Good morning. I invite your attention to the
book of Job, chapter 9, 10. Job, chapter 9, 10. My text will be verses 25 through
27. My message is titled, Saints'
Knowledge of Their Redeemer. saints' knowledge of their Redeemer. Job is said to have been perhaps
the foremost example of patience in Scripture. When you hear someone
speak of the patience of Job, you should know what they speak.
It is of this man. In the providence of God and
in accordance with his will and pleasure, and in order to make
a liar out of Satan, Job was afflicted. Sores from the crown
of his head to the sole of his foot. He is reduced to sitting
in the ashes. Four men come to sit with him
and hopefully to comfort him in his time of trouble. Three of them proved to be miserable
comforters. He called them miserable comforters. What is a miserable comforter? A miserable comforter is one
who comes to you on your sick bed and says, what is this infirmity
you have? And you tell the person what
it is. Oh, I have a friend who had what
you have. Oh, how did that go? Oh, he died
a long and painful death. And you're tempted to say, well,
you could have stayed home. A miserable comforter. Job had
three of them. The four men who came, three
of them were miserable comforters. In his hour of trouble, they're
trying to tell him it's your fault. You know, you sin. You know people who are like
that. Something bad happens to you,
and it's always because of some bad thing you did. Well, sometimes
it may be because of some righteous thing you did. That was the case
with Job. And they berate him. And they mock him. And he finally says in verse
23, oh, that my words were written. Oh, that they were inscribed
in a book. Well, Job, you got your wish.
Here they are. Here they are. They're in a book. that they were engraved on a
rock with an iron pen and lead forever. Why do you want your words to
remain, Job? Here it is. For I know that my
Redeemer lives, and he shall stand at last on the earth. And after my skin is destroyed,
this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall
see for myself, and my eye shall behold and not another. And then, listen to this, how
my heart yearns within me. Job knew something. Oh, it was more than something
he knew what was worth knowing. And it made his heart yearn.
How my heart yearns within me. The Saints knowledge of their
Redeemer. I want to speak to you today
on that subject. The Saints knowledge of their
Redeemer. Point number one. Saints know
My Redeemer is Jehovah. He is God. He is Jehovah. He
has to be because he is a Redeemer and no mere mortal can redeem. the psalmist says, none of them
can by any means redeem his brother nor give to God a ransom for
him. It's impossible, folks. I cannot
redeem you, you cannot redeem me and we cannot redeem ourselves. No mortal can do this. If there
is a Redeemer, He is not one of us. Job knew furthermore that His
Redeemer is God. I know that my Redeemer lives
and I shall see God. The Redeemer and God are the
same person. I shall see my Redeemer when
I see God. When I see God, I shall see my
Redeemer. I know that my Redeemer lives. Well, Jehovah assured his people,
even in Old Testament times, that he was their Redeemer. In
Isaiah 43, verse one, he says, Fear not, for I have redeemed
you. I have called you by your name, and you are mine. To be redeemed is to be purchased.
This is Jehovah speaking. I redeemed you. I purchased you. You belong to me." And we reply,
our Redeemer is Jehovah. Even in Old Testament times,
they said, you have redeemed my life. Lamentations 3 verse
58. They prayed, remember your congregation
which you have purchased the bold. Purchased the bold. When was that? How about before the foundation
of the world when the church was purchased? The congregation,
the church, the assembly of old. Before the foundation you purchased,
how could that be? There was a land slain before
the foundation of the world and the church was purchased and
purchased by God. You have redeemed, you have purchased
your church. Therefore, we know that our Redeemer
is Jehovah. We are convinced. He is not a
mere mortal. He is God. His name is Jehovah,
and we know it. Do we not? We know that our Redeemer
is Jehovah. Second point, and this is no
contradiction, second point, Saints know their Redeemer is
their kinsman. He's related to them, closely
related to them. Because when Job speaks of my
Redeemer, look very carefully at that word. In the Hebrew,
it is the well-known word goel. We usually see it spelled G-O-E-L.
I know that my Redeemer, not just any sort of Redeemer, the
word means kinsman Redeemer. That's exactly what a Goel is,
a kinsman Redeemer. Job, I think you contradicted
yourself. No, no, no, no, no. My Redeemer
is none but Jehovah and he's related to me. He's my kinsman,
my kinsman redeemer. What is a kinsman redeemer? It
is a relative, probably a brother, who redeems
you from bondage or trouble or whatever. You read the book of
Ruth, the kinsman, cover me. She says, you are my near kinsman. You are my kinsman redeemer. Well, Jehovah is our kinsman
redeemer. I know that my redeemer lives. Jehovah himself speaks of him
as the kinsman redeemer of his people. In the prophecy of Isaiah,
chapter 44, verse 6, we read, Thus says Jehovah, the King of
Israel and his Redeemer, and it is that same word. This Jehovah
speaking says, I am your kinsman Redeemer. In the New Testament, we read
that the ancient prophets who wrote the scriptures in Old Testament
times, they examined their own writings, their own writings. They did not fully comprehend
what it was they had written. Now you can imagine, Jehovah
comes down and speaks to Isaiah and he says, write these words,
okay? And he's got his quill and his
parchment and here is Jehovah speaking and Jehovah says, write
these words. Thus says Jehovah the King of
Israel and his Redeemer and put Gawah. Lord, you are Jehovah, right? Yes, I am Jehovah. You're not
a mortal, right? No, I am not a mortal. But you want me to write that
you are the kinsman of your people. That's right. Write it down.
You're sure? Write it down. And he writes
it down. Thus says Jehovah, I am your
kinsman redeemer. I am the first and the last,
and besides me, there is no God. Write it down. And he did, and
we read it. And there it is, folks. You cannot
escape the fact that he who is Jehovah and not a mere mortal,
he is the kinsman of his people who redeems them. What can we
say? We have to agree. We acknowledge
to men that as for our Redeemer, our kinsman Redeemer, Jehovah
upholds His name, the Holy One of Israel, Isaiah 47 verse four. We confess to God, you, oh Jehovah,
are our Father, our kinsman Redeemer from everlasting is your name,
Isaiah 63 verse 16. And this is no contradiction.
Our Redeemer is none but Jehovah, Our Redeemer is not a mere mortal. Our Redeemer is Jehovah, who
is our kinsman. And there is no contradiction,
none at all. Now, this fact raises an interesting
question. How can Jehovah be the kinsman
of his people? How can God be related to mere
mortals? He is God having the divine nature
and He has no human nature. We are mortals, we have the human
nature, we have no divine nature by nature. We are as different
as we can be. We are estranged from Him, aliens
from Him, and yet He says, I am your kinsman who redeems you. How can that be? How can that
be? There is no natural relationship
between Jehovah and mortals except, according to my third point,
saints know my redeemer is the God-man. The God-man. God-man. That's who he is. He's God. He's my kinsman. He therefore has become a man. The God-man. The Redeemer is
God because Job said, I shall see my Redeemer and he is God. He's a man because he is the
kinsman or the near relative of his people. He is the God-man,
both God and man. And only one person fits that
description. Only one. This one person is
Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is God. Let there
be no doubt about it. Some may say, nah, that's, we
don't believe that. Well, if you do not believe that
Jesus Christ is God, you do not believe in God because God himself
said to the Son, your throne, oh God, is forever and ever.
This is God the Father speaking to the Son, Jesus Christ, and
he says, your throne, oh God, is forever and ever. Now, if
God the Father thinks Jesus Christ is God, I think I will agree. I will agree. Well, I can't believe
that. Well, then you don't believe
God. God says the Son is God, and His throne is forever. Saints
acknowledge Jesus Christ is God. In the prophecy of Isaiah 9,
verse 6, we read, His name shall be called the Eternal Father. And there's only one. The mighty God, that's his name. In that one verse, the mighty
God. That word mighty or the name
mighty God has to do really with the concept of God who is a hero. And he is my hero. This one who
is the mighty God, he is my hero and he is my eternal father. Thomas called him my Lord and
my God. John 20 verse 28. My Lord and
my God. Paul calls him, in Romans 9,
verse 5, the eternally blessed God. And there's only one. Both
Paul and Peter call him our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. John the Apostle called him the
true God and eternal life, 1 John 5, 20. All right, folks. I am not going to argue and quibble
with God the Father, and Jesus' apostles, and the
writers of Holy Scripture under inspiration of the Spirit. There
it is. He is God. He is God. Let there be no doubt about it.
We know him by his name, Immanuel, which is translated God with
us. But actually, if you look at
that word Immanuel, that's his name, Immanuel. The last syllable
in that word is El. It's God's name. With us is God. He's here. Where two or three
are gathered in my name, he's here. Where is he? I'll tell
you where he is. He's sitting right beside you.
And you. He says, I'm walking up and down
in the midst of the candlesticks. And that's what he's doing. He's
walking up and down the aisles while we're here. He's here.
He's here. He listens to us as we sing. He sings with us in the congregation
of the saints, I shall sing praise to you. More than that, he's reading our hearts. He knows
our thoughts and he's here. With us is God, Emmanuel, in
the person of Jesus Christ. Let there be no doubt about it.
He's also man. He is called the man Christ Jesus. 1 Timothy 2, verse 5. And he is the kinsman of his
people. In the second chapter of the
epistle to the Hebrews, we read that Jesus Christ does not give aid
to angels, but to the seed of Abraham. The seed of Abraham. Who is the seed of Abraham? God's
elect. They that live by faith are children
of Abraham. Heirs according to the promise.
He gives aid to the seed of Abraham. And then we read, he had to be
made like his brethren. God had to be made like his brethren. Ponder that. You'll never comprehend
it, but go ahead and ponder it. Such profundity that God has
become my brother. He had to be made like his brethren
to make propitiation for the sins of the people. God became
my brother. Consider it. Not only that, he
is not ashamed to call them brethren. Not ashamed! I suppose some people have brothers
of whom they are ashamed. I do not. But I suppose there
are some. I have a brother. All God's children
have a brother who is God in our flesh. And we are not ashamed
of him, but more importantly, he is not ashamed of us. He is
not ashamed of us because God has taken our humanity. God was manifested in the flesh
in order to make propitiation for sinners like you and me.
And having done so, he says, I'm not ashamed of them. They
are what they are because I became one of them. He is not ashamed
to call us brethren. He had to be made like unto us
brethren. He made propitiation for our
sins. He is the God-man. In his incarnation,
God was manifested in the flesh. And then, having assumed our
humanity, When the Word became flesh and
dwelt among us, when God was manifested in the flesh, when
Jesus Christ laid aside his heavenly glory and come descended to be
found among us, he did it in order to be our Redeemer, our
Gawah, our kinsman Redeemer. For we are told that you were
not redeemed with corruptible things like silver or gold, but
with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish
and without spot. His blood, His blood. The most perfect lamb that ever
lived. If you will, the only perfect
lamb who ever lived, redeemed us with His blood. We confess to Jesus Christ that
you have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every tribe
and tongue and people and nation, Revelation 5 verse 9. God assumed our humanity in order
to become our redeemer. Our redeemer is the God-man.
Now, Saints today have far greater knowledge of this truth than
Job did. Job lived about the time of Abraham,
about 2,000 years before Christ was incarnate, before he came
to this earth. But even in Job's day, he knew
his Redeemer was Jehovah. Not a mere mortal, but he was
also his kinsman. Job knew that 4,000 years ago,
2,000 years before Jesus Christ came to this earth. Fourth point, saints know my
Redeemer lives. He lives. We know this because
of his resurrection from the dead. The writer to the Hebrews says,
he always lives to make intercession for them. And we sing in the
words of Wesley, he ever lives above for me to intercede, his
all redeeming love, his precious blood to plead. Job knew that too. I do not know how much of it
he understood, but I'm going to take him and his words at
face value. My Redeemer lives. My Redeemer
lives. This is one of the most remarkable
statements you will find in the Old Testament. my Redeemer lives. Remember, spoken 2,000 years
before the Redeemer came to earth, Job says, my Redeemer lives. And in so doing, he spoke of
Jesus's incarnation, death, and resurrection. All three things
were in Job's statement. He spoke of the incarnation of
his Redeemer because he called him my kinsman. The Redeemer
could not be the kinsman unless he was born like Job was, and
he was. Job spoke of the death of Jesus
Christ because there is no Redeemer until the Redeemer dies. The
Redeemer must die. Job said, he's my redeemer. My kid's redeemer. He has redeemed
me. He died. And he also spoke of
the resurrection. Because Job said, he lives. He lives 2,000 years before the
fact. He lives. Now. How could Job know this? Consider, he spoke of the incarnation
and the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ as a fait accompli,
a deed already accomplished. A deed already accomplished. How could he know? We must conclude he spoke under
divine inspiration. Holy men of God wrote as they
were moved by the spirit. That's why they searched their
own writings. Did I write that? Did he say
that? Yes, he said it. We have to conclude
that Job spoke under divine inspiration. And he was a holy man. Even God said so. God said something of Job that
I do not know that you'll find he ever said it of anyone else.
And he said it to Satan the devil, because Satan the devil was allowed
in God's presence one day and Jehovah says, where you been?
Yeah, walking down on the earth. Oh yeah? Have you considered
my servant Job? That there is none like him on
the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns
evil. Oh, that God could say that of me. He
said it of Job. He said it to the devil. Have
you considered him? There is not a man like Job in
all the earth. So bear this in mind. Job was
not afflicted because he was a sinner. He was afflicted because
he was righteous. Satan said, yeah, no wonder he
serves you. You're good to him. And the Lord
said, then you do to him what you will, because Job's gonna
make a liar out of you. You can do anything you want
to except take his life. His life belongs to me. And Job
was afflicted by the devil in God's purpose, in his providence,
by his will and ordination. And then Job proved the devil
to be a liar and God to be speaking the truth. And then he says, I know that
my Redeemer lives. I know that my Redeemer lives. Point number five. Saints know
their Redeemer shall stand at last on the earth. Or in your
King James, it reads, he shall stand at the latter day upon
the earth. Now, I'll just let you know that
scholars have some disagreement as to the proper rendering of
this text. And I'm not going to get into
it. Except to say that I would not disagree with Albert Barnes
when he says the simple meaning is He shall appear or manifest
himself as the vindicator of my call. He shall come as the
vindicator of my call. He shall stand at last on the
earth at the last day. And he will vindicate me on that
day. Oh, what a day that will be. And I know that my Redeemer lives,
same one Job has, and he'll vindicate my cause. That day is a final
judgment. We must all appear before God
to be judged. Every one of us. There are books for all of us. Everything of us recorded in
the books, and the books were opened. Daniel Parks? Yes, sir. Stand before the judge. Approach
the bench. Yes, sir. Give me his book. And there it
is. It is a huge tome, a great volume. Opens it up. Leaves through. Daniel Parks, you got a big book,
and every page is full of nothing but sin. You have sinned with
every waking breath you ever took, every deed you ever performed,
every word you ever spoke, every thought you ever imagined. You
departed your mother's womb speaking lies. And your final day, you
were just a better liar than you were the day you were born.
How do you plead? Guilty, Your Honor. Guilty. Then I shall pass sentence. Before he passes sentence, someone
comes, stands beside me. Your Honor, I represent Daniel Parks. I am his advocate. I am his paraclete,
the one standing here beside him. What's your name? My name is Jesus Christ the righteous,
and I'm pleading his cause. And he is not guilty. Well, this book is full of sins,
and he admitted he did them all. Your honor, he is not guilty. In fact, he never sinned. as though he never sinned. That's
who he is. Well, how can that be? Your Honor,
behold my hands and my feet. Behold the holes caused by that
thorn-crowned brow. Behold this gaping hole in my
side. I poured out my blood for him. I died to redeem him. I purchased
him completely and forevermore. In order to redeem him, I became
his brother. I died in his place instead. I justified him from every sin
he ever did. I sanctified him with my blood
by separating him from the world and consecrating him to yourself. He is not guilty. He is sinless. And I am here to vindicate his
cause. Case dismissed. Enter into the
joy of your Lord. Because My redeemer, my vindicator,
the one who shall stand for me the last day. He never lost a
case. He will never lose a case. Who's your redeemer or do you
have one? If Jesus Christ is your Redeemer,
you can say, He shall stand at last on the earth and vindicate
my cause before Jehovah the Judge. And I will be vindicated. I will
be vindicated. Point number six and last. Saints
know they will see their Redeemer. And after my skin is destroyed,
this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall
see for myself, not someone seeing Him for me. I shall see Him for
myself, and my eyes shall behold Him, not the eyes of another. I will see Him. I know that death is coming to
me. Every one of my forefathers and
my foremothers, every one of them is either dead or dying. In fact, I believe I can say
now that they all, all my forefathers and all my foremothers are now
dead. Every one of them. Well, I'm going to die. And you're going to die. You
may be in good health now. It can change overnight. It did for Job. The destruction of my body will
come up on me. You may be a beautiful woman. You may be a handsome man on
your death day. You may be beautiful or handsome
even in your coffin. You do not want to see what you're
going to look like just a few days afterward. That's why we put them six feet
under. You don't want to see. You don't
want to see. This is going to happen to us
unless he returns before that day. On the day he returns, what's he going to do? That handsome or beautiful body
is placed into the tomb or into the grave. The flesh returns
to the earth whence it came through the process of rotting and decay,
or you may cremate it and throw the ashes to the wind. God has a record of every molecule,
every molecule. And on that day when he returns, whatever it is that remains, scattered to the Earth's four
winds or six feet under, it matters not. On that day, it all comes
back together. Except it's glorified. It's glorified. The spirit and the body which
are separated shall be joined again. Except that my eyes will be perfect. Perfect! And what shall I see? My Redeemer. My Redeemer. Let this body return
to the earth. Let it be blown by the four winds
and buried at sea. Let the currents carry it where
they will. It matters not. My body will
be joined back together and I shall see my Redeemer perfectly with
glorified eyes. And when I see him, I'm going
to say, I see God who took upon himself my humanity
and died to redeem me. so that I am told that I was
purchased by the very blood of God, Acts 20, verse 28. My kinsman, Redeemer, and here
he is. I see God in the person of Jesus
Christ, my Redeemer. And how my heart yearns within
me. I want that day to come. Let
it come quickly. Let it come quickly. Do you have a Redeemer? There's
only one. There's only one. Do you know your Redeemer? Do
you know He lives? If you do not know your Redeemer
lives, you have no Redeemer. He lives. He ever lives above
for me to intercede. And on that final day, he will
vindicate my cause. Is this your Redeemer? Do not walk out those doors until
you know for certain that you can say, I know that my Redeemer
lives. and how my heart yearns within
me to see him. If you've never believed him,
do so now.