Sunday Morning Service

Matthew 18:5-35 (Click title for audio access)

"Responding To Each Other" • 11.14.10 • Calvary Christian Fellowship, Sunday Morning Service

Intro

- When we left our teaching last week, Jesus had set a little child in the center of His disciples' squabble. They had asked Him who the greatest in the Kingdom was.

- Jesus said, "Unless you change and become like this little child, you won't even enter the Kingdom." Jesus is telling these grown men that spiritual maturity was wrapped up in childlikeness!

- These are unpretentious, unconcerned with who is the greatest. They are dependant, willing and filled with trust in Jesus. In a word, they are humble in the same way that Jesus was humble.

- Today, Jesus continues on with His chosen metaphor. We are all the Father's little children and by the blood of His Son, we are members of His Kingdom.

- Jesus has shown us how to show humble love toward Him. Now, He shows us how we are to exercise humble love toward each other.

Text

• Matthew 18:5-7 : "Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me. Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes!" : When we shows hospitality and welcome toward a person who loves Jesus, we are doing so to Jesus!

- Jesus is united with His people, who are to Him, His little children. When a person blesses one of them, He is blessing Jesus Himself.

- Think about this with regard to your own child with regard to someone that you care for deeply. A person who blesses your child makes your heart glad.

- You see good intentions toward them and it does your heart good.

- Jesus lets us know that He puts a high priority on how His children are treated.

- This good thing is immediately contrasted with this next part. Those who cause stumbling or offense to them will regret it.

- Think back on that person who blesses your kids. What about the ones that lead them down a path of destruction? How do you feel about them? God is no different!

- The word for sin is translated offense, stumble, or to lose faith. Any of these are helpful in understanding it's meaning.

- Anyone who offends a person's walk or who stumbles them while flippantly flaunting their freedoms or challenging or mocking the veracity of one's faith, is facing a horrible fate.

- Jesus tells them that it would be better for a man to be dropped mafia style into the sea than to do this! Note: Having a millstone tied to your neck in the middle of the sea is an upgrade!

- The millstone was a heavy, half ton stone, used to grind wheat.

- This is a vivid picture for a deep warning. Living in the Kingdom necessitates a life that seeks to bless God and our fellow Christians. They go together.

- As Christians, it's not enough just to live our lives and let others deal with it. Our life effects others and we had better be sure that what we exhibit does not stumble another person.

- The world will bring enough stumbling blocks offenses to the child of God. There are temptations and troubles that cause God's people to lose faith.

- But a great woe comes to a person who brings such offenses. Jesus is saying, "Offenses exist. Don't let any come from you!"

• Matthew 18:8,9 : "If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the everlasting fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire." : In order to keep someone from stumbling, one has to keep themselves from stumbling!

- Be far from sin. Be legalistic against it. Be unwilling to entertain it.

- Obviously, none of you have ever read these verses or you are not sinners! Jesus did not intend this to be taken literally, but He does want us to take sin seriously!

- The sense here is that we must govern ourselves in such a strict way, that it would be as if we did this to ourselves. It's extreme, but the consequence for sin is more extreme.

- It's better for you to have been extreme in your discipline and enter into eternity, than to have greatly sinned and fallen into everlasting fire or hell fire.

- Note the contrast: Life verses everlasting fire. Life verses hell fire. Jesus offers us life and if we were to enter in to life with Him maimed, how long would it be before He made us whole?

- However, a person entering into eternity whole, will be eternally maimed! A vivid reality that provokes us to living a life that stays far from sin.

- When a person lives with this in mind, there is little that they will do that will offend.

• Matthew 18:10,11 : "Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven. For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost." : "Take heed," means to beware, be careful. God's children that have come to Christ humbly, are not to be looked down upon.

- How does this happen? We look down on people for their looks, their intelligence or their status in life. This happens in the church as much as it happens outside of it!

- This is radically out of place because it is lacking an understanding of what value is placed upon them by God.

- First, Jesus says that their angels in heaven are given their assignments by God Himself! This does not speak to having a personal angel. Rather, angels are ministering, serving spirits.

- They serve us. God is that concerned with His children. How can we take a flippant position toward people?

- Furthermore, Jesus, God incarnate, came from heaven to save these that others might have the tendency to look down upon. He has come to save those which were lost.

- They were lost, ruined, thought to be dead. Jesus came to rescue them. How can we look down upon them?

• Matthew 18:12-14 : "What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying? And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish." : Jesus gives the disciples another illustration. A shepherd with a 100 lamb flock would be considered rich.

- It's telling that this shepherd even notices one missing! This shepherd notices AND travels great lengths to return it.

- That shepherd's heart, to save a lowly wandering lamb, reflects the exact same heart of the Father in heaven. He pens the 99 and sends Jesus over a great distance to recover His sheep!

- The lamb that had begun to wander away faced certain death. Lacking any ability to defend itself, as well as any discernment between edible and inedible, the lamb was certainly dead.

- We must value every person that comes to Christ, no matter what our preferences might be, simply because God values them that much. He does not will that any should perish or be lost.

• Matthew 18:15 : "Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother." : Jesus has established that His value upon His people is extremely high. He has described what the stakes are and what His heart is toward them.

- But what are we to consider about each other? How are we to handle inevitable disagreements between each other? How can we keep from sinning against each other?

- This brings us to one of the most practical scriptures in the Bible. Perhaps you have even been in a scenario when you "Matthew 18ed" someone! First, please note the problem.

- It begins with a personal offense from someone in the body of Christ. He is a brother. He is your spiritual family. This is a sin that you have personally witnessed or is personally directed at you.

- The point is that you are the witness. You have seen it.

- We go from the problem to the procedure: You are to go to Him alone. Tell him his fault. Expose it. Bring it to light.

- This brings us to the purpose: Restoration. If he hears you or rather, understands where you are coming from and sees his fault, confesses it as sin, then you have gained your brother.

- This is what you and I want. We want restoration of relationship. This is why you engage in this. This is the best case scenario and could end here.

• Matthew 18:16 : "But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’" : There is a 50/50 chance that he hears you, which means that there is just as good a chance that He will not hear you. In that case, Jesus instructs His disciples, take one or two more with you.

- Sometimes we need support. We need people who can come in and be sure that we have expressed ourselves correctly. Some people need to be convinced that they have erred.

- I want to say that these two or more should be involved in the place of worship. They must be from the same group and mutually decided upon by both parties.

- These have no desire to take sides. They are there to witness and confirm biblical data.

- This step in this process is difficult, but important when you consider that the Lord invokes a verse that is legal in nature.

- Deuteronomy 17:6 and Deuteronomy 19:15 are examples of this being a legal way to proceed.

• Matthew 18:17 : "And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector." : It turns out that this person refuses to hear. He can hear. He does understand, but he will not recant. He will not admit the offense.

- At this point, the church, the body of believers that these people are involved with, needs to get involved. This is another place where we can easily misstep.

- Every church is filled with believers who are mature and filled with wisdom. But to bring in someone in from another group of believers to discern what has happened will add fuel.

- A group of people famliar with the two people and what has been taught, is the intended audience.

- If this person will not listen to the collective wisdom of his own church body and the leadership that God has put into his life, that person cannot continue among them.

- He is to be treated as a heathen, someone who has not received the truth of God into his life.

- For all intents and purposes, he is acting like a heathen, refusing godly counsel and wisdom.

- They have also shown a great disdain for people. Jesus says that those who fit into this category need to be marked out and taken out of fellowship.

• Matthew 18:18-20 : "Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them." : These things that are judged within a church, will be established in heaven.

- If you recall from an earlier passage, binding and loosing was a euphemism for the power to interpret scripture and to exercise authority from it. God had given this to the Apostles.

- If a group agreed together, then what had been agreed upon would be established and honored in heaven. That is the authority that God gives to His people.

- Jesus tells us that His presence is as real to judge a situation when His people gather, as if He were there Himself. His Spirit is there when His Word is brought in and the body confirms it.

• Matthew 18:21,22 : "Then Peter came to Him and said, 'Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?' Jesus said to him, 'I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.'" : Peter wants some clarification. Jesus is talking about settling accounts, forgiving and restoring one another. But Peter was a man who was offended often.

- The Rabbis taught that you could forgive a person up to 3 times. Peter was going twice that and throwing one in for good measure! Peter was thinking of a big number.

- This was a godly number even. The disciples gasped at the generosity likely because Peter was unable to forgive even once!

- Jesus however, was not impressed. He said, "Not up to 7, but 70 times that!

- After Peter broke out his calculator, he realized that this was 490 times! Jesus was not giving a number whereby forgiveness is used up. He is telling Peter and us, "Forgiveness is our life!"

• Matthew 18:23-27 : "Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt." : While Peter and the others stand in utter disbelief, Jesus tells them a story of a man in serious debt, to the tune of millions!

- A talent took two years to accrue. He owed 10 thousand!

- Not being able to pay, they purposed to seize his wife and children, which was a natural consequence and the way that you could pay debt in New Testament times.

- The man had one final desperate recourse. He fell down and begged this King to give him more time and he would pay it all. His only hope would be to receive mercy.

- The King was so incredibly moved by this man's humility and impassioned plea, that he not only released him, he removed the debt from the books.

- He treated him as though he had never even been in debt! This King was glad to act compassionately toward this man. This is our story.

- We owed a debt that we could never repay. We could never have enough life to earn enough credit. When we fell down before the feet of Jesus, He extended mercy to us.

• Matthew 18:28-30 : "But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, 'Pay me what you owe!' So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.' And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt."

- The servant was owed a very small debt compared to what he was forgiven. It was the equivalent of a hundred days wages. He had owed a great amount more than that.

- The second servant offers the same plea, with just about the same words, but they fell on deaf ears. The first servant refused to have mercy.

• Matthew 18:31-34 : "So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done. Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, 'You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?' And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him." : The other servants saw this as an injustice and the King agreed. For all that was forgiven Him, the very least that could be done was for him to act with similar compassion.

- The master is insulted by this man's lack of compassion. How could you ever hold such a small debt over anyone's head?

- How could we, who have been forgiven an eternal debt, hold someone's feet to the fire over something that at the most, would last us our earthly lives?

- Who is capable of doing that much to us, that it would tip the scales of what God has done for us? If we freely gained mercy, we must freely give mercy!

• Matthew 18:35 : " So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses." : This verse stands alone. Our forgiveness needs to come from our hearts towards others.

- The consequences for not forgiving are worse than what we will feel if we do forgive!

Conclusion

- I realize that many of us have good cause to hold a grudge. Jesus knows this. He never tells you or I to do anything, that He will not help us accomplish.

- What it does take is a willingness to forgive. Others around us are valuable to Him. They will see our example most clearly through the lens of our willingness to show mercy.

- What a testimony to God's faithfulness our lives become, when we choose to act toward others in the same fashion as He acted toward us!