Patience Series

Standing In the Storm #6

PATIENCE

There is a parable in Matt.7 about two houses. One is built on a rock and another was built on sand. This is a great lesson about the way ALL PEOPLE face storms in life.

One house stood while the other fell. This is the way people do when faced with all the problems in life.

Matt. 7:24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:

25 And the rain descended and the floods came and the winds blew and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

Notice it was not hearing the word.

The key is in the doing of the Word.

IF WE DO WHAT WE KNOW TO DO, we will overcome the storms.

Basing your life upon the Word of God assures us victory.

A pitfall that leads many people to the conclusion that the Word isn’t working:

They evaluate how well they are doing the Word only in the area in which they are having trouble.

If the storm is in the area of finances, they only check their obedience to the Word in matters such as tithing or giving. The problem is, a failure to do the Word in one area can leave you open to storms in another.

This same principal of being a DOER of the WORD is found in another parable.

Lu.8: 11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.

12 Those by the way side are they that hear then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved

13 They on the rock are they, which, when they hear receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe and in time of temptation fall away

14 And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard go forth and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection

15 But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.

75% of the people were not DOERS OF THE WORD.

Only 25% of the people were DOERS OF THE WORD and produced FRUIT

The CARES OF THIS WORLD choked the WORD

CARES== fearful concerns

1.Fear is a cause of falling,

2.We saw there were reasons for Storms:

1. Disobedience

2.Because you are being obedient and doing the will of God

3 Because of the people to whom you are unavoidably connected.

3. We found Deception to be a cause of falling.

1. Riches,

2. The Bible is Not Literally True,

3. You Are Not Worthy,

4. It Doesn’t Matter What You Think,

5. It Doesn’t Matter What You Say.

The Devil knows he can’t defeat you if he can’t deceive you.

4. Lack of understanding

An understanding of the Word of God is the foundation of believing.

1. The Holy Spirit will teach you

2. God has provided in the Church teachers.

3. We must pray for understanding.

We have blessings in this world for meditating on His Word

Last week we saw The lust for other things = is an intense desire or passion for anything other than God’s Word.

This can be corrected by:

1. Contentment.

2. A great passion for God.

3. The mind of a servant

Tonight I want to direct our study on another area that causes Failure in Storms.

PATIENCE.

Lu.8:15 But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.

This scripture tells us that when we have heard and kept the Word, they have fulfilled the things that we talked about, fruit will appear if we have PATIENCE.

PATIENCE is not waiting around or just hanging in there, it is Joyful Faithfulness

THE ONLY WAY TO PRODUCE FRUIT IS BY CONSISTENCY.

Doing the things we know to do 90-95% of the time will not assure the fruitfulness of victory.

1Co 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

This is one of the reasons that there is so much defeat, depression, gloominess, sadness, misery and hopelessness in the Church today.

The lack of STEDFASTNESS when times get tough, the stability of jello, is the reason the world lacks confidence in the Church.

Heb 10:35 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.