GOD'S WORD IS SETTLED IN HEAVEN,(HE'S DONE WITH THIS WORLD) 2PT.3:9-13,PS.119:89 🚥🚥🚥🚥🚥🚥🚥🚥🚥🚥🚥🚥🚥🚥 LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS!(PART TWO) 🚥🚥🚥🚥🚥🚥🚥🚥🚥🚥🚥🚥🚥🚥 In our last study,we rested with one of King David's secrets,in always ensuring God's protection and provision at all times,and that's genuinely and honestly humbling himself before God always; Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? (Psa 139: 7) If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. (Psa 139: 11) 26. He shall cry unto me, Thou art my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation. 27. Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth....... (Psa 89: 26-28) I repeat for emphasis sake,one of the things that pleases our Father most is, accepting our frailty and helplessness without HIM.*DAVID HAD NO TWO HEADS...HE ONLY BUSIED HIMSELF WITH KNOWING GOD MORE THROUGH GOD'S OWN WORD...AND IT PAID OFF* Let's take a look at an experience I had in the School of Ministry. As always,names of people and church will be excluded for security sake. One of our instructors related an experience when himself as an upcoming Gospel minister was invited to minister abroad,in the company of three renowned God's Generals in Nigeria...as at the time,one of the three was and is still a household name in Nigeria. He(newbie minister)had his turn on the third night,...and everywhere,the atmosphere was charged and electrified,..infact,he was asked to minister on the fourth and last night with the other General..., because,they saw the Holy Spirit in action. He said,later in his hotel room later that third night,he heard a knock on his door,and behold,it was the most popular General(another Nicodemus,you would say)! Humbled by his visit,he could barely utter a word. The General explained his presence thus,*The first two nights paled into insignificance, the moment you took charge of the pulpit tonight... what's the secret? I had to come because, I can tell it was a message from above, please share with me* Instantaneously, the newbie received the message, and passed it across thus,* The LORD said,as long as you remain a baby in My Hand, I will always bare you in My Arms,but when feel you have grown,and now an adult, I will gently drop you down to walk on your own* The moment the newbie finished, the General broke down and wept, because the message was self explanatory... it's ICHABOD...those like him are living on past glory. According to the newbie, the General never went back to his room that night,as they prayed together all through. Both are very much alive today. When we tell God(usually through our actions),that we are capable of taking care of ourselves, He backs off, for (HE HATES STRIFE,AND DOESN'T FORCE, UNLESS HIS PURPOSE DEMANDS IT). This is where I become sad, seeing and hearing people misinterpreting God's Word in the doctrine of Predestination...I still can't believe that a significantly greater percentage of Christians are yet being hoodwinked into believing the devil's*don't worry,relax* form of Christianity,when HIS WORD is clear on salvation. Indeed,satan so cheapen salvation by the promotion of his twisted version of Predestination (Once saved, always saved). Back to our discourse, it was after Job discovered that,those he thought loved him, and will protect him,if need be,not only deserted him,but mocked him of being a secret sinner... including even his own wife(BUT DON'T BLAME THE WIFE,SHE SAW IT ALL,FROM HERO TO ZERO, IT'S OUT OF THE PAIN SHE SAW HER LOVING HUSBAND PASSING THROUGH.ALL THEIR CHILDREN BURIED IN ONE DAY, AND HER HUSBAND REBUKED HER, SHE UTTERED NOT A WORD,NOR LEFT HIM. INSTEAD,SHE MADE AMENDS, STILL STAYED GLUED TO HER HUSBAND,FED AND CARED FOR HIM THROUGHOUT THE TRIAL. A PILLAR OF STRENGTH, WHEN OTHERS MOCKED. INDEED SHE'S THE VIRTUOUS WOMAN,HENCE SHE DIDN'T REQUIRED TO BE PRAYED FOR UNLIKE THE FRIENDS). So, it was only then he realised he was in trouble without God,...that he has offended his MAKER by flaunting his supposed righteousness before HIM, WHO only is perfectly righteous. Hear him; *I know that my Redeemer lives*(Job 19: 25). Who but the Lord Jesus Christ could make such a sad list of broken friendships as Job does in this chapter? Let's hear what he says about them: *He caused my brothers to distance themselves from me, and my relatives as strangers departed… My neighbors departed, and my acquaintances forgot me. The servants of my house and my maids considered me strange… my servant… does not answer me… my breath disgusts my wife… All my close friends hate me» (vv. 13-19). He had not a single arm of flesh left on which he could lean, when this new light shone upon him, leading him to say: *I know that my Kinsman-Redeemer lives,* and that in my flesh I am to see God. The teaching of the Spirit of God is not limited to the conditions and circumstances of men . Job's language here is full of prophetic meaning, and rich in spiritual consolation. We, at least, can easily read in these words: I. The fact of redemption. *My Redeemer lives.*HE IS THE LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS. What a relief for the downtrodden and bewildered soul to turn from failed earthly relationships to the ever-steadfast Kinsman on high, who lives forever to intercede for us... HE is and will ever be ready to deliver us from all our anguish. He will redeem our lives from destruction, and HE will crown us with goodness and mercy. He vindicates the cause of all who trust in HIM . HE who redeems and buys the soul through HIS own BLOOD from HIM lives for the salvation and vindication of HIS OWN. The fact that HE, the eternal Son of God, condescended to be our Goel(Hebrew for Redeemer (close relative) is the mystery and wonder of infinite grace. II. The joy of personal certainty. *I know.* EVERY DARKNESS WILL EVENTUALLY FLEE AT THE APPEARANCE OF HIS LIGHT* Job knew that all his earthly friends had abandoned him, but he also knew that his next Kinsman in heaven, the Living One, would finally prove to be good and faithful. There were some things that Job did not know. He did not know why he had been so suddenly stripped of all earthly comfort, and crushed to the dust with such a great burden of pain, but he knew and believed that " my Redeemer lives ,*and that HE lives for all things to work. for the good of those who love HIM. He could hardly now speak of my brothers, my relatives, my neighbors, my servant, because they had all abandoned him, but he could say *MY REDEEMER.* When the heart and the flesh fail, God will be the portion of the believing soul.. It will still be sweet to say, *my Redeemer,* when all the joys and friendships of this world have to be left behind. III. The hope of HIS appearance .* For I know,....... and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: (Job 19: 25) Job is now comforted having realised he isn't alone,no matter the weight of his sufferings,though he knows not from whence they came,but he certainly believed in the personal appearance of his great Kinsman-Redeemer on earth. Now we know that this prophecy has been fulfilled, and that the Redeemer has come, and has taken away sin by the sacrifice of Himself: the seed of the woman has crushed the head of the serpent, and by the shedding of her blood has provided a ransom price for the souls of men. The earth needed HIM, and HE has identified HIMSELF with its sins and pains by rising above it and dying for it. For us, these words remain prophetic, and we await the appearance of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ , who still as King of kings will finally rise on earth. IV. The hope of the beatific vision . And after my skin is undone, now without flesh I will see God* The flesh is the veil that hides the vision of God from the spirit of man . Even the Redeemer's flesh had to be rent as a veil, before the entrance could be opened for us ( Heb. 10:20 ). The way Paul puts it is: *Absent from the body, ... present to the Lord* (2 Cor. 5:8, KJV). When he appears, we will be like him, because we will see him as he is. *The pure in heart will see God .* If there were no God to see, why would it be that the purest of hearts have this longing and hope within them? Of course, it does not follow that because a man is good and upright, he is in greater danger of being deceived and led astray in that most important of all questions: that of future hope. V. The confidence of ultimate satisfaction . «Whom I must see for myself, and my eyes will look at him; and no longer as a stranger» (v. 27,) God's current dealings with Job are for him full of mysteries and contradictions,(he had to trust GOD'S WISDOM) All things seem to be against him, but when he sees God apart from his flesh, he knows he will find that God, all along the way, has been by his side, bringing all things to work for his good. He will not see him as a stranger, but as his faithful relative - His Redeemer . Here «now we see through a mirror, dimly; but then we shall see face to face.” What we do not know now we will know later. Our present circumstances may be as incomprehensible to human reason as his were to Job; but with the vision of our Divine Kinsman before us we receive the certainty that in HIS love HE does everything well . "When I wake up, I will be satisfied" (Ps. 17:15), in the presence of his countenance His. This is our hope,as we learn to humble ourselves before our ETERNAL FATHER,TRUSTING HIS JUDGEMENTS TO BE THE BEST FOR US, RELYING SOLELY ON HIM, BLINDLY BELIEVING HIM, THAT WITH HIM,WE ARE ASSURED OF OUR SAFETY, AMEN🙇🙏!