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?

 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

 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!

Chapter 3:1-3

No Faith – the Lost, but the Lord is faithful, I guess the first step is really saving faith