Faith > Advantage by Brother Duke Hansen

         This morning's message is about the power of faith. The question I would like to begin with for you to ponder is have you in your walk asked God to increase your faith? There are plenty of people who profess that in public or on their social media platforms, but are they truly doing so? Are they merely just demonstrating for show? It is so important to exercise your faith in these days. We are in the end times and the closer we get to the midnight hour, the more present danger and evil lie out in the open. 

        There are steps on the road to redemption. You have repentance, remission of sin, receiving the holy ghost. Humility is one of the last steps to take towards redemption. When we look at faith, we just want God to give us faith quickly and with no questions. This morning we will be reading from the book of Luke chapter 17. We will begin reading with verse 5.

        5 And the apostles said unto the Lord, increase our faith.

        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 then planted in the sea; and it should obey you.

        The mustard seed is the smallest seed which man sows. In it is that measure of faith we all need to begin with. Seed grows more seed but seed once planted dies before growth. If our walk with Jesus is similar to that seed, our carnal self is to die off before the seed is able to take root and begin growing. Many hear that and their flesh recoils. Everything we pursue in life we seek advantage, a leg up, a shortcut to the end result. How do we get more faith? Do we have any faith? Jesus asked that when he returns, will he find faith in the next chapter of Luke.

        It isn't faith that gets you up at the alarm and out of bed, or know that the sun rises in the morning and the skies are blue. Faith is believing what God has said in his scripture over your own understanding. In order for our faith to grow, we have to die in the flesh. Your inherited sin and your worldly habits need to be put under the blood. As Paul said in Galatians 5:24-25 Those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

        There's a deception out there that calls on the believer to follow the perfect will of God. Often times it doesn't use any faith. It's more about habits and rules to follow. It's man made and it's legalism. Until you stop blaming the world or others for things, your faith will never grow. You have time to get it right and time to mess things up.

        7 But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding the cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat?

        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?

        If you had servants in the time of Jesus, you have them clean and prepare a meal for you the master rather than allow them to eat first.

        9 Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not.

        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.

        Jesus speaking about this is talking about faith as well as humility and selflessness. In this the servant is only to please their master. If you are seeking faith, and asking for a greater measure, a lot of time you don't want the work that comes with it. You want Jesus to immediately bless, coddle, comfort you despite not being a good servant. You have the mindset of the prodigal son which only came to a revelation when he had realized that servants had it better than he did admit the swine. When we actually receive a blessing for upright living by following his work, our flesh can get carried away and develop a haughty spirit. Why do we consistently seek validation or confirmation of our flesh? Its due to a lack of faith.

        If we believe the word of God over our way of thinking, that's operating in faith.

        11 And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.

        12 And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off.

        13 And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.

        Giving God diligence and reverence is what the 10 lepers did in the village.

        14 And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And as they went, they were cleansed.

        The act of faith was in the humility displayed by the lepers towards Jesus. The miracle was the journey of the lepers to the priests and their leprosy was cleaned. 

        15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back and with a loud voice glorified God,

        16 And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.

        17 And Jesus answering him said, Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine?

        Jesus is asking his disciples this question and not just the leper. This demonstration has turned into an illustration to the disciples request back in verse 5.

        18 There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save the stranger.

        19 And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole.

        Now, let's go to the book of Proverbs for a verse. We will be reading chapter 11 and the first verse.

        A false balance is abomination to the Lord: but a just weight is his delight.

        A false balance is a scale which is weighed a certain way to the sellers advantage. Many things in the world are slanted and falsely balanced to your advantage. The goal in your walk is to use a just weight. Our moral compass should be based off the word of God and not the things of the world.

        If christians can't learn from their mistakes and don't look at the word nor follow it, they have no faith to work with. Your mustard seed is just sitting atop the soil.

        In all facets of your life, you are seeking any advantage, an upper hand, a leg up, a shortcut, you are a false balance and that abomination to the Lord. Ir is biblical to live as a just weight. How can I ask for more faith and not realize that my moral compass is not rooted in scripture and I don't know where the narrows on the path are? Spiritually and physically we are called to be profitable for God. Manipulation and deceit are tools for false balance. If you are living and blindly using these tools, there is no faith. To kill your flesh, you start removing the lies. We need faith everyday, There is a legit struggle to have faith and confidence in yourself, so it's even more to have some in God. You need to have trust with that faith. This time we live in, the environment is all temporary. Act and strive for faith.