God’s Firebrands

God's Firebrands

(No. 3233)

A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, JANUARY 19, 1911.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?" Zechariah 3:2.

[Another Sermon by Mr. Spurgeon on verses 1 to 5 is Sermon #611, Volume
11–ZECHARIAH'S VISION OF JOSHUA THE HIGH PRIEST.]

IT may be well to explain these words, for simple as they are, a few
words of exposition may be useful to open up the metaphor and enforce
the thrilling Truth of God that underlies it.

There is mention of a fire. A cry of "FIRE!"has something fearful in
it. When a fire begins to get the upper hand with us, it is terrible in
its destructiveness. The fire here meant is more awful than any flame
that makes havoc of matter, and its devastations are ten thousand times
more appalling! It is the fire of sin. It blazed in the heart of an
angel and he became a devil. Its sparks fell into the bosom of mother
Eve and into the heart father Adam–and Paradise was burned up and the
world became a wilderness. Sin is a fire which destroys the comfort of
mankind, here, and all the joy of mankind hereafter. It is a flame
which yields no comfortable warmth. The sinner may dance in the light
of it for a moment, but in sorrow will he have to lie down in it
forever! Woe unto those who have to make their bed in this fire–to
dwell with these consuming flames for a term that knows no ending!

There is, further, mention of a brand. Nothing can be more suitable to
burn in the fire than a brand. It is not a branch just taken from the
tree, fresh and full of sap–it is a brand–dry, sere timber, fit for
the burning. It is not a mass of stone or iron, but a combustible
brand. And what does this indicate but man's natural heart which is so
congenial to the fire of sin? Our heart is like the tinder–Satan has
but to strike the spark and how readily does the spark find a nest
within our bosom! As the firebrand fits the fire, so does the sinner
fit in with sin. When sin and the sinner come in contact, it is, "Hail
fellow, well met!" They are bosom companions. The sinner's heart is the
nest well prepared–and sins are the foul birds which come to nestle
there! Not to go a step without a particular application, it will be
well for us all to understand that weare, ourselves, like the
brands–there is a fitness between us and sin. If we burn in the fire
of sin, it is no wonder! With our fallen nature, it is no greater
marvel that we should be incited by sin than that the firebrand should
kindle in the flame!

Beyond the distinct allusion to a fire and a brand, we read of a brand
in the fire. Nor is it merely a brand lying upon the heap, to be,
by-and-by, put upon the flames–it is "a brand plucked out of the
fire." It has been in the fire! Does not this portray our
condition–not only congenial for the fire of sin, but actually burning
and blazing in it? We began very early. Disobedience to parents, angry
tempers, petty lies, many sorts of childish obstinacies and
wrongdoings–all these were like the first catching on fire of the
brand. We have blazed away the reverse of merrily since then–some have
become charred with sin till their very bodies contain the marks of
that tremendous fire, while in every case the soulreceives a charring
and blackening from the flame. Not one of us has been able, even with
godly training and Christian parentage, to escape from burning to some
extent in this fire. Alas! Alas, for those who are even now in it!

There is a fair side to the picture–it is not altogether gloomy. While
we have a fire, a brand and a brand in the fire, we also have, blessed
be God, a brand plucked out of the fire. Sinners these, who though they
have still within them the propensity to sin, are no longer in the fire
of sin! They have been taken away from it. They sin through infirmity,
but willful sin they do not commit. Their nature has been challenged.
They have received the renewing Grace of God. The fire that once burned
within them has been quenched. They recollect, to their grief and
sorrow, the mischief that sin did to them, but it is not doing them the
same mischief now. They are delivered from the body of sin and death!

Still, the force of the passage seems to lie in the words "plucked out
off" You may sit down on the bench by the hearth in one of those good
old country fireplaces where they still burn the logs and, perhaps, a
brand drops out upon the hearth where it flames a little while and then
goes out. This is not a picture that we can appropriate, for there
never was an instance known of a man, by himself, dropping out of the
fire of sin! Alas, we love it too well! "The burnt child dreads the
fire," says the proverb, but we are like the silly moth that flies at
the candle and singes its wings, yet still uses those wings to mount up
again into the flame! And if it falls– all full of pain and torment,
with burnt legs and with almost all its wing gone–it struggles, it
pants, it labors to get into the fire again! Such is man. He loves this
fire which is his destruction! In youth, we put our finger into the
flame. We feel that it is burnt, yet again we put our hand into it.
Then, in later years, we persist deliberately till that sin has
consumed us from head to foot! And we lie down in our grave with our
bones filled with disease–foul fruit of the sins of our youth–our
very corpses in their mortality bearing witness to the corruption of
our morals!

Albeit the Christian is relieved of that peril, he does not escape by
his own free will. He is plucked out of it. To be plucked out, there
needs a hand quick to rescue. You know that pierced hand and how it
burnt itself when it was thrust into the hot coals to pluck us out like
brands from the burning! It was no use waiting till we dropped out, for
we would never have done so–there was no hope of that. With all the
appliances of Grace and of Judgment, the two together could not bring
us out! But effectual vocation did it, when the Spirit of the living
God took the firebrand in His hand and without asking it whether it
would or not, by the sweet and irresistible compulsions of Divine Grace
plucked the brand out of the fire! Every Believer in the Lord Jesus is
a trophy of the strength as well as of the mercy of God. It took as
much Omnipotence to snatch him from the fire as it needs to make a
world–and every Believer may feel that he is a brand plucked from the
fire.

This question, as it appears to me, will bear three renderings. First,
it may be looked upon as an exclamation of wonder–"Is not this a brand
plucked out of the fire!" Secondly, as an enquiry or hope–"Is not this
a brand– particularly this one–"plucked out of the fire?" And, in the
third place, it is certainly a defiance for us, assured of our safety,
to throw into the face of Satan, the accuser–"Is not this a brand
plucked out of the fire?"

I. THE TEXT BEARS THE SENSE OF WONDERMENT–"Is not this a brand plucked
out of the fire?"

It was said of Joshua, the High Priest. There was such astonishment at
his preservation, that with hands uplifted, the question was asked, "Is
not this man just like a firebrand snatched from among the glowing
coals?" Nor is this marvel confined to Joshua. I believe this is a
matter of wonder in the case of every saved sinner. Was there ever a
man saved by Grace who was not a wonder? Is not every Christian
conscious that there is some peculiarity about his own salvation which
makes it marvelous? If you cannot all chime in with, "Yes," I must at
least lead the chorus in which an overwhelming multitude will
join–confessing that it was so with myself! For a long while, I could
not believe that it was possible that my sins could be forgiven. I do
not know why, but I seemed to be the odd person in the world. When the
catalog was made out, it seemed to me that, for some reason, I must
have been left out. If God had saved me and not the rest of the world,
I would have wondered, indeed! But if He had saved all the world except
me, that would have seemed to be according to the common course–and a
right course, too. And now, being saved by Grace, I cannot help saying,
"Yes, I am a brand plucked out of the fire!"And does not each Believer
say the same? Why, look at the Believer! He is fallen, lost, and yet,
though lost in his first parent, he is saved in Christ! The Believer's
own nature is depraved like that of other men and yet, contrary to
nature, his is made a new creature! As though Niagara were suddenly
made to leap upwards instead of falling downwards, our nature, so
mighty for sin, has been suddenly turned into the opposite direction
and we have been compelled to seek after Grace and holiness!

Out of the state of our natural depravity we have been plucked so that
every man who is delivered from its sway may well say, "Am not I a
brand plucked out of the fire?" Each Christian, knowing his own heart
and having a special acquaintance with his own peculiar besetting sin,
feels as if the conquest of his own will by the Grace of God were a
more illustrious trophy of that Grace than the conquest of a thousand
others! I can well understand that none of us will yield the palm in
Heaven to any other as to our indebtedness to the Mercy of God. You may
sing, and sing loudly, each one of you, and each one say, "I owe more
to God's Grace than any other"–but there is not one of us who will
concede the point! We shall each strike up our own peculiar note and
louder yet, and louder yet, and louder until our notes of gratitude
will rise to the seventh Heaven–"unto Him that loved us, and washed us
from our sins in His own blood: to whom be Glory and dominion forever
and ever!" Each Christian, then, for some reason, will feel that he is
peculiarly "a brand

plucked out of the fire." I envy not the feeling of any Believer who
should dispute this. May you and I be more thoroughly baptized into the
spirit of humility–that with deeper gratitude we may feel how
peculiarly we are indebted to the Grace of God!

Though this is the case universally, there are instances so uncommon
that they excite surprise in the minds of all who hear of them. In the
cases of extraordinary conversion, one of the first is the salvation of
the extremely aged. Imagine a person, here, who has lived to be 70 or
80 years old and all this time his heart has never heard the sigh of
repentance and never felt the joy of pardon! You have lived only to
cumber the ground all these years and you are still an enemy to God!
While on the borders of the grave you have no hope of Heaven. O Soul,
your case is very sad! It were enough to make angels weep, if weep they
could, to think that such an one as you, after so many years of
long-suffering, should not be melted thereby! Now, suppose the Lord
should appear to you tonight and say to you, "I have loved you with an
everlasting love: therefore with loving kindness have I drawn you. I
took you into the House of Prayer tonight on purpose that My Word might
come with power to your soul, and I have this to say to you–"Come now,
and let us reason together: though your sins are as scarlet, they shall
be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as
wool." What do you say, you hoary Jacob, but without Jacob's faith,
leaning upon your staff–would it not be a wonder if now you should
begin to love the Lord and begin to believe in Jesus? Oh, may God give
you Grace to do so! And then I am sure you will say to your kinsfolk
and acquaintance, "Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?"

There have been instance of persons converted at the most advanced age.
There was one who went, I believe, to hear Mr. Toplady preach the very
day when he turned a hundred! He had been a constant neglecter of the
House of God, but when he arrived at the age of a hundred, attracted by
the fame of Mr. Toplady, who was an exceedingly popular, and he
certainly was a highly evangelical preacher, and happened to be
preaching in the town where the man lived, he said he would go on that
day to hear him, that he might remember his birthday. He went–and that
day God, in His Grace, met with him! I remember, too, the instance of a
man who was converted by a sermon which he heard Mr. Flavel preach, and
which was blessed to him 83 years after he had heard it, when he was at
the age of ninety-eight. The Word came with power to his soul after all
that interval of time! Just as he was on the borders of the tomb, he
was made to enter into eternal life! If the God of Infinite Mercy gives
such a blessing to aged ones here–then they will be brands plucked out
of the fire!

Remarkable, too–I might almost say exceptional–is the conversion of
people who have been accustomed to hear the Gospel from their youth up,
who, though not, perhaps, absolutely aged, have nevertheless been for
years receiving Gospel privileges without any result. They have been
lying at Bethesda's pool with its many porches, for 40 or 50 years! Oh,
there are some such here. You have not heard meall that time. Some
other ministry has, in times past, fallen upon your ears and, perhaps,
our own voice is now familiar to you through your having heard it these
10 or 12 years. You listened to it at first with attention. You were
riveted for a little while. Then it grew to be an ordinary thing and
though you still give the preacher a fair hearing, there is very little
of that drinking in of the Word of God which there once seemed to be.
Some of you, perhaps, will almost go to sleep here now. I sometimes
wish that you were elsewhere– perhaps another voice would make your
ears tingle–you know my voice full well. It is quite possible for a
minister to preach too long to any one set of people–they can get so
accustomed to the tones of his voice that they are never awakened. The
"click, click" of the mill gets to be so to the miller that he goes to
sleep. Over in Bankside, I am told, when a man is first put inside a
boiler while the rivets are being fastened, he cannot stay long–the
noise is so dreadful. But after a time, the boilermaker gets so used to
the horrible din that he can almost go to sleep inside! Well, now, so
it is, too, under any ministry when the people get Gospel-hardened. The
same sun which melts wax hardens clay. The influences which tend to
make some people better, make other people a great deal worse. Some of
you have thus trifled with your own conscience! Should you be saved
tonight, you would be brands plucked out of the fire, and may we not
hope that you shall be? Will not some of us pray for it?

Further still, and apparently the wonder increases, there have been
cases of gross sinners in which this marvel has been still more
exciting! It is a merciful thing that God forgives drunkenness. Some of
those who have wallowed in it have been saved. We sometimes talk of a
man being "as drunk as a beast," but who ever heard of a beast being
drunk? Why, it is more beastly than anything a beast ever does! I do
not believe that the devil himself is ever guilty of anything like
that. I never heard even him charged with being a drunk. It is a sin
which has no sort of excuse–those who fall into it generally fall into
other deadly vices. It is the devil's backdoor to Hell and everything
that is hellish, for he that once

gives away his brains to drink is ready to be caught by Satan for
anything! Oh, but while the drunk cannot have eternal life abiding in
him while he is such, is it not a joy to think of the many drunks who
have been washed and saved? This night, there are sitting here those
who have done with their cups, who have left behind them their strong
drink and who have renounced the haunts of their debauchery! They are
washed and cleansed–and when they think of the contrast between where
they used to be on Sunday night and where they are now, they give an
echo to the question–"Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?"

Very frequently where this sin comes, blasphemy is added to it! And how
many we have who, though now saved by Grace, were once fearful swearers
and could dare the God who made them to destroy them! Or to inflict the
most horrible judgments which it were a shame even to mention, upon
them! But Almighty Grace takes the swearer and says to him, "You shall
curse no longer, for I have blessed you; I do not intend that you
should imprecate curses on yourself; you shall now begin to plead with
Me for saving mercy!" Many, many, many such, whose tongues might well
have rotted in their mouths through blasphemy, have been cleansed by
Jesus' blood! And the tongue can now sing, that once could curse, and
the lips can now pray, that once could utter oaths! "Is not this a
brand plucked out of the fire?" Oh, you are here, Jack, are you? You
can swear! Sometimes, when you are at sea, you roll out an oath or two.
And when you are on shore, you know what you are–but may my Master
meet you and may He once and for all transform you and put His Holy
Spirit to dwell in you, instead of the seven devils that are now there!
And then you will say, "Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?"

Can we pass over the case of some who have given themselves up to sin,
to work it with greediness? Alas, how men turn aside with scorn from
the harlot in the street, and they think of her as though she must be
consigned to the seventh Hell, albeit that they, themselves, perhaps,
are viler still! But how shall we give a preference to one sinner
rather than to another when it must take two to commit this iniquity?
But, alas, we know that in London, our streets abound with those whose
very names seem to make the cheek of modesty to mantle with a blush.
Well, should there be such an one strayed in here–Sister–for you are
a Sister, still–the Lord Jesus receives sinners, and though you have
sinned very foully, "there is forgiveness with Him that He may be
feared." And His voice still says, "Come unto Me, all you that labor
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Whoever you may be that
has fallen into these polluting sins which do such terrible mischief
and which bring down God's anger upon men–still the heart of God melts
with pity to the chief of sinners and He cries, "How can I give you
up?" and lets the lifted thunder drop! Oh, when such are saved–and
there are scores, and scores, and scores, to our knowledge, now
rejoicing in Christ who have found peace in this House, though once the
chief of sinners–when such are saved, we say of each one of them, "Is
not this a brand plucked out of the fire?"

Or, what if you have even worn the felon's dress? What if you have even
plunged into such sin that the very thought of it makes your ears
tingle? What if the darkness of the night could tell of such hideous
crimes that the brightness of day seems all too good for such an
offender as you have been? Still the rivers and floods of Divine Mercy
can break forth and rise above the loftiest Alps and Andes of iniquity!
The deluge of the Savior 's pardoning Grace shall mount to 20 cubits
upwards, until the tops of the mountains of sin are covered and you,
the chief of sinners, shall have it said of you, "Is not this a brand
plucked out of the fire?"

We have gone a good length in the way of wonderment, yet one wonder, I
think, is greater than all. I have almost ceased to wonder when the
swearer is converted, or when the harlot is saved–not because it is
not a mighty act of Grace, but because it is common enough to be often
repeated! God's mercy is extended very freely to such sinners as these,
but there is a wonder which I do not often see. I do see it, though not
often–I wish I could. It is when a self-righteous religious man gets
saved.

"What," you say, "do you mean by that?" Why, I mean those good people
who go to Church and Chapel regularly, have family prayers, say their
own prayers and think themselves upright! They will not confess that
they have sinned, except in the mere complimentary way in which they
are accustomed to say that they are "miserable sinners," though they do
not look very miserable! Perhaps I address some such, now, who felt,
while I was preaching to the sinner, as if their dainty holiness was
quite shocked. They are double-distilled in their refinement. They are
unutterably holy and free from hypocrisy–their heart all the while
loathing the plan of salvation and rejecting the Grace of God–because
they believe that they are as good as they need be! To talk to them of
crying, "God be merciful to me a sinner," is to insult them! Have they
not been baptized? Have they not been confirmed? Have they not gone
through all the means? All must be right with them–they are so
good–who could think of finding fault with themP.

Now, if ever such people as these are saved from this terrible disease
of self-righteousness, we would have to say, indeed, "Is not this a
brand plucked out of the fire?" And nowadays it is getting so common
that it ought to be a subject of prayer with God' s people that God
would deliver this land from the spreading poison–the Romanism, alias
Pusey-ism–which has covered it almost everywhere! If a man wants to
make sure of everlasting wrath, let him fall into the deep ditch of
Puseyism, for the abhorred of the Lord fall therein! You may get out
the common sinner, but those who wrap themselves about with vestments
and fine garments of ceremony–who shall reach these? The hocus-pocus
of the priesthood, the gewgaws, the ceremonies, the mummery which they
designate worship–these things form the refuge of lies behind which
they hide themselves–and the true Gospel of the blessed God is
scarcely heard! What with their chants and intoning, how can the still
small voice of the Gospel be heard? Through the dim smoke of incense
and the glare of gorgeous vestments, how shall Christ have a hearing?
The Man of Nazareth, alone, is He who can save sinners! May He, in His
mighty power to save, rend away these rags of Rome from before His
Cross and let the naked beauty and simplicity of the Gospel shine out
again! Once more may we have to say, in the words of Cowper–

"Legible only by the light they give,

Stand the soul-quickening words–

'BELIEVE AND LIVE.'"

II. With more brevity than the preacher likes, though with perhaps as
much amplitude as will be pleasant to yourselves, we shall now take the
text BY WAY OF ENQUIRY OR HOPE. Our time has so far gone that I can
only hint at what I meant to say.

When a sinner's eyes are suffused with tears and the sorrowful cry
breaks forth, "Alas! Woe is me!" you may then say, "Is not this a brand
plucked out of the fire?" for the tear of sorrow for sin is a blessed
omen of Mercy's dawning! May Mercy reach her noontide soon! And when,
alone, the knee is bent and the whispered prayer goes up, "Jesus,
Master, pity me! Save me, or I die," the angels recognize the
penitent's prayer. They say, "Behold, he prays!" And then they feel
that this is "a brand plucked out of the fire." The tear of penitence
and the prayer of the seeking soul are evidences of the working of
Almighty Grace!

And when the poor soul at last, driven by necessity, throws itself flat
at the foot of the Cross and rests its hope wholly and alone on Jesus,
then we my say of it, "Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?"

And when, in the midst of many a conflict and soul-struggle, the heart
flings away its idols and resolves to love Christ, and vows in His
strength to be devoted to His service, we may say again with pleasure,
"Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?"

I would invite you to think over these signs of Grace and if you see
them in yourselves, may you ask the question, and be able to answer it
with joy, "Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?"

III. And lastly, WHAT A QUESTION OF DEFIANCE THIS IS!

Do you not catch the idea of the text? There stood Joshua, the High
Priest. There stood the angel of the Lord and there stood Satan. The
adversary began to attack Joshua, but the angel of the Lord said to
him, "'The Lord rebuke you, O Satan; even the Lord that has chosen
Jerusalem rebuke you: Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?'
What have you to do with him? If God has plucked him out of the fire,
you can never put him in again. Seeing God has plucked him out of the
fire, go your way and mind your own business! You have nothing to do
with this saved soul, this elect vessel, this one whom God has chosen,
in whom the Spirit's power has shown itself! He has plucked him out of
the fire! Go your way, Satan, and leave this soul alone!"

It is a defiance full of majesty and grandeur! It reflects a gorgeous
luster on the past' 'God saved that soul," says the angel to Satan.
"Why did He do it? Why, because He chose him, because He ordained him
unto eternal life, because everlasting love had set itself upon him!
What have you to do with him? If God has chosen him, do you think that
you can undo the Divine decree? Can you reverse the counsels of the
Most High, or dash in pieces the settled purposes of the Infinite mind?
Go your way! God has snatched him from the fire, determined to save
him. Go and think not to frustrate that Divine design!"

Nor less did the angel seem to dart a look forward. If God had plucked
him from the fire why did He do it? To let him go back again? Will God
play fast and loose with men? Does He pluck brands out of the fire to
thrust them into the flame again? Absurd! Preposterous! Why has He
plucked this brand out of the fire? Why, to keep it from ever being
burned! That brand, taken out of the fire, shall be exhibited in Heaven
as a proof of what God's Almighty Grace can do!

And therefore the angel says to the devil, "Get out of here! What have
you to do with this man? God means to save him, so can you destroy him?
God has done that which is the earnest and pledge of his perfect
eternal safety–do you think that you can thwart God's resolution and
intention?"

Now, Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ, realize in yourselves this
precious thought, each one of you. If the Lord has changed you. If,
indeed, you are a brand plucked out of the fire, why should you fear
the temptation which now assails you? Dread not all the temptations
that may attack you! Weak as you are, the God who has done so much for
you cannot leave you! He will not leave His purpose half accomplished!
He will not be disappointed. He will to the end carry on His work till
He brings you up to Heaven. Why, I think some of you who were very
great offenders ought to often take comfort from your conversion–you
can say, "What a change there is in me! How far beyond anything I could
ever have worked in myself. It must have been God's work–

'And can He have taught me to trust in His name, And thus far have
brought me, toput me to shame?'"

The whole end to which we drive is this–May God enable us all to see
that our salvation is in Him! Jonah had to go into the whale's belly to
learn that grand axiom of theology–and the most of us had to be sorely
beaten before we found out that "salvation is of the Lord." If you know
this, look to the Lord for it! Repose yourself on Him right now and you
shall be His forever–you shall dwell on high, your place of defense
shall be the munitions of rocks–and your eyes shall see the King in
His beauty–they shall behold the land that is very far off!

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: JOB 1

Verse 1. There was a man in the land of Uz. Job was a man, indeed–a
true man–a man of the highest type, for he was a man of God.

1. Whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright. Job was
thoroughly true and sincere. And in this sense he "was perfect and
upright."

1. And one that feared God, and eschewed evil. He had both sides of a
godly character–a love of God and a hatred of sin.

2. And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters. Job was
highly favored in having such a family of sons and daughters.

3. His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand
camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and
a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the
men of the East. Job was not a poor man, yet he was a man of God–one
of those "camels" that manage to go through "the eye of a needle."

4. And his sons went and feasted in their houses, each on his appointed
day; and sent and called for their three sisters– Who were very modest
and retiring, and would not have gone to the feast if they had not been
sent for, but their brothers were kind and thoughtful, as all good
brothers will be.

4. 5. To eat and to drink with them. And it was so, when the days of
their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them.Job
did not go to the feast. Perhaps he felt too old–his character was too
staid for such a gathering. He had higher joys that were nearer his
heart than any earthly feast could be.

5. And rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings
according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my
sons have sinned, and cursed God in their heart. Thus did Job
continually.He thought, "Perhaps, in their rejoicing, unholy thoughts
may have intruded. They may have been unguarded and lax in their
conduct. They may not have fallen into any gross sin, but in their
feasting they may have sinned against God. Therefore I will offer
sacrifices for them." "Thus did Job continually." Not only
occasionally, but every day he sacrificed upon his altar unto God, and
so sought to keep his household right before Jehovah.

6. Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves
before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.Into Heaven? Oh, no!
The Presence of God is very widespread and there was no need to admit
the evil spirit into Heaven in order that he might be present before
God!

7. And the LORD said unto Satan, From where do you come?God is Satan's
Master, so He asks him where he has been. I wonder whether if the Lord
were to put that question to everybody here, "From where do you come?"
if each of us could give a satisfactory answer to it.

7. Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the
earth, and from walking up and down in it Uneasy, restless, ever
active, like a roaring lion "seeking whom he may devour." Ah, we little
know how near Satan is to us now! And even in our hours of prayer, when
we are nearest to God, he may come and assail us.

8. And the LORD said unto Satan, Have you considered My servant Job. He
is an example to you. He may well chide you, he

is so obedient, and you are so rebellious: 'Have you considered My
servant Job'–

8, 9. That there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an
upright man, one that fears God, and eschews evil? Then Satan answered
the LORD, and said– We may be certain that if there had been anything
bad in Job, Satan would have found it out and brought it against him.
However excellent a man is, though there are none like him on earth,
you can find fault with him if you want to do so. Satan found fault
with Job because he had prospered. And his friends afterwards found
fault with him because he did not prosper! So you can make anything
into a blot on the character of men if you have a mind to do so. "Satan
answered the Lord, and said"–

9, 10. Does Job fear God for nothing? Have not You made an hedge about
him, and about his house, and about all that he has on every side?The
black dog of Hell had been prowling around to see where he could get
in, so he knew that there was a hedge around Job and round his house
and all that he had. Notice how the devil insinuates that Job feared
God for what he could get out of Him. "His love is cupboard love," says
Satan, "he is well paid by Providence for his reverence to God."

10, You have blessed the work of his hands–Even the devil dared not
deny that Job was a working man, or say that he had come by his estate
by oppression or plunder. No. He said to God, "You have blessed the
work of his hands"–

10, 11. And his substance is increased in the land. But put forth Your
hand, now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse You to Your
face. Oh, what mischief Satan can imagine against the righteous! The
mercy is that although he is mighty, he is not almighty–he is very
malicious, but there is One who is far wiser and stronger than he is
who can always circumvent and overpower him!

12-15. And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he has is in your
power; only upon himself put not forth your hand. So Satan went forth
from the Presence of the LORD. And there was a day when Job's sons and
his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's
house: and there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen
wereplowing, and the asses feeding beside them: and the Sabeans fell
upon them and took them away; yes, they have slain the servants with
the edge of the sword; and I, only, am escaped alone to tell you. Job
had not wronged these Sabeans– they were plunderers on the lookout for
spoil. And when Satan moved them, they came and stole the Patriarch's
oxen and asses–and slew his servants.

16. While he was yet speaking As if to give Job no time to rally his
faith and encourage his heart–

16. There came, also, another, andsaid, The fire of Godis fallen from
Heaven, andhas burned up the sheep, and the servants and consumed them;
and I, only, am escaped alone to tell you. This calamity must have
distressed Job all the more because "the fire of God" had burnt up the
sheep that he was accustomed to offer in sacrifice to Jehovah–and the
blow had seemed to come directly from God, Himself–as if it was
lightning that had destroyed both sheep and shepherds, too. Poor Job
had not time to recover from that shock before the next blow fell upon
him–

17. While he wasyet speaking there came also another, andsaid, The
Chaldeans made out three bands, and fell upon the camels and have
carried them away, yes, and slain the servants with the edge of the
sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell you.He had not time to think
before the heaviest stroke of all came–

18. 19. While he was yet speaking, there came another, and said, Your
sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest
brother's house: and, behold, there came a great wind from the
wilderness and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon
the young men, and, they are dead; and I, only, am escaped alone to
tell you. Satan had arranged to bring on the Patriarch's troubles so
quickly, one after another, as to utterly overwhelm the good man–at
least, so the devil hoped it would prove–yet it did not.

20. Then Job arose– Vith all his burden on him, he arose–

20. And tore his mantle, and shaved his head–He did not pull his hair
out as a Pagan, or a maniac, or a person delirious through trouble
might have done. But he deliberately "tore his mantle, and shaved his
head"–

20. And fell down upon the ground and worshipped Grand old man! How
bravely does he play the man here! He "fell down upon the ground and
worshipped"–

21. And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I
return there. That is, to the womb of Mother Earth.

21. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of
the LORD [See Sermons #2457, Volume 42–jobs

RESIGNATION and #3025, Volume 53–FIFTEEN YEARS LATE.] I think these
are

the grandest words in the whole record of human speech! Considering the
circumstances of the man at the time, that he should thus speak was, I
think, a miracle of Grace!

22. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.