Progress And Joy Of Faith

by Pastor Mark
September 10, 2020

Checking our faith

As we look ahead to our 48th year of ministry, let us be challenged to take stock of where we are in terms of our faith. We do not want to remain stagnant in our faith or worse, to see our faith dwindle. Our faith in the Lord Jesus should continue to grow from strength to strength and not be hindered in any way.

Despite being in prison and having his life threatened, it was intimated to the Apostle Paul that he would remain and continue to minister to the Philippian brethren, “And being confident of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy of faith,” (Phil 1:25) There were two things that Paul highlighted concerning their faith.

Progress of faith

The faith of the Philippian brethren was meant to progress further. They had already developed their faith quite well. But Paul knew that there was still room for them to make more progress, to advance further in their faith. This was reflected in some of the things that Paul wrote.

  1. Faith and God…There was God’s continuing work in the lives of the brethren (Phil 1:6)
  2. Faith and the heart…Paul prayed for their love to abound more and more (Phil 1:9)
  3. Faith and life…They should be further filled with the fruits of righteousness (Phil 1:11)
  4. Faith and Christ…Their lives should magnify Christ as Paul did (Phil 1:20)
  5. Faith and the spirit…The challenge to suffer for the sake of Christ (Phil 1:29)
  6. Faith and the mind…To cultivate and apply the mind of Christ (Phil 2:5)

There is so much more potential for the progress of our faith. Let us look ahead to seeing our faith progressing to a higher level in the different areas of our life and ministry.

Joy of faith

The brethren already had joy in their lives. Their joy came from the faith that they had. There were different ways in which they could continue to find joy in their faith through what Paul had written and exemplified.

  1. Joy in salvation…The Lord had begun a good work in the brethren (Phil 1:6)
  2. Joy in thanksgiving and prayer…Paul made prayers for them with joy (Phil 1:3)
  3. Joy in fellowshipping together…Between Paul and the brethren (Phil 1:5)
  4. Joy in ministry…The spreading of the gospel even though Paul was in prison (Phil 1:18)
  5. Joy in progress…In seeing the advancement of their faith (Phil 1:25)
  6. Joy in relationship…The hope of seeing each other again (Phil 1:26)
  7. Joy in Christ…Paul’s desire was for their joy to be more abundant in the Lord (Phil 1:26)

Let us be challenged to cultivate this kind of joy through our faith in the Lord.

The challenge to continue to develop our faith

As we look ahead, let us continue to grow our faith. Let us be challenged not to lose heart in the development of our faith. Let us be diligent in making further progress in our faith. Let us be challenged not to lose our joy as we face the challenges of life. Let us continue to cultivate our joy of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as we look forward to another year of ministry.

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