Demonstrating God's Manifold Wisdom To Satan - Zac Poonen

so i want to share with you something which many of you may not have thought of when jesus was on earth he told his disciples on the last day there are many things i want to say to you but you cannot bear them yet you read that last message of his in john 14 15 and 16. there were many things that jesus wanted to tell his disciples but he could not share it because they could not understand it they were under the old covenant they did not have the holy spirit within them and when you don't have the holy spirit within giving you light there are many things in scripture you will not understand but one day when the holy spirit came their eyes were enlightened and then when you read in the episodes they got more revelation than jesus could ever give them during the time he was with them so it's amazing i mean how much the holy spirit could teach them jesus laid the groundwork and the foundation for it but the full revelation came after the day of pentecost and that's why i want to encourage all of you to really seek to be filled with the holy spirit that's what changed the direction of my life i was born again 62 years ago when i was 20 years old and then god filled me with a spirit in a fresh way 46 years ago which completely changed the direction of my life lifted me up from discouragement and gloom and depression and all types of things and showed me the path of victory and overcoming and to live the type of life that the new testament describes not perfection we're pressing on to perfection but one of the things that jesus told his disciples before he left was when the holy spirit comes upon you you will be my witnesses in jerusalem judea samaria unto the ends of the earth that is being a witness to human beings he told his disciples to go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation and to make disciples but when the holy spirit came and gave them further revelation in addition to being witnesses to the world and to people in the world like all of you in your locality or each of us in our locality we are to be a witness to our friends neighbors family members to all who live in our locality and that's why god's got different local churches in different parts of the world but in addition to that the holy spirit says something new to whom we are to be witnesses to and perhaps some of us have not given sufficient thought to that i want you to look at ephesians chapter three please turn with me to ephesians and chapter 3 and verse 10. here it says ephesians chapter 3 verse 10. you will turn with me in your bibles it says in verse 9 that god wants to bring to light the mystery verse 9 which for ages has been hidden in god a mystery is something which you cannot understand without divine revelation there are earthly things you can understand with intelligence but a mystery is a truth that only can only be understood by the revelation of the holy spirit and one part of that mystery is verse 10 that the many manifold wisdom of god the manifold means the many colored many-sided wisdom of god like a rainbow has seven colors to make white in the same way the wisdom of god has got many sides to it and this wisdom is to be proclaimed through the church that's through you and me to whom not to the people in the world i mean that's also true we read that in acts 1 8 you shall be witnesses to the uttermost parts of the earth but here it says we are to be witnesses to the evil rulers and authorities in the heavenly places so do you know that we are supposed to be witnesses to satan as well when it speaks about in in ephesians it speaks about the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places we know from ephesians in chapter 6 and verse 12 that's referring to the evil forces of darkness in the heavenly places we are to be a witness to satan and to the demons what are we to be witnesses to have you ever thought of the fact that you are not only to be a witness to your neighbors and your family members by your life and your words but your life has to be a witness to satan your family members and your neighbors and relatives only see the outward part of your life most of them don't see how you live at home most of them don't see many parts of your private life but the devil and the demons they watch every part of your life they see how you speak to your wife at home which others outside in the church may never know the demons are watching everything and we are to be a witness to them of the manifold wisdom of god and if you see that it's a tremendous challenge that god will entrust to us a task that he first entrusted to christ it was never entrusted to the jewish people in the old covenant they were called to be a witness to all the nations of the earth about the goodness of god but when jesus came he demonstrated not only to the world but to the devil and all the demons of hell what it was to serve our heavenly father and when he said follow me that's our calling too this is part of the new covenant nobody in the old covenant could do this to be a witness to satan do you know that satan is hardly mentioned in the old testament after genesis chapter three once it is mentioned that satan tempted david another time satan satan's mentioned in zechariah in a vision that zechariah gets but otherwise no person in the old testament ever confronted satan nobody not even the great prophets not even john the baptist the first person that we read in the bible who confronted satan face to face was jesus christ our lord and there was a reason for it satan had to be defeated first before god allowed human beings to encounter and he was not defeated until jesus died and defeated him on calvary and that's why god who does not allow us to be tempted beyond our ability did not allow anyone in the old testament to encounter satan that privilege and honor is given to us who are filled with the holy spirit first it was given to jesus in fact he began his ministry with an encounter with satan overcoming him and he wants us to be overcomers too they overcame him we read in revelation 12 they overcame satan by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony revelation 12 11. have you ever thought of that verse revelation 12 and verse 11 says they overcame satan by the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony and they did not love their life even to death overcoming satan by the blood of the lamb we can understand because satan is the accuser he's always accusing us he's accusing us to god and he accuses us to ourselves and we can't overcome him by saying well i'm going to be better in future what about the past there's only one way we can deal with the past and that is to say the blood of jesus christ has cleansed me from all my sin i have repented i've confessed my sins and the blood of jesus has cleansed me i heard of a great man of god once he was being used greatly by god who was oppressed by the devil once when the devil reminded him of all the sins he had committed you remember you did this you did this you did this you did this and the man of god had to acknowledge it was all true and when he went on like that in his mind he told the devil that's not all satan i've committed many more sins than that make the list complete and when you have made the list complete right across it the blood of jesus christ has cleansed me from all sin he overcame satan by the blood of the lamb we can't overcome him by saying i'll do better next time we overcome him by saying the blood of jesus christ has cleansed me completely i stand before god justified justified means just as if i had never sinned in my whole life just as if i've been righteous all my life but that's not all it says here by the word of their testimony revelation 12 11 they tell satan to his face and we must confess to satan we are to be witnesses to satan as we just read not just to the world and what we are what are we to tell him just what that man of god said the blood of jesus christ has cleansed me from all sin you cannot condemn me anymore you cannot make me discouraged anymore the most important thing in my life has already settled my relationship with god that's the word of our testimony but not just the fact that we've been cleansed we are to be witnesses it says we read in ephesians 5 of the many-sided wisdom of god god's wisdom has got many sides and he uses each one of us in different ways to manifest that many-sided wisdom that's wonderful it's a tremendous honor i mean it's a great honor to be a representative of god to witness to people i mean it's been a tremendous honor i feel to be able to present god and all that cry god has revealed in christ to thousands of people around the world but a far greater thing it is to be able to witness to satan by my life and my attitudes and the confession of my mouth the wisdom of god and god does that by taking us through trials you see in the old testament trial and problems are not a blessing if you read deuteronomy chapter 28 we don't want to turn that now but sometime when you get time to read deuteronomy 28 i'll tell you what it is it's a health and wealth message it was not given to the church it was given to israel the promise in deuteronomy 28 to israel was health and wealth it's sad that there are preachers preaching that today as if it was the new covenant gospel it's like going back to the old days it's like living in the stone age how many of you want to live in the stone age there was i know human beings went through that stone age but we're not in the stone age now we've got electricity we've got cars we've got so many things that made life more comfortable for us we don't want to go back to the stone age why do people want to go back to the health and wealth gospel which is what god proclaimed 4 000 years ago to israel to 3500 years ago to israel that's not the message for us today our message is different we proclaim a message where we overcome sin the world the flesh and the devil so when you think of being a witness to satan i want to turn you to the first of the 66 books that god wrote and by the way that is not the book of genesis just for your information is the book of job please turn with me to the book of job the book of genesis was written by moses 1500 years before christ 500 years before that there was a man called joe and what he wrote here or whoever wrote this book it must have been at that same time for it to be written in such detail about all the conversations that went on between different people nobody could write that years later it was written when job was alive pretty soon after his death that's 500 years before genesis that's the first book of the bible that god wrote and isn't it interesting if you read the particularly the first two chapters of joel it's all about satan and god talking to each other about job and god boasting about job saying there's a perfect man on the earth one who fears me and turns away from all evil and the devil says no it's because you've blessed him you prospered him you have given him health and wealth that's why he serves you and god says no he doesn't serve me because i gave him health and wealth take away his health take away as well take away his children he will still serve me and the devil says no he won't and you see how joke came through triumphant in that and there we see how job was a witness to satan and that is the first book that god decided to write for man have you ever thought of that when god wanted to write a book for man the first book he wrote was not about the creation of the heaven and earth and god said that can wait 500 years let moses come along 500 years from now i'll write about the creation of the heaven and the earth then but that's not as important for me i want to write about a man of god who was a witness for me before satan that's the first book i want to write about please remember that dear brothers and sisters that when god wanted to write a book for man he wrote about not about the creation of heaven and earth or about the six days of the seventh day being the sabbath and all that could wait it's about a man who was a man of god it was about a man job one verse one who feared god who was blameless and upright that's what brought delight to the heart of god not the creation of the universe god wanted to write about a man who was blameless upright who feared god and turned away from evil that's the very first sentence that god wrote in the bible never forget that in all your life the very first sentence that almighty god wrote in the bible for us is about a man who was blameless upright feared god and turned away from evil and there you see what brings delight to the heart of god not the stars and the planets and the universe he created nothing that he has created but a man one single man in the midst of an evil world in those days there were not many people who were witnesses for him like that in fact he had to point job out to satan saying okay you've traveled around the whole world for he satan says i have roamed around job chapter 1 verse 7. the lord says to satan wherever you come from and god knows what he's making satan confess it and satan says i have been wandering around the earth and walking around on it and the lord says well you walked around the earth and you've seen so many people right you've seen hundreds and thousands of people around the earth and i know you've seen a lot of people who are deceivers who talk about religion who talk about god and who are hypocrites but have you seen my servant job he's different from all the other people you've seen on the earth he's a blameless and an upright man fearing god and turning away from evil in eight verses in the very first eight verses of scripture that god wrote that those things are mentioned twice think how important it is that when god writes a book for man in the first eight verses he repeats something twice a man who is blameless upright fears god and turns away from evil if you want to know how important those qualities are remember those are the first words that god spoke and he repeats it twice in eight verses of scripture the very first eight verses of scripture ever written i remember when i read that as a young christian when i was first born again and i said lord will you be able to boast about me like that or will you only be able to boast about something else which is earthly what are you gloria and my dear brothers and sisters let me ask you plainly because i ask myself is it how you're prospered in your business oh god has blessed my business and it has gone so well i was struggling once upon a time but god has blessed me now maybe you're a millionaire well god have mercy on you i hope you will use your wealth for the glory of god and not go astray with it or do you glory that you have health and strength these are not the things you glory in i'm personally deeply thankful that god's preserved me in health i've never been in a hospital with sickness in 82 years and i've really got to thank god for it but that's not what i glory in because i know there are ungodly people who live longer than me without getting sick so how am i different from them let's not glory in things which other people in the world have do you have millions there are people in the world who are billionaires so let's never glory in these earthly things which other people have whenever you think of something you say god has blessed us with think if other people have it too if you go to people of other religions the muslims they will say their god has blessed their people with wealth and it's true not not that their god has blessed them but there are muslims who are far wealthier than christians there are hindus in india who are far wealthier than christians and they can say their god has blessed them these are not the things we glory in not health not wealth that is not the thing we glory in that's what israel would glory in but if you're a person who's blameless upright fearing god and turning away from evil even if you're poor and if you even if you're not in good health you can be a witness for safe you're gonna have sickness in your body maybe you die early but if you're being blameless upright fearing god turning away from evil and if you taught your children to be blameless upright fearing god and turning away from evil you have lived a worthwhile life on earth as a witness to satan and one who can manifest the part of the manifold wisdom of god to the devil now i find that in this chapter the devil said that job served god because you've blessed him you've made a hedge around job chapter 1 verse 10 it says in verse 9 just joke fear god for nothing there's a reason why job fears you the devil says it's because you blessed him you stop blessing him financially and stop blessing him with all these lovely children then let's see whether he will praise you that's a challenge do you believe that the devil who made that challenge to 4 000 years ago to god would not make that challenge today concerning some of us don't you think that he would go to god today and say that guy over there who claims to be your child that woman that man yeah they are serving you because their life is so comfortable and pleasant they're not sick and they have enough money and they're enough of resources of the earthly things of this world and that's why you they are serving you take that away and then let's see what they will serve what will god will god allow will god have the boldness and confidence to allow satan to test you my brother sister in that way and know that you will come out triumphant at the end of it glorifying god and not complaining well when you look at the book of job and you read the from chapter 3 onwards almost all the way up to chapter 32 you find that job is really complaining he's not always triumphant sometimes he's up saying my redeemer lives and sometimes he says i know that whatever may happen god will test me and bring me forth this goal but other times he says lord why are you firing your arrows at me you've set me up to i've been so faithful and both justifies himself he had ups and downs why because he did not have the holy spirit don't ever try to comfort yourself when you complain by saying job also complained he did not have our resources i find job as a great example for me in the way he was in chapter one and two beyond that i say well he didn't have the holy spirit i have the holy spirit i never have to complain i live in romans 8 28 which says every single thing that happens to me will work for my good and you live in that too if you're a child of god all things work together for good to those who love god and are called according to his purpose you're one of those my brother sister you're called according to a purpose of god if anybody i hope all of you are familiar with romans 8 28 if you are not you young people especially you must know romans 8 20. it is a great verse please turn with me there in your bible and note it if you have the habit of marking your bible that's a good verse to mark romans 8 28 we know that's the first words remember that we know you must be able to say i know i know with absolute certainty that my heavenly father god almighty causes everything to work not individually no they don't work individually no they work together in other words it's not just one circumstance that works for my good one out of all the hundreds of thousands of circumstances that happen my life work they all ultimately work together for good because i love him because i'm called according to his purpose and that applies to you too don't you love jesus aren't you called according to his purpose that's why he chose you he says you did not choose me but i chose you have you read that verse in john 15 and i want to say to all of you you did not choose christ he chose you it said very clearly in john 15 you did not choose me but i chose you that you should go and bring forth fruit and why did he choose you here it says very clearly in the next verse you must never read romans 8 28 without verse 29. verse 29 tells us the purpose with which he chose us and i want to say to you this is not deuteronomy 28 we are not in the old covenant he doesn't say he chose us that we should have health and wealth no then you've got to be an israelite you got to be a follower of moses i'm not a follower of moses i thank god for a godly man like moses but i'm not following him i'm following my lord jesus christ that moses brought the law grace came through jesus christ and my calling is not to be healthy and wealthy on this earth no my calling is jesus god my father predestined me romans 8 29 and you also to become conformed to the image of jesus christ there's a purpose with which god chose us and it is not to go to heaven when we die please remember this we're not called to go to heaven when we die we will go to heaven that's another thing we're called to become like christ more and more on this earth until one day when he comes again we'll be completely like him that's our calling and i hope that none of you will ever lose that vision and he preduction does predestinate means long before you were born when he chose you before the worlds were created as it says in ephesians 1 4 we were called before the worlds were created to be his he predestined you not only to be his children but so that you might become like christ and increasingly more and more day by day until the day he comes again and so when it says in romans 8 28 all things put together work for your good what is that good not health not wealth we are not in deuteronomy 28 no we are in the new covenant please remember this i'm not saying god ignores our need for money or ignores our need for health to serve him i'm not saying that but that's not his primary goal he will allow us to go through suffering if that will make us a little more like christ because that's his goal he doesn't call us to have an easy life on earth the israelites could have an easy life on earth comfortable life with plenty of money and plenty of health but they were not called to become like christ we've got a much higher calling and if you understand that then you see that all things work together for good not to make me more healthy not to make me more wealthy but to make me a little more christ-loved and that's demonstrated in the life of the apostle paul so clearly if there was a man on earth in the first century who really sought to live for god once he was converted it was the apostle paul but see how the lord took him this man was perhaps the most godly man of his generation a man who tried to please god more than perhaps anyone else in the first century how did god treat him how does god treat a man who's seeking to please him in every possible way let's see here's what he took him through turn with me to second corinthians in chapter 11. remember this is the greatest apostle and perhaps the most godly man on earth at that time the apostle paul far more wholehearted than you and me more dedicated more committed the man who gave up getting married gave up his profession and job and money worked hard would not even take money from those he served he was not a paid pastor he was not a paid preacher he worked with his own hands and supported himself so that he could be a good testimony and when he was three years in ephesus he says i did not take a single cent from any of you i didn't expect you to give me clothes i worked with my own hands and i preached to you day and night this is the greatest manner of god of his generation how delighted god must have been in him did he get health and wealth look what he says in ii corinthians 11 23 these other people who says who boasted their servants of christ second corinthians chapter 11 verse 23 these other people who speak they are servants of christ let me speak like an insane madman i am more a servant of christ than them he's not boasting but he's saying listen i'll tell you how i'm more of a servant of god than these other people i have been laboring more than them i have been in prison far more than them aha how many people want to be greater servants of god in that way being more times in prison than others and therefore i'm a greater servant of god than them i've been beaten much more than them for the sake of christ on my back that's why i'm a greater servant of christ than them i've been in danger of death and preaching the gospel more than them and that's why i'm a greater servant of god than them and then he goes on to describe some of his sufferings five times i received 39 lashes couldn't god protect his faithful servant from being persecuted like that that's like saying okay jesus had to die for our sins on the cross understood but why did he have to get whipped with the lashes on his back before that was that necessary for the forgiveness of our sins the punishment for our sin is eternal hell and jesus suffered eternal hell during the three hours on the cross when he cried my god my god why have you forsaken me that's when he took the punishment for our sin he didn't take the punishment for our sin when he was hanging with the nails on the cross in the first three hours the punishment for our sin is not physical death the physical death worth the punishment for our sin then nobody has to die for me i die myself and pay the punishment but the punishment for our sin is eternal separation from god you know that hell and jesus suffered that during the last three hours hell is hell is a place which is completely forsaken by god the truly god forsaken place in the universe is hell and jesus experienced that in the three hours on the cross the last three hours and that's when he took the punishment for our sin because being god he could compress into three hours eternity so in three hours he could suffer eternal separation from his father yeah we'll never know the agony of that until one day we see him face to face that's why we sing in that song by and by when i look on his face i wish i had given him more by and by when he stretches out his hands i wish i had given him more because in that day we'd see how much he loved us to what an extent he was willing to pay the price that we might never go to hell i remember many years ago soon after god filled me with the holy spirit about 45 years ago i was seeking god in prayer one day and saying lord will you please explain to me what is the cup that you prayed in gethsemane that you should not drink i know it was not physical death because i've seen martyrs who have gone singing to their death you would i know you would have died a thousand times for me you loved me so much it was not physical death he was scared of but there was something else i want you to tell me what is that cup which you said father if possible take it away all your life you did the father's will lord jesus yet at the last moment there was one cup you did not want to drink and the lord showed me that it was being forsaken by the father on the cross he as he came near it all eternity he had lived in blessed fellowship with the father and in that moment as he approached the cross he knew now i'm going to experience that i'm something i've never experienced in all eternity i've been in such in close intimate fellowship with my father and i'm now going to experience something that i've never experienced and he knew it was coming and i used to imagine a conversation there between jesus and his heavenly father in gethsemane and the father saying to jesus you can come straight up to heaven you don't have to go to the cross you've lived a perfect life come straight up here from gethsemane but zach will go to hell and jesus thought i'm just imagining putting myself there zach will go to hell okay father i'll go to the cross i remember that day when i wept and i wept i said lord i never knew how much you loved me i'll never live for myself again i'll never live to make money or for health or wealth or anything my life is yours till the very end by and by when we look upon him we wish we had given him more i sing that song often to myself i say lord i don't want it to be like that i want it to be that i would have given you everything right now and never hold anything back dear brothers and sisters one day you will see how much jesus loved you and i tell you you'll be surprised i thank god that day 45 years ago he opened my eyes to see a little bit only a fraction of how much he loved me and i decided i'd never live for myself again i knew it was worthless living for myself i said lord i want to live upright by the principles like job a god-fearing man turning away from evil turning away my eyes turning away from my thoughts i was defeated in my eyes and my tongue and my thoughts like all human beings are and i said i'm sinning with my eyes with my thoughts and my tongue as a young 35 year old christian but i don't want to be like that you said sin will not have dominion over you if you're on the grace give me that grace that i can overcome sin i don't want to have dirty thoughts i don't want to have bad thoughts about other people i don't want to have grudges against a single human being on the earth i'm willing to ask forgiveness from anybody on the face of this earth lord you died for me you died to deliver me from these sins i want to hate them i want to be like one who turns away from evil and i want to be a witness to satan and you can take me through anything you like and paul goes on to say here in second corinthians 11 verse 25 i was beaten with rods three times couldn't god have stopped that i was stoned three times once he was left for dead they stoned him so badly that they left him for dead i don't know perhaps he did die and god raised him from the dead there quite likely he was shipwrecked a night and a day means 24 hours after being shipwrecked verse 25 he was out on the open ocean why did god almighty allow his ship to be wrecked he was going to preach the gospel he wasn't doing business going on that ship he was going to preach the gospel and the ship got wrecked and he was out in the ocean for 24 hours swimming maybe holding on to pieces of wood trying to survive there in the night day and night and i say lord is that the way you treat your servants yes so that they can be a witness to satan who says yeah your servants will serve you only when you make life comfortable for them and god says no you can do anything you can wreck their ship you can allow them to be beaten they will still serve me whatever trial they go through they will love me and serve me god cannot entrust every person like that cannot trust every person like that but he could trust paul he could trust paul to go through such tremendous suffering and be a witness to satan of a man who would be faithful to god no matter what happens shipwrecked on frequent journeys for what to preach the gospel never once did he go to make money we journey for many other things he journeyed only to priesthood gospel and he was shipwrecked he was in danger from rivers he was in danger from robbers danger in the country dangers from the gentiles dangers in the city dangers in the wilderness dangers on the sea dangers among all false brethren all for preaching the gospel in labor and hardship through many sleepless nights in hunger and thirst couldn't god have taken care of him often without food and cold and exposure once he was shivering in the cold roman dungeon that he writes to timothy please get somebody to send my cloak my warm cloak i'm shivering here in the cold he didn't have money to buy a blanket this is god's servant he completed his course he said i fought a good fight i finished my course i kept the faith and he was a witness to satan not just a people he preached the gospel to people he was a witness of christ to people but he was a witness to satan and we are a witness to satan not when we are preaching my brothers and sisters but in the other times of our life when nobody's watching us and there you have the reason why god allows some of his servants some of his finest servants to go through deep suffering i read of a lady in the united states a sister in christ who is 72 years old now her name is many of you may have heard of her joanie ericsson joni erickson tada after a man after a marriage when she was 18 years old she jumped into a lake to swim she was a very good swimmer and didn't realize it was very shallow like and she hit her head and was paralyzed from below her neck and the first two or three years he was depressed and complained why oh god why did you allow this to happen to me but gradually she came to give thanks to god and for over 50 years now she's been in a wheelchair been on a wheelchair for 50 years paralyzed but able to speak and has been a tremendous witness for christ i heard her testimony about a year or so ago a fantastic testimony i played that testimony in our church in bangalore for everyone to hear here's a woman who's paralyzed from the age of 18 54 years on a wheelchair and still glorifying christ she's had her trials times of doubt but she's come through it all triumphantly and the thing that amazed me in that testimony was a deep humility she wasn't boasting oh see what a great witness i am despite my fact kind of i'm being in a wheelchair she was very honest about her struggles her struggles with being discouraged and all and how she overcame it's a great testimony it's available on the internet i would encourage you to listen to it why does god allow some of his greatest servants to go through things like that like job because of this other person to whom we have to be witness a witness to satan where when satan says to god yeah take away his children take away his property then let's see whether he serves you and what did what happened when god said okay take away his servants take him sorry take away his children take away his property and we read when job heard that within a few seconds the servants came and told job all your properties burnt up all your children have died and spontaneously we read in the book of job chapter 1 and verse 20 he fell down to the ground and worshiped god he didn't say lord i've been so faithful i've turned away from evil i'm upright it's the way this is the way you treat me even though he lived even before the law before the old covenant was established before moses a man he did not have any bible he did not have any church scholarship he did not have many of the things we have he did not have the internet to listen to messages he did not have sunday meetings that he could go to he had no brothers and sisters with whom he could fellowship but he knew god it's wonderful when a man knows god he can stand all alone and he fell to the ground and worshipped and what does he say he says well when i came from my mother's womb i was absolutely naked i had nothing i had no children i had no property i had nothing and one day the lord will call me home and i'll go without my property without my children without anything i came naked and i will go naked it's the lord who gave me everything and the lord has every right to take it all away did he hear that testimony from a man who didn't have a bible who didn't have fellowship and who knew nothing about the new covenant who did not even know about jesus christ going to die on the cross i came naked from my mother's womb when one day i'll leave this world naked everything i had on this earth was given by god my health my wealth was given by god and he's got every right to take it away blessed be the name of the lord and through all this job did not sin if he had complained he would have sinned and then the devil doesn't give up the devil says okay god skin for skin job 2 verse 4 a man will give everything for his own life he'll even allow his children to be lost on his property be lost but touch his body and boy then you'll see him complain touch his bone break his bone put your hand job two verse five touch his bone in his flesh and he will curse you to your face and the lord said to satan okay i don't allow you to kill him but you can do anything else and he went out job satan went out in job chapter 2 verse 7 and smote job put sore boils from the soul of his foot to the crown of his head and there he was sitting outside the city like a leper scraping himself can you imagine the thoughts that came to his mind he was a human being like you and me the thoughts that would have come to his mind the same thoughts that have come to you and me i've served god so faithfully is this how he treats me takes away my children takes away my property and now on top away top of that gives me this terrible sickness that people are repelled and the pus coming out of my source and people don't want to come near me and that wasn't enough his wife comes to him and says go and commit suicide verse 9 chapter 2 verse 9 curse god and die how do you die oh it's only baby dies commit suicide imagine to all the troubles he's already having he's got a wife who tells him to commit suicide you know that god had given satan permission in first chapter to kill his family why did job why did satan kill only his children but not his wife interesting god had permitted him to kill his family because satan said that wife is more useful to me alive than dead i can use her to nag her husband and nag her husband and nag her husband and dagger husband i'll keep her alive may god protect all of you wives from ever being like that you have to be a strength to your husband when he's suffering but job was faithful to god he said you're speaking like a foolish woman if god gives us good we accept it when he gives us adversity verse 10 shouldn't we accept it in this again job did not sin with his lips and then he had three people who call themselves his friends who come along and accuse him and accuse him and accuse him all the way to almost to the end of the book finally god has mercy on him and delivers him it's a tremendous testimony to us in the book of james if you turn to james in chapter five we read in james chapter 5. james chapter 5 verse 11 some people think the story of job is a fiction it's not it's not fiction the holy spirit says through james in chapter 5 verse 11 about job it's not an imaginary story it's a real story of a real man who suffered in a real way and he says in james 5 verse 11 we count those blessed who endured you have heard of the endurance of job even in those days in the first century when no bibles were available freely james writes to christians saying you guys should have heard of job it's the first book written in the bible it was only available in parchments those days the bible the old testament but the book of job was there and james expected those first century christians who have heard of him to read about him i hope you read about him 40 centuries later you've heard about job and saw the final result of the lord's dealings and that's what james is saying when you go through something think of the final result that's going to come out of it that the lord is always full of compassion and merciful paul understood that how does paul describe all the sufferings he went through that we read some of it in 2nd corinthians 4 in sacramento 11 sorry paul sums it all up in one sentence i'd like you to see this wonderful sentence it's amazing we read some of the sufferings paul went through and there's more there in 2nd corinthians 11 you can look through it how he was betrayed by false brethren and all that but he puts it all in one sentence in second corinthians four he calls it let's say paul how do you call all your sufferings second corinthians 4 17 first of all it's momentary a moment you mean all those suffering that you had for about 30 years you call it a moment yes the moment and it was light you mean all that being beaten and imprisoned and through being shipwrecked knowledge and light affliction light how does he describe his entire 30 years of affliction as a servant of god momentary and light and he says it is momentary and light because i know it is producing for me an eternal weight of glory think of all the hard work that a lot of people on earth put in to make money they work day and night without even thinking about god to make their millions and here he says i'm going to get an eternal weight of glory all that have happened produces for me an eternal weight of glory and i want to say to you this i want to say this to you that when we go through suffering and trial and affliction for example what phil is going through right now and what happened to him a few days ago we wonder why does god allow such a faithful servant of his to go through it i i tell you i wept when i heard it when dan told me about it this brother who led the singing and such a dear brother in the church i couldn't understand i felt so bad and i've been praying for him ever since but it's a momentary light affliction it's going to produce an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison provided there is a condition it will produce an eternal rate of glory if capital i f if we don't look verse 18 ii corinthians 4 18 are the things that are seen but we keep looking at the invisible things of eternity and of heaven recognizing that everything we see on earth is temporary for a moment but the things that are in the future are eternal even if you live a hundred years on earth many of those years are full of suffering because you're a faithful disciple of jesus christ like paul a hundred years compared to eternity is less than one second a hundred years when compared to eternity is less than one second and god's asking you are you willing to suffer for me for one second so that i can make you a witness to satan that you will serve me no matter what happens no matter what price you have to pay no matter what suffering i allow you to go through you will not complain you will give thanks and say lord your ways are perfect you're making everything work for my good only for one second it's only for one second and then you'll have all eternity to rejoice that you were faithful to god during that one second that you lived on earth don't be foolish brothers and sisters like the people of the world who think that this world is everything and who think are you like many christians who think that health and wealth are everything they're not may the lord help us like it says here to see the things that are eternal one thing that the holy spirit does is to change our vision from the temporal things to the eternal and a spiritual man is one who keeps on looking at the things that are eternal all the time and especially when he's suffering believing he's not like a stoic man who's just trying to believe no he's absolutely convinced my father cares for me and let me conclude with this one verse in one corinthians 10 13 if you don't know this verse this is another verse that you must always remember god is faithful middle of verse 13 1 corinthians 10 13 god is faithful who will never never never never never allow you to be tested beyond your ability so when you go through a heart test remember ah god has more confidence in you when you go through a tough test don't say this is too much for me no god is faithful if you say it's too much for me you're saying god is unfaithful he is not unfaithful people in the world i don't know they may face many things too much for them but if you're a child of god you're one of god's own children born again redeemed by the blood of the lamb then i say to you in jesus name god will never leave you nor forsake you he will never allow you to be tested beyond your ability and when you go through a hard trial it shows the tremendous confidence god has in you it's like god's saying to you my child you being promoted you're in a higher class now that's why the examination is tougher that's why the test is tougher you thought you were in the kindergarten oh you're not in the kindergarten now you're in a much higher grade and that's why you're going through this testing and i'm going to stand by you and help you to come through triumph and through it very often when you go through a trial it's your family members who suffer like phil's family right now but god will give them grace too it's a trial for them too but they too need to say lord you will not allow me to be tested beyond my ability not his wife not his children you will not allow me to be tested beyond my ability you will give me grace to overcome this you will allah enable me to endure it as it says in 1 corinthians 10 13. may the lord help us to be witnesses to satan that our god is a loving father he'll never allow us to be tested beyond our ability he will always make everything work together for good and we will confess that even with our dying breath our father loves us until the very end may god bless you all let's bow our heads in prayer and while i bear how heads about in prayer my dear brothers and sisters the first thing we need to do the first thing we need to do is to confess where we have failed to trust god forgive me lord for the ant bites i've got which i have complained about when people like paul face the lions i've complained about antibiotics forgive me i face nothing some of your servants have gone through tremendous trials and been faithful to you please forgive me forgive me the sin of complaining of questioning your love doubting you even though you gave your son to die for me on the cross to face eternal hell for me on the cross help me lord give me the power of your holy spirit not to do miracles but to be faithful to you and to be a witness to satan give me the power of your holy spirit fill me lord i really long to be filled with the holy spirit not to testify about it not to boast about it far from it but so that i can be a strong witness of the wisdom of god to the evil powers of hell and the devil i want to be that lord i wasted many years complaining but it won't be like that anymore please help me that the remaining years of my life there'll be a real change beginning from today you've spoken to me and you're going to change me with your word heavenly father i thank you for these dear brothers and sisters sincere really sincere brothers and sisters bowed before you i pray that you will fill them with your holy spirit and make this church a living powerful witness for you of men and women who can be witnesses not only to the world but to the devil thank you in jesus name amen you

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Length: 60min 59sec (3659 seconds)

Published: Tue Aug 31 2021