Would you open with me again to the Book of Job this morning? Last time we were together, we considered the first chapter at length. This morning we look at the second chapter. Although only 10 verses and shorter than the first, it is rich with application and consolation and comfort. especially for those who are suffering and afflicted. As we open to that second chapter, it appears that there was again a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, just as there had been previously. And Satan also came among them to present himself before the Lord. And the Lord said to Satan, familiar words, aren't they? From where have you come? Satan answered the Lord and said, From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it? And the Lord said to Satan, Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil. He still holds fast his integrity after all those losses that he had incurred in that first chapter, all his servants, all his cattle, all his livestock, and all 10 of his children. He still holds fast his integrity, although you incited me against him to destroy him without reason. And then Satan answered the Lord and said, skin for skin, all that a man has, he will give for his life, but stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face. And the Lord said to Satan, Behold, he is in your hand. Only spare his life. So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself while he sat in the ashes. And then his wife said to him, Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die. But he said to her, You speak as one of the foolish woman would speak. Shall we receive good from God and shall we not receive evil? In all this, Job did not sin with his lips. Well, an important part of pastoral ministry is to prepare those whom we teach to worship, praise, and to bless God, especially in seasons of great loss. And all of you who are sitting here, myself included, will likely experience a season, or perhaps even a long period of time, in which you will suffer loss. There is the loss of loved ones or family members. It may be the loss of material blessings and possessions, as was the case with Joe, or maybe in the loss of health, and physical well-being. God's people are to respond as Job did. One of the reasons why we have the book of Job, because we all go through it in one way or another. And God is interested in the way we respond to the things that happen to us. God's people are to respond like Job did by recognizing that the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord, regardless of whether he gives or takes away. And it is he who gives and takes away, is it not? Of course, the great temptation is to do otherwise. It's to grumble, complain, or even curse God when great losses occur. And what makes it especially tempting, oftentimes, is that our losses, like Job's, frequently seem to be without cause. They seem to be undeserved or unmerited. And for this reason, the book of Job is extremely relevant because his extraordinary affliction and suffering seemed to come out of nowhere, right? Where did this come from? And they seem to have no connection to his righteous character. You'd think a righteous guy like Job would be treated better, right? Should we be treated better? Do we deserve better treatment? I love Dave Ramsey. How are you, Dave? Better than I deserve. Can you say that too? Are you better than you deserve? Imagine if we got what we deserve. Ooh. The account of Job's terrible illness and unsurpassed personal losses are recorded for us so that in the day of our lesser trials, our lesser losses, We will not lose heart or faith, but will with Job bless God rather than curse him, no matter how devastating our losses or how intense our pain. Well, last time in chapter one, we considered the loss of Job's wealth and possessions, as well as the loss of his servants, his livestock and his 10 children. Ever wonder why? Man, he lost everything. Everything. Why? So that you and I, by way of comparison, could say we have lesser losses than Job did. Much lesser. So this week, we turn our attention to chapter two, where Job experiences the loss of his health and the onset of severe physical affliction. And once again, we have much to learn here from the way that Job responded to his great losses. This morning, the theme of our text passage is Job's loss of health. And if you want to make an outline, the first of four points, actually it's printed in your bulletin, look at it. Number one, Job's loss of health happened after he had responded well to losing all of his material possessions and children. Look at verse one again. Again, there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the Lord. The Lord said to Satan, from whence have you come? Satan answered the Lord and said, from going to and fro on the earth and from walking up and down upon it. And the Lord said to Satan, have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil? He still holds fast his integrity. although you incited me against him to destroy him without reason. So chapter two opens with another gathering of angels taking place in heaven. God is, he's taking and he's pulling a curtain back here and he's giving us all a peek into at least what happened in this particular instance with Job. And I think by way of application, which may well happen with us as well. Has it ever dawned on you with any force that this scenario that we read of in Job where the veil is pulled back and angels are looking in and watching and aware of what's going on in the interaction between Job and his responses and what's happening to him. And this is all kind of in the context of God saying, here's my prize possession, my prize man, Job. Watch how he responds. Have you seen how he's responded thus far? Wow. I'm his greatest Treasure, as it were. Possessions, money, even his 10 children. I surpass all of that in his view and estimation. So there's this gathering of angels again taking place in heaven. It's similar to the one we read about last time in verse six of chapter one. where they were also referred to, you remember, as the sons of God. And we'll get back into that, but suffice it to say that the sons of God is a reference to angels. But as verse one of chapter two indicates here, Satan, a fallen angel, whose name in Hebrew means the accuser or the adversary, once again came among the sons of God to present himself before the Lord. And when Satan did this, the Lord singled him out and asked him this question, from whence have you come? And for the second time, Satan's response was the same. He answered from going to and fro on the earth and from walking up and down on it. And then in verse three, the Lord again does something I think very unusual, very strange. He focuses Satan's attention on Job, on his most prized servant Job, by asking him the question, have you considered my servant Job? There is none like him on the earth, blameless and upright, fears God and turns away from evil. He still holds fast his integrity. although you incited me against him to destroy him without reason. So for a second time, the Lord draws Satan's attention to Job. However, unlike the first time when all was well with Job, this time he is in a terribly weakened state and condition, isn't he? He had just experienced the loss of all his wealth and possessions, as well as suffering the death of his servants and 10 children. And surely he was now more vulnerable, more weak than he had ever been. And yet the Lord again draws Satan's attention to Job and points out that he survived the first attack. and was still holding fast to his integrity despite Satan's efforts to destroy him. So, doesn't it seem to be kind of almost cruel and unusual punishment for God to now for a second time draw Satan's attention to Job? Does it kind of seem that way to you? Let me try to ease that tension with an illustration. Any of you, do any of you like to watch boxing? Well I used to, more than I do now, but I've watched quite a few boxing matches in my day, and if you've ever watched one where after the first round, The one boxer goes to the corner to his coach. The other goes to his coach in the other corner. And one of them is just battered and bloodied. And they consult and talk with the coach and he wipes all the blood away and, you know, squeezes the water on top of his head and cleans him up and gets him ready. And then the coach sends him out back into the ring after having endured incredible punishment from a fierce opponent in that first round. The bell rings, it's time for round two, and God is the coach here, make no mistake, sending his badly wounded Joe back into the ring. What kind of a coach would do that to his prized athlete? What kind of a God would do this to his righteous servant Job? Remember, remember now what God is doing here from last time. He is demonstrating something of immense spiritual, heavenly significance. He puts Job on display before angels. And he's determined to show them that his servant Job values him, God, more than anything that he possessed, even more than life and health. God was demonstrating to Satan and to the unseen heavenly host. that Job valued God above everything else that he possessed. Here's the application. Sometimes God's will is for us to suffer more affliction, maybe much more affliction, despite our proper response to an earlier test and trial. Let me repeat it. Sometimes God's will is for us to suffer more affliction despite our proper response to an earlier test and trial. Like Job, right? Our tendency is to think that as soon as we respond correctly to affliction or suffering, God should put an immediate end to it, right? Wouldn't it be nice? But that's not always the will of God, because Job responded very well to his initial trial. He humbly acknowledged God's prerogative to take back whatever he had given, whether wealth, possessions, or loved ones, and he blessed the name of the Lord in the midst of it. However, Job was not rewarded with relief from his calamities. I think some of us just have an expectation that's a little unbiblical and a little unhealthy that it's gonna stop if we respond the right way. And part of what is going on here is the lesson that God's teaching is that no, that might not be the case. it may go on for a longer time. Job responded very well to his initial trial. He humbly acknowledged God's prerogative to take back whatever he had given, but he was not rewarded with relief from his troubles. Instead, they went on, they continued, and God sent him into the rain for round two. In fact, Job's loss of health happened right after he had responded well to losing all of his material possessions and his children. Satan's strategy was that if taking away Job's possessions and children didn't work, then surely taking away his health would. So for a second time, the Lord puts Job into Satan's hands. Now that thought leads to the second point in our text passage in verses four to eight, which is this. Job's loss of health was intended to destroy his faith and trust in God. Look at verse four in our text. Then Satan answered the Lord and said, skin for skin, all that a man has he will give for his life. He's getting his focus off of the possessions and onto his own personal health here, right? But stretch out your hand, verse five, and touch his bone and his flesh. He will curse you to your face. And the Lord said to Satan, behold, he is in your hand, only spare his life. Once again, Satan challenges the authenticity of Job's reverence for God. In verses 9 and 10 in chapter 1, which we looked at last time, Satan argued that the only reason why Job feared God was because he protected his family and increased his possessions, which proved to be patently false, right? But this time, Satan claimed that the only reason why Job was reverent was because God gave him good health. Once again, the question is, what is of supreme worth and value to Job? Is it God himself? that Job values above everything else, or is it some earthly treasure or benefit, such as good health? Boy, we put a huge premium on good health today, don't we, the world at large? They say, and maybe you've heard people say things like this, well, if you have your health, you have everything. And if you don't have your good health, you don't have anything. Boy, that's a lie. That's patently false. You can have your health and have nothing. You can have good health and have nothing. And you can have bad health and have everything. Everything. Look at verse seven and eight. So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself while he sat in the ashes. Now obviously this was a horrible kind of affliction. Some people think, oh he just had the measles, poppycock. No, it wasn't the measles. He had a terrible, loathsome boils all over his body. This was not ordinary, this was dreadful. and extraordinary. In fact, make a note, chapter 7, verse 5 in Job, It describes it this way, my flesh is clothed with worms and dirt. My skin hardens, then breaks out afresh. So these loathsome sores were grotesque. They broke open, they were filled with worms, and we don't really know what kind, but they had worms in them, and got clogged with dirt, and undoubtedly oozed with pus. and they covered him from the top of his head to the bottom of his foot. So whatever this disease was that Satan inflicted on Job, it was absolutely horrible. Probably like nothing that you and I have ever seen or heard of before. Maybe unique kind of affliction that happened to him. Satan intended this affliction to destroy Job's health and in turn to destroy his faith and trust in God, right? That's what this was all about. So how do we apply this? Well, God is willing in the first place to subject his children to excruciating suffering in order to test and try their faith. These kinds of difficulties that come our way from the hand of God and beneath his absolute control and sovereignty, are intended to test and to try our faith. Think of how many instances there are in Scripture when God willingly afflicted his people. In the Old Testament, God frequently afflicted nations for their disobedience, whole nations sometimes, right? and for their wickedness. For example, the plagues in Egypt during the Exodus caused a great deal of physical affliction. The Book of Lamentations, read that lately? The Book of Lamenting, it is a lament over the suffering of the Jewish people at the hands of the Babylonians. And the author of Lamentations acknowledges that this affliction came from God, who was being faithful to his word. And then the Bible also includes examples of afflictions in many different individuals. Perhaps the foremost of them in the New Testament would be who? The Apostle Paul, right? the Apostle Paul, who described his affliction as a thorn in the flesh. And God does this. He subjects his children to affliction and suffering for the trial and the testing of their faith. Second application is this, God gives Satan limited power to cause pain and suffering in our lives. I really like this one. Hank, listen carefully. God gives Satan limited power to cause pain and suffering in our lives. In chapter 1 verse 12, God said to Satan, Behold, all that he has is in your hand, only against him do not stretch out your hand. And again here in verse 6 of chapter 2, Behold, he is in your hand, only spare his life. Do you know what he's saying here? God makes it very clear that he sets definitive boundaries on Satan's power to cause pain and suffering. In fact, Satan can't take a step, he can't make a move without God's authority and permission. Yes, he is a roaring lion, isn't he? He's a roaring lion. but God can tame him like a kitten, and God gives him slack or he reins him in according to his sovereign purposes. The Lord gives Satan limited power to cause pain and suffering in our lives, and that Brothers and sisters, it should be a great comfort and encouragement for you to know when you experience pain and affliction and suffer the loss of your health, God gives Satan limited power to cause pain and suffering in your life. But the loss of Job's health proved to be too much for someone. And we know who that someone is. It was his wife, right? That leads to the third point in our text, look at it. Job's loss of health resulted in a lapse of his wife's faith and confidence in God's goodness. Look at verse number nine. Then Job's wife said to him, do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die. But he said to her, you speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God and shall we not receive evil? Now, on the verge of becoming a widow, and certainly Job's wife probably thought she was about to become one. Her confidence in God's goodness began to falter, right? And she tempted her husband, in his affliction, to curse God rather than to bless him. Imagine how delighted Satan was to hear those words. Imagine how hopeful he was at that moment that her words would bring Job down. But then to Satan's dismay came Job's triumphant victory of faith in verse 10. What a reproof this is. What a remarkable rebuke and reproof and what great fruit came from it in verse number 10 when he said, woman you speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God and shall we not receive evil? In other words, Job reasoned with his wife this way. Dear, don't you know that both pleasure and pain come from the Lord? Do you believe that this morning? Both pleasure and pain come from the Lord. Don't you know that comforts and calamities come from the Lord? You see, God's sovereignty over all of life's circumstances was Job's confidence and trust. He knew that whether he was wealthy or impoverished, whether abounding or abased, whether healthy or sick, whatever condition Job found himself in, God was superintending over it all. God was in control of it all. That was the rock of Job's confidence as he sat scraping his oozing sores with a piece of broken pottery. And Christian, it can be your confidence in your day of loss and calamity as well. By way of application, let's join together with Job and affirm with all our hearts the absolute sovereignty of God. Let's say with the psalmist in Psalm 115.3, our God is in heaven. He does whatever he pleases. whatever he pleases. And let's say with King Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel chapter four and verse 35, God does according to his will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, no one can restrain his hand or say to him, what have you done? Like Job, let's make the absolute sovereignty of God the rock upon which we stand and build our lives and testimonies for His glory and praise, and let it be the ground of our faith and confidence in our God and in His goodness. Another application we can make from this passage is this, consider the power of an effectively spoken word of reproof and rebuke. Again, consider the power of an effectively spoken word of reproof and rebuke. Job's wife appears to have recovered her faith and trust in God. after her husband spoke a word of reproof to her. And I think there's a great lesson here for all of us as we see people who are compromised in their Christian faith, who are heading in the wrong direction, who are involved in sin, you know, sometimes just a single word of reproof and rebuke can recover that person. And I want to believe that what probably happened here was that this otherwise very good woman Job's wife, who often gets a blackened eye from a lot of people, this otherwise good woman was recovered by her husband's timely, powerful rebuke and reproof. I know to some degree it's an argument from silence, but I believe it's significant that there's never again spoken a single word of rebuke to Job's wife after Job rebuked her here in verse 10. And later in chapter 3, which maybe we'll look at too, when Job rebuked his three friends, you remember? for their unwarranted statements about why Job had been so severely afflicted, there's no mention of Job's wife being in the company of those three. Perhaps it was due to the power of an effectively spoken word of reproof and rebuke. Well, the fourth and last point from the text that we'll briefly consider comes from the last little sentence. Do you notice it at the end of verse 10? Which says, in all this Job did not sin with his lips. So the fourth and final point on your outline is this, the loss of Job's health did not cause him to speak sinful words against the Lord. Despite the waves and billows of affliction that kept crashing down upon him, despite the severe pain and suffering that he experienced, Job did not sin against the Lord with his words or with his lips. When he was tempted by his wife to curse God, Job did what? He held his tongue. The loss of his health didn't cause him to speak inappropriately towards the Lord. When days of suffering and affliction come upon you and me, it's easy to speak foolishly and to sin with our words, isn't it? But Job is a great example for us here. Despite the waves and billows of affliction that kept crashing down upon him, and despite the pain and suffering that he experienced, Job held his tongue. He was silent. The loss of Job's health didn't cause him to speak hasty, ill-advised, sinful words against the Lord. And by way of analogy, this was even more true of Jesus. Even more true of Jesus, who in the days of his greatest suffering and affliction, kept silent in them all, just as Isaiah had prophesied that he would when he wrote these famous words in verse 7 of Isaiah 53. You know the chapter, right? He was oppressed and he was afflicted by God. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. Christ's afflictions, though they were many and severe, did not cause him to curse God or charge him with any impropriety for the many painful things that he had planned and purposed for Jesus, even the loss of his life. Though he was perfectly righteous and without any sin, yet he did not open his mouth with one word of complaint or murmuring. Instead, he silently endured every agonizing stroke from the hand of the Father while he bore our sins in his own body on the tree at Calvary. as our substitutionary sin-bearer. God made Christ, who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Although he was punished for the sins of others, and bore their penalty, yet he opened not his mouth with a single word of objection or complaint. Nothing taken away from Jesus, not even his own life, caused him to speak hasty, ill-advised, sinful words against God. So may his example, the example of Christ, inspire us all to do the same.