I want to begin reading here
in verse 8 of Job chapter 33. This is a man by the name of
Elihu, one of Job's friends. Job's other friends had talked
with Job for a number of days. And now Eli, the one who had
remained silent, the youngest one, speaks to Job, and he begins
here in verse 8. Surely, he says to Job, thou
hast spoken in my hearing, and I have heard thy voice, I have
heard the voice of your word saying, I am clean without transgression. I am innocent, neither is there
iniquity in me. Behold, God finds occasion against
me, he counts me for his enemy. He putteth my feet in the stocks,
he marketh all my paths. Behold, Elihu told Job, in this
thou art not just. I will answer thee that God is
greater than man. Why dost thou strive against
him? For he giveth not account of
any of his matters. For God speaketh once, yea, twice,
yet man perceiveth it not, in a dream and a vision of the night,
when deep sleep falls upon men, and slumbering upon the bed. Then he openeth the ears of men,
and sealeth their instruction, that he may withdraw man from
his purpose, and hide pride from him. He keepeth back his soul
from the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword. He is
chastened also with pain upon his bed, and the multitude of
his bones with strong pain, so that his life of whoreth bread,
and his soul dainty meat. His flesh is consumed away that
it cannot be seen, and his bones that were not seen stick out.
Yea, his soul doth near unto the grave, and his life to the
destroyers. If there be a messenger with
him, and an interpreter, one among the thousands, to show
unto man his uprightness, then the Lord is gracious unto him,
and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit, I have found
a ransom. His flesh shall be fresher than
a child's. He shall return to the days of
his youth. He shall pray unto God, and he
will be favorable unto him. And he shall see his face with
joy, and he shall render to man his righteousness. He looketh
upon men, and if any say, I have sinned, I have perverted that
which was right, and it profiteth me not. The Lord will deliver
his soul from going down into the pit, and his life shall see
the light. Lo, all these things worketh
God oft times with man. to bring back his soul from the
pit, and to be enlightened with the light of the living. God
oftentimes worketh with man. God works with man. And Elihu
says here, that lo, all these things worketh God all the time
with man. And here's God's intent of working
with man to bring back his soul from the pit and enlighten him
with the light of the living. And that would be my thought
this morning, God working with man. God working with man. Now, Eli here confronts Job with
a terrible sin on Job's part. And I think probably, if you
and I have never suffered as this man suffered, we should
be slow about judging him and condemning him. If you're familiar
with this man's life, he had lost all of his children, he
had lost all of his cattle, he had lost his health, and here
he had sat for days without eating or drinking on an ash heap, and
he was so perplexed, so confused, so worn in his mind, that finally
he begins to defend himself. Finally, he begins to say what
oftentimes you and I say. We won't tell others we say this,
but in our hearts sometimes, when we've suffered so bad, we
say, Why me, Lord? Don't that thought sometimes
arise in our minds? This arose in Job's mind. I'm
not sinned to deserve how God's dealing with me. I've upheld
sick people in their sickness. I've visited those that were
tormented. I've not hurt anybody. I've been
a good man. God is not just in punishing
me as He is. Eli, you heard this, and this
is what he confronts Job with. He said, Job, I've heard you
say, I am clean without transgression. I am innocent. And God is dealing
with me in an unjust manner. Now, brothers and sisters, we
think a lot of things in our minds that we'd never tell anybody
else. And sometimes in times of extreme
affliction and suffering and trials, we do question, don't
we? We question even the Lord and
His dealings with us. But Elihu is going to preach
here a message to us this morning. And he begins here with Job.
And I want to begin here in verse 11. Where, in verse 12, Behold, in
this thou art not just. He said, Job, you're thinking
wrong about this. You are a sinner. And no matter
how God deals with you, He's right in doing so. And then he
makes this statement, and here's where I want to begin this morning.
I will answer thee, that God is greater than man. Is this not the reverse of the
theology that we hear of our modern theologians today? Don't
we often hear God preached as being so little and so weak and
man exalted so high? Is that not the reverse of what
Eli begins to preach to us this morning? Here is his theology. He said, I will answer thee that
God is greater than man. That is correct theology, when
we put God upon His throne and man in the dust where he belongs. What sense is it, brothers and
sisters, I would ask you this morning, in which that man is
at any time, in any sense, greater than God? God is eternal, is
He not? From everlasting to everlasting,
He's God. What is man? He's a vapor that
appears for a little while and He passes away. God is greater
than man. Look how high God is. The Scripture
says that He's so high that He humbles Himself to behold the
things that's in heaven. What is man? What is man? He's so low that he's taken out
of this dust, and from the dust he shall return. Look at God
in his attributes. Consider him in his wisdom. He's
so wise that he's never error. What is man? Why, he's as ignorant
as he can be. Ignorant of the things of God,
of all things. What is God? Why, he's holy. What is man? He's a sinner. What is God? He's just. What
is God? He's truth. What is man? He's
a liar. Is he not? So we come here this
morning to this theology, and Eli Hugh reminds Job, he says
here, Job, consider this about God, He is greater than man,
as high as the heavens is above this earth. If you can measure
that, that's how high that God is above man, in every sense
of the word. God is greater than man. Therefore,
look in verse 13, since this is so, why dost thou strive against
him? Let the postures of this earth,
let one pot strive against another pot, but don't let the pot strive
against the man that's got him on the wheel. Ain't that so? The Apostle Paul, I was reminded
of this verse as I read this. Why do you strive against God?
Remember what Paul asked us in Romans chapter 9. Who art thou,
O man, that replies against God? Shall the thing farmed say to
him that farmed it, Why have you made me thus? Hath not the
potter power over the clay? To make one vessel into honor
and another vessel into dishonor? Can not God do with us as He
pleases? Can we strive with Him? Let me
ask us this question this morning. Will we fight against Him that
made us? Are we stronger than He is? What
weapons can we fight against Him with? It would be like taking
a carnal weapon, a sword, and trying to fight the consuming
fire with it. It would be trying to whip God
with our bras while he would go right through such a thing,
wouldn't it? So we ask this question, why does thou strive against
him? He giveth not account of any
of his matters. I was talking with a man not
long ago about representation. I told him when Adam died, when
Adam sinned against God, God said that we all sinned in Adam. That we're sinners because Adam
made us sinners. And oh, he got so aggravated.
But who said that? Who told us that we were sinners
because we were in Adam? God said that. And you know,
he didn't go into great depths explaining that, did he? But
he don't have to explain himself. He don't have to give account
of any of his matters. He just says, this thing is so. Now you believe it, and we believe
it. And I've got no argument with him. Have you? I'm not going
to stand up in God's face and say, you need to explain yourself.
Have you ever taught God anything? Have you ever instructed Him?
Where were you and I when He laid the foundations of the world?
Where were you and I when He spread out the heavens as a tent
for men to dwell in? Well, we weren't even born yet,
were we? We've never instructed God. Who are we to question Him? Do you have any problems when
Adam and Eve sinned and God ran them out of the garden? Do you
have any problems with that? Do you have any problems to go
back before the foundation of the world and finding God, choosing
beforehand those that He was going to save? Do you have any
problem with that? Do you question Him when He does
that? Do you ask Him to explain Himself? He's God. That's what
Eli's telling Job here. Job, you're complaining against
God, as though you're greater than Him. You're accusing Him
of being unjust, as though He can ever do anything wrong. Let
me tell you something, Job. He said, God's greater than you
are. And God's more just, and God's more holy, and God's more
wise, and God's more good than you are. And yes, you're a sufferer. But he said, God don't have to
explain this to you. God doesn't have to explain anything
to anybody, does He? He's God. That's what He said.
But you know, here's the wonder about this. Here's the wonder
about this. Even though God is so great,
so above us, He is sovereign, that is, He's independent from
us, He don't need us, and yet He consists to work with us.
Ain't that amazing? That's amazing to me. Of all
God could concern Himself with, He would look upon us, and as
Eli said, all these things, all the time God worked with man.
What's he talking about? Well, he begins in verse 14.
Look at this. Here's where God begins to work
with man. And here is the way He proceeds
to work with so many. He often did this way in the
Old Testament. Look in verse 14. Here's the
way God works with us so often. For God speaketh once, yea twice,
and yet man perceiveth it not. God begins to work with us. And
I'm sure as you look back upon your life, You can see more now
of how God used to speak to you in your lost faith than you knew
then, used to all then. But how often God speaks to man
in so many different ways, and yet man don't understand what
God's saying. How often does God speak through Providence?
Don't He do it? Some death in the family, and
it jolts the family. They're touched back. They're
saddened by it. What is that? It's God speaking. God often speaks by sickness
in the body. He lays a man up on the bed of
afflictions, and there He speaks to him through Providence, through
an awful accident or a wreck. How often does God speak through
these things? How often He speaks to man through
the ministry of His Word? You're here this morning, and
really, it's me that's up here talking, but this is God's Word.
And He speaks through His Word. And He says, and He promises
blossoming things. In Proverbs 1, He speaks to the
ignorant. And He says, how long are you
going to take knowledge? He says, listen to me, listen
to my word, hear my word, and here's what I'll do. He said,
I'll pour out my Spirit upon you, and I'll make known my way
unto you. God is saying that? He's saying
that to everybody that reads this Bible. Ain't that what He's
saying? You can't say, you're speaking
to this person and that person. He's speaking to anybody under
the sound of my voice this morning that says, turn into me. And
hear my word, I'll pour out my Spirit to you, I'll make known
my ways unto you. That's what he says to the minister
of his word. But what does man say? No, we don't desire the
knowledge of your ways. Thank you, but no thank you.
And tell what man says. He perceiveth it not. God often speaks to man. And
I imagine it will take the day of judgment For God to say, you
remember when this happened. You remember when that happened. Don't you remember my voice speaking
in that now? Don't you remember you had some
awakenings in your conscience, some concern? That was me speaking. You know why man don't perceive
it not? Because God speaks so secretly. See, God's a spirit,
brothers and sisters. And he works upon the Spirit.
He deals with the conscience of man. That's why it's difficult
sometimes to see God's dealing with us. But let's go on. Look
what else he said in verse 50. Here's the way he does it sometimes.
Through providence, through the ministry of his Word, and look
here, he often did it this way in the old times, in a dream.
in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls upon men, or
perhaps when they're slumbering upon their bed and they can't
sleep. Then he opened up the understanding of men, the ears
of men, and sealed up their instructions." God does a lot of night work.
I remember I would live in my sins all day long. Oh, I'd do
sin and sin and sin against God, and never give it a second thought.
But when night came, and I was there alone, laying upon my bed,
God began to seal these instructions to my conscience. And you know
what He said to me? I could destroy you tonight.
I could bring you in judgment with me tonight. And all that
went home to my conscience. I was so afraid. And I prayed
when I slept to sleep. I don't know how many nights.
Oh, God, don't kill me tonight. Let me live another day. I'll
straighten up. I'll do better. Oh, that's what
I always promised. But the next day, right back
to my sin again. God does a lot of night work,
is what Eli here is saying to us. I think this poor generation,
bless their hearts, They cannot still themselves and be quiet
for any length of time whatsoever. That's why we've got all of our
cell phones. That's why we've got all of our music and our
radios and all the noise and the racket going on. We're afraid
to be still. We're afraid to be quiet. Why? That's when God does most of
His speaking. When we stand and think, and
we're made to think upon our ways in eternity. Why does God
do this? He tells us in verse 17. Look
at this. Look here at the goodness of
God that's in it. Old man resists it, doesn't he?
He resists conviction of sin. He doesn't want to think about
it. It makes him anxious. It worries his conscience. Why
does God do that? Look in verse 17. that he may
withdraw man from his purpose and hide pride from him." What
is the purpose of a lost man? Now, he won't admit this. He
won't admit this. But he has a secret purpose,
even unknown to himself. And you know what it is? He's
going to perish if he can. He's going to dig his way to
hell if he can. Ain't that what he tells us in
verse 18? He said in verse 17, to withdraw
man from his purpose, in verse 18 he tells us what that purpose
is. God keepeth back his soul from the pit, and his life from
perishing by the sword. Would you have ever thought that
was man's purpose? You ask him, man, what? What are you doing
in life? What do you want out of life? I just want to have
fun. I want to be healthy. I want to enjoy life. No, you've got a secret purpose
here. You're just not admitting it. You're not admitting it.
What's your purpose in not turning to the Lord? What's your purpose in continuing
on in your sin and rebellion against God? There's a purpose. And here's what it is, let me
tell you. You're clawing and digging your way to the pit.
And tell me what he said. Now we hear this today about
man has this essential goodness in him. And really, basically,
at his heart, he's good. There's a fire there that is
not burning bright, but it's a fire of goodness and a fire
of divinity. And he loves God. Don't love
him like you should be. Love him a little bit. And basically,
man is good. And if you just leave him alone
and let him develop, he'll turn out alright. Boy, does this shoot
that in the head. No, no. God is working with man. Why is God working with man?
Why is God dealing with man? Why does God afflict man's conscience
to keep him back from this awful purpose to destroy himself? Man's trying to destroy himself.
He's so wicked and sinful he hates his own soul. He seeks
to destroy himself. That's his purpose. No, he's
not good. He hates himself. He opposes
his own salvation. It's God that's good to him.
And I'll tell you what would happen, according to Eli, if
God removes his hand and just lets man alone. He'll accomplish
his purpose. He'll destroy himself. Who is it that keeps man from
the pit? Who is it that keeps man's soul from going down to
hell? God. It's God that holds him up. Who
is it that keeps the sword of justice from cutting a sinner
asunder and casting him down to parment? Who is it that keeps
the sword from man? It's the Lord. I tell you, there's not a man outside
Jesus Christ, and yet outside of hell. that does not owe it
all to the goodness of God. Because man's going to perish
if God let him. And he's going to be the author
of his own damnation. That's what Elijah is telling
us. Why is God dealing with man? Why is he getting him alone in
the night and secretly teaching him and causing him to be concerned
about eternity and judgment? God's seeking to bring him from
his purpose to destroy us. So he sends him these greens,
he secretly dear-wills. Now look in verse 19 through
verse 22, he gets more drastic. He gets more drastic. Man is
so purposed to destroy himself, God's secretly dealing with his
conscience at night. That's just not doing it. He's
not listening. He's not perceiving. So look
what God does. He takes more extreme measures.
God chastens. He is chastened. Man is chastened. God chastens him with pain upon
his back, and the multitude of his bones with strong pain. Boy, you see this sometimes.
Sometimes this literally happens. I saw a man one time just waste
away to almost nothing. The Lord can smite a man physically
and lay him on the bed and make him faint. But you know, mainly
this is dealing with what's taking place in the heart. He gives
us this picture of a man who has lost his health, and he can't
eat, and he's fell away to nothing. And his bones are beginning to
stick through his skin. And what he said to us, you look
at Batman, and that is the way he appears within himself. David
talked about conviction of sin, and you know how he described
it as bones being broken, or as arrows being shot into his
skin, or wounds that had opened up and began to rot. and leak
out. Can you imagine how awful that
would be? David said that's the way man gets within his heart
when God begins to teach him. Notice what a blessing this is.
Verse 20, look at this. So that his life abhorreth bread,
and his soul abhorreth dainty meat. What's he saying here? All his time was taken up before
of enjoying this life. Everything was going pretty good.
He was healthy. He was eating well. But what
happened? God brought this awful sickness
upon him. He lost his appetite. Now there
he lays in the bed and you ask him, do you want some cream of
wheat? Oh, I keep standing to think about food, he says. Oh,
I keep drinking. I'm so nauseated. Get it all
away from me. But you used to like a big stake? Oh, I can't stand to think about
the stake. Get this loot away from me! This
is what God does when He begins to teach a man of his lostness
in a sin. He takes these worldly pleasures
that he used to love, and He makes them sick with it. Instead
of taking pleasure in sin, now it becomes a burden to him. Instead
of his conscious love in darkness, now he longs for the light. Ain't
it a blessing, brothers and sisters, when you see a man or a woman
or boy and girl, though they appear healthy without, yet their
conscience is afflicted with thoughts of death and eternity
and sin and the judgment of God? Oh, eternity, they say. How can
I lay down and sleep tonight when I'm facing eternity lost
without Jesus Christ? Lay down and sleep in my sins?
And oh, they're afflicted. They're tormented. And they can't
enjoy life anymore. Not the life of sin that they
did. Oh, ain't that a blessing? And who's doing this? Why, it's
God. And he often works this way with
men. It's the goodness of God leading
men to repentance. The poor sinner, he doesn't see
the goodness of God in him. He thinks God's ready to destroy
him. But what's God doing? He's doing
this for man's good. To turn him from his purpose.
Oh, dear friend of mine, listen to me this morning. If you're
concerned about your soul, You're concerned that you're in your
sins this morning? You want to be washed in Jesus'
precious blood? I tell you, you're in a good
place. God has brought you here. It's God that's done it. Don't
stifle convictions. When you begin to be afflicted
in your conscience because you're lost, Don't shun that thought. Embrace it. That's the Lord working
with your conscience. Look in verse 22. Yea, look here
at the awful shape that he's in. And now he becomes conscious
of it. Look at this. Yea, his soul draweth
near unto the pit, the grave, and his life to the destroyers. Can you get the picture now?
Here's a man, he was very healthy, and he enjoyed life, enjoyed
all his dainty foods and meats and drinks. But suddenly he got
sick, and he wound up in the hospital, and there he landed,
unable to eat or drink, and his bones began to stick through.
And the doctor came in and said, there's no hope for you, buddy,
you're gone. You're gone. See the picture? See the picture? And who is it that brought this
man here? It's God. It's God. And I don't mean to
upset you with this this morning, but I hope God brings you here.
I hope this is a place you find yourself spiritually. That you're
so miserable you cannot take pleasure in life any longer.
I hope that's where God brings you. Because that's the best
thing that ever happened to you. If He don't bring you there,
you know what you'll do? You may live to be an old man
or an old woman, but when you die, you'll die eternally lost. Now look here in verse 23. Let's
cheer this up just a little bit. Look at what he said in verse
23. Here he lays. So here this man lays, laying
flat of his back, his bones are sticking through his skin. He's
ready to be destroyed, ready to die lost. If there be a messenger
with him, an interpreter, one among the thousands, to show
unto man his uprightness, Then is God gracious unto him, and
saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit, I found a ransom."
Who is this messenger, this interpreter? Well, that's the Lord Jesus Christ.
Here lays this man on the hospital bed, he's dying, and this other
man comes in, and he's a messenger. He's a messenger from God. Who
is that? Well, that's Jesus Christ, the
messenger of the covenant. He's the wisdom of God. He comes
to us from God. Did He not do that? And He teaches
us of God. And though He's in heaven today,
He comes to our conscience, our heart, in His Spirit. He comes
from God. And He knows God perfectly. He
knows the will of God. And what does he do? He says
he's an interpreter. He's a mediator between us and
God. He begins to interpret what's
going on with us, to our conscience. If you're here this morning,
dear soul, and you have a lick of sense, you know who gave it
to you? Jesus Christ. You and I used
to read the Bible, and we read over the truth, didn't we? I
mean, Glenn has often told people that we've always read the Bible,
but we read right over God's electing grace. Never did see
it until Jesus Christ began to teach it. If you're here this
morning and you see yourself complete in Christ, you understand
how God saves sinners, how God redeems sinners. Do you know
why you understand that? Christ has taught you. He's taught you. If you know
the truth as it is in Christ, He's taught you. You've not learned
these things on your own. You'll read right over these
things, unless He teaches you. And that's what Elihu says. Eli
says, if this poor dying man has this interpreter to come
to him and tells him what's going on, God has brought you here,
he says to him, for your good. God has made you sick of sin.
God has broken you to make you see your need of Christ and being
saved by Him. This is God's doing. And then
what happens? Look in verse 24. Then God is
gracious unto him. You see the nature of grace.
You see two things in this verse. One, you see the nature of grace.
What is the nature of grace? It saves you when you were perishing. Do you see that? Then, when? When he's going down to the pit!
When he's ready to perish! Grace comes and says, deliver
him! Oh, ain't that grace? Grace does
not come and say, you better get your act together. And then
what grace does? Grace doesn't come to say, you
better be a better man tomorrow than you were today. No, sir.
That ain't what grace does, is it? You know the nature of grace? It lays hold upon perishing sinners
and it saves them right where they're at. That's grace. Grace doesn't come to us and
ask us to do anything. Grace doesn't come to us and
ask us to be anything. Grace comes when we're going
down to the pit and says, deliver him. Deliver him. Even when we
were dead in sin, God loved us and quickened us together with
Christ by grace are you saved. Ain't that wonderful? Don't you
love the whole concept of grace? Free grace and what it does to
you. I look back upon my life as a lost person, and now I'm
so ashamed. And one of the things I'm so ashamed about is my opinion
of grace. Second thing you see here in
verse 24 is this, the nature of the ransom. Deliver him from
going down to the pit. On what grounds? I found a ransom. What can save a man from going
to hell? Christ and Him crucified. That's
the nature, that's the power of the ransom. That's how efficacious
it is. It interposes itself between
the sinner and hell, and it stops him. He said, don't you put him
in the pit. I paid a ransom for him. And what is the ransom? Why Christ
said, I came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and give
my life a ransom for many. It's a dead faith. When you and
I think of a ransom, we think of someone that's been kidnapped
or in captivity, and you pay so much money or price to free
them from their captivity. That's what a ransom is. We sinned
against God. Now His awful wrath is upon us.
The curse of the law is against us. We have nothing to pay. Here's the ransom. Christ gave
His blood, gave His life upon Calvary Street. That's the ransom. And that's all it takes to get
between the man and hell and deliver him from going down into
the pit. Oh, what a mighty ransom. And
I tell you, as you read this, it seems like God Himself is
so excited about it. Did you notice that? It seems
like the Lord has just suddenly found this ransom. Here's this
man you get the picture of and he's ready to go to hell. Then
almost suddenly, as though God is surprised about it all, He
says, deliver him, I found a ransom. It's just like a mother lost
her little child, and she's searching for him everywhere, and suddenly
she finds him. And she's overjoyed that she
found him. It's the same way that God is speaking to us here. Don't he condescend to speak
to us in terms that just amazes us. Nothing takes God by surprise. But he condescends to speak to
us in language we can get a hold of. He sees this man perishing,
and it's almost like he's frustrated. Oh, what are we going to do?
How are we going to save this man? Oh, then suddenly there's
Christ and His glorious cross. Burying his sin and his shame. Dying in his place. And God is
overjoyed. And what does he say? Stop him!
The pit is ready to slaughter him up, but stop him! We found
a ransom! It's my son, the Lord Jesus. And all, he's delivered from
going down to the pit. Delivered from his presence.
Isn't that wonderful? And then in verse 25 and verse
26, he talks about he's a new creature. His health has been
restored. And then in verse 26, here's
what he does. He prays unto God. And God's favorable unto him.
And he shall see God's face with joy, his redeeming face, his
loving face. And God will render to him, not
man's righteousness, but God's own righteousness. Brother Larson
didn't tell us about that. He looks upon man, verse 27,
and if any say, here's what God wants you to do, dear soul, this
morning. Here's what God expects out of a lost person. Here's
where he brings you to. Here's what he expects from you.
If any say truly in his heart, oh God, I've sinned. I've not
just made a little mistake, I've sinned. And I have perverted
your way. I've sinned against your law,
I've sinned against you, I've sinned against your son, I've
sinned against your people, I've sinned against flight, I've sinned
against the Spirit. I have perverted that which was
right. And it's not propped in me at
all. Look where it's brought me. Oh, look where sin's bringing
you, dear soul. Look where sin's bringing you.
It's bringing you down to the pit. Acknowledge it. Acknowledge
it. Acknowledge that there was a
time in your life when you said, I want to have fun. I want to
live in sin. I don't want the knowledge of
God. Now come to Him and acknowledge that's what you said. That was
your thought. But he still said, Lord, I had
a lot of fun. Say this to him, Lord, look where it's got me.
Look where my sin has brought me to. Ready to be cast into
the devil's hell. Oh God, be merciful to me a sinner. That's what he wants to hear.
That's what he's waiting to hear. And then what happens, verse
28, he will deliver his soul from going down into the pit,
and his life shall see Christ. Darkness will flee away and you'll
see yourself complete in Christ. Confusion will be gone and then
you'll understand it was God dealing with you all along in
His goodness to bring you to salvation. May God bless His Word to your
hearts. May He truly be our interpreter.