93. Does It Matter If I Am Righteous? (2)

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Hymns: RHC 130 I Waited for the Lord My God, 229 Thy Kingdom Come, O God, 360 My God, Is Any Hour So Sweet

Job 35:1-13

1 Elihu spake moreover, and said, 2 Thinkest thou this to be right, that thou saidst, My righteousness is more than God’s? 3 For thou saidst, What advantage will it be unto thee? and, What profit shall I have, if I be cleansed from my sin? 

4 I will answer thee, and thy companions with thee. 5 Look unto the heavens, and see; and behold the clouds which are higher than thou. 6 If thou sinnest, what doest thou against him? or if thy transgressions be multiplied, what doest thou unto him? 7 If thou be righteous, what givest thou him? or what receiveth he of thine hand? 8 Thy wickedness may hurta man as thou art; and thy righteousness may profit the son of man.

Does It Matter If I Am Righteous? (2)

OUTLINE

  • Does Righteousness Pay? (v1-3)
  • God’s Perspective (v4-8)

Continue…

Matthew Henry said well, “Job being still silent, Elihu follows his blow, and here, a third time, undertakes to show him that he had spoken amiss, and ought to recant. Three improper sayings he here charges him with, and returns answer to them distinctly:

  • He had represented religion (faith in God) as an indifferent unprofitable thing, which God enjoins for His own sake, not for ours; Elihu evinces the contrary (v1-8). 
  • He had complained of God as deaf to the cries of the oppressed, against which imputation Elihu here justifies God (v9-13). 
  • He had despaired of the return of God’s favour to him, because it was so long deferred, but Elihu shows him the true cause of the delay (v14-16).”
  • Does Righteousness Pay?

1 Elihu spake moreover, and said, 2 Thinkest thou this to be right, that thou saidst, My righteousness is more than God’s? 3 For thou saidst, What advantage will it be unto thee? and, What profit shall I have, if I be cleansed from my sin? 

Suffering can cause a person to be shaken to make light of eternal blessings and to wallow in present sufferings. 

The Apostle Paul says in Philippians 3:8-11 (KJV) Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.

There is a spiritual and eternal weight to his faith that enables Him to despise his present suffering and shame.

The resurrection of Christ giving victory to all men over sin and death was the Apostle’s hope and anchor. God granted Him the grace to suffer for His Name’s sake.

The writer of Hebrews gave this encouragement to believers to look to Jesus and be not dismayed as the race gets very tough and challenging.

Hebrews 12:1-13 (KJV) Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. 

And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. 

Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.

Job is charge with renouncing the peace and joy that comes with sins forgiven when we allow our suffering to take away the eternal peace and joy that God has bestowed to believers in Christ.

  • God’s Perspective (v4-8)

4 I will answer thee, and thy companions with thee. 5 Look unto the heavens, and see; and behold the clouds which are higher than thou. 6 If thou sinnest, what doest thou against him? or if thy transgressions be multiplied, what doest thou unto him? 7 If thou be righteous, what givest thou him? or what receiveth he of thine hand? 8 Thy wickedness may hurt a man as thou art; and thy righteousness may profit the son of man. 

Man’s righteousness is for man’s profit. In fact, a high price was paid through the death of His Son to purchase our redemption. God Himself had to bear the brunt of our wrongdoing. God cares immensely our well-being. We are made in the image of God. Only men are made in the image of God. Our unrighteousness and sin do not affect God’s holiness, He cannot be tainted by our sins. Rather, He was pleased to reach out to us, sinners, consigned to eternal judgment in hell fire, so that He may save us from eternal destruction which the Bible calls the second death.

Revelation 20:6 (KJV) Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

This present life’s suffering will be past when eternity begins in Christ.

Revelation 21:3-4 (KJV) And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

Christopher Ash observed well, “Elihu begins with an illustrative exhortation (v5). In essence he says, “Have a good look up at the vast high sky and the clouds so far above you! Think about the transcendence of God and how His dwelling-place is beyond your reach. He lives above and beyond this world of human mortals. Nothing you can do on earth will change what happens up there. You can murder and commit adultery or be generous and faithful, and the clouds will continue the same as before. You won’t affect the sky because it is way up there.”

In the same way, because God in His nature is transcendent (up there), two things follow. Negatively (v6) you can sin as much as you like, but you won’t damage God; you cannot cause him to suffer or damage His essence. Positively (v7) you can be as good as you like, but you can never put God in your debt; He doesn’t need your good deeds, and your good deeds do not give Him anything. God in His very nature and eternal blessedness is impassible and immutable, unchangeably the same. Putting the two together (v8), both your wickedness and your righteousness (your bad behaviour and good) can only affect human beings.””

He utterly denies that God can really be either prejudiced or advantaged by what any, even the greatest men of the earth, do, or can do. The sins of the worst sinners are no damage to him (v6): “If thou sinnest wilfully, and of malice prepense, against him, with a high hand, nay, if thy transgressions be multiplied, and the acts of sin be ever so often repeated, yet what doest thou against him?” 

This is a challenge to the carnal mind, and defies the most daring sinner to do his worst. It speaks much for the greatness and glory of God that it is not in the power of His worst enemies to do Him any real prejudice. Sin is said to be against God because so the sinner intends it and so God takes it, and it is an injury to his honour; yet it cannot do any thing against him.

The malice of sinners is impotent malice: it cannot destroy His being or perfections, cannot dethrone Him from His power and dominion, cannot disturb His peace and repose, cannot defeat His counsels and designs, nor can it derogate from His essential glory. Job therefore spoke amiss in saying What profit is it that I am cleansed from my sin? God was no gainer by his reformation; and who then would gain if he himself did not? The services of the best saints are no profit to him (v7): If thou be righteous, what givest thou to him? He needs not our service; or, if he did want to have the work done, he has better hands than ours at command. Our religion brings no accession at all to His felicity. He is so far from being beholden to us that we are beholden to Him for making us righteous and accepting our righteousness; and therefore, we can demand nothing from Him, nor have any reason to complain if we have not what we expect, but to be thankful that we have better than we deserve. [Matthew Henry]

CONCLUSION

An understanding of the mercy and grace of God in restoring and reforming and remaking in us His image, is that process of suffering that the believer goes through as Peter puts it – 1 Peter 1:6-13 (KJV) Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of yoursouls. Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into. Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Amen.