Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to the portion that we read,
Job chapter 36 and reading for our text verse 24. Job 36 and verse 24. Remember that thou magnify his
work which men behold. Job 36 verse 24. Elihu here is proceeding to speak
to Job. Job already has come through
a long period, long time of his affliction and we would think
of how that begun and in one sense with Dear Job it must have
begun very, very quickly. We are told the background as
to what was happening. Satan had appeared with the sons
of God and he'd made accusation when God had asked him had he
considered his servant Job and Satan said well the only reason
why Job serves you is because you have put a hedge about him,
because you have given him all the wealth, you've looked after
him, so he serves you because of that. His words were, does
Job serve thee for naught? So the Lord gave Satan permission
to touch those things so that it would be seen, did Job really
serve God for those things? And you know, Satan knows, and
he's got a history, all the whole world, existence of the world,
and the history of knowing that men do. seek to just serve God
for what they can get out of Him, as it were. Our Lord, when
He told the parable of the sower, in interpreting that parable,
He said that those that received the Word into the stony ground
were those that, when there came persecution because of the Word,
or trial, then they were offended and then they didn't bring forth
any fruit. And many stumbled and offended
when instead of thinking that, well, I'm a Christian, I follow
the Lord, I'm a believer, everything should go well, I should have
the Lord's protection, the Lord's care. If the Lord takes that
away, Then they're offended. It goes against what they thought
was how the Lord should deal with his children. And so we
have the example here in the book of Job of God giving Satan
permission to touch what Job has. Now I said at the beginning
we know the background. All Job would have known is that
there was just a time that there suddenly comes these messengers
to Job a messenger he comes he says the oxen they were plowing
the asses beside them and the Sabians came and they took away
the asses they slew the servants I'm the only one that is left
and then while he is speaking another one comes and this time
it's poor Job's sheep and fire from God has come in this time
and the sheep are all gone and he's the only one that's escaped
of the shepherds to go and bring word to Job. and then another
one comes and he tells how the Chaldeans they dealt with the
camels poor Job has lost his ox and his sheep and now his
camels and all his servants except one in each case to come back
and tell him the message and then the cruelest blow is at
the end is that Satan touches his own family and not just one
of them only one escapes but a fire, a wind from the wilderness
comes and smites the house and it falls on them and they're
all dead. We read of Job's reaction in
this first chapter of Job, how that he rent his mantle, shaved
his head, fell down upon the ground, and worshipped. Naked
came I out of my mother's womb. Naked shall I return. Hither
the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name
of the Lord. And we're told that in all of
this, that Job did not sin foolishly, he did not sin, he did not charge
God foolishly. But Satan wasn't even happy then. He said, well, all that a man
has will he give for his life. Touch his life, touch his health,
touch his strength. And the Lord forbade him from
actually taking away his life. But he went and smote him with
sore boils. And even then, dear Job, he humbles
before God. And when his wife says to him
that, you know, why don't you curse God and die? Yet he says
to her, thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh
what Shall we receive good at the hand of God? Shall we not
receive evil? And Joe's reaction, he didn't
sin under these most trying strokes, one after another. And I say,
we know the background. What if we were? in our house,
if we were serving the Lord, if we feared the Lord, we regularly
sought Him, and then suddenly we had one thing after another
that went wrong. One thing taken after another. A house break-in, a car smash,
a son or a daughter taken by the hand of affliction or death. and then afflicted ourselves,
what would we think? What would our brethren think?
Looking on, how many would say, just like Job's friends did,
they came at first, showed great sympathy, but when the trial
went on and on, then something must be wrong in Job's life. And they ended up an added burden. miserable comforters, i.e. all,
they added to his burden. And these things God had permitted,
we are told, even though Satan is doing this, God is giving
him permission, he cannot go beyond God's hand. And Job's
receiving all of these things. in a meek and lowly spirit. Later
on, yes, his spirit is moved, he tries to justify himself and
set forth his righteousness. And it is after that time, after
he'd been in this real sieve, that then Elihu comes and Elihu
speaks to Job and justifies God in all that he has done. Man
is laid in the dust, and God's work is exalted and magnified. Job is in the middle of God's
work, he's in the middle of God's dealings with him in his life,
and he is then in a position, especially as he's coming out
of it, And under Elihu, and then the Lord, he is starting to see
more clearly what the Lord is doing and why the Lord is doing
it, and starting to see the majesty and greatness and might of God,
that then Elihu says to Job, remember that thou magnify his
work which men behold. What was done with Job was not
in a corner. He spoke of his servants. And
once they all esteemed him, once they reverenced him, once they
all came to him for help, now he was low. And it was something
that was noted by all his household, his friends, and all that were
around about him. Not done in a corner at all.
And what God does with His people as well, they're in the midst
of this world, the Lord says there's soul and light in the
midst of the world, and the Lord's dealings with them are in full
sight of all around. God's chosen people, Israel,
were brought out of Egypt in the sight of all the nations.
Rahab, she says, 40 years later of how that they'd heard of what
had happened at the Red Sea. They hadn't forgotten that 40
years ago. Can we remember what happened
40 years ago? Some of us we can, very clearly. But Rahab could. It was something
that happened to another nation, another people. But those things that God did
with Israel, bringing them through the Red Sea, is dealing with
them in the wilderness, is bringing them into the promised land.
Then once they're in the promised land, the time that they were
brought into captivity, not just in Babylon, the many times before
that, then Babylon, all the other nations were looking on. And
sometimes those nations took advantage of them. But the Lord
sent the prophets to say that though they took advantage of
them, that the Lord would deal with those nations as well. And
especially in the case of Nebuchadnezzar, God spoke very clearly that Nebuchadnezzar
was his servant. God was using Nebuchadnezzar
and he charges the people in the book of Jeremiah that they
must humble themselves before Nebuchadnezzar, put themselves
under his yoke, do his bidding. If they weren't, they were not
fighting against Nebuchadnezzar, they were fighting against the
Lord. And so the position that Job
is in here, personally, it has been noticed, it's seen by all
around. The children of Israel, it was
seen by all of the nations round about, those that were looking
on. And with you and I, in our lives, what the Lord does with
us will also be seen by those looking on. And what happens
to us as a nation and how we act within that nation, others
are seeing and they're watching as well. Are we a people that
really believe that God is in control and not Satan? That God
is in control and not Boris Johnson? That God is in control and not
the leaders of the world? that he has put them in control,
that he has put them in positions, and that he uses them to bring
about his sovereign, eternal will and purpose. But here Job
is spoken to by Elihu especially concerning what is touching him
and touching his life. People are looking upon him.
And may we put ourselves in Job's position, the things that are
touching us, those things that we are reacting to and how we
are acting under them? Are we acting as if we were under
the work of God or the work of man? Are we really humbling ourselves
under His mighty hand or are we kicking against it? And I
feel such a burden for this particular time that we are going through. You know we might say well the
Lord's hand is upon us as a nation If we were those that had no
faith, no religion, we love going to the pub, we love going to
the football, we love going to the cinema, we like going to
gatherings like Glastonbury or things like that, and the government
closes down all those things, we feel that very much. There
are many in the world that are feeling that very much. But by
the grace of God brought out from the love of those things
and the doing of those things, when the government legislates
in that way, we don't feel it at all. We look upon it from
without and we say, well, that's not affecting our life. Yeah,
others are really feeling it, but we're not. But then we find
the government turns around and the government says, well, if
you gather in your churches, then you're gathering together
closely, and you're as much dangerous spreading the virus, we're going
to decide we're going to close your buildings as well. And then
we do feel it. But how do the world view us?
Do the world view us as saying, we feel this is the Lord's hand?
And He has touched us as well as you. Touched what is precious
to us as what is precious to you. And we humble ourselves
before His hand. We bow before His hand and we
submit to it. Not that we agree with the government,
not that we agree with what they're doing, but we look past them
and we look under the hand of God that thou hast seen fit not
only to touch the world, but the church. Or do the world see
us saying, well, we're not going to submit to that. We're going
to still keep worshipping in our churches. We're not going
to bow before that. And they view a people that's
saying, it may be the hand of God, but where it touches us,
we're not going to submit. We're not going to bow. We're
going to keep going on. Is that the kind of message that
would be a right message to bring? And so it is a recognizing the
hand of God that touches us and bowing before us, as if the Lord
would say to us in the churches, yes, you may point of all the
wickedness done in the land, But I'm not just bringing this
chastening and this hand upon this land and other nations.
For the heathen and for those that do not know me, I'm bringing
it for the church. I'm touching you, I'm touching
the church, I'm touching your assemblies. Now the danger with
us at this time, now we saw much of the Blessing the help of the
Lord when we suddenly had to be shut down the first time.
This time we can quite easily go back. We've got everything
in place. We have it streamed from the
churches, ourselves, as well as from here in the home. and
the danger that we have is that, yes, we just say, well, we can't
in the church. We just quickly replace it and
we do it from our homes with no searching of heart, with no
confession, with no bowing before God, with no humbling before
God. So in one sense we say, yeah,
we are submitting, we're doing God's will and we're hearkening
to what has been required of us. But the attitude of our heart
is not right. It is as if a child is chastened
at home, sent to their room. They go to the room and think,
that doesn't bother me at all. I'll just get out my toys and
play. I can stay in my room all day for all my parents' care. Or another child that gets a
good hard wallop and they say, that didn't hurt. Don't worry
me. I'm just going to go on. And the chastening doesn't have
any effect. And that would be a solemn thing
with our churches, if this present, returning again to lockdown and
turning again out of the house of God, if it doesn't have an
effect, that it doesn't touch us, that it doesn't make us mourn
and cry to the Lord. Lord, thou hast a controversy,
not just with this land, but with us, with the church, how
cold, how far off, how hard. We are, how we need Thy reviving
hand, how we need to be brought again on our knees before the
Lord and to acknowledge Thine almighty hand. How much is it
really touching us at this time? So, in our word, the word of
our text, the word that is brought here through Elihu, is remember
that thou magnify his work which men behold so I want to then look three
points firstly his work that men behold and then secondly
to magnify his work what is meant here is something that is definitely
required of Jovent and through him to us as well. And then thirdly
this word remember, remember that thou magnify his work which
men behold. So what is His work? We've already mentioned in several
ways what we view as the work of God, but let's just consider
it just under some hints. Firstly, the work of creation. Remember it is the qualifying
thing is here, it is His work which men behold. We may say fallen men. Men that
are not called, men that are not spiritual men, they see it,
they behold it, they behold it as naturally, and yet we behold
it as His Word, God's Word. The first one is that of creation.
In Romans we are told that God shall call men to account, men
shall be without excuse, because His power, His Godhead is known
by the things that are made. Those very things that are around
us, the things we see, and especially our own bodies, they declare
to us very clearly that God is, and He made us, and He formed
us. So, that is His work. Then there is his work in Providence. You read in M4, Providence unfolds
the book and makes his counsel shine. The ordering of the things
of this life. If you want really an illustration
of Providence, look at the book of Esther, where we do not read
of the name of God mentioned, but we see his work, and especially
in timing. in ordering even the king that
he could not sleep, in timing the coming in of Haman, and the
reading of that specific account of how that Mordecai was not
honoured for making known those plotting against the king's life.
The timing of those things was absolutely crucial in that account,
and men saw it. Those in the court, they saw
all of these things, and we have it recorded there, and in Providence,
in our lives. What happens? What is happening
now? People are noticing. People are
noticing we're not going to the Lord's house and noticing the
signs outside. Why? And how they can join our
services. They are seeing what we are doing
in our work, in our school. Whatever is done, then they are
things that God is ordering, not chance. Chance and fortune
I defy. The chief of Satan's wiles, my
life's minutest circumstance is subject to his eye. And so it's those things that
happen in our lives. And you might say with Job, all
of the calamities that happened, all of those things Others were
looking on, they saw those things. So when we think of His work,
we're thinking of providences that don't seem to actually have
any of God's work in it, but they are seen, man sees it. This is one of those things that
come under His work. The other closely aligned to
that is the Lord's judgments, like what we're under now in
the land, where we feel the Lord's hand upon us with the virus and
with the restrictions that are placed upon us. Those things
that come, and very clearly famines and pestilences and wars, Those
things that the Lord is pleased to bring, and there's a message
in them. You've only got to read of Haggai
and Zechariah. And for the people of God, the
failure of their crops and the money running out, it all had
a voice. It was the Lord's judgment upon
them, a call to consider their ways because they were leaving
the house of God to be neglected. But another one of His works
is His work of grace. When the Lord works in a sinner's
heart and takes them from nature's darkness into His marvellous
light, then there is a difference in their lives. There's something
wrong if there's not a difference. There are things that have stopped
being done that were done. There are things that are done
that weren't done. Sometimes it is not just the
change of what is done, but how it is done. You know, when the
Lord first gave me spiritual life, well before that I was
going to the Lord's house the minimum times, but under sufferance
and wanting to get out of it. As soon as the Lord quickened
me into life, I wanted to go as often as I could, and went
willingly, freely. And when I was in the Lord's
house, instead of just spending the time planning the next week
in my mind and blotting out everything that was happening, then I was
listening intently to the Word of God. There is a difference
even in doing the same thing. And those of you children, those
of you brought up under the sound of truth, it's a very great blessing
that you are. But it may be you're just like
I was. You're not interested in the
things of God. and you don't listen and your
mind goes and you plan you deliberately plan the things in the week instead
of listening to the Word of God and when the Lord grants eternal
life when he blesses with a change in heart then there is a difference
and that difference will be noticed by your parents by those at school
by those round about you because it will change your life they
would notice that change. With the apostles it was men
took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus. Again I
say, if God's grace has not changed us, there is something wrong.
If the swearer continues a swearer, if the adulterer continues an
adulterer, The proud man continues proud and is not humbled if the
one that is the deceitful man is still walking in deceit. Now
what a difference when the Lord with Zacchaeus stopped under
his tree and saw him. Zacchaeus, come down. I must
dine at thy house. What, those round about him?
Here is a man that took what was not his. Took four times
the taxes, creamed off some for himself. No, he says, if I've
taken anything from any man by false accusation, I give him
fourfold. And immediately there's a change.
He willingly receives him into his house. What a difference,
what a changed man that was. The mad Gadarene, sitting clothed
and in his right mind. What a profound difference than
those that came out of the city and saw it. They were afraid. Afraid of the mighty power of
God that would change a man like that. So sadly they asked that
He depart out of their coasts, afraid of the power of the changing
of the heart of a man. And so grace is one of the works
of God that is spoken of here. Another one is the help that
is given. When we are praying to the Lord
for help, and there's sometimes it is noticed by those round
about us. If we have been sick, if we've
been in trouble, if we've been in trial, and it's been noticed
how we have been helped. Maybe by the hand of men. Maybe in a wonderful, miraculous
way that the Lord has appeared for us and answered our prayer
and helped us. Those are those times that are
His work that is here. And there's many other aspects,
but the point here in our text, it is things that men behold. And we're not to think, well,
there's some things that men behold that are not God's work.
And some things that they behold, it's just chance, or it's of
inconsequence. It's just a small thing. We just
can hardly notice it. But the point in our text is,
remember that they are magnifying His work which men behold. may be reminded to us this afternoon
that men round about us are beholding the work of God. I'm not saying
they know it is the work of God. Many of them don't. They're not
a clue it is. Some of you might not either. But it is. Who is he that saith,
and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commands it not? Is there evil in a city, and
the Lord hath not done it? Satan couldn't do anything here
with Job, except the Lord gave him permission to do it. So his work, a lot comes under
that title. But what about magnifying his
work? This is the specific charge that's
given here to Job. Now, if we magnify something,
then we don't actually change what it is. We don't literally
make it bigger. If I was to get a magnifying
glass and put it on the text of my Bible here, it doesn't change the text. The
writing is still the same size on the page as it was before
I magnified it. But in my sight, it is bigger. I see it clearer. And if something has been a long
way off, then to magnify it like with binoculars, then it brings
it near. Remember when we've stayed on
holiday down at Pevensey, and we've looked out and we've seen
the lighthouse out there, and there it is, just a little shape. When we first went down we thought,
what's that? We got the binoculars and had a look and there it comes,
as if it's right up close to you. It's still as far away as
it was before, but it looks near. And instead of indistinct, now
it is very, very clear. You define its features, you
can see what it is, you can describe it, which you couldn't do before.
Magnifying has not changed the actual thing. But the person
that is using the magnifier or having it described to them,
then it has changed it tremendously. I know of course there's sometimes,
if you think of, and your children at school, that might have used
a microscope. We used to, at school, we used
to put a leaf under a microscope and look at the structure of
a leaf, or perhaps a bit of tissue, a bit of our skin, and we'd look
at it, And what you could see under the microscope, you couldn't
see it with a natural eye. You just couldn't. And so it
was showing that which was even not seen. And a telescope looking
up into the sky and the heavens and the stars to see those things
that are far out of sight of the natural eye. But the tide
that is here, men are actually seeing it. But the charge is
to magnify it. Perhaps if you think, even looking
at, like with the leaf, you see the leaf, but you can't see all
the intricate structure like you would under a microscope,
or even with the tissue of the skin. And so the magnifying,
it brings those things that are seen indistinctly or even hardly
not seen. One part is seen, the other part
is not seen. And it makes it so that it really
is clearly seen. So when we think of God's work,
those works that we spoke of in creation, in providence, in
grace, in judgment. They're things that men are looking
at, but Job, Job especially, who's been through this, who's
going through it, who actually knows what other people do not
know, he's going to be like a magnifying glass. He's going to take this
thing and he's going to make things to be seen in those things
that other people are not seeing. And He's going to make it clearer
to them. They see but a shadow or part
of it. He's going to make sure they
see much more in it. And this is what is meant by
magnifying God's work. One of the things whereby we
magnify it is to actually show that it is God's work. We actually
point out that this is the hand of God. You know, when God was
working in such a great way in Egypt with Pharaoh, and Pharaoh's
servants, they came to him and said, this is the hand of God.
He was trying to imitate it with his magicians and make out it
was some other force. No, they said, this is beyond
our magic, this is the hand of God. But still he wouldn't humble
himself, still he hardened his heart. But the people of God,
and at this time, we don't expect that the world And those that
know not God will identify and see the work of God in what is
happening now in our nation. We won't. Our rulers won't. Those that do not have grace
won't even acknowledge that it's God's hand. But I trust that
if we are the Lord's people, we do. And the chance to us then
is, is to magnify get those aspects that are of God's work and to
make it known, show that it is so. How can we do so? In our own assemblies, those
of us in the ministry, talking with our neighbours, writing
to our MP. Those are ways that we can actually
seek to magnify and impart what we see. We think of Elijah when
the Syrians came, they surrounded the mountain, they were going
to take him and the servant arises in the morning and he looks around
and he sees all of these armies and he says, alas my master,
how shall I do? All he sees is these armies round
about But Elisha, he says, that we are not they that are with
us, and more than they that be with them. And he prayed, Lord,
open the young man's eyes that he may see. And then he saw round
about those chariots of horses and chariots of fire. He saw
then what he couldn't see before on the intercession and prayer
of Elisha At the end of the world we read
of our Lord saying, It shall be like the days of Noah. They
bought, they sold, they married, they gave in marriage until the
flood came and took them all away. And men shall be lovers,
says Peter, of pleasure more than lovers of God. So what is
God doing now? Will I at the end be married?
Touch marriage. You can't be married for a month
now. And touch your pleasures. You can't leave the house without
a reasonable excuse and reason. Touch your worship and going
into worship. Touch your buying and selling
in the house. Is it to bring in provisions
to your house? touch your pleasures, you can't
go on holiday, your restrictions, touch your loved ones, can't
go and see them like you would, all these things, as if the Lord
would say, before the end of the world come, I'm giving you
a warning now. This is not the end of the world. But where you have just settled
in your nest without me, where you've been taken up with these
lawful and good things, I'm going to touch them all. And we may
ask ourselves, are we feeling that touch and turning to the
Lord, or are we trying to worm ways out of it, and we're not
actually profiting at all? We're not being blessed, we're
not seeking, we're not falling before the Lord, we're not bringing
it to the throne of His grace. All we're doing is to riling
against the government or complaining about what they're doing. But
what are we doing? And how we need to show where
we can see it's God's work to show it is. I remember years
ago, one of the employers I was working with, and actually he's
a vicar and a local, just a few miles from us now, he was my
employer, but this is a thing that happened with his wife and
her daughter, and she told it to me, and I may have mentioned
this before, because it's always one illustration, it's so stuck
in my mind, because they were professed Christians. And the
daughter was coming back from London. She only had enough money
to pay for a fare halfway. And so she got off the train,
and she had just enough money to go and call for her mum to
pick her up from the phone box. Well, she got to the phone box,
and there someone had been before her, and they obviously had a
return of the money and hadn't picked it up, and they're lying.
The phone box was enough money to pay for the fare the rest
of the way home. She didn't need her phone up
a month. It was provided there. Wasn't that lucky, she said.
I said, there's nothing about luck in that. That was God's
provision. God provided that. She couldn't
see it, couldn't see it at all, that it was God's hand. And many,
they will see the work, they'll see what has happened, but they
don't see anything remarkable, wonderful about it, or that it
was a provision from God. at all. Now, I tried to magnify
it, even then she couldn't see it. But it is in this way where
we are to show what is God's Word, giving Him the honour and
glory. We're to highlight aspects of
it, take certain things of the things that they're seeing, whether
it be the timing and highlight and say, look at this timing.
Look at how that came about. What have you been a little bit
before, a little bit after? You see this. And it's highlighting
the suitability of things. Highlighting, like in the book
of Esther, the fitting together of the timing and all those things.
This is what it is to magnify God's work. Taking little parts
of it and making them bigger you know quite often I use the
illustration before about magnifying part of the Bible well I'd need
a very big magnifying glass to go around the whole Bible but
if I use a magnifying glass I probably get my text in it and magnify
that And so, very often, if we're to walk in this text, and there's
what men behold, we magnify just one aspect of it, and then another
aspect of it. And in that way, we are showing
the work of God, making men to see what they would not see otherwise. We think of what we said with
the grace of God, Men notice the difference. Why have you
changed? How forward are we in saying,
well, what I am, I am by the grace of God. I was going on
in my way. I loved the world, the things
of it, the company of it, the men, the women of it, and that
was my life. But the Lord came and turned
my life upside down, showed me the vanity and emptiness of it,
showed me that this is but as a vapour that passeth away, and
that now I seek a heavenly country. I know that this is all under
the curse and I seek that which is above. That's what's changed
my life. That's why I'm different. That's
why I can't go with you to the houses of amusement and pleasure
and the world's a blot out reality. That's why I go to the house
of God. That's why I go to hear the Word
of God preached. The reason why we cannot do as
others, not just that we do, but the reason why, and giving
that honour and glory unto God. If we are the people of God,
we are to show forth the praises of Him. with called us out of
nature's darkness and into His marvellous light." If you look
at John chapter 9, you have the case of the man that was born
blind. Everyone saw that. The man that
was begging, the man that they'd known for all his life and he
was of age, say if he was 21, all that time and now suddenly
he sees. How did it happen they say? Who
did it? Who was it? And you read of all
how they questioned, not only him, but they questioned his
parents. His parents were too frightened
to answer. But he pointed to the Lord. If
he were not of God, he could do nothing. And how he so simply, one thing
I know, whereas I was blind now I see, so simply gave the glory
and honor to God, though really in himself he knew but little.
He didn't even know and reckon the Lord had taken himself away.
He didn't recognize him when he appeared to him. He told us
to believe on the Son of God. Who is he, Lord, that I might
believe? He it is that speaketh with thee. I have both seen him.
He it is that speaketh with thee. And so that dear man, the work
that had been done in him, he was not silent. He spoke so well. of the Lord, and all how they
tried to pull him down and muddy his name, that dear man would
have nothing of it. They cast him out, and then the
Lord went and revealed himself to him. So with dear Job, with
us, the work that God is doing in our lives, in our nation,
those things that are touching us, What a call to us. Do we see what our neighbours
don't see and we're just silent? Do they make comments ascribing
this to luck and to chance? And do they say, well, this is
nothing special for Britain? Why? Every nation is the same. Is that a reason why it's not
the work of God? Because it's so widespread? Is
it because everyone are partaking of it, so there's not a blessing
to my soul personally? You think of the letters in the
Revelation, those things that are spoken against those churches,
and yet they had some within them that had not defiled their
garments. You think of Sodom and Gomorrah.
If there was 10 in that city, then it would not have been destroyed.
There was not 10 and a lot was brought out. We must not think the Lord's
people are insignificant. The world does. They think, well,
they're of no consequence. We're not listening to them.
But in God's sight, God's people are his purchased possession. They are his magnifiers in this
earth. They are those that do acknowledge
his hand and are not ashamed of it. They clearly say that
this is God's hand. He is working. He is, overall,
able clearly to say, yes, Pilate, you have indeed the authority
given you at this time, and the soldiers, you have the power
to crucify the Lord Jesus Christ. But the Lord says to Pilate,
Thou couldst have no power against me at all, except it were given
thee from heaven. And Satan could have no power
against Job, except it were given from heaven. But our Lord willingly
submitted himself to Pilate's judgment. Those that were looking
on, all they saw was Pilate. Those two on the way to Emmaus,
like the others, would have seen the Lord saying, No man taketh
my life from me. I lay it down to myself. Power
to lay it down. Power to take it again. And then
they saw what happened. Has he power? Has our Lord's
power? Why? Pilate prevailed against
him. The mob did. The soldiers did. But the Lord says, no, they were
all doing my bidding, though doing my will. Or to some, Boris
Johnson's prevailing against the churches and he's prevailing
against the people of God. No. He is under God's hand. He's
doing God's bidding. And the Lord could just as easily
have excluded our churches from these restrictions. And all the
things that are done, we need so much to see the Lord's hand
above all. As soon as we start fighting
the messenger and dealing as if, like the Jews did with Nebuchadnezzar,
that they weren't going to submit to him, then we come under the
Lord's solemn judgment. The blessing is to those that
are humble and those that are laid low before the Lord, see
His work, magnify His work, give Him the honour and the glory,
and are not like those that are pharaoh that say, I'm just going
to plough on and I'm not going to bow, I'm not going to see
it, I'm not going to humble myself. be a different thing if it was
a case of clear persecution in our land against the Church of
God and it was forbidden us to preach in the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ or to exercise our religion in that way. But that is not the case at this
time at all. And we are thankful that it is
not. But we do see the work of God
And we do want to magnify the work of God. What should happen
in a nation, what must happen before God's people actually
open their mouths and say, this is the hand of God, that are
actually the messengers of the Lord, that actually interpret
it like Haggai did and come and say to the people, your crops,
the reason why they're not prospering, and these things that are happening,
consider your ways. This is the reason why. And this should be our message. And so our last point is this
word remember. Remember to magnify the work
that men behold, that they'll magnify His work which men behold. Why is that needed? So often
we forget. So often we forget. Even if it
is something we've prayed for, looked for, asked for, we forget
to magnify His work. You know, I worked for five years
down here as an accountant, and it got to a time that I knew
I couldn't continue the ministry. and continue that job. It was
only four days a week, but I felt I had to reduce it, and I didn't
know what to do. And we cried and cried unto the
Lord. We needed the money, we needed
the job, but I couldn't keep it up. And that went on for months,
but little did I realize that the owner was going to sell,
and the business was to be taken over by a London firm. And that
London firm was going to make me redundant. And when it happened,
I saw the Lord's hand. I saw the answer to a prayer.
And I will remember that time when The head of the office in
London came down here to Cranbrook and sat me in the office and
tried to apologise. Why is making me redundant? I
said to him, friend, I said you no need to apologise. I said,
what you have done is the answer to my prayers. I said, I told
him what the case was. He said, I can't understand it,
can't work it out. He said, I've just made you redundant
and you're saying it's an answer to prayer. I said, yes, it is.
I said, the Lord's hand is in it. He's ordered it that way. And how we've been provided for,
the Lord will provide. But I know the Lord has appeared
in this. For a poor man, he didn't know
what to make of it. But I've never forgotten it.
It was magnified in my mind, and maybe he will never forget
it either. Just because they are ungodly
people or people that you think they won't know the things of
God, don't let that stop your mouth and think, oh, they won't
understand. They won't understand. You know,
when we first came over here and we were living in the rental
accommodation, we'd only just got over and my son was only
five. One night I had a terrible dream,
a nightmare, and I went downstairs and I felt so troubled by it
and I can't go to sleep again. And I had to cry to the Lord,
Lord give me sleep, Lord take away this dream that I've had. And the Lord answered my prayer
and gave me sleep and rest. Well a week later, the same thing
happened to my son. And he was crying and he was
distressed and he couldn't go to bed, he had this terrible
dream. And this thought came into me, tell him what you did. Tell him that you prayed to the
Lord, tell him the help that you had. And then another voice
came in, he's only five, he won't understand. No, don't tell him
about that. I thought, no, what happened
to you a week ago was so that you could tell your son. So I
did, and we prayed together. In the morning, he said, Dad,
he said, I prayed to God, and he gave me a restful night's
sleep. I slept through the night. I don't know whether he remembers
it. He was very young, but I've never forgotten it. And if there's
that thought come to you, That person won't understand. I'm
not going to tell them. They'll just ridicule. They'll
laugh. No. You magnify the work of God. You think of the poor blind man,
given his sight. Didn't they ridicule, mock, cast
him out? May we be helped to do the same. Remember. Where are the nine? Ten lepers
cleansed, but only one returns to give glory to God. Remember,
when we think of that word, what about the work of our Lord Jesus
Christ upon Calvary? When we think of the grace of
God and the change by grace, how far do we trace it? Do we
trace it just back to what God has done in our lives? Or do
we trace it back to Calvary? And we say, my soul looks back
to see the burdens thou didst bear. There, there was where
the work of God was done for my soul. And if your soul, your
sins are put away, mine are put away, they were put away at Calvary. There, when the Lord suffered
and bled and died there. What does the Lord say? What
is the Lord given to the Church of God? And this is another thing
that has been touched in some of our assemblies. This do in
remembrance of me. Ye do show forth the Lord's death
till he come." Really, in the midst of a congregation, in the
ordinance of the Lord's Supper, the work of God is magnified. It is shown what it is. You know,
with the serpent in the wilderness, those that looked, they lived,
but some would have been far off in the camp, and all they
saw was just a glint of the brass serpent raised up. If they'd
have seen it closer, magnified, they'd have seen it more clearly.
But when we have in the Lord's Supper, the Lord set forth in
those emblems of His own choosing, ye do show forth the Lord's death
till He come. God has promised that He will
bless that. It glorifies God. It strengthens
the faith of the people of God. It is a way of magnifying His
work, showing clearly what it is. It is Christ that died. It
is His broken body, His shed blood that is the church's healing
balm. Let the water and the blood from
my riven side which flowed be of sin the double cure and cleanse
me from its guilt and power. May we never give the credit
or imply the credit by silence, by not magnifying God's work
and pointing out what is God's work in us and for us and in
our lives and in the nation. I remember this work and this
word here. Remember that they are magnify
his work, which men behold. May the Lord at his blessing.
Amen.