Job 2:3 And the LORD said to Satan, Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man… 1. That Satan in all his temptations plants his chiefest battery against sincerity. Satan did not care at all to pull Job's oxen from him, or his sheep from him, or his children from him, but to pull his grace from him; therefore it is said, Job held that fast. 2. That whatsoever a godly man loseth, he will be sure to lay hold of his graces, he will hold spirituals, whatever becomes of temporals. As it is with a man at sea in a shipwreck, when all is cast overboard, the corn that feeds him, and the clothes that cover him, yet he swims to the shore if he can, with his life in his hand. Or as it is with a valiant standard bearer, that carries the banner in war, if he sees all lost he will wrap the banner about his body, and choose rather to die in that as his winding sheet than let any man take it from him. 3. That grace doth not only oppose, but conquers Satan and all his temptations. He doth prevail in his integrity (so the Hebrew may be rendered in the letter). 4. That true grace gains by opposition. True grace is increased the more it is assaulted. (J. Caryl.) Parallel Verses KJV: 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. |
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