I know that my Redeemer lives

It's so good to be among you, always to receive the warm welcome you give to Muriel and to myself. God has laid on my heart a portion from Job chapter 19. I'm sure you know the highlight of this passage, but to interpret it in its context gives it a tremendous new meaning. You may remain seated as I read to you from Job 19 verse 1. Then Job answered and said, How long will you torment my soul and break me in pieces with words? These ten times you have reproached me. You are not ashamed that you have wronged me, and if indeed I have erred, My error remains with me. If indeed you exalt yourselves against me and plead my disgrace against me, know then that God has wronged me and has surrounded me with His net. If I cry out concerning wrong, I am not heard. If I cry aloud, there is no justice. He has fenced up my way so that I cannot pass. And He has set darkness in my paths. He has stripped me of my glory and taken the crown from my head. He breaks me down on every side and I am gone. My hope He has uprooted like a tree. He has also kindled His wrath against me and He counts me as one of His enemies. His troops come together and build up their road against me. They encamp all around my tent. He has removed my brothers far from me, and my acquaintances are completely estranged from me. My relatives have failed, and my close friends have forgotten me. Those who dwell in my house and my maidservants count me as a stranger. I am an alien in their sight. I call my servant, but he gives no answer. I beg him with my mouth. My breath is offensive to my wife, and I am repulsive to the children of my own body. Even my young children despise me. I arise and they speak against me. All my close friends abhor me, and those whom I love have turned against me. My bone clings to my skin and to my flesh, and I have escaped by the skin of my teeth. Have pity on me, have pity on me, O you my friends, for the hand of God has struck me. Why do you persecute me as God does, and are not satisfied with my flesh? Then comes a brilliant flash of Holy Ghost in sight. Oh, that my words were written Oh, that they were inscribed in a book, that they were engraved on a rock with an iron pen and lead forever. For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth. And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God. whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. How my heart yearns within me! If you should say, How shall we persecute him? Since the root of the matter is found in me, be afraid of the sword for yourselves. For wrath brings the punishment of the sword, that you may know there is a judgment. So reads the Word of God. May God, the Holy Spirit, be pleased to open its meaning to us this morning. When misfortune strikes, the first word that comes to our lips is why. Why has it happened to me? It's so unfair. What have I done to deserve this? It's a very revealing question, isn't it? Because it demonstrates that most people are a lot nearer to faith than they would have us to believe. You see, if we really believed that there is no God, and the world just came to be by chance, we would never ask the question why, would we? It wouldn't make sense to ask it. But the fact that we ask why so instinctively proves that deep within all of us, we are sure there is someone out there in control of everything and nothing happens without a reason. So when suffering enters our lives, We know that the God who is in control has allowed it for a reason, and there has to be an explanation. We expect an answer to our question. C.S. Lewis, in his famous book, The Problem of Pain, says, suffering is the megaphone that God uses to rouse a deaf world. Atheism is a game you can play in times of health and prosperity, but when suffering strikes, atheism becomes the philosophy of unendurable despair. I say God can and does use suffering to arouse faith. And no one illustrates this better than Job, who suffered about as much as anybody could conceivably suffer. First of all, he was a very rich man. Within 24 hours he was bankrupt. In a single day he lost all of his livestock through marauding bands and through lightning. As if that wasn't enough, he lost all ten of his children when the walls of the house they were in suddenly collapsed upon them. And as if that was not enough, his body broke out with the most painful and disfiguring boils. It was all too much for his wife and as her faith began to fail, the marriage soured. Curse God and die. was all the sympathy that she could muster for her husband. And even his friends misrepresented him as someone who must have done something terribly wicked to bring all this misfortune upon himself. And he tells us here in chapter 19 that he feels that even God has turned against him. Verse 6, know then that God has wronged me. Verse 9, he has stripped me of my glory. Verse 10, my hope he has uprooted like a tree. Verse 11, he counts me as one of his enemies. And then verse 21, have pity on me. Have pity on me, O you my friends, for the hand of God has struck me. Ah, but amid all the despair, faith fights back like a drowning man fighting for air. And by the illumination of the Holy Spirit, he suddenly sees that all is not lost. With a brilliant flash of insight, he exclaims, for I know that my Redeemer lives. Now as we know in the book of Ruth, if you died, leaving your widow penniless, it was the legal duty of a relative or a near kinsman to pay your debts and meet your obligations. Boaz did this for Naomi and Ruth. And this person was called a redeemer. The very word Job uses here. and it bursts from his lips suddenly as he sees he is not alone. Someday someone will arise to defend him. Who will it be? Well, Job doesn't know his name, but he is so sure that he wants somebody to record his testimony. Verse 23 Oh, that my words were written. Oh, that they were inscribed in a book. That they were engraved on a rock with an iron pen and lead forever. For, because I know that my Redeemer lives. He knows. What a weighty and eternal insight it is. And if he is going to lose his life, if he is going to die, God will send somebody to redeem it. Well, let's look at these inspired words of Job. Firstly, Job speaks of my Redeemer. For I know that my Redeemer lives. And the Hebrew word for redeemer that is used there might better be translated as vindicator or advocate, a person who speaks and acts on your behalf. In all of his troubles, God enabled Job to look forward through the centuries and see with amazing fullness the second coming of Jesus Christ, who is fittingly described in the New Testament as our Advocate. The Apostle John, writing to Christians in his first epistle, says, If anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous, Jesus is our Redeemer. He is our heavenly Advocate or Vindicator. Now we of course have a fuller knowledge than Job had. We stand on this side of Bethlehem and Calvary and Easter. But what Job was permitted to see We see today with even greater clarity what He foretold by the Holy Spirit God has fulfilled. And so we worship not a Redeemer who is yet to appear, whose name we do not know, but one who has come, who has died, who has risen again, and who lives forevermore to justify His people before God the Father. And his name is Jesus. If we are Christians, we can say with an even deeper knowledge than Job had, I know that my Redeemer lives. I know that my Advocate, my Vindicator lives at the right hand of God. And although I have nothing but my own sinfulness, and I am utterly unfit and unworthy to appear before a holy God, I have an advocate before God to plead my cause. In His body He bears the marks of His dying for me, for He is the one who took my place on Calvary, and He bore the penalty of my sin in His own body on the cross. And now, endowed with all authority and all dominion, He is there at the right hand of God on my behalf. Every Christian knows that. Moreover, because our advocate represents us before the throne of God, he is the one who speaks up for us against our accusers. Job had his critics who misunderstood the test that he was going through, who questioned the integrity of his life and of his faith in God. But Job also had the devil who accused him of serving God only because it was profitable for him to do so. Now that's the devil's business, isn't it? He is called the accuser of the brethren. He is a subtle and relentless foe whose favorite tactic is to point out our shortcomings to God as reasons why God should have nothing more to do with us. What are we to say? We are to affirm boldly, I know my Redeemer lives and that He has answered Satan's accusations by paying the debt of all my law-breaking, of all my sin. fully on the cross. Let the devil say what he will. My Redeemer has settled my debts in full. That's what we are to say. In the name of Jesus we are to throw all his accusations back into his face. As Paul says in Romans 8 when he faces similar accusations, who is he who condemns? For it is Christ who died for our sins, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, and also makes intercession for us. That's the first thing. Job knew he had a Redeemer. Secondly, he tells us here that his Redeemer is a living Redeemer. You see, a dead Redeemer who acted on our behalf and perished in the attempt might evoke gratitude from us, but it would be gratitude that is tinged with sadness. There would be no hope in having a dead Redeemer or Vindicator because we couldn't expect any further help from Him, could we? A child whose mother dies at childbirth might look back with gratitude to her noble sacrifice, but as I say, it would be a gratitude that is tinged with sadness. As that child grows up, there will be a thousand and one moments when he or she will need her help and want it, but it will not be forthcoming because she's dead. And you know, there are many people in our churches today who are like that. They look back to someone who has made a noble sacrifice, but is now dead. Christ, even though they come to church every Sunday, is not a living reality in their lives. But that is not biblical Christianity. We look back to one who died and then rose again. Christ is our advocate, our vindicator before the throne of God. Now clearly, it's very difficult, if not impossible, for us to feel the initial excitement that those early disciples felt when they met the risen Christ. when they discovered for the first time that he was not dead, but was alive. For them the crucifixion of Jesus was utter darkness. His death seemed to be the end of all their hopes and all their dreams. But when he appeared to them three days later, joy unspeakable filled their souls. But friends, if we cannot experience the same initial excitement that they experienced that first Easter Sunday morning, we can certainly enter by faith into the confidence that they received afterward. We can know without a shadow of doubt that at the right hand of God, exalted above all dominion and power, is our risen, yes, and living Redeemer. And there, says the writer to the Hebrews, he is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through him, seeing he ever lives to make intercession for them. He is a living Redeemer. Next Job says, this Redeemer of mine is not a Redeemer who is tucked away forever in some remote part of heaven. No! He's my returning Redeemer. For I know my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth. To stand on the earth is to claim it. to reclaim it from Satan, whom Jesus himself described as the ruler of this world. That is part of God's plan of redemption. And so the Apostle Paul says, Creation itself will also be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. How comforting, friends, to know that God, who gave His only Son to die for our sins and to rise again for our justification, is not going to abandon His purpose for this earth. He is the God who will renew what sin has marred. And so we look forward to the coming again of our Lord Jesus, who will stand at last on the earth and reclaim it. The present state of things is not going to continue forever. We are not always going to live in a fallen, sinful world where God and his people are hated and vilified without a cause. We are not always going to be in this situation where evil seems to triumph, and disease and death mar God's handiwork in the world all around us. No, we look forward to the final triumph of God's purposes at the end of history, when our Redeemer shall return in glory to reign forever over a renewed creation, free of the curse of sin. And in the words of the Apostle Peter, we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Friends, this is the hope in which every Christian has been saved. And it's all contingent upon Jesus Christ returning and standing on the earth. in great power and glory, the one before whom every knee will bow and every tongue confess as Lord to the glory of God the Father." I say, this is a grand affirmation, a thrilling testimony. And as we look at the empty tomb, you and I can accept it today with with a fullness of meaning that was doubtless hidden from poor old Job. But that's not the end. There is still more to this amazing prediction that Job was inspired by the Spirit of God to make. For in the fourth place, he speaks here of Jesus Christ as my almighty Redeemer. You see, he speaks not only of his Redeemer standing on the earth and reclaiming the earth, but he speaks about what his Redeemer is going to do for Job himself when he returns to the earth. Look at verse 26. And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God. You see, he faces the fact that all of us have to face that this body of flesh is doomed to perish, that one day this body will die and all the physical powers that God has given to us will cease to exist. These eyes that are able to see the beauties of nature all around us and the happy faces of family and friends will close in death. And these hands which we use so much in our daily work, these hands that can paint pictures and play music, will one day grow limp in death. And these feet that take us on errands of mercy wherever we want to go, and enable us to run and to jump for joy, are one day going to come to a halt in death. This body, this amazingly complex structure that is so much a part of us, of our ego, that it is very hard to imagine how we can ever do without it. This body is one day going to die and disintegrate. And you know the sad thing is that the world's finest, most brilliant thinkers have nothing to say that can bring us any comfort in the face of this approaching disintegration. How utterly hopeless is the condition of the man or the woman who struggles against tremendous odds to achieve great things in their career and yet knows that in the end They are just going to be buried in the ground. What an empty prospect. What a pathetic condition in which to be if that is all there is going to be to life. But the Christian does not believe that is the whole story. The true believer has a clear hope. He says with Job, for I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth, and after my skin has been destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God. Centuries before the first coming of Christ, the Greeks believed in the immortality of the soul. They saw the soul being liberated by death from the prison of the body in which it was encased, and the spirit continuing to live on. But the Bible does not speak simply of some kind of ethereal survival after death like that. It speaks rather of the resurrection of the body and its reunion with the spirit. It speaks, as here in Job 19, of human beings rising from the dead when Christ stands again upon the earth and seeing God in their flesh after their skin has been destroyed. And Jesus Christ, of course, was the first person to ever experience such a true resurrection. Everyone else whom God miraculously raised from the dead was merely resuscitated to physical life. They were restored to physical life for just a while. And sometime later, they had to do their dying all over again. But Jesus Christ was raised bodily from the dead, never, never to die again. His disciples felt and touched Him. Mary recognised the sound of His voice. He broke bread and ate with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. And then some days later, the Gospel writers tell us that Jesus ate bread and fish with the apostles on the shores of the Lake of Galilee. He truly had a body of flesh, and yet there was something different about it, something supernatural. It was not quite the same body as it was before. Oh yes, it was flesh and bones, but it was not flesh and blood. It was tangible and could be felt. And yet it was intangible and it could enter a room where the doors and the windows were tightly shut. It defied the law of gravity and ascended up into the sky. It could exist without oxygen or food or water. It was not subject to aging or disease or pain or death. It was a glorified body. Well, my brothers and sisters, that's the kind of body we look forward to after death. There will be some continuity with our old body. It will be, the new body will be a body of flesh, but it will be gloriously different. So when we think of our risen Redeemer who is now seated at the right hand of God on high, we do not see someone whose body in heaven has no connection and no significance for us, as it were. Rather, we see Christ's new body as a prototype of the resurrection body we are going to have. For when he returns, says Paul, he is going to transform our lowly body that it may be like his glorious body. So this is the hope to which all of us as Christians look forward. Though one day we must die and our body decay in the dust, it will not remain in that state of corruption. God will raise our bodies from their graves on the last day when our Redeemer returns and stands on the earth. And in our flesh, with our very own eyes, physical eyes, we will see God. Now I want us to think about that just a little more. Here in this life, says the Apostle Paul, we walk by faith. not by sight. We do not see Christ. And again, now we see in a mirror dimly, but then, at the end, face to face. What a glorious and marvellous day the return of Christ is going to be, when Jesus bursts through the skies at the end of the world, and we shall see Him as He is. And John says, we will suddenly become like Him whom we see. What a glorious and marvellous day, I say. Well, that's the claim of Job, too. By the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he was given this insight far beyond himself. Whom I shall see for myself, he says, and my eye shall behold. and not another. We shall see with Job the glory of God for ourselves and be lost in love and wonder and praise forever. Of course, as I have just said, we do see him now in a sense, dimly, when we open his word or we hear it preached. But it is always, always through the eyes of another. We see Christ through the eyes of the Old Testament prophets, or we see Christ through the eyes of the New Testament apostles, or we see Christ in a more limited sense through the eyes of our present fallible teachers. But when he returns to the earth, says Job, I shall see him for myself and my eyes. shall behold Him. It will not be the Christ who has been partially revealed to us, portrayed to us by others. It will be Christ Himself. And it will be a personal encounter with Christ. And we will be there on that day when His feet touch the earth. Our bodies will be raised from their graves and we will behold Him with our very own eyes. And friends, it will not be just a passing wonder, not just a brief glimpse or a moment of bliss. Listen to Job again. Whom I shall see for myself and my eyes shall behold. And the word behold, translated in the NIV as see, is more than see. The word behold is a very powerful word. It means to look long and contemplatively at something, to stare at something with awe. And our eyes will fix upon Jesus and never again be diverted. Heaven will be an eternity of gazing upon Jesus, in which our appreciation of Him is going to constantly deepen and increase, and our joy therefore forever overflow. Any experience of God that we have here, you know, even the most thrilling experience, at the most thrilling conference we can go to, lasts only for a brief moment. It quickly recedes, and something else has to take its place. But there will not be that kind of ebb and flow in our relationship with Christ in heaven. Heaven, rather, will be a constant gasp of awe as we stand before our Lord eternally delighting ourselves in His glory. Well, as I conclude, I want to say that I have often quoted these verses at a funeral, especially at the graveside. It's a wonderful affirmation of a believer's faith in the midst of death. I know that my Redeemer lives. and he shall stand at last on the earth. And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another." Why do these words bring such hope to ourselves? Surely it's because they are words of conviction. They stand in remarkable contrast to the agnosticism and the unbelief of today. You see, there are millions of our contemporaries who have very little hope and understanding of what lies beyond death. But Job doesn't share that uncertainty. He's in the Old Testament. He lived a few thousand years ago, but he doesn't have that uncertainty. His words are words of conviction, not conjecture. He says, I know, not I hope. Or, I would like to think this is true so that I might have some comfort when I die, but I know, I am convinced, I am utterly persuaded. Here is an unshakable conviction. How could he be so sure? Well, it was because he had put his faith in God a long time before. Long before this terrible test and affliction came upon him, he believed in God and he walked with God. He had proved God's faithfulness and God's power in his life again and again over many years. And so now he refuses to believe that at the end God is going to abandon him. God, he says, is my Redeemer, he's my Vindicator, he's my Advocate. I know that I can count on him to deliver me, not only from this trial I am presently going through, but even through the severest of trials, which is death. And you know, Paul again could utter the same triumphant testimony when he says, I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him until that day. Beloved, it's my solemn duty this morning to ask if you share God Job's conviction. Do you have this glad assurance in your heart? Can you say, I know that my Redeemer lives? Is He your advocate who will vindicate you against all the charges of God's holy law that you have broken again and again? Has Christ paid the debt of your sin in full? If you cannot answer these questions in the affirmative, if you are without Christ as your Redeemer, then I can only say that darkness and weeping and gnashing of teeth lie before you. Let me then, with all the love that is within me and God can give me, commend to you Jesus Christ, our living, returning, almighty Redeemer, who is able to save to the uttermost all who come to God through Him. And friend, I point you to Him, not so that you might admire Him, but so that you may humble yourself before Him, as a condemned sinner and look to Him in faith to pardon you of all your sins and to give you eternal life. If I'm speaking to those who already know Him and by faith are walking with the risen Christ, I bring you again this wonderful word of assurance to hold on to for the rest of your days. I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth. And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold. and not another. Let us pray. O God, our gracious Father in heaven, we thank you for your word, for your truth, revealed over thousands of years, 3,000 years altogether, and as relevant and up-to-date today as they were when they were first spoken and recorded. And Father, we pray that you will, by the Holy Spirit, burn these words of Job into all our hearts. so that if we do not know Job's Redeemer as our Redeemer, we may turn to Him quickly while we have the time, submit to Him, confess our sin to Him, and ask for His pardon, and live for Him till He calls us home. Father, if We do know that Christ is our Redeemer and that He lives at your right hand as our heavenly Advocate. We pray that you'll help us to continue our journey through life with this strong faith that you suddenly gave to Job in the midst of all his darkness. in the midst of all his doubts and despair, give us this faith in increasing measure, we pray, that nothing that we may have to face in the future, whatever it may be, will ever destroy our faith in Christ. We ask it, Father, for the glory of your holy name. Amen.