Fake it til you make it.

Intro

This Sunday night sermon series is entitled “Things Jesus Will Never Say.” There are things that we think that Jesus maybe saying to us as His Children, but there are some things that He will not say tonight’s statement that we will be covering is “Fake it til you make it.” You see, in our faith, there is no faking it til we become the real thing, we are either Christians totally, or not at all.

Running the race. We must properly be prepared to run the race, just because we look the part, we may look like a runner and dress like a runner, but if we have not trained then we will not be able to run the race. Authentic faith is the same way, if we attempt to run the race faith without proper preparation, then we will never run as God would have us to.

1 Thessalonians 1:2–10 ESV

We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything. For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.

Paul had sent Timothy to go check in on this Thessalonian church, probably fearing the worst for them since they were facing persecution, but Timothy came back and gave a great report for the church to Paul, “they are doing amazing.” So in response to this report, Paul writes in verse one.

Paul had sent Timothy to go check in on this church, probably fearing the worst for them since they were facing persecution, but Timothy came back and gave a great report for the church to Paul, “they are doing amazing.” So in response to this report, Paul writes in verse one.

Paul says in verse one,

1 Thessalonians 1:1 ESV

Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.

How can Paul be so confident that this church is actually “in” God the Father and The Lord Jesus Christ?? Paul identifies for us in Chapter 1 of the marks of an authentic Christian, Paul is saying that these traits are present with the church at Thessalonica

I.

Authentic Faith consists of

I. A work of Faith. (Vs. 3)

This corresponds with verse 9, this work of faith consists of the Christians who turned to God from idols. This work of faith must be there for us if we are to have authentic faith, to turn from ourselves and turn to God.

This may seem to be the most obvious one here, but not always, the mark of an authentic Christian is salvation. Now this salvation comes from Christ and Christ alone, there is no other name on this planet in which we can be saved. Jesus said in ,

John 14:6 ESV

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Jesus is the only way to salvation. Not works, not faking it, not anything that falls short of wholly and completely trusting in the name of Jesus Christ.

This truth, this Gospel, it transforms us, it changes us, we are no longer who we once were, we now belong to God, we are now His, we are no longer lost, but now we are found.

This work of faith, I would invite everyone here today to trust in Jesus wholly, and completely.

We cannot fake Salvation. Turn from yourself,and your sin and turn to God.

II. A Labor of Love (Vs. 3)

Serving God and one another

Verse 2: Paul begins by telling his readers that he is deeply grateful for them. He prays for them. Verse 3: Further, he sees within his readers the evidence of critical qualities or virtues that the Holy Spirit produces within the lives of believers. These are the virtues of faith, love, and hope. And Paul is confident that those are present within their lives because of the way they serve.

Letters in the ancient world weren't signed at the end, but at the beginning. Paul is writing on behalf of the missionary team. Verse 2: Paul begins by telling his readers that he is deeply grateful for them. He prays for them. Verse 3: Further, he sees within his readers the evidence of critical qualities or virtues that the Holy Spirit produces within the lives of believers. These are the virtues of faith, love, and hope. And Paul is confident that those are present within their lives because of the way they serve.

Notice that faith has produced work; it has led them to serve or use their gifts. We are all given spiritual gifts—special abilities to build into the lives of others. Some have speaking gifts; some have serving gifts. But we all have gifts. And these first readers are using theirs.

We exercise faith when we first received the Savior. But faith—a sense of trust and dependency—should be the on-going reality of our lives. And Paul sees their service as tangible evidence of their faith.

Notice also that their love produced labor. The term used in this passage refers to work that can be exhausting. These believers are using their gifts and serving to the point of fatigue. Again, behind this effort is love. I take it love for God, love for others. But these readers are responding to real needs.

Finally, there is also a stick-to-it-iveness as these believers are using their gifts. One writer defines the word translated "endurance" as "patience or persistence in the face of opposition." The term implies some level of persecution or resistance. Regardless, these readers continue to serve.

One mark of authentic faith is a desire to serve. Serving is not an optional extra. It's not a nice thing to do if you have extra time. If faith, love, and hope produce a desire to serve, and we're not serving—if there is no desire to serve—I take it what's missing is faith, love, and hope.

Authentic faith—a relationship with God—is demonstrated by the use of our gifts. It is demonstrated by consistent serving.

Far too often,we like to try to separate what we do, from our salvation, but the fact is, if we say that we live for God but live like hell, then that saving faith may not be there. If we are saved, then we WILL live it out in our lives. through serving and living for God.

III. A Patient Hope (Vs. 3) :)

A mark of an authentic Christian is Hope. That is why we are able to read Genesis to Revelation and have hope, knowing that we have salvation in Christ Jesus and knowing that He is coming again, we do not have to be scared or worried. I once met a Christian who was scared to read revelation because they were scared of what was in there, but guys, read Scripture in its entirety, if you trust in Jesus for salvation, it works out in the end, I promise.

It is about us pushing forward with Endurance in our Hope. The hope that we have in Christ produces endurance in this life that we live for Christ.

We cannot endure in our own strength, that is why we must rely on God for all things.

There will be times that the ministry that you are doing may not necessarily be in the limelight of what is going on, but does that mean that ministry goes away at that point? absolutely not! There will be ups and downs in your walk with Christ, but does it mean that when you are down that you should try and walk away from God and His Church? Absolutely not! It means the God who promised in ,

Jeremiah 32:40 ESV

I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me.

that with peace and joy, with the hope that God has placed in us that we can endure, you can weather the storm, you can make it in the lows, you can make it, even when you feel neglected. You focus on God, you focus on your salvation in Him, you dig in and endure whatever storm you are going through, and guess what, you are not alone, first and foremost you have God with you, in your heart, and you also have your church faith family, we are to place our hope in God together. And we are to be here together through all of the lows that we may face.

And finally, a mark of an authentic Christian, is that they have a faith that Communicates, (Vs. 8)

All of us who have put our hope and trust in Jesus, who are serving God and one another, while we wait with an enduring hope, we shall communicate our faith to the entire world! I have said this before, the only barriers we have at this church is these 4 walls. If we allow them to keep us secluded from the world, then we are not living our faith as God would have us to.

So church, I encourage Edgewood Baptist church tonight to be authentic in our faith, authentic in our love in serving, and authentic in our hope, authentic in our sharing. we cannot fake it, and it only comes from God. There is nothing sweeter than a fellowship of believers who are authentic in all aspects of our life in Him.