May we please God to bless us
together this morning as we meditate in his word. Let us turn to the
book of Job and chapter 16 and we'll read verse 19. The book of Job chapter 16 and
reading verse 19. And also now behold, my witness is in heaven and my
record is on high. Well we should all be thankful
that God in his wonderful providence has included in the Bible this
book of Job. Perhaps it's a book which is
not read very often and perhaps more so it's a book which is
not understood very often. And yet what we see is really
a picture of a child of God, a man of God, who God is dealing
with and who God is teaching and God is instructing. We see
how the Lord brought about wonderful blessings and also wonderful
evidences of faith in this time of trial and difficulty and opposition. Well I expect most of you are
familiar with the account of Job and how he basically lost
everything and he was a man that God spoke to Satan about and
we're told what he was like and we're told in the first chapter
Job the words from God and the Lord said unto Satan whence comest
thou and then Satan answered the Lord and said we're going
to and from the earth and from walking up and down in it and
the Lord said unto Satan hast thou considered my servant Job
there is none like him in the earth perfect and upright man,
one that feareth God and escheweth evil." So with that description
of Job we might naturally think well surely that man is going
to have a blessed life with everything going smoothly, there won't be
any opposition and there is that clear acknowledgement from God
himself there was none like him in the earth, a perfect and upright
man, one that fears God and is sure of evil. And so on the one
hand we have that testimony and then on the other hand we know
how God allowed Satan to come into Job's life and to change
the position that he enjoyed of great prosperity and a great
blessing and virtually everything that he possessed was taken away
and yet you see he was still enabled not to turn against God. Although as we read through we
see sometimes some of the words that he spoke from the bitterness
of his heart and we can surely understand what that is. And
there we come right down to the end of Job's life where God greatly
blessed the end of Job more than the beginning. So we should be
thankful then that we have an account like this in the Word
of God, part of God's Word, to encourage and to strengthen us
as we pass through the worlds today. And as I said, this man
of God was able to make some very positive statements as he
responded to these three friends. Sometimes we perhaps wouldn't
have thought they were friends. But they were, and Job had to
receive all the opposition that they threw at him, really criticizing
him. The reality was they did not
understand God's dealings with him. That was the whole crux
of it. They only looked at it from an
outward appearance. and they judged from an outward
appearance, and they made assumptions, and they came to conclusions
which were not right. And so we should be very conscious
and very aware of such a situation. and realise that it's written
there for our direction and for our instruction. And so in the
midst of these criticisms, really, we find Job able to respond in
this very positive way and to say, behold, my witness is in
heaven and my record is on high. He was appealing to the things
in glory. He was appealing to his God. He wasn't looking around for
commendation from perhaps people on the earth to support him and
to strengthen him and to agree with what he said. But no, he
looked far beyond that. And what a confidence there must
be. if you and I are able to look
really outside of the things of this earth, of things which
may appear to be against us. And so he's able to say, well
here's his witness, well I hope we understand perhaps what a
witness is, we know what a witness is in this earth and in our courts,
and we have witnesses who either support or go against people
who have been tried for whatever misdeed it is and they are called
to witness, to give their position, to give the case as they observe
it and they are of course under oath to be truthful in court
and most of them no doubt are, we believe some are not, but
nonetheless most of them are, and they are a witness. Now Job
is able to tell us that he has a witness, he has a witness in
heaven. What a great blessing that is
to think therefore that he looked beyond the things of this world,
he looked up to glory, We can say he looked to his Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ. You may say, well of course Jesus
hadn't been born then. Well he hadn't. But what we know
is this. Job said, I know that my Redeemer
liveth. He knew that he had a Savior,
a Redeemer. And he knew in those days that
he did live, and that he had lived, and that he would live.
This is a wonderful blessing for us today to realize yes we
today also in our little sphere in our little lives also if we
are amongst the church of God have a witness in heaven. Now what does this really mean? Well of course it means that
all that the Lord has done for us, all that the Lord has blessed
us with, all the words that the Lord has spoken to us, it hasn't
been forgotten, it hasn't been passed away, it hasn't been turned
over, but there is the grateful and wonderful witness in heaven
that these things are true. And how comforting this must
have been to Job, to look out to the things of time, to the
things which are eternal, the things which remain forever. And so it must have been a wonderful
consolation for Job, or maybe a consolation for us today. The consolation is, of course,
the Lord knows everything. He knows every detail. Blessed
be God who looks into our hearts. Blessed be God, he knows what
he's done. Blessed be God, his work is there
as in heaven. And our God is a witness to that
work. So let us not be discouraged. Perhaps people may be misguided
and may criticize and may perhaps belittle that which God has done. Remember, the Word of God is
encouraging when it tells us a little that a righteous man
has is better than the treasures of many wicked. As I say sometimes,
it's not the quantity, it's the quality. And the quality is the
blessed work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. And that is recorded
in heaven. My record is on high. It really
means our testimony. The record is a testimony. It's
there in glory. And the wonder is it will never
be taken away. It'll never be removed. It is
an eternal testimony of God's love, of God's mercy, and of
God's grace to our souls. Well, here was Job then, in the
midst of this difficult situation, difficult path, able to very
clearly state this wonderful truth. He says, and now behold,
he wanted them, wanted his three friends to recognize and to realize
the truth of the words that he was saying, behold. And today,
many, many years later, May we behold this great truth and be
supported by it and be strengthened by it, that our witness is in
heaven, our blessed God and the blessed Lord Jesus Christ. You
see, his work will never fade away. His work will never disappear. may sometimes, to our thinking,
be a bit dim, but it's the same. God's work doesn't fade, because
he doesn't fade. He is the same yesterday and
today and forever. So let us realize that if there
is this witness, and it's a witness of what God has done in our souls,
It's a witness of the blessed work of the Holy Spirit. And
that blessed work of the Holy Spirit, if it has indeed come
and convicted us as sinners, great sinners in the earth, we
read through the Word of God, you will find there are those
many records of God's saints. who confessed they were sinners,
who were sinners, who needed salvation, and perhaps some who
were, we might say, the most remarkable characters. We can
think of David in the Old Testament, we can think of Paul in the New
Testament, and how they didn't think they were great people.
They were little people, but they both acknowledged they were
sinners. And there is therefore a record,
a witness in heaven of the work of the Holy Spirit convincing
such of their position before a holy God. We must always realize
that we stand before a holy God, which means a sinless God. And we as sinners of the earth
come in as guilty and hell deserving, not deserving any notice of God. There's nothing in us that could
merit esteem or give our Creator delight. What a blessing then
if the Lord has looked upon us. And we can be sure if He has,
if we have the evidence in our hearts, That witness, that evidence
is in heaven. It's not lost, it's not thrown
away, but it is there eternally. My witness is in heaven. It's quite remarkable really,
isn't it, when we think of this, that the Lord in his sovereign
goodness and mercy should record such a verse as this in the Word
of God, to strengthen our faith, because Our testimony does not
rely on what man thinks of it or what man has said of it, but
on what God thinks and what God has done. And to realize the
wonderful blessing that this is recorded in heaven. It's there forever. It's the
work of God. See, God's work is not thrown
away. Why is it not thrown away? It's
because of what God has done in dying upon that cross at Calvary
to atone for all our sins. What a witness that is. What
a wonderful witness he is in heaven, can't be taken away because
there is the Saviour himself as the witness seated on the
right hand of the Father in glory. Well what a mercy then this morning
if as we perhaps need encouragement You know, the devil always desires
to cast doubt upon the work of God. That's his great aim, to
make the church of God doubt what God has done. Well, what
a mercy therefore, if we can respond to such a temptation
from Satan, who is always a liar, to be able to tell him, behold,
my witness is in heaven, And my record is on high. Now, the Word of God encourages
us in a number of places, especially perhaps in the Romans. It's a
wonderful epistle, a wonderful book that the apostle wrote.
to the Church of Rome and it's there for our encouragement and
our blessing. And in the very first chapter
in the epistle of Romans and the ninth verse, this is what
we read. For God, note that, for God is my witness, whom I
serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing
I may mention of you always in my prayers." Well, that was a
good testimony of the Apostle Paul. And there was an account,
therefore, that God was his witness. And it's good to think that God
is our witness. Isn't that humbling? To think
the great God who created all things is our witness in heaven
to his work in our hearts But God is my witness, whom I
serve with my spirit in the gospel. It will be a serving of the Lord. I serve with my spirit. And again, if the Holy Spirit
shows us this, as we have in our little way, or whatever that
means, as I often say, everyone of God's children are servants. We are all serving God and we
need to be conscious of that and desire us to know how we
are serving the Lord. The Apostle says here, I serve
with my spirit in the gospel of his son. Well, what a blessing
if we serve in that way in the gospel of his son, proclaiming
the grace and glorious truths of the everlasting gospel. And
he comes and says, without ceasing, I may mention of you always in
my prayers, we can all pray calmly. We all need to pray. We all need
to pray often. And so we have this statement
here, without ceasing, I may mention of you always in my prayers.
God, of course, is a witness to that. And again, that's very
humbling. It's also very searching as to
whether we fulfill such a statement like that in our little lives. Just going on to another verse
in Romans, this time reversing the numbers, Romans chapter nine,
this time in verse one, this is what the apostle says, I say
the truth in Christ, I lie not. My conscience also bearing me
a witness in the Holy Ghost." We see there the Apostle, his
conscience bore witness of what God had done for him and therefore
he's able to look forward and to believe that not only does
he have the witness in his conscience, he also has the witness which
is in heaven. I believe that's true with the
Church of God. We do have, by the grace of God,
the witness of his work in our conscience. It is between our
soul and God. Our soul and God. And no one
can destroy it, and no one can take it away. The devil will
endeavour to do so. The devil will often come and
say, well, of course that's quite clear. That's not from my spirit. Well, we can turn and tell him,
well, devil, my witness is not on what you say. My witness is
in heaven. And I have the evidence of that
in my conscience. And it is true. And I do not
lie. Again, let us not listen to what
the devil says. The apostle spells it out very
clearly. I say the truth in Christ, not
outside. This is a spiritual blessing.
This is an eternal blessing. I say the truth in Christ and
I lie not. Again, the devil would have us
deny the work of God. And in so doing, we would be
liars before God. And that's a very solemn consideration. But let us not be found in that
position, but be able, by God's grace, to say the truth in Christ. Why do I not? My conscience also
bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost. Well, here we have this
statement and also now, behold, My witness is in heaven and my
record is on high. And if the Holy Spirit has conveyed
these great truths of directing us to see ourselves as a hell-deserving
sinner before our Holy God, and to look to the Saviour, the Lord
Jesus Christ, as our Redeemer. This is the wonderful witness
in our conscience. And we can then look and believe
we have this witness in heaven, because it is the work of Almighty
God. It's not the work of man. You
see, the devil wouldn't want this. It's the work of the Holy
Spirit. And what an evidence it is, therefore,
that we have the life of God in our souls. The life of God,
the eternal life, which will never, ever be taken away from
us. You know, the psalmist in Psalm
113, he tells us this, Who is like unto the Lord our God? who dwelleth on high. There is
no one to compare with the Lord God, who omnipotent reigneth. There is no one at all like him,
and so may we be strengthened in our souls as we think of words
like this to remember, no, there is no God like him who is like
unto the Lord our God who dwelleth on high. And if we have this
great and glorious evidence of the witness of God in heaven
and the record, that's our testimony, that's the testimony that God
has given to us, That's the work of God in our soul. It's not
something that you and I produced, because there's no need for a
record of that, but it's the record of what God has done in
our soul as our testimony. What a mercy therefore to have
a God-given testimony. not a man-produced testimony,
but a God-given testimony. And then to know that we have
a record of that in glory on high. Job was looking out beyond
himself, wasn't he? Yes, he had responded to a lot
of the points that these three friends had spoken to him, but
sometimes it seems he's lifted a bar criticism of his three
friends and he appeals to the great truth contained in the
Word of God and what truths they are and what so strengthening
truths they are and of course the devil cannot gain say such
words because as the Lord Jesus Christ himself said when praying
to his father thy word thy word is truth What a mercy that is
for us today to be able to rely upon what God has done, rely
upon what he has said. It's a great mercy, isn't it? Therefore, for us today to have
the Word of God, you know, so many people today belittle it,
don't they? They have no time for it. Well,
when they find themselves out of time and eternity, they will
then realize the things recorded in this precious book are true
and will remain forever and will not disappear as fables or something
that you and I cannot rely upon, but we can bless God that we
have the evidence of the truth of God conveyed to us into our
souls by the blessed spirit of God. You see, what occurs is
this. God does that for us in our souls
which we could not have done for ourselves. Perhaps sometimes
we need to just examine that, examine our lives, look back
in our lives to see whether God has done that for us which we
could not have done for ourselves. What does that produce? produces
in our conscience the evidence that it is the work of God. What does it do then? It gives
us faith to look up and to believe therefore our witness is in heaven. So what do we say? Well surely
we can do this. It's because of the love of God. Yes, his wonderful love to unworthy
sinners, his wonderful love to Job, that enabled him to look
out to the things of time. You know, naturally, we might
have thought, well, he's three friends, arguing with him, discussing
and telling him where he'd fallen down, where he made mistakes,
and they were all against him in one sense. And they think,
well, what would he have done? What was he going to do? What
shall we do? Well, he looked up. He looked
up. He looked to the Savior. He recognized
there was no point really in just leaving the issue and trying
to argue naturally with his three friends. No, he says, also now
behold, my witness is in heaven and my record is on high. He
knew in his own soul what God had done for him. And if we knew
he could confirm that this was from heaven and he had a witness
there, the blessed saviour, his redeemer. Surely that's very
humbling for us today to think that we have this great and glorious
witness that Lord Jesus Christ witnesses what he's done for
us and what a mercy therefore to have the evidence of it the
blessing of it in our own souls. Again the Apostle Paul when he
wrote to the Corinthians and he tells them in the first chapter
second epistle first chapter verse 13 for we write none other
things unto you than what you read or acknowledge And I trust
you shall acknowledge even to the end. This is the truth of
God. And this is, of course, such
words as this. Now, many people, of course,
will not be concerned about a statement like this. They will think it's
irrelevant. Probably they pass through the
book of Job and perhaps don't even read it. That's not interesting.
I'm not going to read anything there. The truth is the book
of Job is really a spiritual book because it touches the work
of God in our heart and therefore we should recognize it as a wonderful
privilege to have such an account. can be truly thankful for it
and recognize that yes, we have this glorious witness in heaven. Now we know this witness is the
same yesterday and today and forever. Things fade away. The Savior doesn't. He is the
same. He is unchangeable. And therefore,
he is our witness in heaven. And we can always come to him. And we can always say, Lord,
thou didst say this truth, did you not? We can trace it out
and have the wonderful evidence that it is indeed the work of
God, the blessed work of God in our souls. And to be so thankful
for it. And so as Job says, also now
behold, my witness is in heaven and my record is on high. And he just goes on and it's
just good to see something of the description of his own self.
He says, my friends scorn me. Don't worry about friends scorning
us. Don't worry about people scorning our religion. We have
a witness in heaven, that's the important thing. We don't want
anything else, we want a witness in heaven. My friend scorned
me, but mine eye poureth out tears unto God. You see, he could pour out tears
to his God, because his God knew what he was passing through,
poor man. Yes, but God didn't leave him.
You might have seen sometimes Well surely he wouldn't have
said such things. Well he was allowed and left sometimes to
say things. But God was indeed with him,
and God was his comforter, and God was his blessed saviour. Well see he goes on because a
number of times in the book of Job, Job looks beyond the things
in this world, He realises that they are but passing. And he
says, Oh, that one might plead for a man with God, as a man
pleaded for his neighbour. When a few years had come, then
I should go the way whence I shall not return. He had a clear view,
didn't he? That he was mortal. He had a clear view that he was
not immortal. in a clear view that his treasure
was in heaven and not on the earth. And that's why it was
an encouragement to him to realize, yes, you three friends, just
know, behold, my witness is in heaven and my record is on high
because there is my glorious saviour, the one who I shall
see, as he says, with my eyes. yes with my eyes he believed
he would indeed see this saviour who was his witness who was in
heaven yes what a mercy to understand such a thing as that. Well God was with Job throughout
his life and indeed God brought him through this trying path
to come down to a very low position And I always think it's a very
wonderful testimony that Job comes to and is able to say in
the 14th chapter, he says he answers the Lord, because at
the end of this book, it's God who is speaking to Job. his three
friends and his wife, they stop and God comes and speaks. And
then Job answers the Lord, because he hasn't got anything to argue
with God, because God is right and righteous. And he says, Behold,
I am vile. What shall I answer thee? I will
lay my hand upon my mouth once have I spoken, but I will not
answer you twice, that I will proceed no further. Yes, he realized perhaps said
foolish things. He was a sinner. He wouldn't
say anything else. He was not going to say anything
else. No, God had convicted him. God had convinced him. And then
of course, as we come down to the last chapter in this book,
and Job says, I know that thou canst do everything. No thought
can be withholden from me." Again, we see the work of the Blessed
Spirit in the life of Job, penetrating into his heart and revealing
to him that he was dealing with a great almighty God who knew
everything. No thought can be withholden
from me, no thought. And then he confesses, who is
he that hideth counsel without knowledge? Therefore have I uttered
that I understood not. He was very willing to confess
his faults. He says, therefore, I have uttered
that I understood not things too wonderful for me, which I
knew not. Here I beseech thee, and I will
speak. I would demand of thee, and declare
thine to me. I have heard of thee by the hearing
of the ear, but now But now, by faith, God had reverted himself
to Job. But now, mine eye seethe. The eye of faith looked and saw
a holy, righteous God. And he said, wherefore I bore
myself and repent in dust and ashes. This is the man of God. This is a man who had confidence
in his God. This is a man who God dealt with
in love to his soul. This is a man who God gave him
grace to come and to confess his sins and to abhor myself
and repent in dust and ashes. Well, what a wonderful blessing
for us today. For God's grace, he comes and
touches our heart so that we can enter in to some of the experiences
that God's servant Job did. Read the book of Job carefully,
it's not easy to read, it's not easy at all. and needs reading
a few times to actually get the total picture. But it's good
when we do so, we realize who is speaking and what they're
saying, and Job's response. And then we get beautiful words
like this, which is so strengthening to us today, as you and I pass
through this world, we realize, yes, Job, you were taught this
by the Spirit of God. And to be thankful today, that
so many years after us, we are also taught by the Holy Spirit
of God, not to be proud of what God has done, but to thank him
for what he's done and to praise him for what he's done. Because
surely it's a great reason to praise God if the Holy Spirit
has shown to us that we do have the evidence that Job had and
are able to say humbly, truthfully, for God's honour and glory, for
our soul's eternal good, behold, my witness is in heaven and my
record is in heaven, and to view therefore by faith the suffering
Saviour who is our witness, how very humbling to think that Lord
Jesus Christ is our witness, that one who died upon Calvary's
tree because of his great love for such unworthy sinners. Love
to us this morning, may we have reason to bless God for his love
toward us, for his mercy toward us, for his grace toward us all
emanates freely from our God, nothing in us that can marry
any esteem. But we can come alongside with
Job and be thankful for it and be able to look up, yes not look
down, look up, don't look down for natural reasons, look up
and see the Saviour seated in glory. and to be able to say
from our heart in all truth and all humbleness as Joe said, behold
now's the time, behold my witness is in heaven and my record is
on high. Amen.