“Your Work of Faith”

I Thessalonians 1:1-5

1) Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

2) We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers;

3) Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;

4) Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God.

5) For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.

Introduction

M

any speak of faith, yet know very little about it or its purpose in the church. Generally, we have no problem with trusting God with what we want, but when it comes to our tests and trials, we want to blame others for them.—as if the Lord knows nothing about them!

Main Thought

Our subject implies that there is a “work of faith.” If one lives and operates “by faith,” he is not operating “by works.” This, then would seem to be contradiction.

What this topic alludes to is that one must follow the example of faith in order to show his faith. In other words, the exhibition of faith is an “action.”

Too many professing to serve the Lord believe that the way that the Church “works” is that we are all to do what we believe to be spiritual rather than there being the requirement that we do as He requires. The error in this thinking is in the fact that what is “spiritual” can never start with what is human. By definition, it must start with God.

Probably every argument and all wars start with people trying to prove that they are “right” about something. Sadly, what all fail to realize is that it never matters who is “right,” just that a solution is reached.

Generally, Man actually thinks that a “change” is needed when he begins to “interfere” in that which belongs to God. The problem however, is rarely does he believe that the change that is needed is in him. For all of us it is true that if we really want anything to change, we first need to change ourselves.

We know, of course, that we are incapable of changing anything about ourselves. Therefore, we have been granted the gift of the working of the Holy Spirit that we might be able to be “more than we were born.”

“Your work of faith” will not wait for you forever. As human beings, we make the mistake of thinking that we have unlimited time. We need to realize that we have less time than we ever did, before. This means, then, that if we wait for 20 years before we decide to serve God, those years can never be recovered. Therefore, whatever opportunity one had to “make a difference” is lost—at least, for those 20 years.

As we go about our daily lives and make the choices that we make, it often seems as if we feel that “things” just “happen” to us. You know, whatever presents itself to us is allowed by God that we might learn what we must in order to be saved. So many things get “out of control” in our lives because we make them much more important than they are meant to be. You see, that which is only meant to bring life to us begins to develop a life of its own because of our reaction to it.

When the scripture says “I die daily,” Paul is saying that as our tests and trials come, as we are not to “give life” to them by reacting to them. Now, it is not God’s plan for us that we be “in control” of all that concerns us. We are to allow Him to control us and that which concerns us—that others might be won.

In order for us to exercise faith, there is nothing more required of us than that we agree with God. This will allow us to live in the blessings of God, for then we will be willing to accept that there are things that He has already done that Man does not understand.

God’s plan is established and what He intends to accomplish is set. There is room for neither “negotiation” nor “compromise.” If we would be pleasing to Him and “acceptable in His sight,” we will have to follow His rules and do things His way. This way involves compliance and obedience on our part, with no thought for defending or avenging ourselves. After all, how could one ever be a “warrior” without hurting someone? If this is not possible to accomplish, then we cannot fight our own battles.

Through Jesus and our faith in Him, there is nothing that we cannot do. There are promises to His people that have yet to be fulfilled, and the only thing standing in the way of that fulfillment is what His people are willing to accept of Him. You see, “(our) work of faith” is really not about “work” at all, but rather, about trusting God enough to trust Him to do the “work” of determining what is best for us.