May God be pleased to bless us
together this evening as we meditate in his word. Let's turn to the
book of Job chapter 19 and we'll read verses 23 to 27. The book
of Job chapter 19 and reading verses 23 to 27. Oh that my words
were now written O that they were printed in a
book, that they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock
for ever. 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, although my reins
be consumed within me. I'm sure most of us are familiar
with God's servant Job and how he had to endure much affliction
and much opposition. And yet, the Lord himself gave
this statement to Satan. In the very first chapter, in
the eighth verse, the Lord said, Hast thou considered my servant
Job? There is none like him in the
earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God and
escheweth evil. So that was the very testimony
of God to Satan about his servant Job. But what we observe then
is the Lord allowed Satan to come and to greatly afflict and
to greatly tempt God's servant Job. So we should recognise that
such an experience is not something that we should
consider if we should enter into it in any way that the hand of
the Lord is against us because the hand of the Lord was not
against Job but the hand of God was with Job and the hand of
God was with Job to instruct him and to direct him and to
bless him and as You read through this book of
Job, you'll see that there were those three friends that came
and spoke to him. They sat down and discussed the
situation with him and Job responded. And many of the things that they
said were hard things and difficult things. Some things were true.
But nonetheless it was a very difficult path when you consider
there was Job having lost virtually everything and now being criticised
and falsely accused of things that were not true. Of course,
we also observe that dear Job, he wasn't perfect himself and
some of his responses were not very gracious. But nonetheless,
it would appear that having spoken, or having had these words rather
spoken to him that we read tonight, after that he seems to be a different
person. seems that these words had a
gracious and a softening effect upon his spirit. Would it be
a great blessing for us tonight as we consider these words that
they may have a blessed and a softening effect upon our spirit. Because they are very wonderful. And if we think that Job lived
of course, he lived after the flood, we know that. We don't
know anything really more than that when he actually lived.
But he obviously lived probably before the patriarchs, although
it's not certain. But nonetheless he lived after
the flood and he was brought into this situation and of course
he didn't have the wonderful benefit that we do of the New
Testament and all the words that the Lord Jesus Christ spoke but
quite clearly he had these words spoken to him the truth of them
spoken to him by God and he was able to record them for our encouragement
and the strengthening of our souls today and he was concerned
that the words that he spoke might not be lost oh that my
words were now written oh that they were printed in a book They
were graven with an iron pen and laid in the rock forever. There are sometimes in our lives
occasions when God speaks to us powerfully and they are words
which remain. They are as though they've been
written in the rock with an iron pen. They cannot be erased. We wouldn't want them to be erased.
because of the blessed work of God in our hearts and so here
were some wonderful words which were spoken to Job tremendous
encouragement to him in his distress in his difficulties there hadn't
been a deliverance he was still there but yet God came and spoke
to him and it's a good thing for us today to remember such
an account for our encouragement so that we may sometimes think
well I need to be delivered out of this position that I'm in
this trial that I find myself in well it may not be so it wasn't
for some time afterwards and it wasn't indeed until the Lord
came and spoke at length to Job that he realised his true condition
before a holy God and it's a wonderful thing when the Lord brings us
to realise what our true position is before a holy God and I believe
the Blessed Spirit does work in the hearts of His people to
bring them to that place where they do confess as Job did, behold
I am vile I'm not a great person there's so much sin, I am vile
well, that was Job's testimony as God spoke to him and it's
a good thing if all of us know the evidence of that in our own
lives and so having made that statement Job then comes on and
makes this wonderful truth known he says, for I know that my Redeemer
liveth and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth
how did he know that? he knew it by the blessed influence
of the Holy Spirit upon him that's how he knew it God has spoken
to him the word came to him clearly with power it may have been still
a small voice but it would have been with power and it was a
word that touched him and it was a word which encouraged him
and it was a word which strengthened him And to think that he was
able to make such a statement is really a wonderful evidence
of the sovereignty of God. Because here is Job saying these,
what we might say, a New Testament statement. For I know that my
Redeemer liveth. He was so true. The Lord Jesus
Christ ever was. and is and ever will be he was
so correct in this statement that his Redeemer did live but
of course his Redeemer hadn't as then come to live upon the
earth and he hadn't then died upon the cross to atone for his
sins but it was a wonderful revelation given to Job so that he was able
to confirm for I know that my Redeemer liveth now think of
Job an Old Testament character not having the benefit that we
do today but the same statement is as important for you and me
today as it was for Job and every one of us needs to be able to
come and to testify from our heart, by the Spirit, this great
and wonderful truth, for I know that my Redeemer liveth. Now we will know that if we have the evidence of God's
work of grace in our heart, which has directed us to observe and
to know something of what we are, and what a need we have
and then to direct us to none other than the blessed Saviour
the Lord Jesus Christ and then as God gives us that living faith
to look to the cross and have there the wonderful light of
the gospel shine into our hearts to direct us to know that this
same Jesus died to atone for our sins, for my sins, for your
sins. All of us need to find ourselves
at the cross, acknowledging, as Job did, this great and wonderful
truth, for I know that my Redeemer liveth. The Church of God do
not arrive at the judgment day or do not arrive in heaven without
having this evidence and this testimony in their life on this
earth sometimes we may be almost afraid to lay hold of such a
great and glorious truth but if the Lord has touched our hearts
if the Lord has caused us to hear his voice as clearly the
Lord caused Job to hear his voice, then surely we have the evidence
that this word is true and we are able to say humbly and yet
to God's honour and glory and for our encouragement, for I
know that my Redeemer liveth and this Redeemer will always
live. He is eternal. and he does not
change he was the same in Job's day as he is today what a blessing
that is and what a comfort it should be to us as we walk on
this earth you see here he was Job we might say was lifted out
of himself there he'd been complaining and speaking about this and that
and now he's been lifted up right up to view the glory of being
in heaven with his Redeemer. For I know that my Redeemer liveth. And he goes on to speak a great
truth and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. Well, we know that when the Lord
was taken up into heaven, the angel said to the disciples,
this same Jesus will come again in the same way that you've seen
him go up and also in the last chapter in Zachariah we read
in the 14th chapter and the fourth verse a wonderful verse of prophecy
and his feet was the blessed feet of the Savior shall stand
in that day upon the Mount of Olives which is before Jerusalem
on the east and the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst
thereof toward the east and toward the west and there shall be a
very great valley and half of the mountain shall remove toward
the north and half of it toward the south and it shall flee to
the valley of the mountains for the valley of the mountains shall
reach unto Azel yea he shall flee like as he fled from before
the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah and the
Lord my God shall come and all the saints with him of course
we read very similar words in the epistle of Paul to the Thessalonians
where the Apostle says that the Lord will come in the clouds
in all his glory and every eye shall see him so it's a confirmation
of that great day which will come and here we see Job many
centuries before those words blessed with these words, blessed
with faith blessed with instruction from Almighty God to speak them
and to say that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth
and then it's not something which is abstract it's something which
is very true and it's something which is very personal and here
we have this personal statement from Job and he tells us this
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. It's an amazing consideration,
it's a wonderful truth and it's a great blessing to the whole
Church of God that you and I might be encouraged as we press on
through life to realise there is this wonderful time ahead wonderful time when the whole
Church of God will be gathered together. You see we die, we
rot in the grave, some of course historically have been blown
to pieces, body in different places and of course in there's
still those characters who are beheaded and the heads in one
place and the bodies in another and they rot and but in that
great day when the Lord comes that great and glorious day for
the church of God it must be a glorious day because it is
the day of the resurrection it is a day when those angels will
come and blow that trumpet time shall be no more the end of all
things has come to pass The Word of God has been proved true and
the dead in Christ shall rise first. It'll be a wonderful favour,
won't it, if you and I are among them who are caught up to be
with Christ forever and to realise that we will have a glorified
body we'll have the same body but there won't be any aches
and pains and deformity or anything like that it will all be in a
perfect condition in a wonderful state and to think that our eyes
will behold the Blessed Saviour and no one else can take our
place no one else could take Job's
place and therefore he was blessed with this revelation to have
this great and wonderful confidence to be able to say that in my flesh shall I see God our
flesh our resurrected body and our eyes shall behold him and
not another well these were amazing words were they not as we think
of Job's condition and Job's situation in the midst of trouble
in the midst of difficulty many trials no end in sight no natural
prospect of anything being any better in his natural life but
you see he was lifted up above the things of his natural life
and that's a great blessing for us isn't it if we can look beyond
the things of our natural life we may be very blessed in our
natural life very favoured may not be like Job at all in one
sense but the whole church of God do suffer they do suffer
trials they do suffer tribulations and of course they have to deal
with their own hearts Job had to deal with that he knew his
innermost thoughts he had to deal with that and the whole
church of God had to deal with that but one day by the grace
of God we shall be delivered from it because the devil will
no longer be able to attack no longer be able to draw us away
but we shall then be in that state of glory and it will be
to be forever with the Lord not just for a time because time
will have finished eternity will be before us and that will never
end and we shall be in this glorified state this glorified condition
and the Apostle tells us I have not seen nor ear heard what the
Lord has prepared for them that love him it's beyond our comprehension
sometimes we may perhaps try and ponder and meditate and think
what it might be like well we shall fail in our assessment
of it because the word of God tells us we won't be able to
realise the wonderful situation which God has prepared for his
church and as we are blessed therefore with a view of such
a wonderful experience surely the things of time should grow
strangely dim by comparison we have to live in the earth we
know that we are to make our living in the earth we know that
but you see it's good when we can understand what the Apostle
Peter said when he said we were called to an inheritance which
is incorruptible and undefiled and that fate is not a way reserved
in heaven for you who are kept by the power of God through grace
unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time you see it's
not an isolated instance we have here in the book of Job there
were the wonderful evidences of God's people and we know that
the Apostle Paul himself was caught up into the third heaven
and saw things that it wasn't lawful for him to disclose and
so we have these words recorded for the strengthening of our
faith today as we travel on and we shall be found looking forward
to that day, that glorious day, that wonderful day when we shall
be beyond all the attacks of Satan and beyond all the ills
and sicknesses and pains and aches which perhaps plague us
on this earth. We are indeed to be then forever
with the Lord. well Job could make such a grand
statement because of the power of God in his soul and my friends
what a mercy it is for us today the Lord lifts us above the natural
things of this world to meditate upon this great and wonderful
truth and surely it will lead us to desire, to praise and to
glorify our great Redeemer. Because without the Saviour these
things would never occur. But it's through the blessed
death and resurrection and ascension of the Saviour that we have this
blessed hope of eternal life. But let us not forget the cost. It's very easy to pass over the
cost of our salvation, the cost of our redemption. Well, God
tells us we're not redeemed with corruptible things as silver
and gold from your vain conversation received by tradition from your
fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ. That's how you
and I are redeemed. that's how Job was redeemed he
could look forward to the wonder of it with that humble confidence
and say for I know that my redeemer liveth he did he lived and he
was going to come and die and shed his precious blood for Job
my friends he has come and died for all his people to redeem
their souls And so it would be a good thing tonight if we recognize
the wonderful effect of being under the saving blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ, redeemed with a precious blood of Christ. It's a wonderful statement. It's
not long, is it? But it's very full and it's very
comprehensive and it's very wonderful. And therefore, if we have the
evidence of it, We can then humbly say, with the Apostle Job, without
any fear of being contradicted, and not for anything that you
and I have done to warrant such a blessing, any greatness in
ourselves, no, we shall be like the Apostle Paul, less than the
least of all saints, but desiring to glory our great and glorious
Saviour as the Apostle Paul desired to, didn't he? And what did he
say? For me to live is Christ, and
to die is gain. And so he was able to declare
this great truth. And my friends, by the grace
of God, may we also be able to make such a similar statement. And the importance, as he starts
out, O that my words were now written, O that they were printed
in a book, They were graveled in iron, pen and lead in the
rock forever. We don't want to lose sight of
the great and blessed words of the Saviour to our soul. We want to have them there, as
it's stated here, written with iron in the rock. For I know,
blessed knowledge, for I know that my Redeemer liveth and that
he shall stand and the latter day upon the earth. Now after
my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God,
whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and
not another. No one can take our place, because
there's a place reserved in heaven for every true believer, whom
I shall see for myself, mine eyes shall behold, and not another. Amen.