Sermon

Lessons From A Perfect and Upright Man

Mt. Victory Baptist Church

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  1. Hiding your talents in the ground.

  2. God gave you that talent for a reason and want to use it.

  3. So anyway, get your Bibles out tonight and oh, I thought you

  4. had to go down there and get your Bible.

  5. Good. All right, he's ready.

  6. Amen. Good afternoon.

  7. If you have your Bibles with you, please turn to Job Chapter

  8. One. Job Chapter 1.

    Job 1 chapter mention

  9. I know what pastor's doing, making me preach when I'm when

  10. my stomach's full. He understands how hard it is

  11. doing that in an afternoon. But no, I am thankful for the

  12. opportunity that I have to preach tonight, this afternoon.

  13. Really, it's one that I do not take lightly and I appreciate

  14. the opportunity to do that. Also, I didn't say anything on

  15. Thursday during testimony time, but I do want to take this time

  16. to thank you guys just for your support and for your prayers

  17. throughout the year, since January when I left to do my job

  18. interview and then I got the job and then was out, you know,

  19. doing the thing. But you know, I'm here in the

  20. weekends and it really is a blessing to me when I'm able to

  21. come to church on the weekends on Sundays and spend time with

  22. God's people and then listen to you preach.

  23. So I appreciate that. You never know what you have

  24. until you lose it. So I will say that much.

  25. Job, chapter 1 this afternoon. I'm not going to be, there's not

    Job 1 chapter mention

  26. going to be a very long message, but I'm going to I'm going to

  27. read throughout this chapter. We're going to pray and then

  28. we'll get into the message this afternoon.

  29. Job One, the Bible says there was a man in the land of us

  30. whose name was Job. And that man was perfect and

  31. upright, and one that feared God in eschewed evil.

  32. And they were born unto him seven sons and three daughters.

  33. His substance also was 7000 sheep, and 3000 camels, and 500

  34. yoke of oxen, and 500 she asses in a very great household.

  35. So that this man was the greatest of all the men of the

  36. East. And his sons went and feasted in

  37. their houses everyone his day, and sent and called for their

  38. three sisters to eat, and to drink with them.

  39. And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about

  40. that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the

  41. morning, and offered burnt offerings, according to the

  42. number of them all. For Job said, It may be that my

  43. sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts.

  44. Thus did Job continually. Now there was a day when the

  45. sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and

  46. Satan came also among them. And the Lord said unto Satan,

  47. Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord,

  48. and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking

  49. up and down in it. And the Lord said it to Satan,

  50. Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him

  51. in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth

  52. God in issue with evil. Then Satan answered the Lord,

  53. and said, Doth Job fear God for not?

  54. Hast not thou made an hedge about him and about his house,

  55. and about all that he hath on every side that was blessed?

  56. The work of his hands and his substance is increased in the

  57. land. But put forth thine hand now and

  58. touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.

  59. Growing up, my dad would read this passage, and he would

  60. always put the emphasis in those words.

  61. It really gives Satan some character, I thought.

  62. I just thought that was kind of funny.

  63. And Louis, I'm saying, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power

  64. only upon himself put not forth on hand.

  65. So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord, and there

  66. was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and

  67. drinking wine in their eldest brother's house.

  68. And there came a messenger unto Job, and said, the oxen were

  69. plowing, and the asses feeding beside them, and the Sabian's

  70. fell upon them, and took them away.

  71. Yeah, they have slain the servants with the edge of the

  72. sword, and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.

  73. While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The

  74. fire of God has fallen from heaven, and I've burned up the

  75. sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I only and

  76. escaped alone to tell thee. While he was yet speaking, there

  77. came also another, and said, The Chaldeans made out three bands

  78. and fell upon the camels, and have carried them away.

  79. Yeah, and slain the servants with the edge of the sword.

  80. And I only and escaped alone to tell thee.

  81. While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, Thy

  82. sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in

  83. their eldest brother's house. And behold, there came a great

  84. wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the

  85. house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead,

  86. and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.

  87. Then Joe Burrows and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and

  88. fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, and said, Naked came

  89. I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return.

  90. Thither the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away.

  91. Blessed be the name of the Lord, and all this jobs, and not nor

  92. charged God foolishly. May God bless the reading of His

  93. word. Let us pray.

  94. Father in Heaven, thank you so much for this time.

  95. We have to come into your house once again and to open up your

  96. word once again. Lord, we thank you so much for

  97. this church and for the people of God and for the blessing that

  98. it is to come into your house and spend time with them.

  99. Lord, at this time, as we look through the book of Job and look

  100. through the story that we have here in the Bible that you put

  101. here for us, help us to learn from Job's example.

  102. Help us to realize what it is in our hearts that need to be

  103. changed and things in our lives that need to be changed.

  104. I pray that you'll speak to speak through me.

  105. I pray that you'll cleanse me of sin and to me of self and fill

  106. me with your Spirit at this time.

  107. We pray this news in your name. Amen.

  108. No, I always found it interesting in the book of Job

  109. that Job is not a very relatable person.

  110. I mean, from the start anyway. He's a rich man, right?

  111. I don't know how many of you have seven sons and three

  112. daughter. I guess my dad's pretty close,

  113. but you know, 7000 sheep and 3000 camels and 500 yoke of oxen

  114. and 500 donkeys. And you know all this, I don't

  115. know how many of you are the greatest of your, of your people

  116. in the West or in the East Coast or whatever, but Job is not very

  117. relatable from the start towards now.

  118. Now after he goes to these trials, or at least after he

  119. struck and struck with these trials.

  120. And maybe we can kind of relate a little bit with him.

  121. But I always thought it was pretty interesting.

  122. But to this afternoon, I want to take a few, a few moments.

  123. We're not going to be very long tonight, but I want to look at

  124. lessons from a perfect and upright man.

  125. That's the name of that's the title of my message, Lessons

  126. from a perfect and upright man. This is what God called him.

  127. Lesson 1A Righteous routine. A righteous routine.

  128. Now I do realize that I might feel a little cheapening to call

  129. what Joseph, what Job did every morning a routine.

  130. But the point I'd like to get across to you all today is that

  131. Job was faithful in his worship and he was faithful in his role

  132. as a father. Take a look at verse 5.

  133. The Bible says, And it was so when the days of their feasting

  134. were gone about that Job sent and sanctified them and rose up

  135. early in the morning and offered burnt offerings according to the

  136. number of them all for Job said, it may be that my sons have

  137. sinned and have cursed God in their hearts.

  138. Thus did Job continually. He did this, He made a practice

  139. out of this. He cared for his children.

  140. He wanted them to find favor in the eyes of the Lord.

  141. He didn't necessarily know where they stood with God.

  142. You know, were they walking with the Lord on a regular basis?

  143. Were they walking in truth like the Bible says to?

  144. We like to think that they were based off of Job and based off

  145. of Job's testimony, but Job loved his children.

  146. He interceded for his children. Maybe they messed up.

  147. Maybe they haven't been giving God their first fruits.

  148. Maybe they have not been perfect and upright.

  149. I'm going to offer sacrifices for them.

  150. Sacrifices on their behalf of praying Father is a powerful

  151. thing. I mean, I can't tell you how

  152. many times the child I woke up and heard my dad praying for me

  153. or even woken up and see like see him in my room praying for

  154. me. I know there are times even

  155. with, you know, with my job, I'll be up 123 in the morning

  156. working and I'll think to myself, you know what?

  157. My dad is probably praying for me right now.

  158. I'm praying. Father, do you take time to pray

  159. for your children? Children, do you take time to

  160. pray for your parents, your family, your friends?

  161. How about your pastor? How about our church?

  162. How about our coworkers? Are they important enough to

  163. you? Let's make a habit out of it.

  164. Make it a habit to consider them and lift them up before the

  165. Lord. It's a principle that even the

  166. Lord practice in the New, in the New Testament, in the Gospels,

  167. praying for his friends and his disciples and his creation.

  168. Consider Luke 22 verse 31 to 32. I'm not going to have you turn

    Luke 22:31–32

  169. to her, though there will be some passages that have returned

  170. to, but I'll read this one. The Lord said, Simon, Simon,

  171. behold, Satan hath desire to have you, that he may sift you

  172. as wheat. But I have prayed for thee that

  173. thy faith fell not. And when thou converted,

  174. strengthen thy brethren. The apostles encourage it as

  175. well. Ephesians 618 says praying

  176. always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and

  177. watching there too with all perseverance and supplication

  178. for All Saints. Pray for the Saints, pray for

  179. God's people. You know, there's a hymn that we

  180. saying here in our church, not too often, but I love it.

  181. It's brethren we have met to worship, Brethren, we have met

  182. to worship and adore the Lord our God.

  183. Will you pray with all your power while we try to preach the

  184. Word? All this vain unless the spirits

  185. of the Holy One come down, brother and pray, and holy manna

  186. will be showered all around, brother and sea.

  187. Poor sinners around you slumbering on the brake of woe.

  188. Death is coming, held us moving. Can you bear to let them go?

  189. See our fathers and our mothers and our children sinking down.

  190. Brethren, pray and holy manna will be showered all around.

  191. Sisters, will you join and help us?

  192. Moses's sister aided him. Will you help the trembling

  193. mourners who are struggling hard with sin?

  194. Tell them all about the Savior. Tell them that He will be found.

  195. Sisters, pray and holy manner will be showered all around.

  196. Pray for your children. Pray for your family.

  197. Pray for your friends and your loved ones.

  198. Bring them up before the Lord. A righteous routine.

  199. Lesson 2 a disdain for disobedience A disdain for

  200. disobedience. Job eschewed evil.

  201. He did he deliberately chose to walk away from stay away from

  202. evil things during a very wicked time in the good times, in the

  203. and even in the bad times, even through those trials.

  204. Look at verse 22 of Job chapter 1 and all this.

    Job 1 chapter mention

  205. Job said not. They were charged God foolishly.

  206. He was determined that regardless of his situation,

  207. regardless of whether or not he had all of his money or all of

  208. his wealth or his land or even his children, that he was not

  209. going to disobey, that he was not going to be foolish.

  210. He was not going to renounce God.

  211. He was not going to live and sin.

  212. He understood that righteousness is not based off of

  213. circumstances. Turn to Psalm chapter one.

  214. Well, it's not really chapter Psalm one.

  215. Turn to Psalm 1. It's a very familiar passage.

  216. We've all read it at some point. First one to point your

  217. attention to a few verses here. Psalm One Bible says, Blessed is

  218. the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor

  219. standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seats of the

  220. scornful, but his delight is in the law of the Lord and in his

  221. law that they meditate day and night.

  222. Proverbs One also has something to something to say about sin,

  223. about staying away from simple things and evil things.

  224. Turn there real quick. Psalm chapter Excuse me.

  225. Proverbs 1. Read some verses from here.

  226. Verses 10 to 19. The Bible says, My son, if

  227. sinners entice thee, consent thou not.

  228. If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us

  229. lurk privately for the innocent without cause.

  230. Let us swallow them up alive as the grave and the whole as those

  231. that go down into the pit. We shall find our precious

  232. substance. We shall fill our houses with

  233. spoil. Cast in thy lot among us.

  234. Let us all have one purse. Growing up, my mom would read

  235. this to us and I'd always, you know, read that part right there

  236. and think, you know, I don't. That's not going to work on me.

  237. I don't like persons anyway. Let us all have one purse.

  238. My son, Walk not thou in the way with them.

  239. Refrain thy foot from their path.

  240. One more Colossians 3, verse five and six.

  241. You don't have to turn there, but this is mortified there for

  242. your members, which are upon the earth fornication, uncleanness,

  243. inordinate affection, evil, concupiscence, and covetousness,

  244. which is idolatry, for which things sake the wrath of God

  245. cometh on the children of disobedience.

  246. Job hated sin, dope, adore, abhorred evil and disobedience

  247. that bothered him. Just like it should bother us,

  248. it should disgust us just like a disgust God.

  249. If we have sinned our lives, you must mortify it, put it to death

  250. is basically what it's saying. Don't let it linger in the camp.

  251. Don't let it become a foothold. There's something in the Marines

  252. that went in our training, in our urban combat training, some

  253. called something called the urban attack cycle.

  254. And there are four steps and one of them is get a foothold.

  255. Getting a, getting a foothold in in a building.

  256. You stop putting that building and there are certain steps you

  257. go through certain processes. There's a process you go through

  258. to get a, to gain a foothold in that house.

  259. And you start with the first floor and the second floor.

  260. That building's clear. You get out, you go to the other

  261. buildings, you go to the next building, first floor, second

  262. floor, third floor of the roof. You get down next building,

  263. gaining A foothold. Don't let sing in a foothold in

  264. your house. Don't let him gain a one room in

  265. your house, in your heart. Privates 415 says avoid it, Pass

  266. not by it. Turn from it and pass away.

  267. Let's not let our flesh get in the way.

  268. Let's not be disobedient. Lessons from Joe.

  269. He had a righteous routine, a disdain for disobedience.

  270. Thirdly, an impregnable integrity.

  271. Impregnable integrity. Job's integrity was important to

  272. him, so he guarded it. He didn't give anyone, not his

  273. friends, not his wife, not even the Almighty God an opportunity

  274. to say that he gave up on his integrity.

  275. Check out chapter 2 verse two and three of Job.

  276. Go back to Job chapter 2 verses 2 and three.

    Job 2:2

  277. The Bible says in the Lord said it to Satan, from whence cometh

  278. thou? And Satan answered the Lord, and

  279. said, from going to and fro in the earth, and walking up and

  280. down at it. And the Lord said it to Satan,

  281. Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him

  282. in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that be with

  283. God, and issue with evil, and still he holdest fast his

  284. integrity, although thou movest me against him, to destroy him

  285. without cause. Verse nine of the same chapter

  286. says, Then his wife said it to him.

  287. Dost thou still retain thine integrity?

  288. He was still holding on to his integrity in that time and later

  289. in this book Job actually says till I die, I will not remove my

  290. integrity from me. The Lord delights and the Lord

  291. rewards integrity. Proverbs 11/1 I'm going to read

  292. a bunch of passages here. You don't have to turn to them,

  293. but if you would like to though, I'm going to read out the

  294. references to Proverbs 11/1 says a false balance is an

  295. abomination to the Lord, but I just wait is his delight.

  296. Verse 3 of that same chapter. The integrity of the upright

  297. shall guide them, but the perseverance of transgressors

  298. shall destroy them. First Kings 9.

  299. Verse 5. This is the Lord God speaking to

  300. Solomon by the way. And if thou wilt walk before me

  301. as David thy father, thy father walked in integrity of heart and

  302. in righteousness to do according to all that I commanded thee and

  303. will keep my statutes and my judgments, then I will establish

  304. the throne of thy Kingdom upon Israel forever, as I promised to

  305. David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon

  306. the throne of Israel. Psalm 2521 says, let integrity

  307. and uprightness preserve me, for I wait on thee.

  308. Is your integrity worth guarding?

  309. Does it mean as much to you as that means to God?

  310. When no one else is around? Are you the same person?

  311. Are you just as honest when it's just you and God?

  312. Integrity like Job, we need to hold fast.

  313. We need to guard our integrity. I'm almost done your lessons

  314. from Job a righteous routine this day for disobedience,

  315. impregnable integrity. And lastly lesson 4, wholesome

  316. worship. Wholesome worship.

  317. This is my favorite one. Look at the end of Job chapter 1

    Job 1:20

  318. verses 20 and 22/22/22. Bible says Then Job arose,

  319. invents his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the

  320. ground, and worshipped, and said, Naked came I out of my

  321. mother's womb, and naked shall I return.

  322. Thither the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away.

  323. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Difficult times came, trials

  324. came. He decided he made it a point to

  325. worship God in the hard times and the struggles.

  326. Do you worship? Do you give God the praise and

  327. all the glory? God is enough.

  328. God is still God in the hard times.

  329. God is still good. He still loves you with an

  330. everlasting love. Psalm 34, one says, I will bless

  331. the Lord at all times. His prayers shall continually be

  332. in my mouth. And later on in verse 8, it

  333. says, O taste and see that the Lord is good.

  334. Blessed is the man that trusted in him.

  335. There's so many of that verses, so many passages we can turn to

  336. to talk about God's goodness and God's greatness and His

  337. blessings in the hard times in the valleys.

  338. We talked about it this morning, but I want to say one other

  339. thing about this and then we'll close.

  340. When God is your foundation, you cannot be moved, You cannot be

  341. shaken. Jeremiah 17.

  342. I'll have you turn to this last passage.

  343. Jeremiah 17, verses 5 through 8. These are some of my life

    Jeremiah 17:5–8

  344. verses. Jeremiah 17, verses 5 through 8.

    Jeremiah 17:5–8

  345. This passage says, Thus saith the Lord, cursed be the man that

  346. trusted the man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart

  347. departed from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath

  348. in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh, but shall

  349. inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land,

  350. and not inhabited. Blessed is the man that trusteth

  351. in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is.

  352. For He shall be like a tree planted by the waters, and that

  353. spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when he

  354. cometh, but her leaf shall be green, and shall not be careful

  355. in the year of droughts, either shall cease from yielding

  356. fruits. You need to praise God for being

  357. your Everlast, your everlasting hope, your present help and

  358. trouble. He's your foundation, He's your

  359. shepherd. He's our cornerstone.

  360. Every disappointment, every trial, every whole, every hard

  361. time. Know that the Lord your God is

  362. your strength. Let Him shine through you.

  363. He will lead you, He will defend you in the darkest moments.

  364. He'll grow you through the difficulties.

  365. He will allow you to thrive in the victorious power of Christ.

  366. Lessons from Job, a righteous routine, disdain for

  367. disobedience, impregnable integrity, wholesome worship.

  368. May the Lord help us to work through these things in our in

  369. our hearts and our lives. All right, let us pray Father in

  370. Evan, thank you so much for this time.

  371. Just a short time we had to look at these passages and look at

  372. these verses and see from from from the Bible to how we can.

  373. Live the live a Christian life and not just not just live a, a

  374. what we call the Christian life, but truly in our hearts would

  375. help us to have integrity. Help us to live righteously.

  376. Help us to to pray for each other.

  377. Help us to worship you in the hard times.

  378. But as we go throughout this week, as we go throughout our

  379. lives as Christian, help as Christians, help us to be a

  380. light to those around us that they may see our works and

  381. glorify you in heaven. We praise things in your name.

  382. Amen. Amen.

  383. Amen. Let's stand with our heads by an

  384. ice close. I want to give you an

  385. opportunity to respond to the message.

  386. Maybe God spoke to you about something in your heart that

  387. needs to be changed. And boy, I tell you, one of the

  388. reasons that Job responded the way that he did, and one of the

  389. reasons we have the book of Job as an encouragement is because

  390. Job was doing the things that he needed to do before the trials

  391. came that set him up for when the trials came.

  392. And all of those things were not things that Job developed after

  393. everything got rough. Those are things that he

  394. developed before. And that those the, all the, all

  395. the points that he mentioned are things that Job was doing in his

  396. heart that helped prepare him for the trials that came.

  397. And you know, obviously we all go through trials.

  398. We all have difficulties and we all have things that we deal

  399. with. But what are you doing in your

  400. life? How are you handling those those

  401. problems? And are you doing these things?

  402. Are you doing them? It's great, great message.

  403. That can be a help to us if we'll let it.

  404. Let's pray and then we'll have a time of invitation.

  405. Father, again, we thank you for the message.

  406. I pray that you'd use it in our hearts, in Jesus name, Amen, as

  407. the panel play.