December 1 2013 Steve Rahter Job 1 6-22

Sunday December 1stJob 1:1-22Two men saw an older churchgoing woman walking down the street. One of the men pointed to her and said to his friend, “I’ll bet you can’t mention anybody to old Miss Thompson without her finding something good to say about him.” The other fellow said, “I’ll take that bet.” “Excuse me, Miss Thompson” he said, “Do you mind telling us; what do you think of the devil?” Miss Thompson thought about it for a minute and replied, “Well” she said, “there is one good thing I can say about him, he never takes a day off!”You might have found that to be true in your life as well, that the devil never seems to take a day off from harassing you! As we continue studying chapter one of the book of Job we will see Satan working overtime to try and destroy Job’s life. Starting in verse 6:6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. 7 The Lord said to Satan, “From where do you come?” Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.”The “Sons of God” who are presenting themselves before the Lord refers to angels, and Satan, who was created to serve God as an angel, shows up. God asks Satan a question even though He already knows the answer. And so do we. We know based on 1 Peter 5:8, where the devil spends his time:“Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” Satan admits to God that he has been “roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.” And I’m sure that Satan has seen the results mankind’s sin. He’s probably even arrogant about it, waiting to point out humanity’s flaws, because Revelation 12:10 calls Satan “the accuser of our brethren… he who accuses them before our God day and night.But before Satan can start accusing anyone of being unrighteous, God beats him to the punch by bringing up Job as an example of someone who HASN’T given in to Satan’s temptations:8 The Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.”Isn’t it incredible that God can use Job as a testimony of what a life looks like when a man chooses to walk uprightly?It makes me think of what Jesus told His disciples in John 14:30 “I will not speak much more with you, for the ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Me.” That’s what Jesus could say, “Satan has nothing in Me. He has no part of Me. There is nothing about him that has gained access into my life!”Job could say that too. The question is; can WE say that?Satan is apparently upset with Job’s faithfulness, but he tries to excuse it away by arguing that it’s been EASY for Job to walk in righteousness because everything has gone his way:9 Then Satan answered the Lord, “Does Job fear God for nothing? 10 Have You not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 But put forth Your hand now and touch all that he has; he will surely curse You to Your face.”12 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not put forth your hand on him.” So Satan departed from the presence of the Lord.I want to stop here for a moment and address what I consider to be a common misunderstanding of these verses.Sometimes I hear people say, based upon verse 12, that “Satan has to ask God for permission before he can mess with me!”Well, yes and no. What we know clearly from these verses is that Satan had to ask God’s permission to torment JOB! We know that for sure because that’s what the verses say. We also know that God is sovereign, and that NOTHING happens that is beyond His power to make it turn out differently if He chose to.But what these verses DON’T say is that every time Satan wants to mess with ANY human being he has to stand in the presence of God and ask permission.Think about it this way – with all of the billions of people on the earth and only one Satan…seriously?Satan is not omnipresent. Only God is. Satan wanted to BE God but he’s not, so he can only be at one place at one time, and he can’t possibly be personally responsible for all of the misery in this world!What is more likely the case is that he has help from 2 sources:1.    Demons or other fallen angels2.    US!That’s right! WE contribute a whole lot of help to Satan’s desire to kill, steal and destroy when we walk in selfishness and cause suffering to those around us so that we can get what we want.The motto of the Satanic Bible is “Death to the weakling, wealth to the strong!”When we live our lives in a manner that seeks to increase our own wealth, fame, or social standing at the expense of those weaker and less fortunate than us, we are carrying out Satan’s plan for the destruction of mankind, whether we realize it or not.Does God allow us to do that? Yes, He gave us free will to use for good or for evil. Does Satan have to ask God to make us act that way? No, we do it all on our own!But, back to the story of Job. Here Satan DID ask for God’s permission to “touch all that Job has”, and we see the results of this in verses 13-1913 Now on the day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, 14 a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, 15 and the Sabeans attacked and took them. They also slew the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 16 While he was still speaking, another also came and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 17 While he was still speaking, another also came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three bands and made a raid on the camels and took them and slew the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 18 While he was still speaking, another also came and said, “Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, 19 and behold, a great wind came from across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people and they died, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”Don’t ever tell yourself you’re having a REALLY bad day if it doesn’t come close to THAT!People say that bad things happen in threes; for Job it was four. Four messengers, one after the other came with devastating news.• Some of your animals were stolen• The rest of your animals were destroyed by a freak firestorm falling from the sky• All of your workers were either kidnapped or killed• All ten of your children are dead.And Job had to face this news without two things that we all have:First, He didn’t know how the story would end. Fortunately for us, we do!Second, he didn’t have Jesus to turn to. We all know this important truth from John 16:33:“These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”But even without knowing where all of this was headed or why it had happened, Job kept his faith and his integrity:20 Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head, and he fell to the ground and worshiped. 21 He said,“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,And naked I shall return there.The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.Blessed be the name of the Lord.”22 Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God.Tearing your clothes and shaving your head were traditional ways to express grief and sorrow. People sometimes did those things at funerals. Job now had 10 funerals to face at once!But even in his deepest grief he WORSHIPPED!Job said, “I had nothing when I came into this world and I will take nothing with me when I die. Whatever I had was given to me by God. And if God chooses to take away some of what He gave me, that is His right! Blessed be the name of God, whether He is giving or whether He is taking!”What a righteous stand to take – the exact opposite of what Satan was hoping for!We are all going to experience various trials throughout our lives; hopefully not to the same degree that Job did.But no matter what we are facing the questions will always be the same:How do I respond? How do I view God in the midst of my adversity? Will I continue to worship Him when I don’t understand Him, or don’t understand why He’s allowing these things to happen?As you think about those questions, listen to this true story. It’s very appropriate for the season we’re about to celebrate.In 1741 an elderly man wandered, stooped over, through the streets of London. Bystanders recognized this bum on his regular route through the city. His angry mind raced back to the memories of the wonderful years he once lived. . . For forty years he had written opera music that was adored by in both England and Europe. He was honored and in-demand everywhere.Then things changed quickly and drastically. Fellow musicians became jealous of his success and a rival soon overtook his spot as the top composer.If that were not enough, a brain hemorrhage paralyzed his right side. He could no longer write music. Doctors gave little hope for his recovery.The old composer traveled to France and began to soak in waters rumored to have miraculous powers. Doctors warned him about staying in the scalding water for such long periods of time but he ignored their advice and gradually his weakened muscles began to receive new life. His health improved and he once again began to write. Soon, to his amazement, his works were being received with euphoric applause, and the honors again began to flow.But then he found himself in the pits once more after the death of Queen Caroline, who had been his loyal supporter. On top of this, all of England fell on hard economic times. Things were so bad they wouldn’t even spend money to warm the theaters, so his shows were canceled. He found himself once again wandering aimlessly through the streets. And once again asking, where is God in all of this?As he wondered home one day, he was shocked to find a wealthy gentleman waiting in his living room. The man’s name was Charles Gibbon.Charles explained that he had just finished writing words for a musical that covered the entire Old and New Testaments. He believed that the gifted composer was the right man to set it to music. He gave the lyrics to the composer and challenged him to write the music. As he walked out the door, Charles Gibbon turned around and said, “The Lord gave me those words.”The great maestro scoffed to himself at the audacity of the young man. Yet as he began to read the manuscript he was humbled and inspired by it. He read: “He was despised, rejected of men…he looked for someone to have pity on him, but there was no man; neither found he any to comfort him.”His eyes raced ahead: “He trusted in God…He will give you rest…I know that my redeemer lives… rejoice…hallelujah.”He picked up his pen and began to write. Music seemed to flow as though it had been penned up for years. At age 57, George Frederick Handel completed the entire Messiah in only 24 days. When the work was first performed in London, and the Hallelujah Chorus was reached, King George II stood up because he was so moved. To God be the Glory!