[0:00] Take your Bibles if you would and turn with me to Job chapter 1 and verse 12. I know you probably think I'm staying too long in Job 1 and I'm afraid of the other verses, but I promise you that's not the point.
[0:14] It's just so good. And so today I want to talk to you about the all-powerful, almighty God of heaven. And if you look at verse 12, the Bible says, And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he has is in thy power.
[0:32] Only upon himself put not forth thy hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord. I'm probably going to be one of the most controversial messages.
[0:45] This is probably going to be one of the most controversial messages I preach for some of you. But I would like you to study this with me. The great story of Job teaches us much about the conflict in heaven.
[0:58] We see a great God that man chose to sin against. We see Satan who rebelled against God. We see that Satan has great power.
[1:13] And Satan wants to make others hate God. We see that Satan does nothing without God's permission. We see that God, a Job, chooses to love God.
[1:29] Now, if this book is an orchestrated play where Job didn't have a choice, it loses all power. For some of you who tend to think that God has predetermined and predestined and made everything happen or it couldn't happen, it makes this book of Job almost a joke.
[1:50] God letting the devil beat up on him and God's up in heaven saying, I'm just doing this because I'd like to watch this happen. That's not what's going on. God knew Job and his character enough to know that Job would choose to honor him.
[2:04] Job would choose to honor him. We learn why so much bad stuff happens all around the world. Sometimes you might ask yourself the question, why does everything go wrong? Why is the world so wicked?
[2:15] I think you'll know before I finish this message, which may take me more than one day. But I'd like to challenge you to place the blame where it goes. I'd like to challenge you to place the blame for where it goes, and that's not God.
[2:29] I'll prove that to you from the book of Job in just a minute. It wasn't God. No, you can trust God that he knows what to do and work it all out for his glory and our good. So I'm going to have a word of prayer, and then I'm going to come at you with the most controversial, get you good and mad, and then I'll preach the rest of it.
[2:45] How about that? Father, I love you, and I thank you for how good you are. God, and you are God, almighty, creator, judge of the universe, omnipotent, all-powerful, omniscient, all-knowing, omnipresent, all-present God.
[3:07] And I love you. And I thank you that we get to serve you. And I pray, God, that your name would be glorified today, and I pray you'd help our people. And I'll give you praise for what you do in Jesus' name. Amen.
[3:19] They're going to throw some slides up here. And as I walk my way through this first part here, just what I'm saying so that you can look at it and really know what I'm saying. Some of you may have heard that I don't like the word sovereign much when speaking of God.
[3:35] But you may have heard that somebody actually told me, I heard you don't like the word sovereign. And I said, well, I don't really.
[3:47] And I'm going to tell you why. Because it's not found one time in the Bible I use. It's not found one time in this Bible. I've been using this Bible.
[3:57] Well, not this one. It's a brand new one. But this version of the Bible, I've been using it for the last 60, 55 years. I don't think I could say I really did anything with the Bible for that.
[4:09] Maybe 50 years. 15, I know I was doing something with it. The word sovereign is found 303 times in a popular version of the Bible. But it's translated Lord God in my Bible.
[4:27] It's translated Lord God in this Bible. It's not translated sovereign. The word they translated sovereign when speaking of God. They also translated Lord when speaking of a man.
[4:42] Actually, the Hebrew word, because it's almost all in the Old Testament, the Hebrew word means Lord, means master. Doesn't mean sovereign. Doesn't mean what they mean when they say it.
[4:54] They translated that word Lord when speaking of a man. They did. They did. The same ones who translated the other word, 303 times about God. The Lord, when speaking of God, they translated the word the Lord sometimes.
[5:08] The same word sometimes is sovereign. Sometimes it's the Lord. Lords when they were speaking of kings or leaders, all the same Hebrew word. Lord when a lost man speaks to God instead of sovereign.
[5:22] Master when the same word is used of Abraham. You might get the idea that this copy is a little more accurate. Not trying to be too ugly.
[5:35] Just trying to tell you the truth. I checked. I challenge you to check. Word sovereign. Not in this version. Amen. That same Bible only uses the word sovereign five times in the New Testament.
[5:51] But they do translate the Greek word in the New Testament as master when they speak of a slave owner because it's the exact same word. And when choosing how to use a vessel. I will use this vessel for a toilet or I'll use it for my soup.
[6:04] The master does that. It's the same word sovereign. None of the uses of the word sovereign that is so popular today is used in the Bible the way it's taught popularly.
[6:21] None of the uses of the word sovereign in either Bible, any Bible, is used the way it's taught popularly today. To most today they mean God is controlling everything.
[6:33] And nothing happens unless he makes it happen. It's never in the Bible that way. Don't worry, I'll get you plenty of verses. You can even try to use to argue with me if you hang around.
[6:47] The English word sovereign actually means one possessing or held to possess supreme political power. That would be like a king.
[6:57] Or one that exercises supreme authority within a limited sphere. It is an acknowledged leader. You can look that up for yourself and see if I made that up.
[7:10] Sovereign means supreme in power. Superior to all others. Chief. They take the word sovereign to mean that nothing can happen unless it's what God wills or wants.
[7:25] So I'll just tell you this and I'm going to start preaching the Bible. I couldn't preach on sovereign because it ain't in here. I couldn't preach on sovereign because it ain't in here.
[7:41] You say, why don't you like the word sovereign? I like the word sovereign fine. I like the word sovereign like I like any other word. I like the word sovereign like Lord. If you use the word sovereign like the dictionary, use the word sovereign. I'm all for it. if you use that to mean that this morning i got up and took a shower because he pre-recorded that and predetermined that i'm like no i don't think that's what the bible ever says anywhere if you mean by that that the people that raped my daughter were predetermined to do that then i'd say i don't believe that either and we're in a great story here in the bible and in this story we're told the story of god and the devil satan having a meeting in heaven y'all mad at me yet because i'm already feeling it well we got a story going and check me out by the way i welcome the challenge i welcome the challenge um we got a meeting between god and we got a meeting with satan or the devil that old serpent the dragon he's all through the bible and in that meeting the lord says to satan have you ever seen my man job i predetermined he'd be perfect no he didn't say that he said you see my man job well he loves me he really does love me and satan said well i'm sure he loves you the way you you're good to him even satan in the bible doesn't go well of course he's good because you made him good i'm bad because you made me bad that's not what the bible says i mean we're bible studiers here we're not theologian studiers or popular preacher studiers and so god says uh you've seen him and the devil said watch i've sure i've seen him but you built a hedge around him you made everything in his life prosper no wonder he loves you that's a total different story than sovereign the way it's commonly used god's on the other side of the story god looks at him and says look you dingbat he loves me period no he doesn't if you were to remove the hedge and hurt him he wouldn't love you yes he would i'll let you have it you can do it you'll see he'll still love me he will not love you he will curse you to your face god's like don't think so and of course you know the story he doesn't can i hear an amen there have you read the bible all right so i want to go through some things with you real quickly i don't like that word because we know that things do happen on the earth that god doesn't want to happen the bible says in second peter you're gonna just need a sheet of paper to write down verses or if you have to get my outlines you got it all written out for you right now the second peter chapter three and verse nine the lord is not slack concerning his promises as some men count slackness but it's long suffering to us we're not willing that any should perish he does not want any to perish but that all should come to repentance now we all know that he said and see we believe this to be the word of god and he said i don't want anybody to perish i do want everybody to come to repentance and we know it doesn't happen but he said it so we believe it he commanded people to enter he wouldn't have had to command them if he'd have made them enter but in matthew 7 13 he said enter the straight gate wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction and many there be which go in there at i like stop here real quick and put a caveat i don't mind singing a song that says he's sovereign as long as you understand the word sovereign he is sovereign but he's not sovereign in making me do it he's sovereign because he's almighty god and i'm all for him being almighty god all but he is almighty god i'll show it to you for we you're gonna get enough bible here you're gonna think you're in a bible college probably not because in a bible college i'd read to you out of another book i'm gonna read to you out of the book in a bible college that would teach you what a theologian said and i'm just going to teach you what god said and i'll get my resume ready the bible says in first john chapter 2 and verse 2 that he was a sin
[11:45] payment for the whole world says and he is a propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but for the sins of the whole world and he wants a whole in other words he wants all to proceed to repentance he wants all he's not willing any should be lost and he died for everybody first Timothy chapter 4 and verse 10 the bible says therefore we both labor and suffer reproach because we trust in the living god who is the savior of all men especially those that believe you see he died for everybody so everybody could be saved but you can't get it unless you believe as a christian you are commanded to submit the bible says in james chapter 4 and verse 7 submit yourselves therefore to god that's a command word submit god said to you i'm telling you something to do he you don't have to command a lion to eat meat he's like i will you put it there i'll eat it that's his nature with me he said you need to submit to me resist the devil he told me and he will flee from you verse 8 draw not to god and he will draw not to you cleanse your hands you sinners and purify your hearts you double-minded so i would just like to end this little first point right here with this little thought for you there is no idea at all that god's making your choices and forcing you there's no idea anywhere in the bible that god is making your choices for you or that god is forcing you you must decide to obey god or disobey god that's why i don't like the way the word is used i like the word just fine i just want everybody to know i like the word just fine i just don't like the way it's used if you twist a word you make the word wicked and they made the word wicked now here's some truths about satan and i want you to take your bible and look them up or write them down and check me out later but you need to know you need to know when i finished today lord willing you need to know he is the almighty all-powerful omnipresent which means all present all-powerful omnipotent uh what am i miss omniscient omnipresent omniscient all-knowing god he's god he knows yesterday like today and like tomorrow because he stands outside of time he's above time he knows everything that'll ever happen but in the bible story there is this very powerful creature who was created and who does not rule the world from hell who hates hell and is scared to death of hell because he knows that's where he's going to go and that will be his prison not his palace and so i just want you to know this devil we got in our story here's some truths first john chapter 5 verse 19 we know that we are of god that's being you christians and the whole world lies in wickedness this whole world is not under the power of our god it's under the power of this wicked one and that's where it lies i hear people all the time blaming god for stuff and i'm like if you ever read the bible you'd back off that fact is i will show you this in a minute but when it all gets done and said you know what job does never blames god and you know what the bible says about job notice this he did not sin with his mouth and blame me because job was like god wouldn't do me this way that's stinking devil doing that say amen right there you don't have to like it it's just the truth the bible says in second corinthians chapter 4 verse 4 that the bible calls satan the god of this world you ought to write this down somewhere these are terms that the bible uses about satan satan is the god of this world now he's not the god of this room he's not the god of us he's not the god of me he's not your god but lost people that line wickedness he's the god of this world who have blinded the hearts and minds that they would believe not lest the light of the glorious gospel of christ who's the image of god should shine on them satan is trying to keep people from
[15:48] hearing and believing the truth here's what you'd get from the bible satan has major influence over ideals opinions goals honors or hopes and views of the majority of the world people did you know that when you step outside the bible and you step out into the regular world what you start hearing is usually not truth when you step out and start listening to other people what you start to hear is other things he he influences education philosophies religion all lies and all deception he is the father of all lies and that's what happens the devil he's real and he is powerful according to the bible in ephesians chapter 2 and verse 2 he is called the prince of the power of the air look at your bible ephesians chapter 2 and verse 2 wherein in time past you walked according to the course of this world you see there's this world and there's that world in this world men do what men want to do in that world our father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven in heaven we're like he's god down here people are like i don't care about him i'll do what i want that's this world you walked according to the course of this world according to the prince of the power of the air you should underline that in your bible he is the prince of the power of the air that means there is this prince who is ruling over this world he is the prince of the power of the air he is the god of this world then it says the spirit that's that devil spirit that now works in the children of disobedience he's a he's the spirit that works in the children of disobedience and we used to be like that and we used to run with that crowd and we used to be in that crowd but we're not in that crowd anymore that's the world i used to be in not the world i'm in i was redeemed rescued saved and pulled out of that and pulled into him to be saved satan is also in the bible the prince of this world the ruler of this world the bible says in john chapter 12 and verse 31 now is the judgment of this world now shall the prince of this world be cast out is that you jesus no that's satan he's the prince of this world he's the king everybody looks to he's the one they believe in that's john 12 31 in john chapter 14 and verse 30 hereafter i will not talk much with you for the prince of this world comes he ain't got nothing to do with me he has nothing in me the prince of this world satan the prince of this world john 16 11 of judgment because the prince of this world is judged satan will not win satan will not win satan will be judged satan will be destroyed in matthew chapter 4 and verse 8 there's a craziest story in the world the bible says this is when jesus is tempted the devil takes him up into an exceeding high mountain and shows him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them and satan and the devil says all these things will i give you if you will fall down and worship me now we're going to read what jesus says back come on pay attention to me now focus up this way now look at this this is what ends up happening the devil takes jesus this human body man god in human flesh takes him up into an exceeding high mountain and says look out all over all that look at all that there's all the things of the world i have the authority to give that to you now that's what he says you might think that jesus is about to say oh don't be making jokes you idiot that's mine that's not what he says look at your bible verse 10 then said jesus get out of here satan it is written thou shalt worship the lord thy god and him only shalt thou serve he didn't deny what satan said he just
[19:51] said i ain't doing it when man sinned and chose the serpent over god satan was given great power over this earth now you need to understand back in the garden there was god saying don't eat that and there was the devil saying do eat that there was god saying you i bless you i've given you all this i've only given you one commandment don't do that and the devil's over sin tell god to take a hike and do what you want to do and on that day satan was given great power got your bible open you really need to look this up in the bible so you know it's true luke chapter 4 verse 5 and the devil takes him up it's the same story just got different words into a high mountain and shows him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time and the devil said unto him all this power will i give thee and the glory of them underline this for that is delivered unto me that is delivered unto me you see on that day when sin happened you know god didn't bring death into this world i get that verses i mean he didn't bring death into this world he didn't bring death into sin did say amen he's the god of life he's the god of life but he didn't bring sin into the world that is delivered unto me and to whomsoever i will give it look at that in your bible it was delivered to me and i can give it to whoever i want to give it to just worship me and it'll all be yours you see sin and this world system chose satan and the consequences of sin over god so don't blame god be careful not to blame god now before i go further with you i got tons more bible to show you but you need to understand something in job there's this big conflict going on and when you read that you might flippantly read by it and you would miss so much the whole bible is full of this truth god says have you seen my man job and the devil says i saw him and he does love you but it's because you bless him and if you quit blessing him he quit loving you and god said that is not true he loves me and god said joe said the devil said nope not true and so god said well you can work in life and hurt him if you want and satan then leaves and kills everything he has and takes it from him now why would god put it that way if it was god doing it for you predestined people sorry i mean the whole story is not written like this is just a game i'm playing it's not written that way at all next thing i want you to notice in the story satan can't do anything god doesn't let him do because god still rules god's way up here and satan's down here ruling this earth and wrecking havoc wreaking havoc all across this planet and cause all kind of junk to happen but don't you ever worry god's always in charge so let me give you some bible verses first chronicles 29 12 both riches and honor come of thee thou reignest over all you reign over all you god are over everything you can say amen right there god is over everything in first Timothy chapter 6 and verse 13 i give thee charge in the sight of god who gives life to all things who quickens all things and before christ jesus who before pontius pilot witnessed a good confession that you keep this commandment without spot and unrebukable until the appearing of our lord jesus christ our master jesus christ which in his times he shall show who is the blessed and only potentate how do you like that word he's the only potentate he's the only real one the king of kings
[23:56] and the lord of lords who's the only one who has immortality who's the only one who dwells in light which no man can approach unto whom no man has seen and nor can see to whom be honor and power everlasting amen that's god so in the story you got god and you got the devil and god is really in charge and the devil's going to do a whole lot of bad stuff but he can't do without the permission because god rules here's what we know about god he created the world and it belongs to him bible says in isaiah i could i mean you got to limit yourself or we could be here for a month but god created the world that's all all over your bible lift up your eyes on high and behold who hath created these things open your eyes look around who created these things who created all those stars that brings out their hosts by number and he calls them by their name by the greatness of his might he is strong in power and not one fails it is god that's holding everything together the first time i ever heard about protons neutrons and electrons and all them other little things they said those things are flying in their orbit and it's hard to figure out why they stay there till you read the bible till you read the bible it's a great book it's a great book it says in hebrews 1 3 who being the brightness of his glory the express image of his person jesus is the brightness of the glory of god he is the express exact image of his person and he opposes all things by the word of his power the bible says in colossians 1 17 he is before all things and by him all things consist he holds it all together why doesn't the world fall apart why don't the why don't the the the planets run into each other why don't the stars do some crazy stuff because because he's in york because he holds it together because he is god and he will judge the world in hebrews chapter 12 and verse 23 to the general assembly and the church of the firstborn which are written in heaven to god the judge of all you don't have to worry about what the supreme court judges think you don't worry about what the devil thinks you don't worry about what i think he's the judge of all he is the judge of all he is the almighty i love that word it's in my bible a bunch he's the almighty listen to this and i saw no temple therein for the lord god almighty and the lamb are the temple of it so in no way would i ever by telling you i don't particularly like the word sovereign would i ever diminish him he is the lord almighty he is the creator he is the judge he holds it all together he's god and that's good stuff the bible says in daniel chapter 4 and verse 17 the most high rules in the kingdom of men and gives it to whomsoever he will that's what the wicked king had to figure out you might be a king you might think you're a potentate but there's only one real potentate you might think you're a king but there's only one almighty king and he is in charge he knows everything the bible says in hebrews chapter or matthew chapter 10 and verse 29 sorry about that are not two sparrows just sold for a farm aren't two sparrows just cheap that's what it means aren't two sparrows cheap but yet god don't let one of them fall to the ground without him knowing about it he's everywhere when you when you go to the house you're like i used to be in my youth people would come to me and they'd say i'm not gonna lie to you in the house in the house of god in the church i'm not gonna lie to you like well you better not lie anywhere because he's everywhere he ain't limited to this place here's what the bible says in psalm chapter 139 verse 7 whether shall i go where can i go and get
[28:01] away from your spirit where can i go to get away from your presence if i were to go up into heaven you're there and if i went all the way down and made my bed in hell you're there you know how far you can go away to get you get to the planet some idiot cosmonaut or astronaut went all the way out and space said he didn't see god you had to go to space find out he's out there bible says he's everywhere so i'm gonna give you some truths about god some truths about god now you need to know these truths about god it'll help you understand my issue it'll help you understand this little verse and the lord said to satan behold all that he has is in thy power because i have real power you don't have real power i have real power but you can't put your hand on him and so satan went out of the presence of the almighty number one just some things i just picked some number one god never tempts people to do wrong god never i had to leave out a bunch of stuff i'm sitting here thinking man why don't you put that in here as i read i'm like i need to put more stuff in here but i was trying to get this done in 40 30 40 minutes the bible says in john 1 13 god cannot be tempted with evil neither tempts he any man just so you know write her down somewhere you can't tempt god and god tempts no one so when you're looking at porn and you're like i just don't know why god predestined this in me he didn't sweetheart he doesn't tempt men he doesn't tempt anybody to do wrong fact is in luke 22 31 i've already told you this in other weeks jesus looks at peter simon peter and he said satan has desired to have you it was satan who was going to mess with him that's a real throwback verse back to job it's a real throwback in the book of job satan's like let me have him and jesus says hey peter he wants you and jesus said i prayed for you god never made hell for man the bible says in matthew 25 verse 41 depart from me you cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels it's in your bible how about this one god takes no pleasure in the death even of the wicked god's not up in heaven saying i like hurting people i like seeing people die i like destroying people not if you read the bible if you read a commentary you might come up with that ezekiel 33 11 i have no pleasure in the death of the wicked i just want the wicked to turn from his way and live turn turn from your evil ways why would you die i made you die that's why no it's not what he says at all satan does the wicked stuff and jesus does the good stuff in the bible james 117 every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the father of lights every good gift listen every good gift every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the father of lights and there's no variableness nor shadow of turning he doesn't change john chapter 10 and verse 10 he said i am come that they might have life they might have it more abundantly but the thief has come to steal to kill and to destroy did you know that god won't even allow the devil to tempt you more than you can handle see he's in charge and so like when stuff's going wrong you're like i just can't win yes you can you're lying to yourself first corinthians 10 13 the bible said there is no temptation taking you
[32:02] but such as is common to man but god is faithful who will not suffer that's not allow you to be tempted you ought to maybe mark that word suffer because i heard somebody make fun of that word not long ago just put the word allow that's what it means god will not allow allow you to be tempted above that you're able but will with the temptation make a way of escape so you can bear it even if the devil comes for you peter i got you back even if the devil comes for you job i told him he can't touch you even if the devil comes i'm in charge so let me give you some lessons to take home job 122 don't blame god for the consequences of your sin and your rebellion and satan's rule on this earth i love job 122 in all this that whole story job sinned not nor charged god foolishly underline that nor charged god foolishly some of you border on foolish with your words you're acting like it's god job 210 he said to her you speak like one of the foolish women speak what shall we not receive from the hand of god shall we not receive evil but here's what i want you to face in all this did not job sin with his lips you need to understand job not one time says god's doing this to him job doesn't attack god or charge god job is suffering under satan's attack in job chapter 1 in verse 16 one of the guys comes running in and says the fire of god fell from heaven and killed your stuff job never uses that that's what a regular guy said it wasn't even fire from god we know it's fire from the devil i do feel like a long ranger right now if you're not saved you're in a trap of satan the reason you're not saved is because the devil's got you locked in a trap the bible says in 2nd timothy 2 26 that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil and they have been taken captive by him at his will i want to end this message with this god always wins so if you've read the bible which i hope you have from cover to cover which i hope you have the bible says in revelation chapter 20 i love this revelation chapter 20 verse 1 i saw an angel come down from heaven having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand just love this it's just fun underline an angel god didn't have to say i'm fixing to send me a whole army of angels that devil's too strong god said hey angel take care of that i've let this idiot run wild long enough grab him throw the chain on him take the key we're locking him up you reading that if you like the bible you like that and he laid hold on the dragon that old serpent which is the devil and satan and he bound him a thousand years and he cast him into a bottomless pit and he shut him up and set a seal and left him locked up for a thousand years that's going to happen out in the future someday this millennial kingdom and he's going to let him go he's going to let him go the devil's going to try to go back to acting like himself until you get to revelation chapter 20 verse 10 look at revelation 20 verse 10 and the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake
[36:03] of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever satan will not win he cannot win i didn't put the verse in here where we get to stomp his nasty head last revelation god's going to say put your feet on his head stomp him just give him one good squeeze the brains out of that head that's pretty good stuff too so i want to challenge you today be careful when you attribute to god things that the bible doesn't attribute to him he's a good god he's a saving god he's the creator god and the judge god he's the god who has power over satan and he is the god of all things he's all present all knowledgeable all powerful he is almighty god you can use the word sovereign i'll even put up with it just know when you say that that doesn't mean you can blame him because you want to go do something you ought not do and don't try to blame him like he programmed that he made me do that no he didn't the bible never says that what's really fun when you're a bible preacher is you just read the bible and take it to mean what it says it means you don't try to find nothing cool nothing spooky nothing theological you say well brother that's theology i know it is but it's bible theology it's real stuff not something some catholic priest said it got changed into a presbyterian priest or an episcopalian priest or an anglican priest what the word of god says so know this if you're lost this morning you chose to be lost and you're still choosing to stay lost and every time we have a service the word of god is preached to you and you hear the bible and it speaks to you and the holy spirit of god speaks to you and you refuse to obey god ain't god doing that it's you doing that this is not an academic discussion this is meeting with the god of heaven and reading what he says so we can apply it to our lives that's much different than going to some college class where you're studying the bible we're not studying literature here we're listening to what god said what preaching is if you're not saved just want to get saved if you've been blaming god for things please stop don't charge god foolishly so the story started if you consider my man job i certainly have and he only likes you because you're nice to him that is not true well i tell you what you could be nice to him he'll curse you to your face no he won't tell you what you can go out and take everything he's got just don't touch him because i'm still in charge you're not and the devil goes out and does all kind of havoc in his life he didn't make job make a choice or it would have made the whole book of job a joke this ain't the book a joke this ain't the book of i just want to say some spanish words right here it's not like a screen a pantalla it's not like something god just said check out this story it would be a neat story if it was a real story but it's not real because i didn't really do it that way no there it is