SERMON VI. THE LIVING REDEEMER. “_Oh that my words were now written_! _oh that they were printed in a book_! _that they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever_! _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_: _whom I shall see for myself_, _and mine eyes shall behold_, _and not another_; _though my reins be consumed within me_.”—Job xix. 23–27. IT is the common opinion of learned divines, that Job was an ancient prince in some part of Arabia, known in his day by the name of Uz. His three friends also—“Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite”—were neighboring princes. In their visit of condolence, they were accompanied by Elihu, who seems to have been a young man of extraordinary intelligence and virtue. The occasion of this visit was the apparent judgments of God upon the patriarch. They held a long controversy with him, in which they insisted that his unparalleled calamities and sufferings proved him the chief of hypocrites. Job as strenuously maintained his innocence and integrity, and argued that his providential afflictions were intended only for the proof and the improvement of his piety; and that when this purpose should be accomplished, he would come forth as gold purified from the furnace. God, answering out of the whirlwind, settled the dispute, deciding in favor of his servant Job; his three friends were required to offer sacrifice for their faults, and Job must pray for their forgiveness. Then the wheel of fortune turned in his favor, and he was restored to his former prosperity. Job and his friends evidently had a clear understanding of the evil of sin, the wickedness of hypocrisy, the importance of the fear of God, and the doctrine of an allwise superintending providence; and knew how to approach Jehovah through sacrifice, in anticipation of the promised Messiah. We shall offer a few general remarks on Job’s faith in a living Redeemer, as expressed in our text. I. Our minds are struck with wonder and pleasure, in beholding the patriarchs and prophets of ancient times, moved by the Spirit of God, searching diligently for the person and grace of the Messiah; like miners, opening an entrance to a precious treasure, which is to redeem them and their brethren from bondage.