Not Against Flesh And Blood - [Job 1:6-12]

Bethlehem Bible Church iconBethlehem Bible Church

0 views

0 comments

00:00
This morning while you were driving to church in preparation for the preaching of the
00:07
Word, the fellowship of the brethren, the worship of our King, the evil one was preparing his flaming darts especially just for you.
00:20
Last night while you were sleeping, Satan was plotting against you.
00:28
This week while you were at work, the devil disguised as an angel of light was working also.
00:36
He was working overtime. While you were going about your week, whether it was an ordinary week or an extraordinary week like some of us who went to the shepherd conference, showing the heights of praises to our great
00:55
God and King to plumbing the depth of the riches of God's Word, your adversary the devil was prowling around like a roaring lion seeking to devour you.
01:08
Even while you're sitting here this morning listening to the Word of God, the father of lies wants to cast doubt upon the
01:16
Word of God by asking as he did from the very beginning, did God really say?
01:26
There are some today unfortunately who would have you find a devil behind every unturned stone. One of those men is
01:32
Peter Wagner who is a self -appointed apostle. He believes that there are apostles still today and to no surprise he considers himself one of them.
01:43
The last time I read my Bible, apostles were hand -selected by the incarnate Christ. Luke chapter 6 where Jesus went up to the mountain a whole night to pray came down and selected his apostles.
01:55
According to the Bible I've read recently, Acts chapter 1, an apostle had to be an eyewitness of the resurrection.
02:03
But yet Peter Wagner says he's an apostle. He's began what he calls the
02:08
New Apostolic Reformation and he has the audacity and gall of saying it's on the part of the
02:13
Protestant Reformation. He says that those who are in opposition to him are under demonic influence.
02:21
So I guess I'm under demonic influence. And this man quotes in terms of spiritual warfare that you need to take seminars to know how to defend yourself against Satan.
02:33
Quote, if you do not know what you are doing and if you do not have the necessary expertise,
02:39
Satan will eat you for breakfast. Another man of this thinking is
02:49
Neil Anderson in his book Bondage Breaker writes, quote, demonic influence is not an external force in the physical realm.
02:56
It is the internal manipulation of the central nervous system. End quote.
03:04
Great theologians and scholars, I guess. But what does the Bible say? Our final authority,
03:10
Jesus was tempted himself by the devil. Was he not in Matthew 4? Jesus referred to the devil in John 8 as a murderer from the beginning and the father of lies.
03:23
Jesus in his great high priestly prayer in John 17 prayed to the father saying, Father, protect them from the evil one.
03:33
Jesus knew the reality of Satan and so did all his apostles and even New Testament writers from Jude to John to James and Peter and even the
03:42
Apostle Paul. Listen to the Apostle Paul. First Thessalonians 3 .5. For this reason, when
03:48
I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain.
03:59
Or Paul says also in 2 Corinthians chapter 11 verse 3. But I'm afraid that as a serpent deceived
04:06
Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
04:17
We are not talking about as the world would have us think about someone with a pitchfork in his hand and two red horns.
04:27
Paul says in Ephesians 6, we do not wrestle against flesh and blood.
04:33
He says in 2 Corinthians 10, for though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh.
04:44
C .S. Lewis said in the screw tape letters, quote, there are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about devils.
04:53
One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe and feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them.
05:03
Close quote. So we want to look at what the Bible, our final authority says about our arch enemy, the devil.
05:12
So if you would turn with me in the Old Testament to the book of Job chapter one, the book of Job chapter one, beginning in verse six through verse 12, the oldest book of the
05:34
Old Testament canon, by the way, as we read through this text. Now, there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the
05:49
Lord. And Satan also came among them. The Lord said to Satan, from where have you come?
05:57
Satan answered the Lord and said, from going to and fro on the earth and from walking up and down on it.
06:03
And the Lord said to Satan, have you considered my servant Job?
06:09
That there is none like him on the earth. A blameless and upright man who fears
06:16
God and turns away from evil. Then Satan answered the
06:21
Lord and said, does Job fear God for no reason? Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has on every side?
06:32
You have blessed the work of his hands and his possessions have increased in the land. But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has and he will curse you to your face.
06:44
And the Lord said to Satan, behold, all that he has is in your hand.
06:50
Only against him do not stretch out your hand. So Satan went out from the presence of the
06:57
Lord. Because we're airdropping into this particular passage of Scripture, into this book, let me give you a little background.
07:05
First of all, the book of Job is not fiction. It is historical. And we know this for a number of reasons.
07:13
The opening statement, first of all, is similar to other books that introduce in the Bible historical events.
07:19
Look at verse one of this chapter one, for example. There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was
07:26
Job. Judges 17 verse one says, there was a man of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was
07:33
Micah. First Samuel one verse one. There was a certain man of Ramathim, Zophim of the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was
07:43
Elkanah. Historical events that are introduced in the same fashion.
07:49
Secondly, we know it is historical because Job is mentioned elsewhere in Scripture. Ezekiel 14.
07:57
And the word of the Lord came to me, son of man, when the land sins against me by acting faithlessly and I stretch out my hand against it.
08:05
And break its supply of bread and send famine upon it and cut off from it man and beast. Even if these three men,
08:13
Noah, Daniel and Job were in it, they would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness.
08:19
Or if I send pestilence into that land and pour out my wrath upon it with blood to cut off from it man and beast.
08:25
Even if Noah, Daniel, Job were in it as I live, declares the
08:32
Lord God, they would deliver neither son nor daughter. That's the prophet Ezekiel.
08:38
But it is the Lord God speaking. The Lord God mentions the name of Job. He was a historical figure that settles it.
08:45
If that wasn't enough, the land of those is mentioned in the prophet Jeremiah's lamentation.
08:51
Chapter 4, verse 21, he says, Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, you who dwell in the land of Uz.
08:59
It's a historical book, but it takes place during the patriarchal period. How do we know that?
09:05
First of all, we know that because of the length of Job's life, the length of Job's life.
09:10
In chapter 42 of the book, verse 16, it says, And after this,
09:15
Job lived 140 years and saw his sons and his son's sons for generations.
09:23
Abraham was 175 years old. Isaac was 180 years old. Jacob lived to 147 years old.
09:31
So Job, because of the length of his life, was happening during the patriarchal period. A second reason we know it was during that time is because Job's wealth was mentioned in this was measured in the same way as Abraham's and Jacob's, namely through his livestock.
09:49
And a third reason we know it is during the patriarchal period. If you look with me in verse 15 of our chapter and then verse 17, it mentions two groups of peoples.
09:59
Verse 15, And the Sabians fell upon them and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword.
10:06
And I alone have escaped to tell you. Verse 17, While he was yet speaking, there came another and said,
10:13
The Chaldeans formed three groups and made a raid on the camels and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword.
10:19
And I alone have escaped to tell you. Well, both those groups, the Sabians and Chaldeans, were nomads during the time of the patriarchal period.
10:29
So Job is a historical book. He's a real figure. The Lord God himself said through the prophet
10:35
Ezekiel. And it's also during the patriarchal period. So to walk you through this text to help you unfold this text before us in verses 6 through 12,
10:44
I have six headings for you as we walk through this text. The first setting is
10:50
Satan's presence. We see here Satan's presence. Verse six.
10:57
Now there was a day. Stop there. Now there was a day.
11:03
Look at verse 13. Chapter one. Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the oldest brother's house.
11:14
Look at chapter two, verse one. Again, there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the
11:21
Lord. This was not an extraordinary day. It was another ordinary day.
11:28
It was not a unique day that stood up, but just a regular routine day. The author's point is simply this.
11:36
The divine activity that we're about to study here is normal activity. It's not a one of a special of a kind activity.
11:42
This is what normally happens. It's just a day. And what happens during this day?
11:48
Verse six continues. When the sons of God came to present themselves before the
11:54
Lord. The sons of God, as we find later in the book of Job, chapter 38, verse seven, is a reference to angels.
12:04
So the angels are coming before the Lord God to present themselves before him. The question that we must answer is, for what purpose do they present themselves?
12:14
There are two. First of all, to receive instructions for the Lord. Why would the text say they came to present themselves before the
12:21
Lord? Well, to receive instructions. In 1 Kings, chapter 22, verses 19 through 22, you don't have to turn there, highlights this.
12:31
And Micah said, Therefore, hear the word of the Lord. I saw the Lord sitting on his throne and all the host of heaven standing beside him on his right hand and on his left.
12:42
And the Lord said, Who will entice Ahab that he may go up and fall at Ramoth Gilead?
12:47
And one said one thing and another said another. Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord, saying,
12:53
I will entice him. And the Lord said to him, By what means? And he said, I will go out and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.
13:02
And he said, The Lord said, You shall entice him and you shall succeed. Go out and do so.
13:10
They came before the Lord to receive instructions. And as we heard in 1 Kings, the Lord gave him commands to do their duty.
13:18
But they also present themselves before the Lord, not only to receive instructions, but to give a report.
13:24
A report of what, you say? Well, Hebrews chapter one, verse 14, tells us a little bit about that concerning the angels.
13:33
Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?
13:42
So they're also giving a report to the Lord God about those whom they are serving, the elect, those who will inherit salvation.
13:51
That's where they appear before the Lord. Now, what we're looking at in verses six to 12,
13:58
Job is not privy to, by the way. The author takes back the veil and shows us what's happening in heaven here.
14:08
So here are the angels appearing before the Lord to receive instructions and give a report.
14:14
And verse six continues. And Satan also came among them.
14:26
The term Satan literally means adversary. It's the most used title of him in Scripture, 52 times.
14:34
Of course, he has many other names and titles. The deceiver of the world, the accuser of the brethren, the devil, the god of this world, the ruler of this world, the father of lies, a murderer, the tempter, the evil one, the prince of the power of the air.
14:49
But his number one name and title is Satan, adversary. And as we'll see as this text unfolds, he is an adversary in this specific case against Job.
14:59
This account of Job is Satan's second appearance in the Scripture. His first is in Genesis 3, where he comes to Eve and says to cast doubt on the word of God.
15:11
Has God really said about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? In John chapter 8, verse 44,
15:20
Jesus said of the devil, he was a murderer from the beginning. In 1
15:26
John chapter 3, the apostle John said, the devil has been sinning from the beginning.
15:32
So from the beginning, he's been an adversary. He's been a murderer and he's been sinning.
15:40
His background is delineated a little bit more in Ezekiel, the prophet, chapter 28, where he says of Satan that he used to be an anointed guardian cherub.
15:51
It says of him, from the day you were created, so he's a created being. He is not God. Ezekiel continues and says of Satan, you sinned.
16:02
And he finishes that section by saying, your heart was proud. Isaiah the prophet builds on the pridefulness of Satan.
16:12
And no less than five times you will hear him say the phrase, I will. Isaiah 14, verses 13 to 14.
16:19
You said in your heart, I will ascend to heaven above the stars of God. I will set my throne on high.
16:26
I will sit on the Mount of Assembly. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will make myself like the most high.
16:36
Pride was his downfall. Our text says it was
16:43
Satan who came among them. But it also uses the term, if you would see there, and Satan also came among them.
16:52
Which begs the question, how is it that Satan is in the presence of the Lord? How is it that Satan is before a holy
17:00
God? How can that be? I'll answer the question with a question.
17:09
How can it be that the eternal son of God, the second member of the Trinity, cloak himself with humanity in his entire time while he's here on earth, never be marred by sin.
17:20
And live a perfect, sinless life, obedient to the Father. Revelation gives us a little insight.
17:29
Chapter 14, verse 10. He also will drink the wine of God's wrath, pour it full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels, and, watch this, in the presence of the
17:44
Lamb. Remember early on in our marriage, before we had children, we were living in New York, and after a long day, we'd go to bed together and be lying there half just exhausted.
17:59
And of course, my wife thought it wise at that time to ask me some deep theological questions. So she'd ask me as I'm lying dead some deep theological question, and my response to her would be
18:09
Deuteronomy 29 .29. She says, what does that say? I said, the secret things belong to the
18:16
Lord. Good night. So in like manner, we can conjecture how is
18:23
Satan before a holy God, the same way that Christ lived among sinful humanity, the same way that what we read in Revelation 14 would also be in the presence of the
18:31
Lamb. But nonetheless, here's a scene in heaven. God, the holy elect angels before him, giving a report, receiving instructions, and here comes
18:42
Satan. That's the first heading, Satan's presence. The second heading for our outline is sovereign plan.
18:51
The sovereign plan. Notice, if you will, in verse 7. The Lord said to Satan.
18:59
The text does not say Satan said to the Lord. God took the initiative, because even with Satan in his presence,
19:07
God is still sovereign. God took the initiative. The Lord said to Satan, from where have you come?
19:18
Interesting, the term Lord here in our text, verses 6 through 12, is mentioned seven times. It's the term
19:23
Yahweh, the covenant -keeping name of God, and the author wants to signify that God, Yahweh, is in a covenant -keeping relationship with Job.
19:31
If you were to read the rest of the book of Job, the term that is used is
19:37
Adonai, almighty, because this was happening during the patriarchal period. God presented himself as Yahweh in Exodus 3 later, but here in this opening scene, our author presents him as Yahweh.
19:52
What is Satan's answer to the Lord's question? Satan answered the
19:58
Lord and said, from going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.
20:04
What was Satan doing going to and fro the earth? Very simply, Peter puts it best in 1 Peter 5, 8, as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.
20:13
And in this case, he was seeking after Job. But again, notice the initiative of the
20:20
Lord. Verse 8, the Lord said to Satan, Have you considered, my servant
20:28
Job, that there is none like him on the earth?
20:35
God is presenting to Satan one of his servants, Job. And he highlights that there is none like him on the earth with four characteristics.
20:45
First of all, that he is blameless, blameless. In Hebrew, it literally means straightforward.
20:55
Job is completely blameless. He has integrity. He has spiritual maturity. The idea is what is said of Daniel in Daniel 6, verse 4.
21:23
But secondly, God says of Job, He is upright. This is in verse 8 still.
21:31
In Hebrew, it literally means he is ethically straight. His behavior, in other words, is in harmony with God's ways.
21:40
Third, he fears God. That's in verse 8, and at the end of verse 8, he turns away from evil.
21:51
The hallmark of Job's character was this, the fear of the Lord. All the other characteristics in Job's life, blameless, upright, and turning away from evil, flowed out of his fear of the
22:07
Lord. How do we know that? Look at Satan's response in verse 9. Does Job fear
22:13
God for no reason? Satan did not say, Is Job turning away from evil for no reason?
22:19
Is Job upright or blameless for no reason? No, Satan said, Does Job fear God? Because that is the overarching characteristic which all the others flow out of.
22:29
We also know that because of Job's response concerning the spiritual welfare of his own children.
22:34
Look at verse 5 of our chapter 1. No, verse 5 says continually.
22:58
Why did he do this continually for the spiritual welfare of his children? The fear of the
23:04
Lord. That's the sovereign plan of God.
23:10
Third heading for our text, Satan's plotting. Satan's plotting. We see it in verse 9.
23:30
And his possessions have increased in the land, but stretch out your hand and touch all that he has and he will curse you to your face.
23:39
Of course, this is Satan's plotting because he's true to his name. He's an adversary.
23:45
He's Satan. But notice, even in his plotting, Satan knows who is sovereign.
23:52
Notice in verse 10, he says, Have you, God, Yahweh, not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has on every side?
24:00
You have blessed the work of his hands and his possessions. Even in his plotting,
24:08
Satan knew his place in the presence of the Lord and the elect angels. The fourth heading.
24:16
Sovereign permission. We see here sovereign permission. Verse 12.
24:23
And the Lord said to Satan, Behold, all that he has is in your hand.
24:30
Remember, it was God, Yahweh, who took the initiative with Satan to present to him
24:36
Job. And after what Satan says to him here in plotting against Job, this is permission by God because he is sovereign.
24:46
Okay, Satan, all that he has is in your hand. I allow that. I permit that as the sovereign.
24:52
And don't forget, Satan is a created being, as the prophet Ezekiel has told us.
24:58
That we see here is sovereign permission. But fifthly, we see also sovereign parameters.
25:06
We see sovereign parameters. The second half of verse 12. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.
25:17
All that he has is in your hand, his possessions, his livestock, his family. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.
25:25
The sovereign God of the universe is putting parameters to Satan.
25:35
And then we see the sixth heading of our text. God here, he puts sovereign parameters after giving him sovereign permission.
25:44
And now we finally see here Satan's parting. Satan's parting. The last part of verse 12 says, simply so Satan went out from the presence of the
25:57
Lord. It's not like my children sometimes, and I'm sure those of you who have parents never have this issue.
26:05
But if I say something to my children, sometimes they'll stop and look back and say, but dad, there's none of that here.
26:15
Satan knows his place before the sovereign God. He just left his presence. We see at the beginning of the text,
26:21
Satan's presence coming into the presence of the Lord with the angels. And now after God gives him permission with parameters,
26:28
Satan just leaves. He doesn't put up a fight and say something else to the
26:33
Lord. But I want us to take away some lessons from this text, and we'll go into a little bit in a moment into the
26:41
New Testament to understand the full picture of what is going on here in this text.
26:48
The four lessons we can learn, I'm categorizing them into four categories concerning God, first of all, concerning Satan, concerning the church believers, and concerning unbelievers.
26:59
So let's look at lessons we can take concerning God. Number one, concerning God.
27:07
God is sovereign. Many say that the reason Job is in the canon of Scripture is because to show us human suffering.
27:16
Wrong. The reason Job is in the book of, is in the canon of Scripture is to show us that God is sovereign over human suffering.
27:24
Warren Worsby concerning the book of Job writes this, quote, from the outset, the writer reminds us that no matter what happens in this world and in our lives,
27:35
God is on the throne and has everything under control. Close quote. From the outset, as I highlighted, he is sovereign over Satan.
27:43
He takes the initiative with Satan. When Satan says to do something, it's only under God's sovereign permission and only under his parameters.
27:52
And even at the end of the book of Job, Job chapter 42 verse 2, Job himself makes a statement about the sovereignty of God.
27:59
And I remind you again, when Job went through his trials, he was not privy to verses 6 through 12.
28:05
He did not have this veil open to him before heaven. And yet at the end, Job says this, I know that you can do all things and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
28:18
God is sovereign even over human suffering. Secondly, we learn about Satan.
28:34
Where does Satan work? We saw here in Job that he works as the adversary by his name
28:39
Satan to as a roaring lion to seek and prowl and to devour, as Peter's epistle says.
28:47
But where does Satan work today? Let me give you three areas. Satan's work today is first and foremost in the era of evangelism.
28:56
Evangelism. Listen to what Jesus said in Luke chapter 8. The seed is the word of God.
29:02
The ones along the path are those who have heard. And then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart so that they may not believe and be saved.
29:14
That is why when it comes to preaching the gospel to our family and friends, we can't use humanistic philosophy or methodology or gimmicks because this is a spiritual battle.
29:24
The devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts. Paul put it this way. Satan's work in evangelism.
29:31
Second Corinthians chapter 4 verses 3 and 4. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.
29:39
In their case, the God of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel.
29:48
So I think with some clever methodology, I can open the eyes of an unbeliever.
29:54
Without the spirit of God, it will not happen. Paul says in 2nd Timothy 2 of Satan's work when it comes to us giving the gospel.
30:03
God may perhaps grant them repentance, leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil after being captured by him to do his will.
30:16
And nonbelievers ensnared to do the will of the devil. So when we give the gospel, we have to be mindful of that that apart from the spirit of God, yes,
30:24
God uses us as his voice, as his mouthpieces, and it is a privilege. But only the spirit of God can open the eyes and deliver one who's enslaved.
30:33
A second area that Satan works today is with false teachers with false teachers.
30:40
1st Timothy chapter 4 verse 1 Paul says now the spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and the teaching of demons.
30:57
In 2nd Corinthians chapter 11 Paul says also for such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen disguising themselves as apostles of Christ and no wonder for even
31:09
Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness.
31:18
Satan works amongst the false teachers of our day. One of the keynote sessions in at the
31:25
Shepherds Conference, Ian Murray, who's written many biographies, said that the reason over the years in history why evangelicalism has departed from a conviction to the inerrancy of the word of God is because Satan works amongst false teachers to draw them away from that.
31:44
But Satan not only works when it comes to evangelism and amongst false teachers. Thirdly, he works in the world.
31:51
That is why Paul says of him in 2nd Corinthians 4 refers to him as the God of this world. Jesus refers to him in John 12 as the ruler of this world.
32:02
He works in the world system, in the world's ideologies and philosophies and pattern of this world.
32:08
That's why Paul says in Romans 12 too, do not let the world conform, do not be conformed after the pattern of this world.
32:15
Or as J .B. Phillips put it, do not let the world put you into its mold because Satan is working through the world system.
32:26
What about the church? What can we learn about the church? The believer. Lloyd -Jones said this, quote,
32:31
I am sure that one of the reasons for the ills of the church is that the devil is forgotten.
32:39
So we're like people of the pendulum. We've gone the other extreme. After all the whacked out spiritual warfare named gurus and charismatics are finding a devil behind every stone.
32:51
Lloyd -Jones says it seems like the church is forgotten. The church that there is a devil. But what about for us?
32:58
What does the New Testament teach from our text here about believers? Four things I would say. The believer, number one, is comforted in suffering.
33:07
As a believer, you are comforted in suffering. That is why at the end of chapter one of Job, after his trials,
33:17
Job can say this, Job 121, naked I came from my mother's womb and naked
33:23
I shall return. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the
33:28
Lord. In chapter two, his wife says to him, are you still holding on to your integrity?
33:34
Curse God and die, she says to him. Job's response to her, chapter two, verse ten. So we receive good from God.
33:43
And so we not receive evil. We are comforted in our suffering.
33:49
Even the weeping prophet Jeremiah, who at one point in his life was suicidal. Jeremiah reveals to us the book when he wrote the book, the name by which says it all lamentations, even the book by the name of lamentations.
34:03
Jeremiah says this lamentations three thirty eight. Is it not from the mouth of the most high that good and bad come?
34:11
He is sovereign over both good and bad. That's why we are comforted in our suffering. That's why Job could say what he said.
34:19
In the 80s, there was a rabbi by the name of Rabbi Kushner who wrote a very well -known book when bad things happen to good people.
34:27
And with the loss of his 14 year old son, he was struggling to make sense of that. So because of that, he was approaching the book of Job, looking at through the lens of his experience rather than looking at the lens of his experience through the lens of Scripture.
34:43
And he says this, quote, Job is forced to choose between a good God who is not totally powerful for a powerful
34:50
God who is not totally good, chooses to believe in God's goodness. He continues.
34:56
God wants the righteous to live peaceful, happy lives. But sometimes even he can't bring that about.
35:02
It is too difficult even for God to keep cruelty and chaos from claiming their innocent victims.
35:10
I don't know about you, but I'm glad that's not the God of the Bible. Spurgeon, there is no attribute of God more comforting to his children than the doctrine of divine sovereignty.
35:21
Under the most adverse circumstances, in the most severe troubles, they believe that sovereignty has ordained their afflictions as your adversary, your arch enemy,
35:35
Satan comes against you. Do you believe that God and His sovereignty has ordained all your afflictions in your life?
35:43
But not only are we comforted from affliction, but also as believers, we are protected from Satan.
35:50
We are protected from Satan. The apostle John says in his first epistle, chapter 5, verse 18, he who was born of God, referring to Christ protects him and the evil one cannot touch him.
36:03
First John 4, 4, you are familiar with these words. He who is in you is greater than he who is where?
36:09
In the world. Thirdly, the church believers are to resist
36:16
Satan. We are not to run after him. We're not to run after him or to resist him. After Peter describes him, describes him in first Peter 5, 8 as a roaring lying, seeking to devour and prowling.
36:29
He says in the very next verse, resist them. James chapter 4, verse 7 says the same thing.
36:35
Resist the devil and he will flee from you. He's chasing us after all.
36:42
We are not to chase after him. And finally, as we close, if you would turn with me to Ephesians chapter 6.
36:54
Fourthly, the believer, not only is the believer comforted in suffering, not only is the believer protected from Satan, not only are we to resist him, but also we are to use the armor of God, Ephesians 6.
37:09
We're not to go to Peter Wagner's seminars on spiritual warfare. What does the
37:15
Bible say? How do we resist Satan? You know, second Peter says in chapter one, he has given us everything pertaining to life and godliness and in resisting
37:24
Satan, our arch enemy, our adversary, he's given us the armor of God. Beginning in verse 11, put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
37:37
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
37:48
Therefore, take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand firm.
37:56
Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth and having put on the breastplate of righteousness and that shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace in all circumstances, take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.
38:20
I would have you notice that the first three of our armor are foundational for this simple reason.
38:25
They are objective truths. They are objective truths. How do we know that? Because the verb tense form that's used in those three is past.
38:33
Notice verse 14, having fastened on the belt of truth, having put on the breastplate, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.
38:43
These are foundational truths, which means that Paul had spent Ephesians one to three talking about our union with Jesus Christ, that we are no longer in Adam, but we are in Christ.
38:55
And because of our union with Christ, we have these three armors, whereas before he says we were spiritually dead in our trespasses, we've been made alive.
39:04
We have been chosen by God from eternity past in Ephesians one and chapters two also. So the first armor is the belt of truth.
39:13
A Roman soldier would have a tunic, and in order to keep his tunic up from stumbling as he was engaged in battle, he would wear a belt and he would, as Peter puts it, gird his loins.
39:25
The belt of truth, since we are united with Christ, which we are in Christ, of course, is we are in the truth.
39:31
Jesus Christ is the truth, but it also refers to the word of truth, which is the
39:36
Bible, so that we don't stumble over false teachers. We have Jesus Christ the way, the truth in the life, and we have the word of truth, the
39:45
Bible. The second piece of armor is the breastplate of righteousness, the breastplate of righteousness.
39:52
Again, this is because of our union with Christ, and because we are in Christ, what Paul is saying here, we have the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ imputed, credited to our account.
40:06
Three imputations, Adam's sin imputed to mankind, our sin imputed to Christ on the cross, and for those who turn to him, his perfect righteousness imputed to us.
40:20
And Paul is saying, in your fight against the devil, remember that you have Christ's perfect righteousness imputed to your account, so that the
40:28
Father, when he looks at you positionally, he looks at you as righteous as Christ. The third piece of armor is the shoes, shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by what?
40:42
The gospel, interesting how he phrases it here, of peace. Again, these are foundational truths, objective truths, because of our union in Christ, with Christ.
40:52
The gospel of peace, because before Christ, we were at enmity with God. God was our enemy.
40:59
But now, through Christ, we have peace with God, Romans 5 .1. Having been justified by his blood, we have peace.
41:07
The last three pieces of armor are subjective. They are ones we are to seek to take up daily, whereas we understand the first three are objective truths, and we notice the present verb tense of the last three.
41:21
In all circumstances, you'll see the verb take, take, take. The first thing we are to take up is the shield of faith.
41:30
A Roman soldier, the shield pretty much covered his entire body from his neck down.
41:36
It was fairly big. And Paul uses that metaphor to say, what does the shield of faith do?
41:43
With which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one. It's not, as some would have it, how much faith you have, but it's the object of your faith.
41:52
It's not trusting in yourself, but trusting in God. It's not trusting in yourself, but it's trusting in his word, standing on the promises of God.
42:03
That's your shield of faith, by which you can extinguish the flaming darts of the evil one. The fifth piece of armor, take the helmet of salvation.
42:13
Take the helmet of salvation. This means two things. It means, first of all, to be aware of your salvation.
42:22
Paul, again, is not writing to unbelievers. He's writing to those who have been dead in trespasses, but God has made alive.
42:28
He's writing to those who have been chosen in Christ. So he's not talking about to receive salvation, but having already had salvation, you are aware that God has saved you.
42:37
He's talking about, in essence, assurance. Pastor Mike addressed that last week, assurance of salvation.
42:44
And that is why it's the helmet, because what is Satan's tactic from the very beginning? Has God really said you're saved?
42:54
He wants to cast doubt on the work of God in your life. And of course, the head is a vital blow in the combat.
43:02
So we take on the helmet of salvation, look into the word of God, looking over those passages that we walked through last time on assurance.
43:10
But it's also further than that. It's referring to our future salvation. For example, in 1
43:15
Thessalonians chapter 5, verse 8, Paul talks about the helmet, putting on the helmet of the hope of salvation.
43:23
In Romans chapter 13, verse 11, Paul says, for salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.
43:32
So he's saying we believe, but it's nearer now in the sense that our future glory. So we're to look to the hope of glory.
43:38
That is our salvation. Salvation is full of justification, sanctification and glorification.
43:46
And last but not least, the sword of the spirit, which is what? Spiritual warfare seminar.
43:54
The sword of the spirit is the word of God, the inerrant word of God. Now, mind you, when
44:00
Matthew wrote his gospel, Matthew's authorial intent was to present Jesus Christ as the sinless king and Messiah.
44:07
That's why Matthew 4 is in there when Satan tempts Jesus. But secondarily, we can learn how Jesus used the sword of the spirit there.
44:14
The term for word of God, there's two terms in the Greek use for the word, the term word in the New Testament.
44:20
One is a term logos, logos. Some of you know that for techies. Logos means the entirety of scripture, the whole counsel of God.
44:31
But that's not the word that's used here. The word that's used here is the Lima, which means a specific saying, a specific saying.
44:39
So you can use the word of God as a sort of the spirit when the devil comes to tempt you.
44:49
How about last but not least for the unbeliever? The scriptures are very clear upon this as it relates to Satan in Jesus's own words.
45:00
John 8, 44. You are of your father, the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires.
45:09
The apostle John said in 1 John 3, verse 10. By this, it is evident who are the children of God and who are the children of the devil.
45:21
As you sit here this morning, you're either a child of God, the scripture says, or you're a child of the devil.
45:29
My question to you is, who is your father? Is your father the devil?
45:36
Or is it God Almighty? You need to turn away from self, turn away from all your religiosity, from all morality you might be holding on to, which is nothing before God, and turn to Jesus Christ alone.
45:51
Augustine said it best, man is like a horse and he can only have one of two riders.
45:58
Who is your rider this morning? One man in history who really knew about our adversary was
46:07
Martin Luther, considering what he went through. And he wrote a powerful hymn called
46:12
The Mighty Fortress is Our God, which we will sing in a moment. For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe.
46:21
His craft and power are great, and armed with cruel hate on earth is not his equal.
46:27
And though this world with devils filled should threaten to undo us, we will not fear, for God hath willed his truth to triumph through us.
46:36
The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him. His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure.
46:46
Let's pray. Father, thank you for the clarity of your word.
46:51
Thank you for the inerrancy of your word this morning. And thank you even for the book of Job, the portion we looked at to see,
46:59
Father, that you are sovereign over human suffering, you are sovereign over Satan. We pray for anyone here who is not saved, who is relying on themselves or on their own morality or on their own religiosity.
47:12
And Father, I pray that you would do work in their hearts through the spirit of God, because we know that the
47:17
God of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers. Would you open their eyes that they might turn to Jesus Christ and him alone?
47:23
And for those of us whom you saved, we thank you, Father, for the truth that you have not left us alone, but you have given us the full armor of God that we are to put on as we resist the devil, our adversary.