The Power of God - I will work. (Quality: very good)

[0:00] As the Lord may be pleased to help me again, I would ask your attention to Isaiah chapter 43 and verse 13.

[0:30] Isaiah chapter 43 and verse 13. Yea, before the day was, I am he, and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.

[0:45] I will work, and who shall let it? Isaiah 43 verse 13. Yea, before the day was, I am he, and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.

[1:03] I will work, and who shall let it? For the benefit of those that were not here this morning, we tried to look at this word a little this morning, and I hope the Lord will enable us to take up the threads again and look a little more into it.

[1:29] It is a wonderful word. It sets forth the power of God. The Lord says, yea, before the day was, I am he.

[1:43] And we noticed this morning that the Lord chose a people in eternity.

[1:55] He chose them before ever they were born. But they will come. The Lord will bring them. He'll bring them as they are born into this earth.

[2:10] And when the time comes, according to the will of God, he'll call them by grace. He'll begin the work of grace.

[2:20] And it won't be whether they'll have it or whether they won't. The Lord says, I will work, and who shall let it? And that is our mercy, friends.

[2:33] Where would we be if we could have our own way? If we could stop God? You know, we would. We would if we could, in many things.

[2:46] Jonah would have not went, he would not have went to Nineveh and preached the word. But he had to. But he had to suffer many things before he was made willing.

[3:02] But you see, the Lord says, I will work, and who shall let it? And there's no power, no power, that shall be able to resist the power of God.

[3:17] When God's time comes, it will come to pass. Blessed be his holy name. Whatever it is. Whatever it is.

[3:27] Whether it's our call by grace. Whether it is when the Lord will bless us in our souls and assure us that he has died for us.

[3:42] And that he has pardoned our sins. Whether it be in the day when we shall be called into eternity. The Lord will do it.

[3:56] Yes, he'll do it. We read that wonderful chapter. The Acts chapter 9. Saul's call by grace.

[4:10] What a call. What an effectual call. A powerful man. A clever man.

[4:20] But friends, when the day came, he could not resist. He could not stand against God.

[4:32] How quickly he fell before his God. The God of heaven. He didn't know who God was. Jesus had to tell him.

[4:44] I'm Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. He couldn't deny it. It was the truth. He fell under it.

[4:56] Immediately, he was brought to repentance. Immediately, he was made willing to follow the Lord. To walk in his ways. Oh, what a wonderful account that was.

[5:10] How the Lord dealt with him. We don't know what he suffered in those three days.

[5:20] But there's no doubt he suffered much. So much, he couldn't eat or drink. But the Lord came.

[5:35] The Lord sent Ananias to him. Ananias was afraid. He knew about Saul. But the Lord convinced him.

[5:50] That he was a praying soul. And I do like that. How Ananias went to him. And he treated him.

[6:03] As a child of God. Brother Saul, he said. Ah. The Lord is still the same today, friends.

[6:20] His children are still in his hands. The churches are still in his hands. We know we're in a low state. We know we're living in dark and evil days.

[6:32] But the Lord is the same. Though he does hide his face. He does tarry. Yet he will work.

[6:44] He will work. He will call his children by grace. He will lead them in his paths. He will feed them. He will prepare them for eternity.

[6:57] I will work. And who shall let it? The margin says. Hebrew. Turn it back.

[7:09] Who shall let it? Who shall turn it back? Man will try many times to turn it back.

[7:23] But God's word cannot return unto him void. It will accomplish that until he sends it. And he often sends it through the mouths of his servants.

[7:39] And his servants often have to mourn. They often feel and wonder whether they've spent their strength for naught.

[7:54] But bread cast upon the waters shall be seen after many days. God's word cannot return unto him void.

[8:07] I will work. And who shall let it? Ah, friends. What a blessed encouragement for us.

[8:18] Even in this dark day. The Lord doesn't forget. He doesn't forget his people. He knows the low state of Zion.

[8:34] He has given many promises. Promises. The hungry shall be fed. I will feed thee in famine.

[8:48] Oh, there's many precious promises. Regarded. Given to his children. Spiritual. Spiritually.

[9:01] Look at the barrel of meal. One handful left. And the widow woman thought that she would prepare it and cook it.

[9:15] And they would eat it. Her and her son. And then they would die. That would be the end. But the Lord says, I will work. And who shall let it? He sends the prophet.

[9:27] The prophet to the widow woman. The prophet commands that she should go and make him a cake. First. She'd already told him.

[9:38] She'd only got a handful of meal left. And she was going to bake it for her and her son. And then they would die. But he said, First, Bake me a cake.

[9:50] She was obedient. That's wonderful, isn't it? That the woman should be obedient to it. I believe it was the grace of God. I believe she was humbled.

[10:05] She didn't suffer for it, did she? The barrel of meal never wasted. It was there as long as she wanted it.

[10:16] I will work. And who shall let it? Friends, we get very discouraged from time to time in preaching the word.

[10:34] I believe many of his servants do. But friends, we need to put our trust in the Lord.

[10:49] We trust the Lord has sent us to preach. We trust the Lord exercises our minds and leads us to a word again and again to bring before the people.

[11:05] We often fear and tremble. And we often say to ourselves, whatever can I say from that? But friends, it shall be given thee in that hour.

[11:18] And we have to rest upon it. We have to venture upon it. And the Lord, he does come. He does come in that hour.

[11:31] But friends, the Lord knows how to balance these things. We have to say, there's been so many, countless times, the Lord has come in that hour and given us that which to speak.

[11:47] But he knows how to balance it. He knows how to keep us from rising up. He knows how to keep us dependent upon him. It's no easier the next time we have to go.

[12:00] It's, Lord, help me. Help me, Lord. I can't go. I can't preach without thee. The people, they want something.

[12:11] They're hungry. They're thirsty. They need to be comforted. They need to be led forth in the right way. Lord, what shall I speak? And the Lord bids.

[12:26] He bids his servants what to speak. There's been many, a child of God, who has declared that somebody has told his servant what they have been talking about.

[12:42] But friends, they forget that God sees all. and he knows where each one of us are and what we are in and what we have need of.

[12:59] You know, the Lord leads his servants into various paths, paths of providence, paths, exercises, according to where the Lord is going to cause them to speak from in the services of his house.

[13:22] He prepares them for it. And God's timing is perfect. It is perfect. He is never before his time.

[13:37] He is never too late. God's time is always the best. Oh, friends, is the Lord working in any of your hearts?

[13:51] Is he exercising any of your hearts in the pathway of baptism? Are you shrugging your shoulders? Are you pushing it away from you?

[14:02] Are you saying that you're not fit? You've not got enough experience and so on. Friends, if the Lord is leading you in that pathway, it's the right time.

[14:16] And it's the best time. You may not feel that you can go. You may not feel to be ready.

[14:29] But, friend, do you love the Lord? Do you love the Lord? Do you want to offend the Lord? Do you want to deny the Lord?

[14:40] You say, no. Then go. And leave the rest in his hand. The Lord doesn't make any mistakes, friends.

[14:53] No. And you and I will know when he speaks to us. I will work.

[15:04] And who shall let it? Who shall let it? Who shall stop him? No. No. We shall never stop the Lord.

[15:16] He is God. He is almighty. He knows all. He sees you and I through and through. He knows the beginning from the end.

[15:28] He knows what he will do. Oh, friends. Some of us can remember some various things, various experiences that we have passed through where we have seen the Lord's handwork.

[15:53] Manar and his wife looked on whilst the angel of the Lord worked wondrously.

[16:03] Oh, what a blessed place to come to, friends. Have you come there? Have you ever been there? Oh, the Lord does often move in a mysterious way his wonders to perform.

[16:27] He rises, he rises, he rises, he he rises upon the storm.

[16:38] I've lost it for the moment. But, friends, oh, it goes on to say the bitter, the bud may have a bitter taste but sweet, sweet will be the flower.

[16:53] We've been there, some of us. We've had the, we've had the bud, the bitter bud. But, oh, the Lord has come. He has lifted us up.

[17:09] I'm not sure whether I mentioned it this morning. I know I mentioned it just recently somewhere, but it probably was this morning. I referred to the poor man on the road to Jericho.

[17:23] Oh, friends. What a pathway. What a pathway. What a climax in his life. He'd come to the end. He couldn't go any further.

[17:37] He couldn't lift himself up. He was ready to die. But the good Samaritan came right where he was and he took him in hand and he did everything for him.

[17:52] And that's just what our heavenly Samaritan, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, that's just what he does for his dear children, those that are cast down, those that come to the end, those that can't go any further.

[18:11] Not one step. He lifts them up. He sends help from on high. That good Samaritan, he put the dear man on his own horse, took him to the inn, did everything possible for him.

[18:38] How much more does the Lord Jesus do everything for his poor, lost, ruined sinners? They're the ones that the Lord loves.

[18:59] Those that are feelingly have failed. It's not an easy pathway. It's not a comfortable pathway. But friends, I believe I said this morning, or this afternoon possibly, I don't know where it was, but somewhere, we spoke of it.

[19:30] The Lord works. His children come to that place where they can go no more, no further, and he comes.

[19:43] He delivers them. He helps them. He comforts them. He speaks to them. Oh, how good the Lord is to his children.

[20:02] I will work. And who shall let it? Who shall let it? The Lord's children are all, they're amazed how the Lord does work from time to time.

[20:23] They're brought to that place from time to time where they're astonished at the goodness of the Lord to them.

[20:38] When they have felt the burden of their sins, when they have been cast down, when they have been brought to repentance, and then the Lord comes and shines into their heart and shows mercy.

[20:56] And the poor sinner cries out, Why me? Why me? Oh, gracious God, who must forever lie in hell. We're not salvation free.

[21:12] Oh, friends, salvation is free. It's without money. It's without price. What a mercy, friends.

[21:25] Because if the Lord's working in your heart and mind, we've got nothing to pay with. Nothing. Money can't buy it. Salvation is without money, without price.

[21:40] It cannot be bought. It's the love of Jesus. It is given free. Salvation is free.

[21:56] Oh, I would, friends, that each one of us might be brought into the blessed experience of it in our own hearts.

[22:06] that we might be in our own hearts. In our own hearts, to say with Thomas, my Lord and my God.

[22:18] Yes, he found the Lord. The Lord came where he was. The Lord knew what he had said. That he wouldn't believe that Jesus was risen from the dead.

[22:33] He said, I will not believe except I put my finger in the print of the nails. And the Lord knew just what he had said. And he came and he dealt with it.

[22:47] Oh, friends, the Lord knows just what you and I say. Just what you and I think. He knows how to come and deal with it and put it right for us.

[22:57] I will work and who shall let it? Friends, Satan will try again and again to distress us, to deceive us.

[23:20] But, friends, what a mercy that the Lord deals with these things. It might take a time.

[23:31] It might take a few months. It might even take longer. But, friends, we are to take these things to the Lord.

[23:45] If you and I have got something that concerns us, that distresses us, that we don't understand, take it to the Lord.

[24:00] Doesn't matter where it came from. It may have come from a good source. But, friends, there are many that misinterpretate things.

[24:15] we need the Lord to come and shine into our hearts and show us the right way, His way.

[24:31] I will work and who shall let it? And, friends, once the Lord shows us His will, His way, it won't matter what people say.

[24:43] friends, when the Lord puts, gives something to His children, it is often put into the fires.

[24:59] that I will work and who shall let it? The Lord interpretates His own word to His children and it's what the Lord reveals to us that matters.

[25:23] not what our flesh says or thinks, not what man may say or think regarding it.

[25:39] It's what the Lord conveys to His children, to you and I. this is the way, walk in it.

[25:53] We're not to turn to the left hand or the right hand. We're to press forward. But you say, I don't know how to go forward.

[26:04] I don't know how I can possibly go forward. I can't see my way. I'm so poor, so ignorant. Friends, there's only one way that you and I can go in that pathway, looking unto Jesus.

[26:25] Looking unto Jesus. And blessed be His holy name, He'll not fail those that look up unto Him.

[26:36] No, He won't fail them. I will work and who shall let it?

[26:49] Who shall let it? Who shall stop me? Friends, what a mercy. Our God is almighty.

[27:01] He has all power. He has all wisdom. He knows what He's going to do.

[27:13] I like that word, friends. But He Himself knew what He would do. Yes, and He does concerning you and I, each of us.

[27:30] We're often blind. We can't see the end. we're continually prying into it.

[27:44] The disciples were no better. And the Lord said to one of them, when He inquired about another disciple, what He should do, He said, the Lord said to him, what is that to thee?

[27:57] Follow thou Me? You see, friends, we're each individuals before God. We hope we serve the same God and fear the same God.

[28:14] But we compare lots time and time again. We look at some and we think, well, they have a smooth pathway.

[28:24] They don't seem to have and this and that and look at my pathway. Look at the things that I'm passing through and enduring. I will work and who shall let it?

[28:39] Friends, we need different treatment. We need different teaching. We've got different dispositions. Some are much harder than others. Some are humbled much easier than others.

[28:53] Oh, I've often thought if only I was more of a humble nature, I wouldn't suffer half as much as I have done. But, friends, the Lord says, I will work and who shall let him?

[29:12] And blessed be his name, he does. You may want to see him working in your loved ones, may be a partner in life, may be one of your children.

[29:31] They may be young, they may still be children, but they may be grown up. They may be men and women, they may be married and have their own families, but they're still our flesh and blood and we want to see the Lord working in their hearts.

[29:52] We want to see the Lord deliver them from their selves, from their flesh and from the adversary, the devil.

[30:06] Oh, friends, these things come so close. We don't know how to lay these things before our God at times.

[30:22] But, friends, oh, that word, I believe I mentioned it this afternoon, the cause that is too hard for thee, bring it unto me and I will hear it.

[30:33] What a mercy, friends. The Lord doesn't say what that cause is, but the cause that is too hard for thee. It can be anything, but it's too hard for thee.

[30:44] You can't manage it. You can't begin to manage it. Bring it unto me and I will hear it. Or you may say, but I've took it and I keep taking it.

[31:00] Friends, go again seven times, go again seven times, seventy if necessary.

[31:11] we are to keep going. We are not to give up. If it is laid upon our spirit, we are to take it to the Lord.

[31:25] Plead his word. Plead this word. Thou didst say, I will work, and who shall let it? Ah, Lord, do work in this thing, this thing that is too hard for me, that I cannot manage.

[31:46] Oh, we need the Lord to work, to work in the churches. you dear friends here that have been given a pastor to come in and out amongst you.

[32:07] I don't doubt there's many things you're looking for. The Lord says, I will work, and who shall let it? the Lord will bring his children in.

[32:22] The Lord will call them by grace. If the Lord has given you a pastor, as I believe he has, friends, then he has a purpose.

[32:38] He has a work for him to do. It might begin in small things, but friends, the Lord will work.

[33:02] It's a wonderful thing when the Lord goes in and out a cause of truth.

[33:14] When he, his word is preached in divine power, when the power of God is in it. And that's what his children look for.

[33:26] That's what they want to feel. Oh, I would that the Lord might bless you here, and build you up.

[33:38] not too hard for the Lord. Oh, oh, that there might be that spirit of prayer amongst us, all of us, that we might be built up and strengthened in the things of God, in the churches, churches, in our denomination.

[34:12] There's many things that are distressing in our denomination. We needn't go outside the denomination, friends.

[34:25] There's many things outside that are most distressing, but there in our own denomination. There's discord, there's corruption, there isn't the unity that there should be.

[34:48] Oh, friends, I know we need the Lord to cleanse us from our sins. Oh, that the Lord would do this.

[35:03] Oh, that he would bring us to repentance. And oh, that he would bless us and build us up. Well, I'll leave the few things.

[35:17] May the Lord bless his word for his name's sake. Amen. Amen.