Job is a warm, vibrant example of a man who was truly a priest in his home. This man is one of the most unique figures in all of Scripture, and that very unique-ness makes his example all the more relevant for us. This man gives us the classic portrait of family priesthood given us in the opening verses of the book by the same name. To understand the significance of his priesthood for us we will consider its certainty, its circumstances, its character, and its continuation.

Thank you for coming out in what is very early in the morning if you're from Central Standard Time, which is about 730 about now. Last spring, I did a short series for my church in Owensboro, which I entitled The Distinctives of Grace Reformed Baptist Church. The fifth and last distinctive, which I shared in that series, was the priority of family godliness. I thought the best thing that I could do this morning is let you overhear what I said to my church that morning. It was this, pastors develop philosophies over long years of ministry.

And let me tell you what I mean. Philosophies are not quite by biblical doctrines. Doctrines are the explicit teaching of the Word of God. Philosophies, however, are more than personal convictions. Convictions are privately held views which guide one's own life but which one is not prepared to impose on other people, other Christians." Philosophies are perspectives about the best way for the church to seek to serve God and God's people.

Your pastors have such a philosophy when it comes to the best way to serve the youth and children of this church. Many churches apparently believe that the best way to serve their youth is to have well-organized youth groups run by youth pastors. If you listen to their staff meetings and to their preaching, this becomes very clear. But here's the problem. The things — those things are not God's plan for serving the youth growing up in the church.

You parents are the plan. God's plan is the home and the family supported by the church. When youth groups and so-called youth pastors, who many times are not really pastors or qualified pastors at all, become the plan, the plan becomes a monstrosity which often does little good and may do more harm than good. God's plan for the church's youth is family godliness. Of course, the church and the family must work together to evangelize and disciple young people growing up in the church.

I would not even say that it's wrong for one of the pastors to take a special interest in ministering to the youth of the church. Actually, I think that would be a pretty good thing. But the plan is not for youth pastors and youth groups to bring up your children in the Lord. It is for fathers with the assistance of godly mothers to bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. And then I said to my church, that is why in this last installment of this series on the distinctives of Grace Reformed Baptist Church, I want to preach to you on family godliness.

Here is my presupposition. Family godliness begins with the head of the home. In the Bible, the head of the home is the husband and father. And even though that seems medieval to a day crazed by modern feminism, it is what the Bible teaches. But when feminism fails, along with the whole gender neutral and homosexual agenda with which it is now associated, the biblical teaching will still stand.

When feminism comes crashing to the ground like communism did because it cannot thrive in the actual world God made, the biblical teaching on the importance of the man as head of the home will still be true. So I want to turn you in your Bibles this morning to a classic biblical statement of this great truth and a classic statement of the importance of the man of God and his ministry in the home for family godliness and that passage is Job chapter one. I want you to look at verses one to five. Job one, verses one to five. And follow as I read.

There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job and that man was blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil. Seven sons and three daughters were born to him. His Possessions also were 7, 000 sheep, 3, 000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and very many servants. And that man was the greatest of all the men of the east. His sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them.

When the days of feasting had completed their cycle, Job would send and consecrate them, rising up early in the morning and offering burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, Perhaps my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts. Thus Job did continually." The theme of Job 1, 1-5 is clearly the godliness of Job as head of his home. Of course, in connection with the theme of the whole book, this section of Job is intended to set the stage. The theme of the whole book has to do with why the righteous suffer.

The first five verses are intended to establish that Job was righteous, a godly man. And they do so, interestingly enough, by speaking of the godliness of Job as the head of his home. Now before I go any farther, let me stop and ask you to think about that. Isn't it interesting that when the Bible wants to emphasize the godliness of this man, it speaks of the godliness of Job as the head of his home. Does that not speak very loudly and clearly about the importance or centrality of a man's godliness in the home to what he is spiritually as a whole.

For the Bible, what you are in the home is what you are. Do not be Mr. Talkative of Pilgrim's Progress, who appears best at a distance and worst when he is at home. Give attention then to the subject that is before us of the godliness of Job as the head of his home. I want you to look at this with me this morning under seven headings, most of them are pretty short, and all of them begin with P.

First of all, notice the place of Job. The place of Job. Job 1, verse 1a, speaks of the place of Job. There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. But when I speak of the place of Job, I'm not just asking where he lived, I'm asking questions like who was Job?

Where was Job? When was Job? And I want to ask you these questions by discussing the place of Job historically or the historical identity of Job under this first point. Job's identity historically is, I think it's proper to say, something of a mystery. Maybe you like mysteries or mystery novels.

Let's look at five biblical clues which will help us solve the mystery of the place of Job in history. The first clue is given us in that name, Uz, used in verse 1. It's used seven times in Scripture of three different people, but here it's very likely that it's used of the Uz who was one of the sons of Aram, the father of the Syrians, Genesis 10 23. This in light of the other clues we will look at is the likely reference here. If we take the land of Uz to be the land of the Uz who was the son of Aram, then it was located in the vicinity of Syria, northwest of the land of Palestine, northwest of the promised land.

The second clue is given us in verse three, where Job is described as the greatest of the sons of the east. This refers, of course, to the Gentile nations who lived east of Palestine. When you look at this in comparison with the other usages in 1 Kings 4.30 and Genesis 29.1 and the Old Testament, it tends to confirm that Job was a Syrian who lived in Syria. As we just said, Job did not live in the Promised Land. Job himself was not a Jew or a son of Jacob.

The third clue to the historical identity of Job is given us in Job 42, 16. And here you're going to have to put your Sherlock Holmes hats on because there we read in Job 42 16, after this Job lived 140 years and saw his sons and his grandsons for generations. Now I want you to follow a train of logic here, okay? I don't think it's that difficult, so hang in there with me. According to this verse, Job lived 140 years after he recovered from the tragedies that are described in the first couple of chapters of the book.

Now, since he had 10, what seemed to be mostly adult children and a considerable reputation prior to the devastating providences which wiped out his fortune and his family, Job must have lived to an age approaching 200 years. I get that by thinking that he was probably about 50 years old when the calamities struck him. The calamities struck him and maintained for about five years, and then he lived another 140 years, which gets to the number 195. Now this makes his lifespan actually greater than that of Abraham, who lived to be, according to Genesis 25, 7, 175 years, which at that stage in the history of the world was, the text says, a ripe old age. So I think this enables us to place Job historically because throughout the period after the flood, the lifespans of human beings were shrinking, rapidly decreasing, and thus Job's lifespan at 195 or so places him slightly before the time of Abraham.

The fourth clue to the historical identity of Job is that in the entire book of Job, think about it, you've read the book, there is no mention of Abraham, Israel, Moses, or any of the distinctive history and institutions of the Abrahamic or Mosaic covenants. The world of Job was a world that knew nothing apparently of God's special covenant with the seed of Abraham. And this also places Job at or before the time of Abraham. And then the fifth clue we have to the historical identity of Job is this exercise of a family priesthood, which included offering animal sacrifices as described in Job 1.5. The exercise by Job of this kind of family priesthood places Job at a period prior to the Mosaic period.

Why you ask? Well, with the Mosaic Covenant, the exercise of this kind of priestly sacrifice by the head of the home was by law restricted to the tribe of Levi and the sons of Aaron. Prior to that, however, we have records of such priesthoods exercised by other people. Melchizedek is called the priest of the most high God in Genesis 14. Jethro is sympathetically recognized as the priest of Midian in Exodus 18.

More significantly, Noah, Abraham, and Jacob appeared to have exercised a priesthood in which they offered sacrifices on behalf of their families. This is the place of Job historically. He lived considerably east of the land of Palestine at or before the time of Abraham and we're going to return to these facts when we come to consider the relevance of all this to us as men who are also called to be priests in our home. Notice secondly the piety of Job. Job 1b speaks of his piety.

And that man was blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil. Now piety is usually scorned and used by Hollywood of the pious hypocrite, but it's a good word. Job's piety was real. What exactly is piety? Piety refers to one's devotion to God, devoutness, religiousness, holiness, or godliness.

Piety is God-oriented, and it was this that made Job who he was. The key phrase in verse 1b, and the high point in the description of Job's godliness is fearing God. Everything builds to that and comes down from that in the description. It was his God-fearing character which made him blameless and upright. It was this fear of God that made him turn away from evil.

Now of course, these descriptions do not intend to tell us that Job was perfect. We know he wasn't perfect because in Job 42, 6 we read his confession of sinfulness. He says, therefore I retract and I repent and dust and ashes. And we also know that he wasn't perfect because the wise man rightly asked in Proverbs 20 verse 9, who can say I have cleansed my heart, I am pure from my sin. No one can say that.

Job couldn't say that. The text of the Bible here isn't saying that. It's only saying that while Job was not perfect, he was real, there was genuine, godly integrity in this man, Job. But that brings us to our third point, the progeny of Job, the progeny of Job. The term progeny, children, means his children.

We learn from verse two that he had a large family. We read seven sons and three daughters were born to him. Job's godliness as the head of his home was not limited to pouring all his strength and time and energy into an only child. No, it required the multiple obligations and varied responsibilities of caring for a large family. Further, this mention of his family makes clear that the priesthood he exercised, and for which he is commended, is not of a nation or tribe, but simply the care he felt for his own family." But then notice fourthly the possessions of Job.

Verse 3 speaks in the language of the day of the great wealth of Job. His possessions also were 7, 000 sheep, 3, 000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female doggies and very many servants. The lengthy description of his possessions given us in verse 3 is of course intended to underscore that Job was a wealthy man. This provides the basis for us to understand the massive losses he incurred when the tragedies overtook the providential tragedies overtook his family. This description then tells us incidentally that Job with such wealth to administer must have been a very busy man.

He wasn't a trust fund boy. He had a large family business to run, and that took constant attention. He had a large family business to run and for which he was responsible. His busyness is also conveyed by the next thing we come to, and that has to do with the prominence of Job. Job 1.3b says, and that man was the greatest of all the men of the east.

On account partly of his wealth, and no doubt, also probably on account of his moral stature, Job was regarded as the greatest of the sons of the east. Take all the elders in all the cities and all the land of Syria, and there Job was the best known, the most respected, the greatest of all the sons of the east. In the Old Testament, Moses, David, Mordecai, among others, are all described as great. So also in terms of his social stature and influence was Job. Thus not only did Job have the responsibilities of a large family and a considerable business, he also had constant calls as a great man in Syria to give counsel and even probably render judgment in the gate as an elder in the affairs of his country.

Later statements and comments that occur incidentally in the book of Job, which he laments his fall from his former place, bear witness to how widely known and respected he was throughout that society. But then notice, sixthly, the practice of Job. The practice of Job. In illustration of his piety, verses four and five recount the spiritual practice of Job in caring for his family. We read there, His sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them.

When the days of feasting had completed their cycle, Job would send and consecrate them, rising up early in the morning and offering burnt offerings according to the number of them all, for Job said, perhaps my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts. Now these verses relate several things. What Job did, when he did it, and also why he did it. First of all, consider what Job did. The context of the priestly activity of Job was the round of feasts described in verse four.

Now commentators have a lot of speculation about what these feasts concerned or what they were about. Many ideas with regard to the nature or occasion of the feast described here are given. But I believe that the feast described here were birthday celebrations. The words on his day used here naturally designate the birthday of each of Job's sons. And this interpretation is particularly commended because in Job 3.1, Job uses exactly the same terminology when we are told that he cursed his day.

That is to say, he cursed the day of his birth, and that same terminology is used here in verse five and the description in verse four. Verse five tells us that Job's offering consistently took place when the days of feasting had completed their cycle. The most natural meaning of verse 5 as to the chronology of Job's offerings is this. After each birthday celebration of one of his seven sons was over, Job would on the next day, early in the morning, offer his offerings. Now we are to assume, I think, that these birthday celebrations were more than a few minutes one evening singing happy birthday.

No, it seems like they were a several-day kind of thing. And that on the morning after the conclusion of this period of festivities, Job would offer burnt offerings. Now if this is correct, then of course the offering of veer here – view here would be offered at least seven times a year because he had seven sons. Such a periodic sacrifice was surely not all Job did as a priest and spiritual head of his home. It certainly is not presented as all Job did here, yet it is here presented as a remarkable evidence of his consistent family godliness.

That's what Job did. But consider as well here when he did it. We are told of the priority of this priesthood for Job in the little phrase found in verse five which reads, rising up early in the morning. Rising up early in the morning. What gets you out of bed?

What gets you out of bed early? Generally speaking, what will make us rise up early in the morning is our real, reveals our real priorities in life. I've heard of men who get out of bed at four or four thirty in the morning to lift or to go on a long run. I think if I tried to lift at four in the morning, my arms would fall off. And I think if I went on a long run, it would last about two minutes at that time in the morning.

At any rate, I'm sure that that's what would happen to me, but those of us who are getting up at 4 or 4.30 in the morning because these things, this period of lifting, this period of running is important to their sense of who they are physically, and that's a real priority for them. It's clear that for such men, their work arts are a high priority for them, and just such a priority for Job were these sacrifices. They were such a priority that even if they required him to rise up very early in the morning in order to work them into his busy schedule, he would make the sacrifice. He'd kick himself out of bed. He'd rise up early in the morning.

That's when he did it, but I want you to consider in the third place why he did it. Our passage informs us of the spiritual concern or motive which prompted Job and the periodic offerings of which we have just spoken. For Job said, perhaps my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts. This statement informs us that Job's sacrifices were not empty rituals, and they were certainly far from simply formal religion. They were a heartfelt use of the appointed means of grace in the Old Testament with a view to the deliverance of his children from the anger of an offended God.

Job was determined that in so far as any human being or means of grace could, he would lead his children to the mercy seat of God that they might experience his grace and health. The depth of Job's concern is further underscored by what we just looked at, the fact that he rose up early in the morning to do that. Yes, his heart was at stake in these sacrifices. His heart was behind these sacrifices, a heart which recognized the potential sinfulness of his progeny. What – Waldrons would never do something like that.

Boy, I learned a long time ago not to say that. How much we learn from this? Parents learn not to be gullible about what their children might do or not do. I haven't raised my children like that. They wouldn't do that.

Folks, your children do a lot of things you taught them exactly not to do. I'm afraid that's true. But we learn many things about Job's spiritual perspectives from this concern, and I can only briefly mention seven of those perspectives here, and I'm just gonna list them, but listen and learn. First we learn his believing commitment to the divinely established public means of grace. The divinely established means of grace in Job's day was offering sacrifices, animal sacrifices to God, and he used the means that God had appointed.

Second, we learn his determined resolution to lead his family in the worship of the living God. He called his children to these sacrifices. Third, we learn his sense of spiritual responsibility and his loving yearning care for the spiritual welfare of his children. He bore them on his heart. It's obvious.

Fourth, we learn his holy suspicion of his children's sinfulness and his rejection of parental gullibility about their spiritual condition. Fifth, we learn his confidence in the appointed means of grace to meet the spiritual needs of his children. Sixth, we learn his assumption of his own spiritual authority to impose on his children the use of those means of grace. He sent and consecrated them. He called them authoritatively to these sacrifices.

And seventh, we learn the earnest, early morning type zeal of Job's spiritual headship. But then I want you to notice in the seventh and last place before we come to application, the perseverance of Job. The end of verse five says it very succinctly, thus Job did continually, or as the Hebrew reads, all the days. Though the statement is very succinct, it gives us a grand insight into Job's character. It speaks to us of the perseverance of Job.

Job was marked by great consistency in these sacrifices and the other associated manifestations of his family godliness. He offered these sacrifices like clockwork all the days, after every one of his children's birthday celebrations. He might have had a big business meeting that day. He might have had to go to the gate for a serious issue of national importance, but he didn't miss the sacrifice. He allowed no other responsibilities or interruptions to deflect him from the appointed sacrifice.

He was not erratic, he was not irregular, he was not inconsistent, but utterly consistent and in this way showed that these matters were of the highest priority to him. I wanna come then, having looked at these seven truths about the godliness of Job, to some practical lessons about the godliness of Job as the head of his home. What do we learn from all this? And so I want to apply Job to you. But before I do so, I think there's a question or objection that has to be addressed.

And I wanna see if I can state that objection or question for you. I think it boils down to what we can call the modern objection, which we hear in all sorts of ways today. It goes like this, that was then, this is now. Okay, yeah, that was fine for Job, that was then, This is not now. Here's my response to that question.

True, some things have changed, but not everything has changed. I want to break that down for you. Yeah, some things have changed. There are at least a couple of things that have changed since Job's day. We can't deny that.

We ought not to deny that. We do not want to deny that. First, animal sacrifices changed. In the Mosaic covenant, the offering of animal sacrifice was restricted to the Levitical priest. And then, in the New Covenant, it was fulfilled and abolished by that to which all those sacrifices pointed – the once for all sacrifice of Christ.

So animal sacrifices changed. That's no longer here in the New Covenant the appointed means of grace, or one of them. But second, we also have to realize, and I think it's important that we realize, that the nature of the church has changed. The church of God is no longer a family in the sense of a physical family. The church has developed as a distinct institution from the family since the days of Job.

The church was first a family in Abraham's day, then growing out of Abraham's extended family, it was the physical nation of Israel under the old covenant, but now is it a spirit, it is a spiritual institution, a spiritual family, if you will, composed of those spiritually born of God in the new covenant. And so, yes, animal sacrifice and the nature of the church has changed since Job's day, but not everything has changed. Let me tell you why the mentality that says, that was then, this is now, is so wrong. It's so wrong because not everything has changed and there are certain commonalities that thread themselves through history without interruption and without disruption. Job's example embodies a creation ordinance.

By creation, the man is the head and protector and provider for his family. This is why we see Job doing this and he's not even an Israelite, not even in the seat of Abraham. He's a Syrian someplace else in the world. But even as a Gentile, he was the head of his home. Why?

Because it descended from creation. And of course Paul says this in many places in the New Testament. First Corinthians 11, First Timothy 2, tells us that the headship of the man in the home, the fact that he is presider and protector and provider in all these in a spiritual way, these things descend from creation and as a creation ordinance they endure as long as creation endures. But also the explicit teaching of the New Testament covenant scriptures tells us that men are still, in some sense, to be priests in their homes. It's interesting, you can study the passage, I don't have time to turn you there now, that in Ephesians 5 22 and following, the great passage in which Paul explains the duties of the man as the head of the home, he calls him to imitate the Lord Jesus Christ, and everybody knows that.

What is often not recognized when you look carefully at the descriptions that are given there, it is Jesus Christ precisely as a priest of his church, as the priestly husband of his bride, that is the example for what a man should be. Yes, the man is still a priest in his home. If he's going to follow the example of Jesus, as Paul tells him to, he must be a priest in his home. And of course, Paul goes on to say that like priests, the man in his home must be a spiritual teacher and he must bring up his children, both in the nurture and in the admonition of the Lord. So not everything has changed and there is an application of Job's example to us.

And thus we may carefully, but we must fearlessly ask what we may learn from the example of Job. My prayer is that God will give these things weight on your hearts. We learn that you men must lead your homes on the basis of the sacrifice of Christ. Experience in preaching on this subject tells me that many men in hearing about their duties from the example, the sterling example of Job, sink under the power of Job's example and the teaching of the Bible about the multitude of their responsibilities and thus of their failures as the head of their home. But you must learn to take advantage of your responsibilities and the grace that is given to you in Christ Jesus.

What you are telling yourself is true, you have sinned. What you are telling yourself is true, you are guilty. What you are telling yourself is exactly right, you need forgiveness. What you are telling yourself that you can't do this is exactly true. You can't.

You need the Spirit of God. But all these things are found in what was typified in Job's sacrifice, the work of Jesus Christ. You cannot be the head of your home, not divorced from Jesus Christ, not without a living and active and ongoing union with your Savior. With the forgiveness found in Christ and the spirit of life found in Christ, you can do it. Repent then toward God.

If you have to, go repent toward your family. Seek rich grace from Christ on the base of his sacrifice and be the spiritual head of your home. Don't slip over and give up. Fall on Christ and get up to be the head of your home. We learned that you men in the second place must lead your home not only on the basis of the sacrifice of Christ, but like Job, you must lead them to the sacrifice of Christ.

You must not only lead on the basis of the sacrifice of Christ, you must lead to the sacrifice of Christ. It was around the sacrifice that Job gathered his children. And you must gather your children around the sacrifice of Christ. You must teach and explain to them the gospel which is based on the sacrifice of Christ. This addresses us men with searching questions.

When do you do this? How do you do this? Do you do this? These are searching questions. The example of Job and the wider teaching of Scripture tells us that such instruction is a non-negotiable part of what it means to be a husband and father.

But a third application, we learn that you must use the appointed means of grace in leading your home. What do I mean? Well I showed you that Job used the means of grace appointed in the Old Testament, and you must use the means of grace appointed in the New Testament for you. You must lead your family to the public means of grace. That means you must lead your children to the church established by Christ and its worship and ministry.

Faithful church attendance in your home must not be a negotiable thing. It must not be optional. It must be mandatory. You also must lead your family to the private means of grace. Your fathers must bring up your children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

You cannot say to yourself, I bring them to church for the pastor to teach them. No, you must bring them to the Bible at home and teach them. Do you really think that it's going to carry a lot of weight you're taking them to church if you ever talk to them about the Bible and pray with them at home? But then we learn also that there are no adequate excuses for not being a spiritual leader in your home. Job had every excuse he could have wanted to make excuse for failure, but he did not use them.

Job is here presented as a consistent spiritual leader in his home. Of him it is written, thus Job did continually. He had 10 children and he did it continually. He was the owner of a large family business and still the text reads, Thus Job did continually. He was a man of national importance in Syria who was sought out by all sorts of people for his counsel, who sat with the elders of the gate to render judgment in great matters of national importance.

And still the text reads, thus Job did continually. How easily do men today plead such excuses as these things would give them for their miserable domestic failure? So let me tell you something, my brothers. I doubt that any of us here are a busier or more important man than Job was. And yet Job got the job done.

The text still reads, thus Job did continually. He never missed his periodic offerings, even if it took getting up really early in the morning. And in comparison with that example, what do our excuses look like in comparison? Fifth application. We learn here the spiritual dynamic which will make you the spiritual leader in your home that you should be.

How can I become this kind of man? Well, you can be like Job if you have Job's heart. The text is most convicting in this way because in it we see Job's heart. We see the heart of yearning love for his sons and daughters, the heart of concern, which Job expresses in verse five. Job's consistency as a priest in his home and the priority which being such a priest obviously was for him, was rooted in the spiritual burden he carried, in the spiritual weight he felt on his shoulders every day.

Perhaps the words are awful and tender and enormous. Perhaps, perhaps my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts. Very often, if not universally, it is the awful and significant lack of such a heart which is the real explanation for the failures of men for the to be the head and spiritual leader of their home. And you see, it's simply the natural affection of simple love for our children, which is a natural affection, as I said, sanctified by converting grace that is sufficient to make a man begin a priest, to be a priest in his home. And if you're characterized by drastic and ongoing failures in this area of your life, the awful thing is it argues that you don't carry the same spiritual burden and that you don't have the same heart and that perhaps it's because you're not even regenerate that you don't feel this way about your children.

So basic is the concern that drives a man to be a priest in his home, that if he is not such a priest, it raises the most serious concerns about whether the man is even a Christian. But finally, Job's example is a call to spiritual consistency in our leadership in the home. The passage ends with, thus Job did continually. And It was Job. I don't want to beat down on Job's wife, but we know later in Job that she wasn't the one responsible for saying, hey, Job, you got to get out of bed.

It's time for the sacrifice. No. She was the one that later called on Job to curse God and die. So whatever was happening here, and I don't wanna beat up on Job's wife, it certainly wasn't his wife that was the rock and the pilot and the head and the leader and the guide of this home know, you are called to be the rock. You are called to be the pilot.

You, man, are called to be the guide. And if you don't do it, it won't get done. If you are to do this, you must know what you believe, you must stick to what you believe, you must do what you believe and you must expect God to bless what you believe the Word of God teaches. And this means studying the Word of God, knowing the promises of God, understanding how to seek the face of God for yourself. Well, that brings me to the last thing I want to say.

Here's the bottom line. What is God's plan for the spiritual blessing of your family? You, brother, are the plan. You are the plan, not you divorced from Christ, but you in Christ and with his grace. Not you divorced from the church, and not you, divorced from the Word, but you, in the church, with the Word, in union with Christ.

You are God's plan for blessing your family. Let's pray. Well, we do thank you for your word. Grant that it should never lose its power, grip on our hearts and minds. We draw near to you to ask that it would continue to weigh upon us and grant that the words that we read of Job, of his yearning heart, perhaps my sons have sinned, as they drove him to spiritual faithfulness would drive us as well.

We ask these things in Jesus' name, amen.