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Do You Really Need a Great Faith

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• Luke 17, verses 1–10. And listen, if you would please, to the title of the message: "Do You Really Need a Great Faith?" Look at Luke chapter 17, beginning there with verse 1: "Then said he unto his disciples, It is impossible but that offenses 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. Take heed to yourselves."

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• "If thy brother trespass against thee, 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 thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him." And the apostles said unto the Lord, "Increase our faith." 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."

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• "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."

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• I've heard many sermons, and I've heard many preachers speak of the need of a great faith. We tend to think that if we had a great faith, that we would be able to do more in the service of our Lord. Man always thinks that abundance is greater. More is better. Alice accuses me of that all the time because, you know, one vitamin C is good, then three has got to be better than one. But we always tend to think that more is better. We especially think that in the realm of Christianity. We tend to think that a greater congregation, a better building, a larger program, and an ever-expanding outreach is evidence of success and displays of greater devotion and service to our Lord. But such is not always the case.

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• 1 Corinthians chapter 4, verse 2 says this—I want you to listen carefully: "Moreover, it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful." Moreover, it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful. God does not say that a man must be found successful. He says that he must be found faithful. So it really does not matter whether one has little or much. It is not success that counts, but it is faithfulness that counts. And I'm going to show you that faithfulness, even in little things, is counted success in the eyes of God. In fact, I want you to hold Luke 17, but turn right back to Luke 16.

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• And let's look at verses 10 and 12. And I'm going to share these verses with you again before I close today. But look in Luke chapter 16, verse 10. Our Lord says this: "He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own?"

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• Now I want you to go back to verse 10 just momentarily. "He that is faithful in that which is least is also faithful in much." What is God saying? If you can be faithful in just the very minutest amount, you're going to be faithful when you have a lot. He said if you're unjust in the minutest amount, you're going to be unjust when you have a lot. Now watch verse 11. He says, "If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon"—that is money—"if you're not faithful in your own money," look at this statement.

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• "Who will commit unto you the true riches?" The Lord says if you can't be faithful in that which is physical, what makes you think you're going to be faithful in that which is spiritual? And then He says in verse 12, "If ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own?" So if I borrow something from Dr. Holmes, or he lends me something, or he gives me something, or asks me to take care of something for him, if I will not faithfully take care of that which he has entrusted to me, God says, why would you think that you'd be faithful to take care of your own? No. The whole principle is this: if you're faithful in just a little, then you're going to be faithful in that which is much.

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• So the Bible is teaching that it is faithfulness that counts. It is faithfulness to the Word of God, and it is faithfulness to our Lord, which He measures as success.

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• Now, I have heard for years—and some of you have heard as well—churches and preachers say this: that if a pastor is not baptizing 300 per year, then he's not right with God. I've heard a multitude of preachers say that. My response is, really? May I ask you, how many did Noah baptize in 120 years of faithful preaching and teaching? None. How many converts did Jeremiah and Isaiah produce?

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• What kind of outreach ministry did Abel have? How about Rahab and Enoch? How about Moses? Did you know that Moses led the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt and he lost them all but two? Only two of the original men that got out got in. Yet, in Numbers chapter 12 and verse 7, God says this: "My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house." And when you get to the book of Hebrews 3 and verse 5, our Lord says this concerning Moses: "And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after." So Moses was faithful even in the fact that he lost every one of the men except two. Do you realize that every one of those individuals that happen to be listed in Hebrews chapter 11, and others who are not named but are mentioned there, and a host of others who are not even listed there or termed the "others," who are all faithful to God?

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• Some of them had what you and I would call great ministry, some of them did not. But it was not success in man's eyes that God viewed as success, but it was faithfulness. Did you ever notice, as you read through Luke chapter 19, that the one individual to whom the Lord gave ten pounds, and he doubled it, our Lord said, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant: have thou authority over ten cities." And then the man in Luke 19 to whom the Lord gave five pounds, and he doubled it, the Lord said, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant: have thou authority over five cities." Do you realize that the reward for each one of them was basically the same? They just simply doubled, and the Lord just doubled them. So by ratio, it was exactly the same. In other words, our Lord is just simply saying this: we do not need to be great, we just simply need to be faithful. Do you realize, according to the Scripture, it is the faithful in the land upon whose eyes the Lord rests?

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• For instance, hold Luke 17, but look in your Bibles to Psalm 101 and look at verse 6. Psalm 101 and look at verse 6. This should be a great encouragement to you. But Psalm 101 and verse 6, the Word of God says this: "Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me: he that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve me." But notice what God says: "Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land." So whose eyes are upon? Let me ask that another way: Upon whom are the eyes of the Lord? And the answer is, it's the faithful of the land. God counts faithfulness. Since God is referred to and designated over and over in Scripture as the faithful God, it is obvious, therefore, that He is indeed concerned with faithfulness. In fact, Deuteronomy 7, verse 9 says this: "Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations."

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• When you get to 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 9, the Bible says, "God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord." Now, I want you to go back to Luke chapter 17 and look at verse 5. Luke 17 and verse 5. I was reading this passage recently, and this request just really struck me. In Luke 17, verse 5, the disciples said unto the Lord, "Increase our faith." When you read the context, it appears on the surface that our Lord either ignored their request or shot it down based upon what follows.

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• It is true He shows and demonstrates how effective even a small faith could be when one who exercises that small faith could command a sycamine or sycamore tree to be uprooted and to be planted in the ocean. He said it shall be done. Yet it just appears from the context that our Lord does not really answer their request. They say, "Increase our faith." And yet He just says, "No. If you had the faith as a grain of mustard seed..." Well, let's first of all consider today that which brought on this request. How would you know? They said, "Lord, increase our faith."

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• Let me ask you a question. In fact, I'll ask you a couple of questions. How many of you have ever asked for your faith to be increased? Don't answer out loud. How often have you asked for your faith to be increased? How often have you been concerned with the quantity and the quality of your faith? You know, the truth is, like the apostles, we hardly ever think on the subject. It was only when our Lord told a truth that the apostles deemed difficult to obey that they asked, "Lord, increase our faith." And that subject that was dealt with dealt with interpersonal relationships and especially the duty and the obligation of forgiveness.

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• Now, I want you to go back to verses 1 and 2, because in Luke 17, verses 1 and 2, our Lord speaks here of the inevitability of offenses. "Then said he unto his disciples, It is impossible but that offenses 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." Now our Lord here is talking about individuals who purposefully and deliberately and willingly scandalize and upset one of His true disciples. The "little one" here is not necessarily a child, but a believer. Now, I want you to note He talks about the difficulty, and He's talking about the inevitability of these offenses. They're going to come whether we like it or not.

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• Now, the word "offense" here is actually where we derive our English word "scandal" from. Skandalon is the Greek word.

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• Now, when one is scandalized, he is trapped. He is hurt. He's been caused to fall, or he's fallen into error or into sin.

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• Now let me ask you, has that ever happened to you? And the answer is yes. And probably many times. Yet most of those times were not nearly as severe as a few other times. Yet there have been times that you've been offended, hurt, and scandalized.

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• Now let me show you what our Lord is saying. And this is true. And if you're honest in your life, you're going to admit this: one of the most difficult things for you and I to do is for you and I to easily, readily, willingly, and heartily forgive one who's caused us so much hurt and pain and injury. Isn't that difficult? When you've been hurt? But I want you to notice what our Lord says in verses 3 and 4. Now watch this. Even in light of these offenses, in light of these scandals, He says in verse 3, "Take heed to yourselves."

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• "If thy brother trespass against thee, 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 thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him."

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• Now, our Lord, in verse 3, gives us a heads up in His admonition. He begins with these words—watch it in verse 3—"Take heed to yourselves."

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• Now, let me ask you a question. Why should we take heed to ourselves if someone else is hurting us? Why should we take heed to ourselves if someone is offending us? Well, what our Lord is saying is, we better take heed that we act obediently and scripturally. We need to take heed that we do not stumble and that we do not become an occasion of stumbling in the lives of others. When our Lord says, "Take heed to yourselves," it is a command that you are to be aware of imminent danger. Wow. So when He says that someone has offended you, upset you, hurt you, injured you, the first thing you better do is to take heed to yourself. And you need to make sure that you especially act obediently, even in the realm and the duty of forgiveness. Now, once you and I have been hurt and offended and scandalized, what He says is we need to take heed to ourselves that we follow the Word of God in resolving the conflict.

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• Now, I want you to look back at verse 3. He says, "Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him." Now, let me deal with this phrase "rebuke him." So our Lord is telling us if our brother sinned against us, that we're to rebuke him. Obviously. When our Lord commands us to rebuke our brother, that does not mean to jump down his throat. It does not mean to cuss him out. It does not mean to tell him off. It does not mean to embarrass him and humiliate him in front of others.

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• But let me quickly point out, that is a tendency of the flesh. When we have been hurt, the tendency is to hurt back and to strike back, and it's far more natural to strike back. It's far more natural to try to hurt someone who's hurt us than to quietly and firmly discuss what has happened and seek to resolve it in a biblical manner. Now, let me tell you something about rebuking someone. Rebukes in the flesh will only raise the hackles of the flesh.

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• And it will always make the problems more complex and more compound. However, rebukes done in gentleness and in the power of the Holy Spirit humble us and subdue us. May I remind you of the truth of Proverbs 15, verse 1. Listen carefully: "A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger." A soft answer turneth away wrath, but grievous words stir up anger. Years ago, I had an office when I was in a Christian school right next to a woman who had her office there, and her whole duty, her whole ministry, was to deal with irate parents. Well, this Christian school had about 3,000 students in it. So she had a lot of irate parents. Since my office was right next to hers, I have heard her on numerous occasions—someone would come in her office screaming, hollering, mad, telling her off, telling what they're going to do.

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• And Barbara would always say this: "I'm sorry you're upset. If you would please sit down, I'll try to work it out for you." They would holler, and the louder they would holler, the softer she would get. Until all of a sudden, they were having to say, "Pardon? What? What did you say?" And the next thing you know, they see the discrepancy between their voice and her voice. And they're not willing to sit down because they're embarrassed, and she always works it out.

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• But she was following this principle: a soft answer turneth away wrath, but grievous words stir up anger. Now I want you to think about something. Often when we are hurt, when we are upset, the one who did the hurting did it innocently or in jest. Or what you and I would just say, in plain ignorance. And sometimes, sometimes it may be intentional, but obviously not most of the time. And are you listening? If someone has hurt us innocently, not knowing, or if someone has hurt us in jest, or if someone has hurt us in ignorance, they have absolutely no idea that we've been hurt or upset or offended.

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• Therefore, our Lord tells us exactly how we're to deal with it. He tells us first we're to rebuke him.

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• Now, let me show you something. I want you to hold Luke 17, but turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 5, and then we're going to Matthew 18. Look at Matthew chapter 5 in verses 23 and 24. Matthew 5, verses 23 and 24. Watch carefully now, because our Lord is telling us exactly how to handle these problems. Matthew 5, verse 23, our Lord says: "Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift." Now wait a minute. Go back to verse 23 again: "Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee." I want you to note this: your brother has something against you.

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• You have nothing against him. You're not upset with him. But he's got something against you, and you know about it. What does God say in verse 24? "Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift." Now, here's my question: If you know that your brother has ought against you—you don't have anything against him, you're not upset with him—but you know that he has something against you.

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• Whose responsibility is it to go to him? It's yours. It's yours.

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• Now look at Matthew 18. Matthew chapter 18, beginning there with verse 15. Matthew 18, verse 15. Watch carefully. Matthew 18, verse 15. God says: "Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican." Now go back to verse 15. He says, "Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone." Now, wait a minute.

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• Now your brother doesn't have anything against you, but you've got something against him. Whose responsibility is it to go and get it resolved? It's yours. And notice if you would what God says: you're to go to him privately. In other words, when we begin to rebuke, when we begin to reprove, when we begin to admonish, if it is over a private sin, it must be dealt with privately. Do you understand that? So if I say something to Ron, and he takes it the wrong way, he's to come to me privately. I didn't mean anything by it. He just took it the wrong way. I had no idea he took it the wrong way until he comes to me and tells me. And if he doesn't tell me, I'll never know he took it the wrong way. So God says, if it's a private sin, then you simply deal with it privately. It's just that simple.

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• So what He is saying is, take heed to yourselves. We better take heed that we handle all of these problems biblically and scripturally.

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• Now, I want you to look back in Luke 17 at what our Lord states in verse 4. Watch this. He's already said in verse 3, "Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him." Now, watch verse 4: "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."

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• Now, let me say this: we would hope that no one would repeat offenses against us seven times in one day.

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• Now, probably not one of us has ever had anything like that to happen in our lives. Have you ever had a brother sin against you seven different times in one day? Obviously, no. But our Lord said, if that happened, then we need to take heed to ourselves and act biblically each time in rebuking, reproving, and solving and settling the problem with biblical forgiveness. What He is telling us is we cannot allow bitterness and resentment and ill will and hard feelings to build up in our lives. Now, after our Lord has gotten through with all of this, He said, if your brother sinned against you, rebuke him.

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• If he repented, forgive him. If he does it seven times in one day, God says you must do it seven times in that day. So obviously now the apostles are beginning to grasp their own weakness and their obvious inability to perform this in light of our Lord's teaching. They begin to sense their own inadequacy, so in verse 5 they say, "Lord, increase our faith." I want you to understand what is happening.

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• They viewed themselves as inadequate to obey. And in order to obey such a plain and obvious teaching, then they needed a greater faith in order to do so. Let me read between the lines for you. What they were saying: "Lord, wow, we need an extraordinary faith. We need a superhuman faith to accomplish what you're commanding us right now." And our Lord very quickly quells and shoots down that attitude with verse 6. Look what He said: "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." Wow. If you had the faith as a grain of mustard seed. You have to remember in Mark 4, verse 31, our Lord said that the mustard seed is the smallest of all seeds. When Alice and I were teenagers—which is a long time ago for me, not for her—the girls used to wear these mustard seed necklaces.

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• Anybody see these? Little clear thing with a little teeny pinhead seed in it. It was a mustard seed. So tiny. And our Lord said, "You're asking me to increase your faith to obey what I've just commanded you? Why?" He said, "If you have the faith as a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this tree, 'Be thou plucked up and be thou cast into the sea,' and it would obey you." Wow. Hmm. You know what our Lord is saying? You don't need a great faith to obey Me. A small faith is sufficient as long as it is a living, thriving, and energetic faith. You know that tiny mustard seed? It becomes a great herb. It becomes a tree. Do you understand this? Faith realizes a power beyond the person who has it. Faith is limitless because God is limitless. He is infinite. Do you understand this about faith? Faith trusts God. Faith believes God. Faith relies upon God. Faith leans upon God. It's not the amount of our faith. It's just simply faith. We do not need a great faith.

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• Listen carefully. We just simply need to exercise the faith that God has already given to us. It is not the amount of faith that is significant. It is the exercise of faith. You know what our Lord told us? In Mark 9, verse 23, listen to this. Listen now: "All things are possible to him that believeth." All things are possible to him that believeth. He didn't say all things are possible to him that have a great faith. He said all things are possible to him that believeth. So it's not the amount of faith; it's the exercise of faith. If you can believe, all things are possible. If you can believe, you can say to this sycamine tree, "Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou cast into the sea," and it'll obey you.

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• Now, let me ask you a question. I want to read verses 7 through 10. And here's my question: How does what our Lord is teaching in verses 7 through 10 fit in with what He just explained in verses 5 and 6?

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• Now, let's go back to verse 5. Watch this. "And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith. 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. 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." Now, here's my question: How do verses 7 through 10 fit in with verses 5 through 6, and especially with what our Lord has just taught in verses 3 and 4?

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• What is the connection? How in the world can our Lord be telling them they don't need a great faith, they just need to exercise what they have, and then the next thing you read about the illustration that He's giving about the man who has a slave and the slave is working all day long? And when the slave comes in at night, the master does not say to the slave, "We'll sit down and eat and I'll serve you." No! The master says, "You serve me. And when you get through serving me, then you can serve yourself." What is our Lord teaching us? What is the connection and why is this so important? Listen carefully. Faith acts upon duty. Faith is evidenced by faithful and obedient regard to duty. Now, you have to consider the master and the slave. Let me just repeat this: the slave labors in the field all day, and yet when he comes in at night, he's not dismissed. He must serve his master again.

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• His tiredness does not matter. His repeat performance is done daily. He waits upon his master and he serves his master. He is constant, He is consistent, and He is thankful. It is never supposed that the master waits upon the servant. No. The servant is bound to obey the master and wait upon Him and do everything in His power to please Him. It is His duty. It is His obligation. And are you listening?

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• He expects no thanks for it. He expects no reward for it. He has simply done that which it was his duty to do. It was his obligation.

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• Now, our Lord says, "Does he thank him? Ah, truly not."

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• Now, let me ask you this question. In light of this, why should we obey our Lord, even in the most difficult things, with our puny little faith? And the answer is, because it's our duty to do so. It is our obligation to do so. We're not our own. We've been bought with a price. Listen carefully. Everything we are, everything we have, everything we ever will be, everything we ever will have.

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• We will be and have only by His grace and mercy. Now, I want you to listen. You can quote this—a lot of you can. 1 Corinthians 6, 19 and 20: "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." Ah.

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• What is our Lord telling us? We're His slaves. We're bought with a price. Do you realize that the apostle Paul delighted in calling himself the bondslave of Jesus Christ? He says, "Paul, an apostle, a servant"—that is, a bondslave—"of Jesus Christ." Here's a question: Have you ever considered yourself a slave to Jesus Christ? If you haven't, you need to. For He is indeed our Lord and Master, and everything that we are and everything that we have belongs to Him.

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• Now, let me show you the connection here. Listen carefully. When our Lord is talking about the master and the servant relationship, it is an argument from the lesser to the greater. If a human master was given uninterrupted service by his slave both day and night, how much more do we owe our Heavenly Father uninterrupted service who has bought us soul and body? If the slave was duty-bound and obligated to serve his master 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days out of the year, how much more are we obligated to serve our Lord like that? Now, I want to give you three characteristics that make an excellent servant or an excellent slave. As I talk about these characteristics, I have to ask you, are these characteristics in your life? OK, what are the three characteristics that make an excellent slave or an excellent servant?

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• The first characteristic is availability. Availability. Do you realize—think about this—the master is not required to use each servant. Do you realize that? The master is not required, nor does he use each servant. If I had ten servants—Alice could tell you they'd probably all be busy, but I don't. But if I had ten, am I obligated to use all ten? No, I can only use one. Or I could use two. Or I could use half of them. I could do what I want to do because I'm the master and they're the slave. Do you understand that God is not obligated to use you in His service? He may do so, but He's not obligated to do so. The only thing we can do is say, "Lord, here I am. I'm available."

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• I want you to look in your Bibles—hold Luke 17—but look in your Bibles to 2 Samuel chapter 18. 2 Samuel chapter 18, and you'll see that Ahimaaz wanted to run, but Joab did not think Ahimaaz should run, and so he sent Cushi. Watch this. 2 Samuel 18, and let's begin reading there with verse 19. Absalom has just been killed. 2 Samuel 18, notice if you would, verse 19: "Then said Ahimaaz the son of Zadok, Let me now run, and bear the king tidings, how that the Lord hath avenged him of his enemies. And Joab said unto him, Thou shalt not bear tidings this day, but thou shalt bear tidings another day: but this day thou shalt bear no tidings, because the king's son is dead. Then said Joab to Cushi, Go tell the king what thou hast seen. And Cushi bowed himself unto Joab, and ran." Now how many?

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• I said, "Here am I. Send me." Joab said, "No. I'm not going to send you today. I'm going to send Cushi." You know, we could say that to the Lord: "Lord, here am I. Send me." But you know what? God is not obligated to send us or to use us. He may do so. But He's not obligated to. So what we must do is make sure that we are available. When God does choose to use us, we should be here, ready, willing, and available.

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• The second characteristic of a slave or servant is dependability. Dependability. Dr. Bob Jones, Sr. used to say this: "The greatest ability is dependability." Have you ever thought about that? If you cannot be counted upon, if you are not dependable, if you will not work and do that which you say you are going to do, why should the Lord use you? Or why should anyone use you? If you cannot be depended upon, you are useless. Many are like the son whom the father sent to the vineyard and said, "Son, go today and work in my vineyard." And what did the son say? "I go, sir." And he went not. What good is that? It's absolutely no good. You must be available. You must be dependable. And thirdly, listen carefully: you must be faithful. That's the third characteristic of an excellent servant or slave. Faithfulness. Now, I told you I was going to read Luke 16, 10 through 12 again.

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• I want you to go back there. I want you to see this again in light of everything that I've just preached. What's Luke 16, verse 10? Our Lord says: "He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own?"

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• Notice, if you would, God is emphasizing faithfulness even in the smallest, most minute things. The Word of God says this in Proverbs 25, verse 19: "Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a broken tooth, or a foot out of joint." Let me ask you a question. If you've got a foot out of joint and a rabid wolf is chasing you, you're in a heap of trouble, do you realize that? And if you've got a broken tooth and you're trying to chew something that really needs chewing, you're in trouble. God says you just can't put confidence in an unfaithful man. It's almost impossible.

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• Listen to what I'm about to tell you. I've already said that God is not obligated to use you. He's not obligated to use me. I told a pastor friend this week, I would really dearly love to see a mighty revival and a mighty work of God amongst God's people. But you know something? I don't really care if it starts here or if it starts in Kentucky or starts in Montana, just so God uses whom He will use and starts it where He will start it. He doesn't have to use me. And I won't be upset if He doesn't use me. Listen carefully. If you cannot sit on the bench carefully and faithfully, waiting upon orders, what makes you think you'll be faithful in the field? If you cannot be faithfully available on the bench, what makes you think that you would be faithful in the field?

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• Do you realize our Lord took Peter, James, and John with Him to the Garden of Gethsemane and He asked them two simple things: watch and pray. And when He came back, what were they doing? Sleeping. Sleeping. In Luke 12, go there. Luke 12, look at verse 42. Luke 12, verse 42. Watch this passage. Luke 12, verse 42. Watch this. Luke 12, verse 42: "And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season?" And our Lord said, "Who then is that"—what?—"faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season?"

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• What God requires is faithfulness. Now, I want you to look back at Luke 17. I want to call your attention again to verse 4. In fact, let's read verse 3 as well. Our Lord says: "Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, 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 thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him."

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• Now, don't you listen carefully to what I'm about to tell you. You do not have to forgive the one that has hurt you and wronged you seven times all at once. You only have to forgive him only one sin and one slight at a time. If you are faithful and obedient in that which is least, you're going to be faithful in that which is colossal. Listen carefully. Do not worry or concern yourself over the great and colossal exercises. You must do as the slave does, one thing at a time. I want you to still listen. It does not require a great faith to be obedient in small things. When you and I learn to be obedient in small things, we're going to learn an amazing truth: that every great and colossal thing is made up of a series of small things. Wow!

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• Do you remember the old adage? The way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. All God requires is that we be faithful one moment at a time. One minute at a time. One hour at a time. One day at a time. And if we are faithful in the small things, the Lord's things are going to take care of themselves. And if you are faithful on a daily basis, the years will take care of themselves.

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• Our Lord is saying you don't need a great faith. You just need to exercise what you've got.

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• Now, let me make some applications. Here's the first one. Wow! I'll call for volunteers on this one. Which of us have obeyed the Lord perfectly in every area? The answer is none of us have. But let me share something with you. If we were perfect and if we did obey the Lord in every area, He still would not owe us anything. And the answer is simply because all we would have done is that which is our duty to do. Do not think that you deserve special attention and special favor from God simply because you obey Him every now and then, or even if you're consistent in your obedience. No, you have a duty to obey God. You have an obligation to obey God. And until you obey Him perfectly in every area of your life, you haven't given God anything. Why should you be praised for doing what you're supposed to do? That's what our Lord is saying. None of us have gone over and above and beyond our duty. We haven't even performed our duty.

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• The second application of this: reward is always of grace and never of debt. You know, the thing that still astounds me on a daily basis is the graciousness and kindness and generosity of our loving Heavenly Father. We are so unfaithful to Him, and yet He supplies our needs. He keeps us alive. He gives us health. He gives us family. He gives us friends. We do not deserve the least of His mercies or the least of His favors. It's all of grace. The third application is this.

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• Listen, the way to increase our faith is through obedience—parentheses, exercise—and recognize that the Lord deserves all of our worship and all of our service. If we endeavor to be faithful in the small things and the seemingly insignificant things, we're going to discover that we will be faithful in those areas that are huge and colossal. Listen to this. Matthew 25, verse 21—don't turn there, just listen: "His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord." What did he say? "Thou hast been faithful over a few things." Look to God that we can be faithful over a lot of things. But our Lord says this one has just been faithful over a few things, and He's going to make him ruler over many things. And "enter thou into the joy of thy lord."

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• Let me close with this application. I want you to listen. The principle is simple. Here's what our Lord was telling His apostles: Instead of wishing for a million dollars, use the money that you have to provoke the kingdom of God. Instead of wishing for greater talents, here's the talent that God has given you, however insignificant it is, for God's honor and God's glory. Instead of demanding a greater faith, use the faith that God has given you. And as you use it, as you exercise it, it will grow just like muscles grow in exercise. God is going to make sure that He gives us everything that we need to honor Him and to obey Him and to worship and serve Him.

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• But we must begin with that which we have, and not that which we do not have. If you begin with what you have, God will use it. Samson began with the jawbone of an ass. If he could have begun with an AR-15, what would he have done? But he didn't have an AR-15; he had the jawbone of an ass. Use what God has given you.

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• Ever how small, how little, how insignificant your faith is, it's still faith. And our Lord says all things are possible to him that believeth. It's not the amount you have, it's the exercise of it. If God gives you a great faith, wonderful. But if He doesn't, use what you have. And eventually it will probably become a great faith, because faith constantly exercised becomes stronger and stronger. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee this day.

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• We thank You for that which You've given us. We thank You for Your truth. And Lord, help us to be faithful, even in those small, insignificant things, Lord. Because he that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in that which is much. If we cannot be faithful in our money, how can we be faithful when You give us true riches? If we cannot be faithful in the things of others, why do we think we'd be faithful with things of our own? Help us, Lord, to understand this simple principle. Apply it to our hearts and use whatever You've given us for Your honor and Your glory and Your service.

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• In Christ's name we pray, Amen.

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T14:18:35Z