This time, I would like to invite you all to stand together with me for a scripture reading. We do have two scripture readings tonight. The first one comes from the book of Revelation chapter 12. The book of Revelation chapter 12, verse 7 to 17. And my main text Tonight comes from the book of Job, chapter 25. But first, let's turn to Revelation, chapter 12, starting from verse 7 to 17. I will read it in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior. Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated. And there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan. and the deceiver of the whole world. He was thrown down to the earth and his angels were thrown down with him. And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, now the salvation The power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come. For the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony. For they loved not their lives, even unto death. Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them, but woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short. And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times and half a time. The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth. after the woman to sweep her away with a flood. But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth. Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring. on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus, and he stood on the sand of the sea. Now let's turn to the Old Testament, the book of Job, chapter 25, and hear the word of God. Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said, Dominion and fear are with God. He makes peace in his high heaven. Is there any number to his armies? Upon whom does his light not arise? How then can man be in the right before God? How can he who is born of woman be pure? Behold, even the moon is not bright, and the stars are not pure in his eyes. How much less man, who is a maggot, and the son of man, who is warm. This is the reading of the holy and infallible word of God. And may the Lord bless the reading of his word into our hearts by the power of his Holy Spirit. Let's look to the Lord in prayer. Our Father and our God, this time we come to you, our Heavenly Father, to hear your voice. To hear that heavenly voice that comes to us, your people, through the proclamation of your word. O Lord, this time we ask you to feed us through your son Jesus Christ who is the bread of our life. He is the eternal bread and we need that bread very much in our life. You always sustain and nourish your people with your word and through the power of your Holy Spirit. So illumine our hearts and our minds now to the understanding of your word, but also to the obedience of your holy will that will be revealed to us tonight from your word. Help us to learn from your servant Job, but also even from his friends. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. You know, there are a number of things in the Christian life that we consider to be very dangerous for us as Christians. To mention a few to you all, to dwell in sin continuously is a very dangerous thing in the Christian life, to make sin habitual in our life. But also the love of money, the Bible tells us, is the root of all evil. It's very dangerous in the life of a Christian. Uncontrolled anger is one of the dangers in the Christian life. When you don't control anger in your life, it always leads you to sin. but also for a Christian to marry an unbeliever is also very dangerous according to the teaching of the scriptures. But tonight I want us to think about another danger in the life of a Christian, and that is the pride of intellect. In the book of Job, in the life of the three friends of Job, One of the things that we see overwhelming and controlling their lives is the pride of intellect. Pride of intellect in the area of the knowledge of God or theology. in the area of understanding the mystery of God's providence, how God rules the course of our life by his work of providence. Sometimes we tend to act as if we know everything about the mystery of God's providence in our life. And you all know the three friends of Job were men who were filled with pride of intellect about God and God's dealing with Job. Everything that Job's friends say to Job sounds true and biblical. but its application was very wrong and sinful. God himself told Job's friends in Job chapter 42 verse 7, he told them this, God said to his friends, that the way they have been speaking about God was very wrong. After the Lord had spoken these words to Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My anger burns against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right as my servant Job has. That was, you see, the verdict, the assessment of heaven, the assessment of God to Job's friends. Everything that he said to my servant Job was not right, it was not correct about me and about my servant Job. Tonight we look into the pride of intellect of one of Job's friends. Build that. Job in chapter 23, verse 10, he told Bildad that God knew that the way Job was taken, and after he tested him, and after he tried him like gold being tried by fire, and then Job will come out as a refined and faithful servant of God. And Bildad was not happy about that. Bildad was so angry, he was so furious about Job's arguments with him. So in chapter 25, Bildad, who is the second older of the three, Eliphaz and Zophar, And Bindar also was known as a man who quotes ancient writings and tradition to make his case with Job. Basically to tell Job the reason why he was suffering was because of a particular sin in his life. Because Job was suffering in his life because Job was not righteous. He didn't kept the commandments of God perfectly. So that was the reason why Job was suffering according to Bildad. And in chapter 25, we see Bildad expressing his concern about his friend Job. And he does that, you see, in a form of counseling Job, that Job was had a very less view of who God is. That Job has crossed the line even to ask God why he was suffering, to curse the day of his birth. That Job was pointing his fingers at God and he was making demands that anyone has no right to make before the Lord. That Job has forgotten the great gulf between God and man. Notice what Bildad says in verse 2. Dominion and fear are with God. He makes peace in high heaven. This is God. And then in verse 6, Bin Lad said, how much less man who is a maggot and the son of man who is a worm. So he is making a contrast between God and man. What he says here about God and man is true, but it is not the whole truth. And the people of God remember, only God and His divine written revelation makes the whole truth of God's righteousness to man to be known to us. It is only God and his divine revelation that would show us the way of righteousness and how man can be righteous in the sight of God. And I want us to consider these truths of God's Word under three headings from chapter 25, the book of Job. First, I want us to consider the nature of God from verse 1 to 3. And then the nature of man, verse 4 and 6. And then we will make a conclusion together about the bridge between God and man, the connecting bridge between this holy God and sinful man, where Bildad will never mention to you or tell you about that. But first, the nature of God. Listen to verse 2 to 6, very important verses. Dominion and fear are with God. He makes peace in his high heaven. Is there any number to his armies upon whom does his light not arise? How then can man be in the right before God? How can he who is born of women be pure? Behold, even the moon is not bright and the stars are not pure in his eyes. How much less man who is a maggot and the son of man who is a worm. The reason why I read these verses again to all of you is to show you what Bildad is telling Job. Bildad is saying to Job, Job you are speaking to God as a small God. Your view of God is too small. You are speaking to God as man would speak to another man. Job, you argue with God. You express your dismay to the Lord. You demand things from God that a believer, a righteous man, should not demand from God. So his argument is this. Job, don't you know who God is? Verse 2. Dominion and fear are with God. Don't you know this? How could you, a sinner, under God's wrath, under God's punishment, speak to the Lord in this way? How could you address God the way you are addressing Him? Now remember, because of who we are by nature, this is what we learned from Bildad. The case that he was building up against Job was not true. It was not biblical. It was false. But what he's saying is true because of who we are by nature, especially in today's culture and society. We tend to revolve around this. Notice how people today are responding to God. People say, we are the most civilized and advanced people in the world. Especially in our culture today. Nobody tells me what to do. Nobody sets the agenda of my life. No one should push me around. Including God and the Word of God. That's where man is today. That's where the modern man is. The modern man, my friends, considers himself as equal to God. The Bible has been rejected. The revelation of God in his word has been disregarded in our world today. Especially in our culture, here in this nation. Nobody tells me what to do. We don't fear the police, we don't fear the judge, we don't fear the church. The whole aspect of submission is gone. What God has established in home, in the nation, and in the church has been disregarded. And if you in any way experience or sense a rise of God, a punishment of God on us as the people of God or the church or the nation in general, you need to remember where we are and how we are responding to God. You see, Bildad is bringing a good revelation of who God is. to us. Who is God? Isaiah 57 15. For thus say the one who is high and lifted up. who inhabits eternity, whose name is holy. I dwell in the high and holy place. And also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit. Now notice what Isaiah is revealing to us here. God is holy, God is mighty, he dwells in high places, But he ministers not to the proud, not to the pride intellect. He ministers to the humble. He ministers to those with a contrite heart. Pride of intellect has no place in the kingdom of God. And I especially say this to those of us who know theology. Our theology should not drive us to the pride of intellect. We should never say to people around us, I know about God more than you do. That was Bildad's problem. And this is often, you see, the problem with us reformed believers. We always tend, you see, to claim a higher knowledge of God than other churches around us. We point our fingers to other churches and we treat them as if they know nothing about God. You see, humility before the Almighty God is proper response of a Christian. before the Almighty. God ministers to those who are humble. Isaiah 6. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of His glory. You remember the Apostle Peter. He encountered Jesus when he was fishing with the other disciples. And after he recognized who Jesus was, his response was, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man. He recognized Jesus as the Holy God of Israel. And he asked him to depart from him because he was a sinful man. That is humility before God. And in Bindad in verse 2, he says this, he makes peace in his high heaven. This is God. He makes peace in high heaven. Which means God establishes order over all the universe. God does not rule over a small part of a land. God doesn't rule only over covenant as a church or over your life as individual Christian. God rules over all the universe and over all the nations. Isaiah 661, heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool. He rules in heaven, he rules on earth. There is no place in the universe where God is not in control. Including, you see, our brother Jim prayed about the election, including the coming up election is under God's control and decree. You don't know whom you will have as a president, but God knows. He controls everything about our nation, and what will happen. He is the ruler of the universe, including the United States of America. God is the ruler. 1 Chronicles 29, 11, and 12. Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty for all that is in heaven and the earth is yours. There is nothing in the universe that God does not rule and own and control. Billah also said to Job, but God is also purer than sun and moon. He said to him in verse 5, Behold, even the moon is not bright, and the stars are not pure in his eyes. We get our light every day from the sun, and the moon also gives us light. Creatures provide service to us. They give us light. But Bildad is saying God is purer than the light of the sun, the moon, and the stars. So he's saying to Job, how would you compare God with yourself? You need to be humble. The reality, the fact is that it was Bildad who was not humble. Job was humble all the way, but Bildad was not humble. You see, Bildad is showing off his knowledge of God. Bildad is telling Job, you see, I know God more than you. You must listen to me. You have sinned. You should repent. and you should satisfy God with your own righteousness. It was the great Puritan, John Flavel, one time said, they that know God will be humble, and they that know themselves cannot be proud. And both, you see, John Calvin in his Christian Institute and J.I. Parker in his book, Knowing God, they both emphasize about the importance of knowing ourselves first and then knowing God. If you know yourself, if you know who you are, you will definitely be humble with your knowledge of God. And remember my friends, God opposes the proud, but he gives his grace to the humble. God has a way of humbling the proud. Remember what Proverbs 3.34 says, toward the scorners he is scornful. And King Nebuchadnezzar realized this when he said, and those who walk in pride, he's able to humble them. Because he saw how God humbled him, how God crushed his pride. So my question to all of you tonight is, are you humbled with your knowledge of God? Are you humble and compassionate and a person of hope and encouragement when you see your brothers and sisters in Christ suffer? Do you point your finger at them and say this is because of your sin? Are you stepping to bring hope and good news of God to them? And secondly, we see the nature of man. Verse 6, Bindad said, how much less man who is a maggot and the son of man who is worm. Now he is describing man, of course, as a worm and a maggot. And as I mentioned to you earlier, the modern man doesn't like the way the Bible describes God. But the same is true with the description of the Word of God about man. The modern man doesn't like the way man has been described in the Bible. One time I met a young man in my life who was a very committed defender of Arminianism. And he said to me, what I don't like about you Presbyterians is your view of man. You treat man as nothing, says the young man to me. As nothing, absolutely nothing. As if he can choose the good from the bad. You treat man as nothing. It is not us, the Presbyterians, who treat man as nothing. The Bible treats man as worm, a maggot. nothing. That's the description of God about man. There is a vast difference, my friends, between how we see ourselves in comparison to other people. Before you approach God, you must consider who he is, and you must know who you are. It's very important in our Christian life to know who we are. And there is no word like this description of who man is in the Bible. There is no degrading description of man in the Word of God to describe man as worm. You see, Bindad is describing man as worm. For man to be described as a maggot shows you that man is so far beneath God. He is no account as far as His holiness is concerned. To give you an example, if you are walking on the road, and you see a worm, you don't even notice its existence. You just step over it. And no one has said to me, you know what I did today? I stepped over a worm. We don't consider its existence. You see, in the Bible, you see this description of man, man as worm, is a sign and evidence of man's total corruption. Man's total impurity. The Apostle Paul in Romans 3 tells us, no, no one, no one understands, no one seeks for God. still all have turned aside together, they have become, now notice this word that Paul uses, they have become worthless. Like a worm, man has become wormless. And this is where Bildad's theology leaves you. You are like a worm, And there is no way that he can be righteous before God. And that's not good news. This is bad news for man. But you know what? That's where Bildad lives in. Bildad was not a man of hope. Bildad was not a man for good news. This is bad news for man. So should we close our Bible? and go back to our respective places, being in sorrow and hopeless, without any hope? No. We can deduce from the scriptures that God has done something unique and special for us as God's people. And God shows us in his world the whole truth. Bildad doesn't show you the whole truth, but God shows you the whole truth. And the truth is this, my friends. God himself became for man like a worm. In order to rescue man who is described as worm in the word of God, God through his son Jesus Christ became like a worm. The psalmist being in the spirit of Christ in Psalm 22 6, he prophesied this about the days of Jesus Christ on the cross. But I am a worm and not a man. scorned by mankind and despised by the people. Jesus, for our sake, became like a worm. And in our Trinity Hymnal, we sing this hymn, Hymn 254, Alas! And did my Saviour bleed? Did my Sovereign died? Would He devote that sacred head for such a worm as I? Isn't that what he's saying? referring to yourself as a worm, and referring to the death of Jesus Christ for your sake, to change that condition in your life as a worm. One time the people of Israel were going through a difficult time. They were in distress, they were hopeless, and God came to them and he said this to them in Isaiah 41, Fear not, you worm, Jacob. You men of Israel, I am the one who helps, said the Lord. I am the one who helps. God never tells people to join him in providing help to what he wants to accomplish. God told Israel, I am the one who helps. Not only that, Jesus told the people of Israel, I'm the one who helps decurse the Lord. Your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. Why doesn't God say to the people of Israel, your Redeemer is the powerful God? Why didn't God say the Holy God of Israel? Because he's talking about their sin. He's talking about their corruption. And the only one who can help you in your corruption, in your depravity, is I, the Lord. I am your Redeemer. The people of Israel never helped God in their deliverance. He did it all. He did it all. and he did it all for you through his son Jesus Christ on the cross. But his son had to become like a worm. You see the good news of the gospel is not that the good news of the gospel tells you that you are not a worm. But the good news of the gospel is the gospel tells you as a worm If you trust in Christ, you will be a new creature. That's the good news. The Bible never tells you you are not a worm. The Bible tells you you are like a worm, but if you repent, if you trust in Christ for your salvation, then you will be transferred from being a worm to be a child of God. a living creature, being born by the power of the Holy Spirit. So my friends, how can a man be righteous before God? The answer doesn't come from Bildad. The answer comes from the Word of God. Man can be righteous before God through Jesus Christ, through the death and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. By believing in the finished work of Christ on the cross, you, my friend, become righteous. Hebrews 2, 17. He had to be made like his brothers. Like who? Brothers. And who are his brothers? They are like a worm. He and I, like a worm, but he had to be like us. a worm, in order to do what? In every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make appropriation for the sins of the people of God. In order to remove the wrath of God from the people of God, he had to become like a worm. for the sake of the people of God. So my question to all of you tonight is this. And you need to answer this question from the bottom of your heart. Are you free from the pride of intellect? Let me remind you this. Revelation chapter 12. God in that chapter said the devil, the evil one, always accuses the children of God day and night. And you will face this in a Christian life. People will tell you the only way that you can be righteous before God is to do good things and to satisfy God with your own merit. If you don't do that, then you are not a righteous person. When you hear that, remember, Christ is your only righteousness. You have no righteousness of your own. Your righteousness comes from Christ who is the perfect Son of God. So are you humble with your knowledge of God but also are you depending on Christ not only for your own righteousness but also to live for the glory of God, the one who made you righteous in and through his son, Jesus Christ. The accuser will continue accusing you like Bildad. Bildad was representing the evil one, accusing a servant of God day and night. But Job told his friends, my Redeemer lives. My friends, your Redeemer lives and He is your righteousness. Let's pray. Our Father and our God, we thank you for the instruction of your word, your holy word that always reminds us who you are and who we are. Help us by your Holy Spirit to be humble in regard to our knowledge of you. Help us by your grace and by your Spirit to be free from the pride of intellect. The more we know you, Help us to be humble before you. And the more we understand you, the more we understand the work of your providence based on your revelation in your holy word. Help us to continue to be humbled before you, your holy will, and what you have decreed for us. Thank you for your word and bless your people with what they have heard tonight and help them to apply it in their Christian walk. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.