Works of Faith and Labor of Love

Q: What does the Bible say about works of faith?

The Bible teaches that works of faith are the fruits and evidences of true faith, reflecting one's relationship with Christ. In 1 Thessalonians 1:3, the Apostle Paul highlights the importance of the work of faith and labor of love as central to the believer's life. These works are not merely actions to fulfill obligations, but they arise from a genuine faith that expresses itself in love. This vital connection between faith and actions underscores that true faith will always produce good works, as shown in James 2:18, where the Apostle states that faith without works is dead. Therefore, genuine works of faith serve as testimonies of our salvation and relationship with God, reflecting a heart transformed by grace.

Q: Why are good works important for Christians?

Good works are important as they demonstrate true faith, provide assurance, and glorify God. Good works hold significant importance in the Christian life, serving multiple purposes. Primarily, they are a reflection of our genuine faith in Christ; as James 2:18 indicates, our faith is evidenced by our works. Additionally, good works offer believers assurance of their standing with God, as seen in 1 John 2:3, where keeping God's commandments is evidence of our knowledge of Him. Furthermore, good works glorify God and testify to His mercy and love shown to us. They adorn the doctrine we profess, making our faith attractive and credible to others, fulfilling the calling to be light to the world as described in Matthew 5:16.

Q: How do we know if our faith is genuine?

We know our faith is genuine when it results in good works that reflect our love for God and others. The genuineness of our faith can be evaluated through the manifestation of good works in our lives. In Galatians 5:22-23, Paul lists the fruits of the Spirit, which include love, joy, peace, and kindness, all of which should be evident in the life of a believer. True faith naturally produces these fruits as a result of the transformation that occurs in the heart. In addition, 1 John 3:14 stresses that our love for the brethren is a sign of our passage from death to life. Thus, if our actions demonstrate love and adherence to God's commandments, we can have confidence in the authenticity of our faith.

I want you to open your Bibles
with me this morning to the book of 1 Timothy. I beg your pardon,
1 Thessalonians. 1 Thessalonians, Chapter 1. 1 Thessalonians, Chapter 1. Now,
the title of this message, the subject that I'm going to deal
with this morning, particularly impressed to bring this message
and to deal with these things. The title of the message is this.
I started to just call it Good Works, but I'm going to call
it Works of Faith because that distinguishes my subject a little
better than just Good Works. Works of Faith and Labor of Love,
that's the title of the message. and labor of love. Let's read
1 Thessalonians, chapter 1, beginning with verse 2. Verse 2. Paul says, We give thanks to
God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers,
remembering without ceasing, constantly remembering your work
of faith. and your labor of love and your
patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of
God and our Father. I remember your works, your labor,
and your patience. I remember your works of faith,
your labor of love, and your patience of hope. Now, there
are many things that believers are interested in. There are
many things that believers desire, and there's no need to name them.
You could name hundreds, things that we'd like to have, things
that we desire, things that we covet. But primarily, I believe
primarily, and I gave a lot of thought to this, primarily and
above all, there are two things, two things. that the people of
God desire and covet more than any other things. The first one is this, and Paul
expresses it over here in Philippians, if you want to turn to Philippians
3, the first one is this, Philippians 3, that I may win Christ and
be found in him. Wouldn't that be uppermost, wouldn't
that be primary, that I may win Look at verse 8, Philippians
3, 8. Doubtless, yea, doubtless, I
count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss
of all things, and I do count them but dung, that I may win
Christ. That's what Paul's saying. He's saying my heritage, my ancestry,
my works, my back, I count everything but loss for one goal. I want
to win Christ. and be found in Him. Isn't that
it? Accepting the Beloved. I want
to be in Christ. I've got to be in Christ. We're
accepted in the Beloved. We're redeemed in Christ. We're
forgiven in Christ. We're complete. I want to be
in Christ. That's primary. That's it. It's like in Pilgrim's
Progress, Doris was reading last night when we were riding in
the car, and Christian was willing to leave everything to be in
Christ. primarily, uppermost, I've got
to be in Christ. I don't want to miss Christ,
do you? With all of whatever it costs, whatever it costs,
I want to be in Christ. All right, secondly, down here
in verse 10, here's the second, I believe the second greatest
desire, that I may know him. Well, if you win Christ and you're
in Christ, don't you know Christ? Well, certainly Paul knew Christ.
I want to know him better. I want to know him better. I
want to grow in grace and grow in the knowledge of Christ. I
want to understand more of the wonders of his person. I'm saved. I believe on Christ. Look at the disciples. It says,
when I was reading this yesterday, when he did that miracle in Cana
of Galilee, Cecil, it says, and his disciples believed on him.
They did believe on him. And a little while later, they
believed on him more. And a little while later, they knew him more.
And a little while later, they knew him even more. And that's
what I want. I want to grow in grace and grow
in the knowledge of Christ. Read on here in verse 10 of Philippians
3, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection. What is this? I want to know
the power flowing from his resurrected life. I want to know the power
that he exerts in us. I want to know the power of faith
and the power of prayer. and the power of godliness, and
the power of forgiveness, and the power of love. I don't want
to just know these things in theory, in creed. I want to know them in experience.
That's what he's talking about. The power of his resurrected
life. Not just say, well, we ought
to forgive everybody. Right, and to do it. We ought
to love as Christ loved us. Right, and do it. We ought to
believe on the Son of God enough to lay down our lives for the
gospel, right, and do it. I want to know this power that
flows from his resurrected life and that he exerts in me. That's
what he's saying. Read on. And I want to know the
fellowship of his sufferings. And I want to be made conformable
to his death. I want to continually be transformed
in spirit and in attitude in the likeness of the Lord Jesus
Christ. There, there's, there are many
things a believer would like to have. Many things, like to
do and to have, but primarily there are two things. He wants
to win Christ and be found in Him. He wants to know the Redeemer. He wants to be saved by the grace
of God and be accepted in the Beloved, seated in Christ, Christ
interceding for him. And then he wants to grow. He
wants God's Holy Spirit in his life, in his heart, in his spirit,
in his attitude, in his walk, in his conduct, in his conversation,
to make him more and more like his Lord. That's exactly right. See, turn back to Philippians
1. This is what Paul is praying
for the Philippians. In Philippians 1, verse 9, this
is what he's praying for them. He's not praying that they might
be saved. They are saved. He's not praying that they might
be clothed in the righteousness of Christ. They are. They're
church, they're believers. He's not praying that they might
understand the gospel. They understand the gospel. He
preached the gospel to them. But he's praying for something
else. Philippians 1, verse 9. Listen, and this I pray, that
your love may abound yet more and more. Abound? What does abound mean? Overflow?
Grow? That your love may abound more
and more, listen, in knowledge. and insight, judgment, insight,
wisdom. It's not just, I love Jesus,
love Him more. It's not just, I know the gospel,
know it better. That's what he's talking about.
You may grow abound. Listen, verse 10, that you may
learn to value, approve, is learn to value things that are excellent.
He said, I want your values. I want you to learn to discern
and value things that are really excellent, so you can put down
the things that aren't excellent, so you make a choice. We make
choices every day. And he said, I want you to learn
to value things that are really excellent, things that are good,
things that are profitable, things that will glorify God. Learn
to make wise decisions. That, watch this now, that you
may be sincere, sincere, don't be a liar, be sincere and without
offense until the day God calls you home. Listen, verse 11, I
want you to be filled with the fruits of righteousness. Brethren, there's nobody here
that believes more strongly, emphatically, dogmatically In
the fact we have no righteousness of our own, that Christ is our
righteousness. You doubt that? You question
that? But I'm telling you this. There's a righteousness imparted. There's a godliness imparted.
There's an honesty and integrity imparted by the Spirit of God
to the people of the earth. They're fruits of righteousness.
That's what he talks about in Galatians 5. Love, joy, peace,
long-suffering, meekness, gentleness, kindness, temperance, patience. Against such there is no law.
I'm not under the law. No, I'm under the law of love.
My Lord said, I'll give you a commandment. You love one another like I loved
you. That's a commandment. That's right. Being filled, being
what? We're already filled. No, we're
not either. We're being filled. We're being
filled daily with the fruits of righteousness, which are by
Jesus Christ, and they're to the glory and the praise of God.
Turn to Ephesians 4. Listen to this. Listen to this,
what Paul says about the ministry. What's the ministry for? The
ministry is to establish God's people, to strengthen God's people,
to help God's people to do what? To grow up. That's right. That's the word he uses, to grow
up. Become mature. Grow up. Learn to approve things
that are excellent, that your love may abound more and more,
that you may set your affections on things above. Listen, in Ephesians
4, verse 11, Jesus Christ ascended to heaven, verse 11, and he gave
some apostles, some prophets, some pastors, evangelists, some
pastors and teachers. What for? For the perfecting
of the saints. Do the preachers perfect the
saints? No, for the maturity of the saints. Christ perfected
us. He has perfected forever them
that are sanctified by one author. But the preacher and his preaching
is for the maturity of the saints, for the work of the ministry,
for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come in
unity. That's not done like that. It's done slowly and gradually,
painfully. A lot of things have to be cut
off, and they're hurt when they're cut, till we all come in the
unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God. You know as
much about Him as you want to know. We don't know near as much
about Him as we think we know. Unto a perfect man, without flaw,
without fault, no sir, without hypocrisy, without childishness,
without foolishness. Mature. Mature. Aim. You say, I'll never be an
elder. Why not? I'll never be a leader. Why not?
How low are you shooting? We're supposed to shoot for maturity. Listen unto the measure of the
statue of the fullness of Christ. That's our goal. That we henceforth
be no more children, infantiles, in attitude and behavior, childishness. Now be like a child in forgiveness,
and be like a child in taking rebuke, and be like a child willing
to learn, but don't be like a child in ways. That's what he says
to us. Isn't that right, John? Tossed
to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by
the slight of men, everybody that comes along influences you
and affects you and blows you here and there in cunning craftiness
whereby they lie and wait to deceive. But speaking the truth
in love, that we may grow up into Him in all things, who is
the head, Christ Jesus. So, two things every believer
wants. wants to know Christ, wants to
be saved, wants to be a child of God, wants to be in Christ.
And that's not all. He wants to grow in the grace
of God and in the knowledge of Christ. He wants to know more
of the resurrected power of Christ. He wants to be made conformable. He wants to be transformed into
the likeness of Christ. He wants to be mature. The aim
of every boy and girl in this auditorium, 9, 10, 11, 12 years
old, is to be a man or a woman. That's right. Every child in
here has one ambition. He doesn't want to stay around
all his life. He wants to be a man. She wants
to be a woman in full bloom. And that's the desire of God's
children. Then we'll grow up. Well, they
start out as babes. Turn to 1 John 2. Now, this is
just so. They start out as babes. This
is what John says in 1 John 2. Now, I want you to look at this. 1 John 2, 12. 1 John 2, 12. Listen. I write to
you little children. Now, this is not... This is not
age factor here. He's not saying I'm writing to
the 10, 11-year-olds, and then I'm writing to the 30-year-olds,
and I'm writing to the 70-year-olds. A man may be 70 and be a child,
a little child in Christ, maybe a babe in Christ. And a man may be 20 years old
or 30 years old and be very mature in Christ. So it's not an age
bracket here. It's the time that you've known
Him. There are babes in Christ, there
are young men in Christ, and there are fathers. Been there
a long time. Known the gospel long. That's
what it is. 1 John 2, 12, I write for you
little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His
name's sake. And that's about all you know,
isn't it? You who are new in the gospel, just came to know
the gospel, just learned the gospel, just trusted Christ.
Like the blind man said, I don't know much about him, but I know
he made me see. That's about all he knew. He
made me see. Your sins are forgiven. You want
to stay there? Why, no. No. I'll write unto
you fathers. Because you've known Him that's
from the beginning, the Eternal One, the Lord Jesus Christ, the
Son of God. I write unto you young men, because
you've overcome the wicked one. I write unto you little children,
because you've known the Father. I've written unto you fathers,
because you've known Him from the beginning." What's John saying
here? They're little children, babes
in Christ. They know their sins are forgiven. They believe on
Christ. They're redeemed. They're accepting
the Beloved. Now right under you young men, you've been around
a while, you young men and young women, you're in the flower of
spiritual age. You're strong in faith and purpose
and principle. You're fighting the battles and
overcoming the wicked one. You've got trials on every hand. You're raising your family. You're
reading the scriptures. You're worshiping God. You've
got all these trials and battles. You're strong in the faith. And
you constantly have to overcome the temptations of Satan and
the trials of Satan. I write to you young men, young
women, and I write to you fathers in old age. You've known the
Ancient of Days, you've known the Eternal One for a long, long
time. He grows sweeter every day, and
you're losing interest in this world. You're losing interest
in the things of the world, and you want to go on and be with
Christ. You understand what he's saying
now? Little children, your sins are forgiven. That's about all
you know. You young men, boy, you're finding
out some things, aren't you, young women? You're finding out
some real battles. Real battles. There's a whole
lot to this thing of walking with God. But you fathers, you've
walked with Him for a long time. You've known Him just from the
beginning. And life is about over. And you're waiting for
Him to call you home. And you can say to these little
ones and these young ones, persevere. Continue in the faith. That's
what we talked about the other day. Stay with Christ. Now what
is this? What is it? It's growth. What
is this? It's growth in grace, it's growth
in love, it's growth in faith, it's growth in patience, it's
growth in temperance, it's growth in meekness, it's growth in wisdom,
it's growth in understanding. And it's an inward development.
That's where the work's done. An inward development of spiritual
traits and characteristics. Let me turn to another scripture,
2 Peter. 2 Peter 1. Now let's start here
with verse 2. 2 Peter 1 verse 2. Now if you plant an apple tree, and
I planted a couple, and in its first year it's an
apple tree, no question about one in apples only, but it is
an apple tree. I bought it in a nursery, and
they said it was an apple tree, a June apple tree, and a wine
sapling, and I planted them. First year, it was an apple tree. It was alive, and I knew it was
an apple tree, but it had no fruit. Second year, maybe a couple
of apples, or three, and it stayed there. And after a while, Loaded
down. Loaded down. A young tree will
have apples, and it'll have good apples. But not like a tree that's
been there pruned, cared for, fertilized, nurtured. After a while, it's just loaded
down with fruit. Now watch this in 2 Peter verse
1. Verse 2. 2 Peter 1, verse 2. Grace and peace be multiplied,
multiplied unto you. Well, it's just one grace and
one peace. Is that right? Here he's talking about the multiplicity,
multiplication of it. Two times two, three times three,
four times four, from faith to faith. Be multiplied to you through
the knowledge of God and our Lord Jesus. How much grace can
you stay? How much grace do you need? How
much grace can he give? He giveth more grace as the burdens
grow greater. You don't have it all, and I
don't either. According as his divine power hath given unto
us all things that pertain to life and godliness, he's given
us all potential. All things that pertain to life
and godliness through the knowledge of him that has called you to
glory and virtue, manliness, strength, establishment, whereby
are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, the word
of God. But by these promises you might
be partakers of that divine nature, having escaped the corruption
which is in the world through lust. And besides this, give
all diligence and add. Do what? Add to your faith, the
virtue. That's excellence, manliness,
strength. And add to your manliness or
strength, knowledge. And add to your knowledge, temperance. And add to your temperance, patience. And add to your patience, godliness. And add to your godliness, brotherly
kindness. And add to your brotherly kindness,
just strong, fervent love. What's that? Add it. That you
may grow. And I'll tell you, there's a
place where this growth and maturity takes place. There's a place
where God works. There's a place where the Spirit
of God works. There's a control center. And all of the conversation and
conduct and good works and deeds and responses and reactions come
from this control center. And that's the heart. That's
where it's done. There's a place where godliness
is developed There's a control center upon which the Spirit
of God works and teaches and from which everything else flows. Everything that flows, deeds
and words and labors and life and conduct and conversation
flows from this heart, this new man, this inner person, not seen
by men, not seen with the eye. But it's that new heart and new
nature. Turn to Matthew 23. This is what
the Lord said over here to the religious Pharisees. He condemned
their behavior. He condemned their attitude. He condemned their spirit. He
condemned them for their pride. They wanted the uppermost seats.
All of these things they did, He said, here's your problem.
Here's your problem. Matthew 23, 25. One, you scribes
and Pharisees, you're hypocrites. You make clean the outside of
the cup and the platter. But within, you're full of extortion
and excess. You see, this was Lydia's success. God opened her heart. This was Simon Magus' problem.
Peter said, your heart's not right. Now, Simon Magus outwardly
might have been as honest and as moral and as religious as
Lydia, but he went backward and she went forward, because God
opened their heart and his heart wasn't right. And that's where
the work's done. Listen to our Lord. Verse 26,
Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the
cup. There's the problem. that the
outside of them may be clean. Listen to the scriptures. With
the heart man believeth unto righteousness. As a man thinketh in his heart,
so is he. Out of the heart the mouth speaketh.
Keep thy heart out of it of the issues of life. So true faith
and true worship and true love and true growth and true godliness
is a heart work, which the Spirit of God does using the Word of
God and accomplishes the will of God. You can fill a man's
head with doctrine. Yes, fill his head with doctrine.
It can be exact, it can be theological, it can be time-proven, it can
be good doctrine. Fill his head with doctrine.
And he may be able to rehearse all those things that he has
seen that are logical and truthful and according to what he sees
in the Bible. You can fill his hands with duties.
Give him something to do. Give him a missionary support.
Give him a job to do. Give him some religious duties
to perform. Fill his hands with duties. Fill
his mouth with the right words, the hallelujahs, the praise of
the Lord. Fill his days with activity, but till God fills
his heart with Christ, it's to no avail. Fill his head with duties, you
can fill his hands, the head with doctrine, his hands with
duties, and his mouth with religious sayings, and his days with activities,
but till God fills his heart. with that person, the Lord Jesus
Christ. He's nothing but an empty shell.
He's a veneer of religion. God has to shed his love abroad
in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. That's the scripture Brother
Terrell read the other night. Lord, David prayed, create, create
in me a clean heart. That's not the product of religion.
You see, religious ordinances such as decisions, baptisms,
sacraments, rededications, revivals, they don't produce godliness.
They don't produce grace or growth. Religious organizations, you
can start a school, you can train young people, you can get an
organization going, do all these things, it won't produce a new
heart. It'll produce a religious man.
If producer fallot knows the doctrine and knows the duties
and knows the responsibilities and laws and rules, they'll control
the outward body, but they'll not produce grace, godliness,
or growth. It's a heart matter. And I'll tell you this, if God
does for us just that, creates a clean heart and a right spirit. As that heart grows and as that
spirit grows and as that attitude looking at Christ becomes more
transformed into the image of Christ, good works, labor of
love, kindnesses, godliness will be produced. That's right. Now listen carefully to me. I
want to give you two or three points here that I think are
important. talked over here in 1 Thessalonians
about work of faith, work of faith, a labor of love. 1 Thessalonians 1, 3, work of
faith. Not what I have to do. One of
our speakers so ably presented that this week. Not what's required
of me. It's a work of faith. It's a
labor of love. It's for the glory of God. I
delight to do it. I'm not doing it to show off
a righteousness. I'm doing it because I love Christ. You see, are good works profitable? These works of faith, the label
of love, are they profitable? Well, you and I know this. They're
not profitable for justification. Let's put that down and seal
it, Jim. All right, they're not profitable.
We know that. Don't we know that? We've heard
that ten thousand times. By the deeds of the law shall
no flesh be justified. That's settled. Anybody here
trust in your righteousness? I don't know anybody that is.
I know most all of you so well, and you know me, and we conclude
a man's justified by faith without the deeds of the law. We're not
seeking justification before God. Christ is our justificator,
right? Christ is our righteousness.
That's settled. That's settled. All right, secondly,
good works don't give me a title to heaven, nor any hope of eternal life.
I know the wages of sin is death, and I know the gift of God's
eternal life. You know that, Danny? I know
that, don't you? That's settled. I'm not seeking
a title to heaven. I didn't bring my offering this
morning and study and preach to you and come here to worship
God and put first things first because I thought he'd give me
a title to heaven. You didn't either. Nobody did.
And thirdly, good works are not profitable to God. God said,
if I needed anything, I wouldn't ask you. I like, let me read
you something Job said over here. Don't turn to it, let me just
turn over here quickly and read you something Job said. He said,
Can a man be profitable to God? As he that is wise may be profitable
to himself. Can I add anything to God? Is
it any pleasure to the Almighty that you are righteous? You think? You think? I like that fella
said he made the headlines in heaven when I got saved. You
really believe that? Is it any pleasure to God because
you straightened out? It's what you ought to do. When
we've done everything we ought to do, we're still unprofitable
servants. Is it gain to God that you make
your way perfect? Is that gain to God? We know
better. Are those three things understood? No man justified by good works.
No, sir, we know better than that. No title to heaven by anything
these hands have ever done or shall ever do. And absolutely
I have never been profitable to God or added anything to His
excellent glory in any way. But when good works are done,
and they better be done by believers, When good works are done from
the heart, out of a principle of faith, works of faith, and
labor of love, they are profitable. And I'm going to give you quickly,
and I promise you, not very long, I'm going to give you quickly
seven ways in which good works are profitable. And we need to
seek them and be about our Father's business and engaged in them.
Not for those reasons I mentioned, but for these reasons. Now let
me give them to you. Number one, good works are fruits and evidences
of true faith. James said in James 2, listen
to it, in James chapter 2, verse 18, you say you have faith, I
have works, show me your faith. without your works. I'll show
you faith by my works." Is that clear? A tree is known by its
fruit. And you show, you give evidence
that you believe God by the way you walk and talk. Yes, sir,
you do. Yes, sir, trees know. Now watch
this verse here. Was not, verse 21, was not Abraham
our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son
upon the altar? Do you see, seest thou, how that
faith wrought with his works and by works was faith made perfect,
faith revealed, faith evidenced by his work? How do you know
Abraham believed God? He proved it. All right, secondly,
good works are testimonies. of our gratitude to God for his
love and mercy to me." It's a testimony. Listen to David over in Psalm
116. David said this in Psalm 116,
this is good works, when I serve God and labor in the kingdom
of God and minister to the people of God and walk like a child
of God, walk in the Spirit, not in the flesh. Listen, Psalm 116,
verse 12. What shall I render unto the
Lord for all his benefits to me? I'll tell you what, I'll
take the cup of salvation and I'll call on the name of the
Lord and I'll pay my vows unto the Lord in the presence of his
people. That's what I'll do. That's what I'll do. And he said
in 1 Peter, listen to what Peter said in 1 Peter 2 verse 9. You are a chosen generation,
a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people that you should
show forth the praises of him who called you out of darkness
into his marvelous light. Show it. Show it. I think a man shows his dedication
to God, his love for Christ and his faith in Christ, he shows
it by his conduct and attitude. Dedication, devotion. Interest. Thirdly, good works are needful
for assurance. Certainly are. They're needful
for strengthening assurance. He not only said, by this shall
all men know you, my disciples, if you love one another. John
said, we know that we pass from death unto life because we love
the brethren. It's not only evidence to others. Good works are evidence
to you. that you really love God. And
that's what he says. First John, turn to First John
for a moment. It's an evidence to you that you love God and
you're His child. First John, chapter 2. Listen
to this, verse 3. First John 2, 3. Hereby we know
that we know Him. We know that we know if we keep
His commandments. He that saith, I know him keepeth
not his commandments, he lied to himself. He deceived himself. But whoso keepeth his word in
him, in him verily is the love of God perfected. Hereby know
that we are in him. It is evidence to you. Look at I John 3 verse 14. Listen
to this. I quoted this. We know that we've
passed from death unto life because we love the brethren. He that
loveth not his brothers in death. Looks like he'd know that. It
looks like that'd be evident to him. So good works, they're evidences of faith to
others, but they're evidences of faith to us. And good works are profitable
and edifying to others. Our Lord said, let your light
so shine before men that they may see your good works and do
what? And glorify God. You're not doing
it for that reason, but God uses it for that reason. Look back at 1 Peter 2.12. Listen
to this. 1 Peter 2.12. 1 Peter 2, 12, having your conversation
honest among the Gentiles, that whereas they speak against you
as evildoers, they don't like your gospel, they may by your
good works which they behold glorify God. In the Day of Visitation,
chapter 3, verse 1, you wives, be in subjection to your own
If any obey not the word, they also may without the word be
won by the conversation of the wise." Impressed by your behavior. So good works are profitable
to others. And then fifthly, they're profitable in that they
adorn the doctrine. I tell you, and Gary Shepherd
brought this out the other night, truth without love is not God's
truth. It's not God's truth. John, 2
John, deals with those two words over truth and love, truth and
love, truth and love. Paul said to Titus, turn to Titus
2, listen to this, adorn the doctrine. Doctrine without adornment
is dead, dry leaves, it's hurtful, it's harmful. Titus 2. Verse 9, "...exhort servants
to be obedient to their masters, to please them well in all things,
not sassing, not stealing, forlorning, showing good fidelity, that they
may adorn the doctrine of God our salvation." How do you adorn
it? Good works. Good works. And then in the sixth place,
good works. manifest an understanding on
our part of God's goodness to me. When I show kindness to someone
else, I am indicating by that kindness that I know something
about his kindness. When I'm generous with someone
else, I'm indicating by that generosity that I know something
about... I've been taught generosity from the master teacher. You
see what I'm saying? When my life and my attitude
toward others, my spirit toward others indicates that I know
something about forgiveness. I know something about dedication.
I learned it from him. Look at Ephesians 4 verse 31. Ephesians 4, let all bitterness
and wrath and anger and Let your heart bleed for others,
feel for others, care for others, forgiving one another. Why? Even as God, for Christ's sake,
forgave you. That's where you learned it.
That's where I'm supposed to have learned it. And when I demonstrate
it, I show I'm a good student. My grandson and I were shooting
basketball yesterday, and he told me what his coach showed
him and what to do, and he was doing what the coach showed him
to do, and I figured he's a good student. He's been learning,
he's been listening. And we, this pulpit rings with
the word, Sunday after Sunday, Wednesday after Wednesday, a
special meaning of the Bible because it rings with these, these words. Are you a good student? Have
you learned? It's one way to demonstrate that
we've learned from the master, not from these teachers, but
from the master teacher. We're beginning to put in practice
what he said. And not from the wrong reason.
The preachers all seem to be afraid somebody's going to try
to work their way to heaven. I'm not. I'm not the least bit worried
about that. Not where the grace of God's preached. But I'll tell
you this. I want to be very careful about
giving people an excuse for laziness, indifference, and sin. There's
no reason and no excuse for it. We're not carnal. We're spiritual.
That's right. We're people of God. And Almighty
God and our neighbors and our friends have every right to expect
us to mature and to grow and to manifest the work of Christ
in us. When good works, what you do,
how we respond, how we act, how we, our attitude, it reveals
whether or not we've really been at the feet of Christ and whether
we've really learned anything. I tell you, if we've ever been
there, we'll learn something. Mary, Martha said, come on, let's
get busy. Christ said, you leave her alone.
You're too busy. You need to quit being so busy
and sit down and listen. Mary's chosen the good part.
And when she got up and walked out, you could tell whose feet
she'd been sitting at, couldn't you? And then last of all, there's
an inseparable connection, and one of our speakers mentioned
this, there's an inseparable connection between faith and
conduct.

Works of Faith and Labor of Love

What does the Bible say about works of faith?

Why are good works important for Christians?

How do we know if our faith is genuine?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

Joshua

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Music

Recent Comments

About

Legal

Subscribe

Account

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Recent Comments

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Collections

Music

About

Legal

Subscribe

Works of Faith and Labor of Love

What does the Bible say about works of faith?

Why are good works important for Christians?

How do we know if our faith is genuine?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

More from Henry Mahan

Related Sermons

Same Scripture

Articles by Henry Mahan

Books by Henry Mahan

Joshua

Where this book stands in the tradition

Plato

Augustine

The Western Christian Tradition

This Book