Let us turn once again to the
word of God in the portion of scripture, the chapter that we
read, Job chapter 33. And I want to center your attention
for our text this evening on the words that we find in verses
27 and 28. We'll read the context, I'll
read therefore from verse 23. If there be a messenger with
him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to show unto man
his uprightness, then he is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver
him from going down to the pits, I have found a ransom. His flesh
shall be fresher than a child's, he shall return to the days of
his youth, He shall pray unto God, and he will be favourable
unto him, and he shall see his face with joy, for he will render
unto man his righteousness. He looketh upon men, and if any
say, I have sinned and perverted that which was right, and it
profited me not. He will deliver his soul from
going into the pits, and his life shall see the light. Lo,
all these things worketh God often times with man, to bring
back his soul from the pit, to be enlightened with the light
of the living. The text then is the verses 27 and 28. He looketh upon men, and if any
say, I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and he
profited me not, he will deliver his soul from going into the
pit, and his life shall see the light. As I said, this is part
of the long speech that is made by this man whose name was Elihu,
in chapter 32 and verse 2. and his speech extends right
through to the end of chapter 37. It's a long speech that the
man makes. The other comforters, although
they were miserable comforters of course, they are introduced
to us right at the beginning in chapter 2. Remember in the first two chapters
we have the sin sex, those dreadful things that came upon Job, as
in the mysterious sovereignty of God, Satan is let loose upon
Job, he loses his possessions, he loses his children, he loses
his house. The whole scene is set in there
in the first two chapters. And then at the end of the second
chapter, verse 11, we are told, Now when Job's three friends
heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came every
one from his own place, Eliphaz, the Timonites, and Bildad, the
Shuites, and Zophar the Naamathite, for they had made an appointment
together to come to mourn with him and to comfort him. And it's from chapter 4 right
through to chapter 31 that we find these men by turn speaking
to Job, Job answering them, that's the construction of the book
of Job. Then in chapter 32 To 37, as
I said, we have this other man, Elihu, making a very long speech
and then God speaks himself in the closing chapters of the book. Now, those three friends, what
does Job say of them? He says, miserable comforters
are ye all. They couldn't really understand
his situation, though they said many wonderful things, remarkable
things, yet they don't altogether understand his situation, they
are unable to minister to him. And so they are the ones that
cease speaking. As we see the beginning of chapter
32, so these three men cease to answer Job because he was
righteous in his own eyes. Then was kindled the wrath of
Elijah. The son of Barak held the buzzites
of the kindred of Ram. Against Job was his wrath kindled,
because he justified himself rather than God. Also against
his three friends was his wrath kindled, because they had found
no answer, and yet had condemned Job. So these men speak no more, verse
15, they were amazed, they answered no more, they left off speaking,
when I had waited, for they spake not, but stood still and answered
no more. I said, this is Elihu speaking
at the end of chapter 32, I said I will answer also my part, I
will show mine opinion. And so we have these words, The
words of our text part of the speech that was made by Elijah. And what are we to make of the
words? Well I want us to consider the text in terms of gospel deliverance
because that surely is what is being spoken of here. He is referring
to God who looketh upon men and if any say I have sinned and
perverted that which was right and he profited me not, he will
deliver his soul from going into the pit and his life shall see
light." This is deliverance. And what sort of a deliverance
is it? It's gospel deliverance. Previously we read at verse 24,
then he is gracious unto him and said, deliver him from going
down to the pit, I have found a ransom. There is much of the
Gospel in the book of Job. And that should not surprise
us of course, because the Gospel is to be found from Genesis to
Revelation. The Lord Jesus Christ tells the
Jews in his own day, search the Scriptures. In them ye think
that ye have eternal life, and these are they that testify of
theirs. Christ is the Word, the Word
of God incarnate. The Bible is the Word of God
inscriptulated, and the Scriptures and the Lord bear one tremendous
name, the written and incarnate Word. In all things are the same,
says Joseph Hansen. Now true, Christ is to be discovered
here in this ancient book of Job. And here in the text I say
the subject matter that we have set before us is that of gospel
deliverance. Well let's look then at these
two verses 27 and 28. Now in verse 27 what do we have? We have the language of confession. We have the language of repentance. If any say I have sinned and
perverted that which was right, and it profited me not." Here
is a man who is making his confession, acknowledging his sin, repenting
of his sin. We find that Elias, one of those
three friends, in his speeches also makes mention of the necessity
of repentance, the confession of sin, the turning from sin.
in chapter 11 and there in verses 13 and 14 he says if thou prepare
thine heart and stretch out thine hands toward him if iniquity
be in thine heart put it far away and let not wickedness dwell
in thy tabernacles is not that a call to turn from sin? and
to repent of sin, to forsake sin. Again in chapter 22 and
verse 23 this same man Eliphaz speaks words that we can understand
in terms of repentance. If thou return to the Almighty
thou shalt be built up They shall put away iniquity far from thy
tabernacles. A turning from sin, a turning
from iniquity, a returning to the Almighty, a turning again
to God. That is the language of repentance. What is repentance? As we have
it set before us in the Scriptures, but when we come to the New Testament,
And in the New Testament of course we have the fullness of the revelation
that God has given to us in the Scriptures. There is a glorious
fullness there with the coming of Christ and the very word that
is used in the New Testament Scriptures as that basic meaning
of a change of mind. The particular word in the original
is one of those compound words as we said previously And it
means a change of mind, but it's a fundamental change that comes
into a man's life when he is granted that gift of repentance.
His life is turned about. His life is turned inside out. His life is turned upside down. There is a turning away from
sin. There is a turning to God. Now
that was very much, of course, the ministry of John the Baptist. John who comes as that one who
is to prepare the way of the Lord, he is the great harbinger
of the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ and we are given that
description of his ministry in the third chapter of Matthew
in those days came John the Baptist preaching in the wilderness of
Judea and saying, Repentance for the kingdom of heaven is
at hand. John preaches the baptism of
repentance, and when the Jewish leaders, the Pharisees and Sadducees
come to his baptism, how he faithfully and boldly addresses them, O
generation of vipers, he says, who has warned you to flee from
the wrath to come. Bring forth therefore fruits,
meat, or answerable for repentance. John's message is one of repentance,
calling the sinner to turn from his sinful ways, to turn to the
Lord, and so too with the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. In
the opening chapter of Mark's Gospel, we're told there that
after John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee preaching
the Gospel of the Kingdom of God and saying, the Kingdom of
God is at hand. Repentance! and believe the Gospel. John preaches repentance, the
Lord Jesus Christ himself preaches repentance and that was also
the preaching of the Apostle. The Apostolic Gospel was a call
to repentance. We see it in Peter in his preaching
on the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2. That call to repent. And as with Peter, also later
in the ministry of Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, we see
him preaching at Athens in Acts chapter 17. And he says to the multitudes
concerning God's dealings with the Gentile nations and their
idolatrous ways, in times past the times of this ignorance God
winked at that now commandeth all men everywhere to repent
because he hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the
world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained whereof
he hath given assurance unto all men in that he hath raised
him from the dead the apostles then preach repentance this was
their message when Paul calls the elders at Ephesus to him
in Acts chapter 20 and he is to see them no more he is conscious
of those things that will yet come upon him his ministry there
is finished now but he reminds him of the manner of his ministry
testifying both to the Jews and to the Gentiles he says repentance
toward God and fight toward the Lord Jesus Christ. That was the
very message of the Savior. When he first begins his ministry
there in Mark chapter 1, he preaches repentance, he preaches fight. And so here I say in verse 27, We have real repentance. And from whence does real repentance
flow? It flows from the right view
of sin. God looketh upon men, and if
any say, I have sinned and perverted that which was right, and he
profited me not. Here is the confession of sin,
the acknowledgement of sin, the desire to repent of sin, to turn
from sin. And this real repentance, I say,
flows from that right view of sin. And that right view of sin,
of course, is rooted in faith. In that sense, faith is always
before repentance, because whatsoever is not of faith is sin. We're
not to think that repentance comes first and then faith follows. Sometimes we speak of repentance,
I've already done so this evening, we talk about repentance in terms
of that turning away from sin. And we talk of faith as that
turning to God. But we cannot turn away from
sin except first we know something of faith in God. And faith in
the Word of God and the truth of God's Word. Real repentance
flows from that right view of sin that is set before us here
in Scripture and clearly set before us when we think in terms
of the Lord of God. There is to be a belief in what
God has said. There is to be a belief in God's
Word, in God's Law. And here we have a belief in
the holiness of God's Law. This is what lies behind the
confession in verse 27. If any say, I have sinned. Why would any man say I have
sinned? It's that recognition in man
that he is a rebel. That he is one who has rebelled
against God and transgressed God's holy law. and fallen short
of God's glory, that's what sin is, it's a falling short of what
God himself has commanded and instead of seeking to obey God's
command, what does man do? He rebels against God. The preacher tells us in Ecclesiastes,
Lo, this only have I found, that God's made man upright, that
they sought out many inventions. Then are fallen creatures, though
God made the first man upright. Adam, as he comes from the hand
of his Creator God, in that pristine condition, he's created in God's
likeness, in the image of God he was made. He's a sinless creature,
but man rebels against God. Adam and Eve, what did they do? They transgressed God's commandments.
They embrace Satan's lie, they reject God's truth. They partake
of that that God had forbidden. They eat of the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil, thinking that they will be as God's, which
was how the attempt came to them of course. Ye shall be as God,
Jesus. And striving after that, man becomes not a God, but a
sinner. He's fallen. and so is in that
state now of alienation from God who is the Lord that I should
obey his voice? I know not the Lord says the
proud Pharaoh to Moses and the Lord Jesus in the parable in
the New Testament tells of those who say we will not have this
man to reign over us for that is the attitude of the sinner
is it not? the carnal mind, that is the
fleshly mind, the natural mind. It is enmity against God, it
is not subject to the law of God, says Paul, neither indeed
can be. That's your mind, that's my mind
by nature. It is not subject to God's law.
We refuse to be subject to God's law. As sinners, our understanding
is darkened. For we are so ignorant and so
willful in our ignorance and our rejection of God. But here we come across a man
who confesses what he is. God looketh upon thee. Even tonight
God looks upon us. His eyes run to and fro through
the whole earth. The Lord Jesus Christ, exalted
at God's right hand, has eyes, says John in the opening chapter
of the Revelation, where he sees the glorified Saviour, he has
eyes as a flame of fire. All-seeing eyes, all-searching
eyes, he looketh upon men, and if any say, I have seen. All
friends are with those who can say, that is two of us, we make
that confession before God with feelings. We acknowledge what
we are. I have sinned. Even this day
I have sinned. Oh, David knew it. David, the man after God's own
heart. Oh, David, strange, this man
after God's own heart. What a sinner David was, a murderer
and a dolphin. What does he say against the
world? They only have I sinned and done this evil. in thy sight. Do we believe in the holiness
of God's law? That law that reveals to us so
much of His character, the Holy One of Israel who has sinned
against Him. But then, not only a belief in
the holiness of God's law, but also a belief is necessary in
the righteousness of God's law. He continues here, this man,
I have sinned, he says, and perverted that which was right. What is that which was right?
God's law. God's law is that which is right. Because the Lord sets before
us the righteous character of God. And the children of Israel
were brought to acknowledge that were they not when Moses recounted
to them the Ten Commandments in Deuteronomy chapter 5 those
many years, those 40 years after they'd been wandering in the
wilderness and we have the repetition of
the commandments there on the borders of the Promised Land
Deuteronomy chapter 5 And after recounting the commandments Moses
says, reminds them what they said, he says, Behold the Lord
our God hath showed us his glory and his greatness. And we have
heard his voice out of the midst of the fire, we have seen this
day that God hath taught his man and delivered. They heard
his voice, he spoke the Ten Commandments, but he not only spoke, God hath
showed us his glory and his greatness, or they saw something of the
character of God, that God who is the righteous one, his law
is a right law. There's nothing arbitrary about
the law of God. That law is a just law, and that
law is a law that is so suited to man as God's preacher. It's
a good law. It's a good law. The law is holy. and the commandment holy and
just and good, says God. It's a reflection, a revelation
of the character of God. Do we believe that? Do we believe
in the righteousness of the law of God? And when we look at ourselves
and confess our sins, we have to acknowledge that we're perverts.
I have perverted that which was right, that good law of God.
I've disregarded it, I've rejected it, and my life is a denial of
it because I live so contrary to what God himself is commanding. This is confession of sins. A
belief in the law of God. A belief here also in the goodness
of the law of God. It is a law, as we've said, that
is good for man. It's fitted to man, and fitted
to make a man happen. How does he confess? How does
he continue in the verse? He profited me not. Sinning, perverting the righteous
Lord of God, walking contrary to God's commandment, there was
no profiting. I have sinned and perverted that
which was right and it profited me not. Lord, that law you see
is a good law. It's a good law. And we do well
to heed what God says then in his holy commandments. And to
heed all that God is saying to us in his words. What shall he
profit a man, says the Lord, if he shall gain the whole world
and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange
for his soul if we are concerned about our soul's well-being?
We must examine ourselves and our souls in the light of God's
holy law and we'll see that our sinful courses are unprofitable
to us. It profited me not. Oh, it's such a good Lord. Why
in it we see that God is not only a righteous God, but how
good God is. How good God is. We were looking
last Lord's Day at those words in Exodus 34, the renewing of the covenant,
remember. and I said then how that verse or that passage had
so struck me reading in the chapter in the previous days when they
transgressed, when they'd broken the commandments in the matter
of the golden calf and Moses is sent down from the mount with
the tables in his hands and he breaks them there at the foot
of the mount and God will disinherit them but Moses pleads for the
people and God is gracious. And so Moses is summoned to make
two new tables of stone like unto the first, and to again
be ready in the morning to ascend Mount Sinai. And it was those
words in chapter 34 of Exodus verse 4, He hewed two tables
of stone like unto the first, And Moses rose up early in the
morning, and went up unto Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded
him, and took in his hand the two tables of stone. And the
Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and
proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed by before
him, and proclaimed the Lord, the Lord God merciful, and gracious,
long-suffering and abundant in goodness and in truth. God had
said that Moses was to go into the mount with the tables and
God would write on those tables as he'd written on the previous
tables. And what does God do? He descends. As Moses goes into the mount,
God descends and God declares himself. God proclaims his name.
Isn't that not indicative that God reveals himself? and makes
known something of his character in his holy law. He is a good
God. He is a good God. And we see
something of his goodness even in that law. Paul says, or despises
so the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering
not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance. However, we recognize of course
that principally God's goodness is revealed to us not in the
law, it is revealed to us in the gospel. The law was given
by Moses, grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. There is no
salvation in the law. We read this morning the end
of Galatians chapter 4, the contrast between the two covenants, and
that covenant at Mount Sinai. It's a condemning covenant, is
it not? We have to turn to that revelation
that God gives us in the Gospel, or the primacy of the Gospel,
the priority of the Gospel. And it's there, of course, that
we have that fullness of the revelation of God. We sang in our opening praise,
Lord, and terrors do but harden, all the while they work alone,
but a sense of blood would pardon. Soon dissolves the hearts of
stone. When we behold the Lord Jesus
Christ, in all His sufferings, He was made of a woman, He was
made under the law. And He came to redeem them that
were under the law. he stood in their law place and
there at Calvary he bore in his own sacred person all that punishment that was
due to the sins of his people and presently we'll come around
the Lord's table and we'll seek to remember all the sufferings
of Christ or that it might be a means of grace to us to break
our hard hearts. We take of the bread, we take
of the cup and yet alas how soon we forget and how quickly we
fall again into our sinful courses. Should it not make our eyes well
with tears when we think of all that it cost our Lord Jesus Christ
to suffer and to bleed and to die when he bore that that the
law requires, the punishments of sins, the sense of blood-bought
pardon is what dissolves the hearts of stone. That's godly
sorrow. Paul says godly sorrow works as repentance to salvation
not to be repented of. The sorrow of the world works
as death. We don't want the sorrow of the world, we want that godly
sorrow, that which is wrought of God in our hearts. It's a
work of God. It's the work of God. Verse 29,
Lo, all these things worketh God, often times with man. He looketh upon men. And if any
say, who are the men who say, I have sinned and perverted that
which was right and he profited me not? Who are the men who make
that confession, that expression of a penitential heart? though
all these things work of God often times with man it's God's
work, it's God's gift the Lord Jesus Christ him hath God exalted
with his right hand to be a prince and a saviour he did repentance
to Israel and the forgiveness of sins or do we want something
of that spirit that we see spoken of here in verse 27 We want to
be those who would come with our confessions acknowledging
what God's law is, that law that is a holy, a righteous and a
good law. We want to come and we want to
acknowledge sin. I have sinned and perverted that
which was right and it profited me not. Where can we obtain such
a spirit? Only from God. We have to look
to the Lord Jesus Christ, we have to ask of Christ that gift
of repentance. He is exalted, the Prince and
the Saviour to give repentance. So in verse 27 we have the confession,
we have the repentance, but turning then to verse 28. He will deliver
his soul from going into the pit and his life shall see the
light. Here we have ransom deliverance. He will deliver his soul, it
says, from going into the pit. And it's a deliverance that is
based on the great work of redemption. Go back to verse 24, you see
the language is so similar. Verse 24, verse 28. Verse 24
reads, He is gracious unto him and saith, Deliver him from going
down to the pits. I have found a ransom. There
is the basis. The basis of the deliverance
is that God has found the ransom price. And who is the one who
pays the ransom price? The Redeemer. the Redeemer that is the Lord
Jesus Christ and to whom does he pay the ransom price? he doesn't
pay it to Satan some foolishly imagine that redemption is paid
to Satan but Satan is a usurper no the ransom has to be paid
to God it's God's holy law that has to be honoured and Christ
you see who is made under that law of God he is obedient to
that law, obedient unto death even the death of the cross now
what do we see here in verse 28 we see something of the grace
of forgiveness in verse 28 we see what the confession made
in verse 27 issues him he looketh upon men And if any man comes with this
confession, with this spirit of repentance spoken of in verse
27, he will deliver his soul from going into the pit. We see
then that the confession of verse 27 issues in deliverance. That when God
looks, He looketh upon men it says. What is God looking for?
He is looking for something very rare. Sin is not rare, sin is very
common. All of sin. All of sin. There is not a just man upon
the earth that doeth good and sinneth not. There is no righteous. No, not one. Those words in Romans
chapter 3 verse 10 following as it is written and it's written
of course both in Psalm 14 and Psalm 53 that's what Paul is
quoting there in Romans 3.10 following it's written twice
in the book of Psalms and it's written a third time in Romans
chapter 3 as it is written there is non righteous no not one they
are all gone out of the way and so on Sin is such a common thing. And yet God looks from heaven.
What does God look for? He is looking for something that
is rare. And what is this rare thing?
It is repentance. Repentance is a rare thing. And that's the sinner, you see,
who is so sacred. there's a strange word that we
sometimes sing in that hymn, a sinner is a sacred thing the
Holy Ghost has made him so or when the Holy Ghost comes into
a man's heart, into a man's life and he's brought to acknowledge
what he is and to confess what he is and to seek that spirit
of repentance that's a sacred thing, it's a rare thing it's
a rare thing or repentance is a rare thing,
is it not? only Christ can give it as we
say He is exalted to give it and we see it in those who we
might describe as sensible sinners to use the old-fashioned language
of our spiritual forefathers they speak of sensible sinners
those who have a sense of their sinnership repentant sinners
how does God show a man his sin? He shows a man his sin here in
his works In his word, the word of God, James tells us, is as
a mirror. We see ourselves, James says,
as if in a looking glass. Remember the end of the first
chapter in the epistle of James. If any be a hearer of the word
and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face
in a glass, that's a looking glass, For he beholdeth himself,
and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man
he was. Or do we look into God's word,
do we see ourselves? In the Bible we have this wonderful
revelation of God, God revealing himself. But man was made in
God's image, created after God's likeness. And so as we look here,
we should see something of ourselves reflected, if we are God's image
bearers. But what do we see? we see that
we are sinful creatures, we are fallen creatures or we fall so
far short of the commandment of God so far short of the glory of
God here in the scriptures God shows men what they are, he shows
men and women their sins and he does it of course so much
in the law, there is such a thing as a law we know that what things
however the law saith except to them who are under the law
that every mouth may be stopped says Paul and all the world become
guilty before God therefore by the deeds of the law there shall
no flesh be justified in his sight for by the law is the knowledge
of sin the whole world in that great day of judgment the whole
world of course will be found guilty that's the unbelieving
world they don't realize it now that God's law condemns them
all but when God deals with the elect sinner in this day of Christ
he shows the man his sin he shows the man what he is and that's
a wonderful thing God speaketh once, it says, yet twice, yet
man perceiveth it not. When God speaks in his law, when
God speaks in his words, we have reference here to the Old Testament,
in a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth
upon men, in slumberings upon the bed. All God in his last
days has spoken unto us by his Son, has he not? And yet men
close their eyes and their ears to what God is saying. But God,
it says here, openeth the ears of men. Or that God would open
our ears. Open our ears to hear what He
is saying. Is that what we desire when we
come under the Word of God? That God would open our ears. That we might really hear it
and take it in and believe it. God shows a man his sin, I say. God deals with his people in
other ways, does he not? He corrects his people also,
he shows them they are followed by his ways, his dealings with
them. Often times he comes in the way
of correction, he comes in chastening and in argue he speaks many wonderful
words, this man. speaking of man here in verse
19 you see he says he is chastened he is chastened also with pain
upon his beard the multitude of his bones with strong pain
so that his life abhoreth bread and his soul don't he meet his
flesh is consumed away but he cannot be seen and his bones
that were not seen stick out yea his soul draweth near unto
the grave and his life that are destroyed if there be a messenger
with him, an interpreter. For when God's chastened, you
know we need a messenger, an interpreter. The mystery of God's
dealings, strange, mysterious ways that God has with his children. Whom the Lord loveth he chastens,
and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening,
Paul says, God dealeth with you as with sons. What son is it
whom the Father chasteneth? It is not easy to understand
when God is dealing with us, we need to be exercised with
regards to these things. No chastening for the present
seemeth to be joyous but grievous, nevertheless says Paul afterward.
The year of the peaceable fruit of righteousness to them who
exercise theirs. How God deals with his people
and he will show them, you see, their sin, he will show them
their father. and we have to keep learning
this lesson line upon line, line upon line, precept upon precept
precept upon precept, here a little, there a little and often times
we feel that we are such dull scholars, slow learners and God
has to keep teaching us the same lessons over and over and over
again but how good God is you see,
he will teach his people again those words of the psalmist in
the 107th Psalm verse 17 we read this Fools,
because of their transgression and because of their iniquities,
are afflicted. Their soul abhorreth all manner
of meat, and they draw near unto the gates of death. Then they
cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their
distresses, He sent his word and healed them and delivered
them from their destruction. Or do we not sometimes feel that
we can come in with those foolish men? Because of transgressions,
because of iniquities God afflicts his people. He afflicts us. He deals with
us. Their soul abhors all manner of meat. They draw nearer to
the gates of death it seems. Ah, but then they cry unto the
Lord. And they don't cry in vain, God hears his people. Oh, there
is that grace of God in the way in which he deals with his people,
the way in which he brings forgiveness to them. And I want to conclude
on this note tonight the grounds, the grounds of that forgiveness. Although the confession in verse
27 might be said to issue in the deliverance and the forgiveness
that is spoken of in verse 28. Confession is not the ground
of our forgiveness. Repentance, our own repentance
of our sins is not the grounds of our forgiveness. Where do
we find the ground? We have to go back to those words
of verse 24. He is gracious unto him and said
deliver him from going down to the pit. I have found a ransom. It's the ransom price. And what
is that ransom price? Is it not that that Peter speaks
of in his epistle, his first epistle? The precious blood. or the precious blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Here is the price of the sinner's
redemption. For as much as you know that
you were not redeemed, says Peter, with corruptible things as silver
and gold from your vain conversation received by tradition from your
fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ. as of a lamb
without blemish and without spot who verily was foreordained before
the foundation of the world and was manifested in these last
times for you who by him do believe in God that raised him from the
dead and gave him glory that your faith and hope might be
in God. Oh friends might we be those
then who look into this God for our forgiveness. We confess Christ to be our great
Redeemer. We sang a part of the Metrical
Psalm, Psalm 49. And I want to conclude now by
just going back to the Psalm. The opening verse, as you see,
speaks of men, of wealth and wisdom in this world. what does it say there in the
psalm, psalm 49 verse 6 they that trust in their wealth boast
themselves in the multitude of their riches none of them can
by any means redeem his brother nor give to God a ransom for
him only one can pay the redemption price verse 15 but God says the Psalmist, God will redeem
my soul from the power of the grave for he shall receive me. Selah.