This sermon was delivered on 27 July 2016 at the Mountain Island church of Christ in Charlotte, NC as part of their on-going "Summer Series." I am grateful to God and to the elders of MICofC for the opportunity to share the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Russell H. McCullough / Archdale church of Christ, 2525 Archdale Drive, Charlotte, NC 28210
1
Introduction
2
Longsuffering
is neither purposeless or for self-improvement
3
Longsuffering
is descriptive of God Himself – Exodus 34.1 - 9
4
The
Longsuffering of Job was not as it appears – Job 2.11 - 13
5
It
was the friends that sinned – NOT Job – Job 37.23 - 24
6
The
end of Job’s Longsuffering was the salvation of his friends! – Job 42.7 - 10
7
“The
Gospel Call”
Painting by William Blake Courtesy of wikiart.org / Public Domain
AudioLink: "To Follow Soon"
“Long-suffering – To What End?”
Mt. Island church of Christ Summer Series
“From Ulster Plantation to the Carolina’s with the Gospel!” *
Russell H. McCullough / Archdale church of Christ, 2525 Archdale Drive, Charlotte, NC 28210
www.archdale.org / gospelcall.blogspot.com - Date: 27 July 2016
Texts:
Gal. 5.22 – 23; Ex.
34.1 - 9; Job 2.11 – 13; Job 37.23 – 24; Job 42.7 - 10
Thesis:
The end of longsuffering is much more than we might imagine.
1
Introduction
A. The reading of the Scripture – Galatians 5.1; 13; 22 - 23
B. Greeting
C. Longsuffering in 2016 – “Sitting through a sermon longer
than 23 minutes and is devoid of video clips to keep one engaged beyond the 7
minute attention span.”
D. The word defined:
1. Old
Testament
a.
Ark-aphim – “Slow of angers,” “far feeling”
2. New
Testament
a.
Mak-roth-umia
1) THAYER – “Endurance,
constancy, steadfastness, slowness
in avenging wrongs, long-an-imity.”
a) WEBSTERS 1828 – “Disposition
to endure long under offences.”
2) WEBSTERS 1828 – “Bearing
injuries or provocation for a long time; patient; not easily provoked.”
a) Why an 1828
dictionary in 2016?
(1) Words have true meanings in NW1828 (Bible based)
(2) Today’s dictionaries have only evolved and ever changing
meanings (Darwinian based)
E. Tonight we will see that:
1. Longsuffering is neither purposeless or for
self-improvement.
2. Longsuffering is descriptive of God Himself.
3. The Longsuffering of Job is not as it appears.
4. It was the friends that sinned, not Job
5. The end of Job’s Longsuffering was the for the salvation
of his 3 friends!
2
Longsuffering
is neither purposeless or for self-improvement
A. Galatians 5.1 – “For freedom, Christ has set us free”
B. Galatians 5.13 – “For you were called to freedom,
brothers”
C. Galatians 5.14 – “For the whole law is fulfilled in one
word; “You shall love your neighbor as yourself”
1) How does
God illustrate this?
a) John 3.16 – “For God so loved the world, that he gave His
only Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal
life.”
D. We suffer long with others for the gospels sake as He
suffered long with us to bring us into the Kingdom.
E. The end of Longsuffering is more than we
might imagine
3
Longsuffering
is descriptive of God Himself – Exodus 34.1 - 9
A.
God
seeks the longsuffering who will “stand in the gap”
1. “And I sought for a
man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me
for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.” – Ezek. 22.30
2. Moses was longsuffering and stood in the gap –
verse 9
3. The end of the longsuffering of
Moses was the salvation of Israel.
B. The end of Longsuffering is more than we
might imagine
4
The
Longsuffering of Job was not as it appears – Job 2.11 - 13
A.
Job
lost everything men think of as essential
1.
Family
2.
Possessions
3.
Health
4.
Self-sustainability
5.
Pride
B.
Job
– my circumstances are not indicative of sin
C.
3
friends – Job’s circumstances ARE indicative of sin
D.
God
– Job’s circumstances are not indicative of the either the presence or absence
of sin in Job’s life.
E.
The end of Longsuffering is more than we might imagine.
5
It
was the friends that sinned – NOT Job – Job 37.23 - 24
A. Job asserts that God can be known
B. The 3 friends assert the opposite – He cannot be known
C. Job fears God by faith
D. The 3 friends fear God out of fear itself
E. Even at the very end, Elihu implies that Job is “wise in
his own conceit.”
F. In truth, it is Elihu and his 2 friends that are “wise in
their own conceit.”
G. The end of Longsuffering is more than we
might imagine.
6
The
end of Job’s Longsuffering was the salvation of his friends! – Job 42.7 - 10
A. Job spoke right of God
B. Elihu and his 2 friends did NOT speak right of God
C. Job will pray for you
D. God will accept the prayer of Job on their behalf
E. The Lord accepted Job’s prayer for his 3 friends
F. When all this transpired, God restored and increased Job
G. The end of Longsuffering is more that we
might imagine.
H. This principle of suffering long with people for the
gospels sake is summarized by Paul in II Corinthians 5.10 – 11a; 17 - 21
7
“The
Gospel Call”
·
My fifth great uncle was Hugh Gaston who was
rector at the Ballywillan Presbyterian Church (pictured above left) in County
Antrim, Ulster Plantation (Northern Ireland) and wrote the most dangerous book
of his time; Gaston’s Collections. It
allowed “the ploughman to know more Bible than his clergyman.” Hugh fled to South Carolina where he died
prematurely of the measles. He is buried
just one hour south of Charlotte in Chester County, S.C. in “Burnt Meeting
House Cemetery.” Uncle Hugh continues
to inspire my ministry to this very day.
You can read more about Uncle Hugh here: http://www.ballywillanpci.org/rev-hugh-gaston Ruins photo courtesy of:
ballywillanpci.org.
·
On Friday night, August 12, 2016 Russ will
dramatically portray the life and times of his 5th Great
grandfather, John “Justice” Gaston entitled; “A Patriot of the Revolution.” A
portion of the event will cover also the life and times of his brother, Hugh Gaston. The event will take place at the Archdale
church of Christ, 2525 Archdale Drive, Charlotte, NC 28210 at 7 p.m. The public is invited to this free
presentation.
