The book of Job is said to be the oldest book
in the Bible. We believe on good authority
that Job lived before Moses, who wrote Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus,
Numbers, and Deuteronomy, which leads me to say that the Gospel
of Redemption is older than creation. The Gospel of Redemption of which
the Lord Jesus Christ is the author, the Gospel of Redemption
of which the Lord Jesus Christ is the object, of which the Lord
Jesus Christ is the life and foundation, and the Gospel of
Redemption of which the Lord Jesus Christ is the glory, is
older than creation. We seem to think that for the
last two or three hundred years men have been saved by believing
on the Lord Jesus Christ. Prior to that they found their
hope in church ceremony and then back before the cross they found
their hope in a law and back before that in doing what their
conscience told them to do and even at one time in a state of
innocence. But according to these scriptures,
the gospel of redemption is older than creation. It says Christ
is the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. The
scripture says we were chosen in Christ, chosen in Christ unto
salvation before the foundation of the world. The scripture says
that His blood is the blood of a covenant that's everlasting,
and that he is the representative and federal head and surety of
a people that were given to him in a covenant which is everlasting. So when we talk about our Redeemer,
we're talking about Paul's Redeemer, we're talking about Isaiah's
Redeemer, we're talking about David's Redeemer. We're talking
about Moses' Redeemer. We're talking about Abraham's
Redeemer, Job's Redeemer, and Abel's Redeemer. And if Adam
was saved, we're talking about his Redeemer. Never been but
one Redeemer. Let's look at Job 19. And this
is the one of whom Job speaks here in Job chapter 19. And he
says, verse 23, Oh, that my words were now written
Oh, that they were printed in a book, that they were graven
with an iron pen and laid in the rock forever. For 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 I shall see God. whom I shall see for myself,
and mine eyes shall behold, not another, not a stranger, though
my reins be consumed within me." That's the gospel. That's the
gospel hope. That's the same thing that you
and I confess today. My friends, when Adam, the first
man, committed the first sin, when Adam transgressed God's
commandment, Something drastic took place. He had a right disposition of
heart toward God prior to that sin, but after that sin, the
right altering and conduct and disposition of his heart toward
God was ended, right there, when Adam committed that first sin.
Communion with God came to a halt. Fellowship with God ceased. Adam's understanding was darkened.
He lost faith, and he lost love, and he lost joy, and he lost
hope. He could no longer, now get this,
he could no longer bear the presence of his Creator. In this state
of sin, in this state of rebellion, he could no longer bear the presence
of the Creator, but rather he ran and hid from Him. And for
the first time, for the first time in his experience, Adam
was gripped by some things that he had never known. He was gripped
by fear. He had never known fear. He was
gripped by shame. He had never known shame. He
was gripped with hatred. He began to blame others for
his plight, even blame God. He said, the woman you made,
that's the whole problem. If you hadn't have made her,
this would have never happened. He was gripped with selfishness,
something he had never known before. defending his position
so strongly that he was willing to lay the blame for his condemnation
at the door of God. In other words, the right disposition
of his heart toward God, that was over. That was over. Fellowship was finished. Communion
was finished. Adam was now dead and all those
who followed him in trespasses and sin. But in that hour, our
God made a promise. In that hour, The Lord God made
a promise and illustrated it with a picture, that he would
someday send a Redeemer to put away sin, that he would one day
send a Redeemer to destroy evil, that he would one day send a
Redeemer through whom he would be reconciled to all who believe. God says, I will be reconciled. The sinner will have a way back
to God. Turn to Genesis chapter 3, and
let's see this promise in this picture. In the third chapter
of Genesis, now here's the rebel hiding from God, now gripped,
gripped by fear and shame and selfishness and hatred. His understanding
darkened. He was created in the image of
God, but now he's so different from God, so isolated, separated. Your sins have separated you
and your God. God, in his justice, must condemn
the transgressor. God, in his righteousness, must
part company with the rebel. God, in his holiness, can have
nothing to do with this sinner. There's no way that God can have
anything to do with this sinner in his condition. So the Lord
God announces that there will be a Redeemer, there will be
a Mediator, there will be a Savior, there will be one who will come
and for this sinner, and for this transgressor, take
his place and bear his guilt and his shame and reconcile him
to God. In Genesis 3.15, He said to the
serpent, I'll put enmity between thee and the woman, between thy
seed and her seed. And it shall bruise thy head,
and thou shalt bruise his heel." This woman's seed. God is saying
here that He will send a Redeemer, and that Redeemer will be born
of a woman. That Redeemer will be born of
a woman. He's going to be a man. He's going to be a man. That's
the reason when Cain was born. That Eve thought she had the
Messiah. She said, I've gotten the man
from the Lord. That's how we think, you know.
They thought it was imminent. They thought it was right upon
them. In other words, when they fell, when they were separated
from God, and in their sins, they knew something had happened.
They knew the fellowship was gone. They knew the condition
in which they were now living, dead, separated from God, no
fellowship. They wanted back. I'm sure they
wanted back. God had cast them out of the
garden, God had put a curse upon them, and because of His holiness
could have nothing to do with them. And when she, when that
first child, that first man came out of her womb, she said, I've
gotten Cecil the man, the man. Because God says this Redeemer
is going to be a man. He's going to be the woman's,
going to be born of woman, going to be a man born of woman, woman's
seed. supernaturally born. Then God
says later on he's going to be through the nation of Abraham.
He said he's going to be a man, he's going to be born of woman,
and later on he said to Abraham, I'm going to make thee a great
nation, and through thy seed all nations are going to be blessed.
And then God brought it down to the tribe of Judah. He's not
only going to be a man, born of woman, of Abraham's seed,
but he's going to be of the tribe of Judah, of the twelve tribes.
And he brought it on down and said he's going to be from the
family of Jesse. And then he brought it down further
and he said he's going to be of the house of David. Jesse
had other sons, but David is the one through whom he's going
to come and sit on David's throne. And he brought it on down and
he said he's going to be born in Bethlehem. And he pinpointed
that thing. Well, you see, and then in verse
21, he shows a picture now of what that Redeemer will do. He
has promised the Redeemer a woman's seat, a man born of a woman,
but born without sin, born without man's aid, born without man's
help, born without man's cooperation, the gift of God, the Son of God,
the Son of His love, the perfect man, born of a woman. made under
the law to reconcile God, to be a mediator between us and
God. That's that Redeemer. And then he showed what that
Redeemer was going to do. Here stood Adam and Eve. When they were first created,
they were created in the image of God. God made man holy and
upright without sin. But man sought out many inventions. He believed the lie. He rebelled
against God. He sought to be like God. Same
sin Satan committed, I'll be like God. And when he sinned,
he realized he was naked. That's the first thing he realized.
Shame, guilt, fear, nakedness. He saw that. He didn't lose his
pride. He didn't lose his pride and
his arrogance and his self-righteousness, but he saw he was naked, so he's
going to do something about it, and he got some fig leaves. And he and his wife sat down
together, and they sewed them together with something. They
got some twine or vines, and here they stand, you know, standing
out there in the middle of that garden with those silly-looking
fig leaves on, you know. But he thought it was a pretty
good covering. And that's what men by nature
do who don't have a Redeemer, who don't seek the righteousness
of Christ, and the blood of Christ, and the redemption of Christ.
They make fig leaf aprons out of baptism, and sacraments, and
communion, and Passover feast, and good works, and going to
church, and all of these different things. Well, God, in verse 21,
He came down and He said, it says, unto Adam also, and to
his wife, did the Lord God make coats of skin, and He clothed
them. In other words, God took off
those self-made, temporary coverings, and he slew an animal. That's
the first death. That's the first death. An animal
or an innocent victim died to cover Adam's sin, to cover his
nakedness. And God slew the animal. Adam
didn't do it, God did it. God picked it out, and God slew
it. There was suffering, there was
the shedding of blood, There was death, there was sacrifice,
in order that Adam's nakedness might be covered. And you see,
this is the first, this is the law of first mention, this is
the first time that we've seen the Redeemer, through whom he'd
come, woman Satan, and that for which he'd come as the Lamb of
God, as the Chosen One of God, it pleased God to bruise him,
He was smitten of God and afflicted. He shed his blood. He died the
innocent for the guilty. And God took that covering and
God made them coats of skin and God clothed them. Adam stood
there and received it. He received it. He didn't kill
the lamb. He didn't shed the blood. He
didn't make the coats of skin. He didn't cover himself. God
did it. And that's the Redeemer. Now,
you can say what you want to about these Old Testament people,
but they knew a whole lot more than you think they knew. I told
some folks in the Bible study the other night, here is Adam.
Now, Adam in the Garden of Eden walked with God and talked with
God. And when he sinned, he was cast
into a terrible condition. His mind was affected, his heart
was affected, his soul and bare being, everything about him was
in rebellion and wrong disposition and contrary to God. And God
announced this birth of a woman's seed. And when Cain was born,
Eve thought she had the Messiah. She thought she had the Redeemer.
And then he saw that boy killed. His next son, Abel. Adam saw
some hurts and things and talked with God. And when he came out
of that garden, Adam had taught his sons how to bring sacrifices. Here's Abel coming to the altar
and bringing a lamb. Here's the innocent shedding
his blood, dying, a sin offering, a sacrifice. That's pointing
to Calvary, the Lamb of God. You see, these people weren't
dumb. We try to think of them as cavemen,
no such thing. Adam wasn't a caveman. Do you
know that Adam named all the animals? God brought them to
him. Adam was king of this world one time. God told him to reign
over it and subdue it and multiply it and replenish it. He was the
king of this earth. Sure, he lost his kingdom. Sure,
he lost his throne. Sure, he lost his position. He
didn't lose his mind yet. He's a brilliant man. Sure, he
suffered the effects of the fall. He suffered the sins of the fall. He suffered the curse of the
fall. He had to earn his food by the sweat of his brow. But
he didn't resort to being a dumb, big lower lip, ugly caveman. He was made in the image of God.
And he lived almost 900 years. And then Noah came along. And
you know there was a man who knew Noah and who knew Adam too? Adam lived 900 years, and Adam
told everybody who had listened to him about the garden, about
the fall, about holiness, about sin, about the sacrifice, about
God's judgment, about the coming Redeemer, about the promise and
the prophecy and the picture and all these things. Adam was
no dum-dum. I'll tell you this, I coveted
his His conversation with God, don't you? I get to thinking
about Adam talked with God. Adam walked with God. And then
you have Noah coming along. Well, there was a fellow in between
here that knew Adam personally. And he knew Noah personally.
In fact, he died the year of the flood, didn't he, Cecil?
Methuselah. Methuselah. Now, if you want
to turn to Hebrews chapter 11, If you want to talk about what
these fellas knew about the Redeemer, now God didn't leave this thing
to chance. He didn't leave this thing to
somebody's imagination. We got the general idea from
Adam to Moses, there wasn't any revelation. There were three
men, Adam, Methuselah, Noah. Huh? Now I'll tell you this,
I knew old brother A.D. Muse, died in 1954. He was a
grace preacher, preached in our first grace conference. Some
of you remember him. Well, our kids didn't know him,
Cecil. They didn't know him. But I can carry to my children
everything A.D. News said nearly. I can tell
them about him. I can tell them what he preached,
what he believed, what he stood for, how he proclaimed the gospel.
And though they never knew him, they got first-hand the message.
And I'll tell you, Noah received first-hand. He was a preacher
of righteousness, not his own, not yours, not man's, but God's
righteousness. Noah could tell that bunch of
people he preached to, listen to me. The man that knew Adam
talked to me about this. The man that knew Adam told me
about this. The man that knew Adam preached
this gospel to me and I preach it to you. It's the gospel of
substitution. It's the gospel of redemption.
Now we've got the general idea from Adam to Moses, we've got
a bunch of people running around in ignorance and caveman style
and dragging people by the hair of their head and living like
monkeys and not knowing anything about God and doing what their
conscience told them to do. Not on your bottom dollar. We've
got men who knew the man that walked with God. And they got
their gospel straighter than you're getting yours. A whole
lot straighter. Now hold on straight, this book
is precious and it's the Word of God, but it's sure been abused
by some folks I've listened to that claim to know it. But here
Paul said in Hebrews 11, you listen to this in chapter 11,
verse 13, "...these all died in faith." Who's he talking about? Well, go back and see. Verse
4, "...by faith able, offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice
than can be." He did it by faith. Not by works, by faith. Abel, who was taught by his father
the way back to God through the Redeemer, brought that lamb and
shed that blood and offered that sacrifice by faith, looking to
Calvary to the death of the Lamb of God. I can just hear Adam
saying to Abel, now, son, I tell you, God's going to send a Redeemer.
God's going to send a Savior. God's going to send a man born
of woman. who's going to come down here
and somehow reconcile us back to God, restore our inheritance
that I lost. God's going to be reconciled. He's not going to damn us all.
God's going to be reconciled. God's going to be just and justifier.
There's going to be a mediator. And the Lord God told me, just
like He showed me in the Garden of Eden when He shed that lamb's
blood and covered my nakedness, He told me to keep bringing a
lamb and keep bringing a sacrifice and keep bringing an offering
and keep believing in Him and resting and trusting. He's going
to come on this earth. He's going to come. And as in
me, we died, so in Him we're going to heal. As in me and my
sin, we became sinners in Him, we're going to become righteous.
I don't know how, son, but I just know it's going to be so. Just
as in me, judgment and condemnation came upon all flesh, and we're
cast out here into the darkness of sin and death. One of these
days, by the coming of the Redeemer, we're going to be, we're going
to live again. We're going to live. They died in faith. Abel,
look at the next, Enoch. By faith, Enoch. Brethren, Enoch
knew God. He walked with God. He pleased
God. He had this testimony. He pleased
God. But he didn't please God in his
thoughts. He didn't please God in his ways. He didn't please
God in his imagination. He didn't please God in his natural
passions. He pleased God in his faith,
in his faith. And then you come on down to
Noah, and by faith Noah. being warned of God. Well, you
see these people, they didn't, it says down here in verse 13,
having, not having received the promises. Now brethren, this
promise is, this is the promises regarding life and salvation
and redemption and forgiveness and justification, sanctification.
They didn't receive the fulfillment of the promises. But I'll tell
you this, a promise of God is as good as a deed. A promise
of God. If God says, I will, it's done. If God says, I shall be justified,
just and justified, I shall be reconciled, me and shall be saved,
it's good as done. He said, I will be merciful,
I will be gracious, it's good as done. They didn't have the
fulfillment of the promise, but they did have the promise. And
look at the next line. And they saw these promises afar
off. Abraham saw my day, God said,
Christ said. Abraham saw my day. Boy, that's
back there a piece. He saw my day. Abel saw his day. Enoch saw his day. Noah saw his
day. Adam saw his day. And he rejoiced. It made him happy. They saw these
promises fulfilled in Christ. They were persuaded of them.
Persuaded of confidence. Hold that scripture there and
turn to Romans 4. Let me show you something here, Romans 4.
Just hold that right there. It says in Romans 4, talking
about Abraham, verse 21, Romans 4, 21. And Abraham, he didn't,
verse 20, he didn't stagger at the promises of God. He didn't
stagger at them. What God said he could do, because
verse 21, he was fully persuaded that what God had promised, he
was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed
to him, charged to him, reckoned to his account for righteousness.
Oh, and look at the next verse. It wasn't written for his sake
alone that this righteousness was imputed to him, but for you
and me also, to whom it shall be imputed. If we do our best,
no. If we give our time, no. If we
become a Baptist, no. If we believe on him, that raised
up Jesus our Lord from the dead. That's my Redeemer. My Redeemer
is Abel's Redeemer. He saw him coming, and I see
he's come. He looked for his coming, and
I look back to his first coming and look for his second coming.
Go back to Hebrews 11, let's look at this some more. They
saw these promises. They didn't receive the fulfillment
of them, but they saw them. And they were persuaded of them,
and they laid hold of them. They embraced them. How? By faith.
And brother, they confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims.
Strangers and pilgrims. Turn to Genesis 49. Let's listen
over here to Jacob. Genesis chapter 49. He says he
was blessing his sons. Old Jacob was about to leave
this world, and he was blessing his son. Now remember, Adam Methuselah,
Noah, Abel, Enoch, all these fellows, they knew a Redeemer
was coming, born of woman, born of a man, and that he was going
to be without sin, and he was going to stand on this earth,
and he was going to restore through his obedience and through his
death and the shedding of his blood and his sin offering what
we lost in Adam. They knew that. They knew that. They knew that. Just like, brethren,
I know that Christ is coming back. God says so. I can't draw
you a picture of what... I can draw you a picture of what
happened when He came the first time. He was born of a woman.
They put Him in a manger in Bethlehem. And He was wrapped in swaddling
clothes and surrounded by shepherds and cattlemen and straw. And
it'll stall, and then Herod tried to kill all the babies. I see
that full film of what he prophesied in Zechariah. And he ran down
to Egypt. His mother and daddy took him
to Egypt. God says, out of Egypt shall my son come. Well, now,
if I had lived back before Christ came and he said, out of Egypt
shall my son come, and in Bethlehem shall he be born, I wouldn't
understand that. I just know it so. I know he's going to be
born in Bethlehem, and I know he's coming out of Egypt some
way. But now, you see, I know it because I know what happened.
And he grew up in Nazareth, and he died on a cross, a poor Roman
cross between two thieves, and was buried in a barred tomb.
He said he was buried with the rich, though he had done no violence.
I wouldn't understand that if—now I do, because I'm born on the
other side of it. So let me say this to you. So I know he's coming
again. I don't know when, but I do know
this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall
so come in like manner as you've seen him go. And he shall stand
on this earth, and all eyes shall behold him, whom they have pierced. And every knee is going to bow,
and every tongue is going to confess that he's Lord. There's
going to be a new heaven, there's going to be a new earth. A new
earth that resembles the original creation. God says, John said
there wasn't going to be any more sea, but he said there's
going to be, the creation's going to be restored. Now, I believe
these things and I look for them, but you see, I've got to wait
till they come to pass before I can tell you all that I believe,
accepted by faith. And that's the way these men
were, you see. Jacob, he knew a man was coming. They weren't
trusting in an animal. In a day or in a ceremony, they
were trusting in that man who was coming, born of woman, who
would somehow die, who would somehow through righteousness
and obedience reconcile us to God, who would somehow be a mediator. And they wrote about him. And
he says here, before he left, he said, talking about Judah,
Genesis 49, 10, he said, "...the scepter shall not depart from
Judah, nor a lawgiver, from between his feet, till Shiloh come."
Prince of Peace, King of Peace, Shiloh. That's who Jacob called
him, Shiloh. Moses called him that prophet.
He said, God's going to raise up from among you that prophet.
Avon looked on him as a priest. That priest. David looked on
him as a king. The Lord said unto my Lord, look
on him as a king. And here, Jacob calls him shallow,
and unto him shall the gathering of the people be. That's a man,
that's a person, that's a king of peace. Now look at verse 18. Before Jacob died, he said, Lord,
I waited for your salvation. I've waited. Does that sound
like a fellow trusting in the law? Does that sound like a fellow
trusting in some rules and regulations? I've waited for thy salvation.
It's the same thing 2,000 years later that Simeon said when he
held the child Jesus in his arms and he said, now let me die,
I've seen your salvation. That's it, John. A man, a woman's seed, a person. a perfect Redeemer, a Mediator,
a Sacrifice, a Sin Offering. Turn to Isaiah 53 and listen
to Isaiah over here. Isaiah chapter 53, he's got some
understanding. He's talking about these men,
they saw some things. They saw some things, he said
here in Isaiah 53. He says in verse 7, he was oppressed And he was afflicted, and yet
he opened not his mouth. He's brought as a lamb to the
slaughter as a sheep before her shearers is done. He opened not
his mouth. You see the picture Isaiah is
drawing there? Picture that lamb. Those old fellows back in the
Old Testament, they'd take a lamb without spot or blemish, the
firstling of the flock, the best. So you see, they know something
about who this Redeemer is going to be. He's going to be the best. He's going to be the firstborn
of every creature. And they'd put him up for 3 or 4 days and
watch him and make sure he didn't have any disease or any spot
or any such thing. They watched him, they observed
him. And in the same way, you see, our Lord Jesus Christ lived
on this earth 33 and a half years and Satan observed him and men
observed him and God observed him and the law observed him
and nobody found any fault in him. Perfect lamb. And then they
took that lamb after they had observed him 3 or 4 days and
took him out, and that lamb, he puts up no fight. Now, buddy,
you get a hold of a dog or a lion and go to cut their throats,
you got a job on your hands. But a little old lamb just meekly
raises its head and you cut its throat. And that's the way our
Lord has led us as a lamb. Now watch substitution here.
Go back to verse 4. Well, he talks about in verse
3, or verse 2, he's going to grow up, he's going to grow up,
he's going to be born as a baby from a woman's womb, he can't
be born full grown, he's going to grow up, see? And he's going
to grow up as a tender plant, as a root out of a dry ground,
and he's going to be just like us, no farm or company, there's
no special attraction. When people see him, there's
no beauty that they should desire in him. He's despised and rejected
of men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. They're not going
to run after him like a pied piper. But I tell you what he's
going to do, he's going to bear our griefs and sorrows, verse
4, and he's going to be stricken and smitten of God and afflicted,
but he's going to be wounded for my transgressions. And bruised
for my iniquities, the chastisement of my peace shall be upon him,
and by his stripes I'll be healed. So you go back to these men in
the Old Testament, these believers. And these men who were taught
of God and chosen of God, we have greater light today. I have
greater light, just like a man who, after something takes place,
knows more about it than a man before it takes place. And I
know, I know Christ is coming a second time. He promised it.
And I don't know a great deal about His coming. I don't know
the day or the hour, I just know He's coming. And I know it's
going to be There's going to be a judgment. There's going
to be a new heaven and a new earth. But now, if you'll wait a little
while and see me on the other side, I'm going to tell you all
about it. I'll tell you everything that happened. And that's the
way these men were back in the Old Testament, all the way back
to Adam. They knew a lot about Christ. They knew a lot about
the Redeemer. They knew a lot about His coming.
And they had the promises, and they saw them afar off, and they
believed them, they embraced them, they trusted them. But
now today you and I have more light and understanding and a
clearer revelation that Christ has come and he died for our
sins according to the scriptures. But as to ground and substance,
their hope is the same as ours. It's Christ. As to ground and
substance, their faith is the same as ours. They look to Christ.
Let me show you that in my text. Let's go back to Job and let's
read what he says. Understanding some of those things
that I pointed out, let's see if this statement that Job gives
us. Now he says in Job, I told you
this morning, he was at his wit's end. The hand of God had touched
him and he had lost everything. He's sitting there waiting to
die. And he says in verse 23, I wish these words that I'm about
to speak were written in a book for everybody to read. He said,
I'd like for you to write them on my tombstone, graven with
an iron pen and lead in the rock. Put them on my tombstone so that
everybody can read it. I know that my Redeemer lives. Now the first word you see in
that is Redeemer. That's the word that stands out
of all words in those three verses. I know that my Redeemer, that's
what it's all about. It's about this Redeemer. And
there's no name, my friends, there's no name which is more
significant, more comprehensive, or more endearing to the believer
than Redeemer. Redeemer. I like Savior, Messiah,
but Redeemer covers the whole thing. You know what the word
redeemer comes from? It's a Hebrew word which signifies
a near kinsman, a near kinsman who has the right to redeem.
That's what it means. Now the book of Ruth will tell
you all about it. That's what it's all about, the kinsman redeemer.
That's why the book of Ruth is in the Old Testament. When Elimelech
sold out, unwisely sold out, and left Judea and went down
to a pagan country called Moab, he lost everything. And he died,
and his sons died, and his widow, Naomi, came back to Judah a beggar,
poverty-stricken beggar. She had lost everything. She
had no land, no house, no inheritance. She was helplessly, hopelessly
poverty-stricken. But there was a man, according
to Jewish law, by the name of Boaz, who was kin to Elimelech. He was kin to him. He was of
the family of Elimelech, and he was a wealthy man, and he
had God's permission to restore Naomi to her lost inheritance.
He had to be kin to her, and he had to be willing, and he
had to be able. But he bought back everything Elimelech lost,
everything Elimelech sold, this kinsman-redeemer. Now you see,
so here's what Job's saying. Job's saying, I know, I've sold
out. I've lost my inheritance. My
soul is lost. I'm in the gall of bitterness
and bondage of sin. I'm a guilty man. But my Redeemer,
my kinsman Redeemer, He's kin to me. He took upon Himself my
flesh and blood. He's of my family. He's of the
family of Adam, in the sense that He's flesh of our flesh
and bone of our bone, numbered with the transgressors. And He
has the ability and He has the power to buy back everything
Adam lost, and He bought it with His blood, and He bought it with
His righteousness. That's what the Word, that's
what this man's saying. I feel sorry for the preachers
who are trying to lead congregations who can't see this, Jay. I feel
sorry for them. They can't offer the people any
hope. What do they do when they read
this statement by Job? Here's a man who lived before
Moses, sitting over there in what we call the age of darkness
and no understanding, an age of conscience and judges and
all that foolishness. Here's a man talking about, I
know my Redeemer liveth, my kinsman Redeemer. Why, there's one thing
you can tell. That old boy knew that Christ
was coming, and he looked for Him. He looked for Him, and he
says, I know He lives. Look at that word. I know He
lives. He lives. I know He lives. He was then
living. He always had lived. He was a
living one with life in Himself. And I know He'll live forever.
He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. He lives. He's not
a dead Savior. He lives. And Job said, listen
to me. Here I am in 1981, but Job lived
roughly, let's just say roughly, 5,000 years ago. My Redeemer
lived then. See what my Redeemer lives, he
said. I know he lives. Well, wait a minute, Job, you
believe he's going to be born a woman, don't you? Yeah. But I know he
still lives. Old Job couldn't explain that
to you, but he knew what he was saying. He didn't say, My Redeemer
is going to live or shall live. He lives! He lives. I don't have time to develop
that. Well, don't you turn. Let me
find it for you. In the preacher school, we kid
one another about announcing something found over here in
Amos or Micah or Hosea and then struggling for 30 minutes trying
to find it, you know. Well, let me read this to you
in Micah, talking about the birth of Christ. Ephrathah, though thou be little
among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come
forth unto me. That is, to be ruler in Israel,
whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting."
The one who is born in Bethlehem was with God in the beginning
and was God and all things were made by him. His goings forth
have been from of old, from everlasting. And old Job says, I know he lives
right now. My Redeemer lives. Now watch
this word. Here's another word I see. He said, I know that my
Redeemer, my Redeemer. Now my friends, all that you
know, hear, speak of the Redeemer will avail you very little unless
you're really personally interested in Him as your Redeemer. Now
this is what it comes down to. We talk about Jesus. Christ is
the Savior of the world. That's all well and good. But
He better be my Shepherd. He better be my Redeemer. He'd
better be my Lord and my God. He's the Redeemer of all who
come to God by Him and nobody else. He's the Redeemer of all
who put their trust in Him and nobody else. He's the Redeemer
of all who bow to His Lordship and nobody else, for if thou
shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus to be Lord and believe
in thine heart, God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be
saved. Job said, My Redeemer. All right, watch this now. You
think he didn't know something about the coming of Christ? Watch
this next line. I know. This is not a supposition. He says, I know. He's talking
the same language John talked, 1 John, when he uses the word
know about 30 times. I know that I passed from death
unto life. We know that we love the brethren. We know that the Christ has come. And Job says, I know. My Redeemer,
my kinsman Redeemer, the one who will purchase my redemption,
I know He lives, and that He shall stand on this earth." Huh? He said in the latter day. But
my Redeemer, who inhabits heaven, who liveth, who's the giver of
life, in whom there is, and only in Him is there life, He is going
to stand on this earth. Somehow Job, by faith, with a
telescope of faith, could look down through the years and he
could see a man walking through Jerusalem and Jericho and Capernaum,
standing on this earth. That's right, he could. He could. I can see him standing on this
earth, he said. He's going to stand on this earth.
And bless your heart, a few years later he did. He stood on this
earth. He's born on this earth without
sin. He walked this earth in obedience to God's holy law.
He went to the cross and died on this earth. And he was buried
on this earth. But the grave couldn't hold him
and he rose from that tomb. And he ascended from this earth
to the right hand of God. But he's coming back to this
earth. And he's going to stand again on this earth. Now what's
the next thing? And I'll quit. He knew something
else, verse 26. He said, worms are going to destroy
this body. Job expected to die. He was appointed unto men once
to die, and after that to judgment. He expected not only to die,
but he expected his body to decay. He'd seen all this take place.
He knew it was going to happen. All believers are going to die,
unless Christ comes before we die. It says these all died in
faith. I'm going to die, you're going
to die. Scripture tells us that God teach us to number our days
Number our days not years and decades and millenniums our days
We may apply our hearts to wisdom I'm gonna die You're gonna die
and worms are gonna destroy this body going back to the dust Now
you don't think these fellas knew something, you know, he
talks about next he said I ain't gonna stay dead. Uh-huh. I don't
stay dead The worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh, new flesh,
resurrected flesh, raised flesh, restored flesh, I'm going to
see my Redeemer. I'm going to see Him. Job believed
in the resurrection. He expected the resurrection. This is a man talking before
Genesis, Exodus, and Leviticus was written. This is a man who
lived back yonder in what you call the days of the caveman.
This is a man who lived 4,000 or 5,000 years ago talking about
the Lord Jesus Christ, preaching the gospel of the divine incarnation
and visitation and sacrifice and death, my Redeemer living.
And talking about the resurrection. I know the old Sadducees didn't
believe in the resurrection, but Job did. And he says, verse 27, Whom I
shall see for myself, mine eyes shall behold, and not another,
not a stranger, not a new being, me, Job said, old Job himself. I'm going to see him. That sounds
like a sermon preached today instead of one of the first sermons
ever preached. Recorded, that is, recorded,
written. Job expected to die, expected
his body to decay and to go back to the dust. But he says on that
triumphant day, I'm coming out of that grave. Job is not a stranger,
not another, not a representative, not a man like Adam representing
all of us, not even Christ himself representing us. I'm coming out
in my flesh. Job didn't expect to have some
body you could see through in heaven. He expected to have flesh
and bones in glory, in my flesh. And he expected to walk this
earth again and see his Redeemer.