If you would stay standing as we read God's Word. If you would open up your copies of God's Word to Job chapter 19. Job chapter 19 is the book right before the book of Psalms. So if you hit the book of Psalms, you just went a little bit too far. So it's Job chapter 19. Now I'll be reading for the sake of context the whole chapter, but I'll be focusing primarily on verses 25 through 27. Job chapter 19, we'll be reading the whole chapter. Here now God's holy, inspired, and preserved word. 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 up 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 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 young children despise me. I arise, and they speak against me. All my close friends abhor me. All those whom I love have turned against me. My bones cling 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? Oh, that my words were written! Oh, that they were inscribed in a book, that they were engraved on a rock with an iron pet in 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 in one 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 swords for yourselves for wrath brings the punishment of the sword that you may know there is a judgment. The grass withers, the flower fades away, but the word of our God will stand forever. You may be seated. Father, we ask now for the blessing on both the preaching and the hearing of your word. May the Spirit of Christ work in my preaching in such a way that he might receive all the glory. May I get out of the way and may I just be a faithful vessel to proclaim your word in a way that's pleasing in your sight. May I preach in a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that people's faith under the sound of my voice might not rest in the wisdom of a man, but in your power. And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. We're on Lord's Day 22 in our series going through the Heidelberg Catechism. It's a question and answer going through Bible doctrines that are important to the Christian faith. And so this week we're talking about the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. And so Job 19 is a very good place as we think, particularly verses 25-27, about the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. The context of this is Job, most of you probably are familiar with Job, the man who experienced from God's hand suffering, and trial and pain. The man who said, the Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. The one who said, naked I came from my mother's womb and naked I shall return. Blessed be the name of the Lord. And so this man is now telling us In his own words in Job 19, as he's responding to two friends who are accusing him of wickedness, of what is happening in his life, the sorrow, the trial, and the pain, that he's looking at his experience realizing the sorrow that has come over his life through many of his children dying, his wife telling him curse God and die, and losing everything in this life. And the only thing that God told Satan, if you remember Job 1, that he couldn't touch, was Job's life itself. And so we see a man who knows what it is to suffer. We see a man who knows what it is to go through pain and heartache. And this is the man who reminds us of the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. This is the man who tells us that in my flesh I shall see God. And so with that context, I have three points. First, Job knows that his Redeemer lives. Second point, Job knows that in his flesh he shall see God. And third point, this knowledge leads Job to have a yearning heart within him. First point, Job knows that his Redeemer lives. Second point, Job knows that in his flesh he shall see God. And third point, this knowledge leads Job to have a heart that yearns within him. If you look at verse 25, Job says, under the inspiration of the Spirit of the living God, for I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth." Job, after going through all this suffering, all this pain, all this heartache, what is it that gives Job confidence in the midst of sorrow and pain? What is it that gives Job the reality in which he can endure the pain he's going through? What can Job look to and say, this is where my hope is found? And his hope is found that he knows, not hopes, not wishes, but he knows for certain that his Redeemer lives. That's where Job's hope is. That he knows that his Redeemer lives. And based on New Testament revelation, we know who that Redeemer is. And we know his personal name. The Old Testament saints knew that he was the Messiah. They knew he was the promised Christ. They knew he was the seed of the woman who would crush the head of the snake. But, my dear friends, we have something better than them. We know his personal name, and his personal name is Jesus. And so Job, all these years before the incarnation, the coming of God in the flesh, knew that his Redeemer lived. And he would at last stand on the earth. Job was for sure that the Redeemer of God's elect was coming into the world. He knew Or at least we know that he would never see the day like Simeon who in the temple held baby Jesus and says, now I can die in peace because I see God's salvation. Job could never do that. But Job could say that I know my Redeemer lives. He could know that his Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, would stand on the earth and he would redeem his people from their sin. Job knew this. Job wasn't getting counsel or getting encouragement by outward circumstances because he had no good outward circumstances through his time of suffering. Job wasn't getting encouragement by what someone was just saying. Settle down, Job, it's okay. He wasn't getting encouragement that way. Where did Job find his encouragement? I know that my Redeemer lives. That's how Job was encouraged. He could stand up amidst all the suffering and say, my Redeemer, who is the promised Messiah, who I know is the one who will put enmity, or God has put enmity between me and the woman, between her seed and your seed, and he will come to crush the serpent's head. And he knew that Jesus Christ was coming into the world to destroy the works of the devil. So my question is for you, where do you find hope? Probably no one in this room could say they've had as bad a suffering as Job has. I don't think anyone could rightly and honestly say they have had much suffering as Job has had. If I'm wrong, you can talk to me after. I could be wrong, but what Job went through was pretty serious. And Job, with confidence, knows. throughout all this suffering and all this pain, I know that my Redeemer lives." And the Lord Jesus Christ came into this world as Job knew He was, even though He didn't know His name was Jesus. He didn't have all the details that we have because we have 66 books. Job was probably before there was any scripture historically. We know that Jesus Christ came into the world through His active obedience to live a perfect life for sinners, and through His passive obedience to die upon the cross, bearing God's wrath, and bearing our sin in His own body on the tree, that the Scriptures might say Christ redeemed us, because He is the Redeemer, right? From the curse of the law. That we know through His active and passive obedience and His resurrection from the dead, That He is the Redeemer. What a name for Jesus in this text. That our Redeemer lives. Because why did Jesus Christ come into the world? It wasn't ultimately to teach, even though He did teach. It wasn't ultimately to do miracles, even though He did miracles. It wasn't ultimately to heal people, even though He healed people. It wasn't ultimately to testify to the truth, even though he did testify to the truth, and he is the truth. He came into the world to redeem sinners as the redeemer of the world. And that's what Job picks up here, that Jesus who he didn't know his personal name, but the Redeemer is coming to redeem sinners. And he will at last stand on the earth. And my dear friends, is it not a blessing that we can look and we don't have to say we know that he'll stand at last on earth. We can say with more confidence than Job, our Redeemer has stood upon the earth. Our Redeemer has stepped into history, even though he wasn't obligated to. No one forced him to do it. He voluntarily did it as an act of his own volitional will. He says, no one takes my life from me, but I lay it down in my own accord. Jesus wasn't a victim, my friends. Jesus was a volunteer. as he voluntarily laid down his life for sinners, as the Redeemer who lives. So how much more can you and me, no matter what our circumstances are, know with more certainty that our Redeemer lives? And he has stood upon the earth. Point two, so we've seen that Job knows that his Redeemer lives. Second point, he knows that in his flesh you'll see God. He's encouraged in this time of trial because he knows. What an amazing statement Job gives. That in my flesh, I shall see God. He doesn't say, as a spirit absent from my body, I'll see God. Is that what the text say? It doesn't say that, does it? It says, in my flesh, as a true human with body and with a soul, I will see God. Job knew about the resurrection of the body. Job knew that his ultimate hope wasn't to be absent from the body and present with the Lord, even though that is a great hope. He knew his ultimate hope wasn't to be a spirit of just men made perfect, even though that's a great hope. He knew his ultimate hope was the same thing that happened to the Lord Jesus Christ. the resurrected body. My dear friends, we don't serve a Jesus who is now in heaven with just a soul. Jesus Christ this very day has a true body and a true soul as truly God and truly man. Jesus didn't go to heaven and lose his body. Jesus is a man at the right hand of God the Father. Jesus is truly man as much as we are at the right hand of God the Father at this very day. So what should that tell us? God cares about the body. And God saves a whole man. Body and soul. A whole person. A whole person gets saved. Body and soul. Everything about us God saves. He saves our mind. He saves our heart, or our affections. He saves our will. And one day, in the new heavens and new earth, He will save our very bodies. Because think about the Lord Jesus Christ. When he died, what happened? Truly, you'll be with me today in paradise. He prays, Father, into your hands, I commit my spirit. Where did he go when he died? My dear friends, he went back to the Father in heaven, but he went as a soul absent from the body, because the body went to the grave, correct? What happened three days after he died? His soul and his body reunited in his resurrected body. Jesus Christ is the first fruits of the resurrection. What does that mean? When you die, you go straight to heaven, if you're in Christ. Absent from the body, present with the Lord. Paul will say, it's far better for me to depart and be with Christ. He'll say, or Hebrews will say, that there's spirits of just men made perfect in heaven. But if Jesus Christ is the example and the pattern, and he's the first fruits, what are we waiting for? the resurrection of our body, that we might be able to say with Job, that in my flesh, in my true humanity, I will see God. That's the hope of every believer, that not as a spirit separated from my body, but as a true human with a true body, I will see God. And that beautiful text in 1 John chapter 3, where the Apostle John, under inspiration of the Spirit, will say, when he comes, we will see him and be like him, because we'll see him as he is. And Philippians chapter 3 goes so far to say that our lowly body, our lowly corruptible body, will be transformed into the likeness of his glorious body. The only question is, do you believe that? Is your hope that in your flesh you will see God? And Job goes on to say, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. Job goes on to say that it's me myself that will see God. It's me as a redeemed sinner who will see God and not another. So when Jesus Christ was dying upon Calvary's cross, He had many things in mind. His ultimate priority wasn't you. His ultimate priority was God's glory, because he does everything, the Son does everything for God's glory. But secondarily, he had us on his mind. And when he was dying on the cross as the Son of the living God to purchase a people for God, Jesus, who morning by morning was taught the law of God, and the Word of God, and would have known this text, would have known that when he was dying for sinners upon the cross, he was dying for them, that in their flesh they might see him. Because I like to say sometimes when I'm talking or sharing or doing stuff, that everyone wants to go to heaven when they die. You hardly meet anyone out in the world who says, no, when I die, I don't wanna go to heaven. The only problem is most people don't want God to be there when they get there. They want their best life now, they don't want God. So my dear friends, the only people that are going to heaven is that say this with Job, that why did Job want to be fully redeemed? Because he wanted in his flesh to see God. That's the biblical reason why people want to be redeemed. Because they want to see God. They want to be done with sin, and they want to see God. And so Job will say, in my flesh, I will see God. I myself and not another. That's why in Romans 8 it puts it so wonderfully. It says not only that, talking about the creation, but we ourselves, grown within ourselves, Awaiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. Why does the scripture say that? Because what are people ultimately waiting for? The redemption of their body. That's the hope. That's what God has promised. And that is what we see through the death, the burial, and the bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. That in our flesh, as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we will, without a shadow of a doubt, see God. And then he says at the end of verse 27, so remember what we're trying to get at is the resurrection of the body. We've seen that Job knew that his Redeemer lives. We've seen that Job knew that in his flesh he'll see God, which is the ultimate hope for every believer, that in our fleshly, true humanity as body and soul, we will see God. And third point, Job, because of this knowledge, his heart yearned within him. Maybe if you're familiar with other places of scripture, this might remind you of another section of scripture. In Luke 24, when Jesus is talking to disciples on the road to Emmaus, and he opens up the scriptures to proclaim to them that in the law and the prophets, that it was written that the Christ should suffer and then enter into his glory. And what was the response of the disciples when that happened? After Jesus leaves them, And they say, did not our hearts burn within us as He opened up the Scriptures? That's Job saying this way before those disciples had that phrase. Job is saying, the knowledge that I will be redeemed and in my flesh see God, how my heart yearns within me. how my heart yearns that I will see God face to face. As I said at the beginning, Job was going through much suffering, much trial, much pain, much heartache. If you think about it this way, it might be, how could Job have such hope? A lot of this chapter, as I was reading it, probably sounded very bleak and glim and gloomy. And then he gets to the point where, but he knows his Redeemer lives and his heart is yearning within him. Well, think about a man who's very, very poor. Hardly has two nickels to rub together. Very poor man. And he's just trying to get by each and every day, barely making it. But someone promises him If you keep pushing on, if you keep going like this, in three years I'll give you $10 million. Of course we know in the Christian life money isn't everything, of course we know that. So the point isn't about money, it's about hope. That man could go through such trouble, such heartache, such a resistance to even make it. But why is he gonna continue to press on? Because he knows in three years his reward is coming. He knows that there's something better coming for him. And he's able to persevere even through trials and pain and sometimes without food because he knows that something better is coming for him in the future. And my dear friends, that's why God tells us about the resurrection of the body. Because God knows that this life is hard. God knows that there's suffering and pain. God knows that there's trial and heartache. But God is saying, your reward is coming. Your reward is coming to you in the resurrection of the body. And so press on. Continue on. Keep striving on. Because your reward is coming. It's coming. That's why Jesus, to encourage people to pray rightly. Jesus isn't against rewards. Jesus says, go and pray in secret. Why? Because your Father who sees in secret will reward you. Jesus encourages people to pray rightly because of rewards. If it was wrong to encourage people by rewards, then Jesus was wrong by saying that, and I don't think anyone wants to say that in this room. But Jesus looks at the people and says, don't be like the hypocrites. Why? Because all their reward is man kind of applauding them a little bit. But Jesus says, pray in secret. Why? You want God to reward you, right? You want God's reward, right? You want God's smile, right? And any true believer says, yes and amen. And so Jesus looks at the disciples and says, well, then don't pray like the Pharisees and the scribes who are just hypocrites. Because their reward lasts temporarily and then it flees away. Your reward lasts forever because it's given to you by the unchanging God. And so for our Christian life, the resurrection of the body is the reward. It's all of grace. It's not a merit, somehow we earn it. It's all of grace. But it's God's reward to His faithful pilgrims, their salvation, His smile. At the end of our life, we might hear, well done, good and faithful servants. The resurrection of the body is that crucial. that everyone who has been redeemed, who's in heaven right now, is waiting for something more. Because the kingdom hasn't been fully brought in. The new heaven's new earth hasn't come yet. And so the saints in heaven are still waiting for Jesus Christ to consummate His kingdom in the new heavens and in the new earth, where righteousness will dwell. And so the saints in heaven are saying, if you read Revelation, you'll see it. How long, O Lord? How long? Have you not read that in Revelation? How long, O Lord? Why do they say that? One, because they want justice to be done, and because they're saying, God, there's something more you promised for us. So how long, oh Lord, until the resurrection of our body? How long until you consummate the kingdom? How long until you remove evil from the earth? How long until Jesus Christ is seen by everyone for who he is and every tongue and every knee will bow and everyone will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. How long, oh Lord? And so dear saints, that should be your prayer. As you're thinking about this world, how long, O Lord, until you bring in through your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, by the power of the Spirit, the kingdom where I will have a resurrected body and righteousness will dwell? How long, O Lord? How long? So we've seen that Job knew that his Redeemer lived, the Lord Jesus Christ. He didn't know him by that name, but he knew God promised a Messiah. He also knew that in his flesh he would see God, and this truth made his heart yearn within him. So my question is for you today. Do you know the Redeemer who lives? Boys and girls, there will come a time where we'll all have to stand before God and give an account. And so the question for you is, do you know God? Do you know that your Redeemer lives? Church isn't just for big people. Church is for little people too, for young people and old people and all people in between. And so you must know that your Redeemer lives. That's the most important question that someone could ever ask you, is do you know the Redeemer who lives, the Lord Jesus Christ? And for anyone who's older or any age here, I never want to assume that just because you're in church on a Lord's Day evening, you know God. I never want to assume that somehow just because you're sitting under my voice, that somehow that makes you a Christian. My dear friends, don't be deceived. Some of you may be in this room know at one time you were in church and you were deceived. So my dear friends, do you know the Redeemer who lives? Have you been brought, not just an intellectual, yeah, that's kind of true and it makes sense for some. No, the question is, have you come to your senses and repented and put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ? Has the gospel so gripped your heart where you've put on the parachute of salvation, the Lord Jesus Christ? Where you know that you're gonna have to jump out of this airplane because 10 out of 10 people die. And have you known that if I die, I have the parachute? I have the strap that if I pull, I'm going to be safe. And that's why the scriptures say, put on the Lord Jesus Christ. And so I don't want to assume that you know the Lord. So my dear friends, do you know the Redeemer that Job talks about? Have you been brought to repent and believe in Jesus Christ? Have you been brought to come to a knowledge of the risen Savior who saves? And for those who are in Christ, this is where you need encouragement in life's sorrows. This is where you need to run when life gets hard and times of sorrow roll over your life. you must remember that your Redeemer lives. And He loved you and gave Himself for you. You must know that you have been bought with a price. You must know not what the world gives us comfort, because they can only give fleeting comfort, but you must know the comfort of an everlasting Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. So the question is, is your comfort found today, wherever you might be in life circumstances, in the Lord Jesus Christ? Is your comfort found in knowing the Redeemer who lives? Also, through life's trials, are you hoping in the reality that God promises that one day every tear will be wiped away, every sorrow will be made right, every pain will be removed. Every time when you had a hard moment and a tough time and sorrow and suffering and pain and heartache, God says, I will wipe it all away. Every tear you'll be able in the new heavens, new earth to see that God had a purpose for it. And death and disease and pain and sorrow and sickness will be wiped away. Do you believe that? Is your hope that this is a temporary residence? And my hope is in something better. And God promises that even through all the pain of life, No matter what joys or sorrows we have, we can say with the Apostle Paul, I am sorrowful, yet always rejoicing. Why could he say that? Because his hope wasn't in this life. His hope was in the life to come consummated in the new heaven, new earth. So the only way that our hope, your hope can be rightly established is if you're looking for the day when God will wipe away every tear from your eye and in your flesh you will see God. And so for those as well who are either parents or roommates or friends, are you helping others? through discipling them or encouraging them to be ready for the day in which they will have to give an account for their life? Are you preparing them, as John Bunyan said, for the celestial city? Are you preparing them to be prepared for this day that they might know that their Redeemer lives? Are you preparing them by your example and by your words that the Redeemer of all the earth has come? and that you in your flesh as a redeemed person can see God? Are you helping those who you have interactions with? Like I said, your children or your roommates or your friends or your parents, whoever it might be, that they might be encouraged towards the celestial city. It's how terrible it would be for us to have people under the sound of our voice over and over again. And for us, for them to stand up in judgment and say, you knew the way to the celestial city and you didn't help me get there. You knew the way to the everlasting kingdom and you didn't help me get there. Instead, you want to hear that those whom God has entrusted you, even for a season, whether it's friends or children or whatever, that they might be able to know that you helped them get to the celestial city. You helped them get to the new heavens and new earth. And on Judgment Day, they'll be able to look at you and say, I'm here all by the grace of God, but my mom and dad really did a big part of my life. My friend in college really helped me. My son or daughter really encouraged me towards the end of my life that I might get to the celestial city. And then lastly, this encourages us to have a heart that yearns for this and a life of personal godliness as Brother Ron so helpfully shared this morning. Because I didn't quote the whole section, but after it says, we shall see him and be like him and see him as he is, it says, whoever has this hope purifies himself, sanctifies himself as he is pure. This has a yearning desire, and my dear friends, the only people that are headed to heaven are those who are on the path of holiness. And so this doctrine helps us see that whoever has this hope, that when we see him, we'll be like him and we'll see him as he is, those people purify themselves as he is pure. Or 2 Peter says, God's bringing the new heavens and new earth. What ought people you to be because of this in lives of holiness and godliness? So does your heart yearn within you? to see God face to face and be done with sin? Does your heart yearn that one day you might see your resurrected Savior and be like Him because you'll see Him as He is? And does this produce in you a desire to say no to sin and yes to godliness because you're going to a holy place, the new heavens, new earth, where righteousness dwells? So this is the hope for every believer. and how our hearts should yearn within us. Because the God of all grace has promised us a reward, and that reward is in our flesh to see God. Amen. Let's pray. Father, we bless your name because you are great and do great things. And we ask that you would help us be encouraged by the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. In Jesus' name, amen.