Evening services, We're going to read from God's Word.
Want to read tonight from the Book of Job.
I must confess I find the Book of Job a fascinating book.
I can't remember the name of the preacher, but there was 1
preacher and bygone days and he spent 13 years preaching from
the book of Job. That's a long time, 13 years.
Wished I could remember his name, but anyway, 13 years, I'm
sure somebody will be able to find that information out.
We're going to read from the book of Job, Job chapter 33, and
we're going to read from verse 14 to the end, Job 33, verse 14.
Let's hear God's word. We're reading, of course, from
the Authorised Version, Job, chapter 33, verse 14.
Job's easy to find. If you get the book of Psalms,
you'll find the book of Job, Job 33, verse 14.
For God speaketh once, yeah, twice.
Yet man perceiveth it not in a dream, in a vision of the night,
where deep sleep falleth upon men, and slumbrings upon the
bed. Then he openeth the ears of man,
and sealeth their instruction, that he may withdraw man from
his purpose and hide pride from man.
He keepeth back his soul from the pit, and his life from
perishing by the sword. He is chastened also with pain
upon his bed and the multitude of his bones with strong pain,
so that his life of horrid bread, and his soul dainty meat,
his flesh is consumed away that it cannot be seen, and his bones
that were not seen stick out. Yeah, his soul draw near unto
the grave, and his life to the destroyers.
If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among
1000 to show unto man his uprightness, then he is gracious
unto him and safe. Deliver him from going down to
the pit. I have found a ransom.
His flesh shall be fresher than the child's.
He shall return to the days of his youth.
He shall pray unto God, and he will be favourable unto him, and
he shall see his face with joy, for he will render unto man his
righteousness. He looketh upon man, and if any
say, I have sinned and perverted that which was right, and it
profiteth me not, he will deliver his soul from going into
the pit, and his life shall see the light.
Lo, all these things work with God, often times with man, to
bring back his soul from the pit, to be enlightened with the
light of the living. Mark Well, O Job, hearken unto
me, hold thy peace, and I will speak.
If thou hast anything to say, answer me, speak, for I desire
to justify thee. If not, hearken unto me, hold
thy peace, and I shall teach thee wisdom.
Amen. We know the Lord and stamp with
His own approval and blessing, His reading of His own precious
and infallible word. Now my text tonight is found in
Job chapter 33, verse 24. It reads as follows.
Then he is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from
going down to the pit. I have found a ransom.
They have entitled this message the Remarkable Ransom.
Now these words were part of a speech that was addressed toward
Job by a young friend and counsellor by the name of Elihu.
Now Job, remember, was one of the truly great men of the East,
a godly man, one who was upright, one that feared God.
He was holy, an Old Testament believer.
This is what we read of Job in Job One and One there was a man
in the land of Olives whose name was Job, and that man was
perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and he shewed
evil. 4 things we Learn about Job's character And yet this
godly man's life was turned upside down.
He suffered a horrible, intense period of great trials and
troubles. Job Chapter 1 and 2 records that
in one day 10 children were killed by a terrible wind from
the east, like a great tornado. On the same day all his animals
were stolen, and then another calamity struck.
All his servants bar one were brutally murdered by the
Chaldeans. And to make matters worse, Job's
wife. Whenever he would have spoken to
her out of fear, I believe probably desperation, she
counselled Job and this is what she said.
Curse God and die. And on top of all that, if that
wasn't enough, his body broke out into terrible sore boils.
Reading Job chapter 2 and verse 7, these words, so went Satan
forth from the presence of the Lord, and smoked Job with sore
boils from the sole of his foot unto the crown.
Verse 8. And he took him a potsherd to
scrape himself with all, and he sat down among the ashes.
According then to Job 2, verse 11, right through to chapter 31,
verse 40, we have a record of three of Job's best friends who
came to mourn with him and to comfort him.
Their names were Elifaz, the Timonite, Bildad.
The shoe height wasn't very big. And so for the Nathamite, for
seven days, for seven nights, these three friends, along with
Job sat in silence. Not one word was uttered.
They saw that the grief of Job was very great and sore.
You see, physically and mentally this man was broken.
He probably wished that he'd never been born.
Societally, one of the great men of the East, a powerful man, A A
a, a prominent man. He was reduced to being one who
very few cared about materially. He had lost all his great
possessions paternally. His family was devastated.
You see, in one day his life had been turned upside down.
When Job's friends eventually got round to speaking, these
three councillors, we'll call them three miserable
councillors, for that's what they were, one after the other.
You see, they blame Job, they argued.
Wait a minute, Job, you must have sinned.
Job, you've sinned secretly, You've sinned.
Seriously, Job, all of this calamity that has come, God is
punishing you. Why else would all this calamity
come upon you? Now what they were saying was
not true, and it was certainly not true in Job's experience.
And could I say this, when individuals, when families fall
into terrible calamities, let's be slow to judgement.
Let's be prayerful. We really don't know all the
facts and circumstances in our lives.
Unfortunately and sadly, we're too quick to rush to judgement
about certain things. Then in chapter 32, another man
entered the discussion. His name was Elijah.
He was the youngest of the four councillors.
He spoke the truth in Job's presence.
God is sovereign. That he's a God of all grace,
That he is not merciless to any of his children.
Yet sadly, he too accused Job of playing the part of a hypocrite.
He scolded him. He said you sound like a man
that's full of self justification.
Yet he maintained that he would not pass judgement but pointed
out the way that God deals with his children.
And that's what Job 33 is all about.
From 14 onwards, it's about the way that God deals with his
children. And in verse 24 of Job 33, he
made a powerful statement, a remarkable statement about
deliverance for a man in the depths of despair and in
sickness. And from going down to the pit.
Listen to these words. This is a remarkable statement.
Then he is gracious unto him and self deliver him from going down
to the pit. I have found a ransom.
There's the remarkable ransom. I have found a ransom.
The word ransom, as I told you this morning is used 16 times in
the Bible. The word ransom unfortunately is
used today about paying a a sum of money to kidnappers to have a
loved one released. But but the the thought and the
sentiment is behind it. When it's used in the Bible
sense, it's richer and more fuller and clearer in meaning.
It's connected to redemption. It's it's connected to release.
It's connected to rejoicing. As I looked at this text last
Sunday night before I went to bed, there was three things come
to mind. One, the danger that was faced.
Look at the text and it says from going down to the pit, you
see the words there going down suggest a path, a pathway
suggest what we could really say a course of life.
And if you notice, it's not a pathway towards paradise, but
going down to the pit. So it's not a pathway of
deliverance and delight, we would have to say.
It's a pathway, of course, that's leads to death and
destruction. You see the reference to going
down to the pit. Speaks Speaks of of a a
direction direction of of travel travel and and it's it's not not
just just going going down down into into a a state state of of
sin sin and and guilt guilt and and shame shame, but but going
going down down to to the the pit pit. the pit is mentioned
three times look at verse 18 he keepeth back his soul from the
pit and then you come down to verse 30 to bring back his soul
from the pit and it's mentioned again in verse 24 from going
down to the pit 3 * 3 in the Bible is the number of complete
witness And what is this pit? Well, we'll see in a moment.
It's the pit of hell. You think of our world tonight.
Think of our United Kingdom, the major cities, London, Belfast,
Liverpool, Manchester. Think of our major towns.
Think of our villages. 10s of thousands or running into
millions, and they're in the journey of life and God has been
good and God has given them breath and health and strength
and provided all that they've needed materially.
And yet they're going away from God.
They're going on in their sin, they're going on in the way of
the devil that they're going on full of pride and full of
rebellion. They've forgotten the Lord.
They've forsaken him and his word.
And where's the direction of travel taking them?
Not just down to the grave, not just down to the door of death,
but they're going down into this awful place that the Bible calls
hell. You see, this is serious.
This is solemn. We'll ask the question, what is
this pit? I believe that it's the pit of
hell, a place full of terror and torment, a place of outer
darkness, a place of weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth, a
place of immense danger, because the individual who goes down to
this pit is going into a place of doom and destruction.
I want to emphasise this because we live in a day when many
preachers want to take the horror out of hell, want to make
it a happy place. There's those and I have books
in my study who've argued that the fire of hell is not real,
it's not literal, it's not eternal.
Even had one preacher, a man called Mr Fudge, who maintained
that what he was saying in the book was contrary to the Bible.
At least he was being honest. He argued that eternal death
doesn't mean eternal suffering and hell for all eternity.
There's many preachers who deny Hell's existence.
There's many preachers who want to make hell like heaven.
But when we come to the book, and one of the little choruses
that I picked tonight was I have a precious book.
It's the word of God. And we've got to come back to
the word of God. We've got to ask the question,
what saith the Scriptures? We'll remember over there in
Luke chapter 16 the Lord Jesus told a parable about the rich
man and Lazarus. Lazarus was the beggar, it says
in Luke 16, verse 22. And it came to pass that the
beggar died and was carried by the angels in the Abraham's
bosom. The rich man also died and was
buried. Listen to verse 23.
And in hell, he lifts up his eyes, being in torments, seeing
Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom.
Can you think of this rich man? He also died, says unburied.
You think of the pomp and ceremony, the big funeral, nice
things said about him. Maybe somebody's asking how much
money did he leave? Who's going to get his fancy
clothes? Who's going to buy the mansion?
Is it going up for sale? Could I get the gates?
Maybe somebody was thinking. And yet we read and inhale.
He lift up his eyes, being in torments, the rich man entered
the place of terror and torments, a place of personal,
permanent and powerful torments. And those that live in our
cities and towns and villages in the journey of life may be like
the rich man. They could be top of the class
educationally. They could be top of the social
ladder, big house mansion with gates, parties and friends, rich
and powerful. And yet for all their
possessions, for all the parties, for all their human
attainment, for all their merriment, they're not rich
toward God. And that's why this rich man was
in hell, wasn't because he was rich.
It was he was not rich toward God, and this rich man went down
to the pit and inhale, lifted up his eyes, being in torment.
Could I stress tonight that that day is closer for many than they
think? Did David not say there is but a
step between me and death? Do you realise that you're just
a breath away from God's eternity?
Any of us, A heartbeat between you and the pit of hell.
Why? No, many don't believe it.
What is this pit? Where is it located?
Well, if you turn again in your Bible, let's turn this time to
the book of Numbers. And in Numbers chapter 16, we
read in verse 31 these words. And it came to pass as he made
an end of speaking all these words, that the ground cleave
asunder that was under them, and the earth opened their mouth and
swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that
appertained unto Kora, and all their goods, they and all that
appertained to them. Now notice these words underline
them because we're linking them up.
We're comparing Scripture with Scripture went down alive into
the pit, and the earth closed upon them, and they perished
from among the congregation. Here's Kora's rebellion.
Kora was a rebel. He had many friends with him.
Kora and his friends stood against Moses.
They accused Moses of behaving badly in the ways of God.
They issued a challenge to Moses authority.
And what do we read? We read they went down alive
into the pit, and many in life's journey, that's their danger
that they face. And the Lord Jesus said three
times, John 822 to 24, If you die in your sins where I am,
there you cannot come again in the Gospel of Matthew, in
Matthew chapter 25, when we read in verse 41 these words, they
and shall he say unto them in the left hand, depart from me,
ye cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his
angels. Why did God create such a place
called Hell for the Devil? And his angels that sinned with
him. And there's no return, and
there's no exits and there's no escape.
And there's none that can pass from hell into heaven.
There's no reprieve. There's no release.
The day you enter is the day you face your eternal doom.
You, you face the fearful destruction of your soul and
body. Now this is a place for all
unsaved unbelieving individuals. The Bible says the wicked shall
be turned into hell and all nations that forget God.
You see you would maybe say to me tonight, but and I would
understand this hell surely is a place for murderers and you're
100% right. No murderer hath eternal life.
Do you know tomorrow at 9:30, 1st of September marks the 50th
anniversary of the murder of five Orange brethren in County
Armagh? A very dark period in Ulster's
troubles. John Johnson 80, James McKee 73,
Ronnie McKee 40, Nevin McConnell 48, William Heron 68.
Six other men were injured in the Tully Vallen Orange Hall.
And the Bible says that the soul that sinneth it shall die.
And it's not just the murderers and the rapists and the drunkers
and the thief and the harlots, but it's the unbelieving, it's
the fearful. Remember John 3 and 16?
Because that message is there. For God so loved the world that
he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life.
But he that believeth not on the Son have not life, and the wrath
of God abideth on Him. We live in a day when sin is
ignored. We live in a day when sin is
misunderstood and yet has forgotten that sin pays wages.
The wages of sin is death, eternal death.
The gift of God is eternal life. You know, people live every day,
they take every step, they take every breath, they enjoy
everything that God gives them. And yet every day they live,
they're getting closer and closer out of Christ to this
place called the Pit. I could link it up with
Revelation 20, the bottomless pit where the devil will be
bound for 1000 years. The danger that was faced going
down into the pit very quickly. And secondly, notice the
discovery that was found. If you go back to the text, it
tells us something truly amazing there in the book of Job in Job
33 and verse 24. Then he is gracious unto him and
said, deliver him from going down into the pit.
I have found a ransom. Then he is gracious.
That refers to God Almighty. And whenever it says, then he is
gracious unto him. Him as a reference to the man
who faces this danger. And what does God say in grace?
Deliver him. Now why does God give such a
gracious word? And here's the answer.
I have found a ransom and the word ransom here is the Hebrew
word cofer, which means atonement.
You see this word ransom speaks of redemption.
It speaks of a release, it speaks of a rescue.
There's tremendous salvation here.
It says in the text then he is gracious.
They in a school town, which means at that time and and out
of grace what is spoken is a word of deliverance and safe
deliver him. Do you feel the sense of that
that word deliver him is spoken and free grace.
Is it any wonder Paul could say where sin abounds, grace does
much more abound. We were singing there
deliberately. Amazing Grace.
How sweet the sound that saved the Wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now I'm found was blind, but now I see
Amazing Grace. The little chorus.
There's a way back to God from the dark path of sin, and
Calvary's cross is where you begin.
When you come as a Sinner to Jesus.
You see there's no Sinner conceive himself.
There's no Sinner can set himself free from the terrors
and torments of this pit. The Sinner is without strength
and power. The Sinner needs one to come and
deliver him. The Sinner needs one to speak
the word of deliverance, and that's the context.
Look at verse 23. If there be a messenger with
him, a messenger with him, and who is the messenger of the New
Covenant? Well, it's Christ.
He's the mediator of the New covenant, not just a messenger.
And he is a merciful high priest.
He is sinlessly perfect, and on the ground of ascendous life and
atoning death. He has power to set the captive
free. You see, there's a wonderful
deliverance here for the Sinner. Imagine God Almighty in heaven
saying, deliver him. Why?
For I have found a ransom. And he speaks that word in
grace. A search was made in heaven and
in earth, and the ransom was found.
And who is the ransom? It's none other than the Lord
Jesus. Listen to what He Himself said
in Matthew chapter 20 and verse 28.
Even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to
minister and to give his life a ransom.
For many, the ransom speaks of paying a price to release a soul
from bondage. And here's the Lord Jesus.
And he came into the world and he lived and died for sinners,
and he died as the sinners substitute.
He, he, he provided a ransom price.
His shed blood is the means of our deliverance.
It's not found in the Roman Catholic Church.
It's not found in neither Pope nor priest or confessional.
I'll tell you better than that. It's not even found in the
Protestant Church. Not the Protestant Church that
saves. It's Christ.
Not as pastors and elders, but Christ alone is not found in
good living. It's not found in a moral
lifetime. It's not found in religious
rites and ceremonies. For by grace.
So you see it through faith and not all of yourselves.
The gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.
And here's a text that says, then he is gracious unto him.
Do you, do you feel the weight of that?
And he saith in grace, deliver him on what ground?
He hasn't earned it. He hasn't worked for it.
Wait a minute. He doesn't deserve it.
He's a murderer, he's a rapist, he's a thief.
He's a law breaker. He he's an unbeliever.
It's in the basis of free grace. What is grace?
It's undeserved, unmerited favour to lawbreakers and
criminals and sinners. Do you know there's a story told
about Doctor Tory? Doctor Tory?
Whenever he was in New York, he he met this old Shoemaker.
Shoemaker was a drunkard, used to beat his wife, drank whiskey,
gave his wife no money, spent all that he earned in the public
house. He had no time for the gospel.
He cursed and swore like a tripper, and he cursed Tory and
his God to his face. Well, Tory prayed for him.
Tory went to befriend him, to minister to him, to tell him he
needed to repent and get saved. And there was a day came when
that man repented, and that man received Christ.
And here was the word Ho everyone that thirsteth, come ye
to the waters, he have no money. Come ye by and eat ye come by
wine and milk, without money and without price.
Tory pointed him to the words. Jesus paid it all.
All to him I owe. Sin had left the Crimson stain.
He washed it white. As so.
Can you say that tonight? Can you sing and say by way of
testimony, I am redeemed? Oh, praise the Lord.
You see the Gospel, The gospel is a gospel message about a
ransom price. It's a good news from God about
God's remedy for human sinfulness.
And God's remedy centres in the personal work of Christ.
And here's the greatest discovery in the world, that God
himself found a way to be just and the justifier of the
ungodly. And God's way was in the ransom
price, the birth, the life, the death, the resurrection of a
substitute, and then grace. He proclaims it.
He speaks a word of deliverance. Deliver him.
Atonement has been made. Divine justice has been
satisfied. God's wrath has been appeased
and propitiated. His law has been fulfilled.
The resurrection's proof that God accepted the ransom price of
Christ. Not only the danger that was
faced and the discovery that was found, but we'll close with
this, the deliverance that was focused.
Look at these words again in the text.
Then He is gracious unto him and sayeth, deliver Him.
They pause there, underline the word Him.
It's an individual. It's not them, it's Him.
You see it. It's a personal deliverance, and
God deals with every Sinner on an individual basis.
The Bible says then everyone shall give an account of himself
unto God. You're not accountable for your
wife. You're not accountable for your
brother, your sister. You're not accountable for any
member of your family or every other individual.
They're accountable for their own sin and their own guilt and
their own bondage. So here, here's a personal
message. Deliver him.
But it's not only a personal deliverance.
Notice it's a powerful deliverance.
Deliver him from going down to the pet.
It's it's it's in that sense where deliver him now because
he's in immediate and imminent danger.
Speak the word now. Can you hear that the Lord Jesus
deliver him now? He's speaking to you personally,
but he's speaking powerfully. Doesn't the Bible say, behold,
now is accepted, now is the day of salvation today, if you will
hear his voice harden not your hearts as in the provocation.
Boast not thyself of tomorrow. For no man knoweth what a day we
bring forth in the context we read the words for God speaketh
once, yeah, twice. Yet man perceiveth had done.
How many times has God spoke to you in the Gospel?
You know you're a Sinner. You know you need to be saved.
You know you have a precious soul.
You know about the reality of heaven and the awfulness of
hell. That's in the book.
You, you accept that teaching. But what have you done about it?
Here's the call of the gospel. It's a powerful call.
Deliver him from going down to the pit.
Now, could I tell you something else?
It's a particular deliverance. Look with me at the text in the
context the pit is mentioned. 3 * 1824 thirty.
But look with me at verse 27. He looketh upon man, And if any
say I have sinned and perverted that which was right, and it
profited me not, he shall deliver his soul from going down
into the pit. You see, here's the call of the
gospel. The gospel calls for a
confession of sin. You coming to the Lord and
saying, Lord, I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight.
That's the first step to deliver your soul.
Go to God and say, I've sinned against heaven, and in your
sight, Lord, save me, I perish. Notice it says in verse 28, And
his life shall see the light. With confession there's true
conversion and in true conversion there's change.
Remember Zacchaeus, he was told up the tree, Come down, make
haste for today I must abide in thy eyes.
The lame man was told some thy sins be forgiven thee.
Here's the call of the gospel. It's not only personal and
powerful, but it's particular. You're called to confess.
You're called to repent. You're called to have faith.
You're called to see that you've got the light of God flooding
into your soul. Could I finish tonight with
this? You know that one day you'll die
as I will, and on that day you need to be aware of the
destruction that's in front of you, the danger that you face
going down into the pit and you need to make this discovery.
The greatest discovery is that you've found a ransom.
Not the discovery of £1,000,000, no, not the discovery of a
goldmine, not not the discovery of immense wealth that you never
had to work again in your life. Greater discovery, the greatest
in the world. God says I've found a ransom,
make the discovery of a deliverer because the deliverer
in grace is saying deliver him. You not only need a relationship
with the Lord, but you can rejoice in a day of salvation,
the deliverance that was focused.
Is that true of you tonight? Have you that particular
deliverance? And you know how powerful it's
come to you and changed you. You're converted tonight.
You've called on the Lord. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved, and you've particularised it
because it's particular to you. You're in a right relationship
to the Lord. Your soul has been restored.
You're rejoicing tonight in all the blessings and benefits of
God in the gospel. May that be true of you tonight.
If not, remember this danger. You need to make this discovery
so that you can enjoy this deliverance.
The Lord bless you tonight. Thank you for coming, thank you
for listening, and I pray the Lord will use His Word for His
glory.