[0:00] Take your Bibles if you would and turn with me to the book of Job chapter 29. You know that Job is making his last speech.
[0:12] It goes on for chapters and he has told them, you guys haven't helped me any. And in chapter 29, Job begins to remember his life before the tragedies.
[0:24] And he goes back through what God had done in his life. It's a time of reflection and a time of just thinking about how good God was before it all fell apart.
[0:35] Let's have a word of prayer and ask God to speak to our hearts this morning. Father, I pray that your name would be glorified and magnified. And I pray, dear God, that you would do great and mighty works here among your people.
[0:49] God, help us to keep our integrity intact. Help us to live in a way that when we come to the end, we can say, if I, like Job did.
[1:00] And God, I will give you praise and honor and glory for all that you do. In Jesus' precious name, amen. Job chapter 29 and verse 1. Job remembers God having built a hedge around him.
[1:11] It says, moreover, Job continued his parable and said, oh, that as I were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved me.
[1:22] It wasn't very long ago, just a few weeks ago, my life was really good. God was directing my paths. In chapter 29 and verse 3, God's candles shined on me.
[1:34] I walked in his light. In verse 4, we had sweet communion. The secret of God, me and God had an intimate relationship going. I remember feeling like I was in the very presence of God.
[1:48] Job 29, 5, the Almighty was still with me back then. He was still working. It seemed like everything in my life was going good. Verse 6, it's like as though God washed my steps with butter.
[2:01] He greased my path. And the rock poured me out rivers of oil. You want to talk about everything going good. I had it going. People showed me respect.
[2:13] In chapter 29 and verse 7, when I went out, the young men saw me, verse 8, and the aged men stood up. And the princes quit talking when I walked in the room. And the nobles, the big shots with all the money, they stopped talking when I walked in.
[2:28] I was a respected man. In chapter 29 and verse 11, it blessed me and everybody gave witness to it. I had a great ministry.
[2:39] If you look at chapter 29 and verse 12, I took care of poor people. I took care of the fatherless. If anybody had nobody to help them, they knew Job would help them. In chapter 29 and verse 13, when people were ready to die, they called for me.
[2:52] And when they were widows, I'm the one that went in and blessed the widows and helped take care of them after their husband died. In verse 14, just to be honest with you, I wore righteousness like clothes.
[3:04] I wore it like a crown on my head that I made good decisions and I did the right thing. I helped people that were not so well off. I was eyes to the blind, in verse 15, feet to the lame.
[3:15] I was a father to the poor. I searched out. When I heard about something and I wasn't even sure how things were really going, I searched it out because I'm there to help people. I defended people from the wicked.
[3:25] When somebody wanted to beat them up and steal their stuff, I stepped in the middle of it. In verse 17, I break the jaw. I punched them in the jaw, broke the jaw. And I took the stuff away they stole. I took it out of their hand and took it back. Boy, I expected, he says, to die in a good, ripe old age in my house with my kids.
[3:44] Look at chapter 29 and verse 18. I thought I'd die in my nest. And I thought my days would be long. Multiply my days. You see, all of my life was going really good.
[3:55] Job 29, 19. My root was spread like by the waters. And my glory was fresh. And my bow was renewed. It's like I was planted by the rivers of waters. And everything was prospering in my life.
[4:07] I was healthy, wealthy, and wise. I was respected. Verse 21. Men gave ear and waited and kept silence just to hear what I had to say.
[4:18] When E.F. Hutton spoke back when I was a kid, everybody got quiet. When Job spoke, everybody got quiet. After my words, they spake not again. And my speech dropped. I dropped the mic when I quit talking.
[4:30] And everybody knew I'd said the right thing and the right way. Chapter 29 and verse 23. They waited on me. And everybody was just like a bird with his mouth open. Just pour out your wisdom, Mr. Job.
[4:42] Everybody wanted to hear from me. Fact is, if I made a joke about people, they knew it didn't mean to hurt them. In verse 24. I was the obvious leader everywhere I went. In verse 24, I chose out their way.
[4:54] I told them. And when I sat down, I was chief. I was like the king in the army. And I comforted everybody who was hurting. Boy, my past was good before all this happened.
[5:06] That's chapter 29 for you. Let me just go through something with you if I could. There's some lessons to be considered in chapter 29. Just because things are going great right now doesn't mean tragedy isn't about to happen.
[5:20] When you're reading chapter 29, Job's like, man, if anybody's got the great life, I got it. I had it. I'm remembering my past. It was all good.
[5:31] And you and I both know what happened. It's only been a few weeks. Less than a few weeks. He said months when he starts. But the truth is, all of that happened in a real short space of time. They've been sitting with him and talking to him now for a couple of weeks or whatever.
[5:44] And Job said, boy, I had it good. Life doesn't always go the way you expect. Life doesn't always go the way you expect. It's good to enjoy God's blessings and be thankful.
[5:55] But here's the lesson Job teaches us. He knew that God was the only true staple. The only true focus point. The only true thing he could hold on to was God.
[6:08] He lost his money. He lost his health. He lost his kids. He lost the respect of the people. But he had God. If you learn anything from the book of Job, I hope you catch this.
[6:20] For Job, God was enough. For Job, God was enough. When you get to Job chapter 30, I want you to mark in your Bible. Hope you have your Bible open.
[6:30] Put a circle around, but now. He said, that's the way it was. But ain't the way it is now. But now. Now, overnight, everything changed.
[6:42] Now, instead of respect, they make fun of Job. Even the children of men that Job would not even have talked to are making fun of him when he walks down the road. In Job chapter 30, verse 1.
[6:53] But now, the young punks have me in derision. And whose fathers I would have disdained. I wouldn't have let their daddies sit with my dogs watching my sheep.
[7:06] And they're the ones making fun of me. The people I had no respect for, their kids are making fun of me. In Job chapter 30, verse 2. He said, I never even thought I needed their help.
[7:18] Where into the strength of their parents, they ain't never done anything for me. Never were my buddies. They were poverty-stricken punks back then. Look at chapter 30, verse 3.
[7:29] For wanton famine, they lived solitary. And what they ate was weeds for their food. Verse 4. They were not respected by anyone.
[7:41] Chapter 30, verse 5. They were driven forth from among men. People called them thieves. And they lived in caves. Couldn't even have enough money to build a house. They were the children of fools and the children of wicked base men.
[7:53] They were the wickedest people on the planet. And they're the ones making fun of me now. I was the man of God. My path was greased with butter and oil.
[8:04] Boy, God was taking good care of me. But now in chapter 30, verse 9. I am their song. I am their curse word. I'm their byword. When they want to talk about, you want to see a God that failed?
[8:15] Check out old Job. Their lack of respect for this once great man was to spit in his face. In chapter 30, verse 10. They abhor me.
[8:26] They hate me. And they spit. In my face. Because God quit blessing me. Look at it. Because God loosed my cord.
[8:38] And God afflicted me. And these punks are mistreating me. Since God afflicted me, they feel free to destroy me too. In Job chapter 30, verse 13.
[8:50] They mar my path. In chapter 30, verse 15. They pursue my soul. They want to ruin me. Because I was once the great man. And now I'm a nobody.
[9:02] Because God. Things aren't like they were before. The blessings are gone. In chapter 30, verse 16. I'm now in days of affliction.
[9:13] And even at night, I can't rest because my body hurts. Verse 17. The sickness is about to kill me. Verse 18. God stopped blessing me.
[9:23] Verse 19. And he threw me in a muddy pit. And he treats me like I'm nothing but dust and ashes. And when I pray, God doesn't hear me.
[9:36] Verse 20. And God won't even pay attention to me. I'm calling on him and he won't pay attention. I think God's being cruel to me. Chapter 30 and verse 21. I think God's standing against me and trying to hurt me.
[9:49] I think God's the one that took away all my stuff. In verse 22. And I think God's ready to kill me. In verse 23. Everything has gone wrong. Verse 26.
[10:01] I looked for good and evil came. I waited for light and only darkness came. When I woke up in the morning, my days of affliction got there before me.
[10:14] Prevented means proceeded. And I cried in the congregation. Job says, I've heard enough out of you guys. Before all this happened, you would have kept your big mouth shut.
[10:27] You know who I was. I was the guy God blessed. I was the guy that had the money. I was the guy that had the, I was good to everybody. I wasn't like you bunch of jerks. I wasn't the way y'all treat me.
[10:38] I didn't treat y'all this way. But man, my life has fallen apart. And while I'm down, you kick me and hurt me and try to destroy me. But we're fixing to see that Job wanted to defend his integrity.
[10:53] No matter what's happening in Job's life, Job says, I am a man of God and I will not change. My life may fall apart. My wife may tell me to curse God.
[11:03] My kids may be dead. My stuff may be gone. Everybody may show me no respect. But I'm going to do right. I'm going to maintain my integrity.
[11:15] How will you respond if everything changes for the worst? How will you respond? We live. I live. You live.
[11:26] In prosperity. I mean, to be bluntly honest with you, compared to the world, our paths are greased with butter and oil. Compared to the world, we got it not.
[11:38] Hey, when we consider ourselves poor, most people in the world consider us rich. But what would happen if God took it all away? Would you be faithful to him? Will you show your family that God is enough?
[11:53] Or will you hate God because things go wrong? When everything fails, will you still love and serve God? The sad truth is that any day now, any one of us could get the news that we have cancer and we're dying and we've got weeks to months to live.
[12:14] The sad truth is that any of us could face a car wreck and be dead before the day is over. Or a storm or a problem or something happened. Our loved ones could die.
[12:25] Things could go wrong in our place. Will we still stand with God? Will we still say, I love God? Will we?
[12:38] Because see, the book of Job is about a man who has lost all of it. Had Job been like, I'm afraid, Austin might have been many times in his life. It had all been over about chapter 4.
[12:50] We'd have quit, cut, and run. We'd have given up. We'd have quit coming to church because we didn't want to have to deal with it. We'd have quit reading our Bibles and quit praying because it hurts too much.
[13:03] Is that what we would do? Job says, this is what my past was. It was great. This is what my present is.
[13:14] It's horrible. In chapter 31, before we're going to spend our time today, Job says this. I'm still going to maintain my integrity. I will be a man of God.
[13:24] Let me tell you what I've done. You bunch of smartly punks that are mistreating me. Let me just tell you what I have done to keep my integrity.
[13:35] Go with me, if you would, to Job chapter 31 and verse 31. Job said, I made a covenant with mine eyes. Why should I think upon a maid? What, Job?
[13:46] You just lost everything. Your whole life has fallen apart and you want to talk to me about promises you made with God? Job said, yeah, that's what I want to do. I'm a man of God.
[13:56] My life might be falling apart. My whole world may be crashing. But I'm in love with Jesus. He, Job, was careful about his sexual desires.
[14:08] I want to just talk to you a little bit about that this morning. Take your Bible and go with me to Proverbs chapter 6 and verse 25. Proverbs chapter 6 and verse 25. Here in the middle of Job, when he's in all this suffering, he is going to give us several lessons.
[14:22] And he says, I'll just tell you, I was ready for this crash. I had my integrity. I'll keep my integrity. Because you guys may be accusing me, but I know it's not true.
[14:33] You see, you say I'm the bad guy. And you've been talking that for chapter after chapter. But let me just say something. Stop. I had it great. And I know God seems to be killing me. But let me just tell you, before it ever went down, I'd made some decisions.
[14:47] It'd be a good thing to make some decisions. While everything's going good. So when everything crashes, you can say, no, wait a minute. I know I'm right with God. I know I've been doing right. See, sometimes when your life falls apart, in all honesty, you've got to go, yeah, I probably had that coming.
[15:03] Yeah, I've been kind of, you know, a little tipsy here and there. Been flirting with the girls. I've been lying and cheating and stealing. I've been a crook. I was hoping nobody would find out about this.
[15:13] But it looks like I might be getting caught. But that's not Job. Job's like, let's just stop a minute. Before any of this ever happened, I had some decisions I made. And one of them was, I'd be careful about my sexual desires.
[15:26] In Proverbs chapter 6 and verse 25, the Bible says, Lust not after her beauty in thine heart, neither let her take thee with her eyelids. I would just like to real quickly say to you, David, Solomon, the wise man talking to his son, said to his son, Son, be careful, they'll try to look good and sweet talk you and destroy you.
[15:50] And all of us would be like, yeah, we wouldn't do that. But we would look at porn, wouldn't we? Porn will destroy you. Because it is super selfish.
[16:03] It is self-gratification. In surveys, they claim 60 to 70 percent of us are messing with it. They say preachers are eating up with it.
[16:14] And as born-again believers, I pray to God that's not true about us. We are not to lust after our beauty. Porn will make it impossible for you to be satisfied. Porn will destroy your spouse.
[16:29] It will destroy her confidence. It will destroy her trust. You're going to have to make up your mind like Job did and say, I made a covenant with my eyes. I will not look on a woman and I will not think about it.
[16:42] I will not look on a woman. I will not make a plan to go look at sexual images and think about them. I will not let that in my head. I will not dwell on that.
[16:52] When you turn on the computer, that is what you're doing. And we ought to take a stand like this. The Bible says in Matthew chapter 5 and verse 27, it would be better to lose your eye than to commit adultery like this.
[17:04] I think most of us would say, I don't commit adultery. I am faithful to my wife. But in Matthew 5, 27, the Bible said, you have heard that it was said by them of old time, thou shalt not commit adultery.
[17:18] He said, now in the Old Testament, that's what they taught you. They said you shouldn't commit adultery. But what they did was they fixed ways you could be unfaithful to your wife without really being faithful to your wife.
[17:28] You could do things as long as you didn't commit adultery. And so Jesus said, I say unto you, it's not just going in there and having relations. It is looking on her and desiring after her.
[17:41] That's what lust is. He says he looks on a woman and lusts after her. He's committed adultery with her already in his heart. And then he says, I would rather you pluck out your right eye and throw it away than do that.
[17:56] We ought to consider what porn does and realize that there is no price too high to pay to destroy it.
[18:07] Could I get an old me if I can't get an amen? Take drastic steps to get away from porn and focus on your spouse. Hate your sin enough to pay the price.
[18:20] I'd just like to say to the parents here, kids start looking at it at somewhere around eight or nine years old. The world knows that.
[18:34] People that help you with this know that. So this is something that calls on us to take a massive stand and learn about this. You can tell today that I am going to be like the lone ranger in this room.
[18:47] 1 Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 9. All sex outside of marriage is wrong. Would you hear that? All sex outside of marriage is wrong.
[19:01] The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 6 and 9. Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived. In case you didn't understand what I meant when I said unrighteous, let me explain it. Fornicators.
[19:13] That is any sexual immorality. That is from porn to bestiality. It doesn't matter. Any kind of sex outside of marriage is wrong.
[19:26] It is unrighteous. Nor idolaters. Nor adulterers. Being unfaithful to your spouse. Being unfaithful to your spouse. Nor effeminate.
[19:37] That's the passive partner in a homosexual relationship. That is exactly what the word means. It's wrong. It's unrighteous. Nor abusers of themselves with mankind practicing homosexuality.
[19:52] Wrong. God wants it only between married people. A man and a woman. And we need to teach our family that. Do not allow intimacy to develop with anyone outside your marriage.
[20:08] Do not allow a closeness, a special closeness with anyone outside your marriage. Any other of the opposite sex. No texting.
[20:19] No meetings. No calls. No letters. Without including your spouse. I don't talk politics here. I try to never talk politics.
[20:30] But you know one thing I like about the vice president? They made fun of him so much before all this me too junk went down. Because he said, no, I'm not going to eat with anybody without my wife present. I'm not going to eat with any woman without my wife present.
[20:41] He's the only one. They don't have any me too on him. Because he's like her with me. So know me too. Amen. Her with me. Know me too. And I'm like, I think he's going to have heard that in a good Bible preaching church.
[20:52] Say, man. Don't do it. I know the world made fun of him. I know the heathens mocked him. And then they charged everybody else. Be willing to be ridiculed by the lost and sinful world.
[21:05] Because your spouse knows where you are. And what you're doing. And who you're talking to. And who you're doing it with. I don't remember where I was.
[21:17] Not long ago. I was sitting there. And my wife called. And like a server was there standing there. And I said, yeah, that's where I am. That's right. And I hung up. She said, she knew where you were.
[21:28] I said, yeah. She said, she's stalking you. I said, she has every right. I've been married to her for 46 years. Amen. But they're like, no, nobody should stalk you. I'm saying, stalk me.
[21:38] Amen. I don't have anything to hide. Sexual sin is a heart and mind problem. Not a hormonal problem. The Bible says in James 1.13.
[21:52] Would you look there with me? Believe me, you don't know how fast. Just ask Brother Brett Johnson, who's running the slides back. You don't know how fast I have flown through this. So there's only 24 pages in my outline today because so many Bible verses.
[22:05] James 1.13. I need you to really go with this. You know, you can't blame anybody for your alcoholism or your drugs or your sex or your porn or your lying or your stealing.
[22:20] When I was a kid, it was kind of like, you know, it's not your fault. Your mama looked at a cow going through a new gate on the day you were pregnant. She was pregnant with you. And that's what's caused you all these problems. That's an exaggeration. That's highly illogical.
[22:33] And only a worldly person who needed an excuse for his behavior would ever use that. It isn't, I was born under such and such a sign. It was like a man in my church and I keep telling me one time, he said, Pastor, you got to understand that those of us born in Cusco, we need more sex than regular people.
[22:50] One woman's never enough. He said, so what do you think of that? He was one of the first members of our church. I said, I think that's out of hell. That's where that came from. And he said, no, you got to understand culture.
[23:01] I said, I do. That's worldly culture. That's not God's culture. Amen. Let no man say, James 1.13, when he is tempted, I am tempted of God. For God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempts he any man.
[23:17] God didn't make you look at porn. God didn't make you want more sex. God didn't make you do anything that's wrong because God doesn't do that. And if you don't understand that, you're probably not saved.
[23:29] God doesn't tempt any man. Verse 14, every man is tempted. When? When he's drawn away of his own lust. Circle own. It's my lust.
[23:41] My desire. Lust is just desire. And he's enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it brings forth sin. And sin, when it is finished, brings forth death.
[23:53] Don't make that mistake, my beloved brethren. Do not err. By the way, your adulterous affair is not the fault of your partner.
[24:04] It's not the fault of your mama. Well, my daddy was like that and so was my granddaddy. And I think it's just in the genes. No, it's in the sin. Because you can make a choice and you can do the right thing.
[24:15] Can you say amen right there? It's not anybody else's fault. Excuse the Barney Fife thing, but you must nip it in the bud. Stop it when it's just a lust or a desire.
[24:28] As a young punk preacher, I preached a message I called Doctor Temptation. And I said, you know, temptation is like a doctor. It tells you what you need to get medicine for. You know, it's like when you go to the doctor and he starts pressing on you and poking you.
[24:41] Isn't that funny? You go to the doctor and say, Doc, I need help. He says, he wants to ask you all the questions. I'm like, if you need me to tell you everything, you must not be that smart. But he's like, where's it hurting? Where's it hurting? I took my daughter into Adiquipa one time and she was having bad trouble in her stomach.
[24:57] And so her mom and I thought maybe it was appendicitis. And we took her in there and he was poking on her. And he said, that hurt? And she go, yes. And then he finally hit one spot and she went, ah. He said, that's where it really hurts. He said, now we know what your problem is.
[25:10] Now you remember what it was, but it wasn't appendicitis. You know, temptation, if you've got a desire to do what's wrong, you need to kill it. You need to die to it and you need to replace it.
[25:21] And I will show you that in the scripture in just a minute. But like you say, I don't know why I have these desires. Let me tell you why you have these desires. Because you're a sinner and you were born to sinners and you live in a world of sin. And born again, people decide we will not continue to live like the lost people.
[25:35] It's not like we were born, like you say, I know a guy and he's really saintly and he doesn't have these problems. That's not true. I was talking to Daniel Araujo in Arequipo one time.
[25:47] And I said, Daniel, you know, you're the first Peruvian I've ever met that wasn't a drunkard before you got saved. Because I'd never seen the slightest evidence. And Daniel said, well, I was.
[25:58] I've been saved like 25 years. He said, I'm not anymore, but I was. Do you understand? We're all born in a sinful world. Do not be mistaken about what will happen if you let temptation take you.
[26:12] The scripture say in James 1 there, it says, do not err, my beloved brethren. You will get burnt. You will get caught. You will get hurt. And it will hurt horribly.
[26:24] So we decide to destroy the thought process. 2 Corinthians 10 5. 2 Corinthians 10 5.
[26:35] Casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.
[26:45] I wish you'd look at this. Here's what happens is I imagine that it's not my fault that I'm doing this. And I imagine that I have a right to do this. And I imagine that I can't help it.
[26:56] And I imagine that sin is stronger than me. And here's what the Bible says. Stop it with the imaginations. Cast them down. Casting down imaginations.
[27:07] And every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. So you're going to stop and say, now, what's God say about that? And God doesn't say you can't help it. God says, be ye holy, for I am holy.
[27:18] Amen. God says, seek ye first kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you. God says, put it away and put on this. Colossians chapter 3. God says you can have victory. God says that you know that the body of sin has been destroyed, that you would not serve sin.
[27:34] You know that to be a fact. That's the knowledge of God. What does God say? And anything that rises up and says something different than what God says, throw it down. Throw it down.
[27:45] And bring into captivity every thought. But there was a famous actor that only old people in the room will know. But when I was a kid, there was a famous actor named Flip Wilson. And Flip Wilson was famous for saying, the devil made me do it.
[28:00] And he would come out and he would do stuff on the TV show. And when he'd get through doing it, he'd go, you can't blame me. The devil made me do it. He sounded like a Baptist. The devil didn't make you do it. That's an imagination.
[28:11] Your wife didn't make you do it. That's an imagination. Your daddy didn't make you do it. That's an imagination. The prostitute didn't make you do it. That's an imagination. The way we cast down thoughts, in my opinion, a good Bible verse for that is James 1.21.
[28:30] One of my favorite verses. If you want to change so much good scripture, it's all good. You know that. But in James 1.21, he said, lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness. So you look down.
[28:41] I'm not using my Bible for that. You look down and you pick up all the naughtiness and you shove it over here and say, I don't want to do that. I'm not doing what's wrong. I'm not doing what's filthy. I'm not doing things that are wrong. I'm just not going to do it.
[28:52] And you pick it up and you move it over there. And then, scripture. And then, you receive with meekness. You just be quiet and quit running your mouth.
[29:03] Quit telling God. He doesn't know what he's talking about. And just say, God, whatever you say. And receive with meekness the engrafted word. You put enough Bible in you and you'll stand.
[29:14] Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed. How? By the renewing of your mind. By putting this in your mind. Because the world will tell you you can't help it.
[29:27] We don't believe that. And we'll be able to save our soul. Committing adultery simply shows your lack of understanding. So, just say for adultery right here.
[29:38] Go with me to Proverbs chapter 6 and verse 32. Just say for adultery right here. Any of these six sins. But the Bible's clear. It's talking about adultery here.
[29:49] And it says, Whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacks understanding. Now, he's talking to his son. He's talking to his son. That's why he talks about a woman. But if I'm talking to my daughter, I say, Whoso committeth adultery with a man lacks understanding.
[30:04] Underline that. He that doth it destroys his own soul. You'll destroy who you are. You'll lose your identity. Your dignity will go in the toilet.
[30:15] That's what the scripture's saying here. And a wound and dishonor shall he get. And his reproach shall not be wiped away. There's no way you end up enjoying this sin.
[30:27] There may be pleasure in sin for a season, but it will catch you. Job said, I have made a covenant. I will not look and I will not think. Make a covenant with your eyes and your heart.
[30:40] Not only did Job make a covenant about what he would look at, but he also made a covenant about being with other women. Look, if you would, in Job 31.9. This is a great chapter. Job says, hey, guys, before this ever went down, I already had some covenants made.
[30:53] I already had some promises made. I already had some fences in my life. I already had some decisions made that gets me through this. And that's why I don't mind telling you, yes, I know I am right with God.
[31:03] The Bible says in Job 31.9, if a man, if mine heart have been deceived by a woman, or if I have laid wait at my neighbor's door.
[31:14] See, he started off saying, now, guys, I maintain my integrity, and I made a covenant with my eyes that I wouldn't look at a woman, I wouldn't think of it. And just so you know, I also haven't gone down to anybody's house and just looked.
[31:27] I hadn't been hanging out at another man's wife's house, look, waiting, look, laid wait at my neighbor's door. I didn't drive over and say, I'm just going to check her out. I'm just going to look at her. I have not let a woman trick me into dishonoring God with this.
[31:40] Women and men that are wicked know how to deceive you. Proverbs 5.3, the lips of a strange woman drop as honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil.
[31:51] Boy, does she know how to talk. You're so good looking. You're such a good guy. You're such a beautiful lady. They know how to play the game. Proverbs 6.24, Or man, that guy at work.
[32:10] You just had a fight with your husband. You just had a fight with your wife. And that strange person that the Bible talks about starts sweet-talking him. Job said, I haven't looked for opportunities.
[32:24] I haven't laid weight. I'd like to ask you to be careful of the following, because being unfaithful sneaks in the back door. I think probably no godly man or woman would ever plan on adultery.
[32:41] I don't really think they would. Here's what happens. We aren't careful. And so we flirt.
[32:52] It's cute to flirt. Cute to say nice things to the other sex at work. We speak and behave in a manner that suggests mildly greater intimacy than there should be.
[33:05] We make little comments to the opposite sex while we're at work, and it's just a little bit past the line, not much. We're flirting. We confide in the opposite sex.
[33:19] We're having problems at home. We talk to the opposite sex at work. We spend time alone with them. All that opens the door for adultery. We talk negatively about our spouse.
[33:32] You're at work, and your wife made you mad, and so you start talking negatively about your spouse, and the wicked people say, open door. By the way, when I prepared this message, I knew I wouldn't be very popular, but it's still true.
[33:46] Dressing to attract attention of someone other than your spouse. That'll lead to adultery every time. You shouldn't dress ever so people think you're attractive. You dress for your Lord and your husband or wife.
[34:04] When you don't work on the romance and intimacy with your spouse at home, you're opening the door. When you put your parents or your children before your spouse, you're opening the door.
[34:15] I don't believe any of us intentionally would do wrong on this. Maybe teenagers because they don't have a spouse and kind of really still in la-la-la land, dumb-dumb land.
[34:30] Need a parent to help them navigate dumb-dumb land. But it's amazing. This adultery talk's not about an unmarried, it's about you. God's people.
[34:41] In God's church. Sexual sin will burn you horribly. Proverbs 6.27 says, This is a horrible sin.
[35:11] And sex is, today we're letting the world decide what sex is. We're not even sure if we're boys and girls anymore. We're making dumb decisions. And you let the world talk to you too much and you say, Well, brother, we can't ignore science.
[35:25] Yes, you can. When science is stupid, ignore it. Huh? Huh? Job proclaimed his innocence so much that he said, If he were guilty of messing with another man's wife, he would like to see his wife serve and be a mistress to another.
[35:52] Job, that's in the Bible. Job 31.10, look at it. Then, I'm covered quite a bit, but he said, If I've done that, then let my wife grind unto another, and others bow down upon her.
[36:08] Let others bow down upon her. That is about as explicit as you can get. Job said, I've not done that. Job said in 31.11, it's a heinous crime.
[36:21] A horrible and hateful crime. Job said, sex sin destroys people. Verse 12, it's a fire that consumes to destruction and would root out all of my increase.
[36:47] Job will continue in chapter 31. Maybe you don't have a sex problem. Maybe you haven't been unfaithful sexually. Maybe you're not looking at porn. But Job said, well, I'm not only don't look at porn and I don't mess with other men's wives.
[37:01] He said, but I'm an honest man at my work. In 31.5, he said, I don't practice deceit. God knows my integrity. God can judge me.
[37:13] I treat my employees well. In 31.13, if my man's servant or my maid servant came and had a complaint, I listened. I treated other people well. He said in 31.16 and following, he said, I took care of the poor, the widow, the fatherless, any poor that didn't have clothes.
[37:28] He said, if I didn't help them, you let my arm fall off my body. Verse 22. Job was even good to those that hated him. 31.29. Job didn't curse others.
[37:41] 31.30. Of course, somebody said that means he didn't drive on 400, but still. Job always worshiped God. Not his money.
[37:55] Job was rich, but his money wasn't big to him. Job 31.24. If I have made my goal, my hope, if I have said to the fine goal, I have confidence in you.
[38:07] You are my confidence. If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great. Verse 26. He never worshiped heavenly bodies, sun or moon.
[38:21] 31.26. If I beheld the sun when it shined, and you don't know this, but the whole Inca civilization, today our money is named sun.
[38:32] It used to be the sun, and it became the Inti, which was the catcher word for sun, and now it's new sun because it's the sun. He said, I never kissed my hand. I never swore allegiance.
[38:44] I never did any of that because if I did, it would have been like denying God. 31.28. Job said, I don't hide my sin. In verse 33. I don't hide my sin. And I don't let the crowd tell me what to do.
[38:58] 31.34. And I take care of my property, and I'm a good steward of it. I'd like to ask you a few questions. What are we doing to avoid sexual sin?
[39:18] We can say it would never happen to us, but we know that's not true. If you think you stand, take heed lest you fall. Are we living a life of obedience?
[39:31] Can we boldly say, if I, and mean it? Old Job goes, if I did that, if I did that, if I, if, if, if, if I, I didn't.
[39:42] I maintain my integrity. You say, I would never do that because right now my way is buttered and oiled. I walk on a greased path.
[39:55] People are taking care of me and helping me. Things are going good. Well, what about when they fall apart? How many Christians pull away? How many Christians let their children get grown and put going to church?
[40:12] How many Christians lose their integrity? Job said, I want to maintain my integrity.
[40:26] I want to be a man of integrity. Here's the deal. He made those decisions before everything fell apart. He didn't make those decisions sitting in the ash heap.
[40:37] He made those decisions when he still had money. He said to his money, you are not my confidence. He's my confidence. Well, I need to remember that because I got money and you got money.
[40:49] We live in America. We're rich. He said, I'm not trusting any other gods, no sun, no moon, no stars. I'm not trusting any of it. I'm going to manage my affairs well for Jesus.
[41:03] I'm going to take care of my purity. He made all those decisions. The Job 31 decisions were made pre-Job 1. When do you make a decision? You say, I don't have any of these problems you're talking about today.
[41:15] Then good. Go ahead and make the covenants because this is when we make the covenant. When we don't have the problem. So that when we do have the problem, we can say, I made a covenant and I kept it. Say amen right there.
[41:26] Let's do right.