Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction:

Faith is an extremely misunderstood subject in our world today.

People have the erroneous idea that faith is believing in something that is unlikely, outlandish, and more like a fairy tale.

And the church as a whole hasn’t helped this misunderstanding in our culture as it has traversed into mysticism and experientialism.

Yet faith is more than just believing in something that you cannot see.

Hebrews 11:1 states:

Note that the author of Hebrews states that it is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen.

There is substance to faith.

Faith is not blind.

Faith just doesn’t see everything.

But our faith is based on a real man who lived on this earth some 2000 years ago.

A man named Jesus Christ.

A man in whom there is much evidence that shows that He was born of a virgin and conceived by the Holy Spirit thereby making him fully God and fully man, lived a sinless life, was crucified on a cross, and resurrected 3 days later.

Our faith is based on a God who performed countless miracles that were seen by His chosen people of Israel and even by the enemies of His people.

Our faith is based on a book that was written by God Himself through the hands of men.

A book that is inerrant.

A book that is consistent and flawless despite being written by more than 40 men.

Today we are going to see the faith of a new church growing through the power of the Holy Spirit working in them and through the prayers and interactions of ministers of the Gospel.

And we will use these verses to further understand how Christ helps us persist in our faith.

Lets look at our text for today:

Let us pray.

Prayer.

Today we are going to discuss two ways that Christ strengthens the faith of believers.

The first is...

I. Christ Strengthens Your Faith… Through Persistent Interaction (6-9)

Last week we saw Paul send Timothy to the church in Thessalonica.

If you can recall, he was quite broken-hearted to send Timothy, his beloved adopted spiritual son, away.

He knew the dangers that Timothy could face.

But now we see that Timothy does return back to Paul and Silas safely.

And he brings news with him as well.

It is good news of the faith of the church in Thessalonica.

The word used here for good news is extremely unique in this situation.

Paul chooses the word, euangelizō (e-van-gal-eezo), which is the word used for the good news of the Gospel.

This word is where we get the word evangelize in modern English - meaning sharing the Gospel with others.

It is interesting that this is the only time in Scripture where this word is not used in regards to the Gospel or something related to the Gospel.

Paul uses this word to show the extreme joy that he had with the news that Timothy brought.

What is this good news?

It is that the church has remained faithful and loving and remembers Paul and his companions fondly.

Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown in their commentary expound that faith was the solid foundation in which the church was built and that love was the cement that held together the superstructure.

They were founded in faith on the solid rock of Jesus Christ.

And it was love that held together the church.

The short time that Paul, Timothy, and Silas spent there was not in vain.

The believers have continued in the faith and in love.

I can only imagine how excited Paul would have been to hear this news.

We could hear the anxiety in his voice in verse 5.

He was seriously concerned about this infant church.

Paul knew that the seed of the Word of God - the Gospel - could be recieved gladly one day but then be stolen by the enemy the next.

He knew that true believers needed to be rooted and established in Christ and that this took time through discipleship to confirm that true salvation had occured.

Paul wouldn’t be fooled by a one time decision.

He knew that although a decision to follow Christ was extremely important, true believers were known by their perseverance in the faith.

And now he was getting confirmation of the true salvation of this group of believers.

This is why we must make the best use of our time with new believers and even our children.

We do not know how long that we have on earth.

We do not know how long we will be able to be there for those people in our lives that God has called us to teach and mentor.

Take Paul’s example here and follow it.

He was super-intentional.

He was driven to make the most of every opportunity and teach the Gospel at every turn.

See what he writes to Ephesus:

Paul wrote this in his letter to the Ephesians.

And we should be teachable to this.

Friends, disciple your children and grandchildren well.

Disciple your nephews, nieces, or other children in your life well also.

If you have been given a voice in someone’s life to disciple and teach them - make the best use of the time that you have with them.

You don’t know when the Lord may call you home or move you away from them.

Paul and his companions took advantage of the short time with this young church and their time was not wasted.

God used it for His glory well.

Moving forward in verses 7-9:

Paul had his anxieties and concerns about this church removed as he heard this great news of the faithfulness of the new church plant.

He sees all of the distresses and afflictions and persecutions that he experienced as worth it in light of seeing the Gospel confirmed in their lives.

He is now comforted by their faith in Christ.

Have you ever been concerned about someone?

Maybe it was a friend or family member.

You hadn’t seen them for a while and were concerned that maybe they weren’t going in the right direction.

And then you see them again and they are thriving and growing and doing well.

What a comfort that it is to see someone walking in faithfulness!

In verse 8, Paul goes on to even use an extreme statement that he can finally live more fully because he knows they are standing fast in the Lord.

You see, Paul didn’t always receive good news in regards to how a church was doing.

In fact, the church he was working to plant in Corinth as he is writing this letter to the Thessalonian church was one such church that had some major struggles.

We see Paul even verge on depression in 2 Corinthians 7:6

and he even loses interest in sharing to Gospel because of the bad news he hears about this same church in 2 Corinthians 2:12-13

It is helpful for us to realize that we are made to be a community of believers.

Even the Apostle Paul struggled with being affected by the ups and downs of ministry.

Although we should do everything for the glory of Christ and in His power, we are weak people.

And there are going to be times in our lives where we may struggle more than others because of being let down by fellow believers.

However, like Paul, we must persevere and get back to working with Christ Jesus.

We must always remember that we are working with Christ and not just for Christ.

He will restore our hearts when they are broken by the sinful acts of others.

And He will strengthen us to continue on in the works He has prepared for us to do (Ephesians 2:10).

But praise be to God, Paul had gotten good news regarding the church of Thessalonica.

And he goes on giving thanksgiving in verse 9:

Paul does not even know how to express his thankfulness to God for the joy that he has now.

It is inexpressible.

He feels like any praise and thanks to God that he would give would not measure up to how wonderful God has been in protecting this infant church.

As I read this verse of thanksgiving, I could not help but relate to the joy and thankfulness Paul had for the church of Thessalonica.

As a pastor, it is such a joy to see people I have ministered to growing in the faith.

As I look around at our congregation and reflect back on the past months or longer that many of you have come to CrossPointe, I have great joy in seeing you all walking in the truth.

Each of you are an encouragement to me, church.

I consider it a privileged to get to walk with you all through good times and bad.

I consider it a privilege to get to stand up here week after week and proclaim the Word of God to you.

And I consider it a joy to watch you all receive the Word of God with gladness and joy and appreciation.