I want to bring you a Bible study
today from the book of Job. If you'll take your Bibles and
open them to Job chapter 19. Chapter 19, I'm going to begin
reading with verse 23 in just a few moments. Job 19, verse
23 to 28. But first of all, let me tell
you a few things about Job. Job is said by most most Bible
students to be the oldest book in the Bible, that he lived before
Abraham. But like Abraham, Job believed
God. Job was a believer. In fact,
the Lord himself called Job, my servant. Have you considered
my servant, Job? And then Job was not only a believer,
but Job was a man of integrity. Job was a godly man. Again, the
Lord said about Job, there's none like him on the earth, a
man who fears God and avoids evil. That's Job. The Lord said
that about him. And then thirdly, Job was a man
who spoke the truth about God. At the end of the book of Job,
when our Lord rebuked his three friends, he said, you haven't
spoken the truth about me. But he said, Job, my servant
Job, has spoken of me the things that are right. Oh, how I would
love for that to be the testimony of God concerning this preacher. He has spoken of me the things
that are right. But let's go on. Even in the
New Testament, Job is talked about, written about. The apostle
James calls attention to his faith and his patience and exhorts
us to have the patience of Job. But another thing about this
man, he was a man of great trials. I mean great trials and great
suffering. I hear people say, well, if you're
a believer, you won't have suffering, won't have sickness, won't have
pain. That's not true. Job was a believer. God said, he's my servant. Job
told the truth about God. He tells the truth about me.
Job, God says, is an upright man who fears God. But the Lord
permitted Job to be subjected to some of the most difficult
trials and troubles that a person could possibly bear. That's right.
He was a man of great wealth. It says in Job 1, 3, this man
was the greatest of all the men in the east. And in a matter
of days, he was broke, sitting in poverty without a thing. Job was a family man. He had
ten children, seven sons and three daughters, the most beautiful
daughters the Scripture said. And all of them, all ten of them,
killed in a storm, wiped out in a moment. This believer lost
all ten of his children in a moment. Job was a man of great strength
and health, and now he's broken, frail, covered with boils, sitting
in sackcloth and ashes and scraping himself with a potsherd, hardly
recognizable. When his friends came to see
him, they wept and rent their garments because they didn't
even recognize him. But Job bore these trials. in great faith. I want you to
listen. I'm going to read you four statements
that Job made, four powerful statements, right in the midst
of these severe, harsh trials that God permitted to come upon
him. Now, here's what he said in Job
121. The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the
name of the Lord. He gave me those children, He
took them away. He gave me my health, He took
it away. He gave me my wealth, He took it away. Blessed be the
name of the Lord. I came into this world naked
and I'll leave this world that way. In all this, Job 122, in
all of this, all these heartaches and sorrow and heartbreak, Job
never blamed God. He never charged God with foolishness.
Never did. In Job 2, verse 10, his wife
told him, said, why don't you curse God and die? That's right. Why don't you? That's what his
wife said to him. Just curse God and die. He said, what? Shall
we receive good from the hand of God? And shall we not also
receive evil or trials also? He said this, he replied this
way, though he slay me, I'll trust him. That's faith. That's the confidence of a believer.
Though he slay me, I'll trust him. Now, how can this be? How
can a person believe God when there's so little outward evidence
that God even cares about him? This man, Joden, I'll tell you,
he's lost everything. He's sitting there on the ash
heap, scraping his balls. And his friends are sitting there
who've come to comfort him, and they sat there for several days
and never said a word. His grief was so great. How can
a man still believe God when there's so little outward evidence
that God is near? How can a man rejoice? How can
he say, blessed be the name of the Lord, and worship? How can
he worship and bless God when his heart is so broken and so
sad? How can a man have peace and
hope when all of his earthly foundations crumble? How can
a man pray and worship and call on God when it seems like his
prayers are not being heard? Well, the answer is found in
that text that I told you to turn to, Job 19.25. Listen. Here is the whole foundation. Here is this man's faith. In
spite of all that's happening to him, he says, I know that
my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter
day upon this earth. And though after my skin worms
destroy my body, yet in my flesh I seek God. Now that, my friends,
is our confession of faith. Whatever transpires, whatever
takes place, whatever comes our way, that's our confidence. That's
our confession of faith. I know whatever happens. I know
this, my Redeemer. I know, Paul said, whom I have
believed. And I'm persuaded He's able to
keep that which I've committed to Him. I know my Redeemer liveth. Our faith, that's our faith in
summary. That's our hope of redemption. That's our hope of eternal glory.
Look back at verse 23. Job says, write this. Now, you
write this. What I'm about to say, you write
it. Oh, that my words were written in a book. Well, they were, Joe. Here they are. I'm reading them. Here in 2001, I'm reading about
the oldest man in the book. One of the oldest. Oh, that my
words were written in a book. Print these words for everybody
to read. I know my Redeemer liveth. And again, in verse 24, he said,
Oh, that my words could be engraved on a rock. with a lead pen in
the rock forever. You know, some writer said, Job
says, write this on my tombstone, in the rock, engrave it. I know my Redeemer liveth. I know. What is the word Redeemer? What does Redeemer? Well, I tell
you, it's the kinsman Redeemer. Now, listen to me. I'll teach
you something here if you'll listen. It's the kinsman Redeemer. Under the Old Testament law,
when a man fell on hard times, hard times, when a man has lost
everything, lost his land, lost his herd, lost his flock, lost
his house, lost his money, lost his living, everything, he's
destitute, nothing. If he had a near kinsman, now
this was the Jewish law, if he had a near kinsman, who was kin
to him and was very wealthy and loved him and was willing to
assume his debts, then this near kinsman could redeem him, pay
his debts, and restore to him everything he lost. And that's
the kinsman redeemer. That's the whole story of the
book of Ruth. You've read the book of Ruth. You remember how
the man called Elimelech? His wife was Naomi. Her name
was Pleasant. Naomi. Elimelech and Naomi. They
were wealthy people. Lived in Bethlehem. Long way
back yonder. And there was a famine. So Elimelech
sold out. Sold everything he had. Packed
up. He and his wife Naomi and two boys left Bethlehem. Left
Judah. Left Israel. And went to a pagan
country called Moab. A wretched pagan country. And
Limelech lived a few years and died. And his two sons married
pagan girls, Ruth and Orpha, was that her name? And then they
both died. And here was Naomi, a widow,
and two widowed daughters-in-law. And she says, I'm bankrupt, nothing,
destitute. She said, I'm going back to Bethlehem.
You girls going back to your people, I'm going to Bethlehem.
And Orpah went on back to her people. But Ruth said, entreat
me not to leave thee, nor follow after thee. Where you go, I go.
Where you dwell, I dwell. Your people be my people. Your
God, my God. And where you're buried, that's
where I'll be buried. So Ruth went with Naomi, and they came
back to Bethlehem. Two women walking, and their
friends saw them coming. The people who dwelled in Bethlehem
saw them coming. And Naomi looked so wretched,
ragged, all those years broken-hearted, this young girl with her. And
they said, is this Naomi? Is this the woman that left here
rich, wealthy, with husband and son? She said, don't call me
Naomi. Naomi means pleasant. Call me
Mara, bitter. The Lord's dealt bitterly with
me. Well, they were so poor that Ruth had to go out in the fields
and pick up what was left. some handfuls of barley, what
was left when the reapers went through. But there was a man
there called Boaz. He was kin to Naomi. He was a kinsman. And he saw
Ruth, and he fell in love with her. Didn't know who she was. He asked, who is this damsel?
They told him, said, that's the girl that came back from Moab
with Naomi. And he said, well, leave her
some handfuls on purpose. And he fell in love with her.
He was a near kinsman. He fell in love with her. He
was wealthy. And he was willing to redeem
everything Elimelech lost, everything Noami lost, and married Ruth. That's a kinsman redeemer. Now
listen to me. Can I make good on that? All
right. Jesus Christ is my kinsman redeemer. This is what Job said.
I'm bankrupt. I'm without anything. I'm at
the bottom of the pit, but I know, I know my kinsman Redeemer. He'll restore me. He's gonna
stand on this earth and the worms destroy this body. Everything
I've got's gone. Yet in my flesh, I'm gonna see
my God because my kinsman Redeemer is gonna restore my soul. That's
right. Now what about our kinsman? Well,
he's our kinsman. Jesus Christ is our kinsman.
Yes, sir. He was made flesh and dwelt among
us. The Son of God became a man. He's called the second Adam.
In the first Adam, I died. In the second Adam, I'm restored.
The first man is of the earth, earthy. The second man, I told
you this last week, is God from heaven. That's right. He's a
man. He was numbered with the transgressors.
He's born of woman. He's bone of our bone, flesh
of our flesh. That's right. tempted in all
points as well. He's my kinsman. All right, that's
just the first requirement. Your redeemer's got to be a kinsman.
But secondly, he's got to be wealthy. And I'm not talking
about material possession. We're not redeemed with corruptible
things such as silver and gold. But we've got to have a righteousness.
We've got to have a holiness. That's where we're bankrupt.
This country's got everything they want materially, but we
don't have anything spiritually. We're bankrupt. We're sold down
the river. We don't have a thing to bring
to God. That's right. We don't have any holiness. We
don't have any righteousness. We don't have any sanctification.
We don't have any true love. We don't have anything like that.
But He's rich in those things. He's the Lord our righteousness.
He's holiness personified. He's rich in love, rich in holiness,
rich in beauty, rich in mercy. These are the things we've lost.
We're poor and needy. Well, he's kin to us. He's a man. He's got everything
we need. He's wealthy. Bless your heart. He's willing. He's willing. The Redeemer must be a relative.
He must be willing. He must be wealthy, but he must
be willing. And our Lord said, I lay down my life for my sheep. I love my sheep. I know my sheep. My sheep know me. I lay down
my life for my sheep. No man takes it from me. I lay
it down willingly. This commandment have I received
of my Father. And David said, He restored my
soul. Jesus paid it all, all the debt
I owe. Sin left to crimson stains. He
washed it white as snow. Listen to what Job is saying.
And this I know. I know my Redeemer liveth. What's
he saying? His life, life is in Him. The life was manifested, John
said, and we've seen it. And we bear witness that eternal
life, which was with the Father, was made flesh and manifested
to us. That's right. My Redeemer liveth. But not only that, my Redeemer
stand on this earth. He came down to this earth, born
of a woman, made flesh and dwelt among us. Bone of our bone, flesh
of our flesh. Now let me show you something.
Here I am, flesh and bones. Flesh and bones and blood. Jesus
Christ came down here, flesh and bones and blood. Like me. But the difference in me and
Him, I'm weighted down with sin. Very heavy, very many, very black. Between me and God. Your sins
have separated you and your God. He came down here with no sin,
and He took my sin and your sin, took them all, took them from
us. Our sins were laid on Him. He bore our sins in His body
on the tree, and the wrath of Almighty God fell on Him, on
Him for my sins. He who knew no sin was made sin
for us that we might be made the righteousness of God. And
He went to the tomb and buried them, and He arose without sin. Where are my sins? They're not
on me. They were on Him. They were on me. They were transferred
to Him. And He boiled and paid for them.
And I don't bear them anymore. He put them away. He put away
our sins. He said, I've cast your sins
behind my back. I remember them no more. I've
cast them into the depths of the sea. He that's in Christ
has no sin. They're put away. They're paid
for. By His stripes, we're healed. My Redeemer liveth. He is life. He lived on this earth as a substitute,
as a sin offering, as my Redeemer. Thirdly, my Redeemer liveth now. He died, but he lives. He says
this, I am he that liveth. I was dead, but behold, I'm alive
forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of
the grave and death. And he ever lives to make intercession.
He ever lives, and because he lives, we live in him. And he
ever lives is our surety of a better covenant. And he's the testator. Now let me show you something
about this covenant, last will and testament. A covenant is
a testament. Now here, if I were a wealthy
man, I'd make out a last will and testament, and I'd leave
everything I have to my wife and to my children, and I've
signed that testament. Now, they can't have it till
I die. There's got to be the death of
the testator. Got to be the death of the testator. Has to die. So our Lord Jesus
Christ made a covenant, a better covenant with better promises
and better sacrifices. It's called the New Testament,
the New Covenant. And He's the testator, and He
died. All right, now, if I leave something
to someone, they may receive it and they may not, because
there are different laws and loopholes and people who will
contest the will, and nothing down here on this earth is sure. Well, how can we be sure that
what Jesus Christ has purchased for us, and the inheritance He's
left for us, and the redemption that He's promised us, that we're
going to have it? Because He's not dead, He lives.
He's at the right hand of God, and He's the judge. There won't
be any loopholes, and any self-claimers, and any challenges. In fact,
He said, who can lay anything to the charge of God's elect?
It's God that justifies. Who is He that condemneth? It
is Christ that died, rose again, ascended to heaven, and ever
lives to make intercession for us. He's the guarantor of our
inherit this. Now listen, let's go on with
Job. He said, I know my Redeemer liveth. I know he lives. And
he'll stand on this earth. But he says something about himself.
And the worms destroy this body. What about these old frail bodies?
They're getting old and withered and weak and they're dying. And
one of these days, Job said, the worms are going to destroy
my body. That's right. Our God says, dust you are, and
to dust you shall return. Now, what about these bodies?
I want to tell you something. Would you listen? One day we'll
die, and this fleshly body shall be put in the ground, and it'll
decay, and it'll return to dust. But the soul doesn't return to
dust. He says the soul didn't come from dust. The body came
from dust, and it's going back to dust. But the soul came from
God. And the soul's going back to God. So the believer who dies
physically does not die spiritually. His soul doesn't die. His body
dies. And his soul returns to God who
gave it. Paul said, for me to be absent
from this body is to be present with the Lord. That's right. With God who gave it. And I have
a building. I'm going to show you something
in just a few moments, a dwelling place. But one day this body
shall rise, as Job said. And this is what he said, the
worms destroy this body, yet one day in my flesh, in my flesh,
I'll see God, whom I'll see for myself. It won't be another,
it'll be myself. Now how's that gonna be? The
flesh dies and the worms destroy it and it goes back to the dust
from whence it came, but one day God's gonna bring it forth.
Let me see if I can show you. In 1 Corinthians 15, 35, the
questions ask, how are the dead raised and with what body do
they come? And then Paul answers this, all
flesh is not the same flesh. He says there's a flesh of birds,
there's a flesh of fish, there's a flesh of beasts, there's a
flesh of people. That's all different kinds of
flesh. And the flesh of birds and fish is a whole lot lower
and worthless than the flesh of a man. But there's another
flesh, our Lord Jesus Christ. Now let me show it. Jesus Christ
died, and He died in the flesh. He was born of a woman, and He
came forth with flesh and blood, and was nailed to a cross, crucified,
and He died, and He was buried. And he arose again. How did he
come forth? In the flesh. In flesh. Glorified flesh. There's the
flesh of birds, fish, beasts, people. There's the flesh of
the man, Christ Jesus. He appeared to his disciples
and they thought they'd seen a ghost. He said, a ghost doesn't
have flesh and bones. Touch me. They reached down and
touched him. Flesh. glorified flesh He said
you got something to eat and they gave him some fish and some
honey comb and he ate it and Then they went with him out to
a mountain and in this body This body of flesh. He said flesh
and bones that ate Talked to them held their hands. They held
his he ascended to heaven And the Scripture says there's one
mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. There's
a man at the right hand of God in flesh, glorified flesh. And someday, Job said, this flesh,
the worms are going to destroy it. But I'm going to be raised,
and I'm going to see my God in the flesh, myself, not another. Christ said that to His disciples.
He said, it's I myself. Touch me, handle me, and see.
We're going to be ourselves. I'll die in this body. My body
will be buried. My body will be buried. And one
day, God's going to raise my body. And my eyes, Job went on,
he said, my eyes are going to behold Him. My eyes, not somebody
else's. My new eyes, perfect eyes. We were buried corruptible. We
were raised incorruptible. Buried mortal, raised immortality. Buried in shame, raised in glory,
holiness, perfect. Behold, now are we the sons of
God. We're sons of God now. It does
not yet appear what we shall be, but we know when He shall
appear. We'll see Him as He is. How is
He? As He is when He rose from the
grave and touched those disciples. That's right. They touched Him.
He ate with them. And they saw Him going up to heaven. And the
angel said, this same Jesus is coming back. This same Jesus
that you've seen go up is coming down. Same one. And we're going
to be like Him. That's right. We're going to
be like Him. We know that when He shall appear, we'll be like
Him. And I'll be satisfied, David said, when I wake with His likeness. There's going to be a new heaven
and a new earth. And we're going to live on this
new earth. It's going to be the creation restored. Just like
God restored the soul and perfection that I lost in Adam, He's going
to restore the creation that Adam walked on. And we're going
to walk on a new earth. That's right. You mark my words. I'm telling you, in flesh and
bones. And I've got a word for you older
believers, some of you are getting close. Don't be afraid to die.
Look forward to it. God has delivered us from the
fear of death. How has He delivered us? Well,
number one, He died. He died first. He likewise took
part of the same. My Lord died. You know, we used
to play a game when we were kids. We'd come to a log over a creek,
and they'd say, you go first. No, no, nobody wanted to go first.
Finally, somebody going in, we'd all follow. See, he died first. And he removed the sting of death,
which is sin. And he changed the character
of death. No longer judgment for believers. And he walked
out of the grave. And someday, You will too. If you can say, I know my Redeemer
liveth, and you stand on this earth, and I'll see him someday,
not another, myself. Oh, write for this message if
you want it. I know my Redeemer liveth. We'll
send it to you, along with last week's message on the keys of
the kingdom. Until next week, God bless you, everyone.