Awesome. The Lord was calling him to do this. or the provisions. When they finished that prayer, when they said amen, thank you for the things that you have provided, there was a knock at the door. There was a note. Go get that. The note was closed. You used it. People like It seems like they're either of things put at an end. by chance, but that God, in the beginning, spoke it into existence. And we understand this by verse 11 and 6. Verse 11 and 6 says, But without faith it is impossible to please him that is God. For he who comes to God must believe that he that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. So without faith, we cannot please God. We cannot come to God. Because we cannot believe without faith, we cannot believe that God is. Without faith, we cannot believe that God is. And we cannot believe that He rewards those who diligently seek Him. How can we believe in God without faith? Hebrews says, we cannot. So is this faith, is it a tangible thing? Or is it simply abstract? It's like a concept, or an emotion, or is it like a feeling? Kind of comes and goes sometimes. Well, I say all of this because our text is not in Hebrews. Our text is actually in Luke chapter 17. So if you'd like to turn with me to the Gospel of Luke chapter 17, we're going to deal a little bit with faith. And the text this evening that I've selected begins in verse 5, but that seems like an unfair place to start. So we're going to kind of catch up in verses 1 through 4. Luke chapter 17, verses one through four, Jesus says to his disciples that offenses must come. But woe to that man through whom they come. It would be better for that man if a millstone were tied around his neck and he were thrown into the sea than for him to cause an offense against one of these little ones. Jesus goes on to warn the disciples to take heed to themselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him. If he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times in a day and seven times returns to you and repents, you shall forgive him. Verse four, you shall forgive him. Now if this sounds somewhat familiar, it's because we dealt with this In the end of Matthew chapter 18, we dealt with 17, chapter 17 in Luke, verses 1 through 4. They were in line with what we dealt with at our last message from Matthew chapter 18. So I want us to take that idea of forgiveness with us because it's bringing us to the passage tonight in Luke chapter 17, verses 5 through 10. And as we consider this section of Scripture, we're going to see the faith of a servant. The faith of a servant. So read with me, if you will, chapter 17 of Luke's Gospel, verses 5 through 10. Hear the word of the Lord. And the apostle said to the Lord, increase our faith. So the Lord said, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea and it would obey you. And which of you having a servant plowing or tending sheep will say to him when he has come in from the field, come at once and sit down to eat. But will he not rather say to him, prepare something for my supper and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk and afterward you will eat and drink? Does he think that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not. So likewise you, when you have done all those things which are commanded, say, We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do. This is the Word of the Lord. Let's ask His blessing on our time together. Our Heavenly Father, we are grateful for Your Word. We are grateful for the recording of the events of the life of our Lord Jesus Christ, how He is pleased to teach His disciples, His apostles, and therefore teach us what it is to have faith. Our God, we would ask that you would make difficult things plain tonight, that you would make up all that is lacking in the speaker, and that your Holy Spirit would bring truth and understanding as we consider the depths of what it means to be a follower of Christ. And it's in His name that we pray. Amen. I mentioned George Mueller earlier. And sometimes when we hear about men to whom great faith is attributed, we may feel that sinking feeling of inadequacy. It kind of sneaks into our bosom. We may think how distant that type of behavior is from us. We may say to ourselves, O ye of little faith. And something similar is happening here in Luke 17 5. See, the apostles have just heard this charge from Jesus. Jesus is telling them to forgive their brother for sinning against them seven times in one day. Seven times the same offense is repeated and seven times true forgiveness is expected. And so they have a reaction to this charge. Their response to the charge from Jesus is recorded to us in verse five. And then in verses 6-10 we see this further teaching, this subsequent teaching of Jesus to support all that is here that Jesus wants His apostles to hear and know and understand about what it means to forgive and the faith that is required to do so. So I want us to consider this exchange, this teachable moment between Jesus and His apostles. And I want us to consider it under three headings. I want us to see in verse 5, an inadequate faith felt. An inadequate faith felt. Then in verse 6, I want us to see an adequate faith illustrated. And then in verses 7 through 10, we're going to see an adequate faith defined. So let's look at verse 5. An inadequate faith felt. Verse 5, and the apostles said to the Lord, increase our faith. See, the apostles have just heard this charge from Jesus. He's telling them to forgive their brother for sinning against them seven times in one day. And they have a reaction to this charge. The reaction is to request of Jesus, increase our faith. They must have truly and deeply felt their own need for forgiveness and their own inability to forgive. They must have felt their own need for forgiveness because they're realizing that they're capable of sinning in the very same way against a brother up to seven times in a day. That's a strong realization. When one comes to the understanding of his own sinfulness and his own inability to do good, be it toward God or toward a brother, when we come to that realization within ourselves of our complete and total inadequacy, that is a heavy burden for us to carry. So they feel this. but they also feel their own inability to forgive a brother. Because the idea of one sinning against them and coming to them repeatedly over the same offense and asking for forgiveness would bring about those feelings that we can identify with even now as we consider such a thing. That is not our first response to offer forgiveness. And so we see this apostolic request to increase our faith. Three simple words. Increase our faith. Increase. When I think of the word increase, I think about the idea of a fruitful harvest. Right? An abundance. I think about cherry trees and I think about grapes because my dad grows, has cherry trees and grapes and so there comes a time in the year that he'll call Leslie or the girls and he'll say, you need to come down and get some of these grapes before they all spoil or you need to come down and get some of these cherries before they all spoil. There's an abundance, right? We're overflowing and if you don't get them, they're just going to go to waste. But the word here is actually the word increase. The original word is the word from which we get our word prosthesis, which means to add to. So I get this idea in my mind of a prosthetic leg. There's something that's missing. There's some support that is needed And so we need something to be added to. To bring support. To complete. To fill up all that is lacking. Increase. Add to. Our. Faith. In thinking of words that are synonyms for faith, it's kind of difficult. It's kind of difficult. We see words like persuasion. or credence, or moral conviction, or fidelity. It's difficult to come up with synonyms for the word faith. But this is what the apostles say. They say, add to our faith, increase our faith. So why are they saying that? How did they get here? They're saying, we need bigger faith. We need more faith. Give us more faith. Increase to each of us our faith because if our brother sins against us seven times in a day and seven times in a day returns repenting, we shall forgive him. Oh Lord, how do we meet this command. How do we do what you are requiring of us? We are completely inadequate to do such a thing. Now, I'm sure that there are those among us today, when they are challenged with what seems to be an insurmountable task. You know, a mountain that's too high, a river that's too wide and fast to swim across. When they're faced with this insurmountable task, they seem to have confidence that swells up in their toenails and it infectiously migrates upward, flooding every gland with this noxious adrenaline that expels every doubt and concern. We all know people like that, don't we? But I think that most of us more closely relate to the apostles here. Because we know that feeling of impossibility. We feel it. We feel keenly that feeling of impossibility. If you have a five or six year old, or maybe you remember when you were five or six years old, and your parents would say to you, you need to get along with your siblings. You, get along with your sister. Be nice to your sister. I never heard anything like that. Be nice to your sister, right? And there's this feeling of impossibility, right? Or if you see your children, you say such a thing to your children, and you see it on their faces, right? They're like, what? That can't even be done. We know that feeling. And the reality is that this is what Jesus is saying to the apostles here. Right? But with less humor and more serenities, more depth here, He's saying to the apostles, you must swallow your pride, and you must think more of your brother than yourself, and you must forgive again. even if you're starting to feel like a doormat. Yes, brother. Come on in. Wipe your muddy feet on me again. I do forgive you. And their reaction to this requirement is real. It's true. They say, teacher, if that is the requirement, then something is woefully lacking in me. The level of forgiveness is not here. It's not inside of me. This is an insurmountable task. The mountain is too high. The river is too fast and wide. If that is the requirement, then I'm going to need some sort of prosthesis. I'm going to need in addition of some sort, I'm going to need more faith. Isn't it interesting? Isn't it interesting that the response to this need is a request for more faith? Would you have requested more faith? I don't think I would have. I think that probably in my pride, I would have asked for better brothers. who don't test me in this way quite so far. Or I would have asked for some sort of qualifiers to justify when I didn't have to forgive anymore. But that's not what the apostles do. I don't think I would have asked for more faith. And why is that? I think it is because faith meant something different to the apostles than it has meant to me. To the apostles, faith didn't simply mean belief. To the apostles, faith didn't simply mean trust. To the apostles, faith meant obedience. And so Jesus has just told them that they must truly forgive their repentant brother up to seven times in a day. And when he said that, they felt the inadequacy of their faith. And so they prayed. And they asked Jesus to increase their faith. And Jesus responds to them by giving an illustration. He gives them adequate faith illustrated in verse 6. Let's look at verse 6. So the Lord said, if you have faith as a mustard seed. Jesus responds with this illustration of a mustard seed. And I don't know why this isn't here, why this word isn't here in the New King James, but in the King James it's brought out that this idea of a grain of mustard seed, of a single, solitary seed. And we know that the mustard seed is among the smallest in the world, and Luke 13, 19 tells us that the mustard seed grows into a large tree. But here Jesus is using this idea of a single, solitary, minuscule seed. He says, verse six, so the Lord says, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, be pulled up by the roots and planted in the sea and it would obey you. So we come to a mulberry tree. Jesus says, you'll say to the mulberry tree, you'll speak to the mulberry tree. This is God-like power. God speaks things into existence. God says things are and they are. Men don't do this. But Jesus says, you will say to the mulberry tree. Now mulberry trees are interesting. The word is sycamine or sycaminos, it's a different family, right? It's described as having the form and foliage of a mulberry, but a fruit resembling a fig. Okay, so we're calling it a mulberry tree in our translation. One of the commentators says this is, It's kind of mind boggling, but he says this about the mulberry tree. He says, Jewish rabbis celebrated the mulberry tree for its vast and tenacious root system, which endowed it with a half-millennium lifespan. Because of its root system, the Mishnah, that is the Jewish wisdom literature, the Mishnah prescribed that it could not be planted within 50 cubits, that is 75 feet, of a cistern. So this tree has such a crazy root system growing out 75 feet in a radius around the tree that you can't be within 75 feet of a well because it'll break in and destroy your well. So a tree with a circle around it 150 feet wide of roots. Think about that. Jesus says, speak to it. It'll be lifted up by the roots. Now, let's just imagine, if you will, bring your sanctified imaginations along. Superhuman strength. I need you and your superhuman strength to relocate a tree for me. It's over here. I want you to move it over here. How will you move the tree? Will you grab it by its leaves? Well, probably not. Will you grab it by its branches? Well, that seems risky. But you might grab it by the trunk and lift it up because that's where the strength seems to be, right? But no, Jesus says speak to it and it'll be lifted up by the roots, by the roots and transplanted into the sea. Again, with the commentators. I love this quote, so I'm gonna share it with you. It's a man named James Edward. He says this, Christians, even apostles, are distinguished not by the quantity of their faith, but by the employment of faith, not by greatness or smallness of faith, but by acting on faith, even faith the size of a mustard seed." You see, verse 6 is telling us that even the most minuscule faith results in miraculous things. And what is the most miraculous thing that faith results in? Obedience. Obedience. Speak to it, and it, this mulberry tree, this inanimate object, speak to it, and it will obey. This is a miraculous thing. This idea This idea of power, this idea of obedience, this idea of faith. Don't lose sight of this. A tree is being plucked up by the roots. This is an agricultural version of Hebrews 11 verse 30. By faith, the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days. By faith, the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days. I remember hearing someone talk about this at one time, and they described it like, okay, we've got all the armies gathered together, but we're gonna put the band in for this one. That makes no sense at all. They march around, they blow their trumpets, they shout, and the walls fall down by faith. by faith. So we're back here in chapter 17, and we're thinking about this illustration that Jesus is giving. And my question is, so is the concern here that the apostles will be landscaping by faith? Is Jesus concerned with the relocation of mulberry trees? No. No. It's all about obedience. Because to the apostles, faith meant obedience. It's implied here that when the apostles command the mulberry tree to be relocated, it's not because of their own whim or some strange desire that they have to see something miraculous done. Instead, the speaking to the mulberry tree is relaying a message. It's like Ezekiel. God says, prophesy, son of man, prophesy to these dry, dead bones. And what did those bones do? Did they obey Ezekiel? No. They obeyed God. They obeyed God. So we've heard what Jesus said about forgiveness, and we have felt with the apostles the inadequacy of their faith in verse 5. We've seen Jesus illustrate faith to us in verse 6 in this minuscule faith, the size of a mustard seed, that brings about obedience in a mulberry tree so that even down to the smallest hairs on the smallest and tiniest roots are not lost, but instead they're relocated into the sea. So now we come to the adequate faith defined. Verses 7 through 10. Jesus defines this adequate faith to us in another illustration. He talks about servants. He talks about slaves. Verse 7. And which of you, having a servant, plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, come at once and sit down and eat. Who among you, having a slave who's worked in the fields all day for you, when he comes in, you say, oh, you look tired. Please come sit down at the table. Let me get you a glass of water. I'm fixing your dinner right now. I'll have that to you in just a second, slave. No master's doing that. No master is doing that. Verse eight, but rather, but will he not rather say to him, prepare something for my supper and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk and afterward you will eat and drink. No, Jeeves, go upstairs, put on your tie, put on your tails, come down here and you serve me until I'm ready to retire. And then you can go have your crust of bread and your glass of water. This is all about order. There is a master and there is a slave. And we are to see the order here. It's of utmost importance. This is all about the order. Jesus goes on in verse nine. Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not. It's important for us to understand that this word thanks here isn't simply an expression of gratitude. Oh, thank you for bringing me my dinner. Or thank you for this glass of wine. It's not like that. It's not like that. It's actually imputing a debtedness. Like somehow, because the master commanded something, the slave does it, now the master owes the slave something. No. It was the slaves to obey, it was the masters to command. There is no owing of debtedness here from the master to the slave. So it's not that simple thank you, it's actually no, now I owe you a debt. Now I must pay you wages because you have done what I've commanded you to do. That is not what's happening here. Jesus goes on in verse 10. So likewise you, when you have done all those things which are commanded, say, we are unprofitable servants, we have done what was our duty to do. We are useless, good-for-nothing servants. We're slaves who have done what was our duty to do. Duty is an interesting word because it generally has to do with the owing of money or the owing of a debt. So we have only completed what was owed. We're commanded to obey, and we've obeyed, and we've obeyed properly and fully and rightly all that was commanded. We've carried out, we've executed what was commanded of us, right? We've done it properly, but it was all done in our own debtedness to the Master. This obedience is due the Master. It's important for us to remember that a servant is commanded. A slave is commanded. A servant can only do all that is commanded. If a servant goes beyond what is commanded, he sins. He presumes. He thinks of himself more highly than he ought to, and he commits adultery. He becomes his own master. But if he fails to do all that is commanded, then he sins and he falls short of the glory of his master. And then what are we to do? We are to be servants in humility. Servants work for the master. Servants serve the master. Servants are commanded by the master. So are you. So am I. And if, if we did all that God commanded us to do, we're still only unprofitable servants. John Wesley says this, for a man cannot profit God. Happy is he who judges himself an unprofitable servant. Miserable is he whom God pronounces as such. When we take that title upon ourselves as unprofitable servants, and we delight to do what the Lord has commanded that we do, are we not happy? Are we not complete? We're still unprofitable servants, but But we're happy as unprofitable servants, right? Because we belong to the master. But consider that man whom God pronounces as an unprofitable servant. Would we not rather humble ourselves before this God, before this master, than to be humbled before this God and master? But even if, or even when, you do all that is commanded, you still only have done what was commanded. We can't go above, we can't go beyond, we can only do our duty. So we see here that faith acts in obedience. regardless of the size of the faith. And we must remember that those actions which are commanded, those duties we are to perform, that debtedness that we owe as those who are saved by grace, those actions, as Ephesians 2 tells us, they are good works established beforehand by God so that we could walk in them. After all, we're saved by grace through faith, both of which come from God, therefore we cannot boast. Isn't this what James is talking about in chapter 2 verse 14 when he says, what does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? In 2.18, He says, but someone will say, you have faith and I have works. Show me your faith without works and I will show you my faith by my works. And he concludes in chapter 2 verse 26, for as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. Faith acts in obedience. And maybe that's not comforting for you right now. Maybe you're struggling in some forms of doubt. I mean, you know that God has promised, and you know that God keeps His promises, but has He promised you? Has He promised me? God has promised salvation for those who will believe on the Lord Jesus and trust in Him for salvation, but is He really promising that to me? Is that really for me? I'm so weak and I'm frail. My faith is so small and fragile. And when I hear people who are talking about evolution or abortion or non-binary genders or how stupid and foolish Christians are, I cower and I become mute and my tongue won't work. They lord over me by blaspheming the name of the eternal and almighty God, using his sacred and holy name as a curse or as a joke. and I can't do anything. My faith is so small. Brother, sister, you do well to ask the Lord to append to your faith. This is what the apostles did. You need to have your lame appendage amputated and a prosthesis put in its place. And I have good news for you. that God gives faith to believe. God gives faith by grace. But brother, sister, this doubt, this self-destruction isn't for us. We don't have to worry about the size of our faith. That is not what this section of Scripture is telling us. We don't have to worry over the size of our faith because that isn't our charge. It isn't our command to have massive faith. Instead, it's ours to obey. It's ours to obey, brethren. We so often worry about whether or not the promises of God are for us. Are we saved? Or sometimes even more difficult to fight. Was I saved when I fill in the blank? You know, 13 years ago, I was believing some really crazy stuff. Was I saved back then? I don't know. Or was I saved when I used to think this way? Or, you know, when I fell into sin for that time, was I saved then? That's not our problem, brethren. Because our job, our duty, is to obey. We can't obey in the past. We can't undo the things that were done. The forgiveness for our sins extends all the way back. When Jesus tells us that He has died for all sins, He means all of our sins, even those from 13 years ago, when we believed some crazy stuff. He has forgiven those sins, brethren. Our job, our duty, is to obey. Trust and obey. For there's no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey. Simply obey. If we desire to be God's servants, if we desire to be his slaves, then what do slaves do? They obey. And it is ours, brethren, to obey. And the promise to us from Luke 17, verses five through eight, is not that we must drum up faith to be obedient. but that being obedient is faith, the action of faith. Faith is not a simple word, it is deep. Those five letters stand between us and eternity. Without faith, we will not be saved. And so we ask, well, how much faith do we need? But it's not a question of how much faith, because faith, so minuscule that it disappears from sight when it is dropped to the ground, will grow. It'll grow into a 30-foot tree. And then we won't be able to find the seed ever again. But we'll know where it was planted, won't we? We must fight against that unbelief. We cannot let our unbelief take root because it will choke out the seed of our faith and we will find it impossible to trust God at all. We must fight against unbelief. And we must trust what Jesus says. And what does He say to us? If you have faith the size of a single grain of mustard seed, you will. You will. You'll say to a mulberry tree, you'll start an orphanage, You'll join the China Inland Mission. You'll raise your family faithfully. You'll go to work every day. You'll do your best to be a faithful witness. You'll share the gospel when the opportunities are given to you. You'll desire to be faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ in private and in public. But if you have faith the size of a single grain of a mustard seed, you will. You will obey. We need a minuscule faith to obey, to be slaves. So what is faith? I'll say that faith is hearing what God says and believing Him enough to do it. Is faith building an orphanage? Is faith joining the China Inland Mission? Is faith selling all our possessions and uprooting our family to seek missions out in the field someplace? Well, maybe. But first, first we have to trust what He clearly tells us. Trust and believe. Belief that obeys. Do we believe? Do we have faith? Do we trust that God is who He says He is? Then we will do what He says. John 14, verse 15, Jesus says, If you love Me, keep My commandments. Obey. John 15, verse 10, If you keep My commandments, if you obey, You will abide in My love just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. This is the model of Christ. So do we then abide in God when we keep His commandments as if by works? We must do works so that we'll be saved and kept in the Father's love? No. May it never be. Instead, the faith in the saving power of God is causing us to believe in Jesus as the forgiveness of sins, the Savior of souls. That faith is a transforming faith that causes us to act. Consider James 2 verse 18 again. Show me your faith without works, and I'll show you my faith by my works. And even these good works belong to God. Ephesians 2, it's a beautiful, beautiful section of scripture. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. And then he goes on, Paul goes on, he says, for we are his workmanship. We are his works. It's not your works, because you're his works. Instead, instead, We are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared in advance that we should walk in them. We are walking in the good works that God has prepared in advance for us to walk in. But what if I fail? What if I forget? What if I completely miss the mark? It's okay, you will. You will. But He's already covered that. 1 John 2 verse 1, My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin, and if anyone sins, not but, but if you sin, or in case, you may accidentally, no, and when you sin, and when you sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. But if you're here and you have no desire to obey the commands of Jesus, you have no desire to live a life that is pleasing to God, if you know that there is no faith in your soul to believe that God is, or that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him, Then consider Hebrews 4 verse 2, which says that the gospel was preached, but the word did not profit because it was not mixed with faith in those who heard it. So you have to hear the gospel. So what is the gospel? Well, simply put, sin separates us from God. And without having our sins removed through forgiveness, then we will remain separated from God until the day that we die. And our souls, which do not die, will continue on separated from God forever. But our sins, our intentional and our unintentional breaking of God's laws can be forgiven. because God took upon himself the form and flesh of a man, taking on himself the name of Jesus. a perfect life, was crucified on a Roman cross, was dead, was buried, was resurrected. And because of this, our sins can be forgiven in Jesus. We can have our sins taken away. And because Jesus lived a perfect life and he never sinned, he is like a representative for his people. He takes away the sins of his people, but his perfection is placed on his people. So not only are all sins forgiven and taken away, but His people stand in His perfection. His people are able to live in the presence of God, desiring to be God's slaves. And we're unable, hear this, we are unable to be taken from Him. We are unable to be plucked from His hand. There's no requirement for a size of faith. Do you desire to be a servant, a slave of God? Do you desire to be a servant of holiness? A servant of goodness? A servant of righteousness? I can promise you that you will never be a profitable servant, but your soul will eternally profit from the Master. Turn to the Lord Jesus in faith. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we are thankful this evening that you would bestow on us build within us a faith that we may look to the Lord Jesus and may be saved, that we would believe these things that cannot be believed unless we are made alive by your Holy Spirit. We ask that you would make dead bones arise, that you would breathe your breath into those dead, dry bones, that they might be alive, be made alive. And I pray God for those who are yours here this evening who are struggling with minuscule faith, maybe even smaller than a grain of mustard. Oh, God. Would you increase our faith? We know that all good things come from your hand. And we know that faith is a good thing. And so we ask that you would give us more faith. Build up our faith, God, in our beloved Savior and his finished work. bringing us to obedience to You, our good and kind Master. In the saving name of Jesus, we pray.