May it please almighty God to
bless us together this evening as we meditate in his holy word. Let us turn to the book of Job,
chapter 23, and we'll read the 10th verse. The book of Job,
chapter 23, and reading the 10th verse. But he knoweth the way that I
take. When he hath tried me, I shall
come forth as gold. It is really very wonderful to
realise that as we read the Word of God, there are so many glorious
pictures of how the Lord graciously deals with his people, And we
see in reading such accounts the change which occurs in their
lives. The change which God brings about. And it's good for us to realize
that the same almighty work of God still goes on today. Because we know that the Lord
has said, I am the Lord, I change not. Therefore you sons of Jacob
are not consumed. Well in this 10th verse, Job
is able to confess the glorious truth, he knoweth the way that
I take. That's true in every one of us. But perhaps we may not always
quite believe it in that way. And as we look in the earlier
verses of this same chapter, as Job speaks and he tells us
Even today is my complaint bitter. My stroke is heavier than my
groaning. Well, we know that in Job's case,
of course, he did have an exceedingly bitter stroke to bear. But he's there really as a testimony
to the true church of God, to realize that in the midst of
such difficult scenes, the Lord graciously comes and gives grace,
grace to endure, grace to continue. And so he comes and he says in
this condition, oh, that I knew where I might find him, that
I might come even to his seat. You see, Job here appears to
be not close to God. He wanted to find him. He didn't
know how to. It may be so in our little lives.
We may perhaps want to, but we don't seem to know how to. And
it seems sometimes as though God is deaf to our cries. And that's why he goes on to
say, I would order my cause before him and fill my mouth with arguments.
I would know the words which he would answer me and understand
what he would say unto me. And then he goes on to say, would
he plead against me with this great power? No. You see, we
see there his humble confidence in God, to believe that God wouldn't
plead against him, but on the contrary, he would put strength
in me. Well, the Lord does give strength
to his people. The Apostle Paul tells us that
wonderful statement when he wrote to the Philippians, I can do
all things through Christ that strengthens me. He had a secret,
and that secret was not himself through Christ. And my friends,
that's exactly the same today. And we should take courage from
such a statement. And he goes on there, the righteous
might dispute with him, so should I be delivered forever from my
judge. Behold, I go forward. But he is not there. and backward,
but I cannot perceive him. On the left hand, where he doth
work, but I cannot behold him, he hideth himself on the right
hand, that I cannot see him. So there's Job, you see, clearly
in a quandary, not knowing where the Lord is, where the Lord would
direct him. But yet, he's able to tell us
that. And then he comes with that voice
of confidence. But, but, there are many buts
in the Word of God. And here's a but. He, Almighty
God, knoweth the way that I take. And he does. God knows the path,
the way that you and I are being led in. May not be very clear
to us. Wasn't very clear to poor old
Job. He looked all round. Yes, right, left and behind and
forward. Couldn't see any evidence of
it. Sometimes that might be the same we might feel in our little
lives. Might be in a quandary. Well,
he then comes and tells us this great truth with a humble confidence. He knoweth the way that I take.
When he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. And my friends, the realistic
position is that we are all tried. We're all tested in our religion. And it's a blessing that we are. Because as the Lord graciously
tests us, the result is that when we come down to the day
of our death, we are as gold purified in the furnace. We don't go to heaven unprepared. The Lord has his way of preparing. The Lord has his way of instructing. But there will be, many times
perhaps, when the reality of our religion is tested. Well, I'm sure in our right mind,
we desire that to be so. Because we don't want to have
a false religion, do we? We don't want to have a religion
which rests on our works. We want to have a God-given religion. We want to have a religion which
is based upon the faith which is given to us. And we have so
many glorious examples of the faith given to God's people as
they traversed this earth. Many difficult times, many times
of opposition, but they proved God was with them. And that's
a wonderful thing to realize. And may we have a humble confidence,
therefore, in our God. As he says here, He knoweth the
way that I take, and when he hath tried me, I shall come forth
as gold. Well, it's wonderful if that
is so. We read really that chapter in
Peter's epistle, to just encourage us and to strengthen us there
because in that chapter the Apostle Peter who knew well in his life,
the difficulties of life, and the many times of opposition,
and the times when sometimes the devil got the better of him. But we see how God was very gracious
to him, and how God was very mindful of him, and God was very
gracious to him, and indeed blessed him indeed. And we should be
very thankful today that we have such And he tells us, commencing
in verse 12, Beloved, Beloved. He's addressing the church of
God. He's addressing you and me. Beloved, think it not strange,
concerning. And he describes the trial as
fiery. The fiery trial, which is to
try you. as though some strange thing
happened unto you. Sometimes we do think, well,
our life is a bit unique. We're having to pass this way
and surely no one else has passed this way. Well, we just sometimes
need to stop and ponder and refer to the Word of God and recognize
what it says. Think it not strange concerning
the fiery trial which is to try you as though some strange thing
happened unto you. Well, we're not to mope. We're
not to complain because of the path the Lord has ordained for
us. The Lord has ordained the right
way. And the right way is a pathway
of preparation to our eternal home. And all of us, have a different
life to lead. And the Lord graciously, isn't
it wonderfully, He deals with us in love to our souls to prepare
us so that we don't mistake the way. He's with us. He brings us through these fiery
trials. And you might say, well, what
does he mean by a fiery trial? Well, obviously it means it's
not a very comfortable situation. You know, if you and I had to
pass through a fire, it's not something very easy, is it? And
it can be very painful. And yet here we have this wonderful
statement that we are not to think it's strange. Not strange. And then he goes on to say, but
rejoice. Rejoice. Why? Should we rejoice? He tells us. But rejoice inasmuch
as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings. Comes back, doesn't
it, to what we meditated on, really, this morning. And it
is so relevant in the life of a true believer. The life of
one who is a true disciple. of Jesus Christ, we are not to
sail through life free of any sufferings, but we are to be
a partaker, as he says here, as ye are partakers of Christ's
sufferings. And if we realize the wonderful
truth of that, it puts things in a right perspective and it
gives us right appreciation of God's love and mercy toward us. And it's not because of that
which we've done wrong or sinned against God, sometimes it may
be, but it's because he is instructing us and he's teaching us and because
he's bringing us in that way that we might be partakers of
Christ's sufferings. And then he says, that when his
glory shall be revealed, he may be glad also with exceeding joy. What does he mean by that? He
means this is the path, and we can say the blessed path. of the true Church of God. And if it is the true Church
of God which brings us to this place of exceeding joy, glory at last, surely we should
thank our God that is taking us in hand and dealing with us
as sons and daughters of the Most High God. Yes, you know,
he comes on and he says, if ye be reproached for the name of
Christ, happy are ye. Happy are ye. And you young people,
you might take note of that, because in the world in which
we live today, there's so much evil. so much immorality so much
disbelief in the truth of God and it may be and if you are
given grace to stand firm for the truth of God and confess
what you do believe you will be reproached if you be reproached
for the name of Christ as I mentioned in prayer this morning we should
be very happy to have those MPs who by the grace of God have
been able to spell out very clearly what they believe to be right
And it's a great blessing, if you and I today. The Lord has
caused us, every one of us, to live in this world today. Not yesterday, but today. And we are here, therefore, to
be a witness for the gracious and glorious God. Isaiah tells
us very clearly Ye are my witnesses. And it's a wonderful privilege
to be a witness for the Savior, the witness for God. And so he
says, therefore, if ye be reproached, we may not be, but if we are,
if we are reproached in the name of Christ, happy are ye. It's an evidence. that you and I are a child of
God. If there's no reproaching, if
there's people who never speak against us, never mock us, we
could perhaps question whether we have any real religion. And that's why we need God to
test our religion. That's why this word is true,
that we said, when he has tried us, when he's tried us, a time
of being tested on the reality of your and my religion. Well, and he says, for the Spirit
of Christ and of God resteth upon you. Yes, how humbling,
how amazing, what a privilege to know that the Spirit of Christ
resteth upon us. We can't ask for it, can we?
for any greater blessing than that. On their part he is evil
spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. You will need to
ponder that. You might go home and perhaps
read that again. It's fourth chapter in the first
epistle of Peter. And you can also compare it and
read it with the first chapter, because the first chapter also
tells us in verse seven, that the trial of your faith, God-given
faith, the trial of your faith, the test whether it's real faith
or not, that the trial of your faith being much, much more precious
than of gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire, might
be found under praise and honour and glory at the appearing of
Jesus Christ. will be the appearing of Jesus
Christ. And it will be wonderful, won't it, if God has given us
that God-glorifying faith to stand firm for the grand truths
of the Gospel and to not be ashamed of the Gospel of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ. And just reading on in this first
chapter, Peter, whom having not seen, he loved. through faith
we love the Lord Jesus Christ who have you not seen you love
in whom though now you see him not yet believing ye rejoice
with joy unspeakable and full of glory there is my friends
and you young people there is a joy in believing that joy is
as the Holy Spirit gives you grace to believe, to recognize
the Lord has looked upon you and has called you, called you. As the apostle tells us, he was
called by God's grace and so is every believer. It's a wonderful
evidence of God's love. Yet believing, ye rejoice with
joy, unspeakable and full of glory receiving the end of your
faith. What is that? What's the end
of our faith? Well I hope you know what it
is. I hope you're familiar with this verse. Even the salvation
of your souls. The saving of our souls. That is the end of our faith. Oh it's a wonderful thought isn't
it? believe therefore that it will be well with our souls that's
the essential thing isn't it in our little life that to find
and to know that it is well with our soul the devil will come
the devil will try and Pretend that you don't know anything
of the truth. Well, you leave the issue with
God. Because as we have it here in
this word to Job, he knoweth the way that I take, and when
he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. The Lord does
test the reality of a religion. I like to sometimes refer to
that wonderful account in Daniel. You may be sure you're pretty
familiar with it, that account of the three men, Shadrach, Meshach
and Abednego, and how they lived in the time of Nebuchadnezzar. And Nebuchadnezzar, he made an
idol and everyone was told they should bow down and worship the
island. If not, they would be thrown
into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. Well, there were three
certain Jews who did not bow down and they were called Shadrach,
Meshach and Abednego. And Nebuchadnezzar was in his
rage because they didn't bow down and they were brought before
the king. And the king asked them, Is it
true, O Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, do not ye serve my
gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up? He
asks the question, and he tells them, Now if ye be ready, that
at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut,
sortering, dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall down,
and worship the image which I have made well. But If you worship
not, you shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning
fiery furnace. And he asked the question, and
who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands? Well, we have the answer that
these three men gave to the king. They knew the outcome. And what
did they say? Oh, King, we are not careful. to answer thee in this matter."
They weren't careful. They wanted to answer honestly
and truthfully under the blessed power of the Holy Spirit. God was with them. God gave them
strength. God gave them grace. And he was
the one that enabled them to say before the king, if it be
so, Our God, whom we serve, is able to deliver us from the burning
fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O King. Now, that was a humble confidence
that these men had in the ever-living and true God. And my friends,
don't forget, we serve the same God today. And they go on to
say, but if not, Be it known unto thee, O king, that we will
not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast
set up. That was a great statement, wasn't
it? And these things are written for our encouragement. We don't
know what the future holds for us, do we, in our nation? There
are so many people who are out to destroy the worship of Christ
and Christianity and the privilege of gathering together. There
may be that time when you have to stand up like these three men and be counted. Be counted. Not able to just
pass it off in some casual way. No, it was quite simple. They
could have just bowed down, couldn't they? It wasn't difficult, was
it? But they refused, influenced by the Spirit of God. So, the result was that these
Three men were cast into this service which the king had told
to heat seven times hotter when it's hard for us to realize how
hot that must have been but we're told it was so hot in actual
fact the people that threw these men into the burning fiery furnace
they were killed because of the heat of the flame. And so they
were bound in their coats, their hosen and their hats and their
other garments and were cast into the midst of the burning,
fiery furnace. Then we read, the king was astonished
and rose up in haste and spake and said unto his counsellors,
did not we cast three men bound in the midst of the fire. They
answered and said unto him, True, O king. He answered and said,
Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and
they have no hurt. and the form of the fourth is
like the Son of God. You see, we can take confidence
from that to believe. We may not have to pass through
a burning, fiery furnace physically, and the Saviour may not come
and be with us physically, but we can believe that the Saviour
will be with us. He will be with us. He won't
leave us nor forsake us. because he knoweth the way. He knoweth the way. And the result,
as you well know, I'm sure, was that Nebuchadnezzar commanded
these three men to come out of the fire. And this is the wonderful
truth that you read here. They came out, these men, upon
whose bodies the fire had no power. You see, God gives amazing
power. in various ways and here we know
the fire we know fire don't we we know how powerful it can be
remember here it was heated seven times hotter a tremendous heat
and yet that fire had no power no power there wasn't even a
single hair of their head singed And the smell, even the smell
of the fire did not pass upon them. Well, my friends, what
a great blessing it is to realize that we still today worship the
same wonderful and almighty God. And so remember this, when he
has tried me, I shall come forth as gold. We might have to walk
through testing times. Testing times indeed. And, you
know, Zachariah, in his prophecy, he tells us about those who are
brought through the fire. In the 13th chapter, we can read
this. He says, from verse 8, we're
in the 13th chapter, and it shall come to pass that in all the
land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and
die, but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the
third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver
is refined, and will try them as gold is tried. They shall
call on my name, and I will hear them. I will say it is my people
and they shall say the Lord is my God. What do we understand
from that? We understand that in our little
life, in our little religion, we may have quite a lot which
needs to be cut off, needs to be burnt up. Perhaps we are relying
on something. And we may have to prove that
it did not emanate from Almighty God. It just suited our fancy. We grasped at a word because
we wanted something to occur. And therefore, a word that came
and we grasped it and we thought, that'll suit the situation. We
may have to prove it was not in accordance with the will of
God. Very often, the will of God is
contrary to our will. Very often, we don't find that
the Lord answers the prayers that we want Him to answer in
the way that we want Him to answer. The Lord does answer our prayers,
but He answers our prayers in this way, that we are tested
in our religion. And the reality of our origin
is tested. And then that which is of the
flesh is burnt up. You and I don't want to come,
do we, to the gates of glory and find that we've been mistaken.
To find that we've been resting on something that we've dreamt
up. That's why we read in the second chapter of the Ephesians,
Faith is the gift of God, not of works, not of works, lest
any man should boast. God gives us faith to believe. He gave faith to Abraham on that
amazing occasion. Remember how he desired to have
a son. And the Lord had given him a
son, a son of promise. Didn't come immediately either,
they had to wait, I think it was some 14 years for it to come.
But in the end it did come. He was given a son and my friends,
in our little lives, you may have to wait for the answers
to your prayers. And of course, we know that Abraham
got a bit impatient and Ishmael was born, but he wasn't the son
of the promise. And then in Abraham's case, as
the lad was growing up, he was told to go and offer him up upon
a certain Mount, Mount Moriah. my friends what faith that was
because in that son really was all his religion because God had said that he
would have a son and here was the son through Sarah his wife
a natural impossibility but it came to pass and now he was told
to go and offer him up, this son in whom the Lord had told
him there'd be a multitude of people would come through him. Had he been mistaken? Was he
going to argue with God? Was he going to say, you made
a mistake God and this, it can't be right. And we read, he didn't
dilly-dally, got up early in the morning and set about on
the journey to go. And so he did, and it's a glorious
statement of when Isaac said to his dad, so here's the wood
and the fire, but where is the sacrifice? And Abraham said, God will provide
himself a sacrifice, living faith to believe. And when he left
his servants, he told them that he would come again. It's good really to read these
accounts because it should be strengthening to us to know,
therefore, that our religion is tested, it's tried. and my
friends we should be thankful it is that we don't just say
oh well that didn't matter no it's tested and that which emanates
from God comes forth as gold what does that mean? it really
means that that which God has given to us is pure and holy
and it stands every test And my friends, it brings a safe
home to glory. It does indeed. And we have the
wonderful testimony, you know, in the Word of God, the wonderful
account of the glorious Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He had
no sin. He had no sin. But what did He
do? He did the will of His Father. And that's what you and I are
commanded to do today. We are to do the will of our
Father in heaven. May not be easy, may be difficult. It was difficult for the blessed
Savior, wasn't it? No one could have a more difficult
task to complete than the Savior. He knew how hard it was. He prayed,
he pleaded, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me but
he didn't stop there nevertheless not my will but thine be done
sometimes we may perhaps pray the first part but don't go on
to pray the second part nevertheless not my will but thine be done
we're not a great blessing in our little life therefore if
we are truly made willing in the day of his power. Indeed,
to have our little religion tested, what a good thing it is. You
know, the Psalms tell us many accounts of this testing time,
and just to perhaps mention one, in the 17th Psalm, the Psalmist
David, David's religion was tested, wasn't it? He tells us, verse
three, thou hast proved mine heart. Thou hast proved mine
heart. Thou hast visited me in the night. Thou hast tried me and shalt
find nothing. I am purposed that my mouth shall
not transgress concerning the works of men. By the word of
thy lips I have kept me from the paths of destroyer. hold
up my goings in thy paths that my footsteps slip not. He goes on, I've called upon
thee for thou would hear me, O God, incline thine ear unto
me and hear my speech. He had a confidence in his God
as he prayed to God. And what a blessing it is for
us today if we indeed have a concern to have faith to believe that
our gracious and merciful God would indeed hear our prayers. And so as he leads us in the
right way, he knoweth the way that I take. When he hath tried
me, when he hath tried me, it doesn't say if he's going to
try me, it's when he hath tried me. And we should recognize that
in our lives. Sometimes we think we just somehow
escaped that. It applies to everybody else,
but doesn't apply to us. But here is, when he has tried
me, we can expect to have our religion tested and tried. And you may remember, in the
long account of Job, it's a long book, isn't it? 42 chapters.
And it starts off by telling us how he lost virtually everything.
And he comes right down to the end when God spoke to him. You know, he had three men speak
to him, and then Elihu spoke to him separately. They all had
told him what he should do, all told him where he was wrong,
and he argued on many occasions about it. But eventually, God
came and spoke to him. How humbling that is, if God
takes us in hand. And God comes and speaks to him.
You may ignore other people. You may not like what other people
say. You might not agree with what other people say. And that
may not be right. But my friends, when God speaks,
that's when things change. And that's when the things changed
in Job's life. And what a wonderful thing it
is. And in the fourth year chapter,
when the Lord was speaking to Job, he come down and Job answered.
Very briefly, and he said, Behold, I am vile. What shall I answer
thee? I will lay my hand upon my mouth.
Once have I spoken, but I will not answer, yea, twice, but I
will proceed no further. Previously he'd given long answers,
but now you see his words were few because God had spoken to
him. What a mercy it is if God speaks
to us and corrects us. and shows us, and we're not able
then to argue with God. We know this. As for God, His
way is perfect. If you and I come there, it's
because God has given us grace. Because God has poured forth
His love and mercy upon us to make us willing in the day of
His power to accept that which He has ordained for us. And then
in chapter 42, the last chapter, We read, Job answered the Lord
and said, I know that thou canst do everything, and that no thought
can be withholden from thee. You see, that's a great confidence.
And what a blessing it is when you and I come to that place,
we can't rest on anyone else. Our only place of rest, our only
security, really is in the glorious and finished work of the Saviour,
the Lord Jesus Christ. I know that thou canst do everything,
and that no thought can be withholden from thee. Who is he that hideth
counsel without knowledge? Therefore have I uttered that
I understood not. Sometimes we do say things foolishly
that we don't really understand. things too wonderful for me which
I knew not here I beseech thee and I will speak I would demand
of thee and declare unto me I have heard of thee by the hearing
of the ear but now mine eye seeth thee wherefore I abhor myself
and repent in dust and ashes. Now you see when Job came there. He was being tested right down
to that time. He had to lose everything. He
had to confess his situation. He had to confess his situation. But then, but then the Lord God
sent the blessing. What a favor it is when God deals
with us. in love to our souls in love
to our souls and brings us down to this position where we can't
think anything of ourselves I bore myself and repent in dust and
ashes. It's a great blessing to be given
repentance. God given repentance. It's a great blessing. It's a
wonderful favor. Well, here we have God's servant
Job then testifying of this great truth. But he knows the way that
I take. True for Job, true for us, every
one of us. When he has tried me, when He
has tried us, when He's tested us, when we've had taken away
all that which is of the flesh, we can believe we shall come
forth as gold, purified, ready to be received into the heavenly
garner, ready to go and to be with Christ, which is far better. Well, may we be able to trace
out in our little life the evident work of the Holy Spirit, bringing
us to this place of submission before Almighty God and trusting
Him for all things. To be able to say, let the Lord
do what seemeth Him good. Amen.