Jesus Loves The Little Children
Matthew 19:13-15
March 25, 2012

This morning we study a truly heart-warming text,
And really if we are honest, one of our favorite attributes of Jesus.

We love that Jesus loves children.
• It is a blessing to us that He delighted in taking these kids onto His lap and listening to their stories and praying for blessing in their lives.

• We are thankful for a Savior who wasn’t so consumed with “important” ministry work that He didn’t have time to stop and listen to the curiosity of a child.

• We are enamored with a Savior who was genuine enough that when He said He loved humanity, it wasn’t just the ones He could immediately use for His service.

• We are humbled by a love so genuine that Jesus knew it was impossible to preach love to a parent while rejecting their child.

This is a short story
This is a simple story
But it is so rich because of what it says about
The purity and innocence and sincerity of the Jesus we follow.

And so we love to read it, teach it,
And for a short time this morning simply get lost in it.
Jesus loved kids

And if nothing else this morning it ought to also
Open our eyes to a whole world that lives right under our noses.

I think many of us at times can very easily adopt what Paul said as our motto:
1 Corinthians 13:11 “When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things.”

Paul was not there belittling children,
Rather he was referencing what it means to grow and mature.

But some of us can at times adopt a statement like that
In a very worldly and selfish sense.

• We can look at children as a bother…
• We can look at children as a nuisance…
• We can look at children as a threat to my comforts…

I know I can think that way at times, especially Wednesday nights.
It is easy to get put out and discouraged with kids.
And I would be lying if I said I never had the thought
That some kids would be better off at home.

For when you think about it in a worldly sense:
• Kids are destructive…
• Kids are expensive…
• Kids are disruptive…
• They consume high amounts of resources and very seldom repay anything…
• They are impatient and demanding of your time and energy…
• They will drive you to exhaustion and then find a new person to drain…

And a selfish person (of whom I am guilty of being far too often)
Can tend to see children as more of a bother than a benefit.

And yet Scriptures says just the opposite about them.
Scripture doesn’t see them as a bother, Scripture sees them as a blessing

Psalms 127:3-5 “Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one’s youth. How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them; They will not be ashamed When they speak with their enemies in the gate.”

Scriptures says children are a blessing of God,
A valuable treasure delivered from God.

Just ask Sarah, or Rebekah, or Rachel, or Hannah, or Elizabeth
Those women understood the blessedness of children.

See children are a blessing
Because they are a precious gift in the sight of God.

Psalms 139:13-16 “For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them.”

David understood that children were not accidents.
Children knew that the only way a child enters this world
Is under the creative hand of God.

• He forms them
• He weaves them together
• He makes them with fear and wonder
• And He ordains their days

In short God puts great care, design, and forethought
Into every child He creates and He calls those blessed
Who He entrusts to care for them.
And that means that not only are children a blessing,
But they are also a RESPONSIBILITY.

Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it.”
And this is important to God.
In a very real sense, that child does not belong to you.

They may have your eyes or your nose or your temper, but they aren’t yours.

They are God’s, and He has entrusted a stewardship for you
To guide them to know Him.

And this is a very serious responsibility.
Proverbs 22:15 “Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; The rod of discipline will remove it far from him.”

Scripture indicates that children are born foolish and naïve and gullible
God entrusts them to us that we will remove that foolishness from them
And guide them in the truth.

The New Testament explicitly entrusts this duty to Fathers.
Ephesians 6:4 “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”

There Father’s are commanded not to discourage their children
But to encourage them to know and trust God.

Mother’s are also a vital part of this role.

Commanded in Titus 2:4 to “love their children”
And in: 1 Timothy 2:15 to embrace the role to raise them.

1 Timothy 2:15 “But women will be preserved through the bearing of children if they continue in faith and love and sanctity with self-restraint.”

Paul actually places the primary role of the mother in the home
To raise children by being an example of
“faith and love and sanctity with self-restraint.”

It is important to God that the children He entrusts to us
Are guided in the right path.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. “These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. “You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. “You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. “You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

The implication there to be thorough as you train your children
Deuteronomy 31:12-13 “Assemble the people, the men and the women and children and the alien who is in your town, so that they may hear and learn and fear the LORD your God, and be careful to observe all the words of this law. “Their children, who have not known, will hear and learn to fear the LORD your God, as long as you live on the land which you are about to cross the Jordan to possess.”

It is clear that God has ALWAYS BEEN CONCERNED
About the training up of children.

In fact, all one has to do is look at the Old Testament and see this.

The writer of Hebrews called the Old Testament “the elemental things”

Hebrews 5:12 “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food.”

• Everything about the Law was visible.
• You touched it, you tasted it, you watched it.
• Everything about the Old Testament was geared exactly the way kids learn.

Imagine the Passover.
• Select a Lamb
• Slaughter the Lamb
• Roast it
• Eat it with bitter herbs and unleavened bread
• Eat it with loins girded, and staff in hand, and sandals on, and eat it fast

DO YOU THINK THE KIDS HAD A FEW QUESTIONS?

God made it easy to teach them, because He cared about their instruction.

Psalms 78:1-8 “Listen, O my people, to my instruction; Incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old, Which we have heard and known, And our fathers have told us. We will not conceal them from their children, But tell to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, And His strength and His wondrous works that He has done. For He established a testimony in Jacob And appointed a law in Israel, Which He commanded our fathers That they should teach them to their children, That the generation to come might know, even the children yet to be born, That they may arise and tell them to their children, That they should put their confidence in God And not forget the works of God, But keep His commandments, And not be like their fathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that did not prepare its heart And whose spirit was not faithful to God.

It is clear that God intended for children to be taught.

He loves them, He created them carefully, and He entrusted them as a rich blessing to us that we would train them to know Him.

And this is all the more serious to us,
Because we also know that children are a TARGET.

Satan hates children.
WANT PROOF?
Exodus 1:22 “Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “Every son who is born you are to cast into the Nile, and every daughter you are to keep alive.”

Matthew 2:16 “Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became very enraged, and sent and slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the magi.”

Ezekiel 16:21 “You slaughtered My children and offered them up to idols by causing them to pass through the fire.”

Jeremiah 32:35 “They built the high places of Baal that are in the valley of Ben-hinnom to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to Molech, which I had not commanded them nor had it entered My mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.”

Throughout Scripture Satan delighted in killing children,
He delighted in the mass execution of kids.

Satan hates them.
AND THAT HATRED CONTINUES TODAY.

Today we have legalized and promoted abortion.
People actually fight in the courts and in the media to protect their right
To invade a mother’s womb and cut a child to pieces.

That is satanic at its core.

Beyond that we have Sexual perversion and pedophilia throughout our culture and those who willingly and purposely prey on our children.

Beyond that look at the clothing industry and see the types of clothes that stores sell to 10 year old girls, the whole idea is to make the physically desirable.

Face it, the days of frilly dresses and pig tails is all but gone.
Society starts young on our daughters.

Other attacks on our children are seen in their education.
We’ve all heard the facts about evolution being taught in many secular school systems.

Teachers are threatened not to mention Jesus,
But Muhammad can be talked about all day long.

It is an attempt to deceive children.

It is no wonder God is so passionate about children being trained They are under attack in our world.

God sees them as valuable,
Our world sees them as a means of gratification.

But not only are the valuable to God as a blessing
We also understand children to be a GREAT EXAMPLE to us.

We already learned that they can be a tremendous example of humility.
Matthew 18:1-4 “At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. “Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

Certainly they are an example of innocence.
1 Corinthians 14:20 “Brethren, do not be children in your thinking; yet in evil be infants, but in your thinking be mature.”

We are even commanded in some ways to emulate their devotion.
1 Peter 2:1-2 “Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation,”

The point to all this is that children are vitally important to God.
They are a massive part of His world.

• They should be loved
• They should be cherished
• They should be trained
• They should be disciplined
• They should be protected

And here we learn that they should be brought to Jesus.

It is a simple truth, but let’s look at it together.
#1 A PARENT’S DESIRE
Matthew 19:13a

“Then some children were brought to Him so that He might lay His hands on them and pray;”

In keeping with the scene of the whole event.
• Jesus came into the region of Judea and crowds flocked to Him.
• The Pharisees were jealous and brought up divorce.
• Jesus taught on divorce but it confused the disciples.

(10) “The disciples said to Him, “If the relationship of the man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry.”

And from there you will remember that Jesus actually taught that
“Being single is an option, if you can’t handle the commitment.”

Verse 13 says, “Then some children were brought to Him…”

The idea is that they completely interrupted
The conversation with Jesus and His disciples.

We imagine that the disciples had quite a bit more to ask in regard to the whole issue of marriage, but they did not get the opportunity.

Some momma’s showed up and they wanted their children prayed for.
(and we all know you don’t stop a momma on a mission)

But none the less, here we are.
These parents have brought their kids to Jesus.

In a cultural sense this is not uncommon.
Jewish families were actually highly encouraged
To take their children to rabbis to have them prayed for.

And so this is not a new practice by any means.
But what is learned here are a couple of things.

1) These parents understood their responsibility to their kids.

They must have understood that they were responsible
For the direction that their kids went.

Otherwise why bother with taking them to a rabbi at all?

2) They realized they needed help beyond themselves.

They understood that in order for their kids to reach what God had in store for them; then DIVINE HELP was in order.

They needed someone to pray.
They needed someone to guide.
They wanted blessing on their child.

3) They realized the help they needed was spiritual help.

That is why they sought blessing and prayer.

These parents understood that their children were not perfect,
But were in fact sinful beings in need of divine help.

Psalms 51:5 “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.”

And by that David doesn’t mean that his mom was cussing when he was born.

David rather speaks of the depravity of man.
It is that inherited sin nature.

Man is not born righteous and perfect,
Only to be corrupted and then in need of salvation.

Man is born in sin.
Man is conceived in iniquity.

Romans 5:12-14 “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned — for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.”

Paul’s point there is that there was a period of time
When sin wasn’t even known about.

How could people know what sin was, there was no law to identify it,
And yet people still suffered the consequence of sin, which was death.

The implication is that people did not become sinful after birth,
They were born sinful.

Even the sweetest most beautiful baby in the world has a sinful nature.
They will cry when they don’t get their way,
They are completely unconcerned about the lack of sleep of their fathers.

They have no problem making a mess that you have to clean up.

Children are born in sin.

And that means that every child,
Regardless of his atmosphere needs spiritual help.

These parents understood that.

Parents today need to understand that.
Your kids need to be brought to Jesus.

• They are not as good as you think they are.
• They need the spiritual help that only Jesus can provide.

“And it is amazing to me that parents
• Will enroll their kids in every event under the sun,
• And pay any amount required,
• And drive miles and miles
• And sit for hours upon end
• To involve their kids in the most useless of activities.

And yet be completely apathetic
When it comes to bringing their kids to Jesus.”
• My wife pays money, and drives 40 miles every week, and sits for half an hour just so Hannah can do a cartwheel.

• We pay money, and sit for a few hours a week, occasionally drive out of town, just so Zek can dribble a basketball.

Are we put out?
No, we are delighted that our kids get to do what they enjoy.

But if we will invest money, and time, and gasoline
Into something like a cartwheel or a basketball,
We must recognize that getting them to Jesus is more important.

So I like the desire of these parents.
They were bringing their kids to Jesus, “so that He might lay His hands on them and pray;”

A Parent’s Desire
#2 A DISCIPLE’S DISDAIN
Matthew 19:13b

“and the disciples rebuked them.”

As I told you earlier, I can’t be too hard on the disciples here.
I have had Wednesday nights just like this.

There were times when I wanted to rebuke a few parents
For bringing their child up here to church.

Now, I’m not defending a parent who will simply drop their kids off and let someone else take them to Jesus, that is FAILURE in parenthood.

But at the same time, I can’t be like a disciple
Who doesn’t want the headache.

“the disciples rebuked them.”
• They were cutting in to their little discussion about marriage…
• They were forming a longer and longer line…
• I’m sure the kids were loud and rambunctious…

And the disciples wanted them gone.
In reality it only indicates that the disciples still didn’t get it.

Matthew 18:3-4 “[Jesus] said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. “Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

That statement had obviously gone in one ear and out the other.
They were too selfish to see that Jesus was right at home in this scene.

A Parent’s Desire A Disciple’s Disdain
#3 A TEACHER’S DIRECTIVE
Matthew 19:14

Jesus said, “Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me;”

Now first, let me clarify that there is no record that any child got saved on this day, there is no record of any baptisms occurring.

In fact there is no record of any child being saved anywhere in Scripture.
So using this passage as a defense of childhood salvation is a bit of a stretch.

WELL DO YOU NOT THINK CHILDREN CAN BE SAVED?
Of course I do.
This passage certainly doesn’t say they can’t,
Nor does any other in Scripture.

But it is true that at times because of the over-manipulation
Of children in churches today that one can be skeptical.

I am literally appalled at what goes on in some churches
Under the heading of children’s ministry.

I read an article in the Baptist Standard a few years ago telling churches that if your baptisms are done the easy solution is to have a VBS.

Treating salvation as thought it were a matter of coercion and manipulation and human effort,
Instead of a spiritual work of sovereign God.

I actually read of one church who at their VBS gave every kid a piece of paper on which they were to write their name.

At the front were two barrels.
One said “heaven” the other said “hell”
To make matters even better they lit a fire in the barrel labeled “hell”.

At the end the kids were told to go and drop their name
In the barrel where they wanted to go.

That is infuriating.
• We all know that kids can be manipulated.
• We all know that kids can be pushed.
• We all know that kids can be sort of channeled into decisions.

And it is a tragedy that plagues our churches the number of unsaved people who feel secure because they were baptized as kids.
I understand the hesitancy.
But here Jesus gives us a very great example of how to deal with kids.

“do not hinder them from coming to Me;”

If a child wants to come to Jesus, by all means let them.
Does that mean we run after them and assure them that now they are saved and rush them to the baptistery?

No.
Let God prompt that too.

But the simple point is if a child feels the need
To draw near to Jesus, encourage them to do it.

If a child feels the need to commit to Jesus, encourage them to do it.
If a child feels the need to pray to Jesus, encourage them to do it.
You don’t know when it is saving faith occurring.

WELL WHEN DO YOU BAPTIZE THEM?
When the fruit of a redeemed life become evident.

When did Peter baptize Cornelius?
After he recognized him as having received the Holy Spirit

When did Philip baptize the Eunuch?
After he gave a public confession of faith

But the point is, we can encourage our kids to run to Jesus without dishing out false security at the same time.

• Jesus didn’t say to baptize them…
• Jesus didn’t say to hound them about repentance…
• He simply said, “do not hinder them from coming to Me;”

And there is a very good reason.
“for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

If a child in sincerity can’t come to Jesus, then no one can.
Jesus didn’t say that these children were instantly saved,
He merely pointed out that they possessed all the attributes
That are possessed by those in the kingdom.

This by the way is a great indicator of the fact that children who die are safe, for somehow in their innocence they are the kind that possess the kingdom.

But the point is, children are precious to Jesus
And if they want to come, He wants to spend time with them.

And so what He does next makes perfect sense.
#4 A SAVIOR’S DEVOTION
Matthew 19:15

Jesus laid hands on these kids.
He blessed them.

Now we don’t know the lasting effect of this event.
I don’t know if every child He laid hands on that day became a missionary, I don’t even know if they were all saved.

But I do know this, they were certainly better off
Having been blessed than not.

And that is true for any time we deal with kids.
• I know things like Wednesday night can be frustrating.
• I certainly know what it is to be frustrated with parents who just drop their kids off with us and who seem not to care beyond that.

But the reality is this.

Are those kids better off having been here and heard or not?
Yes they are

And if those kids actually want to come, Jesus says let them.

And what a wonderful Savior He is for having such a mentality.

Beyond that let me encourage you as parents,
To be the type of parent that cares enough about the children
God has entrusted to you to make sure you take them to Jesus.
(even you grown kids)

And this morning, having listened to this message, let me encourage each of you to understand that “the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

Children can be a magnificent example to us all.
• Notice their humility
• Notice their simple trust
• Notice their innocence
• And understand that this is what Jesus requires from all of us.

Matthew 18:2-4 “And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. “Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

Jesus on Divorce
Matthew 19:1-12
March 18, 2012

Well there you have it.
This morning that famous topic comes back around.

This morning we talk about divorce, and while it is never a fun subject
There are several reasons why we must cover it.

The first is obvious – it’s in Scripture.
We definitely are those who have committed ourselves to a systematic
And verse by verse study of Scripture
And with that type of commitment it is impossible to skip this passage.

Matthew felt obligated to include this conversation so we must cover it.

A second reason is because it is so relevant.
Ten years ago the statistic was that 50% of all marriages end in divorce,
And I fear the percentage has probably only risen since then.

Divorce is an epidemic,
And the truth about divorce and remarriage must be proclaimed.

• Some live under guilt having been divorced and not understanding that based on their circumstances, it was permitted and they need not feel guilty.

• Some have blatantly broken God’s command and have never repented and so need to see that their divorce was sin and they need to repent before God.

• And certainly some have never been divorced, some not even yet married, and need to know the truth as to what God thinks about it.

And so this morning we tackle this very controversial issue.

But before we dive into the text and get into the specifics,
It is important to understand the purpose behind the story.

Obviously the topic just sort of comes out of nowhere here.

And that is because Matthew uses this story to illustrate a deeper issue,
And that is the inevitable suffering and animosity towards Jesus.

You will remember a promise Jesus made earlier to the disciples:
Matthew 16:21 “From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day.”

Of course the disciples didn’t like it, but it was truth none the less.
And Jesus reiterated that truth several times since then:
Matthew 17:11-12 “And He answered and said, “Elijah is coming and will restore all things; but I say to you that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wished. So also the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.”

Matthew 17:22-23 “And while they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men; and they will kill Him, and He will be raised on the third day.” And they were deeply grieved.”

Jesus had been driving this truth in,
And clearly Matthew is on that theme in his gospel.

And now as Jesus enters Judea on His way to Jerusalem,
Matthew reveals that the attacks already started.

The point of the story is that Jesus is under attack,
The attack just happens to be in regard to divorce.

And that makes sense to us.
Can we think of a more controversial issue than divorce?

Trust me, no preacher wants to be cornered talking about the subject.

And that is what is happening here.
The Pharisees are attacking Jesus, just as Jesus said they would,

So, just to sort of keep the book of Matthew flowing for you,
You can just make a note in your margin that while we learn about divorce,
The reason Matthew included the story is to illustrate
The inevitable attacks that Jesus would face.

That being said, let’s learn this very important truth this morning.

First, let’s look at the setting.
(1-3) “When Jesus had finished these words, He departed from Galilee and came into the region of Judea beyond the Jordan; and large crowds followed Him, and He healed them there. Some Pharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?”

So Jesus finished His sermon on the church and they left “Galilee and came into the region of Judea beyond the Jordan;”

Jesus isn’t moving directly toward Jerusalem at this point,
But He is beginning His journey there.

And even in the midst of this march toward His death, His compassion is still clearly seen, “and large crowds followed Him, and He healed them there.”
And we could talk again about the POWER of Jesus,
Or the COMPASSION of Jesus, or even the FOCUS of Jesus.

But the real issue is the POPULARITY of Jesus.
He is drawing a crowd and that makes Him all the more a threat.

And that is the reason for this inevitable attack.

(3) “Some Pharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?”

Now their purpose is not hard to see.
Jesus is surrounded by a crowd, and because He is healing them,
Certainly He is popular.

The Pharisees desired to do something to curve that popularity.
WHAT BETTER WAY THAN TO PUBLICLY GET HIS TAKE ON DIVORCE?

Jesus was sure to alienate half of the crowd
If not more right then and there.

The reason is because in Israel there were two main schools of thought in regard to divorce.

There was the Shammai School of Rabbis which taught that all divorce is wrong no matter what. (that is unbiblical as we will see)

There was the Hillel School of Rabbis (Pharisees) which taught that divorce was no issue at all, and could be done whenever you wanted.

The Pharisees were trying to get Jesus to choose sides
And thus damper His popularity.

No different than talking about divorce in public today,
A person who chooses sides is bound to make a few enemies.

The Pharisees are not coming to Jesus for wisdom and direction,
They are setting a trap seeking to ruin Him.

It could even be that they had even greater motives.
The ruler of this area was a man named Herod the tetrarch.

Remember him?
Luke 3:18-20 “So with many other exhortations he preached the gospel to the people. But when Herod the tetrarch was reprimanded by him because of Herodias, his brother’s wife, and because of all the wicked things which Herod had done, Herod also added this to them all: he locked John up in prison.”

Herod was the ruler and living in adultery and because John confronted Herod’s sinful state, he locked John up and eventually beheaded him.
It could have even been that the Pharisees were hoping Jesus would condemn divorce (as they expected based on the Sermon on the Mount)
And would end up with John’s fate.

So this is a trap meant to at the very least hurt Jesus’ reputation
And possibly even to bring about His death.

But, either way the question has been asked.
“Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?”

And that is a question worth answering.

The Pharisees believed it was.
They divorced their wives for things like:
• “Letting her hair down in public”
• “Talking to another man”
• “Burning the bread”
• “Over salting the meal”
• “Speaking ill about her mother-in-law”

Any of those things were a quick way to get a written paper of divorce.

The point being that the Pharisees doctrine made it easier for them
To satisfy their lustful desires for another woman.

If they saw a woman they wanted, perhaps younger or more attractive,
they had no problem finding grounds to discard the first one.

It was easy.
And it really isn’t much more difficult than that today.

People get divorced for the strangest of reasons.
• Some because they don’t like the family
• Some because they don’t like the income
• Some because they find someone better

And that is the question presented to Jesus.
“Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?”

#1 THE COMMAND OF JESUS
Matthew 18:4-6

I love every time Jesus says, “Have you not read” to the Pharisees.
I have this mental image of them clutching their chest like Fred Sanford.

It is to insinuate that the only reason they would even ask
Such a dumb question is because they are ignorant.

For if they had only read the Bible, then they would know the answer.
“Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?”

The Pharisees wanted to know if divorce was OK,
But Jesus doesn’t appeal to the Law, He appeals to God’s created order.

God created them “male and female”
In the Hebrew it is literally one male and one female.

The idea being that they had no other choices.
God was spelling it out for them.

Things like polygamy or homosexuality or sexual immorality
Weren’t even options.

He made one male and one female,
And they were smart enough to figure it out.

Furthermore, based upon creation it was written that “a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh”

The idea there was of a joining between the man and the woman.

And God actually called the union “one flesh”

In God’s eyes they were joined into one.

(6) “So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”

And Jesus point is clear.
You would seek to get a divorce for any reason at all
When God was clear that no one should separate
What He joins together.

It is very clear what the intention of God was,
Who do you think you are to go against His intentions?

Malachi 2:13-16 “This is another thing you do: you cover the altar of the LORD with tears, with weeping and with groaning, because He no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. “Yet you say, ‘For what reason?’ Because the LORD has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. “But not one has done so who has a remnant of the Spirit. And what did that one do while he was seeking a godly offspring? Take heed then to your spirit, and let no one deal treacherously against the wife of your youth. “For I hate divorce,” says the LORD, the God of Israel, “and him who covers his garment with wrong,” says the LORD of hosts. “So take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously.”
Before we even get into what the Law says about divorce,
We would do good to go back and examine God’s original intent.

He created one man and one woman
And put them together to become one
And specifically stated that none should separate what He put together.
I should think that is pretty clear.

Anyone who thinks divorce is in any way part of
The will or intention of God is missing the very order of creation.

And this is Jesus’ answer to the Pharisees.
Don’t separate what God has joined.

The Command of Jesus
#2 THE CORRECTION OF JESUS
Matthew 19:7-9

Well Jesus gives the intention of creation
And this MUST HAVE DELIGHTED THE PHARISEES
For now they get to back Him into the corner they were waiting for.

They already knew His position on divorce,
He made that clear during the Sermon on the Mount.

They expected Him to be opposed,
Now they are ready with their counter argument.

“They said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give her a certificate of divorce and send her away?”

Now you need to know that they are misrepresenting Scripture here.

They are quoting from Deuteronomy 24
Deuteronomy 24:1-4 “When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out from his house, and she leaves his house and goes and becomes another man’s wife, and if the latter husband turns against her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her to be his wife, then her former husband who sent her away is not allowed to take her again to be his wife, since she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the LORD, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance.”

It is clear that Moses was not commanding divorce.
Moses wasn’t even dealing with divorce there.
He was dealing with remarriage.

He was saying that if you divorce your wife and she becomes another man’s wife you cannot take her back, as that would be adultery.
But he never commanded divorce.
He never said you had to do it.

And yet that is the argument of the Pharisees.
Why did Moses command divorce?

To which Jesus responds:
(8) “He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way.”

Notice Jesus changed the word “command” for “permitted”

Moses didn’t command divorce, he only permitted it.
And the only reason Moses permitted it
Was because the people had hard hearts.

• It was because of spouses that persisted in sin.
• It was because of spouses that refused repentance.

And in such a case, God does not punish an innocent party
By forcing them to stay married to a chronic adulterer.

And Jesus makes that clear by saying:
(9) “And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”

Jesus reiterates the point He made in the Sermon on the Mount:
DIVORCE CAUSES ADULTERY

When two people get a divorce, and God has not recognized it,
And then those people find new partners, God only sees adultery.

Now, when adultery has occurred, God will permit a divorce,
But it is never commanded.

The original command for an adulterer was death by stoning.

So if your spouse committed adultery, they were stoned
And obviously you were free to remarry, since your spouse was dead.

But God in His mercy actually did let some adulterers live.
(David comes to mind)

But in showing mercy to adulterers
He was actually punishing their faithful spouses.

So God allowed that in the case of adultery,
If the adulterer was permitted to live, they could be sent away,
So as to offer the innocent spouse an opportunity for a true relationship.
So divorce was permitted, but never commanded.

And this is something our society needs to know.
Sadly, this is something even many in our churches need to know.

There is no command in Scripture that forces divorce.
God never says you have to do it.

Even if they are the most vile adulterous person alive,
You do not have to divorce your spouse.

However, if your spouse is an adulterer, then God will permit a divorce,
Not because He likes it, but because He does not choose to punish the innocent party for the sin of another.

However, if you divorce your spouse for any other reason,
God isn’t buying it.

Now, here is what our society needs to know.
1) STAY MARRIED

You made a commitment, you entered a covenant,
And God is not a God that takes such a thing lightly.
If you are contemplating a divorce, don’t.

God’s intent is that you stay married.

2) IF YOUR DIVORCE WAS PERMITTED

Don’t let society or even the church beat you up.
If you are the victim of an adulterous spouse,
God has chosen to be merciful in that the He permitted a divorce.

If God permitted it, you have no reason to feel ashamed.
You are no different than God
Who was Himself divorced from an adulterous wife.

Isaiah 50:1 “Thus says the LORD, “Where is the certificate of divorce By which I have sent your mother away? Or to whom of My creditors did I sell you? Behold, you were sold for your iniquities, And for your transgressions your mother was sent away.”

God divorced His adulterous spouse.
If that was what happened to you, there is no reason to feel ashamed.

3) IF YOUR DIVORCE WAS NOT PERMITTED

Meaning if you got divorced for any other reason then there is a problem.
God doesn’t recognize that.

I’m not saying you weren’t married to the worst person on the planet,
I’m just saying God didn’t say that your divorce was allowed.

And now you have two choices.
Reconcile with your spouse
Or stay single and celibate for the remainder of your life.

It is too late for that, then it is time to repent.
The Bible says you committed adultery and you must repent.

Now, I’m not riding my high horse, the Bible says I’m an adulterer too
If I look at a woman with lust.

I’m not trying to elevate myself higher than you,
I’m just not willing to let you justify what God calls sin.

If you divorced for some reason other than adultery
And you have since entered a relationship with another person,
You committed adultery and you must repent before God.

Jesus says it is adultery.
And that is what He told the Pharisees.

The only possible reason for seeking a divorce
Apart from Biblical grounds is that you have a hard heart.

So they attacked Him, but He not only revealed that they were wrong,
He also revealed that they were wicked.

The Command of Jesus The Correction of Jesus
#3 THE CONFUSION OF THE DISCIPLES
Matthew 19:10-12

Boy you have to love the disciples here.
“If the relationship of the man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry.”

They sure didn’t hold out much hope of making it last did they?

“Jesus, if You’re saying we can’t get divorced
Then I’m just not going to even get married!”

That kind of reflects the selfish mindset of so many.

Friends, listen.
You do not enter a marriage to get your needs met,
You enter a marriage to meet someone else’s needs.

Marriages between selfish people seldom ever last.
Psalms 127:1 “Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, The watchman keeps awake in vain.”

You have to die to self to enter a marriage.
• A woman is choosing to be a submissive help mate to her husband.
The very notion of that requires her death to self,
Often times taking a back seat,
A willingness to rearrange her agenda to help her husband,
And a submission to follow his lead even against her own ideas.

• A man is choosing to be a sacrificial protector and provider.
That requires death to self,
To love sacrificially as Christ did
Aa willingness to consider her needs above his own desires,
A commitment to do what is best for her even to his own hurt.
A willingness to stand in the gap and face adversity for her benefit.

You can’t do that in selfishness.
It takes a commitment.

Obviously people don’t want to make that sort of commitment.
Apparently the disciples didn’t want to.

And Jesus addressed that idea.
(11-12) “But He said to them, “Not all men can accept this statement, but only those to whom it has been given. “For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother’s womb; and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men; and there are also eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to accept this, let him accept it.”

Jesus revealed that there is a gift of singleness.
• Some are born that way,
• Some are made that way by man
• Some make that commitment for the sake of the kingdom.

It was these that Paul spoke of in his letter to the Corinthians.
1 Corinthians 7:6-9 “But this I say by way of concession, not of command. Yet I wish that all men were even as I myself am. However, each man has his own gift from God, one in this manner, and another in that. But I say to the unmarried and to widows that it is good for them if they remain even as I. But if they do not have self-control, let them marry; for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.”

Later in that same chapter
1 Corinthians 7:25-27 “Now concerning virgins I have no command of the Lord, but I give an opinion as one who by the mercy of the Lord is trustworthy. I think then that this is good in view of the present distress, that it is good for a man to remain as he is. Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be released. Are you released from a wife? Do not seek a wife.”
And again
1 Corinthians 7:32-35 “But I want you to be free from concern. One who is unmarried is concerned about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord; but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife, and his interests are divided. The woman who is unmarried, and the virgin, is concerned about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and spirit; but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how she may please her husband. This I say for your own benefit; not to put a restraint upon you, but to promote what is appropriate and to secure undistracted devotion to the Lord.”

Now clearly marriage is of God.
He created it.

But Paul is saying what Jesus is saying.
While marriage is good and he who finds a wife finds a good thing.
It is also true that singleness is an option.

But what Jesus is also saying:

If you have an issue with commitment, don’t ever get married, stay single.
Because once you do get married, divorce is not an option.
IT CAUSES ADULTERY

It is not OK
God hates it.
It goes against His nature.
He will permit it under the circumstance of adultery, but He still hates it.

Now I guess the only thing to say at this point is if you are married, Grab your spouse by the hand, look them in the eye, and say again

“I take you to be my lawful wedded ________________.
To have and to hold from this day forward
In sickness and health
In poverty and wealth
Through the good and the bad
Forsaking all others until death alone shall part us.”

Let your spouse know you are in it for the long haul
Throw the word divorce out of your vocabulary

Now, if you’ve already crossed that bridge and have sinned against God,
Then it’s time to repent and ask for His forgiveness.
It may even be time to ask for your former spouse’s forgiveness.

God even promises to forgive and He can bring ashes from beauty,
But that doesn’t negate that repentance is necessary.

Marriage is a serious union to God,
And breaking that is a serious offense.
If you’re already remarried, then still repent
And make a commitment to this spouse.

For Scripture says:
1 Corinthians 7:27 “Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be released.”

Commit as God intends.

Jesus wasn’t necessarily planning to preach on marriage this day.
They used this controversial topic to try and get Him in trouble.

But He did address it and His words ring true,
Make your marriage a priority and commit to your spouse.

Genesis 2:18-24 “Then the LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.” Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him. So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.” For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.”

Forgiving Your Brother
Matthew 18:21-25
March 11, 2012

As you know we are presently studying the sermon of Jesus
In regard to how those in the church are to relate to one another.

And up to this point Jesus has given two attributes
That must exist among those who are in His church.

1) HUMILITY
Prompted by an argument between the disciples as to who was the greatest,
Jesus revealed that true greatness is found in humility.

You must “humble” yourself and become like a child
If you even want to enter the kingdom, let alone be great in it.

2) PURITY
And this we have seen on several levels.

• There was the purity that goes to great lengths to keep from causing a brother
to stumble.
• There was the personal purity that would rather cut off a hand or gouge out an
eye than commit sin.
• There was the congregational purity that we saw last week, that is willing to
confront the sinning brother and see that he either repents, or is removed from
the fellowship until he does.

It is obvious that in order for the church to effectively operate
It is necessary that there be humility and purity.

This morning we look at the final piece that Jesus outlines
For the church to operate the way that He intended.

3) FORGIVENESS

• We are all human.
• We all make mistakes.
• We all at times act selfish.
• And we all wrong each other from time to time.

I’m sure you wouldn’t have to think very far back
To find the last person that offended you.

And if you are honest you probably don’t have to think much farther
To find the last time you offended someone else.

It just happens.

It would be great if once we were saved that old man was instantly dead and sin never had to be experienced again, but that just isn’t the case.
We still live in the flesh.
Romans 7:18-19 “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.”

This reality even prompted Paul to cry:
Romans 7:24 “Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?”
Because we still live in a sinful human flesh,
At times we still make mistakes.

Undoubtedly this is why the concept of discipline and restoration
Is so important as Jesus revealed earlier.

But because we still sin,
The reality is that often times we sin against each other.

I wish it didn’t happen, but it does.

And therefore, it is necessary that if a church is to exist and be effective
Then there must be a measure of forgiveness.

John MacArthur noted:
“Nothing so characterizes the new nature of Christians as forgiveness, because nothing so characterizes the nature of their Lord.”
He went on to add that “Christians are at their best when they are forgiving.”

Forgiveness is as Christian as it gets.
And this is the issue that arises once more in our text.

3 things
#1 THE EXHORTATION
Matthew 18:21-22

Again, we are thankful for Peter.
He simply asks the questions that we all want the answers too, but are too afraid to ask.

“Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him?”

It is obvious that Peter understood the point of the Lord
In the preceding verses.

God is in the business of reconciling sinners.
They must leave their sin, but God still wants them reconciled.

And all that was fine with Peter at least on God’s behalf,
But the reality actually got Peter thinking.

WHAT IF THEY SIN AGAINST ME?
As Peter learned how sincere God is in desiring to reconcile sinners,
Peter understood that this theology will inevitably trickle down to him.
And it caused Peter to panic.

What if someone tries to abuse the system?

We’ve all heard the statements about cheap grace.
(P.J. out at the camp called it “Sloppy Agape”)

You know, where someone knows there are no repercussions
So they just keep on abusing the system.

Romans 6:1-2 “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?”

And again
Romans 6:15 “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be!”

But we all understand the mindset.
When I was a kid I used to have this mental image of God’s chalk board
In which every time a person sinned, a mark was added,
And every time a person asked for forgiveness all the marks were erased.

I even remember purposely putting a few marks
And then laughing when I asked God to forgive me.

The problems with that sort of theology are obvious.

But none the less, the reality of such mindsets has Peter worried.

“how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him?”

I’m worried that my brothers will take advantage of me
If I just adopt this super reconciliation mindset and forgive everything.
So Peter is concerned about being cheated by a crafty brother.

And what is more, Peter even has what he considers to be a fair answer.
“Up to seven times?”

And I can imagine a smug smile rising on Peter’s face
As he gave what he thought to be more than generous terms.

But at the same time Peter was looking for a loophole
In which he could put an end to abuse and tell a serial sinner to get lost.

He is concerned about being cheated repeatedly
And just having to absorb the pain.

WE UNDERSTAND THAT DON’T WE

See for all the talk about forgiveness being free, we know better.
There is always a price for forgiveness.

It either costs the offender to make it right,
Or it costs the offended to let it go.

If someone cheats you out of $100 dollars.
It either costs you to absorb the $100 or it costs them to pay it back.

Forgiveness means you choose to pay the price.

And that is why we struggle with it.
That is why it is so difficult.
It is easier to carry the grudge.

And that is what Peter is worried about.
I could let him cheat me 7 times, but surely at some point I don’t have to take the abuse any longer right?

Well, let’s see our Lord’s response.
(22) “Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.”

Can’t you see Jesus here?

“Up to seven times, huh?”
You didn’t hear that from Me.

“I do not say you, up to seven times…”

In other words, I don’t know where you got a theology that limits forgiveness, but you didn’t get that theology from Me.

I’m not the One who taught you
That a time would come when forgiveness expired.

I mean we know Jesus.
Luke 23:34 “But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”

Jesus never applied a limit to forgiveness, and aren’t we grateful!

In fact Jesus view on forgiveness is something like this:
“I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.”

In other words, there is no limit to My forgiveness.
• I am willing to forgive
• I am willing to pay the price
• And I am willing to pay it every time it is asked of Me
And of course that is the nature of God.
He pays the price for forgiveness.

Forgiveness always comes with a cost.
Hebrews 9:22 “And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”

And it was a price God paid.
Romans 3:23-26 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”

1 John 2:1-2 “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.”

Sin was committed and we know that the wages of that sin is death.
It required the shedding of blood.

And God could either maintain holiness and justice and force us to pay,
Or God could pay the price for us.

And that He did.
He paid the price through the blood of His Son.

Not for one sin, not for two, not even for 70 x 7.
He paid the price for forgiveness.

Now that is the exhortation of Jesus.
Peter, if you want to know My take on forgiveness it is to forgive every time they ask.

That is the exhortation
#2 THE ILLUSTRATION
Matthew 18:23-34

This is not an unfamiliar illustration, nor is it an ineffective one.
But Jesus makes a very important point to Peter.

And here is that point.
Not only should you forgive, but you should want to.

It ought to be obvious to you
As to why you need to forgive your brother.

There ought never be a time
When you think your brother doesn’t deserve to be forgiven.
And the reason is because he will never offend you
As much as you have offended God.

And so let’s look at the illustration.
1) INSURMOUNTABLE DEBT (23-27)

Here we have “a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves.”

It doesn’t really do us much good to speculate as to why they were in slavery, but it is important to reveal the distinction between the two.

One is a “king” the other is a slave.
You have two here on opposite ends of the pay scale.

We don’t know how the debt occurred, but we do know that it is there.
That may have had something to do with why the man was now a slave.

And for whatever reason the king wants the account settled.
He wants to be paid back for what he is owed.

(24) “When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him.”

Now let me put his debt into perspective.
• When they collected gold to cover Solomon’s temple, that was just over 8,000 talents.

• The weight of gold Solomon collected in one years was 666 talents.
1 Kings 10:14 “Now the weight of gold which came in to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold,”

• If you were to put it in present day scale:
1 talent was just over 15 years wages for a common laborer.
If a common laborer makes $20,000 a year, then “ten thousand talents” would equal around 3 billion dollars.

And so we are starting to get somewhere.
How does someone who makes $20,000 a year ever attempt to pay back a debt of 3 billion dollars?

If he paid his entire income every year towards the debt with no interest it would take him 150,000 years to pay it off.

• But even that really doesn’t do the point justice.

“ten thousand” translates MURIAS
And was often used as a term for an uncountable number.

It’s like saying he owed a bazillion dollars.

The point is it was an amount that this man
Could never have paid back in 1,000 lifetimes.
It was insurmountable.

(25) “But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made.”

Now that is what we call justice.
• If you owe money you can’t pay, then the bank forecloses.
• The bank repossesses and the mob breaks your fingers.

It is just, and this man is about to get a healthy dose of justice.

(26) “So the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.”

Now we notice two things here.
1) He is begging for mercy
2) He is lying

There is no possible way he could ever pay off this debt,
He simply needs mercy before the king.

(27) “And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt.”

• First “compassion”
• Second mercy “released him”
• Third grace “forgave him the debt”

The king didn’t have to do any of those.
By rights, the king had all the grounds needed.
This man legitimately owed him money, and he had the right to foreclose.

But compassion, mercy, and even grace stepped in
And this man (though a liar) was free with no debt whatsoever.

And that is a lovely story.
We all commend the king for his tremendous grace.

Insurmountable debt
2) INCONCEIVABLE RESPONSE (28-30)

It is totally shocking what this slave does.
(28) “But that slave went out and fond one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe.’”

Well first we recognize his brutal tactics.
He had simply been summoned before the king,
But he actually “seized” this man “and began to choke him”

And that is brutal enough, until you see the sum.
“owed him a hundred denarii”

A “denarii” was equal to 1 days wages.

Now if we follow the same scale we used a minute ago.
The first slave owed 3 billion
This slave owed $6500

That amount could be paid back in a matter of months.
That was a small loan.
And yet this man is livid about getting the money back.

Now, once again let’s just say this is justice.
The man legitimately owes him the money and he has the right to collect.
It is brutal, but it is justice.

(29) “So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’”

We’ve heard that before haven’t we?
It was the same thing this man had just said to the king.

I mean the response now should be obvious.

(30) “But he was unwilling and went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed.”

This man decided that someone was going to pay the bill,
And it wasn’t going to be him.

And so he forced the debtor to come up with the money instantly.
• Did he have the right? – yes
• Should he have done it? – no

Insurmountable Debt Inconceivable Response
3) IRRITATED KING (31-34)

Not only does this man’s actions grieve you,
But it grieved the other slaves as well.

“So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened.”

(32-33) “Then summoning him, his lord said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. ‘Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’”

And I don’t even have to ask you the answer.
You know it.
Of course he should have had mercy.

How can you be forgiven a debt so large
And then begrudge someone else a debt so small?

(34) “And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him.”

Now notice this time he isn’t simply being sold, he is being tortured.
And he must repay it all.

• But we already said, it is an incalculable sum.
• Furthermore how does one pay it while being tortured?

THE POINT?
This debt will never be paid, this man will be tortured forever.

NOW, DID HE GET WHAT HE DESERVED?
Of course he did.

How can you be forgiven so much,
And yet begrudge forgiveness for an offense so small?

AND THAT’S THE POINT

How much has God forgiven you of?
Everything.

Everything today or yesterday?
Just everything.

Well, what about what you do in the future?
That too

Would we call that an insurmountable debt?
It is a price we could never pay off.

One sin earns death, and just how many lives do you have to give?

But God, through His tremendous compassion, mercy, and grace
Has chosen to eat the cost Himself and forgive us.
He has chosen to wipe it clean.
Psalms 103:12 “As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.”

Isaiah 38:17 “Lo, for my own welfare I had great bitterness; It is You who has kept my soul from the pit of nothingness, For You have cast all my sins behind Your back.”

Micah 7:19 “He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities under foot. Yes, You will cast all their sins Into the depths of the sea.”

That is unbelievable forgiveness.

Now, lay that beside that grudge you’ve been holding over your brother.

“I know God forgave me, but you don’t understand he owes me $1,000”
(Why not make it a million)

“But you don’t understand he cost me my job”
(Why not add falsely accused and put you in prison)

“But you don’t understand…”

NO YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND!
FURTHERMORE GOD DOESN’T UNDERSTAND

How could you be so willing to accept such mercy,
And so unwilling to give any?

I don’t care what they did to you.
It isn’t even close to what you did to God.

As we talked about last Sunday night, God created man in His image
That man would seek and glorify Him.

But man didn’t.
Man wrecked His creation and then killed His Son.

And when God looked at man, let me show you what He saw.
Romans 3:10-18 “as it is written, “THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS,THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD,THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.” “THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE, WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING,” “THE POISON OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS”; “WHOSE MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSING AND BITTERNESS”; “THEIR FEET ARE SWIFT TO SHED BLOOD, DESTRUCTION AND MISERY ARE IN THEIR PATHS, AND THE PATH OF PEACE THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN.” “THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES.”

Man has wronged God.
And yet God has been merciful.

I love the first part of Ephesians 2
Ephesians 2:1-7 “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”

Colossians 2:13-14 “When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.”

That is the forgiveness and mercy of God.
Far more than you will ever have to give to another.

The point is that your brother’s debt is nothing compared to yours.
And if God would forgive us, we owe it to others.

The Exhortation The Illustration
#3 THE APPLICATION
Matthew 18:35

Here is what Jesus wants you to know.
The fate of this man is the fate of all
Who claim to accept forgiveness but who refuse to give it.

“My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.”

Forgiveness is not an option.
If God would forgive you requiring the death of His Son,
It is mandatory that you forgive others.

I don’t care what it is.
James 2:13 “For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.”

And please notice what Jesus said, “from your heart”

Jesus doesn’t say, “in your heart” He says “FROM your heart”
Meaning you should want to.

The idea here is that the mercy and forgiveness of God
Should so motivate you that not only are you willing to forgive,
But you should delight in it!
Remember the beatitude?
Matthew 5:7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”

Jesus also taught:
Mark 11:25 “Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions.”

Luke 6:36 “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”

SO WHAT IS THE POINT?
Forgive your brother.

I don’t care what he does or how many times he does it.
Forgive him!

If you won’t, then you obviously have no clue what it is to forgiven,
And according to Jesus you will not enjoy it,
For God will do to you what this king did to his slave.

Forgiveness matters to God
And if Christ’s church is to operate effectively,
Then forgiveness has to happen.

We need humility
We need purity
We need forgiveness

Those are necessary attributes for the church to operate.
These were the essential three that Christ brought up.

And since He is building His church,
Then we had better give what He asks for.

Ephesians 4:32 “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.”

The Danger of Stumbling Blocks
Matthew 18:7-14
February 29, 2012

As you know last week we entered a new section in Matthew’s gospel.
Jesus is speaking on the relationship of the church.

It all started because Peter, James and John accompanied Jesus on the mountain and the others did not, and inevitably an argument broke out as to who was greatest.

Each of these men were seeking the position of prominence and glory.
Eventually this dispute even made it to Jesus.

In 18:1 “the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

And you will remember Jesus shocked them.
He grabbed the most insignificant, weakest,
Most ignorant person in the room.
He grabbed a child.

And said in verse 3, “Truly I say to you unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

And as we said many misunderstand the passage assuming Jesus is saying
We have to trust like children trust or be innocent like children or innocent.

But that is not what Jesus meant.
Verse 4 said, “Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

Jesus didn’t speak of trust, or sweetness, or innocence, or any of the like.
Jesus spoke of humility.
\
No one counts on a child for anything.
No one looks to a child for anything.
They have no responsibility because they have very little ability.

They will never be selected to preach a sermon or chair a committee
Or balance the budget or plan a mission trip.
They are the lowest and Jesus told the 12 you must become low like them

The greatest in the kingdom is the one who thinks he is the least.

And, he is the one who values others above himself.
Which is why Jesus said in verses 5-6 “And who ever receives on such child in My name receives Me; but whoever cause one of the little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.”
Obviously the greatest is the least.

And so Jesus took their arrogance and revealed that
They have no clue about how the church operates.

We are not those who are continually trying to be first,
We must be those who are continually trying to be last.

Philippians 2:1-4 “Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.”

It is imperative that we put our brothers and sisters before ourselves.
This is the attitude of the church.

A true Christian’s attitude should be something like this:
“I am the least important person here,
And I come, not to see how good I can be treated,
But I come to serve you,
Because you are so important to Christ.”

And it is this attitude of putting your brother first that Christ deals with in the remainder of the chapter.

And as I told you last week I am so grateful for this chapter.

I think the church understands the need to put others first,
But often times how to do it is misapplied.

Today in the church (particularly here in Spur) we hear a lot about unity.
• It really started at the Thanksgiving service…
• It carried over into the Community Bible Chapel revival…
• I have had two meetings now with the pastors of Spur as we talk about unity among the churches.

But the more we talk about unity the more concerned I become
At how easily it can be misapplied.

There are two misconceptions that continually surface in regard to unity.

1) If unity is accomplished, truth must be compromised
I hear it all the time.

“Our doctrines divide us.”
“We have to put away doctrinal differences”
“We have to quit being so rigid in regard to our differing beliefs”

Others just “Agree to disagree” as though it were up to us
Whether or not the truth is achieved.

I hear it all the time as though unity and truth were enemies.
But repeatedly throughout Scripture
Truth is not the enemy of unity it is the basis for it.
The church unifies on the truth.

If we lose the truth we may indeed unify
But we have to forfeit our title as church.
(And that is a sermon for another day.)

The second misconception that continually resurfaces in regard to unity is this:
2) If unity is accomplished, sin must be tolerated

Now granted no one says it in those exact terms that would sound awful.

What they generally say is something like this.
“I think it’s time we determine to quit judging each other
And just start loving each other.”

“You know if I would quit recognizing my brother’s faults and just start loving him for who he is then the church would be a better place.”

Now, no one is denying the necessity of brotherly love,
It is just that we must recognize what true brotherly love really is.

1 John 4:7-11 “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”

1 John 5:1-3 “Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.”

And we see that the truest love I can have for my brother
Is a love born out of obedience to God.

In short love without obedience may feel good, but it isn’t God-like love.

1 Corinthians 13:6 “[Love] does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;”

And so any notion that the path to a healthy unified church
Is through tolerance of sin is a faulty notion.

We don’t unify as sinners.
We unify as saints.
Any love that tolerates and overlooks sin is not love at all,
Regardless of how tight a bond it may temporarily create.

The truest unity of the church is found when we all
With one accord believe the truth and strive for holiness.

But losing truth or tolerating sin
Will never achieve the unity the church is supposed to have.

And that is very clearly articulated here in Matthew 18.
For Jesus is giving instruction on the church
And without a doubt His point is that the most dangerous thing
The church can allow to remain is sin.

It may make people feel good to overlook sin,
But it will never produce the type of church that Christ desires.

And I want us to study this text and see that
There are two main problems with allowing sin to remain.

There are two main problems with treating sin as if it were not big deal.
#1 SIN DESTROYS MEN
Matthew 18:7-9

Last week when we studied verse 6 Jesus said, “but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.”

Obviously our Lord is serious about not causing our brothers to sin.
You would be better off to tie yourself to the ocean floor
Than to have Me catch you doing that.

And Jesus continues that thought here.
(7) “Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come;”

Now this is just a tragic fact of life.
This world is full of things that cause people to stumble.

The Bible says that Satan is presently the “god of this world”,
he is the “prince of the power of the air”.

And all the world “lies in the power of the evil one”

Because of that this world loves sin and loves to get others to join them.

This world is filled with pleasures and lusts that lead men to ruin.
1 John 2:15-17 “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.”

John said watch out for the world, don’t love it, it is a trap, it is a snare.
It will drag you into things that will lead you into judgment.

James 3:13-16 “Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing.”

James says the world (or earth)
Is full of jealousy and selfish ambition and arrogance and deception.
It is disorderly and evil and it will suck you in.

The sad reality is that it even targets God’s people.
Remember Demas?
2 Timothy 4:9-10 “Make every effort to come to me soon; for Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica; Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia.”

The world is a place filled with snares and stumbling blocks
And traps and temptations.

And while there are things we can do to limit our exposure
The reality is we never fully escape them.

Our world advertises sin on every billboard…
People brag about sin at every turn…

And that is why Jesus said, “it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come;”

There is no possible way to escape them.
Even Jesus purposely went on the mountain to be tempted.

He had to be, so that He would know how to come to our aid.
Hebrews 2:18 “For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.”

Hebrews 4:15-16 “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

If temptation were not inevitable Jesus’ exposure to it
Would not have been necessary.

“stumbling blocks” are inevitable.
This fact may be one of the chief reasons for our apathy in regard to sin.
Too often today the church has accepted the notion
That sin is ok because it is so prevalent.

• I’m gonna sin…
• You’re gonna sin…
• There’s no reason getting too bothered about it, it’s gonna happen…

But listen, Jesus said that stumbling blocks were “inevitable”
He did not say they were ACCEPTABLE.

They are “inevitable” because Satan
And a whole host of unbelievers live in this world.

It won’t be until the millennium when Satan is in prison
That stumbling blocks won’t be “inevitable”.

They are now, but not acceptable.

For look at what Jesus says next.
“but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!”

Now there is the warning.

Stumbling blocks may be inevitable,
But you had better make sure you aren’t the one setting them up!

“Woe” is the epitome of a heavy curse pulled down.
And that is what Jesus says.

You do not want to be the person that leads another person into sin.
• You don’t want to pass the picture that others shouldn’t look at…
• You don’t want to tell the joke that others shouldn’t laugh at…
• You don’t want to wear the dress that others shouldn’t notice…
• You don’t want to send the email that others shouldn’t read…
• You don’t want to plant the thought that others shouldn’t think…
• You don’t want to say what others shouldn’t hear…
• You don’t want to offer what others shouldn’t have…

And we certainly don’t want to be like Peter
And be those who give people what we think they want to hear.

Matthew 16:22-23 “Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”

We call that being an enabler.
Someone comes up and says, “I’m thinking about doing this or that…”

And because we want them to like us we tell them to go ahead
Even if what they are going to do is wrong.

Peter was appealing to lustful selfishness
And if Jesus hadn’t been so strong, He might have taken the bait.

And churches are notorious for that sort of thing,

In fact Paul even said this was a coming epidemic:
2 Timothy 4:3-4 “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.”

Paul said not only will stumbling blocks be available,
But men will actively seek them out.

They will find people to tell them what they want to hear.
Isaiah 30:9-11 “For this is a rebellious people, false sons, Sons who refuse to listen To the instruction of the LORD; Who say to the seers, “You must not see visions”; And to the prophets, “You must not prophesy to us what is right, Speak to us pleasant words, Prophesy illusions. “Get out of the way, turn aside from the path, Let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel.”

The world is full of people who want to hear what they want to hear.
If we oblige them and tell them what they want to hear
Then we’ve enabled them to sin and are a stumbling block like Peter was.

And you and I don’t want to cause people to stumble.
Because if you have a part in it when they stumble,
The Lord has issue with you as well.

He doesn’t pronounce a woe on the sinner
He pronounces a woe on the one who caused it!
You don’t want to lead others into sin.

Now Jesus doesn’t tell what the specific curse is,
But we do know it is worse than being tied to the ocean floor
With a millstone around your neck.

The point is avoid it!

But don’t just avoid doing it to others, avoid it in your own life as well.

(8-9) “If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be cast into the eternal fire. “If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be cast into the fiery hell.”
Now we do need to temper this a little.
The Lord is not teaching self-mutilation here.

Namely for this reason, cutting off your hand can’t eliminate temptation.
Gouging out your eye can’t eliminate temptation.

We learned in the Sermon on the Mount
Sin originates in the heart, not the hands.

But Jesus is making a point here as to how bad sin is
And to what extreme one should go to avoid it.

Sin is so bad that if cutting off a hand would eliminate it then do it.
Sin is so bad that if gouging out an eye would eliminate it then do it.

WHY IS SIN SO BAD?
Because sin sends people to hell!

The point is to avoid sin at all cost.
If there is a sacrifice to be made to keep you from sinning,
The make the sacrifice.

It would be better to go to heaven as a cripple than to hell as a whole man.

And by the way this links to the previous as well.
Tolerating sin in your own life is a stumbling block to others.

• If you tolerate adultery in your own life, it will cause others to stumble…
• If you tolerate drunkenness in your own life, it will cause others to
stumble…
• If you tolerate crudeness, or gossip, or jealousy, or strife, or ambition, or
any other sin in your own life it will cause others to stumble…

People watch.
(My high school friends would cuss if I did)
By tolerating sin in my life I was an enabler to them.

And so not only must we determine not to make others stumble,
We must even guard our own lives from it.

And the point here is that sin must be avoided at all cost!
Sin destroys men.

Romans 5:12-14 “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned — for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.”

Romans 6:20-23 “For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death. But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Do we need to read the curses that God pronounced on Adam and Eve?
Do we need to revisit the great flood?
Do we need to revisit Sodom and Gomorrah?
Do we need to revisit the Exile of Israel?

Sin kills people, it destroys their lives and sends them to hell.

It is impossible to promote love in the body and yet tolerate sin.

That’s like a doctor promoting good health while passing out cigarettes.

Sin must be avoided because it destroys men.

#2 IT DISPLEASES GOD
Matthew 18:10-14

Leading people into sin is contrary to God’s desire.
It displeases Him.

And Jesus here gives three ways in which this happens.
1) IT IS CONTRARY TO THE WATCH OF THE ANGELS (10)

“See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven.”

Jesus says not to “despise one of these little ones”

Again, not children, but fellow believers, even the most humble.

“despise” means to look down on them or to treat them as insignificant.

In the context of the passage it would men
Thinking it is no big deal to lead them into sin.

I read a story recently about a young handicapped man
Whose brother and friends forced him to drink beer until he was drunk.

I’m sure they thought it was funny, but they despised him
As though making him get drunk was no big deal.

Jesus says not to do that, “for…their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven.”
Jesus says to lead another into sin goes against the watch of the angels.

Angels do indeed watch over us.
Hebrews 1:14 “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?”

Angels are literally working for us to help us live righteous lives.
When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness angels ministered to Him.
When Jesus was suffering in the garden angels ministered to Him.

They encouraged they helped and in a mysterious way they do us as well.

And they get their orders directly from the Father,
Whose face they continually see.

And the point here is that when we lead others into sin
We are directly working in opposition to the mission of the angels.
They are watching out that we don’t sin,
When we trip others into it we work contrary to them.

Contrary to the Watch of the Angels
2) IT IS CONTRARY TO THE WORK OF SALVATION (12-13)

We skip verse 11 [“For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.], not because that isn’t true but because Jesus didn’t say it here.

But here Jesus does reveal that leading others into sin
Is contrary to the work of salvation.

Jesus gives the familiar illustration of a shepherd looking for a lost sheep.
This shepherd has a sheep that is straying.

He hasn’t stumbled yet, but he is a prime candidate
Because he is alone and vulnerable.

And any good shepherd searches for his lost sheep.
And not only does he search, but if he finds it he rejoices.

The implication here is that those who work for the kingdom
Don’t delight in scattering people into sin,
They delight in gathering them out of it.

The church is on a mission.
It is the Savior’s mission.
And it is a mission to rescue men from sin.

• We proclaim repentance and forgiveness.
• We proclaim holiness and salvation.
• We ask men to leave the darkness of sin and enter the light of life.
So to call men to salvation and then cause them
To stumble right back into sin is obviously counter-productive.

It is contrary to the work of salvation.

Contrary to the Watch of the Angels Contrary to the Work of Salvation
3) IT IS CONTRARY TO THE WILL OF GOD (14)

People today talk on and off about finding God’s will.
And admittedly sometimes finding God’s will can be difficult.

But I can definitively tell you what is not God’s will.
It is not God’s will “that one of these little ones perish.”

• God does not want His children to sin.
• God does not want His children to stumble.
• God does not want His children to cause others to do it.

It is impossible to be in the will of God while leading others to sin.
That is foreign to the nature and will of God.

James 1:13 “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.”

And so how could we ever claim to be like God
Or to be doing His will when we do cause others to be tempted?

2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”

It is not the will of God that anyone sins.
And when we lead others to sin or cause others to stumble,
Not only are we bringing extreme wrath upon our heads,
But are also working contrary to the plan of God.

It is contrary to the watch of the angels.
It is contrary to the work of salvation.
It is contrary to the will of God.

And when we do it we are doing the work of Satan
Just as Peter was when he tried to get Jesus to skip the cross.

The point is that sin is not welcome in God’s church.
He doesn’t want us CAUSING it
He doesn’t want us COMMITTING it
He doesn’t want us CONDONING it

Those who do have no clue what His plan is for the church.

Christ intends for His church to be unified and sanctified.
His church wasn’t just to love, but to love in truth and holiness.

He commanded the type of love
That does not rejoice in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth.

He commanded the type of love
That will be my brother’s keeper and will not lead him into sin.

He commanded the type of love
That will discipline self for the sake of being an example for my brother.

He commanded the type of love
Where the real enemy is removed and brothers can find encouragement
To live the life God intended, not the life their flesh desires.

This is the church.
Tolerance of sin was never the idea.

So let me encourage you church
• To seek holiness and purity in your own life.
• To watch out for and protect your brother.
• To make it a point not to do anything that causes your brother
• To think thoughts he shouldn’t think
• Or do things he shouldn’t do
• Or want things he shouldn’t want
• Or laugh at things he shouldn’t laugh at

Make it a point to do everything you can
To help your brother live a holy life.

That is what the church is all about.

Matthew 18:10 “See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven.”

After Someone Stumbles
Matthew 18:15-20
March 4, 2012

As you know we’re in the middle of a very important passage of Scripture,
For it is in this passage that our Lord has laid down specific direction
For how we are to relate to one another in the church.

Directly from the mouth of Jesus, we learn how to function in the church.

And it is really not hard to discern what sort of attributes
Are important to Jesus in regard to His church.

TODAY
• Ability seems to very important…
• We also speak of influence…
• We look for people with communication skills…
• It doesn’t hurt to be famous…
• It is always nice to have wealthy people in the church…

But those weren’t attributes our Lord highlighted.
Thus far he has only spoken of two. (a third will be added later)

Humility & Purity

He dealt with HUMILITY right off the bat,
In fact that really is what started the whole conversation.

The disciples were arguing as to who was the greatest
And Jesus used a lowly child to reveal that they were wrong.

They didn’t need to seek greatness,
They needed to seek the good of their brother.

Beyond that Jesus has also been teaching the importance of PURITY.

Giving us very explicit warnings
Against being a stumbling block to someone else.

It is no minor thing to cause someone else to sin.
Jesus actually said “Woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes”

Well how bad can it be?
We don’t know for sure, but we do know that “it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea” than to cause one of these little ones to stumble.

And so causing others to sin is a bad thing.

The question I want to address at the outset here this morning is WHY?
And there are a couple of reasons.

Obviously one is that leading someone to sin IS NOT LOVE.

Sin destroys men.
It brings consequences and ultimately leads to death and judgment.

James 1:15 “Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.”

Obviously you will have a hard to time proving you love someone
If you pull that kind of weight down on their head.

Leading someone into sin is not love.
And this was the essence of what Jesus meant in verses 12-13
When He spoke of the shepherd searching for the one lost sheep.

We are in the business of saving men, not defiling them.
And true love would never cause someone to sin.

The second reason why was alluded to in verse 14.
“So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish.”

The second reason we avoid leading others into sin is because it is CONTRARY TO THE WILL OF GOD FOR THE CHURCH.

And this is what I think is important to understand this morning.

Back in Matthew 16, when Jesus first introduced the church
HE ASCRIBED OWNERSHIP TO IT.

He called it “My church”
And of course that is true it was purchased with His own blood.

The church belongs to Christ, and that means that above all else
The church must be subject to His will at all times.

• Our first obligation is not to the world…
• Our first obligation is not to the government…
• Our first obligation is not to the pastor…
• Our first obligation is not to the deacons…
• Our first obligation is not even to the majority…
• Our first obligation is to Christ.

The church, above all else, must be what Christ wants her to be.

And let me remind you of what Christ wants for the church.

Ephesians 5:25-27 “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.”

Paul was clear there.
• Christ didn’t necessarily want a big church
• Christ didn’t necessarily want a wealthy church
• Christ didn’t necessarily want an influential church

Christ wants a PURE church
He wants a CLEAN church

Remember His conversation with Peter?
John 13:8 “Peter said to Him, “Never shall You wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.”

If He can’t make you clean, then He won’t take you at all.
He wants a pure bride.
And that is what we learn this morning.

We are studying one of the most
Ignored passages in all of Scripture.

In this passage Jesus actually says that there are some circumstances in which we must tell people that they are no longer welcome in the church.

And if that didn’t come directly from the mouth of Jesus
People would throw up their hands and say, “That is Unchristian!”
(some do anyway)

But you and I are going to have an awful tough time
Accusing Christ of being unchristian.

What we learn here is that Christ is passionate and seriousness
About the purity of His bride.

And that isn’t just seen here.

TURN TO: Acts 5:1-13
There Christ actually killed two church members because of their sin.

TURN TO: Revelation 2:12-17
He is angry at the church at Pergamum for tolerating sinners in the assembly.

He wants a pure bride, and He makes no bones about it.

I want you to understand this morning that being a part of the fellowship of the church is not a right, it is a privilege.
I have already told you that the ECCLESIA are the “called out ones”,
They are those whom Christ has invited to be a part of His church.

This is a privilege that we would be called sons and daughters of God.
It is a privilege that we get to dwell in this fellowship.

And with this privilege comes responsibility
And that is to live up to the standards of purity that He demands.

So with that I ask another question.
WHAT DO WE DO AFTER SOMEONE STUMBLES?

• We know that it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come…
• We know that we are sinful humans who fall prey to temptation…

Romans 7:14-15 “For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.”

We know that we sin, it is regrettable, but it happens.
The question is what happens next?

Well that is what Jesus deals with here.

There are three things we see here.
#1 A SERIOUS RESPONSIBILITY
Matthew 18:15-17

When we read this passage the point our Lord is making is clear.
He does not want sin tolerated, He wants sin confronted.

“If your brother sins, go and show him his fault”

Now this isn’t even talking about shunning or passing judgment yet.
All this is talking about is confronting someone who is sinning.

The word “judge” in Matthew 7 is KRINO it means “to judge or decide”
The word here is ELEGCHO which means “to expose”

It is the same thing Paul told Timothy to do.
2 Timothy 4:2 “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.”

Jesus isn’t even talking about judging here (He will in a moment),
But all He is doing here is telling us that when a brother sins
We are called to go and “expose” that sin.

We are called to “show him his fault”
In 2 Timothy it is translated “reprove”

Paul used the same word referencing the importance of prophecy.
1 Corinthians 14:24-25 “But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an ungifted man enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all; the secrets of his heart are disclosed; and so he will fall on his face and worship God, declaring that God is certainly among you.”

There translated “convicted”, but the same word.

We very simply are called by Jesus not stand idly by
And allow another person to have sin unconfessed in their life.

Galatians 6:1 “Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted.”

• They need to know that what they are doing is sin.
• They need to know why Biblically.
• They need to know the consequences of it.
• And they need to know that forgiveness is available if they will confess it and repent.

“If your brother sins, go and show him his fault”

But also notice that the concern here is all focused on the sinner.
This is all for his good.
This is meant to help him, not harm him.

For Jesus says to “show him his fault in private”

We are all familiar with the day the Pharisees dragged the woman caught in adultery before Jesus and put her on display before the entire crowd asking Jesus if they should stone her.

To which Jesus responded, “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone”

Jesus certainly did not approve of adultery,
But He also did not approve of the type of redemption
That only wishes to publicly humiliate a person either.

And so even here Jesus says to “show him his fault in private”

There is a very real possibility that it was a sin committed in ignorance.
There are times when we sin and don’t realize it.

And it is those times that we are dependent on
Our brothers and sisters to help us.

But we are thankful when we are confronted in private
Because we didn’t have any desire to live in sin,
And we are appreciative of being spared the public embarrassment.
And that is what Jesus is shooting for.
He wants the sin gone, but He is so gracious to do it
In a way that allows us to save face.

And then Jesus says, “If he listens to you, you have won your brother.”

And that is certainly good news.
James 5:19-20 “My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.”

And that is exactly how it is meant to go.
• Stumbling blocks are inevitable which means that stumbling occurs.
• The objective of the church is to confront that sinning brother with the truth,
• And lead him to repentance and back into the blessed life of God.

So confront your brother it is a loving act of restoration.

BUT…
Sometimes we don’t just deal with sinning brothers.

Sometimes we deal with SKEPTICAL brothers.
Those are the ones who don’t instantly believe you when you confront them.

They think it is personal…
Or they think you have some sort of vendetta against them…
Or they aren’t sure that it is really sin…

So when you encounter a skeptical brother a second step is required.
(16) “But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed.”

You certainly didn’t want to have to involve others,
But he left you no choice.

So now you take backup.
And their role is clear.

They are there to “confirm” your confrontation of his sin.

And again the Lord is so gracious.
• He is only asking for a little more pressure.
• He is still trying to keep it as secretive as possible.

And again, if your brother repents then again “you have won your brother.”

BUT…
Sometimes your brother isn’t just sinning…
And sometimes he isn’t just skeptical…

Sometimes we run up against a STUBBORN brother.
And a stubborn brother is one who doesn’t particularly care
What you or your witnesses think.

He is really hanging on to his sin and he doesn’t want to let it go.

Another step.
(17) “If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church;”

He has failed to believe you or your witnesses
And so now it is time to let the entire church weigh in on the matter.

It is more drastic, but knowledge is still confined
Only to those who should love and care for the man,
As well as quickly reconcile with him once the matter is absolved.

And again, if finally standing before the entire church does the trick,
You win your brother.

BUT…
Sometimes our brother isn’t just sinning…
And sometimes our brother isn’t just skeptical…
And sometimes our brother isn’t just stubborn…

Sometimes our brother is SELFISH

He knows it is sin, he knows it is wrong, but he doesn’t care.
When given the opportunity to choose sin or truth, he chooses sin.
He loves himself more than he loves the Lord.

And for that a very drastic step is required.
(17b) “and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.”

Now that is severe.
• The command is to expel him.
• The command is to forsake association with him.
• The command is to utterly and completely remove him from the fellowship.

Whereas Jesus began by commanding a confrontation of sin,
Here He commands judgment of it.

And this is by no means the only place this is mentioned.

1 Thessalonians 5:14 “We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone.”

2 Thessalonians 3:6 “Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from every brother who leads an unruly life and not according to the tradition which you received from us.”
2 Thessalonians 3:14-15 “If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of that person and do not associate with him, so that he will be put to shame. Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.”

Titus 3:10-11 “Reject a factious man after a first and second warning, knowing that such a man is perverted and is sinning, being self-condemned.”

And this not just on the members, but on the leaders as well.
1 Timothy 5:19-20 “Do not receive an accusation against an elder except on the basis of two or three witnesses. Those who continue in sin, rebuke in the presence of all, so that the rest also will be fearful of sinning.”

But perhaps the most blatant account of this sort of action (aside from the Ananias and Saphira incident) comes in the book of 1 Corinthians.

1 Corinthians 5:1-5 “It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father’s wife. You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst. For I, on my part, though absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged him who has so committed this, as though I were present. In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and I with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.”

There Paul says to hand him over to Satan.

Not so different than what Paul told Timothy:
1 Timothy 1:18-20 “This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you fight the good fight, keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith. Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan, so that they will be taught not to blaspheme.”

WHAT IS THAT?
It is the same thing Jesus mentions here.

It is removing a brother out from under the privilege of the church
And subjecting him to the chastisement of the enemy.

We know about Satan don’t we?
1 Peter 5:8 “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

And when you remove one from the assembly
It makes it much easier for the lion to devour.
(sanctified in marriage – Lot in Sodom)

The point here is that the fellowship is a privilege and a blessing
And Jesus does not tolerate sin in the assembly.
So they are to be removed out from under the protection
To be dealt with accordingly.
They must be judged.
That is not what I say, that is what Jesus says.
It is His bride, it is His church, and this is the rule that He set.

And so it is a serious responsibility that He has given us.

First – A Serious Responsibility
#2 A SOVEREIGN REASON
Matthew 18:18

Here Jesus is very helpful in what He has just commanded us to do.

“Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven;” (referring to one who is shunned)

“and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.” (referring to one who has been won)

This is the second time Jesus used this phrase.
The first time was back in Matthew 16
When he was also speaking about the church.

He told Peter that the keys to the kingdom were his,
And then He made that same statement.

The meaning is clear.
Whatever we do as a body on earth,
Is only representative of what has already been done in heaven.

We are not MAKING judgments, we are REVEALING them.

When we confront a sinning brother and ultimately have to remove him from the fellowship, it is NOT US who is judging, it IS GOD.

THAT JUDGMENT HAS ALREADY BEEN DECREED IN HEAVEN,
WE ARE MERELY PASSING IT ON.

And this is so important.
We are human, and we know that when faced with such a decision,
We had better get braced for a little retaliation.
“Well who are you to judge…”
“You’re not perfect…”

And because we know we aren’t perfect we often shrink back and say, “You’re right why don’t you just come on back and we’ll work this out.”

But that is not what Christ intended.
We are not judging our brother by our own righteous standard.
We judge our brother by God’s righteous standard.
Some, when you speak of this try to refute it by quoting Romans 14:4

Romans 14:4 “Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.”

That verse does not contradict Matthew 18, it enforces it.
By revealing that the Lord is the judge of every one of His servants.

And if the Lord says one of His servants needs to be punished
Then he needs to be punished.

• We don’t expel our brothers based on personal preferences…
• We don’t expel our brothers based on differing personalities…
• We don’t expel our brothers based on non-sinful practices…

We only expel our brothers when they persist to be disobedient
To the clear commands of their Lord.
We act as the hands of Christ to discipline His wayward child.

His sovereign judgment is not to tolerate sin,
And who are we go against His will.

DO YOU REALIZE THAT IS WHAT WE ARE DOING WHEN WE TOLERATE SIN?

If we don’t confront and discipline as Christ commanded:

• We are telling Christ to “get over it” it’s not that big of a deal.
• We are telling Christ that brother’s presence is more important than His.
• We are telling Christ that we know better than He who is welcome in His church.
• We are telling Christ that we know better than He what He needs in a bride.

This is not a human decision.
This is a decision of sovereign God.

So we have a Serious Responsibility And there is a Sovereign Reason
#3 A SACRED REALITY
Matthew 18:19-20

Here are two verses that are almost always quoted out of context.

They are used by the “name it claim it” crowd to support their notion
That God is a Jeanie in a bottle and if we can just get a majority,
We can strong-arm God into giving us what we want.

I mean if I can agree with you that we should have a million dollars,
Then this is a no-brainer.

This is an obvious lesson on why you can’t take Scripture out of context.

Jesus is talking about disciplining a sinful brother,
And He is presently telling us why we have the authority to do so.

We have the authority to discipline our brother,
First because it is the sovereign decree of God.

Secondly because we are the Spirit-filled body of Christ.
(19-20) “Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.”

This is not a passage teaching that God gives whatever we want.
This is a passage revealing that the church has the authority
To act on God’s Word because of the unity of the Spirit of God.

After all, when I confront a brother, do I get to shun him for not listening?
No. (In short, I don’t get to judge)

Shunning (or judgment) only occurs at the hands of the entire church.

God has so orchestrated the church with authority.
As Christ’s body we have the authority to carry out His commands.

Here is what that means.
If we ever get to the point where a brother is so in love with his sin that he must be removed, when he turns to us and say, “You don’t have the right to do this, who do you think you are?”

Our response is, “We are the church of the living God, the bride of Christ, the pillar and support of the truth, and based upon the authority that God has given us, we tell you to repent, or don’t come back.”

And Scripture says that God is united with us in that decision.
It is a sacred reality.

THE POINT TO ALL THIS?
DON’T TOLERATE SIN

Don’t cause it.
Don’t commit it.
Don’t condone it.

Sin must be removed.
1 Corinthians 5:6-8 “Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”
And there is a great introduction
Into the ordinance we are about to partake of.

This morning we are going to celebrate the Lord’s Supper.

Paul said, “Let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”

There is a way in which the Lord’s Supper is supposed to be done,
And condoning sin is not one of those ways.

In fact later in his letter Paul unequivocally told us to examine ourselves before we partake to make sure we don’t get sick and die from partaking in an unworthy manner.

See folks, Christ died to make us righteous.
And that means there is no more unfitting way to partake
Than to partake in sin.

 

If we as a church want to properly partake of the Lord’s Supper
And do it in a manner that truly glorifies Christ,
Then we must do it in purity.
Not condoning sin in our own lives and not condoning sin in our church.

 

This morning before we go to the table of the Lord
We are going to have a time of preparation
To examine ourselves before we partake.

 

Let me ask you to confess sin and turn from it before Christ
So that you may honor Him as you partake in holiness.

LORD’S SUPPER

1 Corinthians 5:6-8 “Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”

• Give bread to deacons
• Deacon prayer
• Deacons pass out bread

Matthew 26:26 “While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”

• Take bread

1 Peter 1:13-19 “Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.” If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth; knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.”

• Give juice to deacons
• Deacon prayer
• Deacons pass out juice

Matthew 26:27-28 “And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.”

• Prayer and closing chorus