May it please Almighty God to
bless us together this evening as we meditate in his word. Let
us turn to the chapter we read, that's the 19th chapter of Job,
and we'll read verses 25, 26, and 27. Job chapter 19, and read
in verses 25, 26, and 27. For I know that my Redeemer liveth,
and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. And though after my skin worms
destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God, whom I
shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another. though my reigns be consumed
within me. I expect most of you are aware
that of course the Book of Job is an account of some part of
the life of Job and how he was a very rich and wealthy man and
had great possessions and a large family and yet in a very short
day he lost virtually everything. And initially he didn't complain. He said the Lord gave and the
Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. And then we were told that three
of his friends came and sat down for some time without speaking
and eventually they began to speak and they all spoke in turn
and Job answered what they said and some of their thoughts were
good but most of them were very critical of Job and Job initially
again said some good things but often he was quite bitter about
what had happened to him and what the three friends were speaking
and so we come along to this 19th chapter, and Job is responding
to one of those friends. And as we read together, we see
in the earlier part of the verses how Job really is complaining,
understandably so, because of the difficulties that he had
encountered. But really, as we come further
on towards what we read for a text, we will find there seems to be
a change in the attitude of Job. And he tells us, he says, perhaps
in verse 22, why do you persecute me as God and are not satisfied
with my flesh? And then he says, oh, that my
words were now written, oh, that they were printed in a book,
that they were graven with an iron pen and laid in the rock
forever. So he clearly wanted these words
to be recorded, believing they emanated from Almighty God. And we read then these verses
as a text tonight, but it seems that after this, in the remainder
of this book of Job, which is another 20 or so chapters, Job
never actually went back, as you might say, in such a difficult
and bitter spirit. It's written in a far better
frame of mind. Well, coming then to these three
verses that we read tonight. First of all, he says, for I
know that my Redeemer liveth. And the truth is that the key
word really is Redeemer. Because Joe wouldn't have been
able to make the statements he did unless he had the assurance
that the Lord was his Redeemer. And as Job had that assurance,
so we today also need that assurance. Redeemer really means to deliver
for a cost. Just remember that. Redeemed
means to be delivered at a cost. You might say, well, Job, how
were you delivered? What was the cost that was paid
for you? And you and I tonight may ask
the same question. If we are redeemed, what was
the cost that was paid so that we are redeemed? And to be redeemed
means that all our sins are taken away. And every one of us needs
to have our sins removed. Because as I often speak and
tell you, in heaven there is no sin, not the smallest sin. If there was, it would spoil
the holiness and the glory of that place. So none of us can
ever enter heaven if there is the smallest sin existing. So you and I need to be redeemed. Now Peter in his first epistle
tells us about what this redemption is. And he spells it out very
wonderfully and very beautifully. And he tells us in the first
epistle of Peter and the first chapter and from verse 18 he
says, for as much as ye know and it is good really to just
note here Peter is positive as also Job was positive and my
friends you and I may be fearful but we do want to be positive
about the great truth of God we do want to have the wonderful
assurance that we are redeemed. It's not something trivial. It's
vital for our safety in glory that we are redeemed. And so
Peter says, for as much as ye know that ye were not redeemed
with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation,
received by tradition from your fathers. You and I cannot pay
for our redemption. Doesn't matter how much we might
want to give in silver and gold or things, the currency is not
that which is required by Almighty God. And it will not procure
redemption. And that's why this is written
so very clearly. We're not redeemed. with corruptible
things all the things in this world are corruptible they will
perish they won't live forever and we need to be therefore redeemed
with that which is incorruptible and so he goes on in the 19th
verse having said that we're not redeemed with those things
but there's some wonderful buts in the Word of God and this is
one of them but with the precious blood of Christ. And it again
helps us as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. The Lord Jesus Christ lived that
perfect life, that glorious life. He never sinned. He never spoke
a word out of place. He never thought a wrong thought. he lived a perfect life and so
he died upon that cross at Calvary and in dying at that cross at
Calvary he shed his precious blood and that's why we're told
we are not redeemed therefore with corruptible things as silver
and gold but with the precious blood of Christ. And he goes
on to say, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. Perhaps you younger people might
wonder why it was necessary to make such a statement. Well,
we can go back in the history of Israel and of course the Hebrews
and the Jewish nation would have been familiar with the great
truth the Passover because the Passover was instituted and the
lamb was slain and the lamb had to be as perfect as possible
without any blemish and the blood of that lamb was taken and put
upon the doorpost and the lintels of the door into the house and
on that Passover night when all the firstborn of the Egyptians
were slain, everyone would have been slain unless they were safely
in the house, having passed through that doorway and therefore passed
under the blood. There was no safety anywhere
else. And if they hadn't passed under
that blood into the house when the avenging angel came at midnight,
all the firstborn would have been slain. And so that's why
this statement is made, as of a lamb without blemish and without
spot. And he goes on to say, who verily
was foreordained. before the foundation of the
world. And that's a great statement.
And that's an important statement. Because we live in a day-to-day
when many people do not believe the truth of the Bible. At least
they believe some of the Bible they want to, but they don't
want to believe all the Bible. And yet, all the Bible starts
in Genesis. And in Genesis we're told very
clearly that God created the heavens and the earth and everything
that was on the earth God created in those six actual days. And so here we have this statement
which says, who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the
world. And that means that the Lord
Jesus Christ was ordained before the world was created. Indeed we know that the Lord
Jesus Christ was Eternal. God the Father was eternal. God the Son was eternal. And don't try and work out the
possibility of that existing, because our minds are not capable
of realizing such a great truth. That's why God gives his people
faith to believe. And what a blessing therefore
tonight, if you and I believe, who verily this is the great
Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, was ordained before the foundation
of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you and
of course the Lord Jesus Christ was manifested when he was born
in that manger of Bethlehem and lived those 33 years upon the
earth and then was crucified upon that cross at Calvary and
lived a further 40 days then before he ascended up into glory
and there today he sits on the throne of God on the Father's
right hand. This is the saviour. This is
the one who we depend upon for our redemption. And so we then
read these great truths. Who by him do believe in God
that raised him up from the dead and gave him glory that your
faith and hope might be in God. That's a foundational truth for
us, that our faith and hope might be in God. It's not in man, it's
not what people say, it's what God has said. It's what is revealed
in the Bible for our encouragement and for the glorification of
God himself. And so coming back then to this
statement that we have here by Job many years before, We don't
know when, we don't know exactly when Job lived. We know he lived
after the flood, but we don't know when or how. We know he
was a very prominent individual. And so he says, for I know that
my Redeemer liveth. Now he, by the grace of God,
was able to make that wonderful statement. My friends, today,
all of us need that grace of God. to be able to make that
wonderful statement and be able to come and say for I know that
my Redeemer liveth you may say well I'm not sure if I can say
that well that's alright but my friends we must be able to
say that before we pass out of time into eternity and remember
none of us know when that day will come when we shall pass
out of time. And therefore, if it is to be
well with our soul, we need to have this assurance that Job
did, and Peter, and all the saints of God, that they are, and you
and I are, redeemed with the precious blood of Christ. The hymn writer has a lovely
little line, two words, invaluable blood. It is invaluable, and
that's why Peter refers to it as precious, with the precious
blood of Christ. We may ask ourselves tonight,
what do we think of Christ? What do we think of his precious
blood? Do we think it's valuable? Do
we think it's important? Do we think it's necessary? Well,
it is. And it's a great blessing when
the Spirit of God directs us to realize that it is so valuable
and all of us need to be under the blood as the Israelites were
when they came out of Egypt. They were under the blood. And
you and I today need to know that we are under the blood. And in order for us to know that,
we need to have the confirmation from God himself that we are
born again of his spirit. Remember the Lord Jesus when
he spoke to Nicodemus, Nicodemus was tax collector, a very wealthy
man, and he came to Jesus by night. He was too embarrassed
or afraid to come by day, but he came by night and He spoke
to the Lord Jesus and the Lord Jesus spoke to him and spoke
some very great and important truths and perhaps some of the
most important truths that we can think about and meditate
upon. We read about it in the third
chapter of John and it's important just to realize that this man,
he came to Jesus And he said, Rabbi, that means master, we
know that thou art a teacher come from God, for no man can
do these miracles that thou doest except God be with him. Jesus
really bypassed that statement. He didn't say, well, that's true
and you've said something good there. Jesus bypassed it and
he went directly and said this, Very, very I say unto thee, except
a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. And of course that was an astounding
statement for Nicodemus. He couldn't really understand
it. He said, can a man be born again? And again Jesus didn't
answer that question. He just simply said, very, very
I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit,
He cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. That which is born of
the flesh is flesh. All of us here today have been
born of the flesh. And that which is born of the
Spirit is Spirit. Well, bless God, if you and I
have been born by the Spirit of God, so that we possess that
spiritual life, and we're born again. And Jesus says to him,
and it's good for us to just note such words, marvel not,
marvel not. We might think, well, this is
an impossibility. Marvel not, says Jesus, that
I said unto thee, ye must be born again. Of course, I preach
from the following verse not so long ago, and that is, the
wind bloweth where it listeth, wherever the wind is, wherever
it blows. Now hear is the sound thereof,
but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth.
So is every one that is born of the Spirit. Yes, the work
of the Spirit comes upon us. We don't know how it comes, where
it comes from, but it does come. And what does it do? It makes
us spiritually alive. Spiritually alive. So that we
come into that category as the Apostle Paul told the Ephesians
when he wrote that letter to them. And in the second chapter
he says, And you hath he quickened. That means, and you hath he made
alive. spiritually alive and you hath
he made spiritually alive who were dead in trespasses and sins
and all of us when we were born were like that spiritually dead
in trespasses and in sins and he spells it out and says wherein
in time past ye walked according to the course of this world according
to the prints of the power of the air the spirit that now worketh
in the children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our
conversation in times past. In the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling
the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature
the children of wrath even as others. But God, there's another
but you see, but God, who is rich in mercy, for his great
love, wherewith He loved us even, even when we were dead in sins,
hath quickened us together, made us spiritually alive with Christ. And then he says, by grace ye
are saved. The free unmerited favour we
never deserved to be made spiritually alive. But what a wonderful blessing
it is if we've been made spiritually alive and realize therefore that
we are amongst those who have been redeemed with the precious
blood of Christ and therefore can enter in to the truth of
this word, for I know that my Redeemer liveth. Well it's a
blessed statement and it's an important statement and it's
really wonderful if you and I can enter in to that statement and
say by the grace of God I am redeemed because I have the evidence
that he's made me spiritually alive Once I was dead, I didn't
know anything about the things of God, only perhaps in my mind,
just like Nicodemus. But the Spirit of God entered
him and touched my heart and made me spiritually alive, so
that I then realized how I needed a Redeemer. And the only Redeemer
was the Lord Jesus Christ. And the only way that my sins
could be taken away and the price paid for my redemption was the
blessed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, what a wonderful
thing it is. If we know the blessing of this
great truth, and so says Job, for I know that my Redeemer liveth. And then he goes on then to look
forward. Now none of us will be able to
look forward really unless we have the confirmation that we
are redeemed. Joe knew he was redeemed. And because he knew that he was
redeemed, he was able to say, for I know that my Redeemer,
remember, my Redeemer, all of us must come there. It's not
the Redeemer of someone else, good as it may be, you and I
need to stand and be able to say with humble but God-given
conviction, For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he
shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. And after my
skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God,
whom I shall see for myself. And mine eyes shall behold and
not another, though my reins be consumed within me. Now, very
clearly, Job realized that he would die. And he realized that
when he died, he would be buried in the ground and that worms
would consume his body. But he knew that there would
be a resurrection. He knew that the Lord would come
and stand upon the earth at the latter day. And what a wonderful
blessing it is if you and I today have faith to believe that great
truth, because it is so. And the Lord Jesus ascended up into heaven. You may remember there was that
wonderful statement that he would come again and would stand upon
the earth in that same way that he had departed from the earth. And it's good, isn't it, when
we read the truth of God We read that in the Acts of the Apostles
and we're told, but ye shall receive power after the Holy
Ghost has come upon you and ye shall be witnesses unto me both
in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost
part of the earth. And when he had spoken these
things, while they beheld, he was taken up, and a cloud received
him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly
toward heaven, as he went up, behold, two men stood by them
in white apparel, which also said, ye men of Galilee, why
stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, remember that,
This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall
so come in light manner, as ye have seen him go into heaven. Then return they unto Jerusalem
from the mount called Olivet. Well, that was a very clear statement,
wasn't it? And it's been recorded for us
to read and to believe that the Lord will return We don't know
when that will be. The Lord Jesus said it was a
day known only to his father. And it wasn't a day that we will
know, but it is a day which will come and we should always be
anticipating the return of the Lord Jesus. It's a good thing
when we are amongst those who are looking for that time. When
the Apostle wrote to the Thessalonians, he spoke about this And towards
the end of the fourth chapter, in the first letter to the Thessalonians,
he says, for this, this is verse 15, for this we say unto you
by the word of the Lord that we which are alive and remain
unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend
from heaven with a shout with the voice of the archangel, with
the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the
Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. People may think, well that's
a bit morbid, I don't really want to hear about those things.
Well, the last verse in this chapter tells us this. Wherefore
comfort one another with these words. These are not morbid words
to those who are redeemed with the precious blood of Christ. Because they are looking forward
to that time when they shall be with Christ, as the Apostle
Paul says, which is far better. Far better. Why is it far better? Because in heaven there is total
peace, happiness, joy, no sin, no sorrow, no pain, nothing to
upset peace. It's a glorious place. And that's why the Church of
God, who are redeemed Those who are blessed with this wonderful
knowledge of Christ should be looking forward to such an occasion
as this. You know, we don't talk, do we,
very much about these things. And yet, you see, they may come
any time. And as we see the world getting
worse and worse, we realize that the day approaches
when that will come. Sometimes think if you go to
bed at night and you wake up in the night, or perhaps in the
morning, and it's the day of the resurrection, the day when
the Lord return, are we ready for that? Indeed, are we redeemed? Do we have the positive evidence
that it is so? We don't want to just go on aimlessly
filling ourselves with all the poor things of this world the
Lord has given us all of us many things to enjoy in this life
and we should be thankful for it but again to remember the
truth of God for here we have no continuing city but we seek
one to come see that's again the truth seeking one to come
are we seeking one to come. That heavenly city, that glorious
city which the Lord has for us and as the Lord Jesus Christ
said when he spoke to his disciples in that upper room, let not your
heart be troubled, you believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many
mansions, if it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare
a place for you And if I go to a prayer place for you, I will
come again to receive you unto myself that where I am there
you may be also. You see, it's a wonderful prospect
to the church of God, those who are redeemed. And it's wonderful
to think that here, in this book of Job, there is such a clear
and positive statement about these things. You might think,
well, surely it would have been somewhere else. Surely Moses
would have spoken about it. Well, he did speak about it,
but not quite in the same terms as these words. And so, Job says,
For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he, the Lord Jesus Christ,
shall stand at the latter day upon the earth and of course
that was spoken again as I read in that first chapter of the
Acts of the Apostles those two angels as they spoke to the disciples
on that wonderful day of the Ascension the Lord would come
and he would stand again upon that Mount of Olivet well my
friends we don't know when that time will come but the great
question is As the Lord Jesus speaks, be also ready, for you
know not what a day nor an hour may bring forth. You know, we're
often very concerned, aren't we, about many things, being
ready for this and being ready for that. But as Jesus spoke
to Martha, and he said, one thing is needful, one thing is needful,
He was speaking about Mary and Mary has chosen that good part
which will not be taken away from her. My friends, let us
remember there is one thing needful and that is to know that you
and I are born again of the Spirit of God and that you and I are
redeemed with the precious blood of Christ. You see, we hear these
things and they go over our heads. you may go home tonight you may
forget about them, I hope you don't I hope you think upon them and
meditate upon them that he shall stand at the latter day upon
the earth Job didn't think it was a morbid consideration about
his body being consumed? No, he wasn't. Whom I shall see for myself.
That's the great blessing, isn't it? To think that by the grace
of God, one day, all of the Church of God will see the Saviour ourselves. And he tells us this, and though
after my skin worms destroy this body yet in my flesh that means
what it says our resurrected body in our flesh not a spirit
we have a soul, we have a spirit which goes to either heaven or
hell when we die but then let down the resurrection it will
be reunited to our body though after my skin worms destroy this
body yet in my flesh I shall see God and he goes on whom I
shall see for myself just think of that you and I see for ourself
and mine eyes shall behold and not another just think of that
you see Our eyes will be, if perhaps our eyes are not good,
we don't see very well, that day of the resurrection, they
will all be brought back to perfect sight. And we shall rise in the
dead, rise in the dead. And as the Lord Jesus Christ
rose in the dead, a conqueror, we shall rise in the dead, a
conqueror over sin. death hell and the grave yes
because as we read we are more than conquerors through him we
don't have ability ourselves but the lord jesus is conquered
for us what a great and wonderful truth that is whom i shall see
for myself and mine eyes shall behold and not another. It's very clear, isn't it? We're
thankful the word of God is clear. Man makes it muddily and funnels
and passes over it. But here we have a real clear
statement that every true believer would indeed see the Lord Jesus
Christ as their Redeemer. We don't want to be those who
are not redeemed. those who are cast out who stand
before the judgment seat and they hear that terrible condemnation
depart from me I never knew you you want to be amongst those
who know Christ and Christ knows us you see it's a two-way situation
Christ knows us he always has known us and we should come to
know him, whom to know is life eternal.' How important, how
relevant, how necessary such a statement is. Now let me just
make this comment in passing. It's very easy to read the Word
of God and to come to parts which You may think a bit difficult
and there are lots of parts in the Old Testament which may appear
to be difficult. And you may think, well, I'm
not going to read that. I'm going to go and I'm going to read the
Gospels because that's always easy and good for me. Well, of
course it is. But it's also worthwhile persevering in reading the Old
Testament. And as I often say to you, especially
you young people, It's good to read the Bible from Genesis to
Revelation right through. You don't have to sit down and
read it right through in one go, but you can read it a little
bit each day, and then carry on, and carry on, and carry on,
and don't give up. Don't say, well, that's just
too difficult. I don't understand it. And you
may not understand it. Well, first of all, you can pray
to God. that he will give you spiritual
eyes to understand the truth of God's word. Or you can ask
others who are true believers, who perhaps are advanced in the
Christian race, They might be able to explain it. They may
not be able to. And my friends, and you older
ones, if you are asked questions, never waffle. Never pretend to
know when you don't know. Say so you don't know and you
don't understand. There's nothing worse than pretending
to know when you don't know. Be honest. Don't mislead the
young people, but encourage them. and search the scriptures search
the scriptures for answers well read on and read through when
you finished reading the Bible you don't shut it up and say
well that's good I've read that you go back to Genesis and you
start again and so you carry on and you will find the more
you read the Bible the greater you have an understanding of
it and you will find as you read on, that perhaps something you
didn't understand in one book is explained in another book. So it's well worth persevering,
and then just remember that the Bible is the Word of God. There's no better book in the
world to read. So my friends, do read it, do
concentrate upon it, and don't give up, because it is the Word
of God. It's God's Word. It's a wonderful
thing to think that God has given to us His Word to be able to
read and to think His wonderful goodness to us as it was written,
as I'm sure you know, in Hebrew, the Old Testament mostly, the
New Testament, Greek mostly. It's been translated for us to
be able to read today in our language. Let us praise God and
thank Him for it. So here we have this great truth
in these words. And let us remember that Job
desired that such truths might be graven with an iron pen and
laid in the rock forever. I guess you've seen gravestones
where there's the engraving of the person who's died about them
when they were born and when they died, etc. And sometimes
it's an engraving in stone, sometimes granite, which is a very, very
hard stone, and then they're carved out and then lead is placed
in them so that they last for a long, long time. And here we
have this desire of Job that such words might indeed be there
to be observed and to be seen and to be read. and how true
it is for us today. So let us meditate on these things
and realize the great truth of them. For I know that my Redeemer
liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. Well, my friends tonight, may
we all desire to know, if we don't know as yet, to desire
that we may know ourselves, that the Lord Jesus Christ is our
Redeemer, and that He has redeemed us, that He has delivered us
from our sin, and the cost to do so was His life, was His precious
blood, as Peter so clearly tells us. And I know that my Redeemer
liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth.
That's a positive statement. It will happen. You and I may
see it. We may not. but nonetheless it's
true, it will occur. And though after my skin worms
destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God, our resurrected
body, whom I shall see for myself. And mine eyes shall behold, and
not another, though my reins be consumed within me. Oh, what
a day that will be, and what a wonderful blessing it is, if
you and I shall be found now than to be with Christ, which
is far better than that forever. Amen. Let us close by singing hymn
1068, tune 638. Jesus, full of all compassion,
Hear thy humble supplicants cry, Let me know thy great salvation. See I languish, faint and die,
Guilty, but with heart relenting, Overwhelmed with helpless grief. prostrate at thy feet repenting,
send, O send me quick relief. In 1068. Hail our Alma Mater. music music music music music
music music music music O say can you see, by the dawn's
early light, I am proud to live this love
that lives. ? God in heaven ? ? And on earth as it
is ? ? Heaven and earth as it is ? ? Heaven and earth as it
is ? O'er the ramparts we watched,
were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket's red glare, the
bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag
was still there. And I'll fly an everlasting oar,
where I'll find my home. Amen. Amen. evermore be said. Let us all
compare it to the breath of Now may the grace of our Lord
and Saviour Jesus Christ, and the love of God our Father, and
the fellowship and communion of the Eternal Spirit rest and
abide with us each, now and for ever. Amen.