Latest / The Bread of the Word Podcast / Job 31:1-4 - Steps Watched by God

Transcript

Job 31:1-4 - Steps Watched by God · The Bread of the Word Podcast

• 0:18
  Welcome to Bread of the Word,
• 0:20
  a space for quiet minds and anchor hearts
• 0:24
  to dwell on the glory of Christ.
• 0:26
  Let's ponder the verities of God together
• 0:29
  and meditate on the mysteries we do not yet understand.
• 0:32
  Looking back to our Redeemer
• 0:34
  that we might walk forward in disgrace
• 0:48
  hello and welcome back to Bread of the Word.
• 0:50
  I am Tyler, your, Lophy Theologian
• 0:53
  this is a space for contemplative Protestant theology
• 0:57
  rooted in Scripture and
• 0:58
  grounded in the glory of Christ.
• 1:00
  We are continuing our trek through the Book of Job
• 1:03
  and we are going to be starting chapter 31. Today
• 1:06
  we are we are in the tail end of the Book of Joe, we are
• 1:10
  within 11 chapters of being done,
• 1:13
  lord who willing will be done with Joe this year.
• 1:16
  It's definitely been a trek
• 1:19
  it's been honestly a long series I've ever done.
• 1:21
  This was
• 1:23
  preceded by Song of Solomon so
• 1:25
  this is
• 1:26
  this is different.
• 1:27
  This is long, but chapter 31
• 1:30
  read the first 4 verses
• 1:32
  says I made a covenant with mine eyes
• 1:34
  why then should I think upon a maid?
• 1:37
  For what portion of God is there from above
• 1:39
  and what inheritance of the Almighty from on high
• 1:42
  is not destruction to the wicked
• 1:44
  and a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity
• 1:47
  doth not He see my ways and count all my steps
• 1:51
  and so we're kind of moving in a different direction
• 1:54
  again, this is, still part of job's kind.
• 1:56
  Of final remarks, once we finish this chapter
• 1:59
  Job is done talking
• 2:00
  until God speaks in the whirlwind,
• 2:03
  so this is kind of his
• 2:05
  closing remarks in dealing with the
• 2:08
  foolishness of his friends and dealing with their
• 2:11
  lack of wisdom concerning his
• 2:13
  suffering and his situation
• 2:16
  but we seem to be
• 2:18
  kind of turning the corner and hitting harder on
• 2:22
  Sin and his
• 2:25
  alleged sinfulness that has warranted his sufferings
• 2:28
  that's been the thing since chapter 3.
• 2:31
  I think it was when when they showed up
• 2:34
  was once they start making accusations
• 2:36
  it was you did something to deserve this
• 2:39
  and Job has defended himself time and time again
• 2:43
  with deep, intense Hebrew poetry
• 2:46
  that is hard to interpret hard to dissect and hard to
• 2:50
  read. Sometimes this is
• 2:53
  if we get to job, often, times in those
• 2:56
  Bible on the year plans,
• 2:58
  what do we do
• 2:58
  we read the first 2 chapters and the last 2 chapters
• 3:02
  job is job isn't
• 3:05
  but here he deals specifically with
• 3:08
  his
• 3:09
  sinlessness, that he is not necessarily
• 3:12
  without sin the entire of his life,
• 3:15
  but that in this
• 3:17
  specific situation that Job is innocent
• 3:20
  that he is blameless, which is what God Himself said
• 3:23
  about Job at the beginning of the book
• 3:27
  right? If we go back to Job 1
• 3:30
  verse one,
• 3:31
  there was a man in the land of us whose name was Job,
• 3:33
  and that man was perfect and upright,
• 3:35
  one that feared God in a shoot evil
• 3:38
  and. Then we get down to
• 3:41
  the words of God Himself
• 3:43
  in verse 8 when he speaking to Satan and he says
• 3:46
  Hast thou consider my servant Jobe
• 3:48
  that there is none like him in the earth
• 3:50
  a perfect and upright man?
• 3:52
  One that fears God and issue with evil
• 3:55
  this is
• 3:56
  something that God repeats.
• 3:58
  This is something we're supposed to
• 4:00
  be mindful of.
• 4:01
  That job is
• 4:03
  in some sense is perfect and upright, that he, is
• 4:06
  innocent and he is blameless.
• 4:09
  And so we get here and he's talking about
• 4:12
  his relationship to sin
• 4:14
  and that's kind of
• 4:16
  the jumping off point that we have
• 4:18
  and so in chapter 31 he opens with I made a covenant
• 4:22
  with mine eyes
• 4:23
  why then should I think upon a mate?
• 4:27
  Oftentimes in the modern context, we look at that text
• 4:30
  we look at that verse
• 4:32
  and we automatically go to pornography,
• 4:35
  and I think that is a viable
• 4:37
  application of the text
• 4:39
  a matter of fact
• 4:39
  this is one of
• 4:41
  the instances in the Old Testament
• 4:43
  where you can make a case against that
• 4:46
  from pre Christ before the Sermon on the Mount,
• 4:50
  because what the Sermon on the Mount does is
• 4:52
  it applies to law
• 4:54
  to the heart is
• 4:55
  it applies the law to desires and thoughts and desires
• 5:00
  right?
• 5:01
  So it's not just actions,
• 5:02
  which is how a lot of the Jews in
• 5:05
  the earthly ministry of Christ
• 5:07
  thought about the Law was that it was all deeds it
• 5:10
  was all actions but there, was no, thought
• 5:12
  there was no heart
• 5:13
  there was no feelings that
• 5:15
  dealt with that at all
• 5:17
  I've actually heard on the radio for a popular
• 5:22
  speaker who is not a Christian who is very much
• 5:25
  considered a Jew
• 5:28
  has outright said that
• 5:30
  the Old Testament law does not forbid pornography,
• 5:34
  and this verse
• 5:36
  on one hand rans him against that very well,
• 5:39
  but this is
• 5:40
  a text that causes us to think
• 5:42
  about sin in a particular way,
• 5:45
  because he
• 5:45
  prefaces that statement about thinking upon a maid
• 5:50
  with I made a covenant with my eyes
• 5:54
  and this is actually
• 5:56
  chronologically speaking,
• 5:57
  job is the first Old Testament book to be written,
• 1:00:00
  and this is the first instance we have
• 1:00:03
  of the word covenant
• 1:00:05
  in the Bible.
• 1:00:06
  Now there are covenants that precede this
• 1:00:08
  because we've got god's dealings
• 1:00:11
  with Adams in the garden,
• 1:00:12
  but as far as seeing the word covenant,
• 1:00:15
  this is I believe,
• 1:00:16
  the first instance of that happening
• 1:00:20
  and it is in reference to
• 1:00:22
  Job maintaining purity in the eyes of God.
• 1:00:26
  It is a covenant to be pure, to walk in god's ways
• 1:00:31
  and specifically regarding his eyes
• 1:00:35
  that he is not to behold things that are
• 1:00:38
  sinful,
• 1:00:42
  and that is the preface that he gives before he starts
• 1:00:46
  expounding upon
• 1:00:48
  where he has not sin
• 1:00:50
  where he has not gone astray is he starts with the eyes
• 1:00:58
  and that is, that's very New Testament.
• 1:01:00
  Honestly, that is very.
• 1:01:01
  New Testament consistent.
• 1:01:03
  Well,
• 1:01:04
  we go to Matthew 5.
• 1:01:07
  We look at the Sermon on the Mount.
• 1:01:09
  We see
• 1:01:11
  some similar ideas
• 1:01:14
  right, but just starting off with the B attitudes
• 1:01:18
  as blessed are the poor spirit
• 1:01:20
  for theirs is the King of heaven
• 1:01:22
  blessed are they that mourned for they
• 1:01:23
  shall be comforted,
• 1:01:25
  blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth
• 1:01:28
  blessed are they which do hunger and thirst
• 1:01:31
  after righteousness
• 1:01:32
  these aren't just deeds,
• 1:01:33
  these are dispositions of the heart
• 1:01:36
  blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy
• 1:01:39
  blessed are the pure in heart
• 1:01:42
  for they shall see
• 1:01:45
  God
• 1:01:47
  now. Put that in dialogue with what we just read in Job
• 1:01:50
  I have made a covenant with mine eyes
• 1:01:54
  why should I think upon a maid in the context of
• 1:01:58
  by maintaining
• 1:02:00
  he is cognizant of God at work in his life
• 1:02:05
  he sees God at work
• 1:02:08
  when his heart is pure.
• 1:02:12
  He proberts 4.
• 1:02:13
  23 and some
• 1:02:15
  there's so much
• 1:02:15
  Old Testament that we could go to corroborate that
• 1:02:18
  but Proverb 423 says guard your heart above all else
• 1:02:22
  why for your life
• 1:02:23
  flows from it
• 1:02:24
  and there's varying ways that's been translated
• 1:02:26
  that all essentially mean the same thing
• 1:02:29
  that it determines the course of your life,
• 1:02:32
  and Jesus very much is consistent with that and
• 1:02:36
  gives very practical examples of that
• 1:02:40
  when He deals with
• 1:02:42
  the law in the Sermon on the MT verse 27 of chapter 5,
• 1:02:46
  He says Ye have.
• 1:02:46
  Heard it said of them of old
• 1:02:49
  thou shalt not commit adultery
• 1:02:51
  but I say unto you
• 1:02:54
  that whatsoever
• 1:02:55
  I'm sorry that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust
• 1:03:00
  after her half committed adultery with her already
• 1:03:03
  in his heart
• 1:03:06
  and so he takes the law.
• 1:03:08
  It's not just about the deed that we call adultery
• 1:03:13
  because it starts in the heart it starts on the inside
• 1:03:18
  and works its way
• 1:03:20
  out
• 1:03:22
  when Adam and Eve
• 1:03:25
  ate the fruit in the garden.
• 1:03:28
  The sin didn't begin when the
• 1:03:30
  fruit the sin began with the pride with
• 1:03:33
  the desire to acquire wisdom apart from God
• 1:03:39
  and that manifested in the eating of the fruit
• 1:03:44
  the fruit was an outward demonstration of what was in
• 1:03:48
  adam's heart,
• 1:03:50
  and when we see this
• 1:03:52
  in Job,
• 1:03:53
  but this is
• 1:03:54
  the outworking that
• 1:03:55
  since starts on the inside
• 1:03:57
  and works its way to the faculties
• 1:03:59
  it goes outward
• 1:04:00
  it is a process of compromise
• 1:04:05
  that
• 1:04:06
  takes hold in phases.
• 1:04:10
  Right? We look at Psalm 1,
• 1:04:12
  blessed is the man who
• 1:04:14
  needless 3 things
• 1:04:15
  who walketh not in the council in the ungodly
• 1:04:18
  nor standeth in the way of sinners
• 1:04:21
  nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful
• 1:04:24
  there is a progression
• 1:04:26
  in that list, and this is all technically one thing
• 1:04:31
  because it goes blesses the man who
• 1:04:33
  da da da da da and this says
• 1:04:35
  but
• 1:04:36
  and then it lets the antithesis
• 1:04:38
  that this is what they call
• 1:04:41
  and we can get deep into.
• 1:04:42
  The poetry is actually not important
• 1:04:44
  unnecessarily to this conversation
• 1:04:46
  but
• 1:04:46
  those are 3 different ways of illustrating one thing
• 1:04:50
  which is the compromise that comes in with sin
• 1:04:53
  that we go from
• 1:04:57
  walking in the council, the ungodly To
• 1:05:01
  standing in the way of sinners To sitting
• 1:05:04
  in the seat at the scornful
• 1:05:06
  from walking their council to congregating with them to
• 1:05:11
  sitting at their table
• 1:05:13
  all within a certain context
• 1:05:15
  and the antithesis
• 1:05:17
  of this says the Psalm
• 1:05:19
  is what is but his delight
• 1:05:22
  is on the law of the LORD, and this is what
• 1:05:25
  God says in Psalm.
• 1:05:26
  This is the kind of person
• 1:05:27
  who is blessed is the one who delights in god's
• 1:05:31
  law,
• 1:05:32
  and on his law doth he meditate day
• 1:05:35
  and night
• 1:05:37
  and he shall be like a tree
• 1:05:39
  planted by the rivers of water
• 1:05:41
  that bringeth forth his fruit and his season
• 1:05:43
  his leaf also shall not wither,
• 1:05:45
  and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
• 1:05:49
  At Psalm 1.
• 1:05:50
  I had a friend recently
• 1:05:52
  described it to me that Psalm 1 is basically the B
• 1:05:54
  attitudes of the Old Testament,
• 1:05:57
  and there's a lot that we can
• 1:05:58
  connect with the Sermon on the Mount from Psalm 1.
• 2:00:01
  Even
• 2:00:02
  just the B attitudes
• 2:00:04
  blessed are the pure and heart for they shall see God
• 2:00:08
  on Psalm 24
• 2:00:10
  also says who shall ascend the hill of the LORD,
• 2:00:13
  one with clean hands and a pure heart
• 2:00:18
  but where does how does that sin how does that fester?
• 2:00:22
  If we go to James one
• 2:00:26
  go to James 1,
• 2:00:28
  verse
• 2:00:30
  15,
• 2:00:31
  sorry verse 14,
• 2:00:33
  but every man is tempted when he is drawn
• 2:00:36
  away of his own lust and enticed.
• 2:00:39
  Then when lust hath conceived it bringeth forth sin
• 2:00:44
  and
• 2:00:45
  it is finished bringeth forth death
• 2:00:49
  so sin begins within our hearts and our wills
• 2:00:53
  and it works its way out into our actions
• 2:00:56
  that it goes from thoughts
• 2:00:59
  to desires to feel all that's
• 2:01:01
  kind of jumbled together
• 2:01:03
  and it works its way out into our
• 2:01:05
  deeds.
• 2:01:09
  And so what Job invites us into
• 2:01:12
  with this statement in chapter 31. Verse 1.
• 2:01:15
  Is a view of our sin
• 2:01:18
  that is in light of 2 things
• 2:01:21
  1 if you of our sin in light of
• 2:01:24
  it being an internal thing working its way out
• 2:01:27
  but be that it is an outworking of covenant
• 2:01:31
  that our view of sin is in light
• 2:01:33
  of a covenant with God,
• 2:01:36
  that there is a That there is a
• 2:01:39
  there's a covenant that there' is.
• 2:01:41
  There is a hard rot arrangement
• 2:01:45
  between God and man that we are participating in
• 2:01:48
  day by day
• 2:01:49
  moment by moment decision by decision
• 2:01:53
  and we could go
• 2:01:55
  to the stereotypical Presbyterian
• 2:01:57
  passages to look at covenant theology and all that
• 2:02:01
  but I'm not going to
• 2:02:02
  go that way
• 2:02:05
  because in actuality I want to draw attention to
• 2:02:09
  birth Corinthians chapter 11,
• 2:02:13
  my
• 2:02:14
  first Corinthians chapter 10,
• 2:02:17
  but we
• 2:02:18
  look at
• 2:02:20
  to me,
• 2:02:20
  we look at the Lord supper.
• 2:02:24
  The cup of blessing
• 2:02:25
  which we bless?
• 2:02:26
  Is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?
• 2:02:29
  The bread which we break
• 2:02:30
  is it not the communion of the Body of Christ
• 2:02:34
  for we being many, are, one bred and, one body
• 2:02:37
  for we are all partakers of that one bred?
• 2:02:40
  Behold Israel after the flesh
• 2:02:41
  are they not that which eat of the sacrifice
• 2:02:44
  partakers of the altar
• 2:02:47
  what say I then that the idol is anything
• 2:02:50
  or that which is offered in sacrifice
• 2:02:52
  idols is anything.
• 2:02:53
  But I say. He says that the things
• 2:02:55
  which the Gentile sacrifice they sacrifice to devils
• 2:02:58
  and not to God.
• 2:02:59
  I would not that you should have fellowship with devils
• 2:03:02
  he says, you cannot drink the cup of the Lord
• 2:03:04
  and the cup of devils
• 2:03:05
  you cannot be partakers of the lord's table
• 2:03:07
  and the table of devils
• 2:03:10
  do we provoke the Lord to jealousy?
• 2:03:13
  Are we stronger than He says
• 2:03:15
  all things are lawful for me,
• 2:03:17
  but all things are not expedient
• 2:03:18
  all things are lawful
• 2:03:20
  but all things edify, not
• 2:03:23
  so there's this
• 2:03:24
  invitation he has to examination to thinking
• 2:03:28
  soberly and carefully about these things about
• 2:03:30
  where do we go?
• 2:03:32
  What do we partake in?
• 2:03:33
  What are our lines that we're not willing to cross
• 2:03:37
  in pursuit of what is pleasing to God?
• 2:03:48
  And if we skip ahead a little bit
• 2:03:56
  to chapter 11,
• 2:03:58
  verse 23 says for I received of the Lord
• 2:04:01
  that which also I delivered unto.
• 2:04:03
  You that the Lord Jesus,
• 2:04:04
  the same knight in which he was betrayed, took bread
• 2:04:07
  and when he had given thanks he break it and said take
• 2:04:10
  eat. This is my body, which is broken for you
• 2:04:14
  this due in remembrance of me
• 2:04:18
  after the same manner
• 2:04:19
  also
• 2:04:19
  he took the cup
• 2:04:21
  when he heads up saying this cup is the New Testament
• 2:04:25
  in my blood
• 2:04:27
  because covenants
• 2:04:29
  involve
• 2:04:31
  a sacrifice, involve
• 2:04:34
  they involve something very serious that there are
• 2:04:36
  there are signs of covenants,
• 2:04:39
  and there is
• 2:04:40
  very real ramifications when you enter into a covenant
• 2:04:43
  he says, this cup is the New Testament in my blood.
• 2:04:47
  This do ye as oft as you drink it in remembrance of me
• 2:04:51
  for as often as he eats his bread and drink this cup,
• 2:04:54
  yidi show the lord's death until he come.
• 2:04:57
  Whosoever shall
• 2:04:58
  eat this bread and drink this cup to the LORD
• 2:05:00
  unworthily
• 2:05:02
  shall be guilty of the body and blood of the LORD.
• 2:05:05
  But let a man examine himself,
• 2:05:08
  and so let him eat of that bread and Drake of that cup,
• 2:05:11
  for he that eath and draketh unworshily
• 2:05:14
  eath and draketh damnation to himself
• 2:05:16
  not discerning the lord's body
• 2:05:19
  for this cause.
• 2:05:20
  Many are weak and sickly among you and many sleep
• 2:05:23
  for we would judge ourselves we should. Not be judged
• 2:05:26
  but when we are judged we are chastened of the Lord
• 2:05:29
  that we should not be condemned with the world
• 2:05:36
  and
• 2:05:37
  what am I doing? With the
• 2:05:39
  invitation to
• 2:05:41
  examine our hearts, to, examine where we are
• 2:05:44
  in our walk with God,
• 2:05:47
  not just the deeds, but what's in here
• 2:05:50
  am I rightly discerning the body in the blood
• 2:05:54
  as he says am I partaking of this unworthily
• 2:05:57
  and that that is something that
• 2:05:59
  God has given to us
• 3:00:01
  where we're fed in a very tangible way
• 3:00:04
  spiritually speaking
• 3:00:05
  but there's' also
• 3:00:06
  this notion that when we partake of the lord's Supper
• 3:00:09
  that there is
• 3:00:10
  examination that there is reflection there is
• 3:00:14
  there is ample time to deal with God
• 3:00:17
  and with our own hearts
• 3:00:19
  in response to God.
• 3:00:22
  And so Job says I made a covenant with my eyes
• 3:00:27
  so then
• 3:00:28
  I partake in what is pure
• 3:00:32
  I set my eyes on what is good and what is pure,
• 3:00:35
  what is holy what is pleasing to God,
• 3:00:37
  so that whatsoever he does,
• 3:00:39
  whether he eats or drinks it is to the glory of God.
• 3:00:45
  This is for what portion of God is there from above
• 3:00:48
  and what inheritance of the Almighty from on high
• 3:00:51
  what is the inheritance for the people of God? It is
• 3:00:55
  Christ. It is the riches of Christ.
• 3:00:57
  I've heard it for years
• 3:01:00
  that Grace the Unmerited Favor of God
• 3:01:05
  poured out on us is an acronym
• 3:01:08
  god's Riches at christ's Expense.
• 3:01:11
  That is what is ours through the Death of Christ.
• 3:01:14
  Through that covenantal death
• 3:01:16
  is
• 3:01:19
  the riches that are in Christ are also ours
• 3:01:21
  Romans 8 tells us.
• 3:01:22
  That we are co heirs with Christ,
• 3:01:25
  that we are adopted sons.
• 3:01:27
  We are adopted as sons with an inheritance
• 3:01:32
  that we are co heirs
• 3:01:34
  with the riches of Christ,
• 3:01:35
  not in the sense that we become gods,
• 3:01:38
  but in the sense that we will
• 3:01:39
  dwell in the house of the Lord
• 3:01:42
  that we shall see God,
• 3:01:45
  and we will worship God in an environment where
• 3:01:48
  the sins that now entrap us.
• 3:01:50
  The sins that take our hearts away from God
• 3:01:53
  will not coexist.
• 3:01:57
  We will
• 3:01:57
  worship God in an environment where sin does not
• 3:02:01
  exist,
• 3:02:04
  and so Job has taken a moment to ponder his own
• 3:02:08
  capacity for sin to ponder if he is
• 3:02:11
  in fact pure in the eyes of God,
• 3:02:15
  and He
• 3:02:16
  by extension invites us encourages us to do likewise.
• 3:02:21
  He says, is not destruction to the wicked
• 3:02:23
  in a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity
• 3:02:27
  that says in Psalm chapter 6
• 3:02:30
  that the Lord hates all who work iniquity.
• 3:02:34
  Jesus himself in the New Testament says depart for me
• 3:02:39
  I never knew you
• 3:02:41
  workers of iniquity
• 3:02:47
  and the ending of some of someone
• 3:02:51
  says that the way of godly men unto the LORD is known,
• 3:02:57
  whereas the way of wicked men shall quite be overthrown
• 3:03:03
  there is there's no
• 3:03:05
  seat at the table
• 3:03:08
  for that.
• 3:03:12
  Verse 4 doth not he see my ways and count all my steps
• 3:03:18
  someone 30 says
• 3:03:21
  that if
• 3:03:22
  he was to
• 3:03:24
  record our sins who should stand
• 3:03:28
  lord, who?
• 3:03:28
  Should stand if Thou, O Lord, should Mark iniquity
• 3:03:32
  but yet with the forgiveness is that feared
• 3:03:35
  Thou mayest be
• 3:03:42
  so. There is an
• 3:03:45
  there's been a transition from
• 3:03:47
  the inner desires for sin
• 3:03:49
  to the punishment for sin
• 3:03:51
  to the fact that God knows all
• 3:03:53
  that's been the progression in this' text' here
• 3:03:56
  that God knows all
• 3:03:57
  psalm 139
• 3:04:00
  says that if I ascend into heaven thou art there
• 3:04:03
  and if I make my bed down in hell, behold thou art there
• 3:04:07
  if I take on myself the wings of the morning
• 3:04:09
  or if I make my dwelling place
• 3:04:11
  among the depths of the sea
• 3:04:12
  even there shall thy hand lead me and thy right hand
• 3:04:15
  shall hold me.
• 3:04:16
  There is nowhere we can go
• 3:04:18
  that God is not already there
• 3:04:19
  there is no where we can go, where we can find
• 3:04:23
  solace from His presence.
• 3:04:27
  As much as we sin
• 3:04:28
  there is no where we can go that God is not there
• 3:04:30
  there is no fleeing the presence of God
• 3:04:33
  in the proper sense.
• 3:04:36
  Now does God withhold some of his goodness
• 3:04:38
  and some of his mercy
• 3:04:39
  and cause things to sting a little bit?
• 3:04:41
  What? We are sinning? Absolutely
• 3:04:44
  I think that's what happened with Jonah
• 3:04:46
  before the fish
• 3:04:48
  but the reality is that God does not fully leave
• 3:04:52
  His people.
• 3:04:54
  There may be times where we feel His presence
• 3:04:57
  less.
• 3:04:58
  Maybe that's because' of sin
• 3:04:59
  maybe that's because' of the trial
• 3:05:02
  whatever the case may. Be, but God is here
• 3:05:05
  none the less.
• 3:05:07
  And so if God knows all my sins
• 3:05:11
  and he he hates it,
• 3:05:13
  where do we go? What do we do
• 3:05:19
  we're told in First John that if we' confess our sins
• 3:05:24
  he is faithful
• 3:05:25
  and he is just
• 3:05:27
  to forgive. Why? Because that was? Paid for
• 3:05:30
  to the death of Christ that he
• 3:05:32
  as it says in First Peter
• 3:05:34
  chapter 2, he bore our sins in his body
• 3:05:37
  why that we might die to sin
• 3:05:41
  and live
• 3:05:43
  into righteousness?
• 3:05:47
  That
• 3:05:48
  is ours,
• 3:05:49
  so that the pure and heart shall see God because our
• 3:05:53
  hearts have been made pure
• 3:05:56
  by the merits of Christ
• 3:05:58
  that my heart will never be pure enough for God.
• 4:00:03
  Job may have gotten close,
• 4:00:05
  but even compared to the radiant glory of God,
• 4:00:08
  blameless Job would still have fallen short
• 4:00:13
  and yet
• 4:00:14
  we have been caused to stand
• 4:00:18
  in the heavenly places that we have been
• 4:00:21
  grafted into the family of God,
• 4:00:24
  not by our own merit,
• 4:00:25
  not by our own righteousness not by our own deeds,
• 4:00:28
  but by them
• 4:00:29
  the worth of Christ.
• 4:00:32
  By the righteousness of Christ
• 4:00:35
  we are called pure.
• 4:00:41
  So some one or 3
• 4:00:48
  says
• 4:00:51
  the Lord is merciful and gracious,
• 4:00:54
  slow to anger and plenteous in mercy.
• 4:00:58
  He will not always shide
• 4:00:59
  neither will he keep his anger forever.
• 4:01:02
  He hath not dealt with us after our sins
• 4:01:07
  nor rewarded us according to our iniquities
• 4:01:12
  for as high for us the heaven is high above the earth
• 4:01:15
  so great is His mercy towards them that fear Him
• 4:01:19
  as far as the east is from the west.
• 4:01:22
  So far had he removed our transgressions from us
• 4:01:29
  like as a father piteous his children,
• 4:01:32
  so the Lord piteous them that fear him
• 4:01:39
  for he knoweth our frame he rememberth that we are. Dust.
• 4:01:43
  As for man, his days are as grass as a flower
• 4:01:46
  the field so he flourisheth
• 4:01:48
  for the wind passeth over it and it is gone
• 4:01:51
  and the place thereof shall know it no more.
• 4:01:55
  God has taken our sins and he's taken them from us
• 4:01:59
  as far as the east is from the west
• 4:02:02
  have we been separated from our sins
• 4:02:04
  that left us condemned?
• 4:02:06
  What does that mean?
• 4:02:07
  I don't know,
• 4:02:09
  but it's far it's far away
• 4:02:13
  it can't be found.
• 4:02:17
  It's not that God has forgotten,
• 4:02:19
  it's been paid for,
• 4:02:24
  and God of all people knows what
• 4:02:27
  we are, knows who we are,
• 4:02:31
  and yet he did it
• 4:02:32
  anyway
• 4:02:35
  that God saw fit for us to be brought near to Him
• 4:02:43
  though we are,
• 4:02:44
  we are as grass as a flower.
• 4:02:46
  The field that the wind passes over and is gone
• 4:02:49
  is but the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting
• 4:02:52
  to everlasting
• 4:02:54
  upon them that fear Him
• 4:02:55
  and His righteousness unto children's children'
• 4:02:58
  to such as keep His covenant into those
• 4:03:01
  that remember His commandments
• 4:03:02
  to do them
• 4:03:03
  the LORD has prepared His throne in the heavens
• 4:03:06
  and His kingdom rules overall
• 4:03:09
  bless the Lord, ye his angels that excel in strength
• 4:03:13
  that do his commandments,
• 4:03:14
  hearkening unto the voice of his word.
• 4:03:17
  Bless the Lord, all he his hosts
• 4:03:20
  he ministers of his that do his pleasure.
• 4:03:22
  Bless the Lord.
• 4:03:24
  All his works in all places of his dominion.
• 4:03:27
  Bless the Lord.
• 4:03:28
  O
• 4:03:29
  my
• 4:03:30
  soul!
• 4:03:36
  We may not have the standing that Job
• 4:03:39
  expounds on
• 4:03:42
  that he is
• 4:03:43
  blameless and upright,
• 4:03:46
  one who feareth God and issueth evil
• 4:03:49
  we may not meet that
• 4:03:51
  let alone the purchase, perfect righteousness
• 4:03:54
  that is in Christ.
• 4:03:57
  And
• 4:03:59
  yet
• 4:04:01
  God has done all the work to bring us into His presence,
• 4:04:07
  to bring us
• 4:04:08
  into His fold.
• 4:04:11
  We are His,
• 4:04:13
  and so what is left is to confess our sins
• 4:04:16
  to a good and gracious God, to a merciful God,
• 4:04:20
  whose
• 4:04:21
  mercy is higher than
• 4:04:24
  the heavens are above, the earth
• 4:04:28
  to the God who spreads out our sins as far away
• 4:04:31
  as the East is from the West,
• 4:04:36
  who has more love and more pity upon his children
• 4:04:40
  than an earthly father.
• 4:04:43
  The peer to Richard Sibs said
• 4:04:44
  there is more mercy in Christ than there is sin in you
• 4:04:48
  and we can cling to that
• 4:04:49
  we can hold on to that
• 4:04:51
  that God is a good
• 4:04:54
  and gracious
• 4:04:55
  God,
• 4:04:57
  that He is slow to anger
• 4:04:59
  he is quick to forgive,
• 4:05:00
  he is quick to show mercy
• 4:05:03
  on those who ask,
• 4:05:06
  and he has done that
• 4:05:08
  since the days. Of old
• 4:05:10
  and he will continue to do so
• 4:05:12
  because our God
• 4:05:14
  is a good God
• 4:05:16
  and so my exhortation, my closing encouragement is to
• 4:05:22
  get in the presence of this God,
• 4:05:26
  confess your sins
• 4:05:28
  pray the Psalms,
• 4:05:29
  dwell in the silence with God
• 4:05:33
  knowing that He has done all the work necessary
• 4:05:36
  to bring you
• 4:05:37
  to Himself.
• 4:05:39
  You cause you to stand in His presence
• 4:05:42
  not by your own merits, but by the merits, of Christ.
• 4:05:45
  The Son.
• 4:05:49
  Go dwell
• 4:05:51
  in his presence.
• 4:05:53
  Look ahead to the coming days
• 4:05:54
  and we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever
• 4:05:58
  in an environment where those sins don't exist
• 5:00:02
  we will worship Him as He is
• 5:00:06
  without pride, without agendas, without
• 5:00:10
  distractions.
• 5:00:12
  We will just simply be
• 5:00:25
  thank you for joining me today
• 5:00:27
  on the Bread of the Word podcast.
• 5:00:28
  I pray that the words we've shared
• 5:00:30
  have nourished your soul
• 5:00:31
  and helped you grow in your face.
• 5:00:33
  If you found this episode helpful
• 5:00:35
  consider sharing it with a friend
• 5:00:36
  and
• 5:00:37
  subscribe for more conversations on the Word of God
• 5:00:39
  and the journey of faith
• 5:00:41
  until next time I am Tyler, your, Lophi
• 5:00:44
  theologian.