Coming up that my parents were at a church that really believed in prayer and it was always good to Have missionaries visit or people visit for whom you've been praying and it's always just like lightens your heart So it just tells you how much prayer? Envelops your love for other people Okay, so Many people didn't associate the name David White when we were praying for this fellow up here, okay? He went through open heart surgery up in Michigan, and so we're thankful that his wife even had a fall in Michigan, but God saw them both through, and isn't it wonderful to see them tonight? God answers prayer. And that's why we recognize that. And so I say that because when I've been praying for somebody and I see them, my heart feels it. what do you call it, flutter or whatever, you're very thankful, okay? And so I can't impress you enough upon us that how much when we pray for other people, it develops that love for that person. And so the more we're praying for our neighbors, our 22,000 people in that one mile radius, it just excites me when I ride my bike or ride through the areas and I see the names of the streets. Yeah, I'm praying for those people. So may the Lord bless us with that so that when people do come in from one of those straits that they sense that love that we have for them. Tonight we're looking at the book of Job, our second message in the book of Job, and I was praying about this this morning, and I got real excited while I was praying. Would you call this new light? I don't know about that. I just know that when you're praying, the Holy Spirit is working on you, and I was thinking about things through Job, and I've decided to title this series, Job, the Living Lament. You knew I'd get that in there somewhere. But it really is, because I started going through the book of Job while I was praying. I was thinking, OK. And you know, he does. It is a living lament. He laments in his life. Anyway, tonight we're looking at Job's integrity, because that leads up to the lament. And last time we looked at Job's life, and it's described by God in verse 1. But integrity, we used to say, integrity is what you're doing when nobody's watching. But you know, God is. So Job's integrity is based on his relationship with God. And let me just read the first verse there in your Bible. It goes like this. There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. A man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. He was blameless, of course, because God had made him blameless. That's a sign of regeneration. And he was upright. He followed the commands of God. He followed what God gave him to do. And, of course, he feared God. That means he had such an awesome view of God. And then because of that, he eschewed evil, or as it says in the King James, where he turned away from evil. He pushed it away. So most people think of affliction when they think of Job. And what I would like to do before that Think of how he was tested even before his affliction that really brought out that God would even give this commendation of him. What we read in verse one is actually seen twice in chapter one and once in chapter two where God gives him that commendation. That he is upright man and he is a man who feared God and he skewed evil and he was blameless. So tonight we're looking at the depth of his integrity was proven before the affliction started. So you're probably going to say, huh, he's tested. Yep. We've kind of tested this in verses two through five. So let's pray. Father, we thank you for this book of Job. Thank you for your servant, Job. We have to admit that if we have actually made it through all the chapters of Job, it's been weary because of all the weariness that he experienced and he was beaten down by words of his friends. Even that you used to sanctify him purely. And so he came out on the other side with praise to you. So we give you thanks, Father, for this opportunity to study this book. I know it's a long trek, but even as you lay the groundwork here, we know this is a very important aspect of Job's life that we need to consider. And so we pray that you would use this time in your word to sanctify us and teach us and help us to be people of God that would also bring glory to your name. We can't do this without your help. We are in desperate need of the work of your Holy Spirit. So how we thank you that we have a mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, as we pray in his name. Amen. So Proverbs chapter 11 verse 3 says, the integrity of the upright guides them but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them. So we're looking at the integrity tonight of Job. We're going to look at the test of the blessing of his having children. He has 10. The blessing of stuff. He has a lot of stuff. And the blessing of the test of the blessing of a family unity. It's wonderful to see the unity of his family here. But that did not become a God to him. Instead, it was the blessing of the, or the test of the blessing of consistency, and he demonstrated that well. So we're looking at Job chapter 1, verses 2 through 5. Let me read it. and then we'll break it down into parts and see what we can learn from that. There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. He possessed 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and very many servants, so that this man was the greatest of all the people in the East. His sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. And when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and consecrate them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings to the number of them all. For Job said, it may be that my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts. Thus, Job did continually. All right, let's just break it down. First of all, the test of the blessing of children. There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. Ten children, right? Okay. Children are a miracle. Sometimes our society has taken the children being conceived are a curse. They're actually a miracle every time they are. Just look at the book of Genesis chapter 25 when Isaac prayed for his wife Rebekah that she would have a baby because she was barren. It says in the book of Proverbs that Sheol, the barren womb, and the land is never satisfied with water and the fire never says enough. In other words, you take a barren woman and she really wants to have children and it is God who's in control of that. So here's Job, he has 10 children. It says in Psalm 127, Behold, children are an heritage from the Lord. The fruit of the womb is a reward, like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. Blessed is the man who has a quiver full of them. I'd say he had one, didn't you? Ten children? I think, how many did the Honeycuts have there in Arkansas, Jan? I think it was, they had, in the teens, I think it was, somehow, I'm thinking 18, but I think that might be too much. But they were farmers, okay? And they needed help on the farm. Okay, so they had, it seemed like two generations because, anyway, it was a farming family. Anyway, so he says, blessed is the man who has a quiver full of them. He shall not be put to shame. And he speaks with his enemies in the gate. So Job has a quiver full, he has 10 children. If one child is a blessing from the Lord, what are 10? Okay, I don't know, people today start thinking about, oh, how can I pay for this? How can I do that? We're told it's an evil thing to have too many children, etc. Not so in this day, okay? Job looked at it as a blessing. But think about it. Children test the integrity of the father. Okay? You know, how they're going to raise that child and how they're going to train up the children. So it's a test. So much so that in leadership, as considered in the book of 1 Timothy chapter 3, leadership says, according to the test of a man, it says that deacons must be the husband of one wife, managing their children and their households well. So there's a test to it, and so Job was put to a test. So what I'm getting at is Job is blessed. Okay, we're looking at the test of this blessing. He has children. How did he do? I believe when you look at verse five, we'll break that down in a moment here, but when you get to verse five, it's obvious that when he calls his children to be consecrated after their feast together, that they respond. And it sounds like he does this early in the morning. And so they respond, that says that they have been taught that through their lifetime. So Job was a man, his integrity showed in the fact that he had children, he raised his children well, and it sounds like they had great respect for him too. Second test is the blessing of stuff. I call that blessing of stuff because think about it. 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yolks and voxens, 500 female donkeys plus many servants and a lot of other stuff. It probably had lands and other things too. I thought about trying to figure out how, you know, if we went for modern day figures here. Today, modern day, I think a sheep goes for like $200. Doesn't sound very much, does it? Okay, but even in that day, a man who had a hundred sheep would have been considered pretty rich. A hundred, he has what? He has 7,000 sheep. Can you imagine what his field looked like with all of his sheep? There was a lot of sheep out there, right? Okay, so, and he had, I would say that if a man had two camels, he was doing well, and I think Abraham had Well, Abraham's servant went to fetch a bride for Isaac. I think he had an entourage of about 10 or 20 camels on that entourage. So when we look at that, OK, Abraham had many. So what, 3,000 camels? 500 yoke and oxen? Anyway, I tried to go through this. And I guess a low estimate was he's like had a net worth of probably at least our day, look at it. It'd be like $10 million. So he's a very rich man. As a matter of fact, it says he's the greatest in all the East where he lived. And we pointed out last time thoughts of many that he lived around Abraham time. But after studying what John Calvin said, he probably lived in the land of Esau in Edom at the time the children of Israel were in bondage in Egypt, and God was working in the land of Esau, which was a great blessing of a covenant blessing because Esau was cursed. You know, Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated, and the people there had a curse on them, so it would be, isn't it how God would do things in the midst of the cursed people? I'm gonna bring out a shining light in Job. Anyway, so he says he was the greatest in all the East. Now, let me point out some things here. One of the reasons we have this is that God is showing us how exceeding great his riches were, so when they're taken away, we understand it wasn't just that he lost a dime. He lost everything, and when you think about the everything that he had, it was a great sum. But also in the book of 1 Timothy, it says, as for the rich in this present world, charge them that they not be haughty, nor set their hopes on uncertain riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. And I think that you would say that that would be Job, because of the first verse, that he was a man that was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. He was not focused on his riches. I think he was probably a very good businessman. He had to be to have that much stuff and take care of that stuff and have people report to him, but that was not his life. But riches are a test when it says in the book of Luke chapter 16, one who is faithful in the very little is also faithful in much. One who is unfaithful in the little things is also unfaithful in much. A lot of people read this and they say, well, they turn exactly and say things like Satan did when God spoke to Satan and said, have you considered my servant Job? And he said, well, you've hedged him in. Look how you blessed him. Of course, it's easy for him to bless you because look at all the stuff he has. And that's where some people say, if I had more stuff, I would really bless God. The answer is, if you're not blessing God in what you have, you wouldn't do it if you had ten times that amount. So, in the book of 1 Timothy 6, he goes on to say, Godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world and cannot take anything out of it. We have food and clothing, let us therewith be content. Those who desire to be rich fall in great temptation and snare in many senseless and harmless desires that plunge people into destruction and ruin. Now what that first statement is, in 1 Timothy chapter 6, it says, Godliness and contentment is great gain. We brought nothing into the world, we can take nothing out of the world. Now, I want you to listen to Job. I'm jumping ahead for this, but I want you to see the connection that Job had when he lost everything, and all the reports came to him one after another. The sheep, they lost the oxen, they lost everything. And then, I mean, he's basically broke and his children are dead. Okay? And he says in verse 20 of chapter 1, Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshipped and said, naked I came from my mother's womb and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. In all this, Job did not sin or charge God with any wrong. What I wanted to see is a connection. Paul says we brought nothing into the world, we take nothing out. Okay? Job says I was naked when I came in. and I'll leave the same way. So he was recognizing that anything he had was a gift from God. And so that's truly what, when you look at this, when Jesus makes the analogy and says that it is with great difficulty that a rich man enters the kingdom, he says that it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom. And when the disciples heard this, they said, well, who can be saved? And Jesus looked at them and said, with man, it is impossible. With God, all things are possible. So here's a man, there's a demonstration, okay, that God had touched his life. And God had opened the doors of blessing, of stuff, okay? Of sheep, and oxen, and donkeys, and camels. There's no doubt, it says in the book of 1 Corinthians chapter 1 that, consider your calling, brothers, not many were wise, not many by too worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. He doesn't say rich in there, but I think that would be included. When you look at the people that are followers of Jesus Christ, it doesn't say not any, it just says they're not many. And this is why one of the reasons we look at Job and say he stands out because he was blameless, and because he was upright, because he feared the Lord, and because he eschewed evil or fought against evil. So Job was rich, but he had integrity before God. And his integrity is tested in God allowing him to have 10 children, and in God allowing him to have lots of stuff. Third test, the test of a blessing of a family unity. This is something when you read this you'd say, wouldn't this be a good opportunity? Notice it says, his sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. You just have to, when you read that, you have to just put in how it says in Psalm 133 how good and how pleasant it is when brothers dwell together in unity. There are so many dysfunctional families. So many dysfunctional families where brothers and sisters don't talk. You know, isn't it interesting in the fighting in the home goes until they're older. Okay, these 10 children are grown. They're living in their own houses. And yet they are so bonded together as a family that they meet regularly in one person's house. They have a feast, and then they invite their other brothers and sisters. And so 10 of them are together regularly, and how blessed that was. Now, wouldn't that be a blessing to Job to know his children got together, and they'd like to be with each other? That's unity, family unity. We have to understand, because of indwelling sin, families fight. That fight was taking place in Genesis chapter 4 when Abel brought an acceptable sacrifice. Cain didn't like that, so Cain ended up killing his brother Abel. We also know that because of sin in the world, and indwelling sin even in believers, we need instruction in love regularly. I like just when we read Ephesians chapter 5, chapter 6, when we understand that husbands are to love your wife. You know, some people get offended by that. How does God, we need to love our wives as Christ loved the church. Well, it's because we have indwelling sin and we end up mistreating our wives. And we understand that wives are told to respect their husbands because they have a tendency to rebel against their husbands. It's indwelling sin. And because of that, children rebel against their parents. And so we're told that children are to obey their parents. And we understand that sometimes parents get a wild notion, and they become pretty hard on their children. And so he says, don't exasperate your children. So what we're saying is, God gives us instruction because he understands that we have this indwelling sin that we have to fight against. And so we need instruction in what he expects. OK, well. It says in the book of Proverbs chapter 17, the beginning of a strife is like letting out water. Families do this all the time. A little strife, poof, blows up. And there's fights in the family. OK? It's all the time. You know, you'd say almost every family is dysfunctional. Even Abraham. Abraham and Lot were all right, but their herdsmen, they got fought with each other. And so that's when Abraham says to Lot, it's not good that we fight. We're brothers. He said, tell you what, you go to the left, I'll go to the right. You go to the right, I'll go to the left. Let's just make this separation. Let's not fight together. Proverbs chapter 6 says, six things that the Lord hates. Seven are an abomination to him, haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers." Now, because of that indwelling sin, because of that tendency, we have to step back and say, Job didn't experience that. Job had his children in harmony. What kind of test was that? He could easily take it for granted, couldn't he? He could easily just say, we got it made in the shade, okay? And just be relaxed about things. But we find that the next thing, before I get there, let me just point out, he was blessed with a family unity. The brothers seemed to enjoy the company of each other, and they included their sisters. Families today long for unity. And there's a reflection on how Job then taught his children. So it must have been, this unity was not an accident. It's something that Job taught his children all along. I think that's important to understand. They were just following the Lord because Job was following the Lord in teaching his children and so they grew up in a house where they sought unity in the house and it just demonstrated it after they left the house. I think it's good. So the test then of the blessing of the consistency, and I'm going to start on this in verse 5, and the next time we meet on Sunday night, which would be next Sunday, Lord willing, I want to dig in this a little bit from a different angle, but this verse 5 is a very precious verse, and I just want to notice his continuity and his consistency here. When the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and consecrate them that he would rise up early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, it may be that my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually." Note those last words. Thus did Job continually. He is good about carrying on something that is important. Let's just look at what he did. The feast was not a bad thing. If he did, I think Job would have spoken about it. spoken out about it. So the feast is not a bad thing. They're eating and drinking, of course, and we understand that we're not to get drunk with wine. We know that wine is a mocker and strong drink is a brawler. We understand in 1 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 31 that whatever we do to eat or drink or whatever we do to do the glory of God. And he says in the book of Ephesians chapter 5 verse 4, let there be no filthiness, nor foolish talk, nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving when we come together. Well, we understand that everything has been created by God, but sometimes we go overboard in enjoying them. Really? Do we ever eat too much or do things too much and so we end up affecting the parts of our brain that we lose our self-control? But I believe that Job taught his children, and it was very important here, that they had a responsibility before God, and he had a responsibility to show them that, just in case, just in case that while they were eating and drinking, their guard was down, they thought something that was wrong against God. So obviously, he would have spoken out if they had done something really bad, right? He would have spoken out about it. But he said, just in case, we need to consecrate you and bring this before God. So it's interesting, though, that this is a mark because of their participation in later life that was a mark that he had taught them well while they were children. I was reading John Calvin and said, John Calvin said that it's interesting that people today leave the teaching of children to someone else. Really? John Calvin said that? Well, people today all the time do that. One of the great Puritan pastor books is the Reformed Pastor by Richard Baxter. And one of the things he did was to make sure that parents were catechizing their children. And the only way that parents can catechize their children is if they know the catechism. If they don't know the catechism, they can't catechize their children. They need to be taught the things of God. They need the parents to teach them not to rely. Thank God we have people that teach children in Sunday school or Bible school or whatever it is. Thank God for those opportunities. But the responsibility comes back to the parents. John Calvin just kind of got off on a tangent on that. You know, he preached every day, and people would come to hear him preach every day, and he would get off on things while they're in Geneva. But I think it's a good thing. Job's call for consecration then would have been meaningless, think about that, it would have been meaningless unless he had taught that to his children. No doubt he taught it to them in the home, and then when they leave home, he's consistent about it, so that it wasn't forgotten by them when they left the house. Job's consistency is seeking to consecrate his children, bring the children back under the guidelines of the fact, remember, you stood before God. And it could be that one of you thought something that wasn't right before God, and so we're making this sacrifice to bring it before God because God expects, we'll get into this next time, God expects an atonement sacrifice to make things acceptable. We just don't march into God, in other words, and so isn't it good that we can march into God because we have an atonement sacrifice that was accepted in the Lord Jesus Christ, right? So, because of that, because of that, we too can come before God to plead on behalf of our children, to plead on behalf of ourselves, to plead on behalf of our church, because we have an advocate with a father. Job's children had an advocate with a father in their father, Job. Job's consistency then is to seeking to consecrate his children. There is a judgment here. Because fathers are condemned in the scriptures if they don't teach their children. Fathers are condemned if they don't teach their children and don't display a consistent pattern of worshiping God. Children, on the other hand, are condemned if they yield not to the guidance of their fathers. Okay? Job's children were not going against his commands. I think, what would you think is just the opposite? I thought, Eli. Eli had two sons who were priests, and they were doing everything wrong, okay? They were very much out for themselves. And God told Eli, because you have not taken care of this, I'm going to take care of it. You and your sons will die because you weren't following the things of God, because you weren't dealing with the evil in your sons. Well, isn't it interesting that Job, And let's just say that John Calvin is right, was written in the time, Job lived in a time when the children of Israel were in bondage in Egypt before Moses was raised up to lead them out of Egypt. Okay. At that time, we don't have the written law. But there's enough about atonement sacrifice from Adam to Noah and from Noah onward that atonement sacrifices were made. You don't just march into God and you recognize the fact that sin ruins a fellowship with God, and so God expected a substitute, a sacrifice, death. Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin. Okay, so even though this section teaches us his consistency in his intercession for his children. I want to deal more with that next time and give you encouragement, those of you, the parents that are longing to see the salvation of your children. And I think that this verse leads to that, that your labors and prayer are not in vain, okay? And I just found myself greatly encouraged by it as I prayed over these verses, and I want to deal with that next time. But I just want you to notice, Okay, Job was tested in the fact that his family, he was blessed with a large family. It's obvious he held up the responsibility well. He was blessed with lots of stuff, but from what we read in verse 1, And the verses that follow this section when he is tested by, when God allows Satan to direct, take direction of a test upon Job, we have that, we realize the stuff that he had was not an idol. It was simply, he held onto it with a loose hand. The Lord gives, the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord. He was blessed with family unity. What a blessing that is. I would dare say it's hard to find a family today where there's such unity. You know, because sin runs rapid around us. Sin rims even God's children in indwelling sin and allows people to be bitter and angry. But, oh, he was tested. Job, are you going to be consistent about this? You taught your children. Are you going to live up to it now? He was tested through consistency. Now, I just want to point out, verse 1 reads that Job was a man whose name was Job, that he was blameless and upright, one that feared God and turned away from evil. That's number one. In Job chapter 1, verse 8, the Lord says to Satan, have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil? Number two. In chapter 2, when Satan once again comes before God and God says, have you considered my servant Job, for there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away evil. He still holds his integrity, although you incited me against him to destroy him without reason. Job has a relationship with God and his focus in life was serving God and doing what God has commanded. He had a fear for God. He had a fear and such a reverence for God. How could I even do anything that would be displeasing to him? And so he eschewed, he pushed back from evil all the time. What a man. So he's tested now. He'll be tested when Satan is unleashed on him even more, and tested even more when his friends turn on him and supposedly bring him comfort. I want you to see tonight, though, the tests that he has, and what an encouragement to us to say, okay, how can we live like this, Lord? Well, we can by the power of the Holy Spirit, right? Having a relationship with God through the Lord Jesus Christ, and he had the power of the indwelling Christ, as I was preaching on this morning. the power of the resurrected Christ living in us. He dwells in us, and so we can live like this. We look at that example of Job, and it's not just a good thing. I think I'll try to do that. You know, I'm realizing how much, you know, now that I'm 71, I better get with it in getting very serious about a weightlifting program. And I was looking for one, you know, okay, I'm looking for a program, okay, to get me going. I want to get jacked, OK? Tired of hanging around Nick Betancourt and feeling like I'm a weakling. All right. So, but that's just a wish. It's a plan, OK? But this is even better. This is life changing. We seek to live like Job's instruction here. Be thankful for what we have in our families, but it's not an idol. Be thankful what we have in life, make sure it's not an idol. Be thankful that we see unity around us if we do. Rejoice in it, but don't treat it as an idol. And whatever we do, we're to be consistent. But if we're not careful, that can become an idol too. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for your servant, Job. Thank you for the lesson we learned here in chapter one that's going to take us through the entire book over and over again. And we need to be reminded of it. So we give you thanks. Oh, God, if we said we'd like to be like Job, It scares us because we know that it'll be tested, but we know we're tested anyway. And so we pray that you'd give us grace to take the example of Job, and by the power of the Spirit of God and the indwelling of the resurrected Christ, we pray that you would give us victory in life to be as close as Job was with you. We need your help, and so we call upon you in Jesus' name, amen.