Skip HeitzigSkip Heitzig

Skip's Teachings > Shelter in Grace > The Ultimate Shelter

Message:

SHORT URL: http://SkipHeitzig.com/4547 Copy to Clipboard
BUY: Buy CD

The Ultimate Shelter - Job 19:23-27

Taught on

Job was impressive at the beginning of his trials. He immediately sheltered in grace by worshiping God and trusting His wisdom (see Job 1:20-22). But the sheer physical pain, emotional turmoil, and outside criticism wore him down, moving him out of his shelter. Now there is a sudden change in Job’s tone and outlook as he looks to the future to his ultimate shelter.

Date Title   WatchListenNotes Share SaveBuy
5/17/2020
completed
resume  
The Ultimate Shelter
Job 19:23-27
Skip Heitzig
Info
Message Summary
Job was impressive at the beginning of his trials. He immediately sheltered in grace by worshiping God and trusting His wisdom (see Job 1:20-22). But the sheer physical pain, emotional turmoil, and outside criticism wore him down, moving him out of his shelter. Now there is a sudden change in Job’s tone and outlook as he looks to the future to his ultimate shelter.
Message Trailer
Watch
Watch and take notes
Listen - Mini Player
Listen and Take Notes
Listen in Spanish
Outline
Study Guide
Transcript
Facebook
Twitter
Email
Video (MP4)
Audio (MP3)
Spanish (MP3)
Buy CD

Series Description

Show expand

Shelter in Grace

Shelter in Grace

Millions of Americans have been ordered to shelter in place during this global health crisis. It's an aggressive measure to attempt to control the spread of an aggressive virus. When we shelter in place, we commit to confine ourselves to our homes, only leaving for essential errands like medical appointments and getting groceries. What if in our confinement we also commit to shelter in grace? In this series, Skip Heitzig searches Scripture for what it means to move beyond receiving God's grace to taking refuge in it. Learn to survive and thrive when life closes in.

Buy series | Buy audiobook

Outline

    Open as Word Doc Open as Word Doc    Copy Copy to Clipboard    Print icon    Hide contract


  1. His Shelter Is a Person (vv. 23-25)

    1. He Is a Redeemer

    2. He Is Alive

  2. His Shelter Is Personal (vv. 25a-26a)

    1. Job Is Specific, Not Generic

    2. Job Is Confident, Not Hesitant

  3. His Shelter Is Perpetual (vv. 26-27)

    1. Eventual Death

    2. Eternal Life

Study Guide

    Open as Word Doc Open as Word Doc    Copy Copy to Clipboard    Print icon    Hide contract

Connect Recap Notes: May 17, 2020
Speaker: Skip Heitzig
Teaching: "The Ultimate Shelter"
Text: Job 19:23-27

Path

Job was impressive at the beginning of his trials. He immediately sheltered in grace by worshiping God and trusting His wisdom (see Job 1:20-22). But the sheer physical pain, emotional turmoil, and outside criticism wore him down, moving him out of his shelter. Now there is a sudden change in Job's tone and outlook as he looks to the future and to his ultimate shelter.
  1. His Shelter Is a Person (vv. 23-25)
    1. He Is a Redeemer
    2. He Is Alive
  2. His Shelter Is Personal (vv. 25a-26a)
    1. Job Is Specific, Not Generic
    2. Job Is Confident, Not Hesitant
  3. His Shelter Is Perpetual (vv. 26-27)
    1. Eventual Death
    2. Eternal Life
Points

His Shelter Is a Person (vv. 23-25)
  • Death is part of life—everyone eventually dies. Job lost everything; property, status, health, children, and friends.
  • Job started out sheltering in grace, but later abandoned that shelter to address his critics, bouncing back and forth from frustration to faith. If you want to defend yourself, God will let you, but it's best to let Him do it in His way and in His timing.
  • When Job was at his lowest point physically, he made the highest proclamation spiritually. As with many people in pain, Job's greatest suffering produced his greatest insight. Job asked, "If a man dies, will he live again?" (Job 14:14). In chapter 19, he answered his own question with clarity, providing three components that constitute ultimate shelter.
  • He Is a Redeemer
    • Job recognized that his ultimate shelter is a person—the Redeemer (v. 25).
    • God is the Redeemer (see Exodus 6:6, Isaiah 43:1, Romans 3:24, Ephesians 1:3-14). The Hebrew word for redeemer is goel, which refers to one who is qualified to pay the price of freedom. A redeemer had three qualifications (which Jesus meets): He must be related to us (see John 1:14, Romans 1:3-4); he must be able to pay the price (see 1 Peter 1:18); and he must be willing (see John 10:18).
  • He Is Alive
    • In the context of the passage, Job believes his Redeemer is alive and active: "I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth" (Job 19:25).
    • A dead redeemer helps no one. Every year at Easter, millions of Christians celebrate a resurrected, living Savior.
His Shelter Is Personal (vv. 25a-26a)
  • Job Is Specific, Not Generic
    • Job saw that this living redeemer is personal, calling Him "my Redeemer." God is personal, and we must have a personal relationship with Him (see John 3:3, 16).
  • Job Is Confident, Not Hesitant
    • Job was confident in his Redeemer; there was a lot Job didn't know, but he did know that his Redeemer lives. Never give up what you do know because of what you don't know. We can be confident in our belief in God; this is not an arrogant confidence, but an act of humility.
His Shelter Is Perpetual (vv. 26-27)
  • Eventual Death
    • Job He knew he would die, but he also knew that he would see God at the resurrection: "after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God" (Job 19:26).
    • Centuries before the gospel, Job painted a picture of faith; he was confident in the resurrection. Belief in the resurrection is not new; it's been a consistent revelation throughout the Bible.
  • Eternal Life
    • As believers, our shelter is perpetual. If Job had this conviction centuries before Jesus' life on earth, how much more should we as heirs to the gospel?
    • Jesus is the living Redeemer. Is He your Redeemer? Our place in time is a dress rehearsal; we should prepare for the real show: eternity.
Practice

Connect Up: Why is believing in God as a real Person, and not an impersonal force, important for biblical Christianity? Here are a few things to discuss: the Bible teaches it (see Psalm 103:13); Jesus taught it (see Matthew 6:26; John 10:28-30; 17:24); the Apostles taught it (see John 2:15, 3:1; Romans 8:15; and James 1:17).

Connect In: What are some of the ways we can demonstrate we have a personal relationship with the personal God? Here are a few points to ponder: being born again (see John 3:7-8); access to God in prayer (see Mathew 6:9); the Holy Spirit confirms it (see Romans 8:15-17); God's love for us and in us (see 1 John 4:19). What other aspects of our life demonstrate that we have a personal relationship with God?

Connect Out: As Pastor Skip pointed out, the resurrection is clearly taught throughout the Bible. What points would you bring up with a non-believer about the resurrection? Consider these points: it was prophesied (see Luke 9:22); the risen Jesus was seen by His friends (see Matthew 28:1-10; Mark 16:1-8; Luke 24:1-8; and John 20:1-13; Jesus was seen by many (see 1 Corinthians 15:6); His disciples were willing to die for their faith (see Acts 7:54-8:2).

Transcript

Open as Word Doc Open as Word Doc    Copy Copy to Clipboard    Print icon    Show expand

The Ultimate Shelter - Job 19:23-27 - Skip Heitzig

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Well, we're in the book of Job. So if you have your Bible-- and I trust that you have one close-- turn to the book of Job, this time, chapter 19. Let me begin by telling you about a man who went to a doctor for his annual check-up. And he went back home after the check-up.

The doctor called him a day later, and the doctor said on the phone, "I have bad news and I have worse news." And the guy just was very silent. The doctor said, "The bad news is you have 24 hours to live." And the man, you know, went ballistic, and he thought, 24 hours to live, that's horrible.

I couldn't get my affairs in order in that time. I couldn't barely even say goodbye. What could possibly be worse news than I have 24 hours to live?

And the doctor said, well, um, I should have told you this yesterday, but I forgot. That's the worst news, so I guess he had minutes to live. I don't know. Here's what we know.

Death is a part of life. It is appointed to every man once to die. I even heard of a Washington, DC, undertaker who signed all of his letters-- all of his correspondence, not "cordially yours" or "sincerely yours" but "eventually yours" because eventually we're all going to die. And you can take vitamins and pump iron and stretch your face from here to Mars, but you are going to give up the ghost and die.

Malcolm Muggeridge used to say, "I have one foot in heaven and one foot on Earth. And the foot on Earth is precariously perched on a banana peel." So when you feel like life is slipping away, what do you do?

Who do you look to? What do you have to look forward to? What do you know for certain?

In the book of Job, we have looked at the person of Job, and we saw early on that Job pretty much lost it all. He had a few things left, a few servants and relatives. But by and large, he lost everything.

He lost his property. He lost his status. He lost his health. He lost his children.

The greatest fears that people have in life, Job experienced. He lost that. It was real to him.

And then he had three friends that came by. And remember those three friends? There was Eliphaz, the Temanite. There was Bildad, the Shuhite. And there was Zophar "Zo-good," no Zophar, the Naamathite.

Those were his three buddies, and they were buddies at first. They were great at first because they acknowledged his suffering. They grieved with him.

But now at this point, clearly, in the book, after the first couple chapters, the grieving is over, and they are in full philosopher mode. They are in full adversarial mode. They are accusatory in their tone toward Job. They're trying to figure out why Job is suffering.

And then Job answers back to them, which I find problematic, to be honest with you. In this course of speeches, Bildad has just told Job why he thinks Job is suffering and takes pot shots at Job. And Job then responds, and it's not helpful whenever Job responds because they, his friends, are wrong about why Job is suffering.

But Job is also wrong about why he is suffering, so he's not really helping by trying to clear his name-- clear the record. And I'll just say, I love my position. I love being able to preach and teach. But because I am in a public position, it's dangerous.

I get criticized. People take pot shots at me. And I've been asked by people when others do, you know, why don't you say something. Why don't you go on record? Why don't you defend yourself?

And I usually feel like I don't need to defend myself because I've made a discovery that those who know you don't need an explanation. Those who don't know you don't want an explanation. You know, friends who know you, they don't need an explanation.

Enemies who don't know you, they don't want an explanation. They're going to-- haters are going to hate. They're just going to come at you, no matter what.

And I had a mentor who used to wisely say to me, "If you want to defend yourself, God will let you." And I thought, boy, that's really good. "If you want to defend yourself, God will let you."

I think it's much better to let God defend you. Just let the chips fall where they may. Just let your friends talk, Job. You don't have to say anything at all.

But what we do see because of this is Job bounces around in his faith. He goes from frustration to faith. He goes from complaining to confidence then back to complaining then back to confidence. So this is the real-life story of a guy going through pain.

Job has learned to shelter in grace. We saw that in chapter 1 and 2. He said, you know, he didn't charge God with wrong.

He praised God. He worshipped God. He rebuked his wife for bad ungodly counsel.

But then, after sheltering in grace, he kind of steps out of the shelter. So he's kind of in, then he's kind of out. Then he gets back in, then he gets back out. And so it goes throughout the whole book.

But here, in this chapter, we come to what I consider the pinnacle of the book of Job. It is the high point. It is the ultimate shelter that Job has to look forward to.

And before we get into our text, this is noteworthy because you might say at Job's lowest point physically and emotionally, he makes his highest proclamation spiritually. His greatest suffering produced his greatest insight. And I've noticed this with people.

I have seen people suffer profoundly. And then I've listened to what the Lord has taught them during that time, and it's, like, wow, you're taking me to school here. It's just so deep and so profound and so real and so humbling, as people who suffer so much can talk about the goodness and grace and greatness of God and fellowship that God has with them during those times.

One of my favorite stories is that of Horatio Spafford. He was a lawyer in the Chicago area. His family wanted to take a vacation. He said, go ahead. I'll join you.

They got on a cruise ship. They were going across the Atlantic. The ship was caught in a storm. The ship went down, and his wife and all three children died.

He was bereft of his family, like Job. He decided to go to England, and I think reclaim the bodies or the ones that had washed ashore that they discovered. And he was going on his ship across the Atlantic, and the captain informed him of the exact place in the ocean where that previous ship with his family had gone down.

And something overcame him, he said, at that time. It was grief but a strange peace, and he started writing the lyrics to a song. And the lyrics, I think, you'll find familiar.

He said, "When peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll, whatever my lot Thou has taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul." He wrote that song after that incident. There is somebody sheltering in grace. There's somebody discovering some profound truths.

Well, we didn't read it, but back in chapter 14, Job asked a question. He didn't answer the question. The question he asked in chapter 14 is, "If a man dies, will he live again?" Now he answers his own question with perceptiveness, with clarity.

And what I want you to look at is Job, chapter 19, with me. And we're going to begin really in verse 23, and I want to show you three components that constitute Job's ultimate shelter. Actually, I'm going to begin back in verse 1, where it says, "Then Job answered and said"-- now he's speaking back to Bildad-- "how long will you torment my soul and break me in pieces with words?

These 10 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." In other words, God trapped me in this suffering.

But now watch this. You go all the way down to verse 23, and he says, "Oh, that my words were written! Oh, that they were inscribed in a book! That they were engraved on a rock with an iron pen and 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, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!" This is Job's ultimate shelter.

Now as we work our way through this, there's a few things I want you to notice about this ultimate shelter. First of all, Job's shelter is a person, a person. He identifies somebody called a Redeemer, and he says the word "He," the personal pronoun "he." "I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth."

Obviously, he is speaking about a person. So get this, Job is not looking inwardly to himself. He's not trying to figure out a way to pull himself up by his own bootstraps. Job had not read The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People. He has completely lost hope in himself.

He's lost everything. He has a disease that is taking his life. His life is wasting away. He does-- he's not looking to his family. He's not looking to his friends.

His wife said, "Curse God and die." His friends effectively said, face it, you're a creep. That's why God is judging you with this disease. You're a really bad person.

So his hope, his shelter, his trust is in a person. He calls this person a Redeemer, very important Hebrew word, "goel." "Goel" in Hebrew is a kinsman redeemer.

Let me explain what that is. A "goel," a kinsman redeemer, is a relative in a person's family who pays a price, the required price, to give somebody their freedom. What that means is, if a person loses everything in the Old Testament, if you went into debt, if he had to become a slave because he couldn't pay off his debts, a kinsman redeemer, a "goel," this relative, would step in, pay the price, and set that person free or restore the land that was lost, the inheritance that was forfeited, and bring it back into the family.

Probably the greatest example we have in the Old Testament is found in the book of Ruth, exactly, with a guy by the name of Boaz. And Boaz restored the inheritance of his relative, named Elimelech, and married Ruth. It's a beautiful love story, but it's about the kinsman redeemer.

Job realizes, I need somebody like that. I need a "goel." I've lost everything. I am in debt, so to speak. I lost my health.

I lost my family. I'm about to lose my life. So he looks to the ultimate shelter of a redeemer, a "goel," who, even after he dies, would restore his life.

Now here's what I love about chapter 19. I love all the Scripture, and I love the book of Job. But this is the pinnacle because Job has had so many moments in his book that I would just call "uh-oh" moments, right? It's like, "uh-oh."

"Hey, Job, you just lost your servants." "Uh-oh." "You just lost all your animals." "Uh-oh." "Your house fell down." "Uh-oh."

"Your children are dead." Big "uh-oh." Then his health is lost. "Uh-oh." But this is not an "uh-oh" moment. This is an "a-ha" moment.

He gets this epiphany, this revelation of truth, that helps him transcend what he is going through. It's like the curtains open up, and light floods into the room. At this point, one commentator called Job, the "Neil Armstrong of faith, taking one small step for man but one giant leap for mankind." I love that. This statement is one of those kind of statements, so he's looking for and looking to a Redeemer.

Now by the way, Redeemer is one of the titles for God in the Old Testament. In Exodus, chapter 6, speaking of the Exodus out of Egypt, He said, "I am the Lord, and I will free you from your slavery in Egypt. I will redeem you with a mighty hand."

Isaiah, the prophet, saw God as a Redeemer, that great chapter, chapter 43. "Fear not, for I have redeemed you. Be not dismayed for I am your God." A Redeemer, God as a Redeemer, a kinsman Redeemer, if you will.

Now the greatest example in all of Scripture, the pinnacle fulfillment of a kinsman Redeemer, a "goel," is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the perfect picture of a Redeemer because what He did is redeem mankind. He paid the price for the sin of everyone.

So Paul uses this idea of a kinsman redeemer in Romans 3:24, when he writes, "Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." And Ephesians, chapter 1, "Through Him we have redemption; through His blood, the forgiveness of sins." So he's looking for a redeemer, and here's what you need to know about a kinsman redeemer in the Old Testament.

A kinsman redeemer could only redeem if he met three qualifications. Number one, he had to be related. That's obvious. Number two, he had to be able. And number three, he had to be willing.

So let me kind of go through that. First of all, he had to be related. You have to be a blood relative to redeem somebody else in your family or to restore something to the family lineage. You have to be a blood relative.

Now this is the reason for the Incarnation. This is the reason God became a man. He joined the blood bank of the human race, the bloodline of the human race. He stepped out of glory, went past the constellations into the Milky Way galaxy, to a speck of dust called Earth to a stable in Bethlehem, to join the human race as somebody related to us.

Second, he had to be able to pay the price. It's one thing to come up and say, I'd like to redeem that person's land. You have to cough up the big bucks. You have to write a check that won't bounce.

And so Jesus had to be able to pay the price. What did He pay the price with? What was his currency? Blood, it was his own blood.

1 Peter said, "We were not redeemed"-- there's the word-- "with corruptible things like silver and gold, but by the precious blood of Jesus Christ, a lamb without blemish and without spot. So he had to be related, had to be able, and had to be willing. And to me, this is the most amazing thing about Jesus is that He wasn't forced into it. He didn't have to be talked into it.

He willingly gave Himself, voluntarily gave himself. He said, "No one takes my life from me. I lay it down of Myself." I have the power to lay it down.

I have the power to take it again. So he meets all the qualifications of a kinsman redeemer. He's related. He's able, and he is willing.

I heard a beautiful story about a Christian woman who adopted a Jewish daughter. Here's the backstory. It was when Adolf Hitler invaded Poland and annexed Poland. And the Nazi soldiers came into a town in Poland to cordon off the city and to force all the occupants of the city onto the railroad cars to take them to concentration camps to die.

As a Nazi soldier was pushing a line of people, there was a woman. And he was pushing her toward the railroad car. And he noticed a little girl and said to the woman-- and it was her daughter-- "Is that your daughter?"

And the woman looked up in a panic look and looked up and saw a Christian woman from that town, who was not being arrested, and pleadingly said, "No, it's her daughter." And so that Christian woman took that Jewish girl home and adopted her and raised her as her own. She acted as the redeemer, willingly and able to do and change the future of that child forever.

The shelter we need-- the ultimate shelter we need is not a stimulus package or a check from the government. The ultimate shelter we need is not a vaccine from the coronavirus. The ultimate shelter we need is in the person, a personal relationship, with God's Son, Jesus Christ.

You can have the wisdom of Solomon. You can have the talent of a rock star. You could have the health of a young athlete. You could have the patience of Job. You could have the compassion of Mother Teresa.

But you still need the blood of Jesus Christ to cleanse you from your sin. Christianity is not a creed. It's a person.

It's not an institution. It's a person. It's not a ritual. It's a person, and Jesus is that person.

So for Job, his ultimate shelter was a person called a Redeemer. He calls him a Redeemer. But notice what he says about his Redeemer. He's alive! I know that my Redeemer lives.

Now whoever he's speaking about at his time period-- remember, he's writing in the Patriarchal Period, the time of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob-- whomever Job is thinking about in his mind, Job knows he's alive and well. Some people interpret this as Job simply saying, there's gotta be somebody out there who's alive, who really gets me, who understands me, and who can help me. But I don't see it as that.

If I read the context of this carefully in this passage, this is not wishful thinking, like I hope somebody is out there who understands me. It's more than a "hope so." Job is identifying somebody called a Redeemer, who is alive, and that same person, he says, will be alive at the end of time.

"I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last"-- or the NIV says, "in the end"-- "He shall stand in the end on the earth." "He shall stand in the end on the earth." Boy, does that sound New Testament, not Old Testament. It sounds very New Testament. Remember, Jesus said in Revelation 1, "I am He who lives and was dead and am alive forever more."

After the Resurrection when the disciples came to the tomb, the angel said, "What are you doing looking for the" dead-- the "living among the dead." In Romans, chapter 6, the apostle wrote, "Knowing that Christ having been raised from the dead dies no more, death no longer has dominion over Him." Question, why did Job mention that his Redeemer lived? Why-- why-- why a living redeemer? Easy answer, a dead redeemer can't help anybody.

That's right.

Only a living one can. Only a living redeemer can redeem. It's like a doctor. A dead doctor can't help patients.

A dead farmer can't plant or plow a field. A dead builder can't build anything, and a dead redeemer can't redeem. It takes a living redeemer to buy back land, to free slaves, to restore an inheritance. It has to be somebody who's active and alive.

Why do I bring that up so emphatically? Here's why. So many people are willing to trust the teachings of some dead guy. So, wow, he gave us these great teachings, but death won.

Death won. He's dead. He said some nice things, but I bet you say some nice things too from time to time. But people aren't laying their lives down for you in the same way.

Jesus is different. You know, so many people follow Buddha or Muhammad. Muhammad died in 632 AD. He was placed in a tomb. And to this day, thousands-- no, hundreds of thousands of people every year visit the tomb of Muhammad for one reason, to mourn his death.

Every Easter, millions of Christians around the world gather together to celebrate Jesus' Resurrection. He conquered death. He is a living Redeemer.

I love the conversation that an atheist was having with a little girl. And he thought he was so smart and said to the little girl, who said she was a Christian, didn't care what the atheist said. She believed in Jesus as the Lord, as the Messiah.

And the atheist said, well, so many people have claimed to be the Messiah. How can you be sure who told the truth? Who are you going to believe? And she said, that's easy, the guy who got up from the dead. That's the one I'm going to believe.

A lot of people make a lot of claims, but Jesus rose from the grave. So Job's ultimate shelter is in a person. Second, his shelter is personal. Not just a person, it's personal.

Listen to what Job says about this living Redeemer. "For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth." Notice he is specific and not generic.

He's not saying, there is a redeemer out there somewhere or one of many redeemers. He's not saying, let me tell you about my mom's redeemer or my family's redeemer. This is my Redeemer.

See, a lot of people talk about God, but they talk about him second-hand. You know, they talk about "the good Lord," "the big Guy upstairs," you know, all the little stupid things that people call God that reveal they don't have a real personal contact with Him. Is He your Lord? Is He your Savior? Is He your Redeemer?

You know, it's like-- it's like my wife. Before we married, before June 13, 1981, I could say, "Look, there's a girl," or, "Hey, do you know that girl?" But on June 13, 1981, and every day thereafter, I could say, "Hey, look, there's my girl."

He's my Redeemer. "I know that my Redeemer lives." Do you have that "my" in your relationship with your Redeemer or just a second-hand experience?

Paul wrote to young Timothy about his own faith, but Paul said it this way. "I'm reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, but I am persuaded is in you also." Yes, it's your grandmother's faith and your mom's religion, but it's your personal relationship now. That's all the difference.

It's like what Jesus said to Nicodemus. "You must be born again." Not, well, do you come from a good spiritual background? You have to have your own personal contact and commitment to Christ. Nobody can do it for you.

There's no two-for-one specials. There's no family rate salvation packages-- "this week only." You have to come one at a time. And if you haven't come to Christ yet, if it's not personal, that can change, and it needs to change.

So his shelter is personal. He is specific, not generic, my Redeemer. And he's confident, not hesitant.

I want you to notice twice-- once in verse 25 and once in verse 26-- he uses the term, "I know." Not I think, not I hope, not I wish, but I know. "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 will see God."

In the original Hebrew, it's very emphatic. It's "I, yes, I know." So it's put in the emphatic form. Now this is important because there is a lot that Job did not know, and he brings that up in the book.

In the book, I mentioned early on that there's 330 questions-- more than any other book in Scripture-- that the book of Job asks. There's a lot Job didn't know. Even in verse 23, he said, "Oh, that my words were written.

Oh, that they were inscribed in a book." Now, of course, they really are now, right? We're reading them, but he didn't know that.

His suffering is because there was a conversation between God and the devil. We know that, but Job didn't know that. He didn't know what was going on behind the scenes. So there's a lot Job didn't know.

But now he knows something. Now he's very, very confident. He moves from hoping to knowing. Let me say this to you.

Never give up what you do know because of what you don't know. There's a lot of things you don't know, and you can't answer and won't be able to figure out, even though you want to. And you pray about it, and you search for them.

But there's some things you do know. Hold onto those. Never give up what you do know for what you don't know.

Now if you're a Christian, you should know it. You should have confidence in it. You should have a rock-solid assurance that when you die, you're going to go to Heaven. You can have that. You know, the Bible promises assurance.

1 John, chapter 5, verse 13, probably the best verse on this subject, "These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life." If somebody asked me, Skip, do you think you're going to go to Heaven. I go, no, I don't think I'm going to Heaven. I know I am. I know I am.

Now I once asked a clergyman when I was searching-- this is before I came to Christ-- I once asked a clergyman in the faith I grew up with, how can I know I'm going to go to Heaven when I die. And he basically said, you can't know until you die. I go, well, I really want to go to Heaven.

How can I know that? He goes, well, when you die, you'll know. And I remember saying to him, that's a little late, isn't it, to find out you were wrong.

I mean, what if you went to the doctor, and the doctor said, you may have cancer, but then again you may not. And you were to say, well, Doc, how can I know? And he said, well, if you die from it, we know you had it. Well, that wouldn't be very helpful a diagnosis. That's a little bit too late.

So you can know, you can have assurance, you can have this same kind of assurance. I've had people ask me, well, how can you be so sure you're saved. Easy, I was there when it happened. I remember the incident itself.

I remember my heart being changed in the moment. And though I didn't hear a voice, though I didn't see a light, I felt unburdened. I felt relieved. And-- and my life changed, and people who knew me saw it. I was there when it happened.

Now that's not arrogance. That's just confidence. Confidence is believing what God said. That's not arrogance. That's confidence.

In fact, to believe what God said isn't arrogance. It's humility. You're bowing yourself before His revelation. But you can know, and I want to drill that in. You can know.

Somebody sent me a photograph. I have the pictures. I have two pictures. I read about it in a book, but I didn't know if it was a true headstone.

But somebody sent me a photograph from a cemetery back in New England. And it's inscribed, "Pause, Stranger, as you pass me by. As you are now, so once was I. As I am now, so you will be. So prepare for death and follow me."

It's a great headstone. Somebody was walking past that and read it and wrote something and left it on the grave that says, "To follow you, I'm not content until I know which way you went." I don't know which way you went, but I know which way I'm going to go. And I hope you can have that assurance as well, and you can.

Job said, "I know my Redeemer lives." I know that after my skin is destroyed and my flesh, I will see God. So his shelter is a person. His shelter is personal.

Finally, and we'll close with this, his ultimate shelter is perpetual. It's never going to end. It's not going to stop after a little period of time.

He speaks of his own eventual death but also eternal life, in verse 26 and 27. Listen to these great words. "After my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh"-- mm-hmm, wait a minute-- "after my skin is destroyed," "in my flesh, I will see God." It continues, "Whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold and not another. Oh, how my heart yearns within me."

Now this is Hebrew poetry. You can see how it's written out in the page in your Bible. The way it's written, it's called Hebrew parallelism. So this is a Hebrew poetic way of saying, I got no hope in this life, but I believe in a future bodily Resurrection. That's really what it is saying.

Job pierces beyond the grave. He knows he's going to die. He knows his body at some point will decay. But he knows he's going to live forever.

He says, my flesh is going to be destroyed. Whether Job is enjoying life at home, living the life of Riley-- I don't even know what that means, but that's a saying-- living it up, with his servants and all his children, and things are good, and the economy's good, or he's scraping himself on an ash heap with a piece of pottery. He knows either way, he has an expiration date.

He's terminal. He's going to die. They're going to put him under the ground one day. He will die.

It's like the cab driver said to his client. He said, you know life is a lot like a taxi cab ride. He said, the meter keeps going whether you're going somewhere or just standing still. And so is your life.

You are going somewhere. Where is it you're going? Because the meter is ticking, and you and I have an expiration date.

Job knew that. And he knew that his shelter would outlast and outlive him. He knew that, in this same body that he had with those same eyes, he would see God. How? There's only one explanation, a Resurrection.

If he says my body is going to decay, but in my flesh I'm going to see God, how is that even possible? The only way it's possible is a resurrected body. So get this, here's Job, centuries before Christ, centuries before the Resurrection, centuries before the New Testament, living at the time of the Patriarchs, yet confident in bodily Resurrection.

Why is that important? It means that the Resurrection or belief in the Resurrection is not a new concept, not just a New Testament concept. It goes all the way back as part of God's consistent revelation, way back. It's way old.

A kid wrote a letter to God. "Dear God, my Grandpa said You were alive when he was a kid. Just how far back do You go?"

Well, God goes back pretty far, farther than you or I or grandpa or great-grandpa. He goes all the way back, and His revelation goes back, and the consistency of the Resurrection goes back, His promises. So our shelter is perpetual. It will outlast wrinkles.

Aren't I glad? In this era of high-definition cameras, I am so glad that my hope is perpetual, and it will outlast aches and pains and disease and economic downfall. Our hope is forever.

Now, friends, brothers and sisters, family of God, if Job had this conviction centuries before Christ, how much more should we have this conviction post Christ? Jesus, our Savior, said, "I am the Resurrection and the Life. Whoever believes in Me will never die." Then He proved His words by walking out of the tomb.

He said, because I live, you also will live. My question is, do you believe that. Do you personally believe that? He is a living Redeemer. But is He your living Redeemer, and do you know it?

You might live to be 60 years of age. You might live to be 25 years of age. You might live to be 100 years old on the earth. But you will live forever somewhere, Heaven or hell.

This earth, this life, whether you're like Job in a diseased state or you're like Job before this and you're wealthy and happy and everything's great, which I doubt there's a lot of those around after the coronavirus-- we're all affected by it-- but know this, this earth is a warm-up act. That's all it is. It's a dress rehearsal. I just hope you're ready for the real show.

You're going to see God one day. There's going to be a Resurrection for the just and the unjust, the Scriptures clearly teach. Are you ready to meet Him?

Well, if you're not, you can be. It's pretty simple. And the reason we're so confident about it is the Bible makes promise after promise that you can easily leave your life now and step into a brand new life in faith, an act of faith, a prayer of faith, a simple step of saying "yes" to Jesus.

You say, well, it just sounds so-- I don't know-- elementary, so easy, too easy. If you tell me I need to make a pilgrimage across the world, maybe that would make me feel better. If I have to crawl on my knees to a holy place and get bloodied up, maybe that's better. Or if I have to say a whole lot of prayers, I'll feel better, like I've done something.

You can't do anything because salvation is unattainable. That's why God said, I'll give it to you as a gift. If you just believe in Me and believe that what My Son did for you on the cross 2,000 years ago is enough, I'll give it to you as a gift. No strings attached, free.

That's where you have to humble yourself and be confident in God's revelation to you. You can do that. I'm going to lead you in a prayer right where you're at. And I'm going to ask you to say this prayer in your heart or out loud, but I want you to say it definitely because this is you making a commitment that will change your life forever.

If you want that, just say-- say to God, say, Lord, I give You my life. I'm a sinner. I admit that. I have failed.

I have broken Your law. I have fallen short. Forgive me. I believe in Jesus. I place my faith in Jesus.

I believe He came into this world, and He died on a cross. He shed His blood for me. He paid the price to set me free. But then He rose from the dead to prove it's true He can save me.

I believe that. I believe that. I turn from my sin. I repent of it.

I turn to Jesus as Savior and Lord. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit and help me to live for You today and every day. I pray in Jesus' name, Amen.

Now if you prayed that prayer, I want you to do something. I want you to text the word "saved," S-A-V-E-D, to this telephone number, 505-- that's our area code, 505-- then 509-5433. Once again, 505-509-5433. Text the word "saved" to that.

Or go to the website, visit calvarynm.church, and you're going to see a nice little button that says, "Know God." I think it's right up here. That's your right-hand corner, I believe, because that's my left. Right up in the right-hand corner, it says, "Know God." Click on that.

People, we're going to get in touch with you and give you some next steps. Congratulate you, welcome you to the family of God. In fact, can we just say, "Welcome to the family of God" right now to all those who have done that. Way to go. Let's close up and worship.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Additional Messages in this Series

Show expand

 
Date Title   Watch Listen Notes Share Save Buy
5/3/2020
completed
resume  
When Sheltering Is a Problem
Job 9
Skip Heitzig
Info
Message Summary
Staying cooped up in our homes has uncovered lots of underlying problems. Some are dealing with depression and their own identity, while others are struggling in their marriage relationships, having so much time with each other. As Job’s losses turned into prolonged suffering, he too struggled with deep issues, two of which we deal with today.
Message Trailer
Watch
Watch and take notes
Listen - Mini Player
Listen and Take Notes
Listen in Spanish
Outline
Study GuideTranscript
Facebook
Twitter
Email
Video (MP4)
Audio (MP3)
Spanish (MP3)
Buy CD
4/19/2020
completed
resume  
The Need for a Strong Shelter
Job 1
Skip Heitzig
Info
Message Summary
Since it seems that the present pandemic the world is facing will require more time to sort out and more patience on our part, I want to begin a new series called Shelter in Grace. Even the strongest, bravest, and most spiritual among us need God’s sheltering presence in the days ahead. I am praying that as life’s circumstances close in around us, God’s grace will open up for us new ways to grow and new joys to experience. Let’s consider someone in Scripture who discovered the need for a strong shelter in crisis: Job.
Message Trailer
Watch
Watch and take notes
Listen - Mini Player
Listen and Take Notes
Listen in Spanish
Outline
Study GuideTranscript
Facebook
Twitter
Email
Video (MP4)
Audio (MP3)
Spanish (MP3)
Buy CD
4/26/2020
completed
resume  
Down but Not Out!
Job 1-2
Skip Heitzig
Info
Message Summary
Ouch! We all learn to say that word pretty early on in life, and we say it all the way through until the very end. Life hurts. Our life span is marked by life sorrows. But our response is what is central to the outcome. When life delivers a knockdown punch, it doesn’t need to become a knockout! Let’s see how Job got back up to shelter in grace.
Message Trailer
Watch
Watch and take notes
Listen - Mini Player
Listen and Take Notes
Listen in Spanish
Outline
Study GuideTranscript
Facebook
Twitter
Email
Video (MP4)
Audio (MP3)
Spanish (MP3)
Buy CD
5/24/2020
completed
resume  
Discovering God; Discovering Myself
Job 42:1-6
Skip Heitzig
Info
Message Summary
It’s appropriate that we conclude our series Shelter in Grace as our world is beginning to open up again from the effects of the coronavirus. Today we come to the conclusion of the book of Job where he finally meets up with his God and makes three powerful discoveries followed by one essential decision. His armchair-philosopher friends are silenced as God reveals Himself to Job. What he discovers about God and himself is humbling and insightful. Likewise, let’s also determine to be different after this lockdown.
Message Trailer
Watch
Watch and take notes
Listen - Mini Player
Listen and Take Notes
Listen in Spanish
Outline
Study GuideTranscript
Facebook
Twitter
Email
Video (MP4)
Audio (MP3)
Spanish (MP3)
Buy CD
There are 4 additional messages in this series.
© Copyright 2024 Connection Communications | 1-800-922-1888