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The Measure Of Faith
Luke 17:5 'And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith.'
LUKE 17:1-10
There are many scriptures that speak of varying degrees of faith. However, the scriptures also speak of Jesus increasing in wisdom (Lk. 2:52) that certainly refers to His physical intellect drawing more and more on the perfect wisdom of God that was already in Him at birth. It is in this way that we also increase in faith.
At salvation, the believer is given the supernatural faith of God. We had to use the very faith of God (not human faith) to believe the gospel (Eph. 2:8).
That faith came to us through hearing the Word of God (Rom. 10:17), and once we are born again, it becomes an abiding fruit of the Spirit within...
The Faith To Forgive
Luke 17:5 'And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith.'
It is very interesting to note that the apostles asked Jesus to increase their faith after He spoke of forgiveness. They observed all of the wonderful miracles Jesus performed and yet that never inspired them to ask for greater faith. Truly, walking in love and forgiveness with each other takes as much faith as any miracle we will ever believe for.
The basis of forgiveness is the love and mercy of God. It is only because God first loved and forgave us that we can love and forgive others. If we aren't walking in the forgiveness of God, we won't minister it to others. He forgave us before we repented or asked for forgiveness.
The scriptures admonish us to forgive...
Vengeance Is God's
Luke 17:2 '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.'
God takes the persecution of His children personally. In Acts 9:4 when Jesus appeared to Saul on the road to Damascus and spoke to him about his persecution of the saints, Jesus said, 'Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?' Saul was not directly persecuting Jesus but he was persecuting His saints. Yet Jesus said, 'Why are you persecuting me?' Judgment against those who persecute God's children will not always come in time to prevent their harm but as this warning makes very clear, God will avenge His own (Rom. 12:19).
Letting God be the one who defends us is a matter of faith. If...
Comfort In Eternity
Luke 16:22 'And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;'
LUKE 16:19-31
This story clearly teaches that there is life after death. It shows that there is no 'soul sleep' where our souls are awaiting the resurrection of our bodies, but we go into a conscious eternity immediately. It also shows that there are only two destinations possible after death. We either go to a place of torment for the wicked or a place of blessing for the righteous. There is no 'limbo' or 'purgatory' and there is no second chance, illustrating the finality of our eternal destiny once we die.
Abraham's bosom is a symbolic term designating a place...
Our Debt Was Paid
Luke 16:17 'And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail.'
The jot was not only one of the smallest letters of the Hebrew alphabet, but also one of the most insignificant, being sometimes deleted at the writer's pleasure. The tittle was only a mark or a point on a line that helped distinguish one letter from another. The tittle corresponds to our period or apostrophe. The point that Jesus is making is that even the tiniest detail of the law would not pass away.
Christ fulfilled every jot and tittle of the law. The law was ordained to life, but no one could keep it. So, God Himself became flesh. He did what no sinful flesh had ever done. He kept the law thereby winning the life of God as the prize for...