Job's Response and Rebuttal, Part 2

Job chapter 29, Job chapter 29, looking at Job's rebuttal of Bildad and exactly all the things that he says and he speaks for six chapters in in our Bible Now it's not meant to be that which is Entertaining because as we go through all these discussions with Job and his friends none of them are really entertaining But the Bible is not meant to entertain you it's meant to enlighten you It's meant to equip you it's meant to edify you it's meant to build you up that's what second Timothy 3 16 and 17 tells us that it's the Word of God that instructs us and and builds us and Makes the man of God thoroughly furnished unto all good deeds And so everything that's in the book of Job Everything's in the scriptures is designed to enlighten us as to the character and nature of God All that he is and how he works in and through the lives of people and our God is a great in awesome God and we told you as we go through this book we marvel at Job's endurance the Bible tells us that we are to consider the Endurance of Job the the patience of Job and when you think about that you we marvel at this man's ability to bear up under pressure under difficulty under hardship under affliction under mental and Verbal abuse from his so-called friends He bears up under all that and we sit back and we marvel at the man's ability to do so But there's a reason why he can There's a reason why he's able to do all that and we told you at the very beginning in Job chapter 1 verse number 1 Which is a key to all that Job does is that he was a man of supreme integrity He was the man who feared God.

He was a man who turned away from evil he was a man who was blameless and upright and we told you for the very outset that everything that centers around Job stems from that because amidst all the The things that happened to Job amidst all the discouragement amidst all the disappointment He has never gone down to defeat and the reason is is because of the courage and conviction of his character Character is everything Characters the only thing that counts. It's the only thing that really truly matters and Because of the character of this man's life He was courageous and he was able to maintain His convictions no matter what the circumstances before him And so we told you Job 1 verse number 1 was the key to how Job would would respond to everything in his life And so last week we told you in Job chapter 27, what does it say verse number 5 till I die I will not put away my integrity from me I hold fast my righteousness and will not let it go and we told you last week The book begins with a man of supreme integrity, but that never changes amidst all of his adversity No, in fact, it shines even greater all the more amidst his adversity Because everything about the man stems from his character who he is his complete trust in the Almighty God, but he was a man of supreme character a man of supreme Integrity and once you have integrity you maintain that and that's what how how Job was able to handle every conflict that came his way It was a great late Alan Simpson who was a senator from Wyoming from 1979 to 1897 who said these words he said if you have integrity nothing else matters if you don't have integrity nothing else matters Because the only thing that matters is integrity That's all that matters.

Everything stems from that and so therefore you must understand that Job was a man who lived in light of his relationship with the Living God So we told you from the outset that if you understand Job 1 1 You understand how Job handled all the affliction all the discouragement all the verbal abuse Everything that came his way. He was able to withstand it. That's why he was able to endure because of his character and God had done a great and mighty work in his life So Job as he responds in chapter 29 He's gonna talk about his past In chapter 30, he's gonna talk about his present And in chapter 31, he's gonna talk about his future So here's your three-point outline very simple Job chapter 29 is Job's reflection on his past glory Job's reflection on his past glory in Chapter 30.

It's about Job's reiteration of his present misery in chapter 31, it's about Job's reaffirmation of his personal integrity There's your three-point outline, right? Each chapter has a point behind it in each chapter and folds for us Job's commitment and How he rebuffs all that build that has said to him and what's all said and done in chapter 31 verse number 40 It says in the words of Job are ended Now his friends have already stopped speaking. That's a good thing. We were tired of hearing him speak.

Anyway, so was Job But now Job's gonna be done after this Come on the scene. Nix is Elihu. God will interrupt him. God himself will speak and Job Will be blessed at the end and so we begin in chapter 29 verse number 1 and Job again took up his discourse and said now it's almost as if there's a pause between Chapter 28 29 as if he's waiting for them to respond. I mean after all they've responded to everything else He said so certainly they're gonna respond now certainly gonna say something now, but they don't they're done speaking and you think they'd have some kind of Comeback some kind of argument because all they can think of is that Job you're wicked Job.

You have secret sin That's why you are in the condition. You are in that's what we've said to you the whole time Job's ready for a response but no response So he picks up this the discourse and he goes back and talks about his past glory Listen to what he says. Oh That I were as in months gone by as in the days when God watched over me when his lamp shone over my head and his light I walked Through darkness and by his light I walked through darkness as I was in the prime of my days when the friendship of God was over my tent When the Almighty was yet with me and my children were around me when my steps were bathed in butter and the rock poured out of me streams of Oil, he's reflecting on his past He's reflecting when the Almighty was obviously present among him You know those times times where where things seem to be going so good that that you can almost smell the presence of God in your home and God is among him and the Almighty was there the Almighty.

He says protected him watched over him It's not like God wasn't protecting him. Now. God was still protecting him remember back in chapter 1 What did Satan say? Well Job is the way he is because you protect him. That's why he's a man of integrity That's why he's blameless So Satan blamed God for Job's integrity And so God said you can do anything you want just can't touch his touch his life. Can't touch Job So Satan did but he was under God's protection even Satan knew that Job understood his the protection of God He knew that God was his rock that God was his refuge that God was his bulwark that God was a shield He knew that and the Almighty was among him and protected him he sat back and And watched his children grow and play And he saw how God had blessed him immensely in the words like His steps were bathed in butter and the rock poured out for me streams of oil all speak of the goodness and blessing of God That's all he could see So he says When I went out to the gate for seven of the city when I took my seat in the square in other words He was a leader among the people The young men saw me and hid themselves and the old men arose and stood the princes stopped talking and put their hands on their mouths The voice of the nobles was hushed and their tongue stuck to their palate In other words Job comes into the room and everything goes quiet When Job walks in when Job shows up Everybody stops talking No one else has anything to say because Job is the wise man Job was the greatest man in the east Talk about honor and respect.

It was everywhere it oozed out of his being So when he walked into the room when he walked into the the place of leadership Everybody stops speaking Men stood up in his presence because Job Was there? Job's reflecting on all of his past glory It says in verse 11 for when the ear heard it called me blessed And when the eye saw it gave witness of me in other words Everyone saw him everyone stood in all of him mainly because not just because he was a wealthy man he was a wise man not just because God had blessed him, but he was as Not the text says in chapter 1 the greatest man in the east So it says in verse 12 because I delivered the poor who cried for help think about this this is joke and The orphan who had no helper The blessing of the one ready to perish came upon me and I made the widow's heart sing for joy I put on righteousness and it clothed me.

My justice was like a robe and a turban in other words He says I wrapped myself in in in truth in righteousness and everything was was was done in a just and holy way He says in verse number 15. I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame So when the blind couldn't see he'd led them when the lame couldn't walk. He helped them He says in verse number 16 I was a father to the needy and I investigated the case which I did not know I broke the jaws of the wicked and snatched the prey from his teeth.

In other words, I stood for no evil none whatsoever And everybody knew it Then I thought I shall die in my nest I shall multiply my days as a sand my root is spread out to the waters The dew lies all night on my branch My glory is ever new with me and my bow is renewed in my hand. He speaks of his strength He speaks of the fact that you know what? Everything is good and even those place where you say, you know what? This is the perfect day It's the it's the perfect moment and everything is well, the kids are healthy There's money in the bank and and the job is going well I've got lots of friends.

My ministry of church is great and you just take a deep breath say wow life is good That was Job Life was great for Job Verse 21 to me they listened and waited and kept silent for my counsel People came to me and wanted to have counsel They were sitting listen wait for me to speak After my words they did not speak again and my speech dropped on them They waited for me as for the rain and opened their mouth as for the spring Rain, in other words when Job would speak it was such refreshment to their soul.

I Smiled on them when they did not believe in the light of my face. They did not cast down I chose a way for them and sat as chief and dwelt as a king among the troops as one who comforted the mourners That's what Job's life was like. That was his past life. That was his everyday life Great respect great honor. He was able to understand the presence of God among him everything he touched everything he did spoke of nobility and beauty and glory He's reflecting on his past glory Nothing wrong with that Nothing wrong with looking back and seeing how things were how things are what's happening and see all the blessings of God upon his life's Because they were everywhere So when Job looked at his past there was a reflection on his past glory but now There's gonna be a reiteration of his present misery look what it says in chapter 30 verse number one, but Now all those great but all of Jesus Scripture the great contrast but now things have changed Things are completely different than they ever were before but now those younger than I mock me I'm gonna want you to know something as we read chapter 30.

He's gonna say there is no honor There is no health. There is no help and there is no hope That's his present condition There is no longer any honor no longer any respect instead of honor. There's nothing but disdain He says but now those younger than I They mock me Those used to keep silent when I walked into the room no longer Now they mock me Whose fathers I disdained to put with the dogs of my flock in other words Their fathers were not worthy to watch the dogs of my flock and these are the children of those men who now mock me Indeed what good was the strength of their hands to me vigor had perished from them They had bad work ethic from want and famine They are gaunt who gnaw the dry ground by night in waste and desolation who pluck mallow By the bushes and whose food is a root of the broom shrub They are driven from the community they shout against them as against the thief So they dwell in dreadful valleys in the holes of the earth and of the rocks among the bushes They cry out under the nettles.

They are gathered together fools. Even those without a name They are they were scourged from the land. These are the outcasts. These are the rebels These are the people nobody wanted to be around. Nobody wanted to talk to these were the complete outcasts of the community They lived in valleys. They lived under rocks and they were they were dreadful individuals And it's their children Who mocked me? Says the verse 9 and now I have become their taunts. I Have even become a byword to them. They abhor me.

They stand aloof from me and they do not reframe from spitting on my face Think about that Joe was so disdained They would spit on His face when was the last time someone spit on your face? Not because you sit down front and I spit when I speak and it comes out and hits you now I'm not talking about that. I thought about somebody actually spitting on your face. I Mean, how how bad is that? Listen to this So the verse 11 because he has loosed his bowstring and afflicted me. They have cast off the bridle before me on the right hand Their brood arises They thrust aside my feet and build up against me their ways of destruction They break up my path.

They profit from my destruction and no one restrains them In other words, they trip me when I walk they put these things in front of me and obstruct my my my ability to walk And no one says anything to them. No one restrains them. No one says hey guys leave job alone Don't you remember how job used to be? Don't you know who this guy is? Nope Nobody stands in his defense Nobody stands with him Listen the next time you think that you're lonely and all alone think again about job You got a friend somewhere You got somebody who talked to you on the phone You got somebody who'll visit you not job He had no one and remember his wife is nowhere to be found She speaks once and that's it.

She's done Right. She's not even there to hold his hand. No one's there Except those who mock him and taunt him Trip him put obstacles in front of him and spit in his face So, where did all the honor go Where do the men go who stood up at his presence when he walked in? Where were all those who were willing to listen to his counsel hear what he had to say if anybody could counsel you now It's job. I missed all of his affliction. Let's know what he has to say, but nobody wants to listen to him because the theology of the day is Man, you're in trouble.

You are the way you are because of your sin. We want nothing to do with you And that's what his three friends tried to say so verse 14 as Through a wide breach they come amid the tempest They roll on terrors are turned against me They pursue my honor as the wind and my prosperity has passed away like a cloud there is no honor Not only is there no honor there is no health there's no honor, but Disdain, there's no health But disease it says and now my soul is poured out within me Days of affliction have seized me at night It pierces my bones within me and my nine pains take no rest.

Can you imagine that? There is no rest to my pain None whatsoever. You know if I have a headache I'm taking Advil right? I'm taking Aleve. I'm taking aspirin Those that are three the trifecta of over-the-counter drugs, right? Advil Aleve and aspirin if I'd had three more children that would have been their names Advil Aleve and aspirin. I love those three A's I mean all the other seven begin with an a or a to be over the next three They too would begin with an a and that would be their names. That's why my wife said to me no more kids We're done don't want those names, but you know what when when when I go through pain you go through pain We just take a pill Get a shot, right?

That's what we do have an operation Replacing me Replacing hip right have surgery go in and remove what's there that's causing all the pain Joe can't do that. Joe has no pills to take. He's got no doctor to visit He's got no super medication that will ooze or relieve the the oozing sores in his body nothing, no antibiotic that's going to help take care of the problem because he's been afflicted by Satan and Satan Satan wants to kill him right he can't kill him because God said you can't do that if Satan Could kill him he would kill him, but he can't because he doesn't hold the keys to death in the 80s Christ holds those keys So he can't do that So he does all he can to afflict him with the worst possible affliction Look at verse number 18 by a great force.

My garment is distorted It binds me about as the collar of my coat How what does that mean? Remember, he he's got all these boils all over his body. All of them are oozing pus, right? And so the nights in in the desert are cold And so you try to cover up something you ever been in such pain that even if you put on a shirt or a jacket The the place where there's pain it hurts so bad Well, this is Job's entire body right from the top of his head to the soles of his feet But yet to get warm you got to put something on him So they put a cloak on him and what happens is so the the sores begin to ooze that as they ooze They they glop on to the garment and the garment then becomes dry Encrusted and because of the pus of the boils and it begins to stick to his body and become distorted on his body like a Choking collar around his neck.

That's what's happening to Joe You think you had a bad day? Think again. You had a great day compared to Joe And so it says in verse number 19. He has cast me into the mire and I had become like dust and ashes No honor No health This is my present Misery as he reiterates it to these Men who were before him Next there's no help Verse 20. I cry out to you for help, but you do not answer me. I Stand up and you turn your attention against me. This is the worst kind because of the silence of God. I Cry for help, but you don't answer I'm asking for some kind of response, but there's none and That's the most difficult thing for Job Not to be able to receive anything from the Lord in terms of what is happening now.

He will it's coming Okay, not like he would expect it to come but it is going to come because God will always Respond because that's the way God is So he says You have become cruel to me with the might of your hand you persecute me You lift me up to the wind and caused me to ride and you dissolve me in a storm for I know that you will Bring me to death and to the house of meeting for all living. I know I'm going to die. I Wish it was now it's not but I wish it was it's going to happen. I know what you have done I know you're behind all this But I have no honor I have no health and I have no hope She'd be no help and Therefore I have no hope So it says in verse 24 yet does not one in a heap of ruin ruins Stretch out his hand or in his disaster therefore crowd for help Have I not wept for the one whose life is hard Was not my soul grieved for the needy sure it was Remember we said that what we saw the blind man He helped the blind man cross the street saw the lame man He helped him walk saw the orphan took care of him fed him saw the widow took care first as he would rejoice So he says wait a minute Is there no one to reciprocate?

Is there no one there to come up? It's not that he was doing things the way he did so someone would repay him one day. That wasn't the point He's just asking is there not someone to reciprocate the things I did for them Have I not wept for the one whose life is hard Who's not my or was not my soul grieved for the needy when I expected good then evil came when I waited for light then Darkness came I'm seething. I'm boiling within and cannot relax. In other words. I am so much pain I am I am seething on the inside out.

I am boiling over with pain. That's what the text means He says The days of affliction confront me. I Go about mourning without comfort. I Stand up in the assembly and I cry out for help I have become to a brother to jackals and a companion of ostriches My skin turns black on me. My bones burn with fever Therefore my harp is tuned To morning and my flute to the sound of those who weep This is present misery Pretty descriptive. It's almost as if he pauses Thinking that at least one of the three Will reach out with their hand and comfort him Maybe say a word of encouragement Having heard Job reiterate his past misery or his present misery You you would think that they would somehow have empathy and compassion for the man Yeah, job.

I know that you were honored before and there is no honor now. You're completely disdained I Know that you you were healthy once but now you're not healthy and there's nothing but a disease. I Know that once you help people, but now there is no help because now you have this favor instead of favor We know Job that you have no hope and you are completely dismayed But Job let let us come alongside of you Let us pray with you. Let us let us sit with you and and be for you what we can be Not on your life These guys were so bitter so angry so frustrated with Job because the They could not convince him that he was a sinful wretched man That's why he was going through what he went through.

It's almost as they sit back and say What do you want us to do job? You made your bed now sleep in it. You are the way you are because if you're sin, we told you job Don't cry to us that you have no help or health or hope Don't cry to us. This is what you this is what you deserve And that's that's what they're doing by not responding They say nothing So Job Have any reflection upon his past glory in a reiteration of his present ministry or misery is now is now going to have a reaffirmation of his personal integrity He's going to reaffirm His commitment He's going to voice his stand on his integrity Because that's where he's going.

It's not going to compromise it. He's gonna stand on it because that's who he is So he says I have made a covenant with my eyes How then could I gaze at a virgin or look lustfully upon a woman? And what is the portion of God from above or the heritage of the Almighty from on high is It not calamity to the unjust and disaster to those who work iniquity Does he not see my ways and number all my steps God knows what I'm doing God understands everything that I'm saying everything that I see and I have made a covenant with my eyes Not to ever look lustfully upon a woman.

That's where he begins Is as he reaffirms his integrity he's gonna he's gonna deal with the heart of a man Right, what did Christ say in Matthew's gospel Matthew chapter 5, right? That a man who looks lustfully upon a woman has already committed adultery in his heart Because it's the heart that determines the direction of the eyes and So he says I made a covenant with my eyes. I Made a commitment Never look lustfully upon a woman he says There's no deceit in my life He says in verse 5 if I have walked with falsehood and my foot has hastened after deceit Let him weigh me with accurate scales and let God know my integrity again He's gonna emphasize his integrity and all throughout chapter 31 He says look if I do this, I know the consequences and if I'm doing this this needs to happen to me He's not afraid of the consequences because he knows that he's a man of integrity He knows that he's not going to hurt other people He knows he's not have doesn't have some kind of secret sin that he's hiding from anybody so he says these words if my step has turned from the way or my heart followed my eyes or if any Spot has stuck in my hands.

Let me sow and another eat and let my crops be uprooted I've not turned aside from the way the way of what?

the way of righteousness the way of holiness The way of the upright the blameless way I have not turned aside away from the commands of God I have not turned aside away from from the things that God has put before me. I I'm a man of my integrity. I there's not deceit in my mouth There there is nothing that's going to deter me from following the commands of God because I've made a covenant of my eyes Not to look lustfully upon a woman so he says verse 9 If my heart has been enticed by a woman or I have lurked at my neighbor's doorway May my wife grind for another and let others kneel down over her for that would be a lustful crime Moreover, it would be an iniquity punishable by judges for it would be fire and That consumes to Abaddon and would uproot all my increase.

He knows about adultery. He knows why it's wrong He understands the punishment penalty for those who who commit adultery and he says in verse number 13 If I've despised the claim of my male or female slaves When they filed a complaint against me what then could I do and when God arises and when he calls me to account What will I? Answer him did not he who made me in the womb make him and the same one fashion us in the womb In other words, he says look my slaves. I am NOT better than them. We are we are all fashioned in the same womb We were all made in the image of God.

I am NOT better than my servants even though he had many servants They were all dead and Yet he was one who said I'm not above them. I'm not better than they are he admits that he is One with them not above them a very humble man He says If I have Kept the poor from their desire Or have caused the eye of the widow to fail Or have eaten my morsel alone and the orphan has not shared it But from my youth he grew up with me as with a father and from infancy I guided her if I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing or that the needy had no covering if His loins have not thanked me and if he has not been warmed with the fleece of my sheep if I have lifted up my hand Against the orphan because I saw I had support in the gate Let my shoulder fall from the socket and my arm be broken off at the elbow For calamity from God is a terror to me and because of his majesty I can do nothing in other words.

Listen if I see someone in need and I don't meet that need May I just be torn apart? If I see an orphan who needs food, I'll feed him If I see a individual needs clothing, I don't clothe them If I see a widow in distress and don't help her and you know what? May I be torn from limb to limb? Because that would be the punishment I deserve verse 24 If I put my confidence in gold and called fine gold my trust if I have gloated Because my wealth was great and because my hand had Secured so much if I have looked at the Sun when it shone or the moon going to splint Going in splendor or my heart became secretly enticed and my hand threw a kiss from my mouth that too would have been an iniquity Calling for judgment for I would have denied it God above Says listen, I'm not a covetous person.

I'm not an idolater That's not what I do and remember Job was a wealthy man He had all kinds of money all kinds of goods. He had it all but he's making He's sharing a testimony is the fact that I don't trust the gold I never did It was something that God gave me but I put my trust in it. I wasn't an idolater I didn't worship anything else other than the one true God That's my life Verse 29 have I rejoiced at the extinction of my enemy or consulted when evil befell him No, I have not allowed my mouth to sin by asking for his life in a curse Even though those those those children of the of the men I detest who spit in my face and trip me when I walk.

I'm not asking for a curse upon them I'm not doing that He says had the men of my tent not said who can find one who has not been satisfied with his meat The alien has not lodged outside for I've opened my doors to the traveler I've been kind to those who are passing by I've been kind to those who are strangers. I've taken them into my home Have I covered my transgression with like Adam by hiding my iniquity in my bosom Remember everything was about you have a secret sin job. You're not being honest with yourself job You're hiding something from us job Joseph I'm not like Adam.

I didn't try to hide from God. I don't have some kind of secret sin He says this Because I feared the great multitude and the contempt of families terrified me and kept silent and did not go out of doors In other words because of the multitude and because of the mockery people conceal their sins. I didn't do that. I Had nothing to hide. Oh That I had one to hear me Behold here is my signature. Let the Almighty answer me and the indictment which my adversary has written Surely I would carry it on my shoulder.

I would bind it to to myself like a crown I would declare to him the number of my steps like a prince. I would approach him. He can approach God because He's innocent He has no secret sin. He's not afraid If my hand if my land cries out against me and its furrows weep together if I have eaten its fruit without Money, or I've caused its owners to lose their lives that briars grow instead of wheat and stinkweed instead of barley And the words of Job are ended. What a statement His past his present And his future this who he is a Man of absolute supreme integrity I Wonder tonight if you'd be able to reaffirm Your integrity Because of your commitment to the Lord God of Israel.

I Wonder If you live a life like Joe it was because of his integrity he could endure all that he did He wasn't some special supernatural superhero That allowed him to endure all of his affliction like nobody else would ever be able to know he was a man of integrity So, how do you become that way? How do you do that Years ago my father-in-law is here tonight John and I worked on a on an outline that would deal with integrity it was probably 20 years ago now, but we've shared it many times over and over again Because it's so important Because I want you to be a man or a woman of integrity I want you to be able to follow in the footsteps of Job.

So let me explain to you If you want to be a man or woman of integrity, you must install Christ as your chief priority You must install Christ as your chief priority everybody in the room has a priority Evidently you made tonight a priority Those who are not here Had other priorities correct Something else was more important to them than being here for you.

The most important thing for you was To be here. It was your priority To be a man or woman of integrity you must install Christ as your chief priority And all of us have priorities. We prioritize everything throughout the day. We wake up we prioritize the day We think of the week we prioritize the week. All right, we think of going to work What's going to be the priority at work that I the things I'm gonna get done first.

What's the priority? Listen, if Christ is not your priority Something else is your priority Christ needs to be the chief priority of your life Paul said for me to live as Christ to die is gain Everything everything about my life is about Christ. I'm gonna live for Christ when I die It will be gained but while I'm on this planet, I'm living for Christ. Is that your prayer? Is that your desire you see your chief priority? Have you installed him to the highest position? I love what it says over in in Psalm Psalm 90 93 When it says these words I'm sorry Psalm 97 my bed verse 1 the Lord reigns that the earth rejoice Let the many islands be glad verse 9 For you are the Lord Most High over all the earth you are exalted above all gods He is El Elyon the Most High God If we don't see him as such in our lives There's something else takes priority and I wonder if you could say tonight with a clear conscience that Christ is your chief priority That's what that's why the Bible and five times talks about one thing When in Luke 10 when when Christ told to Martha Oh Martha Martha There there is there is one thing that's needful and Mary has chosen that one thing.

That's needful Was that one thing is needful absolute undivided attention to hearing the Word of God That was the one thing to the rich ruler He said there's one thing you lack One thing you lack. What did the rich young ruler lack adoration for God? Complete and total adoration. He had another God. It was his money He didn't adore God. He adored his money But there's one thing you lack and the one thing you like is that you don't adore me you adore something else something else is Your chief priority something's more important to you than me and it can't be that way if you're gonna follow me One thing is needful Complete and total undivided attention to God one thing you lack and that is unparalleled adoration for God and then you have that man born blind in John 9 What do you say one thing I know and The one thing I know is the only thing you need to know And that was the undeniable affirmation of the deity of Christ There's one thing I know One thing There's one thing you lack there's one thing that's needful and Then over in in Philippians 3 Paul says there's one thing I do one thing not many just one I Press on to the upward call in Christ Jesus my Lord In other words there is a total uninhibited ambition to follow as God and Then over in Psalm 27 There's one thing I desire That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord What was the one thing that he desired?

Unending anticipation of the beauty of God all of those individuals Needed to understand that Christ had to be the chief priority in their lives In order to be a man and woman of integrity you must install Christ as your chief priority Everything else is secondary Everything else is secondary Everything else is secondary to Christ everything Paul says I've been crucified with Christ Christ lives in me Christ is my life Colossians chapter 3 Is Christ your life? Have you installed him as your chief priority?

It's not that you don't want it to be a priority You just you just go through each day and if something becomes so important It becomes a priority and in crisis set aside and then the next day and something else becomes a priority and in crisis set aside And then they say, you know the next day something else becomes a priority and they say, you know Christ is number 10 and 12 and 13 and 14 on the list And then you stop going to Bible study you stop going to church and something else because the priority on Sundays Something becomes a priority instead of spending time in the Word of the Lord Because Christ is no longer my chief priority.

I see it happen all the time in the church people's lives Something becomes more important to them Than the Lord it's obvious you can see it You install Christ as your chief priority number to nurture your own spirituality You gotta nurture your own listen if Christ is not your chief priority you'll never nurture your spirituality You won't You'll nurture something else. That is your priority though, right? But you won't nurture your own spirituality. You'll nurture something else But as newborn babes desire the pure milk of the word that you may grow thereby Is there that a hungering desire to be in the Word of the Lord?

You won't be a man of integrity be a woman of integrity. You got to nurture your own spirituality you got to practice the disciplines of the Christian life the discipline of silence and solitude and scripture and supplication and realizing the importance of all those things because you want to you want to get to know your God if he's gonna be Your priority you want to get to know him You want to embrace him you want to you want to love him? But that's only if you want to be a man and woman of integrity That's not important to you then Something else would be your priority And whatever else is your priority that's what you're going to nurture But if you install Christ as your chief priority and nurture your own spirituality You're on your way to being that man and woman of integrity number three You turn away from all iniquity again It all follows suit, right?

If I'm not nurturing my own spirituality, I'm not turning away from anything that's iniquitous I'm gonna engage in it. But if I'm nurturing my spirituality, I'm gonna turn away from all iniquity I'm gonna turn away from sin Why? Because whatever that sin is as Job said I've made it covered with my eyes not to look lusty upon a woman Why because he made Christ his chief priority in life, and we know he nurtured his own spirituality way back in Job chapter 1 He was offering sacrifices not only on his behalf but on behalf of his children It was all about growing in in his walk with the Lord and I marveled at a man who couldn't open his Bible and read It cuz he didn't have a Bible Didn't have the books of the Bible to read We do We do and what do we do?

We open it on Sunday. We're lucky, right? But for Job Whatever word of the Lord he knew he held dear but Job was one who turned away from evil He was an upright God-fearing man blameless turning away from evil Yet to turn away from iniquity It's called the mortification of the flesh. What did Christ say? Christ say right eye offends you plug it out Right hand offends you cut it off Do whatever you got to do to get rid of sin in your life Spare no expense to your bit of sin in your life That's turning away from iniquity that's what Job did that's why he's a man of integrity Install Christ as your chief priority nurture your own spirituality and then turn away from all iniquity number four embrace all Accountability Embrace all accountability Listen accountability is inescapable Irrefutable and Invaluable One day every one of us to give account to the Lord in glory Each man will give an account of his life Every idle word that a man speaks to give an account for why as Daniel said Daniel's name means God is my judge Okay, Daniel knew his accountability to God the Most High God he understood that and he knew that God was his sole judge and Accountability stems from the fact that I have a relationship with living God who I've installed in my chief priority and I'm accountable to him I'm gonna embrace all accountability.

I'm gonna embrace accountability with my wife Because she needs to know exactly what I'm doing where I'm going what I'm seeing Right because she knows you better than anybody else, right you can lie to the guy in your accountability group He's not gonna know what's he know? Did you look less the other woman? Nope, not me not this week Have you embezzled any money? Nope, not me. How's he gonna know? He doesn't know what your wife does She knows That's why guys don't want to be held accountable to their wives Because she knows See, but if you want to be a man of integrity you embrace all accountability accountability at church Accountability with your with your wife Accountability with anybody who wants to question what is happening in your life?

Because you are an open book You want to hide nothing What's there to hide? Unless you're sinning, right? In the night she embraced all accountability next you guard your heart and home against the enemy Guard your heart in home against the enemy. What's the Bible say in the book of Proverbs? Proverbs chapter 4 verse number 23 guard your heart with all diligence with all Persistence with all effort with all vigilance With all carefulness For foot for from it flow all the issues of life You got to guard your heart in home against the enemy In other words, you are protecting you guard that which is valuable to you You protect that which is valuable to you.

Your heart is your most precious Organ right It stops beating guess what you're dead So you guard your heart against the the the enemy you guard your home Against the enemy you guard your children from the enemy I am so tired of parents telling me well, you know if I tell them this they're gonna do that Hey, listen, if you're afraid your children are gonna turn against you. They've already turned against you They've already done it. You should never be afraid of your children You always tell your children what to do I do still do right Because they're my children When they're wrong, you tell them they're wrong When they're off kilter you say that's wrong going the wrong direction can't do that See parents don't want to do that anymore.

They don't want to guard their home against the enemy But you have to because that's what's so important in your life Satan goes about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, right? If he can destroy your family he will So you guard your home you guard your heart Against the enemy as the father if I'm not guarding my heart. I'm not gonna guard my home I'm not But if I'm guarding my heart Against the enemy it's gonna overflow into my wife and to my children Because they're gonna see how how I want to protect them and and and watch over them and care for them that they would be nurtured spiritually It's my responsibility Fathers, that's your responsibility next respect your ministry Testimony and legacy Respect your ministry testimony and legacy.

God gives us a ministry and we respect that Respected enough to realize that God has gifted you he's gifted me and God entrust you with the ministry that you are to respect Because God granted you an opportunity to serve in his kingdom, right? So now you respect your ministry. Listen, if you don't have a ministry in the church, you got a ministry at work Don't separate the sacred From the secular. Well, you know Sunday's a sacred day and and money is a secular day. Oh, no, no, no, no Your your work is your sacred place of employment where you live to the glory of God That's where God has called you to live out your spiritual existence He isn't a psychology live out your spiritual existence in church Although you do you live it in the place you're employed because that's where your testimony is, right?

so you respect your ministry at your workplace because that's where your testimony is and You want to respect your testimony because that is your legacy if you don't live it, you can't leave it So you got to live a testimony that honors and glorifies the Lord But do you respect it enough to do so? God granted you the opportunity God granted you your family your job your ministry the church Everything you have God gave you do you respect it enough to honor God in it? Next identify with the godly You've got to identify with the godly not the ungodly who you hang out with We hang around who you let your kids hang out with Do you let them hang out with the ungodly?

Oh, they're gonna be they gotta be a testimony of your mission field. Really? Really? There's gonna be a lot of time to do that Lots of time to do that But you got to make sure they are equipped to do that To be able to be that salt and light in the earth strong enough to stand and not be swayed by the ungodly And therefore you must identify with the ungodly psalm psalm 101 The psalmist said these words Which is so good psalm 101 Psalmist said I'm getting there. My pages are stuck together He said I Will walk within my house in the integrity of my heart.

I will set no worthless thing before my eyes. I Hate the work of those who fall away he says a Perverse heart shall depart from me. I will know no evil Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor him I will destroy No one who has a haughty look in an arrogant heart. Will I endure? My eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land That they may dwell with me. He walks in a blameless way is the one who will minister to me He who practices deceit should not dwell within my house. He who speaks falsehood shall not maintain his position before me Every morning I will destroy all the wicked of the land So as to cut off in the city of the Lord all those who do iniquity if you could just live psalm 101 You'd be good You'd be good Don't dwell with the deceitful person.

Don't even let them in your house The dishonest person the liar. No Don't associate with them Associate with the godly person the blameless bird He says that's the person that will minister to me the blameless one will minister to me The one who has the same goals and aspirations that I do That person will minister to me we forget how quickly we are swayed One sinner destroys much good Bees yesterday 918, right? Bad company will always corrupt good morals just does And so you need to be able to make sure that you identify With the godly if you're following along we're still in the word integrity, right?

Install Christ as your chief priority nurture your own spirituality turn from all iniquity enter or embrace all Accountability guard your heart and home against the enemy respect your ministry testimony and legacy identify with the godly treasure your family treasure your family Joe treasures family Loved his wife loves kids offered sacrifices for them He wanted to identify with the godly he respected the ministry that God gave him, right He was always in the process of guarding his heart and his home against the enemy.

That's what we needed We need to make sure that we treasure Our family so many verses on this psalm 20 verse Sorry, me Proverbs 20 verse number 7 a righteous man who walks in his integrity. How blessed are his sons after him I Wonder if you treasure your family enough to walk in integrity You value them. You're supposed to treat your wife first Peter chapter 3 verse number 7 as your most prized possession If you don't your prayers are hindered hindered says the says the Lord So fellas if you don't treat your wife as your most prized possession your prayers this will not even pray they're hindered She's not number one Well number two behind the Lord, but she's not your prized possession and you treat her as the most precious trophy in your life Your prayers are hindered in other words you're sinning against the Lord if you regard a nickel in your heart Psalm 66 says the Lord will not hear you.

Do you treasure your family? Treasure your wife treasure your children God gave them to you and lastly yearn for eternity Yearn for eternity That's your longing all throughout the book of Daniel. What do we tell you? The clearer you see the future The cleaner you stand in the present That was Daniel You saw the future clearly You should clean in the presence Job He knew he knows that his Redeemer will live And one day he will stand upon the earth Job would would long to be with his Redeemer Must yearn for eternity know that Presence with Christ is everything if you keep your eyes focused above Where Christ sits at the right hand of God the Father Fixing your eyes on Jesus the author and finisher of your faith Recognizing it's coming to soon Take you home to be of him Everything on earth pales in comparison to that This does it's not that important anymore, but that that's the man and woman of integrity That was Job So as he reaffirms his integrity Makes a a commitment to say look, this is what I'm going to do.

That's why he says This is the word. He has nothing else to say That's it Why Because if you have integrity Nothing else matters If you don't have integrity Nothing else matters Like it's the only thing that matters is whether or not you have integrity That's it Job did Do you? Let's pray father we thank you for today a Chance to be in your word a chance to study your word a chance to understand more about how you work in life of one man Who is committed? Totally and completely to his God Our prayer fathers that you go before us Give us safety as we go home May we live the rest of this week and the rest of our days on this planet For the glory of our great King in Jesus name