May it please God to bless our
souls as we meditate in his word this morning. Let us turn to
the book of Job, chapter 23, and we'll read verse 10. The
book of Job, chapter 23, and reading verse 10. But he knoweth
the way that I take when he hath tried me I shall come forth as
gold. We should be thankful that we
have the Word of God to read and also that we have in the
Word of God the account of God's servant Job. And we may think,
and I suppose rightly so, that Job's case was of course very
extreme. Well, the Word of God does give
us extreme cases, extreme situations. So none of us can say, well,
of course, I'm much worse than that, or my situation's far more
difficult than that. We will find that in the Word
of God, every scene, every situation that you and I enter into is
covered by the Word of God. And so we can be sure that such
a testimony that we have of God's servant Job is appropriate to
his people in one way or another. And so we have in this 23rd chapter
the testimony of Job. We know that he was answering
his three friends that had come and spoken to him. And he answers
and he says, he explains his situation. how he felt before
a holy God. And this is how he explains it.
Even today is my complaint bitter. My stroke is heavier than my
groaning. Well, the Lord knows how sometimes
perhaps we may cry out and say similar words. We may have done
so in our lives. And therefore to recognize that
here we have a man who walked the path and knew the situation
and that we are therefore thankful to be able to have an explanation
of it. And then he says, oh that I knew
where I might find him, that I might come even to his seat. He desired that the Lord would
come and the Lord would visit him. We sung together in that
393rd hymn, this line in the second verse which says, have
pity on my needy soul. Well, we've all sung it, haven't
we? This morning. And I wonder whether we sung
that verse, that line, from our heart. We may not even have realized
we sung it. But it is a good expression and
it really fulfils that which Job is speaking here. Job had a needy soul. We all have needy souls. Often perhaps we don't appreciate
the need that we do have. Well, Job had a needy soul and
therefore we find this statement, 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. Would
he plead against me with this 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, but I cannot see him." So there we see Job in this situation
looking and desiring to find the Lord. And not able to do
so. And not able to do so. And sometimes
that is the position in our spiritual life. And the reason is that the Lord
tests our religion. True religion is not easy. It never has been and it never
will be. And we will find that we cannot
dictate to God. We have our plans and God has
his plans. And God's plans are higher than
ours. And God's plans are superior
to ours. And therefore, having made this
statement that he couldn't find the Lord forward or backward
or to the left or to the right, he then comes to this 10th verse
and it's a good statement and it's good for us to realize the
truth of it. He says, but he knoweth the way
that I take and so he does. Isn't that a good thing? God
knows the path that you and I are walking in because it's the path
that the Lord has ordained for us. therefore it is the right
path. And although we can't perhaps
see clearly where it's leading and what it's doing for us, yet
you see Job is able to come and submit to the Lord in this position
and confess that he knoweth the way that I take. Now it will
be a comfort And it will be a consolation for us in our life, in this world,
to realize the Lord has a perfect path for us. A way, the way,
the right way. But he knoweth the way. And God
doesn't lead his people in a wrong way. He leads them in the right
way. As we read in the 107th Psalm,
he led them forth by the right way. they might go to the city
of habitation. And it wasn't an easy way, and
it isn't an easy way, and it never has been, and it never
will. Because if we had an easy way in this life, do you know
what would happen? We wouldn't pray. Everything
would be okay. We'd just carry on. We would
become prayerless. What a mercy therefore if the
Lord brings into our life situations which produce the need for prayer. And so he knoweth the way that
I take. When he hath tried me, I shall
come forth as gold. So this means that the Lord will
try us. He will test our religion. It's a good thing. It's a mercy. It's a wonderful favour to think
that Almighty God takes time for you and me, in our individual
case, to test the reality of our religion. And that's a wonderful
mercy, isn't it? We don't want to be left, do
we, to a wrong religion, to a false religion, to a superficial religion,
to a religion that has no depth in it. But to find that the Lord,
in the way that he has ordained for us, he is trying us, he's
testing us. And that's not always likeable
to the flesh. The flesh dislikes the way, but
faith approves it well. And perhaps in the midst of a
trial, Because when we're tried, we will pass through trials.
Trial is a testing of our religion, our attitudes, testing as to
whether we do really desire the things of God, whether we do
really desire to know the Lord Jesus Christ and him crucified,
or whether It is just a mere outward form, just to satisfy
our conscience, but it's not satisfactory to our God, and
it's a way that will end in terrible destruction and terrible punishment
in eternal hell. What a mercy then to know the
Lord is dealing with us as sons and daughters of the Most High
God, and to realise, yes, He is trying us, We're being tested
when he hath tried us, when he has tested us in our religion. We read together in that chapter
in James' epistle. James is very searching here
in his epistle. And it's good to realise that
we have such a wonderful epistle to direct us. And so we come
down to The twelfth verse, and this is what James tells us in
that first chapter. Blessed is the man that endureth
temptation. When he is tried, he shall receive
the crown of life which the Lord has promised to them that love
him. Now, in our life, when the Lord
is trying us, when we're being tried, what will happen is that
there will be Like James tells us here, those temptations that
are put before us. You may remember the sad case
of temptation that occurred in the life of Adam and Eve, our
first parents. They were being tested as to
whether they believed and were happy to carry out the words
of God, the command of God. The Lord has spoken very clearly
to them what they could do and what they could not do. And they
remembered the words that the Lord has spoken. But the devil
came along and tempted them. My friends, the devil still comes
today. And he comes alongside us. And he tempts us. He tempts us
to turn away from the Word of God. Turn away from the words
of God. Turn away from the truth of God. And what does he do? He speaks
to us and says, well now, there's no harm in carrying out this
little situation. There's no harm in partaking
of this position. And you'll be alright, there's
nothing really wrong in it. And you remember that Eve, she
was taken in. She looked at the fruit, it looked
very attractive, and therefore she disobeyed God. Now, it's
an account which I'm sure is familiar to us all, but it's
there for our instruction and it's there for our warning. And
so, let us not think that there will not be those temptations,
because the devil's aim is to overthrow us. The devil's aim
is to make us sin. And we need to be very much on
our guard. Very much. Blessed be God, the nearer you
and I are able, by His grace, to walk close to the Saviour,
the more difficult it will be for the devil to entice us into
those sinful situations. And you know, it may not just
be an outward one, because sin is our thoughts, and the devil's
a past master, attacking us in our minds and directing us into
wrong channels. And we know that no one else
knows what we're thinking about, But God does. God does. And is
it sin? Is it sin? Is it that which is
bringing honour to God? Or is it that which is against
God? It's a temptation. And therefore, what is occurring? We're being tested. We're being
tried. And so this word comes into fullness. when he hath tried me. Do we
fall under temptation? Blessed is the man that endureth
temptation. It doesn't mean to say he falls
into it, he endures temptation and it's not easy to turn away
from it because of the weakness of our flesh. The devil knows
what is attractive to us and how difficult it is sometimes
therefore to turn aside. But the Word of God here is,
blessed is the man that endureth temptation. It doesn't say, blessed
is the man that entereth into temptation, but blessed is the
man that endureth temptation. And that's really, our religion
will be tested. And the reality of it will be
tested. And so the God's servant James
goes on to say, for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown
of life which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. There
is an end to our life, and it will be a great blessing if the
end is a good end. And by God's grace, we have been
tested and that we have been able to endure those temptations
and not to fall under them. Well, that's what the God's servant
Job's telling us, when he is tried. And we will be tried without
any doubt. Don't think we will not. And
earlier on in this first chapter, James tells us, Brethren, count
it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations, knowing this,
that the trying of your faith worketh patience, but that patience
hath her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting
nothing. Well, here James recognises that
temptations have two roots. They either make us fall into
sin, or on the other side we are given that grace to endure
the temptation and to not fall under it, and to know therefore
that the trying of our faith worketh patience. This is the
life of the true believer. It's not the life of the unbeliever.
The unbeliever won't be worried about it. The unbeliever will
enter into temptation. But bless God if you and I possess
the grace of God that we understand the battle that goes on within
us between our old nature and our new nature. And it's one
of those blessed evidences that we do possess the life of God
in our soul. When we pray and desire, we may
turn away from temptation. Sometimes it's hard to even pray
against it. Our very soul is so evil, and
so sinful that naturally we enjoy such sinful thoughts and way
of life. But what a blessing then, when
we understand what the Apostle goes on to tell us here. Let
no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God. For God
cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man,
but every man is tempted. Now listen to what he says here. when he is drawn away of his
own lust and enticed. Then, when lust hath conceived,
it bringeth forth sin, and sin, when it is finished, bringeth
forth death." That's a very powerful statement, isn't it? And we should
be very conscious of the need to Recognize the truth of it
and he then goes on to say Do not err My beloved brethren And
it's not be taken in by the temptations of Satan But where we realize
that when these things come into our minds, it's part of this
path of being tried When he has tried me Well Are you and I? being tried in our spiritual
life. Something we need to examine,
isn't it, to see whether it's true, whether we are being tried,
or whether we're just being left alone. The devil will leave us
alone if we're walking contrary to God. He'll leave us alone
if we're just imbibing ourselves in the lust of the flesh and
the pride of life. Psalmist tells us, for the Lord
knoweth the way of the righteous. He knoweth, but he knoweth the
way that I take. The Lord knoweth the way of the
righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish. Well, there is the evidence then
of life in our souls if we have knowledge of the conflict the
conflict between life and death, and between the desire to do
that which is right, and to heed the word of God, and to follow
what he directs us into. There are many words of encouragement
for us in the Psalms, and David's Psalms tell us what he was experiencing
in himself. We know he was a child of God.
And it's good, therefore, to have a record of what he passed
through. He was a spiritual brother of
Job. He was a spiritual brother of
James. And may we also find ourselves
a spiritual brother or sister of those that testify such things. And in the 17th Psalm, David
tells us, Thou hast proved mine heart. Proved mine heart. That touches deep, doesn't it?
Whether it's our heart that is affected, our very innermost
being, our very soul. 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 in the path of the destroyer. Hold up
my goings in my paths that my footsteps slip not." Now we know
of course in David's case that he was tempted, wasn't he? Tempted
by seeing Bathsheba bathing herself. And he took a fancy to her and
decided that he would take her and commit sin. Well, he was
tempted. And what happened? He succumbed
to that temptation. Well, my friends, it's a blessing
if you and I are preserved from outward sin. But it's very easy
to find that we are tempted by inward thoughts and inward desires. And they are from the devil.
And therefore to realise that this situation is a time of being
tried, when he has tried me. And it may take a long time in
our life to be able to react against it. because our nature
goes after wrong things. What a blessing then if we realise
the good hand of the Lord upon us which is constraining us to
turn our back upon sin, turn our back upon evil, turn our
back upon those things which are contrary to the true life
of God. And we may realise what a favour
it is then to have this Conflict and the evidence that we do have
a conflict and to know that the Lord has touched our heart and
produced a desire to Seek unto him that he will give us grace
to reject the advances of Satan In whatever that may be and all
of our lives are different the Lord knows What that means in
your life and my life it may be totally different nonetheless
there will be those testing times which you and I will have to
face. Now what is the reaction? He hath tried me. These times are times of refining. That means there are times of
purifying. purifying our desires, purifying
our spiritual life, producing that desire not to seek our own
will, but to seek the will of our God, and to be brought nearer
to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now my friends, the lust of the
flesh, the pride of life, will not bring us nearer to Christ. It will take us farther away.
It will take us farther down the road of perdition. So may
we have the testimony that Job was able to declare here. He knows the way that I take
when he has tried me. When he tested me. Yes, when
I've been refined. Now, refining is a process. And it's a process which doesn't
produce the satisfaction immediately. Refining, we can use the analogy
of gold, because the Job's servant uses it here, I shall come forth
as gold. And gold, when it's found, often
has impurities in it. And those impurities need to
be got rid of. and it's the same in our life.
We have impurities in our sinful life which need to be got rid
of. Now a furnace is the process
which is used to refine gold and a furnace is a very hot place
and the furnace has to be heated very highly to a great temperature
in order that those impurities may be removed, may be burnt
off, so that all that is left is pure gold. Well, what a blessing
then if you and I perhaps are called to pass through the furnace. It won't be pleasant to the flesh,
because there will be that burning off of the things which our nature
perhaps clings to. But bless God if he's dealing
with us in love to our souls. And the God's servant Malachi
tells us something of this. And he says in the third chapter,
Who may abide the day of his coming? And who shall stand when
he appeareth? For he is like a refiner's fire,
light full of soap and he shall sit as a refiner and purifier
of silver and it shall purify the sons of Levi and purge them
as gold and silver that they may offer unto the Lord an offering
in righteousness. So the Lord sits and the Lord
graciously deals with his people and he brings them into these
furnaces. And the furnace of course has
various ways. Sometimes it's the furnace of
affliction. Sometimes the Lord brings us
into those situations and he brings us there so that we may
perhaps come aside and consider the path that we're taking. Is it a right path? Is it a godly
path? Is it a Christ honouring path?
Is it a path that leads to glory? Or is it a path which satisfies
the lust of the flesh? He knoweth the way that I take,
and when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. It's an encouragement
to know that when the Lord is dealing with us and testing our
religion, and we all need our religion to be tested, and we
all need that which is of the flesh to be taken away. Remember the words of God in
Proverbs on two occasions, we're told, there is a way that seemeth
right to a man. But in the end they're off for
the ways of destruction. The ways of death, rather. The
way of death. It's not a way that seems right. You know, there may be those
ways which seem right, which seem all right. Eve thought it
seemed all right to take of the fruit. But it was disaster. Let's not lay hold of things
which seem all right. The devil will tempt you and
he'll say, that's all right. He'll encourage you. He'll push
you down the path. But is it the true way? Is it the way of life? Or is it the way of death? You and I stand, don't we, between
the two? Life and death. And let's be
found in the way of life. Let us have the evidence that
we're in their way of life, that our religion is being tried. It's being placed in the furnace. We're being brought into situations
of affliction. Maybe affliction in body, maybe
affliction in our minds, maybe circumstances that produce that
testing time. And we have to look at our heart
To discern our motive. To discern whether our motive
is right and pure. Don't forget, the heart is deceitful
above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? Don't
listen to the devil. Don't listen and think, well,
I'm sure I can do that. Compare it with the Word of God. Dig deep. See whether it's in
accordance with the Word of God, those temptations that the devil
is leading you and me into. It's a time of testing. Now, the blessing is that the
Lord deals with us in love to our soul. It's a mercy to be
dealt with by God and not left to just go along in this poor
old world and then be cast out at last. The way of the true child of
God is never an easy life. But just because you find your
life not being very easy, don't make the assumption that therefore
you must be a child of God. Because the Word of God tells
us, man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward. Everybody
is born to trouble. as the sparks fly upward. But to the child of God, trouble
is sanctified. Trouble is made profitable for
the eternal good of their souls. And so do not think that because
you've been brought into trouble that it's a sign of grace. There's
no indication of that at all. But there will be the indication
of it if the trouble has been sanctified and the effect is
that you've been brought nearer to the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
the test really of this trying, as to whether the path that you
and I have been brought into brings us nearer to Christ. If
there's been no effect to that, conclude it's just of the flesh
and it's just the natural way of all mankind. But bless God,
therefore, if the Holy Spirit has come and shown to us that
the trouble, put it another word, the tribulation that you and
I have been brought into has been to test and to try the reality
of our religion. And so the God's servant Job,
of course he was greatly tried, wasn't he? And as we know, there
were many things that he tried to justify himself for. And you and I are very fond of
trying to justify ourselves. We like to make the assumption
that we're doing that which is good and right and proper. and
that we can do it with an honest heart. Well, may the Holy Spirit
dig deep into our heart and see whether there are secret sins
there which need to be brought to the surface and to be burnt
off, to be purified. Now, you know the effect in Job's
life that that situation which he was brought into produced
an amazing effect, a wonderful effect, a wonderful favour upon
him. And it would be a good thing
if the effect of God's dealing with us brings us into a situation
like this. Because what did Job find? Job thought he was just, he thought
he was alright. And the Lord had said he was
an upright man. in an outward way, but there
was his heart. And the Lord dealt with him.
And the three friends spoke to him, and Elihu spoke to him.
It didn't really have the right effect. But then the Lord spoke
to him. The Lord spoke to him. And the
last chapters in the book of Job tell us about that. And the
40th chapter, the 39th speaks about it, but the 40th chapter
says, Moreover the Lord answered Job and said, Shall he that contendeth
with the Almighty instruct him? He that reproveth God, let him
answer it. Job answered. This is what he
said. A few words. When you and I are guilty before
God, we won't make a long excuse. We won't make a long list of
things to justify ourselves. Job fell down and worshipped. And he said this. Behold, I am
vile. This was the outcome of this
trying, this purifying. This was the outcome. Behold,
I am vile. What shall I answer thee? I will
lay my hand upon my mouth. Once am I spoken, but I will
not answer, yea, twice, but I will proceed no further. And then the Lord came again
and spoke to Job. And we come down then to the
last chapter in Job chapter 42, where Job again speaks. And this
is what he says, Job answered the Lord and said, I know that
thou canst do everything and that no thought can be withholden
from thee." Now what did he prove? He proved there that God knew
everything about him. Everything. And no thought can
be withholden from thee. Who is he that hideth counsel
without knowledge? Therefore have I uttered that
I understood not things too wonderful for me which I knew not. What a wonderful blessing when
the effect of God's trying and purifying our heart brings us
to a position like this. So that we come and say, with
Job, that I've uttered that I understood not. I've been so stupid. I've
been so foolish. Things too wonderful for me which
I knew not. Here I beseech thee, and I will
speak, and I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me. I have
heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye
seeth thee. And that was the eye of faith. God had given him a spiritual
eye to see the glorious truth of God. He'd heard, and now he'd
seen. What a blessing. You and I have
heard, haven't we? All of us here have sat under the Gospel
many times. Perhaps we've never heard the
Gospel. Perhaps we've never heard the truth of God. But what a
blessing when God comes and gives us the eye of faith to see God's
dealings with us. Now, Job comes and concludes
this, these few words with this statement, Wherefore I abhor
myself, and repent in dust and ashes. The grace of God produces
a result like this. The trying of our faith brings
us to a position like this, where the Holy Spirit shows us what
we're like, and we do say, with Job, and it's not just Job, it's
the Church of God, join together and say, Personal, don't forget, religion
is personal. I abhor myself and repent in
dust and ashes. Well, this morning, let us ask
ourselves the question, can I say that? Have I said it? Because here was a man of God. Wherefore, I abhor myself and
repent in dust and ashes. What had happened? in the life
of Job, this is what happened. He'd come forth as gold. He'd had burnt up, burnt off,
all that which was against God, all that which was abhorrent
to God. It's good, isn't it, when you
and I can look in our hearts and desire that God will show
us what's abhorrent to God. in our life, in our thoughts.
We don't like to pray those kinds of prayers, do we? Because we know there will be
an effect which will affect our lives. Religion will affect our
lives. What a blessing when God's religion
affects it so that there is that right and wonderful preparation
to pass out of life into eternal life. Now you see, the Lord brings
various situations to test us. It was very different, wasn't
it, in the case of Abraham. Abraham's faith was tested, wasn't
it? God had promised him that in
Isaac his seed will be formed and brought forth and now he's
told to offer up Isaac. Did Abraham say, well, Lord,
I'm sure you made a mistake. I'm sure this can't be right.
I'm sure it can't be because of the promise of God. What was
occurring? Abraham's faith was being tested
as to whether he would obey God, whether he would obey God. You see, Adam and Eve, their
faith was tested whether they would obey God. And they failed,
they faltered. And we may have failed, and we
would have failed, and we would have faltered. But may the Lord
give us that prayer and that desire to be like those faithful
people in the Word of God who, just like Abraham, You see, Abraham
believed God was able to raise up Isaac from the death and to
fulfill his promise. Faith in believing. There was
great temptation, wasn't there? There was great testing. But
you see, what a good thing it is when we have the evidence
of God's work and mercy upon us. The Apostle Peter, his faith
was tested, wasn't it? Many times, perhaps, we might
say. He gives us the evidence of it and what a good thing it
is that we have the evidence of such a man of God speaking
to us. He tells us this, who are kept by the power of
God. Let me start the previous verse. Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant
mercy, this is God's abundant mercy to you and I, if we are
being tried. have begotten us again unto a
lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead
to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth
not away reserved in heaven for you who are kept by the power
of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last
time wherein ye greatly rejoice though now for a season If need
be, you are in heaviness through manifold temptations, that the
trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that
perishes, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto
praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ."
Well, what a blessing if you and I have a God-given religion. which looks beyond ourselves,
our own life, and it looks to the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. Because the work of God in the
soul is to make us more like the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ,
to be conformed unto his image, as the Apostle Paul said. Because
he designed, above all things, to know Jesus Christ and Him
crucified. The things of the world won't
bring you and me there, but bless God if through His mercy we find
there are these trials which bring us closer to Christ and
Him crucified. And there by faith, living faith,
we see the suffering Saviour dying to atone for our sins,
all our sins, every sin, every lustful thought, every sin. The
Saviour took upon himself, he bore the punishment instead. My friends, what a mercy then,
if the Holy Spirit works in our hearts, like it did in Job's
day, in Job's heart. and brought him to be able to
say, but he knoweth the way that I take. Yes, it was a good way,
it was a right way. It brought him down in his own
estimation. And remember, it brought him
to say this, I know that my Redeemer liveth. What a blessed thing
it is when you and I can say the same. I know that my Redeemer,
the Lord Jesus Christ, that died to save my soul, to take away
all my sins, liveth and that by His grace one day I shall
be with Him. As the God's servant Job viewed
the situation, I know that my Redeemer liveth and He shall
appear on the latter day upon the earth. And he said, though
worms destroy this flesh, yet with my eyes I shall see him
and not another. He had faith to believe that
he would see the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who had died for him,
the one who had suffered for him, the one who had taken away
all his sins. Faith. Here was the working out
of it. the trying of it, but he knoweth
the way that I take, and when he hath tried me, I shall come
forth as gold, purified, purified. We come to the end of our life,
to think that we are then brought to that place where the Lord
has purified us, and we are then ready to go and to be with Christ,
which is far better. Not before, but bless God for
that time when we shall be then ready to leave this earth and
to go and to be with Christ, which is far better. Well, may
we be encouraged to know that there are those wonderful examples
in the Word of God to strengthen our faith and to encourage us
in the way, so that although we may not see the way, it may
be mystifying. We may look forward and behind
and left and right, and yet to be able to bow down and say,
but he knoweth the way that I take. And the way that I'm taking is
a way that will lead to eternal life. The way that I'm taking,
my religion is being tried and being tested. But by his grace,
I shall come forth as gold. Amen.