May it please almighty God to bless us together this evening as we gather for worship. Let's turn to the book of Job and 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 can see in these words that Job speaks in a very personal way. And he's saying to God that I take when he has tried me and I shall come forth as gold. And really that's very important in your life and my life, in our spiritual life especially. to be able to confirm that we are the person that God has spoken or is speaking to, the person that God is dealing with, the way that God is graciously leading and directing us, to know that God is dealing with us in a personal way.

We're not just one of the crowd. And the wonder of it is that as Job tells us here, But he knoweth, he's speaking about God, he knoweth the way that I take. Just think of that. We might think, well, that's not very difficult. Well, just try and comprehend how great a word this is. Because not only does God know about Job, or did know about Job, he has known about every person that has ever been born into this world and is in the world today and will be in the world.

He knows about every single person. He knows about you. He knows about me in a very detailed way. It's a wonder to think that God knows every movement, every word, every thought of our mind. And that's not just for a few people. You try and ponder that. It's millions and billions of people. This is the great God. The almighty God that you and I face and you and I deal with. It's a great wonder. It's a very solemn reality.

Because we can never think that God doesn't know, because He does know. Don't think that you can hide from God, because you cannot hide from God. And remember, he knows your very thoughts. You can't even hide thoughts. God knows all about them. So, Job's able to say, yes, but he knows the way that I take. He knows the way that you and I take. Every single detail.

And he says it after acknowledging in the previous verses about the greatness of God. He comes and says, even today is my complaint bitter. My stroke is heavier than my groaning. Sometimes we may feel like that. God knows. God ordained it. And God is in it. Don't think it happened by chance. No, God deals with us.

And you know the reason? The reason is to make us, as the hymn writer says, sick of self and fond of him. It makes us fed up with ourselves. Fed up with perhaps the wrong thoughts, the wrong words, the wrong actions. And then to realize that we have a great and glorious savior who came into this sinful world for the very great reason to redeem our souls.

Well, Job says then, oh that I knew where I might find him. I don't know where your position is tonight, but in a spiritual sense, you may have been praying to God that he will reveal himself, show himself to you as your savior, as your redeemer, as that one who is caring for you. And you may feel you don't seem to be able to make any headway as though this is a brick wall in front of you well just let's realize what Job said he was in that condition he said oh that I knew where I might find him that I might come even to his seat he might come before God in living faith so we should be encouraged tonight perhaps if you find it's Very difficult. You don't seem to make any headway. Just like Job.

And he comes and tells us what he would do. He said, I would order my cause before him and fill my mouth with arguments. You see, he's thinking of his own ability. And of course, none of us have any ability that can really come to God. And so he tells us here, 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. Well, that's good. If we have a desire to hear God's words and to understand them. Now, let's be clear. Sometimes God's words to you and me are not what we expected. And they don't perhaps go along the way that we wanted. Nonetheless, God knows what's good for you and what's good for me. And we must just remember that we're on a journey. A journey through this earth. And may it truly be a journey that ends up in glory with the Saviour. So, He tells us this.

I would know the words which He would answer me and understand what He would say unto me. Would he plead against me with his great power? It was a question Joe needed to hear and needed to have an answer. Would he plead against me? Sometimes perhaps we may feel that God is pleading against us. And as we dig into our hearts, we're not surprised. Because we find that there's things there which perhaps shouldn't be there. And so we find here that he says, will you plead against me with this great power? What's the answer? No, says Job, no. But he would put strength in me, strength to pray on, strength to continue. We should be aware that our journey through life is not an easy one.

And you know, God has given us this case of Job. Now I don't know how many of you young people have read through the book of Job. Perhaps some of you haven't read it at all. Well, it's just worthwhile reading the book of Job because you'll find there that Job was a wonderfully blessed man, he had a big family, he had a profitable business, he had plenty of money, and God was with him. And then he lost it all. Lost his family, lost his goods, lost his house, and there he was, pretty destitute. It's an example for you and me. to realize and to thank God for those things that we do have and possess. And I like to think, and I hope you would also like to think that everything, everything that you and I possess, God has given us.

It's good to think like that, isn't it? You ponder that. Think of that. The things you've got. The things you've got. Perhaps your prize. Perhaps you think, well I've worked hard for that and I've managed to achieve what I wanted and now I own this and I own that. Well just remember, God has given you the ability to gain things, to get things. It's all of his favour. It's all of His grace. So it's good to put things in a right perspective and realize, therefore, that everything, everything that you and I haven't possessed, God has given to us.

And so Job comes on and tells us, Will he plead against me with his great power? No, but he would put strength in me, strength to do his will, strength to follow his example. There the righteous might dispute with him. So should I be delivered forever from my judge.

And then he says, behold, I go forward, but he is not there. And backward, but I cannot perceive him. It may be that you're looking to find God, looking to find mercy, looking to find forgiveness. And you pray, and it's as though you go forward, you don't find him. And you go backward, and you can't find him.

Well, just remember here, we have the experience, the testimony of a man of God. So if you perhaps feel that you're like that, don't give up, but press on, realizing that we come to a prayer hearing and a prayer answering God. Because if you do read through the book of Job and you come to the end, the last chapter or so, you'll find that Job was greatly blessed at the end of his life, more than at the beginning. What does that prove? It proves God is faithful.

So he says, behold, I go forward, but he's 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, and I cannot see him. So that's a pretty tough position, isn't it? To be in. There he is, seeking God, praying to God, and doesn't seem to make any headway.

Well, then we come to the verse which we read for a text. And this is a great comfort. It should be a great comfort to you and me tonight. And this is what Job tells us. There are many buts in the word of God, and we're thankful for it, and it's good to note it and remember it.

But he knoweth the way that I take, when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. God knows our life. He knows the details of our life. He knew the details of Job's life. But Job had to learn things. And you and I will have to learn things. Yes, that's why Job was led in this way.

God showed him his condition and what he was. And if you read through this book, you'll find that he had three friends and then another man came and tried to put him right. and tried to tell him where he was wrong. But there came a time when they failed. But then God came and God spoke to him.

And what a difference in chapter 38 we read, then the Lord answered Job, out of the whirlwind and said, and you can read from the beginning of chapter 38, what God said to him in chapter 38 and chapter 39 and chapter 40, where he comes and says, moreover, the Lord answered Job and said, surely that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him, he that reproves God, let him answer it. And then what was the response from Job? Job answered the Lord, and said, Behold, I am vile. What shall I answer thee? I will lay my hand upon my mouth. Once have I spoken, but I will not answer ye twice, but I will proceed no further.

What had happened? the Word of God entered into Job's heart and he realised what he was really, before a holy God. It is the work of the Spirit of God. And my friends, especially my young people, we need the evidence that God is dealing with us. And God is speaking to us. And the effect it had upon Job may have the same effect upon us.

Because then the Lord continued, then answered the Lord unto Job, out of the whirlwind and again you can follow that as the Lord speaks to him in the rest of that chapter 40 and then chapter 41 and then we come down to chapter 42 the last chapter and we get the response of Job to God then Job answered the Lord and said I know that thou canst do Everything. Well that's a good statement isn't it? And it's good if you and I come to that place to realise and recognise and acknowledge although things don't seem to be going the way we wanted them to or expected yet to know that power belongeth unto God I know that thou canst do everything and that no thought can be withholden from thee. Comes back to what I said at the beginning God knows our every thought, every thought It's a very solemn consideration that you can't think things which are not good and think that God doesn't know.

He knows all about them. And so Job goes on. 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. Sometimes we do go down that road. Sometimes, as it were, in our minds we argue with God and wish things would be a bit different and a bit easier and a bit perhaps more prosperous and our prayers may be answered.

God knows, God has a perfect time. And he goes and says, here I beseech thee and I will speak. 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. Wherefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes.

Well, what do we see there? We see there very clearly the gracious and glorious and wonderful work of God, bringing Job right down. There he was, at one stage, arguing how good he'd been and everything else. But now you see, he's the complete opposite. He falls down before God and acknowledges what he really is like and says, I abhor myself. That's not easy to say, is it? I bore myself and repent in dust and ashes. That means he turned around and went in the opposite direction. Well, what is it?

It's the work of the Spirit of God. And my friends, God is the same today. That God who dealt with Job so wonderfully. His three friends and Eli who tried, they failed. God spoke, God spoke. Job couldn't argue against God. He knew what God had said was true. And therefore he humbled himself under it.

And it's good if you and I do that. So coming back to this verse, this 10th verse in this 23rd chapter, as Job says, but he knoweth the way that I take. And he does in your life and my life. He knows every single detail. of our path. Nothing is hidden. And it's good, isn't it, to realise that. And we should be very thankful that God knows all about us. And God knows what He will do.

And as I often remind you, and it's good to remember, the life of the people of God on this earth is for one purpose, and that is to bring honour and glory to God. And that's what happened, didn't it, with Job. There he was, right at the end. How he brought honour and glory to God. He justified God. He told God how bad he was. And God was justified.

Well, says Job in this verse, but he knoweth the way that I take. And when he hath tried me, when he hath tried me, that means that we will be tried, we will be tested in our religion, in our life, in our motives. God does test them. He does try us. And we shouldn't think that somehow we're going to escape a position like that. No, God comes. And he tests us. And he questions us. And he directs us.

Perhaps the scriptures to test the reality of our religion. To test the truth of our desires whether we are being honest with people whether we're being honest with ourselves sometimes we can be very dishonest with ourselves because we don't really want to know the truth we don't really want to have to criticize ourselves and therefore we don't want to be told the truth but believe you me you won't escape God will try you until you bow down and fall down before God as a guilty, guilty sinner, unworthy of any notice and yet realize how good and kind the Lord is when he has tried me. God's people have been tried down through the ages and sometimes they've passed great tests That's why God gave all those worthy, as we can read over the 11th of Hebrews, faith to test the reality of their religion. We don't want to end up at the gates of heaven with a false religion. We want to end there with a good certificate, a good document that gives us entrance into heaven.

One that's been tested, one that's been tried. Not one that is forced, not one of our own making. Many people think that they can justify entrance into heaven themselves. No one can. But what a blessing to know that we are not justified by ourselves, but we're justified through what the Lord Jesus Christ has done.

When the Holy Spirit shows us our need and directs us to the Lord Jesus Christ, and we see what He's done, what a sacrifice He made, and then we look at ourselves and realise we don't make very much sacrifices, And yet the Lord Jesus Christ, he gave up everything, didn't he? He left heaven itself, came into this sinful world and lived in this sinful world for 33 years and bore all the opposition that Satan could throw at him from himself and also through people that were raised up to speak against him. And of course, he had nowhere to lay his head. He used to, at nighttime, went to the mountains It would appear he only had the clothes that he wore, didn't have a great mansion or great assets or many suits of clothes or lots of dresses, didn't have anything.

And yet you see, he sets before us a wonderful and glorious example. And the example is to show us how you and I should live on this earth, what we should do. and to realise that when the Holy Spirit tests our religion and tries us, it's for our eternal good.

We don't want to end up, as I said, at the gates of heaven with a false document. We might say a forged document, because that's what the devil tries to do, give us a forged document. which gains us entrance into heaven. We want a God-given document signed and sealed with the blood of the Saviour.

Oh, my friends, we have a great and glorious God. A God who is full of compassion. And to think that this God knows the way that we take. And there is this wonderful promise, you see, when he hath tried us. It's a temporary situation. Something that you and I will pass through on this earth. A time of testing the reality of our religion. The test determines whether our religion is God given or whether it's something that you and I have produced ourself.

What a blessing it is that God tests that. so that we're able to come to a conclusion and know that all that we have received, God has given us, as the apostle says, by grace you are saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Surely, there's reason to glorify our God. for his mercy and his love toward us.

And so we can understand, I hope, a little, when he has tried us, like he tried Job. I sometimes think, you see, God has given us what we might term extreme cases in the Word of God. So that you and I, in our little life, can't say, well, no one's been tried or tempted as much as I have. You only have to look in the Word of God, and you'll find cases, and especially one like Job, and realize, well, the Lord's been very gracious to us. He hasn't dealt with us as our sins deserve. And so he tells us, when he hath tried us, what's the result?

He says, I shall come forth as gold. Yes, what does that mean? Gold has been purified. Gold has been purified. And what's happened is metal has been put in a furnace and heated to a great temperature so that all the impurities in that metal are burnt off. And all that's left is pure gold. It's a very simple illustration, isn't it?

But it's really true in our lives because God takes us and puts us in the furnace. As we're tried and tested it's in a furnace and sometimes the furnace is very hot. I like to sometimes think of that wonderful example in the book of Daniel. of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, you may remember.

They were three servants of God who were high up in the palace and the king passed a law which determined that they should all bow down and worship him when there was a sign given. And they refused. They refused. And they were summoned before the king. The king said, is it true that you haven't bowed down? And they said, we're not careful. How do we answer? They didn't try and be clever. They weren't careful. They told it straight, that whatever the king had ordered them to do, they would not bow down to that idol. And yet they knew. what the result was.

They knew that the result was that they would be cast into the burning, fiery furnace. And as the king said, who then would deliver you from that situation? Sometimes we may find ourselves in a furnace, perhaps not a physical one, maybe a mental one. It may be very difficult. And yet you see they didn't turn back and therefore they stood firm to keep God's word and not bow down to an idol. The result was they were cast into the burning fiery furnace.

Sometimes you and I might foolishly think that we're going to be exempt from difficulties like that. We won't have to really suffer. As long as we speak out and are faithful, we won't have to suffer. Well, don't think that will occur, because Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, they were cast into the burning fiery furnace.

And what was so wonderful and so amazing was, the king suddenly stood up and said, hey, I see four men walking. And the fourth is like unto the Son of God. Well, what a wonderful intervention that was. How God honored the faith that he'd given them to stand firm and not bow down.

It was easy, wasn't it? All they had to do was to bow down to the idol. But you see, what did they possess? They possessed the fear of the Lord. And the fear of the Lord kept them from sinning in that way and obeying a sinful man. No, they desired to keep God's Word and to follow His glorious example.

And so, as we know, they were brought out of the burning fiery furnace. And the men who had actually thrown them in, because the fire was so hot, it consumed them. And these three men were freed and had a good effect upon the king at that time. So we can see how God is faithful. They didn't escape. They did have to go into the furnace. God did test their religion.

And my friends still today we in our country the moment have a relatively easy time but there are many nations in the world where there is still so much persecution and people are still imprisoned and still lose their life because they've been faithful unto God. We don't know what the future holds, but we have some wonderful examples to help us and to strengthen us if we have to face great trials and great times of temptation. But remember, and this is the whole reason What I've just gone through that little account is this. As Job says, when he has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

He didn't lose anything. No, they were purified and they were blessed. And my friends, the true church of God comes forth as gold. Trials don't damage the gold, the pure religion. All they do is to take away the dross. By that I mean all that which is of the flesh, all that which is perhaps of the world. God brings that about so that we're tried and tested and all that rubbish is burnt up and we come forth as gold. Come forth as gold. That means we're ready and prepared for that eternal inheritance in glory. What a blessing that is to look forward then to that time and to realize as perhaps we're passing through trials and don't think that somehow there's a special passage for you. God doesn't say that at all.

All of God's people are tested. He tells us When he finished the sermon to his disciples in the upper room, he told them very clearly, it is through much tribulation that we shall enter the kingdom. And again, foolishly, we think that applies to everybody else, apart from ourselves. Well, we know that all those disciples who that was spoken to were martyred, were suffered, They died a martyr's death.

Yes, but God was with them. And that's the great and wonderful blessing, isn't it? But he knoweth the way that I take. And that is really the strengthening word that we have today. God knows. He knows the way that we take. Fancy, no one else knows. But God knows, and He's ordained that way. As I said at the beginning this evening, He knows everything about your life and my life. The very smallest detail from the time of conception to the time when we breathe our last breath.

There's nothing occurs in your life or my life which Almighty God does not know about. and did not know about right back in eternity before the world was created he knew everyone that would be born he knew every detail of their life isn't that a great God that we have surely it's good to realize that we have such a God such a wonderful God and to think that that God was so willing God the Father to send his only begotten Son into this sinful world, that whosoever, it's a lovely word, isn't it?

Whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life. Oh, may you and I be blessed with that gift to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Because the word of God tells us, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. And we've spoken to the Philippian jailer, It was true of him, it's true of every true believer. I know that you and I may possess that faith to believe. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Believe that he came into this world to save sinners. To believe he came into this world to save you and to save me. To pay that enormous price of his death in order to vanquish all our sins, which are then washed away in the precious blood of the Saviour. Oh, it's good, you know, to think on the great subject of redemption, to think that you and I, as unworthy sinners, are redeemed with that precious blood of Christ. We never deserved it, but an eternity passed, It was determined that we should receive it.

What a mercy then to be able to come and praise God. Indeed, from whom all blessings flow. The last but one verse in this 23rd chapter tells us, for God maketh my heart soft. It's good, isn't it, when your heart and my heart is made soft, and by that I mean this, we are made willing in a day of God's power to receive his word and to do his will. And what do we come then? We come as sinners saved, saved by the grace of God, saved through his amazing love and mercy.

And what a good thing it is if you and I can meditate upon these great truths and therefore go on our way rejoicing indeed to believe that God ordained that this book of Job should be written so that you and I can trace out our little lives and find that in some perhaps small way we have a companion in Job who ended up well. And may you and I end up well and find ourselves at last in glory with the Saviour and with the whole Church of God throughout eternity. Amen.