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Luke 17:5-10 says, “The apostles said to the Lord, Increase our faith. But the Lord said, If you have faith like a mustard seed, you would have said to this sycamine tree, Be uprooted and be planted in the sea; and it would have obeyed you. But which of you, having a slave who is plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, Come immediately and recline at table? Will he not rather say to him, Prepare something that I may dine, and gird yourself and serve me until I eat and drink; and after that you will eat and drink? He does not thank the slave because he did the things which were ordered, does he? So also you, when you do all the things which are ordered you, say, We are unprofitable slaves; we have done what we ought to have done.” This portion of the Word does not say that “the disciples” said to the Lord but that “the apostles” said to the Lord. The speakers were in a position of service. They were apostles, serving ones; they were not merely disciples, saved ones. The serving ones asked the Lord to increase their faith. The Lord replied that if their faith was the size of a mustard seed, they could tell a sycamine tree to be uprooted and planted in the sea, and it would obey them. Then the Lord told them a parable. On the surface the parable seems unrelated to what was being discussed. However, verse 7 begins with the conjunction but. This shows that the two portions are related.
This portion of the Bible is simple and uses plain words, but most Bible readers admit that it is rather difficult to grasp the meaning in these verses. This portion begins with the apostles chosen by the Lord, His serving ones, asking to have their faith increased. The Lord did not answer them regarding how to increase their faith. Rather, He spoke of the effectiveness of having faith the size of a mustard seed. The Lord continued by speaking of slaves who, after plowing the land, tending the sheep, and doing many things, could not take credit for anything before their master. They needed to learn to serve the master so that he would be satisfied. Not only so, they should have the sense, the attitude, that they are unprofitable slaves. It is not easy to understand the meaning of this portion, even after reading it many times. Only after we have some experience in the Lord’s work, in the service, can we understand the meaning of this portion.
The main purpose of this portion is to show that a person who is chosen by God to serve Him should not be discouraged; that is, he should learn to have faith. He should learn to believe. Believing saves us from being discouraged. As those who serve the Lord, we often encounter a discouraging situation. Sometimes we feel that we have not received a burden from the Lord, or we lament that we do not see the result of our work. As a result, many serving ones are discouraged instead of being strong and happy.
If we are always discouraged, we will be inwardly disturbed and continually ask the Lord to increase our faith. When the apostles asked the Lord to increase their faith, they seemed to be saying that they were not able to serve because they were short of faith. Hence, they asked the Lord to increase their faith. Instead of telling them how they could increase their faith, the Lord said that as long as they had faith, that was good enough. The apostles’ concern was that their faith was too small, but the Lord’s concern was related to their thought concerning the absence of faith. The Lord seemed to be saying, “As long as you have faith, even if it is as small as a mustard seed, you can tell this sycamine tree to be uprooted and planted in the sea, and it will obey you.”
This word shows that those who serve the Lord do not need to ask Him to increase their faith. They only need to see that there is something in them called faith. Therefore, they should not say, “My faith is too small.” Christians often say, “Please pray for me so that my faith would be increased.” In these verses the Lord does not touch the size of our faith. Instead, the Lord points out that we have faith. It was not possible for the apostles not to have faith, nor is it possible for those whom the Lord has called not to have faith. Perhaps we consider that our faith is small, but the Lord’s reply to the apostles shows that even a small measure of faith is sufficient. We must believe the Lord’s word. We need to see that we do not need to increase our faith. We simply need to have faith. Every believer has faith.
In verses 7 and 8 the Lord continued, “Which of you, having a slave who is plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, Come immediately and recline at table? Will he not rather say to him, Prepare something that I may dine, and gird yourself and serve me until I eat and drink; and after that you will eat and drink?” This means that no matter how much we accomplish by faith, we have no ground for boasting. Our problem is that either we fall into discouragement, or we become proud. Once we become proud, we consider that others are not up to the standard and are not acceptable. Hence, after speaking concerning faith, the Lord gave the example of a slave in order to touch our pride.
When we realize that it is not a matter of increasing our faith but of seeing that we have faith, then we are standing on a foundation and are equipped to accomplish things. When we realize that even a small amount of faith is our capital, we will be able to accomplish many things by this faith. Once we grasp this key, we will be able to accomplish many things. Regrettably, we still are complicated people, because it is easy to be discouraged or proud. We cannot pretend. A brother who is discouraged can also be proud. Even if he is not intentionally proud, his self-righteous attitude and high regard for himself are expressions of pride.
Here are some examples. One brother might say that he does not know how to study the Bible, but another brother might give thanks to the Lord and say that he knows how to study the Bible. One sister might say that she does not know how to receive a burden from the Lord, but another sister might say that it is easy for her to be enlightened and receive a burden. One brother might say that he is confused and is not advancing spiritually; hence, he is discouraged. Another brother might say that it is easy for him to touch the Lord and that he always senses the Lord’s presence when he prays. In Luke 17:5-10 the Lord said that even if our faith is small, we will be able to accomplish many things, but we must not forget that we are still slaves. This means that even if our faith enables us to sow the seed of the gospel, to shepherd the flock of God, and to edify the saints, we should not be proud and boast about our service.
We should not say that since we have accomplished much, we should eat and be satisfied. We cannot enjoy or boast of our achievements yet. After we plow and tend the sheep—that is, preach the gospel and shepherd the saints—we should still serve the Lord in order for Him to be satisfied first. After He is satisfied, we can have a little satisfaction and enjoyment. In addition, we should have the attitude that we are useless slaves and that we have done what we should have done. On the one hand, such an attitude will save us so that we may be one with the Lord. On the other hand, it will preserve us from being discouraged or proud. We are not discouraged, because the Lord has chosen us and given us a small amount of faith as our capital. With this capital we serve Him. If we obtain results, we are not proud, because we realize that no matter what we do, we are unprofitable slaves.
This matter concerning faith must be deeply wrought into our being. The reason we can serve the Lord is that He has put a small measure of faith within us as our capital, not because of anything else. Who among us can say that he does not have faith? We have been chosen and called by God; hence, no matter how pitiful our condition is, there is faith in us. This small faith is our capital. We must not be discouraged, because it is sufficient to have faith. This faith enables us to do many things. The Lord is wise. He knows that when we are enlightened, have learned some lessons, and gained results, we can veer off to the extreme of being proud. We will think that we are able to plow and tend the sheep, and as a result, our pride and self-content will surface. Hence, the Lord said that even if we plow and tend the sheep, we still cannot eat when we come in. This means that we cannot seek our satisfaction first or desire our own enjoyment. We should wait on the Lord with an empty stomach and allow Him to be satisfied first. Not only so, we should humble ourselves and say, “Lord, I am an unprofitable slave. Even though I plowed and tended the sheep, I have no ground to boast. I did what I should have done.”
The two problems of being discouraged and being proud are present among those who serve the Lord. A substantial number of co-workers feel that they are pitiful because they cannot give a message or do anything else. Therefore, these ones are worried and discouraged. However, a small number of co-workers have a different situation. Instead of waiting on the Lord humbly and saying, “Lord, we are unprofitable slaves, and we have done only a little,” they say, “We plow and tend the sheep, we receive light and vision when we read the Bible, and we are able to do this and that.” These two attitudes are present among us. Some are worried and discouraged, but others are proud and full of self-esteem. Both situations need the Lord’s mercy, because we have nothing to be discouraged about, and we have nothing to be proud of.
There is a seed within us, which is our faith. The Lord said that our faith needs to be only the size of a mustard seed. Our faith is the capital for our service. We need to serve the Lord with our faith. We should not be concerned with our weaknesses or our inabilities. Whether or not we have insight, can speak eloquently, or can remember the verses in the Bible should not be a problem.
Every person who is chosen by the Lord has faith. The problem that the Lord’s servants face is that they are either discouraged or proud. We are either discouraged and say that we cannot see, cannot remember, and cannot speak clearly, or we are proud and say that we can see, can remember, and can speak. Luke 17 shows how we can be delivered from these two problems. We should not be discouraged, for the Lord has put faith, our capital, within us. This faith cannot be removed and enables us to serve Him. Hence, we can preach the gospel and can shepherd the saints.
However, when we are able to preach the gospel or shepherd the saints, we must guard against pride. We should never say that since we can do these things, we deserve to be rewarded. The Lord said that we should humble ourselves, that is, come before Him and serve Him. The Lord should be the first to be satisfied. We must stand before Him and say, “We are unprofitable slaves.” The Lord does not like to hear us say that we are faithless slaves. He likes to hear us say that we are unprofitable slaves. The Lord also likes to hear us say that we have faith, not that we do not have faith. He likes to hear us say that we are unprofitable slaves who preach the gospel and shepherd the saints because it is our service. If we remember that we are people of faith, we will not be discouraged; we will be able to stand. If we remember that we are unprofitable slaves, we will not be proud. We should continually be before the Lord in relation to His words in these verses.
We should not lose heart, nor should we envy others in their service. Not every serving one can be like the apostle Paul. There were many apostles, but there was only one Paul. Silas and Timothy were both very good, but they could not write the Epistles that Paul wrote. Therefore, as long as we have faith, we should not lose heart. Even though our faith is small, it is enough capital for our service. Furthermore, we must remember that we are unprofitable slaves and should be humble. We have received the Lord’s mercy; hence, we should not take credit for preaching the gospel or shepherding the saints. Rather, we must continue to serve the Lord. The Lord must be satisfied first. We are unprofitable slaves, who have done what we should do. This must be our realization.
During my recent recuperation from an illness, I considered the condition of the serving ones. Some serving ones are discouraged, but others are self-contented and proud. One serving one told me that he has seen a vision and received a clear burden and that he always receives revelation when he reads the Bible. Upon hearing these words, I was concerned. I fear that one day problems may arise among us. We have a sickness because some of us are discouraged, but others are proud.
We decided that when the co-workers come together, we will seek the Lord’s presence and fellowship concerning different situations. We must be brave and fierce in order to fight the spiritual warfare. We must also strive to bear the burden and not be afraid of sufferings. When we fellowship, our spirit should be keen, and we should open to one another in order to be balanced and corrected by others. A brother should say that he is not sure how the others feel about a situation. He should say that he has a feeling, but it may be from his natural man; hence, he is seeking to be balanced in fellowship. Among us there should be a situation of open fellowship.
It is not right for us to be discouraged or to be proud. Those who are discouraged are comparing themselves with others. If we have learned the lesson, we would not be in our feelings. When a brother releases the light that he has received, we would not compare ourselves with him. Rather, we would thank the Lord for raising up such a brother among us. A number of brothers are discouraged because they compare themselves with those who are successful in the work, receive light from the Bible, shepherd the saints, or give messages. There are also a number of brothers who say that they are able to preach the gospel and shepherd the saints. They also say that they have a vision and that they can succeed when others fail. This kind of talk exposes their heart. They have unconsciously fallen into pride.
Some serving ones are discouraged because they have been asking the Lord to increase their faith, but the Lord has not answered their prayer. Even though many years have passed, they have not been able to get through in their Bible reading, and they have not received any burden directly from the Lord. The Lord says that it is sufficient for our faith to be the size of a little mustard seed. We must forget our feelings and not compare ourselves with others. If it were not for our small faith that upholds and maintains us, many co-workers would have fallen down discouraged. The co-workers often do not rise up in the work, because they are disheartened. There are also co-workers who consider themselves capable of administrating the church, preaching the gospel, and shepherding the saints. They do not acknowledge that they are unprofitable slaves. We lack the spirit of humility. Those whose functions are not manifested are discouraged, but those whose functions are manifested are self-contented. May the Lord have mercy on us. We do not want to fall into either of these two categories.
No matter how many things we accomplish, we still must admit that it is by the Lord’s mercy and that it is He who has blessed us and led us. Furthermore, we must also acknowledge that there are many things that we have not accomplished. We should realize that even if the blessing we received from the Lord were doubled, we still would not have done enough. There is nothing that we can boast of. We must prostrate ourselves before the Lord and say that we are unprofitable slaves. There is no limit to the progress we can make in regard to visions, burdens, light, reading the Bible, spiritual knowledge, leading the church, or preaching the gospel. Hence, no one can say that he has reached the peak and can go no further. We should humble ourselves. We should not be discouraged, nor should we be proud.
A brother asked how we should manifest our functions when we are together. John 15:16-17 says, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and I set you that you should go forth and bear fruit and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He may give you. These things I command you that you may love one another.” According to John 15, the basic condition for bearing fruit is abiding in the Lord and fellowshipping with Him. However, this chapter concerns not only a believer’s personal fellowship with the Lord but also the members’ loving one another; that is, it concerns our relationship with the Lord and our relationship with the other brothers and sisters. Hence, there are two conditions for bearing fruit: abiding in the Lord and loving one another. Abiding in the Lord is a matter of our fellowshipping with Him, and loving one another involves all the saints.
Most believers see the first condition, but they often neglect the second condition. They think that as long as they fellowship with the Lord, they will not have problems. They do not realize that there is another condition in the Bible. It is necessary that we fellowship with the Lord; however, we must also love the other members. The Lord is the vine tree, and one member is not the only branch; there are many other branches. None of us is the only member in the Lord’s Body; there are many other members. We should maintain a proper relationship not only with the vine tree but also with the other branches. We need to abide in the Lord and also to love the other members.
We become discouraged or proud, not because we lack fellowship with the Lord but because we are short of love for one another. If we practice loving one another, we will not become discouraged or proud. Loving one another is a matter of coordination. Many of us should manifest our function. The fact that we are not manifesting our function indicates that there is a problem in our coordination. While some are discouraged because their function is not being manifested, others are proud because their function is being manifested. Being proud and self-content destroys a person’s function. Both being discouraged and being proud cause us to suffer a great loss. Both of these problems are the issue of not loving one another.
The Lord does not require all of us to be capable. There were many apostles, but only Paul wrote Ephesians. The Lord does not intend for each of us to be like Paul. Many believers, including Timothy and Titus, received help from Paul. The truth is balanced. On one hand, every serving one should learn to live before the Lord, but on the other hand, not all the serving ones receive burdens directly from the Lord. For example, Titus appointed elders in every city, but he did not receive this burden directly from the Lord. Instead, he was charged to do so by the apostle Paul (Titus 1:5). Perhaps some would say that they do not have the burden to preach the gospel; hence, those who have the burden should preach the gospel. This thought indicates that we are not in coordination. Coordination means that some members are eyes, and others are feet. The eyes have the function of seeing, but they need the feet in order to move. Our problem is that we want to be both the feet as well as the eyes. This means that we do not have proper coordination.
If the Lord would have mercy on us, we must learn to coordinate. On one hand, we should learn to live before the Lord and fellowship with Him. On the other hand, we should learn to coordinate with one another. A sister should learn to live before the Lord and to serve joyfully by means of her faith. Nevertheless, in anything related to her service, she should learn to coordinate with others and accept the arrangement. She has neither the position nor the gift to receive a burden directly from the Lord. Her position is to accept the arrangement in the work. She should also joyfully receive whatever is assigned and entrusted to her from those with whom she coordinates. Then she will have the Lord’s presence. We are not an organization that operates according to human opinions.
If the Lord allows, even the speaking from the podium will be in coordination. Before the word is released on the Lord’s Day, the brothers who are burdened to release the word should come together to fellowship concerning the content of the message and concerning their situations. Someone may say, “I have some feeling to release a message. I feel that the Lord desires to speak concerning this matter, because this is the need of the brothers and sisters.” He may also fellowship how he will speak so that others can consider it. Perhaps another brother may support it with a supplementary word, and still some others may add a word concerning what he needs to avoid or guard against. Some brothers serving together with him may even share something from their own experience. After this kind of fellowship, the message that is released will definitely be stronger, richer, and more practical than a message that is given without fellowship.
In order for the serving ones to be in coordination, we must have many service meetings. The purpose of these meetings is for the serving ones to come together and fellowship. I hope that every serving one would receive the Lord’s mercy so that we could frankly discuss any matter. For example, the serving ones should be able to fellowship concerning the shortages in a message given by a brother. Through such fellowship the lack in the message will be covered, and strong, positive, and rich points can be added. This will strengthen and enrich the speaking. The way the Lord has taken among us does not depend on raising up one good speaker who manifests a strong ministry of the word. The Lord’s way is to lead all the brothers who are responsible for the ministry of the word to be blended into one. Such mutual fellowship will strengthen and enrich the word that is released.
We should fellowship not only concerning the ministry of the word but also concerning visiting the saints, leading the church, and the young people’s work. The full-time workers, the serving saints, and the elders should have thorough fellowship concerning how to carry out the young people’s work. They should pray and fellowship together. Even saints who are not directly involved in a service can still fellowship concerning that service. As a result, all the saints will be brought into fellowship and built together; there will not be a distinction between those who are involved and those who are not. According to the Lord’s word in John 15, if we love one another, we will bear much fruit. If we continue to live before the Lord individually, we will serve individually and not be balanced in our service. As a result, there will not be fruit.
We must change our way and practice loving one another. We should come together and fellowship concerning our service. When we receive correction from other members, our weaknesses are removed. The result of this kind of fellowship is that one person’s work becomes everyone’s work, because he no longer works according to his personal view but according to the view of all the serving ones. Thus, we will be blended together. Then when a brother gives a message, the message will contain not only the light he saw but also the light from the other brothers, and the serving ones will bear the result of his message. The message is not given by one person but by many brothers. Perhaps only two co-workers carry out a certain task, but all the co-workers are involved through fellowship. Thus, a practical expression of loving one another will be produced among us, and any function that is manifested will come out of mutual love. We will not only abide in the Lord, having fellowship with Him, but we will also love one another.
We lack mutual love that comes out of coordination. We need to lead the saints to pursue fellowship so that all the full-time serving ones and the elders will have the expression of loving one another in their service and in bearing fruit as co-branches. Every branch not only abides in the vine tree but also loves the other branches. Then we will grow in life, and our various functions will be manifested. Every member of the Body has a different function, just as our body has hands, a mouth, eyes, and feet. Some members receive burdens directly from the Lord, but others accept the coordination in the work. Some members may be like the apostle Paul. Others may be like Titus and Timothy. Nevertheless, none of these functions will override our personal fellowship with the Lord or our living before the Lord.
When our service is in coordination, our work will be successful, and we will have learned the lessons. Furthermore, the two problems in our service will be resolved. May the Lord have mercy on us and lead us into this stage so that in all our service in the work we would live before Him and love one another.
The saints in a certain local church are learning to live before the Lord and serve in coordination. After the brothers minister the word, they fellowship with all the co-workers concerning what was spoken. They also fellowship before the message is delivered. Everyone expresses his feelings. The brothers also fellowship concerning the direction of the meeting. As a result, there is an understanding among the saints, and they are in coordination.
On one hand, we are not discouraged, because we realize that we have faith. On the other hand, no matter how much we accomplish, we still must acknowledge that we are unprofitable slaves. Not only so, in our service we should learn to abide in the Lord and love one another. We should fellowship and coordinate with one another. This is the way we should serve in the ministry of the word, in visiting the saints, in leading the meetings, and in all the other services. Through coordination we will be strengthened, enriched, balanced, and protected. This is the way to learn many wonderful lessons and avoid unnecessary mistakes.
