Leading The Way

Guest (Male): Watch the news, listen to the radio, consume a podcast, scroll social media. All these quickly reveal that people are fast to judge and very slow to forgive. Coming up next on Leading the Way audio, Dr. Michael Youssef invites you to hear the loving words of Jesus as he addresses sin, faith, and forgiveness. These are topics that are often misunderstood, ignored, and redefined in these noisy days of 2026. So keep listening as Dr. Michael Youssef continues the series called Enduring Wisdom, reminding you of the inescapable link between faith and forgiveness. In fact, up next, hear a message called Faith Fosters Forgiveness.

Dr. Michael Youssef: Luke 17 verses 1 to 10. Here you're going to hear from the lips of our realistic Lord. Why do I say that very realistic statement you're going to see it right here from the lips of our Lord Jesus. Here our Lord realistic he is realistic enough to declare that in this fallen, corrupt, imperfect world, stumbling blocks will happen. Falling away from him and back into sin and rebellion will happen. Now the Greek word that is used here in this Gospel of Luke, the Greek word is skandalon, from which we get the scandal. It really was originally used to describe a bait stick, a bait stick in a trap.

And my beloved brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ, our world is filled with traps, traps that are designed to cause professing Christians to stumble and fall away from the faith. These traps are found everywhere. The traps are in the popular culture. They are in the academic world and on campuses. They are in school curriculums. They are in governing authorities. They are in the court systems. But the tragedy of all tragedies is some of these traps are in churches, are in false preachers and false teachers. These traps that cause people to turn back from the truth of the word of God are in some pulpits today.

These are all traps designed to cause the weak and the vulnerable to turn their backs on Christ, to turn the back on the truth of the word of God and back into rebellion. Listen to me. When Jesus says woe to the one whose false teaching misleads people and causes them to stumble or fall into sin, he was saying that it is better to die than to teach an errant or false gospel. It is better to die than to have a ministry that is designed to trap others away from the truth of the biblical truth of the word of God.

And that is why in verse 3 he said to them, be on your guard. Be on your guard. Be on your guard. It's an exhortation that we need to hear again and again. Be on your guard. The world is watching you. Your family is watching you. What our precious Lord is saying is this. Far from being a cause of stumbling for others, we have the responsibility that when others do stumble in sin, that we lovingly and gently help them get back and come back home. He may write please. There are some when they confront a person about their sin, they huff and they puff and they kind of like a peacock and they sort of I'm going to show you you're a sinner.

You need to do this and you need to do that. Let me tell you how I do it. I do it in tears. I do it in tears cuz I'm conscious of my own shortcomings and failures. I think that's what our Lord is saying here in verses 3 and 4. When Jesus said, your brother, he's referring to a fellow believer. He's talking to believers and dealing with each other and he's saying, don't enjoy rebuking of a fallen brother or sister. Don't delight in your own self-righteousness when you rebuke a weaker brother or sister. Don't flaunt your own strength when you are gently helping to restore the fallen.

Now by all means, we need to be serious. Oh yes, we need to be honest but gentle, not puffed up. Beloved, the responsibility to rebuke the persistent, errant, sinning brother or sister is attached to the responsibility of forgiving. Don't ever forget that the next part is a challenge to all of us, including your pastor. But what our Lord is saying here should also be comforting to all of us. If he repents, forgive him. Look at verses 3 and 4. How many times are you going to forgive that same offense? Lord have mercy. Seven times a day.

Keep calculating. Question. Why put such a burden on the person who's doing the forgiving? Ah, because our Lord is implying that the person who's doing the rebuking and the forgiving is a mature believer. And he or she is dealing with somebody who's less mature, new in the faith. When he says about little ones, he doesn't mean children. When he talk about little ones, he's talking about those who are young in the faith. New believers, they're growing. So rebuking sin gently, yes. Even when you don't want to, yes. Then forgive even when you don't want to.

Yes. Why? Because when you do this, you become more like God. You become more like God. Listen, giving and forgiving are the two characteristics of our God. And when you do both, you become more and more like God. God hates sin. Remember that. God stands against sin. Remember that. And when the Holy Spirit convicts us, and I know he convicts me many times, when the Holy Spirit convicts me and he brings me a rebuke when I fall into sin, I remember and you need to remember, he also brings forgiveness. He's quick to forgive us. He's quick to extend forgiveness through the blood of Jesus Christ when we repent.

God's forgiveness, beloved, is limitless. He forgives us countless times. Now I want to give you six reasons why forgiveness on the part of the believer is a must. It's not a choice. We don't have an option. First of all, as I said, forgiveness is the most God-like thing to do. Secondly, whenever somebody offends you, he or she offends God more. Why? Because ultimately all sins and offense against God. Matthew 18:23. And thirdly, if God forgive repentant sinners like me and you, we who offended a holy unrighteous God, then we must forgive the repentant person. Fourthly, failing to forgive strains.

Doesn't affect your salvation but it strains your relationship with you forgiving heavenly Father. Matthew 18:31 5. Failing to forgive hampers your worship. It affects your worship. Matthew 5:23 and 24. Finally, six and finally, failing to forgive usurps God's authority. For in Romans chapter 12 he said, vengeance is what?

Guest (Male): Mine.

Dr. Michael Youssef: Mine. Don't usurp it. Give it to him. He will do a much better job than you can ever hope or dream. Leave room for God's vengeance. Underline verse 5, the question that the disciples have asked. Underline it. Every time you go through the Bible, you see it and we'll remind you. Verse 5. What did they say? Lord, increase our faith. What? Yeah, yeah, listen, you have to dwell on this for a long time which I have. Jesus just laid this heavy burden on them and telling you forgive seven times a day. And then we just reeling.

They were really are. They were reeling under the impact of that human impossibility that he just put on them. Forgive over and over and over. Lord. And the reaction was what? You would think they would have asked, give us more love. Here comes, give us more tolerance. That's the biggest misnomer if there is ever one. I think they use it just to shut up the Christians. Give us more understanding. Give us more compassion. Give us more humility. That's what you would think, right? Am I right? You have to scratch your head at their request. More what?

More faith. But you know why? They immediately recognize what Jesus is saying is a an impossibility and they are totally inadequate to do this. How can you forgive that many times in one day? Inadequate. In 2 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 16, the great apostle Paul, which is a great encouragement to me, gets so overwhelmed with the demand of the gospel and the faithfulness to the gospel and the faithfulness to the word of God then he kind of screams and yells out, who is adequate for all these things? Another translation said, who is sufficient for these things?

The answer is no one. No one. No one can do any of these things without the supernatural power of our heavenly Father. And that supernatural power only comes from faith and faith comes through prayer. And if you think that you have mastered your own through your own power, your own strength, your own self-will to forgive, please think again. The cry was increase our faith. Why? Because they cannot increase their own faith. We cannot increase our own faith. Now here here people particularly in the television they trot on this stage and said my faith is did this, my faith is on that and I want to cry.

See the disciples understood that faith is a gift. And you can't brag about a gift. For by grace you have been saved through faith and this is not of yourselves for it is the gift of God. Now beloved, faith for all of life's challenges, for all of life's challenges, my goodness, particularly these days so we need faith more than any. But it's a gift. And to know greater faith only comes from spending time with your heavenly Father in intimacy and in prayer, in humility and submission. To have the power to forgive and keep on forgiving is only through the gift of faith.

And the gift of faith and the power of faith comes through spending time in prayer with your heavenly Father. Beloved, listen to me. You cannot escape the connection between faith and forgiveness. You cannot separate them. They are in extricably linked. Faith, forgiveness. Say it with me. Faith, forgiveness. I'm going to show you from the scripture. Abraham, the father of faith, I talked about him in the last message. He saw through the eyes of faith 2,000 years ahead that of Christ coming to redeem the world. And that is why he's called the father of faith because he believed what he did not see and did not happen for 2,000 years.

When Abraham, the man of faith, had a quarrel with his greedy nephew Lot, Abraham, the man of faith, refused to quarrel, refused to quarrel. And he said to Lot, he said, take whatever you want. You take the best. I'll take the leftover. Why? Because faith he's what I want you to memorize but I want you to repeat it every single day, okay? More than once in the coming week. And then if it works, do it again the following week. Got a deal? Here's the formula. Three F's. Faith fosters forgiveness. Can you say it with me?

Guest (Male): Faith fosters forgiveness.

Dr. Michael Youssef: Joseph, a man was filled with faith. He trusted in the sovereignty of God even when he suffered for doing righteousness, even when he suffered unfairly and unjustly. He kept on trusting God. A man of faith, he forgave his miserable brothers and he gave them the best that Egypt could offer. Because faith

Guest (Male): Faith fosters forgiveness.

Dr. Michael Youssef: David stood over and above sleeping King Saul. Remember King Saul has been pursuing him for years. He never gave him at night of rest. He chased him in the craigs and he chased him in the caves. He went after him and he never had peace and he constantly running from King Saul. And then all of a sudden he stands there and Saul is asleep. Deep sleep. He could have chopped his head off. In fact, his comrades kept saying, kill him, kill him, kill him. David refused. He trusted in the timing of God because faith

Guest (Male): Faith fosters forgiveness.

Dr. Michael Youssef: Now beloved, if you having a hard time forgiving, you can ask God for faith. He'll give it to you. I can tell you this is one thing God will answer. He will answer. Faith to trust God that he is in control. Faith to trust in God's sovereignty. Faith to trust in the one who said vengeance is mine. Faith in the one who loves you more than anybody else could ever love you. Faith in your life's plans being in the very palms of his hands and no one can change that. Verse 6. He said if you have faith small as mustard seed, the smallest seed ever, and you say to this mulberry tree which has a lot of deep roots, be uprooted and be planted in the sea, it will obey you.

Oh my goodness, I've heard some amazingly confusing, messed up interpretation of this through the years. First of all, you need to understand the disciples were not asking for the increase of the quantity of faith. Hey, give him a pound but give me 10 pounds of faith. Well, even better give me a ton. That's not what they're praying for. Instead, are asking for an increase in the quality of their faith, the quality of their faith cuz somebody says you know a big faith, small faith all no, no, no, no, no. Quality of faith. And that is why Jesus talked about the smallness of the seed, the smallest seed in the world, mustard seed.

Why? Because they were asking him to help them do what is humanly impossible to do. What did Jesus say? He's saying that life is in the smallest seeds and it has the multiplier factor in it and the force of multiplications on the inside of that seed. He's saying in effect, you have all the faith you need. What you need to do is grow it. What you need to do is exercise it. What you need to do is to live by it. Question. What is this power to move the tree from the forest into the sea?

I want you to hear me right. This is important and that is why I want to use myself so you get the point, okay? A tree takes deep root. This particular tree takes deep root in the earth. And so was the deep root of the tree of my quick temper. My quick temper and anger easily angered had deeply rooted deep roots like a tree. From my birth, I've found it easier to take revenge than to forgive. But faith in Jesus and in the truth of his word says to that mulberry tree of my quick temper, be uprooted and planted in the sea.

Glory to God. Glory to God. If you find it difficult to forgive, pray increase the quality of my faith and he'll do it. Why do I say this? Because faith is submission to the sovereignty of God. Another time Jesus made the same point using something even mightier than the tree. He used the mountain, moving the mountain. In reality, it doesn't really matter with the tree or the mountain. It doesn't matter how big or small it. It doesn't matter. The issue is what is humanly impossible to do. That's really the point he's making whether with the tree or the mountain.

He's talking about what's impossible to do. God loves it when you ask for his supernatural power. You have God's word on it. When you ask for his supernatural power to obey him, to be able to live for him, to be able to submit to him, to be able to imitate him and fully trust in him especially when everything appears to be dark and impossible to do in your own strength, supernatural power to live the life that will not cause other people to stumble, that supernatural power to have the courage to confront sin, particularly sin in our own lives, to a supernatural power to extend unlimited forgiveness.

Cannot happen without the supernatural power of God. I'm not going to leave out the second illustration. This is something everyday happening at the time. It's not what we'd want now verses 7 all the way to 10, the last three verses. And he's talking about the worker coming in and serving the master first. See this is an illustration sometimes referred to in some Bibles as the parable of the unprofitable servant. What is he saying is this? I'll give you the bottom line. Jesus is saying that we can ask for faith to be obedient servants. You see the servant-master relationship is really what these disciples needed to hear at this very point.

You know why? Because earlier he said to them, I no longer call you servants. I call you what? Friends. I but he want to make sure that they didn't misunderstand that. Just because somebody tell me to be his friend, I don't walk into his office, put my feet on his desk and say go and get me a cup of coffee. Well, you told me to call your friend. No, no, no, no. So see he wants to make sure that they understand they cannot take God for granted. They cannot presume on God. You cannot presume on the goodness of God.

We have no right or even expectation for a reward. But he gives it. He rewards us. He blesses us. He gives us more blessings than we can handle. Even though he does that all the time, but we have no right to presume on his goodness. We have no right to presume on his grace. We have no right to treat him as some people sometimes treat God like a bell hop. We're saying only be sure that you are faithful in our obedience, in the small things and in the big things. Ultimately, Jesus will do for us what no earthly master could ever ever ever ever ever ever how many evers are these can do or will do.

But don't ever forget that everything is of grace. Everything is of grace. There's nothing that we can claim. There are no ground for pride only eternal praise and thanksgiving. You see with dependence on God and dependence on his supernatural power, we give God all of the credit. We give God all of the glory lovingly serving him with his strength alone. These are not signs of weakness, my beloved friends. These are the sign of strength, God's strength.

Guest (Male): Faith to be an obedient servant, ask for it and seek it today. Now if talking with someone about your faith or maybe about your lack of faith would be helpful for you, won't you consider connecting with a Leading the Way pastor or counselor at leadingtheway.org/jesus. We want to thank you for listening to Leading the Way audio with Dr. Michael Youssef.

Dr. Michael Youssef: You're watching it on the news night after night, the rise of Islamization and Islamists taking places of leadership both in the United States and in Europe, Australia, and elsewhere. I sought to write a book to explain to you the unholy alliance between the left and the Islamization, how they invited the Islamic invasion. This book is a must if you want to understand what's going on in the world today.

Guest (Male): Get real-time insights into the current game plan of Islamists around the world through Dr. Youssef's well-timed book and unholy alliance. You can call and place your order today 866 626 43 56 or take care of that online at leadingtheway.org or send us a note in the mail. We're at Leading the Way Post Office Box 20100 Atlanta, Georgia 30325. That's Post Office Box 20100 Atlanta, Georgia 30325. Well, it's time for me to say goodbye for this episode. We so appreciate you joining us today and please be sure to join Dr. Michael Youssef right here next time for a very special look into an unholy alliance on Leading the Way.

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