1Thessalonians: The Study of a Term: Faith — A.J. Higgins

Now, thank you all for remaining for this final session of ministry, the gospel to follow after refreshments, turning to now 1 Thessalonians chapter 3. Now we have considered a topic, the Lord's coming.

The Five References to Faith in 1 Thessalonians 3

We have considered studying a person's life, a biography, and we want to look at a word study, studying a specific word. And as we read chapter 3, I'll just ask you to notice how often the word faith occurs in 1 Thessalonians and chapter number 3.

Verse 1, when we could no longer forbear, we thought it good to be left at Athens alone and sent Timotheus, our brother and minister of God and our fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ to establish you and comfort you concerning your faith, that no man should be moved, I'm sorry, that no man should be moved by these afflictions, for yourselves know we are appointed thereunto.

For verily, when we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation even as it came to pass, and you know. For this cause, when I could no longer forbear, I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter have tempted you and our labor be in vain.

But now when Timotheus came from you unto us and brought us good tidings of your faith and charity, and that ye have good remembrance of us also, desiring greatly to see us as we also to see you, therefore, brethren, we were comforted over you in all our affliction and distress by your faith.

For now we live if ye stand fast in the Lord. For what thanks can we render to God again for you? For all the joy worth we joy for your sakes before our God, night and day, praying exceedingly that we might see your face and might perfect or complete that which is lacking in your faith.

Now God himself and our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ direct our way unto you, and the Lord make ye to increase and abound in love one toward another and toward all men, even as we do toward you. To the end, he may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming or in the presence of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.

Now you likely noticed five references to the word faith in chapter number three. Just want you to think for a minute of the circumstances that these believers were found, the circumstances in which they were found.

The Fury of the Foe and the Trial of the Thessalonian Church

Number one, there is the fury of the foe. Very clear. Paul says here, lest Satan, the tempter, had tempted you and our labor be in vain. Chapter one, they were the trumpet church. From you sounded out or from you trumpeted out the gospel.

In chapter three, the trumpet church became the targeted church. Satan had him in his crosshairs. His goal was to bring them down and frustrate the gospel and hinder the work of God if he could. So there was the fury of the foe that was raging against this assembly and against the people of God.

And he had many ways of seeking to accomplish what he was trying to do. Number one. Secondly, was the link with that were the false accusations that were being leveled against the apostle Paul. Our brother has reminded us they questioned his motives.

He's just in it for the money. Just in it for the honor. Just in it for the power. He's on a he's on a power trip. And he's once they just try to control you and take from you. And so they questioned his his motives.

They questioned why he was missing. I mean, you're going through all this tribulation. Where's Paul? I mean, Paul's off on the Riviera, right? He's having a good time. And you're left here suffering. And so much for Paul's care for you.

They were questioning Paul's presence, the fact that he was missing. And of course, the whole goal was to discredit his ministry. So as our brother mentioned, self vindication is not the norm for spiritual individuals.

But when the truth of God was at stake, as it is here, and especially when he's writing to the believers in Corinth, he is vindicating his apostleship, vindicating himself because the truth of God is at stake, undermine Paul's apostleship and you've discredited his ministry.

And so Paul is trying to establish the fact that his ministry is genuine. So there's the fury of the foe. There's the false accusations against the apostle Paul. And then there was the faith of the saints, which was being placed on trial and the faithfulness of God.

Let me just mention for just a moment the faith of the saints. Every trial, I say this categorically without any excuse, every trial you will go through in life, from a flat tire when you're in a hurry to your dreams being shattered, is a test of your faith.

You say, you mean I get a flat tire, I'm not going to think that I'm saved. That's not what faith is all about. Not what he's speaking about here in this epistle, not a matter of doubting your faith, doubting your salvation.

You ever had a flat tire when you're in a hurry? When you've got someplace to go, you've got to get to the hospital, you've got to get to the meeting and you're late and you're rushing and you get out, the battery's dead, the tire is flat.

What's the first thing you think about? Didn't God know I had to do this? I mean, somehow life isn't the way it's supposed to be. You begin to question God. That's what we're talking about, a trial of faith.

What do I think about God? Every trial you enter into is going to test this. What do I think about God? It's going to reveal what I think about God. Is he worthy to be trusted? Can he be trusted? Does he deserve my faithfulness?

You may say, that's a trial of faith, well, you think of it. You mothers raising children, you are pressured by educational systems, pressured by society that your children must do this, they must be involved in this, they must go here, they must be immersed in this, and yet the word of God tells you that here's how you should raise your family.

Faith as Everyday Obedience to God's Word

Faith is simply putting the word of God into practice in your life. Please do not think that only missionaries, full-time workers, maybe elders, that they're the people that live by faith. Every believer lives by faith to the extent that he relies upon the word of God for guidance.

So when you're raising your family, if you raise your family according to the principles of the word of God, you are raising your family by faith. You men who are in business, you know as well as I do, you would be laughed at for following Christian principles in your business.

Pay your employees a fair wage when you know you can get away with less, not cook the books a little bit and pad the expense account or just do things under the table, not reporting that income because it all came in the way of cash and the government gets enough and look what they're doing with our money anyway and all the rest.

If you run your business by the principles of the word of God, you know where your paycheck is coming from on Friday, that's not a matter of living by, but if you run your business on the principles of the word of God, you are showing that God's word can be trusted.

What about some of you who are single and you would love to be married? The trial of singleness. Does God deserve my faithfulness when it comes to a partner in life? Is God worthy that I should be willing to sacrifice all the pleasures of family life if he doesn't bring someone into my life?

Does he deserve that kind of faithfulness? That's a test of my faith. So faith is put to the test in everyday life, not just when Satan is raging against us, but faith is put to the test in every decision, every crossroads you come to, every choice you make, every difficulty you face, faith is put to the test.

Does God deserve this? Is God worthy of this? These believers of Thessalonica were going through a trial of their faith. They were being told, we'll see in the second epistle, they were being told they were going through a tribulation.

God was judging them along with everyone else. And here they are, newly saved. The Greeks among them had turned from idolatry. The Romans among them had turned from Caesar worship. The Jews among them had turned from the nation and rejected what the nation thought of Christ.

And there they were in these new circumstances, and suddenly everything was going wrong. What happened to the wealth and prosperity gospel? They didn't know anything about it. And they were being put to the test.

Is this, is God real? Is God in control? Does God know what's happening in our lives? If you've never thought that, well, I'll tell you some of the times I've thought of it. Does God know what's going on?

I mean, look what's happening. This isn't the script I wrote for my life. And things aren't just working out like the books say they should. That's where these believers were, in a trial of their faith.

The Objective and Subjective Character of Faith

So, the circumstances in which they were found, let me just mention something about the character of faith. Now, when you read about faith, it could mean one of two things. It can mean the content of what we believe, the body of truth, the content, or the confidence we have in that truth.

Right? So, he speaks that he wants to perfect that which is lacking in their faith. Wasn't anything lacking in them, but he wanted them to know more of the truth of God, more of doctrine, if you will.

So, faith can mean a body of truth that's out there, something objective, or it can mean what's inside me towards that truth, what is subjective. And at times, it can be hard to know. Sometimes it's really both, because you can't have the one without the other.

I mean, you can't believe without knowing what you believe. And so, sometimes they're mingled together, and we'll see them together in this passage. But I want to talk to you about what faith is not. And if you were to ask most of your secular friends at university what faith is, they would tell you faith is when reason says it's wrong, and you just take this blind leap in the dark, and you just say, I don't care.

I don't care what reason says. I don't care what the facts say. I don't care what experience says. I'm just going to believe as hard as I can, because that's faith. That is not faith. And faith is not wishful thinking, that tonight we are going to see 100 people from the community come in, and if we believe it hard enough, it's going to happen.

That is wishful thinking, not faith. Faith is not a leap in the dark. Faith is a step into the light of God's Word. When you obey God's Word, that is faith. It has nothing to do with, you know, closing your eyes and screwing up your courage and saying, I just hope, hope, hope I can believe.

Now, faith is absolute confidence and living according to the Word of God. So, faith is part of everyday life. It's a response, then, to the Word of God. It's a step into the light of divine truth. So, the character of their faith.

How Faith Is Encouraged, Tested, Displayed, and Enlarged

But I want to come to the crucible of the fire in which they were found. Now, we mentioned there are five different mentions of faith. Verse number two, Paul speaks there about having sent Timothy to encourage them in their faith.

So, I learned, number one, that faith can be encouraged. Now, I would take it that is a personal response, my faith in God and His Word. Timothy was sent to encourage them in their faith, number one. When you come to number five, faith can be enticed or examined.

In verse number five, we read there that, I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter have tempted you. Faith was being tempted, enticed, but faith was also being examined by the trial. It was being shown to be real or not.

When you come to verse number six, Paul speaks about the glad tidings of your faith. So, the faith was being exhibited in how they responded to the trial. When you come to verse number seven, he speaks about faith, what their faith did for him.

He says, when Timothy came and brought us the message about your faith, he says it was like a breath of fresh air. It edified me. So, your faith can edify others in their trials. Paul was going through a trial at Corinth, his afflictions.

And when he heard about how the believers in Thessalonica were standing up to the trial they were going through, their faith was holding fast, it became a tremendous encouragement to him. It edified him in his trial.

And then finally, he speaks at verse number ten, that faith can be enlarged. He wants their faith to grow. He wants their faith to increase by the truth of God that he would bring them. So, let me speak then about the crucible of fire in which they found him.

Timothy's Sacrifice and the Ministry of Mutual Encouragement

He had sent Timothy, we'll read in verse number two, to encourage them in their faith. What I learned, number one, is Timothy was a man who had tremendous sensitivity to the needs and trials of others.

He made a tremendous sacrifice. Here he is in a pagan city, alone. When I say alone, there was Aquila and Priscilla, but certainly Timothy would have been a tremendous help to him, and Silas, and he has to make a choice.

Keep these men here to help in the work or send them back to help others. And as always, Paul makes the choice. Others are more important than I am. He sends them away. He's willing to make a sacrifice for the blessing of others.

A very important principle to learn is this. This especially is related to assembly life. The trial of one becomes the test of all. How we respond to another believer going through a trial tests me as to my relationship with that believer.

Paul was sensitive to the needs of others and responded, sacrificing what would have been for his own advantage for the blessing of others. So the test of one, the trial of one rather becomes the test of all.

How we respond, how we rally around, how we support, how we encourage, all of that is vital. We see Paul's sensitivity, Paul's sacrifice, and the support that Paul provided. He reminds them as well in his letter of what the word of God taught them.

There is nothing, I shouldn't say nothing, there's hardly anything that makes me feel more inadequate than a believer going through a trial and I do not have the word of God that will meet their need.

I mean, we all can mouth platitudes, right? All things work together for good to them that love the Lord. We all can say the right words, but you know when you're saying them, it's not really meeting this believer's need.

You're not really reaching their heart because you just don't know what to say. I mean, sometimes it's best not to say anything. Sometimes, you know, Job's three friends were great when their mouths were shut, and sometimes that's the best comfort we can be, is just be there and hold hands.

But at other times, they come to you looking for a word, looking for something to just carry them through the trial, and you're just at a loss. Paul was able to give them the word of God. He said, when we were with you, this is what we taught you.

This is the experience believers can expect. He said, remember the word of God. The same thing happens in Hebrews chapter 12, when the writer of Hebrews, whoever he be, he says, you have quite forgotten the word that speaks unto you as unto sons.

My son despised. You've forgotten the very word from God that would bear you through this trial. It is the word of God that we have. Now, make your dinners, make your cakes, bring them to people when they're in need.

But always remember the ultimate comfort we have, the ultimate strength and support we gain is from this book. And if you are going to be a help to others, so we're not just talking here to preachers and elders and all of you sisters.

You know what it's like to have a friend go through a crisis. All of you young men, you know, tragedies and trials are not something just for gray hairs. They happen to young people. If you want to be able to be a help to your friends, it's this book that's going to help you.

This book is the one that's going to give you principles, teaching that you can use to support others in their trials. As our brother has mentioned many times, it's the very thing that God has used for you, as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 1, the very thing that God has used for you as you have struggled with something that can be a help to someone else in their struggle as well.

So here is faith that needed to be encouraged. And Paul, sensitive, aware of need, makes a tremendous sacrifice to be willing to help others. There are believers who travel hundreds of miles when they hear of another believer going through a trial, a death, a loss.

Tragedy has overtaken them. They think nothing of the plane, the car, whatever it is to be there, sacrificing time and money just to be able to support a tremendous thing, to be able to be a help one to another in that way.

Recognizing every trial is a trial of a believer's faith, to be able to strengthen them in the trial, to encourage them in the trial as Paul does here for these believers. But then, as we mentioned, every trial is going to examine your faith.

Trials Examine the Reality of Faith

And so Paul says in verse number 5, "...lest the tempter had tempted you, and our labor be in vain.". So Satan was at work putting their faith to the test, and their faith was being examined to see whether it was genuine or not.

As we mentioned already, every trial will examine what you think of God, His care. In fact, if you go back and read the temptation of the Lord Jesus in the wilderness, what do you think Satan was saying?

If your God was wise, He would give you the kingdoms without the cross. If your God was good, He would feed you. Why don't you just feed yourself? If your God was loving, He wouldn't allow you just to remain in obscurity, unknown.

He would make questioning what you think of God. Is God a God of love? Is God a God who is good? Is God a God who is wise? Every temptation is going to test what you think of God. Now, trials, the same trial can come to an individual, can come to different individuals, and for different reasons.

There are ten famines in the Word of God, as you go beginning with Abraham in Genesis chapter 12, ending in Acts chapter 11. Ten trials that you see in the Word of God. Ten famines, rather, seen in the Word of God.

Let me just take one of them. You remember in the days of the judges, there was a famine and Elimelech and Naomi and their two sons go down to the land of Moab. They couldn't depend on God during the time of famine.

Now, there's a man called Boaz. He stayed in the land. Boaz was not responsible for the famine. It was a nation that was every man doing that which was right in his own eyes. Book of Judges. The background of Ruth is the Book of Judges, as you all know.

And so God sent famine because of the sin of the people. But Boaz had to endure the famine. So I find that a trial can do one of two things. It can touch our consciences to examine us or contest our commitment.

The same famine was to touch the conscience of the nation, but it tested the commitment of Boaz. Now, you know the end result of that trial, right? A man who came through the trial, his commitment was absolutely undisturbed.

He leaves or he emerges from famine conditions a mighty man of wealth. What about Elimelech? There's guilt, there's graves, there's grief down in the land of Moab. Consciences weren't touched. Trial as a general rule.

Trial is either about failure in my past or fruitfulness in my future. Right? God is either touching my conscience, that's something I've got to make right, or it is about fruitfulness in the future, how God is developing me in some way.

Now, more of that in a few moments. But Satan was tempting their faith, whether it's Peter, whether it's the Lord in the wilderness, whatever it may be, whether it's the assemblies in Asia that we read about later in Revelation 2 and 3.

Satan is absolutely opposed to all that brings pleasure to God. Every time in the word of God, God expresses his pleasure in something or someone, Satan attacks. That occurred Genesis chapter 3. God saw everything he made, it was very good.

Satan attacked. Hast thou seen my servant Job? None like him. Satan attacks. This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Satan attacks. The church, finding favor with God and men, everything going well, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Ghost?

Time and again, wherever God finds pleasure in something, Satan attacks. Now, that's an indictment of most of us, because most of us really know very, very little of the attack of Satan. And the reality is that must mean we're bringing minimal pleasure to God.

It's a very searching truth. But here were individuals that were under tremendous pressure. Satan contempt, the world tempts our faith. You remember those three Hebrew servants? It wasn't so much Satan now, but it's a world system, Babylon.

Bow down or burn. So much easier just to bend and blend, isn't it? You all know what that's like. We've all done it. We've all bended and blended at times. You don't want to stand out. We're a brother red.

I don't know if you noticed it, but 2 Timothy chapter 4, it begins telling you all about men, men, men, men, and all the evil that will mark them. But when you come to Timothy, it's singular. It's got to stand out from the mass of men.

It's just a man of God. God doesn't make clones. If you are going to stand for God, it's alone. Christian fellowship is wonderful. But most of you work in places or attend universities or high schools, and you don't have all the fellowship around you that you'd love to have.

Men of God are made one by one. Women of God are made one by one, standing alone. And those three Hebrew young men, it was a world system that was trying to make them conform. And they stood. And of course, our own flesh tempts us, doesn't it?

We become impatient in trial, and we begin to find our own way out. And who likes suffering or to be deprived of something? And we have a default position of self-interest and self-preservation. And the result is we allow our flesh to become our greatest enemy in trial.

Faith Exhibited in Love and Stability

So faith can be enticed as it is here by Satan, and it can be examined. But then in verse number six, Paul speaks about the good tidings of your faith. When Timothy came and brought us good tidings, actually the word there I think most know is the word for gospel.

He brought us the gospel, the good news of your faith and charity, and that you have good remembrance of also we are comforted over you and so on. So they had expressed, they were exhibiting faith in the trial.

And they were standing for God. Their stability was seen, their charity was seen, and their fidelity was seen. And Paul thought, that's good news. That's gospel. That's an evangel to me. That's tremendous to hear that their faith has stood the test.

Their charity, their love is there. They're not becoming bitter. They're not becoming sour by the trial. How do you react to trial? Why me? I've had enough. Doesn't God know how much I'm taking? I can't take it anymore.

I spoke just recently, impressed myself with Leah, Jacob's second wife, always second class. Even at the, after coming back from Laban's house, you remember how he structured the family, the handmaidens out first with their children.

And then there was Leah with her six. And closest to him was Rachel and the two, or rather the one at that time. And I can't, I'm just wondering how did Leah feel after all these years? What was it, 16 years?

It was 20 some years. After all these years, I'm still, I'm still expendable as far as my husband is concerned. Talk about a scenario for becoming bitter and becoming, but she didn't. And when the old man comes to die, he says, bury me with Leah, bury me with her.

God always compensates. Don't become bitter in the midst of trial. Here were people who maintained a spirit of love, of faithfulness and fidelity amidst the trial. Faith that was expressed, visible for Timothy to see, to bring him word back to the apostle and to give him tremendous encouragement amidst that.

Why God Permits Trials in Believers' Lives

But verse number seven, which is tied with that, that in all your affliction and distress, we're comforted by your faith. Faith and its effect on others. Now, let me just quickly give you some examples as well as some of the reasons why God allows trials in a believer's life.

Now, please, a disclaimer before I get started. I don't have all the answers to trials in people's lives. Have enough trouble figuring things out myself for my own life, much less try to interpret things for you.

And I might just mention, don't interpret another person's trial for them. Don't tell them this is coming because you failed here or, you know, your husband just died because you didn't, you know, don't ever do that.

If the reason for the trial is discipline, the disciplining hand of God, God will make it clear. You don't have to do it. You'd be very sensitive to another person's tears and trials. But the first thing is, of course, I've mentioned already, trials can be disciplined for our waywardness and our failure.

Now, I would have to say before I go any further, that should be the rare exception in a believer's life. That was what Jacob went through. That was what some of what David went through and some of his trials, not all of them, but some of them were because of his own failure and his own sinfulness.

So trials can be God's disciplining hand upon us because of failure. The principle of the Word of God is inviolable. Whatever a man sows, that will he also reap. And both Jacob and David reaped what they had sown.

So trials can be, rarely, because of our failure, can be for discipline. But much more commonly, trials can be to develop us into Christ-likeness. And so you think of, you think of a Joseph. You think of Joseph in Potiphar's house.

You think of Joseph in the prison house. You think of Joseph in Pharaoh's house. Think of Joseph in his own personal house. And what you see is a man developing Christ-like features millennia before Christ appears on earth.

God interested in making men, wherever he could find them, more and more like Christ. And so there are trials, the crucible of trial that you will go through, that God's great purpose is to develop in you and develop in me Christ-like features that bring him pleasure.

So discipline and development. But also, would you believe it, that trial can also be to deter us from failure? Listen to what Paul says. Because of the abundance of the revelation, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, lest I should be exalted above measure.

So the Apostle Paul needed something to balance him. It was a lifelong trial, whatever it was. It was a lifelong trial to keep him from pride and to keep him from becoming disqualified. Disqualified in his service for God.

So the trials can be to balance us and to deter us from being lifted up with pride or perhaps straying in other ways that might be unique to your personality or mine. God sometimes allows trials as a preventative to preserve us from what would happen without the trial.

God in his goodness and in his mercy. Trials can be as well to demonstrate God's power. I think that's what we have here in 1 Thessalonians chapter 3. That's what we had when those three Hebrew servants went into the furnace, right?

They went in and the result of their going in was that God's name was published throughout the entire empire as the one true God. So that by going in to the trial and being willing to endure the trial, what they did was they demonstrated to everyone the tremendous power of God.

I'm thinking of a couple just now, many, many miles from here, different continent altogether, and the way they have endured a trial, accepting it from the Lord at every turn, giving him honor, giving him glory at every turn.

It has been to everyone looking on a tremendous demonstration of what the grace of God can enable a believer to pass through. Now I'm not saying we whistle in the dark through trial and we put on a good face and act like everything is fine.

But yet at times when believers go through trials and they draw upon the rich resources of God's grace and people view it, people are left not so much wondering and amazed at the people, but left worshiping the God who can give such grace to believers who are under such tremendous trial.

So that your trial might well be a tremendous encouragement to others. I'm sure you recognize, it's often mentioned, Job never knew why he went through the trial he did. God gave no explanation. God became the explanation himself.

Job says, it's enough. I've heard of thee with the hearing of the ear, now might I see it, I abhor myself. Question's done. I'm done arguing. I just bow. Job never knew. You may say, well Job got double in the end.

Yes, he got double in the end. But I think there's something even more. How many believers have been strengthened going through a trial by reading of Job's trial? So that one man's trial, one woman's trial, one family's trial becomes a tremendous encouragement to others to strengthen them in their Christian lives.

I mean, you all know the old adage that the blood of the martyrs was the seat of the church. So whether you're looking at Bloody Mary in the 1500s or go all the way back to the first century and the Christians in the arena, Felicitas and the other who was with her, wherever you read of their trials and of their martyrdoms and their persecution, it all led to strengthening other believers in their faith.

So that trial not only is for discipline, not only is for developing us, not only is for deterring us, but it can also be a demonstration of the rich resources we have in God and be a tremendous strength to other believers.

But then again, one other thing to mention is that it can be determined and prepare us for future service. I mentioned Joseph already. God's goal for Joseph was second ruler in the kingdom, administering for God in that tremendous land of Egypt.

Where was Joseph going to develop the skills of administration and care? Potiphar's house and the prison house. So that the trial as a slave in Potiphar's house, and it was a trial, and the prison house with the chain around his neck and shackled arms and legs, all of that was teaching a man how to administer in different spheres because God had a bigger job for him to do.

So what you're passing through, perhaps learning some skills that you may not think are very valuable right now, it may well be God has something bigger in mind. God is developing you. God is fitting you for another sphere in his own purpose, in his own time.

God's Timing and the Purpose of the Test

The trials they pass through, I cannot help but think as well of the timing of the test. Paul is in Corinth. Things are so wicked and so dangerous that God has to actually give Paul a special vision. Paul, no man will set on thee to do the hurt.

I have much people in this city. It must have been a fearful time in Corinth. And I'm sure that Paul's heart must have wavered at times. And along, back comes Timothy with this tremendous, right in the nick of time, the message comes, God's timing is perfect.

Even when God is slow, he is right on time. Learn that lesson. We think God is, he's not working according to my watch. No, God does not work according to my watch. I am the most impatient individual around.

But he's always on time. Never misses a second. He's right there when we need him to be on time. And the truth that can be learned from all this is your trial can be for many, many different reasons. If it's not in your past, you've had it out with God, there's nothing in your past you think this trial is dealing with, then just leave it with God that it's something in your future.

Don't ask him the whys and the wherefores. I know that's our natural reaction. How can I learn God in this trial? How can I profit from the trial I'm going through right now? I want to glorify God in the trial.

Faith Enlarged Through Scripture and Growing Knowledge

Lastly, and the time is gone, in chapter, in verse number 10, faith can be enlarged and enlightened. How does that happen? Well, it was happening here through trial. In the trial, their faith, and that's their confidence in God was growing.

But Paul wanted to come and give them more truth that their faith, the body of truth, that what they knew would also increase. So your faith can grow by reading this book. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.

Your faith will grow as you read this book and learn, as our brother has mentioned, learn not just verses and not just outlines and, no, learning God in his book. Learning how we can have absolute confidence in God.

So that as you read the word of God, your understanding, your faith grows, your body of knowledge grows, but so does your confidence in that body of knowledge. And Paul desired their faith to grow. I'll just mention, time is gone, when you're reading through the gospel of John next time, just take note.

Interesting that John's gospel never mentions the word faith, but it has over a hundred mentions of believing. Notice how often it says that then the disciples believed in him. And the Lord Jesus saying that you might believe.