How Are We To Live Our Lives – Like Job
(Job 1-2, 42)
(James 5:11) Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.
Introduction:
We have been considering the question, “How are we to live our lives?” The specific Bible personalities that we have looked at in the sequence of this series were taken from a page in an issue of “Today’s Christian Preacher.” In this magazine, someone wrote…
I will, like Paul, forget those things which are behind and press forward.
I will, like David, lift up mine eyes unto the hills from whence comes help.
I will, like Abraham, trust implicitly in my God.
I will, like Enoch, walk in daily fellowship with my Heavenly Father.
I will, like Jehoshaphat, prepare my heart to seek God.
I will, like Moses, choose rather to suffer than enjoy the pleasures of sin.
I will, like Daniel, commune with my God at all times.
And then the next line says…
I will, like Job, be patient under all circumstances.
9054. Dad “Albert” Calms Self
A man was walking through a supermarket with a screaming baby in the shopping cart. A woman nearby noticed that time and again the man would calmly say: “Keep calm, Albert. Keep calm, Albert.”
Finally, in admiration for the man’s patience as the child continued to wail, the woman walked up to him and said: “Sir, I must commend you for your patience with baby Albert.”
To which the man replied, drawing himself up: “Madam, I am Albert!”
—The Possible Years
I. Let’s Look At The Explanation Of Job’s Patience
A. This Is A Persevering Patience
(James 5:11) Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.
patience – Greek 5281. hupomone, hoop-om-on-ay'; from G5278; cheerful (or hopeful) endurance, constancy:--enduring, patience, patient continuance (waiting).
5278. hupomeno, hoop-om-en'-o; from G5259 and G3306; to stay under (behind), i.e. remain; fig. to undergo, i.e. bear (trials), have fortitude, persevere:--abide, endure, (take) patient (-ly), suffer, tarry behind.
(Romans 5:3) And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;
(James 1:2-4) My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; {3} Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. {4} But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
9069. Tribulation Produces Patience
A young man came to George Goodman of England one day and said, “Mr. Goodman, I wish you would pray for me that I might have patience.”
Mr. Goodman answered, “Yes, I will pray for you that you have tribulation.”
“Oh, no, sir,” the young man replied, “it is patience that I want.”
“I understand,” said the Bible teacher, “and I will pray for you that you may have tribulation.”
The astonished and disturbed young man was shown a passage in the Bible: “And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience.” (Romans 5:3)
—Donald Grey Barnhouse
B. This Is A Particular Patience
1. James Mentions The Prophetical Examples Of Patience
(James 5:10) Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.
2. James Mentions The Prime Example Of Patience
(James 5:11) Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.
II. Let’s Look At The Examples Of Job’s Patience
A. Job Was Patient In Success Job 1:1-5
B. Job Was Patient In Sorrow Job 1:13-22
C. Job Was Patient In Sickness Job 2:1-10
The description of this disease calls to mind Deut 28:35 with 27, and is, according to the symptoms mentioned further on in the book, elephantiasis so called because the limbs become jointless lumps like elephants' legs), Arab. jdâm, 'gudhâm, Lat. lepra nodosa, the most fearful form of lepra, which sometimes seizes persons even of the higher ranks. Artapan (C. Müller, Fragm. iii. 222) says, that an Egyptian king was the first man who died of elephantiasis. Baldwin, king of Jerusalem, was afflicted with it in a very dangerous form.
(From Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament)
It was that form of leprosy called black (to distinguish it from the white) or Elephantiasis, because the feet swell like those of the elephant.
(From Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary)
D. Job Was Patient In Solitude
1. Forsaken By Family
2. Forsaken By Friends
E. Job Was Patient In Surrender Job 42:1-6
III. Let’s Look At The End Of Job’s Patience
(James 5:11) Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.
A. The End Result Revealed That God Was Very Compassionate In His Attitude
very pitiful
4184. polusplagchnos, pol-oo'-splankh-nos; from G4183 and G4698 (fig.); extremely compassionate:--very pitiful.
B. The End Result Revealed That God Was Very Compassionate In His Actions
of tender mercy
629. oiktirmon, oyk-tir'-mone; from G3627; compassionate:--merciful, of tender mercy.
3627. oikteiro, oyk-ti'-ro; also (in certain tenses) prol. oiktereo, oyk-ter-eh'-o; from oiktos (pity); to exercise pity:--have compassion on.
Conclusion:
9196. An Artist Overcomes Failures
Jean Francois Millet, whose canvases present the almost perfect story of French peasant life, made his first appearance in the world of art with his widely acclaimed “Oedipus Unbound.” His other famous works were “The Reapers,” “The Angelus,” “Shepherds and Flock,” and “Man with the Hoe.”
But before that, in 1845, he had presented at the Salon his painting, “St. Jerome.” This picture was rejected. Millet was so poor he could not afford to buy more canvas for a new picture, and thus it was over the rejected canvas of “St. Jerome” that he painted his first successful picture, “Oedipus Unbound.”
Disappointment and failure served only to spur him to greater things.
—C. E. Macartney