I want to turn for a reading to the book of Job. The book of Job in chapter 23. Job chapter 23, reading from verse 1. Job 23 at verse 1. Then Job answered and said, even today is my complaint bitter. My stroke is heavier than my groaning. Oh, that I knew where I might find him, that I might come even to his seat. 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. Will he plead against me with his great power? No, he would put strength in me. There the righteous might dispute with him. So should I be delivered forever from my judge. Behold, I go forward, but he is not there, and backward, but I cannot perceive him. On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him. He headeth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him, but he knoweth the way that I take. And when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined. neither have I gone back from the commandments of his lips. I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food. But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? And what his soul desireth, even that he doeth. For he performeth the thing that is appointed to me, and many such things are with me. Therefore, Therefore am I troubled in his presence when I consider I am afraid of him. For God maketh my heart soft, and the Almighty troubleth me. But I was not cut off before the darkness, neither hath he covered the darkness from my face." Amen. And may God bless this very important chapter to all our hearts and souls today. Let's have a little prayer. Father, as we stand before the open Bible this morning, we have to confess to you again that this is a divine book, and we are not capable of understanding it apart from the aid of your Holy Spirit. And, Father, I pray that you would give us that enlightenment that will make the message clear. Give us that enduement that will make the message powerful. and give us, Lord, that help that only God can give as we come to minister your word. So we commend and commit these moments to you, and I pray that God's anointing will be upon me and also upon those who listen. For Jesus' sake we pray. Amen. It's quite a number of years ago now when I was quite a young minister. I received a phone call one day asking me what I'd preach at a funeral. And I'd preached at a number of funerals by that time, but this was the funeral of a young missionary who had taken his life. And you can imagine the turmoil I went through. I could picture that church full of preachers, full of ministers older than I was, full of missionaries who'd come to share in that tragic death. And I really struggled with the whole issue, but I struggled more with what I should preach on that occasion. Sadly, since then, I've had to conduct quite a number of funerals of people who've taken their own lives. But I turn to this passage in Job here, chapter 23. And it was from this passage I minister at that funeral. This sermon has lain dormant for a long time in my study. And recently, I've been trying to unearth some of the old sermons I preached years ago, and this came to my attention, and I felt that this was God's Word for this service this morning. Maybe you will not feel that way, but I trust that God will make it a blessing to us. Did anyone suffer more than Job suffered? He was a powerful man, a godly man, a man who couldn't stand evil and sin. And yet God allowed him to go through a time of testing that few of us, if any of us, in fact, will ever have to go through. Life is a strange thing. And here's this man of God being tested almost to the limit. And yet he never turned his back upon God, though he slay me, though he slay me, yet will I trust him. Even when his wife came in and said to him, Job, why did you curse God and die? He said, you are one of the evil women. But here he is, and he's facing this awful turmoil of heart and mind and soul as he goes through this desertion, as it were, from God. G.K. Chesterton once said, It is the mark of a real man who can pass breaking point and not break. Job was that kind of man. But looking at this chapter this morning, I noticed a number of things. The first one is this, friend, the pressures of life are sometimes difficult to bear. Notice what he says here at the beginning of this chapter. And Job answered and said, "'Even today is my complaint bitter. "'My stroke is heavier than my groaning, "'or it's more than I can bear.'" In chapter 10, in verse 1, he says, "'My soul is weary of my life. "'I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.'" Ten coffins had left Job's home in the one day. I remember a period when I was ministering in Belfast, there was a flu epidemic, and I conducted nine funerals in a week. But I've never had to conduct a funeral where ten coffins left the home at the one time. But that happened to Job. The pressures of life, men and women, are sometimes difficult to bear. And I would believe in a congregation this size, there are probably many And maybe even this very morning, there's somebody here in this church and the problems of life are almost beyond bearing. And you're saying like Job this morning, my stroke is heavier than my complaint is bitter. My stroke is heavier than my groaning. It's more than I can stand. I would not be surprised if there were somebody in the body of this church or up there in the gallery. And that's the expression of your heart this morning. The pressures of life are sometimes difficult to bear. The pressures Job found difficult to bear were factual. Friend, they weren't just an imagination. It wasn't some fictional thing that he's expressing here. No, they're real. They're factual. Job is not some kind of a hypochondriac that thinks he has got everything wrong with him. No, what Job is passing through is real. And maybe what you're going through this morning is real. It's almost tangible. You can almost touch it. And the pressures of life have become almost difficult to bear. And across our province this morning, there will even be believers sitting in churches like this, listening to God's word. And the pressures of life for them are almost unbearable. And perhaps they're thinking of doing things they should never do. I remember a little booklet that was published some years ago by the Banner of Truth, and the title of it was this, Christians Grieve Too. The world looks upon us and thinks that we should be able to stand up to anything. Friend, we probably could stand up to it better than they could because we've got God. But these troubles, these pressures were factual. I heard about a man who complained that he had no shoes until he met a man one day with no feet. And some of us complain about nothing. But here's a man who had real complaints. As I say again, dotted across this congregation this morning, there's somebody, and you're just in that same situation. John Trapp, the old Puritan preacher, he said this, one son had God without sin, but none without sorrow. Not only were those pressures factual, friend, the pressures Job found difficult to bear were continual. Notice what he says, that even today, yet another day, there's no let up, there's no respite, there's no remission. These troubles, these burdens, these problems, are not only factual, they're continual. For no matter how loud Job groaned, his complaint was still there. It was there in the morning, it was there at night. It was always there. Is that how you feel this morning? Is that how you feel on this first Sunday of a new year? Oh, this is going to go on and on and on and on. It was John Calvin that described these pressures or these problems of Job's as uninterrupted afflictions. And so they were. Didn't matter where he was, he felt the burden. It's going on and on and on. When is it going to end? But not only were these problems that Job found difficult to bear, factual and continual. Friend, they were distressful. Verse two, he says, even today is my complaint bitter. My stroke is heavier than my groaning. Not only was Job suffering these complaints continually, but they were becoming desperately distressing. Is that where you are this morning? Is there some soul here this morning? And that's just where you are. Maybe you're here this morning and saying, ah, it's just in their mind. It's just their imagination. No, no, friend. This was real. This was real. And it was distressful. Remember the great prophet Elijah, when after a great triumph at Carmel, he lies under the juniper tree and he says, God, I want to die. I've had enough. I can't stand it anymore. I'm going to die. Life's cruel sometimes. It's very cruel. And here's a man, and we see the problems of life are sometimes difficult to bear. And for Job, they were factual. For Job, they were continual. But for Job, they were distressful. William Cowper is known, perhaps, as a great hymn writer, but he was also a great preacher. But he went through some periods of terrible depression. You know that one time he hired a coachman to take him to the River Ouse so that he might take his own life. The coachman had an idea of what he had in mind, so he purposely missed out and went back home with William Cowper. William Cowper, that evening, he sat down in his home and he wrote the words of a great hymn. Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take. The clouds you so much dread are big with mercies and will break with blessings on your heads. Think of a man like John J. Pate and that brilliant Scottish missionary. He went out to the South Sea islands. In his first term, he buried his wife and his only child. He said in one occasion, if it had not been for the mercy of God and the kindness of God's people, I would have been in an insane asylum. Yes, the problems of life, friend, are difficult to bear. Secondly, the presence of God is sometimes difficult to sense. Notice what he says in verse three. Oh, that I knew where I might find him. I go forward, but he is not there. 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, so that I cannot see him." And while the problems of life for Job were difficult to bear, friend, the presence of God was difficult to sense. You know, I'm going to make a statement, and it may be wrong. But I believe across our province this morning, just as we are seated here in this Baptist church, there are many people sitting in churches across this country today. And they may not have lost God, but they've lost the sense of the presence of God. I would not be surprised, friend, if a large number of you dear people have lost a sense of the presence of God. God isn't real anymore. Joe had lost that sense of the presence of God. He hadn't lost God. Think again of Elijah under that juniper tree. He says, it is enough. Take my life away. If you lost a sense of the presence of God this morning, Oh, you're here, and you're bright, and you're breezy, and you can talk the spiritual language, but God isn't real. God seems to be at a distance. Psalmist writes, why hast thou forsaken me? If any of you have ever read John Bunyan's great book, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, you'll discover that man lost the sense of the presence of God. Even Robert Murray McShane, that godly Scottish Presbyterian preacher, he says in one of his writings, at the time when I was beginning to give up in despair, God gave me tokens of his presence. And think of Jesus, my God, my God, why has thou forsaken me? Friend, it was a real forsakenness. I say there are many, many this morning, and this is where they're at, and I would not be surprised if there are some here in this church. Maybe many of you. I don't know a lot of you this morning. I don't know where you are spiritually, but I wonder if you're here this morning and you've lost a sense of the presence of the living God. There are many things that can cause that, but you've lost sense of the presence of God. When the Ark of the Covenant was taken away by the Philistines, Israel had lost the sense of the presence of God amongst them. They lamented after it departed God. But not only did Job lose the sense of the presence of God, Job longed for that sense of the presence of God. Friend, this is the point that troubles me today as a preacher, as a pastor, as one who sees the need in a way perhaps I didn't see it when I was in a settled church and preaching there Sunday by Sunday. Friend, people have lost a sense of the presence of God, but tragically we're not longing for that sense of the presence of God. It's gone. We're quite content the way we are. Oh, that I knew where I might find him. Is that the language of your soul this morning? Is that how you're crying out? Or is there no feeling at all? It has fled, it has gone. You're here this morning and you've lost a sense of the presence of God, but you don't even long for that sense of the presence of God. Friend, that's a tragic place to be. It's a terrible place to be, where you've lost the sense of the presence of God, but there's no longing. One of the great preachers of the past was a Methodist called Dr. W.E. Sangster. I remember hearing him preaching once at the Festival of Britain's services on why I believe the gospel for England. He was minister at Westminster Central Halls in London for a lot of years and early one Sunday morning somebody saw a light in his study at the Central Halls and they thought there's something wrong. He made his way into Central Halls, and he made his way to the study of the great Dr. W.E. Sankster. And there he found that mighty preacher, that wonderful man of God, with his head buried in his hands in despair. And the press questioner said to him, Dr. Sankster, what's wrong? And Sankster said, I've lost. I've lost God. And the visitor said to him, do you long for God? Oh, says Dr. Sangster, that's one thing I long, that's the problem, I long for God, but I can't find him. And that wise man said this to Dr. Sangster, Dr. Sangster, while the longing's there, you've not lost God. Do you long this morning? Maybe if the longing's gone, friend, you never had God. Job not only lost a sense of the presence of God, but he longs for that sense of the presence of God. When I was a student in Edinburgh, I shared accommodation with a fellow from the island of Lewis. He was six foot seven in height. He'd been in the Grenadier Guards. He was saved during the Lewis revival. and was a mighty, mighty speaker. He went to Glasgow to study, and while he was in Glasgow, he lost the touch. He lost the sense of the presence of God. And I shared that accommodation with him in Edinburgh. I remember one night he looked across at me as I was lying on the bed, and he said to me, he said, you know, I feel so far from the fold that I can only faintly hear the voice of the shepherd. And those mornings at five o'clock I could hear Donald MacPhail, all six foot seven of them, in the attic of that building. And he's crying out to God. I couldn't understand what he was praying because he prayed in Scottish Gaelic. But he's longing for God, he's yearning to get back. And he did get back. He studied Arabic at Edinburgh. and went out to the hardest mission field of the world at that time, the Yemen. And here's a man who has lost a sense of the presence of God. Friend, be honest this morning. The situation we live in today is too tragic for Christians to have lost the sense of the presence of God. Oh, may God give us a longing for that sense of the presence of God, like Kuiper, return, O holy dove, return, sweet messenger of rest. I hate those sins that made thee mourn and drove thee from my breast. But you know, Job not only knows he's lost the sense of the presence of God, and he longs for a sense of the presence of God. Job looks for that sense of the presence of God. He says, I go forward, but he is not there. Backwards, and I cannot perceive him. On the left hand where he doth work, but I cannot behold him. He hideth himself on the right hand, but I cannot see him. If only I could see him. If only I could find him, I would ask him why. If only I could find him, I would try and discuss this with him. What's happening to me? But he longs and he looks for a sense of the presence of the living God. God was there all the time. C.S. Lewis tells of how he grieved after the death of his wife. And he tells of how he was seeking God, but somehow God wasn't there. And he sought God, and he sought God. And then he wrote these words. But go to him when your need is desperate, when all help is vain and you do not find it. You find a slam door in your face, the sound of bolting on the inside. After silence, you may as well turn away. The longer you wait, the more emphatic the silence will become. What does it mean? There's C.S. Lewis sensing the loss of the presence of God, and he says, when I go to God, it's as if he slams the door in my face. Where can I go? That's where Job was. Maybe that's where you are this morning. You've lost the sense of the presence of God. Maybe you long for that. Maybe you're looking for it. It doesn't seem to come. I remember some years ago, quite a lot of years ago now, I went through a period in my own life when I felt I'd lost a sense of the presence of God. I was driving one evening to Belfast to a meeting, and you can know how long it was ago, there were no motorways, and I was driving through Glengormley, and oh, just I longed for the presence of God, I longed for it, and I said, God, where are you? And I started to go down the Antrim Road into Belfast, and the sun was shining all the way from Bellarmine through the window of the car, but when I got down there by the zoo, the sun wasn't shining. You know, it's as if God just spoke to me in the car that night and said, look, you felt the sun all the way from Balamina, but the mountain's hiding it, but the sun's still there. Friend, I want to say this to you this morning. God has not changed. It's your problem, maybe. The problems of life are sometimes difficult to bear. The presence of God is sometimes difficult to sense. But the third thing I know is this, the providence of God is sometimes difficult to understand. Why does God do these things? Why does God allow these things? God's providential dealings, friends, sometimes they're incomprehensible. Why do... Why, God, do you allow this? Many times have you asked that? I don't know. John Flavel, the old Puritan, he said, sometimes providence are like Hebrew letters. They must be read backwards. And Matthew Henry once said, God's providences often seem to contradict his purposes. And that's true. And eat up your toes, or put it like this, I do not know why God does some things, but I am convinced that nothing is accidental in this universe. And again, to remind you of the words of Cowber, judge not the Lord by feeble sense, but trust him for his grace. Behind a frowning providence, he hides a smiling face. His purposes will ripen fast, unfolding every hour. The bud may have a bitter taste, but sweet will be the flower. God moves in a mysterious ways, his wonders to perform. He plants his footsteps in the sea and rides upon the storm. You know, he's still God when we can't understand. He's still God when we don't understand. In chapter 23 in verse 4, Job says, I would order my cause before him and fill my mouth with arguments if only I could find him. Isabel Kuhn was a missionary. She took cancer and she had to come home from the mission field. During those years at home, she wrote all those marvelous books that have thrilled many of our souls. And she said this, the cancer years were the most fruitful years. And you know, there are many of God's people this morning He'd been through trials and testings we will never ever face. And all of them would say, those were the fruitful years. Those were the years when God did something special in my life. God is some providential reason for the situation. If only Job can find it. but as well as the pressures of life that are difficult to bear for this man, and the presence of God that seems difficult to sense, and the providence of God that seems difficult to understand, the purposes of God are sometimes difficult to comprehend. Look at verse 10. But I know the way, but I know the way that I take, and when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. My time's gone, but let me just slip through this very quickly. These purposes of God that are sometimes difficult to understand. Notice what Job says. In the midst of all his trial, in the midst of all his testing, what does he say? He says, he knoweth the person. He knoweth the way that I take. He knows me. Listen, soul, this morning, I don't care where you are, who you are. I don't even care what state of grace you're in. God knows all about you. Didn't we hear that in the children's talk? God knows all about you. He knoweth our frame, he remembereth that we are dust. He knows our down-sitting and our uprising. As old Thomas Brooke said, he said that Christian is never out of the reach of God's hand, so is never out of the view of God's eye. This endeared, struggling soul this morning, he knows you. He knoweth the way that I take. I'm glad this morning that he knows me. I'm glad he understands anything that I go through. I'm glad he understands the things that you're going through. He says, I, he knoweth me. What a comfort. But he not only knoweth a person, friend, he knoweth the path. He knoweth the way that I take. Some of you along a hard road this morning, Jesus knows. John 10 says, when he put forth his own sheep, he goeth before them. And you know, there's not a path that we will be called to walk, no matter how tough or difficult or hard or strenuous or unbearable it may be. He's been down that road before us, even to death. Didn't the hymn writer say, ye choose the path for me although I cannot see, the reason thou dost will to lead me so? I know the toil of some way will lead to realms of day, where I shall dwell with thee, O mighty Saviour. Thy blessed will divine, with joy I make it thine, mine. My heart shall be thy throne, and thine alone. Choose thou the path I tread, and whither I be led. Help me to follow on, O mighty Saviour. Friend, he not only knows the person, he knows the path, but he knows the process. When he has tried me. When he has tried me. You know, we try to dodge trial. We do everything in our power to dodge it, but the process is there. God's using it for His glory. Andrew Bonner was a Scottish preacher. He points out that we get more from Paul's prison house than from the third heaven, and it's true. And Bishop J.C. Ryle once wrote, in the resurrection morning, we shall thank God for every storm. On the resurrection morning, we will thank God for every storm. Billy Bray was a Cornish miner, godless, but wonderfully saved by the grace of God. And he knew his ups and downs. And he said in his own quaint way that he had vinegar and honey. He experienced vinegar and honey. But he said God gave the vinegar in teaspoonfuls. but He gave the honey in ladlefuls. And I tell you, friend, if you're going through a time of real trial, beyond it, beyond it, God has large ladlefuls of honey. He not only knows the person, He not only knows the path, He not only knows the process, but He knows the purpose. When He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. If you're going through the mill this morning, friend, just think of Job. You know, he had 7,000 sheep before all this. At the end, he had 14,000. He had 3,000 camels before this. At the end, he had 6,000. 5,000 oxen, he lost them all. Now he's got 1,000. 5,000 she-asses, now he's got 1,000. He lost seven sons and three daughters, and he got back seven sons and three daughters. I tell you, friend, God never lets us down. The road may be rough, it may be rugged, it may be stormy, it may be unbearable almost, like Job is finding, but God knows the outcome. When through fiery trials the pathway may lie, His grace all-sufficient shall be thy supply, The flame shall not hurt thee, His only design, The dross to consume and the gold to refine. Job says in chapter 42 in verse 10, the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. Let me finish with this story. It's a personal one in some ways. I ministered for a period of six years before I retired up in County Turon. One of the farmers in the congregation had a cottage meeting at his home. on a Saturday night. He had a big lounge and he pushed the back end of it out and he built a big conservatory out at the end so it could hold a lot of people. Those were thrilling meetings and I remember one night being at one of those Saturday night meetings in that farmhouse and a man gave his testimony and he told how his wife had taken cancer and how she went one day to the hospital for a checkup and she had her little boy, the only child they had, The news wasn't good, in fact it was tragic, and it tormented her mind so much that on the way home she drove the car into a lake and she and the wee boy were both drowned. And he told that story in his testimony that night, and it was heartbreaking to hear it. He also was a singer. And when he told that story, he sang. Do you know what he sang? He sang these marvelous words. Through it all, through it all, I've learned to trust in Jesus. Through it all. Friend, are you far from God this morning, even as a child of God? And things are tough. I wonder, are you saying, God, I wish I could find you? Let me tell you this morning, friend, through it all, through it all. I have learned to trust in Jesus through it all. Amen.