I invite you to turn with me this morning to Luke 17, Luke 17, as we read together the first 10 verses, the text being a short parable we find in verses 7 through 10. Luke 17, beginning at verse 1, as we give our attention to the reading of God's most holy word. Jesus said to his disciples, Things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come. It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. So watch yourselves. If your brother sins, rebuke him. And if he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day and seven times comes back to you and says, I repent, forgive him. The apostles said to the Lord, Increase our faith. He replied, If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, Be uprooted and planted in the sea, and it will obey you. Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, Come along now and sit down to eat? Would he not rather say, Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink? After that you may eat and drink. Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, we are unworthy servants. We have only done our duty. Let's bow together, asking for God's blessing upon his word this morning. Heavenly Father, you have such wonderful things to teach us from your word. We pray, Father, that you would open our hearts and our lives that we might be receptive to these things. We pray for your blessing upon your word which has been read and your word to be preached. We pray for your blessing upon him who brings your word. Give him strength, O Lord, for he is weak, but you are strong. Open our hearts as a congregation that we might desire to be blessed by your Spirit with your word. And may our lives indeed reflect the working of your Spirit applying that Word to our hearts and lives. Hear our prayer, O Lord, for Jesus' sake. And in His name alone we pray. Amen. Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, as our Lord teaches His hearers, including us, an important detail about kingdom work here, it becomes clear that in some ways there is a huge difference, and this is no surprise to us, But there is a huge difference between the kingdom of God and what we are used to in our everyday lives. We work for wages. We depend upon those wages. We earn our keep, as we say. We might even receive merit raises or bonuses or gifts or incentives or any number of a kind of praise and appreciation. For some, if a company thinks that they are worth it and will be worth it, they might even receive a signing bonus just to commit to coming and working for a particular business or a company. And of course, we know that in this life and in our society, in order to climb the corporate ladder, in order to get ahead in life, you must put forth the extra effort. But when it comes to the kingdom of God, the story is quite different. Now, as we read this passage together, some of you may have wondered, well, how does all of this fit together? Because it seems like our Lord was just jumping around from subject to subject. In fact, in my Bible, imprinted before chapter 17 are in italicized words, it says, sin, faith, and duty. And those things are all covered in ten verses. Sin, faith, and duty. Was He just jumping around? But I believe all of this does fit together with the context being made up of a number of different pieces. And the overall context that we need to keep in mind was the works righteousness attitude of the scribes and Pharisees. We know that that had been a bone of contention between Jesus and them since He arrived on the scene. And in the chapters just before this one, they are indeed a part of His audience. Chapter 15, verses 1 and 2 says, Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Him. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, This man welcomes sinners and eats with them. And then in chapter 16, verse 14, the Pharisees who loved money heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. Indeed, they were there. Whether they were in the forefront or whether they were hiding in the back, they were there. They were a part of His audience. And in Luke chapter 12, Jesus told His disciples to be on your guard against the leaven, against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. By their teaching, the scribes and the Pharisees were leading others down the wrong path. And in the first part of chapter 17, then Jesus warns the disciples about those who lead others astray. Don't cause others to sin. But as well, if another tries to cause you to stumble into sin, forgive them. Forgiveness is to be a way of life. for God's people. And this, of course, requires faith. It requires faith to forgive. And in verse 6, Jesus gives the apostles a lesson on the power of faith. If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, be uprooted and planted in the sea, and it will obey you. What an awesome work that would be. How many of us who have grown up in the church and have read this verse haven't thought that would be neat to see? As boys and girls, wouldn't that be awesome to see someone actually move a tree by their faith? It would be an awesome work. And indeed, beloved, this pointed to the awesome work the apostles would do. Not that they would literally move trees around from place to place. There's really no profit in that. But God would use the apostles and their teaching to transplant the kingdom. Root and branch from Israel into the Gentile world. from congregation to congregation. This kingdom would go into territory, beloved, in which no man would have thought that it could grow and flourish. But then now, with this short parable, in light of the awesome work of the apostles, Jesus teaches about the proper place and the function of our works and the attitude of faith that the believer is to have. Our Lord teaches the duty of kingdom obedience. That duty, beloved, is to be full service. That duty has a humble character. And that duty enjoys a gracious reward. And to teach this important lesson, our Lord takes an example from everyday life. This was something ordinary at that time. In no way is he supporting slavery here. We need to understand that. But he is using this illustration, this part of everyday life, to teach a kingdom truth. And it's clear that those who were listening understood this custom of that day because Jesus asked questions that assumed the answers they would give. In verses 7, 8, and 9, there are three questions, as if to say, you know what the answers are. The answer is clear. And as well, Jesus is using an example of a master who has only one servant, not many, and therefore this one servant had to render full servants. Now, the servant had been out working hard all day long, but when he comes back to the farm, his day, you see, was not yet over. There was more work to be done. He had worked all day tending the master's property, and when evening came, he was expected to tend to the master himself. And it wasn't until the master was content and comfortable and ready to turn in for the night. In other words, it wasn't until all of the work of the day had been finished. That then and only then could this servant tend to himself and finally drag his tired body to bed. And again, this was not out of the ordinary. The relationship between a master and a servant was not one of contract. If you do this, this, this, and this, I will pay you this much and you'll get this much vacation and you'll have all these fringe benefits. No, the relationship between a master and a servant was one of ownership. Not contract, but ownership. The servants and the slaves of that day didn't work for hire. But they were completely the property of their master and they didn't gain anything for themselves. All of the servant's effort and zeal and knowledge and ability, his very life belonged to his master. The servant's whole aim in life was to be the good of his master. That was to be his priority. He was expected to give full service obedience. There was no ladder of opportunity for him to climb. Now we must understand, beloved, that Jesus is not teaching us here about the character of God. The point of comparison is not to be found between the master and God, but between the servant and God's people. This is to teach us about the spirit in which we ought to serve God and how we are to consider our obedience and work in His kingdom. Beloved believers are bound to God and obligated to serve Him just as this servant was bound to his master. God has the right to demand the services of our whole life. Thoughts, words, actions, every bit of it to the utmost extent that our ability allows. We are called to render full service obedience to Him. This means there is nothing that we can give to Him that He doesn't already have the right to claim. And this includes our life to the very end. We are reminded here of the continuous obligation of the Christian life. in a manner of speaking, it's an all-day affair. The Christian can never and must never say that his work is done. Ours is a 24-hour-a-day, 7-day-a-week, every day of our life, task of servanthood. The obligation to live the Christian life in obedience to God never stops. We can never say, well, God gets my 9-to-5 Monday through Friday, but nights and weekends, they are for me. There is never a day off. There are no sick days. There are no personal days. No holidays. There is no vacation time. We don't work for wages, let alone for overtime pay. Kingdom work is not about monetary wages. As well, beloved, there is no retirement from service for the Lord. No gold watch for 25 years of service. The believer's day will not be over until the Lord calls him to his eternal home. Yet, beloved, all of this is to be our blessed privilege. This is our comfort. You see, God created us for work. And He redeemed us in His Son to work heartily for Him, even until death. Paul tells us why in Romans 14, verse 8, For if we live, we live to the Lord. And if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. And we read in Romans 6, verse 18, and having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. God has purchased His people. We owe our all to Him. Acts 20, verse 28 speaks of that purchase. Therefore, take heed to yourselves and to all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to shepherd the church of God, which He purchased with His own blood. 1 Corinthians 6, verse 20, for you were bought at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. Our greatest need was to be redeemed, to be bought back. And Scripture is clear that Jesus Christ has done exactly that. He has bought us back from the power of sin and Satan and hell. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, Galatians 3. In Him we have redemption through His blood the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace, Ephesians 1. Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things like silver or gold from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as a lamb without blemish, 1 Peter 1. Beloved, God's people, although adopted as children of God for Jesus' sake, and there is nothing more comforting than that adoption is there. We understand that in part. To be an adopted child of God. To be brought from outside, inside. To have the most wonderful, loving, heavenly Father. But even as adopted children of God, for Jesus' sake, we are something else. We are slaves. Child slaves, if you will. Slaves of righteousness. More than once, Paul describes himself as a bondservant, when he says in Romans 1, verse 1, Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the Gospel of God. Paul recognized who his owner was and he knew that he was required to do all that he was commanded to do in the full service of his Master. All that we are and all that we have belongs to God for His service. One commentator put it this way. Boys and girls, Young people especially, listen closely. Wherever a believer is, his work is to be a Christian. To demonstrate the graces of character which the situation requires. To do the precise thing which the case demands. To preserve loyalty to his Lord. To act in everything as is becoming of the gospel of Christ. That's for each of us. To act in everything according to that which is becoming of Christ. The Christian life demands our all at all times for Jesus' sake. Love so amazing, so divine, we sing, demands my soul, my life, my all. And it's because of that amazing divine love that the Christian's kingdom obedience then takes on a humble character. Notice the details of the parable once again. Will the master say to his all-day hard-working servant, come along now and sit down to eat, as if to say, you have worked hard all day, you deserve it. And does the master thank the servant because he did the things which were commanded? You see, beloved, the expected answer to both of these is no. No, he will not. And it's not because the master is unkind. Again, dealing with the servant in this way was the proper way to deal with a servant. The point is, the master didn't owe anything to the servant, not so much as a thank you. We know that our customs are much different today. And out of politeness, we tell another thank you. Even an employer handing a paycheck to the employee, we say thank you for the work you have done. Even though they have only done what they were supposed to do. It was the servant's full service duty to be obedient to his master. The master was in no way indebted to the servant. Yes, he did all that he was commanded to do, but there was nothing extra with which to earn the favor of his master. Beloved, the scribes and Pharisees thought that God ought to be quite happy with them because they were working for Him. They were doing Him a service. He should appreciate that. In fact, they picture themselves kind of like the foreman of the Lord's work crew. They were valuable to Him. He couldn't do without them. And they were willing to stake their future on it. Jesus says to them, repent, and they in essence say, of what? Of what? They figured they could earn their way to heaven by themselves. Jesus then, as it were, looks His followers in the eye and says in verse 10, So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, we are unworthy servants. We have only done our duty here. Now you see, the question here is not if anyone, the apostles or you or me, ever actually finished all that God required of us, that is offered to Him perfect obedience. That's not the question. That is not the point. Really, that's a moot point. We know what the answer is to that. Even Paul in 1 Corinthians 4, verse 4 says, For I know of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this. But he who judges me is the Lord. And the Bible says in another place, There is none righteous, no, not one, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Our hope is only in the blood and the righteousness of Jesus Christ. In many respects, verse 10 is a hypothetical situation. If, if you do all that you have been commanded to do, still you can only say, we are unworthy. We are unprofitable servants. We have only done our duty. How humbling this is. Beloved, God has the right to the perfect obedience of mankind and man has the duty to give that. And if one was able to give perfect obedience, there would be nothing extra. There's no such thing as works of supererogation going above and beyond the call of duty so that some of my works can help another get saved. But because of sin, we daily increase our debt. And therefore, what we owe to God becomes more and more, greater and greater every day. And even if you or I were perfectly obedient, beginning today, this moment, for the rest of our lives, we could never even begin to make a dent in our back debt. Because we would only be doing our duty. That which God requires. Our works have absolutely no value that God should pay for them. He is indebted to us for absolutely nothing. And think about this. If we would be unworthy after doing all the things commanded of us, then how much more unworthy are we for not doing the things commanded of us? This unworthiness means not deserving any special things. As you know, it's also called unprofitableness, which gives the idea of having earned nothing. And it's true that of ourselves, we are worth nothing to God. Nothing more than a liability. In Job 22, verses 2 and 3, we read, Can a man be profitable to God, though he who is wise may be profitable to himself? Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that you are righteous? Or is it gain to Him that you make your ways blameless? In Job 35, verse 7, we read, If you are righteous, what do you give him? Or what does he receive from your hand? You see, only when we consider what He has done for us through Jesus Christ compared to what we owe to Him, only when we realize this by the working of the Holy Spirit will we then realize that our most costly sacrifices are tiny and meaningless, nothing more than dust compared to the grace of God. Nothing that we have, nothing that we can give can compare to His grace, can measure the greatness of our indebtedness to Him. And beloved, only when we are reconciled to God through Jesus Christ will we then see this relationship in the proper light. Only then do we realize that we are not our own, but belong body and soul and life and in death to Him. True love for God, given by the Spirit of God, realizes the duty of kingdom obedience and that one can never do enough for God. Ours is an ongoing debt of gratitude. Yet that one will strive to give more and do more for God out of loving gratitude. He will desire, desire to live in obedience to God, even though he knows he fails. He will desire and strive to live in obedience to God. Yet that duty of kingdom obedience comes with a reward. But that reward is not of merit. That reward is not earned. That reward is a gracious reward. In the parable, it's easy to overlook this, but notice the Master says in verse 8, Wait on Me while I eat and drink. After that, you may eat and drink. Now that may not seem to you and me like much of a reward, but it is. This servant is the possession of the Master, and the Master takes care of and provides for the servant. Those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ bound by the grace of God look forward to the eternal rest that He has prepared for them. Luke 12, verse 37 says, Blessed are those servants whom the Master, when He comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that He will gird Himself and have them sit down to eat, and He will come and serve them. Beloved, our service is not always easy. Our service in this life is filled with toil. It's filled with pain. It's filled with heartache. It's filled with persecution. It's not easy. It's hard work. And we may not receive a gold watch at the end of 25 years, but do you know what we receive? The streets of gold. The gates of pearl. The sea of crystal. Where there is no more sickness or sin or death or crying or tears There's only everlasting joy and rest in the presence of Almighty God. Yet that reward of grace for you and me who believe has been earned. It has been earned by the only one worthy to earn it. In truth, Jesus Christ was perfectly obedient even unto death, as Paul says. He demonstrated, as we say, perfect, active obedience to the law of God, fulfilling all righteousness, and that righteousness is imputed, freely given to you and me. So God sees us as righteous. And He fulfilled perfect passive, He demonstrated perfect passive obedience as He willingly submitted to and suffered the wrath and punishment of God to pay our debt. To take our curse that we deserve that was on us for all of our disobedience. Beloved, it is He alone whose work is perfect and sufficient so that He should receive these words from the Father, Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Yet ironically, the Bible teaches us that those words are reserved for God's people. Imagine that. He alone deserves those words, but those words are reserved for God's people who take seriously the duty of kingdom obedience. And the believer's obedience is not tedious, but it is a joy to work for the King of Kings. Our Lord earned for those who believe, He earned the position of slave again. Again, as Paul says, slaves of righteousness. It is to be a badge of honor to be considered a servant or slave of Jesus Christ. What a blessing the believer enjoys of having new life in the Spirit. Being empowered by the Spirit of God unto new obedience. Yes, in this life we do and we will fall and fail. Yet our comfort, beloved, is that our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ stands before the throne of His Father on behalf of His people with His perfect righteous work in His hands, saying, I have paid it all for them. The believer is called to the duty of kingdom obedience, duty that is full service. Full service, not part-time. tireless, never-ending. Duty that bears a humble character that earns nothing, simply delighting to give God that which He deserves. And duty that receives a gracious reward for the sake of the finished and perfect work of Jesus Christ. Our highest honor is to be called children of God, heirs of eternal life. Beloved, God owes us nothing. That's what makes His grace so very amazing. And the warning here is that those who work merely for wages will receive what they have earned. Romans 6, verse 23 begins, For the wages of sin is death. That's what we earn. All that we can earn apart from Jesus Christ. That's a picture of our unworthiness. But those who have been washed in the blood of Jesus are called to thankful duty, giving thanks to God that He has not given us that which we deserve. instead by His Holy Spirit we work from His mercy receiving the reward of His grace which as Romans 6.23 ends is the gift of God eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord in just a moment we will sing together about the blessing of the believer's duty of kingdom service these words fill thou my life O Lord my God in every part with praise and then So shall no part of day or night from sacredness be free, but all my life in every step be fellowship with thee. Boys and girls, young people, mothers, fathers, grandpas, grandmas, everyone here. So shall no part of day or night from sacredness be free. On our own we can do nothing, But by the grace of God, we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength. Beloved of the Lord Jesus Christ, once again, God owes us nothing. But He has given to us everything in Jesus Christ our Lord. Serve the Lord with gladness. For the joy of the Lord is your strength. Amen. Shall we pray? Father, may it be that we would understand more and more every day that the work that we strive to perform on Your behalf, that the works and the obedience we try to carry out faithfully from day to day in the power of Your Spirit is not done in order to earn Your favor or because we can earn something by it. But they might simply be works of gratitude. May it be our every desire that all of our life, every thought, every word, every breath, every action, every motive, every desire would be in service to You. Father, we know that that's not the case. And we humbly acknowledge that before You and confess our sin before You for that. Yet, Father, we pray that You would continue to work in our hearts and lives, giving to us strength and more and more every day as you continue to sanctify our hearts and lives that we might be prepared for that perfect obedience which we will render to you in glory one day. Hear our prayer, O Lord, for Jesus' sake and in His name alone. Amen.