Turn in the word of God this morning to the book of Job, the Old Testament book of Job. We'll read Job chapter one. Job was, from what we understand, a contemporary of Abraham. Job chapter one. There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. That man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God and eschewed evil. There were born unto him seven sons and three daughters. His substance also was 7,000 sheep and 3,000 camels. and 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 she-asses, and a very great household, so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the East. And his sons went and feasted in their houses every one his day, and sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them. And it was so when the days of their feasting were gone about that Job sent and sanctified them. and rose up early in the morning and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For, Job said, it may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually." There was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them. And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job? There is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil. Then Satan answered the Lord and said, Doth Job fear God for naught? Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face. The Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power, only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord. There was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house, and there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were ploughing, and the asses feeding beside them, and the Sabaeans fell upon them and took them away, yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword, and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them, and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The Chaldeans made out three bands, and fell upon the camels. and have carried them away, yea, and slain the servants with the edge of the sword, and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. While he was yet speaking, there came also another and said, Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house. Behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead. and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. Then Job arose and rent his mantle and shaved his head and fell down upon the ground and worshiped and said, naked came I out of my mother's womb and naked shall I return thither. The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. In all this, Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly. That's why we read the Word of God this morning. May God bless unto us the reading of His Holy Word, and we direct our attention now to verse 5 of this chapter, a verse that we will consider. Let me read that again. And it was so when the days of their feasting were gone about. that Job sent and sanctified them and rose up early in the morning and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, it may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually." The Book of Job. Beloved in Christ opens with a very remarkable description of Job. He was a man who was perfect and upright, one that feared God and eschewed evil. And that, as we know, especially and specifically from verse eight in this chapter, when the Lord God is speaking with Satan and describing Job to the devil, That is God's description of Job. That is God's evaluation of Job. God said concerning Job, this was a man who feared God and eschewed evil. He was an outstandingly godly man. He hated sin. He walked with the Lord God. in life. He was a man who was right with God, and all of that was true of him because he had been saved by the grace of God. He believed and he clung to the Lord Jesus Christ. And that, of course, was the source of his strength, his spiritual strength. Our text mentions to us and points out to us a significant example of Job's godliness. There are many other examples. given throughout and that could be given throughout the book of Job, not least of which how he responded to the heavy hand of God on him when he lost everything that he possessed, including his children. First of all, the book gives us the example of Job's godliness as it came to expression in his home and in his family. Specifically, as it came to expression in his labor as a father in relation to his children. That serves as a biblical example to us, a biblical example of what ought to be true by the grace of God for all godly parents here. A biblical example to the parents who had their child baptized this morning, and a biblical example to every parent, and especially a biblical example to those who are fathers, setting forth a specific calling that godly parents and specifically that godly fathers have in relation to the covenant children that God gives to us. Consider then with me this text under the theme, Job Praying for His Covenant Children. We'll notice his godly concern. his spiritual activity, and Jehovah's blessing. God had given Job a large family. He had seven sons and three daughters. Concerning them, we read in verse four, his sons went and feasted in their houses every one his day, and sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them. Apparently his children would have a meal together every day. The sons took turns in hosting these meals, It appears that perhaps his children were not necessarily married yet. His daughters were invited by his sons to come to these meals, and these were not sinful and ungodly gatherings and feasts that his children had. This was not drunken partying that his children were participating in, but this was on their part a very positive activity. A covenant family that was close. Children that enjoyed each other's company and that enjoyed each other's fellowship. And so none of their brothers or sisters were excluded Everyone was invited and everyone joined in and these children strove to maintain and to foster the bonds of love that they had with each other. A positive and a legitimate and even a very good activity. But even though this was a godly activity, Job was concerned for his children. It's certainly natural for parents to be concerned for their children, as you parents here no doubt always are. Wondering about your children, wondering what your children are doing, wondering if everything is okay for your children. wondering if your children are safe, wondering even perhaps if they are enjoying themselves, if everything is going well for them. But you understand, Job's concern was for something much more than those things. He was not simply concerned for things earthly with regard to his children. but he had a spiritual concern for them. He was concerned about their spiritual well-being. And that was a concern that Job had for his children that arose out of the fact that he viewed his children correctly as covenant children. They were as we confess concerning our children, too, gifts from Jehovah. As we sing of that in Psalm 127, our children are an heritage of the Lord. The fruit of the womb is His reward to us. And He loved His children as covenant children. and he was very much focused upon their spiritual lives and their spiritual well-being as covenant children of God. The text shows that Job's spiritual concern for his children had to do especially with this, their relationship to God. It's evident from what Job says, it may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts. He's not wondering about whether his sons had sinned against him and that the sins that they had committed perhaps against him as their father or against his wife as their mother were sins that would affect his name and reputation negatively. But he was concerned about their relationship to God and what mattered to him as a godly father was if they had in their life and in their relationship to God done what was sinful to the Lord and sinful in the presence of God. The question on Job's mind as he thinks about his children is chiefly this, are my children honoring God? Is their speech and is their behavior pleasing to the Lord, to Jehovah, their coveted God? Job also shows that he had a very good understanding of sin, and a good understanding of what makes sin serious. We see that in his concern whether his children had sinned against God in their hearts. He knew that what happens in one's heart is the most important thing in one's relationship to God. His children could certainly hide their hearts from each other, and they could certainly hide what was in their hearts from their father, Job, and his children could therefore appear to be very godly. say all the right things and do all the right things, they could appear to do everything correctly and in obedience to God outwardly, but what about their hearts? They could not hide their hearts from God himself. God saw what was in their hearts. Job knew that. And Job is not, you understand, speaking here of something that he knows to be a fact in their hearts. When he says here, it may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts, he says, it may be. He doesn't know that they have, he couldn't know whether they had, because he could not see their hearts, but he knew God could see their hearts. And he is concerned that they may have done so, concerned at the possibility that his sons and daughters had sinned against God in their hearts. I don't know that they have, he says, but perhaps they did. And perhaps they have cursed God in their hearts. Literally, that means perhaps they have failed to bless God in their hearts. They have failed to praise and worship God in their hearts. Perhaps they have failed to acknowledge God in their lives and to acknowledge God as they enjoy the abundance of things that God has given them to enjoy. and fail to acknowledge God and to be thankful to God. That was Job's concern. If there was one sin, one specific sin, that Job could very well have had in mind with regard to his children, it was perhaps the sin that is described in Proverbs 30 verse nine. Verses eight and nine there read this way, remove far from me vanity and lies, give me neither poverty nor riches, feed me with food convenient for me, lest I be full and deny thee and say, who is the Lord? Lest I be full and deny thee and say, who is the Lord? Job and his family was very rich. His children were wealthy. His children profited from the wealth of Job, their father, even in their ability to have this feast every day. And the danger is that one who is wealthy denies God and says, who is God? We don't need him. We have everything we need. We have what we have because we have been diligent and hardworking to his God. And so he understood that it was very well possible that in the midst of enjoying all of the wealth that they had, that they had committed the sin of denying the Lord. The concern, beloved, that Job had for his children arose out of the fact that he knew his children. He knew that. First of all, as is obvious from the passage, he knew what his children were doing. He was not a father who ignored his children, He was not a disinterested father. He was not a naive father. He was not a father that was too busy to give any attention to what his children were doing. He knew what they were doing. He kept a close eye on them. He was fully aware of what his children were up to. But when we say that Job knew his children, then we understand this especially, that he knew his children spiritually. He knew them spiritually in that he knew they had sinful natures and that they were sinful within, conceived and born in sin. And he knew, therefore, that it was possible for them to sin even while they were doing a legitimate activity, a positive activity, a good activity. He knew about the temptations that they would face as they were feasting together, and he knew the temptations that they faced because they were wealthy. He knew they were sinners. Job was not like many apparent today who think that their children hardly ever sin, and who even become very defensive when sins or faults or misdeeds of their children are reported to them, and who say, other children may have done this, but not my child. My child would never do such bad things. Job was not like that. Job knew and admitted that his children were sinners, and he knew that though they were covenant children, that did not eliminate sin from their lives and sin from their thoughts and sin from their words and their actions. He knew that they struggled to live as the covenant children of God. They often failed to act and to behave as God's children. He acknowledged that. Which is to say, really, that Job knew himself. Job knew himself. He knew that he was a sinner. He knew that he was tempted to sin. And he knew that he did commit sin. And aware of that, he knew it was possible for his children also to sin against God. That first of all, beloved, serves as an example, a biblical and godly example to parents today. The Lord instructing us by means of this example. And the instruction that he gives to godly parents, first of all, is know your children. Know what they are doing. Don't ignore what they are up to. Don't be a distant and a disinterested parent. And don't be a parent who thinks as your children get older, well, now they're old enough. I don't have to know where they're going and what they're doing. That's their business now. And know them spiritually. Reckon with the reality that your children are sinners and know that about them and reckon with that reality concerning your children because you know that you yourself are a sinner. And you know that sinful parents pass on that sin to their children. Parents who are themselves sinners can only produce children that are also sinners. And then out of that knowledge, be concerned about them spiritually. With this as your main concern, do my children strive to love and to fear Jehovah their God? And do they do that in their hearts? In their hearts. Knowing and acknowledging that his children were sinners, the text tells us Job did this for them. It was so when the days of their feasting were gone about that Job sent and sanctified them and rose up early in the morning and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all. Job sacrificed a burnt offering for them. He offered that burnt offering for each child, one for each. This burnt offering, you understand, is different from the sin offerings that were offered in the Old Testament and by God's people in the Old Testament church. The sin offering was an offering for a specific sin, for an actual sin that had been committed by an individual or by the nation. However, the offering that Job offers now for his children was a burnt offering, an offering that is for sin in general, an offering that is meant because one has a sinful nature and also because there are many unknown sins that a person commits, secret, hidden, known only to God. And that fits in with Job's intent. He offered this offering in case one of his children had sinned against God in his heart. He offered an offering that pointed to Christ. He offered an offering that was the basis for the request that he had for those children, namely that the sins that they may have committed would be forgiven by God. What we see here is Job as the head of his family carrying out a priestly work for his children. As the head of his home, he was one who occupied the office of king in his family, and prophet in his family, but also priest. And the priestly work of sacrificing for his children was, in effect, his intercession for them. He prayed for them, just as was the duty and work of priests in the Old Testament to intercede for the people of God. His sacrifice was, in effect, the prayer to God, Lord, Forgive the sins of my children. They need the blood of Christ for their forgiveness as that is pictured here in this offering that I bring to thee. Forgive them, Lord, and impute to them the righteousness of Christ and work holiness in them. Sanctify them by thy word and spirit in Christ. so that they see their sins more and more and repent of them and flee from their sins and flee to Christ for pardon and renew them by the Holy Spirit to love thee and to fear thee in their hearts and then flowing out of that in their lives. And that was a prayer that Job took very seriously. The text tells us that he rose up early in the morning to do this. The prayer to God for his children could not be delayed. The prayer to God for God's grace in forgiving the sins of his children could not be delayed. The text also tells us he did this continually. Once was not enough. It was a repeated offering, a repeated intercession and prayer for his children because his children sinned constantly and repeatedly against God. Picture that, a father who got up very early every morning. and prayed this prayer to God for his children. Father God in heaven, forgive my children's sins. That was the prayer of Jud. And he did this because he believed his children were children of the covenant. not unbelievers and unregenerate, but God's children, and God had promised to save them. And he knew, of course, he understood very well, of course, that this wasn't necessarily true of all of them. God had not promised and God does not promise to save every single child that he gives to believing parents. There are sometimes children in the covenant who are not covenant children. But Job believed that God saves in the line of continued generations. God has promised to save believers and their seed. And that was his perspective, properly so concerning his children. And so he prayed for them. He prayed for every one of them. There's something too, beloved, that we must not overlook in our text, and that is that this activity of Job was also significant for the children themselves. That's evident from the fact that the text says that Job sent and sanctified them." What that indicates to us is that the children were sent for. He sent for them to come. His children, therefore, were present for this activity of intercession that He did on their behalf. He wanted them to observe what he was doing. He wanted them to know that he was making a sacrifice for each of them. He wanted them to be aware of the fact that he was praying for them. And his children would have observed this and been impressed, no doubt, by the seriousness that he took in this matter, that he arose early in the morning, that he sent for them to come. and that he continually did this on their behalf. By doing that, Job was instructing his children and pointing his children to Christ and his cross. saying to his children by the sacrifices that he was doing for them and by the intercession that he was making for them in their hearing, and as they were observing it, saying to them, children, you are a sinner. And as sinners, you deserve to be killed for your sins and to be killed for your sins eternally, just as these animals that I am sacrificing for you must be killed. That's what you deserve. But God has provided and gives to us here in these animals that we sacrifice a picture of a substitute, The one to whom the sacrifices point, Christ, his son. And that's your only hope, children. Repent of your sins. Turn from them. Believe and trust in Jesus Christ. It was important. It was significant for the children themselves to be aware of this and to be there to observe it. So the question for parents today, especially fathers, is do you pray for your children? And more specifically, do you pray this kind of prayer for the prayer that Job was praying? Godly parents do pray for their children, I know. And godly parents pray a lot for their children and start praying for those children even before those children are born. Godly parents, by the grace of God, stand consciously in the presence of God in the place of their children. And they do for them which the children themselves at first cannot do. And they do for them also what those children might fail to do for themselves, even when they can, to pray. It's crucial therefore for parents to do this, and also in that connection to have the children hear and know that you do. And so that such prayer, and specifically now the prayer that God would forgive their sins, ought to be a priority. And a prayer that is continued throughout the life of your children, all their life long, beginning when the child is small, but never stopping to pray for that. Continuing to do it too for the children who might stray. That the Spirit would humble them, that God would work mightily by His grace in them, causing them to repent, and forgiving their sins, too, in and through Christ, because our children need Christ more than anything else. And that means also letting your children know that you do pray for them. It's good for parents to pray for their children in their presence, even specifically for each child as Job did, a sacrifice for each of them, a prayer for each of them, a good part of daily family devotion. In that way, you show your love for them as covenant children. In that way, you show that you are concerned especially for their spiritual well-being, for their salvation. And in that way, you teach them that they need Christ and need to turn to Him daily for His grace and mercy and forgiveness. God blessed Job's children in answer to Job's prayers. It's interesting how the text expresses that when it says that Job sent and sanctified them. To sanctify is to make holy. That does not mean that Job himself made his children holy. No man can. But it expresses what was part of his desire and part of his prayer for them. And he prayed for that because he acknowledged and he understood that only God could sanctify these children. And it is stated in the text as a fact, Job sanctified them. It is stated in the text as a reality, as something that took place that really did happen because God made it happen. God sanctified Job's children. God blessed Job's godly spiritual activity with fruit. God used what Job did as a means for the sanctification and salvation of the covenant children that he prayed for to God. And the means that God used to that end was the sacrifices that Job made for those children, sacrifices which pointed to Christ. Sacrifices that pointed to their sins and their need of Christ and then were applied to them as the children of the covenant by the Spirit at work in their hearts. They were sanctified. Their sins were forgiven. They were delivered from the dominion and control of sin. and they were blessed to know that they had been forgiven and sanctified by Christ and His Spirit, so that those children were led in gratitude to God, to fear the Lord. That's the blessing of God that is promised to that he works for godly parents today in the hearts and lives of your children. God promises to make our children holy. Not all of them. Some parents, as we noted, as we know, deal with the sad reality that some of their children are unholy still. And they keep praying that God might turn them to Christ. But God's promise is to make our spiritual seed, the elect amongst our children, holy, and he uses parents to that end. the instruction that parents give, the teaching, the training, the discipline, the love, the care, and then, as our text points out, the prayers of parents. He hears. And he answers those prayers. And what a blessing it is to godly parents to notice God's work of grace in their covenant children. That those children see and confess their sins. That those children understand the gravity and seriousness of sin. That those children seek forgiveness for their sins in Christ. and that those children believe in and trust in him as their savior from sin. Much to be thankful for as regards the work of God's grace in your covenant children. So may Jehovah be pleased to continue hearing your many prayers for your children and to answer them, and to save and sanctify the children of the covenant. Amen. Father in heaven, we bow before thee in thankfulness. Jehovah, our covenant God, who is good, and who is ever faithful to thy covenant. We're thankful for thy covenant promises and for thy covenant blessings and for thy mighty work of grace in the covenant, children, that thou dost give to godly parents and that thou dost give also to thy church. Hear us and bless our children also. In Jesus' name, amen.