All right, open your Bibles with
me to Job 14. I'll read the first two verses,
and these verses tell us five important things about ourselves. It says, man that's born of a
woman is a few days and full of trouble. He comes forth like
a flower and is cut down. He fleeth also as a shadow and
continueth not." What are the five things that I see here regarding
this flesh? Well, first of all, it says man
that's born of a woman. All who are born of a woman are
born in sin. That's what David said in the
Psalms. Turn to Psalm 51. Psalm 51, 5, David said, Behold,
I was shapen in iniquity, in sin did my mother conceive me. It was a sinful seed which was
conceived in my mother's womb and made into a child. Chapter
58, verse 3 and 4. In Psalm 58, the wicked are strained
from the womb. They go astray as soon as they
be born, speaking lies. As soon as we're born, we're
born in sin. We're born with an evil nature.
And their poison is like the poison of a serpent. They're
like the deaf adder that stops her ears. That's the way we're
born. You see, in Romans 5, the scripture says that By one man
sin entered the world, and death by sin. So death passed, that's
the word, it passed upon all men. Where did it pass upon me? When I was conceived, when I
was born. That's when this death and sin,
evil nature, became mine, when I was conceived in the womb.
And Paul describes it, if you turn to Romans 7, Paul, a believer,
in Romans chapter 7, a child of God. But Paul describes this
sinful nature. It's what we are by birth, by
nature. Sins are what we do. Sin is what
makes us do what we do. It's the nature. Sin is why we
do wrong. And this is what Paul is talking
about here in Romans 7. Now, verse 20, Romans 7. that I would not. He's a believer.
And yet he's saying here, I think things that I don't want to think.
In haste I say things I wish I hadn't said. I imagine things
that I wish I didn't imagine. I have covetousness and pride
and envy that I wish I didn't have. Why? Now if I do those
things that I would not, it's no more I that do it, it's not
the new Paul, the converted Paul, the regenerated Paul. It's sin,
S-I-N, nature, it's singular, not sins, it's sin, that dwelleth
in me. It was passed to me from my father. It was put within me at conception,
and it's still in me, and it'll be in me till I die. I find in
a law that when I would do good, evil is present with me. I delight
in the law of God after the new man in Christ Jesus. I delight
in the law. I wish I could be perfect, don't
you? But I see another law in my members. It's a law. It's a rule. It's
a state. It's a nature. It's in me. And it warrants against the law
of my mind, and it brings me into captivity to the law of
sin, which is in my members. and a cry over it and ask God
to forgive me. Oh, wretched man that I am. Who's
going to deliver me from this nature, this body of death that
I was born with? I thank God. I thank God. I'll be delivered someday through
Jesus Christ my Lord. So, this is where it's going
to be the rest of my days on earth. With the mind, I serve
the law of God. With my heart and spirit, I worship
God. And it's in my nature of flesh
that serves the law of sin. It's just that. And we're born
of woman. And that's the state in which
we're born. All right, the second thing it says about us is we
are a few days. Shouldn't that be years? Well,
if you get my age, it's days. It just seems like yesterday,
doesn't it? that we were little children. It seems like I ought
to be in high school. It just seems like yesterday.
These are days. The days have gone by. Job speaks
often of his days, but over here in Psalm 90, Psalm 90, verse
10, David refers to it. Moses wrote this Psalm 90. Moses
refers to our years as days. The days of our years are threescore
and ten. And if by reason of strength
they beforescore, yet is their strength labor and sorrow. It's
soon cut off and we fly away. For some of our loved ones, their
days have been even shorter, haven't they? They've been taken
out and carried away. And those who live the longest
here, it's just days, isn't it? We have a few days. And then
the next thing it says about us is we're full of trouble.
See, if we're born in sin, we're full of trouble. That's what
Paul was talking about in Romans 7. I'm full of trouble, trouble.
Sin and trouble go together. They just go together. When Adam
fell, death passed upon all men. Sin, death, evil. And since then, it's been trouble.
And I found a verse of Scripture that gives us the heritage of heaven
and the heritage of this earth. Turn to Revelation 21. Here's
what heaven is, and then I'm going to show you what earth
is. In Revelation 21, verse 3 and 4. Do you have it? And I heard
a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God
is with men. And he'll dwell with them, and
there'll be his people, and God himself shall be with them and
be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears,
no tears in heaven. There'll be no more death, no
death in heaven, no more death. No more sorrow, no more crying,
neither shall there be any more pain. That's the heritage of
heaven, no tears, no death, no sorrow, No crying, no pain. What is the earth? Tears. Tears, and sorrow, and crying,
and pain. That's the earth. That's just
the opposite from God's glory. And it's man born a woman. He's a few days, and he has days
filled with tears, and crying, and sorrow, and death, and pain. All right, let's notice the next
thing it says about us. Verse 2, he cometh forth like
a flower and is cut down. Why are we like a flower? Well,
there are several ways in which a flower represents this flesh. Number one, a flower comes out
of the earth. The other day, Doris and I were
walking in the park. It's 75 degrees, and I said,
it just seems like we ought to be planting some flowers. Do
you feel that way? It's so pretty. But that's where
we plant our flowers, in the earth, that's where the seed
grows. And it goes back to the earth, and that's us. Like a
flower, we come from there, dust our heart to dust, thou shalt
return. And then a flower comes from the seed of another flower.
That's what makes a rose a rose, it came from a rose. That's what
makes a jonquil a jonquil, it came from a jonquil. And that's
what makes me a sinner, I came from a sinner. A flower comes
from the seed of another flower. And that's what makes you what
it is. And that's what I am. I'm like a flower. I came from
the seed. Thirdly, a flower at first is
a beautiful thing. It comes forth as a bud. And
oh, how we love these little fellers back yonder in the nursery.
How sweet and moist and tender and lovable and beautiful they
are. Aren't they just so cuddly? That's
what I was one time. That's right. Like a flower,
a bud. I mean a pretty bud too, believe
it or not. But something happens. And that
flower, it withers. It withers. And it dies. And it's ugly. And the place
I have knows it no more. Man comes forth like a flower. And some are cut down early.
And some, according to the psalm, says, live to the evening. And then it's cut down to, all
right, that's four. Man's born of a woman. Sinner. He's a few days. Very few. He's full of trouble. tears and
crying and sorrow and pain and death. It's like a flower. It blooms beautifully and then
it withers and dies. And then it says he fleeth as
a shadow. I got some good help from one
of the old writers on this. Why does God talk about us like we're shadows. Well, as
the shadows of the evening are gone when night falls, then we're
gone. And as the shadow on a sundial
is always moving, we're always moving. Our hearts are beating
like a drum, a funeral march to the grave. Like the shadow
of a bird flying overhead. Have you ever been looking at
the ground and a shadow went by? That was a bird flying overhead.
He cast a, briefly, a shadow. And that's, that's this life. A shadow is an empty thing. It
has no substance. None whatsoever. A shadow continues
for not very long, and it's gone. It leaves not a mark where it
was. If a wagon rolls over the ground
and leaves prints, if a man walks over the ground and leaves prints,
a shadow doesn't leave any remembrance. After a while, no remembrance.
It's gone. The place thereof knows it no
more or even gives any evidence that such a person even That's
us, made of a woman in sin. A few days and full of trouble.
Comes forth like a flower, and like a shatter continues not.
And in the light of those revelations, Job asked some questions. In
verse 3, Job asked the first question. He said, And Lord,
dost thou open thine eyes upon such a one? Does God Almighty,
the God of heaven and earth, the eternal God, the omnipotent
God, does he open his eyes upon such a frail, worthless, sinful,
short-lived, sorrowful weed so easily cut down and returns to
the dust? Does God open his eyes upon such
a one? Well, Job's not asking, does
he see us? He sees everything. Nothing's
hid from God. But the question is this. Here's
what he's asking. Does God open his eyes upon such
a one so as to be mindful of him? Is God mindful of us? Does God have an interest in
us, in this weed, this shadow? Does God have an interest in
me? Is he mindful? Let's turn to Psalm 8. Let's
read the scripture here. David asks this question, too,
in Psalm 8. Listen to it. In Psalm 8, verse
3. When I consider thy heavens,
Psalm 8, verse 3, when I consider thy heavens the work of thy fingers,
the moon, the stars which thou hast ordained, what is man that
thou art mindful of him? the Son of Man that thou visitest
him. Are you doing what I asked you
to do some time ago? Get a concordance and look up
these words. The key word right here in verse
4, what is man that thou, heavenly Father, almighty God, that thou
art mindful of him. The word mindful, the Hebrew
word mindful is this, to mark. so as to be remembered. Mindful. A lot of things I say that I'm
not interested in, but there's some things I see in some people
I see I'm very mindful. I'm very mindful. It's to think
upon so as to remember. That's what the thief on the
cross asked the Lord Jesus. Remember me. Be mindful. Don't forget me. Pass me by. But is God mindful? Yes, he is. And he uses this word several
times. Turn to Psalm 115. It's mindful
now. What is man without being mindful
of him? And that word is to mark so as
to be remembered. It's to think upon, dwell upon. Psalm 115, verse 12. The Lord has been mindful of
us, taken notice of us. He'll bless us. He'll bless the
house of Israel. He'll bless the house of Abraham.
He's mindful of us. Psalm 111, verse 5. Psalm 111, verse 5. He hath given meat, provisions,
prey, to them that fear him, and he will ever be mindful of
his covenant. God mindful of somebody. How do I know that? Well, I'll
tell you. For God so loved, he gave his
only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but have everlasting life. I know God's mindful of somebody.
Jesus Christ came into this world to save sinners of whom I'm chief. In the fullness of time, God
sent forth his Son, made of a woman. made under the law to redeem
them that were born under the law. God is mindful of somebody.
Our Lord talked about his sheep, other sheep I have, them also
I must bring and they will hear my voice and they will be one
fold and one shepherd. Peter said God has bested the
Gentiles to call out a people for his blessed name. And then
Romans 2, turn to Romans chapter 3, Romans chapter 3. How do I know that God is mindful
of sinners? Romans chapter 3 says this, Romans
3 beginning with verse 23. We've all sinned and come short
of the glory of God, but being justified freely by his grace
through the redemption that's in Christ Jesus, whom God has
set forth, God has set forth his Son to be a propitiation
through faith in his blood. to declare God's righteousness
for the remission of sins that have passed through the forbearance
of God, to declare, I say at this time, his righteousness
that he might be just and the justifier of him who believes
in Jesus. Back to my text. Job says, Dost
thou open thine eyes upon such a one? Are you mindful of these
sons of Adam? Oh, yes, he is. I'll write the
second question. Job said, And bringest me into
judgment with thee? We know we are frail and weak
and sinful, mortal creatures. We know that God is immaculately
holy. His justice is strict. His justice
is holy. And God has charges against us. And we're no match for God. that
we should be brought together with God into judgment? What
a fearful thought, to be brought together with God into judgment. Listen to what David said about
that in Psalm 143, about being, bringest thou, bringest thou
me into judgment with thee? This sinner into judgment with
God? Listen to David in Psalm 143. Verse 1, Hear my prayer, O Lord,
give ear to my supplications. In thy faithfulness answer me,
in thy righteousness, and Lord, enter not into judgment with
me. Enter not into judgment with
thy servant, for in thy sight shall no living man be justified. David said in Psalm 1 and 3,
Lord, if you'd mark a liquid, who could stand? And Job said, if I justify myself,
my own mouth will condemn me. So he's asking this question,
you going to bring me into judgment with thee? Oh no, our judgment's
been put away. I hear preachers, now listen
to me, I hear preachers talking about different judgments. They
talk about the judgment of nations, when all nations will be judged
before God, good and bad. They talk about a general judgment
when all of Adam's race shall be assembled before God to be
judged. They talk about the judgment of Christians, judgment for rewards
and various things like that. Well, let me tell you something.
I want nothing to do with any kind of judgment before a holy
God, any kind of test or examination or looking into my life. or thoughts
or deeds or religious works. I don't want to give an account
of this sermon before God. You understand what I'm saying? That's what Job is saying. You're
going to bring me into judgment? Are you going to test me and
try me by your standard of holiness and perfection? Righteousness? I don't want any part of that.
I believe we might be spectators at the judgment, but not participators. You understand what I'm trying
to say? And it's exactly what David says. Don't enter into
judgment with me. Don't bring me into judgment
with thee. Don't put me on some kind of
test or examination or trial to see how I've done. Even my righteousness is a filthy
rag to God's side. Even our prayers, even our gifts,
even our worship, even our preaching, even our good deeds won't stand
up to his judgment. But let me tell you something.
Here's my hope. There is therefore now no judgment
to the immanent Christ. No judgment. No condemnation. Turn to Romans 8. Let me show
you three verses, Romans 8. And I tell you, any time you
hear this type of preaching where we're going to be judged, our
works are going to be judged, and we're going to be complimented
for what we did, and somebody else condemned for what they
didn't do, I tell you, you don't want any part of that. In my hands no price I bring. It's simply the cross of Christ.
In Romans 8, verse 1, it says, Therefore now, right now, no
condemnation, no judgment to them who are in Christ Jesus.
In verse 33, listen to it, who can lay anything to the charge
of God's elect? Why? Can't they be charged? It's God that justifies. Who
is He that condemns? Here's our answer. It's Christ
that died, yea, rather is risen again, who's even at the right
hand of God, who'll make the intercession for us. So, when
Job considers what we are, he begins asking questions. Are
you mindful of us? Well, Lord, don't bring me into
judgment with you. Don't try me on the basis of what you say.
me today, of what I am. I don't want to come into judgment
based on that at all, on Christ. But how am I going to come into
judgment? Here's his third question, who can bring a clean thing out
of an unclean? We're unclean. When I think about our uncleanliness,
our being unclean before God, I think of several scriptures
And I'll let you follow me as I turn to him. Turn to Leviticus
13. I think of several scriptures when I think of our uncleanness. What Job is saying here, who
can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? And this describes
us. See, leprosy in the Old Testament
is a type of our sin. Whenever you read about the leper
in the Old Testament, it's a picture of sin. In Leviticus 13, verse
44, he's a leprous man, he's unclean. The priest shall pronounce
him utterly unclean. His plague is in his head, and
the leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent,
his head bare. He shall put a covering upon
his upper lip, upon his mouth, and cry everywhere he goes, I'm
unclean, I'm unclean. That's us, spiritually, before
God. And all the days wherein the
plague shall be in him, he shall be defiled. He's unclean. And he'll dwell alone. Without
the camp shall his habitation be. Separated from everybody.
Unclean. Another scripture I think about,
let me just quote it, in Isaiah, where it talks about our whole
head is sick, our whole heart is faint, from the sole of our
feet to the top of our heads. There's no soundness. Nothing
but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores. And then Job said in Job
15, right across the page from where you're looking in your
text here, Job 15, verse 14, listen. What is man that he should
be clean? He that is born of a woman, that
he should be righteous? God puts no trust in his saints.
The heavens are not clean in God's sight. How much more abominable
and filthy is man who drinks iniquity like water? I think
of another scripture, Jeremiah 13. Can the Ethiopian change
his skin? No. Can the leper change his
spots? No. It's his nature. Neither
can you and I do good or evil by nature. Well, let's look at
the question again. Verse 4 of Job 14. It says, Who can bring a clean
thing out of an unclean? And Job surveys everything and
everybody, and he answers, not one. I know one who can. I know one who can bring a clean
thing out of an unclean. I do. God can. Can the leper
change his spot? No, but God can. Can the Ethiopian
change his skin? No, but God can. With me, it's
impossible. With God, all things are possible.
The Lord God said, My arm's not short that I cannot say. My ear's
not heavy, I cannot hear. Wherefore, he is able to save
to the uttermost them that come to God by him. Call his name
Jesus, he'll save them. He came into the world to save
sinners. God can. Here's my second question. How? Who can bring a clean thing out
of an unclean? And over across the page, he
says, how can man be clean that's born of a woman? How? God can,
but how can God? But David answers in Psalm 51. Turn over there. David answers
how God can make an unclean thing clean in his sight. Make an unclean,
wretched sinner clean in his sight. David tells us. This water
up here won't do it. Coming down this aisle won't
do it. Accepting Jesus as your personal Savior won't make you
clean. No, it will not. I beg your pardon.
Any kind of profession of religion won't make you clean. Our dirt
goes deeper than that. It's an offense against God's
law and justice. It's in my bones. It's in my
being. It's in my heart. I'm unclean
by nature. Well, David says here in verse
5 of Psalm 51, Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, in sin my
mother conceived me. Behold, thou desirest truth in
the inward part, in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know
wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I will be clean. Wash me, and I'll be whiter than
snow." What is hyssop? Well, I've told you again and
again, I'll tell you one more time. The law of first mention,
go back in the Bible to the word where the word hyssop is used
the first time. The word hyssop is used the first time in the
Bible. Hyssop is a small plant, so high, no thorns, but a small
plant. And this is what hyssop was used
for in the worship of the Lord. In Exodus chapter 12, turn over
there, this is the first time it's used, Exodus 12, verse 22. Now listen, Exodus 12, verse
21, Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to
them, draw out and take your lamb according to your families
and kill the Passover lamb. And take a bunch of hyssop, take
this plant, this hyssop, and dip it in the blood of the lamb,
dip it in the blood of the lamb in the basin, and strike the
linen over the door and the two side posts with the blood that's
in the basin. And none of you shall go out
of the door of his house to the morning, for the Lord is going
to pass through to smite the Egyptians. And when he sees the
blood on the two side posts, the Lord will pass over you."
They will not suffer the destroyer to come into your homes to fight
you. That is the picture of our Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ,
who died on the cross and shed his blood. And his blood is sprinkled
on you and me and cleanses us from all sin. That's how we're
cleaned. It's the blood of Jesus Christ that cleanses us from
all sin. Paul said, as he named all these
awful things, he said, such were some of you, but you're washed.
You're clean, you're sanctified in the blood of the Lamb. It's
the blood that makes atonement for the soul. The blood of our
crucified Lord washes us white as stone. All right, back to
my text. Another question. Job said, who
can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? God can. How? Through
the blood. Christ, through the death of
our substitute, the sacrifice of our Lamb. Well, let's read
something here. Verse 5, Seeing man's days are
determined, the number of his months are with thee. Thou hast
departed his bounds, he cannot pass. Turn from him that he may
rest, till he shall accomplish as a hireling his day. Now the
hope of a tree, if you cut a tree down, it will sprout again, that
the tender branch there will not cease. You've seen that walking
through the woods any time. A tree has fallen years ago,
and it's rotted, but here, right there where that tree has fallen,
little sprouts are coming up from the roots. You see, the
rain came and the sun shined, and that life was still in the
root, though the tree was cut down and though the roots were
still there, there's life there. And that's what he's saying here.
In verse 8, Verse 7, there's hope of a tree if it cut down
and sprout again, and the tender branch there will not cease.
Though the root wax old in the earth, been there a long time,
and the stalk there die in the ground, yet through the scent
of water it buds and brings forth boughs, limbs, like a plant. But now man, man dies. There's a man driving a school bus loaded with basketball
boys I saw in the paper the other day. basketball players, and
he had a heart attack and died. Now when a man dies, when his
soul leaves his body, he falls. There's no life, it's just trees
cut down, it falls. Man does the same thing. If God
calls me home right now and my soul goes back to God, I'm going
to hit the floor. But now don't ever hope that
I'll start growing again. It's impossible, because the
life is gone. Now the tree can grow because
life's still there in the root, but when a man dies, he's gone.
He's absolutely gone. Be absent of the bodies, be present
with the Lord. That's what the scripture says.
Well, he asks this question here in verse 10. But man dies and
wasteth away. He begins to rot immediately. He gives up the ghost. Where
is he? Where is he? You know how I'm going to answer
that question? I'm going to answer it by asking you to turn to John
19. I'm going to give you the answer to that question unquestionably,
absolutely, without doubt, without argument, without debate. I know
exactly where he is. I know pre-exactly where he is.
I'm going to tell you. Man dies, where is he? His body's
lying there, but he's gone. Where is he? John 19, verse 37. Here's where he is. And again, another scripture
says, they shall look on him whom they pierced. Now, after
this, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly
for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away
the body of Jesus. And Pilate gave him permission.
He came, therefore, and took the body of Jesus. Our Lord died. He's gone. His body is on that
cross. And there came with him also
Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and he
brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pound
weight, and they took the body of Jesus and wound it in linen
clothes with the spices as the manner of the Jews is to bury.
Now in the place where he was crucified, there was a garden,
and in the garden a new tomb, wherein was never man laid. They
laid, then laid they Jesus, therefore there laid they Jesus in the
tomb, in the grave, because of the Jews' Passover day for the
sepulchre was not at hand. All right, let me ask you this
question. His body is in the grave. Where is the Lord Jesus?
When he told the thief, this day I'll be in paradise and you'll
be with me. That's where he is. If this tent, this body, if it's
folded up right now, I have a building of God not made with hands eternal
in heaven. And immediately to be absent
from this body is to be present with the Lord. That's just so. And that's where they are. The
soul returns to the earth from which it came, and the body returns
to the earth from which it came, and the soul to God who gave
it. Paradise. All right, here's the next question.
I've got to close. Job 14. So man, verse 12, lies down and
rises not till the heavens be no more. That body goes back
to the dust. They shall not awake nor be raised
out of their sleep. In verse 14, if a man dies, shall
he live again? All the days of my appointed
time will I wait till my change come. Will he live again? Will
this man live? I'll use the example again. If
the Lord called me now, and my body fell to the ground, and
my soul goes to God just like Christ did, and you put this
out, Rose Hill, in my lot out there, and it stays there. And
days and years and years and years passed. With Christ it
was just three days. But what's a day to the Lord?
A thousand years. What's a thousand years? A day.
And then what happened? Turn to Luke 24. Luke 24. This same thing is true of his
people in Luke 24. The disciples were all assembled
together in the upper room. In Luke 24, verse 36. And as they thus spake, Jesus
himself, now don't miss that word there, himself, Job said
not another, himself, stood in their midst and said to them,
Peace be unto you. And they were terrified, they
were frightened, they supposed they had seen a spirit. And he
said, Why are you troubled? Why do thoughts arise in your
heart? Behold, my hands, my feet." He had the scars still there
that he received on Calvary. It's I, myself. Myself. See, a spirit doesn't have flesh
and bones. And when he had thus spoken,
he showed them his hands and feet, and while they believed
not for joy and wonder, he said, Do you have any meat? And they
gave him a piece of fish and a honeycomb. He took it and ate
it. Here he stands. I am he that was dead, and am
alive forevermore. I am he that liveth, was dead,
and alive forevermore. I am he that liveth, one day
will be dead, but just like this I'll be alive forevermore, me.
In glorified flesh, glorified bones, eating, rejoicing, singing,
talking with my friends in the presence of our God. Let me give you the last question
and I'll quit. You need to see this one. So
he goes on down and he says in verse 16, Lord, thou numberest
my steps. That's what Psalm 37 says, the
steps of God's people are ordered by the Lord. You never take a
step that God doesn't ordain it for his glory and your good. Not a step. But if God, if you're
so precise in this eye of the Lord, this omniscient eye of
the Lord, watch over my every step, do you watch over my sin? Do you watch over my sin? That's
bothersome, isn't it? But he doesn't. He sees your
every step, but he doesn't see your sins. That's right. Look
at Hebrews 10. That's right. No, he doesn't. You've been cleansed. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses
us from all sin, washes away our sin. There is no condemnation
to them in Christ. And do you see my, do you watch
over my sins? Job asked, he knew he wasn't
perfect. Well, verse 16, Hebrews 10. This is the covenant I'll
make with them after those days, saith the Lord. I'll put my law
in their hearts and in their minds will I write them, and
their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. It's not
an issue. It's not an issue. That's right.
Our sins are put away. They're gone. They're paid for. There are no more. There are
no more.