Back to Job chapter 4. These next several chapters are
difficult chapters. Difficult. I was telling Frank
before coming out here, my preaching on these It's going
to be like skipping a rock across water. Just barely going to touch
the surface of what's really here. I titled this message after reading
it for a few days, Judge Not by Appearance. Judge Not by Appearance. We are told by our Lord, not
to judge by appearance, but by a righteous judgment. Look over
in John chapter 7. John chapter 7. Let's read it. John chapter 7 and verse 24. Our Lord says, judge not according
to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment. Don't pass judgment on something
just by the outward circumstances of what you see with these eyes.
You and I cannot see the heart and we cannot see what's going
on behind the scenes. There's a lot we can't see, and
it would be wise It would be wise if we would wait to the
end of a thing that had passed any kind of judgment on it. We'd
just wait to the end of it. If Eliphas had sat there probably
for another seven days and shut his mouth, he might have came
up with something a little different here. But he didn't. He didn't. Many believed that our Lord We
talk about judging by appearance and judging a righteous judgment.
Many believe that our Lord was being smitten and afflicted by
God for his own sins. So it says over here in Isaiah
53, listen to this. Surely, in verse four, surely
he hath borne our grief and carried our sorrows, yet we did. esteem him stricken, smitten
of God, and afflicted." For what? They? Well, he's saying
we. We esteemed him to be stricken,
smitten of God for something he did, but it's something we
did, his elect. Because it says in verse 5, but
he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. Not something he did, something
we did. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. Judge not according to appearance,
but judge righteous judgment. I think one of the most difficult
things to do is not pass judgment on something. You know this. I mean, we hear something on
the news, you know, we pass judgment on it. Whenever we hear something,
we automatically start passing judgment on it. Wait and see.
Wait to the end of it and see. Eliphaz is judging by appearance
and not a righteous judgment. This is what's going on in this
chapter. He is accusing Job of being a hypocrite. That's what
he's accusing Job of. Job, you're a hypocrite. We'll
see this as we go along. And he mistakes the chastening
hand of God for judgment for sin, that Job must have done
something horrible for this to happen. Listen, punishment has
to do with the law. Job was not being punished. Punishment
has to do with the law. Chastening has to do with the
loving hand of our Father. Christ was punished for our sins. He was punished for the sins
of His elect. Well, they are chastened because they sinned. We are chastened because we sinned,
but Christ was punished for our sins legally. And what the Lord
chastens us now, that's nothing legal. That's all love. That's
coming from the love of our Father. Whom the Lord loves, He what?
Punishes? No, he chastens. He chastens. Those whom he hates, he punishes
in hell. Matthew Henry said this, never
judge a man's character by one act of sin. We all fall. We all fall. Now, in Job chapter
3, back in Job chapter 3, Job curses his birthday. He curses
his birthday. He complains and he questions
as to why God allowed him to live. He questions the providence
of God and why he allowed him to live. However, I thought of
this last week after I preached, so I'm going to throw it in here.
I had to back up a little bit because I thought of something.
However, when all is said and done, Job is still a righteous
man. After all his complaining, after
all that he said in chapter 3 of what he shall yet say, Job is
still a righteous man. Job is still one that fears God.
Job is still one that shuns evil. And the reason being is this,
that new man never sins. That new man, that new nature
that's born of God is always perfect. It's always perfect. It never regresses. It never
sins. It never does evil. Never. It
never turns on God, but that old man never gets any better.
Never gets any better. Turn over to Romans 7 and see
if you can identify with what Paul writes in Romans chapter
7. See if this is something you've
experienced. Look in verse 14. For we know that the law is spiritual,
but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do, I allow
not. For what I would, that do I not. But what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would
not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then, it is no
more I that do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that
in me, and he clarifies, I hope you didn't notice this. He clarifies
it. That is in my flesh. He doesn't say, for I know that
in me dwells no good thing, because Christ dwells in me. He dwells
in me. So when we say that, let's make
sure we clarify it just like he does here. For I know that
in me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. For to will is
present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not.
For the good that I would, I do not, but the evil which I would
not, that I do. Now, if I do that I would not,
it's no more I that do it, but sin that dwells in me. I find
then a law that when I would do good, evil is present with
me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man,
but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my
mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in
my members. O wretched man that I am! When Paul says this, is he a lost man or
a saved man? He's saved. Of course, a lost
man wouldn't write that. A lost man doesn't have that
kind of struggle. A lost man doesn't say, when I would do
good, evil is present with me. No. Only a saved man would say
what he said here. And then he says, O wretched
man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this dead?
And he gives us the answer. I thank God through Jesus Christ
our Lord. That's the one who's going to deliver me from the
body of this death. So then with the mind, I myself serve the
law of God, but with the flesh, that old nature is what he's
talking about. He's not talking about his skin. He's talking about
that old nature. The law of sin. The law of sin. Have you ever experienced this?
Oh, yeah. If you know God, you do. If you've
been born of God, you know it. All right, verse one. Then Eliphas
the Temanite answered and said, and the reason he answered, he
was probably the eldest of the spokesmen of the three. If we
assay to commune with thee, if we venture to commune with thee,
wilt thou be grieved? But who can withhold himself
from speaking? I tell you who can, a wise man. Eliphas, I tell you who can withhold
himself from speaking, a wise man. There's a time to speak and there's
a time to shut up. And when you don't know what
you're talking about, that's the time to shut up. And he's
talking about something here he don't know what he's, he's
talking about something he don't know what he's talking about, what he's
doing. Now if we, if we say to, to venture, if we venture to
commune with thee, will you be grieved? You better believe you
will be. Because you don't have anything
to say. And what you have to say is not right. Will it trouble
you if we tell you why this is happening? This is what he's
saying. Job, will it trouble you if we, will you listen to
us? We're going to tell you why this
is happening. As if they knew. And then Elias was here, he commended
Job before he attacks him. Behold, thou hast instructed
many. And he's not talking here about
Instructed me on how to farm, how to raise sheep. He's all
about in the way of righteousness. Joe, you've instructed, you preach
the gospel. Joe preached the gospel. He offered the sacrifice
for his family. He knew what that sacrifice meant.
He knew what that sacrifice was all about. And he preached, he
preached. Just like Noah was a preacher
of righteousness. Not self-righteousness. The Lord's
righteousness. The Lord our righteousness. That's
what he preached. He said, You have instructed
many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands. And thy words
have upholden him that was falling. The wise man. He's God's man. And thou hast strengthened the
feeble knees. Boy, what a likeness to Christ he is here. What a
likeness to Christ. Listen to this. You've instructed
many. Did our Lord not do that? And does He not do that now?
You've strengthened the weak knees. Has He not done that for
us? Is He not our strength? You've upheld Him that was falling. He's one who keeps us from falling,
isn't He? And you've strengthened the feeble knees. Our Lord went
about doing good, it says in the Scriptures. But this gives
us some insight into Job's character. He was a wise man, a caring man. He was a man of great compassion
toward others. God made Job to be such a man. Job is what we would call a true
Christian, a true believer. Born of God. This man is born
of God. This is God's man. This is God's
child. This is his character. And he's
going through this hard, hard trial. Very difficult trial. And I believe you and I can understand
why he had to, why he said some things he said. I'm sure we've
said worse over less. But now listen here and listen,
don't forget you've got three men sitting here. You've got
three friends. And listen, they're friends.
They're friends. They came from a far place to
visit Job. And I believe they were his friends.
But never forget this. There's an invisible person behind
the scenes here influencing this whole thing. Satan. God has allowed
him to remove absolutely every prop, every hope, everything
that Job could even get a hold on. His wife turned on him. She said, why don't you curse
God and die? You know, and later on here in this book, he says,
my breath is strange to my wife. You know, she was upset for a
pretty good while. And here are these three friends.
Satan's behind all this. Behind all of it. And yet, I
also see this, how heartless, how heartless we can be when
God leaves us to ourselves. Not only how heartless, listen,
but how self-righteous. And as soon as we start to become
self-righteous, we become heartless. Because that's where heartlessness
comes from, self-righteousness. That's where it comes from. And
Elipha should have followed Job's example in upholding him that
is fallen. You know, listen to this. Thy
words have upholded him that was fallen, and thou hast strengthened
the feeble eagles. Why don't you do that? They're
lifeless. Why don't you do that? Here's an opportunity. Here's
a child of God in trouble. Why don't you uphold him? Why
don't you put your arm around him instead of shooting at him?
Kicking him when he's down. Don't do that. But what he does, he pours salt
in the wound. He makes light of it. He says,
listen to this. This is so... Hard, this is hard. But now it's come upon thee.
You know, you've helped these people who are in trouble. You've
given a word in season. You've been compassionate. You
put your arms around them. You've told them to trust God.
But now it's come upon you. And you faint. You're weak. You're weak. It touches thee. It didn't want to touch. It touches thee and thou art
troubled. You know what he's doing right here?
Here's why it's so hard. He's saying, Job, you're a hypocrite.
You're a hypocrite. That's what he's saying to you.
You're not taking your own advice that you gave others when they
were in trouble. You know what? Sometimes we don't. Sometimes we don't. I'm sure there'll be times that
I can give you some advice, and I believe some good advice, and
I probably wouldn't even take it sometimes if the same thing
happened to me. Same thing happened to me. I'm
just telling the truth. And why? Because we're all human. We're all in this flesh. I don't
know if you ever noticed this, but most great coaches were never
the great players, although Job was a great player. But most
of your great, the greatest coaches were never the greatest players.
But they knew how to handle people. They knew how to communicate. That's why, but he's called Job.
He said, you're a hypocrite. You're not taking your own advice.
Well, I guarantee you, if you look over at Eliphaz's life,
he didn't take it either. There's a lot of times I'm sure
he didn't take his own advice. And we do the same thing. Is
not this thy fear, thy confidence, thy hope, and the uprightness
of thy ways? Now, let me tell you, a lot of
these verses were hard to deal with. I would read John Gill
and Matthew Henry and Hawker and these men, and they'd say,
well, it could mean this, it could mean that. I'm thinking,
well, I'm just going to give you what hits me, what I think
is there. Is not this thy fear, thy confidence,
thy hope, and the uprightness of thy ways? Satan said this,
does Job fear God for nothing? That's what he says to God. Does
Job fear you for nothing? You put a hedge about him, you
blessed him, that's why he fears you because you blessed him.
He fears you because of what he gets out of you. Is not your fear of God founded
upon your uprightness and the blessing you get from God, is
that what your fear is founded upon? It's like false religion. It does what it does to get what
it can get out of God. God is to be feared. God is to
be loved because of who he is. But he's misjudging Job here.
He's saying, Job, you're complaining now. Something's wrong here.
Where's your fear at, Job? Where's your confidence at, Job?
Now you lost all this stuff. All the blessings are gone. Where's
it at? Well, it's still in the same
place with Job. He still feared God. As I said at the end of
this, he's still the perfect man. He's still the upright man. He's still the man that feared
God. He's still the man that shunned evil. He's still the same man. So, boy, this is hard, isn't
it? This is hard. This is some hard stuff here.
I never realized. I've read the book of Job several times, but
I never realized how hard this gets. And he says here, now,
Job, I want you to remember something. I want you to look back. I want
you to think of something here, Job. I pray thee, I'm asking
you this, whoever perished being innocent, where were the righteous
cut off? Where did this ever happen before,
Job? You know, Isaiah 57 once said,
the righteous perish, and no man lays it to heart. That doesn't
mean the righteous perishes eternally, but they die. And no man lays
it to heart. Merciful men are taken away,
and none consider that the righteous is taken away from the evil to
come. But he's saying here, I'll show you something else here.
Go over in Hebrews. Eliphaz just, he's just missing
it. Who ever perished, he said, being
innocent? Well, I tell you what, no man innocent ever perished.
We know that. We know that. Where were the
righteous cut off? Let me find out, find here what
I'm looking for. Look in verse 36. Here's the
righteous. Here's a commentary on the righteous. And others had trial of cruel
mockings, discouraging Jay, moreover of bonds and imprisonments. Elipis,
are they lost? In Hebrews 11, 36, are they lost? By his standards, by his judgments,
these would be lost. Look in verse 37, they were stoned,
they were sawed asunder, cut in half. They were cut in half. They were tempted. They were
slain with the sword. Would you say they were lost? They wondered about in sheepskin
and goatskin, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom
the world's not worthy. It's true, no innocent man ever
perished, but God's the judge of who's innocent and who's not.
Not you and not me. God knows the heart. God knows
the heart of every one of his sheep. He knows every one of
them. Even, he says here, as I have
seen, they that plow iniquity and sow wickedness reap the same.
Well, that's true. That's true. Galatians 6, 7 says
this, Be not deceived. God is not mocked. For whatsoever
a man soweth, that shall he also reap. It says in Galatians 6.8,
For he that soweth his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption,
but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life
everlasting. Eliphaz is wrongly applying to
Job what belongs to the wicked. But what would he say about this
over in Psalm 73? Look over at Psalm 73. What would
Elijah say about this one? Psalm 73. Truly, God's good to Israel,
even as such as are of a clean heart. But as for me, my feet
were almost gone. My steps had dwelt and I slept.
Why was that? I was envious at the foolish
when I saw the what? Prosperity. That's what I'm saying. You can't judge by appearance.
You think a man who's gone through such hard times, he's been knocked
down, lost everything that God's turned on him, The man who has
a lot is rich that God blessed him. That's not so. That's not
so. David said, I was envious at
the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. There's no bands
in their death. Their strength is firm. They're
not in trouble as other men. It sounds totally different than
Eliphas, doesn't it? Neither are they plagued like
other men. Therefore, pride covers them about as a chain. Violence
covers them. as a garment, their eyes stand
out with fatness, they have more than heart could wish." Let's not judge by appearance,
whether a person is rich or whether a person is knocked down. Only God knows the heart. That's
way to the end of the matter. Way to the end of the matter.
By the blast of God, he says, they perish. And by the breath
of his nostrils are they consumed. Yes, that's true. That's exactly
the way God deals with the wicked when he deals with them. But
be careful how you apply it, to whom you apply it. Be careful,
because he's applying this to Job. He's shooting at Job. Job's the mark. Job's the bull
that he's shooting at. The roaring of the lion and the
voice of the fierce lion and the teeth of the young lions
are broken. The old lion, the one who rules the pride there,
perishes for lack of prey and the stout lion's wealth are scattered
abroad. He seems to be comparing Job
here to a lion who has lost his dominion and territory. You've lost it all. There's a reason why he lost
it all. There's a reason. God's proven
his faith. He's not proving to Satan. He's
not trying to prove something here to Satan. This is for Job. This is for
God's glory. This is for Job's eternal good.
And this is for us. Us right now. It's for us. And then we have this vision. And the commentators that I have
confidence in, they all believe this was a true vision. And this
is how God spoke to them oftentimes back in that day, because they
didn't have the Word of God as we have. And he uses this vision. Here's
the sad thing. He uses this vision against Job. He takes this vision that was
given to him, and he uses it against Job. We need to be careful,
I tell them frankly, we need to be careful, us who preach,
how we use the Word of God. Don't, and I'm saying this to
me first, don't misapply the Word of God. Don't reach in there and take
a scripture and then try to apply it to a situation that doesn't
fit. It doesn't fit at all. If a person does not know how
to use a sword, they need to leave it in its sheath, don't
they? You make a mess is what you do
when you don't know how to use something. He says, Now a thing was secretly
brought to me, and my ear received a little thereof, and thoughts
from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on men.
Fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones to shake,
Then a spirit passed before my face. The hair of my flesh stood
up. It stood still, but I could not
discern the form thereof. An image was before mine eyes.
There was silence, and I heard a voice saying, Shall mortal
man be more just than God? Shall a man be more pure than
his maker? Well, of course not. Of course
not. Mortal man can't be more just
than God. The fact that he's mortal tells us that he's not.
The fact that he's mortal tells us something happened. To make him that way, to make
him mortal, is called sin. When sin is conceived, it brings
forth death. Had Adam not fallen, wouldn't he still be here today?
He'd still be here today. He'd still be on this earth alive.
If there had been no fall, nobody would be dying. No one would be dying. But because
of sin, we now have death. We have death. And mortal man
cannot and will not, it's not even possible, be more just than
God, the creature. More just than the Creator? Not
possible. But he's misapplying that. He's
going to misapply it. He's going to try to apply this
to Job, and it doesn't fit. It does not fit. Behold, he put
no trust in his servants and his angels he charged with folly."
Well, God has not and never will turn the running of all this
over to angels. They're created spirits. He's
not going to turn this over to them. He's not going to turn
it over to anything that serves Him. It's in His hands. It's in the hands of the Lord
Jesus Christ, the running of all things, this world, the unseen
world, and the world to come. is in the hands of Jesus Christ. And God puts no trust in his
servants, puts no trust in his angels. He charges them with
folly. They don't know anything unless
God reveals it to them. They don't know anything unless
God reveals it to them. Only God is infinitely wise.
Only God is all-knowing. Only God is that way. Angels
are not that way. They don't know any more than
you and I know. Naturally, they only know what
God has revealed to them. That's what I'm saying. Just
like that's all we know. It's what God has revealed to
us out of His Word. How much less in them that dwell
in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed
before the moth, our headquarters And this is so. This is so. Our headquarters is in the dust. Our bodies, as much as we may
admire them, are nothing more than clay pots. That's all they are. Clay pots. And as time rolls by, it's like
watching them melt away. I watched a program one time
on television, and they showed the aging process from a child,
a baby that was born until this person was, I think it was 90
years of age. And they did it in this, what
is it called, speed frame? They just sped it up. And this
baby, it shows it going from a baby to a child, teenager,
da, da, da. It goes up, and then you see it all dropping. It all
starts sagging, and it all starts falling. and the ears get longer
and the nose gets bigger. It was like watching a clay house
just drop. I thought it was amazing to watch
how the face, it was like the face went bright and then it
just started going down and down and then all of a sudden the
face just drooped. Clay pots. Clay pots. That's what we are. Unlike angels,
we are trapped in this body. God put us in a body. And until
we are called out of this world, we're trapped in it. We're trapped
in this body and trapped in a world of sin. We are very limited in our power
and our abilities, aren't we? Very limited. God puts no trust
in us. No. I tell you what, we put our
trust in God. We put our trust in Him. He doesn't
put His trust in us. I tell you who He put His trust
in, Jesus Christ. That's the one man He put His
trust in. This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.
The whole Godhead dwells in Him bodily. He put His trust in Him. And
it says here, they are destroyed from morning to evening. They
perish forever without any regard in it. Like cattle, they're slaughtered,
and no one says why. No one lays it to heart. Does
not their excellency, which is in them, go away? Yes, it goes
away. It perishes. It perishes. Greatness
does not go to the grave. It does not go to the grave. This is the end. Now, listen.
This is the end of an ungodly man. This revelation here isn't. It's a picture of man. It's a
testimony of man and his end. But it's not a picture of the
godly man. He does not perish. Those in
Christ will not die. You'll lay your body in the ground,
but you will not die. You'll just go on to glory. Go to heaven. Eliphas is making
a great mistake here by applying what belongs to the ungodly to
the godly. All because, now listen, here it is, right here. All because
of what he sees with his eyes and not with his understanding.
He's solely judging Job by what Job said and what he has seen,
what has happened. And he says, Job, let me tell
you why this is happening. And he got it all wrong. He got
it all wrong. Let's be careful how we judge
other believers. Wisdom says, wait and see. Wait and see.