Well, your pastor has mentioned
at every service that picture. I've got to tell you about it. I've never published anything
of my own. I presume it is worth being published. Somebody pick it up and do it.
And I don't take any royalties off of them, but I allow anybody
who wants to publish anything I've written. I'm glad for them
to do it. Somebody picked up. I think this
has 135 hymns in it that picked up some hymns that's been years
ago. Somebody had them at a meeting.
I don't even know who they were. And I never met this fellow at Bacchus
Books Publishing Company. He called me up and asked me
if he could put those in a book. I said, it'd be fine. I'd be
happy for you to do so. He said, what do you want for it? I said,
nothing. Just take them and use them. And he came out with a
book and called me and said they were on their way and he'd finished
the book. And then he said something else. I forgot what it was. The
last thing he said, he said, there's a cherub on the front,
trying to describe it for me. I didn't pay much attention to
him before, and I said to Shelby, I said, did he say there was a cherub
on the front? I called him back, I said, any way to get that off?
I despise religious emblems. I despise them. Oh, I hate them.
So there it is. And I explained that at our conference,
first time we used the book, when Tim James was there. He
said, I thought that was one of Don's baby pictures. So good to be with you again.
Let's turn to Job chapter 19. Job chapter 19. Job was once a man greatly admired
by his friends and neighbors. A man of tremendous happiness,
prosperity, peace. Everything going just the way
a man would like for his life to go. He enjoyed physical health,
material wealth, and domestic tranquility. He was both loved
and respected by all who knew him. Now he's poor. friendless and alone. His body which was once a palace
of strength is now a house of disease. His children who once
cheered his soul are now dead. His wealth that once brought
him all that a man's mind could desire is now gone. His friends who once sought his
counsel now deride him and mock him. His wife who was once his
constant consolation, his beloved companion, and his faithful friend
is now a stranger to him. What happened to this man Job?
What brought him into such a low, pitiful state? If you could picture
him in your mind and look at him, you'd think, my, what happened
to this man? If you look at Job 19 and verse
21, you will see Job's answer to that question. Have pity upon me. Have pity
upon me, O ye my friends, for the hand of God hath touched
me." That's my subject. The hand of God hath touched
me. God Almighty had touched Job
with the omnipotent hand of his grace and Job would never be
the same again. When God touches, things happen. The touch of God is always effectual. One day God touched the clouds
of heaven and flooded the earth with waters of his wrath. God
touched a man by the name of Jacob in the hollow of his thigh
and he limped all the rest of his life. During the days of
Joshua the Lord God touched the sun and it stood still. He touched the Red Sea and the
children of Israel walked across the Red Sea on dry ground, and
then God touched the sea again and drowned the armies of the
Egyptians. It seemed as though Daniel would
be consumed by the mouth of hungry lions, but God touched the lions'
mouths and sealed them shut. Our Lord Jesus one day touched
a leper, and immediately he was cleansed. He touched the deaf
man's ears and the man began to hear. A dumb man came to him
and he touched his tongue and the man began to speak. He touched
the blind man's eyes and the blind was made to see. In fact,
as many as our Lord touched were made perfectly whole. One day
the hand of God touched his own well-beloved son. and caused
him to be made sin for us. And the Lord Jesus was bruised
for our iniquities. He speaks of what happened. He
says, is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? Behold and see
if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto
me, wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger. Has God ever touched you? Has God ever touched you? It is my prayer that this very
hour he will do so. And you can be sure of this,
if God touches you, nothing will ever be the same again. Nothing
will ever be the same again. What happens when God touches
a sinner with the hand of his grace? Let's take a look at Job. and see what happens. Here are
five things that are sure to happen if God touches you. Number one, the touch of God's
hand is revealing. When the Lord God touches a man
with the hand of his grace, that touch of God's omnipotent mercy
reveals his character as God. When God touched Job, he found
out that there was a vast difference between himself and God. He said
in chapter 9, Job chapter 9 and verse 30, if I wash myself with
snow water and make my hands never so clean, yet shalt thou
plunge me in the ditch, and mine own clothes shall abhor me. For
he is not a man as I am. that I should answer him and
we should come together in judgment. The only one who knows God is
one to whom God is pleased to reveal himself. You can't by
searching find out God. You can't be taught who God is. You can't be taught the character
of God by the lips of a man. You can learn theory, but you
can only know God if God makes himself known to you. And when
the Lord God touched Job, he found out who God is. Now hear me and hear me well.
If God Almighty touches a sinner, the very first thing God teaches
that sinner is who he is. You don't come to find out who
God is after some long period of time. The very first thing
God does is identify himself in his true character as God. You can't trust an unknown God. It can't be done. Turn to Job
chapter 23, Job 23. When God touched Job, he found
out that God is absolutely sovereign. God Almighty is absolutely sovereign. Well, he's beginning to see God's
sovereignty. Well, if he ever sees God, he'll
see it. If he ever meets God, he'll know it. If he ever believes
God, he'll preach it. Men don't grow into the knowledge
of God, they grow in the knowledge of God. But the very first thing
God teaches a sinner is who he is. And the very first thing
he teaches about who he is, is his sovereignty. Look in Job
23 verse 13. But he is of one mind, and who
can turn him? For what his soul desireth, even
that he doeth. For he performeth the thing that
is appointed for me, and many such things are with him. Therefore
I am troubled at his presence, when I consider I'm afraid of
him. For God maketh my heart soft,
and the Almighty troubleth me, because I was cut off before
the darkness, neither hath he covered the darkness from my
face. Job found out that God Almighty
made all things, rules all things, controls all things, determines
all things in heaven, earth, and hell. Nobody can stay his
hand. Nobody's going to slap him on
the wrist and say, God, what are you doing? He is God. God is not at all like men think
he is. The God of glory truly is God. Set some time and read Isaiah
chapters 40 through 46 together. And listen to God describe himself
as God. Listen to God identify himself
as God. He says, I'm God. There's none
else. That is, there's no other God.
I'm God. There's none like me. There's
no being in the universe and no imaginary God made by the
hands of men like me. I make light and I create darkness. I make peace and I create evil. I am God. God is the one who's
in control, always, everywhere, all the time, doing his will. Whatsoever he wills, that's what
he does. That's true yesterday, that's
true today, and that's true tomorrow. Our God is in the heavens, David
said. He hath done whatsoever he hath
pleased. I know that the Lord is great,
that our Lord is above all gods. Whatsoever the Lord pleased,
that did he in heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all
deep places. What are you saying, pastor?
God Almighty is absolutely sovereign in predestination. He works all things after the
counsel of his own will. For of him and through him and
to him are all things. Whatever comes to pass in time,
God predestined before the world began. Nothing on this earth
Nothing in heaven nothing in hell happens except by God's
sovereign decree the Lord God who created all things Created
all things out of nothing by the mere exercise of his will
God is sovereign in providence We know we know because we know
God and We know because God's revealed himself in us. We know
because it is written in the Word of God. We know that all
things work together for good to them that love God to them
who are the called according to his purpose. And God Almighty
is sovereign in redemption. He sent his son to redeem his
people from their sins. He sent his son to make a difference
between Israel and Egypt and the difference he made is redemption. He sent his son to make a difference
between the elect and the reprobate and the difference he made is
redemption. The Lord Jesus said I'm the good
shepherd the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep and a
whole bunch of Jews were standing around self-righteous Pharisees
and they said we don't like that. He said I wasn't talking to you,
you're not my sheep. The good shepherd giveth his life for
the sheep. He said, you don't hear my voice. You believe not because you're
not of my sheep. God is sovereign in the saving
of sinners. He has mercy on whom he will
have mercy. Sometime back, I had to take
some physical therapy. It didn't do much good, but I
took it. And one of the ladies, they're all I found out I was
a preacher and they all are religious, go to church, and one of them
said to me, she said, you're not one of those Calvinist fellows,
are you? And I don't like that term much, but I've got a place
I don't shy away from it either. And I said to her, if you're
talking about, do I believe in election and predestination and
limited atonement, divine sovereignty, I said, honey, I'm so Calvinistic,
I'd make John Calvin look like an Arminian. Oh yeah, God has mercy on whom
he will have mercy. And I've never backed up on it,
I don't plan today. God has mercy on whom he will
have mercy. I don't like that, well meet
God and tell him that. God has mercy on whom he will
have mercy. He saves whom he will. Isaac Watts understood that well.
Keep silence, all created things, and wait your maker's nod. My
soul stands trembling while she sings the honors of her God. He sets on no precarious throne,
nor borrows leave to be. Life, death, and hell, and worlds
unknown hang on his firm decree. Chained to his throne, a volume
lies With all the fates of men With every angel's form and size
Drawn by the eternal pen Our God is sovereign And the very
first thing a sinner finds out When God makes himself known
to him Is his character as God who is sovereign That means you're
gonna be shut up to God He can save you or damn you, and you're
gonna recognize it. He can send you to hell, or he
can take you to glory. It's all together up to him. It is not of him that willeth,
nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. And
anyone who denies that doesn't know God. Anyone who denies it
doesn't know God. Job also found out that this
sovereign God is altogether omniscient. That doesn't mean he foresees
all things. That means he knows everything
at once. He knows everything at once all
the time. Brother Feldman, he knew what
you were thinking right now before you ever came into this world.
He knows the deep recesses of our hearts. He knows not only
what we do, but what we think and why we think what we think
and why we do what we do. There's no hiding from him. I
know that thou canst do everything and that no thought is withholding
from thee. Those are Job's words in chapter
42. God looks beyond our words and actions He knows me and he
knows you. That means that hypocrisy and
self-righteousness and pretense are a foolish game. It's easy
to fool me. It's easy to fool your wife.
It's easy to fool your husband. It's easy to fool your mom and
dad. It's easy to fool your sons and daughters, but you won't
fool God. He knows everything. And God
knows all things and He rules all things because He can do
all things. Is anything too hard for the
Lord? Is anything too hard for the
Lord? I've had some folks ask me recently
about miraculous gifts. Do you believe in miracles? Now,
if you mean by that, do I believe that men have apostolic gifts
to speak in tongues and perform miracles and see visions and
have a word from God? Of course not. Of course not. No. No, I don't believe that
at all. Folks who pretend to, and even if they have such powers
in this day, read Revelation 13, 2 Thessalonians 2. You'll find out those are antichrist
servants, not the servants of God. All of them. All of them. They're anti-Christ.
They're of hell. I remember when I was in college,
I was just a young man. There was a fellow sitting behind
me. We didn't often have anybody speaking in chapel that was worth
hearing, but we happened to have a fellow that day who was worth
hearing. And this fellow sitting behind me, he was Pentecostal. And he would shout and holler
at me and bless God and carry on all the time. Sitting right
behind me, I couldn't hear what was going on. I turned around and looked at him. His
name happened to be Don, too. I said, Don, would you shut up? And somebody said,
do you think you should have said that to Brother Don? I said,
he shut up, didn't he? If he'd been a God, I couldn't
have shut him up. He shut up. No, I don't believe that nonsense.
But do I believe in miracles? Oh, my soul. I've lived every
day since God saved me by his grace in a constant experience
of the miraculous. Nothing's too hard for God. God
can clothe you or stick to you. God can feed you or starve you. God can kill you or keep you
alive. God can save you or damn you. It's all together up to Him.
He's God. And Job found out that this all-knowing,
almighty, sovereign God is perfectly holy, righteous, and just. You will, too, if God ever touches
you. You'll find out that your good
works, all those things that you brag about, that you're so
proud of, those things that separate you from one fellow or another,
those things make you different. You say, well, I'm not perfect.
Nobody is. But buddy, I'm sure not like
that Gary Williams. You know what I know about that
fellow? I ain't like him. You'll find out that God Almighty
is holy. God Almighty is righteous. God
Almighty is just. He doesn't demand that you be
as holy as you can. He demands you be holy. He doesn't
demand that you be as perfect as you can. He demands that you
be perfect. He doesn't demand that you do
penance and affect your body and soul because of some sin
and that you suffer something because of sin. God Almighty
demands absolute satisfaction for sin. and the only way perfection
can be satisfied, the only way justice can be satisfied, the
only way sinners can find righteousness is in the person of the God-man
mediator, Jesus Christ, God's son. God's touch is revealing. If ever God touches you, you
find out who God is. Second, the touch of God's hand
is humbling. It's humbling. If the hand of
God's grace ever touches you, he'll show you who you are and
what you are. You will be humbled by his touch,
humbled by his touch. My dear friend, Brother Harry
Graham pastored Sunlight Baptist Church in Asheboro, North Carolina
for many, many years. I met him when I was just 19
years old. And he became a very dear friend.
He was 35 years my senior. Most of my friends were 35 years
my senior a long time ago. Now they're all 35 years my junior.
But he was a brilliant man, gifted of God. I was sitting on his
hearth one night discussing these things. He said, Don, son, if
you could see what goes on when God begins to deal with a man
and show him his sin. You'd think to yourself, I wouldn't
treat a mad dog like that. When God touches the sinner,
he humbles him. He breaks him. I mean he breaks
him. He doesn't just tame him, he
breaks him. Before God exalts the sinner
with his saving grace, he humbles the sinner in the dust of repentance. Before God washes you in the
blood of Christ, he makes you to wallow in your filth. Before
God clothes you with the righteousness of his dear son, he strips you
naked before him. God always brings sinners down
in repentance before he lifts them up by his grace. Did you
ever notice in scripture how God's described? He is never
described as one who makes alive and kills. He's never described
as one who heals and wounds. He's never described as one who
exalts and debases. Rather, he is described as one
who kills and makes alive. He strips and clothes. He wounds and heals. Never the other way around. God
first brings the sinner down, abasing him, and then he lifts
him up, exalting him with princes. He never does it the other way
around. This is the business of being
brought down by the hand of God. It is a painful experience, but
necessary. It's a painful experience, but
necessary. God touched Job. And he touched
him painfully. Turn to Hosea. Hold your hands
here, Joe. And turn to Hosea chapter 2. We have another picture
of God's grace in Gomer and Hosea. God told Hosea to go love a harlot. And I'll show you how I love
you. And Hosea went and found Gomer.
And he bought her. And then Gomer ran off back down
to Red Light District. And Hosea went and got her. And
this is how he said he'd do it. But all the while, remember,
this is not just talking about Hosea and Gomer. This is God
talking about how he saves his people. Hosea 2, verse 6. Therefore, behold, I will hedge
up thy way with thorns. Wonder why he couldn't have done
it with cotton. I'll hedge up thy way with thorns,
and I'll make a wall, a wall of thorns, a wall of thorns. Every time you bump into it,
you get pushed back. I'll hedge up your way with thorns
and a wall that she shall not find her pass. We went astray as soon as we
were born, speaking lies, determined to have our own way, determined
to do what we wanted to do. I'm gonna do this, don't matter
what. You'll not find your past, not if you're God's. And she
shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them.
She shall seek them, but shall not find them. Then shall she
say, I will go and return to my first husband, for then was
it better with me than now. Verse eight. For she did not
know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied
her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal. All the time
she was sleeping with another man, I was feeding her and clothing
her. She thought her lovers did that. Therefore, I will return
and take away my corn in the time thereof, and my wine in
the season thereof, and will recover my wool and my flax given
to cover her nakedness. And now, now, oh what a blessed
day. Now, now will I discover her
lewdness in the sight of her lovers and none shall deliver
her out of my hand. What do you do? What do you do
when God takes hold? When obviously God's working
on somebody, you leave him alone. Just leave him alone, just wait.
Just wait. Oh, we gotta strike while the
iron's hot. You strike and you'll break the
iron. Leave it alone. Leave it alone. Wait for God
to work. I'll discover her lewdness in
the sight of her lovers. I'll make her see what she is
and I'll make her see what she is in the eyes of those very
people whom she most wants to impress. None can deliver her
out of my hand. I will also cause her happiness,
her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, her Sabbaths,
and all her solemn feasts, all those things in which she found
some kind of refuge. I will destroy her vines and
her figs, whereof she has said, these are my rewards that my
lovers have given me. And I will make them a forest,
and the beast of the field shall eat them. And I will visit upon
her the days of Balaam, wherein she burned incense to the gods
of Balaam. And she decked herself with earrings
and her jewels and went after her lovers and forgot me, saith
the Lord. Therefore, behold, I will allure
her and bring her into the wilderness. I'm going to get her all by herself
so there's no man but me and her. Where are your accusers? Oh, they're all gone. Just me
and you standing here together, honey. And I will speak comfortably
to her. I'll speak to her heart. And
I will give her vineyards from thence and the valley of Acre. I looked that up last night,
Acre. Why is it called the valley of Acre? It was a specific place.
But Acre means trouble. I'm going to bring her down into
the valley of trouble and darkness and barrenness and emptiness.
I'll strip her. I'll expose her. And in the valley
of acre, I'll open for her a door of hope. and she shall sing there
as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came
up out of the land of Egypt, and it shall be at that day,
saith the Lord, that thou shall call me my husband, Isha, and
shall call me no more my master, my Lord, my boss, Bala, for I
will take away the names of Balaam out of her mouth, and I will
no more remember their, she shall no more remember their name,
and in that day will I make a covenant for them. All of a sudden, Nan's
talking about not about one person, but about a bunch of them, because
she represents all gods elect. I'll make a covenant for them.
I'll make a covenant for my people. I want to make a covenant, listen
to this, with the beast of the fields, and with the fowls of
heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground. I think
that even includes serpents. even the serpent that crawls
on his belly in the dust before God, Satan, Apollyon, Lucifer,
I'll make a covenant with everything and I'll break the bow and the
sword and the battle out of the earth and I will make them to
lie down safely God says, I'll fix it so that nobody hurts you,
nobody touches you, nobody harms you, nothing in earth is against
you, but everything for you, nothing working to harm you,
but everything working to bless you, and I will betroth thee
unto me. And yea, I will betroth thee
unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, in justice, and
in loving kindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto
me in faithfulness. and thou shalt know the Lord
and it shall come to pass in that day I will hear, saith the
Lord, I will hear the heavens and they shall hear the earth
and the earth shall hear the corn and the wine and the oil
and they shall hear Jezreel and I will serve her unto me in the
earth and I will have mercy upon her that did not obtain mercy
and I will say to them which were not my people thou art my
people and they shall say to me thou art my God How does God
bring a sinner down like that? How does he do it? He does it using everything at
his disposal. Everything at his disposal. Now,
when we talk about everything at my disposal is yours. I'll
use it for you. That ain't saying much. But Mike,
when we talk about everything at God's disposal, now that's
saying something. How does God bring a sinner down?
He takes a sinner like a prodigal son in his providence, in his
haughty rebellion, and he says, Daddy, I know that when you die,
me and Joe are gonna get everything you got. Give me mine now, I'm
tired of you. And his daddy says, all right, son, here it is. And
he takes it and goes his way and wastes his substance and
riotous living. Obviously, his father had somebody
watching out for him all the time, giving him reports. When
he came back home, his older brother knew he'd wasted his
substance with harlots and rioters leaving. Somehow or another,
he got reports. And he came home. How? When he came to himself. When
he was hungry, had nothing to eat, no way to get anything to
eat. When he came to himself, he said, I'll go to my father's
house. Maybe he'll make me one of his
hired servants. God knows how to bring sinners
down. And bring them down he will.
He uses the power of his Holy Spirit by the preaching of the
word of the gospel and brings about Holy Spirit conviction.
He convinces the sinner with his law that he cannot justify
himself and he convinces the sinner with his gospel that somebody
has. Somebody has accomplished redemption
and he reveals his son in you and then the sinner is humbled. The Lord God says, I will pour
upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem
the spirit of grace and of supplications and they shall look upon me whom
they pierced and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for his
only son and shall be in bitterness for him as one that is in bitterness
for his firstborn when the hand of God touched Job He saw himself
in the light of God's holiness. And this man who once boasted
of his righteousness now lays low before God. God laid the
mighty hand of his retrieving grace upon Job, stripped him
of his glory, took the crown off his head, and laid him in
the dust before him. And Job began to abhor himself.
Look at chapter 19, verse 9. He hath stripped me of my glory. and taken the crown off my head. That's where the problem is.
That's where the problem is. If you yet believe not the Son
of God, I know why. I know why. The issue is not
whether or not you have been taught the gospel. You've been
taught truth. This congregation has heard the gospel of God's
grace. ever since God raised up this assembly. You've heard
the gospel of God's grace from the most faithful of men throughout
your lives. You've been taught the word of
God inside and out all the days of your lives, and yet you persist
in unbelief. How come? Because you keep the
crown on your head. You ain't about to give up the
rule of your life to anybody. I will not bow. Oh, yes, you
will. Yes, you will sooner or later
Either in mercy or in judgment, but God's gonna take the crown
off your head What happened when God touched Job? He saw that
he was a guilty sinner He saw that he was without excuse before
God and he saw That he was utterly helpless and lost look at verse
20 If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me. If
I say I'm perfect, it shall prove me perverse. Now there's hope. Ah, when God takes the crown
off your head. When God lays you on the ground, unhorses you
like he did Saul of Tarsus. Lays you in the dust before him
and makes you to wallow in your own filth and see what you are.
You recognize that you're nothing but sin and you loathe and abhor
what you are. Now there's hope! Show me a sinner. and I'll show you somebody for
whom Christ died. Show me a sinner and I'll show
you somebody who's been chosen of God in eternal love. Show
me a sinner and I'll show you somebody who's been born again
by God the Holy Spirit. Nobody will ever know what he
is except God give him life and enlighten his mind, his heart,
and his soul so that he sees God in his true character and
sees himself as he really is. Third, The touch of God is enlightening. When Job was touched by the hand
of God, he began to see everything in its true light. He began to
see everything as it really is. We all, by nature, live in a
dreamy world. And we see things the way we
want to see them. All of us do. All of us do. You're the only black fellow
here today. And the fact is, you see things through the eyes
of a black man. And you just can't help it. You
just can't help it. And I can't see things that way.
I try, but I can't do it. I can't do it. I'm a white man.
I can't see things through his eyes. I see things through these
eyes. That's the way things are naturally
about everything. We see things only through these
eyes darkened with sin. It's only until God opens our
eyes and causes us to see things as they really are. And if God
ever saves you by his grace, he will cause you to see things
as they really are in their true light. There's a man in the book
of Mark, chapter eight, who was blind. And the Lord Jesus touched
his eyes. And then he touched them a second
time. And he said, first time said, do you see anything? And
he said, I see men as trees walking. And then the Lord touched him
again. And he said, what do you see now? And the scripture says
he saw every man clearly. Isn't that remarkable? He saw
every man clearly. One of our men, Brother Rex Bartley,
read that 8th chapter of Mark several years ago and made a
brief comment. And I haven't forgotten it. I
preached the outline one time a long time ago. He said he saw
the first man, Adam, clearly. And he saw himself, the fallen
man, clearly. And he saw the last man, Christ,
clearly. And he saw the new man in Christ,
clearly. That's what the touch of God's
hand does. It causes you to see things in
their true light. Job said in verse one of chapter
14, man that is born of woman is a few days and full of trouble. He began to realize that he would
soon stand before God in judgment. He said, my days are swifter
than a weaver's shuttle. They're spent without hope. Oh,
remember, my life is wind. Mine eyes shall see no more good. The eye of him that hath seen
me shall see me no more. And thine eyes that are upon
me, I am not. Oh God, teach us to see everything
in this world as it really is. Our light afflictions, which
are but for a moment, work for us a far more exceeding and eternal
weight of glory. While we look not at things which
are seen, but at things which are not seen. For the things
which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not
seen are eternal. Everything you see with these
eyes, everything you touch with this hand, everybody that you
can reach out and hold their hand, everybody, every relationship,
everything in this world is just temporary. Very, very temporary. We're going to a world where
everything is eternal. Either eternal torment or eternal
bliss. That makes everything temporal
meaningless. Just meaningless. Just meaningless. Brother Don, my life's not meaningless. In the light of eternity it is. What I've done in this world
is not meaningless. If you could look back 200 years from now,
you'd find out just how meaningless. Who was Don Fortner? Where'd
he come from? Nobody remembers a thing. Nobody
remembers meaningless, just meaningless. But we're going somewhere where
everything's meaningful forever. It's called eternity. or hell. The hand of God touches a man
and is made to see things as they really are. Temporary, transient,
meaningless, everything except eternity. Fourth, if the Lord
is pleased to touch you with the hand of his grace, you'll
begin to see his saving mercy. When the Lord laid his hand on
Job, Back in chapter nine, he began to seek someone to stand
before him, between him and God. He said in verse two, how should
a man be just with God? He sought a daismon, a mediator,
one who could lay hold of both the holy Lord God and lay hold
of him and bring the two together in perfect harmony with all of
God's holy being so that God and man are united in one. And that one in whom they're
united is the daismon, Jesus Christ, the mediator between
God and man. Do you see your need of someone
between you and God? My good friend, Brother Charlie
Payne, who was an elder at 13th Street Church in Ashland for
many years, was a faithful witness and a zealous man. He traveled
a good bit with the company he worked for, and one day got on
a plane and sat down beside a fellow. And he happened to be flying
in first class. His company sent him first class
flight this time. And he's sitting up there with this fellow, and
the fellow was a Jew. And he had one of them, what
do you call them, skull cap, beanie, a baseball cap without
a bib, something, I don't know what you call it. One of those
things on his head. And Charlie got to talking to him, he said,
do you mind me asking you something? He said, no, anything you want.
He said, I presume you're Jewish. He said, that's correct. He said,
why do you wear that thing on your head? And the fellow said,
oh, we Jews have such a high reverence for God. We feel that
we must have something between us and God. Charlie said, me
too. Let me tell you about him. You've got to have something
between you and God. And that something you've got
to have is the God-man, our mediator, his perfect righteousness. his
sin-atoning blood, his glorious person, his mighty intercession. He is our high priest who pleads
our calls in heaven, and he is that one who pleads our calls,
who is accepted of God, and we are accepted in the beloved,
but only in the beloved through the merits of his blood and his
righteousness. One last thing. The touch of
God's hand is always effectual and irresistible. It's a saving
touch. The Lord God, when he is pleased
to touch a sinner, by the hand of his omnipotent grace, always
saves that sinner. Look in Job chapter 40 again.
Job was made to see that his only hope was in another. His
only hope of righteousness and acceptance with God was in that
daysman, that all-sufficient Redeemer, Jesus Christ the Lord. When the hand of God touched
him, it caused him to embrace his substitute. The hand of God
wounded him, showed him his sin, and showed him Christ. Look at
chapter 40, verse 3. Job answered the Lord and said,
behold, I am vile. What shall I answer thee? I will
lay my hand upon my mouth. Once have I spoken, but I will
not answer. Yea, twice, but I will proceed
no further. And Job was made to experience
God's grace because God sent a messenger to him. A messenger
who made Job see God's purpose of grace accomplished in Christ.
Turn back to one more passage, Job 33. Job 33. We'll begin reading in verse
22. Yea, his soul draweth near unto the grave, his life to the
destroyers. Would to God he'd do that for
you. Would to God he'd do that to you. Cause you to sense that
you're falling right now into hell. You'll never seek his mercy
unless he does. You won't do it. You'll play
games, you'll pretend, you'll make deals, you'll never seek
his mercy until God causes the destroyer to be leaning on your
shoulder. If there be a messenger with
him, an interpreter, one among a thousand. Now listen to me. I'm going to say something that
can be horribly misunderstood if you want to misunderstand
it. or it can be a delight if you want a delight in it. You're
listening to a messenger sent from God to you and he's one
among a thousand. Amen. Amen. An interpreter. Let me tell you about God and
you and God's salvation. He will show to man God's uprightness. Then when God does that, he's
gracious to him. He said, deliver him from going
down to the pit. I have found a ransom. And when
a man sees Christ, the man sees that 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 God
will be favorable unto him and show him his face with joy. and he will render unto man his
righteousness. God will speak to you and declare
you righteous. He'll render to man his righteousness. I told somebody last night in
Hebrews 11 the scripture speaks of Enoch being translated and
the scripture says before he was translated he had this testimony
that he pleased God. Please understand what I'm saying.
This whole religious world is built around, folks, I want to
have a good testimony. That means I want to fool you
into thinking good about me. Now, don't misunderstand me.
I want a good name and good reputation. That's proper. I ought to live
in such a way as be blameless before men so that no matter
what men say, they have no reason for saying it as far as being
accusatory. That's how we ought to live.
But I don't give a flip about your testimony or my testimony
before you. What does it mean? Enoch had
this testimony that he pleased God. It means Enoch believed
God. And believing God, God said to
Enoch, you're righteous. God spoke peace in his conscience,
sprinkled his conscience from a dead work with the precious
blood of his son and declared him righteous before God. God says, I'll speak to him,
and I'll render to man his righteousness. God looks upon men, and if any
say I have sinned and perverted that which is right, and it profited
me not, if we confess our sin, he's faithful and just to forgive
us our sin, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Verse
28, he will deliver his soul from going down to the pit, and
his life shall see light. Lo, these things worketh God
oftentimes with men, to bring back his soul from the pit, to
be enlightened with the light of the living. Mark well, O Job,
hearken to me, hold thy peace, and I will speak. If thou hast
anything to say, answer me, speak, for I desire to justify thee.
If not, hearken to me, hold thy peace, and I will teach thee
wisdom. In his book, Pilgrim's Progress, John Bunyan describes the experience
of a believer from the day God begins to deal with him to the
day that God takes him to glory. I've had the privilege of going
twice to Bedford, England, where Bunyan lived. And everything
where Bunyan was in prison, where he lived as well, for those 12
years he was in prison. The prison was just a wooden
box under a bridge. It had a door. a little wider
than this side of the pulpit, but just about that high. You'd
have to stoop down, almost crawl in there. That's where he spent
12 years. But if you look out of the prison
and everything that Bunyan used in Pilgrim's Progress as an allegory,
you could see it. You could see the Slav despond,
the Hill of Difficulty, Downing Castle, the Wicket Gate, the
Slav despond, everything, everything out there, you can see it all.
And Bunyan used those things as allegories in Pilgrim's Progress.
But at one point in Pilgrim's Progress he describes Pilgrim.
He's had this tremendous burden on his back. This horrible, horrible
weight called sin and guilt, perversity, ungodliness. And it was pulling him down to
hell. And he couldn't get rid of his burden. And he went first
to one person, then to another. And finally he went to Evangelist.
And Evangelist told him, said, go yonder to that place called
Mount Calvary. And Pilgrim went to Calvary.
And he said, I looked up and I saw the Lamb of God on the
tree. And immediately, The burden fell
off from my back and rolled down the hill into the abyss, and
I've never seen it since. Oh, may God be pleased to touch
you. If he does, he'll give you faith
in his son. Look at chapter 19, verse 25.
This is what Jodin said when God said, the hand of God has
touched me. I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the
latter day upon the earth. And though after my skin worms
destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God, whom I
shall see for myself. In mine eyes behold, and not
another, though my reins be consumed within me. The touch of God's
hand is always effectual. It is always powerful, life-giving,
life-changing touch. Has God ever touched you? "'Twas battered and scarred,
and the auctioneer thought it scarcely worth his while. to
waste much time on the old violin, but he held it up with a smile.
What have I bitten, good folks, he said. Who'll start the bidding
for me? A dollar, a dollar, and then
two, only two. Two dollars, who'll make you
three? Three dollars, once. Three dollars, twice. Going for
three, but no. From the room far back, a gray-haired
man came forward, picked up the bow, and wiped the dust from
the old violin and tightened the loose strings. And he played
a melody as pure and sweet as caroling angels sing. The music
ceased, and the auctioneer, with a voice quiet and low, said,
what am I bid for the old violin? And he held it up with the bow.
$1,000. and who'll make it two, 2,000,
and who'll make it three, 3,000 once, 3,000 twice, going and
going, cried he. The people cheered, but some
of them cried, we don't quite understand. What changed the
worth of the old violin? And swift came the reply, the
touch of the master's hand. And many a man with life out
of tune, battered and scarred by sin, his auction cheap, to
a thoughtless crowd, much like the old violin. Ruined and ruining,
from God he goes. In madness to hell headlong,
he's going once, he's going twice, he's going, he's almost gone. But the master comes. And the foolish crowd can never
quite understand the worth of the soul. of the change that's
wrought by the touch of the Master's hand. He touched me. Oh, he touched me. Something happened and now I
know he touched me. And he made me whole. Oh, God do that for you. Amen.