The Unprofitable Servant

THE UNPROFITABLE SERVANT
TEXT: Luke 17:1-10

Summary: The parable of the unprofitable servant, like the parable of the unforgiving (or unmerciful) servant, is accompanied by an exhortation about forgiveness towards others, and carries the theme that our indebtedness to God is so great it can never be satisfied by anything we have to offer Him.

I. SIN IS PRESENT, vv. 1-4.
A. The Seriousness of the Warning.
B. The Context of the Warning.

II. FAITH OVERCOMES, vv. 5-6.
A. Faith Brings Life Out of Death.
B. Faith Accomplishes the Impossible.

III. SERVICE WROUGHT BY FAITH IS SELF-EFFACING, vv. 7-10.
A. The Meaning of the Symbols.
B. The Spiritual Application. William Arnot: "When [Jesus] had pointed out how great is God's claim, and how large faith's performance might become in the life of a disciple, Jesus warns them, on the other side, that the greatest possible, the greatest conceivable attainment in the direction of a believing obedience, implies absolutely no independent merit in man; obedience, although it reached the utmost point of perfection, would still leave God indebted to man for nothing, and man indebted to God for all."