My Redeemer Liveth (Quality: Good)

[0:00] You will find the text this morning in Job, the book of Job chapter 19, and in the first part of the 25th verse.

[0:16] Job chapter 19 and the 25th verse, and the first part. For I know that my Redeemer liveth.

[0:32] For I know that my Redeemer liveth. Now there are very well-known words indeed, and may it be that the Lord will be pleased to bless our consideration of them.

[0:51] And though they be so familiar that there might be some very precious comfort extracted from them, applied to our souls by the Holy Spirit.

[1:08] Job was brought very low, as you will remember. He was brought to dire straits, and for reasons that he did not know.

[1:21] Although when we read the book of Job, we are made privy to the reasons from the very commencement. But Job did not know why he lost so much that was precious, not only substance, but even his family.

[1:39] And Job did not know either why it was that he was smitten with sore balls from the sore of his sole of his foot unto his crown.

[1:51] Notice as we read concerning Absalom, concerning his beauty from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. Here is another man. And from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head, it was not that it was well with him.

[2:06] There was not a beauty about him. There was the very reverse. He was a loathsome sight, as he was covered in boils and sores, and sat with a potsherd, scraping himself by the gate of the city.

[2:22] And you know that his three friends came to be as comforters to him, but they afforded nothing of comfort, because they looked upon the outward appearance, and it was piteous to behold.

[2:43] And they came to the conclusion that this man had not been all that he appeared to be, when he had apparently been as a paragon of uprightness, when he had been as one that feared God and issued evil, they reckoned he was a sham and a hypocrite.

[3:07] And they told him so in their speeches, and in various ways, amongst many wise and truthful statements, they spoke in such a way that he was not comforted, but was the more deeply hurt.

[3:27] And in this 19th chapter, he turns upon his friends in the 21st verse, Have pity upon me, he says, have pity upon me, all ye my friends.

[3:39] For the hand of God hath touched me. He did not perceive a great deal, but he perceived there the very essence of the matter.

[3:52] The hand of God was in this thing. Why do ye persecute me as God, and are not satisfied with my flesh? All that my words were now written, all that they were printed in a book.

[4:06] But they were graven with an iron pen, and led in the rock forever. And he desires that the words that he is about to speak, not the words that he has already spoken, but the words that immediately follow from these verses that I have just read.

[4:30] He desires that these things should be preserved, that these things should be written down. And his longing is that they might be written not just upon parchment that might wear and be lost, not just on the equivalent of paper in that day which might crumble to dust.

[4:51] But he wants what he is about to say to be written as with a graving tool in stone, and then molten lead poured in upon it, that these letters might stand forever.

[5:07] Now what is it that he is about to say? He is about to make a confession of his faith. And here is this poor man in such abject trouble, and he makes this confession of faith in the very face, even of the misunderstanding of his so-called friends.

[5:28] This is what he wanted to be preserved. And it was preserved. It has been preserved to us. It has been preserved in better than an engraving in rock with the lead to pick out the shape of the letters.

[5:43] Even that has but a limited duration. But it has been preserved in the holy word of God in scripture. What this dear man confessed, the burden of his heart which he would make known in words, it has been preserved and it has come to us.

[6:01] And we read it what two, four thousand years or so after these words were expressed. The record is still with us and will be to the end of time.

[6:15] For the word of God abideth forever. And this is within the scripture. Now this is his confession. In verses 25 to 27, there is an amazing confession of faith.

[6:30] Considering this man lived two thousand years before the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. What does he say? For I know that my Redeemer liveth and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth.

[6:46] And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God, whom I shall see for myself.

[6:57] And mine eyes shall behold and not another, though my reins be consumed within me. Now here is a confession of Job's faith.

[7:11] First of all, that there is a Savior. That he has a Redeemer. He is brought to confess his faith in the Messiah, in the Christ of God.

[7:28] I know that my Redeemer liveth. And then you see that he makes confession of the incarnation of the Redeemer.

[7:41] The enfleshment of the Messiah. And especially the thought that he will, as the God-man, appear at the end of the age, in the last day.

[7:58] But all through that day of the gospel, since the Savior was manifested, God manifested in the flesh, there has been that one who has our humanity upon himself.

[8:14] And this man is confessing it. For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. He came to stand upon the earth when he was born, and when he grew, and when he toiled and labored, and obtained an everlasting righteousness for us.

[8:34] He stood upon the earth. And now raised to the right hand of the Majesty on high, he stands in the presence of the Father as the God-man, until he comes forth again and stands for judgment.

[8:50] And then the third element in the confession is the resurrection of the dead. What an amazing statement there of this man's faith and conviction, that he will be raised, even his dust will be raised and reconstituted, and he will stand at that latter day upon the earth.

[9:35] And then there is that conviction that he will have a sight of Messiah in his glory. And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God, whom I shall see for myself and mine eyes shall behold.

[9:58] Not another in my place, but I shall see, I shall be there, and I shall look upon him, and I shall behold him, and not another.

[10:09] Though my reins be consumed within me, though there is all this earnest turmoil and anxiety, such burdens, though I have such difficulties, though I am such depths of affliction and trouble, this is my confession of faith.

[10:29] I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God, whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another.

[10:50] Now here is the saint's comfort, for this which Job is brought to express, this which has been preserved, even as he desired that it should be preserved. This is the portion of every child of God.

[11:06] This belongs to all the elect, all the ransomed church of God. They are those for whom these things hold good, or to be in the position where we believe these things.

[11:22] To be this morning such as can say, this is the confession of my faith. I know whom I have believed. You say then what he says, and in this first expression of his confession of faith, with the Lord's help, I would continue this morning for a little time.

[11:44] Just this first expression, for I know that my Redeemer liveth. The saint's comfort is in this. All of his confession, but certainly in this.

[11:58] And we see that there is a Redeemer. The only Redeemer of God's elect, the man Christ Jesus. We see in the second place that he is their Redeemer.

[12:09] For Job says, I know that my Redeemer liveth. We see in the third place that he liveth. And in the fourth place, that they are brought into the sure knowledge of this.

[12:25] I know. I know. Let us look at these things then. They're not novelties. They're old, tried, loved truths to the great majority of us.

[12:41] First of all, it's the saint's comfort, my dear friends, that there is a Redeemer. Nothing can alter that fact. The devil would like to alter it, and he can't.

[12:53] Did everything in his power to cause there to be no Redeemer. But there was a Redeemer, and the Redeemer routed him in the wilderness, and had nothing in him at the end of his life, when he went and made himself as a willing sacrifice for all the sins of his people.

[13:13] And whatever men might say against the deity of Christ, and they say plenty in these days, one is almost amazed at the vile and hideous things that men say, that purport to be religious men at that.

[13:29] One can understand the ungodly saying something derogatory to the Son of God, but when so-called religious men and those that take the money of so-called Christian churches say these things, what a solemn thing it is.

[13:45] And they deny all his deity, and they deny that there is a Redeemer at all, but for all of that, they cannot alter the truth of it. I know, Job says, that my Redeemer liveth.

[13:59] There is a Redeemer. Thank God there is. If there were no Redeemer, we wouldn't be found in this place. We would be miserable. We would be in our sin. We would be under wrath.

[14:10] We would have nothing to look forward to, save ultimate judgment and hell everlastingly. There is a Redeemer. And the word is the word Goel in Hebrew, which means a deliverer.

[14:26] There is a deliverer. And such a deliverer as is the kinsman. I mentioned it just a few weeks ago, and the thought has been in my mind, and no doubt it's some influence under the Spirit of God in bringing me to this text.

[14:44] A kinsman Redeemer. Do you know the teaching under the law of Moses that where a man got into poor circumstances and lost his property, to sell his property in order to make a living, there was a provision made that the relatives, those of his kin, kith and kin, his flesh and blood, that they could redeem that property.

[15:14] They could buy it back. The reason for this, you see in the 25th chapter of Leviticus, was because of the importance of the land to Israel. They were brought into the land of Canaan.

[15:27] It was parceled out to the tribes, and the tribes in their families and in their houses, they all had their portion, they had an inheritance, and it was important that the inheritance should be kept in the tribes and for the families and for the various houses.

[15:47] And that was why there was this provision made that the near relative could buy back that which was forfeited, that which had been mortgaged. Not only that, but we are told, again we are told of it in Leviticus 25, that a man might even come to the place where he had no property now to sell, but was still in strait and circumstances, and he might sell himself as a bond servant.

[16:15] And if that were the case, again the one that was close, the nearest kinsman to him had the right to pay money to deliver him from bond service to secure his freedom.

[16:29] And this was as a law in the days of the old Israel. It's not a law now, but it was a law then. It's interesting, and it just came to mind as we read the account of Absalom in 2 Samuel chapter 14, that there was another responsibility of the near kinsman, and that was to avenge blood when blood had been shed, when there had been manslaughter.

[16:57] It was the duty of the nearest relative to pursue the manslaughter, and there was a provision for that in the book of Numbers.

[17:07] I think it's the 35th chapter of the book of Numbers that teaches us the responsibility that was upon the relative in order that he might pursue, that he might be an avenger, a revenger of blood.

[17:22] But we are considering chiefly the notion here of the kinsman with the right of redemption. I know that my Redeemer delivers his job.

[17:32] He has a Redeemer. He has one that is his kinsman Redeemer, one who is his goer, one who is his deliverer, one that will deliver.

[17:46] And frequently in the Old Testament, the notion of redemption is brought before us. Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles, says the psalmist.

[17:59] Redeem Israel, O God, from all his troubles. Isaiah chapter 59, and the 20th verse, and the Redeemer shall come to Zion.

[18:11] And unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord, the Goel, the one that would have the right to redeem and the power to redeem in order that the debtor might go free.

[18:25] You see that quoted indeed in Romans chapter 11. In Romans chapter 11, at the 26th verse, there is the quotation from that part of Isaiah chapter 59, the 20th verse, when Paul says in the 26th verse of Romans 11, so all Israel shall be saved, as it is written.

[18:50] There shall come out of Zion the deliverer, the deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. And you see there, most clearly, the identity of the deliverer is Christ, the one of whom Isaiah spoke as a deliverer was none other than the God, man who we know as Jesus Christ.

[19:14] And Paul is confirming it here, so all Israel shall be saved, as it is written, the Redeemer. There is a Redeemer.

[19:25] There is a kinsman after the flesh. There is one who is able to set free, who has the power to do it, and also there is one who has the heart to do it, whose delights are with the sons of men, and never have been other, to whom the church was given as a gift of the Father.

[19:45] There is our great kinsman, Redeemer. A kinsman after the flesh. That's why he stood upon the earth in the latter day of the gospel.

[19:59] That's why he stood in our flesh. He came that he might stand with us. He was not a kinsman at a distance, merely pitting us from heaven. But he came that he might stand where we stand, in all points tempted as we are.

[20:16] The difference being such a crucial difference, that whereas we are tempted in sin, he was tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin. But he was brought to stand and to keep the law, the law that was laid upon us.

[20:33] To do, he did it. We have never succeeded in keeping the law of God in all the days of our flesh. We were never able to keep it spiritually, even when we were able to keep it in some outward fashion.

[20:49] And therefore the law was against us, and the law condemned us. But he kept the law for us. He kept the law for us by being as a kinsman, coming to fulfill the terms of the law, in every detail.

[21:02] He did that for us. He came and he took our humanity, the seed of the woman. He has described us that. He took our flesh upon him, that he might stand where we stand, that he might be our representative.

[21:19] And then he paid the price. There was a price to be paid for the redemption of the property that was mortgaged. There was a price to be paid for the setting free of the member of the family that was a virtual slave.

[21:34] There was money to be transacted. It was not for nothing. It was a costly thing in order to redeem land. And it was a costly thing in order to redeem a man.

[21:46] But a kinsman that took his responsibility seriously and had a heart to do it. And not every kinsman had a heart to do it. But those that did, they were prepared to spend whatever was required in order that there might be a setting free of the debtor and that there might be the deliverance of the captive.

[22:05] And praise be to our God that our great Redeemer, our Goel, not only came to represent us, but he came and redeemed us and redeemed us at such a cost.

[22:17] For you're not redeemed with corruptible things such as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ. What's the price of our salvation? The blood of Christ.

[22:28] What can set the debtor free? What price must be paid? The blood of Christ. Nothing less. Without shedding of blood there can be no remission of sin.

[22:42] Christ came not to be ministered unto, he said. The Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many.

[22:56] A ransom for many. Scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love towards us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

[23:12] That's the price that was paid. He came to represent us, our kinsmen, our goel. He came to redeem us and redeem us with his precious blood.

[23:23] And he came to deliver us from Satan. Now, Satan is the great embodiment of all that is against us. Not that he's a myth.

[23:35] I don't for a moment subscribe to that view. I believe in a real personal devil that we are up against. But he is that one that seems to stand for all that's against us.

[23:47] He's the God of this world. He's never very far from us. He has his hosts to do his bidding. We're wrestling not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers.

[23:59] Against spiritual wicked ones in heavenly places. Now, there is not only a kinsman redeemer that represents us.

[24:11] Not only one that redeems us with the price of blood that was required. But he rescues us. He delivers us.

[24:21] And he brings us out from the bondage. He doesn't pay the price and then not have his people. That's why particular redemption is such a blessed truth. Those for whom Christ has paid the price, they're his.

[24:34] They're his by blood. And he will have them and he will bring them out and he will rescue them from death, hell and all that comes against them.

[24:44] He will rescue them from Satan. Give them that power to live not mastered by the devil. We're thinking of it a little or trying to last Lord's Day morning. That the old man having been put away by the by the work of regeneration and because we are new the new man in Christ Jesus there is that destroying of the old nature's power.

[25:14] There is the rendering inoperative of that power that was against us. It's still there. We're still fighting with it. But it doesn't have the mastery. It doesn't have the strangle all over us.

[25:25] The devil does not hold you and me who are the Redeemer who of Jesus Christ as our Redeemer this day for he is a rescuer. Colossians 1 verse 13 God hath delivered us God hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear son.

[25:47] We are those that have come out of Satan's kingdom who is the prince of darkness and we've been brought into the kingdom of God's dear son. He is our Redeemer our Goel our Kinsman who has represented us and who has redeemed us and who rescues us.

[26:07] He delivers us from Satan. What a mercy that is that through death he might destroy him who are the power of death that is the devil and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetimes subject to bondage.

[26:24] Now we have many fears and many anxieties but if we've got a Redeemer we need not fear and we need not to be anxious for he careth for us. Cast your burden upon the Lord for he shall sustain you.

[26:40] Who is your Redeemer? So there is the Redeemer. What a mercy to a Redeemer. But the second thing he is his people's Redeemer because Job says in this confession of faith I know that my Redeemer now there may be those that have been listening to what I've said about a kinsman Redeemer representing us and redeeming us and rescuing us saying yes that's so true that's that is so that is the gospel and yet I ask this question can you say that this Jesus Christ is your Savior?

[27:18] Can you say what Job says my Redeemer and there is a very big difference in saying that he is our Redeemer or even saying he is the Redeemer and saying he is my Redeemer and true religion is nothing short of that to say my Redeemer I know that my Redeemer lived Luther said the gospel is in the personal pronouns my God my Redeemer I know whom I have believed and you say this day that you have this Redeemer as your Redeemer he is my Redeemer my Lord and my God you see the devils know he is the Redeemer that's why they tremble they fear and tremble they know there is a God they believe there is a God but they have no relation to that God and they only have the expectation from that

[28:22] God of ultimate condemnation and destruction but we are those that are given to know him in a personal way of union and love my Redeemer is he your saviour is he your Lord until we come to this we cannot say that we have entered into any real Christian experience there is much profession I think if we go into all the churches you will find much profession at this time of year there is much being spoken about Jesus Christ but there is very little in churches in chapels and in the whole of Christendom there is very little possession of the grace of God that brings us to say my redeemer and my question is do you know that grace for how else can you love him if you've never experienced that love for yourself we love him because he first loved us can you say he loved me and gave himself for me he washed us from our sins in his own blood and made us kings and priests unto

[29:46] God and his father have you got a personal relationship can you say that you believe in the person of the redeemer the God man who is in the very presence of the father our advocate with the father can you say he is my redeemer and we labor in the word of the ministry we labor in the gospel that we might present men and women as Paul did faultless perfect in Christ Jesus we want those that are in the congregations to come to a good well established ground of hope and trust in a personal redeemer now I can't believe for you neither do those that pray earnestly for others of their families they can't do for you what only God can do but

[30:48] God must do the work but if God does the work it brings us into this personal relationship my redeemer now the third thing is that he lives he lives I know that my redeemer liveth he lives he was living when Job uttered these words and desired that they might be preserved for the generations to come he was living then he was not living then as the God man that would be in the latter day that would still be 2000 years or so later than the time of Job or so we believe but he had a redeemer that was living how was he living he was living as the son the son from all eternity he was living there as the one that was already set up in the in the mind and will of God as the as the representative and the redeemer and the rescue and this brings us back into the covenant of grace in the covenant of grace which is an everlasting covenant which God set up before time began before ever

[32:02] Adam was formed the church was given to Christ he was as a living redeemer he was a living redeemer before there were those that required to be redeemed there's something for you to consider before ever there was a fallen race of of men proceeding from the lines of Adam there was a redeemer set up that would that would save them that God would have the glory in their salvation by a redeemer God gave the church to his son he was ever as the redeemer he was one that engaged to save and never ceased to have his people in his heart Christ loved the church and gave himself for it so that when this dear man Job makes this confession of faith it's perfectly accurate it's not saying I know that he will live I know that my redeemer is living he is alive he already exists he's already there he's in the presence of

[33:04] God he's not yet come forth to stand upon the earth and it will be yet these many many centuries before he comes at the end obtained to judge and I shall see him in that day and I shall be raised from the sleeping dust and made to behold him I shall see him with mine own eye and not another all these things are future but he lives eternal son of God is the living God oh what a mercy it is to be possessed of truth of this sort it isn't that there is a mere deliverer as Samson was a deliverer or Jephthah or any of these in the days of the judges they were temporal deliverers they weren't always there and then they emerged they were given to deliver the people from their enemies and then they died and others were raised up this is temporal but we are dealing with an eternal redemption and an eternal redemption requires an eternal redeemer and Christ has never been anything other than the redeemer of his elect

[34:11] I know that my redeemer liveth he lives but then also there is that sense which I suppose is the familiar one that we take concerning the resurrection the anticipation that the redeemer when he should take his humanity when he should labor when he should endure contradiction of sinners against himself when he should go by the way of the cross and the tomb back to God in resurrection glory and ascension I'm sure that it's speaking of that also to us that Job perceived that he would be raised Job perceived that he would himself know the power of an endless life that that very one that would stand for us and redeem us with his blood and provide a deliverance for his church that he should be raised up for it will not be possible that God's holy one should see corruption and in act 17 when Paul is preaching in Mars

[35:17] Hill in Athens and declaring the truth of the gospel he says that God hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man by that man whereof he hath given assurance unto all men in that he hath raised him from the dead that man who is the redeemer the goel of his people is that man which God has raised again from the dead proving that this indeed is the redeemer proving that the redemption indeed is a finished work and by this man ultimately all flesh is to be judged the resurrection is such a mighty blessed truth and it declares of course the the zenith of the rescue the deliverance for he is able to save unto the uttermost all them that come unto God by him seeing that he ever liveth to make intercession for them I know that my redeemer liveth not

[36:19] Job saying I know that he will come but knowing that he is living and yet perceiving however dimly but by faith that he would come and that he would stand upon the earth and that he would be living for if Job is to see him then there is one to be beheld he must himself be raised the first fruits of them that slept what a deliverance it is how it banishes the fear of death to have a sight of this a grim glimpse of this an understanding of this that we have one that is the ultimate deliverer even from the last enemy which is death itself and that he will bring us where he is that we might behold his glory I want to take this up if the Lord spares me this evening to speak a little about the state of glory but suffice it to say that there is this declaration of his ability to keep us in that he lives he's exalted he is that one that is continuing to pray for us with an everlasting intercession and I believe that even when we are brought as the church will be brought inevitably and surely to glory everyone taken from this present scene that he will still be there to intercede for us to point to his sufferings and death as the ground of a perpetual salvation and even though he need not to intercede that we be sanctified for we shall be perfect in holiness even though he need not intercede that we might be kept for we will have been brought to the place where we have no enemies anymore against us and though we have been brought to glory and he doesn't need to pray that they might be brought to see him as he is for we shall be there before him yet he will continue to speak for us he will be our spokesman unto the father he will be our advocate through all eternity i know that my redeemer liveth and the last and the final thing that i want to mention there is i know it now it's not quite the same you see as saying my redeemer you say this seems to be the same point you were saying that it's not just enough to speak of our redeemer or the redeemer but to be able to speak of my redeemer yes but there is also this that job knows concerning my redeemer that he liveth and there this is a very important thing this is a very important matter that we must understand belongs to the very nature of saving faith that we know it now we have problems with assurance and any exercised man or woman will have problems sooner or later with assurance some of us may have had more assurance at the early stages than we have now some of us may have doubted much to begin with on the other hand and have much more confidence now we are all different as we differ one from another and God doesn't deal with us in this matter exactly the same in his wisdom and there are problems with assurance but there is such a thing as assurance and Job had it and some of you say well if only

[39:47] I had signs and tokens that I was a child of God then I would have this assurance and I would confess what this man confessed I see a man scraping himself with a piece of broken pottery I see a man covered with these boils and hideous horrible sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head I see nothing that is externally giving evidence that he is a child of God I see all that would make me discount this man as Eliphaz and Zophar and Bildad did and yet this man has assurance so I see that assurance then is not something that is outward it's not in the absence of stress it's not because we see some foretaste of heavenly glory while we're on earth it is conviction it is that which the spirit of God works within us and the very essence then of assurance is this that we believe the record that we believe what

[40:49] God has revealed now how God revealed it to Job we're not told we're not told how this man heard the gospel in that day so long distant we're not told how it was that he came to believe it we're told rather that he feared God which is enough we know then that he was brought to the truth of the gospel as it was in that day he believed in God he was like Abram who believed in God and it was counted unto him for righteousness but this man Job is holding on to that he believes in God he believes against him everything is now against him his very friends are calling him hypocrite to his face and yet his his faith is such that he must hold on he is none to whom he can look but to God though he slay me he says in another place yet will I trust him and this is of the exercise of faith and I've read of those that have said it and spoken with some that have come to that very place with lack of assurance and with so much that seem to be testifying against their having a redeemer and any salvation yet they are brought to the place where they say that even if he damn me I will trust him and you see he will never damn those that trust him for he has brought them to be those that are his by all ties even as he has loved them with an everlasting love but their faith in its exercise brings them to say that though he slay me yet will I trust him though he seemed to deny that ever he knew me though he turned away from me yet I will trust him and that's not because you've got some special visitation or some warm feeling or you've gone to some special meeting and you've had hands laid upon you as others would suggest it is simply that you reckon upon the grace of God that which has come to you of truth and that which you believe has been a spiritual laid upon your heart giving you to hope in my redeemer and that he lives

[43:03] I know it will you see then that assurance is not something other than comes out of the very faith that is God rod when we're regenerate we're given that which will come to an assurance not some extra experience some second blessing or third blessing it is out of the very faith given a faith that feeds upon the word of God and as it believes the word of God it sees the oath and character and the covenant and it rests on these things though everything testify against me in these things I rest in these things I rest on his word him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out and that's a blessed hope indeed and that brings this man to say well nothing is right with him and everything seems against him

[44:05] I know I know what are the sufferings of this present time I seem to hear these words of Paul put to the case of Job what are the sufferings of this present time in comparison to the glory that shall be revealed I know there are some you know that feel that they can be truly redeemed and yet not know it I've come across those in some of our chapels that say that well it is a hidden thing God knows his own and of course that's true and they say that even if I never know whether I'm one of the elect then it's it will be well with me which means that they're really saying that though they have never had any soul exercise and never had any any conviction even in the least degree that Jesus

[45:08] Christ was their own personal savior yet they think that they might yet be according to the election of grace there might be a hope I don't see any warrant in that view at all there is so much in the scripture that says that where faith is bestowed we know it when a little child is born to use the analogy it may have very limited powers in its infancy but it will know that it's there and it will make every evidence of its presence it will make its presence felt known and felt and I believe that when one is regenerate by almighty grace there will be something that will be known and felt there will be something that is a testimony to others of the presence of faith there will be something that is felt by the subject in whose heart this change has come about the spirit must bear some degree of witness that these things are true for me but to say that you cannot see that in religion that there is any certainty about ever knowing is to fly in the face of what the old testament declares in this scripture what the new testament in many a place declares and indeed john writes an epistle that ye might know that ye have eternal life and go through the marks and the tests of faith whereby we might see that we are possessed of faith hereby do we know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren and there are all these marks and signs and these means whereby we can test the reality of experience the spirit working in us as

[46:56] Paul would put it both to will and to do of his good pleasure but I know must be part of our experience and even though there are days in which we don't know yet we will expect that there will be a day very soon when again we will know there may be a variable in the matter of assurance but there will be something of assurance I know well there it is my dear friends what a thing it is to know in a day such as this that my redeemer liveth people want to know where they're going to get their entertainment where they're going to get their pleasure they want to know on the other hand where they're going to get their money supply and legitimate matters they want to know these things and an education I suppose is the desire that they might know things and there are those that are stood up to learn all that can be learned knowledge knowledge is so good in many respects but it can be such a dangerous thing in others if it becomes an end in itself we want true knowledge knowledge that's the greatest knowledge

[48:10] Calvin begins his institutes by saying that the knowledge of God and a man's own self is true knowledge till we know ourselves as needy sinners in debt needing to be redeemed till we know there is a redeemer who has paid a price for us that's real knowledge that's the knowledge that matters I'd rather be the biggest dunce and be the biggest failure in the eyes of men and of that knowledge to know my redeemer liveth I'd rather be that poor idiot yeti that saw yon blessed man and had a living faith in the son of God I'd rather be that than to be possessed of all the wisdom that man count to be wisdom and all the prudence of this age and yet to be destitute of faith and go to hell I know that my redeemer liveth you you need it in a day such as this when it is such a changing day everything is changing everything is in the crucible everything is being put to test nothing seems to be for granted but this is for granted a living saviour who has always lived and who will live for he is God he is the living

[49:23] God I am I know that my redeemer liveth this is knowledge indeed to know in every trouble even as this man in trouble that it doesn't alter the fact that God is the same and God loved him and God had more regard to poor Job at the gate of this city than to many that sat in the palace in the lap of luxury yet in the strange mystery of his will he was brought into this experience but not kept in it the latter end of this man was greater than anything he had known previously he would look back on it and say with the psalmist I was glad to have been afflicted for I have learned thy statutes and it may be that when we are brought to heaven as everyone that truly knows the redeemer will be brought to heaven no peradventure about it for I shall stand I shall behold him and not another I shall see him his very eyes shall look on him when we get to heaven we may well bless

[50:24] God for the times of difficulty and the times of trouble because we were so established in these times that they were the critical times when we knew that our God was real a fair weather religion is no real test is it faith must be tried it must be tested it will be tested where it's been truly given or to be able to say in every test that comes and in the test of the valley of the shadow of death I know that my redeemer liveth God bless his word to you Amen