The Ministry of the Holy Spirit in the New
Course: The Fruit of
the Spirit
Lesson Eight
Lesson Title: Faith
Lesson Goal: …the student will understand what the
fruit of faith is and cultivate it in his or her life.
Text: 'But the fruit
of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
meekness, temperance: against such there is no law,'
Galatians 5:22-23.
Theme: Faith is the life of the believer
resting in the arms of the Lord.
Introduction: Faith (Greek: pistis).
In connection
with the fruit of the Spirit, faith means faithful or trustful.
It is a total
reliance upon the promises of God in our everyday lives.
It is living
our lives trusting fully in the Lord.
·
It
is being faithful to Christ in the most difficult situations because His Word
can be relied upon.
·
It
is trusting the Lord at all times and in every circumstance knowing that
everything is working together in His plan and purpose. Romans
Faith in the
believer's life is a beautiful fruit because it rests in the Lord.
Paul rejoiced
when he found a living faith and love one for another in the churches.
Ephesians 1:15-16, ‘Wherefore I also, after I heard of
your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, Cease not to give
thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;’
Colossians 1:3-4 ‘We give thanks to God and the Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus,
and of the love which ye have to all the saints,’
2 Thessalonians 1:3
‘We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet,
because that your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of every one of you all
toward each other abounds;’
Question: What did Paul hear about the Ephesian
believers that showed their faith?
Steadfastness under trials
Trust in daily life
Resting not
worrying
Introductory Story: Personal Testimony: Tried
in the fire 1 Peter 1:7 ‘That the trial
of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it
be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the
appearing of Jesus Christ:’
·
The
fruit of faith will keep us steadfast in what the Lord wants us to do.
·
The
Lord will allow trials to test our commitment and
·
He
will allow people to speak against us to see what is in our heart.
The works of
the flesh will seek an opportunity to react against the trials and accusations,
but the fruit of faith rests in the plan and purpose of God.
Question: What is
the difference between the gift of faith and the fruit of faith?
·
The
gift of faith will empower us to do great things at a particular time.
·
The
fruit of faith will enable us to live a victorious Christian life.
Difference
between the fruit of faith and the gift of faith.
The fruit of
the Spirit remains constant in the life of the believer.
The gift of
faith is momentary and is according to the will of the Holy Spirit, 1
Corinthians 12:11.
The fruit of
faith will rest in difficult circumstances.
The gift of
faith will bring change to a particular circumstance.
The fruit of
faith will look at the mountain and say 'my help comes from the Lord', Psalm
121:1-2.
The gift of
faith will look at the mountain and say 'be removed and cast into the sea', Mark
11:23.
Lesson Outline:
The fruit of
faith
1) Rests in the Lord,
2) trusts in the character of the Lord,
3) relies upon the Word of the Lord, and
4) overcomes in the Lord.
Main Points:
1.
Faith
rests: David wrote Psalm 4:8 'I will
both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for you, LORD, only makes me dwell in
safety.' Faith has total confidence in the Lord.
Illustration: Learning
to swim. Gaining confidence in the
water. Someone who struggles because of
fear cannot learn to swim until they rest in the confidence that the water is
able to hold them up.
a) Faith learns to rest through maturity.
b) Resting means being dependent upon
Christ alone. Resting in our
relationship with the Lord.
c)
Resting
means trusting Him without regard to our own welfare.
2.
Faith
trusts in the character of the Lord.
a) When we know His nature and His
character we have confidence to trust Him.
Trust
in His loving kindness because He is merciful.
He delights to show mercy (Micah 7:18).
Trust
in His unfailing love because He is love.
1 John 4:8, ‘He that loves not knows not God; for God is love.’
Trust
in His righteousness. Faith is not
anxious but seeks to obey the Lord in all circumstances.
Merciful
Gracious
Longsuffering
Abounding in goodness and
truth
Firstly he worshipped
(Exodus 34:8)
Secondly he interceded
(Exodus 34:9)
b) Trust develops through
relationship '…The just shall
live by faith', Hebrews
c)
Levels
of Knowing Him (1 John
d) There are always greater heights to be
reached in knowing Him.
3.
Faith
relies upon the word of the Lord. Psalm
119:49 ‘Remember the word unto thy servant, upon which
thou hast caused me to hope.’
a) The fruit of faith is produced through
growing confidence in the promises of God.
b) Faith does not doubt the promises of
God.
The promises of God are certain. 1 Corinthians
c)
Faith
is not affected by difficult circumstances
·
Faith
trusts the promises of God even in the face of great difficulty. Psalm 91:2 ‘I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and
my fortress: my God; in him will I trust’. Faith
trusts even when things appear to go in the wrong direction. Job 13:15a ‘Though he slay me, yet
will I trust in him:’
·
Faith
rejoices at all times in the Lord. Philippians
4:4. Looks beyond the situation to the Lord. Faith rejoices knowing that the Lord is in
control even of the worst circumstances.
Faith looks neither at the wind nor the waves but rejoices in the
Lord.
·
The
fruit of faith allows the Christian to be a generous giver in the face of great
difficulties, 2 Corinthians 9:7 'Every man according as he
purposes in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for
God loves a cheerful giver.' It allows the Christian to show
kindness without regard to self interest.
It rests in the knowledge that the Lord will supply all our needs, Philippians
4.
Faith
is always victorious because in Christ we are more than conquerors. Romans
a) The Greek
word for more than conquerors means literally ‘above an overcomer’ (hupernikao).
·
We
overcome the world through faith. 'For whatsoever is born of God overcomes the
world: and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith.' (1
John 5:4) The world
means the system of the world that is controlled by '…the lust of the
flesh; the lust of the eyes and the pride of life', 1 John
b) It is the
life of Christ in us that overcomes.
Summary:
1) The fruit of faith rests in the Lord.
2) The fruit of faith will trust in the
character of the Lord.
3) The fruit of faith relies upon the
word of the Lord
4) The fruit of faith allows us to be
victorious in all things.
What should the student do?
1)
Learn
to rest in the Lord as a swimmer learns to rest in the water.
2)
Get
to know the Lord and learn to trust in His character.
3)
Be
saturated with the scriptures and rely totally upon the promises of God.
4)
Let
His life in us make us victorious in every situation.