Now today we're turning to the book of Job and the chapter 40. Job chapter 40. I want to read from verse 1 of the chapter, Job chapter 40. And we are reading from the verse 1. Let's hear God's word. Moreover, the Lord answered Job and said, Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him? He that reproveth God, let him answer it. And Job answered the Lord and said, Behold, I am vile. What shall I answer thee? I will lay my hand upon my mouth. Once have I spoken, but I will not answer, yea, twice, but I will proceed no further. Then answered the Lord unto Job out of the whirlwind, and said, Gird up thy loins now like a man, and I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me. Will thou also disannul my judgment? Will thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous? Hast thou an arm like God? Or canst thou thunder with a voice like him? Deck thyself now with majesty and excellency, and array thyself with glory and beauty. Cast abroad the rage of thy wrath, and behold every one that is proud, and abase him. Look on every one that is proud, and bring him low. and trade down the wicked in their place, hide them in the dust together, and bind their faces in secret. Then will I also confess unto thee that thine own right hand can save thee. We'll end our reading there at the end of verse 14, and let's just briefly pray and pray for God's help in the preaching of the word. Loving Father, we come before Thee this Lord's Day afternoon to thank Thee for the opportunity to gather again in Thy house. We do pray for help in the preaching of Thy word. Come near, Lord, in all weakness, O God. We pray that we might experience Thy strength Today, Lord, we come to exchange our strength for, O God, Thy strength. For we recognize that we need Thee as we preach the Word. If it be but from a mere man, these words, then, oh, there will be no profit. But we believe that if the Word comes by the Spirit to our souls, then we will recount this message for many a year to come, and therefore come by Thy Spirit help this preacher fill him now with the Holy Ghost and grant dear father every heart to be open and every year to be attentive to the preaching of thy word for we offer prayer in and through the savior's precious name amen Self-love is one of the prevalent sins of our generation. Men and women love themselves. I suppose we should not be surprised by that because we read in the book of Peter that in the last days that men shall be lovers of themselves more than they would be lovers of God. This sin of self-love outwardly manifests itself in various ways. It manifests itself in the sense of egotism, pride, arrogance, self-elevation, self-promotion, and self-interest. Though we might ask ourselves the question, what is the cause of this love, this love of self in the lives of so many? I believe that one of the main causes is the fact that people do not have a right estimation of themselves. Sadly, many have an over-inflated opinion about themselves, and that is something that society ingrains into the human mindset from earliest days. We are to think well of ourselves. Self-esteem is encouraged in schools and in society. Everybody's a winner. Nobody's a loser. And really, there's good in each and every one of us. This thinking found its way into the American church's psyche in the early 1980s when Robert Schuller called for a new reformation in his book, Self-Esteem, the New Reformation. In that book, he wrote the following, self-esteem then, or pride in being a human being, is the single greatest need facing the human race today. Well, that should set off the warning signals already. It is precisely at this point that classical theology, he's referring to Reformed theology, has erred in its insistence that the theology be God-centered and not man-centered. Once a person believes he is an unworthy sinner, it is doubtful if he can honestly accept the saving grace God offers in Christ. The classical error of historical Christianity is that we have never started with the value of the person. Rather, we have started with the unworthiness of the sinner, and that starting point has set the stage for the glorification of human shame in Christian theology. Schuller's teaching within his book certainly does not square with biblical teaching. For one of the blessed things that the Bible does is that it strips away all the facade. It cancels all of the pretense, and it brings us face to face with the reality of who we really are before God. Job was brought to such a place in his life. Job came to realize who he truly was before his God, and he communicated that to us in the words of Job 40 and the verse 4. Behold, I am vile. Behold, I am vile. Now, if you've come to God's house today to, as it were, have your self-esteem pampered, you've come to the wrong meeting today. Because this behold of Scripture is the behold that we wish to consider, and it is a behold that we would all do to meditate upon in this egotistical world. Because this really brings us face to face about who we really are before God. Behold, I am vile. Now, as we think upon this behold of Scripture, there are a number of things that we can say. We can say in the first place that this behold of Scripture, it contains an honest evaluation. It contains an honest evaluation. Now we ask the question, who is it that has come to make such an honest evaluation as to their true state before God? Surely it's some gross transgressor. Surely it's some great sinner that says these words. Surely it's some newly awakened penitent who's come to understand the wickedness and the heinousness and the grotesque nature of sin. But it is none of such people. No, it was Job who said these words, a saint of no ordinary magnitude. You see, if there was a man on earth who could have boasted of his own goodness, could have prided himself in his own righteousness, it would have been this servant, this man of God, Job. I want to give you a little flavor of the type of man that Job was from the record of scripture. You can turn to Job 1 and Job chapter 2. I'll point out a number of things concerning this man who said this particular declaration, He was a saved man. He was a saved man. Job knew God savingly. I know that because he spoke about a Redeemer. He does so in Job 19 and the verse number 25. He said, therefore, I know that my Redeemer liveth. and that he shall stand in the latter day upon the earth. Job spoke about the Redeemer of God's elect as being his Redeemer. I know that, my Redeemer. And so here's a man who had been redeemed. He had been reconciled to God. He had been justified. He had been saved by the grace of God. He looked forward to the time when the Redeemer would come and live a life for him and die a death for him and rise again on his behalf and put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And so here we have a man, a saved man, and yet he says, behold, I am vile. In the second place, Job was a righteous man. Note there the Holy Spirit's testimony there in Job chapter 1 and the verse number 1. We read there that Job, that that man was perfect and upright and one that feared God and eschewed evil. God will then verbally affirm the spirit's witness of Job here in the verse number one, down there in the verse number eight, when addressing Satan it says, and the Lord said unto Satan, hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil. Job was a man who lived right. He was a man who lived according to the law and the statutes and the righteousness of God. Because he was a saved man, he was a righteous man. And because he was a righteous man, then he lived according to God's righteousness. And yet he says, behold, I am vile. Thirdly, Job was a religious man. In Job 1 verse 5, we read of what Job did when his children had finished feasting. And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sinned and sanctified them and rose up early in the morning and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, it may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually. Here we find a man involving himself in religious activities, offering burnt offerings on to God with regard to the sins, not only of his own life, but the sins of his children. He was a man who was involved in religious activity, and yet he says, Behold, I am vile. Job was something else. He was a God-fearing man. He was a God-protected man. He was a God-blessed man. Note there the verses 9 and 10 of the chapter 1, and Satan answered the Lord and said, Doth Job fear God, for naught? And so, there is the implication. Job is a God-fearing man. He goes on to say, "...hast thou not made a hage about him, a God-protected man, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? And thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land." Here we have a God a God-fearing man, a God-protected man. Here we have a God-blessed man and yet he says, I am vile. Something else, Job was a consistent man. Job was a man of outstanding consistency when it came to Christian living. When tragedy crashed into his life, the opportunity to turn his back on God, but he didn't. After the loss of so many things, his cattle, his animals, his sheep, his camels, his servants, his children, his own health, he had his opportunity to turn his back on God, and yet the divine record records the closing verse of chapter 1, in all this, in all this, Job said not, nor charged God foolishly. God would note Job's consistency there as he reported to Satan in chapter 2 in the verse number 3. Notice what the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect man, an upright man, one of the fear of God, and he skewed evil? And still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movest me against him, to destroy him without Because God marks his consistent walk with God, even in the face of tragedy, even in the face of trial. And Job will go on to say, later on within the book, Job 23, the verse 11 and 12, after he speaks, but he knoweth the way that I take, and when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. He then says these words, my foot hath held his steps. His way have I kept and not declined, neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips. Here I am! not able to discern God, where He is, forward, backward, to the side, to the right, to the left. I do not know where to find Him, but He knows the way that I take. And when I am going through this, I am still walking with God. And yet, such a man of great consistency with regard to his Christian walk, he still says, behold, I am vile. Something else. He was a faith-filled man, a man of faith. Job was a man of tremendous faith in the face of great trouble. I think of that great statement of faith he makes over there in Job 13, in the verse 15, though he slay me, yet will I trust in him. but I will maintain mine own ways before me. Though he slay me, though even myself I die, yet will I trust in him, a man of tremendous faith." Yes, and something else, he was a patient man. Job was a saint of God that exhibited the Christian virtue of patience, James will speak of that patience. James 5 verse 11, And yet, despite being a safe man, a righteous man, a religious man, a God-fearing man, God-blessed man, God-protected man, a consistent man, a faith-filled man, a patient man. Yet Job makes this honest evaluation of himself in Job 40 verse 4. Behold, I am vile. word vile can mean base or mean worthless, despicable, impure. It can mean to be liked or to be of little account. And so, as Job examines himself, A sense of moral unworthiness swept over his soul that causes him to come to the honest evaluation that he was vile despite all that was good about him. Job still said, I am vile. I am vile. I asked myself the question, what caused Job to come to this settled conclusion in his You see, before this chapter, chapter 40, Job justified himself before his friends. We find him doing that as they speak to him. He seems to be content with justifying himself before them. But now, as we read at the end of the verse 4, he lays his hand upon his mouth. Because he comes to appreciate how vile he is. And so I ask again, what has caused Job to understand his true state? Well, look there at the verse 1 and 2. Moreover, the Lord answered Job and said, shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him? He that reprove of God, let him answer it. An encounter with God. an encounter with God. Was that which caused Job to say, I am vile? That encounter begins in chapter 38. Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, and really the chapter 38 and 39 and into the opening verses of verse 1 and 2 of chapter 40 is really God taking up the case that Job has brought before him. And as a result, Job says, behold, I am vile. Being in the presence of God, conversing with God is what caused him to say these words. It was after God displayed himself In the perfection of his works, Job said, behold, I am vile. A.W. Pink said, when a soul is truly brought into the presence of the living God, boasting ceases. Our loveliness is turned into corruption, and we cry, woe is me. for I am undone." Job was not the only person in Scripture who made such an honest evaluation of his life, having come in to the presence of God. Others came to the exact same conclusion. I'm thinking of Isaiah. in the year that King Uzziah died and the encounter that the prophet had with the Lord in the temple, the record of which we read in Isaiah chapter 6. Beholding the glory of God, Isaiah testifies in verse 5, then said, I, woe is me, for I am undone. I am a man of unclean lips. And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips, for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. I think of Peter when that record haul of fishes were brought in in Luke chapter 5 at the command of the Savior. Luke 5 and the verse 8 we read, when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees saying, depart from me. For I am a sinful man, O Lord. I think of John when on the Isle of Patmos he was given that vision of the glorified Christ. Listen to what he says there in the account of the revelation in chapter 1 in the verse 17. And when I saw him, the glorified Christ, I fell at his feet as dead. He laid his hand upon me, saying, Fear not, I am. First and the last, brethren and sisters, what do these examples from Scripture teach us? They teach us that the more we have to do with God, they teach us that the closer we draw near to God, the greater the revelation and the knowledge of God that we are given through His Word, the more we will come to see our utter unworthiness, and we will feel our absolute sinfulness. Robert Murray McShane, he said, the nearer you take anything to the light, the darker its spots will appear, and the nearer you live to God, the more you will see your utter vileness. Reverend William Jay said, when a man has gone far enough, so to speak, to be introduced to God himself, he will be sure to think afterward very little of himself. Yes, if anything can make us feel our littleness. It must be a view of His wisdom. If anything can make us sensible of our weakness, it must be the view of His almighty sovereignty. And if anything can make us feel our depravity, it will be the view of His spotless purity. I wonder, does our pride and arrogance inhibit us? making an honest appraisal of what we really are and where we really are before God today. The over-inflated opinion that too often we have about ourselves conceals from us what we really are in relation to God. Brethren and sisters, God requires truth in the hidden parts And if we were honest with ourselves, we would have to say, as Job says here, in light of the glory and the majesty and the holiness and the power of God, we would have to say, behold, I am vile. I am vile. You see, whenever you are at a distance from God, and whenever you're walking far off from God, You can boast, and you can argue, and you can contend with the Almighty. However, when you walk closely with Him, when you're brought into His presence, and into the presence of His holiness, how different things are. We're overtaken with astonishment. We're clothed with shame. We're filled with a sense of self-loathing as we see ourselves in relation not to others, But to him, in relation to him, I am vile. I am vile. May God help us not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think, but to think soberly, according as God has dealt to every man in measure of faith. Romans 12, verse 3. Not only within Job's declaration here do we have an honest evaluation, secondly, we have a humble confession, a humble confession. If Job had been a proud man, he would never have made such a confession as he does here in Job 40 in the verse four. There was a danger that a self-righteous spirit could have arisen up in the heart and mind of Job That spirit would have patted Job on the back and told him what a good boy he was, like Tom Thumb who pulled out a plum and said, what a good boy am I. Pray does that. Pray does that. The spirit in which these words are uttered are marked by deep and true humility on the part of God's servant. Job is truly humbled. when he comes before God and he is forced, he is forced to make this confession. Behold, I am vile. And we all struggle with pride, preacher included. And in our foolishness, we think ourselves to be great. We look at our achievements. We consider our victories. We look at our accomplishments and like Simon Magnus, the sorcerer, we give out that we ourselves are some great one. However, it is the humble man or woman who says truthfully, as Paul said in Romans 7 verse 24, O wretched man that I am. O wretched man that I am. Beloved, we would have today to confess that vileness marks our thoughts, our thoughts times the mind can be filled with vile thoughts, blasphemous thoughts, evil thoughts, sinful thoughts, unholy thoughts, lustful thoughts, doubtful thoughts, pride thoughts, vengeful thoughts, envious thoughts, even when the Christian is involved in the most sacred of duties, in preaching, in praying, in the reading of our scriptures, vile thoughts can flood into our minds and into our hearts. When we consider our thought life, we would have to confess at times many a vile thought, has lodged itself in these minds of ours and what we need is the cleansing of our thoughts and the renewing of our minds. We need again to think upon those things that are true and honest and pure and of good report and to remove from our minds those things that would pollute the mind. Truly at times we would have to say, my thoughts are vile. I and times brethren and sisters, we would have to say that vileness marks our motives, our motives, ambition, human praise, self-promotion, to be seen and to be heard, pride are just some of the motivating vial, motivating factors behind why we do such things. Aye, brethren and sisters, we ought to do what we do out of love for God and with a desire to bring glory to His name, and that be it. And yet too often we seem to put on a fair show in the flesh for the sake of others in public, while all the time we're living hypocritical lies in private. If we were honest with ourselves and honest about our motives, we would have to calmly confess at times they're vile. They're vile. Violence can also mark our behavior. Job had erred in imagining that he had not merited the calamities God had inflicted on him. He erred when he complained that God was acting unjustly and cruelly towards him, aware that his behavior was wrong, He now bitterly bewails his unjustified behavior, and he laments the vile nature of his deeds. Having spoken, he now says, I am vile. I have conducted myself in trying to justify myself before others, and I come to say before God, I'm vile." Well, we may not have given ourselves over to vile afflictions such as those in Romans 1 did. There are times in our lives when the things we do and the way we behave as professing Christians could be classified as being nothing less than being vile, despicable, impure. How vile we are. How vile we are. I note that whenever Job made this humble confession to God, he doesn't say to God, behold, I am vile, but such is only understandable, God, when you consider all that I've been through. He doesn't say, behold, I am vile, but, well, that's just human nature. Just the way I am. He doesn't say, behold, I am vile, but no, the grace of God covers all sin, and so I'm just going to continue to live as I've always been living. I'm just going to continue to live in my vile state. Job doesn't say any of those things. He makes no excuses. He offers no reason. He doesn't give God any suggestions as to why he is vile. He doesn't defend himself. Simply, he says, I am vile. And really, brethren and sisters, this is what we ought to be doing. We ought to acknowledge our vileness before God. What a humbling experience that is. How damning, how damning it would be to the love of self that we so cherish. Oh no, behold, I am great. Behold, I am righteous. No, behold, I am vile. Charles Simeon said, self-love is so rooted in our hearts that we shall always be in danger of forming too favorable a judgment of ourselves. He says, the humiliation of the publican is that which at all times befits us. Nor can we ever be more becoming, be in a more becoming state than when with Job. We repent and abhor ourselves in dust and ashes. Within this statement of Job's, we have an honest evaluation. Within it, we have a humble confession. But within it, there is something else. And with this, I close. It is our last thought today. Because within this statement of Job, we have a helpful admission. Helpful admission. Helpful in the sense that these words brought to Job's attention his true state before God. When Job said that he was vile, there was no longer any room for pretense. There was no longer any room for hypocrisy in his life. It really revealed the daily battle that occurred in his soul and within his life and occurs in the life of every believer. That battle with the inner corruption, that old man That lust at wars against the spirit, the flesh, this battle that rages daily within and the need for the old man to be crucified. Really, this is what he's admitting to. He's saved, he's justified, he's religious, he's patient, but there's still a battle. there's still inner sin, there's still this war that is raging within, and I see myself nothing as nothing but vile before God." That was helpful. Having such a humbling and honest view of himself was helpful to Job because it led to a number of things. It led firstly to the prospect of Job being cleansed from his violence. It led to the prospect of Job being cleansed from his vileness. Whoso covereth his sin shall not prosper, but whoso confesseth and forsaketh shall have mercy. Confession of sin paves the way to cleansing from sin. Did you get it? Confession of sin paves the way to cleansing from sin. Apostle John in 1 John 1 verse 9, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I'm convinced that when Job here confesses, behold, I am vile, that it was the initial step that led to him being cleansed from that sin. Whatever it was, Whatever that vile sin he was confessing, it led, I believe, to his cleansing. What a blessing. Oh, child of God, what a blessing to know. We as believers do sin. that the blood of Jesus Christ still has the power to cleanse us from our sin. Christian, your vileness today, it shouldn't drive you from Christ. Rather, it should drive you to Christ and to His cross and to His blood and to seek the cleansing of that vileness within that soul of yours. But it started with confession. This honest and humbling view of himself was helpful because it led secondly to becoming, it became helpful because it led secondly to God becoming all the more precious to Job. It led to God becoming all the more precious to Job in light of his own personal vileness. The person and work of Jesus Christ became the more precious. He has taken my sin. He has borne my sin. He has carried my sin away. He has cast my sin into the depths of the sea. Oh, as He considered His own wretchedness, as He considered His own vileness, Christ became all the more precious. I and the value of Christ's righteousness became more precious to Job. My righteousness. It is as filthy rags, vile rags. But, oh, the righteousness of Christ, it covers me, it robes me, and I glory in His righteousness. This is my only hope. This is my only plea, the righteousness of Christ. Oh, when we come before God and we see how sinful we are, then we come to appreciate, oh, the greatness and the preciousness of the righteousness of Christ. Yes, and the grace of God. that had been extended to him became all the more glorious. I am vile, but God loves me, and Christ has died for me, and the Spirit now indwells me. and all the grace of God to think that he would love someone like me, a vile wretch. As Newton said, amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I'm fine. was blind but now I see and such will be our experience if we get a true sight of ourselves then I believe God will become the more precious to us as we think of how he could love us, how he could redeem us, how he could adopt us as his own child and how he could eventually bring us to glory. This is why it's helpful. This honest and humbling view of himself was helpful because it led, thirdly and finally, it led to Job not adding sin to sin, but instead it caused him to strive after God and after righteousness. See, God interrupts Job in his self-justifying. God reveals himself to Job. If God hadn't have done that, Job would have probably ended up a bitter, backslidden saint of God. But God loved him so much that he revealed himself unto him, and that revelation of God to Job stopped him in his sin and took him again to his God. He said, what shall I answer thee? I will lay my hand upon my mouth. Because that's where I have sinned the greatest with regard to my tongue and my mouth. Once have I spoken, but I will not answer ye twice, but I will proceed no further. This mouth had justified himself before his friends. It's now stopped as he's become aware of his own personal corruption. This revelation of God astonished Job and was the means of him ceasing from sin and setting his feet to walk again in the paths of righteousness. and how blessed we are, and how blessed we are. And we ourselves come to understand how sinful we really are, because you know what it does, folks? It shocks us. It shocks us. And it causes us afresh to seek after God and his righteousness. This is why it was helpful. Behold, I am vile. As I close today, maybe there's a sinner here, and you would say, well, Job's confession is mine. Behold, I am vile. Maybe you think today that God would never receive someone as vile as you. Listen, God can take that which is vile and make it pure. In Jeremiah 15 verse 19, we read these words that God taketh the precious from the vile. He takes the precious from the vile, out of the vile. Today he can claim right or vile and sinful though my heart may be. Fully trusting, Lord, I come to thee. Thou hast power to cleanse and make me free. I am coming home. Thank God, the vilest offender, who truly believes that moment from Jesus, a pardon receives. Let this day be the day that the vileness of your sin is put away. And may, brethren and sisters, may we see ourselves truly as God sees us, apart from the righteousness of God. We will be vile in God's sight. We will thank God for that glorious covering. that now makes me pure and righteous before God. Oh, the wonder of grace. Let's bow our heads in prayer. Our loving Father, we are humbled by thy word And rightly so. We often find ourselves justifying our sin. And yet, Lord, should we not be saying, as Job said, behold, I am vile. We thank thee for the blood that takes the vileness of our sin away. Lord, we pray that again we will seek thee. Lord, that we might know and experience again the cleansing power of thy blood. Come, dear God, take in a rightful place before thee. What are we apart from the grace of God? Humble us, give us sights of our God, and bend us low before thy feet. For we pray these are petitions in the name of Christ our Savior. Amen.