Now Job could defend himself
before men. He was clean in heart and clean
in hand beyond the people of his day. That's what the Heavenly
Father said about him. Turn to Job, chapter 1, verse
8. Compared with men, and in his day Job was a righteous
and holy man. In Job 1, verse 8, the Heavenly
Father said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job,
that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and upright
man, one that fears God and hates evil? And then, if you look at
verse 5, you'll find that Job was a man of He was a man who
prayed for his children. He was a man who believed in
the atonement, in the blood sacrifice, for he made an offering for his
children. Job 1.5. And it was so, when
the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and
sanctified his children, rose up early in the morning, offered
burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job
said, that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.
Thus did Job continually. Even in the greatest trial, Job
was a man of perseverance, an upright man, a holy man, a man
of whom God spoke highly, a man who sacrificed and prayed for
his children, and a man who patiently endured the most severe trials
without cursing God. In Job 1 verse 22 it says, In
all this, the loss of all of his material possessions, the
loss of all of his friends, the loss of his standing in the community,
the loss of his whole family, In all this, in all this, in
all these trials and tribulations, Job sinned not, nor charged God
foolishly. So he was a man who could defend
himself before men. He could look directly into the
eyes of any individual and say that in this world according
to the standards of life, I'm as good as you are, yea, even
better." He had a divine testimony to that fact. But turn to Job
40. Job used a different tone when
he bowed before God. Job used a different tone before
the Lord when he saw the holiness and the righteousness of God
Almighty. In Job chapter 40 verse 3, then
Job answered the Lord and said, Behold, I am thou. Behold, I
am thou. What shall I answer thee? I will
lay mine hand upon my mouth. Once have I spoken, but I will
not answer. Yea, twice, but I'll proceed
no further. Then in Job 42, over just a page,
Job 42, verse 5, Job said, in answering the Lord God, I have
heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye
seeth thee, wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and
ashes. Job used another tone when he
spoke to God. when he faced the Lord, when
he saw the holiness of God. It was, I am thou, I am thou,
I hate myself, I repent. And then in Job chapter 7, in
Job 7 verse 20, listen to this statement. It's very brief, but
it's very full. It's a summary of my life And
what else is more certain than this statement, Job 7 verse 20,
I have sinned. I have sinned. It's personal. Whatever others may have done,
I have seen. And it's to the Lord, I have
seen. What shall I do unto thee, O
thou preserver of men? Now all of my preaching of God's
grace, my preaching of God's mercy, all of my preaching concerning
salvation, redemption, eternal life, is utterly, completely
useless, unless the Holy Spirit brings you to utter these three
words sincerely from the heart unto God, I have seen. We cannot justify ourselves,
we cannot hide behind our relationship with God compared
with other men's relationship with God. Now, can we hide behind
our holiness and righteousness in comparison with other men's
holiness and righteousness? We've got to come to this place
where we sincerely, from the heart, before God, with a sense
of guilt, can cry, I have sinned. I have sinned. Now turn to Job
14, verse 4, real conviction of sin. There, I believe, is
a law conviction which I suppose every man who comes into this
world experiences. There is a light that lighteth
every man that cometh into the world. Every man has a conscience. I think at one time or other
in life every person experiences an awareness of failure, an awareness
of sin, an awareness of wrongdoing. That's not the type of conviction
I'm talking about. I'm talking about that conviction
of sin in the light of God's holiness, in the light of God's
law, in the light of God's righteousness, in the light of my relationship
with Almighty God. Paul talks about that. He says
there is a There's an earthly sorrow that bringeth death. That's
a sorrow over being found out, or a sorrow over being caught,
or a sorrow over being exposed, or a sorrow over suffering certain
losses because of transgressions, or pangs of conscience. Those
are earthly sorrows that bringeth death. There is a godly sorrow
that worketh repentance, and that's what we're talking about
here. I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, now mine
eye seeth thee, O God, in thy holiness, in thy perfection,
in thy righteousness, wherefore I hate myself. Once have I spoken,
yea, twice, things too wonderful for me. I'll never speak again.
I put my hand over my mouth. I am vile, I am unclean." That
is Holy Spirit conviction in the light of God's holiness.
In the light of God's presence, in the light of God's law, there's
a world of difference. Most everybody in the world has
experienced to some extent a law conviction, a conviction of conscience. But very few people experience
Holy Spirit conviction, such as Job experienced here. That
work of God's Spirit that exposes us in the light of God's law,
that turns the beaming bright searchlight of God's holiness
upon every deep, dark secret in our lives and makes us cry,
I am vile, I'm wicked, I'm deserving of hell. And real conviction
of sin, Holy Spirit conviction, not only produces a feeling of
guilt, it does produce a feeling of guilt. I have sinned. My sins, David said, are ever
before me. Against thee, thee only, have
I sinned and done this evil in thy sight. My beginning was all
wrong. My choices have been wrong. My
actions have been wrong. My thoughts have been wrong.
Compared with God, I am a worm, a dog, not worthy of his notice,
nor the least of his mercies. But real conviction not only
brings a sense of guilt and an awareness of filth and defilement
that makes us cry with the leper, unclean, unclean, unclean, or
with Peter, Lord depart from me, I'm a sinful man, or with
Paul, O wretched man that I am. But real Holy Spirit conviction
brings also a feeling of inability. It brings an awareness of guilt.
It shuts the mouth. It stops the sinner from justifying
himself. Real Holy Spirit conviction whittles
him down and strips him and knocks his foundations out from under
him and removes every arm of flesh and leaves him an unclean,
unclean, wretched creature before God, but also It gives to him
a feeling, a sense, an awareness of total, complete, utter inability. And that's what Job's saying
in our text here. Who can bring a clean thing out
of an unclean? And then he quickly answers,
not one. Job saw that he could not of
himself produce holiness in his own nature. He's saying this,
out of nothing comes nothing. Out of nothing comes nothing.
Who can bring out of this unclean, fallen, wretched thing? Who can
bring out of it anything clean? The best of men, compared with
men, are incapable or are as incapable of the worst of men
of bringing out of human nature that which is not there. Now
I want us to look at three things this morning in the message.
First of all, I want to look at our helplessness. Secondly,
I want us to look for a few moments at our need. And then thirdly,
the good news of God's provision. Now, first of all, our helplessness. Listen to Job. Job 14, 4. Who
can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? The word clean signifies
shiny, beautiful, a substance so pure and so transparent that
one can see through it. The word clean signifies so pure
that it's free from all spot and all sin and all defilement. Innocent children are not born
of fallen parents. Now, I know this is a point of
contention, and I know when you get on this subject that you
raise the objections and you raise the tempers of so many
people. But turn to Genesis chapter 5
with me just a moment. Genesis 5 verse 3. I'm saying
this, that every individual, every father who begets a son,
communicates to that son, not a righteous nature, not a holy
nature, but he communicates to that son a corrupt, sinful nature. Even a redeemed man communicates
to his children corrupt and sinful natures, as the circumcised Jew
always begat an uncircumcised son. Here in Genesis 5 verse
3, And Adam lived a hundred and thirty years, and begat a son,
underscore these words, in his own likeness. Adam mortal, so
he begat a mortal son. Adam fallen, so he begat a fallen
son. Adam sinful, so he begat a sinful
son. Adam corrupt, defiled, so he
begat a corrupt, defiled son. Adam, miserable under the curse
of the law of God, begat a son, miserable under the curse of
God's law. He begat a son in his own likeness
after his own image. When God created Adam, he created
Adam in the image of God, holy and upright. Adam fell. And when he begat a son, He begat
that son in his own image, which is sinful, corrupt, and defiled. Turn to Psalms 51. Listen to
David in Psalms 51, verse 5, talking about his birth, talking
about his conception. In Psalms 51, 5, David said,
Behold, I was shapen in iniquity. In sin did my mother conceive
me. Then in Psalms 58, verse 3, the
wicked are estranged from the womb. They go astray as soon
as they be born, speaking lies. Who can bring a clean thing out
of an unclean? In our birth we came from an
unclean father, and that which is born of the flesh is flesh. We were begotten in the flesh.
We were begotten in sin. We were brought forth, the scripture
says, speaking lies. Who can bring a clean thing out
of an unclean? Not one. Then pure acts cannot
proceed from impure hearts. Neither are perfect lives produced
by imperfect men. This is our problem. The fountain
is polluted. You don't expect to go down to
the end of the stream and get pure water if it comes from a
poison fountain. The fountain is polluted at the
source. The tree is diseased at the root. The fault is in the blood. The
problem is in the heart. And no amount of outward effort
can correct that problem. It's a spiritual problem. Jeremiah said, the heart is deceitful
above all things, and desperately wicked. That's where our problem
is. It's not the problem with our hands and our feet, nor even
our tongues. The problem is original sin,
a fallen nature. And Charles Spurgeon once said,
the doctrine of sinless perfection is not of God. And he who makes
his boast of possessing such perfection has at once declared
his ignorance of himself and his ignorance of God's law. Nothing
reveals an evil heart more surely than a glorying in our own goodness. He who praises himself publishes
his shame. He who praises his goodness publishes
his ignorance. He who praises his righteousness
publishes his lost state. Who can bring a clean thing out
of an unclean? And then divine heavenly life
can never be produced from nature's spiritual death. Turn to Romans 5, verse 12. Now here's the condition of all
men by nature. I'm talking about our helplessness. And as I say, a real awareness
of sin, a real conviction of sin, not only produces a feeling
of guilt, I have sinned, but it produces an awareness, a feeling
of inability, what can I do? Who can bring a clean thing out
of an unclean? I cannot produce a holy son.
I produce a son in my own image, after my own likeness. I cannot
produce a pure thought out of an impure heart. I cannot produce
a holy life out of an unholy soul. I cannot produce spiritual
life. You must be born again, God said. You must be made alive. I cannot
produce that. David Brainerd said four things
made him angry when he learned these four things. Number one,
God's holy law required perfect obedience, and he couldn't produce
it. God Almighty required perfect
faith, and he didn't have it, nor could he produce it. Faith
was the gift of God, and God could give it or withhold it,
and salvation is of the Lord, and God could save him or leave
him where he was, to perish in his iniquity. That's helplessness. In Romans 5, listen to it, verse
12, the Scripture says, Wherefore, as by one man, by Adam's transgression,
sin entered into this world, that's how it came. That's how
it came. Sin entered into this world,
and death by sin. So death passed upon all men,
for all sin. Man's problem's not his environment.
Man's problem is not his companions, though evil companions corrupt
good manners. And though I know it's easier
to live for God in good surroundings than it is in unhappy surroundings,
but man's problem's not his environment, it's not his companions, it's
not his government, it's not his unemployment, his problem's
inside. his problems inside, and you
can clean up his surroundings, you can change his surroundings.
Man has sinned under every dispensation. Who could have more perfect surroundings
than the angels who fell? Who could have more perfect environment
than Adam who fell? Who could have a more perfect
environment than the one who was created in the likeness of
God and put in the Garden of Eden? but he fell under those
circumstances. Noah had been miraculously delivered
from the flood, from destruction. No more had the ark landed than
he planted a vineyard and squeezed out the grapes and got drunk
and caused his son to fall. David, anointed supernaturally
by God as the king of Israel, having everything his heart could
desire, Solomon, The Apostle Peter, who walked
three and a half years side by side with the Master himself,
yet stood and denied that he knew him. Demas, who was a companion
of the Apostle Paul, the sidekick of the greatest apostle who ever
lived, forsook him, having loved this present world. Man's problem
in here. And this natural flesh cannot
produce from spiritual death eternal life. It cannot do it. how helpless, helpless, helpless,
helpless we are. All right, the second point now.
We see our helplessness. What is our need? Who can bring
a clean thing? That's our need, a clean thing. We must be clean if we're going
to be accepted of God. We must be clean if we're going
to have communion with God. We must be clean if we're going
to walk with God. We must be clean if we're going
to enter the kingdom of God. For the scripture says, who shall
stand in his presence? He that hath clean hands and
a pure heart. How holy does a man have to be
to walk with God? As holy as God. How pure does
a man have to be to enter the kingdom of God? As pure as the
God who reigns over that kingdom. How righteous must a man be to
be a companion of the King of kings? He must be as righteous
as the King of kings. Somebody says, Well, preacher,
you want me to come down there to your church, hear you preach? I'll tell you this, I'm as good
as the folks who go down there. And you know what I've started
answering the past few years? I just look at them and say,
I'm sure you're right. I'm sure you're right. But let
me tell you this. If you're going to enter the
kingdom of God, you're going to have to be a far sight better
than they are. For my Lord said, Accept your
righteousness. Now come on, listen to it. Our
Lord pointed at those scribes and Pharisees who prayed on the
straight corner. who read the scriptures in public,
who fasted twice a week, who tied everything they possessed,
who walked by the law of God, who were clean as a hound's tooth,
who lived in the temple, who ministered about the things of
God, who studied the scriptures continually, who taught the word
of God, who were orthodox, fundamental, the most religious men of their
day, who were the judges of other men. He pointed to them and he
said, I'm telling you this, If your righteousness doesn't exceed
theirs, not equally, not be almost as good, exceed theirs, you'll
never enter the kingdom of God. Now, you pick out the most holy
man who ever lived. Take the holy Brainerd, as they
called him, or the holy Maxine, or Mueller, who prayed hours
a day. Pick out the most holy, godly
man that ever walked on this earth. Pick Job. Pick Joseph. Pick John the Baptist. And I'm
telling you this, if you're going to approach God on the grounds
of human holiness and human goodness and human righteousness, that
righteousness on which you stand, of which you boast, better exceed
all of these holy men put together. or you'll never enter the kingdom
of God. What are you saying, preacher? I'm saying this, that
you've got to have a perfect righteousness. You've got to
have a perfect sinlessness. You've got to have a guiltless
record. That's your need. That's my need.
How shall man be just with God? Behold the heavens, the moon,
it shineth not, the stars are not pure in his sight. How much
more abominable is man that drinks iniquity like the water. I'm
tired of hearing people talk about they're better than this
person and better than that person. If you're better than John the
Baptist himself, you're still going to hell because you don't
have that perfect, holy, spotless righteousness which God the Father
requires. Having no life, we need the life
giver. Having no strength, we need the
strong one. Having no righteousness, we need
that sinless, spotless righteousness which Christ can give. Having
no communion with God, we need a mediator. Only Christ can bring a clean
thing out of an unclean. Only Christ can bring all things
out of nothing. Only Christ can bring light out
of darkness. Only Christ can bring order out
of confusion. Only Christ can bring life out
of death. That's our need. That's our need. We need a perfect, holy, spotless
standing. We need a position of innocence
before God's law. We need a position of satisfaction
before God's justice. When we stand at the judgment
bar of God, we're going to have to have a clean record. We're
going to have to have a spotless record. We're going to have to
have a perfect standing before the justice of God and before
the law of God. And in our flesh, we don't have
that. And in our religious profession, we don't have that. And in our
endeavors and our zeal and our human energy, we don't have that.
We don't have anywhere near it. All is sin and comes short of
God's glory. We don't have it. We can't produce
it. Who can bring a shining, pure,
transparent, spotless, undefiled, position out of an unclean. Job says, not one, not one. All right, thirdly,
God's provision. There is a fountain filled with
blood, drawn from Immanuel's veins, and sinners plunge beneath
that flood, lose all their what? Guilty If you were crippled, crippled,
withered, physical wreck this morning,
and you came to me, and I said, down here, down here on Oak View
Road, there's a fountain. And if you can bathe in that
fountain, you'll come out strong and healthy. How long would it
take you to get there? The dying thief rejoiced to see
that fountain in his day because he was a thief. Now here's your
problem. You're not crippled. And if you
ever get, if God the Holy Ghost ever shows you your lameness,
your blindness, if God the Holy Ghost ever shows you you're a
spiritual thief, murderer, adulterer, blasphemer, idolatry, If God
the Holy Ghost ever shows you your need, you'll start looking
for that fountain. And there may I, though vile
as he, wash all my sins away. You see, the reason people aren't
seeking the Lord is because they don't need Him. The reason people
aren't crying out for cleansing is they're not dirty. The well
have no need of the physician. The reason men are not crying
out for sight is they're not blind. The reason men aren't
crying to God to lift them out of the cesspool and mire of iniquity
is they're not there. Those who are calling on God
are those who are calling out of their trouble. They cried
unto the Lord in their helplessness. They cried unto the Lord in their
trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses. A sinner
is a sacred thing, the Holy Ghost hath made him so. He's an odd
thing, he's a rare thing. They're hard to find. But when the day is the darkest,
God sends a light. When man is the deadest, God
gives the life. When our helplessness reaches
without hope, without strength, without help, without God, without
Christ, at our wit's end, and we cry unto the Lord in our trouble,
and we cry, O God, I have sinned, O God, who can bring a clean
thing out of an unclean? Not one. He says, I can. I can. As in the Garden of Eden,
when he spoke to the fallen pair, and he said, the seed of woman
shall win the victory by bruising the serpent's head. As in Egypt,
when he said, I'll pass over at midnight, the firstborn shall
die when I see the blood I'll pass over you. As in the wilderness,
when Israel, bitten by the serpents in their helplessness, they were
dying, and God said, Lift up the brazen serpent, and he who
looks shall live. And there on that Judean hillside
2,000 years ago, the angels came and said to that land in darkness,
religious superstition, in sin, We bring you good tidings. Unto you is born in the city
of David this day a Saviour, a Saviour, a Saviour, who is
Christ the Lord. Now, my friends, the gospel of
Christ, that's the gospel which is freely given. That's the gospel
of a sacrifice. That's the gospel of substitution. That's the gospel of divine perfect
obedience. That's the gospel of God's righteousness. That gospel is suitable for sinners. When we were without strength,
Christ died for the ungodly. When we were enemies, we were
reconciled to God by the blood of His Son, by the death of His
Son. Much more, we shall be saved by His life. He intercedes as
the great high priest. for those who can't come to God
because they have no righteousness with which to approach Him. Now,
he's the high priest for them. It's suitable for sinners. For
John said, the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth. There's the answer. Who can bring
a clean thing out of an unclean? Christ can, for His blood cleanseth
us from all sin. There's no sin in Adam's garden
that Christ's blood cannot cleanse. There's no sin in my past that
Christ's blood can't make pure, spotless, transparent without
defilement. There's no sin in my present
nor in my future that the powerful, cleansing, atoning, redeeming
blood of Christ cannot make as pure as the snow. Our God says,
Come, let us reason together, though your sins be as scarlet,
though they be double-dyed like crimson, they shall be as white
as wool. Who can do it? He can do it.
He can do it. He can do it. The renewing work
of God's Spirit creates life where there was no life, in the
dead center, and what God hath wrought God will finish. God will finish. That's the good
news of the gospel. That's why it's good news. That's why people who know it,
who believe it, never weary of hearing it. That's why those
who have a need don't want to hear anything else. I have a terrible, incurable
disease. And I go to the doctor's office.
And he's a specialist. He's a great physician. And I sit down in the waiting
room. And the receptionist says, aren't the flowers beautiful?
Don't you love the flowers? We got them yesterday and we're
going to bring in some more flowers tomorrow. Won't you come around
and look at all the flowers? Thank you, just the same. I appreciate
them. But I got something else on my
mind. And then the doctor's assistant comes in. How are you today?
I'm fine. I'd like to tell you about my vacation. I took a vacation
to Europe. Well, that's fine, I appreciate
it, but I've got something else on my mind. And then the x-ray technician
comes in and he says, we've got some of the finest equipment
in the world, and so we specialize in the best x-rays. And let me
show you the technicalities and the mechanics of this machine.
I appreciate that. But see, I got this incurable
disease and it's killing me. It's eaten away my life's blood
and I got to see the physician. And I got to hear him say, I'll
make you well. And you know, we go to the house
of God and we love music. We got some of the best music
here, but it's a sideline. I appreciate education and all
the technicalities and all of the senses and the nouns and
adverbs and adjectives and the Greek and the Hebrew, but I've
got something else on my mind. I'm going to hell if I don't
hear Christ speak peace to my heart, and I'm just not too much
interested in hearing about your education. And, you know, all
of the beauties of the building. I like a pretty building. I wish
we had a bigger, finer, nicer building. I tell you, folks sitting
out here are going to meet God. And we'd better start majoring
on the majors. And we'd better start dealing
with the issues. And we'd better start bringing
people to the great physician. Those who've been there are never
weary of hearing the good news. And those who hadn't been there
need to get there. And we need to major not on the
minors, We need to get people to the cross, to the feet of
Christ. He's the physician. That's Job's
in a mess here. Who can bring a clean thing out
of an unclean? Not one, but I know who can.
I know who can. His blood cleanseth us from all
sin. Thank God for the blood. Thank
God for that fountain. Thank God for that perfect, spotless
righteousness which Christ as a man worked out on this earth
in the flesh as he faced God's law and obeyed it in every jot
and tittle for my salvation. And he is able to present me
before the Father guiltless, blameless, holy, justified in
him. That's yours, my friend, by faith. May God give you that faith.
May God shut you up to Christ. May God's law strip you and bring
you to his clothing, his robe of righteousness. May God Almighty
in this hour make you see the most important thing in heaven,
earth, and hell in the whole universe is a right-saving relationship
with Christ. If I have him, I have all things.
I need nothing. Our Father in Heaven, we thank
Thee for Thy Word. We thank Thee by the power of
Thy Spirit. We have seen our helplessness. We have seen and
been made aware of our need, and by Thy grace we have seen
Thy provision. Christ our righteousness, Christ
our sacrifice, Christ our Great High Priest, Christ our Prophet,
Priest and King, Christ all things to us, and us complete in Him. Make this precious and real to
every heart in this congregation for Thy glory and for Thy name's
sake. Amen. Brother Don, you come lead
us in hymn. Number two hundred forty. Two
hundred forty. I hear Thy welcome voice that
calls me, Lord, to Thee for cleansing in Thy precious blood that flowed
on Calvary. I am coming, Lord, Coming now
to thee, Wash me, cleanse me in the blood That flowed on Calvary. Though coming weak and bare,
Thou dost my strength assure, Thou dost my boundless folly
cleanse, Till spotless, all and pure.