by Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\t
Text: Luke 17:1-10<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I. Many denominations today struggle with the concept of obeying God.<\/p>\n A. Oh, they give lip service to the concept, but they find it appalling that anything we\ndo affects our salvation\n
B. Most claim that all that is needed is faith and God does the rest.<\/p>\n C. Some realize that even faith is an action on man’s part and so they claim that faith\ncomes from God.\n
D. I clipped an article about Barna Research Group<\/p>\n 1. They were upset by one of their findings. They asked people if it was true\nthat “God helps those who help themselves.”\n
2. 75% agreed. <\/p>\n 3. But the researchers think it is false. “Why if man is able to determine his\ndestiny then God has no role in our salvation! He is merely man’s\nassistant.”\n E. I believe we can clarify the situation by looking at unprofitable servants\nmentioned in the Bible.\n
II. A disobedient servant is unprofitable<\/p>\n A. Some people talk like they are good servants, but they surely don’t act the part –\nTitus 1:16\n
B. Matthew 21:28-31 – Notice that action counts and not simple claims.<\/p>\n
C. If we do not keep the Lord’s commandments, we are liars – I John 2:4<\/p>\n
III. A servant who does nothing is unprofitable<\/p>\n A. In the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30), a master is leaving town for a\nperiod of time. He gives three servants varying amount of funds, the amount in\naccordance with the servant’s ability. The first two were able to achieve profits\nwith their lord’s money, but the last doesn’t even try to invest the money. He\nhides it and returns it to the Lord on his return.\n
B. Here is the response – Matthew 25:26-30<\/p>\n C. Did the actions of these servants affect their rewards when their lord returned?\nWhy, of course.\n
D. A servant who will not serve is worthless to the master.<\/p>\n
IV. A faithful servant does his duty – Matthew 24:45-47<\/p>\n
A. We have to work on our salvation – Philippians 2:12<\/p>\n B. The servant in Luke 17:7-10 did his duty. It was expected of him. Yet, the servant\n(not the master) view himself as unprofitable for merely doing what was expected.\n
C. The problem is with people who think they only owe God faith.<\/p>\n 1. They act as if anything beyond faith is “above and beyond the call of\nduty.”\n 2. The disciples had a rough time with the concept of having to forgive\nsomeone who wronged them multiple times a day. They asked Jesus to\nincrease their faith.\n
3. Jesus’ answer was that it was their duty.<\/p>\n 4. Their problem was in their own view of their worthiness. – Luke 9:46,\n22:24\n a. Because they saw themselves as great, they thought giving\nforgiveness multiple times was going beyond the call of duty.\n b. If they saw themselves as merely doing the expected, they would\nnot have had that hard of a time forgiving others.\n 5. Their exaggerated view of themselves was a weakness in their faith,\ndemonstrated in their reluctance to do as God asked of them. \n D. Notice that the faithful servant doesn’t expect the master to serve him, even when\nthe servant had been working hard all day – Luke 17:7\n 1. We work at our jobs, as our Lord commands, but at the end of the day or\nthe end of the week, our thoughts turn to taking time for ourselves.\n 2. So many are upset at making time to go worship God each Sunday or\nspending a few hours in study of God’s word.\n
3. “I spend long hours working. When do I get any time for myself?”<\/p>\n
4. What does our Master think of such service?<\/p>\nV. While masters on earth do not thank their servants for merely doing what is expected of\nthem, our Master has promised a rich reward to his faithful servants.\n A. We can never say that we are owed this reward because we are merely doing what\nis expected and often we perform poorly at our duties.\n B. We cannot say that obeying God is something extra we do for him. To do so\nshows pride beyond our place.\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Please add an audio file by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Luke 17:1-10 I. Many denominations today struggle with the concept of obeying God. A. Oh, they give lip service to the concept, but they find it appalling that anything we do affects our salvation B. Most claim that all that is needed is faith and God does…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[119,32],"tags":[54,55],"class_list":["post-20331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-obedience","tag-works"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":67500,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/religion\/","url_meta":{"origin":20331,"position":0},"title":"Religion","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 15, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton I keep hearing people talk about \"religion\" as a bad thing. I hear some say things like, \"I believe in God but not religion,\" or \"I accept Jesus but reject all religion.\" It's as if they have a concept of \"religion\" that is all negative, but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15874,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/faith-and-works\/","url_meta":{"origin":20331,"position":1},"title":"Faith and Works (Scott)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 22, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"by Carey Scott Many people reject the idea that these two words should be found in the same context.\u00a0 The reason is that while we need faith to receive God\u2019s blessings and approval, we also realize that God\u2019s grace is what saves us instead of works.\u00a0 The Bible tells us\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":618,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/doesnt-romans-51-teach-we-are-saved-by-faith-alone\/","url_meta":{"origin":20331,"position":2},"title":"Doesn’t Romans 5:1 teach we are saved by faith alone?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 11, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Doesn't\u00a0Romans 5:1\u00a0teach that we are saved by faith alone? Answer: Romans 5:1\u00a0says, \"Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.\" This proves that justification requires faith, but your stated goal was to prove that justification was by faith\u00a0alone. There is no\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16789,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-god-exist-outside-of-time-and-sees-all-of-time-at-once\/","url_meta":{"origin":20331,"position":3},"title":"Does God exist outside of time and sees all of time at once?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 9, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: First, I wanted to thank you for the web site.\u00a0 I come here often whenever I find that I have a problem that needs addressing.\u00a0Anyway, on to my question. Lately, I've been wondering about something after something my preacher told me.\u00a0 He once told me that God is not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":62749,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-did-jericho-fall\/","url_meta":{"origin":20331,"position":4},"title":"How Did Jericho Fall?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 15, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Joshua 6:6-20 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The record of the fall of Jericho is familiar to many people. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It was an impressive victory for the people of Israel who had recently entered the land. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Despite the fact that the city was heavily fortified - Joshua 6:1 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":33950,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/david-a-childs-faith\/","url_meta":{"origin":20331,"position":5},"title":"David – A Child’s Faith","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 7, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Ross Ward Text: I Samuel 17:32-37 David's Faith David Overcame Vs. 33-35 - bear and lion 33 - a youth 34 - shepherding 34-35 - lion and bear take a lamb David caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him 37 - The Lord that delivered\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20331"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20331\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}