Sometimes what is good and necessary for us is not always pleasant, but we have to bear through it to gain the necessary reward. This is true right through life, isn't it? We have to study hard to get through school or varsity. It requires hard work and often it is very unpleasant. But when we do it and finish, we are rewarded with a good education. It is often hard work to learn a new skill, but once we push through and we've mastered the skill, we have the pleasure of using it for productive purposes. For me, it wasn't pleasant to go through the army conscription or my army conscription, but I preserved and I learned discipline and respect for authority. I believe it made me a stronger man. It's not pleasant to go through periods of suffering, but when you do, you can become stronger and better for it. To some, the same might be true for studying through the Book of Job. It might be difficult to go through the teachings in these many chapters, but if we bear through them, we'll be stronger and better for it. It is the Word of God, after all. So although pushing through difficult times can be advantageous to us and for us, it all depends on our attitude and our focus. If we hate the pressures of school and just focus on the cool stuff and do the absolute minimum concerning our studies, well, we'll benefit little to none at all from our school. God assures us in his word that there is nothing he'll put us through that we are not equipped to handle. Nothing. Included in this, there will never be a situation that we are forced to do wrong to get through it. So whatever the situation, whatever the condition we find ourselves in, there will always be a way to bear through it to the glory of God. And to our ultimate benefit. It depends on our attitude. It depends on our focus. Are we focused on the negative of the situation or are we looking for the positive? So we've been through 26 chapters of the book of Job. It's been a long journey. How many chapters in the book of Job? I heard one number of 44. We have another number of 42. Nathan wins the prize. 42 chapters in the book of Job. So we have 16 chapters left to go. This journey has had many highlights and lowlights. It's had much good news and bad, much encouraging messages and maybe some discouraging messages. But God has put it here for our benefit. And we can benefit a lot from going through the book of Job. As long as that journey might be, and as difficult sometimes that journey might be. So we're in chapter 27 this morning. I'm sure you've all turned there. Let's begin to read. Moreover, Job continued his discourse and said, As God lives, who has taken away my justice, and the Almighty who has made my soul bitter, as long as my breath is in me, and the breath of God in my nostrils, my lips will not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit. Far be it from me that I should say, you are right. Till I die, I will not put away my integrity from me. My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go. My heart shall not reproach me as long as I live. May my enemy be like the wicked and he who rises up against me like the unrighteous for what is the hope of the hypocrite? Though he may gain much if God takes away his life. Will God hear his cry when trouble comes upon him? Will he delight himself in the almighty? Will he always call on God? I will teach you about the hand of God. What is with the almighty? I will not conceal. Surely all of you have seen it. What then do you behave? Why then do you behave with complete nonsense? This is the portion of a wicked man with God and the heritage of oppressors received from the Almighty If his children are multiplied it is for the sword and his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread Those who survive him shall be buried in death and their widows shall not weep though he heaps up silver like dust and piles up clothing like clay he may pile it up, but The just will wear it, and the innocent will divide the silver. He builds his house like a moth, like a mop, like a booth, which a watchman makes. The rich man will lie down, but not be gathered up. He opens his eyes, and he is no more. Terrors overtake him like a flood. A temper steals him away in the night. The east wind carries him away, and he is gone. It sweeps him out of his place. It hurls against him and does not spare. He flees desperately from its power. Men shall clap their hands at him and shall hiss him out of his place. Let us pray. Lord and Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word and Lord, as we now go through this chapter and we consider what it has, what it's there to teach us. Lord, I pray that your spirit as always will be involved this morning in bringing the message home, bringing the word, your word into our hearts and minds and applying it to our situation. Lord, we pray that as always, your word will bless us, encourage us, excite us, It'll feed us. It'll move us in the right direction. All for your glory in Jesus name. Amen. It's time for Job to spend more time in defending his righteousness and his integrity. We might be in chapter 26, but from chapter four onwards, his integrity and his righteousness have been under constant attack We know the philosophies of his friends and their main argument throughout the book is Simply this the righteous are blessed and the wicked are punished. It's a simple philosophy of life. That was their philosophy of life and because Job was suffering and suffering as a form of punishment therefore Job must be wicked There was no other. There was no room for any other conclusion to his friends. We know that that is what job has been battling with all these chapters. That's what we've been dealing with all these chapters in build its final chapter. Final message was which was in Chapter 25. He said no man is righteous in God's eyes. That is true and a righteous God is obligated to punish sinners. Well, that's also true. Because Job is suffering, he must be a sinner. And because God is obligated to punish all sinners. Of course, there's a problem in Bildad's philosophy here. And he's missing the very obvious. If all men are sinners in God's eyes, and that is true, all men are sinners in God's eyes. And if God is obligated to deal with their sin and punish them, like he's supposedly doing to Job, then all men, would be punished as Job. Because no man is righteous in God's eyes. Therefore, God should be pushing out punishment, suffering on all men, including Bildad, Eliphaz, and so forth. So their philosophy had a big problem. Their words had a big problem. Now, Job is suffering. That is fact. No one can deny this. He's not denying it. He knows he's suffering. He's going through extreme suffering. But it is not because he's wicked and he's been saying this chapter after chapter after chapter. Now, one of the ways he can prove this is to defend his righteousness and his integrity. In other words, he knows he's being punished. That is the fact. But does it therefore mean he's wicked? No. How is he going to try and prove it in this chapter? He's now going to try and defend again his righteousness and integrity because if he can prove to his friends that he's right, his integrity is in place, that he is righteous, then they must come to a different conclusion as Job has been trying to do chapter after chapter. Now, unbeknownst to Job, God had already declared that Job was righteous and a godly man. We know this. He did it twice up front and he's still to do it at the end of the book of Job. But Job didn't hear this. And that is why he says in the first two verses of this chapter. So Job continued his discourse and he said, as God lives, who has taken away my justice and the almighty has made my soul bitter. Job is bitter a little. And he's saying, God has taken away my justice. He has not come down to defend me. We know he has, but Job doesn't know this. See, if you were in a disagreement with someone, if you were in an argument and you were debating something and you knew you were right and therefore you know that the other person is wrong. Wouldn't it be nice if God, the perfect judge, one who knows all things, could step in at that moment and clarify all issues and prove that you are right and your opponent is wrong? Wouldn't you like it? I know I would like it. But is God going to do that? But this is what Job wanted. He wanted God to step in and finish this all together. He wanted God to come in to make sense of what was happening and make a final statement on what is what. Make it clear to everyone. And then it would be done. God wasn't saying anything. And frankly, why? Why would he? Why would he step in? He does. And that is the grace of God. But why? Why would he normally? So Job needed to take things up a notch as no one else could speak on his behalf. He wanted God to speak on his behalf. God wasn't so he now had to speak on his own behalf. What would give his words more weight? So Job decided to declare by oath his innocence. That's what he was doing in verse two. As God lives, and then he continues declaring his righteousness and that his integrity is in place. This was making an oath. Now, among the Eastern people in that day, taking an oath was not a light matter. It was very serious. It was as if you were saying, if I am wrong, then God can strike me down. And they believed it. They didn't take those words lightly. And this is Job's words to his friends. I'm giving you an oath as God lives. I'm righteous. My integrity is in place. And he continues, he says, as long as I live, I will not lie or deceive others. As long as the breath is in me and the breath of God is in my nostrils, verse three, my lips will not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit. I will not lie to you. I am not lying to you. What I'm saying is true. I am not an awful sinner. I have done no wrong that justifies this kind of extreme suffering. He will continue to defend his integrity. He refuses to lie to them and he refuses to do as they ask him to do. They actually asking him to lie. Admit you're a sinner, repent, confess, go to God in this way and your suffering will end. But for him to agree to that would mean he's a liar. See his integrity and his relationship with God meant more to him than life itself. That's how important it was to him. He was not prepared to admit to something he had not done simply to relieve the pain and suffering. He wasn't prepared to lie simply to get the suffering out of his life. How much is your integrity worth to you? How much is your integrity worth to you? Are you willing to lie? If it means you can prosper, you can justify it maybe as a white lie, or maybe you can justify it by saying, well, the end justifies the means. So if good happens by me lying, then it's okay to lie. People's integrity does not seem to be very important to them anymore. They're willing to lie over any matter, small or big. We see it rampant in our politicians. To be a successful politician today seems to be that the bigger liar you are, the better politician you will be. It wasn't me seems to be the mantra, our national mantra in South Africa. And God's church is not free from this terrible behavior. Telling lies among Christians seems to most as an acceptable habit. It's something we do. Now, a lie can be defined as not telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. When you deliberately tell false statements to someone, then you're obviously lying. So when you make up an excuse for not being a church, for example, you're lying. When you choose to only say part of the truth, you deliberately omit certain facts for your own reasons, well, you are lying. When you add to the truth, when you embellish the truth in a sense, then you're lying. It is very, very, very easy to lie. Do you agree? It's very, very easy to lie. So I'm not standing here today in front of you saying, I've never lied. I don't lie. It is very easy for us to lie. It's quite natural. And it takes a lot to make sure you don't lie and to maintain your integrity. What does God say about lies? John 8. Verse 44 speaking to the to the prophets of those days. It says you are of your father the devil and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him when he speaks a lie. He speaks from his own resources for he is a liar and the father of it. In Revelations chapter 22, there's a discussion there on, on, on, on things. And he says, blessed are those who do his commandments that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter through the gates into the city. But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters. This is heavy language, but he continues and whoever loves and practices a lie. dogs, sorcerers, sexually immoral people, murderers, idolaters, and who else? Whoever loves and practices a lie. God has a lot to say about lies. They might be accepted today, might be something that everyone does, and even something that is needed to be done, some say. It might be something many get away with, and this we know is true. It might be something that everyone around you is doing, but who invented lying? Who is the father of lies? It is the devil. Imagine the consequences if God could lie. Who would be a Christian? Who would bother reading the word of God? Who would bother coming to church? Live as you want, kill, destroy, and die. Because if God could lie, there'd be no meaning to life. Yet we are so easy to lie. And it doesn't matter what size the lie is. A lie is a lie is a lie. I'll ask you again. What is your integrity worth to you? Are you a person of integrity who would rather die than lie? Well, that's Job. That is Job. He's telling his friends now, I would rather die than lie. There's something else to consider as we think of what Job is saying. Things aren't going well with Job, obviously. At this moment in time, he's at the bottom of the bottom of the barrel. Terrible terrible place physically emotionally everything and Yet he can stand and say I would rather die than tell a lie Now we live in South Africa. We have a lot of people who have very little and A lot of people have very little believe it is fine for them to lie if it means they can get something If I need more, like the miners, well, the strikers, every year we have hundreds and hundreds of strikes, and people striking believe, well, because they aren't getting what they want, they want more, they deserve more. And therefore, because they are in need, they can do as they please. They can kill, they can destroy, they can intimidate, they can lie. Because if they can get something from it, then all is well. See, when people are hungry and in need, does it give them the right to lie? No. Now, Job could have claimed that. He's suffering. He has very little now. His wealth's been taken away. His health's been taken away. He's sitting here on this ash heap. Terrible place to be. He's got people ganging up against him. Why doesn't he just lie? His integrity was so important to him. He was willing to die rather than lie. His integrity was worth more to him than a full stomach or a good night's rest. Proverbs 11 says the integrity of the upright will guide them, but the poverty of the unfaithful will destroy them. Go back a few chapters in Job. If we don't realize that this book is very much about integrity, Job chapter 2, In verse 3, God is speaking to Satan and he says, Then the Lord said to Satan, Have you considered my servant Job? There is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil. And still he holds fast to his integrity, although you incited me against him to destroy him without cause. Job was a man of integrity. you a man or a woman or a child of integrity the next verse tells us why Job thought this was or thought much about his integrity that it was worth so much to him verse 6 he says back in chapter 27 my righteousness I hold fast and I'll not let it go my heart shall not reproach reproach me as long as as I live. The word heart refers to the inner man and here it speaks of his conscience. This word is used often to talk about someone's conscience. Job had to live with his conscience as we all do and therefore such things as his integrity, integrity was very important to him. He did not want a guilty conscience. Now I spoke earlier of Job's need for another to defend him. He was hoping that God would come up and defend his righteousness and his integrity, but he didn't. But he did have someone or something else to do this for him. And it was his conscience. Job's conscience was clear. Job's conscience spoke to him and said, your righteousness and your integrity are in place. That's what, that's one of the things that our conscience does to us. We can lie to everybody. We can fool all sorts of people and we can do our best to fool ourselves, but our conscience just won't listen. And it'll, maybe it gets quieter the more we try our best to keep it quiet, but it doesn't stop. And our conscience is there to eat away at us. If we refuse to acknowledge sin in our life, Job said, I'm standing here with a clear conscience because I do not want to have a guilty conscience. What is our conscience? Now I'm going to, I'm going to read a, um, a fairly lengthy quote from a book. Please, uh, bear with me. I think you'll find this quite very informative. Um, it's from a chapter called what is the conscience from an excellent book by John MacArthur called the vanishing, vanishing Conscience the vanishing conscience if you have not read that book. I encourage you to read it It has a lot to say it might be a few years old now, but it is just as relevant today as it was then So bear with me as I read this Few passages the conscience is generally seen by the modern world as a defect that robs people of their self-esteem and Far from being a defect or a disorder, however, our ability to sense our own guilt is a tremendous gift from God. He designed the conscience into the very framework of the human soul. It is the automatic warning system that tells us, pull up, pull up, before we crash and burn. The conscience, Puritan Richard Sibbes wrote in the 17th century, is the soul reflecting upon itself. Conscience is at the heart of what distinguishes the human creature. People, unlike animals, can contemplate their own actions and make moral self-evaluations. That is the very function of the conscience. The conscience is an innate ability to sense right and wrong. everyone, even the most unspiritual heathen, has a conscience. When Gentiles, who do not have the law, do instinctively the things of the law, these, not having the law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness, and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them. Romans chapter 2, verses 14 to 15. I continue with the quote, the conscience entreats us to do what we believe is right and restrains us from doing what we believe is wrong. The conscience is not to be equated with the voice of God or the law of God. No, it is also a human faculty that judges our actions and thoughts by the light of the highest standard we perceive. When we violate our conscience, it condemns us, triggering feelings of shame, anguish, regret, consternation, anxiety, disgrace, and even fear. When we follow our conscience, it commends us, bringing joy, serenity, self-respect, well-being, and gladness. The word conscience is a combination of the Latin word to know and together. The Greek word for conscience is found more than 30 times in the New Testament. Conscience is knowledge together with oneself. That is, conscience knows our inner motives and our true thoughts. Conscience is above reason and beyond intellect. We may rationalize trying to justify ourselves in our own minds, but a violated conscience will not be easily convinced. End quote. Your conscience either accuses you or it excuses you. In other words, it is a person's moral sense of right or wrong. We all have it. It's built into us. Now, John chapter eight, verse seven and nine. We know it's a story of the, the, um, a woman that was found in, uh, in the act of adultery with a man. Of course, the man was left behind. She was dragged out. They were going to stone her. Jesus says in verse 7 so when they continued asking him he raised himself and said to them he who is without sin among you Let him throw a stone at her first and again. He stooped down and wrote on the ground then those who heard it being convicted by their conscience went out one by one beginning with the oldest even to the last and Jesus would lift it was left alone with a woman in Romans chapter 9 and It reads, I tell the truth in Christ, I'm not lying. My conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit. There's many, many, many passages we can go to talking about the conscience and the work of the conscience in our life, and especially in the Christian life. Every person has a conscience, even the unsaved, even the Islamist, jihadist, they have a conscience. The difference is a Christian's conscience should be fed by the Word of God and is fed from the Word of God. Yes, we can have a weak conscience, the scriptures talk of. We can have a good and a pure conscience. We can also have an evil conscience. But as you read the Bible and we've come to church, And we hear the Word of God being preached. As we do our Bible studies, we are feeding our conscience. And as we obey the Word of God, we create a good and a pure conscience. So your conscience is not so much your guide as it is your God. It will not always lead you into making the right decision, but it can stop you from making the wrong decision. Yes, we can mess up our conscience. We can weaken it as we disobey the Word of God. as we neglect the Word of God, but a believer has a conscience that will never keep quiet. I believe a true believer will not be able to sin and maintain a clear conscience. Someone who can do that is not saved, I believe. If they can sin and continue with no touch whatsoever to their conscience, they're an unbeliever. true believer, his conscience will never be quiet. Now, Job, his desire was to maintain a clear, guilt-free conscience. And this drove his every word, his every thought, and his every action. Job's not alone. Paul was the same. In Acts chapter 23 verse 1 he says, Paul looked earnestly at the council said, men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day. It was Paul's desire to have a clear conscience before God. And he could stand up and proclaim, I have done this. Have you lived in all good conscience before God? Are you living in all good conscience before God today. Is your conscience clear? So let's move on. Verses seven. Job now pronounces a curse on his enemies. In verses seven to 10, he says, may my enemy be like the wicked. And he who rises up against me like the unrighteous. For what is the hope of the hypocrite? Though he may gain much, if God takes away his life, will God hear his cry when troubles come upon him? Will he delight himself in the Almighty? Will he always call on God? See, in the East, in those times, remember this is before the Mosaic law, this is before all those things, we are told that it was not enough for a person who was accused of something Simply to affirm their innocence. They also felt it necessary to curse those that said they were guilty That's how they that's how they did things in those days. He could have been asking God to do the same to his accusers as He would to the wicked because this is what they were saying to him. You're the wicked. This is what's happening to you Maybe he was saying well God in return to those who are calling me evil do the same to them That happens to those that are wicked Now, Job wasn't only talking about his three friends that were sitting there. Remember, we've spoken about this before. Obviously, there was a lot of traffic around there. It might have been the ash heap, the rubbish dump of the city, but people were around. People knew who Job was. He was a very important man. This man has fallen. He still gathers attention. People had been walking backwards and forwards. How long these debates have been going on, I don't know, but they would have been hearing them, and they most likely would have come along. I mean, if there was media presence, if there was such a thing in those days, they would have had cameras and interviewers, and this message was getting around. People were there. And in amongst all these debates, there were people there. Maybe some were on Job's side, but many, it seems, were not. And as their friends, as his friends were talking, they were shaking their head in confirmation, in agreement with what these people were saying. And as Job was looking up amongst all his friends and these people that were standing around, this is who he was speaking to. He was wishing them the same problems that happened to the wicked. Now, in light of everything we know of the Mosaic law and the teachings of Christ and the teachings of the apostles, this wasn't very loving. nor a very forgiving Job, but I guess this was the teachings in his time. He didn't know of the Mosaic Law. He hadn't heard of Christ's teachings or the apostles' writings, obviously. So maybe we can excuse Job for this cruel and unforgiving words, but we have no excuse. We have no excuse. So Job was calling back to them the very words of judgments they declared on him and he was wishing the same upon them as his enemies who refused to admit or refused to acknowledge his point of view. So next Job wants to teach his friends a lesson He says right so he says in verse 11. I will teach you about the hand of God What is with the Almighty I will not conceal surely all of you have seen it. Why then do you behave with complete? nonsense This is what Joe's been trying to do all the time he's been trying to teach his friends He's been saying hang on guys. There's something wrong with your philosophy. There is some something very limited in your knowledge of God and Let me tell you this. Let me tell you this. Let me teach you. Let me teach you about the judgments of God. They disagreed on the reasons and the timing of God's retribution and he wanted to correct them. They all knew that God was all-powerful all-knowing wise and sovereign. Yes, they knew that he must punish sin. Yes, but Job knew that there was no unconfessed. There was no unrepented sin in his life. None of this that warranted such extreme measures of suffering. Therefore, Job had to conclude that the simplistic notion that all suffering comes from sin and all righteousness is rewarded, well, that must be wrong. Now, we've recognized before this occasion that Job himself would have been a believer in this simplistic notion before these things happened in his life. Before things turned so dramatically in his life, he also saw this as, well, that's the philosophy of life. Things are going well in my life. I'm a righteous man. Therefore, the righteous are rewarded and the wicked are punished. But now he realizes that cannot be true. Remember what I said in the introduction? There is always opportunity in tough times to come out better than when you went in. And many times this is through the lessons that we learn. Job learned something through his suffering. He recognized that a common and what seemed reasonable belief in God's outworking of his retribution was wrong. That notion was wrong. He had learned this. It was a major breakthrough in his life. A major breakthrough in the common belief of the day that would have helped many people come to a better grips, a better understanding on the reasons why people suffer. He says the previous belief and the belief of his friends at the time was complete nonsense. See now, Job didn't want people to misunderstand him. He didn't want him to think that he believed that the wicked will go unpunished, although sometimes they did. He said, look around you. Some people who are wicked live in great prosperity, great health and so on. But yes, he wanted to make sure they recognized that he believed true that the wicked would also be punished. So he spends the next rest of the chapter describing what happens to the wicked in acknowledgement that this does happen. but for a different reason. So let's read from verse 13. This is the portion of a wicked man with God and the heritage of oppressors received from the Almighty. If his children are multiplied, it is for the sword, and his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread. Those who survive him shall be buried in death, and their widow shall not weep. So they will die, and their widows won't even care. Their children will die, Will be multiplied, but they will die by the sword. They will die by disease and they won't be satisfied. They will have to go and beg. Those who survive will have to beg for their food. Verse 16, though he heaps up silver like dust and piles up clothing like clay, he may pile it up, but the just will wear it and the innocent will divide the silver. Yes, he might have all these great things. but they will come to naught, because he won't live to enjoy them. He built his house like a moth, like a booth which a watchman makes. It's a temporary enclosure. It won't be there for long. Many times the wicked won't be around for long. They will die in their sin. The rich man will lie down, but not be gathered up. He opens his eyes, and he is no more. Terrors overtake him like a flood. A tempest steals him away in the night. The east wind carries him away, and he is gone. It sweeps him out of his place. It hurls against him. and does not spare. He flees desperately from its power. Men shall clap their hands at him and shall hiss him out of his place. Job agrees. This is what happens and probably is what should happen to the wicked. He's not denying that, but it doesn't only happen to the wicked. He's not disagreeing with him in total. What is happening to him, however, is for other reasons. And this is the whole point of the Book of Job. People suffer for many reasons and not just because of their own sin. We've looked at that now as we were praying for the believers in Iraq. They are suffering through the sins of others. But Job's also warning his friends. He's saying, be careful because this is the judgment you have passed on me, a righteous man who has no sin. Beware that such things can also occur to you. Now we're reminded of Jesus's words in Matthew chapter seven, verse one and two. He says, judge not that you be not judged for with what judgment you judge, you will be judged. And with the same measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And that's what Job's warning is here to his friends. You've passed judgment on me, a righteous man. Beware, the same doesn't happen to you. Verse 23 reads, he claps his hands against him. And it's not very clear who is clapping his hands because the word men is not in the original text. It's put there by the translators and many agree, but some disagree. Some say it's God. But either way, man or God will clap their hands, will be pleased, will rejoice at the destruction of the wicked. Let's conclude. Job's integrity was very important to him. And therefore, lying was the last thing he wanted to do, no matter what he could benefit from it. He refused to agree with his friends. He refused their counsel to him. They said repent of this great sin, get right with God. He said he cannot do that because that would be a lie. He had no sin to repent of and he wasn't going to make up one to simply try and end this time of suffering. Remember what his wife said to him in chapter two. Do you still hold fast to your integrity? What was her solution? Curse God and die. And that's what his friends are kind of saying. They might not know they're saying that, but admit your wrong to God, get this over with. But he couldn't, in good conscience, admit to something he knew he hadn't done. How easy is it for people to lie today? Far too easy. Especially if it can benefit them. This practice is happening in the church, unfortunately. Listen to your conscience. Do not weaken or harden it. Stop lying. Resolve today to maintain your integrity, no matter what the cost. Do not let small physical gains bribe your integrity, buy your integrity. Show God you love him by obeying his command not to lie. Do not follow the father of lies, Satan, but follow God, the God of truth. Resolve today to always be an honest person and hold fast to your integrity. In your personal life, maintain your integrity. In your social life, maintain your integrity. In your work life, maintain your integrity in your church life. Maintain your integrity. Remember, Job's integrity in his relationship with God meant more to him than life itself. By holding fast your integrity, you'll maintain a pure and a clean conscience, a conscience that you keep feeding with the words of life, the word of God. Do not corrupt your conscience by feeding it nonsense, garbage fed to you by the world, Let your conscience be strong and speak clearly to you. Now Job recognized that the wicked do generally experience a terrible demise. But we know and we know this is true of all those that die in their sin that do not turn to God as their Lord and Savior. But what he has learned from this grueling experience is that not all people suffering are suffering due to their own sin. See, sometimes we suffer because of the sins of others, like Joseph, just as a reminder. Sometimes we suffer because God is keeping us from sin. And just think of Jesus who suffered, not for his own sin, but for our sins. He suffered greatly, but provided such wonderful salvation because of it. This lesson was an eye-opener for Job. He most likely thought, or we know he thought just as his friends at the beginning, this philosophy was his philosophy, but he has learned a lesson, or he has learnt a lesson, whichever word you want to use. And he realizes that through this time of suffering, there's a change to this philosophy in life, and he's trying to convince his friends. He's trying to maintain his integrity or defend his integrity, at this time, because as people understand this, they'll benefit much from it, just as he benefited from his trial. Remember, sometimes what is good and necessary for us is not pleasant for us, but we have to bear through it to gain the necessary reward. We can benefit from trials we go through. If we go through them with the right attitude, with the right focus, knowing that God allows us to suffer for a reason, So make sure you keep your eyes open and benefit from it. Because God always makes it possible for us to get through a tough time for His glory. Let's close in prayer. Lord and Heavenly Father, we do thank you so much for your word. It's a constant reminder of who you are, a constant reminder of how you expect us to live. And Lord, let's be encouraged from Job. He learned so much from his time of suffering and pain, and we can learn from what he learned for us. We all go through various times of trials and suffering of various degrees. And Lord, I pray that you'll keep our eyes open to see the lesson, to see how we can benefit from this, and how we can pass that benefit on to others. So let us go through sufferings with the right attitude, with the right focus and benefit from it. And throughout all the times, Lord, if we're suffering or not, let us maintain our integrity. Let us not lie, no matter what we might gain from it. Let's hold fast to our integrity and keep a clean conscience for your glory and your glory only. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.