If you have your Bibles turn please to the Book of James, chapter 5, verse 11 as we continue our sermon series on Great Men of the Bible, Volume I, with a sermon, Job: The Power of Patience.
How many of you have a problem with patience? Let me see your hand. I do. And the rest of you need to repent. I think some people get credit for being patient who just don't have the nerve to get something started.
You know you are impatient when you find yourself waiting for your micro-wave to hurry up. Do you get impatient mixing your instant coffee? We are an impatient generation. We have computers and fax machines and call waiting and beepers. We are very impatient people. The impatient factor has come into the house of God. When people bow their heads to pray they get so rushed lifting them they suffer whip lash. We have a physical McDonalds, why not a McChurch. Millions are being served, few are being fed. That's happening in the church.
Isaiah said, "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength." Say that with me; "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength." Some of you need to slow down and smell the roses. The last time you smelled roses it came out of a can of glade.
A secretary was making her mid-year resolutions to be more patient and she wrote down, "I will be more understanding" and she scratched thru that and said, "I can't do that." Secondly she wrote down, "I will be more patient with the incompetent people that surround me." She scratched thru that and said, "I can't do that." Third resolution, "I will not slap anyone before 8:00 in the morning." She said, "I can do that."
James 5:11, read with me please. (read)
I've heard of the patience of Job all of my life and I'm tired (laugh) of hearing of the patience of Job. Who was Job? No one knows. When did he live? No one knows. What was his race? No one knows. Where did he live? The Bible says, "the land of Oz" Where is that? No one knows. Why? Because God wanted once and for all to establish one man on the face of the earth who was a universal man. A man whose faith and fortitude and divine patience, which is endurance, would establish forever a benchmark of true grit what a person can go thru who will hold to the hand of God.
I want you to listen to this story of Job because if you don't need it today, you're going to need it soon. You are going to find yourself in this story, Job: The Power of Patience. Let's pray.
Father, thank you for the joy and the privilege of being in the house of the Lord and let us learn today from the life of Job a lesson that everyone of us need -- for the rest of our lives. The power of patience. In Jesus name we pray and all of God's children said, praise the Lord.
Observe Job's resume. The Bible says Job was perfect and upright. The Bible says that Job "was one who feared the Lord and hated evil." Notice those last 3 words "and hated evil." Paul wrote in Hebrews 1:9 "You that love the Lord and righteousness, hate iniquity therefore the Lord has anointed you with the oil of gladness"
David said in Psalms, "You who are righteous hate the evil things." What you need to understand right now as Americans is that hate laws are being formulated that will, in the very near future, send Gospel preachers to jail for saying anything against anyone's godless life style. The Bible says to hate, to stand against every evil thing. Yet right now under the auspices of hate laws we are now structuring a way so the secular humanist can send anyone to jail for preaching the Word of God as hate.
It is going to be interesting being a Christian in the very near future.
Thirdly. Job was obviously wealthy and he was a friend of God. Hundreds of thousands of sheep whitened the floor of the green valley. 500 yoke of oxen and 500 donkeys plowed his fields. 3,000 camels carried his import products to the marketplaces of the world. His wealth was beyond measure. But with all that wealth, Job never forgot the secret of wealth was giving. The Bible says, "The Lord loveth a cheerful giver." The Bible says, it is the Lord that gives you power to get wealth. The secret of wealth is giving.
The Bible says, "Give and it shall be given unto you, pressed down, shaken together and running over." The Bible says that everything that God controls, GIVES. The sun gives light. Plants give food. Rain gives water. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have ever lasting life.
That fact is that many of us will never live in abundance because the cancer of greed has destroyed the spirit of giving. You have stolen God's tithe and offering. Creditors have been placed above Christ. We are also falling short in the giving of our time and our worship to Him. We think it is the rich who are always greedy. Some of the most greedy people I know don't have a thing. Those who will not give will not know God's abundance.
The day is going to come in eternity when all that you will have is what you have given to God. Some need to take God off your charity list and put Him on your payroll. He has given you all things and it is time for us to give back to Him, freely and with joy.
God is waiting in the balconies of heaven to see who will serve Him in prosperity or adversity. Who will serve Him in sickness and in health. Who will serve Him in joy or in sorrow. Who will serve Him and love not their lives unto the death.
Satan put his slander in the form of a question, "Does Job serve God for nothing?" He says, "I know Job belongs to the church, he tithes, I know he gives to the poor BUT!! Take away his mansion, take away his fortune and he'll curse You to Your face.
There are 2 reactions when everything starts to go wrong. How many of you have ever had something go wrong in your life? How many of you are alive. The first is Job's wife--"CURSE GOD AND DIE!!" I don't know if Job's wife was pessimistic or had PMS. PMS is an acronym for "Pack My Suitcase" Job's reaction was, "tho God slay me, I'm going to come forth pure as gold." When gold is refined it is heated until it is boiling, then is the impurities drained off until it is pure.
Job said, "let the refiner's fire purge me." Job's great test came unannounced. I wish God would take out an ad in the newspaper that would say, "Alright, Art Ferry, on such and such a day, at such and such an hour, all hell is going to break out in your life. Then on that day and at that time, I'd be ready. But that's not how it happens. That's not how it happens at all. The story of Job proves that bad things do happen to good people, who have no sin in their life.
Then the messengers come, one by one. Bringing the bad news to Job. That all that he possesses is being taken away and then the 4th messenger comes and brings him the new of the loss of his children. I pray that God will spare me the agony of standing by the grave of one of my children ever. There is no greater tragedy on the face of the earth than for a parent to have to bury one of his children. BUT TO BURY ALL OF THEM, 10 OF THEM IN ONE DAY. Unbelievable tragedy. Who could endure it?
Job's reaction was, he rip his mantle and fell on the ground screaming in anguish. He cried until there were no tears left to cry. He stood beside all 10 graves and still the Bible tells us he would not curse God. Job did not accuse the Lord foolishly. He did not say, "So, this is the reward of the righteous."
He did not say, "So, this is what I get for living a holy life?" He said, "Naked I came out of my mother's womb and naked shall I return." "The Lord has given and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord." He praise God in the darkest hour of his life. Some of you here have lost your possessions. Some here may have even lost a child. I ask you to do what Job did.
Do not let bitterness destroy you. Do not let resentment become a cancer that eats up your soul. Lift your hands and say, "God, I don't understand why I am going thru this dark valley. I don't know why you have given me this burden. But I know You are too wise to make a mistake. And I know You are too loving to be unkind. And I'm putting my hand in Your nail scared hand and I'm letting You lead me across the valley of the shadow of death. My tears may seem unending and my burden unbearable, but somehow, God Almighty is going to spare me and carry me across this dark moment. I SHALL YET PRAISE HIM, Who is the glory and lifter of my head. I shall prevail because I standing on the solid Rock, Christ Jesus.
I want to say this once and say it short. When bad things happen they usually happen for one of 3 reasons. They happen because we have sinned and that's a fact. Sometimes they happen because of someone else's sin and that too is a fact and thirdly, they happen because of the providential will of God and we may never know the reason. In the 9th chapter of John the question is asked concerning the man born blind. "Who sinned this man or his parents, that he was born blind" and Jesus replies, "that neither this man nor his parents sinned but that the works of God should be made manifest in him." Yes, some people suffer because of sin, but not ALL people.
I close with this. God spoke to Job in a whirlwind. Read the book of Job, God does not give Job one reason why he lost his possessions, he lost his health and he lost his children. He gives no explanation why he was born, he is given no explanation why he is not permitted to die. He is given no explanation why his wife said, "Curse God and die." and his friends rejected him. God said, "Job, gird up your loins, like a man." He is saying to this man, "It is time for sorrowing to stop and it is time for you to see Who I am."
Then He ask him a series of questions. A whole chapters worth. He said, "Where were you when I created the world. When were you when I flung the stars against the velvet of the night. Where were you when I measured the seas out of the palm of my hand. Where were you Job to give me counsel and advice on how to do this. WHAT WAS GOD SAYING TO JOB. He is saying to Job, "You don't have the foggiest idea how powerful I am. You don't. I gave you those thousands of sheep and I can do it again. I gave you the oxen, the camels and the servants and I can do it again. I gave you the mansion and I can do it again. I gave you 7 handsome sons and 3 beautiful daughters and I can do that again.
Job, you are over the hill. Job there is not enough spark in your battery to light a match, but I'm going to put enough fire in you and I'm going to cause you to be creative and I'm going to give you those 7 sons back and those 3 daughters again. What's God saying here. He saying, "Whatever I take away, I can give back." "Have I taken something from you, I can give it back to you in greater proportions." "Have you lost friends, I can give you new friends." "Have you lost your prosperity, I can give you greater prosperity." "Have you lost your children, I can give you more children."
"Have you lost something and Satan has come to you and said, "So this is how it's going to be for the righteous" God is saying, "GET UP, gird your loins like a man. Rejoice in the midnight hour. Because as long as the living God is in your life, nothing is impossible. I am the Lord that can raise the dead, who can speak into a handful of dirt and man become a living soul. I am God Almighty, nothing is impossible. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad."
So the story ends this way. God gave Job 7 more beautiful sons and 3 more beautiful daughters. The Bible says that God gave Job possessions back, double.
Whatever he lost, God doubled it. And the Bible closes the story with, "So Job died, being old and full of days. 140 years after his last trial. God allowed him the time to enjoy the wealth that He gave him.
Many of you in this room are going thru a great crisis and I want you to hear this, DO NOT QUIT, because Job refused to quit under pressure. The difference between a diamond and a lump of coal is that the diamond makes good under pressure. In the bowels of the earth they are both under pressure, but when the pressure comes upon the coal and endures the pressure it becomes a diamond for which you pay thousands of dollars for. You pay a few dollars for a ton of coal.
Your value is determined by what you are willing to endure. James 5, "We count them happy who endure". Many of you in this room have lost your possessions. Lost your health. You've lost some of your children. I say to you, DON'T QUIT. Don't give up on your life. You may be broken hearted. Your life may seem to have no direction. But as long as God is anywhere around, nothing is impossible. He can restore it and make your broken life a thing of beauty again.
God moves is mysterious ways, His wonders to perform. Can we stand and bow our heads in the presence of the Lord.
Father God today, thank you for your grace and thank you for your goodness and thank you for the life of Job that has demonstrated to us what one person can endure, who will hold to God's unchanging hand. In Jesus name we pray.
