Job said here in verse 21, Have
pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends, for the
hands of God have touched me. Why do you persecute me? Set
yourself in the place of God, and are not satisfied with my
flesh, no matter what I say or do. Oh, that my words were now written,
Oh, that they were printed in a book. And they are. And they
are. That they were craven with an
iron pen and lived in the rock forever. Well, they're better
off in God's book than they are in a rock. For I know, I know,
that this is what he wants written down. This is what he wants put
in that rock with that written with it. iron pen, for I know
that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter
day upon the earth, and though after my skin were it to destroy
this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God, whom I shall see for
myself, and mine eye shall behold, and not another, though my range
be consumed within me." What if I took you to a fine
home somewhere here. Beautifully landscaped. Mother's
fixing supper. She's fixing supper. Children
are healthy. They're out playing. Father comes
home from his job and he says, Oh boy, I've got good news for
you. I just got a promotion. Got a
good raise to go with it. They all sit down around the
table. They bowed their heads and they offered thanks. Oh,
they thank God. They bless God for their healthy
children, for their nice home, their beautiful yard, his new
job and his raise. And the father says, Oh, Lord,
I thank you. And he says, The hand of God
has touched me. Everybody would agree with that.
Everybody would agree with that. But here's Job. Here is Job. He's a true believer. A man that
God Himself says, here's my servant. He said, have you considered
my servant Job, who fears God? Perfect enough, right? Who fears
God and eschews all evil. That's what God said about him.
That's the testimony of God. But now here was a man who was
once wealthy, Incredible wealth. Now he's poor. Here was a man
who was once healthy. Now he's sick. Here was a man
who was once powerful, sat at the gate. An influential people
came and asked Job about things. But now he's alone and he's deserted. Ain't that what it says? He says
there in verse 9, He said, He hath stripped me of my glory,
taken the crown from my head. He hath destroyed me. He's saying,
God done this. God destroyed me on every side.
I'm gone. Everything I had is gone. And
my hope hath He removed like a tree. He put my brethren far from me.
My acquaintance are very less strange from me. My kinsfolk have failed me. Oh,
my. And my familiar friends have
forgotten me. Oh, my, this fellow's in a...
And then he says, when he says all of that, he says in verse
twenty-one, For the hand of God, the hand of God, hath touched
me. God did this. God did this. He didn't say Satan touched me. But he declared, God hath touched
me. The devil had nothing to do with
this. He said, God hath touched me. Now this is a mystery to
the natural man. I mean, you take a natural man,
he don't understand this. He don't understand it. Only
those who have been touched by the Holy Spirit in regeneration,
been born again by the Spirit of God, only they can understand
it. He says, you know, if the princes of this world had they
known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But eye hath
not seen, ear hath not heard what God hath prepared for them
that love him. But, but, he hath revealed them
unto you, unto us. Yea, the Spirit searcheth all
the deep things, yea, the deep things of God, that we may freely
know the things that are given to us of Christ. And we love
it when the natural man, he don't receive these things, he don't
understand them. You know, you say, the hand of
God has touched me. You lay and you're sick, you
lay and you're poor, you lay and everything's gone. And oh,
to say the hand of God done this. The hand of God's done this. In the natural world, the way
up is up. But in the spiritual world, the
way up is down. That's why our Lord Jesus Christ
said, He that humbleth himself shall be exalted. He that exalts
himself, God said, I'm going to bring him down. And in the
natural world, to live is to live. Get all you can. Get everything you want. But
in the spiritual world, the way to live is to die. Our Lord Jesus
says, He that saveth, findeth his life, finds his life and
tries to save his life. Finds everything he wants in
this world. Finds everything he makes living in this world
to be his life. He said that man will lose his
life. But that he that loses his life for my sake, that's
the man that's going to live. That's the way it's going to
live. And in the natural world, men find satisfaction in their
own strength, in their own abilities, in their own accomplishments.
But the apostle says, when I'm weak, when I'm weak, then I'm
a strong. So I'll glory, I'll glory, I'll
boast in the fact that I don't have no strength. I'll boast
in the fact that I'm weak. Oh, glory in the fact that I
have an infirmity, that I have a thorn in my flesh, that I have
no ability in my flesh. That's why Job said, why aren't
you satisfied with my flesh? My flesh can't do anything. And
oh, beloved, the greatest thing that God can do for a person,
whatever the cost it is to that person, But the greatest thing
that God can do for a person in this world, whatever the cost
to them is, is to reveal to him his own heart and his soul, and
to make him see the vanity of everything in this world, to
wean him from this world to see the vanity, the emptiness of
it all when it's all said and done. The preacher, Please ask
this warning to the preacher, said, all is vanity. Yea, everything
is vanity. And I've tried everything under
the sun, and yea, this one thing have I learned. Everything's
vanity. Vanity. Oh, you know, our Lord
Jesus, oh, for God to turn your affection and your interest The
greatest thing he can do is turn your affection, your interest,
and your love from the world to the Lord Jesus Christ. Do
you know what God said about his people? And this is who's
called blessed. This is who Christ called blessed.
He said, blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are they that
mourn. Blessed are they who are meek. Blessed are they who hunger and
thirst after righteousness. But all the world don't see that
things that way. To be poor? To be meek? To mourn? Oh, my. And oh, the way of God
is to be full is to be empty to self. You'll never be full
unless you're empty to self. To be wise is to become a fool,
for Christ's sake. To be clothed is to be stripped. Job said, he has stripped me.
Stripped me. Huh? To receive, you've got to
give. If you want to reign, then you're
going to have to come down and serve. Ain't that right? And
if you want to be rich, you're going to have to become poor
and find Christ to be your rich. Blessed are the poor. Blessed
are the poor in spirit. And this is Job's experience.
He knew what it was to have everything that a man could have in this
world. Ten children. Houses. Lands. wealth, clothes,
servants, to be somebody. Then he lost
it all. He knew what it is to lose it
all and watch it all fade away. Everything gone into dust. He went from the top all the
way to the bottom with no place to hide, no place to hide. And
he didn't have no arm to lean on. Huh? His wife told him, said,
Joe, just trust God and go ahead and die. He says, you talk like
a foolish woman. Oh, my. But he rejoices in the
sinner's only hope. His Redeemer. His Redeemer. You know, David said, this is
the hope he had. There's no one that I have in
heaven but Thee. And there was no one that I desire
upon earth but You. That's what he said. Now look
what happened to him. He knew his Redeemer no matter what else
happened to him. He lost everything. But look
what he says in verse 25. For I know, I know, oh my, God
does whatever it takes to bring you to this place right here.
For I know the hand of God has touched me. God took the crown
off my head. I got no arm. I got no help. I got no hope
in this world but this one thing. For I know that my Redeemer liveth. I know that my Redeemer liveth.
Job had absolute certainty in a world that there is no certainty
in. But he had absolute certainty. He said, I know that my Redeemer
liveth. You see, Job believed God's Word.
He was like Abraham. God came to him and spoke to
him and revealed himself to him. And Job said, I believe God.
This is God that done this to me. And look with me over, keep
Job, and look with me over in Isaiah 40 just a moment. You
see, there's nothing certain in this world. There's really
nothing certain in this world. And if we ain't learned that
by now, I don't know that we'll ever learn it. There's nothing certain in this
world. You get up one day and you're sick, Isaiah 40. Nothing's
certain in this world. That's why he says, thy word,
the only thing certain is thy word is forever settled in the
heavens. Nothing is certain in this world but the world's destruction.
You know, this fellow that made all these predictions about the
second coming of Christ and all that and God's judgment. Oh,
how the wicked have rejoiced in that, how the wicked have
made mocked that and made fun of that. But they've always done
it and they'll always do it. They said, oh, my, we've heard
and we've heard and we've heard and we heard that the Lord's
coming. But where is he coming? Heard that all our lives. Well,
that's what they said in Noah's day, when the world that was
then was buried under water. He said, you just hold on. He
says, God's going to burn this earth with a furgon heat, the
elements are going to melt, and God's going to create a new heaven
and a new earth. This world's going to be destroyed.
And I'll tell you, beloved, and that's the only thing certain
in this world. But look over here that this
world is going to happen. In Isaiah 40, in verse 6, this
is what Job believed. The voice said, cry. Oh my, cry. Cry out. Cry out loud. And he said, why shall I cry?
What am I going to preach? What am I going to tell them?
All flesh is grace. Grass! What's grass? What is grass when it's all said
and done? What is grass? And the goodness
thereof is as the flower of the field. The grass withers, the
flower fadeth. But why? Because the Spirit of
the Lord blows upon it, and surely, surely the people is grass. All right. And listen, the grass
withers. And the flower fadeth, but here's
what Job understood. The Word of the Lord. The Word
of the Lord. Thy flesh is grass, and I'm going
down. I'm going down. He said, the
Lord's brought on me, and I realize I'm nothing. All my glory has
faded away just like a flower. He said, but I know this, the
Word of the Lord endures forever. That's what he trusted in. What
else are you going to trust in in this world? And, oh, beloved,
we know that God is. We know that God is. We know
that God is. I heard a fellow say the other
day, he said he's a believer, but yet he made fun of a fellow. He said, a fellow said, Billy
said, seven-day creation, that God created everything in seven
days is too stupid to vote. Well, I'm too stupid to vote
then. I don't know how in the world
anybody could not believe that God is. And if God is, then God
made everything. And that's why Job says, you
know, God gave me everything that I had and God took everything
away from me. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
It's the hand of God that touched me. But I know this. I know this. I know that my Redeemer lives.
We know that God is. We know that God is in Christ. And we know that God is in Christ
reconciling us unto Himself. Huh? John said it like this,
we know that He has come and given us an understanding that
we may know Him that is true, and that we are in Him that is
true. Even in His Son Jesus Christ,
this is the true God and eternal life. So Job had absolute certainty
in an uncertain world. I'll tell you another thing about
the hand of God touching him here. Job had a true friend. among all these false friends.
Look what it said in verse 13 and 14 here. He said, He hath put my brethren
far from me, and mine acquaintance are barely estranged from me. My kinsfolk have failed, and
my familiar friends have just forgotten me. Forgotten me. Oh my, I don't have no friends.
But ten folks are gone. What a friend we have in Jesus.
Oh, he says, now not only do I know, but watch what he says,
I know that my Redeemer, my Redeemer, my Redeemer. Oh, he had a true
friend. He had a Redeemer among all these
false friends. And know the words I send what
I've read here this morning. That's the greatest word. It's
the one that stands out from everything else. There is no
name of our Lord Jesus Christ, there is no name which is more
significant, more comprehensive, more endearing to His people
than that word, Redeemer. Redeemer. Huh? Redeemer. Redeemer. What does it mean? It means someone who paid all
that was against you and redeemed you. So many things Christ redeemed
us. He redeemed us from the curse
of the law. He redeemed us from the justice of God. He redeemed
us from sin itself. He redeemed us from Him, the
strong man armed. But the Word signifies this,
a mere kinsman who has the right to redeem. Somebody that's a
kinsman to you, and a near kinsman, and they've got the right to
redeem. You remember in the book of Ruth, when Naomi left, and
she was coming back home. And Ruth said, I'm going to go
with you. Your God's going to be my God, and your people's
going to be my God. And where you live, that's where
I'm going to live. Well, she got over there, and she was poor
as a church mouse. They didn't have anything. And
she had to go out and glean in the field. How would you like
to go out after somebody's cut all the hay? I mean, cut all
the wheat and picked all the corn. And that was the only living
you had to go out and pick it up just a little bitty bit at
a time and put it in a basket and put it in a basket. And hopefully
you get enough to make a meal out of. Hopefully you get a little
extra. Then maybe you can go sell it. Well, that's how poor
they was. But the scripture said her hat
wasn't a little thong. Up on Boaz's field. And guess
what? Boaz had the right to redeem
her. All the debt that her mother
had incurred, all the debt that her fallen husband had endured,
all the debt that her husband had incurred. And so Boaz realized who that
woman was. He said, I'll tell you what you
do while she's in this world out here gleaning. You young
men don't want nobody to touch her. I'm going to preserve her. She's a beautiful woman. Don't
you dare bother her. And not only that, but when she gets
real, real close to you, reach in that garner, and you take
your great big handful and lay it right there on the ground,
so when she gets there, she'll be the first one to find you.
And boy, she'd come home now and say, where'd you get all
that? And I was on the way out of this
field. Oh, blessed be the Lord. That's our near kinsman. That's
our redeemer. And all it means to redeem it.
And you know what the qualifications for a kinsman is to redeem somebody? To pay off their debts? To bring
them and take them to themselves? They got to be a near kinsman.
That's the first thing. They got to be the nearest kinsman.
But oh, beloved, the Lord Jesus Christ took not on Himself the
nature of Abraham, but the seed of Abraham. He was made like
unto us. But we see Jesus, who was made
a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, that
He, by the grace of God, should taste death for every one of
us, for every man. And all beloved, he that sanctifies
the day that are sanctified are wise. So he's a near kinsman
too. Then he has to be a free man himself. He cannot be in
bondage. If he's in bondage himself, how's
he going to get anybody else out of bondage? If he has debts
himself, how's he going to pay anybody else debts? So he has
to be free. He cannot be in bondage himself.
And our Lord Jesus said to them, which of you convinces me of
sin? And then not only does he have
to be a mere kinsman, he has to be a free man, but he has
to have the power. He has to have the power. What
do I mean by that? He has to have every right, he
has to have the power, and beloved, there's our Lord Jesus Christ
ever lives, ever lives. to make intercession for us.
He is able, able to save to the uttermost them that come unto
God by him. Paul Mahan had a wonderful message
by that the other day. He is able to save to the uttermost. He got the power. And not only
that, does he have to be a dear kinsman and a freeman and has
the power, but he's got to be willing. What if he's not willing?
What would happen if he wasn't willing? He said, well, I'm sorry,
Paul. I just don't, you know, I don't
want to pay that debt. I don't want to, I don't, I don't see
anything about, I don't... What was there in Ruth that made
Boaz? She was poor? She didn't have anything? She
was a stranger in that country? She was an alien in that country?
And of all the people that was in Israel, Boaz said he was out
on one person. Really? Huh? And they've got
to be willing. Well, our Lord Jesus Christ said
this. He said, I lay down, I lay down
my life for the truth. No man takes it from me. I've
got the power to lay it down. I've got the power to take it
up again. And then He says this. Paul said, He loved me. Loved
me. and gave himself for me." And
that's what our Lord Jesus Christ said. He said, I delight to do
thy will. Thy will, O Lord, I delight to
do. And then not only did he have to be a near kinsman, a
free man, and have the power and the willingness, but you
know what he has to have more than anything else? He's got
to have the price. He's got to have the price. He's
got to have the price. What's it going to take to pay
off your debt? What's it going to take to pay
off our sins? What's it going to take to make us acceptable
to God? What's it going to take to cleanse
us from our sins? What's it going to take for us
to be righteous in God's sight? We were redeemed, not with such
corruptible things as silver. Silver ain't saved nobody. Not
gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, as a lamb slain without
spot and without blemish. And listen to this, who verily
was foreordained before the world that we might be saved by Him. And that's what Job was saying
about our Lord Jesus Christ. He has the right to redeem. And
also, you see, he had absolute certainty. in another certain
world. And he had a true friend among
all the false friends that he had. Listen to this. And Job,
though he had lost everything, said, The hand of God has touched
me. He had the promise of life eternal even while he lived in
this land of death. Look what he says there again
in verse 25. I know he had that certainty.
And then he talked about my Redeemer. The one who has the right, the
power, the willingness, the price. I know that my Redeemer, look
what he says here, liveth. I'm living in a land of death.
I'm sitting here with nothing, absolutely nothing. I don't have
a friend. I don't have any strength. I
don't have any ability. I don't have any wealth. I don't
have nothing. But he said, I've got Christ.
My Redeemer. And He lives. He lives. And our Redeemer was living even
then. You know that? In Job's day,
our Redeemer was living. The Scripture says, Jesus Christ
the Saint, today, yesterday, and forever. Whatever He is now,
He always has been. Whatever He'll be tomorrow, He
is today. And whatever He is now, He'll
be throughout all eternity. He is. That's why it says, in
the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was
God. Our Redeemer was living then. Our Redeemer lives because
He is the life. He is the life. He's not the
best thing in life. He's not the most important thing
in life. He's not Something that we just add to the rest of our
life. No, no. He is the life. Everything
apart from Him is dead. Dead. Our Lord Jesus Christ said,
I'm the way, I'm the truth, and I'm life. I'm life. Though a
man were dead, yet if he believes in me, he lives. He lives. We know what life is.
Christ is life. When Christ who is our life,
life shall appear. I mean, beloved, and Job said,
He's my life. He lives. He lives. Our Redeemer lives. And oh, beloved,
He died. And He rose again. And look with
me over here in Revelations 1 with me, just real quick. You know,
He rose again. And guess what He did when He
rose again? He conquered death. He conquered
everything. And oh, our Lord Jesus says this,
because I live, I live, you shall live also. And all He was delivered for
our offenses, but all He was raised for our justification.
Look here in Revelation 117. Our Redeemer lives, for He died,
and He rose again. Look what it says here about
Him. Revelation 117, And when I saw Him, I fell at his feet
as dead. And he laid his right hand upon
me, saying unto me, Fear not. I'm the first. I'm the first
that ever was. No one's before me. And I'm the
last. There's nobody after me. I am. He that was this liveth. I was
dead. And behold, I'm alive forevermore. Amen. What's this? And have the
keys of hell and death. So I mean, beloved, if He's my
Redeemer and He lives, He's done unlocked hell, I'm not going
to go down there. He ain't going to put me there. He's done conquered
death, so I ain't afraid of that. Oh, bless His holy name. He had
the promise of life eternal, even in this land of death. Death,
death, death. And then look what else happened
in verse 25. Back over in our text. Job had the promise, the
promise of victory over the grave, victory over the grave, and a
real inheritance, a real inheritance on the new earth. Look what he
says here. For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he
shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. He shall stand,
He shall stand on this earth. Now what earth is He talking
about? He's talking about that new heaven, that new earth. That's
what He's talking about. And our Lord Jesus Christ, He
once walked this earth as our representative and our sin offering
and our sacrifice and our substitution. I mean, everything He did, He
did for somebody else. He did nothing for Himself. His
whole life was lived as a representative. His whole life was lived doing
for others. His whole life was lived in order
that you and I could have what God required because we didn't
have it. He died in order to put away
our sins. He died in order to conquer death.
He died in order to satisfy justice. He died in order to endure the
wrath of God. And now He lives! And then he's
going to come again, and I'll tell you what, here's the thing
about it, he's going to come again, and stand on this new
earth, and guess what? We'll stand right there with
him. Then Jerusalem shall come out of heaven as a bride adorned
for her husband, and the scripture says we'll go in and out! Oh
my! Oh, our Lord Jesus said He appeared
once to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. But then charity
appeared the second time without sin unto salvation. For who? Them looking for Him. Huh? Oh, He's going to come. He's
going to come again. And He's going to stand on this
earth. And then He said, look what He
said. In verse 26, And though after skin worms destroy this
body, I'm going to die. Job said, I'm going to die. Oh,
I'm going to die. This body's going to go back
to the dust. I come from the dust, I'm going to go back to
the dust. But look what else he says. Yet, yet, in my flesh. What did he say? I shall see who? God. When you see Jesus Christ, you
see God. When He enters into glory, when
Christ comes back, you're going to be looking at God. He's not
a baby in a manger. He's not a poor, pitiful man
on a cross. He was God manifest in the flesh. He was God set at the right hand
of God. And the only God you and I will
ever see when we enter into eternity and stand on this new heaven
and new earth is Jesus Christ. That's who we're going to see.
The only one we'll ever see. And, oh, he said, he shall see
you. And in my flesh, what flesh? That new flesh, that new body. He said, behold what manner of
love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called
the sons of God. Does it appear what we should
be? No. We don't appear. We try to, we rejoice. We try
to say, oh my, we can't, does it appear what we should be?
No. But we know this. When Him hears, what's going
to happen? We're going to be just like Him. And oh, Job said, I shall see
God. And oh, look what else he said
about it. And he said, I'll see Him for myself. I'll see Him
for myself. If you don't see Him here and
now, you'll not see Him there. If you don't see Him here and
now by faith, You'll not see him in that new body. Huh? You'll
not see him. And oh, look what else he says.
And mine eyes shall behold him. Mine eyes shall behold him. I
won't be, you know, not a stranger. I'm not going to be a stranger
then. He said, not a stranger. Although everything in the direction
of God be consumed within me. See, Job expected to be raised
from the grave. Himself, and with a glorified
body, live forever with the Lord Jesus Christ. Look with me in
1 Corinthians 15. He expected to be raised from
the grave in Himself, by Himself, by God
raising Him from the dead, and seeing God, seeing Christ on
the earth in the latter days, and have a glorified body and
live forever with His Redeemer. Look what he said here, verse
50. Freud, one day I was over there,
and he quoted all these verses, and he really, really got blessed
when he got down to the last couple of them. He says this,
Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit
the kingdom of God. Well, that's what we are. What's
going to have to happen to us then? And no corruption ain't
going to inherit incorruption. Well, we're corrupt. We have
to use mouth where our bodies is rotten, and right around us.
Behold, I show you a mystery, though. I'm going to tell you
a mystery here. And this is what you're going to see. We shall
not all sleep. Not everybody's going to go to
the grave. But one thing will happen. Every one of us will
be changed. And oh, how fast will it take place in the moment
in the twinkling of an eye? When? At the last trump. For
the trumpet shall sound. Oh, God's going to blow that
trumpet. Christ's going to blow that trumpet. Christ shall descend
at that last trumpet, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible. Job, in my flesh, I shall see
God. In my flesh, I'll stand before
Him. After the skin worms are there
in this body, yet I'm going to see Him. And that corruption
in the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and shall be changed. For this
corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall
have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall put on immortality,
then, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written,
Death is swallowed up in victory. And here's what the Lord said,
He said, O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your
victory? And listen to this, the sting
of death is sin. Well, we ain't got that. Christ
put it all away. The sting of death is sin, and
the strength of sin is the Lord. Well, Christ will fill the Lord.
There's no condemnation of them that are in Christ. We're righteous
in Christ. So there ain't no stinging death.
Sin has been put away. Law has been fulfilled. But listen
to what he said. Thanks be unto God, which giveth
us the victory through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. You know what David said? Psalm 1715. He said, you know when I'll be
satisfied. You know when I'll be satisfied. David's sitting
on his throne, destroyed his enemies, wealth,
wives, and he says, you know when I'll
be satisfied? When I awake in Thy likeness. Won't be satisfied till then.
You know why I won't be satisfied? God puts something in us that
will not let us be satisfied in this world. We're truly strangers
and pilgrims. Oh, and listen, my heart's prayer
to God for you is, if you don't know Christ, that God will do
you like He done Job. He'll strip you, take that crown
off your head, and if He has to take everything you have in
order to bring you to Christ, it'll be well worth it when you
find when you understand what you have in Him. Want it? We've all experienced that. Our Father, in the blessed name
of the Lord Jesus Christ, thank You for Your precious, precious
Word. Father, the promises You made us in Your Word, the blessed
hope You've given us in our Lord Jesus Christ, And Lord Jesus,
our Redeemer, O our blessed, blessed Redeemer, O how we praise
you and bless you, open hearts, open minds, open understandings,
and bring sinners in this place to faith in Christ, to embrace
Christ, to bow before Christ, to acknowledge Him so that they
can say as Job did, Though I go back to the dust, I know my Redeemer
liveth, and I shall see Him for myself, standing on this earth."
God work in hearts for Christ's sake. Amen. Amen.