Job chapter 25. I'm gonna actually have you turn to two different passages. Job chapter 25 and then in a little while I'll have you turn over to Romans chapter three. First Job chapter 25. It's been suggested that life's seven most important questions can be found in the Old Testament book of Job. Now, in regard to this book, it's known as God's book of antiquity. It's the oldest book in the Bible. We do not have a chronological Bible. It's not presented in chronological order. And so the book of Job is the oldest book in the Word of God. And the man himself, Job, was a contemporary of Abraham. And so he lived around the same time that Abraham lived. And when we think about the Book of Job, it's located in what we refer to as the poetical section of the Word of God. There are some five books of wisdom. You have Job, you have Psalms, you have Proverbs, you have Ecclesiastes, and then you have Song of Solomon. And so they make up the poetical section of the Old Testament or God's books of wisdom. And there's a lot of wisdom that's offered in the book of Job. You might say we have the wisdom of a sage as we look at the book of Job. And so it's not surprising that we find seven or the seven most important questions that one could come up with in the Old Testament book of Job. I invite you to consider with me just one. We're going to look at one question. that we find asked in the book of Job, and then we're going to turn to the book of Romans where we find the answer. And I'm glad that we're not only provided with important questions, but God has given us his answer book, the word of God. So as we consider this very important question found in the book of Job this morning, I want you to know up front that we're not going to just ask a question and stroke our beard as it were and contemplate what the answer might possibly be. We're gonna look at the answer. God provides us with an answer to this question. And so look with me at Job chapter 25 in verse number 4 and note the following question is asked. I'll help you understand the context in just a little while. But how then can man be justified with God. How? Now note, it doesn't say, how can man be justified with God? It says, how then can man be justified with God? So there's a context. There's a conversation that's being had. The conversation is between Job and his three friends, Zophar, Bildad, and Eliphaz. And this particular question was asked by Bildad. Bildad was actually the nephew of Abraham. If you remember, Abraham's first wife died, and then he later remarried, Keturah. And this is a descendant, if you will, of that union or of that, of the marriage that Abraham entered into with Keturah. And so, Bildad, the very one who asked this question was actually next of kin. in regards to Abraham. It's not thought, it's not believed that Zophar was kin to Abraham. It's not believed that Eliphaz was kin to Abraham, but it is believed that Bildad was a family member. And so, I could go in and provide you a little understanding of the mindset of Zophar and the questions and the conversation that Zophar had with Job. I could do the same with Bildad and I could do the same with Eliphaz. But we're just gonna focus on this one conversation that Job had with one of his three friends, the second, if you will, who enjoyed a family relationship, Bill Dat. And we'll help you to understand the context in just a moment. The context is very important, and we're informed of some very important things as we consider our subject matter this morning. But the question, how then, Can man be justified with God? I would like to suggest or submit to you that that's one of life's most important questions. Every human being, every man, woman, boy and girl should contemplate, should consider that question. How can I be justified with God? How can I be justified with God? How then can man be justified with God? We're gonna take the then out for just a moment. How can man be justified with God? In other words, how can man be redeemed? Now note, if you're here this morning, you're either redeemed or you're not redeemed. How then can man be saved? If you're here this morning, you're either saved or you're not saved. How can man be made righteous in the sight of God? If you're here this morning, you're either redeemed, saved, righteous, or you're not redeemed, saved, righteous in the eyes of God. Now, you may be something to someone else. You may be something to the one you see in the mirror. You may be impressed with yourself. You may be something to your spouse or your partner. You may be something to your family, you may be something to the community, but what are you in the eyes of God? What does he think of you? What is his opinion? you. How can man be justified with God? How can he be redeemed? How can he be saved? How can he be righteous in the sight of God? Now, I think you would agree with me. This is a very important question. Very important question. You say, Pastor, why is it an important question? Well, let's all stop and consider the reality. And the reality is this. One day, every man, woman, boy, and girl will stand before this holy and righteous God, the very one who created this world and spoke it into existence, and give an account of his or her life lived out on earth. You have an appointment. You say an appointment, it sounds like it's an official meeting. You're right, it's an official meeting. In Hebrews 9, verse 27, the writer of Hebrews says, it's appointed unto man once to die, and after this, the judgment. So everyone within the sound of my voice, you have an appointment. One day you will die. And then after that, you will stand before your creator. You'll stand before God. And you'll have to give an account of your life. The Bible tells us that God takes account of every thought we think and every step we take, every action that I have taken has been recorded and God has record of it. And one day I must stand and give an account. Now that's a very sobering thought. That one day my Creator will summons me and I will stand before Him and give an account of my life. The judge of the universe will summons me, and I will give an account of my life. Thus, this question becomes a very important question. You see, when we stand before God, we better make sure that we are righteous. Now, note what I said. We better make sure that we're righteous. that we're saved, that we're redeemed. You say, why is it important that I'm righteous in the eyes of God, that I'm saved in the eyes of God, that I'm redeemed in the eyes of God? Well, because the Bible declares that without righteousness, no man will see God. Now you say, wait a minute, how am I gonna stand before him if I'm not righteous? Well, it carries with it the understanding that if you are not found to be righteous, if you're not saved, if you're not redeemed, you will no longer be allowed in His presence. You'll be banished from His presence. You say, wait a minute. You mean the God of creation one day will summons me, and if He has issue with me, He will banish me for all eternity? That's exactly what this book declares. One day, every human being will stand before God and give an account. And if they are not found to be righteous, if they are not found to be saved or redeemed, they'll be banished for all eternity. And you say, chapter and verse. Well, the Bible says without righteousness. Now listen to me. You hear a lot from pulpits today. I want you to know this is a quote from scripture. Without righteousness, no man will see God. And what it carries with it is the following understanding, that if you are not found to be righteous when you stand before God, you will no longer be allowed in his presence. And the Bible is very clear. We have no righteousness of our own. You see, there's a problem. It's like, going back to my mind, I'm so glad I'm out of school. But do you remember test day? Do you remember when it was announced that on such and such day, you're gonna have this big test, and you knew that you were not prepared for it? You knew before you even took the test that you were gonna get a failing grade. Well, most of us, if we'd be honest, as we look in the mirror, We know that it will not bode well for us when we stand before a holy and righteous God. That every thought I've thought is going to be a matter of public record. That every step I took is going to be a matter of public record. That I am going to have to give an account for every deed I've ever done. That's a scary thought. At least it would be for me. I think if you'd be honest, it's a scary thought to consider that one day you're gonna die and then after that you're gonna be judged by the God of the universe who knows everything you've ever thought and every action you've ever taken. The Bible says, the Bible's very plain. in the language that Jews, that all our righteousness is as filthy rags. That's a quote from Isaiah chapter 64. So as God looks down from heaven and looks at your life, what does he see? He sees someone who is what the Bible says or describes as someone being undone, unprepared, unworthy, It actually compares your standing before God to that of a leper during Bible times. A leper during Bible times was banished from the community. They were driven out of the community. And they were not allowed to come within so many yards or so many meters of the community. They were banished. Loved ones. Though they were loved, if they had leprosy, they were driven from the community. Dads were separated from families. Moms were separated from families. Teenagers, children, separated from families. And as much as you'd want to embrace them, you couldn't because they had leprosy. And the Bible says that the best we can do, God views as the rags of a leper. Now think with me for just a moment. that God would reject His creation. Yes, according to the Word of God, God is so holy, He's so righteous, that He would reject man because of his sin. Just as a community would reject a man or a woman who had leprosy because they were diseased. They were leprous. and they were turned away. In fact, a leper's person would be required whenever they came too close to someone, they would say, I'm clean, I'm clean. In other words, the leper seeing himself or herself seeing the the putrification of the flesh and realizing they were actually rotting away. They would say because of the love they would have for their community, for their family, I don't want what I have to infect them. They would say, unclean, unclean. So as to keep a safe distance. I would hate to have leprosy. But you know why? As much as I would hate to have it, if you have it, you have it. Let me just tell you, you may not have leprosy, I don't think you do, but I do know that you have a problem. It's a sin problem. All have sin and come short of the glory of God. There is none righteous, no, not one. And if the truth be known, if you were honest, If you saw yourself the way God sees you, you would say, unclean! Unclean! I'm unworthy! I do not deserve to be in the presence of the holy community known as the church or known as the family of God. I'm saying that when God looks down from heaven, He sees two groups of people. He sees those who are unclean, He sees those who are clean. And those who are clean, if I could get ahead of myself, because I like where I'm going, are only clean because of the shed blood of Jesus Christ. What shall wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. I just want you to know, you're either in one group or the other. You're either considered unclean or you're considered clean. And by the way, you're not over here because of works of righteousness which you have done, but according to his mercy, by the washing of regeneration, by the renewing of the Holy Ghost. You see, we're all unclean until we come to faith in Christ. And then he translates us from the kingdom of darkness, the kingdom of spiritual leprosy, to the kingdom of healing, the kingdom of wholeness. It's the blood of Jesus. It's his crucifixion. It's his shed blood that qualifies us for passing grade when we stand before the Lord. Otherwise, outside the atonement of Jesus Christ, you'll be deemed unclean. The Bible is very, very clear that our righteousness is as filthy rags. We have no righteousness of our own." Note the language in the text. Chapter 25, I told you the word then. Bill Dadd is having a conversation with, say, Job and and a family relative of Abram, or Abraham, and so he knew some things, if you will, and he was spot on. And note what he says in reference to Job. He says, just generally speaking, this is true of every man. He says here in verse number one, then answered Bildad the Shuite, and said, dominion and fear are with him. He's talking about the God of heaven. Dominion and fear are with him. In other words, hey, you need to fear God. You need to reverence God. He maketh peace in His high places. He's the only one you can turn to. He's the only one that has the wherewithal to spare you. He says here in verse 3, Is there any number of His armies? And upon whom doth not His light arise? So he compares, if you will, he compares God to a great army. Think of Alexander who would come later. but things were said about Alexander as his armies would approach a city. It was just awe, they were awestruck. And of course they were scared because they knew their demise would soon come into play. And so you think of all these great sultans of the past, all these great kings, these great warriors of the past and their armies. And he says, none of those can compare to the God of heaven. whom we have to do. And he says here, and this is the part that I want you to see, because he has us to consider God's creation, which is still around. One of the things I value about the trip of a lifetime to New Zealand is what, man, we've been able to see God's beautiful creation here in New Zealand. I don't think there's a prettier place in all the world than New Zealand. It's been beautiful, especially the last few days. Some of you have seen some of the pictures my wife took. But note what he says here in verse number four. He says, how then, look at your Bibles, how then can a man be justified with God? And how can he be clean? Now note, how can he be clean that is born of a woman? In other words, did you have a birth? According to the word of God, you're unclean. The Bible even tells that from day one would come out of the womb speaking lies. You know something I never had to teach my kids is to tell a lie. You know what you have to teach your children to do? You have to teach them to tell the truth. Here I am, I'm an adult, you're an adult. We're just prone to even lie today. It's in our nature. You have the nature. If you have the nature of Adam and you do, you have the nature of a liar. You have to have the discipline. Telling the truth requires character. Even as an adult. Even as an adult. And I want you to see what he says then. How can a man be clean that is born of a woman? Behold, even the moon. Now note what he says here, Brother Paul. He says, even the moon, and it shineth not, Yea, the stars are not pure in His sight. Listen, He created the moon. And we look up and see that bright light and we say, oh, isn't it beautiful? It's just white and there's nothing like it. Well, God has a more observant eye and He sees all the flaws that would require a telescope for us to see. He sees all the blemishes. How many of you know the moon has blemishes? Every human being has blemishes. Oh, you look at me and you think, well, he's a pastor. He's perfect. And I am. No. If you could see me up close, I'm a sinner in need of grace. And so are you. One of the things I'm comfortable doing is preaching the gospel. And the reason why, because every man, woman, boy, and girl has a fixation with this thing called sin. We're sinners. We're sinners by birth. We're sinners by choice. We revel in it. We have to deal with his flesh. And I want you to see what he's saying. He says, Job, get real. You're the creature. He's the creator. Job, get real. Get real, Job. No one is righteous in his eyes. Bill Dad got some things wrong, but he got this right. You love your family. I know you do. You love mom and pop. You love your siblings. And if it was up to you, you'd let them into heaven the way they are now. But though God loves your family, He's so holy, he will not let anyone into his presence or remain in his presence who's not righteous. But he's so loving that knowing that man could never, ever achieve righteousness because his righteousness is as the rags of a leopard. God sent his only begotten son. to offer himself on the cross, shed his blood so as to secure your righteousness for you. He who knew no sin became sin for us, that we, listen, through him might receive the righteousness of God. You say, do you fear standing before the Lord? Not really. And you say, oh, you must be a good person. No. I entered into faith's relationship, and I've received the atonement. Jesus Christ is my righteousness. I'm clothed in the righteousness of Christ. I deserve heaven not because of Lamar. I deserve heaven because of Jesus. And because of Jesus, his shed blood, and the fact that what Jesus did on the cross satisfied a holy and righteous God, God can look down at me, and you see all my imperfections, and God says, what imperfections? He's clothed in the righteousness of my son. Come down and enjoy the pleasures of the Lord. I have two citizenship. I wish I had a third. I wish I was a citizen of New Zealand. But I have a citizenship, I'm a United States citizen. And I'm thankful for it. A lot of things not right about my country, but I'm thankful for my citizenship, I really am. But I'm especially thankful that I'm a citizen of heaven. You see, I was born an American. I wasn't born a Christian. I was born again a Christian. I had to come to the end of myself and apply for citizenship. And you only get citizenship in heaven one way. It's in and through your identification with Jesus. And I'm going to say more about that as we turn, if you will, in our Bibles to Romans. I want you to turn, if you will, to Romans chapter 3. Now, I want to walk back here. Don't let this disturb you. I'm just picking up something that I forgot my wife secured for me, and I'll need it in just a minute. I'm getting cold. I'm a little cold. I brought another jacket so I could put on in just a minute. I'm especially cold this morning. You know, as you get older, you get, man, when I turned to 80, man, I just, I really started getting cold. Oh, you wanna feel good about yourself? Just tell people you're about 20 years older than you are, and they'll tell you how good you look for that age. Before we look at this verse, now look at me, and give me a good hearing right here. I'm gonna share something with you, and regardless how much you know about the Bible, you know this. You may have never opened a Bible in your life, but I would say you probably know the basic story of Adam and Eve. God created a perfect world. He created man, and from that man, He created woman. And He placed them in a perfect environment known as the Garden of Eden. He gave them instructions. They defied His instructions. They became sinners. And immediately God did something. He drove them from the garden. Now, there are those that think God is love, and He is, but they think that God is so loving, they denounce His holiness and think that when they get to heaven, they'll just throw themselves on the mercy of God, and God will allow them into heaven. Listen, you got it right, but you got it wrong. It's here now that you have to throw yourself on the mercy of God. Because once you die, after this, the judgment is too late to do anything about your lack of righteousness. You have to do something in this life. The Bible's very clear. When you take your last breath, you've forfeited your last opportunity to ever be saved. But I want you to know that Adam and Eve were driven from the Garden of Eden. They were driven from God's presence. Because as much as God loved Adam and Eve, His holiness would not allow sin to remain in His presence. Before they sinned, God would come down and fellowship with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day. In fact, if you know the story, in order for God to have a relationship with Adam and Eve moving forward, Blood had to be shed. How many know that? Blood had to be shed. The Bible is very clear. Without the shedding of blood, there's no remission of sins. No putting away of sins. The Bible is very clear. But let's answer that question. How then can a man be justified with God? Well, we're told here in Romans We're told here in Romans chapter 3 and verse number 24. Note what gets said here. How then can a man be justified with God? Job 25, 4. Answer, Romans chapter 3, verse 24. If you'll note, being justified, look at the verse, being justified, what's the next word? freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Now you listen to me. Listen to me, church. Listen to me. I'm an American. I'm here. I wouldn't offend you. I've been very hospitable. I just love New Zealand. I love New Zealanders, Islanders, whatever you call yourselves. We're an Icelandic people. What do you call people from New Zealand? Kiwis, kiwis, okay. I love kiwis, okay. Does that mean you're a bunch of fruits? Okay, okay. Okay, okay. I'm getting kicked out of the country in just a few days. The reason Brother Gary and Sister Margaret are taking us to the airport, they want to make sure we get on that plane. They're tired of us. They don't want to get rid of us. But know what it says here in verse number 24, being justified. I'm telling you how you can have your sins forgiven. I'm telling you how you can be Saved I'm telling you how you can be redeemed I'm telling you how that you can be viewed righteous in the eyes of a holy God When you stand before him after death when that loved one who right now if they died would go to a devil's hell You better get a burden for him You better develop a passion to see him saved because I'm telling you when they take their last breath there's no way there's not going to be need for a preacher because The soul that sinneth, this shall die. And the Bible tells us that when eternity comes, there will be no second chances with God. God's afforded you another opportunity to hear the Gospel. And you better take advantage of it, even today, and put your faith and trust in Christ. I say that as compassionately as I can. I want you to see it says here in verse number 24, it says, Here in verse 24, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that's in Christ Jesus. I want you to know there is redemption. And it's in a person. And that person is not yourself. That person is the Lord Jesus. You have to receive Jesus Christ in order to have your sin debt canceled, in order to stand before God and be declared righteous. And how can a man be justified with God? Answer, by accepting God's free gift of salvation through faith in Christ and His finished work on the cross of Calvary. When Jesus was dying, as He hung there suspended between heaven and earth, He declared several things, seven sayings of Christ from the cross. And one of the sayings was, It is finished. And what that means is simply, your plan of salvation had been complete. God, looking down through the annals of history, said, Paul's going to need salvation because he's a sinner and he can't provide salvation of his own free will or of his own doing. So I'm going to provide salvation for him. And he allowed his son to come and live. And he lived a perfect life and then went to the cross and died for the sins of the whole world. That is the gospel. And so now Paul and whoever else places their faith and trust in Christ, their sin debts forgiven is canceled. And now they have the righteousness of Christ and they have citizenship in heaven. And I know that's a lot to consider this morning, but all that's in the text, all that is built in the framework of the book of Romans. Every man, woman, boy and girl is in need of a savior. All have sinned, none righteous, no not one. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Make no mistake about it, salvation is provided, listen to me, as a free gift. For by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It is The gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Make no mistake about it, salvation is provided through faith in Christ alone. Romans 6, 23. Yes, the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Through receiving Him as your Lord and Savior, by putting your faith in what He did on the cross. Not what you do every day, But what He did on the cross 2,000 years ago, make no mistake about it, salvation is provided through His blood. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all sin. It was through a church that I was told how I could be justified, saved, redeemed. I could take it to the place there in Florida. I could take it to the church. It's still standing. And I could take you, and we could walk in that church, and I could say I was seated right over here. I was seated about where Jared's seated. About where Jared's seated. And a preacher got up, and he preached heaven sweet and hell hot. And he preached, and he gave the invitation, and I went forward on that day, and I knelt there, and my uncle took his Bible and showed me from the pages of Romans. And having read and having been made a privy to the fact that I do all the sending and Christ does all the saving, I bowed my head right there and I put my faith in Jesus Christ. And I want you to know that since that day, I've been saved. Since that day, I've been forgiven. And I want you to know that I'm as sure for heaven as if I was already there. Not because of works of righteousness, which I've done, but according to His mercy, He saved me. By the washing of regeneration, by the renewing of the Holy Ghost, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. You say, what does that mean? That means that you, out of desperation, you ask Him to be your Savior. You plead with Him to save you. And the Bible is very clear. He has rejected none who call on him. All who come unto him shall be accepted. I'm so thankful that he does not shut anyone out who's willing. Whosoever will may come. It was through a church I learned that I had no righteousness of them all. and I turn to Jesus Christ for His. I distinctly remember when I was saved. And let me illustrate what happened. I'm just going to illustrate based on other Bible texts, but I'm not going to turn to them. But this right here, right here, this jacket right here is going to represent my righteousness, which is those filthy rags. If I stood before God with my righteousness, I would be rejected. I would be rejected. And so this jacket represents my righteousness. And if I die in my sin, there will be hell to pay. But in 1970, I exchanged my righteousness, my filthy rags, for the righteousness of Christ. And now, I have the righteousness of Christ. And so now when I stand before the Lord, the Lord looks at me, he sees the perfection of his own son. He sees me, not as you see me, he sees me as if I was Jesus Christ incarnate. He sees me in the righteousness of Christ. And I want you to know the only means of salvation is that exchange. for you to exchange your sin for His righteousness. Your wretchedness, your rags for His righteousness. I hope and pray that there's been a day in your life that you've come to the end of yourself and you have said the same thing about yourself that the Bible declares is true. Unclean, unclean, unclean. I hope that that's something that you've done. It was a church service much like this right here, a church about this size, maybe a little larger, that I walked the aisle. 53 years ago, last month, or 50, excuse me, 53 years ago this month, January, I walked the aisle as a sinner. and I was declared righteous by putting my faith and trust in Jesus Christ. Have you done that? I can say with assurance this morning regarding where I will spend eternity, I'm as sure for heaven as if I were already there. Can you say the same? Lest we forget, heaven is a prepared place for prepared people. Are you prepared? The prophet in the Old Testament said, prepare to meet your God. John Wayne famously said that in a Western, prepare to meet your maker. Everybody thought it was funny. But you know, John Wayne died. The question is, was he prepared to meet his maker? One day you'll die. Are you prepared to meet your God? In closing, let me encourage you to personalize this. How then can, say your name, how then can Lamar be justified? I'll tell you how Lamar can be justified. Lamar can be justified. Lamar can be justified by receiving the free grace of God. Lamar can be justified. Lamar can be justified freely by His grace through the redemption that's in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God, to declare, I say this time, His righteousness that He might be just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. You know, eight billion people in the world today, and there's not one soul that cannot be saved, no matter how wicked they are. But they can't be saved 10,000 ways. There's only one way. They have to put their faith and trust in the finished work of Christ. When they do, no matter what they've done, their sin debt is canceled. and you're given citizenship and having heads bowed and eyes closed, no one moving around,