Because He Lives

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.520 --> 00:00:07.910 You know, we celebrate resurrection each Sunday. We did it today in the 2 00:00:07.990 --> 00:00:18.390 churches throughout Tucson and I think it's a very remarkable thing that indeed one of 3 00:00:18.469 --> 00:00:24.660 the greatest and most profound statements of the doctrine of the resurrection in the entire 4 00:00:24.780 --> 00:00:30.899 Bible is found not in the New Testament Gospels, where you might expect to 5 00:00:30.980 --> 00:00:36.969 find it, but rather in the Old Testament. And not only that, 6 00:00:37.210 --> 00:00:43.210 it's found in what I think is probably the oldest written book in the Bible. 7 00:00:44.929 --> 00:00:48.649 Now I'm referring, of course, to the book of Job and the 8 00:00:48.729 --> 00:00:55.920 testimony that he gives recorded in the nineteen chapter, Verses Twenty Five through twenty 9 00:00:56.000 --> 00:00:59.799 seven. That's our text for tonight. So if you would please stand and 10 00:00:59.960 --> 00:01:07.709 turn there, I will read this remarkable text in the book job. I'm 11 00:01:07.750 --> 00:01:11.549 going to begin reading at Verse Twenty Three and read through Verse Twenty Seven. 12 00:01:11.629 --> 00:01:19.579 Joe Nineteen, beginning with Verse Twenty Three and going through twenty seven. Our 13 00:01:19.700 --> 00:01:26.459 Pastor at Rincon Mountain priest on this text about three weeks ago and I want 14 00:01:26.459 --> 00:01:30.260 to return to it tonight. This is a this is God's word for us 15 00:01:30.299 --> 00:01:38.209 this evening. Oh that my words were written Oh that they were inscribed in 16 00:01:38.290 --> 00:01:42.849 a book, Oh that, with an iron pin and lead, they were 17 00:01:42.930 --> 00:01:49.680 engraved in the rock forever. Listen to these words, for I know that 18 00:01:49.799 --> 00:01:57.480 my redeemer lives and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And 19 00:01:57.640 --> 00:02:00.670 after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see 20 00:02:00.709 --> 00:02:07.509 god, whom I shall see from myself and my eyes shall behold and not 21 00:02:07.710 --> 00:02:13.629 another. The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our 22 00:02:13.710 --> 00:02:23.340 God stands forever. Please be seated. You know, critical scholars of the 23 00:02:23.419 --> 00:02:29.659 Old Testament. They they don't like to treat job as an old book, 24 00:02:30.849 --> 00:02:36.210 and I think the reason is that they have this they have this theory of 25 00:02:36.490 --> 00:02:42.689 Biblical revelation, which says that the Old Testament people were pretty primitive, that 26 00:02:42.849 --> 00:02:46.680 they barely believed in an afterlife, you know, let alone a resurrection, 27 00:02:47.439 --> 00:02:54.199 and they typically say that this doctrine didn't come until the resurrection of Christ. 28 00:02:54.719 --> 00:03:01.550 There for they typically liberal scholars, they typically date job late because because of 29 00:03:01.669 --> 00:03:07.830 the testimony in these verses here now, it's very interesting. There's there's absolutely 30 00:03:08.069 --> 00:03:15.099 nothing in job that will allow us to date it by any known historical event. 31 00:03:16.740 --> 00:03:20.740 He doesn't refer to any king. He doesn't talk about a flood, 32 00:03:22.180 --> 00:03:25.500 then talk about any earthquakes or anything like that, which would maybe help us 33 00:03:25.539 --> 00:03:31.129 to date it. But there is one reference that job refers to himself. 34 00:03:32.810 --> 00:03:37.930 In the opening sentence of the book. He says his he's living in the 35 00:03:38.009 --> 00:03:46.280 land of us. We don't know a whole lot about us, except that 36 00:03:46.439 --> 00:03:51.039 there are several other old testament references to it to place it near the Promised 37 00:03:51.039 --> 00:03:55.870 Land, near Canaan, the place where the Jews lived and the SYTHON's. 38 00:03:57.069 --> 00:04:03.110 The significant thing about that is that although this book reflects job's background, reflects 39 00:04:03.189 --> 00:04:11.419 his culture, and although us was very close to Canaan, there's absolutely nothing 40 00:04:11.500 --> 00:04:18.699 in it it gives any reference whatsoever the any of the events associated with Israel. 41 00:04:19.139 --> 00:04:25.529 There's no reference to the judges, there's no prince, to Moses himself, 42 00:04:25.689 --> 00:04:30.970 there's no reference to his sidekick Joshua, there's no mention of the Exodus 43 00:04:32.089 --> 00:04:38.089 or even to the Patriarchs who came before them. All. So you have 44 00:04:38.209 --> 00:04:44.360 to therefore conclude that job must have been written before there ever was such a 45 00:04:44.519 --> 00:04:49.959 theocracy as the Commonwealth of Israel. In other words, job is an old, 46 00:04:50.079 --> 00:04:58.029 old, old book perhaps, as I've said, that I'm persuaded it 47 00:04:58.230 --> 00:05:03.230 may be the oldest written book in the Bible, and the importance of that 48 00:05:04.389 --> 00:05:14.300 is that in it we find this remarkable testimony of the resurrection of God. 49 00:05:15.500 --> 00:05:18.740 Now you, most of you, know the background to this testimony. It's 50 00:05:18.779 --> 00:05:24.089 the story of job. Let me just quickly give you the cliff notes to 51 00:05:24.170 --> 00:05:28.649 review it for you. You know, in the very first paragraph of the 52 00:05:28.769 --> 00:05:34.009 book we learned the job was an extremely rich man, and we're given the 53 00:05:34.050 --> 00:05:41.279 inventory of his possessions. We're told that he had seven thousand sheep and lots 54 00:05:41.279 --> 00:05:46.399 of camels. At three thousand camels, five hundred joke of oxen, five 55 00:05:46.399 --> 00:05:53.670 hundred donkeys. Besides that he had seven sons through read daughters, and all 56 00:05:53.870 --> 00:06:00.629 the servants necessary to take care of that very large establishment. Yet the most 57 00:06:00.670 --> 00:06:03.459 significant thing of all, as at first paragraph of the book says, was 58 00:06:03.540 --> 00:06:12.420 that job was blameless and upright. He feared God, he turned away from 59 00:06:12.420 --> 00:06:18.689 evil. Well, the next section of job transports us into heaven and there 60 00:06:18.730 --> 00:06:24.370 we see Satan. We see the fallen angels coming to present themselves before God 61 00:06:24.610 --> 00:06:30.970 to render an accounting for what they've been doing. God Acts as Satan what 62 00:06:30.050 --> 00:06:35.000 he's been up to. Satan reports that he's been going back and forth on 63 00:06:35.120 --> 00:06:41.120 the earth. And then God calls attention to job and he says to Satan, 64 00:06:41.160 --> 00:06:44.439 you know, you've been going all around the earth. You know what 65 00:06:44.639 --> 00:06:51.829 things are like. You understand human nature. Have you considered job? He's 66 00:06:51.829 --> 00:06:58.629 an upright man. He fears God, he shuns evil. Now, at 67 00:06:58.709 --> 00:07:04.300 this point, Satan begins to slander job and he says to God, you 68 00:07:04.379 --> 00:07:09.980 know, no, wonder job worships you, God. It's because you made 69 00:07:09.980 --> 00:07:15.769 him a rich man. Not only that, you've protected all these things that 70 00:07:15.930 --> 00:07:21.290 you've given him. Who wouldn't accept a bargain like that? Any man in 71 00:07:21.410 --> 00:07:25.689 his right mind would give you a little lips service if you would give and 72 00:07:25.810 --> 00:07:31.240 protect all his stuff. Satan says that this is what job is doing. 73 00:07:32.879 --> 00:07:38.839 Now God denies this. He says to Satan, well, let's let's just 74 00:07:39.000 --> 00:07:43.439 put it to the test. You say that job loves me because of what 75 00:07:43.560 --> 00:07:47.110 I've given him. I'll let you take it all away and then we'll just 76 00:07:47.589 --> 00:07:51.670 will just see what he does. And so that's what Satan does. He 77 00:07:51.790 --> 00:07:57.709 goes out. You know the story. All at once, in rapid succession 78 00:07:57.870 --> 00:08:05.819 and a series of tragedies. All of job's possessions are taken away. We 79 00:08:05.980 --> 00:08:11.980 read that the Sabeian's steal his oxen and donkeys and they kill the servants who 80 00:08:11.980 --> 00:08:16.930 are taken care of them. Then a messenger comes and tells him that lightning 81 00:08:18.050 --> 00:08:24.569 fell from the sky and destroyed the sheep and those servants. Another Messenger comes 82 00:08:24.610 --> 00:08:28.519 and tells him how the Chaldean raiders swept down, carried off all the camels 83 00:08:30.759 --> 00:08:35.799 and killed the servants that were guarding the camels. And finally, a messenger 84 00:08:35.919 --> 00:08:43.750 brought this terrible news that a tornado swept him from the desert and hit the 85 00:08:43.870 --> 00:08:48.230 house where job's sons and daughters were all eating dinner. Than the roof caved 86 00:08:48.309 --> 00:08:54.750 in and all of his children were killed. See, those are tragic and 87 00:08:54.950 --> 00:08:58.940 overwhelming events, and I don't know about you, but I expect job to 88 00:09:00.019 --> 00:09:07.100 do what Satan said he would do, that he would curse God. Instead 89 00:09:07.100 --> 00:09:13.610 of that, here's what we find. We Find Job bowing down and worshiping 90 00:09:13.690 --> 00:09:18.850 God, and he says, naked I came from my mother's Womb and naked 91 00:09:18.929 --> 00:09:24.919 I shall return. The Lord gave and the Lord is taken away, blessed 92 00:09:24.639 --> 00:09:30.320 be the name of the Lord. And the very last line of Chapter One 93 00:09:30.480 --> 00:09:37.799 says in all this, job did not sin or charge God with wrong. 94 00:09:39.830 --> 00:09:43.669 Well, moving on, the second chapters, even worse than the first. 95 00:09:46.269 --> 00:09:50.629 Once again we're back in heaven. Satan's there and God calls attention to job. 96 00:09:50.750 --> 00:09:54.659 Again, Satan says the God will is sure you know, but you 97 00:09:54.779 --> 00:10:01.299 have to understand that a person values his health more than anything else. Job's 98 00:10:01.299 --> 00:10:05.139 afraid you're going to take away his health. Take away his health and you'll 99 00:10:05.139 --> 00:10:09.690 find it. He'll curse you to your face. So God told Satan he 100 00:10:09.730 --> 00:10:15.409 could take away job's health only if he only that he had to spare job's 101 00:10:15.610 --> 00:10:20.250 life. And so Satan went out in any afflicted. Joh Job with these 102 00:10:20.330 --> 00:10:24.679 terrible boils, he's painful boils. Now, at this point in the story 103 00:10:26.360 --> 00:10:33.399 gets worse. Even job's wife turns against him. Now she's lashing out, 104 00:10:33.480 --> 00:10:39.830 I'm sure in her pain over the death of her kids. So she chees, 105 00:10:39.990 --> 00:10:41.750 says to her a husband, are you still holding under your integrity? 106 00:10:41.870 --> 00:10:50.539 Curse God and die. But job, remarkably says, shall we receive good 107 00:10:50.659 --> 00:10:56.299 from God and not trouble? And the text says, and in all this 108 00:10:56.659 --> 00:11:05.409 job did not send with his lips. Now here's the thing. Job didn't 109 00:11:05.409 --> 00:11:09.690 understand any of this. Nobody was revealing to him, you know, what 110 00:11:09.889 --> 00:11:13.370 was going on? He didn't. He didn't have the foggiest idea why all 111 00:11:13.409 --> 00:11:18.679 this had come down on his head. And yet, in the midst of 112 00:11:18.799 --> 00:11:26.360 all this tragedy and without any idea whatsoever why it's happening, we get this 113 00:11:26.559 --> 00:11:35.549 remarkable confession of his faith in Chapter Nineteen, and I find that it has 114 00:11:35.830 --> 00:11:39.309 three main points and I'd like to take you through them so that will understand 115 00:11:39.429 --> 00:11:48.259 just just how remarkable this confession really is. First of all, job says 116 00:11:48.299 --> 00:11:52.379 in Verse Twenty Five. Looked there. He says in Verse Twenty Five that 117 00:11:52.460 --> 00:12:00.539 he has a redeemer who lives. Now, the idea of the redeemer in 118 00:12:00.620 --> 00:12:05.610 the old testaments. It's been it's there. It's so important that basically there 119 00:12:05.649 --> 00:12:11.289 are three words in the Old Testament used to describe it. Now the first 120 00:12:11.370 --> 00:12:16.639 word is is called Padda p a d e h, the second is coffer 121 00:12:16.679 --> 00:12:20.960 and the third is a word called Guy El, and the noun form of 122 00:12:20.039 --> 00:12:28.159 that verb is Goel and it refers to a redeemer. Now all of these 123 00:12:28.279 --> 00:12:35.269 words. Basically they refer to a powerful, influential person coming to the aid 124 00:12:35.389 --> 00:12:41.909 of somebody who's Oo's powerless. That's the bottom line. It's the redeemer's job 125 00:12:41.669 --> 00:12:46.899 to help someone who's in trouble. For example, if an Israelite lost his 126 00:12:46.980 --> 00:12:54.700 land because of some debt, for example, the Redeemer's task was to buy 127 00:12:54.820 --> 00:12:58.460 the land and restore it to the original owner, and he did it at 128 00:12:58.500 --> 00:13:07.730 his own cost. You remember the story in Ruth Bo Az exercise exactly that 129 00:13:07.889 --> 00:13:13.120 role when he brought back the land which had once belonged to the husband of 130 00:13:13.159 --> 00:13:18.559 Naomi and he returned it to the family. Now that's what a redeemer does 131 00:13:18.720 --> 00:13:28.429 at all. Three of those words basically describe that. But job in chapter 132 00:13:28.590 --> 00:13:35.190 nineteen he doesn't use the first two of those words that I mentioned. He 133 00:13:35.350 --> 00:13:41.539 uses the third word, the word guy L or Goel, and its noun 134 00:13:41.659 --> 00:13:48.860 form, and the unique quality of that ORB is that it describes one who 135 00:13:48.019 --> 00:13:56.889 is a relative. It describes one who is a kinsman. Anyone could exercise 136 00:13:58.129 --> 00:14:03.769 the role of a redeemer, but it was the specific responsibility of a kinsman, 137 00:14:03.690 --> 00:14:09.169 a relative, to do so, and that's why the verb, when 138 00:14:09.210 --> 00:14:13.879 it appears in the noun form in your bibles and Goel, it's usually translated 139 00:14:13.000 --> 00:14:20.360 not simply as redeemer, but it's translated as kinsman redeemer. He's the one 140 00:14:20.440 --> 00:14:24.789 who's related to the one who's in trouble. Now that's the word of job 141 00:14:24.870 --> 00:14:33.230 uses here. Well, who's he talking about here? Well, he's talking 142 00:14:33.269 --> 00:14:39.460 about God. That's why in most bibles the word redeemer is capitalized. It's 143 00:14:39.539 --> 00:14:48.259 capitalized in my Bible. But what's he saying? He's saying that this god 144 00:14:48.379 --> 00:14:54.970 in whom he trust is his kinsman. He is related to this kinsman by 145 00:14:56.129 --> 00:15:01.970 faith. That's what he's saying, and it's because this God is his relative 146 00:15:03.009 --> 00:15:09.039 or his kinsman, that he knows that God will stand by him at the 147 00:15:09.120 --> 00:15:15.559 last day. Do you see how important all that is? Job has a 148 00:15:15.639 --> 00:15:22.029 kinsman, redeemer, who is God, and I think you know the question 149 00:15:22.149 --> 00:15:26.389 is, do we have a redeemer like that? You See, if you're 150 00:15:26.389 --> 00:15:33.990 a believer in Jesus Christ, then God is your kinsman, he's your relative 151 00:15:35.059 --> 00:15:39.580 because by faith in Christ she become part of what we call the family of 152 00:15:39.659 --> 00:15:45.220 God. You're a brother or a sister of Jesus. God is our father. 153 00:15:46.940 --> 00:15:50.730 We're part of his adopted family. So I think that's the first thing. 154 00:15:50.889 --> 00:15:56.850 First important thing. Job confesses here that he has a redeemer, a 155 00:15:58.090 --> 00:16:04.919 Kinsman Redeemer, who is God. There's a second thing job says here that 156 00:16:06.360 --> 00:16:11.879 I think is even more remarkable than that, that he says that this redeemer, 157 00:16:11.919 --> 00:16:18.559 whom he trust, is one day going to appear upon the earth. 158 00:16:19.870 --> 00:16:26.750 You know, up to this point all we've really said is that Joe believes 159 00:16:26.789 --> 00:16:30.070 in God. Now, it's a personal and gracious God, to be sure, 160 00:16:30.429 --> 00:16:34.899 but many old test of the people believe that and they didn't leave this 161 00:16:36.019 --> 00:16:41.059 kind of testimony behind for us to read. Job Did, and what's really 162 00:16:41.179 --> 00:16:45.740 remarkable, I think, in what he says here in the second line of 163 00:16:45.779 --> 00:16:51.009 our text, he believes also that in the end, at the last, 164 00:16:52.529 --> 00:16:59.009 his redeemer is going to stand upon the earth. Now that's nothing less, 165 00:16:59.129 --> 00:17:07.279 dear ones, than faith in the coming incarnation of Jesus Christ. Now I 166 00:17:07.400 --> 00:17:11.759 admit that job maybe looking ahead, probably to maybe to the final judgment, 167 00:17:12.599 --> 00:17:18.670 what we would call the second coming, not understanding the details of the first 168 00:17:18.710 --> 00:17:23.309 coming of Jesus, which we know so well because of the Gospels. But 169 00:17:23.470 --> 00:17:27.670 that's a relatively unimportant matter for the point that I'm trying to make here. 170 00:17:29.910 --> 00:17:37.059 What job says that he believes that one day, sooner or later, first 171 00:17:37.099 --> 00:17:41.819 or second whatever it may be, his redeemer, that is God, is 172 00:17:41.900 --> 00:17:49.490 going to stand upon the earth in human flesh. I don't know about you, 173 00:17:49.609 --> 00:17:56.490 but I find that amazing. We're in the world. Did Joe get 174 00:17:56.569 --> 00:18:04.759 this idea though, an incarnation, particularly this early, and salvation history, 175 00:18:06.720 --> 00:18:11.559 you know, you just don't make something like that up. So where did 176 00:18:11.599 --> 00:18:18.230 he get it? Well, you go back to the earliest pages of the 177 00:18:18.269 --> 00:18:22.710 Bible and you find that even in the garden of Eden, this was what 178 00:18:22.869 --> 00:18:26.819 God had promised our first parents, Adam and eve. Now remember that Adam 179 00:18:26.859 --> 00:18:33.460 and Eve sinned by eating of the fruit of the forbidden tree. God came 180 00:18:33.539 --> 00:18:37.859 to judge them and he began with a judgment upon Satan, in the context 181 00:18:37.940 --> 00:18:45.009 of which he promised a redeemer. Famous verse. God said this in Genesis 182 00:18:45.049 --> 00:18:52.210 Three fifteen. I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your 183 00:18:52.250 --> 00:18:57.440 offspring and her offspring. He will bruise your head and you will bruise his 184 00:18:57.680 --> 00:19:04.039 heel. You see, that's the very first announcement of the Gospel, the 185 00:19:04.200 --> 00:19:10.710 good news in all the Bible, Genesis Three Fifteen, and you see how 186 00:19:10.869 --> 00:19:17.029 significant this is. This is what Adam and eve believed. It's why they 187 00:19:17.029 --> 00:19:22.150 were saved. They were saved because they thought that God was going to send 188 00:19:22.190 --> 00:19:27.660 a redeemer. had faith in him. In other words, they looked forward 189 00:19:27.779 --> 00:19:33.019 to a redeemer, just like we look back now. They didn't know the 190 00:19:33.059 --> 00:19:37.809 name of this redeemer who was to come. That wasn't revealed Axley, until 191 00:19:37.890 --> 00:19:44.569 the Angel told Mary and Joseph What the name the child it. As a 192 00:19:44.650 --> 00:19:48.369 matter of fact, when Adam and Eve had their first child, they named 193 00:19:48.410 --> 00:19:52.559 him Kane and they thought that he was the redeemer, and that's what Kane 194 00:19:52.599 --> 00:19:59.079 actually means. The name means here he is. They were wrong about that, 195 00:19:59.200 --> 00:20:03.759 but I think, you know, they had the right idea. They 196 00:20:03.799 --> 00:20:07.309 were looking forward to a redeemer, to a savior, and see, that 197 00:20:07.630 --> 00:20:15.390 was the hope, that was the Gospel and that was the message that was 198 00:20:15.549 --> 00:20:22.740 passed on from generation to generation to generation, and so Adam taught it to 199 00:20:22.859 --> 00:20:27.259 his son Seth. It was part of that believing godly line. That'slicit for 200 00:20:27.339 --> 00:20:33.660 us. In the fifth chapter of Genesis, Seth passed it on to his 201 00:20:33.819 --> 00:20:37.849 son, you passed it on to his son and finally any any got ahold 202 00:20:37.930 --> 00:20:44.049 of it. Any passed it on to Mathuselah, who was his son, 203 00:20:44.849 --> 00:20:49.799 and then Noah had it. And in those days there were only a few. 204 00:20:49.960 --> 00:20:55.799 But what they believed was this Gospel that one day God was going to 205 00:20:55.880 --> 00:20:59.039 send a redeemer in the flesh, born of a moment, who was going 206 00:20:59.079 --> 00:21:03.960 to save them from their sin, and that was passed on after the flood 207 00:21:03.039 --> 00:21:08.910 to the Godly Patriarchs. It's what Abraham believed. So what Isaac believed, 208 00:21:10.309 --> 00:21:17.990 what Jacob believed. And the remarkable thing about job is that we fight in 209 00:21:18.109 --> 00:21:25.700 this early, almost prehistoric time, that this faith had spread even beyond the 210 00:21:25.900 --> 00:21:33.289 immediate family of Abraham to a godly eastern cattle breeder and that he, no 211 00:21:33.450 --> 00:21:37.970 less than the others, was looking forward to the Jesus who was to come. 212 00:21:40.089 --> 00:21:49.799 That's remarkable. That's important. Here's what this says in clear terms is 213 00:21:49.839 --> 00:21:55.400 that an all the long history of the human race, there has never been 214 00:21:55.519 --> 00:22:00.200 any other way of salvation than by the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. 215 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:06.869 There's no other way. Salvation comes through him who defeated Satan at the Cross, 216 00:22:06.950 --> 00:22:12.430 even though Satan wounded him, and who overcame Satan and even death by 217 00:22:12.470 --> 00:22:21.779 the power of his resurrection. You know. So when when Christopher Chelpiga or 218 00:22:21.819 --> 00:22:30.490 Dan Smith or myself stand up here and we preach Christianity to day, we 219 00:22:30.609 --> 00:22:37.130 are not preaching some novelty, they're not preaching some new thing, we're not 220 00:22:37.250 --> 00:22:45.720 putting forth some fad. We're preaching what God himself has delivered from day one 221 00:22:47.160 --> 00:22:52.480 to the saints and we challenge you to believe that and to be saved. 222 00:22:56.400 --> 00:23:02.829 There's a third aspect here of job's faith that we find is that when his 223 00:23:02.990 --> 00:23:07.710 redeemer stands upon the Earth in that far off day, whenever it may be, 224 00:23:07.950 --> 00:23:14.579 job himself, it says here is going to see him. You know, 225 00:23:14.700 --> 00:23:18.299 each of these statements, as are just blows my mind. They're even 226 00:23:18.339 --> 00:23:26.859 more remarkable than the last. It's truly remarkable that job has his full orbed 227 00:23:26.980 --> 00:23:32.369 faith, you know, in a living, personal, compassionate God. That's 228 00:23:32.450 --> 00:23:37.809 remarkable. It's even more remarkable, remarkable that he believes in the incarnation, 229 00:23:38.369 --> 00:23:41.119 that this God, in the form of the second person of the Trinity, 230 00:23:41.319 --> 00:23:45.519 is going to take on human flesh and stand up on the earth. But 231 00:23:45.720 --> 00:23:53.599 now we find that he actually believes in his own personal bodily resurrection, not 232 00:23:53.799 --> 00:24:00.869 to what he says here in Verse Twenty Six. After my sin skin has 233 00:24:00.950 --> 00:24:06.390 been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God, that is, 234 00:24:06.549 --> 00:24:12.859 after he dies and is buried in worms destroy his body. Yet in my 235 00:24:14.099 --> 00:24:18.980 flesh I shall see god, whom I shall see for myself and my eyes 236 00:24:18.140 --> 00:24:26.250 shall behold and not another. Here's this cattle breeder, here's job, at 237 00:24:26.329 --> 00:24:32.250 the very, very beginning of redemptive history. He's saying that he believed in 238 00:24:32.369 --> 00:24:38.839 the afterlife and when he died, it wouldn't be the end that he would 239 00:24:38.839 --> 00:24:44.640 still be there, knowing he was in his own person. You know, 240 00:24:44.799 --> 00:24:49.880 he believed that his current body would die and decay. But one day, 241 00:24:52.599 --> 00:24:56.789 one day, his redeemer is going to intervene on his behalf, and when 242 00:24:56.829 --> 00:25:03.309 that happens, he's going to stand upon the earth and job will see him 243 00:25:03.309 --> 00:25:08.099 with his own eyes, not with the eyes of another, not by the 244 00:25:08.220 --> 00:25:15.740 report of somebody who can see, but with his own eyes he's going to 245 00:25:15.819 --> 00:25:26.650 see his redeemer. Well, Lemmi, let me conclude with this. You 246 00:25:26.769 --> 00:25:32.250 know, as you look at the story, of job, it becomes clear 247 00:25:32.369 --> 00:25:37.279 that it was his faith in Jesus Christ, his living redeemer, that made 248 00:25:37.319 --> 00:25:42.200 all the difference in his life. Well, what what was the difference? 249 00:25:45.119 --> 00:25:47.839 Well, for one thing, this kind of faith gave him hope. gave 250 00:25:47.880 --> 00:25:55.150 him hope instead of despair. You know, if ever any circumstances of life 251 00:25:55.230 --> 00:26:02.230 could ever lead a man to despair, it's those which job experienced. Now 252 00:26:02.309 --> 00:26:06.660 they were sudden, they were overwhelming, they were undeserved, they were unmitigated. 253 00:26:07.859 --> 00:26:12.019 But he wasn't overwhelmed, jeer, he was he was hard pressed, 254 00:26:14.259 --> 00:26:19.089 he was perplexed. That too. He was persecuted by Satan. He was 255 00:26:19.170 --> 00:26:23.650 struck down, yes, but still believing, still trusting, still giving glory 256 00:26:23.769 --> 00:26:30.690 to God, and I think these scriptures tell us it will be the same 257 00:26:30.809 --> 00:26:37.440 with you. That's why God promises. He says if, whenever you experience 258 00:26:37.559 --> 00:26:45.559 trouble, temptation, that he will provide a way of escape so you will 259 00:26:45.599 --> 00:26:52.630 be able to take the heat and bear it. Here's another thing. I 260 00:26:52.710 --> 00:26:59.029 think faith in a living redeemer leads to praise instead of cursing. No, 261 00:26:59.190 --> 00:27:03.980 job didn't curse God when he suffered. Instead, he said, should we 262 00:27:03.099 --> 00:27:07.779 accept good from God? And not trouble. May the name of the Lord 263 00:27:07.859 --> 00:27:12.980 be praised. No, the world will never do that. The world can't 264 00:27:14.019 --> 00:27:19.609 do that. The world curses God and things go bad. But you know, 265 00:27:19.690 --> 00:27:26.730 it's Christians we sing. We Sing it Easter Christmas, we sang every 266 00:27:26.769 --> 00:27:34.279 Sunday. We even sang at funerals. Christians sing in their hearts even when 267 00:27:34.319 --> 00:27:38.480 the most terrible things come upon them, because they know that their redeemer lives 268 00:27:41.319 --> 00:27:45.150 and that one day he will stand up on the earth and they will see 269 00:27:45.190 --> 00:27:51.230 him with their own eyes and in that day they know without a doubt that 270 00:27:51.390 --> 00:27:57.940 they will be vindicated. That's why we sing. So here's the question that 271 00:27:59.059 --> 00:28:03.299 I press upon all of us tonight. Do we have the faith of job? 272 00:28:06.299 --> 00:28:08.980 Do we have that kind of faith? You know, I think answering 273 00:28:10.059 --> 00:28:15.730 that question is one way of determining if you're a Christian or not, whether 274 00:28:15.809 --> 00:28:22.009 you believe in the doctrine of the resurrection as a reality and not just merely 275 00:28:22.089 --> 00:28:30.680 a strange religious curiosity. So the question is, is Jesus Christ your go 276 00:28:30.880 --> 00:28:37.359 well, is is he your kinsman, redeemer? Are you related to him 277 00:28:37.480 --> 00:28:45.069 by saving faith? You know, we don't let this week go by until 278 00:28:45.109 --> 00:28:51.750 you can claim that personal relationship with Jesus Christ for yourself. Fact, don't 279 00:28:52.869 --> 00:28:59.180 even rest today until you know the really rest in him. Don't rest until 280 00:29:00.460 --> 00:29:06.619 you can truthfully say with job I know that my redeemer lives and that the 281 00:29:06.660 --> 00:29:11.450 last he will stand upon the earth and after my skin has been destroyed, 282 00:29:11.450 --> 00:29:15.849 yet in my flesh I shall see god, whom I shall see for myself, 283 00:29:15.970 --> 00:29:19.170 and my eyes shall behold and not another. Let's pray