This morning for our message,
we're turning to the book of Luke, chapter 17. I want to bring a message, Lord
willing, from verse 1 down to verse 5. I'm entitling the message
from what is said there in verse 5, when the Lord had given these
instructions to the apostles about forgiving one another,
about loving one another, the apostles said unto him, Lord,
increase our faith. They didn't say, Lord, we've
already done that. Lord, we've got that one covered.
We've accomplished that. Increase our faith. In other
words, enable us to do this. Enable us to love one another.
Enable us to forgive one another. So the title of the message,
Lord, increase our faith. Lord, increase our faith. Isn't that our prayer? It is
mine. Lord, increase my faith. Now, we cannot make too much
of faith, faith that is true saving faith, not talking about
historical faith, talking about true saving faith, the faith
of God's elect that acknowledges the gospel to be so, that acknowledges
the gospel to be true and loves it. Saving faith loves the gospel. The faith of God's elect acknowledges
everything God says, is, and does is true. We read this about faith, the
faith of God's elect. Hebrews 11 verse 6, but without
faith. Without faith it is impossible
to please Him, for he that cometh to God must believe that He is,
and that He is the rewarder of them that diligently seek Him."
It is impossible to please God without faith in Christ. Again
we read in John 5, 24, "...verily, verily, I say unto you, he that
heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting
life." I'd say faith is pretty important, is it not? Lord, increase
our faith. He that believes on him that
sent me hath everlasting life, shall not come into condemnation,
but is passed from death unto life. Now, then said he unto
his disciples, verse one, Luke 17, it is impossible, but that
offenses will come. but woe unto him to whom they
do come." Now, the Lord was speaking here, notice, He said, unto His
disciples. Now, first of all, let's see
what a disciple is. A disciple is one who is following
the Lord Jesus Christ. A disciple is described as those
sinners who were seeking salvation in the Lord Jesus. Remember back
in Luke 15 verse 1, "...then drew near unto him all publicans
and sinners to hear him." A disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ is the
one who is seeking salvation where it's found, in Christ. I want to be His disciple. I don't want to be a disciple
of John Calvin or a disciple of John Gill or a disciple of
any other man. I want to be a disciple, a follower
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't you? I do. A disciple then is a believer,
a believer that is washed in the blood of Christ, His blood
cleanses us from all our sin that is robed in the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed is that man to whom the
Lord imputes righteousness without works. A believer then is one
who is justified by the Lord's righteousness. Amazing grace
justified freely by His grace through the redeeming blood of
the Lord Jesus Christ. A disciple then is one who was
walking by faith and living by faith, looking always to the
Lord Jesus Christ. That's what saving faith does.
We read in Scripture, the just shall live by faith, and faith
always looks not in here. Don't look in here. Look outside
yourself, look to Christ. He's the author and finisher
of our faith. Now, I want to be a disciple. A disciple is one who is a learner,
a pupil, a student of the gospel of Christ. I want us to take
the yoke of Christ upon us and learn of Him, seeking His honor,
serving His purpose, and doing His will. I want that for myself
and I want that for you. Our Lord said this, Come unto
me, all ye that labor and heavy laden, I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn of me. We sang a moment ago,
more about Jesus would I see, more of his loving kindness unto
me. Take my yoke upon you and learn
of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find
rest. unto your soul. For my yoke is
easy, and my burden is light." The law is not a light burden.
The law will condemn you and kill you, but His yoke is easy. Now in our text this morning,
the Lord gives His disciples instructions about following the Lord Jesus Christ. And these
are not suggestions. These are the Lord's commandments.
Commandments. You know, we're commanded to
believe the gospel of Christ. If you turn over here to 1 John,
1 John, a couple of places here, 1 John chapter 5, turn there. We are commanded to look at 1 John 3, verse 23 first
of all. This is His commandment that
we should believe on His name, on the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ and love one another as He gave us a suggestion, as He
gave us a commandment. The Lord doesn't suggest things
for us to do. As the King, He commands us.
Look at chapter 5 now. By this we know, verse 2, that
we love the children of God when we love God and keep His commandments. Now, he's not talking about the
law. Now, he's talking about the command of the gospel to
believe Him, to love God, and to love one another, for this
is the love of God, that we keep His commandments, and His commandments
are not grievous. Whatsoever is born of God overcometh
the world, and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even
our faith. It was He that overcometh the
world, but He that believeth that Jesus is the Christ, the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now back to the text, Luke 17
verse 1. The Lord says to us here that
offenses will come. offenses over the gospel will
come. He's telling these disciples
who were following him that offenses will come and he says they must
come. And he's talking here particular about believers who were following
him and loving him that trials and troubles will come because
of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because the Lord has
ordained these things for our good and His glory and for the
good of God's elect. Offenses, trials, heartaches,
Problems, troubles must come, and these trials, when they are
sent of God, they accomplish God's purpose. They separate
the wheat from the tares, the sheep from the goats, the vile
from the precious, the reprobate from the elect of God. This word offenses here is also
rendered and could be rendered a stumbling block, a snare, or
a trap, or a roadblock. Now many times the Pharisees
tried to do the very thing to the Lord Jesus Christ, didn't
they? They tried to trap Him. They tried to ensnare Him. They
tried to embarrass Him. Turn over here to hold your place
there and find John chapter 15. Look at verse 17, John 15, 17. These sayings I command you that
you love one another. If the world hates you, you know
that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world,
the world would love his own, but because you're not of this
world, I've chosen you out of this world, therefore the world
hateth you. Remember the word that I said
unto you, the servant is not greater than his lord. If they
persecuted me, they will persecute you. And if they have kept my
saying, they will keep yours as well. Now stay right here
in the book of John, hold your place there in John 15 and now
look at verse chapter 16. The Lord warns us to beware of
those who would throw a stumbling block or a stumbling stone in
our way, to cause us to be ashamed over the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ, of which Apostle Paul said, I'm not ashamed of the
gospel of Christ, even though many try to throw a stumbling
block in our way, we are not ashamed. Now, John 16, look at
verse 1, these sayings have I spoken unto you, that you should not
be offended. They shall put you out of the
synagogue, gave the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will
think that he's doing God a favor, doing God service. These things
will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father,
nor me." Now offenses will come. Trouble over the gospel, if you
take a public stand for the gospel, you will have a fight on your
hands. Look at John 16, 33. These things have I spoken unto
you, that in me you shall have peace. In the world, tribulation,
trouble, heartache. But be of good cheer, I have
overcome. We are more than conquerors through
him that loved us. The Lord sends these trials our
way. They're called precious trials.
And then the Lord sends us grace for the trial. The Lord our God,
God the Father, had only one Son without sin, none without
sorrow, heartache, and trouble. But the good news of the gospel
is, the Lord said, My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength
is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, will
I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may
rest upon me. This is 2 Corinthians 12. Therefore
I take pleasure in infirmities and reproaches, in necessity,
in persecution, in distresses for Christ's sake, but when I'm
weak, that's when I'm strong. You see, Christ is our strength. Now, offenses will come. The
Lord is also talking about the offenses, the stumbling blocks,
that deceive men's souls, that lead men to trust the false Christ,
that false religion of this world constantly promotes these offenses
and the stumbling block, and throw them in the way of people
to prevent them from trusting the Christ of God. The Apostle
warned us in Galatians 1, Though we, or an angel from heaven,
preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached,
let him be A curse. A curse. Paul in Galatians chapter
5 talks about the offense of the cross. The offense of the
cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. I know the gospel is offensive
to the natural man. It offends his religious pride
when you tell him he's a sinner. It offends his carnal wisdom
when you shut him up to the sovereign revelation of God. and it offends
his love of self, self-love. These offenses will come and
they will be used of God for his glory. It is impossible,
but that offenses will come, mark it down, but woe unto that
man through whom these offenses come. Now the second thing, verse
2 and verse 3, The Lord gives a strong warning, it were better
for him that a millstone were hanged
about his neck and that he would be cast into the sea than that
he should offend one of these little ones." Now, that seems
pretty extreme, doesn't it? Here's a strong warning the Lord
gives for those rebels who were standing against God, woe unto
you. We read in Matthew 18, 7, Woe
unto the world because of offenses, for it must needs be that offenses
come, but woe to the man to whom the offense cometh. Now, we know
this, the Lord loves his people. He loves his people with an everlasting
dying love, sacrificial love. The Lord is jealous and protective
of his people, of his little ones. Aren't you protective as a parent?
When you want to get a parent upset, just attack the child. And the parent will come out
against you because that parent loves that child. The Lord is
jealous and protective of his people. He loves his little ones,
the little ones of his church. He loves the church. He gave
himself for the church. He never lived to intercede for
the church. He watches over us with all diligence
and power. He will never leave us, nor forsake
us, and he will never forget us. Forget us. He said, I am
the Lord. I do not change. Therefore, you sons of Jacob
are not consumed. He said, I'll never leave you.
No, never. No, never. If you want to turn
with me, you can. If not, just sit and listen.
I'll read it to you. Psalm 121. Talking about the
Lord taking care of His covenant people. Psalm 121, I lift up
mine eyes to the hills from which cometh my help. My help cometh
from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer
thy foot to be moved. He that keepeth thee will not
slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel
shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is thy keeper. The Lord
is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee
by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve thee
from all evil. He shall preserve thy soul. See,
the Lord is protective of His people. The Lord shall preserve
thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth and even
for evermore. The Lord loves His church. He gave Himself for the little
ones. Now, look what it says there
in verse 2, that He should offend one of these little ones. Now,
who are these little ones? They are His covenant children.
In Matthew 18.6, we read a moment ago, But whosoever shall offend
one of these little ones which believe in Me. If you're a believer, You're
one of the Lord's little ones. That is, those sinners seeking
forgiveness and salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord
has been teaching His little ones that described in the Pharisees
despised and were seeking to subvert, distract, and caused
them to stop following the Lord Jesus Christ. What strong judgment
and eternal condemnation the Lord puts upon them, He said
it were better for them to be executed by a cruel and barbaric
form of punishment, take a heavy stone, wrap it around his neck
with a rope and throw him out in the ocean and let it sink
to the bottom. That's pretty graphic, isn't
it? The Lord is protective of His covenant people. It would
be better for man not to have ever have been born than to attack
the Lord's little ones, because when you attack them, you attack
Him. Him. Than to harm one of the
Lord's little ones. He's head distinct from the wise
and prudent and revealed them unto His babes, His little ones.
Now, here's the third thing I want to look at, and this is kind
of the main point that I want to try to get across, and I hope
this comes across the right way. I need this instruction, and
we all do. Now, take heed. Look at verse
3. Take heed to yourself. You point
this finger right here to yourself. Take heed to yourself. If thy
brother trespass against thee, rebuke him. That is, tell him
about it. And if he repents, forgive him. Ah, you might say, well, I've
got an out right there. Ah, if he doesn't repent, I'm not going
to forgive him. Now, just hold on a minute. Rebuke him, and
if he repents, forgive him. And if he trespass against thee
seven times in one day, well, that's quite a bit, isn't it?
That's a lot. Your patience would probably
run out by then. Seven times in a day, turn again
to thee saying, I repent, thou must, thou shalt forgive your
brother. That's what love does. Love doesn't
hold a grudge. Love doesn't hold a vengeance. Love forgives. Love forgives. Mom and Dad, they love their
children. How many times your children
mess up? I mean, they just mess up. They
just mess up all the time. You still love them, don't you?
Because they're your children. Your children. Now, a strong
warning given to every disciple, given to every believer, and
I want you to take this personal. Take heed to yourself. To yourself. Now, I'm not just preaching to
you, I'm preaching to me. Take heed to yourself. You remember
2 Corinthians 13, 5, examine yourselves whether you be in
the faith. prove your own selves, know you're not your own selves,
how that Jesus Christ is in you, except you be a reprobate. Examine yourself. Now, it is
our proud tendency, our sinful proud tendency, self-righteous
tendency, proud tendency, to take heed to others, to guard
against others, to correct others. But the Lord instructs us here
to take heed to ourselves, to discipline ourselves, to correct
ourselves. Let us not be the one who causes
the offense or causes a little one to stumble by our sorry behavior,
our foolish action, or our vain conversation, our vain talk.
Let us not needlessly or rashly become the reason of causing
a brother in Christ to be offended or to stumble by sinning against
him in such a way that we should not. There's no excuse for such
behavior, not even our sinfulness. So what if someone in the family
of believers does offend you? or offend another believer, what
are we to do? Does commit iniquity against
you? Does wrong against you? What
are we to do? Well, I know what the natural
tendency is for us to do, but the Scripture here says to rebuke
him, and if he repents, that is, he changes his mind, forgive
him. Forgive him fully, freely, as
the Lord has forgiven us. Now, how many times should we
do that? Don't turn to this, but let me just turn back and
read it to you. Remember in Matthew 18, 21, Peter came to him and
said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I
forgive him? Seven times? That was considered
by the Jews under the law if you forgave someone three times,
that was generous. And Peter here doubles that and
said, I'm really going to be generous. I'm going to forgive
him seven times. And the Lord said, I say not
unto thee until seven times, but unto seventy times seven. That is, there is no end to this
forgiveness. Forgiveness of one another. Now,
let's find some scripture here to help us Find Ephesians chapter
4 first of all. Ephesians chapter 4. It says in Ephesians chapter 4, Be you kind, verse 32, you see
that? Be you kind one to another, tender
hearted, forgiving one another, be kind one to another. Tender
hearted. I mean tender hearted and kind.
Ephesians 4, verse 32, "...forgiving one another, even as God for
Christ hath forgiven you. Be ye therefore..." Chapter 5,
verse 1, "...followers of God as dear children. Walk in love,
as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us,
and offering a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour."
I turn back a few more pages to the epistle to the Galatians,
chapter 6. Galatians, chapter 6. Galatians 6, verse 1, "...Brethren,
if a man be overtaken in a fault, you which are spiritual, restore
such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself." Again,
he gets right back to making it personal. "...Considering
thyself, lest thou also be tempted, bear ye one another's burden,
and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if a man thinketh himself
to be something when he is nothing, he is deceived." He deceived
himself, considering thyself. Now, we need to be constantly
reminded of this fact of forgiving one another as God, for Christ's
sake, has forgiven us. Because of the natural tendency
of our sinful and fallen flesh is just the opposite of forgiving. By nature, we want to take vengeance.
Our flesh wants vengeance, get even. If someone said, I'm not going to get mad, but I'm
going to get even. Well, that's not the right attitude. Our flesh
wants vengeance. Our pride wants that person to
be punished. Self-righteousness demands retribution,
doesn't it? That's not the way of grace.
That's not the way of the gospel. The way of the gospel is just
the opposite. No one was so more sorely scorned and mistreated
than the Lord Jesus Christ when He was crucified, beaten publicly,
put to shame, nailed to a cross, dying for the sin of His covenant
people. No one was so mistreated and
sinned against than the Lord Jesus Christ, and yet the first
words out of His mouth were, Father, forgive them. They do not know what they do.
Now remember, in the text it says here, if he repents, forgive
him. That those folks down there on
the ground that were mocking the Lord Jesus, did they repent? He forgave them anyway. That's
what we should do. Always have a forgiving, loving,
kind, generous spirit. Overlook the faults of others.
We all have them. Can't you overlook them? If you
don't, it's because you're full of religious pride. Love and
mercy and grace always Demands forgiveness. The Lord taught
us to pray that way. Turn over here to Matthew chapter
6 and hold your seat now. Hold on now. Matthew chapter
6. How important is this forgiving
one another? How important is that? Well,
let's find out. Matthew 6, look at verse 9, After
this manner, therefore, pray ye, Matthew 6, 9, Our Father
which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy name is holy,
thy kingdom come, thy will be done. On earth as it is in heaven,
give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, our
debts, as we forgive Our debtors, and leadeth not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the
power, the glory forever. Amen. Now read on. For if you
forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also
forgive you. But if you forgive not men their
trespasses, neither will your Father forgive you your trespasses. Stay with me now, stay with me.
The Lord taught us to pray, to forgive one another. Now stay
with me. An unforgiving, quarrelsome spirit
is the surest mark of an unregenerated heart. If you'll turn over here
to the book of Colossians, were to forgive one another, to love
one another, the book of Colossians, Philippians, Colossians chapter
3. Look at verse 12. The way of the gospel is to forgive
fully and then forget it. We often hear people say, well,
I'm not forgiving, but I'm not going to forget it. That's not
forgiving. Colossians 3 verse 12, put on
therefore as the elect of God, holy blood, bowels of mercy,
kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering, forbearing
one another, forgiving one another. If any man have a quarrel against
any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye above all these
things put on love. which is a bond of perfectness. Let the peace of God rule in
your heart, to which you are also called in one body, and
be ye thankful." Be ye thankful. The way of the gospel is to forgive. Now, listen to this carefully. Every believer has all sin, original,
actual, past, present, future, sin of omission, sin of commission,
all sin has been put away by the full blood and complete atonement
the Lord Jesus Christ has made for all of our sin. We read in
Ephesians 1, 7, "...in whom we have redemption through His blood,
the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace."
The Lord has freely and fully forgiven all our sin. He said, "...their sin and their
iniquity will I remember no more." Now upon that ground, Upon that
reason, we too should forgive all those who have sinned against
us or have wronged us." Forgive them, forgive them. Now, how
important is this? Let's find one Scripture, let's
turn to Mark 11, Mark chapter 11, verse 25. Mark 11, 25. Let's begin at verse 24. Mark
11, 24. Therefore I say unto you, what
things however you desire, when you pray, believe that you may
receive them, and you shall have them. And when you pray, and
when you stand praying, forgive, If you have ought against any,
and when you stand praying, forgive if you have ought against any,
that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither
will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses."
Now stay with me. You see how important this is?
Now don't misunderstand what he's saying here. Don't think
that our sin is put away by the act of our forgiveness. That
would make salvation by works, not grace. But what this does
mean is this, and listen carefully. Those who have not a forgiving,
gracious spirit willing to forgive others demonstrate that he has
not experienced the grace and forgiveness of God in his own
heart. Be you merciful to others, even
as our Father in heaven hath been merciful unto you. That
is why the Lord says, Take heed to yourself. Now this is a convicting
message, is it not? I mean, it just tore me all to
pieces. Because I want to obey the Lord's
command to love and to forgive everyone, all the time. Whatever they have done, I don't
care how you've been mistreated, how others have been mistreated,
you do yourself great harm to carry about in your heart a grudge. Don't do it. Let it go. Let it
go. That's why the Lord says here
to take heed. Now, look back at the text here.
Luke 17 verse 5. The apostles now, the apostles,
this is Peter, John, The apostles said unto the Lord, Lord, increase
our faith. Enable us to do that what you
have instructed us. What was their response? It wasn't,
Lord, well, we've already got that one covered. We've already
done that. Let's move on. No. They said,
Lord, increase our faith. Now we'll come back to this again
next week and see more about this precious gift of faith.
We know that faith, true faith, the faith of God's elect is the
sovereign gift of God. Faith is a means that God has
ordained to receive Christ as all of our salvation. The more
the Lord increases our faith at His design, at His pleasure,
at His pace, the more we grow to trust Him for all things in
salvation, the more we grow in faith, and grow in grace, the
more we see how totally dependent we are upon the Lord Jesus Christ. The more we grow in grace, the
more we grow in dependence, complete dependence upon the Lord Jesus
Christ for all things in salvation. The more the Lord enables us
to trust Him, the more we rely upon Him for all the forgiveness
of our sins. The more we are able and ready
and willing to forgive one another, may God be pleased to give us
faith, may God be pleased to cause it to grow, We read in
scripture, we walk by faith, not by sight. The just shall
live by faith. Now as we go out the door this
morning, I pray the Lord will enable you to take this with
you and pray this prayer to yourself. Lord, increase our faith. Increase our faith. Now remember
that man in Scripture, the Lord said, if you can believe, all
things are possible to them who believe. Remember? Remember what
the man said? When I believe, I do. Help my unbelief. We are still plagued with this
thing of this old nature. This old sinful Adam nature is
just full of doubt, unbelief, and sin.