Saint
Andrew, the Apostle
The Collect.
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LMIGHTY God,
who didst give such grace unto thy holy Apostle Saint Andrew, that he readily
obeyed the calling of thy Son Jesus Christ, and followed him without delay;
Grant unto us all, that we, being called by thy holy Word, may forthwith give
up ourselves obediently to fulfil thy holy commandments; through the same Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen.
The
Sunday next before Advent
The Collect.
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TIR up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the
wills of thy faithful people; that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit
of good works, may by thee be plenteously rewarded; through Jesus Christ our
Lord. Amen.
There is a cross-over lesson between the Book of Job and our Collect for St
Andrew the Apostle. Like Job, we must give up self interests in order to take
up the interests of God. We subordinate our sinful wills to His Godly Will, and
we make His Will our own in obeying His Commandments. This did Job!
Job 2
King James Version (KJV)
2 Again there was a day
when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came
also among them to present himself before the Lord.
2 And the Lord said unto Satan, From whence
comest thou? And Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in
the earth, and from walking up and down in it.
3 And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou
considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect
and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he
holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy
him without cause.
4 And Satan answered the Lord, and said,
Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.
5 But put forth thine hand now, and touch
his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.
6 And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, he
is in thine hand; but save his life.
7 So went Satan forth from the presence of
the Lord, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his
crown.
8 And he took him a potsherd to scrape
himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes.
9 Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou
still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die.
10 But he said unto her, Thou speakest as
one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of
God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.
11 Now when Job's three friends heard of all
this evil that was come upon him, they came every one from his own place;
Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite: for
they had made an appointment together to come to mourn with him and to comfort
him.
12 And when they lifted up their eyes afar
off, and knew him not, they lifted up their voice, and wept; and they rent
every one his mantle, and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven.
13 So
they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none
spake a word unto him: for they saw that his grief was very great.
Review: Job is a man more blessed of God than all in the East. He
is a man blameless (as are all sincere Christians), and He shuns evil as do all
sincere Christians. Satan has questioned if Job's faith in God is real and
persevering. His first weapon against an honorable man is character
assassination – something alien to modern politics, right? God allows Satan to
take away all that Job owns - except his health. The battle is joined and
Satan, with the Lord's grant, deprives Job of his wealth, his servants, his
sons and daughters, and his home. But Job does not waver in faith at these
losses. There is one point to be made at this time: Satan is dangerous.
He is more powerful than you and I. He has great resources upon which to call.
We cannot oppose Satan in frontal attack, but there is One mightier than Satan.
There is One who has defeated the armies of Satan and his stragglers left on
the field of struggle. That Person is the Lord Jesus Christ! Having Christ as
the Captain and Bishop of our souls, we will falter not, nor succumb to the
intrigues of Satan. Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome
them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
(1 John 4:4) We, too, must shun evil as did Job. We do not stop, as did Eve at
Eden, before Satan and listen to his discordant voice. If we love righteousness,
as did the Personification of Righteousness (Jesus Christ), we will command
Satan to get behind us when he tempts, as did Christ. If you refuse the devil's
toe into your door, he cannot enter the full house.
Job, Chap 2: This chapter opens with the familiar approach of
Satan before the Council of Heaven. He always pushes his small advantages to
the limit. So, he comes before God a second time to deliver his scandalous
accusations against Job. The devil is not an honest player. He is always
seeking to change the rules to amend for his losses. In Chap 1, Satan tells
God: "….put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he
will curse thee to thy face. (Job 1:11) God granted Satan the warrant
to take all that Job had, but this failed to profit the old Serpent. So now, he
is back at it only, this time, the terms have changed again: 4.Skin
for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life. 5. But put
forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee
to thy face. Satan reveals, between the lines, his dark and
concealed aim from the beginning – he wants Job dead! God does
not give Satan the power of life and death over any of His Children; however,
God does permit the devil to tempt and try us to demonstrate the strength of
faith and true Godliness in the heart of man. So God grants Satan the
prerogative to hurt Job in the pains of his body. Point to Ponder:
Satan has no power except that power expressly granted by God. 6. And
the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.
Another Point to Ponder: Satan takes an individual interest
in the sons and daughters of God to destroy them! Out of all of the men on
earth, Satan's attention is concentrated on this blameless man named Job. There
are millions of wicked and evil men for whom Satan shows little attention –
they are already his, but the blameless, and the professing
Christian, is an affront to Satan and his final doom! If he cannot BUY
you (with the trinkets of Manhattan Island), he wants you DEAD!
Satan again "goes out from the presence of the Lord" (for evil is not
possible before the Lord) and carries his warrant out to the fullest extent of
his privilege. He wastes no time in bringing pain and suffering to bear on
those over whom he has been given the power to hurt. Satan strikes Job with
painful boils from the sole of his feet to the crown of his head. This would
prevent Job any position of comfort. Boils are painful even when movement is
not made. Satan, in a sense, completely immobilizes Job. He immobilizes all
over whom he exercises power and with whom he has any quarrel. Job sits in the
midst of ashes possibly because the ancients had learned that communicable
disease cannot spread through ashes. The devil was very cunning in leaving
Job's wife with him for she was also a devil! When the world seemingly turns
against us, we only have those closest to our heart upon which to rely, but
Job's wife hurts Job just as much as does the devil: 9 Then said
his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die.
It is questionable if Job's wife knew that God had limited Satan's power to
take his life. In fact, I do not believe it mattered to her. She loathed Job
since he had lost all of his wealth – a factor that makes men appealing to some
women – and now is afflicted with a disgusting affliction. Her love was
definitely not of the heart. It could not survive simple tragedy.
Job's response: 10 But he said unto her, Thou
speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at
the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin
with his lips. Job counsels his wife that all that we receive from
God's hand, though at times mysterious, is for our good. We must accept the
misery as a blessing in the same sense as the good. As long as life remains,
all that comes is a gift. God very pointedly suggests that, even when there may
be a doubt in the heart of a believer, vocal expression of that doubt is evil!
"In all this did not Job sin with his lips."
And now, at his point of need, Job's friends come to mourn with him and to
`comfort' him. Though these three friends – Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar most
likely began with the best of human intentions, their comfort and compassion
failed as flesh. The devil can use even our closest friends (these three) and
family (his wife) to antagonize us. Such become tools of the devil though we
may love them truly. Christ loved Peter, yet Satan used Peter to tempt Christ. 21 From
that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go
unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and
scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. 22 Then Peter
took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this
shall not be unto thee. 23 But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me:
for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.
(Matt 16:21-23) The principle of Satan's work, even in the heart of a
good man, is so clearly illustrated in this last passage that further
exposition is not profitable.
The study of this Book, and every Book of the Bible, is so chock-full of solid
nutrients for the Christian soul that I love to contemplate all of the gems of
it. Rather than drudgery, it is both a privilege and a pleasure to allow these
Words and works of God to inspire and increase our faith. Are you excited at
the study of all of God's Word, Friend?
