Pastor Raymond Osborne

�Keep On Believing!�
Job 7

As we continue our study of the Fruit of the Spirit, this morning we come to perhaps the only fruit of the Spirit that on the surface looks like something I don�t want!

Longsuffering; who in their right mind wants LONGSUFFERING?

I went to dictionary.com to get a definition of the word, �longsuffering.� You won�t believe what I found! Here it is, the definition of �longsuffering� is, DIET!

Oh don�t you know that�s the truth! Stephanie & I have been so funny as we begin this diet thing. You should have seen us the last two times we went out to eat! The waitress at Sagebrush here in town looked at me like I was crazy when she arrived at the table with that BIG, WONDERFUL bucket of peanuts and I said, �Um, would you mind taking those back?�

Then when we went Friday night to Outback there we sat with our Weight Watchers points sheet in our hands desperately looking to see how many points a �Thunder from Down Under� was! You know, the brownie dessert with ice cream on top, and chocolate syrup, sprinkled with more bits of chocolate.

Okay, dictionary.com didn�t say that �longsuffering� is synonymous with �diet,� but what it DID say was, �Patiently enduring wrongs or difficulties.� Same thing right?

When I thought about the word, �longsuffering,� in relation to biblical accounts, there were many individuals to choose from, but I could not move away from a man named, Job.

Have you ever heard someone say, �If only I had the patience of Job�?

This is how we are introduced to this man in the Bible,

1 �In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. 2 He had seven sons and three daughters, 3 and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East.� (Job 1:1-3)

Job was an individual who, in God�s eyes, was living as right as anyone could live. Have you ever noticed what happens when our relationship with God becomes more than it ever has been? We will often find ourselves experiencing the same thing Job did.

Listen to what happens here,

6 One day the angels [1] came to present themselves before the LORD , and Satan [2] also came with them. 7 The LORD said to Satan, "Where have you come from?"

Satan answered the LORD , "From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it."

8 Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil."

9 "Does Job fear God for nothing?" Satan replied. 10 "Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. 11 But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face."

12 The LORD said to Satan, "Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger." (Job 1:6-12 NIV)

Mark my words, when your life is closer to God than it ever has been, Satan will attack! Have you ever wondered why? This is not proven research mind you, only my opinion based on many years of study and experience, so you can take this and keep it or throw it away.

If you were Satan, would it be more beneficial to you to attack someone who is living a good, and upright life in the eyes of God, or someone who is already living a life in submission to YOUR whims and desires?

According to Scripture Satan went to God and brought up the name, �Job.� Why? Because of the very reason I have just mentioned. It seems unmistakably clear to me that Job�s name was mentioned because he was living such a righteous, blameless life in the eyes of God, and it was Satan�s desire to wage an all-out attack against Job in the hopes of winning him over to the dark and evil side; in the hopes of getting this man to curse God.

Listen to what happens to Job.

13 �One day when Job's sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother's house, 14 a messenger came to Job and said, "The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby, 15 and the Sabeans attacked and carried them off. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!"

16 While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, "The fire of God fell from the sky and burned up the sheep and the servants, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!"

17 While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, "The Chaldeans formed three raiding parties and swept down on your camels and carried them off. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!"

18 While he was still speaking, yet another messenger came and said, "Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother's house, 19 when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!� (Job 1:13-19 NIV)

Do you know how this man reacted to what happened to him?

The Scriptures tell us that �in all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.�

Satan failed didn�t he? But he didn�t give up!

Scene 2:

1 On another day the angels [1] came to present themselves before the LORD , and Satan also came with them to present himself before him. 2 And the LORD said to Satan, "Where have you come from?"

Satan answered the LORD , "From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it."

3 Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason."

4 "Skin for skin!" Satan replied. "A man will give all he has for his own life. 5 But stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face." 6 The LORD said to Satan, "Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life."

7 So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. 8 Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes. (Job 2 1-8 NIV)

Are you staying with the story this morning? Job has lost his sons, his daughters, his servants, and all his material possessions and NOW he loses his health. Satan was CERTAIN he�d win him away from God this time! In fact, Job�s wife tells him to �curse God and die!� Does he? No. Once again we are told in Job 2, verse 10 that his response was, �Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?"

And once again we are told that �in all this, Job did not sin.�

If you follow the story, Job has three friends, if you can call them that, who came to him. They were, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, and the Scripture says that when they saw Job, they could hardly recognize him; they began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads. Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to Job, because they saw how great his suffering was.

The first one to speak is actually Job who goes into this diatribe; an actual cursing of the day he was born.

Then ole Eliphaz steps to the plate and this is what he says to Job:

"Blessed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.� (Job 5:17 NIV)

In other words, �Man you must have really done something bad for this to happen to you!�

What a statement of ignorance! That statement causes rage to surface in me! Of course, we�ve often thought the same thing haven�t we? Oh come on now, have you not ever asked God what you had done to cause the suffering in you life to happen?

There is a story in the Gospel of John that answers this question fairly well.

1�As Jesus went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"

3"Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.� (John 9:1-3 NIV)

The life application we get here is not why we must suffer in life, nor who has caused it to happen, but how do we act when we find ourselves in the midst of it.

We have some choices here. We can disintegrate and loose all hope. We can blame God, curse God and turn our backs on God, or we can remain faithful, looking to our faith, and pray to God each day to increase the fruit of longsuffering in our lives, that we may be able to bring glory and honor to his name.

Job, possessed the fruit of longsuffering in his own life.

Job went on to say, �I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes-I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!� (Job 19:25-27 NIV)

Do you know what happens at the end of Job�s story?

10 After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had before. 11 All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the LORD had brought upon him, and each one gave him a piece of silver [1] and a gold ring.

12 The LORD blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the first. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. 13 And he also had seven sons and three daughters. 14 The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch. 15 Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job's daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers.

16 After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. 17 And so he died, old and full of years. (Job 42:10-17 NIV)

There is a verse in Psalms that says �Weeping endures for a night, but joy comes in the morning!�

Children, no matter what comes in your life keep on believing! Remember morning is coming!

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