This message is one of the Times Square
Pulpit series.
It was recorded in the Sanctuary of Times
Square Church in Manhattan, New York City.
Other tapes are available by writing to World
Challenge P.O. Box 260 Lindale, Texas 75771
or calling 214-963-8626.
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to your friends.
I want to talk to you tonight about
how to increase your faith.
How to increase your faith.
Luke chapter 17, we'll read the first five
verses.
I'm reading in the New American Standard.
How to increase your faith.
And he said to the his disciples, It
is inevitable that stumbling blocks should come, but
woe to him through whom they come.
It would be better for him if a
millstone were hung around his neck, and he
were thrown into the sea, then that he
should cause one of these little ones to
stumble.
Be on your guard.
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
a day, saying, I repent, well, then forgive
him seven times a day.
Now the disciples, the Apostles, upon hearing this,
said to Jesus, Lord, increase our faith.
Increase our faith.
Someone left a book back here for the
pastors, and it showed up in our office
back there, and a week or so ago,
I had some time, and so I just
opened the book, and was leafing through it,
and my eyes fell upon a story.
It's written by some Christian evangelist.
I don't know the man, but he tells
a story of a brother named George, that
the evangelist had ministered to.
Now George was blind, plus he suffered some
physical ailments that had left him very weak
and frail in his body.
However, his greatest pain was emotional.
Coming from the belief, he felt that God
had rejected him, and George then told the
evangelist why he felt this rejection.
In his church, there was a great emphasis
on faith.
They would teach, anything is possible if you
have faith.
If you have faith, you can do anything.
But this, of course, it did not stop
with this, and the pastor would stand in
his pulpit, and he would say, now if
you have cancer, and you die, it's your
fault.
You just don't have enough faith.
Now if that was not bad enough, what
would happen to George week after week, when
he would come in, and remember he was
blind, every week when George would come into
the service, somebody would put a hymnal in
his hands.
Every week, not by mistake, but deliberately.
And over and over again, the message was
to George, maybe today, George, maybe today, you'll
have enough faith to see.
Maybe today, you'll have the faith for God
to heal you.
But though George tried to work up his
faith time and time again, he was never
healed, and worse, it made him feel that
God was angry with him.
Now, I believe that some of you probably
can identify with George.
At times, you feel, for whatever reason, condemned
for a lack of faith.
We are like the disciples who said, Lord,
I believe, help thou my unbelief.
Now, the cry and the prayer of the
disciples in Luke 17 5, it ought to
be the desire, I believe, is the desire
of every believer.
Lord, increase our faith.
We do need more faith.
I need more faith.
I don't know if there's anyone here tonight
who feels that he has all the faith
he needs all the time.
If you do, please come and see me
after the service and dump and pour it
out in your cup into my cup.
I'd like to have some of that faith.
There are books, there are tapes, there are
seminars, there are conferences that promise believers how
to have more faith or to get more
faith, and they're very popular.
In fact, people seem to run after them.
And for many, having more faith is like
having more money.
You can do a lot if you have,
you can do a lot or have a
lot if you have enough faith or enough
money.
Now, the disciples' request for increased faith is
a very important and worthy request, one that
ought to be in all of our hearts
and in all of our prayers.
But I noticed something as I read this
17th chapter.
What is important about this request for an
increased faith is not only that it was
asked, but when it was asked.
They asked for more faith at a most
unusual time.
Jesus was not performing some great miracle or
was not doing any healing, but he was
teaching.
Now, if I wanted more faith, I might
ask for it right after Jesus had done
some great sensational miracle.
For example, you remember when the centurion came
to Jesus regarding his servant that was paralyzed.
And he said to Jesus, he said, just
speak the word and my servant will be
healed.
In Matthew 8, 13, it says, and Jesus
said to the centurion, Go thy way, let
it be done to you as you have
believed.
And the servant was healed that very hour.
Now, I don't know about you.
If I witnessed that, I'd come running to
Jesus and said, Jesus, I'd like to be
able to do that.
Could I learn how to just speak the
word and people would be healed and the
same thing would happen to people?
That would be the most opportune time, it
would seem to me, to ask to have
our faith increased.
Or what about asking for increased faith when
after Jesus, when he was asked if he
paid taxes.
He told his disciples this, he said, go
to the sea and throw in a hook
and take out the first fish that comes
up.
And when it comes up, open its mouth
and you will find a stratter or a
coin.
Take that, take that coin and give it
to the IRS for you and for me.
Now, how would you like to fish with
that kind of hook on or about April
the 15th?
Wouldn't you like to have that kind of
faith to be able to pay your bills
out of the fish's mouth?
Of all the opportunities the disciples had to
ask for increased faith, they chose not to
do it during a healing crusade.
Not when Jesus was feeding the 5,000.
Not when Lazarus had been raised from the
dead.
Not in any other opportunity that would indicate
that they wanted more power to do great
things.
But let's examine when and why they did
say, Lord, increase our faith, because I believe
there is a mighty lesson in this.
Now, the need for more faith came about
as a result of the disciples hearing Jesus
teach on certain subjects.
Jesus had just laid down two very heavy,
heavy challenges to the disciples.
Two important requirements to be a true disciple.
And when they heard Jesus say this, they
said, wow, Lord, that's heavy.
I don't know whether we have enough faith
to do what you're asking us to do.
I don't know if we're capable of doing
that.
At least not unless you increase our faith.
And you see the disciples were honest about
the insufficiency of their faith.
And their insufficiency to live up to the
standard that Jesus was laying down.
Now, listen to what Jesus told his disciples
they must do.
First of all, Jesus said, don't cause one
of my new or young converts to stumble.
Don't you lay a stumbling block on their
pathway to cause them an injury.
Look at verse 1 again, chapter 17.
And he said to his disciples, it is
inevitable that stumbling blocks, or King James says
offenses.
It's inevitable that offenses should come, but woe
to him through whom they come.
Now, Jesus is saying that it is expected
that in our Christian walk we're going to
meet temptations.
We're going to meet difficult situations.
They cannot be avoided.
Expect them, he says.
It's part of growing in the Lord.
But, he says, beware that you do not
become the source of somebody else's stumbling or
somebody else's temptation.
Woe be it unto you if you cause
one of my little ones to have a
difficult time serving me.
Listen, my friend, there's enough temptation already in
the world.
Not for other people to find it in
the church or find it in another brother
or sister or within you or within me.
Probably where this teaching must first be applied
is in the home.
For example, Ephesians 6.4 says, and fathers.
And that applies to mothers as well.
And fathers, do not provoke your children to
anger, but bring them up in the discipline
and instruction of the Lord.
And listen, I see today too many children
provoked and stumbled and hurt and angered by
a parent.
And the reason the children are provoked is
because the parent or parents discipline their kids.
Not by or in the instruction of the
Lord, but by and in their own spirit
rather than the spirit of Christ.
In other words, they think that hollering is
discipline.
And they verbally abuse their child.
Now listen, mother and father, if you do
this, the Lord takes your child's side against
you.
He says, woe be unto you if you
cause one of my little ones to stumble.
But what Paul says to parents about not
provoking their own child is a principle that
applies to the whole church.
You see, anybody who is not a new
Christian, not a novice.
In other words, anybody which means you've been
saved approximately six months or more, you're not
a novice.
If you've been saved at least about six
months or more, I would say that you
probably, if you're endeavoring to grow in the
Lord, you're not a novice.
And spiritually speaking, you are potentially a spiritual
father to a newer or younger convert.
And you see, the same thing that applies
to a natural father applies to a spiritual
father.
Don't provoke little ones.
Don't provoke new converts.
Don't be the source of their temptation.
And you see, one of the ways that
we do this is through our spiritual pride
and our intolerance.
We witness the struggles of a new convert.
And we come across insensitive to their needs,
insensitive to their struggles.
And we put on a holier than thou
attitude and say, brother, sister, that ought not
to be.
You know, recently I had a birthday.
And I'm not going to tell you how
old I became, but I turned a decade.
And if you want to find out what
decade it is, if you'll go one block
south of here and look up on the
street sign, you'll be able to tell what
it was.
David lives much further uptown.
You'll get tired by the time you walk
to his block.
But you know something?
The turning of this decade did not hit
me as bad as when I turned 30.
For some reason, it hit me very, very
hard.
Because you see, if you're 21 or you're
29, you're still in your 20s, and that's
kind of young.
But when I turned 30, suddenly I had
a mini midlife crisis.
But in the midst of it, the Lord
spoke to me and said, listen, you ought
to be thankful.
And I began to count my blessings.
And one of the things I discovered about
being 30 is that you don't do some
of the dumb things you do when you're
19 or when you're in your early 20s.
Now, you do other dumb things, but...
And I began to think about my life
at 30, and I said, Lord, thank you.
I feel I'm maturing a little bit.
I'm learning some lessons.
I'm learning some things.
And I have a greater sense of responsibility.
And as I was...
Then my chest puffed out real big, and
I thought, well, this ain't so bad after
all.
I have arrived.
But you know, then the Lord showed me
something else.
He showed me another side of the coin.
And I began to look around at others
that were 19 or 21, began to do
some of the dumb things I used to
do.
And I used to look at them, you
know, with my nose up, and I'd feel
intolerable towards them.
And one time God spoke to me and
rebuked me and said, listen, you may have
learned some lessons, but you haven't always been
that way.
I was patient with you.
I forgave you.
I was patient with you.
I brought you along.
Now you turn around, and you be patient
with the others coming along as well.
But you see, sometimes our attitude towards little
ones, new converts, can wound them.
And the Lord has convicted me how I've
been careless at times by what I say.
Even inadvertently saying something that hurts another believer.
And I say, Lord, guard my mouth, especially
to one of your little ones.
Oh, but listen to me.
The worst woe, however, applies to those who
sin not with their lips, but with their
life.
And in so doing, they take down another
Christian, especially a young Christian with them.
And too many times I hear the sad
story in a church of a brother.
A brother in the church, he befriends a
young lady who comes into the church.
And because he's already been in the church,
and because he knows the Word, and because
he knows all the gestures and he raises
his hands and so forth, there'll be a
young lady that will put her trust in
him, and they will develop a relationship.
But the end result, I've seen it too
many times, it grieves my heart, that the
end result of it is that that brother
is not leading that young lady in the
ways of holiness, but leading her down a
path of sin and causing injury to a
young one.
If you cause another Christian to stumble and
fall, the Lord has a very strong warning
to you.
Jesus said it would be better for him
if a millstone were hung around his neck.
And listen, a millstone's not one of those
nice gold chains.
A millstone is anywhere from 7 to 15
inches thick.
No man can lift it.
It was used by the animals to grind
and crush the grain, and Jesus said it
would be better for you to have a
millstone hung around your neck and thrown into
the sea that he should cause one of
these little ones to stumble.
You see, the Lord says if you're a
seducer, under the mask of Christianity, you profess
the name of Christ, but you live or
act like a devil, and you weaken the
hands or bring pain to the heart of
one of God's sincere children, the Lord says
you are committing spiritual suicide.
Woe be unto you!
Now you see, it's one thing if two
phony Christians get together.
That's a different story.
They deserve each other.
It always amazes me.
It amazes me.
I watch it happen over and over again.
You get a carnal Christian or so-called
someone not walking in holiness, living in secret
sin, they got a hidden pocket in their
life, and they come into the church, and
in a church this size, it's always amazing
how they find each other.
They find each other.
They're drawn to each other.
It's almost like, you know, I don't know
what to describe it, but I know people
who have beepers.
They carry these beepers, and I guess when
it beeps, they go to a phone somewhere.
Well, it's almost like I see people carrying
beepers around, and one's a beeper and one's
a BP.
Somehow they're drawn to each other.
Well, they deserve each other.
It's flesh connecting with flesh.
It's lust meeting lust, and if that happened
to you, then you have nobody to blame
but yourself.
But listen, it's another story.
If you're living in secret sin, and you
lure a young lamb into your sheepfold, and
you're the cause of that one's weakness, and
they sin under your influence, then you're in
double jeopardy.
That's called double jeopardy.
I'd hate to be in your shoes.
And you see, when the disciples heard this,
they said, Oh, Lord, this is a heavy
one.
This is an awesome responsibility to walk with
you.
Oh, Lord, increase our faith.
Please add or increase our faith so that
we can be an influence for good, that
we can be a stepping stone instead of
a stumbling block to somebody.
Ah, but then Jesus goes on.
He lays out another one of the heavy
ones.
Jesus told the disciples to be on guard,
to forgive.
Forgive many times.
Be on your guard.
If your brother sins, rebuke him.
And if he repents, forgive him.
And if he sins against you seven times,
saying, I repent, forgive him.
Now listen to me.
The giving of offenses is a great sin.
And the forgiving of offenses is a great
duty.
Jesus speaks to both the offender and the
offended.
And he says we ought not to do
anything to cause a brother or sister to
be injured.
But if you have, or you're the one
that's been hurt, and you tell the person
that hurt you that you were offended, and
if they ask forgiveness, grant it to them
immediately.
That's what Jesus says.
Listen to me.
I think one of the greatest hindrances to
our spiritual growth is when we do not
clear offenses immediately.
Immediately upon being offended.
Clear it before God.
If you've been trespassed against or feel you
have, then go and tell the other person.
They may not know it.
If they acknowledge their offense, forgive them.
If they don't acknowledge their wrong, you still
need to forgive them for your sake.
Nobody can get on with the business of
walking righteously and holy before God if they
carry around a wounded spirit because somebody has
offended you.
I've heard people who carried a wounded spirit
for years.
And I learned later, many years, I was
the wounder.
And I didn't know it.
And the only person that was hurt was
the other person.
But when they told me about it, I
was wounded because they didn't tell me.
And so both of us had injuries that
we had to forgive each other.
But what about the person who keeps on
offending you?
Jesus said speak to him.
Rebuke him.
If he receives it and asks forgiveness.
Or if he doesn't, you forgive him.
What if he keeps right on going doing
the same thing?
Well obviously that person has a problem.
But don't let another person's trespasses or offenses
damage your spirit.
Forgiveness keeps your heart clean.
Hallelujah.
It keeps your heart clean.
It frees you of bitterness.
Proverbs 24, 29 says, Do not say, thus
I shall do to him as he has
done to me.
I will render to the man according to
his work.
No, no, that is not the spirit of
Christ.
I believe that a forgiving spirit is one
of the most liberating things that there is,
my friend.
It keeps your soul from being polluted.
It will keep you from being downcast.
It will keep you from focusing on other
people's sins.
An old African proverb says, He that forgives
ends the quarrel.
And there is an English proverb that says,
The noblest vengeance is to forgive.
You want to get even with somebody, forgive
them.
Forgive them.
What else can they do?
Proverbs 20, 22 says, Do not say, I
will repay evil.
Wait for the Lord.
Wait for the Lord and he will save
you.
Oh my friend, the Lord's the best defense
lawyer I know.
Let him plead your case and not you
yourself.
Let him take care of the one who's
trespassed against you.
You forgive, forgive, and forgive again.
And then get on with the business of
serving the Lord.
Hallelujah.
An old Puritan preacher called forgiveness.
I don't know if you understand this or
not, but you know what he called it?
He called it squatters rights on another man's
heart.
In other words, he said, He meant that
the best way to win your way back
into an unforgiving man's heart is to forgive
him.
He said, it's like having squatters rights in
a man's heart.
You've forgiven him.
He's got to deal with it.
He's got to deal with you.
You've done what God's called you to do.
Now it's his problem and you can get
on with the business of serving the Lord.
Hallelujah.
Now you see, it was in the context
of Christ's teaching on offenses and forgiveness that
the disciples heard this and said, Lord, please
increase our faith.
Now few, I fear, see the relationship between
faith and holiness.
The disciples did.
They asked for more faith to fulfill the
requirements of discipleship and to live an overcoming
life.
And then Jesus makes a powerful, powerful statement
of faith in response to the disciples' request.
You know the verse.
You know it.
He says, if you had faith like a
mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry
tree, be uprooted and be planted in the
sea and it would obey you.
Oh, please Father, I want you to grasp
this tonight.
I just pray the Holy Spirit will help
me to convey it, the significance of what
Jesus is saying about faith.
Because this verse is one of the most
misquoted verses about faith in the Bible.
And we do, by the way, we do
like to quote it.
There's a similar verse in Matthew 17, 20.
It says, if you have faith as a
mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain,
move from here and go over there and
it will move and nothing shall be impossible
to you.
Now most Christians have heard about mustard seed
faith and they quote this verse as an
encouragement in dealing with the mountains and mulberry
bushes that stand in our way.
But Jesus applies faith here in a way
that few people understand.
And what he's saying to his disciples, he
heard them talk about offenses.
He heard them talk about forgiveness.
He was laying out the requirements of holiness
and righteousness.
And Jesus is saying to them, what needs
to be done is uproot the things in
your life that need to be uprooted.
If you've offended somebody, take care of that.
If you need to forgive, forgive.
You see, the disciples were asking for faith
to live up to the standard of righteousness
and holiness that Jesus was laying down.
And Jesus says our faith needs to first
uproot our sin.
That's where it begins.
Now most of us would like to have
faith to receive blessings, faith to claim, faith
to climb into heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
faith for this and faith for that.
But Jesus says get to the rotten roots
first.
If you don't have a right relationship with
others, then you have a mulberry bush growing
in your yard.
Or you have a mountain in your way.
And you need faith first of all to
deal with that.
And if you deal with that, then I
will increase your faith.
Hallelujah.
Once you got that out of the way,
there's no telling how far you can go.
Hallelujah.
And then he says you don't need to
be a super saint to have that faith
that uproots unrighteousness in your heart.
He said if you had faith like a
mustard seed, mustard seed faith is little faith,
the little faith of little ones.
Mustard seed faith is beginner's faith.
And Jesus is saying to his disciples, this
is the first basic lesson you need to
learn.
Use the faith I've given you to uproot
sin in your heart and you'll see what
the power of faith is able to do.
Hallelujah.
This is the end of side one.
Today, most Christians see faith as a free
ride.
A way to get something rather than to
get at something in their heart.
John the Baptist says lay the axe to
the root.
That's how you start.
And today I look out upon the body
of Christ and so many Christians do not
start their Christian life this way because nobody
has taught them, nobody has said lay the
axe to the root.
But if you do, hallelujah, then you're on
your way to learning what faith is all
about.
Apply the word to need for forgiveness.
Apply it in the areas that Jesus is
teaching.
Take care of the trees and then you
can go on.
Go with me to II Peter.
II Peter, very quickly.
I want you to see something that I'm,
well I was blessed by it, I don't
know about you.
I've already been ministered to by the word
and if you do, that's just a little
extra on the icing.
Hallelujah.
There's another powerful teaching in II Peter chapter
1.
Some years later after the incident in Luke
17, Peter writes about faith and his understanding
and application of faith and when he writes
it shows that he learned when Jesus first
taught it.
He had a good teacher, he started right,
and he understood what faith was all about.
Now he tells us in verse 1 that
the epistle is written to those whom he
commends for having the right kind of faith.
Look at verse 1.
Simon Peter, a bondservant, an apostle of Jesus
Christ, to those who received a faith of
the same kind as ours by the righteousness
of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.
I would like it to be said of
me that I have received a faith just
like Peter's.
That I had an authentic Bible faith.
That's the kind of faith I want.
And then Peter says that there is a
faith and a power that can fully equip
us and enable us to live up to
the standard of righteousness and holiness that God
requires.
Look at it, verse 2.
Verse 3, I'm sorry.
Seeing that his divine power has granted to
us everything we need.
Everything pertaining to life and godliness through the
true knowledge of him that called us by
his own glory and excellence.
Listen, nobody can ever say it is too
hard to live a holy life.
Nobody can say it's too hard to live
like they preach at the Times Square Church.
Here's why you can make it.
It says, seeing that his divine power has
given us, he has granted us everything we
need.
Hallelujah.
Pertaining to spiritual life and to godliness.
Ah, but then verse 4.
He tells us the purpose of Christ and
his promises.
He says, look at it, for by these
he has granted to us his precious and
magnificent promises in order that by them ye
might become partakers of the divine nature.
And what does the divine nature of Christ
enable us to do?
To escape the pollution that is in the
world by lust.
You see, what is interesting about this is
that Peter here is teaching the same thing
that he learned about faith from Jesus.
The very first basic lesson that we need
to be taught, which is tragically missing from
the church today, is that the purpose of
faith and the purpose of divine power is
to get your heart all cleaned up first
of all.
And Jesus taught his disciples about mustard seed
faith and what he said was, it's not
the size of your faith that is important.
What is important is that you do the
will of God.
Don't offend other people.
Forgive.
Apply your faith to heal your relationships in
the body of Christ.
And if you do that, then I will
give you and increase your faith.
Hallelujah.
And then it goes on in 1 Peter
1, verses 5 to 8, is one of
the most powerful teachings on faith in the
Bible as far as I'm concerned.
Let me read it to you.
I'm reading from the New American Standard.
It says, Now for this very reason, also
applying all diligence, I think the King James
says, add, uses the word add, giving all
diligence.
Okay, same thing.
And for this reason also, applying all diligence,
in your faith, supply moral excellence and in
your moral excellence, knowledge.
And in your knowledge, self-control.
And in your self-control, perseverance.
And in your perseverance, godliness.
And in your godliness, brotherly kindness.
And in your brotherly kindness, love.
Now, I want you to note that the
verse begins with faith and it ends with
love.
And in between are the essentials of one
who walks with Jesus.
One who walks in faith.
And Peter says, faith is the seedbed of
all other virtues.
He said, if you have faith even the
size of a mustard seed, that faith should
be used and applied to add Christ-like
character to your life.
And then he says to Peter, add to
your faith.
Extend your faith.
I read it to you, it says applying
for this very reason, applying all diligence, but
what he is actually saying is add.
Add to your faith.
And when he says that, what he is
saying to Peter is this.
He is saying, now listen to me carefully.
He is saying, choir your faith.
Choir, C-H, the fellows who just sang,
we call that a choir.
We have our own choir here.
And that's what Peter is saying when he
is using this.
Now, if that has confused you, I hope
it has, because I wanted you to get
confused so I could get your attention.
Peter says, add to your faith.
And what he means is choir your faith.
Faith is like a choir.
And that word that is used there is
taken from an old Grecian custom.
It means to be a chorus leader or
a choir leader to furnish a chorus at
one's own expense.
You see, the Greeks worshiped their gods through
hired choruses or hired choirs.
If a man was a poet and he
wrote a great writing, he would hire a
choir director who would then go out and
he would add all of these choir members
and would put on this presentation for all
of the citizens as well as to their
gods.
And Peter said, faith does that.
He said, faith cannot stand alone.
He says, add to your faith moral excellence.
Add to it discernment.
Add to it patience, self-control, etc.
And he said, when you do that, you
present a mighty song, a mighty course to
the Lord when you begin to develop these
Christ-like characteristics in your life.
Now, suppose Sister Gwen, our choir leader, would
come out at the beginning of the service
to lead in worship and she was all
alone.
No choir members followed her.
And the pastors would say, Sister Gwen, where's
the rest of the choir?
And what has she said?
Faith, pastors, faith.
That's all we need is faith.
I'll take care of it, don't worry.
I'm faith, I can do it all.
Do you know what our response would be?
Sister Gwen, faith, you better go back downstairs
and pray.
And you better add to your choir.
You better add to faith and bring with
you moral excellence.
And bring with you godliness.
And bring with you self-control.
And bring with you brotherly love.
And most of all, bring with you love.
And when you've got them all together, then
you can make a sound in the ears
of God that will please his heart.
Hallelujah.
You see, most of what is in the
church today is a one-man choir.
Faith comes out under the pulpit and teaches,
that's all you need is faith.
No, no, a solo is not a choir
number.
A solo is not a course.
Beethoven cannot be rendered by one voice or
one instrument.
Much less can God be set forth by
one virtue.
He says, no, add to your faith.
Add Jesus to your life.
Add my fruits to your life.
And when you do, you make good music.
You make good music.
Oh, what beautiful music.
What beautiful harmony.
What composition it is.
When we begin to uproot this and uproot
that, and then we add this and we
add that.
Hallelujah.
And we come out just not on one
note, but we come out on all the
notes, all the fruits.
Hallelujah.
If we sing with the tongues of men
and angels, and do not add self-control,
if we do not add brotherly kindness, if
we do not add love, then we have
become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
And too much of what I hear in
the church today is the gong show.
If any of you, I used to watch,
when I used to watch television, I'm sorry
to say, one of the shows I used
to watch was the gong show.
And I wasn't smart enough to know the
Holy Spirit was gonging me and telling me,
you need to add something because you're just
making a gong sound right now.
Get rid of certain things in your life
so that I can add to your faith.
Hallelujah.
And you see what the disciples asked for
was an increased faith for an increased commitment.
And the Lord will increase your faith if
you increase in the qualities of holiness.
Look at the verse.
I close with this.
It says, for if these qualities are yours,
if they're yours and are increasing, they render
you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true
knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Hallelujah.
I don't know about you, but I want
those qualities in me.
The Lord says, I'll use you.
I'll use you.
I'll make something out of you.
But you gotta add and add and keep
adding.
And if you do, then I will increase
your faith.
Hallelujah.
Do you want more faith?
Do you want to be like Jesus?
Do you want to be more useful?
Add character to your faith.
Hallelujah.
Let me share something with you.
If I can find it.
Yes, Saturday morning here, and I'm going to
close with this.
Saturday morning here, I conducted the funeral for
a young man, 28 years of age, died
of throat cancer.
Ed Robitussio.
Now nobody can tell me that Ed did
not have faith.
Oh, Ed was not healed.
But I want to tell you something, Ed
added to his faith, a godly character.
And he went out into the presence of
God, holding on to his faith and holding
on to moral excellence.
He wrote this, and I want to read
it to you as I close.
He wrote this on July 1st from Bellevue
Hospital during the time when he was going
into chemotherapy.
He said, Jesus, I am starting this letter
by telling you I love you.
I would like to love you more than
I do.
Right now, as you know, I feel so
weak and I have pain.
Most of the time I can't focus on
anything but my pain.
It is that intense.
I have many fears.
I am afraid.
I have many feelings because I don't know
what's happening to me.
You see, he had Job's comforters who came
in and told him if you had more
faith you'd be healed.
And he had such condemnation.
Sister Marianne had to go in and lift
his spirit out of all of that.
He said, I do feel your hand is
on me, Jesus.
I don't know how I've made it thus
far even with your strength.
He said, I hear voices speaking to my
heart and when I listen to them too
I'm confused.
These voices are telling me things to do,
like preach, play music for you.
I want to be motivated out of love
for you, Jesus, not out of fear and
guilt.
I want to see you as the God
of love in all circumstances.
Forgive me for my unbelief.
Please change my heart, Jesus.
Make me love those who are in pain,
especially patients in pain.
I'm so tired as I write this.
I wish I could go get a good
night's sleep, something I haven't had in over
a month.
I love you, Jesus.
Give me a heart that pans after you,
Jesus.
Yes, I'm afraid of more suffering.
Yes, I'm afraid to die.
You've humbled me greatly.
My pride, stubborn, rebellious pride is in you,
Jesus.
I want to go home now.
I want to be healed now.
I want to forget about this place now.
I'm so anxious because I'm going nuts.
Yesterday, I really wanted to die.
I can't take this anymore, Jesus.
Please give me a heart that says, it
don't matter.
Only you do, Jesus.
And you know, when Ed came into my
office, the Lord, he had heard me preach
a message in this church entitled, It Don't
Matter.
He came into my office and he gave
me, he had a gift wrapped up and
I opened it up and it was a
bright red T-shirt with white letters on
it.
It said, It Don't Matter.
And at the funeral, I had it and
I laid it on Ed's casket as a
testimony to Ed that he had not lost
his faith, that in the midst of his
pain, he was adding to his faith, adding
to his faith, moral excellence, a discerning heart,
wanting brotherly love, wanting love.
Oh, my friend, let's add to our faith,
hallelujah.
You want to increase your faith, increase your
commitment, your faith will automatically be increased.
Praise the Lord.
Let's stand together.
He didn't care about the fact that he
was in prison or that he had been
relegated or anything else.
He had a glimpse of Jesus.
And then finally, John says, there is joy
in being and serving as a friend of
the bridegroom.
Look at verse 29.
It says, he who has the bride is
the bridegroom, but the friend of the bridegroom
who stands and hears him