Matthew 18:1 ¶ At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? 2 And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, 3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. 6 But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.
We have to be as trusting as little children to enter into the
Kingdom of Heaven. Who knows, maybe we will be little children in Heaven, which
explains in one respect why Jesus says we are not given in marriage there.
That man or woman who humbles themselves like a weak and helpless
child before God receives the highest praise and to receive such a one into
fellowship is to receive Christ Himself. Plus, whoever causes one of these
children to stumble, who harms their faith, well it would be better if they had
had a millstone tied around their neck and they be thown into the sea.
Destroying the faith of another comes in several ways.
See to offend as to cause to stumble or cause to sin;
Isaiah 8:14 And he shall be
for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both
the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of
Jerusalem.
1 Peter 2:8 And a stone of
stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being
disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.
Matthew 5:29 And if thy
right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is
profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy
whole body should be cast into hell. 30
And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee:
for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not
that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
Discouraging them, a tactic of Satan, is a way of causing a
Christian to stumble in their faith by not believing they can be forgiven for
sin.
2Corinthians 2:5 ¶ But if
any have caused grief, he hath not grieved me, but in part: that I may not
overcharge you all. 6 Sufficient to such
a man is this punishment, which was inflicted of many. 7 So that contrariwise ye ought rather to
forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up
with overmuch sorrow. 8 Wherefore I
beseech you that ye would confirm your love toward him. 9 For to this end also did I write, that I
might know the proof of you, whether ye be obedient in all things. 10 To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also:
for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it
in the person of Christ;
11 Lest Satan should get an
advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.
Another method of Satan is to entice someone to sin in some
weakness of the flesh they may have;
Romans 14:1 ¶ Him that is
weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations. 2 For one believeth that he may eat all things:
another, who is weak, eateth herbs. 3
Let not him
that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which
eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him. 4 Who art thou that judgest another man’s
servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up:
for God is able to make him stand. 5 One
man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let
every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. 6
He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that
regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth,
eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the
Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks. 7
For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. 8 For whether we live, we live unto the Lord;
and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we
are the Lord’s.
9 For to this end Christ
both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and
living. 10 But why dost thou judge thy
brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand
before the judgment seat of Christ. 11
For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to
me, and every tongue shall confess to God. 12
So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. 13 Let us not therefore judge one another any
more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to
fall in his brother’s way. 14 I know,
and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself:
but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean. 15 But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat,
now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ
died.
16 Let not then your good
be evil spoken of: 17 For the kingdom of
God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy
Ghost. 18 For he that in these things
serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men. 19 Let us therefore follow after the things
which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another. 20 For meat destroy not the work of God. All
things indeed are pure; but it is evil for that man who eateth with offence.
21 It is good neither to eat flesh, nor
to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or
is made weak. 22 Hast thou faith? have
it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing
which he alloweth. 23 And he that
doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is
not of faith is sin.
Corrupting, or the case of the following from a Greek word meaning
to water down wine, the word of God.
2 Corinthians 2:17 For we
are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of
God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.
I am sure you can think of other ways Christians have placed
stumbling blocks in the way of your faith that could have or did make you
stumble, make you to be offended. Maybe you’ve seen someone else crushed by the
shenanigans of a Christian. I taught homeschoolers at one time and a young
woman later told me that she had suffered abuse at the hands of a previous
teacher and was grateful that I wasn’t like him when I taught her.
Matthew 18:7 ¶ Woe unto the
world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to
that man by whom the offence cometh! 8
Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them
from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than
having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. 9 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out,
and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one
eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire. 10 Take heed that ye despise not one of these
little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold
the face of my Father which is in heaven. 11
For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost. 12 How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep,
and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and
goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? 13 And if so be that he find it, verily I say
unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine
which went not astray. 14 Even so it is
not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones
should perish.
In a sinful world are many temptations and sins. You do not want
to be, however, a person through whom they come. It would be better for us to
lose a part of our body that leads us into sin against God than have His wrath
on us. Literally, the child has his audience in heaven but spiritually the
child-like believer in trust and obedience to God has his appearance before the
throne of God whose will it is that not one should perish.
What can be said of this passage on the one hand is the special
contempt God has for those who harm the faith of a child. On the other hand,
those who use the previously mentioned techniques to damage the faith of a
follower of Christ, whom God does not wish to perish, merit the same wrath. We
must be careful of what we say and measure how our words impact others.
We often pray for the children of the church. We must understand
that how we live before them and how real our faith is expressed, without manipulation
or exploitation, is of vital importance in leading them in faith.
Matthew 18: 15 ¶ Moreover
if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between
thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. 16 But if he will not hear thee, then
take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses
every word may be established. 17 And if
he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he
neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a
publican. 18 Verily I say unto you,
Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall
loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 19
Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as
touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father
which is in heaven. 20 For where two or
three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
Look at the context of this entire passage without taking a verse
out of context to make it mean something it wasn’t intended to mean. How many
times has someone been angry with me for some slight, real or imagined, and
chosen to go to someone else to complain, rather than to me directly? Here is
Christ’s blueprint for dealing with an offense. Go first to the person who you
feel has wronged you. Then, if that doesn’t work, take a couple of Godly
friends. If the person is still not repentant then it is time to bring the
issue before the church itself. It is only at his or her unrepentant attitude
in this situation that you should reject their company and companionship.
If that is the way things turn out Christ says that He will
respect the results that happen on earth in Heaven. The assumption is that your
grievance is genuine and that you have followed His instructions. This
grievance must be genuine and not a petty thing considering the magnitude of
what is called for here. Responding to your thin skin, your dominating
attitude, or your tyranny of weakness should not be a part of this. The
grasping control freak and the manipulative “victim” attitude cannot be used to
justify your grievance.
Matthew 18:21 ¶ Then came
Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I
forgive him? till seven times? 22 Jesus
saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy
times seven. 23 Therefore is the kingdom
of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his
servants. 24 And when he had begun to
reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. 25 But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord
commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and
payment to be made. 26 The servant
therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me,
and I will pay thee all. 27 Then the
lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him
the debt. 28 But the same servant went
out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and
he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that
thou owest. 29 And his fellowservant
fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I
will pay thee all. 30 And he would not:
but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. 31 So when his fellowservants saw what was done,
they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done.
32 Then his lord, after that he had
called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt,
because thou desiredst me: 33 Shouldest
not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on
thee? 34 And his lord was wroth, and
delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.
35 So likewise shall my heavenly Father
do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother
their trespasses.
Continuing with the thoughts from the previous passage Peter seeks
clarification. How many times am I supposed to forgive? Jesus states an extreme
to make a point. You would be foolish to keep a record of how many times you’ve
forgiven someone so you don’t go over 77 times. The point is that we should be
liberal in our willingness to forgive, and to forgive again. This is in the
context of two equals in a church community. It is wicked to say that a child
who has been sexually abused or a person who has been experienced grievous
bodily harm at the hands of a malefactor, a criminal, must forgive especially
if that person is unrepentant or just upset that they got caught. The context
is within the church community, among equals before God.
There is a thought out there that if you can do nothing to get
justice or revenge or getbacks for a wrong you might as well forgive to keep
from having your bitterness burn inside of you. That’s fine but that is not the
intent of this passage which is about your duty before God to forgive a brother
or sister in Christ.
The king in this parable is God who has forgiven more than we can
imagine and we are the servant to whom much has been forgiven, something we
have not been willing to afford others who have wronged us much less than we
have wronged God.
Don’t make the mistake of taking this as a you will lose your
salvation if you don’t forgive a wrong. Jesus is making a point here and to
take this hyperliterally means that you will run around paranoid trying to
forgive every slight or act of disrespect and bringing every misunderstanding
before the church. These principles are Christian principles which require us
to bring our complaint to the brother or sister who we believe have wronged us
and then to the church if a couple of Godly friends can’t help. It reinforces
that we are not to go behind the offender’s back but to confront them directly
and we are not to get vengeance but to bring the matter to Godly friends and
then the church but be willing to forgive liberally unless there is no
repentance forthcoming.
Unfortunately in today’s consumer church a repeat offender just
moves on to a church that doesn’t know their bad behavior.
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