[0:00] Take your Bibles if you would and turn with me to the book of Job chapter 8, 9, and 10. Job chapter 9, we read the verse earlier. Let me just kind of tell you what's going on.
[0:12] Job is, he's done nothing wrong. He really hadn't. There's no reason his life should be falling apart. But his life is totally falling apart.
[0:24] And he is confused as to why he's hurting. And his friends are trying to help him understand. They're not the best friends. They have the absolute worst advice.
[0:37] They get their advice from demonic sources in the world and psychology and other things like that, not from God. And he keeps saying, I'm right with God. I've not done anything wrong.
[0:48] And so we're in a conversation. Bildad comes over to Job and he lets it go on him. And he's pretty rude to him. You'll see that in just a minute. But the premise of the whole message this morning is Job says, I can't deal with God.
[1:03] I just can't deal with him. He's too big. He's too powerful. He's invisible. If he comes by me, I can't see him. When he gets mad, mountains turn upside down.
[1:14] He's God. And I'm just nothing. And I don't know what's going on in my life. And you all are accusing me and you're accusing my friends. And I just wish I could talk to God about this.
[1:26] And here's what I really wished. I just really wish there was somebody that come and let me stand right here and let God stand right here and put his hands on both shoulders and say, let's talk.
[1:37] And he said, I just wish there was somebody. I just wish there was somebody where I could talk to God. That's impossible.
[1:51] God loved us enough. He sent somebody. He sent that person. He sent Jesus. Jesus, this morning, you may feel alone and abandoned and a long ways off and like you don't understand God and you're confused and you just wish there was a way you could know.
[2:10] There is a way you can know. There is someone who will stand. If you look at these two verses of me again, just for the fun of it, chapter 9, verse 32 and 33. He, God, is not a man like me, like I am, that I should answer him.
[2:28] And there's no way we can come together in judgment. And there's no daysman, underline that word, daysman, no umpire, no arbitrator, no lawyer, no go-between, no mediator between us.
[2:44] And I wish there was. That might lay his hand on us both. Come on out here. Stand here, Job. Stand here, God. And he could be in between us.
[2:55] I just wish there was. Now, in the story, there won't be today. But for you to know, today there is one.
[3:06] There was one then, too, but he wasn't known yet. And before the story is over, God will talk to Job. And Job won't be able to ask any questions. God will ask him over 40 questions.
[3:18] And Job will just start there going, you're the boss. You're the boss. You're the boss. That will be when they do get together. Do you do realize this morning that if you don't know God, there's somebody standing between you and God?
[3:31] And he's ready to introduce you to God? Do you know that he loves you enough that he took on human flesh and he came to earth? And you're not saved. He loves you and he wants you to be saved.
[3:42] And if you are saved, some of you just seem to not ever have this relationship with God. But there's a God in heaven saying, here's Jesus with his hand on your shoulders saying, I'm here to be your priest.
[3:53] I'm here to do the talking for you. I'm here to get your message through to God. I'll tell you about God because when you see me, you're seeing God. And I'll bring God to you. I am God. And I'm here to you. And I'll take you to God.
[4:05] And there's a daysman betwixt us. You should underline that. A daysman betwixt us. Father, oh, thank you for Jesus. Jesus, thank you for who you are.
[4:17] Thank you for how you stood between us. Thank you for how you stand between almighty God and humble little man that no one should even think about.
[4:29] A speck on a planet in a universe. And yet you stood between us. I pray God that today you'd bless our hearts. You'd bless your scripture.
[4:39] You'd encourage us and excite us. And I'll give you praise, honor, and glory for all you do in Jesus' name. Amen. Now go with me if you would to Job chapter 8 and verse 1. And first thing you want to notice in Job chapter 8 and verse 1 is Bildad saying that God's always right.
[4:54] And God always does right. So Bildad's argument is, now Job, you've been running your mouth and you've been saying a lot of stuff, but we need to get something clear.
[5:05] God is always right. Look at Job chapter 8 and verse 1. Then answered Bildad, the Shuiite, and said, how long will you speak? How long are you going to run your mouth, Job?
[5:17] How long will these words come out of your mouth? Like a hot, blustery wind. Strongly, you don't run your mouth. You just blow off hot air. I got a question for you, Job.
[5:28] Does God pervert judgment or does the Almighty pervert justice? Now this is like a great friend. I mean, you know, Job's wife is all he's got left and she's complaining and telling him to curse God and die.
[5:42] His kids are all dead. His wealth is all gone. His health is gone. He's sitting in a stack of ashes and his clothes ripped. His body's covered in blisters and he's sick and he's hurting and he's complaining.
[5:57] And his friend's comforting him by saying, why don't you shut up and quit blowing out the hot air you're blowing out? I mean, you know, probably true a little bit, but you could have said it just a tad nicer. Amen.
[6:09] Job, God doesn't do wrong. God would never mistreat anyone. He would never mistreat innocent people. If bad things happen to your children, Job, it was because they were bad.
[6:22] Look if you would at Job chapter 8 and verse 4. If your children have sinned against him and he has cast them away for their transgression. So, Job, I don't know what you're getting upset about.
[6:34] Okay, so you say you're innocent, but your kids weren't. He took them. He killed them. That's comforting. Thank you, Bill Dad, for those kind words. My kids were jerks. I prayed for them all the time.
[6:45] I prayed for them all the time. I gave offerings all the time. And by the way, Job says, Bill Dad, if you were really right with God, you'd want to fix God. If you fix things with God, if you were innocent, look at Job 8.5. If you would seek God all the time right now, get on it and make your supplication to the Almighty.
[7:03] If you were, if you were, if thou wert, if you were pure and upright, you know, you'd go seek God right now. And surely now he would awake for you.
[7:14] I mean, let's just be honest, Job. You're sitting here in this sack of ashes. You've been seven days and now we've been running our mouths to you for hours. And the truth is, your kids are dead. And I don't know what they did wrong, but God wouldn't have killed them if they hadn't done something.
[7:27] And if you was a good man, you'd be talking to God right now. Maybe if you'd talk to God instead of complaining, God would answer. Well, if you were really right, like you claim you are, God would speak to you.
[7:40] Bill Dad is, you know, he's, I mean, he's not exactly the best friends you got. You know, you're laying in the bed dying of cancer. And he comes in and says, well, you're dying of cancer because you're wicked. You wouldn't be sick if you weren't bad.
[7:52] The reason you're sick, you're bad. And your kids are all dead because, well, they were jerks too. And, you know, God wouldn't kill anybody unless they'd done something wrong. And so Bill Dad says, I've got my source of authority.
[8:05] And it's what the old people said. Look if you would at Job chapter 8 and verse 8. I don't know how many of you fall into this trap. I know growing up all my life I heard everything, what all the old people said. Look at Job. Now I am the old people.
[8:16] But look at Job 8. For inquire, I pray thee, of the former age. Underline it. He said, won't you, let's go talk to old people. The old people know and prepare thyself to search of their fathers.
[8:26] Let's go find out. Let's go to the library and find all the old dusty psychology books. And let's go find out what the history books say. And let's go find out what human beings have learned. And they know because we are of yesterday.
[8:39] We just got here and we don't know anything. And we've been on the earth a very short time. But the old people, they will teach you and tell you in utter words out of their heart. That's about the dumbest advice you could ever get.
[8:53] It's kind of like, well, y'all are going to psychologists and psychiatrists and you don't get in a book. Oh, I shouldn't have said that. It's like you want to know how to raise children and you learn it from some godless atheist that's never read a Bible.
[9:10] And you're learning how to raise children from that guy. It's like you're trying to figure out how to fix your marriage and you think Dr. Phil's got the answer. And when Dr. Phil doesn't have it, Oprah has it. And basically, if any born-again Christian ought to say, I have the answer, God gave me the answer.
[9:24] But we are slow to get to the book. The last thing we do is pray. The last thing we do is read the Bible. We check out everything else first. God's people have a source of absolute truth.
[9:36] You should say amen right there. God's people have a source of absolute truth. And it's the Bible. We never trust what anybody said until we verify it.
[9:48] Let me tell you this. If scientists say to you one thing and the Word of God says something to you, you need to look and say, Now, wait a minute. I can take the wisdom of the Gentiles, the wisdom of the lost people, the wisdom of the atheists, the wisdom of the people that think they're wise, but it's in the vanity of their mind.
[10:04] I'm going to check what the Word of God says. You might ask me, Do you really believe that God created the world in six days? Yes, I do. You say, Well, there's a lot of science against that. I really don't care.
[10:16] If God said it, I'll just take what God said. Nature can teach us, but it's only a secondary or much lesser teacher. See, here's what you got.
[10:27] By the way, if you're in that Bible Institute that's meeting on Tuesday nights, and I think you could probably sneak in there if you tried, if you aren't already in there, you're learning about how God reveals himself. And the way God reveals himself is, old people can know a few things, and nature can teach you some things, but here's how God reveals himself.
[10:45] Right here. We got God's mind, and we got God's heart. The Bible, or Bildad, shows Job he's suffering because he forgot God. Look at Job chapter 8 and verse 13.
[10:56] So are the paths of all that forget God. Now, we know that in just a few chapters, God's going to say, Bildad's an idiot. Don't listen to him.
[11:08] He was dead wrong in what he said. But right now, we're like, Bildad said, Well, do you know why plants die? If you cut the water source off from them, they'll die.
[11:19] If you pull them up out of the ground, they can't grow. And so the reason things ain't going good for you is you've been pulled up out of the ground, you're not getting the water, you're not with God anymore. You have forgotten God.
[11:31] Now, that would sound pretty good if you didn't know this. You hadn't forgotten God. And that's why old Job's over and said, Man, I just wish somebody was here that could get me to God, me and God could do the talking, and Bildad, you could just shut up.
[11:42] I just wish somebody was here because I know I haven't done what you claim I've done. Job chapter 8 and verse 20. If bad things are happening to Job, it's because he deserves it, Bildad says.
[11:55] God will not cast away a perfect man, neither will he help evildoers. You know, if you've read the Bible, God actually raises up the nation of the Babylonians and the Chaldeans and the Medes, and he actually does help them hurt God's people even.
[12:12] Although this guy hadn't read the Bible, all he's doing is using his own mind and thinking about it. But Job acknowledges, in Job chapter 9 and verse 1, he acknowledges that God's right.
[12:23] There's no question that God is right. Job's not saying God's wrong. Job's saying, I don't understand why what's happening to me is happening to me. Look, if you would, at Job chapter 9 and verse 1.
[12:34] Job answered and said, I know it is so of a truth. And I got a question. How could anybody ever be right with God? But how should a man be just with God?
[12:45] There's nothing a mere mortal could ever do to be right with God. You should underline that verse. How in the world could you get right with God?
[12:56] The Bible says all have sinned and come show the glory of God. And we know sin separates us from God. The wages of sin is death. And we know that. And if you turned your life around today and never did another thing wrong and live perfectly the rest of your life, you'd still have what you did in the past.
[13:12] So Job says, to build that. Y'all, I know that. I know God's right. And I know there's no way I could ever fix things with God. Not on my own. I couldn't fix things with God.
[13:23] You need to know that today. You can't fix things with God. None of us can fix things with God. We don't need somebody. We're heading towards the days when we're not there yet.
[13:34] It's coming a little later in the chapter. But what we're headed to is this. If I could just talk to God, there's no way I can. You're right. But he's God and I'm nobody if there was only somebody to stand between the two of us.
[13:48] A man can't argue with God. Look at chapter 9 and verse 3. If he will contend with him, he can't answer him one of a thousand times. There's no way you can't win with God. In chapter 9 and verse 4, he's too wise and he's too mighty.
[14:01] He's wise in heart and he's mighty in strength. And anybody that stands against God can't prosper. God is so big. He moves creation and nature. Look at chapter 9 and verse 5. He removes mountains.
[14:13] He turns them upside down. He causes earthquakes. In chapter 9 and verse 7, he tells the sun what to do. God tells the sun what to do. In verse 8, he spreads out the heavens.
[14:24] He walks on water. In verse 9, he makes all the stars and the constellations and the universes. And he's so big you could never figure him out in verse 10.
[14:35] You could never. In verse 11, he says, and he's invisible. I can't even see him to talk to him. How would I ever talk to him? Look, he says, lo, he goes by me, but I don't see him.
[14:46] He passes on also and I don't perceive him. I don't see him and I don't feel him. How would you ever talk to God? Job knows he can't deal with God. But he said, I didn't do anything wrong.
[14:58] You guys are all telling me I did wrong, but I didn't do anything wrong. Look at chapter 9 and verse 14. How much less shall I answer him? There's no way I can answer God. How would I ever reason with God? Whom, though I were righteous, even though I am right in what I've done, how could I ever answer?
[15:15] But I wish there was a judge. I wish there was somebody that could say, you're right or you're wrong. I know God's all powerful. I know he can do anything he wants to do.
[15:25] I wish I could talk with my judge. But Job can't believe that God would talk to him. Chapter 9, verse 16. If I had called and he had answered me, I wouldn't believe it.
[15:38] How would you know it was God talking to you? How would you know? And if I did talk to him, I don't believe he'd listen to me. I mean, there's no way I can get God to listen to me. See, somewhere in your world, you think man is so big that God ought to pay attention to him.
[15:53] But the psalmist said, what is man that God would ever be mindful of him? What is man that God would ever think about him? Basically, the psalmist said, God is so big and we're so small, God would never, ever even think about us.
[16:09] But yet he does. A guy like you had figured out molecules. How many of you woke up this morning and think about all the molecules around you? Saying, I wonder what the atoms and the protons and neutrons are doing today. Probably most of you never even thought about that.
[16:21] And David looked up and said, I don't know why God even looked at us. We're like those little bitty things. But he's hurting. Old Job's hurting. His kids are dead.
[16:32] His wife's complaining. His wealth is gone. He's not healthy. He's not well. Look what he says in 917. God's breaking me. He multiplies my wounds.
[16:46] And he has no reason to do it. God's hurting me without a cause. The fact is, he won't even let me catch my breath. My life stinks.
[16:59] And I'm full of bitterness. I'm hurting. There's nothing I could say that even fix anything. Chapter 9 and verse 20.
[17:11] If I justify myself. If I even tried to tell God I was right. I'd mess up and say something wrong. And my words would condemn me. That's 920.
[17:22] And if I tried talking, it would prove how wicked I am. Perverse. Verse 21. Even if I were right, I wouldn't know my own soul. I would despise my life.
[17:33] And I don't care what you say, Bill Dad. God hurts good people and bad people. I don't care what you say, Bill Dad.
[17:44] You say it wouldn't happen. See, Bill Dad's a karma believer. Thinks you do bad, you get bad. You do good, you get good. But that's not what Job thinks. Chapter 9, verse 22. This one thing, I said, he, God, destroys the perfect and the wicked.
[18:00] And by the way, he'll laugh. You're going through a mess. And I'm hurt. So now, do you hear a desperate Job? He's got this friend over here that's just railing on him.
[18:13] He said, Job, won't you just shut up and quit whining and complaining? You're just blowing off hot air, son. Shut up. Job's like, my kids are dead.
[18:26] All my stuff is gone. I'm ready to die. I'm hurting. And my wife is nagging on me. I just wish I was away. I just wish I could talk to God.
[18:40] And that gets us to our verse. I might be where you are this morning. Because if you're lost, you can put on your happy face when you come to church. You can act like everything's right, but it's on the inside you're hurting.
[18:53] And if you're not hurting now, you will be. Don't you wish there was somebody that could have talked to God for you? Don't you wish there was somebody that could put his hand on your shoulder, his hand on God's shoulder, and say, let's talk.
[19:09] Read the verse with me. Job chapter. It's good stuff. How many of you have ever been to like Wits End Corner? How many of you have ever been to where he was like, man, it can't get no lower.
[19:22] It can't get no worse. I don't know where God is. He don't seem to answer my prayer. That's where Job is. Job chapter 9 and verse 32. Job says, I need a mediator. It's beautiful.
[19:33] This is beautiful. Verse 32. He's not a man. If he's a man, I think I might punch him right now. I'm a little upset. He's not a man as I am that I should answer him and we could come together and judge.
[19:48] But we can't even sit down and have a good argument. We can't even have a good argument. I mean, I'm a puny little man. I don't even know why he thinks about me. And if he gets mad, he turns mountains upside down.
[19:59] And he just throws a sky full of stars. And he walks on water. And I'm just a little old man. And my wife and my kids. Oh, I wish I had somebody.
[20:10] Look at it. Verse 32. There's nobody between us. Neither is there a daisman betwixt us. See, if you're a Bible reader, when you're in the book of Job, you know you're headed towards this other stuff over here.
[20:24] And Job don't know all I know. I know a lot of stuff. See, Job. We're in Job. Look, if you would, over to, look, if you would, to 1 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 5. We need somebody.
[20:36] Amen? Man, we need somebody. We need somebody to say, come here, Austin, buddy. I'm going to help you figure out things with God. And I need somebody to fix it where God would love me.
[20:47] Well, he already did love me. I don't know it, though. 1 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 5. There's one God. Job knew that. Job figured that part out.
[20:57] There's not one part of the book of Job where Job's going. I don't know if there's a God. That's not what's happening. Here's what Job needed. One mediator. Underline that.
[21:08] One mediator. Between God and man. A daisman betwixt us. Somebody that could stand between the two of us and put his hands on both shoulders.
[21:21] Between God and man. And you know who it is? The man, Christ Jesus. The man, the man, the Messiah.
[21:33] The man, the sent one. The man, the anointed one, the Christ. And his name is Jesus. And guess what he did? He gave himself a ransom.
[21:46] Check out that verse. Put the next one up. I need verse 6. Wake up back there, guys. He gave himself a ransom for all. That'll get you.
[21:58] Some of you in here wondering, well, I wonder if he loves me. Are you part of the all? I can settle a 2,000-year-old debate. Who did I for? All. To be testified in due time.
[22:10] Look at this. There is one God and one mediator. Job just wishes there'd be somebody that could stand between them. There's no one qualified. How could a man talk to God? Here's how it happens.
[22:23] God took on human flesh. There was no way this old termite could get all the way above all the creation. This God way up there in the heavens, he spreads the fire.
[22:36] It kind of reminds me of when my mother used to throw the tablecloth on the table. She flips it out and, boom, lays on the table. Or when you take that blanket and you toss it across the bed, God just said, boom, universe.
[22:49] Boom, stars. That's God. And Job's like, there's no way I could ever get to him. I don't know why he's doing it, but there's no way I could ever get to him. So God came to us. So amen.
[23:01] Look at what the Bible says. In 1 Timothy 3.16. Without controversy. There's no arguing about what I'm about to say. Great is the mystery of godliness.
[23:12] God was manifest in flesh. God. Somehow, this great, almighty, all-powerful God who says a word and mountains turn upside down.
[23:26] This God who throws out a blanket and causes all the universes to be laid in place. This God who is so big took on human flesh. He was justified in the spirit and seen of angels and preached unto Gentiles and believed unto the world and received up into glory.
[23:43] Job's like, I just wish I could talk to him. I just wish he understood me. I get the New Testament. Guess what I find? Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 15.
[23:55] You've got to write this stuff down. You need to look this up. Did you know this morning God knows you? He understands what you're going through. He feels your pain. Your loved one is dying of cancer. Your children are being rebellious.
[24:07] Right now, you can't figure out the financial thing. Your marriage is in a shambles. And you wish, I wish I could just get to God. And here's what he said. We have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities.
[24:23] You know, I'll just be blunt and honest with you. I don't really think the president cares what I'm feeling. I don't think any president in my lifetime has ever cared what I was feeling. I don't think my governor cares what I'm feeling.
[24:37] I never met the guy. You might think, well, God's so far up there and he's so big he can make a world. He's not touched by me. But God said, oh, yeah, he is.
[24:49] You need to underline that. He is touched with the feelings of your infirmities. He feels for you. He carries your burden.
[25:01] He loves you. I have friends with cancer. And I hurt.
[25:15] But so does my father. So does our Lord. He is touched with the feelings of our infirmities. You have someone who will be there for you when you're hurting.
[25:28] You see, Job says, I just wish. It's a beautiful picture. It's like the referee at the ball game. And they're about to flip the coin. And there's this days man out there. There's this referee. There's this umpire.
[25:39] He comes out. It's like, all right, your team, your team. Come on. Let's go. All right, talk. And he says, we just need somebody. Did you know our somebody who is touched with the feelings of our infirmities said in Hebrews 4, 16, let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
[26:07] You see what God said? God said, I know you. And I care enough about you. Starting all the way back in Genesis, I had this plan.
[26:18] I'm working to save you. We were sacrificing animals as a picture of Jesus to come. We're putting blood on the doorposts as a picture of Jesus to come.
[26:30] I put them in a boat with one door. Picture of Jesus to come. Every bit of Jesus is coming. And Job's standing there going, man, I just wish we had somebody. And the Holy Spirit's screaming, just read a few more chapters.
[26:42] I got somebody. Man, y'all are a camp meeting crowd. I just can't keep y'all calm. Let us come boldly to the throne of grace.
[26:53] You know what God is looking down and saying right now? Come on. Come on. Get in here. What you got problems with? Come talk to me. Job's like, I just wish I had somebody to talk to. And here's what the Bible says in Hebrews. Well, come on.
[27:04] Let's talk. Come boldly. You don't have to come timid. You don't have to come creeping in. You don't have to come in and say, can somebody go in here and see if it's okay if I go in? You just walk in like you own the place.
[27:15] Come boldly to the throne of grace and obtain mercy and find grace in the time of need. Job wanted a way to stand and talk to God. And you have a way.
[27:27] You have a priest that talks to God for you. Now, chapter 10. Now, I think the pinnacle of these three chapters was that daysman, that mediator that stands between the two.
[27:41] But in chapter 10, he's hurting. And his desperateness, his dealing with all this junk comes to the surface.
[27:53] He's like, I need God. And that ought to be the cry of our hearts. I need God. Job chapter 10 and verse 1. My soul is weary of life.
[28:06] I will leave my complaint upon myself. I speak in bitterness of soul. Man, I need a daysman. I need somebody.
[28:19] I need to know God and his peace. I don't want to keep living in my misery. Job says in chapter 10 and verse 2.
[28:30] God, why are you fighting against me? Look at it. God, why are you fighting against me? Do not condemn me. Show me wherefore, why are you contending with me?
[28:42] Wherefore, thou contendest me? Why do you fight with me? God, why do you mistreat your own creation? You made me. Why aren't you good to me? Job chapter 10 and verse 3.
[28:54] Why do you oppress me? Why do you despise the work of your own hands? God. God, you know I'm wicked, verse 7. You know I'm not wicked.
[29:04] You know I'm not wicked. God, you know I didn't do anything wrong. God, you know I didn't. All this junk came on me. I was praying and seeking you, and I wasn't doing anything wrong, God.
[29:17] You know it. Look at it. You see him saying that? Can you hear his agony? Why are you beating up on me?
[29:29] Job chapter 10 and verse 8. Your hands made me. They fashioned me. And you're destroying me. Don't you remember you made me out of dirt, out of clay?
[29:40] I can't take it. Job said I can't win for losing. Verse 14. If I sin, you catch that.
[29:53] And you won't give me any mercy. And if I'm wicked, well, that's bad for me. Woe on me. And if I'm righteous, I still can't hold my head up. I am full of confusion.
[30:05] I wish I was dead. That's what he says. I wish I had never been born.
[30:19] You see, if you don't have a mediator, you don't have a way to get to God, fate is cruel. Life is cruel. He's suffering.
[30:32] And it's not his fault. God knows that. But Job is hurt and confused. But here's the beautiful lesson of these three chapters. God knows where you live.
[30:46] And it just might be good for you to get as down and out and broken as Job. Where you can't look anywhere but up.
[30:59] And say, oh, oh, oh. There's nothing in me. I've failed. I've sinned.
[31:09] I need you. There's nothing left for me. That's where Job gets. You know what the great lesson is?
[31:22] He came to us. He looked down and saw his creation. And he never intended for us to suffer like that. But we sinned and we rebelled against God.
[31:34] And we chose to go our own way. And the second we did, we brought hell on ourselves. Nations fighting against nations and countries falling apart.
[31:45] And families messed up. Lives are twisted and torn. It's all because you don't want to do it God's way. And God looks down from heaven and says, I know y'all messed up. But here I come.
[31:56] That's what he did in the garden, by the way. What you don't see is how sweet he is. Adam and Eve sinned. And they were naked. And they were hiding. And they were ashamed. And they were afraid.
[32:06] And you think any second now, God's going to burst on the scene and start yelling at him. God comes up. He goes, Adam. Adam. Hey, buddy, where are you? He knew where he was. Adam needed to figure out where he was.
[32:18] Adam said, we're over here. But we're hiding because we're naked. Well, who told you he was naked? We ate that fruit you told us not to eat. Well, get over here. I'm going to go over and kill a lamb.
[32:29] Now, picture of Jesus. I'm going to cover you up. Give you a dignity back. You messed up. But I save up.
[32:41] You messed up. But I fix up. That's who he's been since Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15. Boy, what a God. What a God.
[32:51] Amen. He's great. So I remind you. Do you feel alone and abandoned? Are your sins separating you from God? Do you need someone to make your case before God?
[33:05] There is a mediator. There is a daysman. Job chapter 9 and verse 32. He is not a man, but he took on manhood as I am that I should answer him.
[33:20] And we could come together in judgment. Neither is there any daysman betwixt us that he might lay hand on us both. But that verse parallels with 1 Timothy 2, 5.
[33:33] There's one God and one mediator between God and men. The man Christ Jesus who gave himself a ransom for us all. And I need you to understand something.
[33:43] There is no other way to get things fixed. You can't go through religion. You can't go through a saint. You can't go through Mary. You can't go through good works. Karma is a joke.
[33:55] You need Jesus. And here's what he said to you. I feel for you. I feel your infirmities. What in the world?
[34:09] A God who says, I know you. I count the hairs on your head. I love you. That's why I died on a cross for you.
[34:21] So you could be saved. And then he says, so come boldly. Come boldly to the throne of grace. And obtain mercy.
[34:32] You'll not get to heaven because you're good. You'll not get to heaven because you've done right. You'll not get to heaven because you've been baptized. You'll not get to heaven because you were a church member. You'll not get to heaven because you was a good husband or wife or child or school teacher or politician.
[34:47] You'll get to heaven because you found mercy. That's how we get there. And he said, y'all just come on boldly and ask for it. And you can find grace. So two things as I close.
[34:59] But I believe there are probably people in this room that aren't sure they'd go to heaven if they died. And I think you believe your salvation is determined by how you're doing.
[35:10] It's not how you're doing. It's what he did. You're not going to get to heaven because you are a good person. You're going to get to heaven because he's a good person. You're not going to get to heaven because of the things you've done.
[35:23] And some of you are holding on to your goodness. If I said to you, how do you know you'd go to heaven if you died, you'd say to me, I've been baptized. That doesn't matter. That's not going to get you to heaven.
[35:34] You'd say, well, I'm a church member. I've always believed. And you're going to tell me a whole bunch of junk when what you've got to really get to the hold of is, man, there's no way I could ever get to heaven except for mercy and except for grace.
[35:50] If you're not saved, today's your day. He loves you and he wants to save you and give you new life. But then there are Christians. You see, Job's not a lost man. In this story, Job's not the lost man.
[36:01] In this story, Job's a Christian. Not a Christian because it's still Old Testament, but Job's like a Christian. He's an Old Testament saint. And he's hurting. And his life has fallen apart, humanly speaking.
[36:14] And he just needs God. I'm pretty sure some of y'all walked in this room today with a smile on your face, standing up erect, with a strong back and a smile on your face and pain in your heart.
[36:34] Doubt and fear. You don't know what's going to happen. You're saved. But just to be blunt and honest, your life stinks. You need God. You say, I got saved.
[36:47] What's going on? And here's the answer. He feels for you. Come boldly. Come boldly to the throne of grace. Find mercy at the throne of grace.
[37:00] Find help when you're hurting in time of need. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[37:40] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[37:51] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[38:01] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.