Perseverance

Introduction

Read 1 Corinthians 15:58 “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.”

What is the longest amount of time you’ve spent consistently pursuing something?

(for example: exercise, a hobby, schooling)

Do you find it difficult to be consistent and not quit?

How many things do you things do you think you’ve tried and given up on?

Most have us have tried and lots of different things and have failed to be consistent at them. Most of us though have at least one or two things that we’ve managed to be pretty consistent with. Even if we stick with something our whole lives, that’s about 70 years spent dedicated to it, and it’s probably a lot less time because we did not pursue it with perseverance.

Noah however, was a different breed...

Noah

God told Noah to build an ark, a boat in the middle of the desert, and promised that a flood was coming. So, Noah got to work. Scholars say that it likely took anywhere from 50-80 years to build the ark. So how did Noah spend such a long time dedicated to that one task, without seeing the results and purpose of it until it was finally completed?

Read

Genesis 6:18 ““But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.”

Genesis 6:22 “Thus Noah did; according to all that God had commanded him, so he did.”

What did God say to Noah and why is it significant?

It’s repeated a few times that “Noah did all that God had commanded Him”.

How was Noah able to be so consistent in his obedience?

He knew his labor was not in vain because he truly believed what God said, and that faith guided his actions.

Be Basic 3. A Secure Man Who Waited on God (Gen. 7:1–24)

The British expositor Alexander Maclaren said:

For a hundred and twenty years the wits laughed, and the “common-sense” people wondered, and the patient saint went on hammering and pitching at his ark. But one morning it began to rain; and by degrees, somehow, Noah did not seem quite such a fool. The jests would look rather different when the water was up to the knees of the jesters; and their sarcasms would stick in their throats as they drowned.

So is it always. So it will be at the last great day. The men who lived for the future, by faith in Christ, will be found out to have been the wise men when the future has become the present, and the present has become the past, and is gone for ever; while they who had no aims beyond the things of time, which are now sunk beneath the dreary horizon, will awake too late to the conviction that they are outside the ark of safety, and that their truest epitaph is, “Thou fool.”

Maclaren mentioned “the men who lived for the future”. What is the future we as Christians are living for?

Paul

Read Phil 3:7-14

Philippians 3:7–14 NASB95

But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

One night of the missions conference, Peter Samir shared how difficult it can be to work in the missions field and see little to no results for long periods of time. That made me realize that so often we see ministry and evangelism like grocery shopping. We expect to just show up and get fruit. But really, it’s more like growing a fruit tree. Most fruit trees don’t produce fruit for years, but they have to be taken care of consistently month after month, year after year.

Going back to 1 Corinthians 15:58, we have to believe God’s promises so that we will see that our labor is not in vain.

We all want to just get the fruit of ministry, but what are ways you can be diligent on a daily basis for the people in your circle of influence?

Conclusion

Noah’s job was to build an ark. As Christians, what is the “ark” that we need to build?

What is something you know God wants you to do but you often doubt if it’s worth it or that it will produce results?

What has God promised about that thing that can assure you and help you to persevere?