Build Up Your Most Holy Faith, Part 2

 

Central Thought: The believer should be consistent in the practice of his faith.

 

Text: Jude 17-25

 

In the first part of this lesson, we were made to understand what the Christian faith is and that the birth, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus remain the foundation and bedrock of the Christian faith.  We also examined the characteristics of the days we are living in (the last days) and how we can overcome the onslaught of the enemy.

This concluding part focuses on how we can build up this faith which is described as most holy.  It will do us good as believers to give heed to the counsel of God as revealed in the Holy Scriptures.

 

Discuss how the following can help us build up our most holy faith?

The Word of God, 2 Timothy 2:15, 1 Peter 2:2:

When a baby is born, it depends on the milk from the mother’s breast to grow.  Similarly when an individual becomes “born again”, surrenders himself/herself totally to the Lord Jesus, they must desire and feed on the sincere milk of the word of God to grow, 1 Peter 2:2.  This dependence on the word of God continues throughout one’s Christian practice/life on earth. There can be no alternative to God’s word.  The word of God is described as pure, true and perfect, Proverbs 30:5.

The word of God teaches us the way of Christ, how we can love God and our neighbor and walk in holiness as we live in this world.  The word of God must remain the delight of any believer who desires to build and keep building up their most holy faith.

Consistency in prayers, Romans 12:2; 1 Thessalonians 5:17:

Prayer as revealed in scripture is communion with God.  This fact must be restated again and again in view of the kinds of prayer being prayed in our contemporary society.  In prayer, our communion is with God and not with the devil.  In prayer, we commune with God; He speaks to us and we speak to Him.

Consistency in prayer, constant communion with God, is important as we build up our faith in Christ.  As we commune daily with God, we receive strength to live for Him and overcome/quench the fiery darts of the enemy, Ephesians 6:10-18.  Also, in our communion with God, we may receive revelations from Him that will keep us in the narrow way and guide us in the practice of our faith.  Peter was in communion with God when he received the revelation to go to Cornelius’ house, Acts 10.

Constant study of God’s word and prayers are very vital in building up our most holy faith.  The song writer puts it this way: “Read your Bible, pray every day if you want to grow . . .”

Infilling of the Holy Spirit, Ephesians 5:18:

It is impossible for a believer to grow in the things of God without the presence and infilling of the Holy Spirit in their life.  The Lord Jesus promised that the Father will send the Holy Spirit and that when He comes, He will teach us all things and bring to our remembrance the teachings of the Lord Jesus, John 14:26.

The Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Trinity (the Godhead).  He is real and He can be experienced.  We need Him to lead, teach, guide, comfort, guard and direct us as we seek to build up our most holy faith on earth.  Any believer who has not experienced the baptism of the Holy Spirit should seek to be baptized.  He also helps us to pray.

Fellowship, Proverbs 27:17; Hebrews 10:25:

We are admonished in scripture not to forsake the assembly of fellow believers and that “iron sharpens iron”.  In reality, “no man is an island and Christianity is not practices in isolation”.  In the effort to build up our holy faith we need to be in fellowship with fellow believers.  Such fellowship helps to strengthen us in the faith as we pray together, share our experiences, study God’s word together and receive counsel from one another, etc.

Sincerely, it must be acknowledged that genuine fellowship centers (church, group, denomination, etc.) where the word of the God is taught and obeyed appears to be diminishing in contemporary society.  However, the onus is on the believer to seek where they can find genuine fellowship based on the teachings of the Holy Bible.  The issue here is beyond just belonging to a church (assembly) denomination where people just gather to “play church” and Christianity is not practiced.  Such groups, churches, denominations rather than build up the faith may actually help to destroy it.

Evangelism, Acts 1:8:

A believer who wants to build up their faith must no hide his identity.  A major step in making our identity as Christians known to others is to tell them about the Lord Jesus Christ.  We are instruments in God’s hands to bring the Good News of the Lord Jesus’ birth, death and resurrection to the world.  When we see people respond positively to the Good News of the gospel there is a unique joy that runs through our heart.  Also, if we are involved in constantly witnessing to others about Christ, there is bound to be a desire in us to live our lives in conformity with the Word, so that those we preach to will not accuse us of hypocrisy.  Holy living therefore is the focus of the believer who constantly witnesses for Christ.

Good Christian Literatures: 

Reading Christian literatures can also be an asset in building up our most holy faith.  However, we must be vigilant especially in our generation.  There are literatures that carry Christian titles but the contents cannot be substantiated from Scripture, the Bible.  Therefore whatever we read must be reconciled with Scripture.  Any idea, doctrine, suggestion, written in any Christian literature that is not in line with the teachings of the Lord Jesus must be rejected no matter how popular or respected the author may be.

Family Altar, Quiet Time, Daily Devotional:

It is good Christian practice to have a time set aside daily to commune with God as an individual or as a family.  At such times, the Bible is read, prayers are offered to God and God speaks to us.  Certainly this constitutes good practice in building up our most holy faith.

Willingness to suffer for Christ, Philippians 3:10-11; 2 Timothy 3:12:

Believers in our generation are not willing to hear that there is a possibility of suffering or facing persecution or being martyred because of our faith in Christ.  Certainly no one prays for such a situation but it is however good that the believer should have the mindset that if or when situations arise, they are not strange, unusual occurrences.  The interesting thing is that God has promised us victory in such situations.  There are instances of people in scripture whose faith in the Lord came under trial but God delivered them, Genesis 22:1-14; Daniel 3, 6; 2 Corinthians 11:23-33.

Holy Living, Colossians 3:1; Hebrews 12:14:

A desire to live each day for the Lord is of utmost importance in building up our most holy faith.  When holiness is our focus, we will be willing to do things enumerated above.

Heavenly Focus, Hebrews 11:8-16:

In building up our most holy faith in this world, we should bear in mind that we are pilgrims on the earth.  There is an eternal home being prepared for us, John 14:1-6.  Therefore, we are to live our lives here on earth bearing in mind that we should separate ourselves from anything or person that will hinder us form reaching our eternal adobe with the Lord Jesus.

 

Daily Living Application:

We are to consciously and consistently follow the teachings of our Lord, Savior and Master, Jesus Christ.  In doing so, we will be building up our faith which is described as most holy.  Let us not forget that we are strangers and pilgrims in this world.  Let us keep our ultimate home in view and spend our time here on earth preparing for that home.

 

Memory Verse:

Jude 20 – “But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost”