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Discussion Forum : Scriptures and Doctrine : "Increase our faith"

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 "Increase our faith"


I've had these verses explained to me but I'd like to see what others believe that they are saying.


Luk 17:5 And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith.
Luk 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.
Luk 17:7 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?
Luk 17:8 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?
Luk 17:9 Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not.
Luk 17:10 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.

 2012/5/2 1:17
brothagary
Member



Joined: 2011/10/23
Posts: 2556


 Re: "Increase our faith"

well i see it as the deciples were wanting more faith ,out of selfish ambision ,,,,and the lord rebuked them with a parable ,,,

just the smallest amount of sincer faith is what is needed ,,,,and then the demons will obeay you

 2012/5/2 1:49Profile
Areadymind
Member



Joined: 2009/5/15
Posts: 1042
Pacific Ocean

 Re: "Increase our faith"

You have to have the first five verses of the chapter to make sense of these passages. They are all linked together. The apostles were asking for Jesus to deepen their capacity of faith in order to be able to accomplish the level of forgiveness Jesus expected of them. Jesus then basically responds by telling them that they did not need their faith to be increased, they already possessed enough faith, instead of "giving" them more, they needed to act on what they had. Jesus is comparing forgiving other people to moving a mulberry tree and casting it in the sea. He is validating the difficulty of what he is asking his disciples to do. Jesus is not teaching here that we are to be tree trans-planters, he is using what we would perceive today as sanctified sarcasm, to express his point.

He then goes on to tell them basically in the last portion that as his servants they should not expect some grand sort of reward for doing their duty which was to rebuke people in sin, forgive those who repent, and to avoid being the cause of sin in other peoples lives. As servants it is our duty to accomplish these tasks. In the end of accomplishing these things we should say "we are unworthy servants." We should not expect the red carpet to be rolled out for us just because we are doing them with the equipping of the little faith that we already possess, but must learn to act upon.

Our problem as Christians today, is not that we do not have enough faith to work out our "faith." The problem is that we simply use a perceived lack of it as an excuse to not serve God as he expects us to.

Netbible.org has a simple and good commentary on this section.


_________________
Jeremiah Dusenberry

 2012/5/2 8:52Profile









 Re: "Increase our faith"

J-i-G,

dear sister, i forgot your first name, forgive me, but we just got a Holy Spirit Touch...i posted on this thread:

https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=44610&forum=48

the minister to atheist thread, and was led by God to pray, "Increase our Faith!"...and then i looked at the board and saw YOUR posting!!!!!

as to my thoughts on such?

God is so Good!

amen?...neil

 2012/5/2 9:00









 Re:

That's really neat, Neil. I think we all pray this same thing at times. Praise GOD!

Areadymind hit most of what I also was taught. We even have to go back to the chpt before to see why these poor guys asked Jesus to increase their faith.

What our Brother Areadymind wrote is good and just to add what I was taught from these sections of these two chpts was - that Jesus was putting them "in action", giving them the example of "serving".
If we just sit around and expect our faith to increase, it won't. But as we step out in service, He does prove Himself Faithful to work through us and our faith increases. The more we give out - the more we get.
They say it's like a body of water with no 'out-let' - that body of water will grow stagnet is the waters aren't flowing in And Out.
Just from my own life, like at times that I've felt depressed - going to the Nursing Home to visit or the women's prison in Niantic, CT, or visiting the sick, or volunteer work at church or for the community 'for' Him, etc., that's when I feel the rivers of living water flowing out and in at the same time and I go back home filled with His Faith.
What good is it to have Jesus living inside of us, if we don't give Him out to others in serving Him? It's easy to get comfortable at home and not step out into the world to serve. I have to remind myself of that as well, since I moved to this place two+ yrs ago. I need a good reminder to get out of my apartment and pray for divine appointments here where I live and I know the only way that my faith will increase is if I get out there :) Pray I do! Thank you!!

 2012/5/2 11:49
a-servant
Member



Joined: 2008/5/3
Posts: 435


 Re:

You get out of your apartment now Annie girl you hear? Sitting and waiting will not give you any divine appointment. I made the same mistake the first months of this year. Still suffering the consequences and not fully recovered, yet. But a new beginning has been made, and it gets easier every time doing it now, by doing it. And again.

 2012/5/5 6:19Profile









 Re:

Where have you been? Been watching.

Well, I actually worded that last sentence wrong. It should read - "Pray I Can."

I moved here to be here for my Dad. It takes strength that only He can supply. When I'm not doing things with him, I've needed to rest, much.
Before he moved here - I was active with the others that live here - but since ...

But I believe GOD for these divine appointments - they still happen when I'm going from my building to his. :)

Bless you much and don't stay gone so long next time, though I will be, but I can still read.

Shalom~Shalom in knowing GOD is!

 2012/5/5 12:31
InTheLight
Member



Joined: 2003/7/31
Posts: 2850
Phoenix, Arizona USA

 Re: "Increase our faith"

There's been some excellent discussion in this thread. This is a passage of scripture that I have returned to again and again over the years. It is a reminder to me that God has given us faith and even the smallest measure of it can accomplish incredible things yet I believe that Christ's response to the request shows us that what is most important in His mind is our relationship with Him.

This is because I can have all faith and move mountains but if I don't have love I am nothing. The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts and it abounds as we simply spend time with Him. I believe this is what the, "make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken" means. I believe the man serving his master is a picture of the secret place and it is there that "faith which worketh by love" is imparted.

In Christ,

Ron


_________________
Ron Halverson

 2012/5/5 13:20Profile
rbanks
Member



Joined: 2008/6/19
Posts: 1330


 Re:

Praise God Areadymind for another excellent post and also good posting Ron.


Brethren I have learned that if you don't act in faith to the hearing of the Word then your faith cannot increase. Faith cometh by the hearing of the Word and it works by love and if a person does not act on what he hears out of love for God and his cause in the earth then his faith will be dormant.

Blessings...from brother rbanks

 2012/5/5 13:29Profile









 Re:

Perhaps something also, is that the Greek word for "faith" is the same word for "faithfulness". That passage takes on another dimension with that in mind.

 2012/5/5 13:40





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