Page 45 - Job

because he can’t. The Devil can’t make you do it.
So in answer to the question: When does he work? The first answer is
when you let him. And Job did not let him. Job turned from evil. Satan
can only put the evil there. He can only suggest. He can only tempt. That
is why James 4:7 is so powerful. “Resist the devil and he will flee from
you.” Satan dreads man’s resistance. That is what that verse teaches.
Man can take a stand. That is why Satan is so cunning, and that is why he
is so silent, and that is why he “masquerades as an angel of light”.
Because man can say “no“ to his temptation. So the first answer to the
question “When does Satan work?” When we let him!
For the second part of the answer. Look at chapter 1, verse 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.” Chapter 2, verse 6

“So the LORD said to Satan, ‘Behold, he is in your power, only
spare his life.” When does he work? When you let him. When does he
work? When the Lord lets him. Satan has to get God’s permission before
he can touch a single hair on Job’s head.

If you compare chapter 1, verse 12, with chapter 2, verse 6, it looks like
God is giving progressive permission. Now I don’t know if it thrills your
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

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