Sun and clouds in the life of God's people (Quality: Poor)

[0:00] The Lord who speaks from the book of Job chapter 37 verse 21. Chapter 37 in the book of Job, 21st verse.

[0:16] And now men see not the bright light which is in the clouds, as the wind parteth and splendid. And now men see not the bright light which is in the clouds, but the wind parteth and splendid.

[0:38] A matter worthy of our consideration, our God maintained a light of faith in his church and among his people in the days when there was no law before Moses and before there was anything written whatsoever regarding the majesty, brightness of God.

[1:11] And in this consideration, the book of Job will be one of our greatest help, in fact our only help. You know, and hear these men talking of one to another of those things which were common to the least and in some cases very much believed by them all.

[1:43] here we see that their main cause of consideration and study and thought was creation.

[1:54] In God's great hands, they saw it all round and observed it, what is dealing with four seasons of the year.

[2:05] There in this story in mind will always bring a separate line of thought to our consideration of the value of the book of Job.

[2:21] Not only the Lord's call of faith to him, but also his knowledge of God and that of others, such as the writer of this part of the book, Leviathan.

[2:39] And when we look at it, it is full of God's mighty work. And then when God comes in the end and answers Job in the next chapter, 38, God deals with them on exactly the same line.

[3:01] And there are a most serious, most humbling questions that God put to Job. Where was thou?

[3:13] Where was thou? When I laid the foundations of the earth. So that we see a consistency all the way through, both from the creature and the creator.

[3:32] And the same thing is obtained today. Creation has supported one dish. Feed time and harvest, summer and winter, day and night, not say good.

[3:48] But the opportunity is ours. And it is a recommendation of Solomon. Remember thou thy creator, the days of thy youth.

[4:03] Well known, but who and where are the children that remember their creator, the days of their youth.

[4:14] Are not their young minds taken up with so many other things? It is true they may indulge in one particular branch of this book.

[4:24] But as for their creator, that's all they had, all we had. But there he is, to be seen.

[4:37] Every blade of grass and every leaf, wherever we look. Mighty power of God. Not suspended for a season. In the colder winter.

[4:51] But rather manifested there as sealing up the hand of every man. All men may know his work.

[5:03] And then, when we consider what we have now. The book of Moses. Genesis. The first chapter of Genesis. In the beginning of God.

[5:15] We must remember that Job had not this. When we consider the further writings of Moses.

[5:28] Job had none of them. He makes a valid reference to the flood here. In the book of Job. So that.

[5:41] God is able to keep his people alive. Without his work. I will say carefully and reverently. How much more so with his work.

[5:54] What are you and I to be thankful for? In the word of God. So much of it is committed to memory.

[6:06] So much of it revolves in our minds daily. And there is no question. As to who makes the sun shine. Or gives us our daily bread.

[6:18] When you say your grace. It is not to thank father for getting it. And earning the money to buy it. But to thank God for giving him the ability to do so.

[6:34] When we turn from the old to the new testament. How much more is there. And we turn from the old to the new testament.

[6:47] the Revelation which steps beyond the borders of time into eternity. Beyond earth into heaven.

[7:01] We are no more concerned with earthly things as we have the vision of John, but those earthly things which we are used to are paralleled off into spiritual and eternal things. There's a river we are told in heaven. Pure river, clear as crystal, proceeding from beneath the throne of God and the Lamb. The vision speaks of earthly things, earthly men, good and bad.

[7:40] We are encouraged to consider the wondrous works of God in the kingdom of His grace which are so like the work of His creation. And although it would not be true to say that grace is the grace and nature are the same in every instance, they are very, very similar. And in connection with the clouds and the light of this test, very similar indeed. God said, let there be light.

[8:31] that mighty work of God which was so manifest and yet so little understood that scientists through the ages have taken years to discover the speed of light. And yet there it is. The springing of the day. The day's spring.

[8:59] the spring. Sweet work. And then the fact that behind all this there is another light, the sun. Five pepper. Two distinct creative acts. The light. The light. And then the other mighty vapors or the clouds which come between. So that the creature, Job or Elihu says, sees not the bright light which is in the clouds but the wind passes and cleanses.

[9:43] Then there is that mighty, controlling, the domineering, the wind. And then the wind passes, cleanses or clearest. And then when that is so then the light or the sun, the bright light can be seen.

[10:10] Now embrace. Now embrace. There is a glory in all this in which dear Job was walking. I say glory because really it was glory. There was a dark path for him. There was a cloud between him and God. God suffered a picture to come to his young in our youth who spoke so soberly, wonderfully to him.

[10:38] And then the dark gallows. And after all that's when we're impressionable, when we're in trouble. That is the time when we need a wise counselor.

[10:56] There are a light. Now there are a few words naturally speaking to equal those of Elihu. Unassuming, gracious man. Mistaken in some things to know.

[11:13] one who spoke so well of God God says he spoke in the thick of his right concerning him so here in this text we have a statement of tax which has stood in the history of the church of God all these years and has life goes to be walked in to be untrue that is you have to walk in darkness or when the cloud between you and your God this assumes in the first place that you know what light is spiritual light I mean if God has opened your eyes and mine to the light of the gospel there is one thing that we shall know at the beginning and that is ourselves to know that we have a something that we knew not of before and that is a carnal heart we should know that we are earthy we should know that we have no true thoughts of God as regards his love and his mercy in Christ Jesus we shall know that we have no native ability to seek him but we shall have light and that light will be a source of encouragement and of course if any man be in Christ Jesus then you'll preach all things have passed away behold all things have become new it was so with Israel when they came out of Egypt they had a remarkable experience in front of them painful to suddenly leave their fixed habitations and be called to start a journey in the wilderness but not only were they taken through the Red Sea but they were covered and guarded by a cloud the remarkable thing about that cloud in the first instance of their experience of it was that God used it to come right down to earth clouds normally don't do this and they do of course then they cannot see enshrouded in a fog is one of the worst experiences isn't it and most alarming loss loss

[14:23] I had a reading the other day an old man at West Brinkley came out of a service or a building and he walked in dense spots he knew he had got to turn to the left and he did he walked straight into a priest standing on the floor he said to him I laughed can you tell me where I am he said yes I tell you where you are now I directed in the way and called after him have you ever realised that you are lost to all eternity that was the beginning of the work of grace in that man oh it's a awful feeling to be lost in a fog lost in a fog cloud comes down and we're absolutely helpless so that with this the Lord brought the cloud down between Egyptians and Israelites and there was darkness to the Egyptians but night to the Israelites most remarkable miracle so that the one came not near the other all night that would have been just the time for Israel's destruction but no and the comfort that it must have been that light to the Israelites in so much danger on all sides that cloud gave them light where did it come from so why was it dark the other side of it and you have the cloud which came down from Mount Sinai where God veiled his glory in the cloud so that Moses heard his voice but saw him not

[16:28] God put him in the cleft of the rock you know and passed by this cloud which Israel were aware of covered Mount Sinai but it didn't come down to them it came no lower than the top of the mountain and there was terrible scenes there that Moses himself said I do exceedingly fear of the way here are two examples not to look for anymore of the mighty work that God puts the clouds of heaven to according to his word the most beautiful cloud thinner is that one in which God blots out your transgressions that's the one I want to trust

[17:29] I've got I'm blotted out thy transgressions as a thick cloud and will remember them no more breath get that in your heart and you've got heaven in your heart in sight for all eternity now that this light which is given to a convicted sinner shows him in spell but there is a remarkable spreading of light we read of it here light is spread silently and effectively I'd mentioned a day's spring and how light so quietly spreads we say it's getting lighter just the same way we say it's getting darker light now this light once born again this light spreads and what spreads the light by the light of this good what spreads it not of course with the speed of light at its present here we go when God begins with us surely this is where you went hasn't it you dare to go anywhere else it is this remarkable light that God has bowed in the covers of this book which reveals himself past present and to come as showed us his characters his purposes past in divine electing love and mercy chosen you in

[19:41] Christ before the foundation of the world what marvellous light this is divine foreknowledge is spoken of in this book why it's incredible isn't it to human nature as he said of nature itself his ways are past finding out of course they are spring of light isn't discovered by man nor do we believe it ever will be as with regard as to the light that is in the word of God what a blessed light it is and then his effectual calling then he also calls his purpose in separating them under himself and then justification of them and then their glorification this is night call it truth if you want but it's night and when one's eyes are open to see this as

[21:10] Jesus said he that doeth truth come to the night that his deeds may be made manifest their ruling God this is the act those who are called by grace come to the night now the night discovered revealed every hidden corner and what is in it so that the proof of your new birth lies in your approaching the night and the way that God has given it to you in his revelation the word if you're a stranger to your Bible you're a stranger to God yes so because here what I see not teach thou made this walking therefore in night is also a discovery of the inaccessibility of the sun we should always have sunshine if we could choose shouldn't we look at the early months or weeks rather of this month the dull oppressive days that we had when the very weight of the clouds and the lack of the sun was oppressive and not confined to our country only and how it influenced our thoughts and actions and slowed us down man as man children as children were conscious that the sun wasn't shining and yet if you said to them the sun isn't shining they more than likely would have said to you oh where it is sunshine why is it like it is then and if we'd said to them or they would have said to us rather it's the other side of the cloud if you went up in an aeroplane you'd see it how cruel they didn't do that in the time of

[23:51] Job so that there is a knowledge also when God begins his gracious work of a night behind the cloud called the sun of righteousness but if you can see it it's not a matter that this separate work of grace is creating and has created a desire in your heart to to know it created such in the heart of balls that I may know it as I know it in the time of Jesus who said so we would see Jesus whether that was mere curiosity or greater desire no one knows it doesn't do to place too much confidence on that the fact is there they were making this question known to

[24:59] Andrew so that the light is redeeming and the next thing is the clouds would come between now these clouds are felt I've walked under clouds last two or three days as regards my own personal past that's why I came by this text couldn't get near the Lord of God only in reading and in worship I did this and this darkness I could feel and I was in a frame about it last night even if God had shut out and you may not understand but to be without text is no small thing so that in this you may well be under a cloud this morning I shouldn't be surprised if you're not the barrier between you and

[26:06] God you can't find it now how wonderfully the 23rd chapter Job was found in this position oh that I knew where I might find him in the 23rd of Job that I might come even to his seat read I would order my calls before him fill my mouth without him I know the words he would answer me and understand what he would say unto me will he plead against me with his great power no but he would book straight it where did his knowledge come from didn't have the 23rd of Job even to read did he this is the single offering to his own heart but what to ask is so miraculous is that it should have been recorded and preserved and so fitting and have been of such great use in the history of the church have you never been in the 23rd of

[27:22] Job I go forward but he is not there backward but I cannot perceive him on the left hand where he does work but I cannot behold him he hideth himself on the right hand that I cannot see him but he knoweth the way that I take when he has tried me I shall come forth and go is this any part of our experience that you sought the Lord and not found him like in the song of Solomon you have the church saying the right thing I sought him but I found it not now if you have such experience as this this will be breathed to your soul water otherwise you'll retain your cold distant condition your sleepiness over that fire in your heart make you go backwards and forward looking to your heart so that in this we have a beautiful situation so often reenacted in the life of the

[28:54] Lord's people happy are they who know what it is to be found walking as Isaiah speaks in darkness and having no light let him trust in the Lord his God this is therefore the pathway that we were speaking on Wednesday at prayer this is the pathway of tribulation power darkness looking for the Lord like to know where he is now what happens to this world then how can you get at it really in what state of mind search it you see who wants a student when it comes to exams time they are very careful they search they pick out they are concerned at the issue of their studies and they start the term somewhat careless and come to the time of proving what they know they begin to search somewhere they believe them they don't say at the start he is somewhat careless but

[30:21] I do say this he searches for something he knows what he's looking for or she does just as much as root knew what it looked like as it lay on the ground when she was gleaning she didn't pick up tears she picked up the barley and the wheat and knew the one from the other that both were good in this case but not a tear so is the seeking soul then what life the Bunyan starts his progress doesn't he showing Christians the Bible in his hand leaving the city of destruction and crying life life eternal life and leaving his wife and children behind yes that's it if you come to that why you see you readily understand the value of this you know what you're looking for and you'll know that there's light in to you the scriptures are vastly different from what they used to be before

[31:35] God began with you you just said yes well I've got a Bible if anyone said to you do you know who Daniel was you said of course I did if they said to you do you know who Paul was yes of course I do but now Daniel and Paul and all the other very different characters from what they were then they were historical characters then now they're gracious and you feel you can go outside with them and they're men that you can understand that you can see the predicament they were in it's it is this that makes life in the searching there is a search for one great thing and that is forgiveness this light in the scripture is manifested by not only the reading but the preaching of it show you to all the world and preach preach the gospel this is the great means of spreading the gospel the preaching of it and whilst as Jesus said in the parable men slept an enemy came and showed death same thing there is no need to enter into that side of it rather to keep close to this a light that is the other side of the cloud and the painful cloud in between but there is reference here to the balancing of the cloud and the spreading the scattering of his bright cloud in verse 10 and verse 11 he scattered this bright cloud how there are times when there is a break in the cloud you can see the sun very often through the morning mist or evening or evening dust you can really look the sun but not the long so with this searching there is a breaking of the cloud and there is the prospect as well as the evidence that now men see not the bright light so that the cloud we have spoken to so far is that of your carnal nature unbelief that incredible evil spirit dwells in us all it is cloud

[34:38] God begins to handle it and there is a cloud that very much in evidence in us of unbelief Jesus doubted it so often knowing it to be there and he said believe us thou that I am able to do this you come to me with a request he said in effect to these different characters do you believe that I am able to do it and then what did he do he poised it upon this according to your faith be it unto you now that lay the whole thing on a fair balance it put the whole thing in its proper perspective and light according to your faith so if there isn't any faith it won't be unto you but according to your faith now what light is given in the heart the light of faith to believe in these things from the heart to the heart man believeth unto righteousness what light is in the gift of faith there again its passage is silent and quiet thoroughly effective and efficient

[36:15] God didn't pay but then so much hangs upon it and according to your faith so be it unto you any time Jesus spoke that as you know there was the man that came with his if if thou canst do anything have mercy upon us heal my son Jesus said to him if thou canst believe and that put the poor man in such a quandary didn't it that he burst out into tears Lord 10 everything depended upon this approach to Christ and that Christ should speak to him that if thou canst believe he cried with tears

[37:23] Lord I believe I wasn't lying confident was what else did he add help thou mine unbelief here was the beauty of it the admission he realized there's so much left but Lord I believe do you think your belief is all going to be summed up in one word without you realizing that you've got such a lot left that's a carmel nature oh when the believer done the cloud realizes so much unbelief cannot get to grips with his God cloud is in between now this cloud is like the cloud above him it's in the

[38:24] Lord's control it is not something that is going to obliterate him in carmel there is mercy in it why it contains again as this chapter says the rain and the dew godly cowper immortalized that cloud and there are some of you here that know what that cloud is don't you the cloud is so much great oh what clouds they are aren't they and yet the light still reveals the truth that God is to be found call upon me in the day of trouble when the cloud's over you and darkness is about you and you cannot see call upon me in trouble they visited the whole world of

[39:39] God abounds with it no wonder it's such a storehouse of comfort and instruction it helps us along it's crutches we can walk by faith in other ways call upon me in the day of trouble and a score of other such beautiful scriptures which are put into operation some of you well know you pray much more earnestly in trouble than you do otherwise don't you at least let me put it like this if I do and have had to do afflictions trials squeeze prayer out of our hearts some of you this morning have had your prayers answered you may not be nearly so lively a state as you were six months ago not nearly why because things are going easier now the clouds have a value that we cannot define but now men see not the bright light how often that is so but then they are wisely put there we're allowed to face the strangeness of our behavior we could see it written out in the psalm nevertheless they forgot it they they they they fell down there was none in the house look at that psalm then and not till then they cried unto the

[41:41] Lord in their trouble and he delivered them out of their distress this cloud therefore is between you and the sun you know it but the light God has given you through his sovereign mercy and grace will never depart that light will be something that you will come to Jesus said you will come to the light constantly be drawn to it like the plant light does it how it attracts the sinner and it comes to the light and the only true light that it has is the work of God and that is why such a character makes such a good era really alive intense it's on fire within is hungry thirsty what a welcome scene it is isn't it when the children file in dinner time or the other time don't pick and choose about their food don't say

[43:03] I don't want this coming they eat it they're hungry they're thirsty they're thirsty oh with a soul walking under a cloud they surf come to the light now men see not the bright light they couldn't say they've got their hands on things cannot pick out the way that they're taking any more than Job could they're still seeking seek that light and beyond it the cloud and then the light behind it but there is great promise in this text and the Lord help us to look again at it this evening Lord amen