Vital Marks of Jesus Followers

[0:00] Hey! Hey! Hey! There it goes. If you would take your Bibles and turn to the Gospel according to Luke, chapter 17, if you're visiting with us, go to the chair in front of you, pull out a Bible, that black Bible in the chair in front of you, and go to page, go towards the back, go to page 61, find page 61, Luke chapter 17, we're going to study the first 10 verses of this chapter, trucking along through the Gospel of Luke.

[0:38] This has been really enjoyable. I love going through this book. There's gospel all over the place. Luke 17, page 61 in that black Bible. I'm going to read that first 10 verses, and then we'll do our study.

[0:57] And Jesus said to His disciples, It is inevitable that stumbling blocks should come, but woe to Him through whom they come.

[1:10] It would be better for Him if a millstone were hung around His neck, and He were thrown into the sea, than that He should cause one of these little ones to stumble. Be on your guard.

[1:21] If your brother sins, rebuke him. And if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, I repent, forgive him.

[1:35] And the apostles said to the Lord, Increase our faith. And the Lord said, If you had faith like a mustard seed, He would say to this mulberry tree, Be uprooted and be planted in the sea.

[1:48] It would obey you. But which of you having a slave, plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he's come in from the field, Come immediately and sit down to eat?

[1:59] But will he not say to him, Prepare something for me to eat, and clothe yourself, and serve me until I have eaten and drunk. And afterward, you will eat and drink. He does not thank the slave, because he did the things which were commanded, does he?

[2:13] So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, We are unworthy slaves. We have done that which we ought to have done.

[2:31] Just last week, ISIS, IS, ISIL, however they're called now, beheaded James Foley, an American photojournalist.

[2:45] I'm sure many of you have been inundated with the news, in regards to that, with this huge tragedy, that's taken place.

[2:56] different political figures, have described it, called it barbaric, a great evil, the face of a savage, and valueless evil, or a president who called it a cancer, that must be extracted.

[3:16] The odd part, is that ISIS, thinks we are evil, and commit great evils, in the world. interesting how, both call each other the same thing, isn't it?

[3:31] Now, I'm not saying I agree with ISIS, with this group, God forbid. It makes me ask the question, what is the standard of evil and good?

[3:48] Who or what defines something, to be this or that? How do you define that? What is the standard, by which you say, that's good, and that's evil?

[4:01] How do you know, if you are truly following God? ISIS, they say, God be praised. God be praised? Which God?

[4:14] Does God do things like this? Do His followers, act like this? How does a follower of God, act in Jesus the Messiah?

[4:29] How do you know, if you are a growing disciple of God? How do you know, if you are a growing disciple of Jesus? How do you know? How do you know? As Jesus, or we could even say Luke, calls the readers, calls the hearers, to come and follow Jesus, and you will find forgiveness of your sins, in our text this morning, we will see vital marks of Jesus' followers.

[5:00] This is how you will know, if you are growing, a growing disciple of Jesus. This is how you know, just, there will be six of them, there is more than what we are going to look at here, but, in our text, Jesus is going to tell us, marks of a growing disciple of His.

[5:22] How do you know, if you are truly following God? Here is vital marks, or essential, aspects, or essential elements, I should say, or important aspects, however you want to write that down, these are vital marks.

[5:44] And by the way, it runs in the same vein as chapter 16. Chapter 16, we looked at a true follower of Jesus, is one who generously gives to others, who is not holding back.

[5:56] Jesus continues this trend. So we will see, six marks to the growing disciple of Jesus. How do you know, if you are growing in your commitment to Jesus?

[6:08] How do you know? Now there is more than six, there is probably five billion, I don't know. But in our text this morning, there will be six that Jesus will give to us.

[6:19] And I am just going to give them to you, right off the bat. Stay true. So, guard against falsity, rebuke sin, forgive sin, have faith, serve obediently.

[6:33] Ba-bam. There it is, right there. Let's go home. I don't think so. Jesus taught characteristics of a disciple to His disciples.

[6:47] Guard against false teaching, rebuke each other, forgive a repentant Christian, exercise faith, and have a heart of a servant no matter what. Now, a question from the text, is this like a collection of Proverbs, or without any direct relationship, or are they linked together?

[7:07] Well, I think they are somewhat linked together. But it is better to see them as almost distinct characteristics Jesus was teaching His disciples, about how they know they are growing as His own.

[7:19] So, don't cause another disciple to stumble, because the consequences are severe.

[7:30] Rebuke sinning believers, but be ready to forgive as often as they repent. Small, genuine faith accomplishes great things. And few disciples have the attitude of service.

[7:41] I put all those points in the statement, and we're going to look at each one of those. So, if you're writing those down, that's okay, because I'm going to put them up there on the screen for you, one at a time. Great works lead to attributing those works before God as personal achievement, but Jesus is going to say, God is not obligated to honor the disciple.

[7:59] Jesus warned against this. Just be a servant, serve, rebuke, sin, forgive, have faith, guard against false teaching, stand tall, stay true.

[8:12] These are the six marks He's going to give us. Let's go through them one at a time. First, stay true. Verse 1. And Jesus said to His disciples, He's speaking specifically to them, sin.

[8:28] It is inevitable that stumbling blocks should come, but woe to Him through whom they come. Avoiding stumbling blocks, or sinning blocks, is virtually impossible, says Jesus.

[8:44] stumbling blocks is the Greek word, skandalon, where we get the word scandal, which means to entice to sin, especially to false faith, or apostasy.

[8:58] It means an entrapment in sin, sever allegiance to Christ by sinning. I'm trying to give you different ways by which you can define this word.

[9:11] It could be referring to a false doctrine, a false teaching. And Jesus is saying, implying that the temptation for this, unfortunately, it comes from the inside.

[9:28] Inside the community of faith, not from the outside. But He says, woe to Him through whom they come.

[9:40] Woe to the one through whom this sin comes. It's terrible to make others stumble like this. So stay true to right teaching.

[9:51] Stay true to the faith. Don't waver. Fear. Which leads to the second mark. Guard against falsity.

[10:04] Verse 2 into verse 3. It would be better for Him if a millstone were hung around His neck. He were thrown into the sea than that He should cause one of these little ones to stumble.

[10:15] Be on your guard. That last part, excuse me, first part of verse 3 goes with verse 2. Verse 2. Verse 2. Guard against falsity.

[10:29] They make them stumble either by tempting them towards sin or by setting a bad example. These stumbling blocks. Either way, Jesus says, a horrible death is preferred than spiritual harm to a little one and then incurred Jesus' wrath.

[10:47] It's better to die than drive others away from Jesus into sin. Who are these little ones though? They're disciples who need tender care and guidance. Like little children who need their parents' protection, care, guidance, and sometimes little on the bottom, you know what I mean?

[11:08] It seems Jesus meant young or new believers within the community. It's better for this guy, this person, to have a millstone.

[11:20] It was hard, a heavy stone, large upper stone for the grinding mill to crush grain as it was being rotated. It's better to have, I mean, the picture is almost comical to have this huge millstone, a big old chain and put it around someone's neck.

[11:36] There's no way that guy's going to get out of that thing. What? You're going to chuck him into the sea. One will surely die from it. It's kind of guaranteed. It's better to drown than to lead astray one of these little ones.

[11:52] So he's teaching other disciples, telling them, teaching other disciples and guiding them is very important. So listen to me, Jesus says.

[12:05] Listen to me. Teaching these other disciples and guiding these other disciples, guiding these young believers is very important. Guard against falsity. Guard against false teaching. Be on your guard, he will say.

[12:17] Because it's so bad for this one to do this, it'd be better for this one to have a terrible death than to lead young Christians to end up stumbling.

[12:31] This one is subject to God's wrath, so it's a warning. The fate of this false teacher will be severe. Death is better than the consequences of leading astray Jesus' own.

[12:44] It's a better deal than what God will give you. So be on your guard. So be on your guard.

[12:54] So they must be careful to watch themselves. They must be mindful what they teach others. Take seriously the role God has placed them.

[13:05] Take seriously, church, the role that God has placed you. What are you talking about? I mean, elders and leaders, they're supposed to say, yes, we have to do that.

[13:16] That's true. But Galatians chapter 1 was written to you. You must guard against false teaching. You must guard against false doctrine.

[13:27] It's your responsibility, church. You must make sure that what's coming out of my mouth, what's coming from this pulpit, what's coming out of this church, is true to God's Word. And if it's not, get rid of me.

[13:38] You have that responsibility. And I stay true. So guard against falsity.

[13:49] Stay true. Two, guard against falsity. Three, rebuke sin. The next part of verse 3. If your brother sins, rebuke him.

[14:03] It's correction that's strong. But it's loving. And we're going to get into forgiveness as well.

[14:16] It's going to be the next one, number four. Let me speak just a little bit about rebuking and then we'll go into speaking about rebuking and forgiving together. Within the believing community, relationships are important.

[14:30] But when there's sin, it mars that connection that we have with each other. So Jesus said that they have the responsibility of rebuking one another when there's sin and forgiving when there's repentance.

[14:48] So rebuking, when you rebuke, you're taking sin seriously. You're dealing with sin openly, but talking about sin gently. So rebuking is you're taking sin seriously.

[15:03] You're dealing with sin openly, but you're talking about that sin gently. Correction is strong, but loving. Three, rebuke, and then leads to four, forgive sin.

[15:18] Because Jesus then says, and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times a day and returns to you seven times a day, and I repent, forgive him. So if your brother sins, and so the idea is you either witness your brother or sister sinning, or you're the object of their sinning.

[15:42] They sin against you, how nice. Rebuke them. And if he repents, then there must be forgiveness. Yes. So when a disciple sins, other Christians have certain responsibilities that deal with it.

[16:02] They should be willing to help a member by rebuking and forgiving. We Christians should not be indifferent to evil. At the same time, we should not bear and judge against each other.

[16:16] Which is why we should be willing to forgive when there is repentance. repentance. So what's repentance? Repentance, true admission. Turning and requesting pardon.

[16:30] That's what he means by repentance. Person's admitting what's going on. There's a turning from that and there's a requesting of the pardon.

[16:42] Pardon me from that. I ask for forgiveness from you. So when Jesus brings us up in verse 3 and 4, rebuke sin and forgive sin.

[16:59] There's two key principles that he's implying here. It's important for us to look at. Key principle number one. First, disciples of Jesus share in their commitment to pursue righteous living.

[17:15] Jesus wants his followers to desire righteousness resulting in accountability toward one another in their pursuit of holiness. We all share together as Christians our pursuit of righteous, holy, godly living.

[17:31] We're all in this together. So that's why he says rebuke. He wants us to desire righteousness and what happens is it results in us having accountability towards each other and say, hey, if you call yourself a Christian, you shouldn't be doing that, right?

[17:52] If you carry the name of follower of Christ, you shouldn't be acting like this. So we're accountable to one another in our pursuit of holiness. That's the first principle that Jesus is implying.

[18:03] But there's a second one. Two, disciples don't pursue spirituality and isolation. Faith is not a private matter, something you keep to yourself.

[18:14] If I got a penny, every time I heard that from somebody, I'll retire tomorrow with $1.7 million. That's what, that's what, what was it, Adele Webb, no, Adele, JP Morgan said I'm supposed to have, you know, you take a little survey and then they said, oh, you need $1.7 million to retire.

[18:35] I said, well, that's pretty funny because that's just not going to happen. I just thought it was funny. So anyway, I can retire tomorrow because that's what people say. On my face, it's a private matter. I don't talk to people about that.

[18:48] That's not like, you know, in the Bible. That really doesn't work. Unless why would Jesus say rebuke each other? Duh. It's not done in isolation.

[19:01] Faith is not a private matter. It's not. It's not. It's not something you keep to yourself. The whole community of Christians, we pursue it together.

[19:15] It's not just you doing this, you going over there, you're over there. It's us. We're pursuing it together. The Christian community is a family.

[19:29] Unless we should have each other's, each one's best interests in mind. I care for you. You have family members who are doing drugs? You have family members who are doing horrible things?

[19:41] What do you do? You just say, oh, it's just happening. Oh, well. No, you're like concerned. You're caring. You don't want that to happen. Do you want them to kill themselves? You want family members to commit suicide?

[19:53] You don't want that. We care for each other. That's the way the Christian community should function. Right? Right? Which, by the way, I'll put a little commercial in.

[20:05] If you're not a member of a church, you should become a member of a church because this is how membership works. Because you're saying, I'm connecting myself to this church and I want to be part of this family and I want you to hold me accountable and I want to be a part of the accountability that's here.

[20:20] Here I am. I want to be a part of this. That's why membership is important, by the way. We should be concerned for each other. So when Jesus calls us to rebuke, we're exercising familial responsibility.

[20:39] We should have positive, honest, gracious, loving, confronting relationships with each other without destroying those relationships. So this means we do things we don't necessarily want to do.

[20:55] I mean, who wants to rebuke somebody? Who wants to rebuke somebody? Who wants to forgive? I don't want to do that. We're doing things we don't necessarily want to do.

[21:07] I don't want to forgive that person. They're really mean to me. That's what it says. But that's God's response too, isn't it?

[21:20] God takes sin seriously, right? He rebukes it. But God also delights in giving grace to sinners. You see the theme of grace in our songs this morning?

[21:32] There's grace. There's compassion. And if God has so forgiven us and been gracious to us, should we not have the same attitude with each other? Well, how do you keep people from getting on a high horse?

[21:47] I'm going to rebuke you. Come here. You have a gracious familial attitude or family. And you deal with sin when it's truly sin.

[21:59] Not just, that guy just offends me. I know you're thinking about me, but he just offends me. It's not so much about somebody offending you.

[22:11] It's truly sin. And yet you're quick to forgive when repentance is present. So, we're not talking about some legalistic association.

[22:22] Policing like watchdogs. We're not doing that. But we're committed to righteous living and to building each other up ready to restore our relationship with each other.

[22:33] We're ready for that. That's why forgiveness is key. So if you recognize a true sin, again, not just something, well that would offend me, true biblical sin, then when that brother or sister repents, he immediately forgives.

[22:55] What if he sins seven times? He returns to you seven times saying, I repent, forgive him. So the disciple of Jesus is always ready to forgive no matter the number of times forgiveness is requested.

[23:10] Now, you see, seven times, so Jesus doesn't mean, okay, seven times, okay, eight times, that's it, I'm nailing you. It doesn't mean that, okay. You know, we have a little tally board of everybody's name.

[23:23] He's got five. She's at seven, man, next time, that's it, you know. He's only at three. He's doing good. That's not how it works, okay, so don't do that. Travis, put your paper away, put up the tallies now, okay, that's not what we're talking about here.

[23:37] Oh, man. But Jim had twelve. Now, it's a Christian's habitual response. That's why Jesus uses the number seven. It's habitual.

[23:49] You're ready to forgive. You have that mentality. So you know what this means? You give the benefit of the doubt to the one needing forgiveness.

[24:03] That's tough. We don't default that way, do we? But God continues to forgive us in Christ when we repent, doesn't He?

[24:14] Not because He stops being our Father when we sin, no, but because we mar the relationship. We bring tension to the relationship with Him because of our sin.

[24:33] Yet, what does John say? if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

[24:47] 1 John 1.9 So notice how the gospel comes into play in this. If the gospel is our motivation as well as the basis for continual renewal in our relationship with the Father, should we not have the same attitude with each other amongst the brethren?

[25:08] Should we not? Brethren, let's rebuke each other and forgive. Let's encourage each other to holy living.

[25:20] Let's do that. And if you're here today and you're not a Christian, you're not a follower of Jesus, God can't forgive you of all your sin.

[25:30] in Jesus alone. We deserve God's judgment. We do. But He is gracious. He's merciful.

[25:43] He's merciful to forgive sinners. This motivates Christians to forgive. God's forgiveness of us. So come to Jesus today who lived and died and rose for sinners like you, like me.

[25:58] Put all your trust, put all your hope in Jesus and you'll find life and grace, not death and guilt. You'll find life and grace. So we must stay true.

[26:11] God against falsity, rebukes Him, forgives Him. Number five, fifth point, have faith or trust God. The disciples spoke up and asked for greater faith.

[26:27] Maybe they were thinking, forgive, how are we going to do this? We need faith, man. Maybe they're thinking this, not really sure if it's connected. Whether it is or whether it's not, they wanted their daily faith increased so they can faithfully serve God.

[26:47] And this is important because it shows us that faith is not simply a one-time event. It's continuous.

[26:58] faith. Or as one writer put it, it's not a moment, but a journey. Faith is not a moment. Faith is a journey.

[27:11] That's what it is. And notice how they were willing to be taught, showing their dependence upon the Lord for His guidance towards greater faith in God.

[27:22] And how does Jesus respond? Well, just rub the lamp a little bit more and you'll get more faith. Come on! Why don't you guys just touch my tassels and then you'll get some more faith?

[27:34] No! What does He say? If you had faith like a mustard seed, you would say that the smallberry tree would be planted in the sea and it would obey you. What?

[27:44] What? It's not about quantity but presence. A small amount of faith, if genuine, can do amazing things.

[28:02] So what's a good picture of this kind of faith? Jesus says, a mustard seed. Oh, but there's other seeds smaller than mustard seeds. You ever heard somebody say that?

[28:13] Yeah, we understand that. Thanks. Jesus is talking about one of the smallest seeds. Hello. Because you have a small seed, mustard seed, and it grows in a really big bush sometimes, a really big tree.

[28:25] That's the point. But yes, there are smaller seeds in this, but Jesus' point is faith just needs to be present. Even a little trust responds and follows Jesus.

[28:38] And this leads to great things. Small, but solid. I just thought of this.

[28:48] This is for free. Should I say this? There's doubt and it's like, hmm, how long are they going to say it? My old boss at Master's Bible Church, his mom was alive.

[29:04] I was visiting her or something like that and she was talking about her son and about his wife. And his wife, Bobby, and they visited here, she's like teeny.

[29:19] I can probably pick her up and do this with Bobby. She's like teeny. And so she was talking about Bobby, she might be small, but she's mighty.

[29:32] This stuff was funny. It made me think about that. It made me it for free. Small faith? Yeah, small faith. So small, and yet you can say there's a mulberry tree.

[29:43] What's a mulberry tree? A mulberry tree has a vast root system enabling it to live up to 600 years. Be uprooted and be planted in the sea.

[29:58] And it would obey you. Wow, so when we leave from here, let's go find a mulberry tree, right? What can I find a mulberry tree, right? That's not the point, okay?

[30:13] It's not about what is truly happening, but the principle behind it, you just see little kids, like, wow. You know, when you're a little kid, you hear something, like, wow, how come that tree doesn't move? God doesn't listen to me when I pray.

[30:24] You know, that's what they're thinking. What's the point? Why did you just say this? Jesus used hyperbole, in other words, exaggeration, to illustrate that small faith can do great things.

[30:39] One writer says this, quote, what he desires is a little trust that can produce surprising results. So, in other words, the disciples said, add to our faith or increase our faith.

[30:54] Jesus says, no, I don't need to do that. It's not about increasing faith, but it's about really having it present, and then watch it produce major results. Interesting, too, the Greek structure at the end of verse 6, and they would obey you, the idea is that obedience is already preceding the command.

[31:18] In other words, the tree was ready to obey even before it was commanded. So, faith surely accomplishes marvelous things, when it is genuinely present.

[31:32] That's what Jesus is saying. Or, I like how Leon Morris put it. He says this, quote, it's not so much great faith that is required as faith in a great God.

[31:52] Friends, it's not that you have great faith, but if you trust in a great God, do you rely, do you rely upon or trust in a great God?

[32:09] Are you here today, you're worried about your finances, your future, your job, something in your family, evangelism, ministry, something going on in your life right now?

[32:31] And you say, I don't have enough faith. Just trust Him. Oh, it takes a little bit. Small faith in a great God.

[32:45] Have faith. Trust God. Do you rely upon trust in a great God? That's the fifth mark.

[32:56] You see, if you're a growing disciple of Jesus, the last one that He gives, serve obediently, verses 7 through 10. So what kind of attitude should a disciple of Jesus have?

[33:09] After He said all of this, I'm just doing what I'm supposed to do. There's no need to honor me. I think it's rather humorous.

[33:23] I work at the rec center. Excuse me, on 8 to 10, sometimes 12, sometimes 16 hours a week, somewhere around there, 8 to 12 hours a week at the rec center.

[33:37] And basically the main part of our job is we do a lot of cleaning of the treadmills and elliptical machines and all that stuff. So I'm just doing my job. And people say, wow, you're doing so great, you're doing a great job, wow, you do this, and I say, okay.

[33:55] And some other people, they say, wow, you guys do this, you guys do this, and we just kind of say, we're just doing our job. I mean, why? Don't congratulate us. Say thank you. Thank you to us for cleaning that. We're just doing our job.

[34:07] That's the type of attitude that Jesus wants us to have. We should just have that. We're just doing our job. Don't honor us. Why? You want to to be a story?

[34:20] Which of you having a slave plowing or tending your sheep will say to him when he's coming from the field, come in and sit down to eat. Your servant is out there working. He's watching the sheep.

[34:31] He returns for a full day's job. And the slave comes in and the man says, oh, oh, you look so tired. Come in here. Sit down. You know, take a bath.

[34:43] Let me get some bubbles. You want a bubble? You want some chocolate? Here's some chocolate. You want some Epsom salt in your bath?

[34:55] Be nice for your skin. Does the master say any of that stuff? No way. Notice verse 8. We're going to say to prepare something for me to eat.

[35:07] Go get dressed, you smell. Your clothes are going to be ill. Don't serve me like that. Clothe yourself and serve me until I have eaten.

[35:18] Until I have eaten my food, I drink my wine, I'm happy, then you can go eat and drink. Prepare my meal service, then wait until I'm done, then you can go eat.

[35:33] Prepare everything after you do your chores. The wishes of his master will always come before his desire. That's what Jesus is saying. And then the master says, hey, thanks for doing that. Thank you for being deserve.

[35:43] Does he thank members 9? And he does not thank the service because he does not have commanded him, does he? No. No. The servant is called to do his task.

[35:58] Friends, even our best service does not gain us something from God. You don't have a claim on him. Well, I've walked with the Lord for 40 years so I should...

[36:12] No, that's not how it works. Now, notice, this runs opposite to the world. They think they're entitled to certain things.

[36:26] People in our world think that I'm entitled to this. I deserve that. I should get this. I should get that. Do you realize that's why people don't respond to Christ, right?

[36:37] One of the main reasons why is because they have a problem over the fact that God sends people to hell. I don't deserve that. I'm entitled to heaven. Um, hello, wake-up call.

[36:50] No, you're not. God doesn't need to give you anything. God's not obligated to us. I mean, cannot God just go, and just everything would just right?

[37:07] God and everything would just go away. You know, I'm going to start over. I'm done. Can't you just do that? Oh, but he's obligated to me.

[37:18] No, he's not. Or else it wouldn't be called grace. It's undeserved favor. And people in this world, they like to lord it over others.

[37:31] Well, you deserve that you should give this to me. But Jesus says the path to true greatness is not up. It's down. The path to true greatness is down, not up.

[37:49] The path to true greatness is being a servant. It's not being a man's man. I'm a man's man. That's what I am. That's not the path to true greatness. Notice verse 10.

[38:03] So you too, we do all the things who are commanded you say, we are unworthy slaves. We've done that which we ought to have done. What makes it so special?

[38:16] That God should be obligated to honor us? Nothing. Obedience is not a cause for merit, but one fulfills his or her duty.

[38:32] A disciple of Jesus displays humility. Doing what God commands is not doing more than what we should. Doing what God commands is not doing more than we should.

[38:45] A true disciple serves God laboring faithfully and obediently in any area he calls them. You don't pick and choose. You're not proud of your good service.

[38:56] Awesome. You should honor me. That's not the way it works. You serve obediently. And that's Jesus says, I'm just doing what I'm supposed to do.

[39:11] I'm just doing my job. I don't have the authority to command myself or command others. Just like slaves respond to their master. Well, Jesus says you're unworthy, so he's talking about their inherent worth.

[39:27] No, don't go down that road. He's not talking about their inherent worth. He's talking about function. Slaves serve their masters.

[39:40] It's not about getting honored or rewarded or served by the master. And you know what the amazing part is, friends? You know what the amazing part is? You will be honored. You will be rewarded.

[39:52] You will be served by the master. He will serve you. He will honor you. He will reward you when he honor you. He doesn't need to reward you.

[40:04] He doesn't need to serve you. That's grace. That's grace. When we say, I give Jesus my life, you have me, everything, every part of me, you have me.

[40:24] The master will end up rewarding you. That doesn't make sense. But he does, he does it. But our attitude should be, I serve you obediently.

[40:35] This is who I am. There I am. Jesus was not trying to demean those who would follow him. He was not trying to do that. But to show that his followers knew what they were supposed to do, and they would just go do it.

[40:51] Not looking for honor, not looking for prestige, just go do it. Franklin Roosevelt's closest advisor during much of his presidency was a man named Harry Hopkins.

[41:06] During World War II, when his influence with Roosevelt was at its peak, Hopkins held no official cabinet office or position. Moreover, Hopkins' closeness to Roosevelt caused many to regard him as a shadowy, sinister figure.

[41:24] As a result, he was a major political liability to the president, a political foe of Roosevelt, once asked him, why do you keep Hopkins so close to you?

[41:35] You surely realize that people distrust him and resent his influence. Roosevelt replied, someday, you may well be sitting here where I am now as president of the United States, and when you are, you'll be looking at that door over there, and knowing that practically everybody who walks through it wants something out of you.

[42:02] You'll learn what a lonely job this is, and you'll discover the need for somebody like Harry Hopkins who asks for nothing except to serve you.

[42:19] God, I want to serve you. I want to serve others, not kill, not hurt, not take advantage, I just want to serve. A true follower of Jesus has humility before God, knowing that anything she or he receives is simply a matter of God's grace and compassion alone.

[42:44] It's not at all deserved. God is gracious, but a disciple does not presume upon that. He just serves faithfully, she just serves faithfully.

[42:58] Do you know Christians like this? Do you know believers like this? They just serve. Do you have that attitude? Do you just want to serve?

[43:09] Do we have this attitude with each other? Do you have the mentality when you come here to this service, 9, 15, 10, 30?

[43:20] Are you thinking, who am I going to serve today? Are you thinking that? You should be. Who can I serve?

[43:31] Who can I serve? I want to serve this person. I want to serve that person. That's what I want to do. Interesting how this verse, verse 10, comes full circle.

[43:44] Jesus' disciples, they're called to avoid misleading other Christians and the faithlessness, to rebuke with grace and forgiveness and have solid, real faith in God.

[43:55] So we're just servants. Watching, rebuking, forgiving, trusting. These are just ways we're supposed to live. We're just doing what we're supposed to do. We're just doing our job.

[44:06] That's all. When you follow Jesus and love Him, it will lead to humble, loyal service to Him and to others.

[44:19] You can take that to the bank. You will stay true. You will guard against falsity and not make little ones stumble. You will rebuke sin and be willing to forgive.

[44:30] You will have small but solid faith in God, ready to see Him do great things. You deserve. Stay true, guard against falsity, rebuking sin, forgiving sin, trust God, and just serve.

[44:50] Six marks of a growing disciple. Take a few moments if you would. Ponder and think. Think about what we've seen in God's word with Jesus' words here in chapter 17 of Luke.

[45:04] Have a few moments of silence for you to ponder and to think what we've seen, what we have studied from the scriptures this morning. maybe even take a few moments and pray that God would do this work in your heart.

[45:19] Maybe you'll take one of these marks and you will say, God, really, put this on my heart. Maybe the Holy Spirit has been pricking you and you've not had faith.

[45:31] Maybe you're not forgiving. Maybe you're not dealing with someone's sin and you need to. Maybe you have been veering off the truth and you stay true. maybe you have been thinking you should be honored.

[45:43] You just need to serve. Whatever the case, just take a few moments, ponder and think and pray. Ask God to work in you. And then we'll continue our timeless service of giving and singing two songs together.