God's Eureka

I've heard a number of sermons
from the book of Job. I've heard men who have tried
to simplify the book of Job. I've heard men try to arrive
at conclusions about the man Job, whether he was a righteous
man or a self-righteous man, whether he was a saved man or
an unsaved man. I've heard them even argue about
when Job came to know the Lord. But the more I look into the
book of Job, the more I'm convinced that this is not a simple story. It's not a simple book. It's
quite profound. And the man who tries to simplify
it is going to find himself thoroughly confused. Because you'll find
Job, when everything was taken away, God allowed Job to be given over
into the hands of Satan completely, with one restriction, that Satan
was not to kill him. He could do what he wanted to
with Job, and he did. Took away everything that he
had. Job was a prominent man. He was a popular man. He was
a family man. He was a wealthy man. And God
allowed Satan just to utterly destroy this man. He lost everything
he had. He lost his family. He lost his
friends. He lost everything, his health.
He was a poor, pitiful sight. He lost the respect of the community.
Even his friends turned against him. Even his wife turned against
him. And yet through all of this, It says in Job chapter 1 verse
20 and 22, Job never charged God with foolishness. He never
spoke against the Lord through any of this. He said, naked I
came out of my mother's womb and naked I shall return the
Lord hath given and the Lord hath taken away. Praise the Lord. And he worshipped God. Now you
think about that. And as I think about that, I
try to put myself in that place. I say that I'm saved and I'm
redeemed and I'm a child of God, but I just wonder how I would
respond or react to this type of devastation. How about you? And when we begin to stand in
the pulpit and talk about Job and draw conclusions about his
unrighteousness or self-righteousness, let's be sure that we could pass
through the same valley Sit down and praise the Lord and then
his wife came to him Through all of this and she said now,
why don't you just curse God and die? That's good advice it she said
how long are you gonna maintain your integrity? You've sinned
against God and God has deserted you now, why don't you just curse
God and die and that's when he uttered this mighty powerful
statement though he slay me, I'll trust him." In other words,
Job is saying, God can do what he wants to with me, God can
kill me, and I'll still trust him. When you start condemning
Job and arriving at conclusions about Job, let's see if you are
able to utter those words. He talked about how man could
be just with God. He knew something about the gospel,
because he said, how can man be just with God? A lot of preachers
don't ask this question. A lot of men who stand in the
pulpit in fundamental churches are not concerned about that
question. And then he said, if I justify myself, my own mouth
would condemn me. If I say I'm perfect, my own
mouth would prove me perverse. That's good gospel preaching.
Then on another occasion he said, I know that my Redeemer liveth,
and on this earth he shall stand. And though worms destroy my body,
yet in the flesh I'll see the Lord, and not another, but I
myself. And you write that, he said,
with a pin of a diamond in the rock forever. You put that on
my tombstone. You let that be my epitaph. I
know my Redeemer liveth. And then if you look at Job 13,
with me for a moment, verse 15 through 16. He talked about trusting the
Lord and God being his salvation. Now listen to this. Though he
slay me, yet will I trust in him. But I will maintain mine
own ways before him, he also shall be my salvation. For a
hypocrite shall not come before him. Hear diligently my speech
and my declaration with your ears. God is my salvation. God
is my salvation. And then, this is interesting,
when all this was over, you remember Job was sitting there in his
sickness with all of his boils, and three friends came to speak
with him. And they sat for seven days and
didn't open their mouth, just sat and looked at him. His grief
was so great. And finally they began to speak.
And they began to want to know, what have you done? What have
you done? How have you sinned against God? Why is God punishing
you? Why is God chastening you? And
all of these things. And they rowled at Job quite
a bit. And he answers some things back
to them. And when it was all over, God Justified Job and condemned
the friends now you look at that in Job 42 turn over there just
a moment when all this was over When it was all over in Job chapter
42 God said to these three friends, Job 42, 7, it was so that after
the Lord had spoken these words unto Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz,
the Temanite, my wrath is kindled against you and your two friends. You have not spoken of me, the
thing that is right, as my servant Job hath. And you know, brother,
Ronnie Lewis pointed out something that's worthy of note right here.
When you're quoting the book of Job, Preaching from the book
of Job be careful who you quote These three friends God said
now they have a lot of words in the book of Job He's somebody
said well the word of God says this. Well, it might be one of
these fellas talking and God said of them they didn't speak
a right of me So we have to be careful when we're quoting the
book of Job who's speaking is Job speaking is Elihu speaking
or one of these three friends speaking or is God speaking?
And he said, God said of these three friends, they didn't tell
it like it is, they didn't speak the truth. Therefore, verse 8,
you take you now seven bullocks and seven rams, and you 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. Best I deal with you after your
folly, in that you have not spoken of me the thing which is right,
like my servant Job. So this, if you just cover that
part, if you just make those statements, you say, well, Job
evidently, one of the most godly men who ever lived, Job evidently
was a man who knew the Lord in a very intimate, personal way,
a man who was really redeemed from the beginning. But I'll
tell you, you'll be shocked to hear some of the words that Job
spoke, which seem to indicate that before God, he justified
himself And laid claim to a personal righteousness before God. Now
I want you to hear Job speak. Turn to Job 27. Now this is what's
shocking. And this is what upsets you when
you think you've got the book of Job all figured out. You've
got the character and the status of Job all figured out. Then
you read something like this. Look at Job 27 verse 6. My righteousness I hold fast. I will not let it go. My heart
shall not reproach me so long as I live." Turn to Job 31, verse
5 and 6. Now listen, this is Job speaking. The whole 31st chapter of Job,
if you'd like to read it at home later, just put an X there and
say, read this at home. The whole 31st chapter is Job
justifying himself, talking about his integrity and his righteousness,
And the fact that he'd never done a man wrong, he'd never
done his servants wrong, he maintained his utmost integrity. Listen
to Job 31, 5. If I have walked with vanity,
or if my foot hath hasted to deceit, let me be weighed in
an even balance. that God may know my integrity. Let God weigh me in an even balance,
and he'll see my integrity." That's shocking, isn't it? Job 32, verse 1, this man Elihu
came on the scene for this very reason, Job 32, verse 1. So these
three men ceased to answer Job because he was righteous in his
own eyes. They quit talking to him because
he was righteous in his own eyes. And that 31st chapter of Job
is a whole list. He starts with, he made a covenant
with his eyes that he wouldn't look upon a woman. He made a
covenant with this, that, and the other, that he wouldn't do
this and wouldn't do that. He maintained his integrity through
his whole life. He never wronged a servant. He
never refused to pay a bill. He was respected and honored
in the community before God. He was a holy man. That's what
he continued. That's shocking. And some lessons
can be learned from this. And two or three of them are
these. First of all, it's amazing. It's amazing where self-righteousness
may be found. Even in a man of great knowledge. Job was a man of great knowledge.
He was a man of great faith. He was a man who knew God. Of
him, God said to Satan, have you considered my servant Job?
There's none like him. He's a man who fears God, he's
an upright man, and he avoids or shuns evil. Consider him!
And yet in Job, this man of great faith and this man of great knowledge,
is found that evil serpent of self-righteousness. I'll tell
you this, the thing that you can discover as you read this
book, God hates self-righteousness. And God hates self-righteousness
especially, especially when it's found in one of his own. And
God Almighty will surely deal with self-righteousness. Now,
someone made this statement. They said, well, as you read
the book of Job, Job's protesting his innocence and his integrity
was not so much toward God Now, this is one of the excuses that
are given for Job. They say his statement of innocency
was not so much directed toward God as it was a defense against
these men who charged him with sin. Now, that could rile a fellow
up. Say God brought a trial upon
you and great distress and great suffering, and you sat down and
your friend came to you and said, what did you do wrong? Have you
robbed a filling station? Have you been doing things you
shouldn't do? This is what they did. And he
sat there as they came to him. The first seven days they just
sat and looked at him. And then they began to charge
him with sin. And he began to protest. He began
to say, it's not so, it's not so. And somebody says, well,
that's what Job was doing. This was a defense. He was setting
up against the false accusations of his friend. That may be true. There may be some truth in that.
But Mr. Spurgeon made this statement.
Job went too far. Job went too far. And in going
too far in a defense of his righteousness in the presence of his friends,
he revealed, watch this now, he revealed a spirit of self-righteousness
and merit that God knew was already there. He revealed it. And to
understand this whole book, this may give you a clue. In other
words, when all this came to pass and Job sat down in his
suffering and poverty and want and trial. And these friends
sat around and began to charge him. And he answered back and
defended himself and talked about his integrity. And he said, I'll
never let go of my righteousness. It may be that all of this was
brought to pass by the hand of God to reveal what God only,
even Job didn't know it, but what God only knew existed in
the heart of his child. You see what I'm saying? All
of this. We wonder, we go back and we
see God, when the sons of God came to present themselves before
the presence of the Lord. And Satan came among them. And
God is the one, Charlie, who started this Job question. He's
the one that asked Satan, have you considered Job? Satan didn't
say anything about Job. It's the Lord God who started
this. He's the one who intimidated Satan. He's the one who put the
challenge to Satan. Satan didn't come before God
requesting permission to ensnare Job. Satan came and God started
this. The Lord God. I speak the truth. And I speak it carefully and
reverently, but God started this. It was all in his purpose. It
was all in his plan. God can do no evil. God can do
no wrong. But the wrath of man will work
the purpose of God and bring praises to God. And God challenged
Satan concerning this man. Have you considered Job? Yeah,
he said, I've considered Job. He loves you because you bless
him. All right, God said, touch what he has. I'll turn him over
to you. Do what you will. And so he did. He went out and
made these destructive moves against Job. And God said, only
don't touch his person. Don't touch his person. So Satan
did what he will. And then he came back and God
said, if you consider my servant Job, let's go back into this
Job situation. And Satan said, well, you hedged
him about, skin for skin. You've given him health and prospered. And you touch his body and he'll
curse you to your face. God said, all right, he's in
your hand, but don't kill him. And so Satan wrung him out. He
wrung him out. And still he praised God. And
yet then came out. That which was there. Job had
great integrity, great faith, great knowledge, great trust.
But Job had in his heart a sin that God had to deal with. And
God, first of all, before God deals with a sin, he's got to
expose it. He's got to reveal it. And that's what he did in
the case of Job. He revealed what even Job didn't know was
there. And that's the last few chapters. You'll find when this
man Elihu finished that then God spoke to Job. And God spoke
to Job, and when it was all over, Job said, God, I've heard of
you, now I see you, wherefore I hate myself. I repent in sackcloth
and ashes. I have spoken once, yea, twice,
I've said things too wonderful for me, things I didn't understand,
I'll put my hand on my mouth, I'll never speak again. I repent
in sackcloth and ashes. God had accomplished what the
purpose of the whole thing was all about. He had revealed the
seed. Now, let's look at this man Elihu
a minute, back in chapter 32. These three friends had finally
stopped talking. They had gone on and on and on
with their accusations and their theology and their doctrine and
all these things, and finally they had nothing else to say.
And then this man Elihu spoke, and he was speaking for God.
Now, chapter 36, verse 1 and 2 tells you that. Elihu was speaking
for God. In chapter 36, verse 1 and 2,
Elihu also proceeded and said, ìSuffer me a little, and Iíll
show thee that I have yet to speak on Godís behalf. I got
a message from God.î And he said back over here in chapter 32,
verse 21, ìHe didnít come to flatter anybody. He didnít come
to accept any manís person. In so doing, his Maker would
take him away.î You say, why hadn't he spoken before? All
right, listen, he tells you why he hadn't spoken before. The
reason, first of all, that he hesitated to speak is he was
younger than these other fellas. Job was an older man, and so
were these friends. And he hadn't said anything.
He says that in Job 32, verse 4. Listen. Now, Elihu had waited
until Job had spoken because they were older or elder than
he. He was a young man. They were
older men. And he hadn't said anything.
And he said, oh man, I ought to speak wisdom. Look at verse
7. He says, I said days should speak
and multitude of years ought to teach wisdom. That's where
it ought to come from. But unfortunately, this is not
always true. Look at verse 9 of Job 32. He
found out this wasn't always true. Great men are not always
wise. Neither do the aged understand judgment. That's unfortunate,
but that's true. We're not wise because we're
old. We ought to be. We ought to speak wisdom. But
here's a young man comes in and he says, now I haven't said anything
because you men are so much older than I am. And I've been sitting
here listening to you fellows and I thought, well, I'll hear
some wisdom in a little while, but I've sat here for days and
I haven't heard any wisdom. I found out that great men are
not always wise men and age does not always speak wisdom nor understand
judgment. So he determined to speak. And
here was the reason why he determined to speak. First of all, let's
turn to Job chapter 33. He was going to speak, first
of all, because Job was righteous in his own eyes. That's why he
was speaking. He says in Job 33, verse 8 through
11, Surely you have spoken in my hearing, and I have heard
the voice of your words, saying, Listen, this is Job. He's quoting
Job. I am clean without transgression. I am innocent. Neither is there
iniquity in me. Behold, God bindeth occasion
against me. He counteth me for his enemy.
He puts my feet in stock. He marketh all my paths. Behold,
in this, Job, thou art not just. I will answer thee, God is greater
than man." He says, that's the first reason why I'm speaking.
Secondly, I'm speaking because your three friends have not told
you the truth. They have not given you an answer.
In Job 32, verse 3, also against his three friends was his wrath
kindled, because they had found no answer, and yet they had condemned
Job. And then he says in verse 17
of Job 32, I will answer, I'll give my opinion, because I'm
full of this message, and I'm like a new wine bottle without
an opening, I'm about to burst. I'm just about to explode, that's
what he says. He says in verse 19, my belly
is as wine which hath no vent, or is not open, it's ready to
burst like a new bottle. I've listened to you fellows.
I can't stand it any longer. Joe, you justified yourself. You claim innocence and righteousness,
and you fellows, you haven't given him the answer. And I'm
about to burst, I've got a message, I've got something to say, and
I'm going to say it, he said. And brother, he said it. He gave
us an outline over in chapter 33. I want you to go over there.
You'll have to, we don't have long enough tonight to cover
one verse and take all evening. But here's an outline I want
you to look at. Job 33, this is Elihu speaking. Between verse 14 and verse 28,
I believe this is a summary of what he had to say. He speaks
for two or three chapters, but this is a sum of the whole thing.
I'm going to give you a five-point outline. First of all, Elihu
said this, and we're going to bring it to this day. I know
you're talking about something that happened to Job, if I can't
apply it to myself. First of all, he says in verse
14, For God speaketh once, yea, twice, and man proceedeth it
not. In other words, Elihu is saying
that God speaks to men, but men won't hear. And he said in the
next verse, God speaks in a dream, in a vision of the night, when
deep sleep falleth upon men and slumberings upon the bed. You
say God speaks to men in visions and dreams? He did then. Did
you know this? I think every reliable Bible
scholar will back me up in this. Job is perhaps the oldest book
in the Bible. When Job lived, there was no
written word. The Bible did not exist. Job
couldn't turn to a chapter and verse like you can. Remember
that, too, when you're too critical of Job. At that time, God spoke
to men as Elihu says here. God does speak. God's never left
himself without a witness. God speaks. Job, you three men,
God speaks to men, but they don't listen to God. And God did speak
to these men like he spoke to Adam, like he spoke to Abraham. Moses wrote Genesis, Exodus,
Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy before Abraham, like he spoke
to Enoch. Enoch walked with God, but Enoch
didn't carry a Bible. But God communed with Enoch,
and God talked with Enoch, and God talked with Adam, and God
talked with Abraham, and God talked with Job. God spoke to
Job by the whirlwind. But God did speak to him, but
men do not hear. That's what he's saying. And
then God, at sundry times and in diverse matters, spake to
our fathers by the prophets. Moses spoke for God. Moses got
the message from God and delivered it to men. And Isaiah and the
other prophets spoke for God. Hath in these last days spoken
to us through his son? In other words, what Elihu is
saying here, here's the message he's delivering. That we who
sin, sin against life. We sin against life. There are
very few who can plead innocence through ignorance. Because God
speaks to men, he speaks today through the light of conscience,
he speaks through the light of the law, he speaks through the
light of the prophets, he speaks through the light of the incarnation,
the revealed Son of God, and he speaks by his word. And we
don't hear it. God speaks. Our sins are sins
against light. Our Lord says they have ears,
but they don't hear. They have eyes, but they do not
see. They have hearts, but they do
not understand. Men are listening to every voice
but the voice of God. Today, in 1978, the Bible is
the most popular book in the world, translated in over 900
languages, and the least read. And I'll tell you this, I'm not
without guilt in this very area. I've read at least ten sermons
by these old writers this week, and I've read a lot of other
things, but sometime at the end of the week I get real convicted
about this thing of how much have I read God's word. Now this
is the important thing. We need to listen. We're listening
to every voice but his voice. We're reading the words of men,
and we need to open this book and bury ourselves in this book.
This book, God says, will judge you. And we sure need to get
acquainted with it. God speaks, Elihu said, but men
won't hear. Have you read God's Word? Now, you stop and think about
this when the day of death comes and the day of departing out
of this life and the day of meeting God in judgment, and we have
to look back and remember that We didn't really avail ourselves
of the privileges and opportunities God gave us. We didn't read this
book. Men speak, he says, but God speaks,
but man doesn't listen. Doesn't listen. All right? Secondly, look at verse 16. But somebody's going to hear
him. God Almighty, he says in verse 16, opens the ears of men. And see that their instruction,
God Almighty, is going to reveal his word to his elect. They're going to hear his voice.
They're going to hear it. God's going to see that they
hear it. God determined to speak to Job. And God determined to
speak to these three men. They're going to hear it. He
says here that God opens their ears. Look at verse 17. that
he may withdraw man from his purpose and hide pride from man,
he keepeth back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing
by the sword." In other words, here's what Elihu is saying.
He is saying that God's going to be heard by his elect, and
they're going to be halted in their path of evil, and God's
going to restrain them and preserve them by his miraculous grace
to keep them from self-destruction. Keep them from pride. the destruction
of pride, and to keep them from death by the sword. God Almighty,
let me tell you this, and you take your Bible, and you'll see
this throughout the Bible. When God sets his affections
upon a son of Adam, like Jacob, he had to keep Jacob from self-destruction. If we're left alone, we'll destroy
ourselves. Did you know that? We'll destroy ourselves. If God
left us alone, we'd destroy ourselves. Pride would destroy us. We're
naturally uplifted with pride. Pride grows before destruction.
Or somebody else will kill us. You remember that time that David,
this, you watch, this is a particular man, David. God loved him. He
was a man after God's own heart. God had his hand on him from
the time he was a kid. A shepherd boy. He anointed him
King of Israel when he was just a kid. He went out and challenged
the biggest man on earth in the name of God. What a gallant man. And yet, God had to restrain
that man. God had to protect him. He had
to protect him from people around him. He had to protect him from
himself. He had to overshadow him. He had the humblest pride. One time God, he told one of
his men, he said, go out there and see how many men we got.
He said, you know better than that, David. God told you not
to number Israel. Do it anyway. God dealt with
him. But on this one occasion, David
had 300 men with him, and he was up in the mountains, and
there was a fellow, Nadab, wasn't that his name? Nadab, or something
like that. Nabal. Nabal had a big ranch. David's up in the mountain, hungry,
didn't have enough to eat for his men, and some bandits were
going to steal this fellow Nabal's cattle, sheep. David brought
his men down there and drove them off, whipped them, drove
them off, saved this man's whole herd from these enemies. David felt real good about that,
and so He sent one of his men and said, go down there and tell
Nabel that we've saved his whole herd and we'd show up to have
some to eat. Just send us up some sandwiches, you know. We
took care of your whole outfit there. Send us up a beef or two. So this fellow went down there
and told Nabel, he said, why that dog running away from the
king, that rebel, David, me feed him, not on your life. Fella
said, well, we saved your whole, whole herd, not give David anything. So he came back and told them,
he said, David said, tell you, you don't get a thing. David
said, strap on your sword. He told those three hundred,
he was mad. He told all, he said, strap on your sword. We're going
to visit that man, and we're going to kill every male on that
ranch. And when you walk out of there,
I don't want to see a male child standing. I don't care if it's
an infant six months old. That talked like one of God's
children. And he's on his way. He strapped on his sword. He
started toward that fellow's ranch, and that fellow's wife
heard about it, Abigail. She came out to meet him. Turn
to 1 Samuel, chapter 25. I want you to see how God dealt
with David. This woman came out there, Abigail,
and she got off her horse. and walked up to David. He was
on his way down. He was mad. And she got off her horse and
did obedience and bowed to the ground. And she talked David
out of this. And in 1 Samuel 25, verse 32,
and David said, Abigail, blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who
has sent you this day to meet me. And blessed be your advice,
and blessed be you. You kept me this day from coming
to shed blood and from avenging myself with my own hand." She
did, didn't she? See, God did that. Abigail didn't
do it. God sent her. And the Lord's
going to preserve his people. That's what Elihu's saying here. He said God speaks, but men won't
listen. But he said somebody's going
to listen. God's going to preserve his people. God's going to preserve
his elect. God's going to keep them from self-destruction. God's
going to keep them from pride. The expression of pride, the
destructive path of pride, God will hold them back, and God
will keep anybody else from hurting them too. Verse 18, he says he'll
keep his life from perishing with a sword. Turn to John 10
just a moment, let me show you something over here. And you
go through the whole, turn to John 10, you go through the whole
Bible, and you'll see how God miraculously preserved men upon
whom his hand had been laid, and his love had been set. And
some of you here tonight, some of you, God didn't bring you
to himself until you were 40 or 45 or 50, some older. And
you look back over your life and you see you just came that
close to death. You just came that close to destruction. You just came that close to reprobacy. You just came that, that wasn't
love, that was God. He gave his angels charge over
you. He preserved your life, he kept you from destruction,
self-destruction, from pride, and from anybody else hurting
you. And he brought you one day to hear the gospel. And I'll
tell you tonight, I don't know who they are or where they are,
but God's got a people out there, and that's the reason I keep
preaching this message on television, that's the reason I don't spend
my time on television talking about what Russia's going to
do, or somebody else is going to do first, I don't know. But
the second thing is that I'm going to preach the gospel because
somebody out there is going to hear the word. Because Christ
said, look at John 10, verse 24. The Jews came and said to
him, how long do you make us doubt? If you be the Christ,
tell us plainly. And Jesus answered them, I told
you. I told you. And you didn't believe me. The
works that I do in my Father's name bear witness of me. But
you don't believe me because you're not of my sheep. I've
told you my sheep will hear my voice, and I know them, and they
follow me. They're going to hear me." And
that's what it's like, he's saying right here. God speaks, men won't
hear. But somebody's going to hear,
and God's going to hedge them about and take care of them until
in his own good time. The thief on the cross didn't
hear the message until he got ready to die, but he heard it. Timothy heard it from a child.
From a child, thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, that they
will make thee wise unto salvation. John the Baptist was filled with
the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb. I don't know about you,
but if you're on a God's own, he'll cross your path, and he'll
preserve you. Look at the next line. But, verse
19, why the experience of Job? God's got to empty us before
he can fill us with Christ. He's got to empty us of self.
He's got to empty us of the world. He's got to empty us of the arm
of the flesh. Before I lean on Christ, I've got to stop leaning
on something else. Before I rest in Christ, I've
got to stop resting in something else. And before I look to his
righteousness, mine's got to be slain. Before I robe myself
in his robe, my rags have got to be stripped off. And we call
that Holy Spirit conviction. We talk about God dealing with
our sin nature, God dealing with our evil original nature, God
dealing even with our righteousness. And that's what he's saying here
in verse 19. He said he's chastened also with pain upon his bed.
That may be physical pain or emotional pain or a spiritual
pain or convicting pain, it doesn't have to be a boil, and the multitude
of his bones with strong pain, so that his life abhorreth bread,
and his soul dainty meat, his flesh is consumed away, it cannot
be seen, his bones that were not seen stick out, his soul
draws nearer to the grave, and his life to destroy us. That's
what he's saying in Psalm 107. Let the redeemed of the Lord
say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy? He
said they wandered in a lonely way, having no city in which
to dwell, and then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble."
That's what God's doing here. God is bringing Job to the end
of himself. God is stripping and humbling
and humiliating Job. so that he won't trust himself
or the arm of the flesh or the strength of the flesh, so that
his real confidence will be in the righteousness of God. And
God does this by crippling the flesh. Now he said in verse 24,
If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among
a thousand, to show unto man his uprightness, God's righteousness,
man's unrighteousness, God's holiness, man's unholiness, God's
mercy and grace, man's unworthiness. Is there one in a thousand who
is an interpreter, who is a messenger, who can tell that man what's
happening to him? Not many preachers can, but some
can. When a man is close around and
God begins to empty a sinner, God begins to strip a sinner,
God begins to bring him low, God begins to break his heart.
He says, what's happening to me? What on earth is going on? And preachers say, well, I don't
know. Maybe you're just disturbed. No, God's dealing with it. And
you turn his eyes to Christ. You don't comfort a man in his
distress and conviction. Only God can comfort him. But
there are so few messengers, so few interpreters who are able
to show a man what's going on. Now look at verse 24. Then God
is gracious to him. Then God is gracious to him.
When God brings him to his wit's end, when God brings him to a
place where he's stripped, He is nothing, has nothing, knows
nothing, needs all things, without God, without Christ, without
help, without strength, without hope, and is with sin, David
said in Psalm 107. Then God deals with him in grace.
Then God deals with him in grace. And God says, let him go. Turn
him loose. Deliver him. Deliver him from
going into the pit. Deliver him from going into destruction.
Deliver him from going into despair. Deliver him from going into condemnation. Deliver him! Who's God talking
to? He's talking to the law. He's talking to justice. He's
talking to all who have a claim on man. And God says, Deliver
him! I have found a ransom. I have
found a ransom. I have found an atonement." That's
what that word is. Look in the margin of your Bible
and you'll see that that's saying, I found an atonement. I found
a reason to let him go, to release him. God did not look for a reason
among the angels. God did not look for a ransom
and atonement among the angels, they couldn't atone. God did
not even look for a ransom in the Old Testament sacrifices,
for the blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sin. God did
not look for a ransom or reason among the sons of men. God did
not look for a reason or a ransom in the object of his love. All
creation stands back and cries, it's not in me, it's not in me,
it's not in me. God looked on his right hand. God looked to his well-beloved.
God looked to his son. And his son said, Lo, I come. In the volume of the book it's
written of me. I delight to do thy will, O my
God. Yea, thy law is within my heart. And God says, I found a ransom.
I saw him descend to the earth and hide himself in infant form. I saw him toiling as a carpenter.
I saw him suffer all trials and all temptations to fulfill my
law. I saw him fulfill all righteousness. I saw him give his hands and
feet to the nails. I saw him give his back to the
smiters. I saw him give his face to the
spitters. I heard him cry, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me? I saw him give up the ghost.
I saw him lie in the tomb. I saw him rise from the grave.
I saw him ascend to heaven. And I see in him my eternal,
infinite, just, and holy law honored, and my justice satisfied. And so I say of my beloved, deliver
him! Tear him loose! Let him go! I know he deserves hell, but
I found a ransom. I know he deserves to die, but
I found a ransom. I know he deserves to be the
object of eternal, infinite wrath, but I found a ransom. Turn him
loose. Turn him loose. That's what Elihu had to say.
God speaks. Men won't hear. But somebody's
gonna hear that God's gonna cross his path. God's gonna send him
a messenger. And God's gonna fix him so he'll
listen. God's going to sit him down and strip him and shut his
mouth. What the law says, it says to
them that are under the law that every mouth may be stopped and
all the world become guilty before God. God's going to strip him.
God's going to hang him out to dry. God's going to unhorse him. God's going to cripple him. The
Lord God's going to let him come to the place where he sees no
help and no hope even from heaven. And then God's going to send
an interpreter, a messenger, and going to tell him what's
going on. How shall he hear without a preacher? God's not going to
send him a soul winner to talk him into a profession. God's
going to send him a servant, an interpreter, a messenger,
and tell him what's going on. And then God's going to be gracious.
And the Lord's God's going to speak peace to his heart. And
the Lord's going to say, let him go. I've found a ransom. And that's the only reason I'm
letting him go. I've found a ransom. I've found
a ransom. Deliver him from going down to
the pit. I've found an atonement. His
name is Jesus Christ, my Son and his Savior. Now look at verse
27 and 28, and I'll close. And here is that general glorious
invitation extended to every son of Adam, and he looked upon
men, and if any said, verse 27, I have seen, I have perverted
that which was right, and it profiteth me not, God will deliver
his soul from going into the pit, and his light shall see
the light. God saved him, too. That's good
news, isn't it? You know what the hardest thing
in the world to find is? You know what's the hardest thing
in the world to find? Somebody say those words right there.
From his heart mean I have sinned and I perverted that which is
right. Now we're like Job and it takes
the knife of God's judgment to whittle us down, to cut all our
foundations out flesh out among us, and take ever fig-leaf apron
of self-righteousness off us, and leave us riding under the
piercing searchlight of a holy law, and to shut our mouths."
Well, God did that to Job. He brought him down. And Job
said, I got nothing to say. I hate myself. I hate myself. Our Father in Heaven, I thank
you for the promise of the gospel, of mercy and grace. Oh, that we might be recipients
of thy mercy and of thy grace. That the truth of Christ Jesus
might be revealed to these hearts of ours. and send us forth from
this place looking to Him, looking to Christ, the author and finisher
of our faith, who not only is the object of our faith, but
the giver of our faith. Our hope is in Him. Lord, humble
us and break us, whatever it takes, by whatever means that
we might attain unto the resurrection.

God's Eureka

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