Welcome to the Kerwin Baptist Church broadcast today. Our desire is for the Word of God to be spread throughout the world so that all may know Christ.
Join us now for a portion of one of our services here at Kerwin Baptist Church located in Kernersville, North Carolina. I want you to notice in Proverbs chapter 11 verse 1, A false balance is abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is His delight. When pride cometh, then cometh shame, but with the lowly is wisdom. The integrity of the upright shall guide them, but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them. Riches profit not in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivereth from death. The righteousness of the perfect shall direct his way, but the wicked shall fall by his own wickedness. The righteousness of the upright shall deliver them, but transgressors shall be taken in their own naughtiness.
Notice verse 3, the integrity of the upright shall guide them. Now I want you to look at Job chapter 2. We're going to begin a little bit of a journey in the book of Job to look at the one man that God talked more about integrity with this man Job than anybody in the Bible. I want you to look at Job chapter 2. You're familiar with this passage and we are familiar with chapter 1 where Satan comes to God and he says, you know, God said have you noticed my servant Job?
He's a perfect man, a shoot evil, all these things and Satan said, well, you know, if he suffers then, you know, and I'm obviously paraphrasing, if he suffers then it might not be that way so let me give me freedom and we'll see if he's really that kind of individual. So God gave freedom there and in chapter 1, the Bible says that Satan killed all of Job's children, burned all of his property, took basically every possession that he had. Now in chapter 2, which gets a little bit less attention, chapter 2 is really only known because of Job's wife, it seems. But in chapter 2, I want you to look at verse 1. The Bible says, again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord and Satan came also among them to present himself before the Lord.
Now this had just happened in chapter 1. Look at verse 2, And the Lord said unto Satan, From whence comest thou? And Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and upright man? Now God had just said this about Job and then all this tragedy hit Job and now in chapter 2, God is able to say the same thing.
In other words, now Job has gone through this first wave of trials and attack from Satan. Notice in verse 2, I mean verse 3, he says, A perfect and upright man, one that feareth God and escheweth evil. And still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou moveth me against him, to destroy him without cause. Verse 4, And Satan answered the Lord, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life. But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face. And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand, but save his life. So went Satan forth from the presence of the Lord, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown. And he took him a postherd to scrape himself withal, and he sat down among the ashes. Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity?
Curse God and die. But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What, shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? And all this did not Job sin with his lips. Let's pray, and we want to begin here in Job chapter 2, the verses we've read, giving some principles about integrity. Lord, I love you, and I pray as you have used this, Lord, to challenge me. I certainly was guilty, I believe, of some things, and Lord, I pray that you will do a work in hearts like you have done one in mine through these passages. And Lord, on Memorial Day, when we really honor men and women that had integrity, may we be the kind of Christians that have integrity.
In your name we pray, amen. As we look in Job chapter 2 first on this subject of integrity, I want you to see a couple things here, and you've got to think about this integrity that Job showed, and I want you to understand it a whole lot more when we're done. Look, if you would, at verse 3. The Bible says, obviously, that Job had already been through trials, he'd already lost all of his children, lost all of his property, he was a wealthy man, he had lost everything. So he had already been through that, so in verse 3, the Lord comes to Satan and says, hey, he hasn't cursed me yet, all these things have happened to him, he is still a good man, he's still an upright man. And notice what God says here at the end of verse 3.
He said, one that feared God and escheweth evil, still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou moveth me against him to destroy him without cause. Now what's interesting is the word integrity is not used about Job until chapter 2. Now in chapter 1, God brags on Job, and he says he's a perfect man, and escheweth evil, but he never uses the word integrity until after Job had lost everything he had, and in chapter 2, God said he has held fast to his integrity. Why is it that the word integrity was used in chapter 2, but it wasn't used in chapter 1? You know it's not really integrity until it's been tested. We don't really know if Job had integrity in chapter 1 because things were great, and although he had always done right, we don't really know if it's integrity until you've been through testing. Until you've been through trials.
Until you are down in the dumps. Then we know if you have integrity. We knew you were doing right before, but once trials come, that's where we find out if we have integrity. What's interesting here is we notice that as far as Job could see, God had turned against him. Now you've got to remember through all this, Job didn't curse God, he didn't blame God, but notice if you would in verse 3. God himself says this to Satan, thou movest me against him. So God wasn't against Job, we know that because of God's conversation with Satan, but Job was not privy to the conversation between God and Satan. Even God said it looks like I have moved against Job. So as far as Job knew, for some reason God has turned against me. And in the middle of that he still held his integrity. Notice secondly here that God says also in verse 3, look at the end, to destroy him without what?
So let's wrap our heads around this. Job held his integrity even when it looked like God was against him. And Job held his integrity when God put him through things for no reason whatsoever. Even God said it was without cause.
Did you hear that? Now I can't imagine, now I preach that God doesn't just do things to us. To just be mean. God has a purpose and a reason for everything. And often times it's disciplining us for things where we've erred and sinned in our life and all these things. But can you imagine being faithful to a God that allowed all this to happen for no reason?
Can you imagine being faithful to a God that it appears has absolutely turned against you and there's no reason given for it? May I say this, and I love this in verse 3, he uses this term, these two words, holdeth fast. His integrity God says. That means this, and I'm getting all this to give you the first principle. When God said Job has held fast to his integrity, that means this, number one, it goes against our sinful nature to even acquire integrity.
Did you know that? Our sinful flesh does not naturally have integrity. That goes against our nature to have integrity, but second, it goes against our nature, it fights against our nature to keep it. In other words this, with our sinful nature, it's hard work to get integrity and it's even harder work to keep it.
Or Job wouldn't have had to hold fast to it, that means to struggle, that means to literally grab with your fingertips and not let go. That means everything about Job wanted to get rid of that integrity, but he held fast. Even when he thought God was against him, even when it looked like God did all this for no reason. Principle number one, integrity is the ability to do right even when you don't understand.
Can I have an amen right there? God teaches us about integrity in this book of Job. He says first that integrity is the ability to do right even though you don't understand. Job didn't understand any of this, if Job had had something in his life he might have said, well God probably did this because he's disciplining me for whatever, but God even said there was no cause, there was no reason, and Job chose to do right even when he didn't understand.
That's integrity. Principle number two, look at verse eight. The Bible says that Satan came to God and he said alright well then I've taken everything else, you let me attack him, you let me take away his health, you let me make him suffer, he'll curse you, and God said okay. So in chapter two we find that Job was stricken with boils, went through physical suffering, I believe was probably second only to Jesus.
And in the middle of this, look at verse eight. The Bible said Job is sitting down and it says he took him a posther to scrape himself, and he sat down among the ashes. Now Job had been afflicted emotionally and physically.
Now he had been through the emotional suffering of losing his children, losing everything he had, but now he was physically suffering. May I ask you this, what ashes was Job sitting in? The Bible says he went and sat among the ashes, we've always talked about that, but I've never had anybody ask what were those ashes?
Can anybody help me? It was probably the ashes of his home. Where his family, his children were burned to death. Where they all died. And Job finds himself sitting in those ashes. That was as close as he could get to his children now, was to sit in their ashes. Now you talk about low.
Can anybody else feel the story this morning? I mean already God has done all this without reason and I'm gonna hold my integrity, but after that now Satan attacks him physically, where he's physically suffering, laying there in the ashes of all of his possessions and his family. Look at verse nine. Then said his wife unto him, as Job I believe was sitting in the ashes of his own home and maybe even of his own family. His wife looks at him and says, Dost thou still retain thine integrity?
Look at me. Had he not, it would have never been integrity. I love what Job said in verse 10. He said thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh.
Principle number two. Integrity is having the capability to face good and bad with the same attitude toward God. Now what did Job say? Look at verse 10. He said shall we receive good at the hand of God and not receive evil? In all this did Job not sin with his lips. Look at me.
I want you to get this. It's one thing to have integrity when I don't understand I'm gonna still do right, but integrity is also you and I facing good and bad in our life, but keeping a right attitude toward God. That's integrity. You and I are worshiping today because we had a generation of people with integrity, but you look at me. I'm gonna tell you how Satan will ruin a church is getting people bent out of shape against God. Blaming God for this. Mad at God for this.
Well, when everything's good, okay, we're all right, but as soon as trials come, we get mad at God. God doesn't love me. God doesn't this. God doesn't that.
He hadn't done this. And before long, can I tell you, if you and I as Christians don't have this kind of integrity, our children won't have anywhere to worship because the church will kill itself. Y'all get where I'm going today. We need integrity. We need to be able to receive good from the hand of God and even face bad from the hand of God and still keep a right attitude towards him. That's integrity. Let's see what else God says about it.
Look at Job chapter 27. We obviously will go quickly. We are way ahead of schedule today. So, I'll have to make up for that. I'm picking.
Josh, please don't leave. I was just joking, buddy. I was just joking. Job 27.
Notice if you would. Moreover, Job continued his parable and said, As God liveth, who hath taken away my judgment, and the Almighty who hath vexed my soul? All the while my breath is in me, and the Spirit of God is in my nostrils. My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit.
God forbid that I should justify you, Job said. Listen. Till I die, I will not remove mine integrity from me. My righteousness I hold fast and will not let it go. My heart shall not reproach me so long as I live. I love this. Listen, I got some more coming, but this is, I think, my favorite principle about integrity.
And this is one thing I needed. If you'll notice, in verse 5, Job says this, God forbid that I should justify you, or literally justify the things you've said to his friends, who had been nothing but jerks, in my opinion. And you need to find better friends than these three guys. But I'm not going to get into that.
But notice what he says in verse 5. I will not remove mine integrity from me. Principle number 3. Get this. Integrity is something people cannot take away from you.
You have to lose it. Did you get that? Job said this, I will not remove mine integrity. Do you understand your integrity? Nobody can take that from you. I don't care what people do to you, they can't take your integrity. Only you and I can take that from ourselves. Did you get that?
Why do I feel like nobody's getting this? You and I just need to register. Hey, somebody can do us wrong, and they can take our reputation, and they can lie about us, and they can talk about us, and they can do whatever. But one thing they cannot get is our integrity. If we keep doing right, and we keep faithful to God, we know we've done, and we know what we have acted on, and God knows our heart, but people can't take our integrity. But we can sure give it up. If you've lost your integrity, dear friend, nobody took that from you.
You chose to lose it. It doesn't matter how somebody does us wrong. When we show integrity in the face of somebody doing us wrong, that's when you know you have integrity. Job said, I'm not going to remove this. Job could have said, I'm not going to let you three friends take my integrity. I'm not letting you take that from me. No, Job said, I will not remove it from me. I'm not going to take it from myself, because you three friends, or whoever wants to judge, and whoever wants to say whatever, you can take a whole lot of things from me, but you can't get my integrity. He said in the next verse, I'm not going to let it go. I'm going to hold on to it.
God make us people like this. Notice if you would, Job 31. Job 31. This is the last one in Job. We're almost done. Wow!
You're excited, aren't you? All of a sudden, now you've got integrity. I'll follow him now.
Let me get all Facebook. I'll look in the Bible now. Show some integrity. Job 31. Look at verse 1. I made a covenant with mine eyes. This is a great verse, by the way. I've used this in times past, counseling with men. This is what Job said.
This is a total separate subject. I'm not going to get onto it, but I want you to notice this. Job says, I made a covenant with mine eyes. Why then should I think upon a maid? Can I tell you what's going on in chapter 31, verse 1? We kind of know how Job's wife, and remember, she lost her children, too, and she lost her house, too. And she lost everything she had, too.
And we're giving her a bit of a bad rap sometimes. And in case you're new and maybe new to church, everybody always asks, you know, the Bible says that Satan took all of Job's children and all these things, but his wife was never touched. That's because God in chapter 2 looked at Satan and He said, you can't kill him.
And that means this. The Bible says when two people are married, the two are one under God. So if the man's protected, so is the wife. That shows how serious God takes marriage. And so that's why she was never touched, although she's probably the one that should have been, you know, anyway. Job's probably thinking, the one that I get to keep?
She's the one he leaves me? That's horrible, isn't it, Lord? I apologize. It's gonna be a long lunch for me today.
I'm gonna stop by Taco Bell on the way home or get a filet of fish anyway. Look at verse 1. I made a covenant with my eyes.
Why then should I think upon a maid? For what portion of God is there from above? And what inheritance of the Almighty from on high? Is not destruction to the wicked and a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity?
Job said this. I made a covenant that I'm not gonna do something. Do I literally think that I'm gonna outsmart God?
Do I literally think that everything I have hasn't come from God? And in verse 2 and 3, he says, what portion of God is there from above? Like, I'm going to make a covenant, go back on that covenant.
I'm just gonna live the way I wanna live, although I've been through difficulty, although I've lost my children, my house, my health, everything that I have, although if anybody had a good reason to go nuts one day, Job had it. Notice in verse 4. My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit. I'm not gonna talk about the people that did me wrong. I'm not gonna criticize them. I'm not gonna go to everybody and talk about how they did me wrong. Job said, I'm not gonna do all that. Look at verse 5. God forbid that I should justify you. Wow. Notice that we're coming back to 31.
I'm just repeating. Look at verse 31. Look if you would. Look at verse 2. What portion of God is there from above? Look at verse 3. Is not destruction to the wicked? Verse 4. Does he not see my ways and count all my steps?
Wow. Verse 5. If I have walked with vanity or if my foot hath hasted to deceit, let me be weighed in an even balance that God may know mine integrity.
So what do we learn here? Well, in verse 1 and 2 of Job chapter 31, next principle is this. Integrity is doing right when others can't see.
Notice in verse 1, Job says, if I've made a covenant with my eyes, notice what he says. Why should I think upon a maid? You know what? People don't really know what you think. They see what you do. But they don't always know what you think. Job here is saying this.
I could look at a woman in the wrong lustful way and nobody would know it. But God does. So Job said, hey, do I not remember what comes from God from above? Does he not see every step?
Does he not count every step that I take? Job is saying this. I want to show integrity even when people don't know what I'm thinking, even when they don't see what I'm doing. God does. Integrity is doing right when nobody else can see. Notice this next principle in chapter 31 is this.
I love this. Look at verse 6. Job says, let me be weighed in an even balance that God may know mine integrity.
Next principle is this. Integrity can only be measured by God. So preacher, what do you mean? Do you know that you and I, we don't see the whole story on things? And you know other people don't see the whole story on things? And you know that you and I don't have the ability to understand from all angles and everybody else doesn't have the ability to understand from all angles and everything we do and everything that people know we do, they're going to have their opinion and they're going to say what they think we should have done and we're going to say what we think they should have done and we're going to have a whole bunch of mess. But can I tell you who measures integrity? God does.
Because only God weighs things with an even balance. Now, there's three or four kids get in trouble here at church. I got to watch what I say, I know. And one of mine's in those three or four. My tendency is going to be to be harder on mine than I am to those other four.
That's going to be my tendency. But can I tell you the other part of parenting oftentimes is that we look at things through an uneven balance because we love our youngins. And there might be times where I might think, well, hey, I think he got the unfair rap in this thing. You know why? I'm looking at it oftentimes through the eyes of a loving parent.
He's precious, he wouldn't do that. Yeah, right. Everything in our life, our emotions get involved. Our mind gets involved. Our feelings get involved. And you know, you and I can often say, well, I think I showed integrity and such and such.
Well, I think he showed integrity and such and such. Only God knows that. Only God can measure integrity. And dear friend, why do you say in this preacher, because I'm going to say this, if between you and God you know you've shown integrity, it really doesn't matter what everybody else thinks.
They're not seeing every side of it. Only God does. All right, Proverbs 11, and we'll let you go home today.
I've often heard people, that man has integrity. Well, according to the Bible, do we? Look at Proverbs chapter 11, and we'll let you go today.
Isn't this funny? Here it comes back up right out of the book of Job, verse one. A false balance is abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is his delight. You've got to remember in Bible days, oftentimes trade and business was done by people buying and selling goods, and they would weigh those things.
And it was very well known that even in the temple a lot of times, money would be stolen or things were dishonest because they would weigh something, and the scale would be tinkered with, and there would be an unfair balance somehow, and people wouldn't get their just worth and all these things. And God says that he detests that. He says, I don't like it when things aren't even, when they're not balanced, when it's not fair. Our God, by the way, the Bible says, is a just God. So in verse one, in Proverbs, God says, a false balance is abomination.
It's not just wrong, God hates it. In verse two, when pride cometh, in cometh shame, but with the lowliest wisdom, the integrity of the upright, notice this, shall guide them. Next principle on integrity, I'm gonna give you these last couple and we'll let you go, is this. Integrity gives us clear direction. When you and I have integrity in our life, it makes the way very plain. It eliminates a lot of decisions.
For deciding, well, do I do this or do I do that? Integrity oftentimes makes the decision for you. Notice what he says right here in verse five, the righteousness of the perfect shall direct his way. Job says this, literally back in the Bible, why would I curse God? God's been good to me. And oftentimes you and I, if we don't have integrity in our life, we'll be tempted to take wrong steps here and there and well, I deserve this. Well, I've earned this because I went through such and such.
Well, they did this, so I'm gonna do that. Listen, the integrity of the upright shall guide them. I can't tell you how many times if you have integrity, the decision will be made for you. I know this might would make me more or this might would get me more or this might would be easier or this might would be whatever, but when you have integrity, I've got to do what's right and that guides you. You all agree with that, say amen. Can I tell you why America, well, there's a lot of reasons. On a whole, as great a country as it is compared to so many, why it's so messed up now as compared to what it was a couple generations previous is because there's no integrity.
And when there's no integrity, they make wrong decisions. Thank you for listening today. We hope you received a blessing from our broadcast. The Kerwin Baptist Church is located at 4520 Old Hollow Road in Kernersville, North Carolina. You may also contact us by phone at 336-993-5192 or via the web at kerwinbaptistchurch.com. Enjoy our services live and all our media on our website and church app. Thank you for listening to the Kerwin broadcast today. God bless you.
