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Guest (Male): The prophet Daniel was approached by an angel.

Pastor Thom Keller: And the man said to me, "Oh, Daniel, greatly loved of God, listen carefully to what I say to you. Wouldn't it be cool if an angel appeared to you and said, "Carl, you are greatly loved of God. I have a message for you from him." Judy, you are greatly loved of God. Tamara, you're greatly loved of God. I have a message for you."

Guest (Male): You're listening to Study the Word. Our teacher Pastor Tom Keller is continuing in his verse-by-verse study of the Book of Job. It's a classic teaching on what happens when a child of God encounters great suffering. Amid suffering, we must not forget that God still loves us. In fact, the Bible tells us God is love. On the other hand, our enemy hates us. Now, this is also displayed here in the first chapter of Job. Pastor Tom will take a bit of a detour into the Book of Daniel to illustrate how God really feels about us. Let's get started.

Pastor Thom Keller: There was a man named Job who lived in the land of Uz. He was blameless, a man of complete integrity. He feared God and stayed away from evil. He had seven sons and three daughters. He owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 teams of oxen, and 500 female donkeys. And he employed many servants. He was in fact the richest person in that entire area. Every year when Job's sons had birthdays, they invited their brothers and sisters to join them for a celebration. On these occasions, they would get together to eat and drink. When the celebrations ended, and sometimes they lasted several days, Job would purify his children.

He would get up early in the morning and offer a burnt offering for each of them. For Job said to himself, "Perhaps my children have sinned and have cursed God in their hearts." This was Job's regular practice. Verse 6. On the On the One day, the angels came to present themselves before the Lord. And Satan, the accuser, came with them. "Where have you come from?" the Lord asked Satan. And Satan answered the Lord, "I've been going back and forth across the earth, watching everything that's going on." And the Lord asked Satan, "Have you noticed my servant Job?

He is the finest man in all the earth, a man of complete integrity. He fears God and will have nothing to do with evil." You know, the thing that stands out to me in this is he says to Satan, "Have you noticed my servant Job? My servant Job." That's really cool. Can you imagine God saying that about you? Hey Satan, have you noticed my servant Jimmy? Have you noticed my servant Ed? Have you noticed my servant Jason? He was one of the finest men in all the earth, a man of integrity. He fears God and has nothing to do with evil." You know, I think God says this about you.

I think he says that about you more than you may think. God sees us in two ways. One is positionally, and one is in reality. And positionally, he sees you perfected in Christ. He sees you completely forgiven just as though you've never sinned. Okay, having cast your sins as far away from you as the east is from the west, that's how he sees you, perfected in Christ. In fact, I've said that before, but the reality is positionally, God sees you in the same way he sees his son Jesus. Now, why that's so important to God for you to know that is because that's what break the wall That's what breaks the wall down in your relationship between you and God.

Because if Satan can convince you to keep your past sin in front of you, you're going to hide from God because you're going to think he doesn't want to see you. But if you can break through that and come to the reality, the true understanding that God sees you just as though you've never sinned, that's what allows you to come in his presence without fear. The Bible says perfect love casts out fear. One translation says, "We have no reason to fear someone who loves us with a perfect love." And so what God wants you to picture when you go into a relationship with him, when you walk in his presence, that he sees you in the same light as he sees Jesus.

That you're perfected in Christ. That's just critical. You know, I've always loved and this is make a right turn from the Book of Job, but the Book of Daniel, three verses in the Book of Daniel, 9:23, the angel Gabriel is going to come and appear to Daniel. But in And in verse 23 it says, Let's Let's start at 21. Daniel 9:21. As I was praying, Daniel's praying, Gabriel, the angel, whom I had seen in my the earlier vision, came swiftly to me at the time of evening sacrifice. He explained to me, "Daniel, I've come here to give you insight and understanding.

The moment you began praying, a command was given. I'm here to tell you what it was, for God loves you very much." Can you imagine an angel coming and saying to you that the moment you started praying I was sent to you, and here's the message God wants me to tell you, God loves you very much. Look at Daniel 10:10. The same idea. Just then a hand touched me and lifted me, still trembling to my hands and knees, and the man said to me, "Oh, Daniel, greatly loved of God. Listen carefully to what I say to you.

Wouldn't it be cool if an angel appeared to you and said, "Carl, you're greatly loved of God. I have a message for you from him. Judy, you're greatly loved of God. Tamara, you're greatly loved of God. I have a message for you." And that's what he says. Look at Daniel 10:19. The same idea. Says, "Don't be afraid," he said, "for you are deeply loved by God." This is the angel still speaking. "You are deeply loved by God. Be at peace. Take heart. Be strong." Sundays I will pray and ask the Lord to to speak through me, you know, that I'd be nameless and faceless hidden by the cross, that it would be him that people hear and not me, that I that you know, I am the I am the greatest threat there is in this building on a Sunday morning, because I can get in the way of what he wants to say to you.

You have the responsibility to listen, but boy, if I get in the middle of that, you're going to lose, and I don't want you to lose. So I will I'll pray a lot of Sunday mornings and say, God, is there anything special you want me to tell them today? And I don't I'm not one of those guys that you know, I don't you won't see blogs where I say, God told me this, God told me that. There was a Some of that stuff scares me. But But what I But what I do here a lot of the Sunday mornings is this is what he says.

Very simple. I know it's him because it's him. He says, Tom, tell them I love them. Tell them I love them. Cuz that's ultimately that's what you need to know. It's his love that fixes everything. It just is. Yeah, tell them tell them I love them. You know, when you're witnessing to someone, what what would Jesus want you to tell them? Tell them I love them. I love them. You know. So Daniel greatly loved of God. Uh so maybe when you read that in the future you you may think that's really a stretch to put your name in front of that that phrase, but it 's not.

You're greatly loved of God. Why? Cuz of anything good you've done, no. You know what the Bible says? The Bible says God loves you because you love his son Jesus. That 's it. God loves you because you love his son Jesus. Not because of anything good you've done, but because of what Jesus did in your behalf. You're forgiven, justified, set apart, treasured by God. And so that's the case here again. Have you seen Have you noticed my servant God? And then if you think about it, this then These are then the opposite words, the mirror opposite message that Satan and his minions send.

God gives us affirming words where Satan gives us uh cruel words. So let's see what those words are. What God just said positive of Job, Satan now gets his words in. So let's go back verse 6. One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan the accuser came with them. "Where have you come from?" the Lord asked. And Satan answered, "I've been going back and forth across the earth, watching everything that's going on." And the Lord asked, "Have you noticed my servant Job? He 's the finest man in all the earth, a man of complete integrity.

He fears God and have nothing to do with evil." Satan replied to the Lord, "You have to get this snare in his face." Yes, Job fears God, but not without good reason. You've always protected him and his home and his property from harm. You've made him prosperous in everything he does. Look how rich he is. But take everything away he has, and he will surely curse you to your face." Can you imagine how brazen that is to say that to God? Wow. Boy, and can you hear our lower human nature in Satan accusing his accusing deriding words?

I mean, we can say things like that to people. We can think that about people sometimes. You know, no wonder he tows the line. You pay him so well. That's what Satan says. No wonder he behaves. You pay him so well. You He knows who his sugar daddy is. He's going to play the part just to get what he wants from you. Job's smiles towards you are all fake. And he only does it to make sure you keep feeding him cash. It's all this is about Satan It's God. That's all it's about. He's just playing you.

And And your fit You're playing right into it. And Satan is good at that, isn't that? He's good at the at the accuser. Can you hear yourself though think things like this in your own life toward other people? No wonder she got the promotion. She's probably sleeping with the boss. You ever heard a statement like that? No wonder she got put in the worship team instead of me. The worship leader and her husband are best friends. No wonder they have that big home. I'm sure her rich daddy paid for it. Can you hear those kind of accusing things come out of your out of your mouth, in your mind?

You know, I used to think that I only really got in trouble if I said it. But it was probably 10 years ago. I'm ashamed to say 55 years old it has hit me. Uh it's just as bad to think it as to say it. Because God knows when you think it, right? There's no extra demerit for it coming out of your mouth. I mean, that will cause you some problems down here, but as far as God goes, it's the same. So when you think those thoughts, you're actually taking on Satan's job. And so you know, every time you say something like that, Satan I picture Just picture when you say something like Try to get this in your mind that you that you literally picture this.

When you say something accusing about someone, just picture Satan coming up from the side, behind you, and patting you in the back and saying, Atta boy. Man, good job. I thought I'd have to say that. You did it for me. Wow. The accuser of the brethren. So really And you know, a friend of mine shared this with me years ago. He said, when you talk about someone to someone else, try to picture the person you're talking about standing behind the door listening to every word you're saying. And then say it. You get it? So there are times when I'm at home when Sue and I are in in bed and we're And I'm talking about someone, and I do this, I picture that person being right outside our bedroom listening on the other side of the wall as I say it.

Now, that's a good way. You will start choosing different words quickly when you take that that seriously. I have another good friend. He's a minister, and I've respected him so much for this one. We were in a in a group meeting, and and we were talking about someone. He would say this, something like this. And about Carl And Carl was in in the meeting. He would say, and about Carl Now, if Carl was here, I would say this about Carl. And then he would say it. Well, we all knew why he was doing it. It was to honor Carl so that he picture Carl being there, so that as he said it he wouldn't say anything accusatory or or damning about Carl.

See, that's integrity. That's integrity. So try to remember that. When those accusing thoughts come to your mind, you're taking on the role of Satan. That's what he does. You're doing his work. And he would come alongside and pat you in the back and say, man, great job. Man, I can put you in charge of something around here. You know, you're doing really good. So be careful with them. And then 10 and 11, just to highlight this, Satan says, you've always protected him and his home and property from harm. You've made him prosperous in everything he does.

Look how rich he is. But take everything away he has, and he will surely curse you to your face. You know, do you find it interesting that God never challenges Satan on this idea that he has protected Job and that he has blessed Job. He never says no. He never challenges that. He doesn't say, no, I didn't protect him. No, I didn't bless him. He doesn't say that. Why? Maybe because it's true. Maybe because it's true. And what's on Satan's list we said you protected him. In Hebrew, the word for protected there is the word s u w k And in the King James, your word is hedge.

You've hedged him in. It means to hedge or fence up or about, to fence in with thorns. The idea that you put a hedge of protection around him that no one has been able to injure him. No one's been able to harm him. And God never says that he hasn't. You know, that's a That 's a good prayer to pray sometimes, that God would put a hedge of protection around your family. Uh in the Book of Hosea, when his wife goes wayward, he prays a hedge of protection around his wife. And prays that I pray a hedge of protection on my wife.

And this is the idea. And if you ever know someone whose wife or husband is running around, this is what they prayed. I pray a hedge of protection around my wife, and I pray that This is the essence of what he said. And I pray that when other men look to find her, when they scan the horizon to find her, they don't even see her. Take her out of their purview. Take her out of their view that they don't even find her in their view. And I've shared it with a lot of people in that situation, and I think that's a good prayer.

And then the ideas and then Hosea continues on and says so that she So eventually she says to herself, things are better than this at home than what I'm experiencing out here. And then they come back home. But this idea put a protect hedge of protection around them. And then Satan says, and you've made him prosperous. King James says, you have blessed the work of his hands. Just look how rich he is. I think it's interesting that Satan focuses in on riches, wealth. He could talk about his family. He has such a great relationship with his children.

You know, they get along well. He's such a good relationship with God. He goes right for the riches. He goes right for the wealth. And it seems that Satan sees this goal to be at the root of Job's motives. In other words, this is what he's going to accuse him. He serves you to get money. That's what this is all about. And probably, usually, Satan uh would be right because as it says in uh 1 Timothy 6, "For the love of money is the root of all evil, which some coveted after which they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." The love of money is the root of all evil, and Satan knows that.

And so You know, I remember thinking about this years ago, like drugs. That's not the root of drug addiction. I mean, you want a high. You You want a That's not the root, but it is. The root of it is buying and selling drugs. If there was no money in that, there wouldn't be drugs being sold, right? Prostitution. You know, prostitution That's not the root of prostitution. It's lust. It's just raw lust. No, if there wasn't money in it, women wouldn't give their bodies for prostitution. It's at the root of all evil. It's at the root of all evil.

It doesn't say that money is evil, does it? No, the love of money that is at the root of all evil. So he accuses Job that he is focused on riches, on wealth. And yet, as we're going to see in upcoming chapters, Job does not appear to be a man focused in wealth. Cuz we're going to discover that he is charitable. He does not turn away those in need. Not widows, not orphans, not the poor. He lends to them. He gives to them liberally. We're going to see that. And in case you question this, in case you question that this rich man having his wealth, that he has his wealth in balance, if you're not sure about that, remember what God said back in verse 8.

In verse 8, God said of him, he is the finest man in all the earth, a man of complete integrity. He fears God and has nothing to do with evil. So um that was God's call. Boy, I've been missing folks here. This is the accuser. This is the hedge of thorns. This is the love of money. And this is helping the poor. Cuz he did. You're going to see that in a moment. And then listen to verse 11. Verse 11 says, "But take everything away he has, and he will surely curse you to your face." And you know how often I run into this as a pastor?

All the time. All the time. Where a person in the church or outside the church will say that God took something away from them, and now they shake their fists at God. Uh a guy loses his girlfriend, blames it on God. A guy gets busted for g dealing drugs, blames it on God. Do you know that happens? Do you know that guys get busted for drugs and blame it on God? Oh yeah, all the time. Why would God let Why would God let this happen to me? I've been with guys in prison. They say that.

I say, really? Really? You're that far away from accepting responsibility that you're putting this in God. It's common where someone has a close friend or relative who dies, and they curse God because God took something away from them. There was a man in this church who lost a brother. And for 20 years plus he had a running battle with God, and was mad at God because God took his brother away from him. You know what ended it? He went to God and asked God to forgive him for blaming him. That's That's what ends it. You go to God.

You know, if if there's something like that in your life, if there's something you're blaming God for, and that's keeping you away from God, you need to really pray that through. Because that is going to keep you from God. It will. As long as you have God implicated in in in the problems going on in your life, it's going to keep you from God. And so there are ways to process that. You know, my nephew died of a drug overdose, 21 years old. Four of them in a room down in Reading. Three other guys watched him as he died, afraid to call the police.

And uh it was hard. I only have two nephews. It was hard. But I remember thinking I could have blamed God. God, why would you let that happen? But what I remember thinking was, he didn't want to quit. He was saved. He knew the Lord. He didn't want to quit. He did not want to quit. And I think maybe This is how I reconciled it. I think just maybe God said, you know what? You're going to cause so much trouble with your family, your parents, your brother, and uh And And in the end, you don't you're not going to quit anyway.

See, God knows that. And I think maybe as a kindness, maybe maybe I don't know. But that's how I reconciled it. I don't blame God. You know, God God allowed that. It wasn't his plan. But I didn't blame God. So how about you? Have you ever blamed God for something? Are you still in a battle with God over something from the past? Stop blaming God. This is one of the premier weapons to keep you away from God, is you blaming God for something and holding on to that, shaking your fists at God. And so Satan says in verse 11 and 12, "But take everything away from him, and he will surely curse you to your face." And then in verse 12 God responds, "All right, you may test him," the Lord said to Satan, "do whatever you want with everything he possesses, but don't harm him physically." So Satan left the Lord's presence.

I think he left excited about what he was just going to be allowed to do, cuz God had taken Satan's hands off of Job. He had protected Job from Satan. Now he released him to Satan. And here we see a very important lesson about God in this in the spiritual realm, including demons, is that God does not tempt. God does not ever tempt you to do anything. Look at James. James 1:13 it says, "And remember no one who wants to do wrong should ever say, God is tempting me. God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else either.

Temptation comes from the lure of your own evil desires. These evil desires lead to evil actions, and evil actions lead to death. So don't be misled, my dear brothers and sisters." So again, he never tempts anyone to sin, but God does allow Satan to tempt us, to test us. I think it's in Proverbs it says that God puts the righteous and the wicked to the test. He tempts us. And he will do that by just what he did with Job, by backing away and letting Satan have access to us to test us. But he does not.

But here's the key. If you're an unbeliever, Satan has no limits to what he can do to you. If you're a believer, God puts limits on whatever Satan can do to you. If you are a believer, anytime God allows Satan to tempt you, it is always with limits. Always with limits.

Guest (Male): You've been listening to Pastor Tom Keller on Study the Word and part of a study in Job. Would you like to give this a second listen? Either go to our website at ccleb.com or visit our YouTube page. Simply subscribe to our channel at Calvary Chapel Lebanon, and you can watch our services live or on demand. For those interested in a CD copy, call us at 717 273 5633. Once again, that's 717 273 5633. It takes a team to bring Study the Word to this station and many others like it. Please consider sending in a gift today.

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