Testing

19 July 2020

Dear Phyllis,

There is light in the end of the tunnel. Schools are open in Thailand. Oh, man howdy, it felt good to get back to school. I feared we would all have to wear face masks, but Singha took a courageous stand and everything was as normal. I had written a couple three months ago that I was concerned about Singha as he seemed to be spiritually down, but last week the old Singha was back again and we had a great time talking about the Word. I asked him, “What are you reading now?”. “Job”. Of course. Job is one of his favorite book, coming right after John and Revelation, He doesn't read Revelation to see what the 7 Seals, 7 Trumpets, and the 7 Vials are, but he loves to read chapter 19 and 20 to see the end of the story when Jesus comes back and sets up His Kingdom. Who can blame him?

Singha loves Job, but he doesn't understand it. I doubt that there is one Christian in twenty that understands the book of Job. It took me thirty years and I am still getting new light on it now. According to the experience of Job and Peter it appears that the Lord has a fence around His sheep and the devil has to ask permission before he can ding them (Job 1:10; Lk, 22:31).

Many years ago Joe Carroll had a British friend who was the William Hurst of the British empire. His family owned most of the news papers in England. In 1949 his news papers published the breaking news that the Russians had developed and test exploded an atomic bomb, before anyone in the world knew about it. He told Joe that he knew someone who had access to all the hidden information in the world. One day he took Joe in his Rolls-Royce car out in the country to meet this unusual person. Joe said it was a spooky house and the woman had a male assistant. DeCorsy, asked the lady. “Please tell Mr. Carroll something about himself.”. She replied, “Come back later. It will take a couple days to get that information.”. A few days later they drove out into the country to see this couple again. DeCorsy asked, “What did you find out about Mr. Carroll?” She answered, “We were told that we do not have access to Mr. Carroll's file.” They couldn't touch him.

I don't know, but this may apply to all Christians. In the case of Job and Peter we see one of the mysteries of God. The greatest thing that God ever did for Job and Peter was to take the fence down and let the devil have access to them. And I believe this applies to all of us.

Job was a good man. The Bible calls him perfect and two times God said, “There is none like him in the earth, a perfect and upright man”. That is a pretty good testimony. The Lord isn't able to say that about many of us. The devil challenged God that the reason Job was a good man was because God favored him. The devil said, “Take the fence down and let me have at him and we will see how good he is.” Twice the Lord said, “Okay, have at him”. The first time the Lord excepted his health, and the second time the Lord said, “You can have that too”. Job had six severe trial. He lost all his cattle, his sheep, his ten children and his health. Then his wife turned on him, and finally his three friends came to accuse him of secrete sin. His three friends belonged to the Good God society who believes that every thing good in life comes from God and everything bad is from the devil. Or bad things don't happen to good people. God is only involved in the good things in life and anything bad is from the devil. If something bad happens to you it is proof that there is hidden sin somewhere. Get rid of the sin and everything will be straightened out. This was the theory of Job's three friends. Why in the world would the Lord allow such unimaginable tragedy happen to such a good man? That just doesn't make sense. But the greatest thing God ever did for Job and Peter was to take the fence down and let the devil have a shot at them.

Job was a good man, but the number one thing in his life was his integrity. He wanted to be the best man on earth – and he was. He was not going to let anything tarnish his spotless garment. He wasn't going to dable in sin. Let someone else run around and cheat on his wife. Let someone else do crooked business, cheat on his tax forms. Let someone else drink and do drugs. Not me. No, no. I'm going to live above that. And he did. This was not only external, but genuinely internal also. In his final speech in chapter 30, sixteen times he uses the word IF, and sixteens times he says, “IF I have done...”; and then he lists 16 bad acts, and then says “Let the world fall in on me” (that is a paraphrase). Not only that, but he is going to stay true to God. He said, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. But I will maintain my own ways before Him”.

One time I was facing a crisis and wondered what I would do if the Lord failed me. Finally I said the the Jesus, “Lord, even if you fail me, I will always be true to You.” I felt like I had achieved a new high level in dedication. You might imagine the response I got from Jesus for that. That was as loud as I have ever heard from the Holy Spirit. And that was as angry as I have ever seen Him. He practically shouted in my ear, “Do you think you are more faithful than Me?” You talk about a chastened repentant soldier; I spent 15 minutes telling Jesus how sorry I was for such a stupid thought. But Job was concerned about his spotless garment, and he said the same thing. After Job's three friends wore out their argument and Elihu correctly unloaded on him, God stepped in and said, “Where were you when I made the world?” After the Lord got through speaking, Job said, “Hither to I have heard about You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye seeth You. Wherefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:4,50). Job's trials were the greatest thing that ever happened to him. Had the Lord not allowed the devil to have at him, when he got to heaven he would have been so proud of his integrity his stench would have been so bad you couldn't stand next to him without holding your nose. Job was a radically different man at the end of chapter 42 than he was in chapter 1. For 37 chapters Job was concerned about maintaining his integrity but when he saw the Lord he realized what a foul man he was. What a wonderful change.

Jesus did the same thing for Peter. When Jesus told Peter that he would deny Him three times before dawn, “Peter said, “Lord, though I should die with You I will not deny You” (Mt. 26:35). And he meant it. When the soldiers came to arrest Jesus, Peter was the first one to grab a sword and dive into the crowd swinging. He wanted to go down fighting. But when he cowered before a girl, for the first time, Peter realized what kind of a man he was. The medicine was excellent. After the resurrection, the morning at the beach, three times Jesus asked Peter if he loved Him – using the word agape Peter replied, “(Not really) but I like You – using the word phileo. (John 21:15-17) Peter by the beach was a totally different man than the one who confidently boasted he would die with Jesus at the last supper. The change was wonderful. Had Jesus not allowed the devil to sift Peter like wheat (Lk. 22:31), the arragance of the man would have disqualified him to be the apostle that he was. And again it would have been difficult to fellowship with Peter in heaven. Had the Lord not allowed the devil to have access to these outstanding men, when they got to heaven, they would have had to live in a room for people with bad BO.

I can testify from personal experience that when I went past the ultimate disasters in life, and my world fell in, that has been God's greatest blessing in my life. Had that not happened I would not be where I am today. It's true, folks. It is a fact that God does indeed make ALL THINGS to work together for good for His own sheep (Rom. 8:28).

Thank God for the fence, but thank God for the times when the Lord allows the devil to have some access in our lives.

Oh, what a wonderful Jesus!

                                          bill