Job 22

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And just before we dive into the chapter, just a quick reminder of what happened last week when we read in Chapter 21, and I hope you at least remember some of it.
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We looked at the speech of Zophaz and how he accused
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Job, actually Chapter 21 is Job's response, but the last time we looked at one of the friends, it was
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Zophaz and his accusation against Job was that he is getting what he deserves, as we have been looking through the book, and that there's no way that God could possibly be blessing him in this situation and therefore it's because he's a wicked man.
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And you remember Job's response last week, and we looked at a couple different scriptures about the way
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Job responds to him, and ultimately what Job is saying is that Zophaz had misunderstood the prosperity of the wicked and assumed and makes that assumption that if there is suffering in our life, if there's affliction, if there's loss, if there's trials, it can only be because of a life that is displeasing to God, and I think
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Job did an excellent job of defending that truth, and if you remember, we look at Psalm 73 where it talks about how many in this world exit this world with very little affliction, with very little problems, even in the area of death, that many of those who ultimately will find themselves under the judgment of God, they actually die with no real afflictions, even physical afflictions, and again, many just close their eyes and unfortunately when they wake up, when they open their eyes, they're under the judgment of God.
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So that was pretty much what we looked at. So this morning now, Job's finished with Zophaz, and now guess who comes back in?
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Well, it's Eliphaz. Remember, Eliphaz is the first one who spoke to Job as they came to bring him comfort, and of course, the words that they bring, we have found out moving through the chapters is that they really aren't much friends, as a matter of fact, they're more a hindrance to Job than a comforter or one who brings compassion, and certainly that's a lesson for us that if you really think about it, we really ought to be those who seek to lift up and not tear down.
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It's much easier to tear down, I know some of us have been talking about Christmas has come and you can't wait, almost at this point, you can't wait to do what?
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Put Christmas away, right? And it's always easier to take everything down than it is to build everything up, and so certainly that's a principle that we all see, and so his friends really, they just keep shooting away at him.
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Anyway, Eliphaz now comes and here's one thing to think about, we'll read the chapter and then we'll look at a couple of the different verses, here's something to think about,
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Eliphaz has heard all of these speeches, the ones that he spoke to Job, Job's response, and then
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Bildad came and basically blasted Job all over again, and Eliphaz heard that, and then certainly
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Zophaz who, in my understanding, he's just about the most brutal in the way he treats
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Job, and so Eliphaz has heard it even as we just talked about chapter 20 and 21,
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Eliphaz has heard the words of both Zophaz and Job, and now here he comes, and so with that in our minds, let's just read the chapter and then make some more inroads if we can.
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So chapter 22, then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,
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Can a man be profitable to God, though he who is wise may be profitable to himself?
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Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that you are righteous, or is it gain to Him that you make your ways blameless?
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Is it because of your fear of Him that He reproves you and enters into judgment with you?
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Is not your wickedness great, and your iniquity without end? You have taken pledges from your brother for no reason, and stripped the naked of their clothing.
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You have not given the weary water to drink. You've withheld bread from the hungry, but the mighty man possessed the land, and the honorable man dwelt in it.
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You have sent away widows empty, and the strength of the fatherless was crushed.
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Therefore, snares are all around you, and sudden fears trouble you, or darkness so that you cannot see, and an abundance of water covers you.
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Is not God in the height of heaven, and see the highest stars, how lofty they are?
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And you say, What does God know? Can He judge through the deep darkness? Thick clouds cover
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Him so that He cannot see, and He walks above the circle of the heaven. Will you keep the old way which wicked men have trod, who were cut down before their time, whose foundations were swept away by a flood?
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They said to God, Depart from us, what can the Almighty do to them? Yet He filled their houses with good things, but the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
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The righteous see it, and are glad, and the innocent laugh to scorn, and surely our adversaries are cut down, and the fire consumes their remnant.
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Now acquaint yourself with Him, and be at peace. Thereby good will come to you.
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Receive, please, instruction from my mouth. Lay up His words in your heart.
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If you return to the Almighty, you will be built up. You will remove iniquity far from your tents.
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Then you will lay your gold in the dust, and the gold among the stones of the brooks.
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Yes, the Almighty will be your gold and your precious silver. For then you will have your delight in the
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Almighty and lift up your face to God. You will make your prayer to Him, and He will hear you.
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You will pay your vows, and you will also declare a thing, and it will be established for you.
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So light will shine in your ways when they cast you down, and you say, Exaltation will come.
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Then He will save the humble person. He will even deliver one who is not innocent. Yes, He will deliver by the purity of His hands.
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And so there's a lot in this chapter that Zophas, I mean that Eliphaz, I get confused sometimes with the phases, but of what
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Eliphaz is saying, and you'll see that as we move forward in chapter 23 and 24,
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Job's going to respond to this also. And here's a thought that I had, I thought about this a while this week,
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I thought about, let's just say someone was treating you this way.
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Let's just say your so -called friends see you suffering, and they come with a pretense to comfort, and all they do is try to bury you further down.
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Now let me ask this question, because I've got to ask myself, how many of us would continue to have conversation with those friends?
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How many of us would not say, hey, you know what, get out of here. I mean just think about it, they've been blasting him one after another after another, plus all his own suffering, plus his confusion in the thought of God's dealing with him, and yet for all that,
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Job just continues to respond. Now again, as some will say, this book is really, repeats itself, and yet I think there's lessons in that.
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And again, in some extent the book of Job could be thought of that way, but we don't always need to jump from one thing to another thing to another thing.
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Matter of fact, I think it's good for us at times to settle in in our mind in a certain area and think it through as far as we can, right?
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Because many times we'll read something, we'll read an account in the
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Bible, and it'll float in our mind for a minute, and then it's gone, and then we're on another thought, right?
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Especially as you read through the Gospels, sometimes if you lose sight of the idea of the context of things, you'll read a miracle, and then you read something else, and then you read something else, and read something else.
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But as you read through the book of Job, this thing keeps repeating itself. But I do think, and I admire
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Job a little bit, in that he seeks to, I want to be careful about how,
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I think he seeks to not only defend himself, right? But I think he's also trying to do something else besides just defend himself.
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And I think he's trying to do is he's trying to, as a man of integrity, he's trying to correct some of the wrong thoughts of these supposed friends.
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But again, I think I would be tempted to say to these princely guys, because they're not, these are a royal people,
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Eliphaz, Zophaz, and Bildad, hey, go back to your own kingdom. Leave me alone. I have enough issues without you.
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And I thought about this, and then we'll look at some of the details of the text.
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I thought about this. Did the Lord Jesus do that? Did he brush people away, even those that attacked him?
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Just think about it, from what we understand in the Gospels. Where would we find in the Gospels where, when the
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Pharisees and the scribes and the lawyers and those that didn't believe in him, when they came against him and they called, they said he works miracles by the power of Beelzebub, and he has a demon, and he can't be the
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Christ, and what good thing can come out of Galilee, and on and on and on. Would we say in the
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Gospels that we see Christ always there to respond and always willing, and I say willing because, again, that thought is, he could have basically just moved out, and there are times he does that, right?
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There are times he dismisses the crowd, and then we find him off in the mountain praying all along with his disciples, but did he not seek many times to answer the dictates that the
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Pharisees and the rulers and the scribes, all those malicious people, he took the time to respond.
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I wanted to just quickly, just leave your finger there, go to Proverbs chapter 26 a minute.
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I thought about this this morning. I want to show you something in Proverbs chapter 26, and ask you if you think that it kind of would be included in our thought that we're discussing right now.
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In Proverbs chapter 26, I want you to read these two verses with me. Proverbs chapter 26, verse 4 and verse 5.
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Look what it says. It says, do not answer a fool according to his folly, lest you also be like him.
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I think we could draw from that that we shouldn't get ourselves into situations when people are talking in foolish ways, that there is a danger if we continue on that path to fall into the very things that they're talking about and to be driven away from things, but I want you to look at verse 5, because unless I'm mistaken, to some, it might appear as a contradiction.
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So verse 4, do not answer a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him. Look at verse 5, answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.
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Now, I've looked at this verse over the years, and maybe you have, and what do you think? Is that a contradiction?
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Or is there some understanding that we should have from that? John? In verse 4, it's saying, don't accept the presuppositions of the fool, because you're standing on hook's end in all this.
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Yeah, yeah. In verse 5, it's saying, show the fool his presuppositions and where it fails.
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You know, you're exposing it. Yeah, absolutely. So here's the way
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I thought about it. So in verse 4, the danger is this, right?
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The fool's going to tear you down. The fool's going to cause you to descend into his thoughts.
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In verse 5, it's really that we should try to do this, right? We should seek to lift others and not give way, especially in areas of great importance.
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In other words, if someone thinks that something should be white, and you think it should be blue, or blue, or red, or whatever it is, that's not the issue.
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But when people start to come against you, and they come against you concerning your faith in God, then
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I do think we have an obligation, if you will, to respond.
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And that the obligation is not only to clear ourselves, but to do this, to seek to, again, because he could have said to Eliphaz, Zophaz, and Bilhah, get out of here.
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But he doesn't. And I don't think you would find that the Lord Jesus Christ ever did that.
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There's just very few occasions, and we talked about one of them even, Brother Keith talked about one of them even
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Wednesday night, about, remember when they came to him and they asked him by whose authority he's doing these things?
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Remember his response was, I'm going to ask you a question. You answer me, and then I'll answer you. And of course, they couldn't answer his question because they tried to trap him, and instead he trapped them.
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And then it says, well, you, Jesus said, you won't answer me, I'm not answering you. But other than that, how many times will we find in the
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Gospels where people's accusations weren't responded to?
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And so certainly, as we look at Job back in chapter 22, I think it bears some relationship that Job not only is seeking to, if you will, maintain his integrity, but he's also seeking to correct them.
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And correction, friends, is certainly what the Word of God is meant to do. And again, as the light of the world, we should seek to dispel the darkness, agree?
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And so there are times when we have to stand our ground, and we have to defend the truth.
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And the more that people come against us, the more we are to defend it. So I think that plays a little bit into what
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Eliphaz and Job are going through right now. Actually, what Eliphaz, Zophaz, and Bildad have been doing to Job, and yet Job responds.
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So go ahead. How about when Jesus said to his disciples, two by two, he said, if you're not to proclaim the gospel, and he said, if they don't accept you, just wipe your feet and move on.
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Yeah, that's a good way to bring it into the conversation. Yeah, I mean, again, even as we looked at,
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I think Brother Keith mentioned this, I know we did last week, to some, we're a saver of what? Life unto life.
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To others, we're a saver of death unto death. Same way in our witness, if you think about it.
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In other words, do you ever wonder like, have a thought like, I've talked to someone about the
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Lord, and they haven't listened. What are we to do with that?
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I mean, are we to then say, oh, I'm done. I told them about Jesus, and they haven't responded.
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So therefore, I kick the dust off my feet and move on. Or do we seek because we have a desire, again, and I'll use my sophisticated analogy here.
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Do we have a desire to see them go from here to here? Therefore, as long as there's opportunity, what are we going to do?
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Right, especially when it comes to in relationships, right? Especially when it comes to kids, and unbelieving spouses, and relations, and friends, and people we work with.
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I mean, there is a time. I do think there is a time when we ought to be silent.
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But I do think that in the main, we ought to be those who seek to bring people into the light, and to, again, dispel the darkness.
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Because the only thing that dispels darkness is what? Light. One other thing.
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One of the most frustrating vice versa of Job, you know, his friends are coming to him. Vice versa, like we go to somebody, right?
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And we try to counsel them, or they ask for our counsel. And they're a brother and sister in Christ. And you give them sound counsel, and they just blow it off, right?
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They blow it off. And it's like, that is so frustrating, right? Because they continually come for another thing, and another thing, and another thing.
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So they want counsel. They just don't want the truth. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right? They want counsel that will make them feel at peace, or comforted, or whatever it is, right?
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But they don't really want the truth. And unfortunately, as we think about it, the only thing that sets people free is the truth, right?
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And I've often thought about the analogy of light and darkness. You know, I think
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I'm right in this. You cannot add darkness and dispel light.
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Just think about that for a minute. You can't add darkness to light and dispel the light.
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But you can add light and dispel the darkness. Just think about that for a minute.
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Light will always dispel darkness, and darkness cannot put out the light. So again, even in that thought, when you think about it, and I'm not so certain that this is utmost in Job's mind, because Job is an absolute mess, right?
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I mean, he's got tons of issues to deal with. But I do think, in his integrity, he's willing to stand for what he believes.
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And he's willing to take the time to correct them. So as we go through this, just keep that in mind, because I do think there's an application for us.
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Okay, having said all that, let's just look at a couple of the verses. So in verses one through five, basically
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Eliphaz, this is his introduction. Eliphaz the demonite answered and said,
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Can a man be profitable to God? Though he who is wise may be profitable to himself.
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Is any pleasure in the Almighty that you are righteous? Is it gain to him that you make your ways blameless?
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Let's just stop there for a minute. Think about that. I'm going to ask you a question. Verse three, is it any pleasure to the
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Almighty that you are righteous? Yes, no, maybe so. Is that true?
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I think there's pleasure in our obedience.
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So in our obedience, that should come out as righteousness. Okay. Larry?
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Okay. Anybody say no?
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Okay, I'm gonna throw a little no in there. Well, I'm gonna say yes, no.
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Can't go wrong with you say yes, no, right? Do a yes, no question. But here's a thought.
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And we've looked at this before. But let's just look at it again, as Eliphaz says, because what he's going to say is, you think
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God really cares that you're defending your integrity? But I wanted to show you something. And it's an interesting thought.
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And if you will, look in Job chapter 35 a second. And I think
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Brother Gary, what you said, will come into focus a little bit as we look at these verses. So Job chapter 35, and this is
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Elihu, who we'll look at in more detail later. But look what he says. Chapter 35, verse 1.
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Moreover, Elihu answered and said, you think this is right?
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Do you say my righteousness is more than God's? For you say, what advantage will it be to you?
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What profit shall I have more than if I have sin? But I want you to drill down now from verse 4 on.
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I will answer you and your companions with you. Look to the heavens and sea and behold the clouds which are higher than you.
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If you sin, what do you accomplish against him? Or if your transgressions are multiplied, what do you do to him?
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And then verse 7. If you are righteous, what do you give him?
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Or what does he receive from your hand? Your wickedness affects a man such as you and your righteousness a son of man.
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Now, I just wanted to think about this a second. I want to say, the reason why
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I would say yes, no, is because as we think about God and his being, think about two things.
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His essential being or his essential glory, if you will.
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So I'll even put that in there. And his manifested or distributed or seen or whatever way you want to do it.
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His manifested glory. All right, let's think about this.
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Is what he says in Job 35. And as you think about God, does anything change
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God? Can't add to it.
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You can't subtract to it from it, right? And that's what he says in these verses. He says, what do you accomplish against?
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Does God become smaller when people sin? No, God in his essential glory or his essential being is the same yesterday, today and forever.
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Is he not? I am that I am. There's no addition, no subtraction. And in that sense,
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God is not affected. And we could think about it as far as impassibility of God.
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That God is not affected by outward things, is he? Just as much as does
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God really change his mind? No, I'd say no.
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Doesn't really change his mind because his mind is perfect.
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His actions are perfect. So in that sense, as Eliphaz makes this accusation to Job as if to say, what do you think that God is impressed by your righteousness?
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That I would say that the answer would be, can we diminish or add to God as far as his essential glory is essential being?
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I say no. However, and I think this is what you began to hit on.
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As far as what is seen and as far as the outward praise and glory of God, what does the scripture say?
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God is of pure eyes to behold evil and cannot look on iniquity. And there are times, especially in the history of Israel, where God was displeased, right?
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And that the sin of Israel assures our sin that it doesn't move
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God in his essential glory, don't add or make him less. But it does have an effect here, doesn't it?
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Again, the life that we live is a living testimony of what we say we believe in and who we say we believe in.
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And in this sense, even like it says, grieve not the spirit of God, quench not the spirit.
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So I would say that there is this reality that you and I are to seek to honor him for who he is in his essential being.
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And that we are to seek to be those who manifest the glory of God.
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Does that make any sense at all? Hope it does. Because sometimes we're better if we begin to divide.
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And not the easiest thing to think about because we're so driven by the things that we're seeing.
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We're so driven by touch, taste, feel, smell, and the senses. But always consider
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God in his essential being. Just like we say at times that God is outside of space and time, which you and I could not even begin to comprehend, can you?
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I can't. I can't comprehend what it's like to be timeless. So when you think about that, and as we go back to Job 22, when he says this to Job, I think what he's trying to say is, hey,
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Job, you really think that God, you really think you're so special to God?
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You think you're profitable to God? Oh, you might be profitable to other men or to yourself, but is there any pleasure in the almighty?
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Is it because of your fear of him that he reproves? And that's an interesting, look at verse four, because it's rather interesting what he's saying.
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Is it because of your fear that he reproves you and enters into judgment with you? Now, here's what
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I think he's saying. I think what he's saying is, Job, look at your life. You're an absolute mess.
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And do you think just because you say you're righteous that God would bless you?
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What he's really telling Job is, he's a liar. He's a hypocrite, because God doesn't do those kinds of things.
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God doesn't bless those who are suffering. And we continue to say great affliction is not always an indication of great sin.
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Just the same way great prosperity is not always an indication of great righteousness. So what he's really saying, and then you'll see how he bears it out in verse five, is it because of your fear of him that he reproves you and enters into judgment with you?
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As if it's a question, then in verse five, is not your wickedness great in your iniquity without end?
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He's saying, basically saying, Job, look at your life. You're an absolute mess. Therefore, you should think about why all these things are coming upon you.
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And therefore, it's because you're a sinner and you're a wicked person and you're this, that, and the other thing.
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Now. That's a prosperity gospel, right? That we see all the time right now. Yep, absolutely. It's, which is so, it's amazing.
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It's so prevalent, right? In our day. And yet when you think, when you begin to peel back the onion on that, that kind of, that's an insane thought, right?
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Because there isn't anyone who's free. There's nobody that's not afflicted.
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There's nobody who's not damaged goods. Right? And then of course, the whole area about,
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I think it was Keith that brought it up. You know, you preach the prosperity gospel and yet you're wearing glasses, have hearing aids and you walk with a cane.
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Some ain't right. Anyway, he, I think what he's saying in verse four, verse five, and then we'll just look at the detail of it.
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He says, do you think, Job, that your life would be like it is? If you were righteous, no way,
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Job. So it's your wickedness and your iniquity without end. Then, if you will, he begins to make these accusations against Job and I'm going to tell you what, he's got a,
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I don't know how to say, he's got a lot of nerve. He's pretty bold and I want to look at this and ask you if you might agree.
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He makes these specific accusations against Job in verses six and following.
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Let's look at some of the things that he says. In verse six, he says, you've taken pledges from your father, from your brother with no reason.
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Now to me, he's basically accusing him of being a loan shark. Basically he's saying he's been abusing people.
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He's an extortioner. He's this, that and the other thing. That's what he's saying there. Look at the second half of verse six, and stripped the naked of their clothing.
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Now he's calling Job a thief. And then look at verse seven, you've not given the weary water to drink.
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Basically, I think he's telling Job, you've been cruel all your life, Ebenezer, Scrooge.
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And then look at the second half of verse seven, you've withheld bread from the hungry. I think he's calling him a stingy person, a cheapskate.
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And then he just doesn't stop. The mighty man possessed the land. And I think what he's saying is, the only way that you got what you got,
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Job, is because you're so self -absorbed and you just took what you wanted without any thought about the consequences and the honorable man dwelt in.
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And then verse nine, you've sent widows away empty.
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I think he's telling him, you got no heart, Job. Now, whether you agree with me on those very things, we could have discussion.
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But here's what struck me in all this. Where does Eliphaz get off making these accusations against Job?
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Where's the witnesses of all this? Now, if you think about it, in the opening verses of the chapter, he's basically speaking for God.
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He's basically saying, God's not thrilled because of you, Job. And now he's making accusations. And I want to ask him, have you never read
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Eliphaz that things had to be established between two or three witnesses? What happened to that?
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How do you know what Job did all his life? You weren't around him. Job was mightily blessed.
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So he makes this correlation again. And why is he making that correlation?
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Because of what he sees. Not listening to his words. Remember what it says, let every man be what?
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Swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. These guys are pretty much the opposite.
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They're quick to get mad at Job. And they're not willing to really hear because they haven't heard a word he said.
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I haven't found yet anywhere where they've shown Job the least amount of compassion and said, hey
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Job, you know what? I think you're right. No, they just keep piling on.
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And now again, where do you get off? I'll say this.
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I think these three friends are full of arrogance. Now that's just my thought.
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That they have such pride about themselves. And remember now, they're not living like Job.
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They're on the higher end of the scale. Is it not true, friends? Think about this. People who live on the higher end of life.
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And I don't care whether you wanna talk about as far as power or money or prestige or situation or ability.
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People who live on the higher side of the rung, if you will, of the chain have a tendency to do what?
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Look down on people who don't have what they have. And there's a sense in which, have you not...
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Sometimes we'll watch House Hunters. It's on cable
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TV, people looking for houses. Or there's the other one is when people looking for an island to buy.
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Island life, I think it's called. And I always, and I see people come in and then the realtor will say, well, what's your budget for the island that you wanna?
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Oh, can't go over eight mil. And they seem to have a sense of, yes,
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I have eight million to spend. And I'm not gonna live like peasants. I want what
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I want. And I just think that Eliphaz, Bill Dan and Zulfaz have a sense of arrogance.
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And friends, we ought not to be like that. We ought to be, if anyone has taught us that lesson, it's
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Christ, right? He who was equal with God thought it not.
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He thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but why? Made himself with no reputation, took on himself the form of a servant, humbled himself unto death, even the death of the cross.
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If there's anything that we should understand of the great one is his humility in that sense.
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And that you and I should, listen, we could never go wrong if we worked on humility, right?
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Because the other one, arrogance, pride, self -absorption, that comes almost naturally.
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To me, that's the way the river goes, right? It's a fight against the tide. To seek to put on a humbleness and a humility and to be more willing to see this than to think of it this way.
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You might say, well, that's your problem, brother. I don't have that problem. I would just have to say, yes, you do.
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Because there isn't one of us that doesn't deal with, doesn't fight pride and arrogance.
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And even in that sense, self -absorption. So he makes all these accusations. And then verse 10, and I'm not sure we'll get through the whole chapter today, but we'll finish it next week and get into the next chapter.
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But look what he says in verse 10. So he's made all these accusations. He's made all his thoughts known to Job, called him all these things.
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Verse 10, therefore, this is his summation. Snares are all around you, and sudden fears trouble you, or darkness so that you can't see, and an abundance of water covers you.
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What is he saying again? You have sown, and now you reap.
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It's your fault, Job. And you're getting, remember what they've said, you're getting what you deserve.
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And even one of them said, you're not even getting as much as you deserve. So again, they're making judgments.
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And they're not part of this, right? Because again, I can't find myself to think about,
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I would just say, hey guys, come on, keep on piling on. I would tell them, you know, go away.
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I can't deal with this no more. And yet it probably affected Job, wouldn't you think?
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I mean, this constant barrage, it's like telling someone they're no good.
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You're no good, you're no good, you're no good. And at first you might say, well, I could brush that off.
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Or you'll never amount to anything. But you know what? Words have a way of trickling down through our souls.
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And they do affect us, don't you think? I think they do. Either way. I mean, you keep telling someone they look great, and before you know it, they think they look great.
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Um, just, you know, when you get up in the morning and you look in the mirror, what do you see? Someone great?
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Or someone who needs a lot of work? It all depends. I mean, Barry, you don't have to worry about your hair.
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And I don't really worry about my hair. But you know, if you got a lot of hair and a big beard,
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I remember when I used to have the beard, you'd wake up and half the beard's over here, and there's a piece over here. You got to do a little bit of groom work.
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I'm not touching anything about the ladies. I'm just leaving that alone. But anyway, we'll end it with that.
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He's basically saying to Job, Job, the reason you're in the situation you're in is you're a dirty, hypocritical, mean, ornery, ungodly abuser.
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And you have to, and we'll see next week, what his suggestion is, is that Job really needs to repent.
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And we'll look at that in more detail next week. Okay, let's just pray. Our Father in God, thank you for your word,
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Lord. Thank you that your word, sometimes it's so clear. Sometimes we need to dig a little.
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Sometimes it works in us in a way that we're not even aware of.
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But Lord, we thank you for your word. We thank you for the trueness of it and the reality that you are working in us to change us.
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So be with us this morning, and may we worship you continually in spirit and truth. In Christ's name, amen.