Job, we're told, was the greatest
man of the East. He was once greatly admired by
his friends and neighbors. He was a man of tremendous happiness,
prosperity, and peace. He enjoyed physical health, material
wealth, domestic tranquility, sharpness of mind. He was both
loved and respected. by everybody who knew him. But
when we come to the 19th chapter of Job, we see a different man. Now he's poor, friendless, and
alone. His body, once a palace of strength,
is now a house of disease. His children, who once cheered
his soul, now are all dead, all swept away at one time by the
hand of God. His wealth, which once brought
him all that he could desire, is now gone. His friends, who
once sought his counsel, now mock and deride him. Children
in the streets, who once revered him, now laugh at him and poke
fun at him. His wife, who was once a beloved
and faithful companion, is now a stranger to him and he to her. What happened to this great man? What brought Job into such a
low estate? Look at chapter 19 and verse
21, and Job tells us. Have pity upon me. Have pity
upon me, O ye my friends. For the hand of God hath touched
me. The hand of God hath touched
me. That's my subject this morning.
The hand of God hath touched me. God Almighty had touched
Job with the omnipotent hand of mercy and grace Job would
never be the same again When God touches things happen
the touch of God is always effectual We read in this book that once
the Lord God Touched the clouds of heaven and flooded the entire
earth in his wrath the man by the name of Jacob with whom the
Lord God wrestled. And as the Lord wrestled with
Jacob, he touched the hollow of his thigh and Jacob limped
the rest of his days. During the days of Joshua, God
reached down and touched the son and caused it to stand still. He touched the Red Sea and brought
Israel like a mighty army out of Egyptian bondage, defeating
Pharaoh and his armies, casting them dead into the depths of
the sea. When it seemed that God's servant
Daniel would be devoured by lions raging for his blood, God touched
the mouths of the lions and sealed them shut. Then God came into
this world in our flesh. And the Lord Jesus touched the
leper and immediately the leper was cleansed. He touched the
deaf man's ear and the deaf man began to hear. He touched the
dumb man's tongue, loosed his tongue and the dumb man began
to speak. He touched the blind man's eyes
and caused the blind man to see. In fact, as many as he touched,
were made perfectly whole. But, Pastor, many touched him.
Oh, yes. Many touched him, and he touched
many in an ordinary way as he passed through the streets and
made his way through crowds. But when he touched them, when
he touched them in his presence, when he touched them who were
brought to him, when he touched them to whom he came, as he touched
no other, as many as he touched were made perfectly whole. Oh,
may God today touch you. Oh, may God today touch you. One day, our Lord Jesus touched
the coffin of a young man who was about to be buried. And when
he touched him, life came again to the dead body. One day, God
touched his darling son. made his son to be sin for us,
and poured out the vials of his wrath upon his son in the room
instead of guilty sinners. And God, by touching his son,
accomplished redemption on our behalf. Has the hand of God touched
you? I pray that it shall. This I
assure you, if ever the hand of God touches you, you will
never be the same. Taking Job as our example, I
want to show you what happens when God touches the sinner by
the hand of his grace. Here are five things that are
sure to happen if God touches you. First, understand this. The touch of God's hand is revealing. The touch of God's hand is revealing. When God touches a sinner, when
God touches a man, a woman, a boy or a girl, when God touches,
the first thing he does is reveal himself. When God touches the
sinner, when God reveals himself to the sinner, he makes the sinner
to know his true character as God. All men have an idea of
what they think God ought to be, and what they think God ought
to be, they presume God is. No man, however, knows God, knows
who he is or what he's like until God touches him and reveals his
grace in him. Then the first thing that happens
is God causes the sinner to know who he is. When God touched Job,
turn back to chapter nine, Job chapter 9, when God touched Job,
Job found out that there was a vast difference between himself
and God. What a difficult lesson for men
to discover. There is a vast difference between
you and God. Men presume God is like themselves. God is in no way like you. God is in no way similar to you. Job said in chapter 9 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 way anyone will ever
know God is if God's pleased to reveal himself and make himself
known. I sent a message to my grandchildren
this morning, told them I was praying for them as I'm praying
for you. May God, by his word, reveal himself to you. Oh, may
God, by his word, reveal himself to you. When the Lord touched
Job, Job found out who God is. And the only way any sinner is
ever saved by God's grace is for God to make himself known
to you and in you in the person of his son. The knowledge of
God comes by revelation. God must make himself known. I can't make him known to you.
No mere mortal can make him known to you. You mothers and dads
faithfully instruct your sons and daughters. You teach them,
you instruct them. I preach to you week after week.
I spend my life laboring in the gospel to preach to eternity
bound men and women. But I know full well that all
my instruction and all yours, all my labor and all yours are
utterly meaningless unless God's pleased to work in those who
hear and receive the instruction. Unless God's pleased to speak,
you won't hear. Unless God's pleased to open
your eyes, you won't see. Unless God is pleased to make
himself known, you won't know him. And an unknown God cannot
be known and cannot be worshipped. Job found out first that God
is absolutely sovereign. In this place, we stress this
all the time. We stress it all the time because
the whole world objects to it. We stress it all the time because
everybody has an idea that God is sort of helpless. That God
somehow depends on you. That God somehow has to have
your assistance. Understand this. The very first
thing, the very first thing God teaches the sinner when he saves
him by his grace is that he's sovereign. You remember when
John said he was in the spirit on the Lord's day and he saw
a door open in heaven and the first thing he saw was a throne
and God sitting on the throne. The first thing sinners learn
about God is his sovereignty. He's an absolute sovereign. Look
in Job 23 verse 17. This is what Job learned. God is in one mind and who can
turn him? God made up his mind about everything
a long time ago. God made up his mind about everything
before the world began. God made up his mind about everything
concerning you and everything concerning me before the world
began. And who can turn him? Not you,
not me. And what his soul desireth, even
that he doeth. For he performeth the thing that
is appointed for me. In all my days, Job said, God
is performing that which God appointed for me. And many such
things are within. Therefore, am I 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 not cut off before
the darkness, neither hath he covered the darkness from my
face. God found out, or Job found out
that God made all things. God controls all things, God
uses all things as he will, and God disposes of all things according
to his own sovereign pleasure. Our God is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever he hath
pleased. Understand this. He who is God
is the sovereign creator of all things. He who is God is sovereign
in all the disposition of divine providence, so that whatever
comes to pass, that's what God purposed. Whatever has been,
whatever is, whatever shall be, that is exactly what God purposed. Nothing happens by blind fate,
nothing happens by accident, nothing happens because of the
will of man, nothing happens because of the will of hell.
Everything comes to pass by divine appointment. God is absolutely
sovereign in providence. He has numbered the very hairs
of your head. The king's heart is in the hand
of the Lord, like rivers of water, he turns it with us wherever
he will. The thought of a man's mind is
directed by God, only by God. God Almighty, this one who is
the sovereign creator, sovereign in providence, he is sovereign
in redemption. He appointed his son to redeem
his people from their sins. And the Lord Jesus died at Calvary
by the determinate counsel and full knowledge of God. Wicked
men taking their wicked hands, exercising their imaginary free
will, did exactly what God from eternity ordained must be done
for the saving of our souls. And God is sovereign in the disposition
of his grace. He has mercy on whom he will
have mercy, and whom he will, he hardeneth. This is the first
thing Job learned, God's sovereign. And you must learn this, or you'll
learn it in hell. You must learn this now by his
grace, by God making himself known to you, or you'll perish
forever under his wrath. Isaac Watts well expressed what
I'm trying to say. Keep silence, all created things,
and wait your maker's nod. My soul stands trembling while
she sings the honors of her God. He sits on no precarious throne,
nor borrows leave to be. Life, death, 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. Then Job found out that God is
sovereign, and he found out that God knows everything. Look at Job 42. Job 42. Verse
2. This sovereign God is he who
knows you. Oh, most foolish thing on this
earth is hypocrisy before God. God knows you. You can fool me
and I can fool you. You can fool your neighbor and
you can fool your wife. You can fool your husband. You
can fool your children. You can fool mom and dad. God knows you. Job 42 verse 2. I know, I know
because the hand of God has touched me, that thou canst do everything
and no thought can be withholding from thee. God looks beyond our
words and our actions, those things with which we greatly
impress one another. He knows us. He knows all that
we are. He knows all that we think. He
knows all that we do. He knows the secret thoughts
and imaginations of our hearts. He knows our secret motives.
He knows our most hidden lust. Nothing is hidden from him. God
knows all things and he can do all things. Is anything too hard
for the Lord? You remember that rich young
ruler who came to the Lord Jesus and said, good master, what good
things should I do that I may inherit eternal life? And the
Lord said, keep the commandments. He said, we'll always have. And
the Lord said, all right, go sell your goods. Give them to
the poor. Come and follow me. And the rich young ruler looked
at his goods and looked at the master. He said, I don't think
so. And he went away. And the disciples said, Lord,
If this man can't be saved, if this man perishes, who then can
be saved? And the master said with men,
it is impossible, but not with God. With God, all things are
possible. Is there anything too hard for
the Lord? He can clothe you or he can strip you. He can fill
you or He can empty you. He can kill you or He can make
you alive. He can save you or He can damn
you. It is all together up to Him. He's God. He's God. What I'm saying to you, all it'll
take for you to go to hell is for God to leave you alone. All it'll take for you to go
to hell is for God just to leave You alone. Oh, may he be pleased
not to leave you to yourself. And Job found out, look at chapter
15. Chapter 15. Job found out that this all-knowing,
almighty, sovereign God is perfect, holy, righteous, and just. Chapter 15, verse 15. Behold
the heavens are not clean in his sight We read in chapter
4 his angels he charged with folly You mean preacher the heavens
aren't clean in God's sight What what kind of an expression is
that it is an expression to make us understand? That God is infinitely
holy beyond our highest imagination God is infinitely righteous,
beyond our highest understanding. God is infinitely just, beyond
our highest comprehension. He's holy, holy. He requires
holiness. He will accept nothing else.
This one who is the holy, just and righteous Lord God must and
will punish sin. God's touch is revealing. If
the hand of God ever touches you, You'll find out that God's
sovereign, God's omniscient, God's omnipotent, and God's holy. Second, the touch of God's hand
is humbling. If the hand of God's grace ever
touches you, he'll show you something that
will probably come near driving you insane at some point or the
other. He'll show you something you
just can't bear. He'll show you something that's
disturbing, mentally and emotionally disturbing, something nobody
can help you with. He'll show you who you are. He'll show you who you are. I've said to you many times,
Dear friend, Brother Harry Graham, I've always had the privilege
and benefit of, up until now, because I'm getting to the age
you can't find any, I've had friends who are much older than
me. Harry was 30 years my senior when I met him, sitting on his
hearth one night, and he said, Don, son, when God begins to
work in a sinner's heart, if you can see what God's doing,
You think to yourself, I wouldn't treat a mad dog that way. I wouldn't treat a mad dog that
way. Oh, when God shows a man, when God shows a woman what he
is, you'll be humbled by his touch.
You see, before he exalts with his saving grace, he abases and
humbles the sinner in the dust of repentance. Before God washes you in the
blood of Christ, He makes you to know your filth. Before He
clothes you with the righteousness of His Son, He strips you of
all imaginary righteousness. God always brings down before
He lifts up. He always empties before He fills. He always strips before He clothes.
It is the hand of God's grace that brings the sinner down and
it's the hand of his grace that lifts them up. And this business
of being brought down by God's hand. Let's see if we can find
out what it's like. Turn to the book of Hosea, Hosea
chapter two. Oh, it's painful business. It's
painful business, but it's necessary. God touched Job in mercy, love,
and grace. But it was a painful touch. So we have it pictured for us
here in Hosea. You know the picture. Hosea has
a harlot wife. She left him and goes back to
the red light district. And Hosea is commanded to go
love her. And the Lord says, this is a
picture of my love for my people. Hosea chapter 2 verse 6. Therefore
behold I will hedge up thy way with thorns. Job said he's hedged
me up and I can't get out. He's hedged me up. I've been
praying for our grandchildren as I did for my daughter from
before God brought them into this world. God hedged them about. Hedge them up so that they can't
escape. Hedge them up, and don't let
them out. Hedge them up, and sweetly force
them into the arms of the Savior. That's the only way you'll ever
come, is if God hedges you up. Hosea says, I'll hedge up thy
way with thorns, and I'll make a wall that she shall not find
her paths. 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. 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. You who are without Christ, you've
lived all your life and totally unaware that it's God who gave
you breath. God who held you in health. God
who kept you from death. God who kept you from committing
suicide when you thought about it. God who kept somebody else
from murdering you when they thought about it. God who kept
the plague from your body and from your heart. God who's held
you. God who's fed you. God who's
clothed you. And you use it all in vanity.
Didn't know that. But you'll find out if God touches
you. Therefore will I return. Oh, do that, Lord. 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 will I discover her lewdness
in the sight of her lovers. I'll show her what she is, and
she'll stand naked before everybody to the shame of her soul. She'll
presume everybody sees her like God does. She'll presume everybody
knows what she is. She'll presume everybody knows
her filth. And watch this. What sweet words. None can deliver
her out of my hand. None can deliver her out of my
hand. There are some folks that God
just won't let go to hell. There are some folks from whom
God will not take no for an answer. None can deliver her out of my
hand. Well, how's he going to work
it? I will also cause all her birth to cease. She's so happy,
I'll make her miserable. Her feast days, her new moons,
her Sabbath days, and all her solemn feasts. She's going to
church and she soothes her conscience and she reads her Bible and she
feels better and she says her prayers and she thinks she's
good. I'll cause it all to be vanity to her. And I will destroy
her vines and her fig trees All that which she depends on, for
she had 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. Verse 13, and I will visit upon
her the days of Balaam, wherein she burned incense to them. And
she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels and she went after
her lovers and forgot me saith the Lord Now watch this verse
14 therefore Mark that's one of the sweetest
words in the Bible God makes our sin a reason for his grace Therefore because of all this
evil that she's done therefore Behold, I will allure her and
bring her into the wilderness and speak comfortably to her.
And I will give her vineyards from fence and the valley of
acre for 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 shalt call me Isha, my husband. and shall call me no more Bala,
my Lord. For I will take away the names
of Balaam out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered
by their name. And in that day, in that day, when I allure her to me and speak
comfortably to her, I'll make a covenant for them with the
beast of the field and with the fowls of heathen. and with the
creeping things of the ground I'll cause the beast in the earth
and the fowls in the air and the creeping things of the ground
I'll cause everything to work for her good I'll cause everything
to benefit her and I will break the bow and the sword and the
battle out of the earth I'll give her peace and I will make
them to lie down in safety now watch verse 19 And I will betroth thee unto
me forever. Yea, I will betroth thee unto
me in righteousness and in judgment. I will betroth thee unto me in
righteousness and in justice, and in lovingkindness and in
mercies. I will even betroth thee unto
me in faithfulness. And thou shalt know the Lord. Pastor, how is it that God brings
sinners down like this? How does God humble folks? How does God make people to know
what they are? Oh, he does it in providence. But providence alone is not enough. I ruined my life as a boy. I ruined my name, my reputation. Ruined everything. Ruined everything
I touched. Everything. I lived like hell
and loved it. delighted in reveling, and delighted
in having my way. Until at last, I was brought
to nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Isolated and alone. I had separated myself from everybody
with my ungodliness and my behavior until the fact is, Nobody wanted
me around Not at home or anywhere else and I hated myself But nothing
changed But that's God's providence It takes more than providence
though God comes by the power of his word and the power of
his Holy Spirit and in Holy Spirit conviction Convinces the sinner
of sin Bobby, I ruined my life and I
blamed everybody in the world but me. It's my daddy's fault,
it's my mama's fault, it's the fault of my good sisters, it's
the fault of my bad neighbors, it's everybody's fault but mine. Until God came and showed me
my sin. And I found out the misery is
my fault. The shame is my fault. The corruption
is my fault. And he convinces you of righteousness.
He comes with the work of the law so that every mouth may be
stopped and all the world become guilty before God. But the law
didn't work. He comes and reveals Christ in
you and convinces you of righteousness and of judgment. And they shall
look on me whom they have pierced when he pours out his spirit
upon you and they shall mourn for him. as one mourneth for
his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him as one is
in bitterness for his firstborn. Look at Job 19 again. When the
hand of God touched Job, he saw himself in the light of God's
holiness. Once Job had boasted of his own
righteousness. Then God laid the mighty hand
of his retrieving grace on him. He stripped him of his glory,
took the crown off his head, and Job began to loathe himself.
Look at verse 9. He hath stripped me of my glory
and has taken the crown from my head. Chapter 40. Chapter
40, verse 3. Then Job answered the Lord and
said, Behold, I am vile. What shall I answer thee? I will
lay mine hand upon my mouth. Once have I spoken, but I will
not answer ye twice, but I will proceed no further. Chapter 42,
verse 5. I have heard of thee by the hearing
of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore, I abhor
myself. I abhor myself." Would to God you'd learn to hate
yourself. Would to God you would learn
to hate yourself. Then you'll repent in sackcloth
and ashes. What happened to Job when God
touched him? He saw that he was a guilty sinner without excuse
before God. God made him utterly helpless
and lost. Look at chapter 9, 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 no hope. And now there's hope. When a
man's emptied of all hope in himself, Now there's hope for
him. When a man sees that he's utterly
lost, there's hope. For Christ came to seek and save
that which is lost. I wonder, I wonder if there's a lost sinner in this
place. If there is, I've got good news
for you. Jesus Christ always saves lost sinners. Anybody here who needs healing?
He heals as many as have need of healing. Here's the third
thing. The touch of God's enlightening.
When the Lord God touches you with the hand of His grace, You'll
begin to see all things in their true light God touched Job And he began to see the brevity
of his life the sureness of death Began to realize he was soon
stand before God in judgment in chapter 14 He said man that
is born of woman is a few days and full of trouble look back
in chapter 7 chapter 7 verse 6 He said, my days are swifter
than a weaver's shuttle. You ever see anybody work a weaver's
shuttle? See, that's just how fast I'm leaving this world.
They're spent without hope. Oh, remember that my life is
wind. Mine eyes shall no more see good. The eye of him that has seen
me shall see me no more. Thine eyes are upon me, and I'm
not. If the hand of God ever touches
you, you will begin to say to yourself what our Lord Jesus
said to you, what shall profit a man if he shall gain the whole
world and lose his own soul? Turn over to second Corinthians
chapter four for a second. Hold your hands here in Job.
Second Corinthians chapter four, verse 18. Paul says, we look not at the
things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.
For the things which are seen are temporal. God seal those words to my heart. If you can see it, it's just
temporary. back then, his wife expecting
that new baby. Just temporary. Dear as it is, just temporary.
Just temporary. That house you've been planning
to get for yourself in your old age, just temporary. That money you've been laying
up for your retirement, just temporary. Just temporary. Gold in an instant. Gone in an
instant. I often remember a man I knew
well many years ago. He got close to retirement age
and went back to school. He was a school teacher and principal,
and if he just got him a little bit more education, he'd get
a little higher rank and a little bit better pay, better retirement.
He worked and drove 60 miles one way after teaching school
all day long, and he'd drive 60 miles back, go to school at
night. Worked and worked and worked
and worked and worked. And just before he retired, he
dropped dead. Just temporary. Just temporary. Don't build your nest in any
of the forests in this world. They're all marked to be burned.
The things which are sane are temporal. The things which are
not sane, they're eternal. For we know that if the earth
and the house of this tabernacle were dissolved, We have a building
of God and a house not made with hands eternal into heavens. Look
at verse 10, chapter 5. For we must all appear before
the judgment seat of Christ that everyone may receive the things
done in his body according to that he hath done, whether it
be good or bad. Knowing therefore the terror
of the Lord, we persuade men. Now let me tell you four things
that have a constantly increasing influence on my life. I think
they're worth remembering. I only have one life to live. I sure would like for it to count
for something, wouldn't you? I sure would like to leave behind
an influence of blessing and benefit, wouldn't you? I've just
got one life to live. Number two, I have one death
to die. Soon, I will have taken my last
breath at God's appointed time, in God's appointed place, in
God's appointed way. I'm going to die. You too. Learn to think of it often. You
too. Third, I have one judgment to
face. I'm going to meet God Almighty
before His great white throne in judgment. And if I meet God with any sin,
I'll perish forever, justice demands it. And number four, I have one eternity
to spend, either in heaven, in the bliss of God's glory, in
the presence of Christ the Redeemer, or in hell's darkness, damnation,
and torment. I live in a world where everything
is temporal. I'm going to a world where all
things are eternal and the same is true of you. All right, here's
the fourth thing. If the Lord's pleased to touch
you with the hand of his grace, you will seek his mercy. When
the Lord laid his hand on Job, he began to seek someone to stand
between him and God. When the hand of God touched
him, Job began to ask, how can a man be just with God? He sought
a desmon, a mediator, one who could lay hold of a holy God
and sinful man and satisfy the needs of both. Like the children of Israel.
Job saw he needed a mediator they they sent Moses to speak
to God said you you go deal with God come back here and speak
to us and the children of Israel stayed in the wilderness Moses
went up on the back and spoke to God for Israel and came down
and spoke to Israel for God so Christ our mediator came here
in our flesh and he lays hold on fallen man and lays hold on
the Holy God and brings the two together by his intercession,
by his mediation, by his accomplishments. Do you need mercy? Do you need
a mediator to satisfy God's justice for you? Christ, the Son of God,
is the mediator. One more thing. If the Lord God's
pleased now to touch you by the hand of his grace, you will be
saved by his grace. Job was made to see that his
only hope, his only righteousness, his only acceptance with God
is in an all-sufficient Redeemer who is Jesus Christ, God our
Savior. The hand that wounded him, the
hand that showed him his sin showed him Christ, his Redeemer. And Job was made to experience
God's grace. Look at chapter 33. Chapter 33. God sent a messenger to Job,
a fellow by the name of Elihu, and made Job understand God's
purpose of grace. Job 33, 22. His soul draweth
near to the grave. His life to the destroyers. If
there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand,
one among a thousand. Oh, I said to Lindsay when he
came in this morning, folks in Wasilla, we had good meetings
there, just two families, one man meeting together. Oh, would
to God he'd send him a messenger, an interpreter, somebody to declare
to them the word of God. How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace. bring glad
tidings of good things one in a thousand David one in a thousand
one in a thousand to show man God's uprightness then he is
gracious unto him and saith deliver him from going down to the pit
I have found a ransom now look at Ephesians chapter 2 Ephesians
2 I'll wrap this up. You hath he quickened who were
dead in trespasses and in sins, wherein in time past you walked
according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the
children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our conversation
in times past, In the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires
of the flesh and of the mind. And we're by nature the children
of wrath, even as others. But God. But God, who is rich in mercy. for his great love wherewith
he loved us. Even when we were dead in sins,
hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace, ye are saved,
and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come, he might
show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward
us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves, It is the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus under good works. I've told you before that word
workmanship, masterpieces, masterpieces. Now, I'm not an artist and I
don't really have a taste for art. I know that. But I've seen
some pretty good art. I have been in museums where
they had just tremendous works of art. You see, a man's best
work, a man's best work, that's his masterpiece. Every eye this way, look here,
look here, look here. Rex Bartley, this is the best
that God can do. He saves sinners like me and
you. and we're his masterpieces created
in Christ Jesus. When God touched Job with the
hand of his grace, Job was given faith and hope in Christ. Look
at verse 25 of our text, Job chapter 19. 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, and mine eyes shall behold,
and not another, though my reins be consumed within me. T'was 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
and said, what am I bid, good folks? Who will start the bidding
for me? A dollar, a dollar, then two,
only two, two dollars, who will make it three? Three dollars
once, three dollars twice, going and going for three. But no,
from the room far back, a gray-haired man came forward and picked up
the bow, then wiping the dust from the old violin and tightening
the loosened strings. played a melody as beautiful
and sweet as caroling angels sing. The music ceased, and the
auctioneer with a voice that was 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, said he. The people cheered. 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 and battered and scarred with sin is auctioned cheap to
a thoughtless crowd, much like the old violin. ruined and running
from God, he goes in madness to hell headlong. He's going
once, he's going twice, he's going and almost gone. But the
master comes and the foolish crowd can never quite understand
the worth of a soul or the change that's wrought.
by the touch of the Master's hand, O Son of God. Touch these immortal souls by
your grace. Amen.