Thank you, Jeanette. Thank you, Gary. Thank you, Kelly. Thank you, Patrick. A little
water. Job 19. Go back there. Job 19. Read with me verse 28. Job 19, 28. Job answers his friends
and says, You should say, Why persecute we him? Seeing the
root of the matter is found in me. The root of the matter, that's
what we want to look at tonight. We want to get to the root of
the matter. I want all of us to be able to
say with Job, the root of the matter is in me. I want us all
to examine ourselves. Now, most everyone in here knows
something about this story of Job, how the Lord tried Job severely. The Lord put Job through every conceivable, almost every
conceivable trial that a human being could possibly go through.
And he brought him through it. He brought him through it. And you know how his friends
came with a sincere desire to comfort him, and they began to
talk a while and they discussed these things and after a while
these friends who came to comfort became sorry comforters. They
began to condemn Job. They began to suspect Job of
something and they began to persecute him by the things they were saying.
Job said that, you've hurt me. And Job said that they tried
to find a reason why these things were happening to Job. And why this evil had come upon
him. And Job said to them, you should say it. What you should
be saying is why are we persecuting him? See, the root of the matter
is in men. That's the only thing that's
important. It's the root of the matter in a fellow, in a woman. And that's what we ought to,
that's the way we ought to look at our brethren. Rather than
trying to find fault, and there's plenty to find. But if we would, our Lord said,
judge ourselves. We start there. We would not
be judged, and I'm quite sure judging ourselves, finding all
the fault in ourselves, We won't find, we'll quit finding fault
with our brethren. I know that for a fact. Not a
man on earth whom we can't find some kind of sin in or fault
in. Not one person is. Scripture
says all have sinned and come short. Way short. Still do. God's people still do it. There's
only one that that can't be said about it. The Lord Jesus Christ. And God's going to judge, Paul
said, on Mars Hill, all flesh by that man whom He hath ordained.
In Him. He will be hidden in Him. or
judged by Him, standing beside Him. You don't want that, do
you? Job's answer needs to be our answer. You can find plenty
of fault in me, but here's the matter, the root of the matter.
Is the root of the matter in there? The root of the matter. When we examine ourselves in
the matter of being justified before God, That's asked a few
times in the book of Job, isn't it? That's the question of all
questions. Not, what do men think of me? Am I just before God? In the
matter of whether I'm righteous or wicked. It's not whether men
think that or not. That's what God said. In the
matter of whether I'm saved or lost. In the matter of whether
I'm blessed or cursed. In the matter of whether or not
I'm right or wrong. And the Lord said Job spoke right. Remember that? Job spoke right
concerning me. Because the root was in him.
In the matter of whether I'm godly or worldly. The matter
of whether I'm holy or unholy, accepted or rejected by God. That's all that matters. And when it's all over, when
this life has been lived, we've got a death to face, a God to
appear before, is the root of the matter in
me. That's the important thing. Okay? Alright, what is this root of
the matter? What is this root of the matter? It's the only thing that matters.
Alright, look at verse 22. Read with me starting there.
Again, he says, Why do you persecute me as God and are not satisfied
with my flesh? Oh, that my words were now written. Oh, that they were printed in
a book. Most say that Job was the oldest
recorded book in the Bible. He lived during the time of Abraham.
Job said then, before it was written, Oh, that my words were
written in a book. Oh, that they were, verse 24,
graven with an iron pen and led in the rock forever. Job, they
are. They are now. Graven. They're written in a
book. Forever settled in heaven. Job
said, here it is. I know that my Redeemer liveth. That is the root of the matter. Is not Christ called a root out
of dry ground? That's the root of the matter.
This is all that matters, is Christ in you. Christ in you,
and you in Christ. Christ in you is the hope of
glory. Christ in you, that means faith
by faith. Saving faith, heart faith. Saving
faith is heart faith, with the heart man believes. The heart
man needs Christ. Let the heart man love Christ.
Let the heart man worship Christ. Heart faith. That's the root
of the matter. The root of the matter. John
one time said, the ax shall be laid to the root. The ax is going
to be laid to the root of all religion. And if we're not rooted
in Christ, we'll be rooted up. Every plant, our Lord said, whom
my heavenly Father hath not planted, will be rooted up. Come on, rooted
up. Let me tell you a few things
about a root. A root, go to John 15. You know
these verses, but go there anyway. Look at it. John 15. I won't
have you turn too many places. John chapter 15. A root, you
see, gives life to the plant. The plant gets all of its life
from the root. The plant lives because the root
lives. Life begins in the seed and the
root, and it provides life to the plant. If the root of the
matter is in us, we know Christ, we have life. Look at it. John
15, verses 4 and 5. Our Lord said, Abide in me, and
I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit
of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except
ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me, and I
in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without me, severed
from me, ye can do nothing." Our Lord said, because I live,
ye live also. The roots of the matter. Christ
in you and you in Christ. A root then gives life to the
plant. A root gives moisture and nourishment
to the plant. A root gives moisture and nourishment
to the plant. So you find all you need in Christ. Now this is all we do here. whether
it be me, Brother Gabe, Brother Mahan, or whoever preaches here,
you've found that we preach Christ. That's
not just a slogan, it's a fact. We preach Christ and Him crucified.
We preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord. And ourselves,
your servant, for His sake. We preach Christ. Do you find
all you need from hearing Christ preach? Huh? Moisture? The times when your
moisture's dried up, then you come and hear Christ and you
have it again. Mr. Wet Eyes returns. Your moisture, your nourishment,
do you find all your peace? When you hear Christ lift up
your joy, do you find that? Real joy, lasting joy that no
man can take from you. Do you find that when you hear
Christ preach? Rest, do you find rest? I quoted that Isaiah 30, Sunday,
in returning and rest you'll be saved. In quietness and confidence
is your strength. Their strength is to sit still.
Do you find that? You come in here and you renew
your strength? You gather nourishment, as it
were, from Christ the root? Do you find blessings, all blessings? When you hear about the blessings,
how God hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Christ
Jesus our Lord. Do you consider those the blessings
of all blessings? Eternal life, forgiveness of
sin, pardon, mercy, grace. Deliverance from this present
evil world. Does that interest you? Does that sound like a blessing?
See, the root gives moisture and nourishment to the plant.
The root is hidden. A root is hidden. But it's there. Christ is unseen. But He lives,
doesn't He? He reigns. We sing that song.
You ask me how I know He lives? He lives within my heart. And
He reigns and He rules. Christ in us. You know, often
we feel like that faith in Christ is hidden, but it's there. Like
plants in your garden. You go out there in the wintertime
and you look for them, you can't find them again. In wintertime. We go through those times, don't
we? A barrenness we can't find, but
it's there. It's there. And in due time,
a little sprouts to come. Why? The root of the matter.
Dig down, you'll find that's where the life is. It's in the
vine, it's in the root. It's in the root. Dig down, you'll
find that there. So that's what I want us to examine
ourselves, whether the root of the matter is in us. The root
of the matter. They asked old Roland Hill one
time, if you got to heaven and they asked you what right you
have to be in heaven, what would you say? And he would say, I
have no right to be here at all. He said, I'm not here on my rights.
I'm here on the rights of another. So examine yourself. What is
my hope of eternal life? What is my hope of eternal life? Being received by God into his
heaven, what is my hope of eternal life? Can you answer that? Dig
down deep. What is it? You're a Redeemer. Christ is. What is my righteousness
before God? What do I plead before God? That
I've quit this, I've quit that, that I've been a good fellow,
I've done the best I could. Anything? What is my hope of
God Almighty being pleased with me? What is it? Christ. I know my Redeemer lives. Who or what do I rely on? Who
or what do I trust in? Christ. Can you say that? That's the root of the matter.
What right do you have to be in heaven? None at all. I'm here
on the rights of another. You know that God will accept
every person that says that. Every man that comes unto God
by Him. That's what He said. He'll receive every person that
comes unto God by Him. So that's the root of the matter.
And you know, as the root is, so is the plant. As He is, so
are we. This verse of Scripture came
to me when I went down into my garden the other day. I had another
message that I was going to bring. And this was, I guess, Tuesday
morning. I was getting ready to work on
that other message a little more. And decided to go down and take
a little walk in the garden early in the morning. See what's, if
anything's ready. And I began to look at this and
that and the other, and I planted some beets. A row of beets. And I looked down, and one of
those beets was almost completely out of the ground. I thought,
well, that's ready to pick. And I pulled it up. You know,
a beet has basically one root. One big long path root. And this
verse came to me. I just spoke out loud. The root
of the matter was in there. And you know, I began to study
that beet. And you cut into a beet. What color is it? Red, through and through. You
cut into the heart of a believer, if the root of the matter is
in him. If Christ is his life, you'll find blood, you'll find
red, you'll find Christ. You ask him or her any question,
cut into the heart of that believer, through and through, Christ is
all. And in all of that, all their
hope, all their life. And like I said, that little
beet was being forced up out of the ground. I looked and all
of them were. You ever notice that about beets?
The riper they get, Barbara, they're coming out of the ground.
They're rising. The root is just shoving them
upward. Isn't that a good picture? Right? The root of the matter is in
them. He said, I am come down to bring you out to bring you
up. It's the root of the matter.
So you dig into the heart of the believer and the heart, the
root of the matter is in them. They'll say, first and last words
out of their mouth is, Christ is my hope. Christ is my hope. With the heart, man believeth.
He that hath the Son hath life. What that means is, he that believeth
on the Son, he that needeth the Son and hath the Son, hath a
need for the Son, hath a love for the Son, hath an appreciation
for the Son, and he that's laid hold of the Son by faith, he
that hath the Son hath life. John wrote, didn't he? That's
what he wrote. So, that's what we need to look
for. The root of the matter. Look
at Job's... Here's the root of the matter.
He said in verse 23 and 24, Oh, that my words were written in
a book. They are. Led in the rock forever. They
are. For I know that my Redeemer liveth. Here's faith. Here's hope. Here's confidence. I know. I know. Turn to 1 John 5. I do want us
to turn there. 1 John 5. I know, Job said, that
my Redeemer liveth. I don't know much, but I know
this. I know. This is not, I hope so. This is, I know. That's why we
sung that song. I know whom I have believed.
Not what? The what can't support you in
times of persecution and trouble. To whom? We don't trust the what,
we trust the who. I know whom I have believed.
I know that my Redeemer lives. Not, I hope. It's not a wish. It's not an uncertainty. Luke
wrote, the first part of his gospel, he said that you might
know the certainty of these things. That you might know and have
confidence that these things are so. Certainty of these things. that you've understood. 1 John
5, it says, you know these verses, look at verse 10, it says, He
that believeth on the Son of God hath to witness in himself. That's knowing in your heart. Believing on the Son, God gives
you witness, His Holy Spirit to bear witness that we're the
sons of God. And it gives you, like you said,
that spirit that cries, Abba, Father. and Christ through the
Lord, through Christ. Verse 11, this is the record
that God hath given to us eternal life. God hath given. We know
that, don't we? Eternal life. And this life is
in His Son. You know that, don't you? It's
not anywhere else. We know this. God's people know
this. He that hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son
of God hath not life. They may have this or that and
the other, but it's not life. Christ is life. Stephen Parks
read John 1 and it says, "...in him was life." Life. Life was the light of men. These
things, verse 13, "...these things have I written unto you that
believe on the name of the Son of God." That's the Lord. Sovereign. Jesus. Savior. His name means
just that, and that's what He did. Christ. Messiah. Substitute. covenant head, mediator,
advocate, and all that means. He's the second Adam. He deals
with God for us. That's His name, the Son of God.
Savior, that's His name. Redeemer, that's His name. That you may know. These things
are written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God
that you may know that you have eternal life. I know my Redeemer
lives. I know I'm this, I'm that. Not
that at all. No, I know my Redeemer lives. Can you say that? Look down at
verse 20. We know that the Son of God has
come and has given us an understanding that we may know Him that is
true. And we are in Him that is true, even in His Son, Jesus
Christ. This is the true God and eternal
life. I know. Can you say that? That's
the root of the matter. I know, I know, not how well
you know either. It's not how well you know. It's
just I know. Little Sophie is not very old
now. She knows who her daddy is, who her mama is. She knows
who her papa is. She knows. How well does she
know us? Not well at all, but she knows
enough to trust, doesn't she? I know my Redeemer. My Redeemer. The word Redeemer
means near kinsman. Near kinsman. The word means
the one who has the right to redeem. The one who has the right,
the only one who has the right to buy back Their relatives lost
property. That's what redeemer means. Geol
is the Hebrew word. The one who has the right, the
only one who has the right to marry, and by law should marry
his relative's widow. The one who has the right to
purchase, to buy back all things, to ransom. The only one who has
the right to ransom, to deliver. from ruin to avenge of the adversary. Redeemer. I know that my Redeemer
lives, my kinsman Redeemer. Do you know that you need a Redeemer?
You know, knowing Him begins with knowing you need Him. Knowing Him, let me repeat that.
Knowing Him begins with knowing you need Him. You know I need
a Redeemer means you know you've sold yourself to sin, to this world. And you need somebody to redeem
you, to ransom you, to bond you. Let me give you a few questions,
see if you can answer them like Ruth did. Was it your hap? Like Ruth, to land in the barley
field that belonged to that mighty, the only one who had the right
to redeem you, where the gospel is preached? Was it your half?
He has fields, but they're not everywhere. They're here and
there. Was it your half to land where this mighty Redeemer is
preached? Have you seen Him riding prosperously
through? Like Ruth did? Have you heard,
maybe a sister told you that, oh honey, you need to meet the
one that has the right to redeem. The only kinsman. The only one
able with the right to redeem. Have you heard from the servants
that He knows you, knows all about you before you knew Him? And can you say with Ruth, when
you found that out, can you say with Ruth, why have I found grace
in thy sight? That you should acknowledge me
who am unworthy and a stranger. Oh, you're not a stranger. I
know you. I know you. I know all about
you. Did you find that out? Did you find, like Ruth, that
He left handfuls on purpose for you? And have you fallen on your face?
before Him and fallen at His feet at night and asked Him to
spread His skirt over you and please redeem you. And have you heard Him say, like
Ruth heard said to her, I have done and will do unto
thee all that thou requirest. Then you have a redeemer. I know
my Redeemer. My Redeemer. You know who needs
redeeming? It's the lost. Who needs a Savior? The sinners.
This is a faithful Savior. Christ came to save sinners.
This man received the sinners. Can you say, I'm a sinner? Can you say, He's my Savior? My Redeemer. Go ahead and say
it. My Redeemer. I'm His. And He is mine. Liveth. I know that my Redeemer liveth. Not dead. Liveth. Liveth. You know that the false
religions of this world reveal their false religion through
their idols that they have? These pictures and statues and
all notice it. Particularly Catholicism and
others. A lot of people have these idols and all, what do
you say? You see, oftentimes a little
baby that's helpless in his mother's arm. People like a Jesus like
that. And then you'll see a picture
or some kind of statue of a man hanging helpless on a cross.
Don't you? They love that. That wrinkled
mass of sin called the Pope. That's what he carries around
on his staff. It's awful. And then oftentimes you'll
see that picture of him, of this fellow lying helpless in his
mother's arms. You've seen that, haven't you?
Dead or dead son. That's not our Christ. He liveth. We don't worship a dead Christ.
We worship a living Lord. We don't hold those pictures
up before men. Huh? No, sir. Those are idols
and duck flutes. That does not represent our living
Lord. He said to John, when John heard
that great voice and turned to see Him who spoke to him, he
said, I am He that was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore." I am alive forevermore. So we
as living stones know and believe a living Lord. And Job said this,
he said, I know my Redeemer liveth, and He shall stand at the latter
day upon this earth. Here is the root of the matter.
I know. Not I hope, not there's a story
and I hope it's, no, I know my Redeemer, I need one and I have
one, there's only one, the Lord Jesus Christ, my kinsman, Redeemer,
my, He's mine, I'm a sinner, He's mine, liveth. And Job said,
so stand at the latter day on this earth. Well, Job, he did.
He did. Job, this was written a long
time ago, and he did. God was manifest in the flesh.
He stood on this earth. Job's Redeemer. Job said, I know
he shall. Well, he did. He stood on this
earth. He lived. And he did die, yes. But he rose again, and now he's
seated. He's seated. I know my Redeemer
liveth, Sam. And I know right now he's seated
at the right hand of the majesty on high. I know that. But he's
getting up. I know it. I know He's seated. I know where
He is. He's at the right hand of God,
reigning, ruling over all. It's all His. God has given it
all into His hand. I know that. I know where He
is. Men can't see Him, but I know where He is. Don't you? Right
where He said He would be. And I know He's getting up. And
He's not going to stand on this earth. He's going to appear in
the sky. And we're going to go out of this earth and meet Him
in the sky. He's coming with 10,000 times 10,000 and thousands
of His saints, and so the dead shall rise first, and they will
all rise to meet Him in the air. And then He'll destroy this world,
Satan, death, and hell with the brightness of His coming. I know
that. How do you know that? He said
so. Job found that out. Job said, I know. He shall stand. He did. And I know He shall come
and He will. Everything He said has come true.
He shall stand. And Job said, I shall see Him
for myself. Mine eye shall behold and not
another. Every eye that shall see Him. But our Lord said, everyone that
seeth the Son and believeth on Him will have everlasting life. And I'll raise Him up at the
last day. So the root of the matter, the
root of the matter is Christ in you. A need for Christ, a
redeemer. A love for Christ. Worship of
Christ. Finding in Him your all and it
all. That's what it means to have
the root of the matter in you. And let no man persecute you.
Brother James used to say, put a sign over your heart's door. Do not disturb. Rest in. Rest in. Paul said, let no man
disturb me. The root of the matter. Why persecute
ye Him? Let's see if the root of the
matter is in Him. He that hath the Son hath life.
God said that. And we can trust Him. We can
believe Him. And He that hath the Son hath all things. It pleases
the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell. It pleases
the Father that all who love Him and worship Him and esteem
Him and come to Him, have all things
that He has, acceptance, righteousness, and shall have all things that
He has, joint heirs with Jesus Christ, just for loving and believing
the Son. That's it. That's the root of
the matter. That's what the Father said.
He'd get all that. He'd get the son. There was a wealthy man years
ago who had an only son whom he loved dearly. And that son served in the Vietnam War. And he was a hero. He saved some
men's lives and he died in the process. He was killed in action. And the father had a portrait
painted of his son. His father was a wealthy man.
He owned many valuable, had many riches, and he had a vast art
collection in which he owned all the famous works of Rembrandt
and Degas and Van Gogh and Renoir and these famous masters. He had those in his estate, but
the one he kept in the prominent place for all his friends to
see, the one that he most loved, was that portrait of his son.
That's the one he showed first to all his friends when they
came to see him. That's my son. And the rest were
really insignificant to him, though they were priceless to
men. Well, that man died. The wealthy man died, and they
were auctioning off his estate. And many heard of these priceless
paintings that were to be auctioned, the Renoirs and the Rembrandts
and the Monets and all these. And they came to the auction.
Well, the auctioneer got up and the first picture up was that
picture of the man's son. He said, we're going to start
out the auction. with this picture of the estate owner's son. Alright? Who will start the bidding? 100? 200? 300? No answer. Anyone? Someone was restless and said,
put that aside, let's get to the valuable paintings. The auctioneer
ignored that. He said, who will take the son? Anyone? Who will take the son? No answer. Finally, back in the back was
an old man who was the gardener of the man and his son, who loved
the father and loved his son. He was a poor man. He said, I'll
bid $20, because that's about all he had. He said, I'll bid
$20 for the son. The auctioneer said, $20. Do
I hear $30? $20? Do I hear $30? Going once, going twice, sold
to that man for $20. And the auctioneer closed his book. He started to leave and everybody
cried out and said, wait a minute, what about the others? What about
the other paintings? We came here to buy these." The
auctioneer said, there was a secret stipulation in the will. The
man who owned all things said, whoever bought the son got everything
else. That man gets it all. He had
the son. He that hath a son, he that hath
a loveful, a needful, sees in him all above all, worth more
than them all. All things. Christ is all. That
really means that. He that really believes in his
heart, her heart, that Christ is all. at all, according to the decree
of the head of the clock. OK, stand with. Our Heavenly Father, we do thank
You that Thou hast revealed Thy Son in us. Lord, thank You for not only
revealing Him to us, declaring Him to us, setting Him forth
for the preaching, but in Your people through the working of
Thy mighty power, the gift of Thy grace, the gift of Thy Spirit,
creating a need and a hunger and a thirst and a love for your
Son, your blessed Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, may that
love, our first love, grow. Do not let us be sidetracked
and lose our first love. Let nothing take the place of
or be a hindrance to following after the Son. Lord,
we need Him now more than ever. We are rich and increased with
good, but Lord, we need Christ. We need Him. And we ask that
you would continue to have Him preached and declared on this
place, this pulpit, to us and to our children. Create faith,
give faith, strengthen the faith you've given. We thank you for
Christ and Him crucified. We believe and are sure that
He is all, all our hope, all our salvation. It is in His name
we have met here tonight for His honor and glory. Amen.