said, no, except you repent,
you're gonna perish just like them. But Job, he's answering
these fellas and all the things they said to him. And oh, listen,
look what he says there in verse 19. God lays up his iniquity. This
is what the wicked say. Job's answering these things.
This is what they say is gonna happen to the wicked. And Job
said, no, this is not true. God layeth up his iniquities
for his children. He rewarded him and he shall
not know it. God lays up his iniquity and
then comes back and punishes his children for his father's
sins. God don't do things like that. Never has and he never
will. And that's what they're saying.
And not only was he lay up iniquity, but he lays up the Father's iniquities
for himself. He said, I'm going to make your
children pay for what you've done. And I tell you, the wicked
man ought to be judged for himself, not his children itself. Not
his children. And I tell you, that's the God
don't lay up punishment for his children. He said over in Ezekiel
one time, He says this, he said, he judges the father, and he
judges the father, and he sows grapes, but the children's teeth
are set on edge. And he says, the man will suffer
and be punished for his own sin, not nobody else's. God will not
punish me, I don't think. I've got enough sin of my own
without God charging me with what my daddy done. And that's
what he's saying here. God's going to lay up your iniquity,
you wicked people. That's what they said to Job.
He's going to lay up your iniquity, and then he's going to lay it
back on his children, too. So the children's going to have
to pay for the sins of their daddy. And Job said, that's not
true. That's not true. That can't happen.
You reckon God's going to put, you know, you reckon God, you
reckon our children ain't got enough of sin of their own? that
God deal with him? That a man, he's just answering
for his own sin? And that's why Job said, listen,
a man's gotta pay for his own sin, not his children's sin.
His children's not gonna pay for his father's sins. Oh my, that's a horrible thing
to think about. And then they keep saying, and
Job answers these remarks that they make. And they say the wicked,
you know, his eyes shall see destruction. He shall drink of
the wrath of the Almighty. Oh my, what pleasure hath he
in his house after him, after the number of his months. Job
says the wicked man should feel his punishment with his own eyes
and the wrath of the Almighty ought to be on himself. And then their third remark is
this. And they know talking about how
God teaches and how wicked, God deals with the wicked, Job's
answering them. And then he asked this in verse 22, and this is
what they meant. They said, Job, you don't know
anything. And Job asked in verse 22, shall
any teach God knowledge? Shall any teach God knowledge,
seeing he judges them that are on high? Oh my, hmm? You're gonna teach God knowledge,
huh? He's the one who does the judging.
How you gonna teach omniscience anything? How you gonna teach
omnipotence anything? Who's gonna dictate to the sovereign
God of the universe? Who's gonna tell him? And that's
what Job is saying. And then he says this, the plain
fact about him is that providence makes no distinction between
the good and the bad in this world, in this world. And then
he says in verse 23, one dies in his full strength, He lives
to be old, he's full of strength, and he's at ease and quiet. He's
just as comfortable in his life as he can possibly be. Because
he can possibly be. And he says the wicked's not
like that. Job said that's exactly the way
they are. They'll live in comfort and ease. They're not worried
about dying. One dies and he's full, and look what he says.
And he's a wealthy person, everything about him's been blessed of God.
His breasts are full of milk and his bones are moistened with
marrow. I mean, he has prospered. God
has done wonderful, wonderful things for him. And then, oh my, look what he
says then. Oh, he dies and he's full of
age, full of strength. Everything about him is just
wonderful. His breasts are full of milk.
Bones are moistened with flour. He's a wonderfully good, strong,
healthy man. And then another comes along
and he dies in his bitterness. He's bitter. Bitter in his soul. And he never eats with pleasure.
And that could be a believer sometimes when he gets sick.
But look what he says, and I tell you what, the one that dies in
his strength, and the one that dies in the bitterness of his
soul, and the one that eats with no pleasure, he says they both
are going to lie down just alike in the dust. The one that's got
everything, and the one that ain't got nothing. They both
are going to lie down in the dust, and the worms are going
to cover them. The great, and the mighty, and
the ones that's at ease, They're going to go, and the ones that's
bitter in soul are going to go to the same place. There ain't
going to be no difference in them. There ain't no difference
in them. And I tell you, he dies without knowing what poverty
is, I tell you. And they shall lie down in the
dust, and in the grave, I tell you this, there's no difference.
In the grave, there's no difference. No difference in the grave. And
their fourth remark and his reply to it is this, in verse, let's
see where it is. For you say, in verse 28, for
you say, where's the house of the prince? And where are the
dwelling places of the wicked? You say, where's the prince?
And where's the wicked? Where's the dwelling place of
the wicked in the house of the prince? What you're saying is, is that
you don't know what goes on in a man's house. He said, whether
he's a prince or whether he's a wicked man in his house. He said, you judge by appearance,
but God doesn't judge by appearance. You judge only from appearance. You'll say, that fellow's a prince.
That fellow over there ain't nothing to him. And what Job
was saying, he said, you can't make the judgment. You just look
on appearances. And I tell you, you think somebody's
really somebody, and he's a great person, a great prince, and then
the other fellow, you don't know anything about him. And this
is the thing. Nobody knows the heart of a man
but the man himself. And God makes him know his own
heart. And I'll tell you, and our Lord Himself says, lest you be judged, judged not
by outward appearance. If you look at men on their outward
appearance and the way they look and the way they act, you'll
say, boy, them fellas got it made. But you don't know what
in the world's going on. We don't know what goes on behind
closed doors. We don't know what people are.
And we judge by appearance. And Job said, that's not the
way to do it. And that's the way they did it.
They looked at Job and said, Job, if man is sick as you are,
as emaciated as you are, And as much as you suffered, there's
a possibility for God to be for you. And Job says, you judge
it by appearance. You don't know, you don't know,
you don't know at all. And then he goes back and asks
him to think of some things. And he says, now listen, there's
people that travel around and they know what's going on here,
yonder, and everywhere. He said in verse 29, if you not
ask them that go by the way, and do they not know their tokens? If you ask the people that travel
from one place to another, you ask them their view of something,
you ask them what they've seen in their journeys, how God deals
with people in their journeys, you ask them. They say, you ask
them by the way, he said, do they tell you that the wicked
deserve, they'll say that the rickets deserve to the day of
destruction. This because he's not destroyed right now, but
God's got a day of destruction for him. And they should be brought
to the one day, to the day of wrath. And he said, you listen
to what other people say. See if they don't agree with
that. And then, you know, really what
he's saying is that they're reserved in the day of destruction, that
God, they're even protect, when destruction comes, they're protected. They're protected. They're preserved
that you know the day of destruction don't get to them. And then the
day of wrath, they're able to escape wrath. Whenever something
bad happens, they got the power and ability to escape it. And
I'll tell you, Job said, they get by with an awful lot in this
world. And then let me hurry on here. Then he says, you know, who shall
declare? his way to his face, and who shall repay him what
he's done? How many men you think faces these people that's so
wicked, and they got the wealth, they got the power, they got
the might, they live in wealth, they live in ease, their breasts
are full, you reckon anybody would walk up to them and tell
them what they really think about them? You think anybody's gonna
walk up to the wicked, those that are in power? And say to
his face, say to his face, who shall repay him what he's done?
Go walk up and talk to him, huh? Who's gonna repay him? Who's
gonna punish him for his crime? And you know people sometimes
have been guilty of the office crimes and they get by with it. Get by with it. Then look what
he says here in verse 32 through 33. Yet I don't care what, you know,
people ain't going to get in his face and tell him what he
done wrong and you're going to get repaid for this and all that.
Yet he's going to come to the grave. He's going to go to the
grave. The grave's going to forget him
and shall remain in the tomb. And the clouds of the valley,
they're going to be sweet unto him and every man shall draw
after him. and innumerable before him. He says, no matter who he
is, and how great he is, and how powerful he is, and how mighty
he is, and you say that they're wicked, and they're gonna be
punished this way and that way. Job said, no, they're not. The
wicked prosper right up to the day of their death. Right up,
and they go to the grave. They go to the grave unwearied,
unafraid, untroubled. And when they go down into the
valley, the clouds are sweet unto them. Sweet unto him, every
man, and they gonna come after him, gonna come after him. Sweet,
sweet, there's nothing in death that happens to him than anybody
else. The funeral grave of a wicked man to indicate his weakness.
Nobody can go to a grave and say, well, that was a wicked
man, especially somebody you don't know. And then Job says
this, how then comfort ye me in vain?
You say you're comforting me, but your comfort for me is vanity,
useless, empty. Seeing in your answers and what
you say about how wicked a man is, and yet you see the wicked
prosper. You see the wicked, they'd go to the grave like anybody
else. They would come in power, come in might, come in wealth. And then you try to comfort me.
Tell me how wicked I am. how you comfort me in vain, seeing
in your answers there remains nothing but a falsehood. You
know, I am so thankful. I'm so thankful that God's the one that makes
the judgments of who's who in this world. I said one time years ago, I
said years and years ago, and I believe if that I could have
done it. I don't know if I could have
had them, I'd just been blowing. But I said years ago when I was
a young man, I said if I wasn't a preacher, I said I could become
a millionaire in a year or a year and a half. And I believe I could have. There's
places you go and things you do and you put everything on
the line. But now then again, I didn't,
and I ain't, and I never will. That's all I got in my pockets,
except the car keys. But what I'm saying is, is that
men, they get to thinking, I want to be a millionaire. I want to
be wealthy. I want to have everything in
this world. And go ahead and let them have it. Let them have
it. Let them have it, let them enjoy
it. I went by a place one time and said, boy, that old fella's
got a mansion up there. He said, he better enjoy it because that's
the only one he'll have in this world. He won't have one in the
world to come. And that's the way it is. The wicked people
look at the, we look at this world and how the world is and
we say, how in the world, why don't God just destroy this thing?
God don't do things on our schedule. I'm just grateful that he never
left me out there. And I'm grateful that the Lord
Jesus Christ, everything that happened to Job, happened to
Christ to the nth degree. You think Job was treated bad.
Our Lord Jesus Christ was treated worse than anybody. He said,
my visions was marred more than any man's. And so bless his name. I'm thankful. I'm thankful. Let the world have what it's
got, because that's the only thing they're ever going to have
in this world, what they enjoy here. Ain't that awful? We get
to enjoy God here, and then enjoy Him forever. But all they get
to enjoy is their money, and their houses, and their cars,
and their wealth. That's all they get to enjoy. They don't have anything else. Our Father, in the blessed name
of Christ our Lord, I thank you for allowing me to speak tonight.
I know that these are difficult subjects, difficult things to
deal with. And Lord Jesus, I pray that you
give me some wisdom, give me some understanding, give me some
ability, give me some gifts to open these things. But Lord, I'm so thankful, so thankful for what you've done
for us in Christ. Lord, I know I'd be out in the
world. I'd be numbered among the wicked.
I'd be one of those who say, depart from me. What profit is
in there serving the Almighty? I'd be one of those. But Lord,
it wasn't your will. It wasn't your grace. It wasn't
your purpose. Your purpose was to have a people
separated, separated from the world, separated unto yourself. holy and righteous without blemish
before you in love. Lord, we ever wander just like
Job. Lord, in your sight, we're perfect. We're upright. We're
people who fear God. And Lord, we just despise evil
in ourselves and in this world. We really truly do. God, forgive
us of everything that's unlike you. Bless our going in and our
comings out. in our going downs and our uprisings,
and do it for Christ's sake. Amen. Amen. There is a name I
love to hear, I love to sing it's worth. It sounds like music
in my ear, the sweetest name on earth. Oh, how I love Jesus. Oh, how I love Jesus. Oh, how I love Jesus. Amen. See you Wednesday, God
willing.