If you would, please be turning
to Job 9. Job 9. I'm going to kind of be
going back and forth through Job today if you want to follow
along. Job 9 verses 25 through 35. Now my days are swifter than
a post. They flee away, they see no good. They are passed away as the swift
ships, as the eagle that hasteth to the prey. If I say I will
forget my complaint, I will leave off my heaviness and comfort
myself. I am afraid of all my sorrows. I know that thou wilt not hold
me innocent. If I be wicked, why then labor
I in vain? If I wash myself with snow water
and make my hands never so clean, yet shall thou plunge me into
the ditch, and mine own clothes shall abhor me. For he is not
a man as I am that I should answer him, and we should come together
in judgment. Neither is there any daysman
betwixt us that might lay his hand upon us both. Let him take
his rod away from me, and let not his fear terrify me. Then
would I speak and not fear him, but it is not so with me." God brings us slow. He brings
us to a place where we have nowhere to turn. No matter what we do,
it will not be to our betterment. He brings us to a place where
we know if we try to make ourselves clean, God will plunge us into
the ditch and even our clothes will abhor us. The answer, we
need a daisman. Now just to go over a little
bit of what we said last week, or the last time we were here
anyway. We looked at the sovereignty of God in him touching Job's
flesh and bone. We also noted that God said three
times that Job was perfect. Once in the first verse where
he inspired the writer to write it down, and then in verse 8
of chapter 1 and verse 3 of chapter 2 where God tells Satan, Job
is perfect and upright and askew of evil. So Job was perfect. But we know it is not because
of Job in and of himself. Scripture is quite clear that
all are born dead in trespasses and in sin. And that trespass
is against God. So if we are perfect, we are
perfect some other way. God intends to let his people
know how that can be. And this is what we see in Job.
It is because Job had a redeemer. He had a redeemer, then he had
to be redeemed from something. The topic I am going to have
today is found mainly in chapters three through 31. And I know
that's a lot of stuff and I'm not gonna cover it all. There's
a lot of good gospel in those chapters. We see in these chapters
the sifting of Job continues. He has three friends who come
to comfort him in these chapters. As we will see, they are not
much comfort to him, but only full of accusations against Job. I want to be clear. God may deal
with us, there may be an initial time when God initially takes
us to this place and reveals himself to us, but God may do
this, he does do this throughout our whole life as a believer. It's not just a one-time event. It may be that God allows Satan
to do things with our circumstances to cause us grief, or he may
use friends and family, just as he did with Job, to grieve
us. God will use whatever and whoever he is pleased to try
your faith. If it is with you as it was with
Job here, he does not do this to cause you to curse God and
die. He does this to show those enemies that what he does stands. So what I want to talk about
today is accusations against God's people, in reference to
Job, and this is true for all of us, God's people in tribulation,
the purpose for taking us through these tribulations. Now one thing
I do want to point out before I begin into those points, Job
knew this was God continuing to deal with him. This was not
just three miserable comforters who were there on a whim. If
you would turn to chapter 19 for a minute, chapter 19. I'm gonna read verses one through
three. Then Job answered and said, How long will ye vex my
soul and break me in pieces with words? These ten times have ye
reproached me. Ye are not ashamed that ye make
yourselves strange to me. He says these ten times have
ye reproached me. But if you look at how many times
they had spoken to him up to this point, these three miserable
comforters, there was only five times that they spoke to him.
Could they have spoken to him more times than this, and it's
just not recorded? Maybe it could be. But I know
Job knew from the very beginning this was God dealing with him.
You can go back to chapter one where it says, and said. You
have four times his servants came to him and said. And then
you have one time, it says, then said his wife. So Job knows this
all is of God, doing from the very beginning, although he does
not know for what reason it is being done. Yet, that is. So accusations against God's
people. Job has three friends who do
not show themselves very friendly to Job at this time. A time when
he could have used a good friend. But you have Eliphaz the Temanite,
Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. These three men
had it out for Job at this time. They just knew Job had to do
something wrong for this to come upon him. First, Eliphaz in chapter four
and five, he first starts out with platitudes, or that is,
useless compliments of Job. He really did not mean these
compliments. The reason we know this is because what he says
next in Job 4, verses 7 through 11. Job 4, 7 through 11. Remember,
I pray thee, whoever perished being innocent, or where were
the righteous cut off? Even as I have seen they that
plow iniquity and sow wickedness reap the same. But by the blast
of God they perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are they
consumed. The roaring of the lion and the
voice of the fierce lion and the teeth of the young lions
are broken. The old lion perish for lack of prey, and the stout
lion's whelps are scattered abroad. As we know, God said Job was
innocent, or that is perfect. In fact, all of God's people
down through ages, this is what God says about them. To whom
would accuse them? Many of God's people have perished,
or that is died, and a lot of them at the hands of evil men.
God has not always prevented his people from having their
mortal life touched. He prevented it for Job here
in Satan taking his life, but we know from scripture that this
has not always been the case. You have Abel who was slain by
Cain. You have the apostles, a lot
of them had their heads cut off, or in some way were killed. But then we have Eliphaz saying
he was personally revealed some things. I think maybe he might
have had some bad goat cheese or something, or maybe Satan
himself came to him. Some of the commentators say
that God talked with him. I do not agree with this. I believe
it was meant to terrorize Job because of what we read in Job
in chapter 7, verses 14 and 15. It says, then thou scarest me
with dreams and terrifies me through visions so that my soul
chooses strangling and death rather than my life. The intent
here was to terrorize Job, but it did not have the effect that
was intended by the terror. Now Eliphaz may have not been
thinking this hourly that he was intending to terrorize Job,
but neither do most people, especially of this world, who think they
are telling you the truth. I say especially the people of
this world because God's people are not above doing these kind
of things themselves either. Eliphaz was not trying to comfort
Job in the Lord. He was trying to get Job to curse
the Lord and by way of having him say it must have been his
actions, that is, Job's own actions that brought these things upon
himself, rather than God just being pleased to put him through
this. He was trying to get Job to turn to man rather than God. Then we have Bildad in chapter
8. Bildad continues on with the
miserable comfort. He does away with the platitudes,
though, and just tells Job he is nothing but a blowhard. He
basically says the same thing to Job. Job, you must have done
something wrong. Just admit it, and God will awake
for you. Turn with me to chapter 8, verses
1 through 6. Then answered Bildad the Shuhite
and said, How long wilt thou speak these things? And how long
shall the words of thy mouth be like a strong wind? Doth God
pervert judgment? or doth the Almighty pervert
justice? If thy children have sinned against
him, and he hath cast them away for their transgression, if thou
wouldst seek unto God betimes, and make thy supplication to
the Almighty, if thou wert pure and upright, surely now he would
await for thee, and make thee the habitation of thy righteousness
prosperous. He told Job if you would now
do the right thing, then God would awake for him, as if God
is asleep and does not know what is going on. It is a lie on God. Next we have Zophar, and he seems
to be the most miserable comforter yet. Zophar tells Job, you talk
too much, and then he lies on Job. He said Job said that he
was clean in his own eyes, He also tells him that he is mocking.
I'm sure he meant mocking them, which Job was, but he also means
Job was mocking God, and Job was not doing this. But Zophar
says something else. He thinks that the power to do
something to or for a sinner is in the hands of man. Chapter
11, verse 3. Should thy lies make men hold
their peace? And when thou mockest, shall
no man make thee ashamed? He even thinks of himself so
highly that Zophar thinks himself worthy to call out God to do
something to Job, whom God said was perfect. These are miserable
comforters. If you read on through chapters
31, you will see there is more on the miserable comforting that
these men have done. What are these kind of people?
We see these mentioned in the New Testament. Now if you would
turn with me to 2 Timothy chapter 3. 2 Timothy chapter 3. I wanna read verses one through
five. This know also that in the last
days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their
own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient
to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truth
breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that
are good, traitors, heady, high-minded,
lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God, having a form
of godliness but denying the power thereof, from such turn
away. Just as Job did, we should do
to such miserable man-centered accusers such as these. We should
turn away. They say things just as these
men did. Don't tell us who God is. We
know just as much, if not more, than you, Job. You do not know
who God is. That's what they're telling Job.
We experience this tumult of soul all the time, or at least
from time to time. These are the times when accusations
come from Satan. Trying to get you to curse God,
he tries to get you to say, forget all of this. But there are some
just like Job, when God brings this upon them, it will bring
them low. I must decrease and he must increase. Oh, when this begins to happen,
when tribulations come, know that God is going to try your
faith. He is going to cause you to look
to Him. What does Christ tell us? In
John 16 and verse 33 He says, these things I have spoken unto
you that in me you might have peace. In the world you shall
have tribulations. But be of good cheer, I have
overcome the world. Job in his responses, he is certainly
complaining. He is certainly complaining about
his circumstances. But I do not believe he is complaining
to the point of sin. I believe he is complaining about
himself, about his flesh. This flesh will also accuse you. He does not charge God foolishly. God says in chapter 42 that Job
spoke right about him, where his other three friends did not. The book of Job here tells us
one who is being brought low by God. Chapter 6 and verse 4
says, for the arrows of the Almighty are within me. The poison whereof
drinketh up my spirit. The terrors of God do set themselves
in array against me. It brings us to see God as far
above us. His ways being far above our
ways. And if you would, go back to
Job 9, verses 17 through 21. For he breaketh me with a tempest,
and multiplieth my wounds without cause. He will not suffer me
to take my breath, but filleth me with bitterness. If I speak
of strength, lo, he is strong. And if of judgment, who shall
set a time to plead? If I justify myself, my own mouth
shall condemn me. If I say I am perfect, it shall
also prove me perverse. Though I were perfect, yet would
I not know my soul, I would despise my life. And then in our text,
30 and 31, if I wash myself with snow water and make my hands
never so clean, yet thou Yet shalt thou plunge me in the ditch,
and mine own clothes shall abhor me. Job is lamenting his flesh. He sees it for what it is. There
have been many a time I have been taken to this place by God. We come to see again and again
the rottenness, the filth of this flesh. We can see with Paul
the apostle, when we try to do good, evil is present with me. We began to see that we are in
need of something. And Job says in Job 10 verses
15 through 17, if I be wicked, woe unto me. And if I be righteous,
yet will I not lift up my head. I am full of confusion, therefore
see thou mine affliction. For it increaseth, thou huntest
me as a fierce lion, and again thou showest thyself marvelous
upon me. Thou renewest thy witness against
me, and increasest thine indignation upon me. Changes and war are
against me. We are so confused and do not
know what to do in and of ourselves. We cannot judge ourselves rightly.
that God makes us cry out with the psalmist in Psalm 139, 23
and 24. Search me, O God, and know my
heart. Try me and know my thoughts,
and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the
way everlasting. What is this? What is all this
for? This is God teaching his people
patience. Patience that we must wait on
God James 1 3 & 4 reads Your first What is the purpose
for God taking his people through these tribulations? This is my
next point It is to try our faith and the scripture says what does
faith do it looks to Christ and what he has done then in James
1 3 & 4 we read and Knowing this, that the trying of your faith
worketh patience, but let patience have her perfect work, that ye
may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. This trying of your
faith will teach you to wait on God. He is in absolute total
control of all things, no matter what is happening around you.
Whatever is happening, be it good or bad, it is all for your
good, if you love God and are the called according to his purpose.
Romans 5 verses 3 and 4 says, and not only so, but we glory
in tribulation also, knowing that tribulation worketh patience,
and patience experience, and experience hope. That hope which
gives us that calm delight, that joy in Jesus Christ our Lord,
knowing he has done all things needed for our salvation. This
hope coming from the gospel of Jesus Christ and his word, we
know these people, these are perfect people, because they
have been made perfect in Jesus Christ the Lord. We are made
perfect in Jesus Christ, and then we are partakers of the
divine nature. We've read it before in Luke
8, 15, it says, but that on the good ground are they, which in
an honest and good heart, that is a perfect heart, having heard
the word, keep it and bring forth fruit with patience. If you endure, just as James
says, I count you happy, James 5, 11, behold, we count them
happy, which endure. You have heard of the patience
of Job and have seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is
very pitiful and of tender mercy. God is in absolute control of
all things and people. Them that are deceived and those
that are doing the deceiving are in God's absolute sovereign
control. Those that are not deceived or
who know the truth and those who tell the truth, he is in
absolute control over all. So we have been those accusers
whom God allows them to try us, to show that we are perfect and
upright and that we eschew evil. Not by our own works, not by
our own power, but by his power are we this and we do these things. Revelations 12 and verse 10 says,
And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, now is come salvation,
and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of
his Christ, for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which
accused them before God day and night. Why is it that these men
were such miserable comforters? They looked to doing of man to
change things, They did not look to the Redeemer, the daysman,
because they did not know the Redeemer. This world is no comfort
to God's people, nor can they be, for they know not the Comforter. The Comforter knows and speaks
of God who is the Redeemer, that is, Jesus Christ the Lord, that
one which calleth those things that be not as though they were. Romans 4, 17. As it is written,
I have made thee a father of many nations before him whom
he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead and calleth those things
which be not as though they were. I do want to say this. When we
read Job and when we read these miserable comforters, do not
think that everything they said was wrong. There is some good
gospel messages in some of the things they said. It is just
the attitude and what they were trying to accomplish by their
words is what the problem was. In other words, they were the
problem. But there's one more thing as
to why God takes us through these things. Job knew that there had
to be a daysman to come between him and God, but he had not seen
him yet. Job 9.33 says, neither is there
any dazeman betwixt us that might lay his hand upon us both. That
is, Job had not seen the dazeman who could lay his hand on man
and not be defiled, and lay his hand on God and not be consumed,
and bring them both together. That is what Job means by lay
his hand upon us both. He knew that his Redeemer lived
and that he would see him one day, but he had not seen him
yet. Job 19.25, he says, for I know
that my Redeemer liveth and that he shall stand at the latter
day upon the earth. Job knew he was not righteous
in and of himself. He even got to the point where
he was looking for a daysman. He knew he would not stand before
God on his own. Job 16 and verse 21 says, oh
that one might plead for a man with God as a man pleadeth for
his neighbor. He thought he was going to go
to the grave without any hope. Is this not where God brings
all of us to show us without God there is no hope of salvation
before him? We are but flesh and as we are
born we will not talk with or Walk with God as we are iniquity
before Him. If those coming accusing you,
trying to get you to curse God, trying to get you to leave God,
remember this, who shall lay anything to the charge of God's
elect? It is God that justifies. And
I hope next time, if God allows, we will talk about now, my eye
seeth thee. Amen.