I'd like to give you all a warm
welcome to our worship here this evening. Let us ask the Lord's
blessing in prayer. O Lord God of heaven and of earth,
we ask thy blessing this evening, thy Holy Spirit's aid, and that
we might know before e'er thy day closes, thy visits, thy appointments
brought to pass in our lives. O Lord, do bless us, with faith
mixed with what we hear. And do grant that faith that
cometh by hearing might be granted through what we do here. Help
us to sing thy worthy praise, we ask through thy name, Lord
Jesus. Amen. Hymn, 76. Tune, Saxby 409. Let us turn in our reading to
the Book of Job. and reading chapters 7 and also
chapter 23. If you have one of our free Bibles,
the first reading, page 524, and you'll be able to find the
next few chapters on. Job chapter 7. Is there not an appointed time
to man upon earth? Are not his days also like the
days of an Highling? As a servant earnestly desireth
the shadow, and as an Highling looketh for the reward of his
work, so am I made to possess months of vanity, and wearisome
nights are appointed to me. When I lie down, I say, when
shall I arise and the night be gone? And I am full of tossings
to and fro unto the dawning of the day. My flesh is clothed
with worms and clods of dust. My skin is broken and become
loathsome. My days are swifter than a weaver's
shuttle and are spent without hope. I remember that my life
is wind. Mine eye shall no more see good. The eye of him that has seen
me shall see me no more. Thine eyes are upon me and I
am not. As the cloud is consumed and
vanisheth away, So he that goeth down to the grave shall come
up no more. He shall return no more to his
house, neither shall his place know him any more. Therefore
I will not refrain my mouth, I will speak in the anguish of
my spirit. I will complain in the bitterness
of my soul. Am I a sea or a whale that thou
set'st to watch over me? When I say my bed shall comfort
me, my couch shall ease my complaint. Then thou scar'st me with dreams
and terrify'st me through visions. so that my soul chooseth strangling
and death rather than life. Thou loathed I would not live
always. Let me alone, for my days are
vanity. What is man that thou shouldest
magnify him, and that thou shouldest set thine heart upon him, and
that thou shouldest visit him every morning, and try him every
moment, How long wilt thou not depart from me, nor let me alone
till I swallow down my spittle? I have sinned, what shall I do
unto thee, O thou preserver of men? Why hast Thou set me as
a mark against Thee, so that I am a burden to myself? And
why dost Thou not pardon my transgression, and take away mine iniquity? For now shall I sleep in the
dust, and Thou shalt seek me in the morning, but I shall not
be. And now, the twenty-third chapter. Then Job answered and said, even
today is my complaint bitter. My stroke is heavier than my
groaning. Oh, that I knew where I might
find him, that I might come even to his seat. 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. Will he plead against me with
his great power? No, but he would put strength
in me. 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. But he knoweth the way that I
take. When he hath tried me, I shall
come forth as gold. My foot hath held his steps,
his way have I kept and not declined. Neither have I gone back from
the commandment of his lips. I have esteemed the words of
his mouth more than my necessary food. But he is in one mind,
and who can turn him? And what his soul desireth, even
that he doeth. For he performeth the thing that
is appointed for me, and many such things are with him. Therefore
am I troubled at his presence, when I consider I am afraid of
him. For God maketh my heart soft,
and the Almighty troubleth me. Because I was not cut off before
the darkness, neither hath he covered the darkness from my
face. The Lord bless to us then, reading
of his holy word, and help us in prayer. Let us pray. Thou most merciful and gracious
Lord God, we come to Thee, our loving Heavenly Father, through
Thy beloved Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. We do thank
Thee for the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, the good news of
salvation, good news to sinners, And Lord, we do thank Thee for
the preaching of that gospel, that it is a word that is nigh
unto us, comes to us through hearing, and hearing by the word
of God, and faith given us through that means. And we do pray for
that blessing this evening, that Thou would remember each gathered
and do grant unto us to hear thy voice through thy word, that
thy spirit might apply it with power, that thou hast granted
to us that which is the word of a king, which is with power. Thou hast said, my word shall
not return unto me void. It shall accomplish the thing
whereto I sent it. You grant us sent word this evening. And may each soul here and those
that join with us online be precious in thy sight, and that thou hast
be pleased to work thy work, of which thou hast said, he which
hath begun a good work in you will perform it unto the day
of Jesus Christ. Lord, thou wilt have a regard
to the work of thine own hands, and we do thank thee that salvation
is of the Lord, and that thou art the orderer of him. Thou
hast appointed the means to the end, and, Lord, Thou hast commanded
that blessing, even life for evermore. O Lord, we do thank
Thee for the mercies of the past week, and we do commit unto Thee
the week before us. Lord, be pleased to grant healing,
mercies where sickness is, and do guide our ways and cause us
to know the way. wherein we should walk, to comfort
those in bereavement, support and help them, and be with them
in that path. Lord, we think of Thy dear people
being taken home, and Lord, we thank Thee for that witness of
their lives, very long lives, and Lord, we do pray that Thou
has be with their loved ones, and that Thou has cause us to
consider that the righteous are taken from the wrath to come.
O Lord, we hear of so many things happening in the world, and we
know that for us or our children or children's children, they
will see things in providence that thou hast decreed that we
will not see. But O Lord, we do seek that we
might know that secret and that blessing. For thou hast said
that There shall be wars and rumours of wars, but Thou hast
bid us not to fear them which kill the body, and after that
there is nothing more they can do but to fear Thy great and
Thy holy name. You grant unto us, Thy Spirit's
witness, that it is well with us, well while life endure and
well when called to die, that we have an eternal home, that
we have that which no man upon earth can take from us. And we
have that which thou hast given, and thou hast said, I have given
unto them eternal life. They shall never perish, neither
shall any man pluck them out of mine hand. And Lord, we do
seek that we might know more and more the certainties of thy
salvation, that thou hast granted to us faith that lay hold on
the promises set before us in the gospel. O Lord, do remember
each one that seeks thy face, those that thou hast quickened
into life. O Lord, do lead on, do teach,
do instruct, do bring to full assurance of faith. Remember
those not yet quickened and do quicken them. Grant unto them
life from thine hand. And O Lord, do be pleased to
remember us each. and be pleased to guide our lives
and direct us in the way that thou wouldst have us to go. Make
us to think as thou wouldst have us to think. Make us to speak
as thou wouldst have us to speak. Make us to act as thou wouldst
have us to act. Make us to be what thou wouldst
have us to be in all of our lives, that we might be vessels unto
honour and not dishonour. O leave us not to be Satan's
slaves, but may we be thy servants. Lord, do grant unto us that as
we have yielded our members unto sin and uncleanness, grant that
we might yield them unto righteousness and to thy praise. O Lord, do
be pleased to work in us to will and to do of thy own good pleasure. and do make us submissive. Lord,
we find many things in our lives that come, and our natural mind
rises up and is not submissive. Lord, we see and notice much
in the world that that same spirit is a spirit that we have of our
fallen nature. We will not have this man to
rule over me. We will not be told what we shall
do. We shall not be restrained in
what we want to do. O Lord, do grant unto us to discern
that spirit when it is within us, and do save us from it, deliver
us from it. Lord, that it might not be said
to us, you know not what spirit ye are of. Do grant us grace
to try the spirits, whether they are of God or not. and that thou
hast lead us in a clean but clear path because of our enemies. We do seek Lord for a thankful
spirit. Deliver us from murmuring, complaining,
fretting. Deliver us from unbelief and
do grant Lord that we might not nourish that which comes upon
us by Satan's temptations and by the infirmities of our flesh. Do grant unto us to be strengthened
through thy word this evening, to believe, Lord, thou has written
to those that believe that they might know that they have eternal
life and that you might believe, Lord, in the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, do grant thy confirming,
strengthening, and settling word. Lord, we do pray for that effect
to be upon us. O Lord, we do see that thou hast
remembered Zion, the low state of the churches, the low state
of faith in our land. How few come to the assemblies
of thy people, how few desire thy word, how few walk in thy
ways. And Lord, not just our land,
but where thy word has been known. Lord, we discern such a great
falling away, such a forsaking of the means of grace, the house
of God. Lord, do be pleased to remember
thy people and lead them not to fall into that snare of thinking
that they can be a true follower of thee and yet never be identified
in the church of God, Lord, in the houses of God. Lord, we pray
for a deliverance from that Friend, though we thank Thee for the
means, especially for those who have no faithful church near
them, but Lord, we do pray that Thou has delivered those who
have the opportunity to meet in Thy house, and do not take
that, do not use it. O Lord, deliver them from that
snare. O Lord, do save us also from
the many voices that come at us if we turn to the wrong means,
Lord, instead of having a pastoral care, a present ministry care,
so many voices, so many questions, Lord, so many spirits in the
world. Oh Lord, do grant us discernment,
do grant us a deliverance from that which the devil brings his
bait, something good, and then brings that which is bad. Thou,
Lord, save us from all his violence and all his snares, and every
evil way, and do preserve us unto thine heavenly kingdom. We pray, Lord, that thou would
increase and build up thy church on earth, that thou would gather
in the purchase of thy precious blood, that thou would send peace
and prosperity, that thou would send a real spiritual reviving. Be with each of thy dear servants,
remember those laid aside and sick at this time, who grant
thy kind healing, and be upon them. And O Lord, be with those
who are preparing to take pastorates in the new year that still have
much to arrange of moving home and getting near to their pastorates. We do commit them unto thee.
You bless our young people and children, we do pray For them,
be with each here. We do bless the word of the young
people's last evening, and may thy blessing be upon the rising
generation. O Lord, we do seek that help
that we might stay fast to thy word, and that there might be
a generation raised up, disabled from their own personal experience
and conviction of the truth. tell it to another generation.
We do pray for those in authority over us. Cause that thou has
give them wisdom, open their ears to good advice, shut it
to bad. We pray concerning the assisted
dying bill, that that bill might not come into law and that in
the process of being looked into and debated, there might even
come good, a better palliative care system. and more awareness
of what it is to stand before a holy God. O Lord, do grant
that many might be brought to consider a latter end that would
not otherwise do so. Lord, we pray for our royal household,
the king and queen. Do grant thy blessing to be upon
them. Now, Lord, do bless us here Bless
each gathered and those listening online, and Lord, favour us with
thy word graciously, and that we might take away something
for our songs. Lord, we gather for worship.
Help us to truly worship thee, to see thee upon thy throne,
to give thee the praise and honour and glory due unto thy name.
We thank Thee for every temporal blessing, and we thank Thee for
Calvary, for our Lord Jesus Christ, the precious blood shed there,
and Lord, for the empty tomb, a risen Saviour. We do thank
Thee for Thy word and a faithful translation into our own tongue. And O Lord, we do thank Thee
that we can gather this evening around Thy word. Do bless us
then, and may Thy Holy Spirit, bring to our remembrance later
on that which we have heard. Make us like those clean animals
that chewed the card that went over what they had eaten before. Lord, we ask thee these mercies
through our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen. The announcements, God willing,
I'm expected to preach here on Thursday evening at seven o'clock
and next Lord's Day at 11 a.m. and 6.30 p.m. The Bibles distributed
during the month of November, the Bible boxes, 10 Bibles taken,
and the web offer, 29, a total of 39. Bibles less than up to this present
time. Hymn, 61. Tune, Angel's Hymn 281. Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayer for attention to Job chapter 23, and reading
for our text, verse 14. Job 23, verse 14. For he performeth the thing that
is appointed for me, and many such things are with him. Job 23 verse 14. And what is upon my spirit is
Job seeing God's appointments. Job was brought into this great
and deep path of affliction, Satan being permitted to afflict
him to take away his family, his flocks, his livelihood, his
health. And Satan's idea was to prove
that the only reason that Job served the Lord was that he had
put a hedge about him and that he'd blessed all that he had.
And that if these things were touched, then Job would turn
and curse God to his face. So Satan was permitted to do
what he did, but forbidden to touch his life. Well, Satan was
proved a liar in that which he had accused Job of, something
which would have been true in many. In everyone, without grace,
we would turn and we would curse God. But in that which Job went
through, God didn't just allow Satan to do what he did and just
to prove Satan wrong with no other benefit or blessing attendant
at all. No, the Lord had ordered that
this which Satan meant for evil, God meant it for good. and would
bring good out of it. It was part of Job's experience,
part of the teaching that God had appointed for him, and part
of the trial of his faith, part of that which would bring him
at last to be better at the end than he was at the beginning. And it's good for us to Remember
that, to think of those times in scripture. You think of Balaam
and Balak was sent for Balaam to come and curse the children
of Israel. But instead of cursing them,
God brought him to bless them and he blessed them three times
with seven altars and a beautiful picture of the blessing of Father,
Son and Holy Spirit upon all the tribes of Israel. We think of the crucifixion. Wicked hands took, crucified,
slew our Lord Jesus Christ. This, they said, was a blasphemer. This was an impostor. But it was one of the, if not
the greatest, ordained appointment of God that our Lord Jesus Christ
should suffer in that way, delivered by the determinate counsel and
full knowledge of God. He had taken them by wicked hands,
crucified and slain. And out of that wicked design
and actions came The redemption of all the people of God, the
salvation of God. We think of Joseph and his brothers. Ye meant it for evil, but God
meant it for good. The evil that happened there. Right through scripture, we find
it even with David numbering Israel. One time we're told that
God moved him to do it because of what Israel was doing, their
wickedness, another Satan stood up against Israel. So we know,
again, it's another instance, the Lord overruling Satan to
make him to be an instrument in God's hand for the chastening
of Israel. When David was convinced of what
he'd done was wrong, he doesn't blame God, he doesn't blame Satan. He says, I have sinned. But through that whole account,
the Lord brought David to know where the temple was to be built. And again and again, we find
Satan overrules that which he wanted to do, he didn't do. And
God not only bringing one thing out of it, but bringing better
things, blessed things out of it. redemption out of it, where
the temple should be bought, saving a people alive as in Joseph's
case. And it's good for us to look
over the history of the Church of God and the Lord's dealings
with men and see these things that have worked for good and
see what we wouldn't otherwise see. And that is what is upon
my spirit with the book of Job here. Job is seeing things that
he wouldn't have seen otherwise. There may be in our lives, we're
brought into trials, we're brought into situations, things that
are not pleasant, things that we would not choose, but in them
we see, in the scriptures, things that we wouldn't otherwise see.
Our eyes are open to see them. We're brought into something
of the experience of the people of God. And though we may have
read a passage again and again over the years, yet because of
what we have been brought through, we see something in it that we
have not seen before. And what it is that Job is seeing
through this book, and what I want to highlight this evening, is
the Lord's appointments. Our text says, He performeth
the thing that is appointed for me. God has made that sovereign
appointment and decree as to what should happen to Job and
the path that he was to walk through. This is something that
man rises up against in the religious world, There is a great hatred
against the sovereignty of God, against the idea that we do not
have a free will, we do not have the ability to choose out our
own way. The realization that man does
have a free will, but by nature it is perverted, will always
choose that which is wrong, Man does not like that idea. He doesn't
like that God has any influence and power over his life. All the time in society, religious
or otherwise, no one is going to tell me what to do. No one
is going to push me around. In the laws that are made by
Parliament, how often that the thought is, well, If they want
to do that, let them do it. Don't stand in their way. Don't
put a law in their way. Don't dictate. And man wants
to go his own way. But Job, in this, in what he
goes through, he is brought to see and know and be convinced
of that in his life, God has made appointments, appointments
that must be kept. and those things that must come
to pass. Of course, in the scriptures
elsewhere, we are clearly told that we must die, and after death,
the judgment. It is appointed unto men once
to die, and after death, the judgment. We know that the Lord
does have those set times, like he did with our Lord at Calvary,
that he must come, to that place, must suffer, must bleed and die. And so following on from that,
those that are called, those that are God's children, they
have an appointed time, a set time to favour Zion, when they
are called, when they are brought into liberty, when they are blessed. And so I want to look at three
points concerning what Job sees In our text, the first thing
to notice is that Job saw who performed that which was appointed
for him. He says, he performeth, that
is God, performeth the thing that is appointed for me. And
then I want to look secondly at the appointments Job saw in
his affliction. And then lastly, just Based upon
the last words in our text, many such things are with him. To
look at some of those other appointments in the scriptures that others
have walked out as well, it has very clearly been seen that it
has been decreed and brought about by God. Our text says, He performeth
a thing that is appointed for me. God is the one that is bringing
these things about. He is performing it. Yes, He
may use men. He did use Satan here. He used
Job's friends. Good intentions at first, but
in the end, he said, miserable comforters, i.e. all. Those things that were done,
he was able to look past the second causes and to see that
this is God's work. The thing proceedeth from the
Lord. Right through scripture, there's
an emphasis on looking at the works of God. To consider the
work of God. Who can make that straight that
God has made crooked? That which is the work of God
in this world. Men will say, no, God just created
the world and he's let man get on with it. And what happens? Man is his own order of his own
destiny. But Job doesn't see that, not
in his affliction. He sees the Lord performing it. And we think of the book of Esther. We do not read of the name of
God in that book, but we see his work, we see that which is
performed. in the timing, in the things
that were done, in that which is completely taken out of the
hand of man and is seen to be God's hand. How's that been with
us? And we've been able to look and
see in things that the Lord has brought us into and in our lives,
that there is that which we had no hand in It was overruled,
it was taken out of our hand. The Lord wrought it and we've
looked on it and we've seen what the Lord has done. And be able
to say what Job says here, he performeth the thing. The Lord
is the one that is doing this thing. Now, we may say whichever, whatever
it is that we are looking upon and be able to see this, is a
great thing for a poor sinner to discern and to see that the
God of heaven and of earth, the God before whom we must stand
at that last day, in whom we live and move and have our being,
has done things in our life and brought things to pass in our
life and performed those things, and he's given us to see it.
There are many, and we know the Lord's common grace, he does,
he's good to all, he's tender mercies over all his works. And
there are many that even have a profession of religion, and
I've had those that rehearse to me the things that have happened
in their lives, and they've ascribed it to chance. And when I pointed
out the circumstances of it, I said, that is not chance. They
still couldn't see it, still couldn't acknowledge it. And so to be able to come like
Job and to declare, to testify that it is the Lord that is performing
it, And that those things that he's performing, he already knows
what he is doing. He has a plan. You know, the
world could quite understand, we each can, that where there
is a building, where something is being made, there is a plan. There is a purpose. There is
things that are appointed by the builder when they should
happen. And they come to pass. Years ago, in engineering, it
was one of those things we used to note, especially as making
production lines and helping those making cars or whatever
it was. Those big car manufacturers,
they don't want to have storehouses with all the bits of the car
when they don't need it. They have what they call just-in-time. management so that they get the
suppliers of the bits, they store the bits and then they say at
this set time I want that part because that car is going to
be built at that time. And so they rely on the transport
system to come just in time. They bring the lorry along, load
the parts and then it's brought to be made into the car. And
each one of those deliveries, each one that is feeding into
that which is being built, there's appointment for every one of
them. A bit late, and the whole production line is held up. A
bit too soon, and they've got nowhere to store it. They don't
know what to do with it. And so it needs to come just
in time. And we're used to that. Men do that. And God works his
sovereign will in that way as well. When our Lord was on earth,
he said, your time is always ready. But my time is not yet. And when his time is ready, then
he brings things to pass. And then it is to watch that. Whoso is wise and will observe
these things. So this is something Job saw
in his affliction. And it's a blessed thing if we
also see, not just a performing God, but for that which is appointed
for me, that which is for my life, for my soul, concerns me
and not another. If there is anything that is
a vitally personal thing, it is the Lord's dealings with our
soul. He which hath begun a good work
in you, will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ. And we see in that work, again,
a performing God, the God that is doing it. So the first thing Job saw was
who was performing it. Not him, not Satan, not his friends,
The Lord was bringing it to pass, though he'd used these means,
though he'd used men and Satan, yet it was the Lord that was
the doer of it. You read of Joseph in the position
he was next to Pharaoh, that he was the doer of everything
that happened in Pharaoh's court. Our Lord, when he rose from the
dead, was given that authority in heaven and in earth. He is
the ruler, he is the orderer, all things are given into his
hand. I want to look then secondly
at the appointments Job saw in his affliction. I want to go
back to our first reading, our reading in Job 7. In verse 1 in that chapter we
read, Is there not an appointed time to man upon earth. So Job sees that there is appointed
time to man upon earth. There's a couple of ways we can
view this. The first is the time or the
day in which our lot is cast. Job was Old Testament. Job was
before our Lord Jesus Christ came. Our lot is in the last
days, in gospel days. Our time is set where the Lord
has appointed it to be. And those that walk with us in
this time, those that are with us in church membership, in congregations,
those that are over us in the government, those that are our
contemporaries, the Lord has appointed all of that as to the
time when he's brought together upon earth those that are at
the same time. I often think of when our Lord
came to this world, Emmanuel, born of a virgin, you'd think,
well, wouldn't the Lord make it that Israel was not under
another nation, that they were in a time of peace, of quietness? Solomon's day would have been
a good day, you'd think. Wouldn't that be better, that
the Lord come in that time, But no, he comes in the time that
God had appointed. And when wicked ruler Herod is
on the throne and the children of Israel under Roman rule. And
yet, in all that he's done, it brings to pass the prophecies
in Bethlehem, the Lord being called the Nazarene, the terrible,
sad killing of the two-year-olds and under, all foretold in the
scriptures, prophecies, hundreds of years before. All of the scriptures fulfilled,
fitting exactly in that time that our Lord came, and would
not have fitted at any other time. And so, When Job says,
is there not an appointed time to man upon earth? Yes, there
is. And Job, in his affliction, he
sees that. And the other way of looking
at it, of course, is the actual time that we spend upon the earth. Some are cut off as children,
three-year-olds, five-year-old or in teens. Some are not even brought into
the world, they're killed in the womb. Others, as you hear about Brother
in Faith recently, over a hundred. And it is the Lord that appoints
that time, whether it be long or whether it be short. The Lord
appoints that time. As we'll sing later, not a single
shaft can hand till the God of love sees fit. It is times of affliction that
we realize the Lord's appointment in this. Sometimes it is a real
help for us to know that this is appointed by God. and to not
rise up against what may seem to us to be unfair, not right,
but shall not the judge of all the earth do right. The time on earth is a vital
time, isn't it? Between our first birth and passing
from this time, If we are to know eternal life and to be eternally
with the Lord in heaven, there must be a change. There must
be a call by grace. But though God says there is
an appointed time, he doesn't tell man how long and when that
time shall come to an end. The uncertainty of it, and yet
the certainty of there being appointment, should be one of
those things that cause us to look unto the Lord. I hope with all of this, where
Job is able to see this is the Lord doing. He said, in the call
by grace, it is a time when a man looks to his maker, looks to
the one that has control, the one that is appointing, the one
that is so affecting in his life. So Job, he goes on in the third
verse, that wearisome nights are appointed to me. I often think of this verse when
I think of my mother when she was dying of cancer and she was
blind at the end and those nights were long nights, they were wearisome
nights. And she found them very hard
when she might have had one person next to her. But for the most
part, the family was quiet. And she spoke often of those
long, of those wearisome nights. And it was the lines of a hymn
was very sweet to me. After she died, infinite day
excludes the night, and pleasures banish pain. Very sweet. The tribulation that we have
here below is appointed by God, and not just as in the day, but
night season as well. Because Job here, he says, when
I lie down, I say, when shall I arise and the night be gone?
I'm full of tossings to and fro until the dawning of the day.
My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust, my skin is
broken and become loathsome. How many, the Lord's dear people,
in their afflictions, that haven't just been confined today, but
also tonight, have been comforted and helped by dear Job in this. We do not choose out the tribulation. Our Lord said, in the world you
shall have tribulation, in me you shall have peace. And the
Lord chooses that out. The flesh dislikes the way. But here is something again in
the very bitterest affliction. In his pains, in his sorrows,
in his tossings, in the dreams that were troubling him, he sees
an appointment. And God is the appointer of it. where some knights are appointed
to me." It may be a help to us when we have such a path, to
see the hand of the Lord. Remember what he says in the
Lamentations of Jeremiah, that he does not crush underfoot the
sons of men. He doesn't just delight to afflict
them. There is purpose, there's reason
in all that he does. Our Lord Jesus was a man of sorrows
and acquainted with grief. He spent often those long nights
in prayer unto his Father. And may we know something of
some fellowship with him when we come into afflictions and
even those that extend to a night's season as well. Then I want to look at that which
is in Job 14, where Job says in verse 5, that God has appointed
man's bounds. Seeing his days are determined,
the number of his months are with thee. Thou hast appointed
his bounds that he cannot pass. They apply it to, again, the
days and the time on Earth. But what I believe here and upon
my spirit is the bounds of our habitation, where we shall actually
live, where our lives are lived out. And of course, there are
some that are born in the town that they die in. They don't
move from where they have been. It's been a very different path
for me. I've been born over here, 31
years in Australia, and then back here now for 28 years or
so. And many others. Our own daughter back in Australia. Those where we live is appointed
by God. And we're not to think, well, we're
just our own. We'll decide. And James, he says
this, go to now. You either say we will go into this
country or that and buy and sell and get gain. Whereas you ought
to say, if the Lord will, we will do this or that. with our Lord coming to this
world, where he was born, integrated into the decrees of the land,
the census, why they should be found at Bethlehem, how the Lord
brought these things to pass, why he should have to go down
to Egypt, out of Egypt have I called my son, All of these things going
to Nazareth that he might be called a Nazarene. And all the
time there's a place that is actually appointed. Think of
Jacob going from Canaan and going to Laban and then back. We think of that which is told
to Abraham who came out of Ur of Chaldeas into the land of
Canaan. not knowing whether he went,
then given the promise that his seed should be inheritors of
that land, but they should be strangers in a strange land,
be afflicted 400 years, fourth generation brought out again.
And God is appointing all of these moves. Where they should be, where they
should stay, where our home should be, where Our lives should be trodden out. We do not know, but the Lord
does know. And yes, in these things often
we are to use our wisdom, we are to use the guidance of the
Lord, we are to seek to walk out the way and the path. But
in the end, to look over it all, it is the Lord appointing it
and the Lord bringing it to pass. often said with the case of Joseph,
instead of him praying to the Lord, Lord guide me, direct me
which way I should go, where I shall live, where I shall spend
my time, he was taken out of his hand again and again. He did not appoint where he should
be a servant, a time in prison, or a time with Pharaoh, that
was all taken Out of his hands, God very clearly appointed it
without any help or any decision on Joseph's part, and though
he might seem to make decisions, to see this overruled by God. And the Apostle Paul, when he
speaks to those at Mars Hill, this is one of the things that
he sets before them in Acts 17. We read of the Lord that he is
worshipped not with man's hands as though he needeth anything
seeing he giveth to all life and breath and all things hath
made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the
face of the earth and hath determined the times before appointed and
the bounds of their habitation. This is what Paul is saying to
heathen, saying to those that know not the true and living
God, he's saying this is one of the characteristics, this
is one of the marks of the God that you unknowingly are worshipping
with the altar to the unknown God. Then we have, again, going to
Job and verse 14, Job says, If a man die, shall he live again? All the days of my appointed
time will I wait till my change come. And he's looking to that
change, that when the soul leaves the body, when man shall die. And he sees
that as that appointed time. And it's a good thing for us
to view this. Here is Job in a situation, you
might say, thinking of the assisted dying bill, that he would say,
I'm so afflicted, so tried, that I'm going to determine my own
time when I leave this life. I'm going to take my own life. But instead, he says that there
is an appointed time, and I'll wait for that time. Sometimes
it's not hard, not easy thing to wait. wait for an appointed
time, a time we know is appointed, but to wait the Lord's time. May the Lord give us grace to
wait. We think of Job in this great
affliction and yet he's content to wait the Lord's time. The
Apostle Paul, in a similar way, he says that he was in a strain
as to whether to depart and be with Christ, which is far better
or whether to remain. And he felt that the Lord would
appoint that he should remain for the time being for the good,
the blessing of the people of God. Then we have the words of our
text in verse 14 of chapter 23. He performeth the thing that is appointed for me. And many such things are with
him. Really it takes, it encompasses
many, many things. All the things in our lives. The Lord appointing that which
is, or performing that which is appointed for me. Sometimes there may be things
that we know are to be appointed, other times we do not. But it's
a blessed thing to realize this, that though things might be happening,
things might be done, we cannot understand them or even know. It may be what the Lord says
in substance, what I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt
know hereafter. No doubt dear Jacob had no idea
what the Lord was performing and doing when his son was taken
from him. All these things are against
me. But Job is persuaded of this,
that the Lord is performing that which is appointed for me. And the specific thing is not
mentioned. is not made. And so with us,
may we think of those things that seem to be strange, they
don't fit in, we can't see the Lord's purpose, we can't see
why, but to be able to answer it in this way, that what the
Lord is doing is something that is appointed for me. And as many of us can look back
and think, well, I never thought my life would work that way,
or that that happening in Providence was one of the appointments of
God, the things in days of my own regeneracy, I can record
and see. and can see now that the Lord
was appointing things, he was doing things that was appointed
for me, and they're vital things to be done. Those things that
are needed for many years to come, appointed for me. Many of the
Lord's servants, you know, years before ever they're brought into
the ministry, it was with me. Yet things were done that made
us wonder, made us ponder. What is it? Why has the Lord
done this? Has the Lord an appointment?
Has the Lord a work that I am to do? What is the Lord doing
in this way? And the soul is exercised in
this and to looking unto the Lord as to what the Lord is doing
and what he is preparing us for. No doubt with Moses that he had
this persuasion. This is why when after 40 years
in Pharaoh's household, he thought the children of Israel would
understand that he was to lead them out, but he'd got another
40 years to go yet in the wilderness. And then he was to be sent to
bring the children of Israel out. All of those that the Lord
used, there was a time before they were used, or before they
were raised up to be used, that the Lord was preparing them,
and fitting them, and making them to be what he'd have them
to be. And so, he performeth a thing
that is appointed for me. It's a good thing to remember
when we cannot see his goings. We cannot see what he is doing.
We don't know what the cause is. But we do know the Lord has
things appointed for each of his people. And without telling
them first, he is doing those things that bring them to those
appointments. The next one I'll mention is
in the 30th chapter where Job says about going to the place
appointed for all living. He says in verse 23, For I know
that thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for
all living. It was said to our first parents,
Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. is nothing
like affliction to make us remember. It's one of those reminders.
And as we get older, more infirmities and more afflictions remind us
that it is appointed that we return to dust. We shall go to
the grave. And so it's not surprising that
that's one of those things that Job looks at. But then he has
another word that I close this point on in the 19th chapter,
and it's what Job sees of the Lord. And he says this, I know
that my Redeemer liveth, it's chapter 19 verse 25, and that
he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth, one of those
divine appointments that Job saw concerning the Lord Jesus
Christ. And then he goes on concerning
himself. 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. He could clearly see the
Lord's coming. He could see the work that the
Lord were to do in redemption upon Calvary. He could see bound
up with that, the triumph over the grave, and that though he
was to return to the dust, yet Job and not another person would
see the Lord, would see him in glory. And so may we have in
our afflictions or in our path, the path the Lord leads us and
brings us in, those things that we have our eyes open to see
the Lord's appointments and dealings that otherwise we would not have
seen. Now I want to look then thirdly
and just very briefly at some of those others. We've mentioned
Joseph and his brothers, but thinking of our Lord's time on
earth, We think of Zacchaeus. He wanted to see the Lord, who
he was. A crowd is thronging, so he gets
up into a sycamore tree, and the Lord passes by. He stops
where he is. He calls him down, and he tells
him that he must abide at his house that day. It was an appointment
that Zacchaeus didn't know. All Zacchaeus thought he was
doing was to try and see the Lord who he was. But Zacchaeus
had absolute certainty the Lord knew where he was. The Lord had
an appointment in it, a purpose in it. And so we have with the
woman at Wella Samaria as well. He must needs go through Samaria,
yes, because the way led right through Samaria, from Judea up
to Galilee, he had to pass through it. But there was another purpose. The woman was there. She came
with a water pond. And through that meeting, she
was saved. Many of the Samaritans also were
brought to believe in the Lord. One of those appointments of
the Lord, the Ethiopian eunuch was another one. The Lord knew
where he was to be, sent Philip right to that chariot, appointed
him to read that very passage, and caused Philip to ask the
question, understandest thou what thou readest? All of that
which happened was appointed. We think of the two on the way
to Emmaus as well. The Lord meeting with them, going
with them. Many things on that first day
of the week, where the Lord was to meet with them in Galilee
and in the upper room. All of these were appointments
where he led them out as far as to Bethany, lifted up his
hands and blessed them. We think of Josiah, godly king
that found the book of the law and humbled himself before God
God said that he should not see all the evil that he'd do upon
Israel, but that he would go to the grave in peace. Well,
he was killed in fighting against Pharaoh, but that was an appointment
by God. Yes, we might think, well, is
that a grave in peace? What God had said was that he
wouldn't see God's judgment on Israel, neither did he. But how
he was to die, God appointed that as well. And so, right through
scripture, we can see the Lord having a purpose, there's an
appointment, and how the Lord brings it to pass. And may we
notice that in our lives as well. Often, it is looking back, we're
able to see it more clearly. While it is being done, May it
be a comfort knowing the Lord does have appointments for us.
When it is done, then look back and look at every link in the
chain. And sometimes you might find,
like Joseph would have done, just one man overhearing his
brethren and then meeting him in the field to tell him where
his brethren was. One link. If that link had not
been there, then the whole account of Joseph wouldn't have happened.
Life's minutest circumstances subject to mine eye, and often
the greatest comforts are where we can see the Lord using these
small, insignificant things, and things that are not understood
at the time, but looking back, we can see them. And it can be
very strengthening to faith, very confirming. that this is
the Lord's work, the Lord's hand has been upon me even when I
did not know him, even when I did not acknowledge it. Or may we
be like Job, may we be able to see, be able to say as well that
it is the Lord, he performeth the thing that is appointed for
me and many such things are with him. Hymn, 64. Tune, Nottingham 485. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the love of God the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit
be with you all now and evermore. Amen.