Am I Safe With God?

[0:00] The following message is given by Walt Alexander, lead pastor of Trinity Grace Church in Athens, Tennessee.! For more information about Trinity Grace, please visit us at TrinityGraceAthens.com.

[0:13] ! Job 29. And Job again took up his discourse and said, Oh, that I were in the mouths of old as in the days, months of old, as in the days when God watched over me.

[0:30] When his lamp shone upon my head. You know, it's funny. I've never done this. Grace is supposed to be in Job 19. So, flip. I was like, I know that's not what I studied this week.

[0:45] In the same detail. So, we're in progress, guys. Job 19. Then Job answered and said, How long will you torment me and break me in pieces with words?

[1:02] These ten times you have cast reproach upon me. Are you not ashamed to wrong me? And even if it be true that I have erred, my error remains with myself.

[1:14] If indeed you magnify yourselves against me and make my disgrace and argument against me, know then that God has put me in the wrong and closed his net about me.

[1:29] Behold, I cry out, Violence! But I am not answered. I call for help, but there is no justice. He has walled up my way so that I cannot pass.

[1:42] And he has set darkness upon my past. He has stripped from me my glory and taken the crown from my head. He breaks me down on every side and I am gone.

[1:53] And my hope he has pulled up like a tree. He has kindled his wrath against me and counts me as his adversary. His troops come on together.

[2:05] They have cast up their siege ramp against me and camp around my tent. He has put my brothers far from me. And those who knew me are wholly estranged from me.

[2:19] My relatives have failed me. My close friends have forgotten me. The guests in my house and my maidservants count me as a stranger. I have become a foreigner in their eyes.

[2:32] I call to my servant, but he gives no answer. I must plead with him with my mouth for mercy. My breath is strange to my wife.

[2:44] And I am a stench to the children of my own mother. Even young children despise me. When I rise, they talk about me. All my intimate friends abhor me.

[2:55] And those whom I loved have turned against me. My bones stick to my skin and to my flesh. And I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.

[3:09] Have mercy on me. Have mercy on me, O you, my friends. For the hand of God has touched me. Why do you, like God, pursue me?

[3:20] Why are you not satisfied with my flesh? Oh, that my words were written. Oh, that they were inscribed in a book.

[3:32] Oh, that with an iron pen and lead they were engraved in the rock forever. For I know that my Redeemer lives.

[3:43] And at last, he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, and yet in my flesh, I shall see God. Whom I shall see for myself.

[3:56] And my eyes shall behold him. And not another. My heart faints within me. If you say, how will we pursue him? And the root of the matter is not found in him.

[4:08] Be afraid of the sword. For wrath brings the punishment of the sword. That you may know there is judgment. This is the word of the Lord.

[4:19] Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Please be seated. In February 1947, Glenn Chambers left home to fulfill his lifelong dream.

[4:36] He was a young Christian man raised in New York City. And he had a lifelong dream of being a missionary to Ecuador. The opportunity came, and finally when it came, he took it.

[4:49] At the airport in Miami, he was waiting to board his final flight. And he searched for a scrap of paper on which to write a note to his mother.

[5:00] A farewell note to his mom. All he could find was a scrap of paper from a magazine that he ripped off. The scrap of paper included an advertisement with the single word Y.

[5:14] In large capital letters on one side. So he took the other side and scribbled out a note, stuffed it in an envelope, and mailed it to his mother. That night, his airplane crashed into a mountain in Columbia.

[5:30] And he was killed. News of her son's death arrived before the note did. When the note arrived a few days later, Glenn's mother was startled by the haunting question on the other side of the note.

[5:49] Why? Why? She must have asked, why did my son have to die? Though the question why is common, it expresses the heart of the sufferer's anguish.

[6:06] Why did my husband die? Asked the widow. We had plans. We had plans for a life together. Plans and dreams for retirement.

[6:18] Why did I bury my child? Asked the parent. Children of the future, they are to look after us. It's a role reversal to bury your child.

[6:30] A devastating role reversal. Why did my parents split? Asked the teenager. Why did they throw away what we had?

[6:43] Why did my childhood go from innocence and peace to insecurity and fear and anxiety? Why did I get into this career? It seemed so right at the time, but now it just seems like a dead end and I've lost my shirt again and I don't know what to do.

[7:00] Why is my son handicapped? Why will his life be so different than any other? Will he ever live on his own? Will he ever have a life of his own?

[7:11] Why did I get injured? Why was I abused? Why am I still alone? Why, why, why? The question is so common, but the question is really, how did this happen?

[7:25] How did this come to pass? What was going on in heaven when this event came to pass in my life? Did God allow this to happen to me?

[7:36] Did it pass his inspection? Did God cause it? Did he bring it about? Is this God's doing? Is God for me or against me?

[7:49] Am I safe with God? In this book, Job begins asking the question, why, in chapter 3, and ask it again and again and again and again in different language.

[8:03] But he's asking that same question. Job is 42 chapters long. It's a long book. It seems God has given us a very long book on suffering for at least several reasons.

[8:17] The one is there are no easy answers and quick fixes to the sufferings of this life. The book of Job cannot be adequately summarized in a postcard or a tweet.

[8:29] So too, the anguish of suffering cannot be dispelled with a three-step formula. The sufferings of this life are not a problem often to be solved but a journey to be walked.

[8:43] But there's another reason Job is so long. The Lord wants us to learn about suffering from the inside.

[8:54] 18 chapters of the book of Job are Job's words. Job doesn't know why he's suffering. He doesn't know that God wants to prove to the whole world that worship is truly possible.

[9:08] That there is such a thing as a believer who loves God for God and not for the things God gives. But Job doesn't know that. He's not given that insight.

[9:22] He doesn't know what's going on. All that he can interpret is chaos and disorder and calamity from the hand of God. Why? The Lord wants us to learn suffering from the inside from someone in the wheelchair.

[9:37] It's easy to talk about suffering in the armchair. It's a whole lot different to talk about in the wheelchair. The Lord wants us to sit in the dust with Job. The Lord wants us to listen to his laments without interrupting and quoting Romans 8.28.

[9:54] The Lord wants us to feel the anguish of acute suffering. Last week we looked at the speeches of Job's friends and learned what not to say to those who suffer.

[10:06] This week we're going to consider Job's responses. So between chapter 4 and 27 Job has numerous responses to his friends.

[10:17] I wish we could study them all. I've read them numerous times this week. Delving into them. But I'm going to try to collect them. You know Job's responses are a varying mix of rebuttals.

[10:29] Impassion rebuttals. Despairing self-talk to himself. And agonizing protest to God. It's not always clear who the audience is in these responses.

[10:43] Because he goes between these three things. To his friends, rebuttal. Despairing self-talk. Woe is me. And agonizing protest. It's not always pretty.

[10:55] But Job 19 forms the heart of Job's responses. He's haunted by this question. Is God for me or is he against me?

[11:07] In a world where we're going, Hope in God will not put you to shame. Not even in the deepest valleys and the darkest nights. Hope in God will not put you to shame.

[11:18] Not even in the deepest valleys and the darkest night. But first point is the anguish of the sufferer. The anguish of the sufferer. You know, Job's friends have been saying to this, You have done this to yourself, Job.

[11:33] You remember that. You reap what you sow, Job. That's why this has come to pass. Nothing comes from nothing, as they say. Nothing ever could. Except for that's unbiblical. But it's popular.

[11:47] Job is haunted by this question, though. So he doesn't believe that. But he is haunted by this question. Has God done this? Job begins immediately in our verses by rebuking his friends.

[11:59] They refuse to listen to him. They continue to say, You're reaping what you sow. And he says, You have hurt me. Look in verse 2. How long will you torment me and break me in pieces with your words?

[12:12] You know. So they've said, How long will you keep talking, Job? And he says, How long will you hurt me? But notice he says, With words. We say, Sticks and stones will break my bones, But words will never hurt me.

[12:23] But he's saying he's haunted by these words. It's very important to see what's going on here. Right away, he's saying, It's not losing his wealth, His possessions, Or his families that haunts him.

[12:33] What haunts him is this accusation that God is against him. That's why the words hurt. That's why they tear down. Because they seem to imply to Job that God is against him.

[12:47] And he continues in this psalm devastatingly, He's saying how he believes God has caused his calamity. It's not payback for what he's done. It's not punishment for what he's done. Job repeatedly says throughout his responses, I am innocent.

[13:00] I am pure. I'm in the right. But he says, God must have done it. Who else could have done it? God has done it. And God is tormenting me. In these responses, he says, I'm tormented all the days long.

[13:15] You remember, he's sitting in the ashes, Scratching himself because of the boils That are all over his body. He said he's tormented in the night, Scared by dreams and terrified by visions.

[13:29] In George Orwell's 1984, The citizens are being watched under surveillance. Imagine a world where that was. Under surveillance at all times.

[13:39] By big brother. And Job says, God is like that. Always watching, But never helping. God has brought this about in his life.

[13:51] In a gut-wrenching lament. We have it for you. In Job 7, he says these words. Now you remember, he says, What is man? And if you know your scriptures, Psalm 8 says this. What is man?

[14:01] That you're mindful of him. That you care for him. What is man? That you pursue him with your love and care. But Job reverses it and says, What is man that you make so much of him?

[14:13] And that you set your heart on him. Visit him every morning. Test him every moment. The psalmist is overwhelmed with joy. That God thinks and cares for him.

[14:24] For Job, it's the opposite. Because of the calamity in his life, Knowing that God thinks of him and cares for him, Makes him feel like he's always under inspection.

[14:35] Like God is watching him for the least misstep. Ready to pounce on him. So much so that right after these verses, Job says, Will you just leave me alone? He calls God the watcher.

[14:50] That's what you are. You're just a watcher. All you do is watch. Continuing in our verses, He takes the argument a little bit more.

[15:02] So I'm trying to trace some of this argument Without going to all these places for you. But again and again, He says, God has caused my calamity. That's the only way it could have come to pass. Because I'm innocent and pure. But then he says, But though I'm innocent, God has not intervened.

[15:16] And so one of the things that runs through these responses of Job Is legal language. Job says things like, I'm making my case. I'm delivering my argument. I'm pleading my innocence.

[15:27] So he's imagining himself in a courtroom, Standing before God. Standing to plead on his own behalf, To defend himself. But he says, God doesn't answer.

[15:38] Look down there in verse 7. He says, I cry out violence, But I am not answered. I call for help, But there is no justice.

[15:51] Job compares himself to a man Mugged on the street, Crying out for someone to rescue him. But no one comes to his rescue.

[16:01] He quickly switches the metaphor, So to speak, And imagines his life like a city under siege. Look in verse 8, 19, 8.

[16:13] He says, He's walled up my way so that I cannot pass. He set darkness on my path. He says, There's nowhere to go. Everywhere he turns, His way is blocked. There's no way of escape.

[16:24] Every path he tries to take, There is darkness, So there's nowhere to go. There's nothing to do. Look in verse 9. He says, He stripped me of my glory And taken the crown from my head.

[16:35] So he imagines himself like the king of this city Who's dethroned. Because the city is under siege. So it doesn't matter what you do in your city. You're going nowhere.

[16:46] You have no power to do anything. That's the way he imagines his life. His city is under siege. His glory of ruling and reigning in his city is gone. His crown may as well be stripped from his head And thrown on the ground.

[16:59] But there's not only nowhere to go, Nothing to do. There's nowhere to hide. Look in verse 10. He says, He breaks me down on every side And I am gone.

[17:12] The walls of the city that Job imagines his life as Are completely broken down. This is his life now. There's nowhere to go. Nothing to do. Nowhere to hide. All the walls in his life are broken down.

[17:24] If you remember, the Lord said, I mean Satan said, There's a hedge of protection around this man, Job. Well that hedge is completely gone. And Job is completely invaded. Completely surrounded.

[17:40] The psalmist says, You've delivered me into the hand of the enemy. Or you've not delivered me into the hand of the enemy. You set my feet in a broad place. A beautiful word. Freedom and the deliverance of the Lord.

[17:53] But Job said, You have set my feet in a confining place. In a prison. I am absolutely stuck.

[18:05] There's no hope. Job is going through hell. He's going through the hell And the disorder, the chaos of what is acute, inexplicable suffering.

[18:23] In several of the speeches, Actually, the first couple, Job repeatedly says he longs to die. So continuing that lament that he did in chapter 3, Job talks about, Why did you bring me into this earth to do this to me?

[18:36] He longs to die. He's tormented by pain. He says that would be comforting to die. Why? Because more pain would be something I could feel when I can't feel anything else.

[18:50] The same thing that motivates us at times to respond in different ways when we suffer. But why has this happened? Why has this happened to Job? Look at verse 11.

[19:02] He says, Job is saying, as it were, In devastating language, I thought we were friends.

[19:19] But it's clear that I am your enemy. You have made me your enemy. Later, he says, Look in 21, He says to the friends, Do you not know?

[19:31] For the hand of God has touched me. If you want to study something in the book of Job, Study hands all throughout these chapters. It's repeatedly the hands of God that formed him and made him, The hands of God that are bringing this upon him.

[19:43] So he says, The hand of God has done it. So, What are we to make of all this? This is why you rarely hear sermons on Job.

[19:54] And I don't know if this is a good one. Or helpful one. God knows Job is innocent, But he never defends him. Let that settle.

[20:10] God knows that he, He also knows, He did not cause Job's calamity. That's the reason we're given the insight at the beginning. Though God is sovereign overall, We believe that.

[20:24] God did not take Job into his hands. Job was delivered into the hands of the enemy. Into Satan. Now this is very important.

[20:39] Because the way God rules the earth, He's sovereign. But there are still, These supernatural forces at work, That God's sovereign over, And yet have real power in this world.

[20:53] So Satan obviously wants to disguise himself, As God. And to leave Job thinking God has done this. But God didn't do it in that respect.

[21:06] Nevertheless, God lets Job blame him for 18 chapters. Why? Why? Surely not, So that we could say, It's good to be angry with God.

[21:20] That is not the reason, The book of Job was written. It's not good, To be angry with God. Who are you? Surely not, So that we would blame God, When calamity strikes, When inexplicable suffering happens in our life.

[21:36] Surely not, These words are not in the Bible, So that we would blame God, When calamity strikes. I think the reason, These verses are in our Bible, Is so that we would see, The reason God lets Job speak wrongly, With a skewed understanding, Of who God is, For 18 chapters, Is so that we would see, That God knows how men speak, When they're desperate.

[22:01] Sometimes, We can't tolerate, Somebody saying something wrong, For two seconds. It wasn't Tuesday, We went to that restaurant, It was Wednesday.

[22:12] You know what I mean? Like immediately, Inner jerk or whatever. But God's okay. He knows, That in desperation, Men say, Wrong things.

[22:24] He also wants us, To not be surprised, Not to be taken aback, When we see a sufferer, Say crazy things, We see a sufferer, Talk about the darkness, In ways that we can't understand, We shouldn't be surprised, Christopher Ash helpfully says, A real believer, Can go through utter despair, And desperation, A blameless believer, Who has not fallen into sin, Might go through utter dereliction, And yet at the end, Be judged a real believer, So, That is one of the reasons, The book of Job, But there's an unexpected, Encouragement here, In these wrestlings, With Job, With him saying, God has caused us, God has done this, This fixation, It's striking, That though Job is angry with God, Though Job blames God, Though Job says, God doesn't care about the righteous, And doesn't watch after them, Job never curses God, He never does, What Satan is trying, To get him to do,

[23:24] He never curses God, And even in the deepest valley, In the dark night, Job never says, I'm done with you, In fact, It's quite striking, That Job cannot turn his back, On God, He continues to lament, He cannot take his mind off God, He cannot move on, He cannot forget, Though Job is lamenting, The absence of God, It reveals that Job, Job wants God most, Job is actually, A true worshiper, It's shown as, A true worshiper, Is not crying, Merely about the devastation, That has brought, But the feeling, Of absence, And separation from God, And so, Eric Ortlund, Helpfully says, Job's deepest desire, Is to be right with God, Even if he states this desire, In a distorted, And foolish way, It is still very admirable, That the one loss, That pains Job most deeply, Out of all his losses, Is the loss of intimacy,

[24:25] Intimacy with God, So that, You're meant to see that, You should see that, That tremendous insight, It's the loss of intimacy, With God, And so it's a threat of hope, In the midst of some, Very very dark chapters, In the Bible, So the anguish of the sufferer, Point to the isolation, Of the sufferer, After detailing, How God has surrounded him, And attacked him, Job describes, How he has been, Isolated from everyone, In his life, Job repeatedly, Criticizes his friends, He calls them, You worthless physicians, You miserable comforters, You know, But here he doesn't really, Criticize so much, He does a little bit, But he doesn't criticize so much, As acknowledged, That the calamity, That has fallen on him, Has brought about a separation, Between him and his friends, He seems to move, In a concentric circle, Talking about all the people, That have been separated from him, He looks, Look at verse 13, He says, He has put my brothers, Far from me, Those who knew me, From when I was young, Are utterly, Are wholly estranged,

[25:26] He's saying, Those who grew up with me, Are far from me, The reference, Is not a reference, To distance, A reference to affection, A reference to relationship, They're estranged, The closeness and affection, That one marked their lives, When they were growing up, Toddling around the house, Says, In exchange for an awkward silence, And so, In the familial, Bonds, In the family relationship, He has been separated, Next he moves to his relatives, Look at verse 14, My relatives have failed me, My close friends have forgotten me, Perhaps he's imagining, Beyond the nuclear family, Into his, Larger family, Into cousins, And things like that, Or his close friends, That are not family, They too have failed him, They have left him, They have forsaken him, They have forgotten him, He continues, And talks about, The guest in his house, He was a wealthy man, The guest in my house, Verse 15, The maidservant, They count me as a stranger, A foreigner, I used to rule over this house,

[26:27] And walk around, They attended to my beck and call, Now they view me, As just a stranger, As an unknown, He moves further, And further out, And it gets worse, Where his close friends, And family forgot him, People on the streets, Despise him, They walk the different direction, They spit in his past, So to speak, Look at verse 18, Even young children, Despise me, Who would rise up, Against an elder in that culture, Despise them to their face, No one would, He says, Young children despise me, When I rise, They talk against me, What's he describing, Job is completely alone, He's forgotten, Forsaken, Despised, And rejected, But who doesn't know, The isolation of the sufferer, One article, Captured it well, And the author, A widower, Said, What is it like, To lose your wife, Saw that, Phrase in the article,

[27:28] Immediately, Drilled down, To see, What he would say, A number of words, Come to mind, One is invisible, I feel invisible, In plain sight, The one person, Who saw me, Is gone, The only person, Who could read, My every glance, And anticipate, My response, Is no longer, Available, Now we say this, Right, We say, That made me feel seen, It's always kind of, A little bit of a curious statement, I don't quite know, What all that means, But I think that's, What it's getting at, Right, We've all known, The isolation, The isolation of suffering, We know, What it feels like, To have a pain, That no one asks about, To have a child, That no one, Inquires about, To have a lost loved one, That no one remembers, To have a close friend,

[28:29] That doesn't, Understand, And so, There's this, Isolation, But the isolation, Is more than, Awkwardness, It's a genuine separation, This is part of, What's very jarring, For the sufferer, It's a genuine, Separation, Separation, The idea is, Suffering plucks us out, The rain falls, On the just, And unjust, That's the idea, Is God gives good things, To the just, And unjust, He blesses, The whole earth, But suffering, These things, Suffering plucks us out, Suffering is specific, Something happens to us, In suffering, That does not happen, To everyone around us, Suffering falls on us, In a way that hasn't fallen, On those around us, And leaves us facing, Different hardships, And different heartaches, That's some of what's going on, With the friends, Suffering has enclosed, Job in solitude, There's a cleft, Between Job and his friends, They can no longer reach him, As it were, He's across the way, There's a separation, So what do we do,

[29:32] With all this, I think Job takes us into, The eyes, Or I think the Lord, The Holy Spirit, Inspiring these words, Takes us into the, Agonizing isolation, Of the sufferer, So that we would not be surprised, When it falls on us, We would not be surprised, When we say, I feel, Alone, Don't be surprised, When you think, No one understands, Don't be surprised, When you have a hard time, Being around your friends, Even good friends, Don't be surprised, When it feels like, Suffering has separated, You from, Everyone you know, But, I also think, It's here, I believe it's here, And Job, The Lord takes us, In the agonizing separation, Of the sufferer, Agonizing, Isolation of the sufferer, So that we would not, Let suffering, Separate us, Didrich Bonhoeffer,

[30:34] In his book, Life Together, Fabulous book, With one weird section, To read chapter, Well the first, And third section, Just rip out the middle, He says, Trust me, He says, Sin demands, To have a man alone, It withdraws him, From community, The more isolated, A man is, The more destructive, Sin is, You could insert, Suffering, Where sin is, In that sentence, Suffering demands, To have a man alone, Right, Job had a test, That he must walk alone, Even his wife said, Curse God and die, Don't let suffering, Have you alone, Don't let your suffering, Permit you to turn inward, To withdraw, To avoid others, Don't let your suffering, Permit you to be, Wise in your own eyes,

[31:35] So often we can do that, So that we're no longer, Helped by others, Don't let suffering, Isolate you, You know, Often I'm, I think we carry this, Insumption, Sometimes implicit, Sometimes explicit, That the only person, That can comfort us, Is one who's gone through, Exactly what we've gone through, The only person, Who can help us, Parent teens, Must have had teens, The only person, Who can help us, With marriage problems, Must have been marriage, The only person, Who can help us, With the wreckage of divorce, Must have had a divorce, The only person, Who can help us, With the pain of loss, Must have had a great loss, We tune people out, Who haven't got the resume, But it's folly, I believe, You know, We flee to divorce care, Grief share, Man in the mirror, Little groups or whatever, But it's folly at times, It can be an echo chamber, A jury of our peers, That don't help us actually, God has given us, Something better in the church, God has given us, People who walk with one another, Weep with one another, The idea is, What you need, Is not someone who can weep, In the same way, As you can, But someone who's strong,

[32:35] Where you weak, Where you are strong, In their weak, That's how the church of God, Is built up, That's how we walk together, Comfort one another, So don't let suffering, Isolate you, You have a choice, No one makes you a victim, But you, I remember, And I told this story, Several weeks ago, When I was 13, My, First cousin, Best friend, Was hit by a drunk driver, And died, Years later, In our little, Presbyterian church, Where they have, Ruling elders, And, Teaching elders, My mom said, That my uncle, Was at church, And he served her communion, The very next Sunday, His son, Had just died, In a hit and run, She said,

[33:39] It's the most powerful thing, To her, She said, If he, Is not going to do this alone, Then I'm surely not, That's what you must do, There's no alternative, That's what we're trying to do, You know, In the church, In our church, We have, Community groups, And, They are a structure, They're not always awesome, And, You know, Whatever, You can move, You can try a new one, If you don't like the one, You're in, Whatever, We don't care, The point is, The community groups, Are trying to accomplish, This biblical imperative, Which is, Weep with those who weep, Rejoice with those who rejoice, Pray for one another, Help one another, Be hospitable to one another,

[34:40] You must do that, Or you will, Cheapen your Christian life, In a massive way, And in suffering, You'll find yourself, Completely alone, Stakes are high, In suffering, Not everyone makes it, Through a better person, Sometimes, People are far worse, Some of us, In isolation, Thirdly, The hope of the sufferer, The hope of the sufferer, The hope of the sufferer, Yeah, Alright, The hope of the sufferer, After describing the anguish, And the isolating, Agonizing isolation, We might be tempted, To say to ourselves, I know how this ends, You know, This is not, This is going from bad to worse, You know, This is going to be, A terrible lament, You know, But Job suddenly, Turns, Look in verse 23,

[35:40] He says, Oh that my words were written, Oh that they were inscribed, In a book, Oh that with an iron pen, And lead, They were engraved, In the rock forever, So Job knows, That death is coming soon, I mean, How could death not be coming, Everything else, Has been taken from him, But he doesn't want, His case to be forgotten, He doesn't want his friends, To have the last word, To put on his head, So and so to speak, This, Here lies Job, Who thought, That God was punishing him, But he was actually, Reaping what he sowed, Rest not in peace, Job, Perhaps is what the headstone, Would say, He's saying, You know, He's imagining this day, Very soon when he would die, And he says, Oh that my words, And my innocence, Were inscribed in a book, So where, That they were written down, That they were preserved, But more than that, He says, Oh that they were written, With an iron pen, And lead, That they were engraved, In the rock forever, In something that would abide, That his innocence, And his uprightness, That his purity of heart, Would be, He wants an indestructible record,

[36:42] Of what has actually happened, He doesn't want the story, To be mistold, Mishandled, He doesn't want, What has happened to him, To be the last word, Or what his friends say, About him, To be the last word, He wants all to know, That he's innocent, And then he turns from this, In a stunning, Declaration, Of his hope, Verse 25, He says, For I know, That my redeemer, Lives, Now before we dive, Into this, There's this extraordinary, Confession of hope, And I've told you, One of the things, That should fill us with hope, As we walk through, The book of Job, Is this idea, That he can't get God, Out of his mind, He can't be through with God, He can't just write him off, And move on, But there's also, This thread of hope, In which he's hoping, That there's a mediator, That there's some way, That he can be heard, By God, Some way, That his case, Can be heard, Before almighty God, We see it, In verse 9, He says, For he is not, God is not a man, As I am, That I might answer him,

[37:42] Or that we, Should come to trial together, He knows who God is, And who he is, But he says, There's no arbiter, Between us, That who might lay his hand, Upon us, So the problem, Is not, Job is saying, The problem is not, That God is against me, Or that God is a monster, The problem is, God is unlike me, God is transcendent, I'm a creature, I can't interact with God, That's why he's not talking to me, And so we, See this pop up, Several times, In verse 13, Or chapter 13, He says, A stunning declaration, When he says, Though he slay me, Yet I will hope, In him, It's devastating, And amazing, Startling, What he's saying, Though he believes, The hand of God, Has struck him, The only thing, He hasn't taken from him, Is his life, He says, Even if God treats me worse, I will hope in him, I'll trust in him, I will turn to him,

[38:43] Because there's nothing, That I want more, Than to walk with him, To be right with him, So he's not, Trying to prove his innocence, Before a jury, Of humans, Of human creatures, Of people, That are like him, He wants his innocence, To be proven before God, Because he wants his separation, Between him and God, To be erased, So that he can have the relationship, With God that he had before, That's what he longs for, Later in chapter 16, He says, I have a witness, In heaven, And so threading through, These things, This desire, For an arbiter, This belief, That he'll continue to hope, And this belief, That there's a witness, For him in heaven, Then in chapter 19, Right here in our text, He emerges, With this stunning hope, When he says, For I know, That my redeemer lives, And at the last, He shall stand on the earth, After my skin, Has been destroyed, Yet in my flesh, I shall see God, Whom I shall see for myself, And my eyes will behold him, And not another, My heart, Faints, Within him,

[39:43] These are some of the most, Well known verses, In the book of Job, And rightly so, But what do they all mean, He says, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know that I know, That I know, I know, That I have a living redeemer, Now if you know, Well the Old Testament, Talks about, What is a redeemer, A redeemer is one, Who stands up, For someone who's wronged, Stands up for a murder, Makes sure justice, Is brought about, After they're gone, Stands up for a widow, Makes sure she has offspring, To continue her line, And her family, We know that, We've seen that, In the book of Ruth, Beautiful story, About a redeemer, You should read it, You could read it, In 25 minutes, Boaz comes to redeem, A widow, Who has nothing, Gives her a child, Provides a way for everything, He redeems her, Job is saying, I have a redeemer as well, Job is saying, He knows my name, He knows my case, He knows I have been wrong,

[40:46] Think about that, He knows me, He will make all things right, This is the mediator, That Job has been longing for, So in the midst of absolute darkness, Of his suffering, He is believing, He's beginning to believe, He has a witness in heaven, But this mediator, Must be more than another man, Because he's already, Broached that idea, That this mediator, Must be more than an advocate, A champion, Someone to take up his cause, A good attorney, It must be more than that, This mediator, Must be God himself, It must be someone, Who can bridge the gap, Who can stand, And represent God, And yet can stand, And represent his case, So he's emerging, Into something powerful, In Old Testament theology, Because this mediator, Must be one, That cannot die, This mediator, Must be one, Who is always alive, This mediator, Must be the God, Who was from everlasting, To everlasting, That's what he's approaching, This idea, That God is not, Merely one, But God is three, God is more than one,

[41:47] We could hang out there, For the rest of the afternoon, But we can't do it, So he says, I know that my redeemer lives, There is someone, Who will represent me, In this way, Look in verse, He continues, I know, That my redeemer, Will stand, On the earth, At the last, Standing is a reference, To the redeemer's work, This idea, I will stand, And I will represent you, Before the great tribunal, I will plead your case, He's saying, My redeemer, Will stand on my grave, And plead my cause, But Job is not, After his reputation, Or his legacy, He's not after any of that, The idea is, This redeemer, Will silence forever, The anger of God, Against him, And restore, His friendship with God, That's what Job, Longs for, That's what this, Redeemer will do, But look what he says, He continues, He says, Look at verse 26, After my skin, Has been destroyed, After I've died, Yet in my flesh, I shall see God, Whom I shall see, For myself,

[42:48] My eyes, Three references, To seeing, To eyes, I shall see him, I'll see him in my flesh, Not me or another, I will stand, And I will rise, In that day, To see this God, This is, The core, Of the Christian, Hope, The desire, To see God, Who dwells, In unapproachable, Light, Whom no one, Has seen, Or known, But to see him, To, It's the beatific vision, They say, To see him, And to be like him, To be transformed, And to know him, And beloved, People of God, Job speaks here, Beyond what he knows, Job speaks in faith, Into the mysterious plan of God, To redeem a people for himself, Through a redeemer, Through a mediator, The situation of humanity, Was such a dreadful, And distressing place, That it would not be enough, To give them ten more steps, To make their way to God,

[43:49] We needed someone, To intervene, Someone to bridge the gap, Someone to intervene, But Job did not know, What this redeemer, Would cause, God will not be able, To just send a redeemer, To come and stand on the earth, And plead the cause, Of the innocent, In order to redeem, A people for himself, Our redeemer must come to the earth, To bear the curse of the guilty, That's what Job doesn't realize, Job didn't know, What was in the mind of God, What God was doing, Was far beyond, What Job could imagine, Our redeemer, The Lord Jesus Christ, Is the true and better Job, He is not just a sincere, Worshipper of God, He's innocent in every way, Without sin in any way, Completely without sin, Yet he was a man of sorrows, Acquainted with grief, He was wronged by everyone, Who knew him, Abandoned by everyone, Forsaken by those closest to him, He was charged with all manner, Of wrongdoing, He was a kangaroo court, He was pure and innocent, Upright in every way, And yet the judgment fell on him,

[44:50] He was crushed outside the gates, Bearing five nails, Through his hands and his feet, The crown of thorns, To penetrate into his skull, Till he slowly, Asphyxiated and died, But the judgment that fell, On our redeemer, Was not merely a human judgment, It was a divine judgment, Mystery of mysteries, God offered him up, Calamity upon calamity, Fell on his head, As the judgment, And condemnation, Of almighty God, He died, He said, My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me?

[45:45] Not because of the nails, Driven through his hands, But because of the dark cloud, Of wrath, That was poured onto his body, And into his soul, And he died, Three days later, He stood on top of the grave, And said, Not guilty to all, Who trust in Jesus Christ, In the mystery of salvation, What Job was approaching, Is in order for man, To be right with God, God must remain the judge, And yet God must be the savior, You see that?

[46:21] God is the just, And the justifier, God is the judge, And the savior, That's what Job, Is approaching, Here, So here's what's true, Of you, In your deepest valley, In your darkest night, There's nothing, You're suffering from, That a good resurrection, Cannot fix, And we're not talking about, Merely, Our bodies being healed up, You know, All you gotta do, Is get older, Older, And everything starts, Falling apart, You know, But we're not, Merely talking about that, We would like to run, Like we used to, Or something like that, We're talking about, Being restored, To relationship, With this God, To no longer having, The sin, That's so prone, To wander, Within our own hearts, To have idols, That we prop up, Like Joy talked about, Idols of comfort,

[47:23] Peace, And all these things, God's gonna fix it all, So hope in God, Hope in God, Will not put you to shame, Not even in the deepest valley, Or the darkest night, The question is, Do you know, That your redeemer lives, It won't work, For you to say, I know that so and so's redeemer lives, I know that she knows, Her redeemer lives, Or he knows, Martin Luther once said, The Christian life hangs, On possessive pronouns, The only people, Who are rescued, Are those, By this savior, Are those who know, He is my savior, That's what I offer you today, Today can be the day of salvation, Jesus has bridged the gap, There is wrath of God against you,

[48:25] Because of your son, God sent forward Jesus Christ, To be the propitiation, To bear the wrath that you deserve, So that you might walk with him, In fellowship, In communion, And in love, And you might say, My redeemer lives, Hallelujah, Father in heaven, Cast ourselves on you this day, We pray for grace and help, Strength, Help us we pray, As we rest in you, Take our anxieties to you, We offer ourselves to you, Sincerely and completely Lord, We belong to you, Praise God, You belong to us by faith, Jesus came in the name, Amen, You've been listening to a message, Given by Walt Alexander, Lead pastor of Trinity Grace Church, In Athens, Tennessee, For more information about Trinity Grace, Please visit us at, TrinityGraceAthens.com