JOB 22–27: Friend Speeches 3 - 26th April 2026

No. Please take your Bibles and open

them up to

the book of Job. Job chapter 22. Please

Job 22 · chapter mention

take your Bibles and open them up to Job

Job 22 · chapter mention

chapter 22.

We've been looking for the last number

of weeks at the three conversations

between Job and his friends. The

conversations where Job and his friends

are trying to understand his suffering.

And conversation number one was from

chapter 4 to 14 where we looked at the

wrong words the friends were saying.

And then the second conversation was

chapter 15 to 21 where we looked at

hope.

And now we're in the final conversation

between Job and his friends where

they're trying to understand his

suffering. We're going to look at the

highlights of chapter 22- 27.

And the big word I want us to think

about as we look at this chapter is

relationship.

Not words, not hope, relationship.

Let's pray and ask for the Lord's help.

Great is thy faithfulness,

Lord. We know those words are true.

And if we're honest, some of us are

struggling to even say that

great is your faithfulness.

But we know that in and through all the

ups and downs in life, you remain

faithful.

You remain steadfast.

You never change.

Lord, our lives are up and down. Our

emotions are up and down. Our

relationships are up and down. But you

are steady. You are constant. And you

never change. You are faithful.

And I pray this morning, no matter how

we're feeling or how we come, that we'd

recognize and understand that you are

faithful. and that we'll trust in you to

speak because your word is being open to

us.

Help us to see you this morning.

I pray these things

in Jesus precious name. Amen.

This morning we are going to think about

relationship.

And the reason we're going to think

about relationship is because really the

argument between Job and his friends is

concerning Job's relationship with God.

They think that Job has a bad

relationship with God. And and Job

always thought he had a good

relationship with God. And so Job's not

understanding his suffering because he

thinks his relationship with God is

good, but he doesn't know why God is

doing what he's doing. and his friends

think his relationship with God is bad

because of his suffering.

And so that causes us, I think, to ask

the question of ourselves this morning.

And sometimes we don't ask the question

enough,

how is

your relationship

with God this morning?

How's your relationship with God? And be

honest with yourself. It's only you and

your thoughts right now. God hears.

How's your relationship with God

right now?

Does he feel far away?

Does he feel close?

Do you still believe in him?

trust him.

Are you good with him?

You angry at him?

How is your relationship with God this

morning?

I asked that question because this is

the question in this conversation for

Job and his friends. They're trying to

figure out how his relationship with God

is really going. And as we look at Job's

relationship with God and what his

friends think about his relationship

with God, it's going to force us to ask

a few questions about our relationship

with God.

And the first question I want us to ask

this morning about our relationship with

God is this.

Do you need to return to God?

That's the first question I want us to

ask. Do you need to return to God? And

the reason I asked that question is

because this is exactly what Job's

friends think he needs to do. They think

that Job needs to return to God. And

here's why they think it. Job chapter

Job 22 · chapter mention

22, Job's friend Elephas, he speaks and

he thinks that Job has a problem. And

here is the problem that Elephaz thinks

Job has in Job 22:5. It says this, "Is

Job 22:5

not your evil abundant? There is no end

to your iniquities."

Elephaz thinks that Job has a problem in

his relationship with God. And the

problem in his relationship with God is

your evil is abundant.

There is no end to your sins.

You are not blameless.

You are a sinner. And because you are a

sinner. And because you are not

blameless, here is what you need to do,

Job. You need to return to God.

Now what does it mean in the Old

Testament when he uses this word return?

The word return mostly used in the Old

Testament is a word shuv. It's a word

for repentance and turning away from

your sin and turning to God.

That's what it means to return to God.

And that's exactly what Elephas is going

to call Job to do in this speech. Your

sin is abundant. You're continually

walking against God. Elephas is saying

to Job. And then he calls on Job to

return, to repent.

Look at chapter 22 21. Here's the big

call for repentance.

Alfas says to Job, "Agree with God and

be at peace. Thereby good will come to

you. Receive instruction from his mouth

and lay up his words in your heart. If

you return to the Almighty, you will be

built up. If you remove injustice far

from your tents, if you lay gold in the

dust and gold of among the stones of the

torrent bed, then the Almighty will be

your gold and your precious silver.

For then you will delight yourself in

the Almighty and and lift up your face

to God.

You will make your prayer to him and he

will hear you and you will pay your

vows.

You will decide on a matter and and it

will be established for you and the

light will shine on your ways.

For when they are humbled, you say it is

because of pride. But he saves the

lowly.

He delivers even the one who is not

innocent

who will be delivered through the

cleanness of your hands.

Do you hear what Elephaz is saying to

him? Elephas is saying to him, you need

to come to the place where you agree

with God. Verse 21, you need to come to

the place where you are at peace with

God.

And did you notice the key word in verse

23?

If you return to the Almighty, you will

be built up.

If you turn away from your sin and turn

to the Almighty God, if you repent of

your sin and turn to God, you will be

built

up.

And then he says in verse 30, he

delivers the one who is not innocent.

This is what he thinks of Job.

Job, you're not innocent. But here's the

hope. If you would return to God, God

delivers the one who is not innocent.

Now these words

in this context

they seem true as you look at the words

they seem beautiful and they seem true

but in this context these words they're

not true.

Do you know why they're not true?

Because of their direction and because

of the foundation. The direction of the

words and the foundation of the words.

Who are the words directed to? The words

of repentance are directed to Job.

Job, you need to return to God.

But we were told in the very first verse

of this book something about Job.

Job was a man blameless and upright, a

man who feared God and turned away from

evil.

That phrase turned away from evil means

this. He has repented of his sin. He has

already returned to God. He has turned

away from evil. And two more times in

chapter 1 and chapter 2, the Lord says

the same thing about Job. That Job is

blameless. That Job is upright. That Job

fears God. And that Job turns away from

evil.

So these words are not right in the

context because they are directed to

Job. And Job has already turned away.

And these words of repentance, they're

also not correct because of their

foundation.

What's the foundation upon which Elephas

is saying these words of repentance? The

foundation at which Elephas is saying

these words of repentance is his bad

theology.

The reason he is saying these words is

not because of his good theology. The

reason he's saying these words is

because of his bad theology. And what is

his bad theology? That retribution

theology which is this. Bad things

always happen to bad people. Therefore,

Job, you need to repent.

Bad things are happening to Job.

They always have to hap happen to bad

people. Therefore, Job, you're a bad

person. Therefore, you need to repent.

And so, these words in that sense,

they're not true because of their

foundation. They're not true because

their direction. It's not true of Job.

And they're not true because their

foundation.

But the question for us in relation to

our relationship with God is this.

Are they true for you?

They're not true for Job?

Because Job is blameless. He's upright.

He fears God.

He turns away from evil.

But is that true of you?

The most damaging thing

for our relationship with God is this,

a lack of repentance.

that we continually live in our sin and

pursue it.

It says in verse 23, "If you return to

the Almighty, he will build you up."

Are you walking away from God this

morning?

Because if you are walking away from God

this morning, the scripture tells us

that wide is the path that leads to

destruction.

That's the path you're on. If you're

walking away from the Lord, that's the

path you're on. The path that leads to

death and destruction. And what God is

calling upon you this morning to do is

this. Turn around and go through the

narrow path that leads to life.

That is the Christian life. A life where

we are constantly turning away from our

sin and returning to God.

Yes. The Christian life began with a

one-time moment of repentance

where you said to the Lord, "Lord, will

you forgive me of my sin?"

But do you know what the Christian life

is? At least this is my experience.

Here's what the Christian life is. It's

daily repentance.

Day after day,

I'm tempted to to turn to evil.

And God is calling me day after day.

Shane, be a man of repentance.

And that's what I call on you to be. Be

a man and be a woman of repentance. Have

repentance mark your life.

was talking to a father this week

and he said to me, "I don't want to be

like my dad."

And do you know why he said he didn't

want to be like his dad? He said my dad

was always angry.

My dad was always angry.

And he said, "Shane,

I get angry.

I too get angry

but I don't want to be my like my dad.

Why? Because of this.

He never once

asked for forgiveness.

I want to always

ask for forgiveness.

It's unrealistic to think.

Maybe some perfect parents out here, but

it's unrealistic to think

that parents will never get angry,

but we should always repent.

It's unrealistic to think that we as

friends will never get angry or

frustrated at each other,

but we should always repent.

Return to God.

If your relationship is like this where

you're turned away from God,

you are called this morning to return

back to God.

That's the first question. Do you need

to return to God? The second question

I'm basing on chapter 23 and it is this.

Are you longing to find God?

Are you longing in your relationship

with God? Are you longing to find God?

And the reason I ask this question is

because that is exactly what Job is

longing to do. He is longing to find

God. His friends are saying, "Job, you

need to return to God." And Job is

saying, "No, I don't need to return to

God. I just need to find him."

Chapter 23:3.

Oh, that I knew where I might find him.

That I might come even to his seat. I

would lay my case before him and fill my

mouth with arguments. I would know what

he would answer me and understand what

he would say to me. Would he contend

with me in in the greatness of his

power? No. He would pay attention to me.

there an upright man could argue with

him and I would be acquitted forever by

my judge.

Look at what he says in verse three.

Oh that I knew where I might find him.

Job wants to find God.

Because Job thinks, "If I could find

God,

if I could just find God and show him my

life and show him what I was doing, I

would be acquitted and I would be

counted as right before God." He's

saying back to his friend, Elephaz,

Elephaz, I don't need to return to God.

I just need to find him. And if I can

find him, I can then plead my case

before him

because he is a just judge.

But even as Job hopes that he can bring

his case before God, what does he say in

verse eight? Behold, I go forward, but

he is not there. And backward, but I do

not perceive him. On the left hand, when

he is working, I do not behold him. He

turns to the right, but I do not see

him.

Are you longing to find God?

Maybe that's your relationship with God.

I'm looking for him,

but I can't see him.

Trying to find him, but where is he?

I pray

like I know I should,

but it feels like they're hitting the

wall.

I read my Bible

like I know I should,

but nothing.

I come to church

like I know I should,

but I can't even find him there.

Where is my God?

That's Job's relationship. And maybe

it's yours.

It's a very real experience.

We're not perfect as Christians.

Some Christians, you look at them and

they seem all happy, clappy, and close

to God. And sometimes you look at them

with that bit of jealousy going, I wish

I wish I could just have that. I wish I

could find him. I wish I could be closer

to him than I am. So the question is,

what should you do when you're in that

moment of discouragement? When you're

praying and your prayers are hitting the

wall. When you're singing and it doesn't

really seem to mean anything. When

you're coming to church and you're not

really getting anything from the Lord.

What do you do in those moments?

Well, you look at what Job did in those

moments.

Verse 10, he says this,

"But

he knows the way that I take. When he

has tried me, I shall come out as gold.

My foot has held fast to his steps. I

have kept his way and have not turned

aside. I have not departed from the

commandment of his lips. I've treasured

the words of his mouth more than my

portion of food.

Job is saying, I've I've looked

everywhere for God, but I cannot find

him. And the answer that you might give

yourself is this. Well, I've looked

everywhere for God and I cannot find

him. Therefore, what should I do? I

should just give up. But what does Job

do in these verses?

In verse 11, Job says,

"I have not turned aside from his ways."

At the end of verse 12, Job says,

"I have treasured the words of his mouth

more than my portion of food."

Think about that for a second.

What's your favorite food?

Steak

medium rare

chips.

Garlic butter.

Coke. Zero.

No caffeine.

What if

I was to desire his word

like I look at the plate sometimes?

Do you know that feeling? You look at

the plate and you're like, "Oh, this is

going to be good." Do you know that

feeling?

What would it be like

to like love his word that much

to come in on Sunday morning and just be

saying, "I just can't wait

to get his word."

See, Job is in the place where he's

saying,

"I cannot find God. I cannot see him. If

he would just come, he would equip me."

And yet he's still saying in that

moment,

but I'm going to keep going.

I'm going to keep treasuring his word.

Here's what I would say to you, brother

and sister. If you're struggling to find

God, keep going.

Keep treasuring his word.

I may have told you this before. This is

going to happen over the years. I'm

going to tell you stuff that I've told

you before. You just smile and nod and

say yes.

But there's times where you might come

in and I've come in and you feel like,

you know what, I don't feel like singing

this morning. Do you know what my trick

is on that? When I don't feel like

singing in the morning and I come in,

here's my trick. I just sing.

I keep singing. Why? Because he's

commanded me to do it.

So even though my feelings aren't

matching right now at that moment,

here's what I do. I just sing in

obedience.

I don't feel like it, Lord. Kind of

feels hypocritical in this moment to

open my mouth and sing. I've been angry

this morning. I've been greedy this

morning. We've been fighting this

morning. You fill in the gap with

whatever you want. And I just don't feel

like singing, Lord, this morning. What

should you do in that moment? sing. And

here's what I found.

My feelings, they catch up.

And my love for the Lord, it catches up

because it is a glorious thing to obey

him. And when you obey him, in the end,

you will find him.

So that's our relationship with God.

Some of us may need to return to God.

Some of us may be in the place where

we're trying to find God. But the third

question I want to ask based on chapter

25 is this.

Do you feel worthless before God?

Some of us may need to return to God.

Some of us may be searching for God. But

do you feel worthless

before God?

The age that we're in is an age where

everybody everybody looks like they are

having an amazing time.

You look at your own life and you're

like

worthless.

Everybody else on the screen, everybody

else that I look on the phone, they look

amazing,

but I feel worthless.

buildad as he speaks

to Job.

He's not really going to try and

encourage Job.

One friend says, "Return to Job."

Job says, "No, I need to find God."

Bildad says, "Job, you're worthless

before God."

Look at his speech and I'm going to read

the whole speech. Chapter 25:1.

Then Bildad the Shuite answered and

said, "Dminion and fear are with God. He

makes peace in his high heaven.

Is there any number to his armies? Upon

whom does his light not arise? How then

can man be be in the right before God?

How can he who is born of woman be pure?

Behold, even the moon is not bright and

and the stars are not pure in his eyes.

How much less man who is a maggot,

and the son of man who is a worm.

Buildad in this speech, before I get

into the details, do you notice how long

the speech is?

Have you noticed that in the speeches

that the friend's speeches they're just

getting shorter and shorter and shorter?

Bill, his first speech was two chapters.

Then his next speech is one chapter. Now

his third speech is six verses.

And in a literary way, I think there is

something happening here. And you kind

of need to read between the lines, but I

think it's fair to say, do you know when

you're having a fight with someone

and you're getting nowhere in the fight

and the fight starts with loads of

words, but then near the end of the

fight, you start using fewer words and

you start using harsher words.

It might be something like this. You're

fighting with a person and you're near

the end and it's really wamping up. You

know, the fight fight starts and you're

all logical and you're all Christian and

then suddenly it starts building up and

building up and building up and building

up and building up and then someone

says, "Right, just look at me.

Look at me.

I don't care."

And they walk off.

I think something like this is

happening. Frustration is building and

building and building. And so Buildad is

sick of Job and his plea of innocence

and he's saying, "Look, build that."

He's saying, "Look to Job." Buildad is

saying, "Look to Job. God is majestic

and you're a maggot.

Just deal with it.

God is high and mighty and you are a

worm.

Just deal with it."

That's what he's saying. He's looking at

the difference between God and man.

Verse two, dominion and fear are with

God. He makes peace in his high heaven.

Is there any number to his armies upon

whom does his light not arise? Job

remember God is massive. He's big. He is

power. He is dominion. He is he's the

Lord of of heavenly hosts.

But man, in verse six, he says, "How

much less man who is a maggot

and the son of man who is a worm?"

This is what I would call

his maggot theology,

his worm theology.

And unfortunately some Christians

when they look at humans and look at

mankind

they have this type of maggot worm

theology about human beings

and it can stem from this place.

We have to understand on the one hand

that we as human beings are sinners.

We are sinners

from the moment that we're born. The

scripture tells us in Romans chapter 5

Romans 5 · chapter mention

that we are in Adam in sin, inherited

sin.

But then when we trust in Christ, we are

then changed into Christ. We become in

Christ. We inherit his righteousness.

But we must remember as human beings

this reality that we are sinners.

Ephesians 2:3 says this, "We all once

Ephesians 2:3

lived in the passions of our flesh,

carrying out the desires of the flesh

and mind, and were by nature

children of wrath.

This is who we are by nature, children

of wrath. This is who we are by nature.

We are sinners. We have inherited the

sin of Adam."

And that is true. But what can happen to

Christians is we can get into this kind

of worthless maggot worm type theology

where we say stuff like this. We are

worms compared to God. We we are

nothing.

But that's not quite true. We are

sinners.

But do you remember the first page of

the Bible what it says?

We are made in the image of God.

And when God made you in his image,

he did not make a mistake.

You are beautifully and wonderfully made

warts and all.

And yes, that image of God is distorted

because of our sin.

But it's not done away with.

You are still valuable in in dignity and

value and worth.

We should always remember who we are.

That yes, we are sinners who need to

repent and trust in the Lord Jesus.

And yes, we are deeply valued in the

image of God.

No, Billad, we're not maggots.

We're not worms. Our

God is majestic.

We're sinners

in need of grace.

And this is the problem with the

friends. They have no time for grace.

Just give up, you maggot, you worm. And

think about it. We see the image of God

in people all the time. We know the

image of God. We know the worth of

people all the time. You think in this

church about all the babies that are

born, right?

All the babies that are born in this

church. It's phenomenal. And praise God

for it. Can you imagine walking up to

the crib and saying,

"What a worthless worm.

What a maggot."

We don't say that. Why?

Yes, they're born in sin,

but man, isn't the image of God

beautiful? beautifully

and wonderfully made. They're sinners in

need of grace. They're not maggots.

And so that's what we understand.

And so Job, he responds to this short,

sharp rebuke. And he says these words,

and it's hard sometimes to know the tone

of what people are saying in the Bible,

but I think I've got the tone of this

one right. Here it is. Job 26:1.

Job 26:1

Then Job answered and said, this is

after Job has just been called a maggot.

Then Job answered and said, "How you

have helped him who has no power. Oh,

how you have saved the arm that has no

strength. Oh, how you have counseledled

him who has no wisdom and plentifully

declared sound knowledge. With whose

help have you uttered such words? And

whose breath has come out from you?

I think all of that is sarcasm.

Oh, how helpful are you? Oh, you're so

helpful to the powerless. Thank you so

much, Build Dad. I'll keep that in mind.

I'm a dirty worm maggot. Thank you.

Oh, how you've saved the arm of the one

who has no strength.

Job comes back and he responds to this

worthless

theology

with some sarcasm,

but he also responds with praise.

He responds with awe.

And that leads us to the fourth question

I want to ask about our relationship

with God.

Are you in awe of God

in your relationship with God?

Are you still in awe of him?

Do you still sit in wonder of him and

what he has done? Because Job in his

suffering and in his heartache.

If I was called a worm and a maggot,

just put yourself in his shoes. You've

lost everything.

your friend comes to you and says,

"You're a worm and a maggot."

I'd forgive Job for using three verses

or four to get back at him.

But the rest of the verses, do you know

what he does?

He speaks in awe of God and his power

and who he is.

Look at verse seven. He talks about

God's power in creation. He says this,

"He, God," look at what he says. all

that God has done. He stretches out the

north over the void and hangs the earth

on nothing. Verse eight, he binds up the

waters in his thick clouds and the cloud

is not split open under them. He covers

the face of the full moon and spreads

over it his cloud. He has inscribed a

circle on the face of the waters and the

boundary between the light and darkness.

The pillars of heaven tremble and are

astounded at his rebuke. By his power he

is still the sea. By his understanding

he is shattered Rahab. By his wind the

heavens were made fair. His hand pierced

the fleeing serpent. Behold these are

but the outskirts of his ways.

And how small a whisper do we hear of

him?

But the thunder of his power, who can

understand?

If you were in a fight, someone called

you a maggot,

wouldn't you just keep talking bad back

at them?

Job turns from his anger

and he turns to the power of God

and he says, "God has stretched out the

heavens." Verse 7 to 11, he talks about

God's power in creation. He's stretched

out the heavens. He's covered the face

of the earth.

In verse 12 to13, he talks about God's

power over his enemies.

He has stilled the sea by his

understanding. He shattered Rahab. Verse

13, by the wind the heavens were made

fair. His hand pierced the fleeing

serpent.

Job is talking in a way where he has

particular understanding of what God is

doing, but he doesn't know the full

extent of what God is really doing. It's

like when Job said last week, "Oh, my

redeemer lives."

And you want to say to Job, "Yes,

yes, your redeemer truly does live.

He rose from the grave on the third

day." And Job says these words and he

says, "By his power, he's he's still the

sea and he's shattered Rahab." And and

some of that seems to be a picture of

the Egyptians. In Isaiah 30:7, Rahab is

Isaiah 30:7

referred to as Egypt.

God's power is still the sea. God's

power has shattered the enemies.

And God by his power has pierced the

fleeing serpent.

The serpent is the enemy.

And Job says these words, but he does

not know the full extent of these words

because the serpent crusher came

and crushed the enemy's head

and in him we have redemption.

And Job says these wonderful words,

verse 14,

these

are but the outskirts

of his ways.

These are but the edges of his beauty

and glory.

When you see something amazing and

wonderful and marvelous,

a waterfall, and you stand in awe of it,

you're just on the outskirts.

You haven't seen anything really of

God's glory and awe and power.

Is your relationship with God one where

you still have awe of him?

Do you remember when you were first a

Christian?

when you first became a Christian

and you just loved everything about him,

like you're you're like coming to your

friends. Did you see this verse?

For God so loved the world. Did you know

that? Like he so loved the world.

Remember when you were excited about

that?

That he gave his own. Did you see this?

And then Bible study comes up and you're

like scrambling to get your Bible and

you're rushing to get in because you

can't get enough of God. Do you remember

what it was like?

And you'd sing a new song and you'd be

like, "That's amazing.

Amazing Grace." Did Did you hear this

song? Amazing Grace. Anybody heard this?

Yes. We've been singing it for years,

but don't worry, you'll get bored by it

soon.

How awful it is

when we see a new Christian. and we just

wait for the ah they'll be like one of

us soon. No, I hope they'll never be.

I hope they'll always be in awe of God.

We need to pray that for our lives that

would always be in awe of God.

And this is where Job is at even in his

suffering.

Are you in awe of God?

And that leads to our last question

about her relationship with God.

That last question is helped by chapter

27.

And the question is this. Are you right

before God?

Chapter 27:E1 Job says these words. And

Job again took up his discourse and

said, "As God lives,

who has taken away my right, the

Almighty who has made my soul bitter, as

long as my breath is in me, and the

spirit of God is in my nostrils,

my lips will not speak falsehood,

and my tongue will not utter deceit.

Far be it from me to say that you are

right.

Till I die,

I will not put away my integrity from

me. I hold fast my righteousness

and will not let it go.

My heart does not reproach me

for any of my days.

Do you hear the confidence in Job?

Do you hear the confidence that Job has

in how he is going to live rightly

before God?

He makes this oath promise in verse two.

as God lives

and the Almighty who's made my soul

bitter. As long as my breath is mine and

the spirit of God is in my nostrils, as

God lives, he's making an oath here. As

long as I am breathing,

as true as it is that God lives, here is

what I am going to do with my life no

matter what happens to me in my

suffering.

This is what you should say Christian.

No matter what is hurting you in life

right now,

no matter what suffering or pain you are

going through right now, make this

determination by the power of the Holy

Spirit, as long as I have breath in my

lungs, I'm going to serve him.

I may not understand him. I may not know

his ways, but I'm going to keep going

and following him all the days of my

life.

And he says it with such confidence

because he talks in verse four and says,

"My lips will not speak falsehood all

the days of his life." The end of verse

5, he says, "I will hold on to my

integrity."

And verse six, I will hold fast to my

righteousness and not let it go.

Confidence

in his stand before God.

Now, I must say as I see Job's

confidence here,

I don't know if I share the same

confidence

in my words.

Like, what he's saying is absolutely

incredible.

I commit to not speaking falsehood

for all of my days.

I commit to holding on to integrity for

all of my days.

I commit to holding on to my

righteousness

for all of my days.

I would make that commitment about my

lips and fail on the same day.

So I don't know if I can put my

confidence in the same place that Job

does in relation to my behavior. I don't

know if I can say the same thing that

Job knows of himself that he is

blameless and upright and fears God and

turns away from evil.

I don't know if I can talk about my own

righteousness in this way.

But I know where I can put my

confidence.

My confidence is in this.

He,

the Lord Jesus Christ,

he is righteous.

He is good.

He is just.

And when I trust in him, his

righteousness, it's mine.

Abraham in Genesis 15:6 it says of him

Genesis 15:6

he believed and God credited to him as

righteousness. Where did Abraham's

righteousness come from? It came from

faith in Christ.

So I can believe and hold fast to my

righteousness in Christ for all the days

of my life. Not because I am strong, but

because he is. And I can say the words

in Galatians 2 20. I have been crucified

with Christ.

And it is no longer I who live but

Christ who lives in me. Therefore, I can

have confidence that I stand righteous

not because of myself but because of

Christ.

If you are a believer this morning,

no matter what you're feeling,

worthless,

angry, whatever it is,

know this believer. Here's your

relationship.

You are in Christ.

You are righteous in him.

And nobody can take that away from you.

That is who you are.

That is your relationship with him.

You are righteous in Christ.

Live for him.

Praise him in those things.

One last random question.

Where's Zofar?

His three friends. Elephas

Bildad Zofar

and the conversations they got shorter

and shorter, didn't they? And the

friends, they got more and frustrated

after more frustrated, didn't they?

How do you get shorter

than six verses of buildad?

How'd you get shorter than that?

Here's what you do in an argument.

you walk away.

That's exactly what Zofar seemed to do.

It's no longer in the pages of scripture

reading between the lines. Why?

Because his theology

has no time for an innocent man who

suffers. His theology has no time for

the gospel. Let's pray.

Lord, we thank you for your word this

morning. We pray that you would impress

it into our hearts and lives

in your name, Lord Jesus. Amen. Let's

stand and sing as we prepare our hearts

for