The Fruit of Your Faith II Thess. 1
Intro:
- Paul is writing to a church, now more mature than his first letter.
- They have had time to produce the fruit of their faith
- We will see that this is a progression, three orderly steps of a process
- He mentions three types of faith, how are you doing in these three areas?
Growing faith Verse 3 Step One
- Fruit of a Growing Faith is Peace
- 10:14 “So then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God”
- For faith to grow it must be added to!
- We are blessed to have Great preaching and teaching, and God’s words!!!
- Is your faith growing? If so you should have more Peace
- They had peace in the congregation
- If you have no peace, it is a symptom of a lack of a growing faith!
- Examples:
- Not having a sermon till this afternoon
- Teaching CC/YF Class – PS.71:18
- Preaching a Men’s Fellowship in San Antonio
- Peace about the upcoming elections
- What things do you fear? Are things getting more peaceful for you?
- Examples:
Enduring Faith Verse 4 Step Two
- Fruit of an Enduring Faith is Patience
- 5:1-5 Tribulations, patience, experience, then hope
- All components of an enduring faith
- Then you can endure with patience because your hope is correctly placed
- 13:12 Place your hope in God’s will and not your own, you will always win!
- Examples
- Meredith’s prayer request
- The Port Ministry
- Latest trip to witness to ex-business partner
- Because of an enduring faith, I now have patience with these things
- Examples
Working Faith Verse 11 Step Three
- Fruit of a Working Faith is Power
- Acts 6:8 Stephen was full of faith and power, and glorified God (2 Thes.1:12)
- Working faith is simply when you are grown enough and have endured enough to put footsteps with your faith
- Problems and setbacks occur when we run off to work before we are prepared
- 16:1 In the work of God, this applies to both parties
- Examples
- Witness to Old Friend
- Witness to ex-partner
- Both were more powerful because of the growth and endurance of my faith
- Upcoming “Fishers of Men” Great opportunity to grow some faith, endure, and work with power!
- Examples
Chapter 3:1-3
No Faith – the Lost, but the Lord is faithful, I guess the first step is really saving faith