to Job 14. Some things that we know about
Job, number one, he's the oldest prophet. He's the first man whose words
are recorded in the scriptures. The book of Job is, we believe,
the oldest book in the Bible. Job was a man who believed God. God called him his righteous
servant. God said of Job that he spoke
the things of me that are right. Righteous servant. A man that
hated evil and feared God. A man of great troubles and affliction. But here is his message to us,
Job 14. Let's listen to Job. Regardless of our position, pastor,
elders, deacons, longtime believers, infants, babes in Christ, unbelievers,
whomever, let's just listen to Job now. see what he has to say about
the whole situation the first thing he says is this
man that is born of a woman that's how we're born of a woman man is born of woman conceived
by a human father and born of a woman therefore being conceived
of a human father and born of a woman man is born in sin We're born in sin. David said
in Psalm 51, in sin my mother conceived me. I was formed in
the womb and shapen in iniquity. That we come forth from the womb,
estranged from God. Speaking lies. We're born with
an evil nature, an evil spirit. Man that's born a woman is born
in sin. And from the wound, he speaks
lies. You don't have to teach children
to do evil. They're born knowing how. You
don't teach a child to lie. You teach him to tell the truth.
He knows how to lie. You don't teach a child to hate.
He's born hating. You don't teach a child to be
selfish. He's born selfish. Unaware of anyone around him,
conscious only of himself. So man that is born of a woman
is born a sinner with a weak, fouling, sinful nature. That's his first problem. He's
born of a woman. And then secondly, Job said he
is a few days. The days of his years. The days
of his years. A few days. The days of his years
are 70. 70 short days. Just a few. And if, by the grace
of God, he lives longer than that. 80, 85. It's by God's grace. But his days normally average
with 70. I've already lived those 70 short
days, and they've been so short, so brief. It just seemed like
yesterday that I moved to Ashland, Kentucky. That was 51 years ago,
50 years ago. Man's a few days. Compared to
the age of the earth, like that, 70 short days. And then he says, man that's
born of a woman and is a few days, just days, just days, he's
full of trouble. Sin and trouble go together.
Sin and trouble go together. Being born in sin, man is born
to trouble. He's going to have trouble. He
can expect trouble. In this world, Christ said, you
shall have trouble. Sin and trouble go together.
Where one has sin, he has trouble. Full of trouble. Full of trouble. And the older
he lives, the more trouble. Because when he's a child in
pretty good health, He has only himself to be concerned about.
Then he gets old, he has a wife to be concerned about. Then he
has a wife and family to be concerned about, and friends, and relatives. And then he gets older, and he
has nieces and nephews and grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and
his own health failing. He's just full of trouble. He's
just full of trouble. Every day is a day of trouble, full of anxiety, full of trembling. full of sorrow, full of tears,
full of disease, full of trouble. And don't expect
it to be any different on this earth. Full of trouble. That's
man. And then he says in verse 2,
he comes forth like a flower. He comes forth like a flower. How are our lives like a flower? Well, number one, as a flower
comes from the earth. Earth. Where does the flower
come from? The dust, the earth. So we came from the dust. God
said, dust thou art. And to dust you return. You're
dirt. You came from dirt. You go back
to the dirt. Like the flowers come from the
dirt. Cut them down, plow them under. Put back in the soil what
came out of the soil. That's what they do with us.
Put us back in the soil. That's what we came from. Dust
of our heart to dust you return. Like a flower, he comes from
a seed. I peeled an apple yesterday and
cut it to eat it. And I cut the seed. There's a
seed there. And I picked up the seed and looked at it. And I
said, that's the seed of another apple. Everything comes from
a seed. I came from a seed. Adam's seed
beget Cain and Abel. Cain beget a son, Enos. Father
beget me. I came from the ground. I came
from a seed. I came from a woman. And it says,
He cometh forth like a flower, and a flower flourishes, and
a flower blooms, and for a while For a while, they're beautiful. Stand straight up, tall, stem
strong, the leaf is green, the flowers blooming, smells so good,
fills the room with an aroma. And then it begins to wilt. We're beginning to wilt, aren't
we? And it's cut down. My flowers, Doris and my flowers,
are looking pretty bad now. We're going to have to get out
there and cut them down. They've been so pretty this summer, but we've
got to cut them down. And man, like a flower, comes
from the earth. He comes from a seed. He flourishes
for a little while. He has his youth and his middle
age, but he's strong. And I'll do it myself. Don't
help me lift that. I'll lift it. I'll carry it.
But after a while, he withers and fades like a flower. And then he's cut down. He's
cut down. Like a flower dies, he's cut
down. I told you a little bit about
Brother Muse last Sunday night, I believe it was. Brother Muse I met in 1954, feisty
little preacher, about five foot six inches tall, full of, Barney
used to say, whim-wiggling vitality. He was a go-getter, wore black
suits and black string ties, no big wide hat, and he could
preach. Came over here to Potterton and
preached in early April, and then he came back to the conference
in May, and then he invited me and Barnard and Dr. Magruder and several preachers
to his place in Louisville to preach and have a conference,
64 years old. And I never did tell you this,
anybody else, but towards the end of the conference,
one of the last days of the conference, he got sick and couldn't preside. He asked me to preside in the
conference and I did. His wife came to him and said,
Brother Mews wants to talk to you upstairs. So I went up. He was lying there in the bed,
feeling bad. He said, Mayhem, sit down. So I sat down. He said, now,
I want you to go back out of Ashland and resign that church.
I pastored a parlor there. I've been there about four years.
And come down here. He said, I got 16 rooms in this
building here. said we'll spend $1,000 on each
room, fix it up, make it beautiful. And we'll have a preacher school
down here, you and me. And we'll train preachers to
go out from Louisville, Kentucky, preaching the gospel of God's
sovereign grace. Now, you do that. You come down
here, big ideas, big plans. I said, I'll think about it,
but don't look for me, you know. I came home, it was just a few
days, phone rang. Brother Mews is dead. He had
good ideas and good plans, big plans. He'd strike out three
times today, but he ain't gonna knock a home run tomorrow. That's
the way his whole spirit was. But he's like a flower, blooming today and gone tomorrow. He's cut down. Old Job says,
and as a shadow, prepare for it, plan on it, get ready for
it, as a shadow, as a shadow of the evening as night falls,
as a shadow of a cloud passing by for a moment obscures the
sun. Shadow. As a shadow is empty
and has no substance, as a shadow leaves no mark when it's gone,
and the memory of its existence fades quickly. As a shadow, man
fleeth and continues not. Now in verse 3, he asked a question. Man's born a woman, full of trouble,
few days, weak, frail, sinful, short-lived, like a flower is
cut down, like a shadow continueth not. O God, Lord God of heaven
and earth, dost thou open thine eyes upon such a one? O living God of heaven and earth,
do you, thou who inhabitest heaven, and the heaven of heavens can't
contain thee, the earth is thy footstool, Do you open your eyes
upon such a one so feeble and frail and sinful and short-lived
and full of sorrow so soon and so easily cut down and destroyed
who returns to the dust? Are you interested in things like that? The question is not Oh God, do
you see us? He sees everything. God is omniscient. God is everywhere. God knows
everything. But the question here is, oh
God, do you have an interest in these worms? Are you mindful
of these worms? Do you even regard such as we
are? David asked that. In Psalm 8,
turn to Psalm 8, David asked that. David said in 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? We just
told what he is, didn't we? Job just told us. But what is
man that thou art mindful of him? Son of man, that thou visitest
him, mindful of him." The Lord uses that word several times
in the Scripture, mindful of us. Psalm 115, turn over there. Psalm 115, verse 12, mindful
of us. Psalm 115, verse 12. The Lord
has been mindful of us. He will bless us. He'll bless
the house of Israel. He'll bless the house of Aaron.
Psalm 111, turn back just a page, verse 5. He hath given meat unto
them that fear him. He will ever be mindful of his
covenant. Mindful. Let's look it up. What does the word mindful mean?
Used here in the Hebrew several times. He's mindful. Lord, when
I consider the heavens, what is man that thou art mindful
of?" You know what the word mindful means? It means to mark so as
to be recognized. God recognizes us. It means to
think upon it. It means to make mention of that
one so as to remember him. Now let's see if we can find
a clue in the New Testament. 2 Timothy chapter 1. Paul's talking to young Timothy.
Young Timothy. And Timothy is 2 Timothy 1 verse
3 and 4. And Timothy is all that Job said
about men, as we are. Young man, but loved by Paul. And Paul said in 2 Timothy 1
verse 3, I thank God whom I serve for my forefathers with pure
conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee. I
have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day, greatly
desiring to see thee and mindful, mindful of your tears. that I
may be filled with joy." He wrote to Timothy. A lot of people in
this world, Paul knew a lot of people. Paul had a lot of enemies.
But there was a young man down there by the name of Timothy.
Paul knew his mother, grandmother Lois, and his mother Eunice.
And he said, I remember you night and day in my past. I call your
name. I'm mindful of your tears." That's what David's asking. He's
saying, oh God, oh God of heaven and earth, this man that's so
sickly, sinful, feeble, frail, short-lived, dust, are you mindful
of him? Do you remember him? Do you recognize
him? That's what the thief on the
cross asked Christ to do, be mindful of me. Remember me. Remember me. This rejected, hated, despised
mass of criminal flesh dying on the cross, be mindful to the
King of glory, be mindful of me, think on me, remember me. Well, tell me, do you think God is mindful of
us? Do you really think that the God of heaven gives a flip
about you? Do you really think? You think
the God of glory and the billions of flesh and humanity that have
walked across this earth and perished and gone back and absorbed
by the soil, that God's mindful of any of us. I have one outstanding, undeniable proof
of it, that God is mindful of us, that
He does consider us and remember us and recognize us and look
upon us and show mercy to us. You know what it is? In the fullness
of time, God sent forth his son made of a woman, made of a woman, made in the flesh, took upon
himself the likeness of sinful flesh, was made under the law
to redeem them that were made of woman and made under the law. Job said, yes, sir, he's mindful. He was made of a woman. For God
so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Herein
is love. We didn't love God. He loved
us and sent His Son, there's your proof, to be a propitiation
for our sins. But God, who commended His love
toward us, us, made of woman, few days, full of trouble, cometh
forth like a flower, cut down, as a shatter it continued not.
But God, who is rich in love for His great love wherewith
He loved us, even when we were dead in sin, quickened us together
with Christ. Commended his love for us And
then why were we yet sinners Christ died for us. Yes He does
opened his eyes upon such a war You can be comforted You can
rejoice You can believe it. He took not only in the nature
of angels But he took on himself the seed of Abraham came to this
earth. A man of sorrow was acquainted
with grief. He was full of sorrow, full of
grief, tempted as we are, yet without sin, yet without sin,
gave us a perfect holiness. Went to the cross and died for
it. Notice Job's next point. He said, Do you bring me into
judgment with thee? Verse 3, "...you bring me into
judgment with thee." What a fearful thought! Job thought upon himself such
a frail, weak, sinful, mortal creature. He's no match for God.
God's not a man that they should come together in judgment. You
bring me with you into judgment? Sinful man can never be just
with God, can he? Not by what he does. Oh Lord,
David said, if thou should mark iniquity, who would stand? David said in Psalm 143. Turn
over there. Psalm 143. In Psalm 143, verses
1 and 2. Listen to this. Hear my prayer, O Lord. Psalm 143,
verse 1. Give ear to my supplications
in thy faithfulness, answer me in thy righteousness, and enter
not into judgment with thy servant. For in thy sight shall no man
living be justified." I don't want to come into the judgment
with God, do you? Look back at Job 9, just a few
pages back from our text. Lord, do you bring me into judgment
with you? Are you going to bring me into
judgment with you? Job 9, verse 1, Job answered
and said, I know it's so of a truth, but how can man be just with
God? Verse 20, if I justify myself,
my own mouth would condemn me. If I say I'm perfect, it'll prove
me perverse. I hear people talking about the
judgment, various judgment, individual judgment, general judgment, judgment
of the nations, judgment of the church. We don't want anything
to do with judgment. We don't want to stand before
a holy living God. Every sensible person would tremble
at the very thought of entering with God into judgment. examining
our lives, examining our thoughts, examining our imaginations. Lord, You bring me into judgment
with You, with You. I don't want anything to do with
that. I'll tell you what I want something
to do with. Turn to Romans 8, verse 1. Here's what I want something
to do with. In Romans 8 verse 1, it says here, there is therefore
now no judgment, no judgment, no condemnation to them who are
in Christ Jesus. That's what I, no judgment, no
judgment, no judgment, no condemnation. Turn to Hebrews 9. Here's what
I want something to do with. Here's my hope, here's my peace,
no judgment. Do not bring me into judgment
with thee. Lord, enter not into judgment
with me. Don't bring me into judgment
with thee. In Hebrews 9, verse 25, verse 24, Christ is not entered
into the holy place made with hands, which are figures of the
truth. but into heaven itself now to appear in the presence
of God for us. Nor yet that he should offer
himself often as the high priest entereth into the holy place
every year with the blood of others. For then must he often
have suffered since the foundation of the world." That's how long
he's been our sent offering and substitute and lamb. But now,
watch this now, "...once in the end of the world hath he appeared
to put away sin, but the sacrifice of himself." As it is appointed
unto men once to die, and after this the judgment. But here's
our answer. So Christ was once offered to
bear the sin of many unto them whose sins he bore that looked
for him, shall he appear the second time without seeing it. No cause for judgment. No reason
for judgment. No judgment. There is therefore
no judgment to them who are in Christ. Without sin unto salvation. Here is our hope. No judgment. No condemnation. Nothing for
which to judge us. Christ has paid it. Turn back
to the text. Verse 4. Now he has described man. Man born of woman, few days full
of trouble, unclean. And he says in verse 4, but who
can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one. One of the strongest illustrations
of our condition before God is found in the book of Leviticus.
Turn to Leviticus chapter 13, and here's a picture of the leper,
the leper of Old Testament scriptures, the lepers of Israel. And I want
you to listen to it. And here's a description of this
man born a woman, this sinner, unclean. Leviticus 13.44, listen,
he's a leprous man. He's unclean. You got it? Leviticus 13, verse 44. He's
a leprous man. He's unclean. The priest shall
pronounce him utterly unclean. That's right. From the sole of
your feet to the top of your head. No soundness. Nothing but wounds and bruises
and putrefying sores. His plague is in his head. The
whole heart is faint. The whole head is sick. His plague
is in his head. The natural mind is enmity against
God. And the leper in whom the plague
is, his clothes shall be rent, and his head bare, and he shall
put a covering upon his upper lip, and go through the city
crying, unclean, unclean, unclean, till he gets without the city.
That's where he stays. Cast out. And all the days of
his life worrying the plague shall be in him. And who can
bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one. So he's sinister
all his days. He shall be defiled. He is unclean. He shall dwell alone without
hope, without help, without God, without Christ in this world. Dwell alone. He's unclean. He dwells alone. He dwells without
the separated from God. That shall be his habitation.
Now, who can bring a clean, wholesome, holy, accepted, justified, sanctified
Son of God out of this? God's holy. We're unholy. God is light, we're darkness.
God is life, we're dead. God is truth, we're liars. God
is love, we're hate. How can He be clean? Well, David tells us in Psalm
51. Let's listen here as if we haven't
heard it before. And I'll tell you, when I read
that description of the leper, it's like really, haven't really
seen it like that before unclean utterly unclean in his head sick outside the camp alone all these
days crying don't come near me I'm unclean who can bring a clean thing Psalm
51 Verse 3, I acknowledge my transgression, my sin as ever
before me. David said, Against thee, and
thee only, have I sinned, done this evil in thy sight, that
thou mightest be justified when you speak, and clear when you
judge. Behold, I shape an iniquity, and sin my mother conceived me.
Behold, you desire truth in the inward parts, and the hidden
parts shall you make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop. I shall be clean. O Lord, you
purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. You wash me, and I'll
be whiter than the snow. Who can bring a clean thing out
of an unclean? God can. How? Purge me with hyssop. What's that mean, preacher? Well,
there's a law of first mention in this Bible. Find out how a
word is used the first time. How's the word grace used the
first time? Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Undeserving,
unmerited, free favor. When God destroyed the world,
Noah found grace. And that's what it means all
with it. The word hyssop, where is it used the first time? Exodus
12. Turn over there. Exodus 12, verse
22. Exodus 12, verse 22. God told Moses, I'm coming through
Egypt and kill the firstborn. Judgment, judgment is upon Egypt. I'm coming through in wrath and
I'll kill the firstborn. You slay a lamb. roast its body with fire, eat
its flesh, and take its blood, verse 22, and take a bunch of
hyssop. That is a plant that grows in
Palestine. It grows up on the wall. It has
no thorns. It has leaves and things on the
end that make it so easy. It's the easiest plant with which
to sprinkle something. Take hyssop. a bunch of hyssop. Dip it in the blood. Don't you
do it with your hand. Don't you touch it. The blood
is not to be administered with a hand or from any man. It's
the blood of the Lamb. You take hyssop. Dip it in the
blood that's in the basin and strike the lid on. And the two
side posts with the blood that's in the basin. And none of you
shall go out at the door of his house unto the morning, for the
Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians. And when he sees
the blood on the lintel on the two side
posts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not suffer
the destroyer to come into your houses to smite you." How can
I be delivered from judgment, protected from the wrath of God?
My sins put away the blood of Christ. Sprinkled our hearts
a sprinkle with the blood of Christ the blood of Jesus Christ
God's Son cleanseth us from all sin the high priest used to come
into the Holy of Holies with the blood of the Lamb and Sprinkle
the blood on the mercy seat and the blood on the mercy seat covered
the broken law That's how we're cleansed I've given you the blood
upon the altar, it shall make an atonement for your souls.
When I see the blood, I'll pass over you." Turn to 1 John chapter
1, 1 John chapter 1, verse 7, verse If we walk in the light, as He
is in the light, we have fellowship one with another. And the blood
of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleansed us from all sin. Christ, our
Lamb, died and shed His blood. And we read in the Scriptures
that He entered into the holy place, not made with hands, but
into heaven itself with His own blood and made an atonement for
ourselves, propitiation. Redemption sanctified us Turn
to Ephesians 5 How can we be clean? Purge me
with hyssop and I'll be clean Wash me in the blood. I'll be
whiter than snow Ephesians 5 25 Husbands love your wives as Christ
loved the church and gave himself forth, that he might sanctify
and cleanse it, cleanse it with the washing of the water by the
word, that he might present it to himself a glorious shirt,
not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but it should
be holy without blemish." One other scripture, 1 Corinthians
6, verse 11. Who can bring a clean thing out
of an unclean, utterly unclean? Christ and His blood. 1 Corinthians
6 verse 11. Such were some of you. What were
we? Verse 9 says, Know ye not that
the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived,
neither fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, effeminate, abusers
of themselves with mankind, thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers,
extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some
of you that you washed, you sanctified, you justified in the name of
the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of God. Our Lord was washing
His disciples' feet. I want you to look at this in
John chapter 13. And he came to Peter, he came
to the apostle Peter, John 13. And Peter said to him in verse
6 of John 13, do you have it? He cometh to Simon Peter, and
Peter said unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet? And our Lord
answered and said, What I do thou knowest not now, but thou
shalt know hereafter. Peter said, you'll never wash
my feet. As high as you are, as low as I am, as old as you
are, as sinful as I am, the master, the servant, you don't wash my
feet. Our Lord said, if I don't wash you, you have no part with
me. You understand that? If I don't wash you in the blood,
if I don't wash you, you see, you're unclean, utterly unclean, eternally unclean. hopelessly unclean, dwelling
alone outside the camp. If I don't wash you, you have
no part with me, no part in the covenant, no part in the kingdom,
no part in heaven, no part in grace, no part in... you have
no part with me." Well, Peter said to him, Lord, don't just
wash my feet, wash my hands and my head. Take that water and
bathe me. Our Lord said he that's washed,
that's cleansed by the blood, needeth not save to wash his
feet, but he's clean everywhere. You're clean. You're clean. Christ
has cleansed us by blood. We're clean. Why do you have
to wash your feet for? It's like taking a bath in a
public bathhouse in one of the islands that we've been to, or
other countries where they don't have bathtubs in their homes.
showers in the homes and no way to bathe in the home, they get
a towel and go down the street to the public bath and bathe.
And then they walk home. Well, they're clean. They're
clean all over, except their feet, where they walked home. So they need to daily wash their
feet. We're clean. We're clean in Christ. Clean
hearts, mind, soul, spirit, everything. But we walk through this world on our way home. We've been to
the cross, and we've been cleansed, washed in the blood, but we're
walking through this well on our way home, and every day I
have to pray, Lord, forgive me of my sins. But He's already
forgiven me. I know He has, but He forgave
me today, too. Forgive me of things I thought
this day that I shouldn't have thought. I said that I shouldn't
have said. Imagine that I shouldn't imagine. I'm walking through
this well. I've got to wash my feet. Got to pray for forgiveness
daily. But I'm clean. He said, He that's
washed in the blood, washed in the blood of Christ, is clean.
He's clean. Everywhere clean. Inside and
out, upside and down. He's clean. And you're clean. Not all of you. There's 12 of
them there. One of them wasn't clean. His
name's Judas. Christ didn't die for him. He
wasn't clean. Christ didn't suffer for him.
He wasn't clean. Christ didn't redeem him. He
wasn't clean. For he knew, verse 11, who should
betray him, and therefore he said, you're not all clean. But I'm telling you this morning,
Job talked Job preached beautifully. I'm going to quit now. I'll finish
some other time. But Job said, you open your eyes
upon such a one. You're mindful of us. Don't bring
me into judgment with thee like I am. I don't want to come into
judgment. If thou shouldst mark the neck
with the hood, stand. But who's going to bring a clean
thing out of the unclean? Who's going to take that old
utterly utterly unclean, forever unclean, polluted mass of human
flesh, fit for the ground, and make him every whit clean, Christ
in his blood. What can wash away my sin? Nothing
but the blood of Jesus. And I say this morning, you're
clean. Aren't you glad? You're clean.
I have to add, like the Lord, not all of you. I hope all, but
I'm saying that if the man's not in Christ, he's not clean.
If he's a betrayer, if he's a denier, if he's a mocker, if he's a joker,
if he's an unbeliever, he's not clean. He's not clean. But you
are. Everywhere. But I walk. through this world. And I have
to say every morning, Lord, keep me from sin this day and every
night. Lord, forgive me of my sin. Wash me in the blood, and
I'll be whiter than the snow. That's the gospel. It hasn't
changed in my 50 years and my 70. It hasn't changed in 1900
years since Christ died. It hasn't changed since Job wrote
this. It hasn't changed since Abraham
Believe God. It hadn't changed since Abel
offered the blood on the altar. It's the blood that maketh atonement
for the soul. Thank you, Job. I appreciate
it. You gave me some good hope, without
which I wouldn't have any hope. All right, let's sing a song.