Page 47 - Job
P. 47
Corinthians 15:22,
“For just as all men die by virtue of their descent from
Adam, so all such as are in union with Christ will be
made to live again.” Often we and the enemy are
confused by the Lord’s view of eternity!
I think one of the neatest verses on this would be in II Corinthians 12:7-12
The “thorn in the flesh” Paul was caught up into the third heaven and
saw great revelations of God. And then he said that he received the
“thorn in the flesh”, and he called it “a messenger of Satan sent to
buffet him.” Now watch. It was a messenger of Satan, but what was the
purpose of that thorn in the flesh? To keep him humble. Humility is not
the message of Satan; that is the message of God. It was a messenger of
Satan, but it was the message of God. God makes Satan work hard in
order to make better Christians out of His own children.
So why does Satan work? To accomplish God’s purposes. God knew Job;
Satan knew Job, but you would have never known Job, and I would have
never known Job. Mankind would never have known Job, unless God
allowed this to take place. That is why we are studying Job.
We sing songs like this: “Count your many blessings; name them one by
one,” and people preach about the idea – number your blessings. Do not
count sheep going over the fence when you are trying to sleep! Count
your blessings. Did you ever hear anything like that? I think if you went
to the most instructed group of Christians, those most trained in the Word,
and asked them to list their blessings; I don’t think you will find Satan on
their list. But perhaps he should be at the top. Think about it for a
moment. I would. I think one of the greatest blessings of my life is Satan.
I really do. I could not say that in many places and I wouldn’t say it
without and explanation. Would you be a better Christian if there were no
personal devil? Truth is, you would not. Proverbs 17:3 “The crucible
for silver and the furnace for gold: But the Lord tries the heart.”
If you can receive this, listen. I believe the greatest soul winner that ever
lived was Satan. I really believe that, because of Genesis 50 and verse
20 “You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.” Satan means it for
evil. He is going out trying to destroy. And everything he does, God turns
around for good. Thousands of people have come to Christ because Satan
meant them evil and God turned it to good. Satan is working night and
day in the service of the Lord.
Someone says, well, if he is as wise as you say he is, then why doesn’t he
know that it is turning out that way? The only answer I can come up with
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