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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadJabez Burns Sermons: 848. Job 9:33. The Office and Work of a Daysman
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Job_9:33. The Office and Work of a Daysman
"Neither is there any daysman betwixt us, that might lay his band upon us both."—Job_9:33.
In all cases where two constructions are possible, it is the line of charity to give it that which is favorable to the party in question.
Now Job has been speaking of himself in strong language, and it may be interpreted either greatly to his disparagement, or may be so considered as to give a meaning rather honorable to his godly sincerity. We feel, therefore, that the latter course of interpretation is the one we ought to take. He had to clear himself against a gross charge of hypocrisy brought against him by his mistaken friends; but he had also to stand before God, and to contemplate the divine character and goodness in the sufferings he was called to endure. He seems to represent the impossibility of his attaining a purity which would meet the divine requirements. "If I wash myself with snow-water, and make my hands never so clean; yet shalt thou plunge me in the ditch, and mine own clothes shall abhor me:" Job_9:30, Job_9:31. He assigns as reasons for this conclusion. "For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, and we should come together in judgment:" Job_9:32. He then laments that there is no daysman, one who might bring the matter to a complete and satisfactory termination.
Now, what Job did not seem to realize at this period of his sorrow, we have in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ;—and such is the application we shall give the subject.
Notice then,
I. What the office of a daysman involves.
II. What it includes.
And,
III. The end to be realized.
I. What the. office of a daysman involves.
It involves,
(1.) The idea of two parties, for whom he is to act.
(2.) That the two parties are at difference, and not in agreement with each other.
Now this is the case between God and man.
God has claims and demands on us. These claims are righteous and just. They are reasonable and good; and, therefore, ought to be met.
Man has rejected these claims,—has set himself up in defiance of God; and is, therefore, exposed to the divine displeasure.
(3.) A daysman involves the idea that one or the other of the parties, or both, are willing to have the matter set at rest, by the interposition of a third person.
Now, God is thus willing to appeal to another. He has appealed to the heavens and the earth. He has declared his holiness, and truth, and goodness. But, as the sinner is a man—weak, and ignorant, and impotent—God, in mercy to him, has referred the whole to a daysman. He has called and sent forth one, who should, in the language of the text, lay his hand upon both.
Now, notice in reference to a daysman,
II. What it includes.
1. As it regards the person of the daysman.
He should not be inferior to either party; if so, his decision would not be likely to be satisfactory. He should be equal to both in authority, in dignity, and in wisdom. Now, such is the Lord Jesus Christ—a holy, wise, and perfect man; but also one in power, dignity, majesty, and glory with the Father. The loved and honored of the Father; possessing the divine nature, and the divine perfections; one infallible in judgment; and essentially righteous in his decisions.
2. The work of the daysman.
(1.) He must hear both parties, and know all the grounds of the differences existing. This he must know clearly and fully.
(2.) He must judge between both, weighing the whole, for and against, and so do this that every existing point of difference shall be examined, and have its due place and importance in the settlement to be made.
(3.) He must have a right to decide the matter in dispute; both must yield the matter implicitly to him, and abide by his conclusion.
Now, the Lord Jesus occupies this position. He perfectly knows the whole subject. He can infallibly and impartially judge it. He has in fact decided the matter in dispute. In this decision,
(1.) He has vindicated the divine character as righteous and perfect.
(2.) He has pronounced the divine law as holy, just, and good.
(3.) He has convicted man of sin and rebellion against God. His decision is, that God is in the right, and man in the wrong.
He has therefore condemned sin, and justified the interests of holiness. He has honored the Father in his moral government, and thrown the whole blame on man, the delinquent transgressor of the laws of heaven. Nay, he has ever shown how conspicuously the divine goodness has been exhibited to man, so that the sinner has not one good pretext for his hostility to God; not one reasonable pretext for the state of opposition and rebellion which he occupies. Oh how glorious and good, how grand and merciful is God, as revealed to us in the teachings of the Lord Jesus; and especially as revealed to us in the benignant and gracious mission of the world's Redeemer!
But then consider,
III. The end to be realized.
That is, if possible to reunite, so to adjudge that reconciliation shall be effected. Now Christ has just done this.
(1.) He demanded for God's law perfect obedience.
(2.) He demanded that the full penalty of transgression be paid.
Man could not do the first, and the second would involve his eternal condemnation. Well, to meet this extreme exigency, the Daysman engages to do both for man—to be the law magnifier and repairer—to bear its curse, and thus he relieved man from the consequences of his guilt and rebellion. It is in this light that we see the full meaning of those striking passages which relate to the atoning work of Christ. Hence the apostle says, "For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident: for, the just shall live by faith. And the law is not of faith: but the man that doeth them shall live in them. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree."—Gal_3:10-13. And again, "For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in the flesh."—Rom_8:3. And still more explicitly, "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly."—Rom_5:6. And the extent of this gracious propitiatory interposition the apostle states in the summary of a lengthy paragraph, thus: "Therefore, as by the offence of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound; that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord."—Rom_5:18-21.
Here then the great work to be done, that which was essential to the restoration of the sinner to the favor of God, Jesus Christ undertook and fully accomplished. Thus every impediment in the way of our salvation was removed, and now full justification might be preached to the unworthy delinquent, and he can be entirely absolved from all the consequences of his transgression.
You will easily perceive that the Daysman by his work,
1. Enables God honorably to be reconciled to the sinner. "Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus."—Rom_3:25, Rom_3:26. So that God in releasing the sinner from the penalty of his sins, has not relaxed his claims, nor compromised his holiness, nor sacrificed his justice, nor weakened his holy law; but he has rather given a. fresh and grander expression to his character as a moral governor, by giving his Son to be the penalty bearer of man's transgression.
2. The Daysman now enables the sinner to return again to God. He has laid his hand on both. God appeals to the work of Jesus and pardons the sinner. The sinner appeals to the work of Jesus and receives pardon. So that in Christ there is perfect reconciliation between God and man. So the apostle avers, "And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation."—2Co_5:18, 2Co_5:19.
We see then, so far as God is concerned the matter is settled. An everlasting righteousness has been brought in; and he can be merciful to every transgressor. But the sinner must sue for the benefits of righteousness, and seek it by and in Christ Jesus. He must become a willing, consenting party, or he loses all the advantages of the work of Christ the Daysman. And if he stubbornly and wickedly holds out, so far as his salvation is concerned, Christ has lived and died in vain.
Here then we remark,
1. The grand doctrine of the gospel is brought before us. For the very essence of the gospel is this, that we have pardon, holiness, and eternal life, in and by Christ Jesus. That Jesus is the way to the Father; the one and only Mediator between God and man, and that in his name remission of sins may now be freely offered to all people.
2. The faith demanded of the sinner.
The deed of reconcilement hath the signature of God to it. God declares he wants no more in the way of sacrifice or merit to secure his favor. He is well pleased in the finished work of his Son.
But the sinner must append his signature too, by expressing his satisfaction with Christ's mediation, and he must rely on it entirely as the ground of his acceptance with God. Nothing else will do but this. All things else needful to the reconciliation have been done.
3. Unbelief thus becomes the most heinous of all sins; for unbelief decides on resisting the divine claims—on treating the work of Christ with avowed contempt—and on persisting in an open course of enmity towards God.
So that the unbeliever necessarily exposes himself to the wrath of God and eternal death. See how this is expressed: "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him."—Joh_3:36.
To such we reveal the doctrine of God's mercy in Christ Jesus, and urge an instant and earnest attention to his sacrificial work.
"From the cross uplifted high,
Where the Saviour deigns to die,
What melodious sounds I hear!
Bursting on my ravish'd ear:
Love's redeeming work is done,
Come and welcome, sinner, come.
Sprinkled now with blood the throne,
Why beneath thy burden groan?
On my pierced body laid,
Justice owns the ransom paid;
Bow the knee, and kiss the Son,
Come and welcome, sinner, come."