From Zero To Hero Pt. 3 Series

But God says I will show you how to be a true hero. The last two weeks we have looked at 2 perfectly ordinary men that no one would give a second glance to and see how God took them and their faith and did absolutely incredible things in their life. Abraham was the hero of sacrifice, willing to sacrifice his own son to obey God. David was the hero of courage, willing to face the giant in order to stand firm for His lord and people. They are examples to us to live our lives for God without compromise. This week we are looking at Noah, who is the hero of perseverance.

Perseverance means to persist in or remain constant to a purpose, idea, or task in the face of obstacles or discouragement. (Webster’s Dictionary)

That right there sums up Noah’s life, it sums up a Christians life. To be a spiritual hero in Christ, to be the spiritual giant God lovingly calls, commands, challenges us to be we must learn to persevere, to stay on task, to remain constant in the face of obstacles and discouragement. And as your pastor I cannot teach you perseverance by teaching health, wealth and prosperity doctrine. I cannot teach you perseverance by telling you to just love God and be nice to everyone and everything will be okay. I cannot teach you perseverance by saying that God loves you just the way you are and he doesn’t want you to change. I cannot teach you perseverance without bringing you God’s Truth.

Can I bring you God’s Truth this morning!?

God’s Truth says, perseverance brings pain. God’s truth says perseverance brings struggle, God’s Truth says perseverance brings hardship, perseverance brings lonliness, perseverance brings heartache, but if you stick with it, if you die to yourself, if you rely on the creator instead of the created perseverance also brings character, love, growth, grace, patience, forgiveness, joy, peace, gentleness, and eternal reward in heaven.

My favorite book in God’s love letter to us is the book of James and one of my favorite passages is in the first chapter. It says, “3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

So today I want to look at how to persevere. Noah is not the only example but he is the one we are looking at today as an example on how to persevere, not how to take away. Its not about God solving all our problems and taking them away the moment they happen. There is no growth in that, there’s no faith in that, there’s power in that, but how to persevere with faith so that God can make us complete and mature, mature being sanctified in his spirit.

HOW TO PERSEVERE

1. Be DIFFERENT than the crowd

Noah found favor with the LORD. He consistently followed God’s will and enjoyed a close relationship with him.Genesis 6:8-9b

God is angry at the world. Vs. 5Now the LORD observed the extent of the people’s wickedness, and he saw that all their thoughts were consistently and totally evil. 6So the LORD was sorry he had ever made them. It broke his heart. 7And the LORD said, "I will completely wipe out this human race that I have created. Yes, and I will destroy all the animals and birds, too. I am sorry I ever made them."