I open your Bibles with me tonight
to the book of Job. I'm going to bring the second
message on the Sovereign God. The Sovereign God. I want you
to look at Job 23. Let's review Job's words over
here. Remember I read to you last Wednesday
night that Job went a little far defending himself. His friends
had come and accused him of some great sin, some great evil, which
caused God to bring this affliction upon him, and he was very strong
in defending himself, even against the Lord's good providence. He
said in Job 23, verse 3, Oh, that I knew where I might find
him, He's talking about God here. That I might come even to His
seat. I'd order my cause before Him. That I might come even to
His seat or His throne. I would order my cause before
Him and fill my mouth with arguments. I would know the words which
He would answer me and understand what He would say to me. I want
to hear Him justify this calamity. That's what he's saying. I want
to hear what he has to say. Job 31. And I know you're shocked
by these things that Job said, and so were his friends, but
nevertheless, he said them, here in Job 31, 35, Oh, that one would
hear me! Behold, my desire is that the
Almighty would answer me, that my adversary had written a book,
Surely I would take it upon my shoulder and bind it as a crown
to me. I would declare unto him the
number of my steps, as a prince would I go near unto him. If
my land cry against me, or the furries likewise thereof complain,
if I've eaten the fruits thereof without money, he's saying he's
been an honest man and a man of integrity and no doubt about
that. or have the owners thereof, or
have caused the owners thereof to lose their life, have I offended
or hurt any man? If I have, let the thistles grow
instead of wheat, and cockle instead of barley." The words
of Job are ended. Now look at chapter 32, verse
1. So these three men ceased to answer Job because he was
righteous in his own eyes. Then was kindled the wrath of
Elihu, the son of Bereichel, the Buzite of the kindred of
Ram. His anger was kindled against
Job because he justified himself rather than God. Even Elihu noticed that he questioned
God's providence and defended himself a bit too strongly. Oh, at chapter 38, just a minute
more here. In chapter 38, after Elihu had
spoken his words, verse 1, the Lord answered Job out of the
whirlwind and said, Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words
without knowledge? Gird up now thy loins like a
man, and I will demand of thee, and you answer me. And he took
Job on a journey, we took that journey last Wednesday night,
to behold the things that he had made. The things that he
controlled and were contained in him and the things he governed,
the heavens, stars, and the moon, and the sun, and the planets,
and the rain, and the snow, and the thunder, and the lightning,
and the hail, and the frost, all of these things at my hand
made. The Lord said, I control, I say
to the lightning, go and come. And it moves in my direction. The earth. He talked about the
seas. The seas were born of my hand
and I put them in a swaddling band and I told them you can
come this far and no further. And the oceans and the trees
and the land and the animals and the birds all are taught
and fed and cared for by the Lord. And then in Job 39, as we come to the end of this
first part of the Lord questioning Job, and he said, verse 26, Does
the hawk fly by your wisdom, Job? Does the hawk stretch her
wings toward the south? Does the eagle mount up at your
command? Make her nest on high? She dwelleth
and abideth on the rock, on the crag of the rock, in the strong
place. From thence she seeketh the prey,
and her eyes beholdeth all. Her young ones also suck up blood,
and where the slain are, there she is, to feed on their flesh. And then, in verse 1 of
chapter 40, the Lord answered Job and said, Shall he that contendeth
with the Almighty instruct him? He that reproveth God let him
answer." Now, Job, you undertook to contend with the Almighty.
You took it on yourself to instruct the Lord God. Now, you answer
these questions that I put to you. Show your great wisdom and
your great knowledge. And then Job replied, verse 2,
He answered the Lord and he said, now listen carefully, Behold,
I am vow. The word is, I am nothing. What
shall I answer thee? I will lay my hand upon my mouth. Once have I spoken, I admit that,
but I'll not speak again. I'll not answer you. Twice I've
spoken. I'll proceed no further. I've
been hasty. What can I say to acknowledge
my nothingness and my vanity? I see in the light of your greatness,
my nothingness. I'm bound. I see in the light
of your glory, my shame. I see in the light of your wisdom,
my ignorance. I see in the light of your power,
my weakness. And I put my hand on my mouth. Once have I spoken, but I will
not answer. Twice have I spoken, but I won't
speak again. I'll impose silence upon myself. But evidently, and as many times
as I've read the book of Job and preached from it and studied
it, evidently there's something missing because the Lord doesn't
stop there. He takes Job on another journey. through creation and through
his universe and calls on him to gird up his loins like a man
and answer again. Job has said, I will not speak
again. But something's missing. The
confession is not quite complete. Let's listen to the confession.
I am nothing. What shall I answer thee? I will
impose silence on myself and I will not speak again." But
that's not sufficient evidently because listen, verse 6, Then
answered the Lord unto Job out of the whirlwind, here we go
again, and he said, Gird up now your loins like a man, I will
demand of thee, and you declare unto me." Although Job has said,
I won't speak again, I won't answer again, the Lord said,
yes you will. I'm going to make you say more.
The Lord continued to speak to him through the next two chapters
on the lines of his sovereignty, his power, and further proof
of his glory. to get something else out of
Job, evidently, because we'll see that in a moment. I'll demand of you and you declare
unto me. But Job says, I won't answer.
Oh, yes, you will. I'll demand it of you. Now look
at verse 8. Will you also disannoy my judgment? Will you condemn me that you
may be righteous? What he's saying here, will you
set aside my purpose, my decrees, my ways, my providence? Will you set your thoughts above
mine? In trying to establish your righteousness,
are you going to charge me with unrighteousness? That's what all the self-righteous
people do, who fight God's sovereignty, His sovereign grace, his election,
his redemption, his purpose. In trying to establish their
righteousness, they charge him with unrighteousness. Let me
show you that in Romans 9. That's what he's saying to Job
here. Would you set your thoughts against mine? In trying to establish
your righteousness, will you charge me with unrighteousness?
Turn to Romans 9 to see if that's not what's happening right here. Romans 9 verse 11, the children
being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the
purpose of God, the purpose of God, according to election, according
to His purpose, His election, His sovereign will, not of works,
but of Him that calleth. It was said unto her by God himself,
the elder shall serve the younger. As it's written, Jacob have a
love, Esau have a hated. And then Paul says, here's the
reply. What shall we say then? Is there
unrighteousness with God? Isn't that what he said to Job? Almighty God determines and decrees
all things. And men don't like that. And
they charge God with unrighteousness. In establishing their own works
and their own righteousness and merit, they charge Him with unrighteousness. Look at verse 9 now. Hast thou an arm like God? such infinite, almighty, irresistible
power as God has? Have you an arm like God? Have you an arm like God upon
which the believer can lean and rest and find hope and strength
and provision? Have you an arm like God by which
his enemies are crushed and destroyed? Have you an arm like God? Can you thunder with a voice
like God? God speaks and light appears,
let there be light. God speaks and all things are
created, let the dry land appear. God speaks and the lightning
flips across the sky, the thunder roars, the rain falls. God speaks
and the dead rise. God speaks and men live spiritually,
the Son quickeneth whom He will. Have you a boss like God? Deck yourself, first he and now
with majesty and excellency. Surround yourself with glory
and majesty. When Isaiah saw the Lord high
and lifted up, seated on a throne, glory filled his temple. And
the Seraphim cried, holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty. Job, neck yourself. Robe yourself
in the robes of God. Put on the royal robes of sovereignty. Take your seat on the throne
of glory. See if you can govern this universe
and the world and all things better than God. Verse 11, cast abroad the rage of your
wrath and behold everyone that is proud and abasing. Can you
humble a proud man, Joe? Can you work on the heart of
a sinner and humble a proud man? Can you look upon the heart of
a man like Herod, bragging about the great city that he's built
and cause him to be eaten with worms and humbly? Can you see a man like Uzziah
go into the holy place and offer a sacrifice and turn him into
a leper? Can you and your wrath destroy
a world with a flood? Can you consume a city of homosexuals
with fire as I did Sodom? And verse 8, and hide them in
the dust where they'll never be found. And bind their faces in secret. Bury them in my wrath and hide
their faces in secret so even the sight of them will no longer
be seen. For Job, when you can, then I shall also confess unto
thee that you can save yourself. Your right hand, your right hand
can save you. When you can be as God and do
as God, then your own hand can deliver
you. This is what we need to say to
this whole religious Just what God is saying to this man who
defended himself. This man, this is one of God's
people. This man is one of God's servants. He's a child of God. God said, if you consider my
servant Job, there's not anybody like him. Well, if there's nobody
like him, the rest of us must be awful bad. Isn't that right? The rest of us must be terrible.
There's nobody like him. But here I find in him this self-righteousness
and this self-justification and this establishing of his own
goodness, even to questioning God's providence and purpose.
I'll do with my own what I will, he said. Job, when you're able to do these
things, when you can be as God and act as God and work as God,
then your own hand can deliver you. But whereas you have no
strength, Job, you have no power at all. to do anything. You can't
even keep yourself from getting boils. You can't hold back any affliction
and permit the adversity. You have no strength at all.
Then what you better do is quietly submit to Almighty God's indisputable,
immutable, irresistible sovereignty. God is God. The Lord God reigneth
over the armies of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth
and giveth it to whomsoever He will. Quietly submit to His divine
sovereignty, His holy purpose, His divine providence, and He
says in Psalm 2, turn over two pages, Psalm 2, and kiss the
son, verse 12, Psalm 2, lest he be angry. Kiss the son, kiss
his feet like the harlot, lest he be angry and you perish from
the way when his wrath is kindled just a little. Blessed indeed
are all they that put their trust in him. Then verse 15, Verse 15 through 24, we're going
to read those verses. And he says, Behold now the behemoth
which I made with thee, he eateth grass as an ox. I read quite
a number of men on this thing here. The margin says it's the
elephant. The behemoth is the elephant.
But there's a lot of controversy about whether it's an elephant
or a hippopotamus. John Gill, whom many of us love
and appreciate his writings, he called it a hippopotamus.
And the hippopotamus was called a seahorse back a long time ago
in the countries in Africa around the Nile. called a seahorse because
it has a head like a horse and lives on land and water. And the reason they think maybe
this is a hippopotamus, and many think it's an elephant,
but it's a giant beast. It's a great beast which God
has made. And whether it's one or the other,
that's We leave that alone. But nevertheless, he talks about
this powerful animal. He said, I made him with thee.
I made him with you. When I made Adam on the sixth
day, I made this animal. I made him. He eats grass as
an ox. He lives in the water also and
on the land, eats grass like an ox. Lo, his strength is in
his loins. His force is in the navel of
his belly. He moves his tail like a cedar.
The centers of his stones are wrapped together. His bones are
strong pieces of brass. His bones are like bars of iron. He's the chief of the ways of
God. He that made him can make his
sword to approach unto him. Surely the mountains bring him
forth food, where all the beasts of the field play. He lies under
the shady trees, in the covert of the reed and the fens. The
shady tree covers him with their shadow. The willow of the brooks
compasses him about. He's got such a powerful thirst
he drinks up a river, haste it not. He trusted that he could
draw up Jordan into his mouth. He taketh it with his eyes, his
nose pierceth through snares. This is a powerful animal. God
said, I made him. I made him as he is. My, he's
my animal. He's so powerful. So powerful. Then he says, talked about another
animal. He says in chapter 41, verse
1, can you draw out Leviathan with a hook? Consider now the
whale. And here's another controversy.
I don't mean to raise these, but you're going to be reading
other writers and you're going to see the difference. Gill says
this is a crocodile. Most people say it's a whale.
But it could be either. I don't know which it is. But
it sounds like a crocodile the more I read it. A giant crocodile. And the reason some believe that
these two animals mentioned here, the sea and the land, the sea
and the land, both of them, that these two animals, the hippopotamus
and the crocodile, there's some kindred between them because
of sea and land. And also because the river Nile,
which was in the vicinity where Job was, and these two animals,
these two creation of God, giant hippo and the giant crocodile
were better known to Job than a whale out in the deep ocean,
and better known to Job than an elephant in the jungles of
Africa or over in India. But what the Lord is saying with
either the whale or the crocodile or the elephant or the hippopotamus,
God's their master. The Lord God made him. He's the master. And here he
talks about this giant crocodile or this whale. Can you draw out Leviathan with
a hook? Or his tongue with a cord, which
I'll let it down. You're going to go fishing and
catch him down a cord and pull him up, you know. Can you put
a hook in his nose and bore his jaw through with a thorn? Can
you put him on a stringer like you do your fish you've caught?
Isn't that what you... bore his jaw through with a thorn and
just put him on a stringer? Will he make many supplications
unto you? Will he speak soft words to you?
Protect me or feed me or leave me alone? He's God's crocodile
or whale. Will he make a covenant with
you? Will you take him for a servant forever? Will you play with him as with
a bird? The Lord God can. Maybe you could
put a leash on him for your maidens to pull him around. Will you
bind him for your maidens to take to the garden? Shall the companions make a banquet
of him? Shall they part him among the
merchants? Can you fill his skin with barbed
irons or his head with fish spears? Lay your hand on him and remember
the battle and you'll do it no more. If you lay your hand on
him, what he's saying here, you won't do it again. That's exactly
what he said. Lay your hand on him and you'll
remember the battle and you won't do it again. But God can. Behold, the hope of him is in
vain. Shall not one be cast down even
at the sight of him? Just fear, run from him, the
crocodile, the giant crocodile. None is so fierce that dare stir
him up. Do you dare stir him up? You
going to go looking for him? Well, if you can't stand before
a crocodile stirred up, who's able to stand before me, God
says? If you can't cope with a crocodile,
how are you going to cope with an angry God? Who hath prevented me? Who hath
preceded me? To whom am I in debt? God says,
to whom am I in debt that I should repay him? You, Joe, do I owe
you something? Am I indebted to you? Whatsoever is on the whole heaven
is mine. I don't owe you anything. I will not conceal his parts,
nor his power, nor his company proportion." Talking about that
crocodile. Who can discover the face of
his garment? Who can come to him with his
double bridle? Who can open the doors of his
face? His teeth are terrible roundabout. His scales are his
pride. They're shut up together as with
a close seal. They're so close that even air
can't come between them. His scales are so near to one
another, no air can come between them. Like a coat of mail, like
an armor. They join one to another, they
stick together, they cannot be sundered. By his gneasings, that's
sneezing, he sneezes, a light does shine. His eyes are like
the eyelids of the morning, reddish. Out of his mouth go burning lamps,
and sparks of fire leap out. Out of his nostril go smoke as
out of a seething pot or cauldron. His breath kindleth colds, and
a flame goeth out of his mouth. In his neck remaineth strength,
and sorrow is turned into joy before him. The foals of his
flesh are joined together. They're firm in themselves, they
cannot be moved. His heart is as firm as a stone,
yea, as hard as a piece of the nether, millstone. When he raiseth up himself, even
the mighty are afraid. By reason of breaking, they purify
themselves. The sword of him that layeth
at him cannot hold. The spear, the dart, or the habergeon,
that's a jacket of mail. He esteemeth iron as straw and
brass as a rotten wood. The arrow cannot make him flee,
and sling shots, sling stones are turned with him in the stubble.
Darts are counted as stubble. He laughs at the shaking of a
spear. His underparts are like sharp
stones under him. He leaves a path. What's this
now? As he crawls across the sand,
Sharp stones are his under parts, under him he spreadeth sharp
pointed things upon the mire. He maketh the deep to boil like
a pot when he goes into the water. He makes the sea a pot of ointment.
He maketh the path to shine after him. One would think that the
deep to be white foam, just stirring as a crocodile stirs up the water.
Upon earth is not his like. who is made without fear. The middle, in the margin, it
says, upon earth is not his like, or behave themselves without
fear. He beholdeth all high things. He's king over all the children
of pride. And then the Lord stopped. Now
let's look at chapter 42. Now Job had said he wasn't going
to answer anymore. After the Lord took him on that
trip through creation, showed him his power and sovereignty
and might, Job said, I'm nothing. I've spoken once, yet twice,
but I won't speak again. And the Lord, for some reason,
let's see if we can see in a minute what it is, he said, You stand
up, gird up yourself like a man. I'm going to demand of you."
And then he said these things to him, showed him the elephant
or hippopotamus, the crocodile or the whale. And then Job answered the Lord
and said, I know thou canst do everything, everything. Can he
save whom he will? He who made all things, he who
made the ear, can he make it hear? Who made the eye, can he
make it see? Who made the heart, can he change
it? Can he do all things? Job said he can do everything. And like our Lord said to those
people when he told that man, thy sins be forgiven thee. And
some of them said, who does he think he is? saying thy sins
be forgiven thee. He said which is easier? Which
is easier? To say take up your bed and walk
or your sins be forgiven you? There's only one who can say
take up your bed and walk. And there's only one who can
say thy sins be forgiven. If you ever, God said, get to
the place where you can say take up thy bed and walk, then I'll
say your right hand can say If ever we have power enough to
do these things, then we got power enough to deliver ourselves. I know you can do everything,
and no thought can be withholding from thee. No thought of any
man can be withholding from thee. No thought of man, good man or
a bad man, no thought of any man can be hidden from thee,
and no thought of God can be hindered. Now verse 3, this is what God
said to Job. I want you to turn back to chapter
38 just a moment. Job says, you said to me, verse
3, look at verse 3, chapter 38, Job said, you said to me, who
is he that hath a counsel without knowledge? Now go back to chapter
38, verse 3. Verse 2, who is this that darkens
the council by words without knowledge? That's what God said.
Job's not saying that. He said, you said that. You said that. Well, I'm the
one. Look at chapter 42, verse 3. Therefore have I uttered that
I understood not. I'm guilty. I'm the one. I said
things too wonderful for me, which I didn't know. I confess.
I'm the one, guilty. That's a good start, isn't it?
You said, who is this that muddies the water with ignorance? Speaks
about things you don't know anything about. I'm the one. And then
verse four. You said, here I beseech thee
and I will speak, I will demand of thee and declare thou unto
me. Back to 38 now, back to chapter
38, verse three. Gird up now thy loins like a
man, I will demand of thee, answer thou me. That's what God said.
And as you read this chapter 42, you have to read it that
way. Verse 3, God said, who is he that hideth counsel without
knowledge? Job said, therefore, I'm the
guilty one. I've uttered things I understood
not, things too wonderful of me. You said, here I beseech
thee, I'll speak, I'll demand of thee, and declare thou unto
me. Job said, verse 5, I've heard of thee by the hearing of the
ear, now mine eye seeth thee. I've heard, I've heard before,
I've heard now, but now mine eye seeth thee. I really believe
that the Lord, our Jehovah, appeared to Job in the whirlwind and spoke
to him. I've seen you. Like Abraham,
saw my day and was glad. Like he appeared to Joshua and
gave him command of Israel. Like he appeared to Moses on
the mountain, I am, I am. And Job says, I've seen you.
I've seen God in His glory, God in His holiness, I have a more
distinct, clear, and solemn view of His wisdom, of His justice,
of His mercy, of His holiness, of His sovereignty, of His providence
in dealing with the sons of men for His glory. I see that. Now
what's the next line? Wherefore, I hate myself. He didn't say
that before. I repent. He didn't say that
before. I repent." This was missing in the first
confession. First confession, he said, I've
said things I shouldn't have said, and I won't say it anymore.
I've spoken once, yet twice, but I'll never speak again. But
this time, he said, I'm guilty, and I hate myself, literally
abhor myself, and I repent. And I repent in dust and ashes. It's settled. Self is dethroned,
God has stripped Job, brought him down, humbled him, put him
in the dust at his feet, and God is enthroned. And it was
so that after the Lord has spoken these words to Job, the Lord
said to Eliphas, My anger, my wrath is kindled
against you." He spoke to Eliphaz because he was the oldest of
these three friends. And he was the first one to charge
Job and say ugly things to him. Eliphaz
was the oldest, and so God singled him out and spoke to him for
the other two. He spoke to Eliphaz. The Timonites
said, my wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends.
You have not spoken of me the thing that's right as my servant
Job has. Now, I got a little help on that
and this is what I'm saying. These men, if you read the book
of Job, you'll find that these men did say some right things.
Didn't they? All three of them said some good
things. They really did. And Job said
some bad things too. Job said some good things and
some bad things, and these men said some good things and some
bad things. But on the whole, Job had spoken of God the things
that are right. And here's one of the keys. These
men, their whole philosophy was that God deals with men in this
life according to their outward behavior, based on their works. That was their philosophy. That's
the reason they came all this distance. When they found out
Job, all ten of his children were dead. All of his sheep,
oxen, lambs, she-asses were dead, gone, stolen. He's broke. His health was gone. He's sitting
in the dust, scraping himself with balls. And they came down
there and they said, seven days, wasn't it? And didn't say anything.
Just sat there and looked at him. Their philosophy was this,
their whole philosophy was that God deals with men in this life
according to their outward behavior, that God did not afflict good
men, and that evil men were always punished for their sins in this
life. That was their philosophy. That's
the whole reasoning behind all, that's the reason Job kept defending
himself, is because that was their philosophy. If you were
all you claim to be, you wouldn't be where you are. Look at us. That's what they would say. Job's
philosophy was this. Job affirmed that wicked men
often enjoyed prosperity and God's people often suffered affliction. But God's love and God's wrath
cannot be determined by outward Prosperity or loss. That men's character should not
be judged by outward things, but by the heart. And that's
the reason he said in Job 19, turn over there. Job 19. It's in here. They were judging
everything by the outward appearance. That's what God said. He said,
men look on the outward appearance. They glory in the outward appearance.
God looks on the high. And Job, in chapter 19, verse
23, he said, oh, that my words were now written. Oh, that they
were printed in a book. That they were graven with an
iron pen and laid in the rock forever. For I know that my Redeemer
liveth. that he shall stand at the latter
day upon the earth. And though after my skin worms
destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God, whom I
shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another,
though my reins be consumed within me. But you should say, Why persecute we him? Seeing
the root of the matter is found in me. That's the difference. That's what Job is contending.
And that's when over here in our text, let me read you one
more thing and I'll let you go. Over here in Job 42. God said in verse 7, the last
line, you've not spoken to me the thing that's right, but Job
has. even with Job's things he said he shouldn't have
said. But basically, and on the whole, he knew God. And he knew God in here. And
he said, that's where you know God, in here. The root of the
matter is in me. Not on me and around me, it's
in me. I know my Redeemer. Therefore
the Lord said, verse 8, take unto you now seven bullocks and
seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves
a burnt offering, and my servant Job will pray for you. For him
will I accept, lest I deal with you after your
folly, in that you have not spoken of me the thing that is right,
like my servant Job. So Eliphas, the Temanite, and
Bildad, the Shuhite, and Zophar, went and did according as the
Lord commanded them, and the Lord accepted Job. And the Lord
turned the captivity of Job when he prayed for his friends, and
the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. And then came
there 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. And every man also
gave him a piece of money, and every one a gold earring of gold. So the Lord blessed the latter
end of Job more than his beginning. He had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels,
1,000 yoke of oxen, 1,000 she-ashes, and seven sons and three daughters. Verse 16 said Job lived 140 years
after that and saw his sons, sons, sons, even four generations. And he died being old. full of
days. Well, I hope that was a blessing.
It was to me. I just enjoyed studying it and
preparing it for you, and I hope it's a blessing to you.