Turn back to Job chapter 23. Job chapter 23. Job was a true servant of God. What a glowing report. What a
glowing testimony God himself gave of this man in that first
chapter. Have you considered my servant Job perfect, upright? One that shuns evil. That's God's
description of Job. That was not Job's description
of himself. That's God's description of him. What we have before us is a child
of God, a man who walked with God, a righteous
man under heavy heavy affliction, heavy affliction. And we are
allowed to listen to the thoughts of His heart as He goes through
this heavy, heavy trial. When God puts us under heavy
trials, we don't always think and say, well, it's the Lord,
let Him do as He will. That usually comes at the end
of it. We are usually perplexed, cast
down, and do not understand what's going on. And this is Job here
in chapter 23. Even, he says in verse 2, even
today, he's answering Eliphas. Eliphas had been talking, and
now he's going to answer him. He's, even today, is my complaint
bitter. Bitter. You ever taste anything
bitter? You spit it out. I own, I own that my complaining
is bitter. I own that. I acknowledge that
my complaining is bitter. Job's affliction was very heavy
and his friends, He called them miserable comforters. His friends
took his complaints to be rebellion against God's dealings with him. We need to be very careful in
passing judgment on God's elect. Only God knows the reason for
any affliction that he brings on his children, and he only
sees the heart. of his children through all of
it. He's the one who sees the heart. Job says, Oh, that I knew where I might find him. Have
you ever been there? Oh, that I knew. Job worshipped
God. He offered the sacrifices. You
saw in the first chapter there, He even offered up the sacrifices
for His children. He was perfect and upright. And
now here He is in the dust, in darkness, saying, Oh, that I
knew where I might find God. It's like the woman in the Song
of Solomon said, Have you seen Him whom my soul loveth? Have you seen Him? Tell me where
He is. Tell me where he is. God is omnipresent. He's everywhere. But when it comes to matters
of the heart and these afflictions and these trials, sometimes,
sometimes he can't be found. It just seems like he cannot
be found. Where is he? Job says, where is he? I can't
find him. Oh, that I knew where I might
find him if I knew. If I could find him, he says,
I would come to his seat. This is confidence. You go back
over in chapter 19, and he said, I know my Redeemer liveth. I know it. He's going to stand
up on this earth in the last days, and I'm going to see him.
I'm going to see him for myself. Job was confident in his Redeemer. And he said, if I could find
Him, if I knew where to find Him right now, I would come even
to His seat. Job knew that through his Redeemer,
the Lord Jesus Christ, the same Redeemer we have, he looked to
the same Redeemer. He knew that through his Redeemer,
he could approach the throne of grace and find mercy to help
in this time of need. He knew that he could approach
the bar of justice through his Redeemer and be cleared of all
these charges that his friends are casting upon him. He said,
I know it. Oh, if I knew where I could find
him, I'd come even to his seat. Here is a great privilege. Here is a great privilege, O
child of God, that you can enter. This is beyond our comprehension,
but you can enter into the Holy of Holies. You can enter into
God's presence through the blood and the righteousness of the
Lord Jesus Christ and be heard. God, have an audience with God
Almighty. Go out and look at creation.
Look at the stars and the moon and the sun. Look at creation,
the one who created all this. I have a right to come before
His seat and cast my cares upon Him at any time. I don't have to make an appointment.
I don't have to say, well, I'm allowed at three o'clock. I'm
supposed to be there. No, at any time. Any time. I would order my calls before
him, my complaint, my calls, and fill my mouth with arguments. Even though I said I'm going
to argue with God, I tell you what I fill my mouth with, these arguments.
Lord, didn't you say, call upon me
in the day of trouble and I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorify
me. Didn't you say that? Now, that's
an argument, isn't it? Using his word and his promise.
That's an argument. Lord, did you not say, come unto
me, all you that labor and heavy laden, and I'll give you rest.
Lord, did you not say that? Oh, he said, I would fill my
mouth with arguments. This is the arguments he filled
with the promises of God. Lord, you said you would not
lay upon me more than I could bear. Did you not say that? This is boldness. This is not
brashness. This is boldness before the throne
of grace because of the Lord Jesus Christ. In Him, in Him,
and through His blood and righteousness, we can pour out our hearts before
God Almighty, pour out our arguments, and be heard. Be heard. The unbeliever doesn't have this.
He doesn't have this privilege. He does not have this right.
Only those who are the blood-bought sons of God have this right.
Job's saying, I would know the cause for this great affliction. If I have sinned, Lord, tell
me. Make me to know it. I can repent
of it. Help me repent of it. Help me. Reveal it to me. I would know the cause of this
affliction. I would know the words which he would answer me
and understand what he would say to me. I want to know, I
want to know what God has to say concerning this matter, concerning
this particular affliction I'm going through. I want to know
what God has to say about this. It doesn't matter what my friends
are saying, his friends are, his friends are saying all kinds
of things about him. They're saying, Job, you're a
rebel. Job, you must have done something
bad. Job, they've cast all kinds of
aspersions upon him. Job said, here's what matters.
What does God say? I want to know what God says
about this matter. I want to know what God says.
If God justifies me, who can condemn me? I want to hear His
words. I want to hear Him speak. Lord,
you speak saying to my soul, David says, saying to my soul,
I am by salvation. Say unto my soul. And understand
his word. Joe said I would understand the word
and the will of God, that's my desire. I would come before his
seat and I would know the matter of this affliction and I would
repent of it. If I've sinned, I repent of it.
And I desire to know the will of God in this matter, I desire
to know. Lord, what's your will? What's
your will? Will he plead against me if I
come to his seat? He could. I mean, there's enough
in me to plead against. Will he plead against me with
his great power? God in all His infinite power
and holiness and majesty, will He use it against me? Will He
plead against me? Will He stand up against me? If I enter into His presence,
will He crush me like a moth? Listen to this. No. No. No. This is beautiful. But He'll put strength in me.
He'll help me argue with them. He'll help me plead. He'll give
me the strength to stand up and plead my cause. He said, no,
He will put strength in me. He will help me to stand before
Him and pray. He will help me to pray by putting
His Spirit in me and leading me and guiding me and ordering
my prayer in the right direction. to bring about the whole purpose
of this matter. He'll teach me how to pray. And
He'll bring this whole thing around to where I understand
what's going on. The Scripture says, the kingdom
of heaven suffereth violence And the violent take it by force. Have you ever prayed? I thought
about this to myself today. Thought about myself. Have you
ever violently prayed? Have you ever violently? You
know, we pray and we're sincere in it. But this thing of the Kingdom
of Heaven suffers violence. Job said, I will not. Here's
a violent prayer. Here's a violent prayer. Job
said, I will not. Jacob, I mean. Jacob said, I
will not let you go till you bless me. He knew Esau was going
to kill him. And he knew the only hope he
had was the one he was wrestling with. That one he was wrestling
with in prayer. He said, I will not let you go
till you bless me. Where did a worm like Jacob get
that kind of strength to wrestle with God? He got it from God. The Lord put that strength in
him. Job said, He will put strength in me. He'll enable me to pray. He'll enable me to stand before
Him. He'll enable me to do it. There, in verse 7, there the
righteous might dispute with him. Those are strong words,
aren't they? Those are strong words. But he
doesn't mean them in a bad way. There the righteous might plead
with him. Where? Where's there? Before the mercy seat. Before
the throne of grace. Where God sits ruling and reigning
over all things." Job said, there, the righteous. Every one of those
who are made righteous in Christ can come to the mercy seat and
dispute with Him, pray to Him, call upon Him. The righteous might inquire and
petition God for mercy and seek an answer for their affliction. for this affliction I'm going
through," he said, and be heard. Oh, he said, if I could but find
Him and come to His throne of grace, I would be delivered and
justified before all those who are wrongfully condemning me.
He knows He's just before God. He knows He stands before God
Almighty. He knows He stands before Him
justified in His Redeemer. But he said, I would be justified
before all those who are condemning me. They were charging Job with
rebellion, wickedness. Job said, that's not the case.
I was worshipping God when this fell on me. He wasn't out doing
something wrong. He was worshipping God. He's
walking in the path that he's been walking all those years.
Out of the blue, just one after another, came, came, came. Listen. But, behold, I go forward, but
he's not there. And backward, but I cannot perceive
him. I can't find him. In this dark
hour and need of friction, I can't find him. He said, I go forward. I look forward. He just spoke
of his Redeemer standing on the earth in the latter days. He
said, but I can't find it. I can't find any comfort. I can't
find Him. In my mind, I go after Him. I
cry unto Him. I walk in His way. I delight
in His Word. I press toward the mark, but
I still can't find Him. I find no answer from Him. I'm glad God had this written.
I'm glad this is written for you. This is written for our
learning. Here's a man who's perfect and upright, and he said,
I can't find God. I can't find Him. I find no answer
from Him, no relief from Him, no signs of mercy and grace from
Him. I don't find anything from Him. I go backward, but I can't perceive
Him. I cannot perceive the purpose of God in this storm that I'm
going through. I can't perceive it. It's like he's laying in the
dust. Like a worm wiggling in the dust. That's where he's at. He's in the dust. Wiggling around
there. I can't find God. The One I worship. The One I believe. The One I
trust. Boy, that was a dark hour, wasn't it? That was a dark hour.
I look back. When I look back, all I can see
is loss. When I look forward, I can see
no end in sight. On the left hand where he does
work, I go where I know his work is going on. I go among his people,
but I cannot behold him. I look to Christ. I look to the
cross. I look to the blood, yet I can't
get any peace. I can't get any rest. I can't
get any relief. That's a trial, isn't it? Now,
that's a trial. But our Lord on the cross cried,
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? I cried unto you
all day long. I cried unto you. Why have you
forsaken me? That's trials. That's heartaches.
That's darkness. But this I know, no matter how
severe God tries His child, He never loses faith. He never loses
confidence. Because that's of God. If the
faith was of us, we'd lose it. But it's of God. This I know. I don't know where to find Him.
I don't know what's going on. I don't know. I'm just perplexed. I'm cast down. But this I know.
He knoweth the way that I take when He's trying me. He knows
the outcome. The night is dark. I can't see. There's no light. There seems
to be no end in sight. This sorrow just keeps getting
worse. But he knoweth, he knoweth the way that I take. He knows
my path. He knows the outcome. When he
hath tried me, this is of God. He's not attributing any of this
to Satan, is he? He's saying this is of God. He knew where his afflictions
were coming from. God's the first cause. And listen,
I shall come forth as gold. I don't know how this is going
to end, but I know it's going to end well. I don't know when it's
going to end, but it's going to end well. Job finds a little
manna. He finds a little manna to chew
on here. God knows the way that I take when He's tried me. God
knows the end of a matter from the beginning of it. He knows
the outcome of it. I don't know the way that I will
take under such a heavy trial, but He does, and that's what
matters. That's what matters. Because He controls the outcome.
He controls it. God knows every step that I will
take under every circumstance. My friends don't know, I don't
know, but God knows. God knows. And here's Job's confidence. Here's every believer's confidence.
I shall come forth as gold. This is not going to destroy
me. It's going to refine me, melt off some of the dross, but I'm going to come forth as
gold. As I went in, I'm going to come out. I went in a child
of God, I'm going to come out a child of God. a little better, with a little
more understanding of the loving kindness of God, a little more
refined, he said, I'm going to come forth as gold. That's confidence in Christ.
That's confidence in a Redeemer. That's not confidence in himself.
Job's not being cocky here and saying, I can make it through.
No, he said, that's my Redeemer. Because of my Redeemer, Because
of my God, I'm going to come out of this like gold when it's
over with. My foot have held his steps, I haven't left the
way. His way have I kept and not declined,
neither have I gone back from the commandments of his lips.
I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary
food. I have kept the way. I've not
left. The Lord said to His disciples,
will you also go away? They said, to whom shall we go?
Thou hast the words of eternal life. I have no one to go to. You're my all in all. Trials
do not run a believer away. They do not run a believer away. In fact, the Word and the promises
of God become more necessary. They become more necessary than
ever before when heavy trials come on. Everything else seems
to be as nothing. And His Word, He said here, the
words of His mouth are more than my necessary food. I don't have to have food. And
I can go ahead and die, but I cannot live without his word." He said,
I have to have his word. Anybody that can stay away from
the gospel, they can just stay away from it. They're dead. Job
said, his word is more than my necessary food. I've got to have
it. I've got to have it. And then
he focuses. here on the sovereignty of God. He doesn't lay this blame off
on this one and that one. He focuses here on the sovereignty
of God. But he is in one mind. Job said, God is in one mind. And who can turn him? If what
his soul desires, even that he doeth. He has no counselors to
change his mind. He never alters. He never changes. None instruct God. And he will
fulfill his purpose in every one of his elect. For he performeth,
look in verse 14, for he performeth the thing that is appointed for
me. This is appointed. Job recognizes that this heavy
affliction that he's going through is God appointed it. He appointed it. I suffer these
afflictions by divine appointment. You believe that? You do if you're
a child of God. And when it's all over, these
trials will be but light afflictions. But these afflictions, they don't
just come. They don't just jump up out of
the ground. God appoints every one of them. Listen, and many
such things are with Him. You know what He's saying? He
said, He performeth the thing that is appointed for me. All
these afflictions, they're divinely appointed, and this is not the
last trial. This is not the last one. He
knows that. He's going through this heavy,
heavy trial, and He said there's more to come. There's more to
come. Therefore am I troubled." Now
remember this, this is written, this is a man speaking that's
under extreme trial, heavy, can't even
explain. He said, the hand of God has
touched me. And he said, when I consider
this, when I consider that this is not the last one, that there's
more to follow, I'm troubled. troubled at His presence. When
I consider I'm afraid of Him, I know what he's saying. God
is sovereign and we are glad. But now sometimes, sometimes
it makes us afraid. But David said, what times I
am afraid, I will trust Him. What times I am afraid, I will
trust him." Because Job knew by experience how severe the
trial could be. And he said, I'm afraid of the
next one. But you remember, he's going through this as he's saying
this. He's just being honest. Don't
you like people just being honest? That's why I said I'm glad this
is written. We get to listen to a righteous
man, a servant of God, just being honest. He said, I'm afraid.
I'm afraid. Sometimes the anticipation of
a matter is worse than the experience of it. It's just anticipating
the next one. This kind of understanding of
who God is makes a man, and I think this may say it better than anything
else I've said. This kind of understanding of
who God is makes a man walk soberly. Soberly before God. Softly. Softly before God. You realize
the majesty and the glory and the power and the sovereign right
for God to do with His own as He will makes you walk soberly
and softly before God. David said in Psalm 77, verse
3, I remembered God and was troubled. He says, Job says in verse 16,
for God maketh my heart soft, faint, faint. That's what he
means. He makes my heart faint. Job
was afraid it was not going to get any better. It's just not
going to get any better. But you and I know better, don't
we? We have the advantage of reading the end of the book. We have a great advantage. We
have His Word and we have an innumerable company of witnesses
that it gets better. It gets better. I don't understand. I don't understand, verse 17, here's
what he's saying, I don't understand why I was not cut off before
all these troubles came. We know why. We know why. It was for God's glory, Job's
good, and our good. I'm not glad all these sayings
came up on Job, but I'm sure glad it's written. I'm sure glad
we have this book. I'm glad we have this book. I'm glad that God has put these
things in His Word that we can find comfort. We can find comfort
in times of trouble. Job said, I know he knoweth the
way that I take when he's tried me, and I will come forth as
gold. And he did, didn't he? He did.
He did. Okay, Mike.