Let us begin our worship and stand amazed in His presence
======================================
Let us enter into a time of prayer, with this meditation
Let us sing: As The Deer
Let us pray
We continue to pray for our country and beyond. Let us be sensitive to the needs of other. Let us help where we can and comfort all people. You are the Son of the living God, the promised Messiah, Our Redeemer. Let us step out in that knowledge that you are always with us. Thank you, that in you I have all that I need.
Let us share together in the Lords Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done; on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.
=============================================
Before we go to the word, please Join with me as we sing from the Salvation Army Songbook 'I know that my Redeemer lives.' Words by Samuel Medley (1738-1799). Using the tune 'And above the rest.'
========================================
My Redeemer Lives
When the whole world seems to be arraigned against you, when the people who should be your friends are criticising you, it may seem that God has deserted you, right in that place. It’s at this time, to take a stand and declare, “My Redeemer Lives”.
Can you remember the song; He Lives
O JOYFUL sound! O glorious hour
When Christ by His almighty power
Arose and left the grave!
Now let our songs His triumph tell
Who broke the chains of death and Hell,
And ever lives to save.
He lives, He lives,
I know that my redeemer lives.
He lives, He lives,
I know that my redeemer lives.
Did you know, the very first time those words were uttered in the Bible: ‘My Redeemer Lives’ was by a man named Job. And we all know the life of Job, don’t we? It wasn’t a happy and clappy life, was it. Job was suffering terribly. This good and godly man was surely being tested. Everything was being taken away from him, one by one, even right down to his health, until he had nothing left. Job was in huge pain, he struggled with God, and asked God what was he doing and why was this happening and when would it end? Just like you or I would have done.
Job was getting desperate, even his friends, instead of encouraging him, were blaming him and rubbing salt in his wounds – undermining his confidence in God. So, just in case you hear those words, my Redeemer lives, and you’ve sung that great song many times before and you’re thinking what a happy song it is, let us go to scripture and see what is going on for Job In the verses leading up to this famous declaration that my Redeemer lives – just soak in these words and see the picture of devastation and destruction that he’s painting here for us.
Job chapter 19, beginning at verse 8:
God has walled up my way so that I cannot pass, and he has set darkness upon my paths. He has stripped my glory from me and taken the crown from my head. He breaks me down on every side, and I am gone, he has uprooted my hope like a tree. He has kindled his wrath against me, and he counts me as his adversary. His troops come on together; they have thrown up siege works against me and encamp around my tent. He has put my family far from me, and my acquaintances are wholly estranged from me. My relatives and my close friends have failed me; the guests in my house have forgotten me; my serving girls count me as a stranger; I have become an alien in their eyes. I call to my servant, but he gives me no answer; I must myself plead with him. My breath is repulsive to my wife; I am loathsome to my own family. Even young children despise me; when I rise, they talk against me. All my intimate friends abhor me, and those whom I have loved 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 touched me! Why do you, like God, pursue me, never satisfied with my flesh? O that my words were written down! O that they were inscribed in a book! O that with an iron pen and with lead they were engraved on a rock forever! For I know that my Redeemer lives, and that at the last he will stand upon the earth. (Job 19: 8-26)
Wow! I mean, his life had completely been destroyed, everything is gone, the only thing that could be worse is that he could be dead, although, having said that, he muses elsewhere that that might indeed have been a better outcome. Now, if you or I were crying out those terrible words, if you or I were summing up our terrible pain and our loss in those very words, what conclusion would we come to? How would we draw all that litany of disaster together and summarise it? I suspect that many of us would come to the conclusion that there’s simply no hope left. I know I would. What about you?
And yet at the end of all that he says: I wish all this were written down for others to see and to know – because in the middle of all this disaster, I KNOW THAT MY REDEEMER LIVES! Amen. Hallelujah. All glory to God most High. I KNOW THAT MY REDEEMER LIVES!
What a conclusion to come to! What a man of God! How did he get to that place? How can he come to such a conclusion?
Well, here’s the answer. Job was a man who lived his life for God. No ifs, no buts, no maybes. His heart was set like flint toward honouring God with everything he was and everything he had. Right at the beginning of the book of Job chapter 1, verse 1 this is what we’re told:
There was once a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. That man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.
That’s the thing. When we get our lives in order before the storm hits, then when the storm comes, while it still hurts, while we still have questions for God. Whilst we will certainly have friends who misunderstand us and make it worse; deep down in our hearts, we will be able to declare in the face of every demon that hell can muster and throw against us, we will still be able to declare with boldness and courage, that MY REDEEMER LIVES.
And that’s what counts. When everything else fails, this one thing stands: My Redeemer Lives. And that counts for everything. That’s what matters. In fact, it’s the only thing that matters. We've all had a terrible few years year with covid and all that that brought.
And there is still uncertainty about the future, and we may still have another tough patch to go through.
So let me encourage you with this: when the bad times are upon us, when we feel lost and alone, worship God through every moment, thank Him, bless His name, draw close to Him. Because He is there to travel through every moment of it with you. And come what may, no matter how terrible it gets – may you stand up and declare, my Redeemer lives.
So far, as I look back on the most difficult days of my life, all the dark nights of the soul, what I know is this: my record for surviving them, so far is 100%. And let me say this; that’s not such a bad track record is it? And I’d hazard a guess that you too have a perfect score – a 100% track record for surviving your worst days, simply because your Redeemer Lives. Amen.
Another obvious truth is that those days, those dark days will always pass. They did for Job. Let’s look at how it all ended for him.
And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job when he had prayed for his friends; and the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. After this Job lived one hundred and forty years, and saw his children, and his children’s children, four generations. And Job died, old and full of days.
In other words, God gave Job double for his trouble, and allowed him to live to a ripe old age. Is God going to give you and me double for our trouble? I really don’t know. Sometimes He does, other times He doesn’t. But what I do know is this: God’s blessings are greater than anything that we can imagine, and He always finds ways to bring His blessings to pass in our lives. His grace is sufficient for all our needs. (2 Cor 12:9)
Is God going to allow you and me to live to a ripe old age and full of days? Again, I don’t know what His plan is for you or for me. But this I do know – as we persevere, as we get out of bed every morning and do our best to honour Him and to bless others – Jesus is preparing a place for us, for you and for me, in our Father’s house. So that we can spend eternity in His presence and behold His glory. Feast on His glory for ever and ever and ever amen. That’s no a bad ending for each of us is it. So, I tell each of you this; beyond any shadow of a doubt: My Redeemer Lives. How about yours?
The Lord bless Thee and keep thee
The make his face shine upon thee
And be gracious unto thee
The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee
And give thee peace
Comments