Once again, we are turning to Job chapter 1. And our verse for today is once again that verse 19. Whenever perhaps the heaviest blow of all came and fell upon Job and his wife, and behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness and smote the four corners of the house, And it fell upon the young men. And they are dead. And I only am escaped alone to tell thee. Just briefly, let me remind you of the point that we dealt with last Lord's Day. We considered Satan's visitation upon Job. We considered the hour Because we are told in verse 13, and there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house. It was just at that time, that particular day when Job's family, children, were together and celebrating in all probability the birthday of one of their brothers or sisters. It was then that the first part of the bad news came to the ears of Job. It was, without a doubt, an unforgettable day. It was an unparalleled day. Job had never had a day like that in his life, when he lost so much. We noted the hour, and then we noted the hand. When Satan came before the Lord, he said, Put forth thine hand now. Touch all that he hath. And we pointed out that the word power that the Lord referred to with regard to Satan. And the Lord said, Behold all that he hath is in thy power. The word power means hand. And we noted that the hand of Satan was against Job. We noted also, particularly, that there were things that the hand of Satan could not do and could not perform. And Satan simply moved the Lord to perform these matters namely, particularly rather, the fire that fell from heaven and the strong wind that came from the wilderness and blew upon the house where Job's children were meeting. Satan did not have the power to perform those tasks. Those tasks were performed by the Lord. And yet at the same time, Job was completely unaware of why these things had happened to him. He was, as we have pointed out over and over again, he was an upright man. The Lord said there wasn't a man like him on the earth. He feared God and eschewed evil. And yet all these calamities came and fell upon him, and he didn't know why. And as we pointed out, there are times in our lifetime when things will happen to us, and we'll not know the reason why, because God's ways are above our ways. And God is working in a way that is unknown and unseen by us. So that when these troubles and trials come, we need to recognize, just as Job did, that this is the work of the Lord. The Lord is working something out. The Lord is doing something with me that I know nothing about. But as we pointed out, whatever the Lord allows to come our way, We may not see it. We may not understand it. But we are familiar with Paul's words. All things work together for good. To them that love the Lord, to them that are called according to His purpose. Romans 8 and 28. And while Job could not see it at the time, yet we know, we know the end. of all Job's trials. We know what happened to him. But Job did not know at that time how it would all end and how it would all turn out. But remember what Job said? Job says, He knoweth the way that I take. And when He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold. I will be a better man. I will be a better Christian. So, we noted last time Satan's visitation upon Job. Today, I want to consider Satan's vindictiveness against Job. The Lord Himself revealed what Satan wanted to do to Job. We read in chapter 2 and verse 3, And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God and astuteth evil? Do you notice something there? These were the same words that the Lord used to describe Job before he lost all his possessions, and before he lost his children. Because in chapter 1 and verse 8, the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth? A perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God and escheweth evil. And you go to chapter 2 and verse 3, and it's the exact same words. In other words, the Lord was saying to Satan, even though he has lost his oxen, his beasts of burden, his cattle, his sheep, his camels, his children, he's still the same man. Job hasn't changed. You know, sometimes when difficulty comes to an individual, it changes them. It has such an effect upon them that it changes them. It maybe hardens their heart. They perhaps are not as zealous for the Lord as they once were. They don't attend to the things of God as diligently and zealously as they once did. And think that something has happened inside in their heart. And they're not the same. But here's Job. Job is lost. everything he possessed. And yet, God in speaking about Job indicates, My servant Job hasn't changed. He's still the same man. What a testimony that is! What a testimony it is to the grace of God! But then the Lord went on to say, and still, He holdeth fast His integrity, although thou movest Me against Him. See, that explains then the fire falling from heaven, the wind coming from the wilderness. God did it. There's the Lord saying that He sent the fire and the wind, because, he says, thou movest me against Job. And what was Satan's purpose? To destroy him without cause. That's what Satan was about. There you have the severity of this vindictiveness. That word destroy means to swallow up or to devour. Of course, this is in keeping with the one who is the roaring lion. There you see the unity of Scripture again. There you see the unity of the consistency of teaching in Scripture. Peter said, were to be sober and to be vigilant. For your adversary the devil goeth about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." And the very word that the Lord used to describe Satan's intention is the same thought, to devour. It has moved me to destroy or devour him without a cause. It's not the way that the lion goes about devouring. That's what Satan, the roaring lion, wanted to do with Job. Wanted to devour him. As a lion would devour a piece of raw meat. There's the severity. Remember what Satan did to Job. Satan practically took away everything that Job possessed. Listen, 5,000 yoke of oxen, 500 she-asses, and the servants. Verses 3, 14, and 15. Then 7,000 sheep, verse 3 with verse 16, and the servants there also, verse 16. Also 3,000 camels, and the servants there were slain also, verses 3 and 17. Now Job's fields are empty. Job's fields are bare of all the livestock that Job had. They're gone. And you know what it's like for a farmer when a farmer loses his cattle. It's like losing part of himself or part of his family. But then Satan did not stop there. Here is the severity of his vindictiveness. He then took away Job's children. Ten children. Seven sons and three daughters. Can any of us imagine what it would be like to lose one son or one daughter? But think of what it must have been like for Job to lose ten children. To have to go out and dig ten graves. To have to lure into the earth seven sons and three daughters. Why was Satan so vindictive? Yes, because he was a man of God. We've already pointed that out. The more holy, the more spiritual a Christian is, the more vindictive the devil or Satan will be against that Christian. If a Christian is worldly and carnal and fleshly, Satan will leave that person alone. But the child of God that seeks to live above the world and live for the Lord, that's the one that Satan will be after. But there's something else. There's another reason why Satan was so vindictive and so severe in his dealings with Job. Look at verse 10, chapter 1. Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? Here's the heart of the matter here. Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. Satan recognized that the Lord had blessed Job. Blessed him with seven sons and three daughters. Blessed him with 7,000 sheep and 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 she-asses, and a very great household. Satan recognized how God had blessed Job. And what did Satan want to do then? He wanted to take away God's blessing from Job. He wanted to steal the blessing of the Lord from Job in the form of his sons and daughters and all of his cattle and livestock. And dear Christian, That's what the devil is about. For here we see Satan stole from Job every blessing Job received from the Lord. That's his business. And maybe, Christian, you've already experienced that. You've been blessed. Your heart has been lifted up. And you've been blessed in your soul. And you've lived in that blessing for a few days. And then Satan has come and tempted you. And you've yielded to temptation. And the blessing is gone. And you're grieved in your heart. Because you yielded to the temptation. That's his business. He wants to empty that cup that the Lord has filled, that cup of blessing. He wants to empty it and leave us with an empty cup. We long for blessing. We pray for blessing. We ask the Lord to bless us, bless our church, bless our families. And you can be sure that when the Lord does bless us, Satan is right at hand to take the blessing away. Turn please to Mark 4. Mark chapter 4. The Lord tells the story of the sower. Mark 4, verse 3. Hearken! Behold, there went out a sower to sow. And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the wayside, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up. The Lord went on to tell the rest of the parable. There were some aspects of the parable the disciples didn't understand. And after, when they were alone with the Lord, they asked Him to explain the parable to them. And that's what the Lord did. We have read verse 4. about some the seed falling by the wayside, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up. And the Lord then explained that to the disciples, what He was meaning, what spiritual teaching He was giving them. Look at verse 15. And these are they... He's interpreting the words of verse 4. These are they by the wayside, where the Word is sown. But when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately and taketh away the Word that was sown in their hearts. Satan cometh immediately and taketh away. He steals the Word out of the heart. And there we can see his business explained for us by the Lord Himself. And dear Christian, we can sit in the Lord's house and receive a Word from God. And we can go home and say, that word blessed my heart. That word was food to my soul. You can be sure Satan's at your elbow. As he stood at the elbow of Joshua the high priest in Zechariah 3, So Satan will stand at your elbow and the blessing that you have received through hearing the Word and receiving the Word, he's there to steal it away. And he'll do all that he can to steal from you the blessing you have received from God. That's what he was about in Job's life. That's what he said. Thou hast blessed the work of his hands. Thou hast prospered him. But take that all away, and he'll curse thee to thy face." It was his business to take away the Lord's blessing. Another example. Matthew 16. Turn to Matthew 16. Matthew 16, verse 15. The Lord is addressing His disciples. And He says in Matthew 16, verse 15, He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? Simon Peter, usually the first to answer. Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Couldn't have given a better answer than that. Now look at the next verse. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou. Peter has received a blessing from the Lord. Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood is not revealed unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. He's been blessed. Because of what Job or Peter said, thou art the Christ of the Son of the living God, the Lord said, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah. Now we go down a few verses. Verse 21, From that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders, and sheep, priests, and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord, this shall not be unto thee. And he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan. The blessing has gone. The blessing has been stolen. Satan was behind what Peter had said. Because, you see, the Lord had been telling them about Calvary. He was telling Peter and the other disciples that he had to go to Calvary. Why had he to go to Calvary? He had to go there to purchase salvation for his people. And here's Peter. And Peter took him and began to rebuke him and said, Be it far from thee, Lord. This shall not be. Peter didn't know what he was talking about. Satan was behind it. Satan was telling Peter, as it were, to stand in the way of the Lord as He made His way to Calvary. Peter said, This shall not be. And lo and behold, the Lord Jesus turned and said, Get thee behind me, Satan. You see what happened? Just a short time before, the Lord blessed Peter. He didn't enjoy that blessing very long until Satan came and stole the blessing away. They lost the blessing. You can be sure, dear Christian, you can be sure, when the Lord blesses you in a particular and special way, the devil will be out to rob you of that blessing. So when you are blessed in a special way, guard that blessing. As it were, stand watch over that blessing. And be careful. Be vigilant and be sober. Because the devil will want to steal it from you. So we've noted the severity We notice also the swiftness. Satan wanted to inflict as much pain on Job as he possibly could. And in seeking to do so, he was relentless in his attack on this great man of God. If you look carefully, you will gather that all that is recorded in the verses we read today, verses 13 to the end of the chapter, we mentioned in passing last week, all that we read that took place and happened to Job, that's recorded between verses 13 to 19, it all happened in one day. Look at verse 13. And there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house. Then came the messenger. And the Sabaeans had come, taking away the oxen and the beasts of burden. And the servants had been slain. And then the sheep and the servants had been slain. And then the camels and the servants had been slain. And then we get to verse 18. And while he was yet speaking, there came also another and said, Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house. That's what we read in verse 13. And whenever the next messenger came, it's the same day because the brothers and the sisters are in the house eating and drinking. So it's all the same day. And you think of the losses that Job experienced in one day. From sunup to sundown, Job lost all that he had. all that he possessed, every blessing the Lord had bestowed upon him as far as material and family things were concerned. There's the swiftness of how Satan worked. I tell you, he's not slow. As we have just read in the parable, The seed was sown and immediately Satan came and stole away the seed. Immediately! And here is Job and he's at the mercy of Satan. But the problem is, Satan shows him no mercy. Neither to Job, nor does he show mercy to anybody else. There's no mercy with the enemy of our souls. You think of it, Job had hardly time to draw a breath when a messenger came. Now you look at those references to the messengers and we may wonder, well, how did a messenger escape? Do you know what I believe? While Satan had the power to slay the servants and take away all the possessions that Job had, he spared one man so that that one man could run to Job's house and inflict more pain upon him by saying, You've lost your camels. You've lost your oxen. Another messenger came and said, you've lost your children. It was as if that messenger came with a sword himself. And every messenger who came to Job, came and as it were, ran through Job with the sword. Just as Simeon told Mary, with regard to the Christ child, that she would feel the pain of the sort, referring to Christ's sufferings, the sufferings of her son. If you look at verse 14, And there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were ploughing, and the asses feeding. beside them, and they're gone. Verse 16, while he was yet speaking. While one messenger was telling the bad news to Job, another was at Job's doorstep. For the next verse, while he was yet speaking. Verse 17, while he was yet speaking. While these messengers were passing one another as they went to Job's house. Verse 18, while he was yet speaking, it was just as it were a conveyor belt of bad news. That shows us just how quickly Satan wanted to destroy Job. Remember what he said to the Lord? He said, Put forth thine hand now. Now when he said, put forth thine hand now, take away all that he has, and he'll curse thee to thy face. Satan couldn't wait. And when the hedge was drawn back, he couldn't wait to take from Job everything that he had. But you know, yes, Job was a holy man and that's why Satan attacked him. Job was a blessed man and that's why Satan attacked him. But there is one person who is more holy than Job and more blessed than Job. And that one person is Christ. We think Job suffered much. Christ suffered more. Because when they came to arrest Him and lead Him away to be crucified, to be tried in that mock trial, and then to be crucified, remember what the Lord said? He said to those officers and to that mob who had taken Him away, the Lord said, This is your hour. and the power of darkness. This is your hour in the power of darkness. And from that hour, the hounds of hell were let loose, the demons of the underworld sought His destruction, and Satan led his forces against the Son of God. All the powers of hell were let loose on Christ. And all the powers of hell wanted to destroy him. As Satan and his forces wanted to destroy Job. And as Satan and his forces wants to destroy us. But let us thank God that the Lord has a hedge about us and that underneath and round about us is everlasting arm. And he has us covered by his blood. Praise the Lord. For Satan cannot reach beyond the blood. That is the hedge that we have around us. We have seen Satan's visitation upon Job. We have seen Satan's vindictiveness against Job. But the chapter ends on a high note. Now we see Satan and the victory of Job. Satan said, if you take from him, touch him and all that he hath, he will curse thee to thy face. That would have meant defeat for Job. But that's not the way it turned out. Job was victorious over Satan. Upon receiving the news about his children, we see then what Job did. First of all, we see that Job was broken before the Lord. We are told that Job arose and rent his mantle and shaved his head, all the signs of a man in mourning. If anyone who had not known Job's circumstances but saw him with his head shaved and his mantle or his outer garment rent, They would have known, without Job saying a word, that man's heart broken. Because the rent garment is a symbol of a rent heart. And looking upon Job, they would know something has happened in that man's life. He's broken hearted. His outward appearance was a sign of what had happened in his heart. When Jacob was told the news about his son Joseph and believed that he was dead, we read in Genesis 37 and verse 34, And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days. The rent garment again spoke of a rent heart. Job was mourning the loss of his seven sons and three daughters. How could anyone, how could anyone endure such a catastrophic loss? No matter how great or severe our afflictions, surely we can say, I have not suffered as Job suffered. He was broken before the Lord. Next we notice, he bowed before the Lord. Verse 20, Then Job arose and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, and worshipped. Job bowed before the Lord in worship. In worshipping the Lord, as we already pointed out, sometimes when tragedy comes, and trouble comes, and trials and tribulations come upon people, they get very hard and very critical of the Lord. Worship is the furthest thing from their minds. But here is Job, and we are told that he worshipped. Think about that and let that sink into your heart. What it must have taken for Job, after all of his losses, to bow his head and worship God. This proved his faith, his piety, his godliness, his holiness, his spirituality proved all those things were genuine. And that all flew in the face of Satan. Praise the Lord. We love to see Satan defeated. He was defeated that day. You recall when God called upon Abraham and He said, Take now thy son, thine only son, whom thou lovest. and offer him as a sacrifice unto me in a place where I shall show thee. And Abraham rose up early in the morning and took his son, and the wood, and the fire, and walked to the place waiting for the Lord to show him where the sacrifice would take place. And when the Lord showed him a place on Mount Moriah, which was the place that Christ was offered up, because Calvary is in the range of hills of Moriah. And whenever Abraham got to that place, he said to his servants, wait here and I And the lad shall go yonder and worship." Even though Abraham knew that he had been asked to offer up his son, and Abraham was determined to offer up his son, as far as Abraham was concerned at that moment in time, he was for offering up Isaac. Because you recall, whenever he laid Isaac upon the wood, Abraham had drawn the knife, and he had the knife in his hand, and his hand was in the air, and just as he was about to plunge the knife into his son, God called out, Abraham! Abraham! He had to call his name twice. Because he was so determined to go through with God. He worshipped, that's the thing. He was going to slay his son. Yet, he went there and he said to the servants, I and the lad will go yonder and worship. And here's Job that he worships. He bowed before the Lord in his worship. He bowed before the Lord in his will. After suffering such great losses, Joe bowed and worshipped God. And he bowed to the will of God. He was so surrendered to the will of God that he was able to say, The Lord gave. And the Lord has taken away. And again, believer, Job not knowing, not knowing the reason why, he had lost everything. Yet still he worshipped God and still he bowed to the will of God. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Job's cup of suffering may have been full to overflowing, but again there is one who drank from a larger cup of suffering. And of that cup, as he put it to his lips and was about to drink, he lifted his eyes to heaven and he spoke these words, If thou be willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but thy will be done." Christ bowed to the will of his Father. Job bowed to the will of God. And as Ayn Ross Cousins has put it, Death and the curse were in that cup, O Christ, was full for thee. But thou hast drained the last dark drop, it is empty now for me. That bitter cup, love drank it up, now blessings draft for me. And in the last place, Job blessed the Lord. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Here was another step that Job took in proving that his trust and faith and piety and love for God were all genuine. Here, then, we see Job gaining the victory over Satan, who said that Job would curse God to his face. There is no curse, only blessing. Can you imagine? Can you imagine Job standing there before those ten graves? He knows the name of his seven sons, the names of his three daughters. And there's Job standing there before those graves. And what is it that comes from his lips? Blessed be the name. Blessed be the name. Blessed be the name. And in all this, Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly. What a man Job was! But as we know, there's more to follow. There's more to come. For now, Job's about to lose his health and the loyalty of his wife. We'll consider that, God willing, next Thursday. Let's bow our heads in prayer. Father and our God, before Thee, even as Job did. But Lord, we bow today not with the burdens that Job did. O gracious God, we do worship Thee. And we thank Thee for these wonderful examples in Thy truth. This wonderful example of the patience, the piety, purity of life of this man, Job. Lord, I pray that what we learn from him, that, Lord, Thou will apply it to our own hearts, that we'll endeavor to be like Job. And even better still, we'll endeavor to be like Jesus. Lord, write Thy holy and precious Word upon our hearts. Be with us now as we part the one from the other. And in Thy will, Lord, return us to Thy house this evening to learn more about Thee. Now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit abide and remain with us now and forevermore. Amen.