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00:10 ♪♪♪ 00:20 ♪♪♪ 00:30 ♪♪♪ 00:35 Jean Ross: Good morning, friends. 00:36 Welcome again to "Sabbath School Study Hour." 00:39 A very warm welcome to our friends joining us across 00:40 the country and around the world, 00:42 our extended Sabbath School class. 00:45 Also, I'd like to welcome our members and visitors right here 00:48 at the Granite Bay Church. 00:49 Thank you for joining us today. 00:51 As you know, we've been studying through the book of Job, 00:54 as part of our Sabbath School quarterly. 00:56 And we're nearing the end of our study together. 00:58 Today, we are on lesson number 13 entitled 01:01 "The Character of Job." 01:03 So, for our friends who are watching us, 01:05 if you don't have a copy of our study today, 01:08 just go to the Amazing Facts website, 01:10 amazingfacts.org, and download lesson number 13 entitled 01:14 "The Character of Job," and you can study along with us. 01:17 We also have a free offer that goes along 01:19 with our program today. 01:21 It's a book entitled "Assurance: Justification Made Simple." 01:25 And this book is written by Pastor Doug. 01:27 And if you'd call our resource phone number, 01:29 we'll be happy to send it to you for free. 01:32 The number to call is ... 01:36 and you can ask for offer number 727. 01:40 Well, it's time for us to begin by lifting our voices in praise. 01:44 I'd like to invite our song leaders to come and lead us in 01:47 some hymns this morning. 01:49 Shemekah Bruton: Good morning, and thank you 01:50 for joining us for "Sabbath School Study Hour" today. 01:52 We want to invite you to join us for our song service. 01:55 We're going to start out with number 149, 01:57 "Once in Royal David's City," and we'll sing all four verses. 02:01 ♪♪♪ 02:05 ♪ Once in royal David's city ♪ 02:10 ♪ stood a lowly cattle shed, ♪ 02:16 ♪ where a mother laid her baby ♪ 02:22 ♪ in a manger for his bed. ♪ 02:27 ♪ Mary was that mother mild, ♪ 02:33 ♪ Jesus Christ her little child. ♪ 02:40 ♪ He came down to earth from heaven, ♪ 02:46 ♪ who is God and Lord of all. ♪ 02:51 ♪ And his shelter was a stable, ♪ 02:57 ♪ and his cradle was a stall. ♪ 03:03 ♪ With the poor, and mean, ♪ 03:07 ♪ and lowly lived on earth our Savior holy. ♪ 03:16 ♪ And through all his wondrous childhood, ♪ 03:22 ♪ he would honor and obey, ♪ 03:28 ♪ love and watch the lowly mother ♪ 03:34 ♪ in whose gentle arms he lay. ♪ 03:40 ♪ Christian children ♪ 03:43 ♪ all must be mild, ♪ 03:47 ♪ obedient, good as he. ♪ 03:53 ♪ And our eyes at last shall see him ♪ 04:00 ♪ through his own redeeming love. ♪ 04:06 ♪ For that Child so dear and gentle ♪ 04:13 ♪ is our Lord in heaven above. ♪ 04:20 ♪ And he leads his children on ♪ 04:27 ♪ to the place where he is gone. ♪ 04:37 ♪♪♪ 04:45 Jean: Amen, beautiful music. 04:48 From time to time, before we do our lesson, 04:51 we like to highlight some various mission activity that 04:54 maybe one of our church members are involved in, 04:57 or Amazing Facts is involved in. 04:59 And this coming week at the office at Amazing Facts, 05:01 we're having a workers' meeting, and we're bringing together our 05:04 evangelists that travel around doing evangelistic meetings, 05:07 and also our international AFCOE directors. 05:10 Amazing Facts has a number of AFCOE training centers around 05:14 the world, and one of our evangelists and also the 05:17 director of the Africa AFCOE program is Lowell Hargreaves, 05:22 and his wife is here with us today. 05:24 And I thought this would be a great opportunity to kind of 05:26 share a little bit about what's happening in the work over 05:30 in Kenya, Africa. 05:32 So, Lowell, we're delighted that you're here. 05:33 And I know that you've got some things to share with us, 05:35 and you can even show us some pictures. 05:37 Thank you. 05:38 Lowell Hargreaves: Yes, and good morning. 05:40 Good to be here with you in California. 05:43 And for those of you watching, 05:44 we bring you greetings from Africa. 05:47 My wife and I have been in Kenya for the last over a year. 05:51 AFCOE has a training program, 05:55 an evangelism training program in Africa. 05:59 We were in the Philippines a few years ago, 06:01 and while we were there, leading out in the AFCOE Philippines, 06:04 PAFCOE, we had a man come from Kenya, 06:08 his name is Kenneth, Kenneth from Kenya. 06:11 Went through the training. 06:13 And after finishing the training in the Philippines, 06:16 he said, "We need this program in Africa." 06:20 And through his influence and invitation, 06:22 we eventually went to Nairobi, Kenya 06:26 to do an evangelistic meeting. 06:27 We weren't planning to start an AFCOE in Kenya. 06:30 We were actually targeting Zambia. 06:32 But God brought us to Kenya to do an evangelistic meeting, 06:36 and we were going to do this meeting together with 06:38 the largest church there in Kenya, the Nairobi Central 06:43 Seventh Day Adventist Church, 6,000 member church. 06:48 And when we arrived there, we discovered that they had 06:50 targeted a slum in Nairobi, where they wanted to start 06:55 a church, plant a church. 06:57 And so, they assigned us to do 06:59 the evangelistic meeting in the slum. 07:01 And I remember they took us out there, 07:03 you're seeing a picture of the area, 07:06 and we stood on this little sort of like a little hill, 07:09 a little mound, and they said, "We're going to have the stage 07:13 here, and out over there is going to be the audience." 07:17 Now, they told me that this used to be a dump. 07:21 And as I stood on the top of this little hill, 07:23 you could smell the dump because it was--they had covered--you 07:27 know, they had covered over sometimes, 07:29 and then they'd cover over more. 07:30 But there was a whole area behind me where it was just open 07:33 dump, and you could smell the stench. 07:37 And I thought to myself, "We're going to have an evangelistic 07:40 meeting here on top of this dump?" 07:42 And I've done evangelism in many places over the world over the 07:47 last 20 years, but I had never done an evangelistic meeting on 07:52 top of a dump in a slum. 07:54 And I'll have to confess I was discouraged. 07:59 I felt like quitting. 08:01 One of the times in my experience where I felt like, 08:04 "Why do a meeting? Who's going to come?" 08:06 There were some goats that came walking through, 08:08 and I thought, "I'm coming out here to preach to the goats." 08:12 We did set up our--they covered over the open sewer, 08:15 and they set up, you can see in the picture here, 08:18 this rustic stage. 08:20 I would stand up there on the stage, 08:23 you can see my screen off to the side, 08:25 a sheet that they strung up. 08:28 And across from me, a little farther down the hill, 08:30 they had this tent with the chairs. 08:32 And we had about 100, 150 people that came every evening 08:36 for the meeting. 08:38 You can see the picture here. 08:40 There's the song leader, leading out with the singing. 08:43 And after 4 weeks on top of that dump, 08:46 I want you to look carefully at this picture. 08:50 Watch now the next picture. 08:52 There today is a Seventh Day Adventist church 08:57 thanks to that meeting. 08:58 We baptized about 50, they put up a church, 09:01 they're still trying to raise money to buy the spot there 09:05 where the church is sitting. 09:06 But today, we have a Seventh Day Adventist church there 09:11 in that slum. 09:13 And if you were to go to the church today, 09:15 it's a simple tin church, 09:16 you will discover it's already too full. 09:20 It's completely full on Sabbath, and they have people sitting 09:23 outside the church. 09:24 And so, I praise God for what he did there in the slum. 09:28 There's another picture of the church, 09:30 it's the nicest church in the slum, 09:32 in that area, surrounded by other tin churches. 09:35 But the Seventh Day Adventist church is one of the prettiest. 09:39 Well, because of that meeting, the central church 09:42 there in Nairobi invited us to start AFCOE 09:46 and AFCOE training in Kenya. 09:48 And we began early this year. 09:50 And probably the most--two of the most effective programs 09:55 we're doing with AFCOE Africa are our 09:59 Sunday training for church members. 10:01 We call it iShare, 12 Sundays of training in personal evangelism. 10:05 You can see here the group. 10:07 In our last training, we had almost 100 church members 10:10 that came through every Sunday to learn the principles 10:14 of personal evangelism. 10:15 And after 12 Sundays, we sent them out 10:19 to do a group Bible study. 10:23 We teamed them up in teams of two, 10:25 and they would pick two church members to join them, 10:27 so a team of four. 10:29 And they would go out and do 10:30 a 26-part Storacles Bible Lesson series. 10:34 You can see them here holding their Storacle Lessons. 10:37 Here's another picture of those lessons. 10:40 We had a whole van-load full of Amazing Facts lessons printed 10:45 there in Kenya. 10:47 And our students go out and share those. 10:49 They are doing those lessons right now. 10:51 In fact, from our previous iShare session we did earlier 10:56 this year, there have already been hundreds 10:59 of people baptized. 11:00 I met a lady recently who went through our training on Sunday. 11:04 She had just finished her Bible studies, 11:07 she and her partner. 11:09 And I said, "So, are you going to have results?" 11:11 She says, "Yes, we have one ready for baptism." 11:14 I said, "Then what?" 11:15 She says, "We're already planning 11:17 our next Bible study series." 11:19 They had been infected with the evangelism virus. 11:22 Once you do evangelism, you never want to quit. 11:26 The other very effective program that we have, 11:30 we're doing there in Kenya, is child evangelism. 11:34 This is a picture of a child evangelistic campaign, 11:39 again in the slum. 11:40 We had 300 children, many of them not members of our church, 11:45 in the local Seventh Day Adventist church every night 11:48 for one month, learning the Adventist doctrines, 11:53 the Bible doctrines, the Bible teachings. 11:55 And after one month of meetings, we give these children, 11:58 those that come faithfully, a gift. 12:00 You can see a picture here of the children 12:03 holding their gifts. 12:04 And for many of them, this is so rewarding 12:07 because these are slum children that have almost nothing. 12:12 And they come, some of them don't even have matching shoes. 12:16 They have one shoe from one color, 12:18 another shoe from another color. 12:20 They're just glad they have shoes, slum children. 12:23 And as they learn the teachings of the Bible, 12:26 these children, they go home, and they become little 12:28 missionaries in their homes. 12:29 They tell their parents, "You know, 12:31 the Bible says we're supposed to keep the Sabbath holy. 12:33 The Bible says when you die, you sleep. 12:37 The Bible says Jesus is coming soon. 12:40 The Bible says these are the things we shouldn't eat." 12:42 So, they become little missionaries in their homes. 12:45 And many of them make a commitment for Christ. 12:48 Here's a picture of one who was baptized. 12:51 There were many children baptized at the end of our child 12:54 evangelistic meeting. 12:55 Right now, our children, my wife and I, 12:58 we have two children that are still with us, 13:00 they are our teachers there at our training at AFCOE Africa. 13:04 They are doing evangelistic meetings for children as I'm 13:08 speaking in two different slums in Nairobi. 13:12 They have about 250 children, each of them in their respective 13:17 2 different sites, and they're doing child evangelistic 13:21 meetings right now. 13:23 There are so many needs in Africa. 13:26 You can look at the picture, and you can see 13:27 some of the conditions there. 13:30 And yet, we praise God for the privilege we have to share the 13:34 gospel of hope with people who need hope. 13:38 Here is an interesting statement from the book "Gospel Workers." 13:41 "The work of God in this earth can never be finished until the 13:46 men and women comprising our church membership rally to the 13:50 work, and unite their efforts with those of ministers 13:55 and church officers." 13:56 We have a work to do. You have a work to do. 13:59 God wants to use you as a soul winner. 14:03 And that's what AFCOE is all about, 14:06 teaching church members the principles of soul winning. 14:10 And so, on behalf of Amazing Facts, 14:12 for those of you that support the ministry of Amazing Facts 14:16 and the training of AFCOE, we express to you 14:19 our hearty thanks today. 14:21 The children of AFCOE send their thanks, 14:24 children of Africa, salamat. 14:28 God bless you. 14:31 Jean: Amen. Thank you, Lowell, amen. 14:33 It's encouraging to hear those great mission reports of things 14:36 that are currently happening around the world. 14:39 Well, before we get to our study, 14:40 I invite you to bow your heads for a word of prayer. 14:43 Dear Father, once again, what a privilege to be able to gather 14:46 in your house to study your Word. 14:47 And we ask for the Holy Spirit once again to come and speak to 14:50 our hearts and guard our minds as we open up the Scriptures, 14:53 and we look at the story of Job, and in particular the faith of 14:56 Job, his character demonstrated in this experience. 15:00 Be with us this morning in Jesus' name, amen. 15:04 Our lesson today will be brought to us 15:05 by Pastor Marshall McKenzie. 15:07 Thank you, Marshall. 15:12 Marshall McKenzie: Good morning, and happy Sabbath. 15:16 You know, the book of Job, as we've been going through it, 15:19 is packed full of information. 15:23 And that just draws us closer to Christ. 15:26 It's amazing when you dig into Job's experience. 15:30 And this morning, what we're going to do is actually zero in 15:33 specifically on the character of Job, 15:35 something we really haven't done through the lesson. 15:38 Just like Satan kind of zeroed in on the character of Job to 15:44 defeat or to overthrow him, and ultimately to bring disgrace to 15:50 God, we're going to study it because we want to understand 15:54 the truths of Job's character so that we can exhibit these truths 15:59 to glorify God, and to exalt him, 16:02 especially living in the last days of earth's history. 16:05 You know, character is crucial. 16:09 It's crucial in business dealings, 16:12 it's crucial in friendships, 16:14 it's crucial in relationships, right? 16:16 Character is very central, it's very important. 16:20 Just in life in general, character is something 16:24 of great value. 16:26 But most importantly, in our relationship with God, 16:30 character is very crucial. 16:33 We need not underestimate the development of Christian 16:37 character, and that's something we're going to unpack as we go 16:40 through lesson number 13, "The Character of Job." 16:43 But before we dive right into the lesson, 16:45 I actually want to read to you a statement from a powerful little 16:49 book entitled "Christ Object Lessons." 16:51 If you haven't read it, I encourage you to read it. 16:54 If you have, I encourage you to go back and take a look at it. 16:57 This is a powerful statement, it's from page 332. 17:00 It says, "A character formed according to the divine 17:03 likeness is the only treasure that we can take 17:08 from this world to the next." 17:12 A character that is according to the divine likeness 17:16 is the only treasure. 17:17 In other words, there's no other treasure. 17:19 House, lands, cars, wealth, none of it will we be able to take 17:24 from this world to the next. 17:26 What we will be able to take is a character that is formed after 17:32 the likeness of Christ. 17:35 It goes on in the statement to say, 17:37 "Those who are under the instruction of Christ in this 17:41 world will take every divine attainment 17:44 with them to the heavenly mansions. 17:47 And in heaven, we are continually to improve." 17:50 That's interesting. 17:51 Even in heaven, we will continually improve. 17:55 How important then is the development 17:58 of character in this life? 18:00 In other words, the study of Job and the study of Job's character 18:05 is really important for us because it's the only thing 18:09 each of us--our characters 18:11 is what we will take from this world to the next. 18:14 So, this lesson is very central to our development. 18:19 You know, Job had quite the character when you dive 18:21 into the lesson, and we start to unpack his character. 18:26 And from it, we'll learn incredible truths that help us, 18:29 or will help us to develop a character that is heaven-bound 18:34 and heaven-ready. 18:36 That's the kind of character we want, right? 18:38 We don't live really for this world. 18:40 We live for the world to come. 18:42 Jesus is coming soon. 18:44 So, we want characters that are heaven-bound and heaven-ready. 18:49 Job was heaven-bound, and Job was heaven-ready. 18:53 His character was tested, but we see the level of his character 18:59 when we study this lesson. 19:01 Matter of fact, I want to read to you--there's an important 19:04 question right in the lesson if you have your lessons. 19:06 By the way, I encourage you to bring your lesson 19:08 and bring your Bible, okay? 19:11 Two important things. 19:12 So, we're going to turn here in the lesson to page 104. 19:15 And as we start to unpack the character of Job, 19:18 it starts with an important question, okay? 19:21 A question we need to ask as we begin to unpack the character 19:26 of Job in this lesson. 19:28 Page 104 in the lesson says, "Who was this man?" 19:32 Simple question, "Who was this man, 19:36 who did not understand why all these things were happening to 19:39 him, who knew that what was happening to him wasn't fair, 19:45 who expressed anger and frustration over it all, 19:48 and yet stayed faithful right through to the end?" 19:53 Who was this man who experienced all these things, 19:56 and yet, through it all, he was faithful unto the end? 20:00 And as I read that, I thought about specifically in Matthew 20:05 chapter 24, verse 13, Jesus specifically says, 20:08 "Those who endure unto the end, they shall be," what? 20:13 "They shall be saved." 20:14 Job, in all of his trials and all of his circumstances, 20:18 as we're reading through the book of Job, 20:19 begin to understand that Job's character 20:22 of faithfulness shines through and through. 20:25 And he was faithful unto the end. 20:27 And I hope that's our desire, that by the grace of God, 20:30 we'll want to be faithful to God unto the very end. 20:33 It also reminded me of a passage in 2 Timothy chapter 4, 20:37 verse 7, where the Apostle Paul says, 20:40 "I have fought the good fight." 20:41 Towards the end of his life, "I have fought the good fight, 20:45 I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." 20:50 That's a powerful passage. 20:52 In other words, Job looks back over his life, 20:55 he was faithful to the end. 20:56 Paul looks back over his life, he says to us, 20:59 "I have kept the faith. I have been faithful to the end." 21:02 This is a characteristic of God's people. 21:05 This is brought out in this lesson as we'll go 21:09 through it together. 21:11 So, who was this man? 21:12 If you have your Bibles, 21:14 I want you to turn with me to Job chapter 1. 21:17 Who was this man? Job chapter 1. 21:20 And we're going to actually take a look at verse 1, 21:23 verse 8, and then we're going to look at chapter 2, verse 3. 21:28 The lesson brings out very simply who this man was. 21:31 And then, as we go on, it begins to unpack it more 21:33 and more for us, the lesson. 21:36 Job chapter 1, verse 1 says, "There was a man in the land of 21:40 Uz whose name was Job, and that man was," what? 21:45 "That man was perfect," or blameless, 21:48 "and he was upright, and one who feared God." 21:52 And what? "And shunned evil." 21:54 He turned away from evil. 21:56 We see the same character brought out in verse 8. 22:00 It says, "Then the Lord said to Satan, 22:03 'Have you considered my servant Job?'" 22:05 Of course he has. 22:07 He's been walking to and fro over the earth, 22:09 and he zeroes in on this man, who has this character. 22:15 And then God describes it for us, 22:17 that, "There is none like him on the earth, 22:21 a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil." 22:26 There's no one like this, like Job. 22:31 Then we get to chapter 2, verse 3, 22:33 and we see this again. 22:35 "Then the Lord said to Satan, 'Have you considered my servant 22:38 Job, that there is none like him on the earth, 22:41 a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil? 22:47 And still he holds fast to his integrity, 22:51 although you incited me against him 22:53 to destroy him without cause.'" 22:56 Four areas of Job's character are highlighted, 23:01 really kind of defining his character. 23:03 The first one was that he was blameless. 23:06 The second one was what? That he was--he was upright. 23:12 The third one was that he--that he what? 23:16 That he feared God. 23:17 And the fourth, ultimately, was that he shunned evil. 23:21 He lived his life turning consistently away from evil. 23:26 And so, the lesson is going to unpack these things for us 23:30 as we go further and further into it. 23:32 Matter of fact, in Sunday's lesson, 23:34 if you have your lessons, you turn over to Sunday's lesson, 23:40 it begins to kind of define these terms so that we can kind 23:44 of wrap our minds around it, and really get a grasp and a picture 23:48 of who this man was, answering that simple question. 23:55 The word "blameless," as the lesson kind of identifies and 23:58 brings to our attention, refers to a person that has reached a 24:02 degree of development that heaven expects, 24:06 not what the earth expects, but a degree of development that 24:12 heaven expects of him or her at any given time. 24:17 The word that is associated to it in the New Testament is the 24:21 word "full grown" or "mature." 24:26 You know, I look forward to the day when my children--now, 24:30 I know, we all want our children to stay little. 24:34 But I look forward to the day when they are full-grown, 24:38 when they're mature adults. 24:41 And I get pieces of that as my oldest son is growing up. 24:45 We have these interesting conversations. 24:49 Here, the word "blameless" means full grown, mature. 24:53 And when I read this, 24:54 I thought about 1 Corinthians chapter 13, verse 11. 24:59 In 1 Corinthians chapter 13, verse 11, 25:01 Paul says, "When I was a child, I spoke as a child, 25:08 I understood as a child, I thought as a child. 25:11 But when I became a," what? 25:15 "When I became a man, when I made this transition," 25:18 he says, "I put away childish things," 25:22 1 Corinthians chapter 13, verse 11. 25:24 Here, what's interesting is that the Apostle Paul uses the 25:28 example of an earthly transition to explain in a way a transition 25:34 of character that each Christian, 25:37 each believer in Christ, should go through. 25:40 And this is a heavenly transition. 25:42 We're preparing to be heaven-bound and heaven-ready. 25:46 Job, when it defines his character as blameless, 25:50 he's one who's made this transition. 25:54 He's one who's making consistently this transition. 25:58 Matter of fact, if you turn with me in your Bibles to 1 26:01 Corinthians, you'll want to keep your fingers in Job, 26:03 but we'll go and look at the context 26:05 of 1 Corinthians chapter 13. 26:08 We're not going to go through the whole chapter, 26:10 but we're just going to read the verses around verse 11. 26:13 1 Corinthians chapter 13, and we're going to look at the 26:18 verses around this verse we just got done reading. 26:24 And I'm actually going to start with verse 9, 26:26 1 Corinthians, so we understand this. 26:28 1 Corinthians chapter 13, verse 9 says, 26:31 "For we know in part, for we know in part, 26:35 and we prophesy in part. 26:38 But when that which is perfect or complete has come, 26:43 then that which is in part will be done away. 26:47 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, 26:50 I understood as a child, I thought as a child. 26:53 But when I became a man, I put away childish things. 26:57 For now we see in a mirror dimly, 27:00 but then face to face. 27:02 Now I know in part, but then I shall know just 27:06 also as I am known," 1 Corinthians chapter 13, 27:11 verse 9 through 12. 27:14 And Paul's unpacking this transition that actually is 27:19 described that Job is going through in the word "blameless," 27:23 this transition from being a child of Christ and moving into 27:27 being a full grown Christian, a mature Christian, 27:31 who in character is described as being--Job 27:35 was described as being what? 27:37 Blameless. 27:38 He was going through this transition. 27:42 Job was blameless. 27:44 Job's character was one that was in line with what heaven 27:49 expected, not what earth expected. 27:54 He was making this transition. 27:56 Jesus also talks about this in Luke chapter 6, verse 40. 28:00 He says, "A disciple is not above his teacher, 28:04 but everyone who is perfectly trained 28:08 will be like his teacher." 28:11 In other words, when we begin to first learn of Christ, 28:15 we begin the character development process. 28:19 But at some point--we will always continue to develop, 28:22 but at some point, we make a transition from just being 28:26 taught to actually teaching. 28:30 We make this transition. 28:33 Matter of fact, in Hebrews chapter 5, 28:36 verse 12, Paul has something to say about 28:39 the Hebrew Christians here. 28:42 He says, "For though by this time you ought to be teachers." 28:47 In other words, you should be making this transition 28:50 in your character. 28:51 You should be blameless. 28:55 "You ought to be teachers. 28:56 You need someone," he says, "to teach you again 28:59 the first principles of the oracles of God." 29:02 And then he says, "You have come to need milk 29:06 and not solid food," what is Paul describing? 29:08 If they need milk and not solid food, 29:13 where are they still at in character? 29:18 They're still babes. 29:19 And yet, Paul says they need to make this transition. 29:23 They need--you should be moving from being taught to actually 29:27 becoming teachers. 29:29 Your character should be developing and growing. 29:33 And that's what it means when it identifies Job's character as 29:37 one that is blameless. 29:41 This also moves us--by the way, you've heard the phrase, 29:44 you know, so heavenly-minded that you're no what? 29:47 Earthly good. 29:48 Job wasn't so heavenly-minded, and the lesson brings this out, 29:53 that he was no earthly good. 29:56 Matter of fact, this helps us with the transition from the 29:59 word "blameless" to the word "upright." 30:02 Okay, and the lesson in Sunday helps us define the word 30:05 "upright," which is straight, level, just, right. 30:10 In a way, Job could be actually called a good citizen. 30:18 But he wasn't just a good citizen on earth, 30:22 he was preparing to be a citizen where? 30:26 In heaven. Heaven-bound, heaven-ready. 30:30 Character is crucial. 30:31 So, Job is upright. 30:36 Notice with me in Monday's lesson, 30:38 I'm going to turn the page and I want to read a verse. 30:40 You turn with me in your Bibles, Job chapter 29, verse 7. 30:44 And Job actually starts to unpack this, 30:46 that he was upright, he was a good citizen, 30:48 he was straight, he was level, he was just, he was right. 30:52 If you turn with me to Job chapter 29, 30:54 we're going to look there at verse 7. 31:00 Job chapter 29, verse 7 says, "When I went out to the gate 31:04 by the city, when I took my seat in the open square," 31:09 what's Job describing? 31:12 Job's actually describing a position or a place of 31:16 administration in his local community. 31:21 In other words, Job was a leader. 31:24 He wasn't just preparing for heaven, 31:26 but in his preparation for heaven, 31:28 he became a good citizen even on planet earth. 31:33 He was upright in the open square. 31:39 In the lesson, I'm going to read from page 106. 31:43 And it says here, "Such seats, when he takes his seat," 31:46 as we read in verse 7, "he takes his seat in the open square." 31:51 It's actually a place or a position of administration. 31:55 Now, for those of you that are sitting here, 31:58 those of you that are administrators, 32:00 you'll want to pay close attention in relationship 32:04 to this aspect of Job's character. 32:08 Interesting. 32:09 Such seats would usually be given to the senior and 32:14 respected members of the society. 32:17 And among them, Job was highly esteemed. 32:22 Notice with me Job 29, verses 8 through 10. 32:25 When we talk about highly esteemed, 32:27 notice the rest of these verses, in relationship to describing 32:31 Job as he functioned as an administrator within his 32:35 community, how respected he was because he was upright. 32:41 Verse 8 through 10, it says, "The young men saw me and hid." 32:45 By the way, it's not because they were running away 32:47 from him in terror, okay? 32:50 This was out of respect. 32:52 He had the respect of young men, but then the verse goes on 32:56 and says, "And the aged arose and stood." 33:01 So, now we transition. 33:02 He had the attention of the youth, 33:04 he had the attention of the aged, 33:07 and then it goes on, it doesn't just stop there. 33:09 It says, "The princes refrained from talking." 33:13 He also has the attention of who? 33:15 Of the princes, the royalty, everybody. 33:22 He has their attention. 33:23 And then it goes on, "They refrained from talking, 33:28 and they put their hands on their mouths." 33:31 This is a respectful silence. 33:33 It's like you've probably heard some time ago, 33:36 I don't hear it often anymore, but that commercial, 33:38 "When E.F. Hutton speaks, everybody listens," okay? 33:44 When Job would take his seat at the gate, 33:49 in his administrative--in his administrative position, 33:56 everybody would pay attention. 33:58 The young, the aged, the princes would have 34:02 this respectful silence. 34:05 And then notice verse 10, "The voice of even the nobles, 34:09 the voice of the nobles was hushed, 34:12 and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouth." 34:14 This is describing them in awe. 34:19 They can't say anything. 34:22 You know, you have that person of great importance. 34:25 When somebody of great importance enters the room, 34:29 people just kind of can't say anything. 34:34 Maybe there's somebody that you've greatly respected, 34:36 and you finally had the chance to meet them, 34:41 and you just--you can't get the words out. 34:43 You'd love to say something intelligible, 34:47 but sometimes that's challenging when you're in front of people 34:51 that you've looked up to and that you've valued, 34:53 that have great stature. 34:55 That was Job. This was the character of Job. 34:58 He was one that was close to God, 35:02 and people around him knew it from the youth, 35:07 to the aged, to the princes, to the nobles. 35:13 What a character. 35:15 And that's the character that God wants us to have so that he 35:19 will gain the glory and the honor. 35:21 And people will listen not because of who we are, 35:26 but because of what God has made us to be and be like. 35:31 We'll have the respect of the youth. 35:34 You know, sometimes we think, "Oh, 35:36 I'm past the age, I can't reach the youth anymore." 35:41 Job could reach the youth. 35:43 He had their attention. 35:45 He could reach nobles, princes because he was upright, 35:49 he was blameless. 35:53 It's powerful when you actually stop to process who this man 35:59 really was, who this man really was. 36:04 You know what's also interesting as I move my papers around? 36:08 What's also interesting is that Job was respected 36:12 not because of what he did. 36:14 You know, sometimes we look for respect just because 36:18 of a position we may be in. 36:20 But Job's character, it was about who he was, 36:24 not what about--not about what he did. 36:28 It wasn't about his position. 36:30 People respected him for who he really was. 36:34 Job grew in favor with God and man. 36:38 Have you ever heard that phrase in the Bible? 36:41 We see it in a few different places, 36:43 but one I'm just going to highlight is our example in 36:46 everything, and who is that? 36:48 That's Jesus Christ. 36:50 So, when you go to Luke chapter 2, 36:52 verse 52, you don't have to turn, 36:53 but I'll read you the verse, it says, 36:55 "Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, 36:59 and in favor with God first, 37:03 and then with man." 37:06 Job wasn't so heavenly-minded that he was no earthly good. 37:09 He was of great value on earth, but to God's purposes, 37:14 for God's purposes. 37:16 And so was Jesus. He was like his creator. 37:21 He was like Christ. 37:23 Now, notice with me, I do want you to turn to Proverbs because 37:26 Proverbs unpacks this even more. 37:29 These characteristics of Job that are--that are brought to 37:33 the forefront in Job, you see them all over Proverbs. 37:37 But just one specific place because this verse will begin to 37:41 help us make a transition, okay, to Tuesday's lesson, 37:45 which is heart and eyes. 37:48 So, in Job chapter 3--or Proverbs, 37:50 excuse me, Proverbs chapter 3, verse 1 starts by saying, 37:54 "My son, do not forget my law, but let your heart 37:59 keep my commands. 38:01 For length of days," get this, "for length of days, 38:06 and long life, and peace they will add to you. 38:12 Let not mercy and truth forsake you. 38:14 Bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your 38:17 heart, and so find favor, find favor and high esteem in the 38:26 sight of God and," whom? 38:29 "In the sight of man. 38:31 Take my commands and put them on your heart. 38:36 Let your heart keep my commandments." 38:40 And as we do this, this is what Job was doing, 38:44 he says, "That we will find favor and high esteem in the 38:50 sight of God, and in the sight of," whom? 38:53 Man. 38:55 Powerful passage. 38:56 Look at with me, I'm going to jump to the lesson now, 38:58 to page 106. 39:02 And there's a quote in the lesson that helps to bring this 39:07 out even more so. 39:10 It's found in a book called "Education," it's page 142. 39:15 Says, "God has given to--God has given in his word a picture of a 39:22 prosperous man," this is referring to Job, 39:26 "one whose life was, in the truest sense, 39:29 a success." 39:32 How many of us want to experience success in our lives? 39:36 Or at the end of our days, we want to look back, 39:39 and we can see that, looking back on our lives, 39:41 it was in the truest sense a success. 39:46 "A man whom both heaven and earth delighted to honor." 39:52 This is incredible. He's talking about Job. 39:55 But how many of us want that character, 39:58 where we can look back and say, "In the truest sense, 40:00 my life has been a success"? 40:04 You know, I hear lots of people talking about success, 40:06 and what defines success, and how do we have success. 40:10 In its truest sense, it's having a character that is blameless, 40:16 that is upright, that fears God, and that shuns evil. 40:22 That kind of character, in the truest sense, 40:25 will give all of us, no matter where we are in life, 40:28 truest success, real success for God's honor and glory. 40:37 Before I jump into Tuesday, though, 40:38 there's one other point that I want to bring your attention to 40:42 in relationship to the character of Job. 40:45 If we turn in our Bibles, we're going to go back to Job chapter 40:48 29, we're going to look at verse 14. 40:53 Job chapter 29, verse 14. 41:01 And I love this verse in the middle of what Job 41:05 is doing as he relates with other people. 41:08 He says, "I put on," what? 41:11 "I put on righteousness, and it," what? 41:16 "It clothed me." 41:18 Whose righteousness, by the way, is Job speaking about? 41:21 Because the Bible tells us, in relationship to man, 41:24 we've all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. 41:27 So, what righteousness did Job put on? 41:30 Whose righteousness did Job put on? 41:33 Christ's righteousness, God's righteousness. 41:35 By faith, Job was putting on continually 41:41 the righteousness of Christ. 41:45 Job knew that there was no righteousness in and of himself. 41:49 It was impossible. 41:50 For any of us, it's not possible. 41:53 Only through faith in Christ can we ultimately put on the 41:57 righteousness of God, and walk in that righteousness. 42:00 And that's described actually in other places of the Bible. 42:02 In Psalms chapter 119, verse 172, 42:05 it says that, "All your commandments are righteousness." 42:10 Okay, Proverbs chapter 3, remember? 42:12 "My son, let your heart keep my," what? 42:16 "Keep my commandments." 42:17 He's talking about putting on his righteousness. 42:21 He's talking about being clothed in his righteousness. 42:27 And then another passage. 42:28 In Acts chapter 13, verse 10, Paul goes on to describe 42:33 righteousness as the straight ways of the Lord, 42:37 or the right ways of the Lord. 42:39 Remember the word "upright"? 42:41 One of the definitions of the word "upright" 42:43 is straight, level, right. 42:48 Righteousness is the straight ways of the Lord. 42:51 Righteousness are the right ways of the Lord. 42:54 This is what, by faith, Job was continually putting on. 43:00 And this is brought out especially in Tuesday's lesson, 43:02 when we talk more about the heart, 43:05 getting to the heart. 43:09 In Job here, with his heart he served God, 43:17 with his heart. 43:19 Notice with me Job chapter 31, verse 7 through 9. 43:23 Or 7 and 9, Job chapter 31, verse 7 and 9. 43:28 "If my step has turned from the way, 43:31 or my heart walked after my eyes, 43:34 or if any spot adheres to my hands," then verse 9, 43:38 he says, "if my heart has been enticed by a woman, 43:42 or if I have lurked at my neighbor's door," here Job 43:48 begins to unpack that it wasn't just his actions with his hands 43:52 and his feet that mattered, it was what? 43:56 His heart as well. 43:59 In Psalms chapter 51, verse 6, David writes that God desires 44:04 truth in the inward parts. 44:07 In the hidden part, he says he will make us to know wisdom. 44:12 You know, there was a lawyer in the New Testament that answered 44:18 a question that Christ had asked him. 44:22 In Luke chapter 10, verse 27, here's the answer the lawyer 44:26 gives to a question that Christ specifically asks. 44:30 He says, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your," 44:32 what? 44:34 "With all your heart, with all your soul, 44:37 with all your strength, and with all your mind." 44:40 And then he says, "And your neighbor as yourself." 44:44 Jesus said to the lawyer, upon this answer by the lawyer, 44:48 he says, "You have answered rightly. 44:50 Do this and you will," what? 44:53 You'll live. 44:54 You'll live. 44:56 It's not just about what we do with our hands and our feet, 44:59 but our service comes, should come from the heart. 45:04 We should treasure God's commands within our hearts. 45:07 By faith, we should be living on a day to day basis. 45:12 In the lesson, we didn't read the memory text, 45:15 and there's a reason for that. 45:17 Because now is where the memory text really fits 45:21 into this lesson. 45:23 Because the memory text says, "Do you see--" 45:25 This is from James chapter 2, verse 22. 45:27 It says, "Do you see that faith was working together with his 45:33 works, and by works faith was made perfect?" 45:39 Job wasn't just acting. 45:41 He was living by faith. 45:43 And by faith, he was able to act. 45:46 And he acted in accordance with God's will. 45:50 He was found blameless, he was found upright. 45:53 He was one that feared God. 45:57 Job understood that the deeper meaning of holiness, 46:01 the deeper meaning of right and wrong and God's law, 46:06 Job knew that God cares about the heart, 46:12 about our thoughts, not just about our actions. 46:16 1 Samuel chapter 16, verse 7 says, 46:19 "For the Lord does not see man--for the Lord does not see 46:24 as man sees, for man looks at the," what? 46:29 "The outward appearance." 46:30 But God, where does God look, though? 46:33 God looks at the heart. 46:34 When he looks at all of us, he looks right at our heart. 46:38 He goes beyond the hair, he goes beyond the skin, 46:43 he looks right to the heart. 46:45 And he gets right to the heart of the issue when he does that. 46:50 As a matter of fact, within God's very law, 46:52 we see this brought out. 46:54 In Exodus chapter 20, verse 17, it says, 46:56 "You shall not covet your neighbor's house, 46:59 you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, 47:03 nor his male servant, nor his ox, 47:06 nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's." 47:09 In other words, don't even let your heart covet those things. 47:14 Because if you do, it's just a matter of time 47:17 before your actions what? 47:20 Follow. 47:22 And you want to--you know that phrase, 47:24 "keeping up with the Joneses"? 47:26 You know, we go after, "Oh, my neighbor has this. 47:28 Ooh, I really want that. 47:30 Oh, my neighbor has this, I got to have that." 47:32 And with our minds, we begin to covet. 47:40 The just shall live by what? By faith. 47:44 Job lived by faith. 47:47 And it affected his relationships. 47:51 It affected his relationships. 47:54 Notice with me Job chapter 31, verses 13 through 15. 47:57 And I'm going to kind of cruise through. 48:00 Job chapter 31, verse 13 through 15, 48:03 he says, "If I have despised the cause of my male or female 48:09 servant when they complained against me, 48:13 what then shall I do when God rises up? 48:17 When he punishes, how shall I answer him? 48:20 Did not he who made me in the womb make them?" 48:26 You know, Job was far ahead of his time. 48:29 God is always far ahead of our time. 48:33 He says, "Did not the same one fashion us in the womb?" 48:40 He's bringing them all together. 48:42 He's like, "You know that poor man on the side of the street? 48:45 We are no different. 48:48 That beggar, we are no different." 48:52 We're all equal in relationship to how God sees. 48:58 He died for all of us, not just some of us. 49:03 And Job sees this. Job understands this. 49:08 Matter of fact, notice with me Job chapter 29. 49:10 He unpacks this even more just earlier in the chapter. 49:14 Job chapter 29, I'm just going to read 12, 49:16 13, and then 15 through 17, Job chapter 29. 49:21 He says, "Because I delivered the poor who cried out, 49:25 the fatherless, and the one who had no helper, 49:29 the blessing of a perishing man came upon me. 49:33 And I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy. 49:37 I put on righteousness, and it clothed me. 49:41 My justice was like a robe and a turban." 49:44 Notice verse 15, he says, "I was eyes to the blind. 49:51 I was feet to the lame. 49:53 I was a father to the poor, and I searched out the case 49:59 that I did not know." 50:01 This is incredible. 50:03 "I broke the fangs of the wicked, 50:05 and plucked the victim from his teeth." 50:10 Job was all about saving man. 50:14 Why? Because God saved him. 50:19 And it didn't matter who they were, 50:21 it didn't matter where they came from, 50:23 it didn't matter what their background was. 50:25 He saw man, wherever they were, and he reached out 50:30 in each situation. 50:32 A person like this gains a lot of respect from a lot of people. 50:37 And Job had a lot of respect from a lot of people because of 50:42 this character that he was consistently developing, 50:46 he was consistently developing. 50:50 In the lesson on page 107, the lesson on page 107, 50:59 you know, Job was doing things that people in his day, 51:04 many had a hard time with. 51:06 And the lesson kind of points this out when it says, 51:08 "The ancient world was not a place where concepts 51:12 of universal rights and universal laws 51:15 were understood or followed." 51:18 You know, even the Jews had a hard time with this, 51:20 didn't they? 51:22 "We're the superior nation, 51:26 and everybody should be looking to us." 51:30 Job didn't live his life that way because it wasn't about Job. 51:37 Job knew it was about God. 51:39 It was all about God. 51:42 And that's who we need to be all about. 51:46 That's what our characters need to be all about, why? 51:49 Because when Jesus comes one day, 51:51 we're going to see him what? 51:53 Face to face. 51:54 Remember Paul talked about this in 1 Corinthians 13? 51:57 One day, we're going to see our maker face to face, 52:01 and will our characters line up? 52:04 Will our characters line up? We need to be about God. 52:09 Job was about God. He wasn't just about himself. 52:16 And the lesson really brings that out more and more. 52:20 And I'm going to close, I want to go to Matthew chapter 7. 52:23 Because on Wednesday, we don't even have time to get through 52:25 everything in this lesson, but I just want to mention one thing. 52:29 Job's life was founded on the rock. 52:35 Job's life was founded on the rock. 52:40 Jesus talks about this. 52:41 What does that mean, founded on the rock? 52:46 For any of you who are builders, you understand the importance of 52:50 a good foundation, right? 52:53 Otherwise, trials, storms, whatever, fires will come. 53:00 We need a good foundation. 53:02 Job developed a good foundation, 53:04 and that foundation was upon Christ. 53:07 I'm going to turn to Matthew chapter 5. 53:10 Chapter 7, excuse me. 53:11 Matthew chapter 7, verse 22 through 27, 53:15 it says, "Many will say to me in that day, 53:18 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, 53:22 cast out demons in your name, 53:23 and done many wonders in your name?' 53:25 And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you. 53:28 Depart from me, ye workers of,'" what? 53:30 "Those who practice lawlessness or workers of iniquity." 53:34 Then Jesus goes on, he says, "Therefore." 53:37 After saying this, "Therefore, whoever hears these sayings 53:41 of mine and does them, I will liken him to a wise man 53:46 who built his house on the," what? 53:48 "Who built his house on the rock. 53:51 And the rain descended, and the floods came, 53:53 and the winds blew and beat on that house, 53:56 and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock." 54:03 The opposite, Jesus goes on to say that those who build their 54:08 houses on the sand, when the winds come and the storms come, 54:13 he says great was the fall of that house. 54:16 It's important for us to be building on the rock. 54:20 Job was building on the rock. 54:23 Job had a faith in Christ. 54:26 His eyes were ever to God, and God affected his life in 54:31 tremendous ways that had an effect on other people 54:34 around him. 54:36 As not only Job was getting ready for heaven, 54:40 those who were around him also were preparing for heaven 54:45 because of his influence, because of his character, 54:48 because of how he walked 54:50 and lived his life each and every day. 54:53 May we by faith truly cling to the rock of our salvation. 54:59 And may we have the characters that Job had. 55:03 Because in the last days, Satan's going to put a spotlight 55:06 on them just like he did on the life of Job. 55:10 And by the grace of God, may our lives reflect the life of Christ 55:15 every moment of every day we live, 55:18 until he comes again. 55:21 Powerful study, the character of Job, 55:23 incredible as we look at it and we study it further. 55:26 I'd like to remind you, those that are viewing, 55:30 of the free offer, Doug Batchelor's book, 55:34 "Assurance: Justification Made Simple." 55:37 It's offer number 727. 55:39 For this, you can call ... 55:44 to get your free copy. 55:47 May God bless you. Have a wonderful Sabbath. 55:54 male announcer: Amazing Facts, changed lives. 56:03 female: My mother passed away when I was three. 56:06 And my paternal grandparents decided they would care 56:10 for my two older sisters and I so that my father 56:14 would have time to mourn. 56:16 We never really had a mother or a strong fatherly figure, 56:20 and I'm not blaming my dad. 56:21 I'm just saying that's how things worked out. 56:26 When I was in high school, my older sister got into 56:31 an argument with our father, 56:34 and my sister and I decided that we would take her side. 56:40 And so, that caused a split in our family. 56:46 For 4 years, we lived in the same house, 56:49 we ate from the same pot, we used the same restroom, 56:52 we walked by each other, but we never said anything 56:55 to our father, and he never said anything to us. 56:59 A year later, I had decided I would move out for college. 57:04 He wasn't very happy with that. 57:06 We got booted out of the house. 57:10 We went back to apologize, but we weren't really accepted back. 57:16 I have felt so alone a lot of my life. 57:20 I felt like I've had to fend more for myself. 57:23 I've been missing a fatherly love. 57:26 I don't have family with me. I don't have a lot of things. 57:36 But I have a God, and I've been fulfilled, 57:40 I've been satisfied. 57:42 God has been my Father. 57:44 ♪♪♪ 57:55 announcer: Together, we have spread the gospel much farther 57:58 than ever before. 58:00 Thank you for your support. 58:03 ♪♪♪ |
Revised 2016-12-20