This sermon delves into the story of Job, highlighting how Satan seeks to strip away God's blessings and bring pain and suffering. It emphasizes the contrast between the fallen angel Satan, who offers temporary glamour but ultimate destruction, and Jesus Christ, who offers abundant life and eternal blessings. The sermon warns against the deceptive attractiveness of Satan and urges listeners to make the wise choice of following Jesus to avoid the lasting pain and suffering that comes from serving Satan.

Let's turn to the book of Job chapter 2 for our scripture reading today. I'll read the first, the unnumbered verses. We ask you to join together as you read the even numbered verses. Shall we stand as we read the scriptures? 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. 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 that fears God and hates evil and still he holdeth fast to his integrity although you moved me against him to destroy him without cause. But put forth thine hand and touch his bone and his flesh and he will curse you to your face. So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot to his crown. And then said his wife unto him, dost thou still retain thine integrity? Curse God and die. Now when Job's three friends heard of all the 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. And so they sat down with him there upon the ground seven days and seven nights. And none spoke a word unto him for they saw that his grief was very great. Let's pray. Father we see Satan's desires upon man. To strip him from everything that you have given to him. To bring him into pain and into suffering. Father we thank you that you sent your son that we might have life and that more abundantly. But we realize Lord that Satan has come to rob and to kill and to destroy. Help us Lord today to get a fresh and new look at the powers of darkness that face us in the world in which we live. That we would not give in to them. But Lord we would not be overcome with evil but help us to truly overcome evil with good. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. You may be seated. Tonight Pastor Skip will lead us in our study through the Word as we study Ezekiel chapters 27 or 28 rather through 30. And so we encourage you to read over these chapters and join with us tonight as Pastor Skip continues our journey through the Bible. This morning we'd like to draw your attention to the twelfth verse of chapter 28 where the Lord said to Ezekiel, son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus. Saying to him, thus saith the Lord, thou sealest up the sum, you are full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. We know that the universe in which we live is filled with spirit beings that are divided into two camps. There are the angels that have remained true unto God and to the purposes for which God created them. But there is another camp. They are fallen angels. They have rebelled against the authority of God and they are aligned against the things of God. They are headed up and directed by a former angel, a very high angel, whose name was Lucifer. He's now called Satan or the devil, the destroyer. And through Adam's sin, he gained the control and the authority over the world. So that the world that we live in today, the present powers of the world are controlled by the rulers of darkness. When Jesus came into the world, Satan offered to him the world and the kingdoms thereof. He had the right to do that, but the price was too high. He said, if you'll bow down and worship me, I will give them to you. He pretty much does that to people today. If you will bow down and worship me and serve me, I will give you power. I will give you excitement. I will give you fame. I will give you popularity. And there are so many people who buy into Satan's lies. Because that which he gives to you is only for a limited time. The end result is misery and pain and suffering. We sing, this is my father's world. That's in a true general sense, but under the present conditions, it is a world that is controlled and ruled by the powers of darkness. Paul wrote to the Ephesians and he said, you know, our real warfare is not with flesh and blood, but it's with principalities and powers and these spirit powers that rule in this realm of darkness. And therefore you need to put on the whole armor of God if you're going to stand. So often in the scriptures, when it speaks of kingdoms that rule the world, or men that rule the world, so often the scriptures will then direct themselves to those spirit entities that are behind the leaders. When Daniel decided that he wanted to seek the Lord through fasting and prayer, after 21 days the angel came to him and he said, Daniel, from the first day you decided to seek the Lord through fasting and prayer, the Lord dispatched me to you with a message. But I was captured by the Prince of Persia. He held me for 21 days until Michael, the great prince, came and set me free and now I am here to tell you the message of God. The Prince of Persia that the angel was referring to was not the Persian king. It was the demonic powers that controlled and were behind the Persian king. So here in our chapter 28 of the book of Ezekiel, as he talks about the king of Tyrus, here he goes behind the king. There in verse 11 is a lamentation to the king of Tyrus, but he goes behind and he begins to describe Satan who controlled the king of Tyrus. So it is interesting that in his description of Satan, he said, he is perfect in beauty. Now I wonder in your mind when you picture Satan, how do you picture him? Usually we picture him from medieval art as having horns, looking very sinister, wearing a red suit and having a forked tail. And I think that Satan inspired that drawing of him. I think that people, that he wants people to think that he is very ugly, that he is very sinister looking, that there is no beauty or attraction to him. Because he can then deceive them. Because as the scripture said, he comes so often as an angel of light. But the entire purpose is that of deception. Into making you think that he can bring to you a beautiful life, that he can enhance your life with beauty and wonders and splendors, the splendors of the world. It's interesting that so often when we think of Jesus, we think of him as perfect in beauty. It is interesting how Isaiah describes him. Isaiah said concerning Jesus, that there is no beauty nor handsomeness that we might be attracted to him. When we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He's despised and rejected of man. He's a man of sorrow and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from him. John described him as looking like a lamb that had been slaughtered. It's interesting how that our flesh is attracted by physical beauty. Some of the most beautiful people in the world are inwardly very ugly, very vile. Hollywood loves to showcase many of these people. They have them display their bodies in very sensuous ways so as to cause people to lust after them. They may be physically beautiful, but when they open their mouths, it's like opening a cesspool. There's nothing but filth that comes out. They often have verbal diarrhea. There is a saying that beauty is only skin deep, and that is very true. Proverbs 30 said, favor is deceitful, beauty is vain. But a woman that fears the Lord, she shall be praised. So listen to the description of Satan here. You are the anointed cherub that covers. I have set you so. You were in the holy mountain of God. You've walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. You were perfect in your ways from the day that you were created, until iniquity was found in you. And I will cast you as profane out of the mountain of God, and I will destroy you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. For your heart was lifted up because of your beauty, and you have corrupted your wisdom by reason of your brightness. And I will cast you to the ground. I will lay you before kings, that they might behold you. All they that know you among the people shall be astonished at you. This seems to parallel the passage found in Isaiah 14 concerning Satan. It says, how art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning? How you are cut down to the ground, you who did weaken the nations. For you have said in your heart, I will ascend into heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, and I will be like the Most High. But you shall be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. And they that see you shall gaze at you and say, is this the man that made the earth to tremble and did shake kingdoms? Know that though Satan is perfect in beauty, to be attracted by his beauty and to follow his lie, his lie that he has a beautiful life for you, that's a fatal mistake. For Satan's ultimate goal is your destruction. He wants to make your life in the end miserable and ugly. Looking at the book of Job, it tells us first of all what God did for Job, because Job was a good man. God said of him, he's perfect, he's upright, he loves good things, he hates evil things. And as the result, God had blessed Job abundantly, watched over him, guarded him. We do read he had seven sons, three daughters. He had 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 female donkeys, and a very great household, so that this man was the greatest of all of the men in the east. But look what Satan did for this man. We read in Job, now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them. And the Lord said unto Satan, where did you come from? Then Satan answered the Lord and said, from going to and fro throughout the earth, walking up and down in it. The Lord said unto Satan, have you considered my servant Job? There is none like him in the earth. He's a perfect and an upright man, one that fears God and hates evil. Then Satan answered the Lord and said, does Job fear God for nothing? Have you not made a hedge around him, and about his house, and about all that he has on every side? And you have blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land, and you put forth, if you would put forth your hand now, and touch all of those good things that you've given to him, you'll find that he'll curse you to your face. The Lord said to Satan, behold, all that he has is in your power. Only upon him do not put forth your hand. So Satan went from the presence of the Lord, and there was a day when the sons and the daughters of Job were eating and drinking wine in the eldest brother's house, and there came a messenger unto Job and said, the oxen were plowing, and the donkeys were feeding beside them, and the Sabians fell upon them, took them away, yea, and they have slain your servants with the edge of the sword, and I'm the only one who escaped to tell you. While he was still speaking, there came also another servant and said, the fire of God has fallen from heaven, it has burned up the sheep and your servants, and has consumed them, and I'm the only one who was able to escape to tell you. While he was still speaking, there came another also that said, the Chaldeans made out three bands, they fell upon the camels, they've carried them away, yea, and they've killed all of your servants with the edge of the sword, and I'm the only one who escaped to tell you. While he was still speaking, there came another and said, your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the eldest son's house, and a tornado demolished the house, and all of your children are dead, and I'm the only one who escaped to tell you. Then Job arose, he tore his mantle, he shaved his head, he fell down on the ground, and he worshipped, and he said, I came into the world naked from my mother's womb, and naked I shall return. The Lord has given, the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord, and in all of this Job sinned not, nor did he charge God foolishly. But you see what Satan did, when God gave him the permission. God had blessed Job. God had put a hedge around him. God had protected him from Satan. The moment that protection was taken away, and Satan was given the permission to do what he wished to do, notice how he stripped Job of everything that was valuable. All of his possessions, stripped him of his family, and as you go on in the second chapter, we read where he stripped him of his help. Satan wants to destroy you. Jesus said that he has come to rob, to kill, and to destroy. From the great blessings to the loss of everything, this is what Satan will do ultimately for those who follow after him. Paul told the Corinthians concerning a man who was living an immoral life. He said, turn him over to Satan, that he might learn not to live blasphemously. Let Satan at him. You see, they've been praying for this man, and through their prayers the man was being protected from the ultimate desire of Satan to destroy him. And so Paul said, turn him over to Satan. Let him find out what it's like to have Satan have a free reign to do what he wants to do. In his life, Satan is further described here as sealing up the sun, or he is a model of perfection. He's full of wisdom, perfect in beauty. He was the anointed cherub that covered. God said, I ordained you thus. You were in the holy mount of God. You walked in the midst of the fiery stones. You were perfect in all of your ways from the day you were created, until iniquity was found in you, but you've become filled with violence. And you sinned, and therefore I have cast you out of the mount of God. I will expel you, oh guardian cherub, from the midst of the fiery stones. Satan is very attractive, very alluring. He makes great promises to those who will follow him, and join in his rebellion against God, and against all that is good and decent. He can and often offers a person the world, if you will bow down and worship him, even as he offered it to Jesus on the mount of temptation. And though Satan is attractive, he is a fiend, and his ultimate desire for you is to destroy you, that you might share his destiny with him. And what is the destiny for Satan? Jesus said to those on his left hand, depart from me, you cursed ones, into everlasting fire that was prepared for the devil and his angels. In Revelation 20.10 we read, and the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and he shall be tormented day and night forever and ever. Now don't ask me to modify that statement. Some would like to deny that statement. Many have sought to modify that statement. 75% of the ministers in the United States today will modify that statement. Don't ask me to, I won't. For in Revelation 22.18 the Lord said, for I testify unto every man that here's the word of this prophecy, of this book. If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in the book. If any man shall take away from the words of the book of prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. Therefore I won't touch it. I won't try to modify it. God said it. I may not understand it, but I believe it. It's rather sobering to realize that each one of us here today are mastered either by Jesus Christ or by Satan. You are serving the Lord Jesus Christ or you are serving Satan. There is no middle ground. The Bible leaves no place for middle ground. Jesus said if you are not for me, you are against me. So if you are not serving the Lord, you are serving Satan. If you're not following Jesus Christ, you are following Satan. Jesus said you can't have two masters. It's one or the other, and you follow by your own choice. May God help us today to take a look at the end result of the choices that we make, that we might make wise choices. Satan may offer a lot of glamour, but the end result is pain. You may have noticed that I often walk with a limp. That goes back to college days playing football, seeking the glory of man, loving the cheers of the crowd when I would score a touchdown, but then the injury to my knee. And from that day, pain when I walk. That's been with me now for many, many years. It's still there. It hurts to walk. I feel pain in my right knee when I walk. But to me it's become a very interesting reminder of how vain is the glory of the world. It ultimately ends in pain. And seeking for a time the glory, but the years of pain that have followed, it makes you wonder, was that moment of glory worth it? And I can tell you for my sake, no, it surely wasn't. But so it is when a person chooses to follow Satan. There is that rush from the glory. But oh, the pain that follows and keeps following, the pain that lasts, it's not worth it. When you think of the eternal destiny of those who follow Satan, surely it's not worth it. Especially if you compare the eternal destiny with those who choose to follow Jesus Christ. He said, I've come that you might have life, and that more abundantly. He gives us an abundant life. Oh, the thrill and the joy that I know in following Jesus Christ through the years. And it just gets richer all the time, how blessed I am following Jesus. But you see, the blessings don't end when I die. But you might say they just really began, because there are no gimpy knees in heaven. The glory of following and serving Him. If you're following someone, make sure that you're following the Lord, so that you will be led into His glorious presence one day. Father, we thank You for what You have done for us, as we have sought to follow You. For the blessings, Lord, that You add to our lives. Lord, we see the disastrous consequences of those who have chosen to follow Satan. We see their wasted lives by the wayside, as He has used them and then dropped them. We see the misery. We see the pain. We see the suffering. Lord, we pray that today You will help those that are here to consider carefully the ultimate consequences of following Satan, and the ultimate consequences of following our Lord Jesus Christ. Seeking after the earthly beauty, and seeking after the eternal beauty. And help us, Lord, to make those wise choices to follow You. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.