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Introduction:
Do you ever feel like God’s commands are too difficult? Do you
wish God would give you extra help to make difficult duties
easier? Are you aware the apostles had these same thoughts? In Luke
17:1-10, Jesus instructed His disciples about forgiveness.
They could only reply, “Increase our faith.” In other words,
“Master, this is too difficult. Please, give us some help.”
When Jesus responded, they were probably surprised. Because He did
not give them what they asked. Discussion: I.
Be assured, God asks us to do
difficult things. A.
Modern society has become convinced God does not ask His
servants to do difficult things. If you were to suggest they ought
to sacrifice a ball game in order to encourage their brethren in
the assembly (Hebrews
10:25), you would think you had asked them to cut off
their right arms. That shock is multiplied when the issue really
is difficult, such as giving up an unlawful marriage partner (Matthew
19:9) or, sometimes even harder, staying with a lawful one
(Matthew
19:6). B.
Most people expect Christianity to be instinctual, that is,
to just come naturally. If a command goes against what is natural,
men will go out of their way to explain how it does not apply to
them. “Surely God
does not expect so much out of me. That is too hard.” C.
Jesus’ statement in Luke
17:3-4 is not easy. Rebuking and forgiving a brother seven
times in one day does not come naturally. Our natural reaction is
to hold grudges, keep scores, get even and gossip. But God expects
us to do the difficult thing. You must understand that the
difference between those traveling to destruction and those
traveling to life is whether or not they choose the difficult way.
Few choose the right path (Matthew
7:13-14). Which path have you chosen? II.
God does not give us permission to disobey, even though the
duty is difficult. A.
Many have sold out the gospel, teaching that God will not
give difficult duties. We have not followed that teaching. Yet,
have we drifted into thinking that when something is difficult,
God will not hold us as accountable? Do we think that the hard
commands are not as strict? B.
What about the command regarding marriage and divorce?
According to Jesus, man is not allowed to separate what God has
joined (Matthew
19:6). But what if your husband is a no account bum and
will not work? What if your wife is belligerent, disrespectful and
wasteful? God has not given you the option of divorce. But we
would understand if you did divorce, wouldn’t we? Does God
understand? Maybe God will not be so strict in your case? Maybe in
your case it is acceptable to get an unlawful divorce. Surely God
understands how difficult your marriage is. C.
But look at Jesus’ illustration. In Luke
17:7-9, Jesus described a servant who had been working
hard all day. When he came into the house, did he get to eat and
enjoy the evening? No, he had to serve his master until the master
was satisfied. The servant did that without even a “Thank
you.” Was that servant allowed to opt out of his duties because
they were difficult? Did the master even give a second thought to
letting him out of his duties? No, he was a servant and that is
what servants do. So it is for us. We do what we have been
commanded, because we are servants of God. Even when it means
forgiving a brother or a spouse. III.
God has already given us the strength to obey His difficult
commands. A.
The apostles obviously thought they could not obey this
teaching. So they replied, “Increase our faith” (Luke
17:5). Jesus would have to do something special so they
could obey this command. B.
Too often Christians have this attitude. Have you? When you
have sinned, have you said, “That’s just the way I am.”?
Have you defended sin, saying, “I haven’t grown that much
yet.”? Have you seen a Christian who has done the difficult duty
and thought, “I wish God would give me the strength He has given
him. Then I could overcome my sins too.”? These statements
demonstrate an attitude that says, “God, you have to do
something extra for me so I can obey.” C.
Notice Jesus’ response. When asked to increase their
faith, Jesus did not perform some miracle, giving them a “gift
of faith” (cf.
I
Corinthians 12:9). He did not offer a teaching that made
their faith so strong that obedience was natural. Instead, He told
them they did not need more faith. He explained that with faith
the size of a mustard seed they could move a tree from one place
to another by speaking to it. How hard could it be to forgive?
These men did not need more faith. They needed to use the faith
they had. D.
This attitude is really a form of dodging responsibility.
If we convince ourselves some commands are so difficult only a
special gift of faith will allow us to obey, we can believe it is
not our fault if we disobey. It is God’s fault. Remember what
Paul said in I
Corinthians 10:13. God does not allow us to be tempted
beyond what we are able. We can obey every command. E.
At the risk of weakening Jesus’ point, let me clarify one
issue. Do not go away from this thinking you should not pray to
God for strength or faith. In the model prayer, Jesus demonstrated
we should pray for God to deliver us from evil (Matthew
6:13). In Gethsemane, Jesus told His inner circle to pray
lest they enter temptation (Matthew
26:41). We do pray for strength. But if we sin, it is not
because God did not give us enough faith. He has given what we
need. If we sin, it is because we choose to disobey. IV.
We need a sense of duty. A.
Why did the servant in Jesus’ story obey his master?
Because that was his job. He had a sense of duty and did not
question it. We need to have that same sense of duty toward God. B.
This is the attitude Paul had, repeatedly referring to
himself as God’s servant (Romans
1:1; Galatians 1:10; Philippians 1:1; et
al). According to Strong’s Enhanced Lexicon, this
servant is one who “gives himself up to another’s will” and
one who is “devoted to another to the disregard of one’s own
interests.” C.
One thing sorely lacking today, especially among my own
generation, is this sense of duty. Instead of a sense of duty and
responsibility to do what is right, there is a sense of doing what
I want. If I do anything, I first determine what is in it for me.
Why do you think there are so many marriages falling apart?
Because too many husbands and wives do not have a sense of duty in
their marriage. Why do so many bosses find it difficult to get
good help these days? Because few people have a sense of duty on
the job. Why are so many churches foundering? Because too few
Christians have a sense of duty for Christ’s work. D.
The apostles asked Jesus to increase their faith. He said
they did not need their faith increased; they needed to increase
their faithfulness. When we are faced with difficult commands, we
must not make excuses about weak faith. We must make God our
master and walk in the Spirit. V.
When you have done the difficult duty, do not commend
yourself. A.
The final thing Jesus pointed out was when they did their
difficult duties, they had simply done what they should have done.
When we obey God, we must not view ourselves as special. We must
not think we are better than other Christians. We must not believe
people should look up to us. We must not think we offer such a
great deal of service that God is lucky to have us on His side. We
must not become like the Pharisee in Luke
18:11-12. B.
Jesus said, when we have done what is commanded, we should
view ourselves as unprofitable servants. God is not “making”
any profit from us. We ought to be thankful God has given us the
opportunity to serve Him and forgiven us for the times we did not
obey. C.
When we have this attitude, God, unlike the master in
Jesus’ story, will say, “Thank you.” God will commend us,
even though we do not deserve it. As in the parable of the
talents, God will tell us, “Well done good and faithful
servant” (Matthew
25:20). But remember the words of Paul in II
Corinthians 10:18. We are to seek the Lord’s
commendation. When we commend ourselves we are not approved. Conclusion: As we conclude, all I can say is, Luke 17:1-10 is kind of harsh. But Jesus said it. I often look at my own life and the service I render and realize it is weak, flabby and self-centered. I do not like being told to buck up and do what I am supposed to and quit whining about how hard it is. Instead, I want people to stroke my ego and tell me what a great job I am doing. I want them to tell me that even with the sins I commit, I am really not all that bad so don’t worry about it. But then I come to the Bible; it crushes that ego and self-glory, bringing in a reality check. God wants obedience, not excuses. What are we giving Him?
Glory
to God in the church by Christ Jesus
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