(Read Job 33.)
JOB was a man who was busy justifying himself. There is not a man who has not tried it. Every one has tried to justify himself. Job’s three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, had said a great many true things to him, but they had also said a great many untrue things. In the chapter before us these men are set aside, and Elihu comes in to speak for God.
This chapter is the answer to what had come out in the earlier part of the book. Elihu makes no apology, because he has the sense that he stands for God. No man should speak unless he has that sense deeply wrought in his soul. If you have a message from God, deliver it. Elihu’s was told very simply and very clearly. He was but a man, but he was the type of Another.
Turn back to the ninth chapter of this book, where Job says, “How should man be just with God?” It is a remarkable question. You must be just if you have to do with a just God. If I am to be before God, I must be in His presence suitable to that presence. Do you know how a man can be just with God? Job’s question is never answered until you come to the Epistle to the Romans. There you have God’s answer, and a solution of the difficulty as to how a man can be just with God. “Being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:24-2624Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; 26To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. (Romans 3:24‑26)). There is the answer. Christ Himself has taken the place of the poor guilty sinner, under death and judgment, and on the cross accomplished redemption’s work. Christ takes my place, and I get His. You will never be saved if you are not saved that way. There are ten thousand ways to hell, but only one way to heaven. That one way is Christ. “I am the way,” are His words.
In the fifth chapter of Romans I read, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (vs. 1), and then in the ninth verse― “Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.” Thus justification is presented in a threefold aspect. Then have I got three justifications? No. It is one justification, but there are three parties to the justification. God is a party, Christ is a party, and I am a party. And what is God’s side? “Being justified by his grace.” Grace, not works. It all comes from God. What is Christ’s side? “Justified by his blood.” Do you see that? That is the work and death of Christ. And what is my side? “Being justified, by faith.” Faith pubs out the hand, and takes the blessing that Christ gives. I am justified through, what Jesus is, and what Jesus has done.
Job did not know this blessed truth, so he goes! on and says, “If he will contend with him, he cannot answer him one of a thousand.” Supposing God spoke to you about your sins, could you answer him one of a thousand? Which one will you answer for? “Without the shedding of blood is no remission” (Heb. 9:2222And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. (Hebrews 9:22)) is the statement of Scripture, and the 49th Psalm says, “None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him” (vs. 7). Man can neither redeem his brother nor save himself.
What then is the way of redemption? Ah, wonderful tidings, that One upon whom death had no claim, has gone in to death, and paid my debt. Christianity begins with a risen, victorious, triumphant Christ. He has been in the grave, and that is where the power of death has been broken. He is not a dying Christ now. Nor is Christ still on the cross. No, no. He was there, blessed be His name, but there is no such Christ now. “God raised him from the dead” (Acts 13:3030But God raised him from the dead: (Acts 13:30)). He is a risen, triumphant, victorious, glory-crowned Christ now. He has not only met one sin, but He has met all. The Lord has not only taken up the one sin, but, blessed be His name, He has answered for the other nine hundred and ninety-nine sins. He has answered for, and cleared away the whole thousand, as far as I am concerned.
But Job goes on to say, “If I wash myself with snow water, and make my hands never so clean; yet shalt thou plunge me in the ditch, and mine own clothes shall abhor me” (vers. 30, 31). And what is snow water? It is anything, and everything, but the blood of Christ. The devil has got countless manufactories of snow water today. Snow water is the purest water you can get, but it is not the blood of Christ. Some people are struggling, and trying to do better, some even say they are “doing their best.” That is “snow water,” my friend, and though you wash in it you are just where you were, a sinner in your sins; not one is washed away.
Now, the grandest sight under the sun is to see a sinner getting into the joy of God’s gospel. And if you know it yourself you will want to pass it on. Christianity is a wonderful thing. It subsists in what it brings, not what it expects. Self looks for something, but Christianity always brings something. God has brought His love to us in the Person of Christ. But Job did not know that, so he continues: “He is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, and we would come together in judgment. Neither is there any daysman betwixt us, that might lay his hand upon us both” (vers. 32, 33). Do you know what Job sighed for? He wanted a man who could put one hand on the throne of God, and the other hand on him. Ah, sinner, there is today, on the very throne of God, the Daysman that Job sighed for. Jesus is His name. He is the Mediator of a new covenant Thank God, what Job sighed for, I have got. This Daysman has met all the claims of God’s holiness and I have Him. Christianity is the truth of God wrapt up in the Parson of a living Man.
Well, what Job sighed for, Christianity brings to me. The truth is all out now, and part of it is that “God, our Saviour, will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2:3-53For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; 4Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. 5For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; (1 Timothy 2:3‑5)). Jesus is the Daysman, the Mediator, the One who could meet all the claims of God’s throne, and gratify all the desires of His heart. It is a wonderful thing to be able to say, I know a Man who has met all the claims of the throne of God, and gratified all the desires of the heart of God, and that Man has died for me, and picked me up, saved me, and brought me to God in righteousness.
Dear sinner, you need not be afraid of Him, and His hand will not be heavy upon you. When He laid His right hand upon John (Rev. 1:1717And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: (Revelation 1:17)), he saw the mark of the nail, that told of His passion, and His death, and of His love that carried Him into death. Oh; He is such a Saviour. I can commend my Saviour to you. Your troubled conscience will never be at peace until you have found Him, and got the knowledge of the value of His precious blood. And on the other hand, your poor aching heart will never be at rest, till you pillow your head on the bosom of eternal love, the bosom of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who became a man that He might bring us to God through His death.
Let us now ponder briefly this 33rd chapter. Get hold of this, that God was manifested in the flesh. Jesus, the eternal Son of God, the only begotten Son of the Father, the Word, was made flesh. He has become a man, as really a man as I am tonight, sin excepted. He was a man concerning whom the very devil had to say, as he walked through this scene, “Thou art the Holy One of God.” And God said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” In Him alone can you learn to know God. You think you will learn God by creation? You will not. You may learn His power, His greatness, but you cannot learn what His heart is. “No man hath seen God at any time: the only begotten in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him” (John 1:1818No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. (John 1:18)). I know God only in that Man, the Person of the Lord Jesus. The One who died upon the tree was the One who created all things. Get firmly hold of this, I pray you, that only in the Person of Christ can you learn God.
The handiwork of a man could not show you what his heart was. You rightly admire creation, beloved friend, and give God glory, for “the heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork” (Ps. 19:1), but that does not reveal His heart. Nor does the law. The law will tell you what His holiness is, and announces His righteous claim on you, but it does not reveal Himself. But listen to a Man, crowned with thorns, and nailed to a tree, saying, first of all, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do,” and then, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” There the heart of God is revealed. And do you know this, friend, God is love, and all His ways are ways of love? The cross is the revelation of perfect love. There the Son of God went down lower than any man. And now there ‘is none gone so high; but where He is I am going. He has told me that. “Where I am, there shall also my servant be” (John 12:2626If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honor. (John 12:26)). God loves sinners, but He hates sin. He gave His Son to die for sinners like you and me.
Jesus reveals God fully, but He needed to become a man to do this. Hence, in our chapter Elihu, who is a lovely type of the Lord Jesus, says, “Behold, I am according to thy wish in God’s stead: I also am formed out of the clay. Behold, my terror shall not make thee afraid, neither shall my hand be heavy upon thee” (vers. 6:7). Perhaps you say, “If the Lord Jesus were upon earth today I would go to Him, but somehow I am afraid to draw near to God.” But who is Jesus? Jesus is God. And that is why the Apostle John has said, “We know that the Son of God is come) and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true; and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols” (1 John 5:20, 2120And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life. 21Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen. (1 John 5:20‑21)). If you have a thought of God before your mind that does not answer perfectly to Jesus, you have set an idol before you, not the true God. There is no such God. Jesus is the image of God, and the perfect reflection of His being in every aspect.
Go and look at the lovely life of that blessed Man. When He saw a widow weeping outside the city of Nain, about to bury her only son, he said to her, “Weep not,” and then, “Young man, I say unto thee, Arisa. And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother” (Luke 7:13-1513And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not. 14And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. 15And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother. (Luke 7:13‑15)). My friend, there is nobody like Jesus for binding up broken hearts. It is worthwhile having a broken heart to let Jesus bind it up. Yes, He binds up broken hearts, and saves poor sinners, like you and me. Could you not trust Jesus? “Neither shall my hand be heavy upon thee,” might well win your confidence.
But perhaps you, like Job, are saying, “Behold, he findeth occasion against me, he counteth me for his enemy” (vs. 10). Not a bit of it. Do you know your greatest enemy? Yourself. He is not your enemy, but you have been His. Do you remember what the Lord said? “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends (John 15:1313Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13)). Yet His is greater love than that; for “when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son” (Rom. 5:1010For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. (Romans 5:10)). That love wins the hardest hearts. Has He won your heart? The wonderful thing about Christianity is that the heart of the believer in Christ is attached to, and dearly loves a Person never yet seen. Christianity subsists in affection. It is not head work, but heart work.
Infidelity is all head work, and lands the owner of the head in hell. Mind you, hell is an awful place, a terrible place. If God had not pulled me up I would have been on the road to hell this very minute. But He has arrested me, and set my feet upon a Rock. He has also filled my heart with peace and joy. Oh, that you knew the grace of God after the same sort?
It is a great mistake to quarrel with God, and to be heard saying, “He putteth my feet in the stocks, he marks all my paths” (vs. 11). Very wise is Elihu’s reply: “Behold, in this thou art not just: I will answer thee, that God is greater than man. Why dost thou strive against him? for he giveth not account of any of his matters” (vers.13, 14). Don’t forget this, you will have to give account to God of your matters, but do not think that God is against you. Job was wrong in this suspicion, and so are you if you are like him. Listen to the Spirit of God’s testimony, and may He stamp it upon your heart, “If God be for us, who can be against us? (Rom. 8:3131What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31).) The devil is against you, and the world is against you, and you are against yourself, but God is for you, and of that fourfold proof is here produced.
Let us now ponder the four ways that God takes to win a man: ― (1) God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not” (vs. 14). Is it not strange that man turns a deaf ear to God. But thank God, even so He does not give man up yet. What will He do now? If He cannot get at you in the daytime, He will get hold of you at night. (2) “In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed; then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction, that he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man” (vers. 15-17). Fancy God going to a man through the night! Oh, the unwearying grace of the Lord. Oh, you say, I don’t believe in dreams. Don’t you? Elihu did. Joseph did. Daniel did. Has God ever given you an awakening dream? Take care that you heed it. Many a man has had a warning from God in a dream. Ah, man, you may trifle with God once too often. Let me implore you, don’t make light of God’s grace tonight. And if you have had a dream, heed it.
But there is another way God takes: (3) “He keepeth back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword” (vs. 18). He saves from danger. Were you never in danger? I thank God for the grace that saved me once from drowning. He saved my body, and He saved my soul very soon after. Oh, that you might get saved tonight. (4) Now the next thing is sickness― “His soul draweth near unto the grave, and his life to the destroyers” (vers. 19-23). Sickness is just the moment when the devil will tell you what a nice, good person you have been. He knows how to give soothing syrup to a dying sinner. I have seen many a man die, drugged with the devil’s anodyne― “You are as good as your neighbors” ―and be damned under my eyes. He would not have Christ, for he did not think he needed Him. But in many a case the soul is awakened, and has a sense of need, and then God steps in. “If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand to show unto man his uprightness” (vs. 23).
Oh! the privilege of being one among a thousand to carry a message of salvation to a dying sinner. God wake us all up to this wondrous privilege. “Then he is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom” (vs. 24). Glorious tidings, God has found a ransom, “The man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time” (1 Tim. 2:66Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. (1 Timothy 2:6)). He has been on the cross. The price has all been paid. On the treasury bench of heaven, the ransom price of the sinner’s redemption has been laid down, and in righteousness God says, “Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a Ransom.”
And where is the Ransom now? At God’s right hand. Once in death He gave Himself a ransom for all. While here on earth Jesus said, “The Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:2828Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. (Matthew 20:28)). But when He had died, do you know what the Holy Ghost said? “He gave himself a ransom for all.” How am I saved? Because God has accepted that ransom for me, and I have accepted Christ. The ransom was Christ. And all that you have to do, dear friend, is just simply to accept this blessed Saviour. And you would be a very wise man if you did. Then see what follows, “He shall pray unto God, and he will be favorable unto him: and he shall see his face with joy” (vs. 26). That is fruit of new birth. You have the work of Christ for you, and the work of the Spirit in you, and joy fills the heart.
What is the next thing? He confesses Christ. “He will sing before men; and say, I have perverted that which was right, and it hath not been requited to me. He hath delivered my soul from going into the pit, and my life shall see the light” (see vers. 27:28, R.V.), What a blessed confession! When you have Christ, begin at home to confess Him. Why? Because everybody knows you there. That is the spot to begin. The consciously delivered man always sings before men, and says, “I have sinned and perverted what was right, and it hath not been requited to me.” What I deserved was laid on God’s blessed Son, for He is the Ransom. And what next? “My life shall see the light.”
Notice how the Holy Ghost puts this confession in the New Testament. “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Rom. 10:9, 109That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10:9‑10)). You get right with God through your heart, and you get right with men through your lips.
Christ died for sinners. Are you a sinner? Yes. Then He died for you. How simple! I wonder anybody goes on still unsaved. May you be led to say, “Lord, Thou didet die for me.” Oh, do not miss the blessing of the Lord at this time, I implore you. Rest on the Ransom, and confess the Daysman as your own personal Saviour.
W. T. P. W.