Standing in Triumph

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…He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth… – Job 19:25

Mark, that Job describes Christ as standing. Some interpreters have read the passage, “He shall stand in the latter days against the earth;” that as the earth has covered up the slain, as the earth has become the charnel-house of the dead, Jesus shall arise to the contest and say, “Earth, I am against you; give up your dead! You clods of the valley cease to be custodians of My people’s bodies! Silent deeps, and you, you caverns of the earth, deliver, once for all, those whom you have imprisoned!” Machpelah shall give up its precious treasure, cemeteries and graveyards shall release their captives, and all the deep places of the earth shall resign the bodies of the faithful. Well, whether that is so or not, the posture of Christ, in standing upon the earth, is significant. It shows His triumph. He has triumphed over sin, which once like a serpent in its coils had bound the earth. He has defeated Satan—on the very spot where Satan gained his power—Christ has gained the victory! Earth, which was a scene of defeated goodness, whence mercy once was all but driven out, where virtue died, where everything heavenly and pure, like flowers blasted by pestilential winds, hung down their heads, withered and blighted—on this very Earth—everything that is glorious shall grow and blossom in perfection! And Christ Himself, once despised and rejected of men, fairest of all the sons of men, shall come in the midst of a crowd of courtiers, while kings and princes shall do Him homage, and all the nations shall call Him blessed. “He shall stand in the latter day upon the earth.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0504.cfm

Our Earnest Expectation

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, prophecy, Sovereignty of God Leave a comment

For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth… – Job 19:25

Job not only knew that the Redeemer lived, but he anticipated the time when He should stand in the latter day upon the earth. No doubt Job referred here to our Savior’s first advent, to the time when Jesus Christ, “the goel,” the kinsman, should stand upon the earth to pay in the blood of His veins the ransom price, which had, indeed, in bond and stipulation, been paid before the foundation of the world in promise. But I cannot think that Job’s vision stayed there; he was looking forward to the second advent of Christ as being the period of the resurrection. We cannot endorse the theory that Job arose from the dead when our Lord died, although certain Jewish believers held this idea very firmly at one time. We are persuaded that “the latter day” refers to the advent of glory rather than to that of shame. Our hope is that the Lord shall come to reign in glory where He once died in agony. The bright and hallowed doctrine of the second advent has been greatly revived in our churches in these latter days, and I look for the best results in consequence! There is always a danger lest it be perverted, and turned by fanatical minds, by prophetic speculations, into an abuse; but the doctrine in itself is one of the most consoling, and, at the same time, one of the most practical, tending to keep the Christian awake—because the bridegroom cometh at such an hour as we think not. Beloved, we believe that the same Jesus who ascended from Olivet shall so come in like manner as He ascended up into heaven! We believe in His personal advent and reign; we believe and expect that when both wise and foolish virgins shall slumber—in the night when sleep is heavy upon the saints, when men shall be eating and drinking as in the days of Noah, that suddenly as the lightning flasheth from heaven, so Christ shall descend with a shout, and the dead in Christ shall rise and reign with Him! We are looking forward to the literal, personal and actual standing of Christ upon earth as the time when Creation’s groans shall be silenced forever—and the earnest expectation of the creature shall be fulfilled. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0504.cfm

I KNOW…

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For I know that my Redeemer liveth… – Job 19:25

“I KNOW that my Redeemer lives.” To say, “I hope so, I trust so,” is comfortable; and there are thousands in the fold of Jesus who hardly ever get much further. But to reach the marrow of consolation you must say, “I KNOW.” Ifs, buts, and perhapses, are sure murderers of peace and comfort. Doubts are dreary things in times of sorrow. Like wasps they sting the soul! If I have any suspicion that Christ is not mine, then there is vinegar mingled with the gall of death; but if I know that Jesus is mine, then darkness is not dark; even the night is light about me. Out of the lion cometh honey; out of the eater cometh forth sweetness. “I know that my Redeemer lives.” This is a brightly burning lamp cheering the dampness of the sepulchral vault, but a feeble hope is like a flickering smoking flax, just making darkness visible, but nothing more! I would not like to die with a mere hope mingled with suspicion. I might be safe with this, but hardly happy; but oh, to go down into the river knowing that all is well, confident that as a guilty, weak, and helpless worm I have fallen into the arms of Jesus—and believing that He is able to keep that which I have committed to Him! I would have you, dear Christian friends, never look upon the full assurance of faith as a thing impossible to you. Say not, “It is too high; I cannot attain unto it.” …If Job before the coming and advent still could say, “I know,” you and I should not speak less positively! God forbid that our positiveness should be presumption; let us try ourselves, and see that our marks and evidences are right, lest we form an ungrounded hope, for nothing can be more destructive than to say, “Peace, peace, where there is no peace.” But oh, let us build for eternity, and build solidly; let us not be satisfied with the mere foundation, for it is from the upper rooms that we get the widest prospect. Let us pray the Lord to help us to pile stone on stone, until we are able to say as we look at it, “Yes, I know, I KNOW that my Redeemer lives.” This, then, for present comfort today in the prospect of departure. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0504.cfm

My Living Redeemer is Mine

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, Sovereignty of God Leave a comment

For I know that my Redeemer liveth… – Job 19:25

The marrow of Job’s comfort it seems to me lays in that little word “My.” “I know that MY Redeemer lives.” Oh, to get hold of Christ! I know that in His offices He is precious, but, dear friends, we must have a part in Him before we can really enjoy Him. What is honey in the wood to me, if like the fainting Israelites, I dare not eat. It is honey in my hand, honey on my lips, which enlightens my eyes like those of Jonathan. What is gold in the mine to me? Men are beggars in Peru and beg their bread in California; it is gold in my purse which will satisfy my necessities, purchasing the bread I need. So, what is a kinsman if he is not a kinsman to me? What is a Redeemer that does not redeem me, an avenger who will never stand up for my blood, of what avail were such? But Job’s faith was strong and firm in the conviction that the Redeemer was his. Dear friends, dear friends, can all of you say, “I know that my Redeemer lives.” The question is simple and simply put; but oh, what solemn things hang upon your answer! “Is He MY Redeemer?” I charge you: rest not, be not content until by faith you can say, “Yes, I cast myself upon Him; I am His, and therefore He is mine.” I know that full many of you, while you look upon all else that you have as not being yours, yet can say, “My Redeemer is mine.” He is the only piece of property which is really ours. We borrow all else—the house, the children, no, much more—our very body we must return to the Great Lender. But Jesus, we can never leave, for even when we are absent from the body, we are present with the Lord, and I know that even death cannot separate us from Him! The body and soul are with Jesus truly even in the dark hours of death, in the long night of the sepulcher, and in the separate state of spiritual existence. Beloved, have you Christ? It may be you hold Him with a feeble hand; you half think it is presumption to say, “He is my Redeemer;” yet remember, if you have but faith as a grain of mustard seed, that little faith entitles you to say, and say now, “I know that MY Redeemer lives.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0504.cfm

Our Goel is Our Avenger and Giver of Life

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, Sovereignty of God 2 Comments

For I know that my Redeemer liveth… – Job 19:25

For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead…The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. – 1 Corinthians 15:21,26

If a person had been slain, the Goel was the avenger of blood; snatching up his sword, he at once pursued the person who had been guilty of bloodshed. So now, let us picture ourselves as being smitten by Death. His arrow has just pierced us to the heart, but in the act of expiring, our lips are able to boast of vengeance, and in the face of the monster we cry, “I know that my Goel lives.” You may flee, O Death, as rapidly as you will, but no city of refuge can hide you from Him; He will overtake you! He will lay hold upon you, O you skeleton monarch, and He will avenge my blood on you.” I would that I had powers of eloquence to work out this magnificent thought. Chrysostom, or Christmas Evans, could picture the flight of the King of Terrors, the pursuit by the Redeemer, the overtaking of the foe, and the slaying of the destroyer. Christ shall certainly avenge Himself on Death for all the injury which Death has done to His beloved kinsmen. Comfort yourself then, O Christian; you have always living, even when you die, One who avenges you, One who has paid the price for you, and One whose strong arms shall yet set you free!

It seems that Job found consolation not only in the fact that he had a Goel, a Redeemer, but that this Redeemer lives! He does not say, “I know that my Goel shall live, but that He lives“—having a clear view of the self-existence of the Lord Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever. And you and I looking back do not say, “I know that He did live, but He lives today.” …He is the Lord and giver of life originally, and He shall be specially declared to be the resurrection and the life, when the legions of His redeemed shall be glorified with Him! ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0504.cfm

The Light of the World

Sherry sermon 2 Comments

You who are King of kings and Lord of lords, we worship You. Before Jehovah’s awful throne we bow with sacred joy.

Sermon Text

Redeemed by His Power

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, Sovereignty of God Leave a comment

For 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… – Job 19:25

It was always considered to be the duty of the goel, not merely to redeem by price, but where that failed, to redeem by power. Hence, when Lot was carried away captive by the four kings, Abraham summoned his own hired servants, and the servants of all his friends, and went out against the kings of the East, and brought back Lot and the captives of Sodom. Now, our Lord Jesus Christ, who once has played the kinsman’s part by paying the price for us, lives—and He will redeem us by power! O Death, you tremble at this name! You know the might of our Kinsman! Against His arm you can not stand! You did once meet Him foot to foot in stern battle, and O Death, you did, indeed tread upon His heel. He voluntarily submitted to this, or else, O Death, you had no power against Him. But He slew you, Death! He slew you! He rifled all your caskets, took from you the key of your castle, burst open the door of your dungeon; and now, you know, Death, you have no power to hold my body. You may set your slaves to devour it, but you shall give it up, and all their spoil must be restored. Insatiable Death, from your greedy mouth shall return the multitudes whom you have devoured; you shall be compelled by the Savior to restore your captives to the light of day. I think I see Jesus coming with His Father’s servants; the chariots of the Lord are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels. Blow the trumpet! Blow the trumpet! Immanuel rides to battle! The Most Mighty in majesty girds on His sword. He comes! He comes to snatch by power, His people’s lands from those who have invaded their portion. Oh, how glorious the victory! There shall be no battle. He comes, He sees, He conquers! The sound of the trumpet shall be enough! Death shall flee in fear; and at once from beds of dust and silent clay, to realms of everlasting day the righteous shall arise. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0504.cfm