Never been a better hymn written
than that one. Turn back to Luke chapter 17, verse five. The apostles made this request,
verse five, and the apostles saith unto the Lord, increase
our faith. Increase Our faith. Now the fact that they ask this
tells us that faith can be increased. It can grow. I want mine to grow,
don't you? We read in the scripture of weak
faith. We read in the scripture of little
faith. One time the Lord said to his
disciples, where is your faith? It can't even be seen. We also
read of strong faith. and we read of great faith. Now, faith obviously admits of
growth, and we're gonna have to understand what faith is before
we can consider this subject of increase our faith. Increased faith is a thing to
be desired and a thing that can be attained. I want faith in the first place,
whatever it is, I want it. You know, it's a gift. Let me
say that at the outset, it's a gift. It's not something you
can work up. It's not something you can decide
to do. I think I'm gonna believe. No, it doesn't work that way.
You find yourself believing if you've got it, and if you have
faith, you know God gave it to you. You know it didn't come
from you. You realize that in your experience. It's the gift
of God's grace. Now, we can grow from little
faith to great faith. And I hope that's the ambition
of every one of us, that our faith would be increased. Lord,
increase our faith. Now, in the context of this statement,
the Lord had just made this statement about forgiveness. Verse three,
take heed to yourselves. If your brother trespass against
you, rebuke him. And if he repent, forgive him.
And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, And seven
times in a day, turn again to the saying, I repent, thou shalt
forgive him. Now that was a command. We considered
that last week. And I think that when the apostles
heard this, they said, we need an increase of faith. The only
way we can do this is if our faith is increased. And others
seem to think that this was also said, because the same thing
is said in Matthew chapter 17, when the apostles were trying
to cast out a demon out of a young man and they couldn't do it. And they came up to the Lord
afterwards and said, why couldn't we do it? He said, because of
your unbelief. And that's when they replied,
increase our faith. Now, before we proceed, according
to the scriptures, what is faith? I don't want to mess this up.
I don't want to muddy the waters. I don't want to darken counsel
with words without knowledge. So what is this thing of faith? Faith is belief. If you have faith, that means
there's something that you believe. Faith is trust. You are trusting
someone. Faith is reliance. You're actually
relying on that person. Turn with me to Romans chapter
four, and I wish every one of us would commit this verse to
memory because this is one of the most important verses regarding
faith, what it really is. Verse four, now to him that worketh,
If you do something in order to get God to respond to you,
the reward is not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But, and
I think this is as clear a definition of faith as you'll have in the
Bible, but to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that
justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Now, this is so simple. What's this person who has faith
do first? He works not. He really believes
that he is unable to present to God anything that he could
accept. He works not. He really believes
what Isaiah said concerning our righteousness. He really believes
his personal righteousness is as filthy rags. And the King
James softens that. The word is literally, minstrel
rags. That's what he feels about his
own personal righteousness. It's no good. Therefore, he works
not. He knows that he can't be saved
by anything that he does. He believes in the holiness of
God, and he believes in his own sinfulness. Therefore, he works
not. The scripture says in Hebrews
4.10, he that's entered into his rest hath ceased from his
own works. Have you ever done that? Have you ever seen all attempts
at salvation by works? For you are absolutely futile. Your help is going to have to
come from somewhere else. To him that worketh not. Now that's the first thing about
somebody that has faith. They don't work. To him that
worketh not, but believeth on him that justifies the ungodly. Now here's what he believes.
Remember, faith is believing something. First of all, you
believe from the depths of your heart that you can't be saved
by your works. You really believe that. You're convinced of it.
You know that if God leaves you to yourself, you'll go to hell.
You believe that. But not only do you believe that you can't
be saved by your works, you believe on Him. You believe on Him who
justifies the ungodly. Now, what a glorious thing. What
a glorious concept. He actually, we believe on Him.
person. It's only Him who can do this.
Nobody else can do it. It's only Him who can do it.
We believe on Him that justifies, and don't miss that word justifies.
That means He makes it to where you don't have any guilt. You
don't have any sin. When God's holy law looks at
you, if you're justified, you are found without sin. You stand perfect before God.
And this is what faith is. It's to not believe you can be
saved by your works, but to believe on him who actually justifies,
who renders absolutely just the ungodly. Now, how in the world
can that be? If I'm ungodly, And I am, and
you are too. If I'm ungodly, how can I actually
be just when God says, I'll by no means clear the guilty? Well,
it's because of who he is. He can do that. Me and you can't.
He can do that. He can remove your sin so it's
gone, and He can make you perfectly just before His holy law. So that's where you're at right
now. Now that's what He does. Only
He can do that. Turn with me to 1 John chapter
5. I said before we get in to increase
our faith, I want us to understand what faith is. Verse 1. Whosoever believeth that Jesus
is the Christ is born of God. Do you believe
that Jesus is God's prophet, the very word of God? Do you
believe that Jesus Christ is God's priest and that if he brings
you into God's presence, you must be accepted? Do you believe
that Jesus Christ is God's King, absolutely in total, complete
control of everything and everybody? Look what it says. Whosoever
believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. and everyone
that loveth him that begat loveth him also that's begotten of him.
By this we know that we love the children of God when we love
God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God,
that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not
grievous. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world,
and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our
faith. Who is he that overcometh the
world? But he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God. When that Ethiopian eunuch said,
what hinders me from being baptized? Philip replied, if you believe
with all your heart, you may. And he replied, I believe that
Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He didn't say, I believe I'm
saved. He didn't say, I believe I'm a Christian. He didn't say,
I believe I'm one of the elect. He didn't say, I believe Christ
died for me. He said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the eternal
uncreated son of God, the absolute sovereign of the universe. Now,
when you believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God, that means
you believe the same thing that thief believed. When he saw Christ
hanging on the cross, he said, Lord, Nobody else thought he
was Lord at this time. They were making fun of him.
But he knew he was the Lord. He said, Lord, remember me when
you come into your kingdom. You're going to come back as
a mighty reigning king. You can't be defeated. You can't
stay dead. The thief with the most elementary
faith knew this. Jesus Christ is King of kings
and Lord of lords. He's the Son of God. Now, because
of who he is, he can do all these things. He can justify me. He
can clear me of all guilt. You're relying, if you have faith,
to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifies
the ungodly, you are relying on his precious blood as all
that's needed to make you clean before God. You don't need anything
else. You really believe that his righteousness
is absolutely the only righteousness there is, and you're relying
on him as your personal righteousness before God. Now, that's all that
needs to be to make me, an ungodly sinner, justified. Now justified,
if I'm justified, that means when God looks at me, and remember
God doesn't pretend. God doesn't see things that aren't
really there. If he looks at me as justified,
that means he sees me right now while I'm talking to you without
seeing. God looks at me that way. And
God can see real clearly. And how he sees things is how
they are. Now, when I look at myself, what
do I see? Nothing but sin. Well, what in the world is the
evidence then that I'm justified? Faith. is the evidence of things
not seen. The evidence that I'm justified
and really am justified before God. That means God right now
really does see me as without sin, without guilt. The evidence
that I'm justified is not something that I see in me. The evidence
that I'm justified is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith
is the evidence of things not seen. I love that passage of
scripture in Hebrews 11 where it says, by faith the elders
obtained a good report. They didn't obtain a good report
by their works. They obtained a good report by faith, by simply
resting in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what gave them the good
report card, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now faith is so
important And I want my faith increased. Increase our faith.
Let me give you some reasons why we ought to be asking the
Lord this. Everybody in this room ought
to be asking the Lord this. We ought to be saying increase our
faith because faith is the salvation grace. Faith is the salvation grace. We're not saved by our love.
We're not saved by our courage. We're not saved by our zeal.
We're not saved by our sincerity. We read scriptures like this.
Thy faith hath saved thee. Go in peace. He said to the two
blind men, do you believe that I am able to do this? And they
said, yea, Lord. And he said, according to thy
faith. Be it unto thee. Now those are
the Lord's words. Without faith, it's impossible
to please God. By grace are you saved through
faith. Now this is the evidence of salvation. Faith. If you want to know whether
or not you're saved, do you have faith? That's the evidence. Now if you can look at your personal
life, and say, well, I believe I'm saved by the victory I'm
getting over sin. I'm growing in grace. I'm becoming
holier and holier and less sinful through my diligent Bible study
and prayer and efforts at being better. And I must be a Christian
because of the way I'm living. That's just hypocrisy is all
it is, because it's not even real. What you're saying, it's
not so. And look what the Lord goes on
to say in Luke chapter 17. I'm looking forward to preaching
on this passage next week. But Luke chapter 17, and this is
part of this request for increase our faith. He says in verse 7,
but which of you having a servant plowing or feeding cattle will
say unto him by and by when he's come from the field, go and sit
down to meet? You won't do that. He will not
say unto him, make ready thy wherewith I may sup and gird
thyself and serve me till I've eaten and drunken and afterwards
thou shalt eat and drink. Does he thank that servant because
he did the things that were commanded him? I think not. So likewise
you, when you shall have done all those things which are commanded
you. If you've done everything, here's
what your own personal assessment of yourself should be. We are
unprofitable servants. You know, that word is a strong
word. It's literally useless. We are useless servants. We have done that which was our
duty to do. Now, is there anybody in here
that's done all he's commanded to do? Have you stood up? Even if you have, you're to say,
we are unprofitable, useless servants. So the only evidence
that someone is really saved, to them, to them. I'm talking
about personal evidence. I can look at many people in
this congregation, I can say, I can see where the Lord's done
a work of grace in their hearts. It's just evident to me. But I'm talking
about the way you look at yourself personally. If you look at yourself
personally and conclude, well, I must be saved because I do
this and I do that, it's a false assurance. The only assurance
you and I are ever gonna get is that what Christ did is all
I need. That's the only assurance there
is. And if you derive any assurance from anything else, it's a false
assurance. The Lord's made it to where faith
is the evidence of things not seen. Now, not only is faith
the saving grace, it's also the root grace from which all other
graces come from. And that's why we need our faith
in grace. For instance, what am I saying? Well, you can't
love somebody you don't believe in, can you? If you're gonna love him more,
you're gonna have to believe him. Patience and trial comes
from really believing that Romans 28 is true, and we know, 828
is true, and we know that all things work together for good.
To them that love God, to them who are the called according
to his purpose. Confessing Christ before men, even if they don't
like what we say, comes from the spirit of faith. David said,
I believed, therefore have I spoken. We read in Romans chapter 15
verse 13 of the joy and the peace of believing. What joy there
is in believing that Christ is all I need. What peace there
is. I wish I could bottle this and
have it all the time. What peace there is in knowing that Jesus
Christ is made to be all I need, all I need. He alone is all my
plea. He is all I need. Wisdom, righteousness,
and power. Holiness forevermore. My redemption
full and sure. He is all I need. Assurance comes from believing
that you're complete in Him. and that you really don't need
anything else. Courage is the fruit of faith.
If we really believe, if God be for us, who can be against
us? You know, a believer that really
believes that, they'll take on the world. They're not going
to cringe and bow before men. Courage is found in faith. Humility. Humility. Oh, how beautiful humility is.
And that's the product of faith. If you really believe the gospel,
you can't be proud. You know, he did it all. You
really, you have to be humble if you believe the gospel. I love the song. I saw the martyr
at the stake. The flames could not his courage
shake, nor death his soul appall. I asked him where his strength
was given. He looked triumphantly to heaven
and answered, Christ is all. Look at the glory the Lord himself
gives faith. I'm asking, why should we pray
for increased faith? Well, for one, because it is
the salvation grace. There's no salvation apart from
faith. And for another reason, every other grace comes from
faith. So if I have my faith increased,
I'm going to increase in these other graces. But here is the
Third reason, I want us to look at the glory Christ gave faith.
Now, these are statements, these are quotes from Christ himself.
Thy faith hath saved thee. Thy faith hath made thee whole. According to thy faith, be it
unto thee. Oh woman, great is thy faith. Go thy way, thy faith hath saved
thee. Now look at the honor the Lord
puts on faith. Now why would he say things like
this? Because strictly speaking, he's
the one that does the saving. Faith didn't die for my sins,
he did. Faith didn't obey the law for me, he did. Faith doesn't
intercede for me, he does. Faith is not coming back after
me, he is. He is my salvation. And strictly
speaking, it's not my faith that saves, it's him that saves. So
why does he give faith this much honor? Because he makes these
statements, thy faith has saved thee. And I'm not going to correct
him and say, oh, you shouldn't have said it that way. Oh, good
grief, please help me from doing anything like that. I want to
bow to whatever he says. Now, why did he give such honor
to faith? I know the answer to that. Because
true God-given faith gives all the honor to Him. That's what
you believe. You believe that He did it all. You believe that you're nothing
and He's everything. And you love Him getting all
the glory. That's why God gives such honor
to faith. That's why the Lord Jesus Christ
gives such honor to faith. Because faith puts all the honor
on Him. And if it doesn't do that, it's
not the faith of God's elect. It's not saving faith. It's some
other kind of faith. It's the same kind of faith the
devils had. You believe the one God, you
do well. The devils believe and tremble.
That faith doesn't save anybody. That's just giving an assent
to some facts. But oh, the glory that the Lord
gives faith. Listen to this scripture. By
grace are you saved. This is Ephesians 2, 8, 9, and
10. By grace are you saved. Don't you know that's so? If
you're saved, aren't you saved altogether by the free grace
of God? By grace are you saved, through faith. And that, not of yourselves,
it's the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should
boast, for we are his workmanship. created in Christ Jesus unto
good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk
in them. Faith is spoken in the lofty
terms of God's grace. By grace are you saved through
faith. No, really, it's only by faith
we understand. By faith, we understand that
the worlds were framed by the Word of God. It's only by faith.
Far as that goes, you can't see anything until you believe. Not
really. Our Lord said, if you believe, you'd see the glory
of God. Somebody says, well, I don't
see it. Then you're not believing. Because if you believe, you will
see the absolute glory of God. Faith. I want my faith increased
because that's the only way we can receive God's blessing is
by faith. Turn with me to James 1 for a moment. James 1. Verse 5. If any of you lack wisdom. I wonder if there's
anybody in this room that says, well, I'm pretty good at that. I got plenty. I don't need to
ask. I hope nobody's like that. If any of you lack wisdom, let
him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally. And he upbraids not. He's not
going to say to you, what are you asking me for that for? No,
he's not gonna upbraid you. You come into his presence asking
for wisdom, he'll give it to you liberally, bountifully, freely,
and he's not gonna upbraid you. But, verse six, let him ask in
faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like
a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. Now does
that mean, when he says, let him ask in faith, does that mean
you know for sure you're gonna get it? And you're just, you're
not wavering back and forth, you know whatever you ask God
for, he's gonna give it to you? And you just don't have a doubt
about it, you're just dead sure of it? Well, if that's what it means,
I don't know anything about faith. Because I don't remember ever asking
for something, thinking, without unbelief being there. You know,
the man said, I believe, help thou mine unbelief. Here's what
this verse of scripture means. It doesn't mean that you're not
going to have any doubts as to whether or not you're going to
get exactly what you're asking for. But you don't have any doubt
about this. The only reason you're given
it is for Christ's sake. That's what it means to, without doubting,
you realize that anything God gives you, it's going to be for
Christ's sake. It's going to be because of His
grace. It's not going to be because of any work you've performed
or any faithfulness on your part. You don't believe that. You say,
I'm asking, give me this for Christ's sake. That's my only
plea. That's the only reason I ask.
But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering, for he that wavereth
goes back to law and grace, is like a wave of the sea, driven
with the wind and tossed. Let not that man think that he
shall receive anything of the Lord. You won't get a thing.
A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. So this thing of asking can only
be done in faith. Can you imagine coming into the
Lord's presence and saying, Lord, I've been a good and faithful
servant. Give me this. Can you imagine that? You wouldn't do
that. But you come saying, Lord, give
me this for Christ's sake. I must have it for Christ's sake.
Give me this wisdom. I'm a fool. Give me this wisdom
to trust thy dear son for Christ's sake. The only way we can receive
God's blessings are by faith. You know, in the scripture, four
times, We read this statement, the just shall live by faith. Four times. And this gives us
some idea of the importance of this statement, the just. I love
that name for the believer, don't you? The just, the righteous. The just shall live by faith. Now, the first time it's mentioned
is in Habakkuk chapter two, where it says, he whose soul is lifted
up within him is not upright. but the just shall live by faith."
Now, the first thing that that tells me is that faith is opposed
to every form of human self-righteousness. That person whose soul is lifted
up. And you know, any time I have a high view of myself, you know
what goes along with it? A low view of the Lord. And any
time I have a low view of the Lord, you know what I'm going
to have? a high view of myself. Now, the just shall live by faith. And then in Romans chapter 1
verses 16 and 17, Paul said, I'm not ashamed of the gospel
for it's the power of God and the salvation to everyone that
believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For therein,
in the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed as it's written,
the just shall live by faith. Now, it is only by faith that
I am enabled to receive the very righteousness of God as my personal
righteousness. When I go to bed tonight and
lay my head on my pillow, I hope this is the last thought that
comes to my mind. You are nothing less than the very righteousness
of God in Christ. Faith receives that. Now, that's
a big thing, isn't it? I mean, for somebody to actually believe
something like that, a lost person would think you're crazy believing
something like that. Well, maybe so, but it's the gospel. And
then in Galatians chapter three, I can't quote exactly, I know
what the thought is. Turn to Galatians chapter three. Verse 11, but that no man is
justified by the law on the side of God, it's evident that just
shall live by faith. You know, faith is opposed to
all law or righteousness. It's opposed to salvation by
works. I mean, it's just an enemy to it. And then in Hebrews chapter
10, would you turn there? Now, verse 38, now the just shall
live by faith. But if any man draw back and
doesn't persevere, if anybody quits, if anybody lets the sails
go down, it's a nautical term, my soul shall have no pleasure
in him. The only way you and I are going
to persevere and continue is in the faith. The just shall
live by faith. And you know, I can't live off
my works. Can't do it. All I can live off is faith in
Christ. I can't live off anything else.
And the Bible tells us that. The just shall live by faith. Now, is it any wonder the disciples
said, increase our faith? Now, when we say increase our
faith, we're saying cause it to grow. Cause it to grow in
the extent of it. I don't want to have some kind
of narrow-minded view of things. I want to believe all God says.
I don't need to understand it all, but I need to believe it
all and rely upon it all. I want to believe everything
God says. I don't want to have a couple
of pet doctrines that I can pull out and show people. I want to
believe everything God says. Whatever it is, I want to believe
it. Like I said, I don't have to
understand it. But I do have to believe it. I believe in the
absolute sovereignty of God. I believe in the complete responsibility
of men. I believe that God is completely sovereign over the
completely free actions of men. You know, that's an amazing thing,
isn't it? But we believe it. I want to believe everything
God says in His Word. I want my faith to increase in the extent
of it, and I want my faith to increase in the strength of it.
Like Abraham, who, being not weak in faith, he considered
not his own body, now dead. nor yet the deadness of Sarah's
womb. He staggered not at the promise
of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory
to God, being fully persuaded that what he had promised, he
was able also to perform. I want the Lord to make my faith
increased in the extent of it and in the strength of it, and
I need him to help me with this thing of unbelief. Lord, I believe. Help thou mine unbelief. You know, there's never been
a time in my experience when I haven't had to pray that prayer. It's
always there. And I'm asking, Lord, help my
unbelief. Now, the last thing I want us
to consider is who do the apostles ask to do this for them? What good would it do you to
ask me to increase your faith? Wouldn't do any good at all,
would it? It wouldn't do any good for me to come to you and
say, increase my faith. There's only one who can increase
our faith. They came to the Lord and said,
increase our faith, the one who is the author and the finisher
of faith. They came to the Lord and said,
Lord, increase our faith. And if you're going to have faith
increase, you're going to have to come to the Lord for it and ask him to do
this for you. Lord, increase our faith. Now, in the Bible, four things in the New Testament
are said to be precious. First, he is precious. He is
precious. Amen. He is precious. To you which believe, he is precious.
And then we read of exceeding great and precious promises. I love that terminology. Oh, the precious promises of
God. But you know something about His promises, they can't be altered,
they can't be changed, they don't increase, they don't decrease.
Just like the Lord Jesus, His preciousness, He can't become
more precious. He's infinitely precious. He
can't become less precious. And then we read of the precious
blood of Christ. You were redeemed with the precious
blood of Christ and how precious His blood is. Thank God for the precious blood.
When I think of the Lord saying, it is finished, after his blood
was shed, it is finished, the salvation of every one of God's
elect accomplished. How precious is that? The preciousness
of his blood, but his blood can't be increased or decreased. It's
always the same, always powerful before the Father. You know,
we sing that song, Dear dying lamb, the precious
blood shall never lose its power till all the ransomed church
of God be saved to sin no more. It won't lose its power after
that. We'll always be kept by the power of the blood. Always. Never gonna be any different.
It's always the same. But then we read of like precious
faith. Now, faith is precious. It's
precious. You know that if you have it.
It's the gift of God. And what joy you experience in
simply resting in Christ. Faith is precious, but unlike
these other precious things, the Lord himself, the precious
promises, the precious blood, this can be increased. Lord, increase our faith. Make it bigger. Make it stronger. Make me rely more and lean more
heavenly on you. Lord, increase our faith for
your glory so we'll grow for the honor and glory of your son. Lord, increase our faith. And
here's something that's a real encouragement to me. I can say
this to you. If you don't have faith, and I can remember a time when
I didn't have it, I wanted it, but I didn't know what it was.
I can remember so distinctly thinking, what does it mean to
believe? Then I found myself believing, but let me give you
this encouragement. If you don't have faith, it's a gift. It's a gift of grace. Ask the
Lord for it, and he'll give it to you. He never turns away anyone who
comes. for faith. So, if you don't have
faith, ask the Lord for it. He'll give it to you. And if
you have it, make this your prayer. Lord, increase our faith. Let's pray.