"FAITHFULNESS"
A FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT
A Sermon Outline including Verses from KJV Bible
Written by Evangelist Rev. Diana Gray
Copyright © 2003-5 All Rights Reserved

Galations 5:22-23  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

INTRODUCTION  Have you ever thought about the Fruit of the Spirit Faith? Do you know what this means?  Where does Fruit of the Spirit Faith come from?  Who in your life has it and how do they make it stronger in their lives?

LET'S PRAY:   FOR GODLY WISDOM, GUIDANCE AND A DEEPER LEVEL OF UNDERSTANDING AS WE STUDY THE BIBLE.  ALWAYS PRAY IN JESUS’ NAME TO GIVE HIM THE HONOR AND GLORY DO HIM!

I.  WHERE DOES FAITH COME FROM?  "At the Cross of Jesus!"  When someone desires the things of God in their life, they must begin at the Cross of Jesus.  Our faith begins with there with the Lord because without Him we can do nothing.

A.   Romans 10:9-11 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt  be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the  scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. 

  • 1.   Confess with your what?...."Your Mouth."  This is a key issue.  A "true" born again believer will be excited about their own Salvation and will want to tell others.  They will be confessing their new found treasure with their what, their mouth!  ( I love.....LOVE....new born again Christians!  They are soooooooooo excited about Jesus and talk about Him.  If you are new to the Lord, please share your testimony with  me.   I love to hear this type of news. )
  • 2.  With your heart, man believeth unto righteousness.     Not your head but by your heart.  No one can do it for you, you have to do it for yourself!
B. Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of  yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.
  • 1.  The only way we can be saved is by faith in Jesus Christ.  We can't do it in and of ourselves nor can anyone do it for us.  Some people believe that you can pray for someone and that makes them saved.  No this is not true, each of us have to say the Salvation prayer in repentance for our sins ourselves!   In the end we will stand by ourselves before God with what we have believed.
  • 2.  Just being a kind, loving person to others or what some people call a good person won't get you into Heaven if one doesn't have faith in Jesus.  Being a good person, is not enough and many good people will not be going to Heaven when they die.
II.  WHAT IS FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT "FAITH?"

A.  Faith is love and a trust so complete, that you know beyond a shadow of a doubt you're saved by the blood of the Lamb.  Do you know if you are going to Heaven when you die? If you said, " I hope so, I think so, Maybe," then you might be in trouble.  If you don't know for sure beyond a shadow of a doubt, then you need to say the Salvation prayer right now and be sure.  Don't take your Salvation for granted!

Matthew 22:37-39 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with  all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

  • 1.  Faith is using your heart, soul, mind as much as possible focused upon the Lord.  It means using everything you have to love the Lord God with your whole body and inner emotional being.
  • 2.   Faith is having a positive Godly thinking.  It means loving the Lord with all of your heart.  This in time makes you desire to love others more than yourself.  We can't help but strive to keep the laws of the Bible when we have the first law of love in our hearts.  Love through "Faith" gives us the desire to love everyone including our enemies!
B.  When we recognize that in Jesus  is our Messiah, our Savior then we will understand why Faith is so important.

C.  Faith is compassionately loving, and trusting the Lord.  It's the same type of surrendering faith, such as a small child has for others who are bigger than themselves.

  • 1.  Children have simple beliefs and tend to trust most people. 
  • 2.  Most children are innocent!  Worldly logic hasn't taken over their lives yet  and they have simple faith knowing they'll be cared for through their innocent Faith.  We need to let go and trust God like that dear, sweet childlike faith.  Just think how wonderful it would be, to have that type of Faith.
D.  Faith is strong powerful, (totally committed) loyalty in one's belief of Jesus Christ.  It's a  complete reliance upon the Lord!  Everything we say and everything think must become totally committed to following the Lord.  It's recognizing that all we are and all we will ever be comes from the Lord.

III.  FAITH HAS A COST, WHAT IS IT?

A.  Faith costs have to take the time to learn the truth through God's Word the Bible.  Daily studying the Word will help our faith spiritually grow but it takes an effort on our part to do so.

John 8:32,36 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.  If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

  • 1.  Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
  • 2.  Jesus Christ died on the Cross for our sins.
  • 3.  Jesus Christ brought Salvation into the world and by having faith in Him we might be saved.  Heaven will become our reward.
B.   The cost of Faith is letting go of things that can hinder and harm our spiritual growth such as skipping church services to go to a baseball game.

C.  We need to practice our Faith openly and with great courage as we strive to win souls for the Kingdom of God.

  • 1.  It Costs us money and material possessions to give readily to the poor and lost of this world. 
  • 2.  It cost's us our own personal time when we reach out helping the sick and needy.
  • 3.  It cost's us effort when we have to open up our mouths sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with other people.  They need a Savior and we need to reach out and save them through the words of God's truths from the Bible.  (This is really hard for many people because they might feel uncomfortable or a bit selfish and self centered.  It's taking the time to love other people more than yourself as you strive to help them.  Let Jesus be on the throne of your life and strive to do His will as you love others.)
IV.  WHAT DOES FAITH BRING TO US IN OUR LIVES?

A.  We can  have serenity and peace as we let go and let God be Lord of our lives.

B.  Faith can give us peaceful security and comfort.  Instead of trusting in worldly things like money, cars and homes we need to trust the Lord to care for us with all of our faith. 

C.  Our own salvation, joy and happiness through Faith as we consider other's higher than ourselves is our reward.  Love really is the answer and by loving others we will find peace within our own hearts letting them see our Faith.

VII.  WHAT DO WE HAVE TO DO WITH OUR FAITH?

A.  Follow the Word of the God in the Bible. 

Matthew 4:19-20 And he saith unto  them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left  their nets, and followed him. 

  • 1.  This means that following Jesus we will want others to be saved too.
  • 2.  We have to do the same as the Apostles and follow Jesus, no matter what He asks us to do for Him.
B.  Seek to further our faith with  humble prayer.  Constant and Consistent faith is the key answer.

C.  Tell others about Jesus.  Share with them the Good news about Salvation.

D.  Look for Jesus' returning at the time of the Rapture of the Church. 

  • 1.  God's Word says Jesus will return.  We know it by what, our Faith!
  • 2.  We need to trust that what He says He will do, He WILL do!
  • 3.  Prepare for His coming back by winning as many souls as possible for the Kingdom of God.  This is ongoing and never stops until we are in Heaven and it many mean giving of ourselves as we step out of our comfort zone to help others.
ILLUSTRATION: NOAH AND THE ARK., "NOAH" HAD FAITH! "ABRAHAM" HAD FAITH, "MARY" THE MOTHER OF JESUS HAD FAITH, HOW MANY OTHERS DEMONSTRATED THEIR FAITH?

CONCLUSION:  By faith we are saved and thus begins the "Fruit of the Spirit within us Faith."  We need to make the effort and take the  responsibility to move forward in our faith.  We should strive to develop and nurture that faith as we study the Word of God, the Bible.  Just a Jesus knocks at the door of our lives we have to open that door to allow Him to come in, we had to make the effort.  The same is true about spiritual growth, we have to make the effort to grow into a deeper relationship with the Lord.  We have the initial faith that allowed us to be saved, now it’s our responsibility to develop that faith throughout our lives. 

     The "Fruit of the Spirit  Faith" can take on a tremendous force in our lives if we nurture it daily studying the Bible.  The fullness of the "Fruit" depends upon us and how much we are willing to allow it to develop in our lives.  God is a gentleman, He will not force us to go further than we want to go and it's our responsibility and desire to do His will.  If we love the Lord and truly have a born again relationship with Him, we will have the ability within us,...... BUT the discipline and drive to do so is ours to make and make it we must if we want to develop His "Fruit" of Faith in our lives.. 

     My question to you is this;  Just as Jesus made all the effort and laid down his life for you, how much are you willing, or desire to make the effort to meet Him?  It will cost you something now won't it?  For the rest of your life, are you willing to give "all" you have to serve the Lord?  It doesn't come natural, you really do have to make the effort and learn to develop deeper spiritual growth. Study your Bible, Study your Bible...........STUDY YOUR BIBLE!  From spiritual growth comes strong faith! How much Fruit of the Spirit do you have in your life? Are you hungry for more of God, or are you just…… satisfied? The choice is yours, how strong do you want your "Faith" to be?

LET’S PRAY   Pray thanking God for His love, guidance as He gives us the desire to grow deeper in His Word the Bible.  Let us remember we can do nothing of ourselves but what the Lord has allowed us to do through Him.  Also thank him for allowing you to take a further step in Faith while you were studying this Bible Study.  We always pray through Jesus' Holy name. Amen

May God bless you for taking the time to learn more of His Word,  I care about you and you matter greatly to me.

Rev. Diana Gray, O.A.+

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    PLEASE NOTE: These Bible Studies may be printed out and used for "personal use only." They are "not" for profit in commercial  or public publication.  All Copyrights are reserved.  Please don't take them for other web sites.  This ministry retains the exclusive use of them.  If you desire to publish the material, please "ask for permission" by contacting this writer by e-mail address.  Permission to use these "bible study's" for  individual Church group bible study "is granted as long as you do not sell, donate or distribute them.  "WE DO ASK THAT YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THE AUTHORSHIP OF THIS WRITER "DIANA GRAY MINISTRIES."  MAY THEY BE A BLESSING AND ENCOURAGE YOU INTO A DEEPER SPIRITUAL GROWTH.


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