Would you turn to Job 32? Verse
1. So these three men ceased to answer Job because he was righteous. in his own eyes. I have entitled
this message, Self-Righteousness in a Believer. Is that possible? Sadly and emphatically, Yes,
it is. Now, Job was a believer. Turn
to Job chapter 1. You know, I could entitle this
message, The Book of Job, because I hope I'm going to give the
meaning of the Book of Job in this passage of scripture. Look
at this description of Job in Job chapter 1, verse 1. There was a man in the land of
Uz whose name was Job. Now they tell me that Job is
the oldest book in the Bible, the first one written, written
before the Pentateuch. There was a man in the land of
Uz whose name was Job, and that man was perfect and upright,
and one that feared God and eschewed evil. Now that's a pretty good
resume, isn't it? Perfect and upright. One who feared God and
one who eschewed evil. And even when the Lord brought
all these terrible things upon Job, he said in his misery, I
know that my redeemer liveth. What a wonderful statement of
faith. It was Job who said in Job 13, 15, though he slay me,
yet Will I trust him? Now, you will
remember what happened to Job. Let's look in verse six of chapter
one. Now, there was a day when the
sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord and Satan came
also among them. And the Lord said unto Satan,
whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord
and said, from going to and fro in the earth and from walking
up and down in it. And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered
my servant Job? Notice the Lord brings Job up
to Satan. Satan doesn't bring Job up to
the Lord. The Lord brings Job up to Satan. He says there's
none like him on the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that
feareth God and escheweth evil. Then Satan answered the Lord,
and said, Doth Job fear God for naught? Hast thou not made an
hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he
hath on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands.
His substance is increased in the land. He is rich, he is healthy,
he has a fine family, he has all he could possibly want. But
put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he
will curse thee to thy face. And the Lord said unto Satan,
Behold, all that he hath is in thy power, only upon himself
put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the
presence of the Lord. And there was a day when his
sons and his daughters were eating and drinking in their eldest
brother's house, and there came a messenger unto Job, and said,
The oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them, and
the Sabians fell upon them, and took them away, and they slain
thy servants with the edge of the sword, and I only, and escaped
alone to tell thee. Now, while he was yet speaking,
remember, this literally happened while he was yet speaking, there
came also another and said, The fire of God has fallen from heaven
and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them. And
I only escaped alone to tell thee he's losing everything while
he was yet speaking. There came another and said,
The Chaldeans made out the bands and fell upon the camels and
carried them away and slain the servants with the edge of the
sword. And I only escaped to tell thee. And while he was yet
speaking, There came also another and said, Thy sons and thy daughters
were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house.
And behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness and
smoked the four corners of the house and it fell upon the young
men and their dead. And I only have escaped alone
to tell thee. Now, put yourself in this man's
place. This really happened to this
man. Then Job arose. and rent his mantle, oh, he was
grieved. He shaved his head, and he fell
down upon the ground, and what? Worshipped, and said, naked came I out of
my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither. The Lord gave
and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord
in all this Job sin not, nor charge God foolishly." Now, some
time elapses. I don't know what all had taken
place. But we read in verse 1 of chapter
2, again there was a day when the sons of God came to present
themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them to
present himself before the Lord. And the Lord said unto Satan,
From whence comest thou? And Satan answered the Lord,
and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking
up and down in it. And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered
my servant Job? There is none like him in the
earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and
escheweth evil. And still he holdeth fast his
integrity, although thou movest me against him, to destroy him
without cause." And Satan answered the Lord and said, "'Skin for
skin, all that a man hath will he give for his life. But put
forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh. Take away his health, and he'll
curse thee to thy face.' And the Lord said unto Satan, He's
in thine hand, but save his life. So went Satan forth from the
presence of the Lord and smoked Job with sore boils from the
sole of his foot into his crown. And he took him a potsherd to
scrape himself withal, and he sat down among the ashes. Then
said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thy integrity?
Curse God, and die! But he said unto her, Thou speakest
as one of the foolish women speaketh. Shall we receive good at the
hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did
not Job sin with his lips. He said the right things. He did not sin with his lips. And then we're introduced to
Job's three friends. And if you read the next 30 chapters,
you find a caustic debate going on between these fellows. They
say, Job, you've done something to bring all this on. There's
some secret sin that you're hiding that nobody else knows about.
And that's why God brought all this your way. And he says, no,
that's not so. I'm going to hold on to my integrity.
And they keep going back and forth, back and forth like a
ping pong ball. I mean, just they would accuse him and then
he would accuse them. And at least you just have an argument
going on for 30 chapters. What have you done? You've mistreated
the poor. You've mistreated widows. You've
done something. No, I haven't. I've done everything that I ought
to do. And Job, in all of this, is saying, I've been treated
unjustly. I don't know why God has done
this, but He has done it, and somehow I've been treated unjustly. Now, in chapter 31, he makes
a long and eloquent self-defense And then we read in chapter 32,
that passage of scripture I just read. So these three men ceased
to answer Job. The argument was over because
he was righteous in his own eyes. That was Job's problem. And that
was the problem of Job's friends. Self. Righteousness. Now, he did a lot of good things.
He helped the widows. He helped the poor. He prayed
for his children. I mean, go on and on down the
line. He had an exemplary life. But
he was self-righteous. What about self-righteousness?
What is it? It's sin. Now, what is self-righteousness? I want to give a definition of
what self-righteousness is. What is self-righteousness? That's sin. It's evil. And I'm
going to show you that in just a moment from the Word of God.
It's a great evil. I mean, we think of murder as
a bad thing, and adultery is a bad thing, and we name all
these biggies, and we say these are bad things, and indeed they
are. But this is worse. Self-righteousness. What is it? Self-righteousness
is any righteousness that comes from self. That simple. Remember the Lord
giving the parable of the Pharisee and the publican, and he spoke
this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they
were righteous, and they despised others. Now, if you have a drop,
I mean a drop of righteousness that comes from you, you are
a self-righteous person. You know, one of Henry Mahan's
favorite sayings was, it's not your sin that will keep you from
Christ. It's your righteousness. Now, I want you to chew on that. It's not your sin that'll keep
you from Christ. As a matter of fact, if you ever
see your sin, that'll drive you to Christ. That's what that'll
do. It's not your sin that'll keep you from the Lord Jesus
Christ. It is your righteousness. Self-righteousness. Job was righteous in his own
eyes. Now, why is self-righteousness
so bad? First of all, because it's a
lot. Now, I'm looking at some fine
people, humanly speaking, I'm looking at people who pay their
bills, who are good to their neighbors, people who are good
to me. I thank God for you. I'm looking at some fine people,
people of esteem, people of integrity. I'm looking at some fine people.
But if God has taught you what you are, you know that in and
of yourself, you are as bad as the devil himself. And you know that self-righteousness
is the biggest lie that there is. Self-righteousness is a lie. The scripture says, our righteousnesses,
what are they? They're as filthy rags. Not only is self-righteousness
a great lie. Now, if God took the restraints
away, If you would never be caught,
if you would never have to face any of the consequences for your
actions, what would happen to you? I don't want to know. I mean,
the thought is scary, isn't it? The thought is scary. Our outward
righteousness is pretty much God preventing us from being
able to do what we would have done. And him not giving us the
opportunity to do what we would have done. Or many other restraints. Aren't you thankful for restraining
grace? Thank God for restraining grace. Self-righteousness is a lie.
Self-righteousness also creates remarkable hypocrisy. You know
that person who is righteous in his own eyes, he always looks
down his nose at somebody else. It's always a comparative thing. They trusted themselves that
they were righteous and despised others. Hold your figure there
and turn to Romans chapter 2 for just a moment. Romans chapter 2. Paul says, therefore, thou art
inexcusable, O man. He says this to every man, whosoever
thou art that judgest. For wherein thou judgest another,
thou condemnest thyself, for you that judge doest the same
things. Now, that's hypocrisy, isn't
it? That's all it can be called, to set in judgment moral superiority
over somebody when you do the same things, if not outwardly,
in your heart. Self-righteousness is remarkably
hypocritical, and God is opposed to it. You see, it seeks to rob
him of his glory, so the Scripture says God resists the proud, and
he gives grace to the humble. God fills the hungry with good
things, but the rich hath he sent away empty. You see your
calling, brethren. How that not many wise men after
the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called, but God
hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the
things of the wise, and the base things of the world, and the
things which are nothing, the things which are despised, hath
God chosen, and the things that are not to bring to naught the
things that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence.
You see, self-righteousness is opposed to the gospel. Now, do
you hear me? any righteousness generated from
self as opposed to the gospel. Now, what is the gospel? The
gospel is that I'm saved by the righteousness of somebody else.
The gospel is that I'm saved by the righteousness and merits
of the Lord Jesus Christ, His righteousness. Paul said, oh,
that I may win Christ and be found in Him, not having my own
righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through
the faithfulness of Christ, the righteousness which is of God.
By faith. Now, this is how I want God to
find me. In the very righteousness of
his son. Simply found in Christ. God comes looking for me. I want
to simply be found in the Lord Jesus Christ. I don't want God
to look at anything I've done, any sermon I've ever preached,
any prayer I've ever prayed, any gift I've ever given. Let
me be found in Christ. Self-righteousness. is opposed
to God's righteousness and self-righteousness create so many problems for the
one for the one who has it and others. Now, these miserable
friends of Job were right. There was a sin that brought
on all of Job's problems. And you know what that sin was?
Self-righteousness. And his friends were consumed
with it, too. Now, Job, Throughout this book shows that he believes he's been
treated unfairly. The three friends accuse him
of secret sin, and they failed to give Job the real answer. They didn't understand the gospel.
They just said, you've done something that's brought this on. Now,
in chapter 32, Elihu. comes on the scene and in verse
chapter 33 of verse 8, hear his words to Job. He's listening to what Job has
to say. Verse 8, Job 33, Surely thou has spoken in my hearing,
and I've heard the voice of thy words saying, I am clean without
transgression. I am innocent. Neither is there
iniquity in me. Behold, he findeth occasion against
me. He counteth me for his enemy. Now this is what he's saying
about the Lord. He putteth my feet in the stoffs. He marketh
all my past. Behold, 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 no account of any of his matters. Now this
is what Elihu says to Job about Job's complaints. He says, you're
finding fault with God in all this? Now, put yourself in Job's
place. His family is killed. He lost
everything he's got. He lost his health. And as far
as he can tell, he hasn't done anything to bring this on. He
says, he's finding occasion against me. And I love what Elihu says. He says, God is greater than
man. Whatever God does is right. And he doesn't owe you an explanation. He gives no account of his matters. He doesn't owe you an explanation. Now, I think that Job said, though
he slay me, yet, well, I trust him. But it doesn't seem that
he was trusting him, though he was slaying him. He was justifying himself. Now, here's where we ought to
be. Look at verse 27. He looketh upon men, and if any
say, I have sinned and perverted that which was
right, and it profiteth me not, he, the Lord, will deliver his
soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light
Now, the very essence of self-righteousness, here it is, it's setting in judgment
upon God. The very essence, what really
makes self-righteousness what it is, here's what it is, it's
somebody setting in judgment upon God and judging what God
does and saying, I don't agree. That's the very essence of self-righteousness. Let me show you how Job did this.
Look in chapter 34, beginning in verse 5. For Job has said, I'm righteous.
And God hath taken away my judgment. Should I lie against my right?
My wound is incurable without transgression. What man is like
Job, who drinketh of scorning-like water, which goeth in company
with the workers of iniquity, and walketh with wicked men?
For he hath said it profited me nothing that he should delight
himself with God. Therefore hearken unto me, ye men of understanding.
Far be it from God that he should do wickedness. And from the Almighty
that he should commit iniquity for the work of a man, shall
he render unto him and cause every man to find according to
his way? Yea, surely God will not do wickedly, neither will
the Almighty pervert judgment. Look in chapter 35, verse one,
a lie who speak moreover, thinkest thou this to be right that thou
says my righteousness is more than God's. Now, the very essence
of self-righteousness is sitting in judgment on God. Now, may
the Lord give me grace to. To tell you what that is, to
sit in judgment on God. To call into question anything
God does, anything God says, to call into question His way
of saving sinners, to call into question His word, is to sit
in judgment on God. For instance, there's so many
for instances. Let's take the holy doctrine
of election. How that God chose a specific
people to be saved before time began. And they're the only ones
that will be saved. Nobody else will be saved. Only
God's left. Somebody says, that's not fair. Oh, so you're sitting
in judgment on God and deciding what's fair and what's not. If
I was God, I'd save everybody. If you were God, nobody would
be saved. I guarantee it. Nobody would be saved. You may
say that. You say, oh, I'd have mercy on everybody, but let me
cross you enough times and you'd ax me out. I guarantee you would
not do the same. If it was up to us, we can talk
big. But when we say stuff like that,
we're saying we're more merciful than God. That's sitting in judgment
on God. Here's another example. Remember
where he says he's saying to the Pharaoh, I'll have mercy
on whom I will have mercy, whom he will, he hardens. Even for
this same purpose, have I raised thee up that I might show by
power in thee, that my name might be proclaimed throughout all
the earth, Romans chapter nine. Thou wilt say unto me, why does
he yet find fault? For who's resisted his will?
He's absolutely sovereign. If he can harden my heart or
soften it, if it's all in his hand, how can he hold me responsible? How can he hold me responsible
for what I've done if he's the one who hardened my heart? That's
not fair. Paul says, Nay, but, O man, who
are you? to reply against God, since when
are you the moral authority over God to decide whether what he
does is right or wrong? You're in no position to do that.
Now, that's what self-righteousness is. Self-righteousness sits in
judgment of the God of glory. That's the very essence of it. Now, Elihu continues to reprove
Job, and then God begins to speak. Look at chapter 38. Then the Lord answered Job out
of the whirlwind and said, Who is this that doth not counsel
by words without knowledge? Gird up now thy loins like a
man, for I will demand of thee, and answer me. Where was thou
when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare it, if thou
hast understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof,
as thou knowest? Or who has stretched the line
upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? Or who laid
the cornerstone thereof? When the morning stars sang together,
and all the sons of God shouted for joy, or who shut up the sea
with doors, when it broke forth, as if it did issue out of the
womb? When I made the cloud, the garment thereof, and the
thick darkness as a swaddling band for it, and break it from
my decree place, and set bars and doors, and said, Hitherto
shalt thou come, but no further, and here shall thy proud ways
be staked, as thou commanded the morning since thy days, and
caused the day spring to go on." Now this goes on for two chapters.
God says to Job, where were you when I did all these things?
You said in judgment of me. You justify yourself rather than
me. I don't care what I bring on
you. You're saying you're more righteous than me. Now, when
God speaks to Job, look what happens in chapter 40. Moreover,
the Lord answered Job and said, Shall he that contendeth with
the Almighty instruct him? He that reproveth God, let him
answer it. The Lord forbid, I hope, that
he bring anything. I don't want the Lord to bring
trials on me. I've been thinking about this. It's just been scaring me today,
thinking, what's going to come my way? Boy, I'm glad I don't know
the future, aren't you? I'm so thankful. But let's say
the Lord does bring the trials of Job on you, on you personally. Is it anything less than you
deserve? And look how Job answers now.
Then Job answered the Lord and said, chapter 40, verse 3, Behold,
this is a new discovery. This is a new discovery. Behold,
I am vile. What shall I answer thee? I'll
lay my hand upon my mouth. I have nothing else to say. Behold, I am vile." So the Lord
goes on for a couple more chapters. He reminds him of some more things
that Job didn't know anything about. And then in chapter 42, Job answered the Lord and said, I know. Now he's speaking with
some understanding after God has spoken to him. I know two
things. I know that thou canst do everything
and that no thought can be withholden from thee. And there's two things
that Job was made to understand through this. First, is that
God is all powerful. He can do anything. God's omnipotence, all power. Now, what would his justice be
if he didn't have the power to punish? What would his love be if he
didn't have the power to save the objects of his love? What
would his sovereignty be if he didn't have the power to make
sure his will comes to pass? What would the wisdom of God
be if he didn't have the power to execute whatever it is he
decided to do in his wisdom? God is all powerful. All power belongs to me, he said. Do you know how much power you
have? None. He has all power in his hands. He says, I know that you can
do anything and everything and that no thought can be withholden
from thee. He understood that he was omniscient. He's all knowing and all wise. He understood that whatever he
does is right. You have all power and that no
thought could be withholding from thee. Now, here's what he
says about himself. Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? Therefore, have I uttered that
which I understood not? He said everything I said was
pure foolishness. Things too wonderful for me, which I knew
not. Here I beseech thee, and I'll speak, I'll demand of thee,
and declare thou unto me. I've heard of thee by the hearing
of the ear. I've heard stuff about you, right
stuff, accurate stuff. It's come to my ear. I've heard
of thee with the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore, I abhor myself, and I repent. in dust and ashes. I knew some things about you, but now I see you, and I hate
myself." My self-righteousness has turned to self-loathing. I hate myself, most especially
do I hate the hypocrite in me, the self-righteous one. He's such a lie. I hate myself and I repent. I repent. That word repent means
I change my mind. Boy, what a blessed thing it
is when God gives us the grace to change our mind. We're so hard-headed. And we're
going to think the same thing. We're going to take that way
through. But what a blessing when God grants us repentance. Now, this thing of repentance
is the gift of God. You know, preacher says, repent. Well,
you better. God commands all men everywhere
to repent. That's God's command. And it's
just as true that you can't repent unless God grants you that repentance. I repent. Now, when Job says,
I repent, he's saying, I repent of all my wrong thoughts of God. You see, repentance is toward
God. It's a change of mind toward
God. Somebody says, we're repenting.
If you repent, that means you're sorry for your sin and you stop
committing it. That's what you do when you repent.
You're really sorry. And if you're really sorry, you'll stop doing
it. Well, two questions. How sorry is sorry enough? And the second question is, what
sin have you ever stopped in your heart? If that's what repentance
is, it means you haven't repented. Repentance is a change of mind
toward God. Now, it'll cause a change of
manners. There's no doubt about that. It'll change my manners. But what it is basically, it's
a change of mind toward God. Job was charging God with all
kinds of things before this took place. Well, why is he doing
this? And now he's changed his mind. He says, whatever God does
is right. I'm wrong. He's right. You know,
I used to didn't believe that I was totally depraved. Oh, I
gave lip service to it, but I didn't really believe it. I repent. I've changed my mind. I do believe
that about myself. I used to not rejoice in the
fact that God elected a people. I repent now. I know I wouldn't
be saved without it. I didn't find any joy in the
fact that Christ died only for the elect. I said, how could
that be fair? Now I rejoice because I understand that the only hope
I have is that he died for me. I repent. I repent of my wrong
thoughts of God. I repent of my wrong thoughts
of salvation. I repent of my wrong thoughts of self. I repent. What a blessed thing it is when
the Lord gives us the grace to repent. There's such sweetness.
It's soul cleansing, isn't it? You know, when we're holding
these wrong views, it just defiles us all, but when God gives us
the grace to repent, I repent. I repent of my repentance. I
repent of everything about me. May I simply be found in the
Lord Jesus Christ. I And notice he said, I repent
in dust and ashes. That's, that's me. I repent in
dust and ashes. Verse seven. And it was so that after the
Lord had spoken these words unto Job, that the Lord said unto
Eliphaz, Temanites, my wrath is kindled against thee and against
thy two friends, for they have not spoken of me, the thing that
is right, as my servant Job hath." Now look at the way he speaks
of Job. In grace, he speaks of Job doing what's right. Therefore, take now unto you
seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and
offer up for yourselves a burnt offering. And my servant Job
shall pray for you. For him will I accept, lest I
deal with you after your folly, and that you have not spoken
of me like the thing which is right, like my servant Job did.
So Eliphaz, and Timonite, and Bildad, and the Shuite, and Zophar,
the Nabathite, went and did according as the Lord commanded them. The
Lord also accepted Job, and the Lord turned the captivity of
Job when he prayed for his friends." He'd been fighting with these
guys. He'd been having nothing but trouble with him, but now
he prays for him. And God turned his captivity. This is what made Ananias come
up to Saul of Tarsus and say, Brother Saul. He prayed for him. He prayed for him. And the Lord
turned his captivity. when he prayed for his friends.
You know, when God does a work of grace in your heart, this
is what happens to you. You pray for those who have been
your enemies. You pray for them. You pray for
God's blessing on them. You pray for God's mercy on them.
Now look what happened. Verse 11, And the Lord turned the captivity
of Job when he prayed for his friends. Also, the Lord gave
Job twice as much as he had before. Then came there unto him all
his brethren, all his sisters, and all they that had been of
his acquaintance before, and did eat bread with him in his
house. And they bemoaned him, and comforted him over all the
evil that the Lord had brought upon him. Every man also gave
him a piece of money, and every man an earring of gold. So the
Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning. Let me remind you what James
said in James chapter 5, verse 11. You've heard of the patience
of Job, and you've seen the end of the Lord, how He is very pitiful
and of tender mercy. All these things that were happening
to Job were a result of God's pity and His tender mercy. It was all good. You see, the
Lord is good all the time. The Lord is good all the time. So the Lord, verse 12, blessed
the latter end of Job more than his beginning, for he had 14,000
sheep and 6,000 camels and 1,000 yoke of oxen and 1,000 she-asses.
He had also seven sons and three daughters, and he called the
name of the first Jemima, and the name of the second, Kiziah,
and the name of the third, Kerenhapok. And in all the land were no women
found so fair as the daughters of Job. And their father gave
them inheritance among their brethren. After this, Job lived
Job 140 years and saw his sons and his sons to four generations. So Job died being old and full
of days. Now, I started reading this book
last week, looking at it, and during that time, I've got a
friend, he's now part of this congregation, that it seems to
me that he's going through a Job-like experience. I just feel for him,
and I called him after thinking about this passage of Scripture.
I said to him, here's what the Lord's going to do. He's going
to bless you twice more than you've ever been blessed before.
Same thing is going to happen to you that happened to Job.
And he gave this answer. He said, well, I hope I have
twice more grace. You'll have it, won't you? Let's pray.