“Lord, Increase Our Faith”
CD Number ______Also G-79
Time: 8/ 8/ 2010 - 11 am
Text: Luke 17: 3-6 -
------Introduction:In V.5 the Disciples said, Lord, increase our faith.
I don’t think there is a greater desire for a child of God than to want to have stronger faith.
The Lord gave the disciples a strong admonition to do in their lives.(3,4) This is what prompted the disciples to say, Lord, increase our faith. You see, to fulfill this admonition, you would have to trust God with the outcome.
However, we need to trust the Lord every day with strong faith to have a victorious life and to please God.
Satan wants our faith to decrease. This is the reason that Satan instills doubt in our minds. I think that this is the one area that Satan works on more than anything else in a Christian’s life.
The disciples said, Lord, increase our faith. This is our subject today.
I. The Motive for Our Faith Being Increased
Question: why should one have the desire to have a strong faith?
- The Supreme Principle Of Faith Should Motivate Us To Want Our Faith To Increase
Romans 1: 17b – The just shall live by faith.
The child of God should not live by:
Foresight, or
Feelings, but by
Faith
Satan wants us to live by foresight, but foresight is not faith. Heb. 11:1 –Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
If you see something happen before it happens, it is not faith…, but that is what a lot of people want.
Satan wants us to live by feelings, but feeling is not faith.
We are not saved by feelings and we are not to serve the Lord by feelings. We are to serve the Lord by FAITH.
The SUPREME principle for living a Christian life is faith.
Trying to live the Christian life any other way won’t work. We have got to trust the Lord.
The Supreme Principle
- The Spiritual Profit Of Faith Should Motivate Us To Want Our Faith To Increase
We will not profit spiritually in this walk of life, if we don’t walk by faith.
Psalm 40: 4 –Blessed is that man that maketh the Lord his trust.
God will bless those who trust Him. I don’t know about you, but I want my life blessed by God.
If you want to be HAPPY and live a VICTORIOUS life, walk by FAITH instead of FORESIGHT or FEELINGS.
Read 2 Chronicles 20: 20-25 etc. on V.20b…Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established, believe his profits so shall ye prosper…..etc. on rest of verses- how they did prosper.
If you want your spiritual life to prosper, trust in the Lord. A contrast to that is that your life won’t prosper and be blessed if you don’t.
O.T. Example: Children of Israel. The Children of Israel walked in the wilderness 40 years because they did not trust God concerning Cannon.
A lot of God’s children are having a wilderness experience today, instead of living a victorious life.
The Supreme Principle
The Spiritual Profit
- The Sinful Plight Of Faithlessness Should Motivate Us To Want Our Faith Increased
Hebrews 11: 6 –But without faith it is impossible to please him.
Romans 14: 23b- for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.
James 4: 17-therefore to him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
When we don’t trust the Lord the way we should and allow anxiety and fear to control our life, we sin.
This is not a sin of commission, but omission. When we fail to trust the Lord the way that we should, we sin and will have to give an account for it. This should motivate us to trust the Lord.
The Motive
II. The Means for Our Faith Being Increased
There are several things that we could talk about, but I want us to major on two.
- By Studying The Holy Scriptures Our Faith Will Increase
Romans 10:17 –So faith comes by hearing, and hearing the word of God.
Now, I know that if you are going to take this verse in its original context, its main application is for salvation.
However, hearing and studying the word will build one’s faith.
Hiding the word of God in ones heart will increase ones faith.
People who study God’s word in the privacy of their home will have stronger faith than those who don’t.
People who attend church faithfully and hear God’s word preached will have stronger faith than those who don’t.
- By Studying The Heroic Saints Our Faith WillIncrease
Why do you think God put Hebrews 11 in the Bible? This is the reason that we should study the lives of these people mentioned in Hebrews 11.
Etc. on some of these characters: Noah, Enoch, Abraham, Moses, Joseph and so on.
Then, Etc. on Chapter 12: 1-3. “Wherefore” ties in with chapter 11.
Remember that these Characters mentioned in Hebrews 11 are not Fictional Characters, but Faith Characters.
These men and women believed God and their behavior proved it and their blessings proved it.
The Motive
The Means
III. The Might from Our Faith Being Increased
Luke 17: 6 – And the Lord said, if ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto the sycamine tree, be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.
The Lord is letting these disciples know that He will work in the supernatural in their lives. The Lord not only has power, but supernatural power to do the miraculous.
Now, if you do not believe in miracles being performed by God, this may not excite you.
However, friend I have witnessed God doing the miraculous in people’s lives; save and change people, and people who doctors have given up on them and then God steps in anddo the miraculous and extend their lives a little longer.[Etc. Eloise Dudley, and my niece Becky)
The Motive
The Means
The Might
IV. The Manifestation from Our Faith Being Increased
If a person who truly trusts the Lord, there will be evidence of it.
- A Christian Trusting The Lord Will Be Steadfast
Psalm 125: 1 –They that trust in the Lord shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth forever.
A Christian who really trusts the Lord will be a steadfast Christian; they will be a Christian that God can depend on. They are dependable in the work of the Lord!
- A Christian Trusting the Lord Will Be Shining
A trusting Christian will not go about being despondent all the time.
A person’s countenance reveals if they are really trusting the Lord or not. There is nothing more important than a Christian shining for Christ. We are the light of the world.
A Christian Trusting the Lord Will Be Steadfast
A Christian Trusting the Lord Will Be Shining
- A Christian Trusting In The Lord Will Be Safe
Proverbs 29: 25b- But whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe.
Example- O.T.( Israel) – Every time Israel didn’t trust God and went into battle on their own, God allowed them to lose the battle. However, every time Israel went into battle trusting in the Lord regardless of how God told them to fight the battle, God took care of them.
We are always safe believing God and doing what he tells us to do. It is when we stop trusting Him and start trusting ourselves that we run into trouble.
Conclusion: Luke 17: 5 – “Lord, Increase Our Faith”
Is there something that you need to trust the Lord with today?
It may be a health problem, family problem, financial problem, job trouble, or something else.
You might just want to come today and ask the Lord to increase your faith.
Since we are living in the last days, you need to have strong faith to help you be the Christian you should be.
We have talked about the MOTIVE, the MEANS, The MIGHT, and the Manifestation from our faith being increased.
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