Job 13:12  Your remembrances are like unto ashes, your bodies to bodies of clay.
13  Hold your peace, let me alone, that I may speak, and let come on me what will.
14  Wherefore do I take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in mine hand?
15  Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.
16  He also shall be my salvation: for an hypocrite shall not come before him.
17  Hear diligently my speech, and my declaration with your ears.
18  Behold now, I have ordered my cause; I know that I shall be justified.

Job continued to point out the vanity of these three men. The words they were speaking were like ashes. They were not worth keeping. Their bodies were just bodies of clay. They were not of any value. God made man from the ground, but He breathed into that dirt, the breath of life. These men were behaving like a lump of clay that had no life. They did not know the Lord and yet they acted like they knew Him. Their god was a fictitious god invented in their minds.
Job again requested that they would hold their peace and leave him alone. Job was tired of hearing their worthless speech. He would rather be left alone and take things as they come. Job needed encouraging. He needed help to keep a right perspective of life in the midst of his trials. These men were of no help. They caused him to contend for the faith once delivered unto the saints. That was a good thing because that did help him to keep his mind off his physical troubles.
In verse 14 Job asked why he needed to symbolically bite his lip from saying certain things. Why did he put his life at risk in talking to these men. Job’s life was being made difficult by these men.
In verse 15 Job stated that he would trust in the Lord even though He would kill him. He was not going to all of a sudden change his ways to try to please God if he thought he was close to death. Job was walking with God. He was genuine. He had things to learn, but he was not a two-faced person. He was living by what he believed was the will of God and he intended on continuing to live for the Lord.
Job was not being arrogant as his three friends were. He was not trying to remake God according to His ways. He wanted to follow God faithfully and not live by pretence.
In verse 16 Job continued by stating that God was his salvation. He trusted in God to deliver him. He also acknowledged that a hypocrite could not come before God. Job was refuting the accusations of his friends, that he was being a hypocrite. They were the ones who were hypocrites and they needed to be reminded that they were in trouble with God and did not have protection in Him as they assumed they did.
We see in these verses that Job had godly convictions. His friends spoke with confidence as well. They were sure they were right and he was wrong. However, Job’s convictions were built upon the sure Word of God. He did not pull his theology out of thin air and make up things to make himself feel good even though he was walking in sin. His faith in God was based on truth.
These three men had a self-made theology. As we have noted before we can know this by examining their words in the light of God’s truth. That is what Job was doing. That is what we need to do as well. When a person wants to give us what they consider to be godly counsel, we need to examine that in the light of God’s Word. We do not need to be in a rush to agree with the person. We need to ask them what they base their ideas on. If they reference some Bible verses, we need to look at those verses and keep the context in mind. When we “rightly divide the word of truth” we will be pleasing to God. When we “wrest” God’s Word we will be under His wrath. There are far more people living under His wrath, than under His blessing.
Job continued to ask these men to listen diligently to what he was saying. They should not let his words run off their backs like water off a duck’s back. Job was not blowing off hot air. They were. Job was pouring out his heart before God in their presence. He was acknowledging truths that they did not know. He was exalting God. He was also demanding things of God that he had no right to do. His friends could not help him with that, but God would challenge him on that.
Job had presented his case before God. He had “ordered his cause.” He was not trying to pretend to be someone he was not. He was being open with God according to God’s Word. He was sure he would be justified in Him.
Again, we see the contrast between these two sides. The ecumenical movement wants religious people to set aside their differences and just focus on what they have in common. The reality is that false religion and true religion have nothing in common. They both talk about God and about Jesus, but their God and their Jesus are not the same. Paul warned of this.

II Corinthians 11:4  For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.

This was a problem in Paul’s day. Job did not directly know the name of Jesus, nor did his three friends. However, Job spoke of his Redeemer, whereas his three friends used false doctrine. We have mentioned this the past couple of days with what has taken place in Kentucky and apparently is spreading to other parts of the world now. It is based on a false theology. It is false doctrine. Just because many are following it, does not make it true. God is bigger than His creation. Paul also wrote:

Romans 3:4  God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.

God cannot be manipulated and made to fit our imagination of Him. We need to know Him according to His Word. We need to be truthful and accept all of His Word as truth and deal honestly with His Word.
Job trusted that he would be justified because he walked in the fear of God. He was not imagining things. He was not skipping over truth to build his theology. He was looking at the entirety of what God had revealed to him. Thus he could make these statements without being accused of bragging. He was lacking some important facts, and God would rebuke him and correct him on those things. However, God did not treat him as an unbeliever. Job’s three friends could not make that claim. God judged them and found them wanting.
You and I need to walk in humility. A proud man will not receive correction. A proud man will not accept what God’s Word actually says. He will fight to his last breath for what he believes. He will lose, but he will insist he is right. No wise person continues to fight against God. The wise person humbles himself and trusts in the true God. He is purified by God and that will be evident by examining his beliefs according to God’s Word.
Pastor Bartel