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In Job 32 verse number 1 we're starting a new phase in the book of Job. Job in this entire book has been going back and forth with his three friends and of course his three friends have been accusing him of being unrighteous. They've accused him of having sin in his life as an explanation for why so many bad things have happened to Job. Why all of his children died, why he's covered in disease and burning, itching, oozing, sores all over his body, why he's lost his business, why his servants have been killed, he's been pretty much reduced to the lowest state that any person could ever be reduced to. Just physically, socially, he's an outcast, he's hated of everyone, his own wife has told him curse God and die, he's covered in sores and disease, all of his ten children are dead and now his three friends come along and they tell him that he's living in sin and he needs to just get right with God and everything will be fine and of course he just keeps telling them I haven't done anything wrong. Now Elihu comes along and this is a new phase in the book of Job. So far we haven't heard from this guy at all. In fact we didn't even know that he's been listening in this whole time, but from reading chapter 32 you can see that Elihu has been there all along and he has listened to the entire exchange between Job and Job's three friends. That leads me to think there are probably other people listening in. You know there are more people that are present at this gathering, but Elihu is one of them and so Elihu is going to speak now in chapters 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, and 37. So we're going to hear from him for six chapters. This man Elihu pipes up. Now the first thing that we have to ask ourselves here is, is Elihu speaking that which is right or that which is wrong? Because we know that in the book of Job so far we've had Job speaking which is speaking the truth and speaking what is right and then we have the three friends which are in error. Now let's just quickly revisit this because this is very important. Go to chapter 42 of Job. Just flip all the way to the end of the book to chapter 42 and I just need to introduce this so that we can understand where we're coming from when we listen to Elihu. Is this a guy that is speaking the word of God or is this a guy who is speaking more error and falsehood like the three friends? Look what it says in Job chapter 42 in verse 7 and remember this is the Lord speaking. This is authoritative in verse 7. It says, and it was so that after the Lord had spoken these words unto Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, my wrath is kindled against thee and against thy two friends for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right as my servant Job hath. So from that verse we can learn a couple of things that we can just take to the bank and know for sure. Number one, we know for sure that what Job says in the book of Job is right and we know for sure that that which the three friends have said, although they might have said things here and there that are right, in the aggregate the totality of what they said in general is wrong. God said the three friends, I'm angry at you because you've not spoken what was right. And he says to Job, you have spoken what's right. So that's something that we know for sure we can take to the bank. Here's another thing we know for sure. Go back to chapter 1 of Job, all the way back to chapter 1. And by the way, God is still angry about people who speak false doctrine today. If a guy gets up and tries to speak about spiritual things and he's talking about sin, he's talking about salvation, he's talking about heaven, talking about hell, talking about the Lord, and he doesn't know what he's talking about, that makes God angry. Whether or not the three friends were intentionally speaking that which was false or whether they thought that what they were saying was right is not the point. God said I'm angry because you've not spoken that which is right. And when people today all over America and all over the world get behind a pulpit and preach lies and false doctrine, it makes God angry. And he's still angry. It ought to make us angry. You know, the word of God is truth and there are so many people that preach lies. And it makes God mad. But look what it says in Job 1, because we want to understand what we can take to the bank here. Verse number 1, it says, there was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job and that man was perfect and upright and one that feared God and eschewed evil. Now we know that's true. We know he was righteous. We know he feared God. We know he eschewed evil. Not only that, it says in verse number 8 of the same chapter, 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. So right there we see that not only is Job a perfect and an upright man that fears God and eschews evil, but also God says there's none like him in all the earth. The Lord himself is saying that Job is the most righteous man living upon the face of the earth at that time. And again, perfect does not mean that he is sinless. The word perfect means complete or entire. The Bible says that you may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing or lacking nothing. So perfect means that he's complete and what the Bible means by that is that in all areas of life Job was righteous. Not saying he was completely sinless, but a man who is not a perfect man would be like when you read the stories about the kings of Judah and the kings of Israel, sometimes it'll say this king did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, but he did not remove the high places. Nevertheless his heart was perfect before his God all the days of his life. So here's the thing. The Bible says there that he's a righteous guy, he's a good guy, okay, but there's this one area that wasn't so good. For example, we could think about a guy, let's say in modern day in 2014, what if there's a guy who goes to church and he goes soul winning and he reads his Bible and he prays, but he just has a lot of worldliness and sin in his life. So he's got some areas that he's doing really well in, but then he's got one area where he's got some major faults. Okay, that's not a perfect man. Or for example, let's say you got a guy who he goes to church, he lives a real clean life, he's not a worldly, sinful type guy. He reads his Bible and prays every day, but he never does any soul winning. He's not doing any evangelism whatsoever. See how there's just a major area where that man is lacking. Okay, Job wasn't like that. It's not that Job was really good in these areas, but then over here he had a major weakness or flaw in his life. No, this is a man that was the most godly man on the earth at that time. He was living a righteous life in all areas of life. No he wasn't totally sinless, but he was a great man, he was a godly man, and so forth. We know that because it came out of the mouth of the Lord. We know that his words were correct. We know that the words of the three friends were wrong, okay. Now with that in mind, let's examine some of the words of Elihu, and let's see whether Elihu falls on the side of Job, or falls on the side of the three friends. Because a lot of people will point out and say, well God didn't say he was mad at Elihu. God only said that he was mad at the three friends. But that's not a strong enough piece of evidence to just take these six chapters as gospel truth. We need to figure out what this guy Elihu is saying. Now if you would, flip over to chapter 34, because I think chapter 34 is the most telling chapter about where Elihu is coming from. Now look at verse 7 of Job 34. It says, what man is like Job, who drinketh up scorning like water, which goeth in company with the workers of iniquity, and walketh with wicked men. Now here, he is accusing Job of sin and wrongdoing. Now is that compatible with what we saw the Lord saying about Job in chapter 1? I mean he's saying, man there's nobody, I mean God said there's none like Job in the whole earth that fears God and eschews evil. Elihu's saying, oh there's none like Job to go in company with wicked men, to drink up scorning like water. Okay jump down to verse 35, and this right here, this alone should show you that Elihu is 100% wrong. This alone. Look at verse 35, Job hath spoken without knowledge and his words were without wisdom. Now hold on, what did God say about Job's words in chapter 42? That he spoke that which was right. And not only that, it says in James 5, you don't have to turn to James 5, but it says in James 5, take my brethren the prophets who have spoken in the name of the Lord for an example of suffering, affliction, and of patience. Behold we count them happy which endure, you've heard of the patience of Job. Now God is saying there that the prophets who have spoken in the name of the Lord are an example to us, and then he gives us one example, like Job. So when God wants to give us an example of a righteous prophet, did you get that? Prophet that spoke in the name of the Lord. He said Job is a perfect example. And chapter 42, he said Job spoke that which was right concerning me. What's Elihu say? Job has spoken without knowledge. His words were without wisdom. Now the words of Job are the word of God. So what Elihu is basically saying is that God's word is without knowledge. God's word is without knowledge. He's attacking God's word that was spoken by the mouth of his prophet Job. When the prophets of the Old Testament spake, the Bible says that the word of God came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. And Job was one of those men that spake as he was moved by the Holy Ghost. That's why Job talked about the second coming of Christ, he talked about salvation, and it's all right. It's all correct. He was speaking the word of God, he's a prophet of God. Elihu says Job spoke without knowledge and his words were without wisdom. They can't both be right, my friend. Elihu and Job cannot both be right. God told us which one was right, it was Job. It says in verse 36, my desire is that Job may be tried unto the end because of his answers for wicked men. Now he's calling the word of God that Job spake answers for wicked men. He says in verse 37, for he addeth rebellion unto his sin. Wait a minute, he didn't have any sin according to God that he was being punished for. What sin are you talking about, Elihu? You know, oh yeah, it's rebellion to his sin. He clappeth his hands among his and multiplied his words against God? No, he's speaking the word of God. They cannot both be right. It's so clear, it's so simple, I don't understand how anybody could get this wrong, but I'm telling you, I've been in Baptist church after Baptist church after Baptist church that has said Elihu spoke that which was right, and that have even said that Elihu is the author of the book of Job. I don't know where they're getting this garbage, but it's garbage. And you know what, here's the thing. Sometimes there are false doctrines where, you know, it's kind of a gray area sometimes, or maybe sometimes I see what somebody believes and I know it's not right, but at least I say, hey, I kind of know where you're coming from. I know why you believe that, I can kind of see where you're coming from. And sometimes things are just a different matter of opinion and, you know, maybe the scripture's not real clear, but honestly, I have to say that anybody who believes that Elihu spoke the truth and that Elihu is a possible author of the book of Job is just an ignoramus. Period. No, I'm serious, I'm not kidding. You know what, and it's sad today that there are preachers all over America who don't know the Bible. Because this isn't even a question of just a different opinion, it's just somebody who just doesn't know what they're talking about, they just haven't even read the story. They didn't even read it. And it's just, they're literally just repeating something that they heard somewhere. And that's what's happening all over America. Just they hear something in Bible college, they hear something from a famous preacher, they hear something at some college, just get up and just regurgitate it. Look, we need to study to show ourselves approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth, and that means that if you don't study to show yourself approved unto God, you should be ashamed of yourself to even get up and preach. Now look, you say, well I'm a young preacher, I don't know the Bible that much. You know what, you should never get up and preach anything that you don't know. Now everybody knows something. So if you're a new believer, if you're a young guy, and you want to get up and preach, that's great, you don't have to know the whole Bible, but preach what you know. And stay away from stuff you don't know. Now here's the thing, I Pastor Anderson do not know everything. I don't know everything. And that's why if I'm in a passage and I come to a verse that I don't understand or I don't know, you know what I do? I just skip that verse or just gloss it over or just read it and don't comment on it, because I'm not going to get up and talk about things that I don't understand. Now no one's ever going to understand everything in the Bible. But here's the thing, if you're going to be a pastor, if you're going to preach, that's a big responsibility. When you're leading people and guiding people, you need to make sure that you do diligence and study and make sure that you know that what you're teaching is right. And this is an example of just stupidity. And yet it's preached and taught all over the place because they're repeating it from a famous preacher. And I think it originally came from Peter Ruckman, I think. I might be wrong about that, but I think that's where this came from, this Elihu theory. I'm sure somebody else, but here's the thing, you can find somebody to believe every weird crazy thing. And if there's ever been a crazy preacher, it was Peter Ruckman. The same guy who talks about people living on other planets and the same guy who talks about how abortion's not murder because babies aren't alive until they take their first breath outside the womb. That's like what a liberal Democrat would tell you. Oh yeah, when it starts breathing outside the womb is when it's alive. Yeah that's biblical. That's what Peter Ruckman taught. So I don't care where people are getting it from, it's not an excuse, it's not Peter Ruckman's fault, he's a devil, he's a false teacher, but you know what? I say it's the fault of every pastor who repeats that without studying it for themself. They can't hide behind him, oh I just said it because he said it. You need to do your own study and learn it yourself. And nobody in their right mind could read the book of Job and walk away saying well I think Elihu was right. He's condemning Job. He's saying the exact same thing as the three friends. But people just get carried about with whatever people say because they don't do the study. And God forbid that our church would be that way or that we would ever send out preachers who don't study the Bible to just repeat stuff that they hear. It's sad. It's a joke. And you know what? Being a pastor is an important responsibility. The Bible says my brethren, be not many masters knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. And the thing is we as pastors are going to be judged by the word that we preach and by leading people astray because we have people that, there are people who listen to the pastor and they just go by what he says. And so it's a big responsibility to get up and preach. You've got to do the study and make sure that you teach the right things. So if you're a young man that wants to be a pastor, people will always ask me, what can I do to be prepared to be a pastor? Read the Bible a lot. That's the best thing you could do to prepare to be a pastor. That's way more important than going to some college somewhere and getting this training and that training. How about actually knowing what you're talking about? That'd be a good place to start. Actually knowing what the Bible says and knowing what the Bible teaches so that you can actually teach the truth and be right. That's been a priority of my ministry is to be right about things. I'm not the best pastor in the world. There are shortcomings and faults that I have, but one thing that I've strived to do is just to be right about what the Bible says and just do a lot of reading, a lot of studying, just to at least make sure that what I'm saying is right and that what I'm teaching is right. And am I 100% right? No. But I hope I'm 99% right, but I hope that you'll study to show yourself approved and not just blindly trust everything I say. And then that 1% that I'm wrong about, you can fix that yourself. But it's sad today how I've talked to so many preachers about the book of Job and they're like, I mean literally I just talked to a preacher recently and I thought this guy knew the Bible pretty well. And he said to me, do you think Elihu wrote the book of Job? Who do you think wrote the book of Job? Do you think it was Elihu? And I'm just like, oh no, please, you did not just say that. You know what I mean? It's sad. And you know what? We need to study. We need to have knowledge. We need to know what we're talking about as God's people. So six chapters here, right? It's really important that we know how to go into these six chapters. Should we just go into these six chapters saying, hey, this is God's word? No, because we've established what? That this guy's wrong. Now you say, well wait a minute Pastor Anderson, if this guy's wrong, why didn't he get rebuked? Well here's the thing, God does rebuke Elihu. Let's look at the rebuke. But look, forget the rebuke for a second. We already know it's wrong. It's already been proven based on what we saw in chapter 34. Case closed, no more discussion about it. But look at the end of verse 37. This is where Elihu wraps up what he's saying. And Elihu wraps up at the end of verse 37, well we can read the last couple of verses. Verse 23, Touching the Almighty, we cannot find him out. I don't believe that necessarily, but he said, you know, Touching the Almighty, we cannot find him out. He's excellent in power and in judgment, and in plenty of justice he will not afflict. What? He will not afflict? I mean what he's saying doesn't really make sense. God does afflict the righteous. But it says he will not afflict, men therefore fear him, he respecteth not any that are wise of heart. Now look what it says in verse 1 of chapter 38. And keep in mind, there's no gap here. Just because there's a chapter division, you have to read it all as one continuous narrative. It says, Man do therefore fear him, he respecteth not any that are wise of heart. Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? Now who's talking? Who's talking when he said that? God's talking, and who was talking when God said, Who's this that's darkening counsel with vain words without knowledge? Elihu's talking. So who's darkening counsel by words without knowledge? Elihu. Which is consistent with what I showed you that Elihu said. And then he says, Gird up now thy loins like a man, for I will demand of thee and answer thou me. So right there we see that God rebukes Elihu as being vain and not knowing what he's talking about. That's why he doesn't need to rebuke Elihu later when he rebukes the three friends. Now here's where people become confused because they haven't studied, because they don't read. Go forward if you would to chapter 42. This is where they get confused. Because if we actually look at what Elihu said, we can prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Elihu is a false teacher and that what he said was lies. And then God rebukes him. Now here's what confuses people and where this doctrine comes from that Elihu was right. It says in verse 1 of chapter 42, then Job answered the Lord. And keep in mind, God's been speaking through chapters 38, 39, 40, and 41. So God has just spoken pretty much for four chapters straight and Job has said almost nothing. So then it says in verse 1 of chapter 42, then Job answered the Lord and said, I know that thou canst do everything and that no thought can be withholden from thee. Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? Therefore have I uttered that I understood not. Things too wonderful for me, which I knew not. Here I beseech thee and I will speak. I will demand of thee and declare thou unto me. I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee, wherefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes. Now, here's the thing. If you're a person and there are people out there who just flip open the book of Job and pretty much read chapter 1 and chapter 2 where the fun story is, and then when they get into chapters 3 and 4 they kind of just fade out because they don't want to listen to the whole back and forth between them and his three friends because it goes on and on. And then what they do is they jump to the end and pick up the story again in chapter 42. And then they see like, oh, Job's repenting. He must have had sin in his life. Elihu was right. He really did have sin in his life. Now, hold on. You can see how somebody would be confused if they didn't read the book of Job at all and they just read just a few verses and had no clue what the book's about. But here's the thing. Job here says, now stop and think about this. Job here at the end, after he has God appear to him in a whirlwind and say all these things to him about how great he is, because all Job, here's the thing, when God answers Job out of the whirlwind, and we're going to get to this later in the book, but in those four chapters he never addresses Job's situation at all. He answers Job out of the whirlwind and he just talks about how great he is for four chapters. He talks about his power, his magnificence, his greatness, how he's the creator, how he's above everyone, how he has all this glory, just for four chapters. And he never says anything about Job. He never says anything about the three friends. He just talks about his own greatness and glory. And then at the end, the only thing that God says about the situation is verse 7, when he says, you know, and it was so that after the Lord had spoken these words unto Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, my wrath is kented against thee and thy two friends, for you have not spoken of me the thing that is right as my servant Job hath. Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering, and my servant Job shall pray for you. For him will I accept, lest I deal with you after your folly, and that you have not spoken of me the thing which is right like my servant Job. So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did according as the Lord commanded them. The Lord also accepted Job and the Lord turned the captivity of Job when he prayed for his three friends. Now, when God actually finally weighs in on the subject, it's after Job has made those statements about abhorring himself and repenting of Zechariah, he says, look, Job spoke that which was right, the three friends were wrong. Therefore they need to offer a burnt offering to cover their sin and then they need to go to Job and ask Job to forgive them and pray for them. So basically what happens is you've got to put yourself in Job's position. Job did not know why these bad things had happened to him. It's easy for us to sit back and read the story and we understand everything about the story because we can read chapters 1 and 2 and 42 and understand it. Job is just going along through life, all this catastrophe happens, he loses everything, everything bad happens. His three friends are telling him, you're in sin, you're unrighteous, you need to get right with God and he keeps arguing with him saying, no, I'm living right, I haven't done anything wrong. Then this other guy Elihu pipes up and rails on him for a while telling him how sinful and how bad he is again. Then God shows up and doesn't even address any of that. All he does is just cast aside Elihu like, well who's this guy that's just talking without knowledge and just clouding up things even more and darkening counsel even more. And he speaks to Job about his own greatness. Job doesn't know what's going on. So Job just tells God, I'm sorry, I loathe myself, I abhor myself. What does abhor myself mean? I hate myself, I'm trash, you're awesome, I repent. He doesn't even know what he's repenting of. This is like when Peter says, Lord, let's build three tabernacles, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah. Sometimes when God's appearing to you out of a whirlwind and a booming voice is telling you about God's greatness, you're pretty much just going to fall on your face and say, you're right, I'm sorry, I'm a sinful man. Look at every man in the Bible when he's confronted with God that way. What happened when Isaiah is caught up to heaven and he sees the Lord on his throne, he sees the Lord lifted up, he says, woe is me, I'm a man of unclean lips, I'm a sinful man. Peter, when he's confronted with Jesus, depart from me, Lord, I'm a sinful man. I mean, when John sees Jesus Christ in Revelation 1, he falls on his face like he's dead. Daniel, when he's confronted with the angel of the Lord, falls on his face, he's trembling, he's scared, he's like a dead man. Okay, obviously that's what's going on. Job is just saying whatever here, because he's just been confronted with the Lord's glory and he's just so amazed by God, he just says, well, I abhor myself, I repent and sack cloth and ashes. Can somebody tell me what he's repenting of? I mean, what is he repenting of? Being the perfect man, eschewing evil, being upright, being greater than any man on the whole earth? What's he repenting of? He's just, he's basically just acknowledging how much greater God is than he is and he's just humbling himself before God. That's all he's doing. He's just saying, look, I abhor myself, I repent and sack cloth and ashes, you know, and what he says there in verse 3, who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? Therefore have I uttered that I understood not. So basically the rebuke that God gave to Elihu, Job applies that to himself and says, oh man, I said stuff I didn't understand. I was talking about things that were too wonderful for me. But hold on a second, what did God say in the next verse? He said, no, you said what was right. It was your three friends that were wrong. Okay, so again, you can see how somebody could be confused if they didn't read the book. But if you read the book, it's crystal clear that Elihu is saying the exact same thing as the three friends because he, I showed you where he told Job that he was a very sinful man, which God did not agree with, and where he said that his words without knowledge, his words are the word of God. Everything in Job that Job said is amazing scripture that teaches all kinds of doctrines about salvation, second coming of Christ, all kinds of interesting things. So anyway, I just want to point that out that this whole teaching that says, hey, Elihu was right is an ignorant teaching because Elihu basically is in the same boat with the three friends, he's condemning Job, God said Job was right. Just because Job says something negative about himself, it'd be like if I got up, think about this, what if I got up and said, oh man, I'm just, you know what, I'm just, I'm a terrible pastor, you know, I failed as a pastor, I'm really just not doing what I'm supposed to be doing here, you know, I just feel like such a loser, I could have done such a better job. And then what if God piped up and said, no, actually, Pastor Anderson, you've been doing a phenomenal job. What would be your interpretation of that situation? You know what you'd say? Oh, that's just Pastor Anderson was being real humble, but actually God was pleased with what he was doing. You see what I'm saying? And obviously I'm not saying that I'm, you know, God's going to come say that about me, okay. I'm just trying to put it as a way that we can understand. If any Christian, I heard somebody say, think about it this way, I heard somebody say this, Whoever the best Christian is in the world, they surely don't know it. Because they'd be so humble they wouldn't know it, you know, because whoever's the most godly Christian would be a humble man that would not think that he's so great, and he would actually think, you know what, because he'd be so aware of the sin in his life, just like David, who had a tender heart, that even when he committed sin, even minorly with Saul, his heart smote him. So the guy who's the greatest Christian in the world, I've heard it said, hey, he wouldn't even know it because he'd be so humble. And I think that's what we see with Job, is that he is a humble man, and he's being a little self-deprecating in chapter 42, but that doesn't mean that he is really in sin because God said he wasn't in sin. So again, it's really an embarrassing teaching to teach that Elihu's words are the words of God. It's way out in left field, my friend, when you actually look at what Elihu said. Now let's get into the chapter. I just wanted to explain all that and give you kind of an overview before we get into these six chapters. And then going forward, next week I'm not going to rehash all that. Next week I'm just going to say, hey, chapter 33 of Elihu, and we already proved last week that what Elihu says is wrong, and we'll go from there. So anyway, here's the bad news about chapter 32. Elihu doesn't even really say anything in chapter 32. This is just his big long-winded intro. So in chapter 32, he just gives this really long-winded intro. It's like, okay, and here's the thing. He really sets you up in chapter 32 like he's going to really say something awesome. Because I remember the first time I read the book of Job, because here's the thing, the first time you read it, you don't know whether Elihu's going to be right or wrong, because you haven't gotten to the end yet where God rebukes him, and you haven't seen that he's just going to say the same things that the three friends said. So I remember the first time I read the book of Job, when I got to chapter 32, I was like buckling my seatbelt for something awesome. I was like, man, I'm ready for something great, because this guy just, it's all this buildup. Wow, you guys are just, you guys, I expected you guys to be able to give an answer to Job. I'm going to give a perfect answer. You guys didn't know, wait until you hear what I have to say. It's just like, and then it's just the same, you're like, what? It's a real disappointing guy. But anyway, look at verse 1 of chapter 32, it says, So these three men ceased to answer Job because he was righteous in his own eyes. Then was kindled the wrath of Elihu the son of Barakol the Buzite of the kindred of Ram. Against Job was his wrath kindled, because he justified himself rather than God. Also against his three friends was his wrath kindled, because they had found no answer and yet had condemned Job. Yeah, sort of like you are going to do for the next five chapters. Now Elihu had waited till Job had spoken, because they were elder than he. When Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of these three men, then his wrath was kindled. And Elihu the son of Barakol the Buzite answered and said, I'm young and ye are very old. Wherefore I was afraid. That just sounds kind of funny. I'm young, I say that to people all the time. Now listen, I'm young, you're very old. But by the way, this guy is a little pompous if you listen to this whole chapter. Did anybody else notice that? He's a little pompous. You know, I'm young and you are very old. You didn't have to say very. Wherefore I was afraid and durst not show you my opinion. I said, days should speak and multitude of years should teach wisdom. But there is a spirit in man and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding. Great men are not always wise, neither do the aged understand judgment. Therefore I said, hearken to me, I also will show my opinion. Behold I waited for your words, I gave ear to your reasons whilst he searched out what to say. Yea, I attended unto you and behold there was none of you that convinced Job or that answered his words. Yea, you already said that. First ye should say, we found out wisdom, God thrusteth him down, not man. Now he had not directed his words against me, neither will I answer them with your speech. He's saying, you know, I know nobody was talking to me or anything. They were amazed. They answered no more. They left off speaking. When I had waited, for they spake not, but said, okay, what are you going to say? The guy just goes on. Okay, so they stopped talking. Did I mention that they stopped talking? Did I mention that they were amazed and that they had no answer? Did I mention that I was waiting because they were really old and I was young? I mean, this guy just goes, it's a really long intro. He said, you know, when I had waited, for they spake not, but stood still and answered no more, I said, I will answer also my part. I also will show my opinion, for I'm full of matter. Yea, I was thinking of a different word, but he says, you know, I'm full of matter. The spirit within me constraineth me. Behold, my belly is as wine, which hath no vent. It is ready to burst like new bottles. I will speak that I may be refreshed. I will open my lips and answer. Let me not, I pray you, except any man's person. Neither let me give flattering titles unto man, for I know not to give flattering titles. In so doing, my Maker would soon take me away. Now here's what's funny. His big intro, it keeps going in chapter 33. It just keeps going. Look. Wherefore, Job, I pray thee, hear my speeches, and hearken to all my words. Yea, we're listening. Behold now, I've opened my mouth. My tongue hath spoken in my mouth. Yea, we know, okay. My words, my words shall be of the uprightness of my heart. My lips shall utter knowledge clearly. The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life. If thou canst answer me, set thy words in order before me. Stand up. Behold, I am according to thy wish and God's stead. I also am formed out of the clay. Behold, my terror shall not make thee afraid. I'm not going to scare you, he's saying. Neither shall my hand be heavy upon thee. Surely thou hast spoken in my hearing, and I've heard the voice of thy words. What in the world is this guy? This guy has just spent the last 30 verses saying virtually nothing. That's all just building up. And then basically when he finally starts talking in verse 9, he just starts rehashing the same argument that we've been hearing for the last 30 chapters. He basically just starts saying, yeah you're saying that you haven't sinned, you're saying that you're righteous, and then he just starts accusing him of sin. It cracks me up. Let's just talk about a few of the things that he said in that big long intro, that big long prelude. Now here's the thing, are some of the things that he said right? Well I'll say that even a broken clock is right two times per day. I mean even a broken clock is going to show the right time two times per day. And here's the thing, every false teacher says something right. And it always blows my mind when people, they'll point to something right that somebody says and says, see this is a good guy, listen to the right thing he said. But here's the thing, if you're saying right things mixed with wrong things, you're wrong. You can't sit there and just say, well you know the Mormons teach some good things. The Jehovah's Witnesses teach some good things. Now let me ask you, do the Mormons teach some good things? But here's the thing, I'm sure we could find something that the Mormons teach that's good. They probably teach you something like thou shall not steal or something, I mean they've got to teach you something good. Everybody teaches something good. But here's the thing, it's the lies that they're teaching that are the problem. It's like a politician, oh I heard him say x, y, and z, good thing, yeah but what about all the bad stuff he's doing? What about all the bad stuff he said over here? So you can't just be sucked in by false teaching just because you hear something that sounds good. I'm sure that the Jehovah's Witnesses are doing something right. I'm sure the Catholics are, but they're of the devil. They're preaching lies and false doctrine. The one good thing that they say now and then, and it's funny, my brother one time, he told me he went to this, his job took him to this conference or convention and it was one of these things that's like a motivational speaker thing. Have you ever had a job, take you to a thing like this where you go to a big conference and basically they have a lot of famous people trying to fire you up and motivate you to be more successful and he went to this thing and it was just a business motivational thing and you got President Gerald Ford was there, the former President Gerald Ford and then like Joe Montana was there or something from the football team and it was just a bunch of famous people and rich people just talking to you about how to be successful like motivational speakers and one of them, one of these motivational speakers was a Mormon guy. He was some kind of a pro football player or some successful person in the world, but he happened to be Mormon and this guy opened the Bible, this Mormon, he opened the Bible and was just talking about real general stuff from the Bible like, I don't know, just loving your neighbor and just being, you know, doing unto others as you'd want him to do unto you. Just stuff that anybody would agree with. And it's funny because my brother was sitting there thinking like, okay this guy's a Mormon, he believes a totally different gospel, but he was thinking to himself that this sermon that he's hearing from this Mormon guy, give at this not even a Christian event, he said this is similar to preaching that you'd hear in all kinds of community churches and non-denominational churches all over the place and I always say this, what's wrong with most of these liberal churches is not what they say, it's what they don't say. Because I mean, look, if we, and I remember one time, because my wife, she got saved and just right away started going to an independent fundamental Baptist church with me and she'd hear me talk about these liberal churches, these neo-evangelical churches, and she said to me, you know, I'd like to just go to one one time just to see what it's like. You know, just so I could just kind of laugh at, this is when we were first married, she said, I'd like to just go to one and just to see it and just to kind of see how weird it is and how unbiblical it is, just to see what it's like. And I told her, I said, honey, you'd go there and it would be so boring that it wouldn't be like just all this false doctrine would come at you and you'd be, you know, refuting it from the Bible and you know why it's wrong and it's like you'd go there and just pretty much hear nothing. And you'd probably agree with all of it, but it would just be so lean and so watered down. You hear stuff that's right at any place that you go, but the problem is what you're not hearing, all the truth that they're withholding from you and then also the little leaven that they'll put in that'll leaven the whole lump. So you can't just sit there and say, well, because somebody said something that was right or that sounded good, I think he's a good guy, because he's right on this one thing. And there are all kinds of people that are right on one thing and horrible on everything else. You know, and we can name all kinds of names that are like that. Like for example, Sam Gipp. Everybody's like, oh, Sam Gipp is so great on the King James. Oh, Sam Gipp on the King James. But here's the thing, Sam Gipp teaches that there are all these other gospels that basically people were saved by works in the Old Testament and people are going to be saved by works in the future and all this weird hyper dispensational doctrine and Sam Gipp got up and said, Jesus is not his Messiah. You know, I don't call Jesus my Messiah, he ain't your Messiah, he's only the Messiah to the Jews. Hey, Messiah means Christ. I think we all call him Jesus Christ. And you can sit there and say, oh, Sam Gipp is so great on the King James. But when he's wrong on salvation, he's wrong on end times prophecy, he's wrong on everything I've ever heard him talk about except, and even on the King James, his views are weird. His views don't even make sense because he says that the Greek New Testament is filled with errors. Well, that's what the English King James is translated from. So how does that work? He said the English translation is better than the original Greek that it was translated from. That doesn't even make sense, wouldn't they be equivalent? How could the translation, now I'm not one of these that says the translation is worse than the original. Maybe the translation is equivalent to the original. You know, this is it in English, that's it in Greek, it's equivalent. But he says the English is better and the Greek has all kinds of errors. Look, you can't just be sucked in by somebody because they're right about one thing. Everybody's right about one thing. I mean you can name any false religion that you want and they're right about something. Like I mean think about the Catholic Church. I mean they're right about the Trinity, right? I mean they do believe in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost and these three are wrong. But does that make up for all the other lies that they teach? So you know we've got to be careful that just because somebody says some things that are right that we don't just get sucked in and just think oh yeah this guy's right on. You know everything has to be tested with Scripture. Everything has to be tested with the Word of God and it's your personal responsibility to read this whole book cover to cover and learn it and understand it and test everything with Scripture at all times. Of all things the Bible says, hold fast that which is good. So there are a lot of teachers out there that'll be really good on one thing and then that's kind of their foot in the door to teach you all the bad stuff that they want to teach you, all the lies that they want to teach you. Now here are some things that Elihu does say that are interesting that we can look at. First of all he says in verse 9, great men are not always wise, neither do the aged understand judgment. Now is that true? That great men are not always wise and that old men do not always have understanding? That's very true. You know the saying goes there's no fool like an old fool. And the Bible says that the hoary head or the gray head is a crown of glory if, the hoary head is a crown of glory if it be found in the way of righteousness. So the Bible does say that we should rise up before the hoary head and honor the face of the old man. So we should be respectful to elderly people. When they walk through the door we should stand, we should be respectful to them and give honor to them for their age. But that doesn't mean that we should always just listen to what they say and just accept it just because they're old. And what does the Bible say? Let no man despise thy youth, but be thou an example of the believers in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. He says don't let anybody look down on you because you're young is what he's saying when he says let no man despise thy youth. Hey be an example in word. Give the doctrine he says in the next verse. So we don't want to just blindly accept what older preachers say just because they're old. That doesn't mean that they're right, that's true. Also in, you don't have to turn there, you can if you like, but Psalm 119 has a good scripture on this also. And Psalm 119 in the M section there, how it's broken down by alphabet, verse 99 of Psalm 119 says, actually let's just start with verse 97, let's just read the whole section. But look at Psalm 119 verse 97, it says, oh how I love thy law, it is my meditation all the day. Now let me ask you something. Somebody really loves God's word because that's what he means by the law there. Somebody really loves God's word to the point where they meditate upon it all day long. Wouldn't you say that person knows the Bible pretty well? I mean they're going to know the Bible real well, more than the guy who just spends a few minutes a day reading it, 15 minutes. I mean this is a guy who loves it and meditates on it all day. Look what it says in verse 98, through thy commandments thou hast made me wiser than mine enemies for they are ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for thy testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts. So we see David saying, I understand more than the ancient men. I understand more than all my teachers, why? Because I've meditated on the word of God day and night. Notice what he did not say, I understand more than the ancients, I have more understanding than all my teachers because I've studied ancient languages like Greek and Hebrew. Or I understand more than the ancients, I know more than all my teachers because I have a degree from, you know, Harvard and Stanford and Cambridge and, you know, I have a master's degree and I have a doctorate and a PhD and a THD and, you know. Is that what he's saying? So according to scripture, what's your ticket to having more understanding than all the ancients? I mean, if you want to get there, to where you say, I know more than my teachers, I understand more than the ancients, what's the pathway? Love God's word and meditate on it all day long. I mean, that's how simple it is. And if you go to Bible college, they don't just put you in a meditation room all day and say, here's the Bible, I know you love this book or else you wouldn't be here. You wouldn't be here if you didn't love this book. Here's the book, there's a room over there, you go meditate on this word all day long. You're going to learn everything. We're not even going to teach you because if you go to that room with this book, you'll understand more than us. See that ancient old man? You'll know more than him. Go. Now, why don't they do that? Because nobody would pay money to go do that. But guess what, you can do that for free. And you will know more than that guy. But instead, they set up all these other classes and they're going to blah, blah, and it's not going to get you to the destination, my friend. The Bible says that you learn more than the teacher by studying the Bible. Not studying books about the Bible, not reading commentaries on the Bible, not learning about the word, but learning the word itself. And so that's what the Bible teaches here in Psalm 119 as far as learning scripture. Now it kind of ties in with that point, what Elihu says in chapter 32 verse 21. He says in Job 32, 21, Let me not, I pray, you accept any man's person, neither let me give flattering titles unto man, for I know not to give flattering titles, and so doing my Maker would soon take me away. Now here's another thing that Elihu did say correctly is that, hey, we shouldn't be a respecter of persons. So Elihu has made a couple of statements that are right when he said, hey, just because somebody's old doesn't mean they're always right. Okay, I agree with that. And then Elihu also said, you know, I'm not going to accept any man's person, I'm not going to give people flattering titles. That's also true. Because the Bible does teach that we should not be a respecter of persons. The Bible says God is not a respecter of persons and that if we have respect to persons, we commit sin. Did you hear that? James 2 says, but if you have respect of persons, you commit sin and are convinced of the law as transgressors. Okay, that's Job 2, or James 2, 9. Okay. Flattering titles. What would be some examples of flattering titles? Okay, because the Bible warns us not to use flattery, not to give into flattery, and actually there are some specific titles that God tells us not to give. For example, go over to Matthew 23, we can just look at a few, it's the last place we'll turn tonight. But you know, when you think of giving flattering titles on demand, what does flattery mean? Flattery is when you basically praise someone in a way that's overboard or over the top. It's undeserved praise. Okay. So for example, if somebody actually deserves praise, if somebody works hard and does something and I give them praise that is within the bounds of what would be reasonable, okay. Like if I, you know, if I said, hey, you know, Brother Garrett, you know, you've done a great job with soul winning, you've done a great job cleaning the building, thanks for all your hard work, you know, driving the church van and doing a lot of cleaning and organizing soul winning, you've really worked hard, you've done a great job, you know, let's give Brother Garrett a big hand for doing a good job. You know, that wouldn't be flattering, because he has worked hard, you know, that would just be me saying, hey, you did a good job, you know, we want to recognize you, we want to appreciate you, that's perfectly normal and perfectly right, okay. But what if I literally, what if I walked up to a pastor or preacher and I've had people flatter me and that turned out to be really bad people, because a lot of times that's how bad people will try to get in good with you, is by giving you these really over the top compliments. You know, it'd be one thing to say, man, I really love your preaching Pastor Anderson, you know, I've really learned a lot from your preaching, it's been a blessing, you know, I really like, you know, what you teach and you've really helped me out or whatever, okay, thanks, but sometimes it'll just be this kind of over the top, like, I think you are literally the greatest Christian on the planet right now. You know, you are, you're the greatest pastor who's ever lived, you know, this is just ridiculous, over the top, you know what I mean, just, oh, give me a break type of thing. Or sometimes when people will give compliments that are just not true, they're just not even close to being true, like just ridiculous things, like not, it could just be just an overboard, over the top, just, you know, like I've had people tell me, like, I consider you like my dad, you know, you're like my dad and it's like, I don't even know you, I've never even met you and I'm not your dad, okay, you know, I'm not, I'm not taking responsibility for you, buddy. Just weird stuff like, and people like that, they turn out to be, there have been people in our church who elevated me on a pedestal that made me uncomfortable and they turned out to be really bad people who actually hated me and were here just to cause problems and try to split the church. So you know, there you go, right? People who are just overboard and over the top of just, you're so wonderful. Or sometimes flattery will just be things that just clearly aren't true. You know, for example, you know, we all have strengths and weaknesses, okay, if somebody came up to me and said, you know, Pastor Anderson, you have such a beautiful smile, you know, you know, that's ridiculous because I, you know, my teeth are a little crooked and stuff, you know, I'm not self-conscious about my teeth, I don't really care, I'm not Joel Osteen. If I write a book, my teeth will not be the centerpiece of the front cover like Joel Osteen's But I'm saying, like, if somebody's just like, you know, I mean, look, if you're completely out of shape and somebody just said, oh, man, you're so strong, you're so fit, you'd be like, what's going on here, you know what I mean, like, I'm not in shape, you know, just, you know, if somebody's telling you how great your hair is and you're going bald, you know, just kind of like, just stuff that's just a lie, you know, I'm trying to think of examples, I'm like offending everyone in the church at one time. Look, I was trying to find some, I was trying to find out something about myself, you know, but anyway, just if somebody told you, you know, oh, you did such a great, let's say, let's say, you know, sometimes I play the piano and sometimes I do well and sometimes I really mess up and let's say I'm over there and I mess up a lot and somebody's just like, wow, you, you are just amazing on that piano, you are amazing, no, I'm not, you know, I barely even got through the song. So I, you know, I don't know how else to explain it, but flattery is when people are giving you compliments that are insincere. They're over the top, they're, they're way overboard or they're just not true and it's because they have an ulterior motive, just to kind of build, build rapport with you and build confidence. It's not that they really think you're that beautiful or good looking and, you know, sometimes the strange woman that, that, that Proverbs warns us about, that will try to seduce a godly man into committing fornication or adultery, the Bible over and over again says she'll lose, she'll use flattery. Like she'll tell you, oh, you are so handsome, you are such a big strong man, you are such a cool guy, you know, and you're like, well, really, you know, hey, cool, you know. So you got to be aware of that, okay. So what's a flattering title? Now let's think about titles, flattering titles. Well I had you turn to Matthew 23, here's a great example of some titles that we shouldn't use. He says in verse 5, but all their works they do for to be seen of man, they make broad their phylacteries and enlarge the borders of their garments and love the uppermost rooms at feasts and the chief seats in the synagogues and they love, he's saying, and greetings in the markets and to be called of men, rabbi, rabbi. But be not ye called rabbi, for one is your master, even Christ, and all ye are brethren, and call no man your father upon the earth, for one is your father which is in heaven, neither be ye called masters, for one is your master, even Christ, but he that is greatest among you all shall be your servant. So he gives some titles there, he says, I don't want you to use these titles, don't go around being called rabbi, or be called father, or be called master. Those are not titles that are appropriate for men of God or for pastors. Now the titles that God used for pastors would be like a pastor, a bishop, or an elder. Those are three terms that God legitimately gives a man of God, pastor, bishop, or elder. But does he want them to be called rabbi? That's why whenever you see any Bible preacher that calls himself rabbi, and they're out there now with this new trendy Hebrew roots thing on the rise, a lot of guys are going by rabbi now. Which is an automatic sign of a false teacher. Just right there, false teacher, take it to the bank. You know, and when you got a guy calling himself father, we had a guy here a couple weeks ago, Father Peter, this Anglican priest showed up a few weeks ago, and he was Father Peter. You know, automatically you know something's wrong with this picture. And then you'll have other people that call themselves master. And even Bible colleges will give a master of theology degree. They didn't get that from the Bible. You know, they got that from the world. Because that's one of the things that he said, you know, master, master, rabbi, and father. Don't use it. It's not a title that's appropriate. Now another title that's pretty popular amongst preachers is doctor. Now you know, is there a doctor in the house? You know, I mean I don't know what, these guys are playing doctor apparently. You're not a doctor. I mean, what a dumb thing to call yourself, because you say, well, that's not that kind of doctor. Because I remember, I want a guy to Christ, and we're listening to a preacher, he's talking about doctor this, doctor that, he's like, wait, are they like a doctor convention? Because he's thinking medical doctor. Now you say, well, there's another kind of doctor. But here's the thing, the word doctor is used in the Bible. You know who are the only people who called themselves doctors in the Bible? The Pharisees, only once. I mean, look in the Bible. Who went by the title doctor? The doctors of the law were the Pharisees, and they called themselves doctors. Now that's just a title that's not a title where God ever said, hey, you're a doctor. I'm going to make you a doctor. You know, you're ordained to be a doctor. But men like to glory in these type of titles, and it's like, well, they don't want to use rabbi, father, and master, because God said no to those, so then they just get these other titles. Reverend. You know, I wouldn't go by reverend, just because the Bible says his name is reverend. Reverend is his name. So I wouldn't sit there and call myself reverend. That sounds like a flattering title to me. And here's the thing, doctor is a Pharisee title. So why would I borrow a title from the Pharisees? Oh, I know why, because I'm trying to be like the world. Because is the world impressed if you have doctor in front of your name? Oh, yeah. You put a doctor in front of your name, instant credibility. Of course, what they don't understand is that Baptists give out doctorates if you just mail in enough UPC symbols and enough money, they'll send you a doctorate. I'm serious. I mean, I've talked to some pretty ignorant, stupid people that have a doctor in front of their name that they, you know, if you mail in enough money to these correspondents and enough box tops and enough UPC symbols, they'll send you a doctorate or a Masters of the Universe degree or whatever you want to go by. Or they'll send you a degree that just says BS on it. I have a BS in theology. Yeah, I noticed that. But now let's talk about your degree. But it's like, I have a BS in theology. A BA. I mean, it's just funny that somebody has literally said to me with a straight face, I have a BS in theology. I know what I'm talking about. I have a BA. I have a BA. I have a Bachelor. I got married to not be called that. What kind of a stupid title is that? I'm a Bachelor of Science. Why would a pastor put a paper on the wall that says he's a Bachelor of Science? Associate of Arts. Master of Theology. Doctor of Divinity. I mean, it literally, it sounds like you're entering a boxing ring. In this corner we have Pastor Steven Anderson, the Doctor of Divinity, the Master of Theology, Bachelor of Sciences, weighing in at 175 pounds. Let's get ready to rumble. He is the Master of Disaster. The Count of Monte Cristo. He is the man of the hour. The man with the power. Too sweet to be sour. He is the Master of Theology. You know what, though? You'd expect to see it with WWF, but it's pretty embarrassing when pastors feel like they need to parade all these flattering titles. I mean, why not just, how about this? Why not just have some real achievements in your life between you and the Lord that you don't even brag about? You know what I mean? I mean, why don't we just wait for the judgment seat of Christ and see what He says about you and let another man praise thee and not thine own mouth and not sit there and just all the titles and I am Dr. Steven L. Anderson, PhD. Now here's the thing, nobody's trying to give me any degrees like that. So this is not a temptation for me that I have to resist. But I'm going down on the record right now that if anybody, and it's not going to happen so it doesn't matter, but if anybody tries to offer me one of these titles, I'm going to turn it down. If anybody says, we're going to give you an honorary doctorate, I'd say keep it. I don't need your Pharisee title. If I go into a boxing ring, I'm going to come up with my own titles that have nothing to do with Doctor of Divinity. So anyway, there are a few things that Elihu said in that chapter that had some merit. Just saying, hey old people, they don't always know what's best. We should respect them and hear them out, but they don't always know the most. And then also he said, let's not be a respecter of persons and give flowery, flattering titles unto men. And that is something that the Bible teaches. We need to be humble people before God. I don't think Elihu was a very humble guy, just from that chapter, but we ought to be humble servants of God. We ought to know the Bible. We ought not to go around bragging about our achievements and giving ourselves all kinds of titles and expecting people to call us by... Now look, biblical titles, okay, there are a few titles, Deacon, that's a biblical title, but not these titles of the world and everything like that. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your word, Lord. Help us to study, to show ourselves approved, Lord. There are just so many people out there that are a fraud, Lord, and all we have is your word to sort through all this stuff, Lord. Just help us to read it and study it. Help us not to be sucked in by every wind of doctrine, just carried about with every trendy teaching, Lord. Help us not to just think, oh, well, if it's coming from Mr. PhD and so-and-so and he's a gray-haired old man, help us not just automatically take these things as gospel. Help us to read the book of Job for ourselves and really read the entire Bible for ourselves and to know what we believe and why we believe based on your word. The true path to knowledge is going to be to meditate on this word day and night, Lord. It's easier said than done, but help us to love the word enough to meditate on it day and night, Lord, and get knowledge and understanding for ourselves. And in Jesus' name we pray.