May I please God to bless our
souls as we consider his word today. Let's turn to the book
of Exodus, chapter one, and we'll read verse 12, or at least the
first sentence in verse 12. But the more they afflicted them,
the more they multiplied and grew. It is very wonderful and very
interesting to realize that in the account of the children of
Israel and in their life, we have, in the word of God, much
detail. And much of that detail is very
instructive to us. And it has been through the ages,
and no doubt it will be. And so we have read this first
chapter in Exodus and we note that the Egyptians were very
concerned about the prosperity of the Israelites. You remember,
there was just a mere handful that had come down, just Jacob's
family to start with, but now they were a vast multitude. And
this worried the Egyptians. They were worried they were going
to take over the whole place and perhaps put them completely
out as a nation. And therefore they did all they
could to diminish Israel, everything in their power. And they used
cunning really, because we know what they said. Come on, let
us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply and it come to
pass that when they are fought without any war, they join themselves
unto our enemies and fight against us and so get them up out of
the land. Therefore they did set over them
taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. Well, that was
their endeavour. And were they successful? They
weren't successful. And they must have been very
dismayed, because what occurred was the very opposite. What did
occur? The more they afflicted them,
the more they multiplied and grew. Well, what really is the
relevance of that statement to us today? Well, I believe it
has a wonderful relevance to our spiritual state, our spiritual
condition. And we know the Egyptians, of
course, were very much against Israel. And we know still today,
as it was in those days, our archenemy, Satan, the devil,
is always trying to destroy us. like he tried to destroy Israel
through the Egyptians, and he utterly failed. And as you trace
the life of Israel, you'll see again and again how he brought
various things into the lives of the Israelites in an endeavour
to destroy them. But he was totally unsuccessful
in the end. Sometimes he succeeded in turning
Israel away, but never totally. They always were brought back.
And so, as we have such a statement here this morning, the more they
afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. I believe
it's very true in a spiritual sense. the more Satan tries to
afflict us. We might say, well, can you define
this word afflict? Well, I think we can, really,
in a very simple statement. It really means to bring low,
to bring the people down. They were brought low. That's
the endeavor of Satan today, to bring us down so that we are
distressed, so that we're tempted to give up our religion, and
to pray no more to Jesus. The endeavour of the devil is
to therefore pursue us, to afflict us, to bring us down low. But he does not succeed, because
why is that? The children of God, a cause
then to pray, to pray more earnestly, perhaps to pray
indeed earnestly. If there was no affliction, if
there was no bringing low, if there was no need to pray, then
there wouldn't be any prayer, would there? We'd just carry
on in our life in a very comfortable way. And everything would be
smooth and there wouldn't be any troubles and there'd be no
prayer. And what does that mean? There
would be no seeking the face of God. What does it also mean? It means there will be no conversation
with God. There will be no coming to Him. We go on in our own strength,
in our own way. Well, blessed be God. He has
decreed, He has devised, He has ordained a peculiar path for
the Church of God. individually, so that their lives
are brought into those situations where they do come and pray to
God. They do come and cry unto God
because of their low condition, because of the affliction that
they have been brought into. Well, the Lord permitted the
Egyptians to bring, as we read, this situation of rigor. He made their lives bitter. They
made their lives bitter with hard bondage in mortar and in
brick and in all manner of service in the field. All their service
wherein they made themselves was with rigor. They had a very
difficult, a very tough life. And we shouldn't think today
Although we live many, many years after that, perhaps we might
think relatively an easier environment, and I suppose in one sense it's
true in a physical way, but nonetheless today the Church of God are still
brought into these situations where they understand perhaps
what it was the devil endeavours to make their lives bitter. He
brings things into our lives which are bitter for us. But
nonetheless, you see, they are for our benefit. They are for
our spiritual good. And he uses the term here, with
hard bondage. Yes, they were captive, and they
had to work hard, and it wasn't very easy for them. Their life
was very difficult. Now in a large measure today,
naturally our lives are very easy, aren't they, by comparison.
If we're honest, we don't have that kind of situation. But nonetheless,
in measure we may do so with regard to our spiritual lives.
And we're thankful we have the Word of God, which is of course
a spiritual book. and it's to be spiritually interpreted,
and God has ordained it for our spiritual good. And so therefore,
as we recognize the truths that are written in God's word, to
apply them to our own lives, and to say, yes, my life is not
easy, there is perhaps hard bondage, there are those bitter things,
but if it works for our spiritual good, if it works for our spiritual
growth, if it brings us nearer to God, rather than taking us
away. The devil's aim is to bring these
things into our lives that turn us away from God. The Spirit's
work, bless God for it, is to bring us nearer to God. And therefore
the Lord allows these things to come into our lives, to turn
us towards Him, and not, as the devil hoped, to turn us away
from Him. And that's the evidence of the
work of God, the work of His Spirit in our lives, so that
as we are made aware that God is dealing with us as His children,
as His sons and daughters, He's not leaving us to wander on in
our own devices. He's not leaving us to follow
the worldly path. He's not allowing us to involve
ourselves in all the clutter and cares of this life, which
may appear attractive to our flesh. Sometimes It may not be bitterness
and hard bondage, but the Lord may perhaps tantalise us with
the things of the world, which have the same effect. They afflict us spiritually and
they bring us low in our spiritual life. It may be again the Lord allows
these things sometimes to occur so that we're made aware of the
situation which we've come into. And it causes us then to cry
and it causes us to pray unto God. And then when the Lord brings
us out of them, he shows us where we've got to. He shows us how
we've fallen into the snares of the devil. The devil is always
laying snares for our feet. He's always laying traps, endeavouring
to bring us into those situations which take us away from God.
but the blessing of God is if we are amongst his family. Such
temptations will eventually bring us back to God, and this word
will be true. But the more they afflicted them,
the more they multiplied and grew. We grow then in grace and
in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. What a blessing it is then to
know that we have a God who's dealing with us in love to our
souls. If we were to ordain our life,
if we were to plan our life, we would never plan it as God
plans it. We would always plan for an easy
life. You know, Israel would never have planned their life,
would they? They would have planned it in a much easier way, but
God planned it. And God brought them into that
situation where they had to acknowledge it was the work of God. And therefore, what did they
do? They were blessed with living
faith to believe God's Word, they were blessed with His grace,
and they were blessed with marvellous deliverances. as we know, as
we trace out the life of Israel of our wonderful deliverances
that God brought to pass. And in doing so, what did it
do? It brought honour and glory to his great and holy name. And
surely that's exactly the same today. The Lord allows us perhaps
to be under the snare of Satan. Perhaps we are brought low in
our spiritual life only to be revived, only to realize the
condition that we allowed ourselves to come into. And when the Spirit
of God works, we don't look around for other causes, we blame ourselves. We realize that we have fallen,
that we have sinned. It's our foolishness. has brought
us into these situations and therefore we come and we give
God thanks when He brings us out perhaps into a wealthy place. Remember them. The more they
afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. Well, the Word of God has many
words to encourage us and to strengthen us. and we see God's
servants, we see the psalmist, he tells us something indeed
of God's dealings and God's leadings and God's instructions to him
and he tells us in Psalm 124 And this really is the response
and the reaction and the effect of God's work in the life of
God's children, if it had not been the Lord who was on our
side. Now may Israel say, if it had
not been the Lord who was on our side, when men rose up against
us, then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was
kindled against us, Isn't that true? When men, they're the agents
of the devil, when perhaps they rise up to afflict us, to bring
us low. If it hadn't been for the Lord,
what would have happened? The Lord who has been on our
side. We may not have realised it.
We often don't realise it. But nonetheless the Lord is there.
How encouraging to think that the Word of God is true. He's
the same yesterday and today and forever. He's never asleep. He's always awake. He's always
watching over us individually. It's a wonderful, tremendous
thought, isn't it, to consider that Almighty God looks upon
you and me individually, especially as we come to realise how utterly
unworthy we are of any notice, and yet God has, if it had not
been the Lord who was on our side, God has been on our side,
and He is on our side, and He will be on our side, right through
life, right through every day, until that time we pass from
time into eternity. David goes on, then the waters
had overwhelmed us. The stream had gone over our
soul. He describes his knee, desolation, destruction. And
why didn't it occur? Because God was on his side.
David knew very much the temptations of the devil. He knew what it
was to fall under those temptations. You know, blessed be God, we
may fall, we do fall. Bless God if we don't fall in
the same way that David did in adultery and murder. But if we
don't, it's only because of God's grace. If God took away his restraining
hand upon us, we'd fall into all manner of sin. Never say,
well, I wouldn't do that. It's only by the grace of God
that we don't do those things. It's only by his love and mercy
we don't do those things. And never throw stones at other
people, realizing what you could fall into, but for the grace
of God. And so he says, the proud waters
have gone over our soul. And he comes then and says, blessed
be the Lord. When the Lord comes and brings
us out of the horrible pit, do we come and say, blessed be the
Lord, who has not given us as a prey to their teeth. We may
have slipped, we may have fallen, But you see, we haven't been
left as a prey. We haven't been devoured. God's
mercy, just like Israel of old, the more they were afflicted,
the more they grew, they multiplied and grew. David goes on, it's
a good psalm, this 124. Our soul is escaped as a bird
out of the snare of the fowlers. The snare is broken and we are
escaped. Have you been in snares sometimes?
There are snares aren't there? Do you know what it is? To escape
out of a snare? Yes, it may have been a struggle. Can you imagine what a snare
is sometimes? It's a great struggle sometimes
to escape. But how did you escape? How will
we escape? David knew. Our help is in the
name of the Lord who made heaven and earth. And it's good, I'm
sure, to realise that this is the great God who created all
things. This is the God who is our helper. Isn't that humbling? It should
be to realise that here we have an almighty God who is so gracious
and so concerned for the spiritual welfare of each one of us that
he allows these things to occur so that his name is honoured
and glorified. So he says, Our help is in the
name of the Lord who made heaven and earth. You may wonder perhaps
this morning why we read that fifth chapter in the Romans following
on from that first chapter in Exodus. Well, the fifth chapter
to the Romans has some very important and very blessed words which
are very suitable to us. We read in that fifth chapter,
in verses three, four and five, and not only so, perhaps read
the previous verse, by whom also we have access by faith into
this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory
of God. And not only so, but we glory
in, and note this, tribulations. We don't glory in tribulations
naturally. Israel would not have gloried
in that which was put upon them naturally. It was indeed great
tribulations that they passed through. And so it is, in our
lives today we should never think that the Word of God is out of
date. It's as true today as it was
when it was written. And so says the apostle, and
not only so, but we glory in tribulations. Now, why should
the apostle glory in tribulations? And why should you and I glory
in tribulations? And why should you and I realize
that these afflictions, these bringing low, benefit us? Well,
the apostle tells us. He says, knowing that the tribulation
worketh patience. and patience experience, and
experience hope. And hope maketh not ashamed,
because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy
Ghost which is given unto us." Just ponder these words. There's
great instruction. There's great truth in it, isn't
there? To think here, that the Spirit may direct us to realise
that the paths which God brings us into, which are tribulation,
they benefit in this way, the Lord uses them to our souls'
good, so that we grow spiritually. Yes, just like Israel, you see,
they multiplied and they grew under these difficult situations,
and so the Church of God still do today. Note what he says. Knowing that tribulation worketh
patience. We're often impatient, aren't
we? What does God say? Your time
is always, but my time is not yet. God is a time, a perfect
time, a right time. Patience and patience experience. We have some knowledge. We have
some evidence of God's work. If it wasn't through this path,
we wouldn't have anything that we could testify of God's goodness
and mercy and favour. But it's through this tribulation
which works patience, which then brings us into this situation
of experience. It's not just a head knowledge. It's that which God works in
our heart, in our soul. It's that which is His work.
Blessed be God that it is so, and therefore it's something
that we experience. Well then, it's not just a theory,
is it? When God works, it's an experience. And that experience then gives
us hope, good hope, firm hope, that God is dealing with us as
His children. He's instructing us. He's bringing
us nearer to himself. He's bringing us in that path
of sanctification. He's directing us. And hope maketh
not ashamed. And therefore we're not ashamed
of that which God is dealing with us in. We can thank him
for it. We're able to testify of his
goodness and of his mercy toward us. It makes it not a shame because
the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost
which is given to us. We see God's wonderful grace
here, don't we? It's His love. His love. And again, so often I say, not
that we loved God, but the God who loved us. Because the love
of God is shed abroad in our hearts It's not just resting
in a theory in our head, it's the experience which moves these
blessings into our heart and therefore we rejoice and we realise
then that this work is not of our flesh, it's not our work,
it's the work of the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. So favour indeed, if we can trace
out then the good hand of God upon us, his work in our lives,
in our hearts, and so we can see then the truth of these words
in a spiritual sense, the more They afflicted them. The more
the devil tries to get hold of us, the more they multiplied
and grew. The more we grow in spiritual
knowledge and in his grace and in his favor. What a blessing
then to be found walking in this way. We were indeed weak. It's by these things men live. It's by these things we become
to realise our strength is not in ourselves. Our strength is
in our God. The Apostle Paul wrote these
words. He also wrote, I can do all things through Christ that
strengthens me. There was a time when the Apostle
Paul was very satisfied with his own works, with his own religion. He was a Pharisee of the Pharisees.
He had a good knowledge of the Word of God and he was proud
of it. He was proud of his knowledge. Did it bring glory to God? No.
The intention was to bring glory to Paul. But God came and God
dealt with him in the most wonderful way. And no less wonderful is
God's work in your heart and my heart than it was in the life
of the Apostle Paul. We all need this same gracious,
blessed work of the Holy Ghost to instruct us and to bring us
to this personal knowledge of what the Apostle is able to enumerate
here. He knew the experience. It wasn't
something just abiding in his head. It was the work of the
Holy Ghost. And my friends, all of us need
to know the blessed work of the Holy Spirit within our soul,
not just a theory, that which changes our life. It changed
the life of the Apostle Paul. The work of God changes our lives,
and it causes us to trace out his work, trace out what he's
done, and realise, yes, by his grace, I am what I am. It's his
blessed work. He's brought me into these times
of tribulation so that he might show me his grace. And so as
we're blessed, which we are, when we're brought into these
situations to realise it's God's hand which is upon us for good. The Lord knows, you see, how
to bring us low. He knows how to raise us up. He
brings us low to accomplish His work. He brings us low to produce
in our souls a personal experience of his love toward us, of his great grace. So may we
indeed bless God and thank him for his favour and blessing toward
us and realise, yes, it's that work which the Lord is doing
in our souls for our spiritual good. The Apostle spells out in his
own life that condition when the Lord gave him a thorn in
the flesh. We're not told what it was and
it's good that we're not, so we can apply it to every situation
in our lives and think of what the Apostle went and how he endured
and he tells us how he was wonderfully blessed when he was caught up
into paradise and heard unspeakable words which it is not lawful
for a man to utter. On such a one would I glory,
yet of myself I will not glory but in mine infirmities. Now there is always in our spiritual
life a balancing of the clouds. There is always adversity balancing
prosperity. Otherwise we would be so proud
in our religion and we boast of what we have received. And I believe, therefore, the
Lord balances us in these things. And we should be thankful for
what the Lord does for us. But he will not allow us to boast
in ourselves. We will only be able to boast
in the Lord. And that will bring glory to
his great and holy name. And so the apostle tells us,
On such an one will I glory, yet of myself I will not glory,
but in mine infirmities. For though I would desire to
glory, I shall not be a fool. Naturally we do, but may we indeed
join in with the apostles and say, yes, I don't want to be
a fool either. For I will say the truth. But now I forbear,
lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth
me to be." Great danger, isn't it? We mustn't elevate people.
We mustn't think, well, that is a great person. We don't know
what's in their heart. We don't know how the Lord's
dealing with them. But now I forbear, lest any man
should think of me above that which he seeth me to be, or that
he heareth of me. Unless, he tells us now, I should
be exalted above measure, Through the abundance of the revelations
there was given to me a thorn in the flesh." Now it must have
been a painful thing. We know what a thorn's like in
our flesh, don't we? It's there and it's very painful,
isn't it? It keeps on pricking us until
we can get rid of it. Well, the Apostle Paul tells
us he had a thorn in the flesh and he describes what it was.
the messenger of Satan, that's all the detail we're told, to
buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. Well, you may
have a messenger of Satan to buffet you. The Lord's blessed
you, the Lord's favored your soul. The devil doesn't want
that to occur. He hates it. He wants to destroy
it and therefore try and destroy it. And he may buffet your soul. Well, what did the Apostle experience? He said, lest I should be exalted
above measure for this thing, I besought the Lord thrice that
it might depart from me. Well, the Apostle wasn't back
with him praying, was he? No doubt he prayed earnestly, but
it wasn't the Lord's will and he should be delivered from it.
But the Lord was to bless him. And in this way, the Lord said,
My grace is sufficient for thee. Now if you and I understand what
he says, such a word as that, then if we've been brought low,
if we've been afflicted, if the devil's trying to destroy our
faith, to be brought down to this situation where the Lord
comes and speaks into our hearts such a glorious statement as
this, my grace is sufficient for thee. And it is for all of
us. His favour, his blessing, it
is sufficient. And he tells us, then my strength
is made perfect in weakness. You see, we rely on God's strength
when we are brought down in our strength. We only acknowledge
and realise God's strength when we realise our weakness. And
it's the work of God to do that. And it may be brought about by
affliction in bringing us low. Yes, to give us that strength. Yes, the more we're afflicted,
the stronger we grow. We grow in grace and in the knowledge
of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. For my strength is made
perfect in weakness. You see, when we're weak, then
we're strong. When we're strong in ourself,
we're weak in the things of God. And he says then, what does he
say? What's the effect? What's the result? Most gladly,
therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power
of Christ may rest upon me. That's a good statement, isn't
it? We see there the wonderful work of God. The blessing is
if you and I can in measure trace it out and be able to come and
say like the Apostle, most gladly, therefore I will rather glory
in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. He just goes on, a couple of
verses, Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches,
in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. Remember that. For when I am
weak, then am I strong. I am become a forwarding glory.
You compel me, for I ought to have been commended of you. For in nothing am I behind the
very chiefest apostle, though I be nothing." It's a wonderful
truth that, isn't it? And to realise we have on record
the personal experience of the Apostle to encourage us today
and to realise, yes, there was a man of God, a God greatly blessed,
but also a person that had to endure these afflictions. But the result was to bring him
indeed into that humble place that he might exhort the Lord,
and the Lord does these things to us. He humbles us that we
might be brought to that place to glorify his great and holy
name. And again, coming back to David,
34th Psalm, very blessed Psalm, verse 19, many, many are the afflictions of the righteous. I don't think you're going to
escape. I don't think you're going to
somehow have a different path to the children of God. This
is the experience, this is the testimony of God's servant David. Many are the afflictions of the
righteous. But remember what he goes on
to say, which is also the experience and the testimony of the people
of God. And this experience brings honour
and glory to his great and holy name. But the Lord delivereth
him out of them all. Every single one, every single
time you and I are brought low, is to bring us up, to bring us
out of it, out of that pit, to bring us in that situation where
we have to acknowledge it's the Lord that has delivered us. It
was exactly the same, wasn't it, in the 40th Psalm? It was
the Lord that had delivered David. He waited patiently and he says
he heard his cry and he brought him up out of the Maori pit and
out of the horrible pit the Maori clan set my feet upon a rock
it was the Lord that came and it was the Lord that delivered
him and it's the Lord my friends today that comes and brings us
out of that pit and delivers us whatever the situation was
necessary to bring us into this scene. We know, of course, here
the Lord was bringing Israel to acknowledge it was God that
was with them. Yes, it was God. But the more
they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. I'm sure, I hope, I pray that
all of us might pray that we may grow in grace and in the
knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. The hymn writer
said, it was in such a way that brought him almost to despair. But the Lord was with the hymn
writer. The Lord was with God's people. And God is with his people
today. And so as we may find our lives
perplexing sometimes, brought low sometimes, perhaps brought
very often low, we might think that we perhaps jumped
from one crisis to another. The Lord knows what you need,
he knows what I need. It may be very different. But bless God, if he's dealing
with us as his children, like this, like Israel, and we're
able to confirm the truth of God's word in our spiritual lives,
the more we're afflicted, then the more we multiplied and grew
to his honor and for his glory. Amen.