Page 44 - Reading Job to Know God

heart to know that God says to Satan, “this far and no further”. You can
go this far, but you cannot take another step. Satan can’t lift a little
finger against you unless God gives him permission. I think the greatest
example of that is Mark chapter 5 in the New Testament. Satan comes
begging for permission to go into the herd of swine. He cannot even go
into a pig unless he has God’s okay.
Let’s give Satan the benefit of the doubt. It is his circumstances. It is his
storm. It is his diseases. The devil brings these things. He arranges
adverse circumstances. But watch. When he does, it never goes beyond
God’s sovereign control. When can Satan bring a storm in my life? When
Jesus Christ my Savior, lets him. When can Satan bring disease in my
life? Only when Jesus Christ my Savior, the lover of my soul, lets him do
it. He must get God’s permission. When the devil brings a storm into my
life or into my family’s life, it is never for a lonely second out from under
God’s sovereign control.
Let me put it very clearly and say this. Satan never attacks you by
accident. He never does. God has said to Satan, Have you considered My
servant Pat? Or Jim. Or Bill. He always does it that way. Some people
have this idea that Satan just hates God, and so he arbitrarily attacks all of
His children. It is not so, not in a million years. God is the One who loves
you so much. God brings your name up to him. The way some Christians
grieve about Satan, you would think that God had nothing to do with their
lives. You would think that God had nothing to do with what is
happening.
WHY DOES SATAN WORK?

All right, let’s move on to the fifth question. Why does Satan work? The
answer to this question goes a little beyond the first two chapters.
Actually, it includes the whole book of Job. Why does Satan work? Let
me give it to you in the words of James 5:11, “You have heard of the
endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings,
that the Lord is full of compassion and merciful.” Personally, I like
the King James better. “You have heard of the patience of Job and
seen the end of the Lord.” “The end of the Lord”. If you read Job, it
looks like you have seen the end of Job. What it means is we have seen
the end that the Lord had in mind.
Why does Satan work? Here is the answer. To accomplish God’s
purposes. That is why he works. I love to relate the end of the book to the
beginning of the book. Was Job a better Christian before Satan did his
work on him or after? The answer is an unabashed after! Without fear of
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