Now we're turning today in the word of God to the book of Job and the chapter number 36. Job chapter 36, now I know that some people are trying to guess what behold, we're going to speak well. You have over 1,300 to choose from. And so I would be quite amazed if you have guessed correctly today, because this is one of the unfamiliar beholds that we find in Scripture. And we find this word mentioned a number of times in the passage that we're going to read. But it's Job chapter 36, and we're reading from the verse number 22. Job 36 verse 22, behold God, exalted by his power, who teacheth like him, who hath enjoined him his way, who can say thou hast wrought iniquity? Remember that thou magnify his work, which men behold. Every man may see it, man may behold it afar off. Behold, God is great, and we know him not. Neither can the number of his years be searched out, for he maketh small the drops of water. He poureth down rain according to the vapour thereof, which the clouds do drop and distill upon man abundantly. Also can any understand the spreading of the clouds, or the noise of his tabernacle? Behold, he spreadeth his light upon it, and covereth the bottom of the sea. By them judges he the people. He giveth meat in abundance. With clouds he covers the light and commandeth it not to shine by the cloud that cometh betwixt. The noise thereof showeth concerning it. the cattle also concerning the vapour. Amen. And we end our reading at the end of the chapter 36. Let's briefly pray. Father in heaven, bless these awaiting souls as we minister in the word. Come and fill us with thy spirit. Grant, dear Father, now a word in season to these awaiting souls. For we offer prayer in and through our Saviour's precious and worthy Name. Amen and Amen. Youthful Elihu had learnt the lesson that many would do well to learn. He learned the lesson of being swift to hear and slow to speak, as he waited his turn to speak about the events that had happened in the life of God's servant Job. Due to Elihu being much younger than Job's other three friends, Elipaz, Bildad, and Zophar, Eliah had held his peace for long enough. It was now time for him to speak. He begins to do so in the chapter number 32. We read there in the verse 6 through to 10. And Elihu, the son of Bar-see-el, the buzz-eyed, answered and said, I am young and ye are very old. Wherefore, I was afraid, and durst not show you mine opinion. I said, They should speak, and multitude of years should teach wisdom. But there is a spirit in man, and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth him understanding. Great men are not always wise, neither do the aged understand judgment. Therefore I said, Hearken to me, I also will show mine opinion. Many of the truths that Elihu goes on then to speak in the next six chapters really are worthy of a person's consideration, for they reveal that this young man had wisdom beyond his years. For example, there in Job 33 in the verse 12, we have that tremendous truth set forth by Elihu that God is greater than man. What a truth that is. God is greater than man. In the same chapter, this time the verse 24, Elihu speaks of man's deliverance from hell by means of a ransom. Then he is gracious unto him and saith, deliver him from going down to the pit I have found a ransom. In chapter 34 verse 10, Elihu speaks of the holiness of God showing that God has no part to play in wickedness or iniquity, far be it from God that he should do wickedness, from the Almighty that he should commit iniquity. In verse 15 of that chapter, he speaks about man's mortality. All flesh shall perish together and man shall return to the dust. In the verse 21 of Job 34, Elihu reminds us that God's eyes are upon the ways of man and he seeth all his goings. There is another truth that Elihu draws to Job's attention that will be our focus of our attention for today's message. In keeping with our theme within our family worship services, this truth begins with the word, behold. And it is the verse 26, the initial part that I want us to consider together today. Job 36, verse 26. Behold, God is great. and we know him not. Behold, God is great." What a truth to meditate upon today, the greatness of our God, the greatness of the one that we worship and serve, and those who are redeemed and saved, the one whom we love, this great God. Neither are those who think themselves to be great in this world. we hear of great statesmen, great politicians, great tacticians, great scientists, great thinkers, great philosophers, great military leaders, great writers, great artists, great musicians, great sporting stars, great inventors, great builders, but really there is only one being to which this word great could be justly ascribed to, and that is the God of the Bible. This is why Elihu said, behold, considerate, God is great, and God alone Whoever else you think is great, there is none like Jehovah, none like the God of the Bible, and thus it is something to behold, something to stop and to consider and to meditate upon, that God is great. Before I proceed into the meat of the message, I want to say something about this word great. It is an adjective. God is great. It is a word of description. And the word that is used here is a Hebrew word, sagi. The Hebrew word sagi. It translates to mean superlatively mighty. superlatively excellent, superlatively great. Now the word superlatively means of the highest order, quality, or degree, that which surpasses or is superior to all others, and surely that is our God. When it comes to degree, when it comes to order, when it comes to quality, our God surpasses in a superlative way, all other beings. Now the word great appears some 708 times in the Old Testament, the word great. We read about the great fish, we read about many great things in the Old Testament, but it's very interesting to note that this word great only appears twice in the whole of Scripture. And every time it appears, or on the two occasions that it appears, it is always attributed to God. Both times we find that Elihu uses this word, Sagi. Now you're there in Job 36, just turn one chapter to the right to Job 37 and the verse 23. This is Eli who, he's still speaking, and it says here Job 37 verse 23, touching the Almighty. We cannot find him out. He is Sagi. Excellent. in power and in judgment and in plenty of justice, he will not afflict. And so in Job 36, verse 26, it is the word great, sagi, and here in Job 37, verse 23, it is the word excellent, again the word sagi, but it is only ever ascribed to the God of the Bible. It's as if the Holy Spirit is teaching us, even in this, I would say, much overlooked detail, that there is a uniqueness to the greatness of our God. Such is the uniqueness that He's going to employ a unique term to describe this greatness. It is not going to be used with regard to any other great things in the Old Testament, but simply ascribed to Jehovah. I am going to employ a term I'm going to employ it twice, and on both occasions it is going to relate to God, because there is a uniqueness, there is an exclusiveness with regard to the greatness of our God. It is a greatness that surpasses all other greatness. The greatness of Jehovah. And I trust that as we consider God and His greatness today, that you will appreciate that there is a uniqueness as to the greatness of our God. I want you to firstly behold God as great when it comes to His being. When it comes to His being. No human being will ever reach a point in their intellectual development where they will be able to fully appreciate the greatness of our God. Our text goes on to say that very thing. Notice what it says, behold God is great and we know him not. Now that does not mean that we cannot know God. John 17 in the verse 3 reminds us that we can come to know God. We know God through the Son. This is life eternal that they may believe. Let me read it for you. Let me get it to you. John chapter 17 and the verse number 3. Yes, I quote it incorrectly. And this is life eternal that they may know Thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ. whom thou hast sent." And so we know the Father, we know God through the Son. This statement here in Job 36, we know Him not, indicates that we cannot fully know Him. We cannot fully comprehend God. We know something of Him. We read of Him in the Scriptures. We come to know a little of His greatness. But, oh, our finite minds can never fully grapple and understand the greatness of our God. Our finite fallen minds cannot fully know God. Now, Job's friend, Zophar, with all of his deficiencies, had enough to I had enough sense to even realize that. If you want to turn to Job 11, verses 7-9, this is Zophar speaking here. What does it say? Canst thou by searching find out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? It is as high as heaven. What canst thou do deeper than hell? What canst thou know? The measure thereof is longer Man the earth and is broader than the sea. He hears so far. He's acknowledging that God cannot be searched out. His greatness cannot be fully comprehended, cannot be fully appreciated, cannot be fully grasped. God is greater than what we can ever imagine. God is the self-existent. God is the self-sufficient, God is the self-satisfied eternal being that inhabits every point of space and a time. No man, no angel, no created being can ever be described like that. God's greatness when it comes to his very essence, to his very being, transcends every other living and non-living entity that exists in the entire created universe. There is none like our God. Behold, God is great, the infinite, the eternal, the unchangeable God. As we consider His being, we have to say, God is great. And Elihu is not the only one in Scripture who comes to acknowledge the greatness of God. Moses acknowledged the greatness of God in Deuteronomy 7 or 10 in the verse 17. Listen to his words, "'For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, a great God.'" a mighty and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward." Moses describes him as a great god. He's greater than the gods of the Egyptians. Oh, they were all defeated. shown to be but only the imagination of men's hearts and of minds, as the plagues swept in there in the land of Egypt prior to their exodus. Ah, your God, he was reminding these people, your God is a great God. He is a mighty God. He is a terrible God. He regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward. Nehemiah acknowledged God's greatness there in Nehemiah 8, and the verse number 6, it says, And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God. And the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands, and they bowed their heads and worshipped the Lord. with their faces to the ground, when we get a sight of the greatness of our God, it instills within us this awe, this reverence, this need to worship this great God. He needs to be exalted. He needs to be known. He needs to be published among the nations because our God is the great God. The great God The psalmist acknowledged God's greatness. Psalm 95 verse 3, for the Lord is a great God and a great king above all gods. This is our God today, brethren and sisters. Daniel acknowledged before Nebuchadnezzar the greatness of his God. Daniel 2 and the verse 45, the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass thereafter and the dream is certain and the interpretation thereof sure. He spoke about his great God. I and Paul spoke of his great God there in Titus 2 in the verse 13, looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ. At the dedication of Solomon's temple, King Solomon made the following declaration within his prayer that really sums up the extent of God's greatness when it comes to his being, the being of God. Solomon asked the question there, 1 Kings chapter 8 verse 27, but will God indeed dwell on earth? This great God, this infinite God, this eternal God, this unchangeable God, this one who transcends all other beings, angels and men. Ah, the devil himself, will he dwell on earth? What does Solomon do? He answers his own question. Behold the heaven, and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee. How much less this house that I have Build it, O behold the greatness of your God. The greatness of God is immense. The greatness of God is incomprehensible, and all men and angels, holy and fallen, are nothing in comparison to our great God. God is great in His being. How big is God? Chorus says, He's big enough Yes, he dwells in the universe, but he's small enough to live within my heart. He lives in me, this God, this great God. And so when we consider his being, we say, behold, God is great, but let's go a little further. Let's behold the greatness of our God when we come to consider his attributes. The attributes of God, I'm speaking here not of His incommunicable attributes, we've already touched upon them, He being infinite, eternal and unchangeable. These are things that are not communicated to us as it were, but there are communicable attributes. neatly set forth for us by the Westminster divines when they answered the question, what is God? God is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his being. Here they are, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. Consider God's greatness then. Consider his great wisdom. Consider God's wisdom. Under inspiration, the Apostle Paul wrote these words in Romans chapter 11, verse 33. Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God. How unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past, finding out God's great wisdom, ordering all things in this world and in your life. God in wisdom arranging all circumstances and encounters that come across our pathway from day to day. God in His wisdom bringing to us sickness and sorrow and happiness and joy. God's great wisdom is overruling and guiding all of the affairs of life. The Apostle Paul would go on to say, Closing within that very letter to the Romans, he used this term, he says, to God only wise, to God only wise. Oh, there are many who think themselves to be wise, individuals who call themselves wise people, and yet God alone is wise. According to 1 Corinthians 3 verse 19, the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. In actual fact, Paul goes on to say there, 1 Corinthians 1 verse 25, that the foolishness of God is wiser than man. His foolishness, as it were, is wiser than man's greatest wisdom. God is much wiser than us. Why then should we bulk? Why then should we bolt from his wisdom as he guides us in our lives? Has He direct our affairs? Can we question His great wisdom in all that comes into our circumstances, into our homes, into our families, into our community, into our nation? Dare we? Dare we question the wisdom, the great wisdom of our great God? His great wisdom, think about His great power. His great power. Nahum 1 verse 3, the Lord is slow to anger. and great in power." The Lord is great in power. And where do we view His greatness of power? Where do we view the greatness of God's power? We look around us. Look around us at the created universe. And we see God's great power displayed in its manifestation there in the created universe, the stars, the planets, the mountains, the hills. the rivers, the great oceans, and then the upholding of all of these things just by the Word of His power. All we see is power there in creation. Yes, we look around us. Aye, and we look above. We look above. We look to those who are in heaven, the redeemed of God. Do we not see God's power there? Do we not see God's power in our own lives? We who are the redeemed of God, Dr. Gill said, God's power is very great as it appears in the redemption of His people from the hand of their powerful enemies in beginning, carrying on and perfecting a work of grace on their hearts by His Spirit and His power in the preservation of them on to eternal life through a thousand dangers and difficulties. In other words, I see His power when He first started to work in my soul. As the Spirit regenerated this soul and heart of mine, illuminated my understanding, gifted to me the gifts of faith and repentance, enabled me to embrace Jesus Christ in the gospel, I saw his power when he cleansed me from my sins, He blotted out my transgressions. He made me a son of God and an heir with Jesus Christ. And yes, I see His power down through my life, preserving me from many dangers, toils and snares. I have already come to His grace that's brought me safe thus far. Grace will bring me home, and I'll see His power when I find myself in the glory. with the redeemed, I'll stand back and be amazed that he could take a sinner like I, a sinner like me, and redeem me, and reconcile me, and then bring me to glory, where I'll be with him for all eternity. Oh, the greatness of God's power, but we see his power somewhere else. We see it displayed in hell. The power of God displayed in hell. 2 Thessalonians 1 verse 9. I read that when Christ returns, he's coming to take vengeance on them that know not God and have obeyed not the gospel. And we are told that they will be punished with everlasting destruction in the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power. The power of God to damn a sinner in hell, and for that sinner to endure the torment and the agonies and the sufferings of eternal punishment, we see His power displayed in the execution of His judgment against the sinner. Oh, consider then the greatness of God's power. Consider the greatness of His holiness and His justice, having reflected In the execution of God's justice on the Egyptian army at the Red Sea, Moses sang the following in Exodus 15, verse 11, "'Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?' Whether we consider God's works his actions, for his laws, we come to view God's great holiness and justice in operation. Consider his goodness, the greatness of God's goodness. David would declare in Psalm 31 verse 19, Oh, how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee, which thou hast brought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men." Oh, how great is His goodness. I tell you, sinner, God's been good to you. Consider God's great goodness to you, preserving you to this moment. giving you many opportunities, multiple occasions to hear the gospel, to respond to the gospel, to believe the gospel, God's goodness bringing you to a place of repentance, His mercy upon you, His great goodness. Oh, consider the greatness of His goodness. Many years ago, the ambassador of Spain, which was then the wealthiest country in Europe, That ambassador visited the court of Venice to arrange a treaty between Spain and Italy. One of the chief men in the palace led the Spanish ambassador to see some of the sites in that great city. And among the sites that he took him to see was to the treasury of the city and of the nation. That treasury was filled with heaps of gold coins and precious stones. The Spanish ambassador asked the prince who was showing him around if he had a stick. He had, and what he did was he took that stick and he thrust the stick down amongst the gold coins. The Venetian prince said, what are you doing? The ambassador replied, I want to see if there is any bottom here. Ah, he said, there is a bottom. But oh, prince, there is no bottom. to the treasures of my king. He was alluding to the gold and the silver mines that were the property of the Spanish king at that particular time. Oh, they had much, what wealth they had, but there was a bottom to it, there was a limit to the treasures of the Italian king at that time. But in this man's mind, to the ambassador's mind, there was no depth, there was no bottom, there was no exhaustion to the wealth and to the treasures of his king. And as believers, we can say the same. There is no bottom to the treasures of our king. There is an everlasting fullness of goodness in the treasury of God, which is laid up for those who fear his name. There's no exhaustion to his treasuries. Behold, God is great, his goodness. Consider the greatness of his truth. We're told in the book of Psalms that God's truth, where does it reach? It reacheth onto the clouds. So great is God's truth that it goes out of sight, beyond the clouds, to the emerald regions beyond. Yes, above the stratosphere, above the atmosphere, right into space itself, right to the very throne of God, far beyond the clouds, reaching into heaven itself. Oh, the greatness of God's truth. Behold, God is great in his attributes. But think thirdly. that behold, God is great in his works. I'm thinking of those words that we read in verse five of that psalm that is specifically written for the Sabbath day, remember it? Psalm 92, specifically written for the Sabbath day. And notice what it says there, Psalm 92, verse five. O Lord, how great are thy works, and thy thoughts are very deep. O Lord, how great are thy works, The child of God on the Sabbath day should think much on the works of God. I've already mentioned the work of creation. We think of the general creation, the planets, the stars, the mountains, the rivers, the animals, the plants. And again, we have to come and confess, how great are thy works. Then we come to consider, yes, the creation of the angels. And we would have to say, how great are thy works. We come to consider the creation of man. And again, we say, how great are thy works in the realm of creation. We see the greatness of God. We see the greatness of God with regard to the work of providence. The work of providence is that work by which all of God's creatures are preserved, governed, guided, and directed. You see, upon the throne of glory today, there sits one who governs all events and happenings in the universe and in our lives. And such a truth leads us to declare, how great are thy works. Think about the greatness of God's works in the works of predestination. Predestination, that word, it simply refers to the purpose of God with respect to His moral creatures, stripping that work back to its bare bones. We really have two parts to the work of predestination, election and reprobation. Election and reprobation. In election, God chooses individuals to become children of God and heirs of eternal glory. Romans 8, verse 29 and 30. In retribution, God passes some man by in salvation. Romans 9, 13 through to 15. He chooses some. He passes others by. And as we come to understand that, especially as a believer, especially as one of the elect of God, having God set his love upon us and predestinated us on to salvation and on to eternal glory, we have to stand back and say, how great are the works of God and predestination. That God would save me, that God would set his love upon me, that God would redeem me, that he would adopt me. Oh, how great are his works. But whatever part of God's predestinating work we come to consider, we have to say how greater thy works even in the passing of others by. Think about God's work in the work of redemption. Has a greater work ever been wrought in this world than this work, the work of redemption? It is this work that takes a vile, wretched, wicked, depraved sinner and reconciles that sinner to a holy, sinless, spotless, pure, just, perfect God. What a work, the work of redemption. Consider with me the great person employed in redemption, the Lord Jesus Christ. And as we consider him who became our substitute, became our surety, stood in my place, took the punishment that was my due, bore the wrath of God on my behalf, secured salvation for me, gifted to me eternal life, when we consider the great person of redemption, Jesus Christ, surely that proves to me that the work of redemption is a great work. If there's a great person involved in it, think about the great price paid for my redemption, the precious blood of Christ. Oh, surely that great price proves to me the greatness of this work. Yes, and think about the great pardon received in redemption, the blotting out of all my sins, the cancelling of all my debt. Think of that great pardon that becomes yours on the reception of redemption. It proves to me the greatness of the work of redemption as we stand at the foot of the cross by faith and we contemplate and consider the glorious work of redemption undertaken by the Son of God there, we would have to humbly confess, how great are thy works, how great are thy works. Finally, behold, God is great, his being, his attributes, his works, but God is great when it comes to His offices, the offices of Christ. Each office that Christ executes as the Redeemer of His people is marked by greatness. Christ is a great prophet. He is a great prophet. When the Son of God raised the widow of Nain's son back to life again, In Luke chapter 7, in the verse 16, we are informed of the eyewitness's response to that miracle. It says, and there came a fear in all. And they glorify God, saying that a great prophet is risen up among us and that God hath visited his people. Notice how they refer to Jesus Christ. They refer to him as a a great prophet. He's a great prophet. He's not only a great prophet, he's a great priest. Hebrews 4 verse 14, Seeing then that we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. Christ is infinitely greater than any earthly Levitical priest because of a number of reasons. Number one, the dignity of his person. That's what makes him great, the dignity of his person. This is Jesus Christ. This is the eternal Son. This is the Son of God. This is the heir of all things. This is the one who is King of kings and Lord of lords. This is why he is a great priest, because of the dignity of his person. Secondly, because of the purity of his nature. This is the one who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners. He is great. than any earthly priest because, thirdly, because of the efficacy of his sacrifice. He has put away his sin by the sacrifice of himself. See the effect, see the efficiency, see the efficacy of that very sacrifice. It is sufficient to put away my sins forever. No, no blood sacrifice in the Levitical priesthood could take away sins, but Christ's sacrifice has taken away my sins forever. Aye, and it's seen the greatness of his priesthood. Yes, it is seen in the eternity of his office because he is a priest forever. He is the priest who has an unchangeable priesthood. He is an eternal priest. And so he is a great priest, he is a great prophet, and he's a great king. He is, he's a great king. The angel Gabriel spoke to Mary in Luke chapter one, and as he did so, he disclosed to her what was about to take place in her life. Round about there, verse number 32, it says, and behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth the Son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, he shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest, and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne, the throne of his father David, and he shall what? He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever and his kingdom. There shall be no end. Three terms that speak of the kingly office of Christ. He has a throne, He is reigning and he's got a kingdom. And what is said about this one who has this throne and has this kingdom and has and executes this reign? What does Gabriel say about him? It says that he shall be great. This is a great king. And every child of God who is walking with God can say he is a great king. None like him, none like him. Behold, God is great. But really what we have said today is simply setting forth off the truth, the greatness of our God. But how does this truth then apply to our own experience? Let me give just a number, and they are but a number, of words of practical and, I trust, personal application as we think about the greatness of our God. You see, it is because God is great that He's greater than any of your problems today. Whatever problems you're facing in life, He's greater than any of them. Life at a personal, family, church level has its many problems. Some problems we can share, some problems we cannot. And yet in Scripture I read that there is nothing too hard for God. And so He's greater than any problem you're facing today. Take your problem to Him, entrust it into the care of your great God, and wait His time for Him to sort out the very problem Yes, and he's greater than any of your enemies today. Greater than any enemy. No matter how bold or defiant our enemies become, God is greater than them all. All of Christ's enemies will become his footstool. And those who set themselves against him will be brought to nothing. God is great. He's greater than any enemy. and He's greater than any of your need. We think of all the physical needs that we have in life and then we add to them our spiritual needs and what an accumulation of needs we then have. And yet there is no need beyond the ability of our great God to supply. I read in Philippians 4.19, but my God shall supply all your need according to His riches and glory by Christ Jesus. God is great. He's greater than your sin. This is why you as a sinner can come to Him today, because there is great mercy, there's great forgiveness, there's great grace to be found in our great God. Where sin abounds, grace doth much more abound. our great God. I wonder, is there someone listening here today, and although God is great, you know Him not? Then come to know Him through the Son, and then you'll be able to testify how great the God of the Bible is. May we all leave this place of worship today extolling and praising our great God. And may our problems and our difficulties, may they dissipate and may they disappear as we consider how great our God truly is. May God be pleased to bless this, the preaching of his word today. Let's bow our heads in prayer. our most gracious and righteous Father, we come before Thee, the great God of heaven, and we rejoice in one who is greater than all our problems, greater than all of our enemies, greater than all of our needs. We rejoice in one who transcends all others, one who is supremely, supremely blessed and exalt it. We praise thee for one who is the one who delivers men and women from their sin by his great redemption and by his great salvation. O do that today. May men come to acknowledge the greatness of God. May they bow before him. And may they receive him as Savior and as Lord. And so bless. Lord, may thy day be that to our souls, thy day. And may we honor thee in all things that we do. Grant, Lord, the return of all to the gospel service this evening. And may many be brought to the Redeemer, we pray. We offer these petitions and prayers and through our Savior's precious and worthy name. Amen and amen.