Job's second test tonight as we look at Job chapter 2 verses 1 through 6 and consider how that applies to us. Of course, as you look at Job's life and look at the scene that we have of learning about Job and his experiences, it's really a foretaste of us to give us a realize what's going on behind the scenes in our own lives and to realize we are in a battle. So many times Christians forget they're in a battle. They forget that things are, you know, they want to be comfortable. We all like to be comfortable instead of, and we realize that he says in the book of Ephesians that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities. Okay, so we understand there's a lot of spiritual warfare going on. So tonight we're looking at verses one through six as we set up for Job's second test that Satan brings to him. The question I have before we begin tonight and look at the scriptures is, okay, how are you prepared for Satan's testing in your life? I mean, it's coming, right? We understand it's coming. Now, how do we prepare? I thought about 2 Corinthians 2 and verse 11 where Paul says, lest Satan should get an advantage on us, we are not ignorant of his devices. Just after finishing this sermon, I found one of those Puritan paperbacks Richard Baxter wrote on preparing for the devices of Satan. That'd have been really good to have, but I don't have it. Anyway, I recommend that book because Richard Baxter's a good man. Well, and it says in the book of 2 Corinthians 11, verse 3, that Paul says, I fear lest by any means as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, now watch this, so your mind should be corrupted from the simplicity that's in Christ. So many times our minds are gone off and we lose the focus on the simplicity that is in Christ. And 2 Corinthians 11, 14, he says, make no marvel, Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Regardless, we understand that it's coming and we need to be prepared for the test that Satan brings so that we would respond like Job did in the first test and also as we'll see as coming up in the second test. Remember what it says in the book of Ephesians chapter six, finally, brethren, be strong in the Lord and the power of his might, put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for this time in your word. We thank you for the good warnings that you give to us in your word as we look at the life of Job. Father, we pray that you would give us grace to be prepared for the attacks of Satan on our lives and realize what's going on. that he does not have complete control that you do, and that you are the one who directs, you are the one who restricts, and you are the one who gets glory as we hold on faithfully to you. Give us grace, oh God, to draw from this experience of Job and apply it to our lives as we pray that you would work in us by the power of your spirit as we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. So we'll look at the scripture and it says in Job chapter 2 and verse 1, the first word is again. I thought, I'm sorry, it's just ingrained in my mind. Every time I see something start again, I always think of Ronald Reagan when he was debating with Jimmy Carter. And Jimmy Carter kept yapping at him and he said, well, there you go again. So when we think about that, Satan is relentless. Okay? As we see this in Job's life, he's relentless in our lives. And we need to be prepared. Satan and his accusations are continuing on against us. He is ruthless. He'll never give up until the day that he's cast in the lake of fire. Remember Matthew chapter 24 or 25 rather says, then shall he say to them on the left hand, depart from me you cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. So we have to understand that's the final outcome. And in the meantime, Satan will not let up on us. He was not let up on us. He's always accusing us before God, but we have an advocate with the Father, Lord Jesus Christ, as we'll consider tonight. So the background of Job's second testing here is found in verses one through six, so let me read it. Again, there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the Lord. And the Lord said to Satan, from where have you come? And Satan answered the Lord and said, from going to and fro on the earth and from walking up and down on it. And the Lord said to Satan, have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil. He still holds his integrity, although you incited me against him to destroy him without reason. Then Satan answered the Lord and said, skin for skin, all that man has, he will give for his life, but stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face. The Lord said to Satan, behold, he is in your hand, only spare his life. So as we get to this, the first thing we understand that Satan is accountable to God. We have to understand that Satan is not going out to and fro and he's just striking wherever he will. He's accountable to God. God has a purpose for it and as we pointed out on the first test, we understand that God has a reason for Satan's adversarial work in our lives to draw us closer to God and to work in us so that we will please God by our response as Job's response is in the first test. Okay, so we understand here, isn't it interesting because as we see that the sons of God came to present themselves, I think as John Calvin pointed out, it's not like there was an accounting here. This is a constant action. They're always accountable to God. Every part of God's creation is accountable to God. Remember what it says in Hebrews 4 when he talks about the word of God, he says, that neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight, but all things are naked and open before the eyes of him with whom we have to do. Okay, so that's all of creation is giving account to God. So, okay, so Satan is included in that, and so the accountability of Satan, we have to understand, he is a defeated foe in one sense. In another sense, he is always striking at us. The defeated foe we find in Hebrews chapter 2, since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise took part of the same, the Lord Jesus Christ, that through death he might destroy the one who has power over death, that is the devil. And yet, the Apostle Paul writes in Romans chapter 16 that the God of peace shall soon crush Satan under your feet, and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. So we find, first of all, that Satan is there among the people, they're among the sons of God, the angels, and all of God's creation are constantly accountable to him. So Satan is there too. And so, okay, where have you been? And he says, I've been walking to and fro on the earth. Back and forth, back and forth. I heard this old preacher say one time, he is not omnipresent. I said, the God is omnipresent. God is present everywhere. Remember Psalm 46? He's ever present help in trouble, right? He's there with us. He doesn't have to walk to and fro. Satan is not like that. He walks to and fro. He walks up and down. Peter even describes that when he says, be sober-minded, be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. Resist him firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. So as we look at Job in this job, did a pretty good job of resisting Satan in the first in the first test. Right. And he came forth with flying colors. We'll talk about more about that in a moment. But this is why the apostle Paul recognizes that we need to put on the whole armor of God. We may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. And we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against rulers, against authorities, against cosmic powers, against the present darkness, against spiritual forces in the heavenly places. That says, folks, we're in a battle. That says we need to be understanding that we need to take on the armor of God. It's not a joke. This is really happening. And so part of that is how Satan attacks us, even presenting before God a reason that he could attack us, okay? So watch this. In the third point, we look at God's commendation of Job. Do you ever think about how much God takes pleasure in us? So many times we feel like God's mad at us or that God is such a stern God, okay? All you have to do is just look at people that are grandparents, okay? This afternoon when we had lunch, you know, you just notice Heath and Michelle with Marie, okay? And consider that how they look at little Caleb and Emma, okay? Grandparents see the good in what they're doing. All they have to do is just one thing, good, okay? Well, that's good, I mean, so think about how God looks at us. Many times people wonder whether we please God. Of course you do. Okay, number one, we please God because we're in Jesus Christ. But secondly, when we do our best to please him, to do what is right before him, he's pleased. I mean, you just look at the Ten Commandments. If you put away all other gods and you're seeking God and God alone, is he pleased with that? Absolutely. Okay, so here he points out, and if you'll notice what he says about Job, the Lord said to Satan, have you considered my servant Job? There's none like him on all the earth. And he repeats what he said back before the first test. He says he's blameless, he's an upright man who fears God and turns away from evil. And then he points out, by the way, he still holds fast his integrity, although you incited me against him to destroy him without reason. Okay, so we understand that God is actually, he is pleased with Job's response. Anytime God is pleased with us, and he's pleased often, I think, you know, when we're seeking to stay close to him and we're depending on the Lord Jesus Christ, we're spending time in prayer, ever notice that's when, boom, you get hit with a test, right? And what's happening is God is pleased, Satan knows he's pleased and says, now, let's test it. Okay, so that's what's going on here. This is kind of the insight. I know I've quoted it a time or two before, but hey, when we look at Romans chapter 15 and verse 4, it says, the things that are written aforetime, written in the scriptures, are written for our learning that we, through the patience and the comfort of the scriptures, might have hope. Well, it gives me great hope in going through this to understand what's going on. God is pleased, you know, when we're staying close to him. God is pleased when we're loving the brothers, when we're exercising our gifts. He's pleased with that. So whenever God is pleased, Satan is ready to attack because he's going to bring up a charge against you. and say, you know why Anthony's serving God so much? Because he likes the praise of man. And so God says, go and have at it. And that's what happened the last couple of weeks. Satan went at him, right? He was grounded at home for a few days, all right? One thing after another. He had a cold, and he had a back, and he had a foot problem, and one after another, right? And you said, hope there isn't seven here. So anyway, all right. So the first thing it says, when God was pleased, he says, although you incited me against him to destroy him without cause or without reason. Back then, we covered this last time, but Job's response, that he arose from the time that all these reports, seven reports, or these different reports, four different reports, he tore his robe, shaved his head, fell on the ground, and he worshipped God. And he said, naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. In all this, he did not sin or charge God with wrong. There's something about that that's, okay, he pleased God, and what he did, his response was right. So we have to understand, when we look at the things that happen to us in life, let's just back up and understand what God has said in the book of Isaiah 55, that he says, my thoughts are not your thoughts, and my ways are not your ways, says the Lord. Heavens are above the earth, so are my ways and the earth's ways, and my thoughts and your thoughts. We look at this and say, this whole thing about Satan just makes me sick. Why does God have to do it that way? Well, let's just understand. He's allowing Satan to attack us. He's restricted. He can only go so far. He's allowing Satan to track us that he might bring the response in our lives to draw us close to him, to worship him in the midst of affliction. Because it's really easy for us to worship him when everything is right and comfortable and good. And we just want, yeah, to stay right here. Let's sing kumbaya a little bit more, okay? But when it's tough, when things are tough, Okay, we have to rely upon the power of the Holy Spirit, and that's what happened. He's working that out in our lives so that he shuts Satan up time and time again. Okay, again from 1 Corinthians 2, verse 8, that if they had known what was going to happen at the death of Jesus Christ, they never would have crucified him. Okay, so Satan is total evil and corrupt, and he'd destroy the God's elect if he had the opportunity. When God allows Satan to do whatever he ordains, it is restricted and it is the exact same purpose as Job's affliction for us to have the opportunity to glorify God and to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. Again, God is saying, look at my servant Job and his patience and contentment from that first thing, that first reaction and how he came through with flying colors. I bring this patience and contentment because I read after John Calvin and John Calvin keeps bringing it up about Job. Patience and contentment. It sounds like another Jeremiah Burroughs, okay? No, see, Jeremiah Burroughs would have been more like John Calvin Calvin was first. But again, if you were to look at scriptures like James chapter 1 when he says, count it all joy, brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, knowing that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness or patience. Let steadfastness or patience have its full effect that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. Okay, so Job experienced that, the first test. And that's why God is commending him before Satan before the second test. Again from Philippians chapter 4, the Apostle Paul says, and I've learned in whatsoever situation to be content. I learned how to be brought low. I know how to abound in any circumstances. I've learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger and abundance and need, for I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." That's where our strength is, and that's where we come back to John 15, verse 5, when Jesus says, apart from me, you can do nothing. So we stay close to the Lord Jesus Christ, and that's how we find our strength to face the battles that Satan just brings and pounces in our lives to try to discourage our faithful focus upon the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Okay? So Revelation chapter 12, says that they conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony. Don't you love that? Those people that are conquerors in the book of Revelation. All right, let's look at Satan's accusation then in verse four where it says, he answered the Lord and said, skin for skin, all that a man has he will give for his life, but snatch out of your hand and touch his bone and flesh and he will curse you to your face. Isn't it interesting? He refused to admit that God was right. Notice, remember, God said, the Lord said to him, where have you come with any sin? Verse three, the Lord said to Satan, have you considered my servant Job? There is none like him on the earth, blameless and upright, who fears God and turns away from evil. He still holds past his integrity, although you incited me against him to destroy him. Okay, he doesn't answer that. He just turns it right away. Well, if you came against him, it says, all that a man has, he will give for his life, stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face. Let's understand that he's the accuser of the brothers. He, Satan, is the accuser of the brothers, and he is a liar. Right? John chapter 8, Jesus says, you have your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. That's what we're talking about. So he is lying about Job, but nevertheless, he makes an accusation. Let's understand, when Satan makes an accusation against us, where do we go? In the book of Romans chapter 8, verses 33 and 34, listen to this. Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? Yep. Okay. It is God who justifies. And who is going to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died. More than that, he was raised and he's at the right hand of God who indeed is interceding for us. God is the one who justified. So is Satan going to make an accusation before God about us? God's the one who justified us, right? And we have a good attorney, defending attorney, the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the one who died for us. and he's risen again, and he's at the right hand of God, and he's continually making intercession on our behalf. We're in good shape, aren't we? But nevertheless, if Satan makes an accusation, okay, and God allows him to come in our lives to disturb our peace for the moment, we have the power of the Spirit of God to respond even as Job responded. You understand that? That's important here. Satan may incite, and God may allow him to bring affliction, but it is only as God sees fit, and only within the restriction that God places on Satan, that not only that, but it is God who provides the grace to overcome. Let's understand, remember there's a text of scripture in the book of John chapter 10 verse 27, I love to quote it, it says, my sheep hear my voice and they follow me. I give unto them eternal life and they will never perish and no one is able to pluck them out of my hand. And he said, my father which gave them to me is greater than all and no one is able to pluck them out of my father's hand. So when we look at what Satan does, he brings all the things against us to try to destroy us. But he's restricted. And it is only God and his sovereign plan for us that has allowed it. And his plan is to maybe upset things for a moment, that we would turn to him and find superabundant strength as we depend on him, and give us grace to go through it, as the Apostle Paul found, my grace is sufficient for you, my strength is made perfect in weakness. And that's what Job was actually finding in the first test, my strength is made perfect in weakness. Sometimes we hear those words like in John chapter 10 verses 27 through 30 That no one's able to snatch them out of my father's hand and I my father are one Sometimes we we lose sight of that. There's a text of scripture. I like to refer to many times and there's an Isaiah 49 When Zion said to the Lord, you know, the Lord has forsaken me and my Lord has forgotten me You ever felt like that When you do, Isaiah 49 is a good place to go, verses 13 through 16. In verse 15, it says this. God speaks and says, can a woman forget her nursing child that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? He said, even though they may forget, yet I'll never forget you. Behold, I have engraven you on the palms of my hands, and your walls are continually before me. Now, that is so precious. It's so precious. He says, I have engraven you. Now, sometimes, you know, because of poetic license, you know, there are several songs that says he's engraven our names on his hand. No. He's engraven us. We're on his hand. Isn't it better to have us in his hand than just our name? Okay. It's not a tattoo. It's us. It's us, we're in his hand. This is why when things come in like a flood, we go to Isaiah 59, this is the King James, it says, when the enemy comes in like a flood, the spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him and say, no farther. Okay, that's what God says, it's restricted when he allows Satan to do what he's gonna do against Job, it's restricted. So the enemy seems to come in like a flood, but the spirit of the Lord lifts up the banner against him. That's what happened to the first time. Satan came in like a flood. Job lost his wealth, one thing after another, after another, and he lost his children. Okay, so there he is. And some people say, well, how long between tests? We don't know. I believe it was kind of short. But you don't know. And I mean, when you look at the reason his friends came from a distance to him, so the word had to get out. I mean, they didn't have internet at that time to get to, you know, somebody put on Facebook, oh, by the way, Job's having a problem. Oh, I think we'll go see Job, you know. The word had to get to him there somehow. So I don't think it was the next day. But it's probably somewhat soon in that. But I don't know. But even so, it was the second test here. So, when the enemy comes in like a flood, the spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him. We find the Lord said to Satan, behold, he is in your hand. Only spare his life. Let's understand, Job is not being punished or even chastised. Okay, remember what God said about Job. He said, have you considered my servant Job? There's none like him on the earth. He's a blameless man, upright, who fears God, turns away from evil, and he still holds fast his integrity. Okay, so he's not being chastised, or he's not being punished. Now, the word in Hebrews chapter 12, that when he says the Lord chastens those who he loves, the Lord disciplines, it can be translated as son training. Son training is that he allows things in our lives for a purpose. He disturbs the peace of our lives for a moment so that he might draw us close to him, so that we learn a lesson. That's called sanctification. We're being more and more made to conform to the image of Jesus Christ. So again, he says, if you consider my servant Job, the unconquerable steadfastness of Job is available to us as we take up the cross and fight the good fight. Listen to these words of the Apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 4 and verse 6. He says, I'm ready to be poured out as a drink offering. He realizes time is short on the earth. And he says, my departure has come. He says, I've fought the good fight. I've finished the race. I've kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award me on that day, not only me, but also those who love his appearing. Isn't it wonderful to see how men, you know, particular men, but all of us, when you come to the, you know, after you're, what, 30, you're on your downward spiral, you know, you're heading down, okay, I say, all right, so we're, most of us are in that second phase of life, okay, and are we going to finish well? Okay, when you look at Job, wasn't he finishing well? I mean, he's not finished. God hasn't finished with him, so God has given him strength that he does finish well, giving him a test. I mean, the apostle Paul, when you look at his life, is one test after another. Just read 2 Corinthians 11, all the things that happened to him, his shipwreck and everything else. So he says, now I'm ready to be poured out. You know, I'm not ashamed of anything. Not that he's bragging because God saw him through many, many circumstances and he held on tight to the God as found in 2 Corinthians chapter 12. When he prayed three times for that thorn in the flesh to be removed and God said, no, my grace is sufficient for you and my strength is made perfect in weakness. So he says, I fought the good fight and I've finished the race and I've kept the faith. We have to understand in Romans 8, verse 7, there's this thing called, he says, the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile. The mind that is set on the flesh is hostile. It does not submit to God's law. Indeed, it cannot. That's what we have to fight off. And here's the good news for that, because it's a battle not only against Satan, not only against the world, but against our own flesh. The Apostle says in the book of 2 Corinthians, he says, the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh with having divine power or to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God and take every thought into captivity to obey Christ. Oh, that's so important. You know, so many times people want to beat themselves up. I'll beat myself into submission. I think that Martin Luther did some of that. He was pounding himself on the back. You know, the way we conquer our flesh is to ask for help, to understand we're in this battle against the flesh and the flesh is pulling on us. We need to take captive every thought to bring it into captivity to destroy arguments and get every lofty opinion and to destroy strongholds. We do that by calling upon God. Let me give you a little secret. Sometimes, you know, I have difficulty when I'm praying. I start thinking of things. Does that ever happen? I call it monkey mind. You know, your mind, whoo, you're like a monkey going through the tree, right? And, you know, that really happens a lot when you're going to wake up. Does anybody else wake up in the middle of the night and you can't go back to sleep and your mind is thinking about everything? It's called monkey mind, you know, one thing after another. And so when it happens when I'm praying, I just, when I come to my senses, okay, sometimes it takes me a little bit to come to my senses, but then I say, Lord, I need help. And I ask the Holy Spirit, realizing that the Holy Spirit has promised to give us help when we pray, right? Romans 8, verse 15, he says, we have the spirit of adoption whereby we cry, Abba, Father. He leads us to pray. And then in verse 26, he says, we don't even know how to pray as we are, but the Holy Spirit helps us with groanings that cannot be uttered. So we need to bring every thought into captivity, and we do that with the power of the Holy Spirit. We have power against that. We have the power against the flesh and the world and the devil, and we can be victorious. But notice this word before we close out here. In 2 Timothy 1, verse 7, it says, God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and a sound mind. Okay, we have to stay on track and focus on the Lord Jesus Christ, focus on God, because we understand from this passage that just as Satan came against Job, he's gonna come against us, okay? And so it says, we need to have the, he's given us not the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and a sound mind. He says, therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me, his prisoner. to be partakers of the affliction of the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace in Christ Jesus, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, but now is made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. We need to preach the gospel to ourselves. We need the gospel. We need the gospel to say, you know what, you're not in this alone. You have the power of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have the power of the spirit to bring every thought into captivity. You have the power of the Spirit that will give you grace to go through this affliction. You have the power of Christ who said, I will never let you go. As we're looking at in Revelation chapter 7 this coming Thursday and the seals, we are sealed by God the Father, we are sealed by God the Holy Spirit, and we're sealed by the Lord Jesus Christ himself. We are triple sealed, okay? We're in good shape. But that doesn't stop Satan, and he will never stop till he is thrown in the lake of fire. He will continue to accuse us before God, and God will allow him to test us when he comes up with these accusations. Okay, go ahead and test my servant, Pat. Okay, and he will give us grace. There's an old preacher that I knew that, He would preach in this one church every year, and every year this old lady would invite him over to her house because she wanted to see him. And every year she'd say, Pastor, would you just pray that God would give me dying grace? And he would pray for dying grace. Well, this went on for a second and third and fourth year, and finally he said, Lady, I don't think you need dying grace, you need living grace. Because God who provides living grace will also provide the dying grace when that time comes. He's not going to give you dying grace before you need it, okay? And that's a good point to know, okay? Sometimes we say, well, how am I going to face the affliction if I had this affliction of Job and we start letting things go and we get in that monkey mind and we're going down the road and next thing you know, I wonder if I'll be faithful. We don't have to wonder, we just, we need to depend on God right now for this moment where we are, how we are, and that living in a dependent way upon the Lord Jesus Christ now will help you to face those uncertain times of the future. Let me wrap it up just by reminding you that God, or that rather Satan doesn't just bring affliction to anything, he just feels like it. He is answerable to God and only as God allows him to bring anything in our life will it happen, okay? When God allows it, he also restricts it. He says you can go this far and no farther. But God also provides grace for us that we might shine as a light in the world, and most of all, to shut the mouth of our accuser. I love that. And also that God will provide grace to overcome, and in the end, he gets the praise as we get the victory and depend upon him. And we come through with flying colors as Job did when he had the affliction of his wife. Why don't you just curse God and die? But that's next Sunday, okay? Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word. Lord, our heart goes out when we read this test of Job and first test and the preparation now for the second test. But oh, Father, we thank you that there is nothing, nothing at all that can come our way that slips through your hand that you have not restricted. And for which also you also, there's nothing that does not have your purpose in allowing it so that you would bring us through another situation in life where we depend on you and call upon you and see how you work in our lives. As we step back later and say, wow, how did I go through that? is by your grace and mercy. So father, we thank you for this passage of scripture. Thank you for each person that is here tonight. And thank you most of all for the truth that we have in our Lord Jesus Christ, that we will never, never be plucked out of his hand. And you who gave us to him will never let us be plucked out of your hand. And you and our Lord Jesus Christ are one for which we give you thanks and praise in Jesus name. Amen.