63. Holding Fast in Righteousness (2)

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Hymns: RHC 416 Wherever He Leads I’ll Go, 414 Is Your All on the Altar? 461 O Zion Haste

Job 27:11-23
11 I will teach you by the hand of God: that which is with the Almighty will I not conceal. 12 Behold, all ye yourselves have seen it; why then are ye thus altogether vain? 13 This is the portion of a wicked man with God, and the heritage of oppressors, which they shall receive of the Almighty. 14 If his children be multiplied, it is for the sword: and his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread. 15 Those that remain of him shall be buried in death: and his widows shall not weep. 16 Though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare raiment as the clay; 17 He may prepare it, but the just shall put it on, and the innocent shall divide the silver. 18 He buildeth his house as a moth, and as a booth that the keeper maketh. 19 The rich man shall lie down, but he shall not be gathered: he openeth his eyes, and he is not. 20 Terrors take hold on him as waters, a tempest stealeth him away in the night. 21 The east wind carrieth him away, and he departeth: and as a storm hurleth him out of his place. 22 For God shall cast upon him, and not spare: he would fain flee out of his hand. 23 Men shall clap their hands at him, and shall hiss him out of his place. (Job 27:11-23 KJV)

Holding Fast in Righteousness (2)
OUTLINE
(1) Focus Upon God – A Contrast (v11-23)

INTRODUCTION
A man’s devotion and focus determine his direction in life. Man is given by God a free will to choose to love Him or despise Him. It indeed grieves the heart of God that men would choose to stray from Him rather than humbly seek Him in His fear.

Jesus says Matthew 6:22-24 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

Our Lord exhorted us in Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
God provides within the church the means by which God’s people may seek Him. In worship and in prayer, both private and corporate. As God’s people seek Him, He is indeed our sufficient Helper.

Job addressed God as the Almighty. For Job, God is all-powerful. None can escape His purview. God said this of Job – Job 1:8 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?

God paid all tribute to God. He paid all homage and submission to God. It was attested in the moment of deepest grief, his greatest test yet, when he responded in Job 1:20-22 Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.

God allowed Job to be proved and finally approved. In the midst of his trial, He acknowledged God. His life focus was not the glory of his wealth, his health, his children, his servants but for the glory of God. It was the reason for his sustenance in the midst of trial. His life was surrendered to God. Of course, we see how his sufferings were so deep, he shuddered, griefed, search his heart, rent his heart, finally God stilled his heart.
He understood that life has no good alternative besides humbly following His God. This he shared when he contrasted in v11-23, how those who despise God finds no peace and joy. But for Job, life in the spirit is in the words of the Apostle Paul – Romans 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.


He exposed unrighteousness in v7-10 – 7 Let mine enemy be as the wicked, and he that riseth up against me as the unrighteous. 8 For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul? 9 Will God hear his cry when trouble cometh upon him? 10 Will he delight himself in the Almighty? will he always call upon God?

As Jesus said in Mark 8:34-37 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

Job was sorely tried, he meditated upon God’s faithfulness – Psalm 63:6-8 When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches. Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice. My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.

God enabled him to cling on to Him for he understood all his life depended upon God and His blessing. He dared not wander far from Him as this Greek, Syrophenician woman who besought the Lord to heal her young daughter who had an unclean spirit – Mark 7:24-30 And from thence he arose, and went into the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and entered into an house, and would have no man know it: but he could not be hid. For a certain woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of him, and came and fell at his feet: The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation; and she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter. But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children’s bread and to cast it unto the dogs. And she answered and said unto him, Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children’s crumbs. And he said unto her, For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter. And when she was come to her house, she found the devil gone out, and her daughter laid upon the bed.
She understood herself depravity and lowly estate in the sight of God and dared not demand but pleaded for mercy. What a beautiful picture fulfilling Jesus’ first words when at the beginning of His ministry he exhorted in Matthew 5:3-4 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. She did not feel she was deserving but submitted herself fully to God’s unfailing love.

(1) Focus Upon God – A Contrast (v11-23)
11 I will teach you by the hand of God: that which is with the Almighty will I not conceal. 12 Behold, all ye yourselves have seen it; why then are ye thus altogether vain?

Job’s external conditions and environment did not change His understanding of the Almighty God’s care for him. The Apostle Paul understood this too when he said in Romans 8:34-39 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Job was determined, set in his heart to trust God whatever the outcome – 3 All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils; 4 My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit. 5 God forbid that I should justify you: till I die I will not remove mine integrity from me. 6 My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: my heart shall not reproach me so long as I live. (Job 27:3-6 KJV)

Indeed, as Apostle John explained well Job’s heart-cry – 1 John 3:20-21 For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemns us not, then have we confidence toward God.

As the spirit of God commented in Ezekiel 14:14 Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord GOD.

As the Apostle Peter concluded in John 6:67-69 Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.
God enabled Job to be enabled, by His grace, to follow his God the Almighty. What is the other way?

He gave the contrasted for us – 13 This is the portion of a wicked man with God, and the heritage of oppressors, which they shall receive of the Almighty. 14 If his children be multiplied, it is for the sword: and his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread. 15 Those that remain of him shall be buried in death: and his widows shall not weep. 16 Though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare raiment as the clay; 17 He may prepare it, but the just shall put it on, and the innocent shall divide the silver. 18 He buildeth his house as a moth, and as a booth that the keeper maketh. 19 The rich man shall lie down, but he shall not be gathered: he openeth his eyes, and he is not. 20 Terrors take hold on him as waters, a tempest stealeth him away in the night. 21 The east wind carrieth him away, and he departeth: and as a storm hurleth him out of his place. 22 For God shall cast upon him, and not spare: he would fain flee out of his hand. 23 Men shall clap their hands at him, and shall hiss him out of his place.

Those who seek not God but their own way would truly be disappointed at the end as did Cain and his descendents. Job saw the sad plight of men who flount the laws of God with impunity – this is the portion of the wicked with God and the heritage of oppressors. God shall blow upon all their vain labour – (1) children be multiplied, it is for the sword (2) his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread (v14) (3) unsympathetic spouses when he leaves this world (v15) (4) massive accumulated wealth turned over to the righteous and the poor (v16-17) (5) death separates him from all his material possessions (v18-19).

20 Terrors take hold on him as waters, a tempest stealeth him away in the night. 21 The east wind carrieth him away, and he departeth: and as a storm hurleth him out of his place. 22 For God shall cast upon him, and not spare: he would fain flee out of his hand. 23 Men shall clap their hands at him, and shall hiss him out of his place.

The godless man is ushered into frightful eternity – the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. (Luke 16:22b-26).

Their own strength and might counted for nothing at the end. What they built for themselves are but a castle of cards, toppled, without recourse as Jesus warned in Matthew 7:24-27 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

Similarly, Jesus said in Matthew 7:13-14 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

“Enter the Strait Gate” is God’s call to men throughout the ages to a life with God. The word “strait” means narrow, restrictive, expressing the difficulty to enter. What is the strait gate? It is the gate of salvation. It is the gate of conversion and regeneration. This entrance through the strait gate describes the beginning of this blessed life. And there is none more authoritative on earth and in heaven to represent God as His Son, Who is God, the second Person of the Godhead, coming in human flesh, possessing the faculty of human speech, “opened his mouth, taught” the multitudes.

It is God’s desire that all be saved. All who will hear this message are urged to hearken to the command to enter. Jesus is bidding His listeners by a command and by a determinate action to make the entry. And the answer to the question — “where to enter?” — is given emphatically by the preposition “at”. It is through this gate, the strait gate. There is a need to locate, find, arrive and finally enter. The emphasis of the preposition “at” is upon the kind of place — enter ye in at the strait gate, not the wide gate, this place as opposed to another place, here at the strait gate and not there at the wide gate. Do not enter without due consideration but make sure you locate the right gate.

Solomon realizes this when he concluded life without God in the equation, it is but vanity and vexation of spirit – empty, as a bubble that burst and is gone.

Ecclesiastes 2:3-11 I sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine, yet acquainting mine heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was that good for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven all the days of their life. I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards: I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits: I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees: I got me servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me: I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces: I gat me men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as musical instruments, and that of all sorts. So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me. And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour. Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.

Solomon shows us the unsatisfactory nature of life under the sun and its ensuing labour. In his quest to find fulfilment or satisfaction in life, Solomon in his old age conceded that there is no true happiness without God in the arithmetic of life.

Solomon teaches us to esteem the spiritual, to find fulfilment with God is true happiness. He tells us that the wisdom of this world gives us no such happiness. It is barrenness and a sullen cold chill.

Life with God is most precious because it brings true happiness, most pleasant because it gives true hopefulness and and most permanent because it brings true holiness (Proverbs 3:13-18). This is found when we find salvation in Jesus Christ, God’s precious and permanent peace comes to us.

Solomon explores and brings us on a tour of the natural man’s ways to show us their futility. Briefly, his search trail leads this way:

Search for this world’s wisdom: (Ecc. 1:18) … the conclusion … is that it is lacking, and crooked and cannot be straightened and much study is a weariness of the flesh… (Ecc. 12:12)!

Search of Pleasure: (Ecc. 2: 1, 3) Pleasures of this world stings and gives no true pleasure but pain and misery as we saw last week. Gives himself to wine: this is folly — for he wakes up with a hangover.

Search of Satisfaction in Earthly Posesssions (v4-11), he found to be empty and vain.

CONCLUSION
It is better to walk humbly with God and count our blessings than look for our spoils. May the Lord help us to seek Him and yield ourselves to Him. Amen.