Sermon on Faithfulness – The Basic Pattern For Faithfulness
Categories: Sermon Outlines, Topical Sermon Outlines Tags: Sermons on Faithfulness
Date written: October 16, 2001
Scripture ref: 1 Corinthians 15:58
SUBJECT: Gospel Meeting: Back to the Bible Pattern
TITLE: Pattern for Faithfulness
PROPOSITION: We need to go back to the Bible Pattern for Faithfulness in 1) Committing to Faithfulness, 2) Continuing in Faithfulness, 3) Concern for Faithfulness, 4) The Company of Faithfulness
OBJECTIVES:
AIM:
INTRODUCTION: (Beginning of this sermon on faithfulness.)
1. Read: 1 Corinthians 15:58 “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”
2. About the Text:
1) 1 Corinthians 15 is the Bible’s great chapter on the resurrection.
2) Some in Corinth were teaching that there was no resurrection of the dead.
3) Paul shows that if there is no resurrection, then there is no hope.
4) Paul convincingly shows that there is going to be a resurrection from the dead and that their work in the Lord is not empty.
5) Based upon this great event, he exhorts the brethren to be faithful until that day comes.
3. Ref. to S, T, P, O, and A.
DISCUSSION: In this sermon on faithfulness we propose that we need to go back to the Bible Pattern in…
I. Committing to Faithfulness
1. We must count the cost of faithfulness – Luke 14:27-33 “And whosoever doth not bear his cross…”
2. We must not look back.
1) Many are like the seed sown among the rocks. Luke 8:13 “But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear…”
2) Luke 9:62 “And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
3) Hebrews 10:38-39 “Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.”
3. We must understand the results of failure.
1) 2 Peter 2:20-22 “For if after they have escaped the pollutions…”
2) Hebrews 10:26-27 “For if we sin willfully…”
3) Hebrews 6:4-6 “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened…”
II. Continuing in Faithfulness – The ABCs of Christianity
1. Attending the Services — Hebrews 10:25 “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together…”
2. Studying the Bible – Acts 17:11 “These were more noble…”
3. Imitating the Christ – Philippians 2:5-8 “Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus…”
III. Concern for Faithfulness
1. Encourage the Weak
1) Jude 22 “And on some have mercy, who are in doubt;”
2) Romans 15:1-2 “Now we that are strong ought to bear…”
3) 1 Thessalonians 5:14 “And we exhort you, brethren, admonish the disorderly, encourage the fainthearted (little-spirited), support the weak, be longsuffering toward all.”
2. Exhort the Strong
1) Because temptation can still lead us away regardless of what we have.
a. Remember the Israelites. 1 Corinthians 10:1-12
b. Hebrews 3:12-13 “Take heed, brethren, lest haply there shall be in any one of you an evil heart of unbelief…”
2) Because it is good to put us in remembrance — 2 Peter 1:12-13 “Wherefore I shall be ready always to put you in remembrance of these things…”
3. Retrieve the Wayward
1) James 5:19 “Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth…”
2) Galatians 6:1 “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass…”
3) Jude 20-23 “But ye, beloved, building up yourselves…
IV. The Company of Faithfulness — Fellowship
1. The Basis of Fellowship – Remaining True to the Word
1) 1 John 1:3-7 “That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you…”
2) The apostles doctrine — Acts 2:42 “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.”
2. The Benefits of Fellowship – Exhortation and Encouragment
1) We exhort and encourage one another — Hebrews 10:25
2) We encourage evangelism — Galatians 2:9 “And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision.”
3. The Barriers of Fellowship – Discouraging sinfulness.
1) Discouraging immorality–1 Corinthians 5:9-13 “I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators…
2) Discouraging Disorderly Behavior 2 Thessalonians 3:6 “Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us.”
3) Discouraging Division–Romans 16:17 “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.”
CONCLUSION: In this sermon on faithfulness we have seen that…
1. We must go back to the Bible Pattern of Faithfulness
1) In our Commitment to Faithfulness
2) In our Continuance in Faithfulness
3) In our Concern for Faithfulness
4) In the Company of Faithfulness
2. Invitation