WHEN SATAN CONSIDERS YOU

Transcription

1 WHEN SATAN CONSIDERS YOU A. Jesus teaches us that it is foolish to lay up treasures anywhere except in Heaven (Matt 6:19-24)! 1. Job s prosperity, for example, appeared to give him much stability in life. a. He had a large household of servants. b. He had accumulated a kind of wealth that does not suddenly depreciate. c. His children were numerous enough to promise a long line of descendants. B. Yet beyond our view, the Spirit of evil stood before God, & an extraordinary conversation took place. 1. Satan challenged God over Job, & the Lord gave permission to remove Job s heavenly support system (Job 1:1-12, 8; 2:1-10) The Lord said to Satan, Have you considered my servant Job? [Has Satan considered you & me? Of course he has.] I. WHAT DOES SATAN CONSIDER US TO BE? A. He considers us a marvel (something to be amazed at). 1. When Satan finds a true Christian, he considers it to be a phenomenon: a freak of nature. 2. When God s people were physical Israelites, people were passively born into God s family. 3. But a Christian is someone who had to put great effort into coming into the House of God, & the Devil knows that very few people are willing to do that (Matt 7:13-14). 1

2 B. He considers us to be severely flawed. 1. He sees every flaw in our character as an open door to his devises (temptations) designed to cause us to sin (1 John 2:15-17; Jas 1:13-15). 2. In fact, he feels a kind of kinship to our flaws, because he has many of the same & has nurtured them for eons. C. He considers us to be barriers (to his ambitions). b. Or if he can tempt us to fill our hearts with hatred & predjudice toward our brothers & sisters in Christ. c. Or if he can entice us to be enraptured with a love for this world, then he will have robbed God of the praise He deserves from us. [Satan isn t omniscient, but after thousands of years of dealing with humanity, he has acquired vast experience. In some ways, he may understand human nature, & our own individual character, better than we do.] 1. He s not pleased with any attempt we make to preach the truth to the lost (cf. Eph 2:2). II. WHAT DOES SATAN CONSIDER ABOUT US? 2. He is not happy when a local church is at peace, & dilligently doing the Lord s work in love. A. Satan considers our spiritual weaknesses; the shortcomings of our character. (Job had few) a. So if he can cause us to worry or doubt the goodness & faithfulness of God 1. Like a horse-dealer, he looks us over from head to heal looking for flaws & imperfections. 2

3 2. But, because his is not God, Satan cannot know anything about us until we reveal it to him by our words or our actions; he can t see into our hearts. - HOWEVER, he cannot know what our weaknesses are until we open our mouths to speak or until we act in some way. 3. But once we do speak or act, then he has an advantage; he can say, Ah, I see! a. His weakness is sexual lust. b. She has racial prejudice. c. She is impatient & unforgiving. d. He is quick to anger. e. He is hungry for money & power. f. He is proud & never admits wrong. g. She is opinionated & harsh in her judgments. h. He makes excuses to avoid responsibility. - The best way to combat Satan is to pray for God s strength to overcome our lusts & to work diligently to overcome our spiritual weaknesses. - That s what it means to resist the devil (Jas 4:7; cf. 1 Pet 5:10); do that, & he will flee from you. B. He considers our state of mind at all times. (Job) 1. Satan knows when we are most vulnerable, AND he knows that we are often overtaken in a sin by simply not being observant at certain times. - Satan (the Devil) is the Tempter (Matt 4:3; 1 Thess 3:5); he is the arch enemy of man, & like a hungry lion he goes about seeking whom he may devour, & he uses our weaknesses against us (1 Pet 5:8; Jas 1:13-15). 2. One reason Peter tells us to be sober & vigilant, with respect to the devil, is because the devil had considered (tempted) Peter at his most vulnerable point (1 Pet 5:9; Mark 14:66-72). 3

4 C. He considers our associations. (Job) 1. Among some people you may scarcely ever sin, but among others you might scarcely stay pure - Satan knows this & tempts us accordingly. 1 Cor 15:33 Do not be deceived: "Evil company corrupts good habits." Prov 13:20 He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed D. He considers our physical condition & our secular position in the world. (Job) 1. He has different temptations for various people, based on their physical & mental health, or based on their position, capabilities, education, or social standing all these things can be doors through which he attacks. a. Those who struggle with mental or physical maladys are often tempted to despair & to lose hope in God & His promises in Christ. b. With regard to secular position, I remember an older Christian man trying to dissuade a young man from going to Law School. - He flat out stated, You can t be a Christian & be a lawyer. - Well, of course, you can but perhaps this older man saw a weakness in this young man s character that would have opened the door to great temptations if he pursued a carreer in law. E. He considers the objects of our affection. 1. For Job, that was his wife & his children. a. By blowing down the house upon his children when they were eating, Satan used the objects of Job s affections to turn him against God; Job s wife was also a handy tool. 4

5 2. What or Who are the objects of our affections? a. All our affections must be brought under the control of our affection for things above; family & possessions included (Col 3:1-4; 1 John 2:15-17). A. The Lord considered how far to let Satan infiltrate Job s life. 1. In respect to Job, God said, This far, & no farther ; He will do the same for us (1 Cor 10:13). [Satan was plotting to overthrow Job s faith & trust in God. But all the while, God was planning to quash Satan s influence in Job s life forever. God tells us that the devil (though a formidable enemy) is the greatest of all fools. He has more knowledge but less wisdom than any other creature. Satan didn t know that while he was tempting Job, he was answering God s purpose. So, from Job s experiences we can learn.] B. The Lord considered how to sustain Job during his trials. 1. He gave him friends. They didn t appear to be much help to him, but they did keep Job on his toes reasoning & thinking things through. a. There is a lot of good moral teaching done by Job s four friends, though their application was not correct in this case. A friend loves at all times, & a brother is born for adversity (Prov 17:17). III. WHAT DOES GOD CONSIDER ABOUT US? In Job s case (& the same would be true for the Christian). 2. Often times when you are feeling miserable it is just good to have Christian friends around, we should thank the Lord for them. 5

6 C. The Lord considered how to sanctify Job by this trial. 1. Job was obviously a better man & better off at the end of his trials than at the beginning. [So instead of influencing just a handful of people in one community, Job has touched all of history. The devil went out to destroy the name of Job, but God waited to exalt that great name of old.] a. Not only did God give Job twice the property he had before & a new family, but he now had twice the wisdom to face his future trials. 2. The trials of our lives can also be effective in sanctifying (preparing) us for our service. CLOSING A. These are some of the lessons we can learn from the book of Job. The two main points: 1. Satan will always be considering us he s looking for ways to ruin our souls & future (Jas 1:13-15; Rom 6:26). Rom 5:1-5 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, & rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4 & perseverance, character; & character, hope. 5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us The Lord made Job a famous man, whose name has echoed-out faith, patience & trust in God throughout the ages. 2. God, on the other hand, is considering us too He s looking for ways to teach us to trust Him & to prevent us from leaving Him. a. But we must commit ourselves in simple trusting faith to the care & keeping of God come poverty, sickness, or death. Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator (1 Pet 4:9). You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4). He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8).

7 "Yet in all these things (tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, sword) we are more than conquerors through Him (Christ) who loved us" (Rom 8:35, 37). If you have not trusted Jesus enough to obey Him won t you do that this very day? Hear the gospel of Jesus Christ: Mark 16:15-16; Acts 2; 3; 13; 17; Rom 10:17 Believe Jesus to be Lord and Christ, the Son of God and Savior of men: Acts 2:36; John 3:16; 8:24; 20:30-31; Acts 4:12; Heb 11:6 Repent and turn from sin: Acts 2:38; 3:19; 17:30; 1 John 3:4 Confess faith in Jesus Christ: Matt 10:32-33; Acts 8:37; Rom 10:9-10 Be baptized for the forgiveness of sin and your soul s salvation: Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; Rom 6:3-4; Gal 3:27; 1 Pet 3:21 Obey the word of Christ, He will be your Judge: Titus 2:11-12; Heb 5:9; 2 John 9; Rev 2:10; John 12:48 7