HOFC Sermon Archive: Serving the Lord Part 2: Serving the Lord Through Our Faith

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Serving the Lord Part 2 - Serving through our Faith

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Serving the Lord

Part 2: Serving the Lord Through Our Faith

By Rev. Bruce A. Shields

This document is a Sermon Outline. You may hear the full audio of the sermon by following the link to the Online Audio Files located above for this and other Full Sermon Audios. For a complete list of Sermon Outlines, visit TruthDigest.org or Truth Digest on Facebook; for our Official Church website, visit PS127.org, or find us on Facebook at House of Faith Church. #worship #godheals #newtestament #jesuslovesyou #churchfamily #godsword #loveoneanother #holy #godislove #church #jesus #god #bible #christian #love #faith #worship #jesuschrist #gospel #prayer #christ #christianity #pray #holyspirit #godisgood #hope #blessed #armorofgod

SERMON TIMELINE

1. Introduction to Serving

2. Serving the Lord Through Our Faith

INTRODUCTION

Today is Sunday. February 11^th, 2024

Our latest series will look at the various ways in which we serve the Lord. We were not filled with the Spirit of God to go on with our lives as if there was no work to be done in the name of the Lord.

God did not give us the Full Armor of God so we could go out to dinner and a movie in peace.

We are not filled with the Gifts of the Holy Spirit so we can win at cards on a Friday night.

God did not pluck us from the wicked vine so we could sit and rot until Judgment Day. He redeemed us and filled us with the Spirit of God to serve Him, and we must serve Him.

Philippians 1:6 “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”

Will He be pleased if God redeemed you and filled you with His Spirit, and you do nothing until Judgment Day? Jesus gives an example of this scenario in Matthew 25.

Matthew 25:24-30

“And the one also who had received the one talent came up and said, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed. 25 And I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.’

26 “But his master answered and said to him, ‘You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed. 27 Therefore, you ought to have put my money [d]in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest. 28 Therefore take away the talent from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.’

29 “For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. 30 And throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

So, the slave the master gave a talent to hid it and did not get any return on the master's investment, and gave it back upon his return. The master called him a worthless slave and cast him into outer darkness where there was weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Jesus sounds very serious about our service to Him.

In Luke 13 Jesus says, “I tell you, I do not know where you are from; depart from me, all you workers of UNRIGHTEOUSNESS. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Jesus repeats this in Matthew 8:11-12 about the “sons of the kingdom,” speaking of those who do not belong to the Kingdom of Heaven.

And again in Matthew 24 speaking of the Second Coming, Matthew 22 in the parable of the wedding feast and the man who tried to enter without being dressed for the wedding…You know, covered and sealed with the Holy Spirit. If you are not sealed, you are not dressed for the wedding and will not be allowed to enter.

I believe Jesus makes His expectations quite clear and the punishment for not obeying His command.

We are saved, called, and filled with purpose, His purpose, to fulfill the Will of God.

That will of God is that He desires all to be saved and for us to use the Gifts given by the Holy Spirit to accomplish this.

We must be saved and willing to be doers of the word to accomplish this.

James 1:22 “become doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves.”

If you hear the word and do not act upon it, you are deceiving yourself if you think you have the faith that saves. Works do not save you but make your faith complete. Faith without works is dead faith and cannot save you.

SCRIPTURE READING

James 2:14-26

“14 What use is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?

17 Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead by itself.

18 But someone will say, “You have faith; and I have works. Show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”

19 You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. 20 But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?

21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? 22 You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected.

23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God. 24 You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.

25 And in the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?

26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

Today’s Topic: Serving the Lord: Through Our Faith

I. SERVING THE LORD IN OUR FAITH WITH WORKS

a. Faith begins in you

i. Philippians 1:6 “…He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”

ii. Do not quench the Holy Spirit; let Him work in you.

iii. You are a work in progress until you meet the Lord.

iv. Embrace the Spirit of God, search His word for guidance in your call

v. Use the Spiritual Gifts the Lord gives you

vi. It begins in you, your heart and mind

b. Allow the Holy Spirit to change your heart and mind!

i. Ezekiel 36:25-27a “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your uncleanness and from all your idols. 26 Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes,”

1. The Lord gives us the Holy Spirit, and we are considered “clean.”

2. The Lord gives us a new heart, for the world has made ours stone.

3. The Lord puts His Spirit within us, which “CAUSES” us to walk in His statutes.

ii. This is why it is essential to look at the pattern in Matthew 28!

1. Make disciples of all nations.

2. Baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

3. THEN…teach them to keep all that I command

iii. The Spirit that the Lord places within us is HOW we obey all that Christ commands.

c. Being a “doer” of the Word is commanded and possible

i. Jesus makes it clear, “teach them to obey all that I command.”

ii. The Lord would not command us to do something impossible for us to do

iii. It IS possible when we have the Spirit of God.

1. Ephesians 6:10 “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the might of His strength.”

2. Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

iv. Read the word, do the word, be strong in the Lord, and in the might of His strength, let the Spirit of God work in you and lead you into obedience.

So our works done in faith make our faith complete and us obedient to the word.

II. WORKS WORTHY OF REPENTANCE

a. Being Doers bears worthy fruit.

i. Matthew 3:8-12 “bear fruit in keeping with repentance; 9 and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. 10 And the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

11 “As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

1. In the same way, do not suppose you can say, “I am a Christian,” and think your repentance and Salvation are true without good fruit.

2. True repentance bears good fruit.

3. That fruit, your works, make your faith complete and your repentance true.

b. We must DO if we have true faith and true repentance

i. We must be doers of the word

ii. If a man says he has repented but continues in sin, his fruit reveals him.

1. Matthew 7:16-20 “You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 So then, you will know them by their fruits.”

iii. In the matter of doing, repenting, and fruit, there sure are a lot of scriptures about displeased masters, cutting down, casting into the fires, and darkness with weeping and gnashing of teeth.

c. The Lord is serious about those who truly serve Him

i. Is Jesus your Lord…if you are not His servant?

ii. Has a man truly repented…if he continues to live in sin?

iii. If you bear bad fruit or no fruit at all…are you of the good tree?

III. WORKS IN YOU AND FROM YOU

a. In you, your life, and home

i. We must read, pray, study, meditate on His words, grow in the Lord

ii. We must have good fruit in our lives

iii. Show we are truly repentant

iv. Be doers of the word.

v. Have works that make our faith complete!

vi. And it begins INSIDE of us.

1. He gives us a new heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:25-27a)

2. The Spirit of God renews our minds (Romans 12:2)

3. We can have a mind like Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16)

vii. This makes us a NEW creation…if we allow the old to pass away!

b. New creation, new purpose

i. Before the Lord gave you His Holy Spirit, you had no purpose on Earth

1. You are born, live, die, and spend eternity apart from the Creator.

ii. Some may try to give their lives purpose because it is human nature to seek purpose.

1. In hell, there will be many good people, philanthropists, doctors, people who sacrificed themselves for others, people who died saving others, and all these people will have one thing in common with the evil people in hell, they did not have Jesus.

2. They will also have one thing in common with all the saints standing in the glory of the Kingdom of God. They had an opportunity to receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior but rejected Him, in word and deed, even if they knew not His Holy Name.

iii. But, But what if they never heard the name of Jesus?

1. Romans 2:12-16

a. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

b. All who have sinned outside the Law will perish

c. All who sin under the Law will be judged by the Law

d. Romans 2:14 “For when Gentiles who do not have the Law naturally do the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, 15 in that they demonstrate the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, 16 on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.”

2. We are all guilty. We will all be judged, whether in or out of the Law, and whether in or out of Christ, the secrets of men’s hearts will be judged by Jesus Christ.

c. Embrace the New Creation in Christ Jesus that you are becoming!

i. Read the word of God, and read it OFTEN!

ii. Study it, pray it, meditate over it.

iii. Think about it and apply it to your life.

iv. Do not resist the Holy Spirit’s work in you.

v. Allow your heart and your mind to change.

vi. Allow God to make you anew.

CONCLUSION

God promises that if you are saved, you have the Holy Spirit, where all the strength and might you will ever need comes from.

The Spirit will give you everything you need to be a successful servant to the Lord.

In being a doer of the word, your works will make your faith COMPLETE!

The fruit you produce in your life will show that you are of a good tree in Christ Jesus and that you have truly repented.