The Bible speaks of Satan “going about, like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”  I. Peter v:  8.  But he is a chained lion:  and Jesus holds the chain.  If we are trying to love and serve Jesus, we need not be afraid of this roaring lion.  He cannot touch us till our Saviour gives him permission; and he will not let him hurt us.  We see this illustrated in Job’s case.  Satan wanted very much to injure Job in some way.  But he could not do it.  And the reason of it was, as he said himself, that God had “put an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he had on every side.”  Job i:  10.  This hedge, or fence, means the power which Jesus exercises to protect his people from the harm that Satan desires to do to them.  In this way he protected Job.  And in this way he protects all who love and serve him.

Let us take an illustration or two to show how he is doing this continually.

“Providential Deliverance.”  One of the best men, and one of the most useful ministers in London, during the last century, was the Rev. John Newton.  Before entering the ministry he held an office under the government.  One of the duties of this office was for him to visit and inspect the vessels of the navy as they lay at anchor in the river Thames.  One day he was going out to visit a man-of-war that lay there.  He was a very punctual man.  When he had an engagement he was always ready at the very moment.  But when he reached the dock on this occasion the boat which was to take him off to the man-of-war was not there.  He was obliged to wait five, ten, fifteen minutes before the boat came.  This displeased him very much.  But the hand of God was in this delay.  For, just as the boat was leaving the dock, a spark fell into the powder magazine on board the man-of-war.  An explosion took place.  The huge vessel was blown to pieces, and all the men on board of her were killed.  That delay of a quarter of an hour saved Mr. Newton’s life.  In this way that gracious Saviour whom he served protected him from the danger to which he was exposed.

“Willie’s Heroism.”  One summer afternoon a teacher told her geography class that they might close their books and rest a little, while she told them a story.  The story was about William Tell, the famous hero of Switzerland.  She told the scholars how a wicked governor placed an apple on the head of Tell’s little boy and then compelled the father to take his bow and arrow and shoot the apple from the head of his son.  He was very unwilling to do it, for he was afraid the arrow might miss and kill his child.  But the brave boy stood firm, and cried out—­“Shoot, father!  I am not afraid.”  He took a steady aim; fired, and knocked the apple off without hurting his son.

Just as the teacher was telling this story a sudden storm burst from the sky.  There was a flash of lightning, and a loud crash of thunder.  Some of the children screamed, and began to cry and ran to the teacher for protection.  But a little boy named Willie Hawthorne, kept his seat and went on quietly studying his lesson.