God’s Mighty Power
The third comfort for tried and tempted believers arises from God’s power, for Paul says, ‘God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able.’
God, then, has power to limit temptation. It is clear, from the Book of Job, that Satan could not tempt or try the patriarch except by divine permission, and even then his power was limited. Nor can he tempt us unless God allows him to do so.
Although the devil had great power over the elements, so that he brought disaster upon poor Job, yet there was a very definite limit to his chain, even when the Lord let him loose to a certain extent. When God set up his barriers, Satan could not go beyond them.
You remember that the Lord first said to Satan concerning his servant Job, ‘Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand.’ When the devil again intruded himself among the sons of God, the Lord let out more links of his chain, but there was still a most emphatic limit to his power over the patriarch, ‘Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.’
The devil would have liked to kill Job outright, but he could go no further than the Lord allowed him to go; and God still has unlimited power over the devil and over every form of temptation or trial that can ever come upon you.
If the Lord appoints for you ten troubles, he will not suffer them to be increased to eleven. If he ordains that you shall be in trouble for six years, you will not be in it for six years and a day; but, when the allotted time has expired, you shall come out of it. Nothing can resist the might of the omnipotent Jehovah.
If all the armies of the devil were let loose upon a single saint, who felt himself to be weak as a worm, and the Lord said to them, ‘I am his defence, and you shall not touch him,’ they could not touch him, and he would be able to say, with the utmost confidence,
‘Greater is he that is for me than all that can be against me.’
The adversaries of the righteous may rage as much as they will; but they will have to spend their strength in raging, for that is all they can do against God’s people without his express permission.
Not a hair of their head can be scorched by the fires of persecution unless the Lord allows it. All his people are kept by his almighty power. How greatly this ought to comfort you who are sorely tried! Every twig of the rod of correction has been made by God, and every stroke of it is counted by him.
There is not a drop more gall in your cup than the Lord has ordained. He has weighed in the scales of the sanctuary every ingredient of your medicine, and mixed it with all his infallible skill so that it may produce the cure of all your ills. Should not this make you rejoice in the Lord all the day long, and in the night seasons as well?
The third comfort for tried and tempted believers arises from God’s power, for Paul says, ‘God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able.’
God, then, has power to limit temptation. It is clear, from the Book of Job, that Satan could not tempt or try the patriarch except by divine permission, and even then his power was limited. Nor can he tempt us unless God allows him to do so.
Although the devil had great power over the elements, so that he brought disaster upon poor Job, yet there was a very definite limit to his chain, even when the Lord let him loose to a certain extent. When God set up his barriers, Satan could not go beyond them.
You remember that the Lord first said to Satan concerning his servant Job, ‘Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand.’ When the devil again intruded himself among the sons of God, the Lord let out more links of his chain, but there was still a most emphatic limit to his power over the patriarch, ‘Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.’
The devil would have liked to kill Job outright, but he could go no further than the Lord allowed him to go; and God still has unlimited power over the devil and over every form of temptation or trial that can ever come upon you.
If the Lord appoints for you ten troubles, he will not suffer them to be increased to eleven. If he ordains that you shall be in trouble for six years, you will not be in it for six years and a day; but, when the allotted time has expired, you shall come out of it. Nothing can resist the might of the omnipotent Jehovah.
If all the armies of the devil were let loose upon a single saint, who felt himself to be weak as a worm, and the Lord said to them, ‘I am his defence, and you shall not touch him,’ they could not touch him, and he would be able to say, with the utmost confidence,
‘Greater is he that is for me than all that can be against me.’
The adversaries of the righteous may rage as much as they will; but they will have to spend their strength in raging, for that is all they can do against God’s people without his express permission.
Not a hair of their head can be scorched by the fires of persecution unless the Lord allows it. All his people are kept by his almighty power. How greatly this ought to comfort you who are sorely tried! Every twig of the rod of correction has been made by God, and every stroke of it is counted by him.
There is not a drop more gall in your cup than the Lord has ordained. He has weighed in the scales of the sanctuary every ingredient of your medicine, and mixed it with all his infallible skill so that it may produce the cure of all your ills. Should not this make you rejoice in the Lord all the day long, and in the night seasons as well?
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