He causeth it to come (Quality good)

[0:00] In dependence upon thee, Lord, for all needed help, I venture to draw your prayerful attention to Job chapter 37, verses 13 and 14.

[0:26] Job chapter 37, verses 13 and 14. He causeth it to come, whether for correction, or for his land, or for mercy.

[0:47] Hearken unto this, O Job, stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God.

[1:03] A good man has left on record that creation is a good school for spiritual instruction.

[1:21] It is to be observed that there are five chapters here in Job entirely on the wonders of creation, full of literal instruction, full of spiritual instruction.

[1:45] Further, our dear Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, that went here on earth, he spake of the lilies, he spake of the sparrows, he spake of the birds that the air hath nests, spake of foxes, spake of the wheat and tares, and those things well known in creation, full of spiritual instruction.

[2:19] And reading afresh this part of God's word, my spirit was humbled before God as one attempted to consider the greatness of God.

[2:40] God is great. Who teacheth like him? This great God manifest in the creation, in his power seen, and as we think of the great elements such as the storms, the thunder, the lightning, the earthquakes, and much more, but also the drop of dew, the small rain, the little things, all under his control.

[3:21] Thou openest thy hand, and satisfies the desire of every living thing, whether it be the mighty elephant, or the wild, or the smallest living creature on this earth, it is fed and cared for.

[3:42] Great is our God. And I just would refer, before I come to the text, to the closing verse of our reading, canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or to loose the bands of Orion.

[4:05] Pleiades appears in the time of spring. And you might be saying, well, what spiritual instruction is there there? Orion sets forth the time of winter, and storm, and cold.

[4:19] But we read of the sweet influences of Pleiades, and what about a child of God? Do we not know something of the sweet influences of heaven?

[4:33] When our winter's been long, when the Lord is pleased to come, when the little, as it were, turning, warmth in our heart, the springing up, like a springtime, as we read, and I turn to it, that I might name it rightly, then the Song of Solomon, as the dear man there speaks of it.

[4:59] He says, My beloved spake and said unto me, Rise up, my love, and fare one, and come away. For lo, the winter is past, and the rain is over, and on the flowers appear on the earth, the time of the singing of birds is come, the voice of a turtle is heard in our land, the fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines, with a tender grape, give a good smell, arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.

[5:30] Oh, when the Lord grant us a touch, when you've seen your garden, I know we haven't had the severe winters of late, but you remember when it had been frozen for day after day, and yet when the wind turns and there's a little warmth, there's a softening, a springing up, refreshing, and the birds start singing.

[5:52] Oh, friend, do you mean to say that's the end of it, as far as the believer's concern? Far from it. When the Lord comes and fetters your heart, it's like springtime in your soul, isn't it?

[6:04] And only God can do it. I can't, if my garden is frozen up, I can't, I can't cause it to thaw. I can't cause the birds to sing.

[6:14] But when God decrees it, it is so. And when God speaks of my poor heart sometimes, and drops a little token of his love into my poor soul, oh, what softening, reviving, refreshing it is, because sometimes it seems to you and seems to me perhaps that it's the bands of Orion, that cold, that hard, that hard heart, oh, will it ever break?

[6:40] Will it ever melt? Will it ever soften? Yes, the time will come. And the Lord Jesus said, ye now therefore have sorrow, but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.

[6:54] But I must come more directly to the text. In this 37th chapter, we have, and I shall not refer to it at length, we have first of all the thunder and the lightning.

[7:06] Oh, how great that is, all the lightning and the thunder as we perhaps should put it in the correct order, and to think of the majesty and the power of God. My mind goes back to that Sunday when I tried to get through to Tunbridge Wells to preach, and there was that cloud burst, or more than that, over Tunbridge, and the storm, darkness, thunder, lightning, roads flooded in a short hour, terrifying.

[7:39] But there, as I sat in my car praying, Lord, what am I to do? Of course, I turned back to come home, but I had such a sacred sense of peace.

[7:52] God is there. God will watch over me. God will take care of me. Now, when I name that, I'm not naming myself personally. I hope it stirs up in your mind, or are you insensible to it?

[8:09] Times when God has appeared for you, heard your prayer. I don't say it was a storm, but a trouble, and you were frightened.

[8:24] And then, a little faith, a little trust, and you felt, yes, God is with me. And again, the snow.

[8:36] We heard about this in Sunday school recently, and I think it's in the sharing words of the most interesting article about the snowflake. It's amazing. The miracle, the wonder of a snowflake.

[8:47] Speaking of creation, I won't, you can read it for yourself. But we come now more immediately to the subject before us, which is the cloud.

[9:00] And we have a reference here to the spreading of the clouds. And we have the cloud that cometh between, the thick cloud, the bright cloud, and various aspects of clouds.

[9:20] The clouds that covereth the light and commanded it not to shine by the cloud that cometh betwixt. Clouds.

[9:32] God controls those. Man can't. Man can't stop it coming. Man can't turn it round.

[9:44] God does it. In the beginning of our text, He, almighty God, causeth it to come. It's at His control.

[9:55] He's ordering the cloud. And I would speak tonight as enabled of the cloud in perhaps three ways as we, and simply, first, as you think of the thunder cloud, think of the clouds of showers, showers of rain, or the cloud that covers the sky and seems that everything, the sun is hidden and all seems to, perhaps, not necessarily rain, but all is covered.

[10:33] all seems so dark and hidden. He caused it to come. Just a thought or two, briefly, seed thoughts tonight.

[10:44] The cloud. What about the rainbow? Don't you love to see it? I do. Because it leads me to God.

[10:55] I can't look at a rainbow and not think about God. And that's what I'm getting at tonight. Surely, my friend, we're not too hard, too indifferent, or blind, that when we see these things that it doesn't lead us to spiritual meditation.

[11:16] Oh, that cloud that is to be seen, and the darker the cloud, the clearer the bow. Although I remember once, not long ago here at the station at East Croydon, seeing the faint rainbow, even without a cloud.

[11:32] It was just discernible. There might have been a little mist in the sky possibly, but nevertheless it was there. And who put it there? God. And God speaks to us and reminds us of his faithfulness, his care, his love, his grace, his mercy.

[11:53] And then again, I think of the pillar of cloud. It was one pillar, and Satan couldn't touch it.

[12:07] Clouds vary in shape. If you watch them closely, you see them either increase or decrease. You know, they're small clouds, especially on a bright day. But this cloud was unmovable.

[12:21] Well, it was unmovable according to God's control, but it wasn't changeable. Man couldn't reach it. And if Israel wanted to know which way to go, they were to look up.

[12:33] And so are you, and so am I. And that pillar of cloud, and fire by night, so give them light by night, and shelter by day, everything was needed.

[12:46] And friend, as you journey on in your life, every decision, every step, do not we pray, Lord, guide me, O thou great Jehovah, pilgrim through this barren land, O that I might be guided by thee.

[13:02] And remember this, and it was very sweet to me some time ago, that that pillar of cloud never moved faster than what the people could move.

[13:14] God knows just how much you can bear, just how far you can journey on, just how heavy the load is, how dark the path may be, however the trial may be, it's all he causeth it to come.

[13:31] We sometimes, and just this thought comes to my mind, we sometimes fear as we enter the cloud. But oh, friends, my dear friends, he causeth it to come.

[13:46] He's working out his divine purpose, but he causeth it to come, whether for correction, or for his land, or for mercy.

[14:02] We have heard in our midst and in connection with the cause, our dear friends at Westry, and among my own relatives and friends and much affliction this year.

[14:20] Now, what profit is that? Now, of course, and it's right, we seek healing, strengthening, mercies according to the will of God.

[14:33] But is that all? Do not we pray that there be a blessing that he causeth it to come for a distinct purpose, not only that healing might be granted in the body, but that there might be a blessing in the soul, that there might be an experience through that sickness and illness that you look back on and say, I know God helped me through.

[15:04] I know God was with me. it's a very sacred affliction when it's sanctified. That's what we want. I don't know how you feel, so far I've been preserved from it, that I dread being brought into an affliction with a completely hard heart.

[15:28] You may say, is that possible? It is. A rebellious spirit. Friend, remember, we have fallen, we've got the seeds of evil in our heart.

[15:42] Oh, how I do pray that we might be kept, ever kept from that. But here it comes for correction, for correction. The cloud that comes for correction, speaking of a need be, and if we are sensitive, spiritually sensitive, to the dealings of God with us, we shall be watching his hand very closely and seeking instruction for our soul.

[16:22] Lord, is it for my sin? Is it that I have erred? Is it that I am drifting away? is it that I am indulging in something that I do not see as sinful?

[16:38] Is it that I need thy chastening hand? Lord, do in thy mercy sanctify the affliction.

[16:51] He causeth it to come weather for correction. And yet it is in his love to his dear children.

[17:02] Of course there are instances in the word of God reading the scripture readings in the cheering words of the plagues of Egypt and the great plague of hail and so forth and the cloud that was solemn judgment and yet not on Israel.

[17:22] only with thine eye shalt thou see the reward unto the wicked. But I say even Israel, when they ask for a king, his wheat harvest, and what could God send?

[17:37] Thunder, a voice for correction. And the days of Ezra, when there was the mixed marriages and confession before God, they stood trembling, in the great rain.

[17:57] Friend, do we need it? Do we say, oh, I don't need that. I don't need that word. That doesn't mean me. Thank God if it doesn't.

[18:11] But look closely. Is there nothing in our lives that needs correction? I feel, Lord, show me.

[18:21] do you tenderly with me. Do forgive me. Do teach me. Do not leave me. He causes it to come.

[18:33] Then, again, as I look at this word, we come to, for his land. The showers. Oh, as you think of the summer, you think of the earth, so dry and hard, and those showers that come, the transformation, the reviving, the refreshing thereof.

[19:00] And there's something very precious here, a way that Lord bids a shower come into our poor hearts. You know, like that line, I often quote it, Lord, I hear of showers of blessing, they are scattering, full and free, showers the thirsty land refreshing, bids of shower descend on may, even may.

[19:24] Oh, friend, how we need, and the sovereignty of God, have not we been traveling sometimes, have we not seen where there's almost a line across the road, dry there and wet there, and sometimes in the preaching, there's one there, perhaps blessed, another untouched, unmoved, sovereignty of God, Lord, let that come even to my poor heart, oh, do refresh me, do revive me, do cause that shower to come, when we read, if I can lay my hand on it in the prophecy of the showers of blessing, I will cause the shower to come down in his season, I'll do it, says God, we're to pray for it, the trouble is, are we going untouched, unmoved, without a shower, we might do, un-exercise, oh, stir us up,

[20:26] Lord, bid the shower to come, and the Lord says, there shall be showers of blessing, I thought there's a wonderful word, if ever you've had a shower, there'll be more showers to come, but oh, like the hymn says, more frequent, let thy visits be on, let them longer last, and so, a shower, all the reviving, all the strengthening, all the refreshing, I remember, and I mustn't digress too far, but a word once was brought very unexpectedly to me, and I had to preach from it more or less without warning, the word that Jacob, no, let me get it right, Isaac spoke concerning Jacob who was deceiving him, Isaac thought it was Esau, and he said, the smell of the field that God has blessed, that was very sweet to my soul, perhaps you've walked through the woods or the garden after a dry smell, and there's some particular refreshing smell of blessing, speaking of God, this great God of ours, and oh, friend, when the Lord comes and blesses us with a shower, oh, there's a sweet smell, isn't there, as it were, of the field that God has blessed, and that word field, of course, doesn't mean just the literal field, but the land, oh, friend, and you see, it's the showers from heaven that does it, and for mercy, and then, when you receive a blessing, doesn't it humble you, doesn't it melt you right down, doesn't it come into your heart, why that it should come to me?

[22:29] and me that I've been so sinful, I've been so, yes, I've tried to pray, but I've been so hard-hearted, I've read the word of God, but I haven't been hungry, I've kept a form up, but I've lacked that spirituality of my mind, but now the Lord is reviving it, and refreshing it, and where the Bible almost comes back as a new book to us, I remember speaking, well, I may as well tell you, it was my own dear sister, as you know, she left chapel for the most part for years, and then would be brought back, restored, and so forth, but she turned to me and she said, the Bible's like a new book, it is when the Lord blesses it, it's living, it's lively, it's life in your soul, and life in the page, as it were, comes together, doesn't it?

[23:23] oh, it's for mercy, like the days of Elijah, we referred to, I think it was here recently, and he prayed again, when the sound of abundance of rain, God's mercy, oh Lord, let that come, and I felt the hymn we've just sung, indulgent God, this great God, this all-glorious God, this holy God, and we cannot say, who can speak of this great God, God is great, and yet, how indulgent God, how kind are all my ways to be, who dark the night in mine was immediately, yet now, subdued by sovereign grace, my spirit, Lord, for thy embrace, those showers of blessing, those times of refreshing, and may I remind you, not only the shower, not only a drop of rain, but let's come right down to the smallest that there is, a drop of dew, and you don't see it come, you don't hear it come, it comes at night, it comes when it's still, it comes when it's silently, it comes penetratingly, it comes refreshingly, it's full of blessing, it's come with beauty, isn't there something, as you look at that blade of grass with a drop of dew, it's like a diamond on it, isn't it?

[24:47] precious, in the sun, the wonder of it, and am I right, if I believe I'm right, just come to my mind, that the foxes, if it's, they go through and open their mouth, why, to drink in the dew for their thirst, that's only just by the way, but still for it, the dew, and so I name that, don't despise the little blessings, oh I know some of you who would never do that, you say, that's all I get, thank God for it, and pray for more, pray for more, he causeth it to come, now I did just refer to three aspects of this cloud, one, it was the thunder, and that reminds us of storm, and I've been amazed sometimes how rapidly it comes, it seems that, yes, there's perhaps a sign of a darker cloud, but it seems,

[25:50] I've seen it when all of us, suddenly almost the whole sky has been covered with cloud, and there's the lightning, and then there's the thunder following, and the storm, now what do I see there?

[26:07] Well, let's go to the hymn, When Trouble, Like a gloomy clown, has gathered thick, and thundered loud, were you alone?

[26:19] Were you frightened? Were you afraid? I mean, even literally you might have done, I knew a most godly woman, but she went absolutely to pieces of a thunderstorm, she terrified of it, you know, it just shows that the most gracious people have particular fears, I suppose we all have, I must leave that to one side, but when trouble like a gloomy cloud has gathered thick and thundered, he, he causes it to come, this great god, he, near my soul, has always stood, his loving kindness, oh how good, now this storm, sometimes comes, you don't expect it, comes from a quarter, you never thought it would come, you're brought into an affliction, you never anticipated, but he causes it to come, your god makes no mistake, all things are ordered well, I don't say that lightly, I don't sing song to a heavy heart, we've spoken of the showers, we speak also then finally, here on that point, of the whole sky, and you know, what a difference there is in your feelings, literally, if you have say three or four days where no sunshine, and the sun breaks through, there seems to be a response, literally,

[27:41] I'm not even saying spiritually, a response in your heart to the warmth of that sun, and the sun shining afresh around us, and how much more when the sun of righteousness arises with healing in his wings, with those beams shining into your poor heart, son of my soul, thou saviour, dear, it is not night, if thou art near, oh precious Jesus, do shine afresh into my poor heart, he causeth it to come, whether for correction, or for his land, or for mercy, and you know, sometimes there may be just a breakthrough for a few moments, and then again, sometimes it's like that when a soul is in darkness, of dark paths, just a breakthrough, and it's gone, just a breakthrough, but you know the time comes, and there are times when suddenly the whole scene is changed, when God comes to you, and visits your soul, and blesses you with the word, may I just speak of a natural thing that my dear wife and I saw, which I've never seen anything quite like it, it was down at South

[28:53] Wales, and there was a sea mist, now normally you see, as I think I'm right in saying, it lifts that way and clears, but this as we just looked, you couldn't see hardly anything, you couldn't just see the sea, as the time was about half way out, you could just see the waves breaking, that's about all, and then it seemed just suddenly right across, it all disappeared, and all the islands, oh there, there, there, beautiful, you couldn't see them, no one would say, those islands are not there, they're hidden, you and I sometimes say, God's forsaken me, God's not with me, God's not there, he is, he is there, you can't see him, but he's there, but oh when the mist lifts, it's wonderful, but we must come just to this last, hearken unto this, oh Joe, oh Lord, do give me ears, give me ears to hear, give me eyes open to behold wondrous things out of thy law, give me a heart to understand, oh, hearken unto this, oh Job, oh Job, oh this word, don't lose this little oh, will you, poor Job, as it were, oh Job, you're so tried, oh Job, all's gone, seemed to go on again, oh Job,

[30:17] God is appearing, going to come, because as soon as Elihu had finished here, it was then the Lord answered, and the Lord took up the same thing, I say that reverently, about the creation, but we mustn't digress, hearken unto this, oh Job, stand still, you know, friends, life is such a pressure, I know you may say, well you're a pastor, but even in my little experience, at times, life seems to be a real pressure, and much tension, and a stress, hardly any time to stop, but oh that we might, when we get stressed, try and pray, Lord help me just to stand still, help me to take a fresh breath, a breath of prayer, a little meditation, help me to think of your, thy help given to me in the past, that there has never failed me, to stand still, and know, and to watch, and see, my God, stand still, and see, the salvation of the

[31:30] Lord, to sit at the feet of Christ, that hear his word, and to learn of him, sit still, stand still, be still, and know that thou art God, and consider the wondrous works of God, we hasten on this last point briefly, we've dealt with creation, imperfectly, but I hope profitably, with a few little thoughts we've uttered tonight, his wondrous works in providence, that also has been linked in our meditation, God's care, provision, and providence, his wondrous works, one of the hymns says, and yet one strange work excels of all, that was the death of Christ on Calvary's cross, and we just turn to that hymn, that I might name it accurately, where it says, that one immensely great, immensely small, and yet one strange work excels of all, is that immensely great, immensely small, because it's God, it might be just a drop of dew, it might be just a crumb from the master's table, but it's immensely because it's from God, and we'll have that effect upon our spirit, won't it?

[32:56] But further still, and this leads us to the cross, this leads us to the dear Saviour, this great work of redemption, this great work of salvation, this way of pardon, this way of peace, consider it, oh my dear friends, go, may our meditation of him be sweet, when under the burden of sin, when tempted by Satan, flee to the cross, turn to the Saviour, look to our dear Jesus, and his wondrous works in salvation, by the blessed spirit, that work of grace wrought in the heart, that new creature, that new creation, that transformed life, yes, still in a body of sin, and oh don't we know it, it's a hard thing for us, that we need to bring to our God, this body of our sin, Lord, control it, subdue it, conquer it, we try to pray, crucify it, Lord, reign in my heart, oh, make it clear,

[34:03] Lord, thy wondrous work, yet now subdued by sovereign grace, my spirit longs for thy embrace, as we go back to the hymn that we've just sung, how precious are thy thoughts, which all my bosom roll, and they swell beyond my thoughts, and captivate my soul, how great their sun, how high they rise, and can there be known beneath the skies, oh, the wondrous works of God, and surely, when a sinner is blessed, isn't it time, for us, let the redeemed of the Lord say so, yes, I'm not referring only to come before the church, certainly that, oh, may the dumb be enabled to sing of the great goodness of God, but also God's children to continue to speak, to speak of the Lord's great goodness and mercy, help given, deliverance granted, the wondrous works of

[35:08] God, well, we must come to a close, hearken unto this, oh, Job, stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God, to look back, and some of us are quite old now, we look back on the pattern of life, we see the hand of God, with mercy and with judgment, by web of time he wove, and in the dews of sorrow, and lusted with his love, oh, bless the hand that guided, oh, bless the heart that planned, when thrown in highest glory, in Emmanuel's land.

[35:54] I believe I've read somewhere, a special carpet making, I believe it was, and there was a gallery, the overseer would be there, and the man would be on their hands and knees, and he would say to this one, that colour to go there, that to go there, that to go there, they could see no beauty, see no purpose of it whatsoever, when that works done come up the gallery, they could see the beauty of it.

[36:29] Just a simple little illustration, my dear mother was very fond of needle work, black, I may have said it before, she was doing a beautiful country house and garden and gate and path, different colours, flowers and so forth, and she turned to me and said, what colour should I do the gate?

[36:48] I said, well how about black? Well you know, the black strand, mother and I had a very sweet time together, the black strand in life's path, all blending together, the wondrous works of God, oh may we love him more, serve him better, amen.

[37:16] Amen.