Let me make this announcement.
Please ask for the men to stay after the service. I just read
what they write. To stack up chairs. I have a
few tables in my truck you can get out to. Job chapter 9. Gleanings from Job chapter 9. Job answers Bildad, his last
one to speak in chapter 8, and he does so by way of agreement. You know that Eliphas and Bildad
said some hard things to Job, hard things. But when Job answers
Bildad here, he answers him by way of agreement. He says, I
know it is so of a truth. This is a wise way to handle
controversy or someone that's in your face, like Bildad is
with him. Job disarms him by agreeing where
he can agree. Remember that. Where he can agree,
he agrees with him. He never compromises, but he
uses opportunity to speak the truth to his three friends in
points that he can agree with him on. Then Job answered and
said, Job waited. He was respectful. After all
that's been said, After all that's happened to
Job, all of his losses, here he sits, scraping boils. We've got two friends so far
out of the three that shot at him. And yet, he's still respectful
enough to wait until the man finishes what he has to say.
That's respect. That's maturity. That's maturity. He waited until Bill Dad finished
speaking before he spoke. I thought today in looking at
this, It's easier to get someone's attention if you let them finish
speaking. Because if you don't, the only
thing that's on their mind is what they're wanting to say,
and you shut them up. And they're going to finish saying it one
way or another. So he just let him speak. He's very respectful. Out of all this, I mean, he's
respectful. And he says, I know it is so
of a truth. What does he know that is so
of a truth? What he knows is this, Vildad,
you're right. You're right. Look in verse 3 of chapter 8. Doth God pervert judgment, or
doth the Almighty pervert justice? Well, the answer to that is no.
He said, you're right, Vildad. I said to you earlier, I've said
this more than once since we've been going through Job, they
said some things that are right. They just misapplied them. They
said some things that were right. And that's what he's saying here.
Bildad, you're right. You're right. A man's own wickedness
will bring him to ruin. The hypocrite's hope shall perish. And God will not punish or cast
off a perfect man. You're right. I know that. That's so, Bildad. But here's
a question, Bildad. How should man be just with God? Bill, Dad, that's the question. How can I, how can you be just
before God? And then, you know, Satan said
to God that you let me touch him, you let me take these things
from him and he'll curse you to your face. And here Joe, He
says, how can a man be just with God, and his mind is set upon
God? And my, for a little bit, he rises to the occasion. He
glorifies God. And my, does he speak. He speaks
of the glory of God, the power of God, the holiness of God.
It's amazing. Now, he'll go on and say some
things that's a little more, that's kind of tough in this chapter
and the next. But we get a glimmer of light
here of that perfect man. God said he's a perfect man.
He's my man. He's God's man. This man is saved. And he's going to give us a real
lesson here in the person, character of God. But he says, how should
man be just with God? Bill Dadd, God is holy. He's
holy. He's immaculately holy. You know,
it's hard to put that into words, but I know this. You and I cannot
have an understanding of sin, what it is, until we have some
understanding of the holiness of God. There's no way. See, until that happens, we look
at sin in acts. Like, you know, a guy shoplifted,
or he did this, or he did that. You know, that's not what God's
concerned about. It's what I am. It's what I am. You see, God's holy. I'm sin. That's my nature. But I'll never
understand the vileness and the wretchedness of my nature until
I understand something of the holiness of God's nature. There's
just no way. It says in Psalm 143 that in
his sight shall no flesh living be justified. You and I cannot
do anything to justify ourselves, to get God in order to enable
God to justify us. We can't do it. We mess it up
trying to do it. Can't do it. Look over at Isaiah
6. Isaiah chapter 6. Familiar scripture. Isaiah 6. Now if you're reading
through Isaiah, sometime you read through it, you will find
out that Isaiah is woeing everybody. Woe, woe, woe. If he was on a horse, he couldn't
go anywhere. It would just be woe, woe, woe. He wouldn't go anywhere. I shouldn't
have said that. Sometimes my mind just, I got
to get it out of my system. Can't take it home with me. But
anyway, up to this chapter, he's woeing everybody. But now listen
to this. In the year that King Uzziah
died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne. See, he idolized
Uzziah. He said, I saw also the Lord
sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled
the temple. Above it stood the seraphims,
each one had six wings, with twine, and with two he covered
his face." Even they could not look upon God. They could not
look upon the perfection of God, the holiness of God. They couldn't
look upon it. And with two he covered his feet.
And with two he did fly, and one cried unto another, and this
is what they said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The
whole earth is full of his glory. And the post of the door moved
at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with
smoke. Then said I, woe is me. When he saw God's holiness, when
he saw God high and lifted up, He said, woe is me, I'm in trouble,
I'm undone. It's not just you, it's also
me. Woe is me for I'm undone because
I'm a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people
of unclean lips. For mine eyes have seen the King,
the Lord of hosts. That's when you will understand
something of sin. is when you understand something
of God's holiness. Then you'll say, Oh, wretched
man that I am. Not because I shoplifted or because
I did something I ought not to do, but because of what I am. What I am. If God deals with us according
to what we deserve, we will perish. How can a man be just with God?
A few things about that in the end of the message. Now, we find
out here, Job shows us here that we are no match for God. We are
no match for him. If he will contend with him,
he cannot answer him one of a thousand. If we go to law with him, he
says, How can a man be just with God if we go to law with him? If you're going to take him on
in court, if you're going to take him on in the court of heaven, we can't contend with him. If
we go to law with him, listen, we lose. We lose. He cannot answer him one of a
thousand. If we fight against him, if we fight against him
as an adversary, We lose. Either way, we lose. Whatever questions God would
ask me, I would not be able to answer them. Whatever question, whatever he
asked me, I'll be dumbfounded. When God spoke to Job, starting,
I think, in chapter 38, when God spoke to Job and asked him,
Where He was when He created the earth. And you go down through
38, 39, 40, all the way through 42. All those things God's asking
Job. What was Job's answer? He didn't
have one. All those questions. And Job
didn't open his mouth one time. He didn't have an answer. He was dumbfound. He was dumbfound. You say, what is God doing? You
go through troubles and trials and heartaches in your life.
What's he doing? Well, if he told you, you wouldn't understand. You and I would not understand
if he told us. So let's just trust him. God can lay a million charges
against us. We cannot answer one of them
or defend ourselves against one of them, can we? He can pick a day. He can pick
an hour. Pick a scene. And crush me. And I can't answer for it. The
only thing I can say, this is one thing I can say. Guilty. That's all that needs to be said.
Guilty. I heard my pastor say this in
a message years ago. He's talking, he's preaching
in Isaiah 53. And there where it says, and he opened not his
mouth. He said the reason he opened not his mouth, because
the charges were true. He stood there as my substitute,
right? He stood there as your substitute, my substitute, the
substitute of all who believe, the substitute of all those who
shall believe. He stood there as their substitute guilty. And
he opened not his mouth because the charges were true. Boy, when
I heard that, I thought, Wow. That's substitution. He's wise of heart. And mighty in strength, he is
the almighty. God is infinite in wisdom, his
wisdom cannot be measured. We measure our IQ, don't we?
Of course, we set the standard. Who's the standard? You can say somebody's got 170
IQ, they're a genius. No, Adam was a genius. The rest
of us are idiots. When God made Adam, he was a true genius. He
was. But ever since then, it's not
really. I know we have people that are highly intelligent in
areas, in certain areas. Take them out of that area and
they're off as a goose in a snowstorm. He's God, but God's wisdom is
infinite. There's no measure in it. There's no measure. He knows what He's doing. We don't. We don't. What do we
know? What do we know? Everything I
know, somebody had to teach me. Somebody, even my name. Somebody
had to teach me my name. How simple is that? But God is
all-knowing. He's never been taught one thing.
He knows all things. God of knowledge. He cannot be outwitted. He cannot
be outwitted. He cannot be overpowered. His
wisdom and power are unsearchable. Absolutely unsearchable. And here's a good question, Joe
Bass. He's going to ask some tough questions here. Who hath
hardened himself against God and hath prospered? Who has turned
away from God? Now listen, you go through a
hard time, a hard trial, you get upset. Don't tell me you
don't because you're just like me. You know how kids will get pout?
You know how kids will pout? You think we've gotten over that?
No. Bull up? Who has ever done that
against God and prospered? The intelligent wise thing to
do is submit, submit, bow down under his hand. Who has hardened
himself against God and have prospered? None, none. And he's mighty in power when
the angels turned on him. When the angels all, when that
whole host, however many there were, when they all turned on
him, did they overpower him? When Satan led the charge and
had that one-third or something like that, the heavenly host,
did they overpower God? Did they wrestle him off the
throne? No, he said, you guys, out of here. He kicked them out
of heaven. Kick Satan out. There's no challenge
to God's power. Whatever troubles I'm in, it's
not a challenge to God's power. It's a matter of His will. It's
not a matter of power. And then he demonstrates. He
gives a demonstration of God's power. He says, which removeth
the mountains, in verse 5, which removeth the mountains. Is there
anything more solid than a mountain? firm, solid mountain. He says
God removes mountains. And they know not. They cannot
resist. He can absolutely level a mountain without resistance. He can level
a mountain as easy as He can level a man. He overturns them in His anger. For God to remove a majestic
mountain is not a challenge to His power. Not a challenge. They cannot resist His power.
He made Sinai smoke and shake when He descended upon it. Can
you imagine that? When God descended upon Mount
Sinai, that mountain just quivered underneath the load of His presence. Can you imagine that? which shaketh the earth out of
her place. I'm not worried about, I'm not
the least concerned about a meteorite hitting this earth. Science says,
well, they're overpaid, aren't they? You can take a nut like me and
I can tell them the truth. I can take the word of God at
no charge, save the government millions of dollars, And tell
Him how this ain't going to end. Tell Him how it's going to end. "...which shaketh the earth out
of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble." When Christ died on the cross,
the earth, it said, shook. It shook. It trembled at its
Creator. But here's the amazing thing.
Here this power, this raw, unmeasurable power sits on the
throne. And yet His mercy is over all
His works. Here God has the power just to
speak the Word and annihilate a nation. The knowledge is earth. And yet
sinful man defies God to His face every day, and yet the earth
yields her increase. You know, we get up in the morning,
go to work, don't really think much about this old earth, do
we? The stability of it. The stability of it totally depends
on the power of His Word. It's kept by the power of His
Word. He could put a stop to this at
any given moment. That's our God. And His power is not limited
to this earth, but it's over heaven. See, Job just, he just
covers the whole realm here. He's not, you know, it's just
not a little section. He covers the whole of creation.
Because if he can't handle that, We're in trouble. He commands the sun and it rises
not. And He sealeth up the stars.
They don't shine. You know, over in the book of
Acts, remember, there's on that storm. Paul's on a ship and he's at
that storm. And that was for many days, he said they didn't
see the stars. He covered them over with a black
cloud. And they were not visible. Turn to Joshua. Say Joshua chapter 10. Joshua 10. Look at verse 12. Then spake Joshua to the Lord. Joshua 10, 12. Oh, wait a minute. I quit hearing the
paper rattling. That's what I'm waiting on. Then spake Joshua to the Lord
in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children
of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Son, stand thou
still upon Gibeon, and thou move in the valley of Agilon. He commanded
it to stand still, don't move. And the sun stood still and the
moon stayed until the people had avenged themselves upon their
enemies. It is not this written in the
book of Jasher. So the sun stood still in the
midst of heaven and hasted not to go down about a whole day.
And there was no day like that before it or after it, that the
Lord hearkened unto the voice of a man where the Lord fought
for Israel. Not a day like that, I tell you
what, until that blind man cried and the Son of God stood still. That was an even greater day.
That was an even more marvelous miracle. Turn to 2 Kings chapter 20. 2
Kings chapter 20. Oh, he said, which commands the
sun and it rises not, and he seals up the stars. Look in verse
11. And Isaiah the prophet cried
unto the Lord, and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward,
by which it had gone down in the dial of Ahaz. God took the sun. One day it
stood still. And then one day he took it ten
degrees backwards. He suspended the laws of nature. And he just... Who commanded the sun? And it
rises not. Can you do that? We can't even
command the light to come on. Job is recognizing the awesome
holiness, wisdom, and power of God. That's what he's doing. He's recognizing God for who
He is. Which alone spread out the heavens
without any help. He alone did it. He did it alone. He didn't create the angels and
then have them help him do it. No, He did it alone. He spread
it out and He treadeth upon the ways of the sea. You ever see
Him do that? You ever think about that? Watching
the sea roll. Think about God treading upon
the ways of the sea. The first time I took a plane
ride, years ago, it was Richard Benson. He took me in his jet
on a business trip he was on. And the first thing I thought
of, we got up in the air And that was a cloudy day. I mean,
it was a cloudy day. And we was up there in the sun
shining. And the first thing I thought of was the clouds or
the dust of His feet. I thought, my, my, my. If His
feet can do that, what must He? What must He be able to do? Our God is big. There's no measure
in Him. There's no measure in Him. He spreads out the heavens and
he treads upon the waves of the sea. He keeps them spread out.
He keeps them spread out. He disperses the clouds. He keeps
the sea at bay. You know this earth is two-thirds
water, isn't it? Am I right? Two-thirds water. If this earth tilts just a little
bit too much one way, a lot of people are going to drown. If
it just tilts just a little bit. He keeps it on its axis. You talk about the wisdom of
God. I was thinking about this when I was driving up to Cottesville.
The Ohio River is up right now. It's up. And I thought, what
wisdom, what engineering feat it is that that river doesn't
just drain off. And that all the creeks and rivers,
you know, on the north, on the north end of this ball, It doesn't
all just go phew. You know what wisdom that is? And then you tell me how on the
bottom it doesn't fall off. Or how it goes, holy God can
do that. And that God's our God. That
God is our God. Look over in Jeremiah 5. Jeremiah 5, look in verse 22. Let me read verse 21 with it. Here now this, well it goes 20. Declare this in the house of
Jacob and publish it in Judah, saying, Here now this, O foolish
people, and without understanding, which have eyes and see not,
which have ears and hear not. Fear you not me, saith the Lord?
You don't fear me? Will you not tremble at my presence,
which hath placed the sand for the bound of the sea by perpetual
decree, that it cannot pass it? I did that. You look at that
massive ocean. I mean, I'm always, when I stand
in front of the ocean there on the beach, I look out over there,
it's amazing. That body of water that's out
there. And though the waves thereof
toss themselves, yet they cannot prevail. They cannot prevail. Though they roar in a hurricane,
let a hurricane come along and look at those waves. But they
never really get too far, do they? Never really get too far. Yet can they not pass over it?
I set the bounds and you don't fear me. You can look at this
massive ocean. And I said it's bound, it cannot
go beyond it, and you don't fear me? You're a dead bunch of people. You don't fear me. Nature, nature itself should
teach us to fear God. Then God made all the constellations.
Talks about the sun and sealing up the stars, and he said he
made Arcturus. Orion, Venus, these are the three
major bodies, at least what I've written today. Supposed to be
the three major bodies. It says when you can see these,
that's like November, December, it's when the stormy weather.
I did that. That's of me. That's of me. I created them. They are my servants. They're my servants. And I tell
you, they have their effect. on this earth. They all have their effect on
this earth. Which doeth great things past
finding out. God does great things past finding
out. Yea, wonders without number. And he's still doing them. Have you seen any lately? Every
day? Have you recognized it? God is a great God. Our God is
great. He does great things in heaven
and in earth continually. But He especially does great
things in the heart in salvation. Takes a rebel and turns him into
a friend. Takes the one who hates Him, whose mind is at enmity
with Him, and now He loves him. Boy, that's great things. Those
are things that there to be wondered at. God's greatness is unsearchable.
It says in Scripture, who by searching can find out God? No
one. He has to reveal himself. If
he doesn't reveal himself, you won't know him. You and I will
come up with the God of our imagination. It'll be just about like what
we are. Though he goes by me, And I see
him not. He passes on also, but I perceive
him not. He goes by me in Providence.
He did today. God went by us in Providence.
Did you see him? Did you see him? Did you recognize him? Did you say, there goes the Lord?
There goes God. He goes by me. But I don't perceive
him. Not paying attention. Most times
that's what it is, not paying attention. Not recognizing God's
hand in everything. How many times, how many did
Christ pass by and they knew Him not? They knew Him not. God is spirit and unless He reveals
Himself, We will never know he's passing by. Unless he reveals himself, we
would never know he was in this service at all. God does all things, yet we perceive
him not. That's how blind and dead men
are. We see second causes, don't we?
We see things happen, you know, we physically see them. But in reality, it's God at work.
God's working. You watch the news, God's working.
God's working. Whether it be in something good
or something tragic, God's working. God's working. He's not one of these spectators.
He's not a spectator. God is not a spectator. He's completely involved with
his creation and in the salvation of his people. Then he speaks of his sovereignty.
I'm not going to get there, am I? It's too long. He speaks of God's sovereignty.
Behold, he taketh away who can hinder him or who can make him,
listen to this, who can make him restore it. I can take something
from you, and you can take me to law, and the law can say,
you give that back. You know, in the Old Testament,
if somebody stole something or took something, they had to restore
more than they took. Can you make God restore what
He takes away? No. No. He takes away. Who can hinder
Him? Who can make Him restore it? Or who can tell Him, no! You're not taking this. I bet
he does. I bet he does. Who will say to him, what doest
thou? What are you doing? Now, we say it to each other,
don't we? Husbands, wives. We say it all the time. What
are you doing? And we give an answer. We give an answer. God gives
no answer. He gives no answer, it says,
of any of his matters. First of all, as I already said,
you wouldn't understand it anyway. Secondly, He's the Sovereign.
He doesn't owe an answer. He doesn't owe an answer. How
many times did our Lord not answer them a word? His power is irresistible. If He wills to take away all
that I have, who can stop Him? Who can stop Him? Look in Job
33. Job 33. Look in verse... Let me see here if I've got the
right one written down. Well, I don't have the right
one written down. Job 33, 13. That's not it. All right, let's move on. Anyway,
behold, he takes away who can hinder him, who can turn him
back, who can stay his hand, who can question what he's doing.
Paul said, Who art thou that replies against God, O man? Shall
the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why have you made
me thus? God gives no answer. He's the
Sovereign, complete Sovereign. And if God will not withdraw
His anger, the proud helpers do stoop under Him. If, well,
what a word. What a word. If. If God deals with me in anger,
I'm a goner. If God will not show mercy, I'm
a goner. If I have not found grace in
His sight, I'm a goner. But if I have, if I have, it
is well with my soul. If I have found favor in his
sight, if I have found grace in his sight, if I have been
saved and redeemed by the blood of Christ, it is well with my
soul. Oh, what a big word, if. If you'll not withdraw his anger,
the proud helpers will stoop under him. Oh, yeah. No, none can resist God. None
can stand before Him. None. I say this, let us bow before
Him and give Him the glory due unto His name and let us draw
near to Christ, the Savior of sinners. Savior of sinners. And I'm just going to wait until
next time before I deal with this question. How can God be
just? How can a man be just with God?
I'll give it to you in a word, Christ.