FORGIVENESS AND FAITH - LUKE 17:1-10 Our Heavenly Father, Creator of all things and Master Teacher, we humbly come into Your presence to seek Your Holy Spirit to open our eyes to these Holy Scriptures. We earnestly pray for enlightenment as we study together, and we ask You, Father, to open our eyes to see the truths contained in these words. Open our minds to comprehend that which we are reading, and open our hearts to receive the message that You have for us. Finally, dear Father, we ask for the strength and courage to live our lives in a manner of the called, constantly giving You the glory, honor, and praise that You deserve. We claim these things in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Luke 17:1, 2 Then said he unto the disciples, It is impossible but that offences will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come! It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones. Jesus’ reference to a millstone—a one-ton stone with a hole in the middle—hung around the neck of anyone who attempted to undermine the childlike faith of His children was in response to the Pharisees who had derided Him in the previous chapter (verse 14). If this doesn’t sound like Gentle Jesus “meek and mild,” it’s because Jesus is also the Good Shepherd who will fight ferociously to protect His lambs from wolves who would come in and seek to destroy their faith. Luke 17:3 (a) Take heed to yourselves… Lest we cheer too loudly over His harsh words to the Pharisees, Jesus came back and said, “Take heed to yourselves . . .” Luke 17:3 (b) …If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him… Because we are connected as a body, if one of us is hurting due to the offense of another, it affects all of us. Therefore, we have a responsibility to speak the truth to one another because sometimes connection calls for correction. Luke 17:3 (c), 4 …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 thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him. The rabbis of Jesus’ day taught that a perfect man would forgive an individual three times for the same sin. Jesus, however, doubles that number and adds one for good measure, as if to say we are to forgive without limit. Luke 17:5 And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith. To truly forgive someone over and over again requires faith that God will correct the offender and protect the one offended. Thus, the only way we can be a forgiving people is if our faith is increased. In this regard, we need not pray for greater love, but for greater faith. Luke 17:6 And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you. The disciples said, “Increase our faith.” Jesus said, “Unleash your faith.” The disciples said, “Expand our faith.” Jesus said, “Express your faith. Say to those about whom you feel a root of bitterness, a tree of unforgiveness, a hedge of hostility, I forgive you. I no longer hold a grudge against you.” Jesus said the same thing regarding any obstacle before us. He didn’t say, “Pray that the mountain might be removed. He said, “Speak to the mountain itself,” (Mark 11:23). Why were the disciples told to speak? Because while faith is implanted by the Word, it is unleashed through the lips.… But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Romans 10:8, 9 The word translated “saved” is sozo, which refers not only to being born again, but to the full orb of God’s blessing—to delivering, healing, saving, freeing. By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast. Psalm 33:6, 9 How did God make the world? He spoke it into existence. So, too, Jesus altered the course of the world and eternity when He spoke… “Waves, be still” (Mark 4:39). “Lazarus, come forth” (John 11:43). “It is Finished” (John 19:30). Made in the image of God, we also speak our individual worlds into existence and alter their course with our words. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Joshua 1:8 The Hebrew word translated “meditate” means “to mutter over and over again.” If you want to be prosperous and successful in that which the Lord has laid before you to do, mutter the Word day and night. The promises of God will be of no effect if they’re simply written in your journal or underlined in your Bible. They only take effect when they’re in your mouth. With his back to the Red Sea and the armies of Egypt barreling down upon him, Moses cried to the Lord. “Why speakest thou to Me? Speak to the children that they are to go forward,” the Lord answered (Exodus 14:15). You might be a great student of Scripture. You might even be a prayer warrior. But if you wonder why the Sea isn’t parting, could it be that the Lord is whispering to you, “Why are you asking Me? Speak to the mountain that looms large before you”? Examples abound in the Word of men who understood the absolutely essential principle that the Word in them had to be spoken by them if they were to see results around them.… It was when Joshua spoke to the sun that it stood still, giving him time to accomplish a great victory (Joshua 10:12). It was when Elisha spoke to king Ahab on the basis of Deuteronomy 11:16–17 that there was no rain (1 Kings 17:1). It was when Zerubbabel spoke to the cornerstone of the temple that the Lord began moving and the project came to completion (Zechariah 4:7). So too . . . Monday morning when the alarm goes off, you will either say, “Oh no, it’s Monday morning.” Or you will say, “This is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it” (see Psalm 118:24)—and the choice you make will alter the course of your day. And when you get to work and discover your co-worker presented one of your ideas as his own, you will either say, “I can’t forgive him,” or you will say, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” (Philippians 4:13). As the day progresses, you will either say, “I’m grumpy because I’m sick and tired and weak,” or you will say, “I am strong in the strength of the Lord,” (Joel 3:10). As you walk in your front door and are met by your family’s problems, you will either say, “Everything is falling apart,” or you will say, “The Word of God declares that all things are working together for good,” (Romans 8:28). And as you sort out your finances late at night as your family sleeps, you will either say, “We’re not going to make it,” or you will say, “The Word declares that our God will supply all our needs according to His riches in glory (Philippians 4:19). Of God, the writer of the letter to the Hebrews says, “For he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, ‘The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me,’ ” (see Hebrews 13:5, 6). God hath said that we may say—not that we may know, not that we may write, not even that we may pray—but that we may say. • Happy is the people whose God is the Lord (Psalm 144:15). • The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? (Psalm 27:1). • The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want (Psalm 23:1). • The Lord is good unto them that wait for Him (Lamentations 3:25). I challenge you to write down four or five such promises from the Word on three-by-five cards, put them on your dashboard or on your windowsill, and mutter them over and over again. Frame your world and your day with the Word as you speak it forth—and watch what happens. Luke 17:7–10 But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat? And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink? Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not. So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do. After encouraging His disciples to speak words of faith, Jesus comes right back and reminds them that they are servants. I believe this is precisely where the radical “Name It/Claim It Confession” Movement greatly misses the mark. They’ve lost the understanding that, while there is power in the spoken word, it is always connected with servanthood. So much of the “Name It/Claim It” teaching is based upon a “Give me the goods” mentality, whereas a correct appropriation of faith and authority is only embedded in a “make me a servant” mind-set. The uprooted tree and moved mountain are always in the context of my serving the King and seeing His will done—not in my personal luxury or prosperity. If you miss this point, you will find yourself erring in your understanding of what faith is all about. Jesus gave His teaching on faith not in the context of getting a bigger house but in that of forgiving others. Have a blessed day!
Posted on: Thu, 12 Sep 2013 14:37:08 +0000
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