Join me in the Bible in Matthew 18 as we read verse 1 down to verse number 14, Matthew 18, and the Bible tells us here in Matthew 18 some powerful truths, and we're not going to get through all 14 verses today, but we're going to work through this. Verse 1, the Bible says, At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? Interesting question there, and Jesus does something that's very paradoxical to what they would have thought. He called a little child unto him and set him in the midst of them, and he said, Verily I say unto you, except you be converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Nobody saw that coming, right?
They weren't expecting that to be the answer. And then he goes on in verse 4, Whosoever therefore shall humble himself is this little child the same as greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. 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 depths of the sea. Woe unto the world because of offenses, for it must needs be that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh. Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off and cast them from thee, it's better for thee to enter into life, halt or maim, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. And if thine eye offend thee or causes you to stumble, pluck it out and cast it from thee, it's better for thee to enter into life with one eye rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire.
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. But the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. How thank ye if a man have a hundred sheep and one of them be gone astray?
Doth he not leave the ninety-nine and goth into the mountains? Seeketh that which is gone astray, and if it be so, so be that he find it. Verily I say unto you, he rejoices more of that sheep than of the ninety-nine which went not astray.
Even so, it's not the will of your Father which is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish." Father, we thank you for your word today. We ask that it would come alive in our hearts, help us to understand and grasp all that you have for us in your truth, the scriptures, and I praise you for your people today.
I thank you for the work you've done in our hearts. Thank you for the Holy Spirit that has regenerated us through the power of the Word of God and through the truth of Christ. And today, if anyone doesn't know the Lord, I pray today would be the day of salvation. And Lord, we pray today as we leave that we would be obedient children of yours.
We ask it in Christ's name. And God's people said, man, you may be seated today. This summer we had we have a busy summer in the ministries of the life of the church with camps and Vacation Bible School.
This year we had a record attendance in our VBS and looking forward to a great Awana year with our kids. And kids are just such a joy and a blessing and I'm so thankful for the children that God has given to the church. You know, kids can say some very interesting things sometimes. One of the teachers asked one of the kids, why didn't Noah go fishing?
And one of the children said he only had two worms. Another teacher said, what must you do to receive forgiveness of sin? The child said, you need to sin.
So, go out there and do some sin. Another young child said, never tell your mom her diet is not working. And so those are some things kids say. I won't continue on, but kids can say some things that are interesting.
I'll never forget the story of Pastor Simpson who was making some visitation rounds on his trusty bicycle. He went around a corner and saw a young boy trying to sell a lawnmower. And he said, how much do you want for it? And the boy said, I just need enough to buy a bicycle with. And so he said, will you take a trade for it? Will you take my bike for your lawnmower?
And he said, yeah, that's a great deal. And so the preacher took the mower and began to crank on it and he pulled the cord a few times and there was no reaction from the machine. And the preacher called the boy over and said, I can't get this mower to start. The little boy said, well my dad says you have to cuss at it to get it to start. And Pastor Simpson was a little bit put off by that. He says, son, I am a pastor and I do not cuss. I've been saved a long time and I don't even remember how to cuss. And the little boy said, you keep pulling that string and it'll all come back to you.
Oh boy, I know my sanctification has been tested more than once on a string that would not fire the machine, but I've learned a lot from children through the years and I'm so thankful for them. You know, it's interesting, a lot of people probably have never noticed, but in Matthew 21 when Jesus entered into Jerusalem, what's known as his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the Bible says when they were crying out, Hosanna blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord, the Bible tells us according to Matthew 21 verse 15 that it was actually the children that were crying in the temple and saying that. The children were the ones saying, Hosanna blessed is, and the chief priests were offended and said, do you not hear what they say?
And Jesus said, have you never read out of the mouth of babes and sucklings, thou has perfected praise? And so we can learn a lot about sincerity, about worship of God. You know, children I've seen just have such a heart for the Lord and for all of their many faults and failures as young children, they do have a faith, a belief in God.
I know when we have special services where we'll have maybe all the kids come in here on a Wednesday night during a revival, you have an invitation time, you'll see dozens of those kids come down and kneel and pray around and alter those third, fourth, fifth grade kids and and just have a heart that they don't, you know, if God moves in their heart they come and so often us as adults can can hinder the work of God in our hearts because we're worried about what other people think or kids they just are humbled before the Lord in such a manner. Now here in Matthew 18, Jesus has asked a question by the disciples concerning being great for God. They want to know who is the greatest in the kingdom. Now this is a big question for them and I would, I look at this maybe a little bit different. I think that they probably started off with with maybe the right motive. Maybe they were like, who do you think is the greatest in the kingdom?
And then somewhere along the lines it began to degenerate down into a prideful argument between them. But I will say I greatly appreciate their aim because the disciples did not ask who was the greatest king or who was the greatest general. They didn't ask as fishermen who is the greatest fisherman. It seems that they didn't care about those kind of things. But what they did care about was who is the greatest in the kingdom?
Who's done the greatest for God? Though I believe their aim was right, I fear that their motive got corrupted by pride. They wanted to be great for God but they unfortunately had a wrong motive. And in our life friends we not only have to have the right aim in life but we have to have the right motive in life. It's not simply about what we do for God but why we do it for God. But I do wish that more people desire to be great for God, to live for God, to be used by God, to focus on the eternal over the temporary. Listen young people, I encourage you to give your life to the Lord, to fully surrender to him. That no matter what you do, if you're a construction worker, if you're a preacher, if you're a salesman, if you're a businessman, no matter what field that God calls you into, that you would be great for God in whatever field that he has you to go into.
You have one life to live. Let God be the one who lives it through you. And I would ask parents today, do you desire for your children? Have you set before them a goal and a desire to be used by God?
Have you elevated the priorities of God over the priorities of the world? I would see it as failing as a parent if my kids were straight-A students, got a hundred and fifty thousand dollar a year job, and didn't know Jesus. That would not be success for me. That would be a utter failure. I would not be pleased.
I would be grieved on a daily basis. So it's good to be successful in academics, it's good to be successful in the system of working hard and achieving. Those are all good things, but they are nothing.
They are dust in comparison to the things of God. My dad told me when I was a young man growing up, he said, you know, your mom wanted to name you Brent. If my mom had her way, and she has her way probably 99% of the time, I would think, but he said if she had her way, you would have been named Brent. He said, but I wanted to call you Joshua because Joshua was used in a great way in the Bible, in the Old Testament, and I believed that you would be a leader of people, and I have three other brothers, and so he applied that name to my life, and whatever God's done in my life is only for God's glory. It's not anything in me, but I can tell you this, I had parents that had an aim and a desire even from infancy that our lives would be used for God, and I thank God for that. I remember as a young boy, my dad would put his hands on us, and he would pray blessings on us. He would take the Bible, he says, you know, in the Bible I see where they would bless their children, I'm gonna bless you, and he would pray for us, and pray over us, and ask God to use our lives. You know, God used these twelve disciples in a marvelous way. They shook the Roman Empire. I mean, they turned the world upside down through the power of the gospel, and because they gave their life to the hand of the Master Carpenter, I do find it interesting that when they come and ask this question, Jesus doesn't straight-up rebuke them, rather he shows them how to be great.
He's like, you want to be great? Let me tell you the pathway, and so today I want to look at just this amazing, powerful, even startling message that Jesus gives them, and he brings these lessons, he draws them from the life of a child, and I want to look at just, we're only going to get through the first five verses today. We're going to be observing the Lord's Supper at the end of service here, and I have restrained myself today.
This is a rare thing for me. I restrained myself from trying to push through 14 verses, which we would be over time, and everybody late to everything, so we're going to get through this today by God's grace. So the first thing today is in verse number three. The lesson that Jesus first gives them is that the kingdom must be entered as a child.
The kingdom must be entered into as a child. Now what is the kingdom of heaven? I think I need to answer that, and I do apologize our screens are down today because our computer system, we had a program on there that always decides to crash about two times in the year, and it's always on a Sunday morning.
Anybody love technology? You just love that, and so appreciate them being able to get some of the songs up on a different process this morning, but so that's why it's always important to bring your Bible, amen? And so if you do ever want an outline, we do provide those outlines on our, you can get those through our website as well as our church app and make that available to you so it has the outline with the verses in it. So what is the kingdom of heaven, and what is the difference between the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God? Well the kingdom of heaven is the idea of the rule of the king, like the word kingdom is the basileia, the realm of the rule. It's not so much a place as it is the realm that the king reigns over, and when you read Psalm 103 verse 19, you see the extent to which the Lord's kingdom rules. It says the Lord has prepared his throne in the heavens, and it says in his kingdom ruleth over all in Psalm 103 19. So God's kingdom is over all, and it rules over all. So it's the domain or the rule of the king.
Wherever the king is, is his kingdom, and he usurps authority over all. And some ask the question, is the kingdom of heaven different than the kingdom of God? And the Bible teaches they are actually the same thing. They're actually used in the book of Matthew at times, interchangeably. Now during this time in history, during this season of in the first century AD, the name of God was something that you would seldom hear on the mouth of Jews, because they reverence God so much that they did not want to take his name in a way that would dishonor him.
They feared blasphemy, so they they would refer to him as as Hasim, which is a Hebrew word for the name. And so Matthew wrote primarily to a Jewish audience, and because he wrote to the Jewish audience, he did not want to offend their sensibilities, so he transitioned the word for God instead of saying the kingdom of God into the kingdom of heaven. So that phrase is used 32 times in the Gospel of Matthew, and Matthew is the only one that uses the phrase kingdom of heaven, and that's why.
So you understand that. Now in regard to their question, before Jesus could speak of who is the greatest in the kingdom, he had to deal with how you get into the kingdom of heaven. Before you can ever do anything for God, you must make sure you're saved, and these disciples of Christ and people who were faithfully following Jesus at this time, yet Jesus wanted them to make sure they understood what salvation was. Listen, I don't care if you have gone to church your whole life and read through the entire Bible, that doesn't automatically mean that you're a believer in Jesus and that you're a Christian.
Jesus says, except you be converted and become as little children, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven. He's talking to his most faithful disciples here. You know, Paul warned in 2 Corinthians 13 5, examine yourself whether you are in the faith, prove your own selves, know ye not your own selves how that Jesus Christ is in you, except you be a reprobate.
And he's talking to a church. He says you need to examine to make sure you're Christian. Now listen, if you are a believer in Christ, and I don't think you'd probably be here today if you didn't have a level of faith in Christ, if somebody ever asks you about your salvation, that is not something you should ever get offended by. Paul says to examine ourself, and one of the most loving things you can do for someone is to ask them to make sure that they are a Christian. And I've seen Christians over the years at times, oh I can't, you know, they get upset about that, but that's not something to get upset. You should be like, hey, thank you for making sure that I am saved.
Right, you go to the hospital when you're healthy to get exams sometimes just to make sure you're not sick, right? And if we're thankful for a doctor to a physical exam, why would we not be thankful that a spiritual person would do a spiritual exam in our life? Now Jesus clearly taught that many who think they're going to heaven are actually not going to heaven. Jesus said in Matthew 7 verse 13 and 14, he says, I say unto you, straight as a gate and narrow as a way that leads to life, and he says, few there be that find it. For broad is the path that leads to destruction, and many there be that go in there at. And what's so potent about that statement is he says there's few on the narrow way, and there are many on the broad way. And then when you get to verse 21 through 23 of Matthew 7, he says, not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. So it's not everyone who says there are Christians going. He says it's the one who does the will of my Father.
Let me ask you a question. Is your life defined by obedience to the commands of God? The first command that it that must be there is that you would be baptized. Those who profess Christ, the first thing you're to do is to be baptized. If you got baptized as an infant, that doesn't count according to the Bible. The Bible teaches believe and be baptized.
When you're an infant, you have no faith, right? You weren't like, hey, I need to get baptized. You know how many times children were baptized in the Bible? Never.
Never. There's no infant baptism in the Bible. That was that was something that was created by the church, and I could get into that dialogue of feto baptism, but that's not the point of today. But the Bible teaches believe and be baptized. I got baptized as a kid. I got saved as a teenager, and then I got re-baptized. So if you're here today and you've got saved later in life after you were baptized when you were young as a kid or whatever, then you need to be re-baptized. You need to be baptized again, and you see that even happening in Acts 20, right? John the Baptist had several disciples who got re-baptized by Paul because they were baptized before they understood the New Testament reality of salvation, and they did not understand the work of the Holy Spirit and so forth.
Now, after you get baptized, it's to begin to serve God and be obedient to Him and all the things that God calls you to. It doesn't mean you're perfect. It's not perfection, but it is direction. Your life will be defined by a transformed life. Friend, I would ask you today, if you stood before God and He said, why should I let you into heaven, how would you respond to that? Jesus said, the way is narrow, few find it, many who say they're going will not be going.
I mean, those are some monumental statements. Now, these men want to know about who is the greatest, and Jesus says, before we can have that conversation, we have to have the conversation about how you get into the kingdom. And so He taught the eternal spiritual truths by spoken parables and symbolic actions as He does here in Matthew 18, too. So He calls a little child to Himself and set him in the midst. The word little child is pation in the Greek. It means a young child that can even actually refer to an infant. We know it does not refer to an infant because He called the child and the child came to Him. Now, the word for children here, when it's referring to children, are here speaking, I believe, both of young in age who have believed on the Lord, and that's what you see in verse 6. It says, these little ones which believe in Me, as verse 6 says, but it can also be a physically older person who has come to Christ, and the Bible calls those babes in Christ. Everybody enters the same way. Everybody enters salvation as a child, as a babe in Christ. No one comes as an adult.
You could be the CEO of a multi-million dollar company, and when you get saved, you're a baby, right? When you're a babe in Christ, you come through that door. In Mark's parallel account, they're actually in the house, in a house in Capernaum. As I said last week, very likely this is Peter's house. Remember, I showed you the picture of Peter's house.
Peter's house, this is possibly even Peter's child. We know that he was married because he went into, he had a mother-in-law, according to Matthew 8, and so it's interesting when you read Mark's account of this, that he actually takes the child up in his arms. He calls the little child, the child comes to him, and Jesus picks him up in his arms.
Let me ask you a question. What does that make you think when the God who creates all things takes time to put his hands on a child, to hold that child, to care for that child? Do you think that child's in a safe place at that point? To see the tenderness and care of Almighty God loving and caring for this child? We know later in Matthew 19 that he put his hands on and blessed all the infants and children that they were bringing to him.
All the moms, you could see them, like, bless my child, you know, bless my child. And the disciples were like, keep them, keep them kids back. And Jesus is like, don't forbid them kids to come unto me for such as a kingdom of heaven. And he rebukes his disciples for such a mindset that would restrict kids from coming to Jesus.
And I think that has something to say for us as well. If your children want to follow Jesus, you better not restrict them. If they're like, hey, I want to be baptized, well, do they truly understand?
They probably understand more than we realize and we need to not restrict them if they have a desire to follow Christ. Now Matthew 18 verse 3 says this, and he said, verily I say to you, except you be converted and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. The word converted there, it means to turn or to change.
It's trefo in the Greek. Salvation is referred to as conversion, being converted. It simply means you have been changed. You're not what you used to be. You went from one course of life or one path of life to another. You went from the broad road to the narrow road. This is really the idea of the word repentance, that you would change directions, you would change courses.
You're on a different road now. We live in a day when people want salvation without conversion. They want heaven, but they want earth as well. They want the Savior, but they want their sin. Jesus says, unless you are changed, unless you're converted, you're not entering God's kingdom. You're not going into His kingdom. Our world is filled with people who say they are a child of God, but they live like they're of this earth.
They live no different than the lost. Listen to what the Bible says to that. Titus 1 16 says this, they profess that they know God, but in works they deny Him.
Is that true of you? And I believe most people hear your testimony is clear that you're a child of God, but let me ask you, if I were to sit down with the ten closest co-workers of yours, and you didn't know I was going to do that, and I asked each of them, hey, is so-and-so a believer in Jesus Christ? Are they a Christian?
Is there enough evidence that you've seen in their life that would convict them of being a believer, or would you come to the conclusion they're not truly saved? What would it say? And I can tell you, it doesn't matter what you say, I think what they say says more than what you would say.
Y'all agree with me? Maybe you do, maybe you don't. So some of you didn't want to say anything, I guess. But I can tell you this, people around you will know it. Jesus said you'll know them by their what? I mean, you can go to somebody who's not a botanist and say, is that an apple tree when the season's in? And they can be like, you know what, I've never planted a tree before, I've never planted anything, but that's an apple. I mean, if they can tell an apple, do you think they can tell that God's in you? Shouldn't that be more potent and real?
Right? I mean, with a woman, you can tell when they have a baby in their womb, unless you're like my four-year-old child back in the day, in the Walmart checkout line, and she said, Daddy, look, she's pregnant. I was like, no, she's not, shut up, get over here. No, no, no. Boy, that was a uncomfortable... Are you the preacher at Lighthouse? I don't know, no, no, I don't think so.
Lighthouse hurt all the day, buddy. Cover that thing up. But there should be evidence, you know, when Jesus comes in, he should come out, should be some reality to that. People today want a cheap gospel, one that doesn't cost them anything. Matthew 15 8, Jesus says, these people draw off nigh unto me with their mouth, honor with me with their lips, but they're, what?
He said, their heart is far from me. They go through the motions, they have a verbal commitment, but not a genuine commitment. And one thing you find about a false believer is they're very verbal. That's what James 2 says, though you say you have faith without what?
Without works. They're a very verbal faith. Oh, I believe in Jesus. You ever have somebody tell you that and you're like, really? Like, shocks you. You're like, whoa. Like, okay.
Didn't see that coming. I remember when I got saved as a teenager. I mean, I went from darkness to light, man. I mean, I was, I was a kid that you would not have wanted your kids to be around. I was that kid.
They'd have been like, don't hang out with that Josh Bevin kid, he's bad news. I remember when I went to a new school, they found out about how I behaved in the old school. You know, and it kind of hurt your feelings, but I was like, you know, it's, they're right.
You know, I'm a degenerate kid, man. But when I got saved, he changed me. And I remember talking, and it was all of God, but I remember telling some friends like, man, I don't want to listen to that stuff anymore.
So they're like, what's wrong with you, man? I was like, I gave my life to Jesus. And I remember some of my friends being like, yeah, I'm a Christian, too.
I'm like, there's no way you're a Christian, man. Like, when did this happen? Like, what? Like, I mean, that's what people do, though.
Anybody ever had somebody like, and it's like, oh, really? Oh, I didn't see that coming. You hide him well, right? Jesus isn't to be hidden.
He isn't to be masked over. A hidden Jesus is no Jesus. It doesn't mean you go to work and you're like, hey, I'm a Christian.
And you'd go around telling everybody, but that's not what it is. But it means that the way you operate in your life reflects the Bible, reflects Christ, and your conversations reflect a redeemed life. Not a perfect life, but it reflects the Redeemer. Jesus made clear only those truly converted, those who are changed, turned their life over to God will be saved. Now, why did Jesus say, become as little children? Mark 10 15, he says, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein. Now, what are the things that represent or characterize children? I would say the first thing that characterizes a child is their utter dependence.
If you left your little child that you could pick up in your arms, a little child like that that Jesus is holding, the first thing you would see about them is, if they don't have a parent, they don't continue living, right? If they didn't have someone to care, provide shelter, food, protection, all their needs, they can't survive on their own. They represent one who is totally dependent. That's why we call them dependents.
And the only time we really enjoy that is probably during tax season, right? Other times they cost us, right? But they are such a blessing. But to be saved, friends, is to come to God recognizing you are a child who has no ability to save yourself.
You come needy, fully dependent on the Lord. The other thing is, children have no great accomplishments. They haven't done anything. The reason that they are cherished, loved, and cared for is because the benevolence of the parent. It's not because the child has, like, earned that love.
They haven't done anything. Usually it's just constantly feeding them and then cleaning up the effects of what food does to their system after a while, right? I mean, you're just constantly caring for these children. But it's the relationship to the parent and it's the love of the parent that provides for the child.
They are total dependents. And we come to God, it's not based on our worthiness. It's not based on our accomplishments. It's based only on the goodness of a benevolent God who has chosen to love us while we were yet sinners, Romans 5-8. This is coming as a child.
You come saying, nothing in my hand I bring only to his cross-cycling. This is the dependent nature of salvation. That's why when I talk to people I say, hey, if you stood before God and he said, why should I let you in heaven, what would you say?
And when people start saying things like this, I know that they have not understood what it means to be a child yet. When they say, you know what, I feel like I'm a pretty good person. You know, I treat people good and they begin to go through their resume.
Do you think you're gonna present a resume to him? The Bible says there's none righteous, no not one, none that doeth good, no not one, right? A man came to Jesus and said, what good thing could I do to have eternal life? Jesus says, there's no one good but God. So are you God?
And that answer is no. And so we must come in that manner. The second thing is a child, children can be humble sometimes, but the child here represents humility. As verse 4 goes on to say, to humble yourself as a child. But children in those days didn't eat first in the line, they didn't rule the family like so often can do in our homes today where they run everything schedule wise, attention wise, and all of that. But children in those days were on the bottom of the totem pole.
They were the humblest in society. And so Jesus here is expressing that children, you have to come like a child, you have to come humble like a child, you have to come, you know, when you want to say something honorable to somebody or kind of them, you don't, or if somebody wants to demean you, I'd say, if somebody wanted to demean you, they wouldn't say to you, you know you're acting like an adult. They would say you're acting like a child, right? And so when he says you need to be like a child, that's like, it was very, very much, it would be put off in that culture, very like awkward, and they would disdain that idea. And so you would have to really humble yourself.
You would have to really lower yourself down. And and do you remember the first beatitude that Jesus gave in Matthew 5, the greatest sermon? He said, blessed are the poor in spirit, theirs is the kingdom of God. You want to enter the kingdom, you come poor in spirit. What's that mean? It means that you recognize you have no spiritual currency to pay God.
You have nothing to offer him. You come humble, you come as a beggar begging for the bread of eternal life. You enter that way and yours is a kingdom. And the other thing is, children have simple faith. Jesus called a little child, the child didn't say, hey what do you want? The child just came running over. Wouldn't it be a beautiful picture?
They say, who's the greatest? Jesus said, hey, hey little Peter, little Simon Peter's boy maybe, come over here. The little boy comes running over and jumps up and Jesus picks the boy up.
You know what that's a picture of? The Lord calling, the little child obeying, and running into the arms of their Savior. Faith to come, faith to believe that he is benevolent, faith to believe that he will welcome me in, faith to believe that he called and I simply respond.
You know what we do as adults? Well, you know, if I make that decision, do you have any apologetical arguments like the kalam cosmological argument or some some other argument to prove the existence of God? Some teleological arguments or eschatological arguments? Something that defines like how do I know there's a God? You don't have to go through all these apologetical arguments to defend the reality of God to a child. They just believe, right?
They represent for us simple faith to come. Now I don't believe the Bible wants us to have a childish faith, but we all start off with a childlike faith, but our faith should grow. The Bible says to grow up in him in all things, Ephesians 4 15, that we start off as babes in Christ, but we shouldn't end as babes in Christ.
We should grow up as a mature, spiritually mature person, as 1st Corinthians chapter 3 and Ephesians 4 talks about. So Jesus taught to enter the kingdom you have to come as a child and have you come that way. The second thing here is to be great in the kingdom we must humble ourselves like a child, and we see this in verse 4.
To be great in the kingdom, secondly, you must humble yourself like a child. Notice what he says in verse 4. Let's read verse 4 together. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Now verse 3, Jesus shows them how they enter the kingdom. In verse 4, he teaches them how to be great. Verse 4, one of the ways people can put someone down again is to say you are just a child, not an adult, and so by bringing this child is setting before them the humblest in society.
And I think it's important to understand that greatness in God's economy is really reversed than what our world's economy is. Jesus pointed this out in Matthew 20, the week before he lays his life down the disciples are upset because, do you remember James and John's mom come to Jesus and say, hey can my son sit on your right hand or on your left hand in the kingdom? You know, I'm sure she had the mindset, I know they're the best. They're clearly better than Peter.
I mean, you know, can they sit on your right? And it made the other disciples upset. So not only were they arguing over who was the greatest at times, but even their mom gets involved in this, right? So in response to that, Jesus says in Matthew 20 verse 25, he says, he called them to himself and he says, you know how the princes of the Gentiles exercise authority over people? That because they have a certain title that gives them authority. He said, it's not gonna be so among you. He said this, but whosoever will be great among you let him be your minister or servant. And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your, it's the Greek word doulos which means slave.
You to be the greatest be the slave of everyone. Even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many. So if you want to be great for God, then recognize it's not about esteeming yourself.
Matthew 23 11, he says, he that is grazed among you shall be your servant. Whoever shall exalt himself will be abased and he that humbles himself shall be exalted. What's interesting is greatness in God's economy and in his eyes is not found by elevating ourselves to the top and the front of the line but going to the back of the line.
Greatness is not by fighting for the top but serving from the bottom. Philippians chapter 2 verse 3 and 4 says this, that nothing be done through strife or vain glory, empty glory, but in lowliness of mind. It says this, this is the way we know if we are humble.
By lowliness of mind you esteem others as better or more important or more valuable than yourself. It's really the fulfillment of the second commandment, right? Loving others as we love who?
You guys familiar with the second commandment, right? Okay, loving others as we love ourselves. Now we live in a world that wants to focus on who?
Ourself. It's called self-esteem. How often do you hear the problem? You know the problem with the society today is we don't have enough others' esteem.
That's not the problem. They say, well we need to elevate self-esteem, self-worth. How has that worked itself out in our society? Oh, it's created narcissism, right? It's created somebody who doesn't know how to brush their teeth or clean their room thinking he'll be a CEO of a business, right? Okay, that's hilarious to me because I've seen that play out in life where I have young people through the years at times like, hey what are you gonna do when you, you know, I'm gonna start this business and do this and I'm thinking. Getting a job might be a good start, like learning to work and get up on time to go to school.
That's the beginning. You think owning a business because you want to, this high view of self and, but I can tell you this, the thing that all of us fight in our depravity is a desire to lift self up. We want to race to the top. When I grew up we had a pond and we would have a dock out there and we'd play King of the Mountain, you know, you'd knock each other off and, you know, it's all about the only way you claimed the mountain was to knock other people off and it would usually start somewhat friendly but because it's just a bunch of guys it would end up pretty rough but you battle that way.
But I know that when I was in the business world before I went into ministry I would see that as well. People would fight for the top and undercut each other and lying to see even. It was just some crude stuff that people would do and, you know, as an athlete this can happen. What this looks like is if you're an athlete you would rejoice more in the success of your teammates than your own success. It'd be like I'm so glad they made the game-winning shot. I'm so glad the other running back got more yards. I'm so glad if you're in business that the other person had more sales than I did this month. I'm so glad that the other realtor was able to have such success. I'm so glad that that other, my neighbors, are doing so well. You're more excited about their successes than your own. Is that easy to do? Anybody ever found that to be a natural consequence of humanity?
You know, that's not how this thing works, is it? You know, you go to the gym. I go to the gym in the morning. They'd be like, yes, you lifted more than me. I'm so thrilled by that. And you would just be excited for other people.
Now, Jesus, in his life, was the most humble person to ever live on this planet. It's just daunting. It's really daunting because when he came to the earth, you know, when we're born we only receive.
You know, we're born, in the Kentucky language, buck-nooked, right? You come with nothing. They clothe you. They feed you. You don't pay them.
You do nothing but scream at them. They feed you, clothe you, change you, hold you, warm you, burp you. They just, everything's done for you. They house you.
They stroll you around in a stroller. I mean, this is just, we don't even, you don't even realize, you know the best we were ever treated. We don't even really get the capacity to ever to really enjoy it. Wouldn't it be nice if you were fully understanding, like, man, this is nice.
Ah, you know, you scream out, bring me some food. Probably got some kids that still do that as teenagers, but cut them off, parents, cut them off. This, but, but as children, it is also to grow up, to mature, to not just focus on yourself, but to elevate other people. And one of the mindsets of the world is that they would always just focus on being served, but as a Christian, it's to serve other people.
It's to minister into other people's lives. And when we clothe ourself with humility, that's what that does. I think about John 13. He says, you called me master and Lord and say well, for so I am. He said, if I am your Lord and master and you wash my feet, ought you not also to wash one another's feet?
For I have given you an example that you should do as I've done unto you. And you think about babies physically born in the world and everything's given to them, but when Jesus came to the world, everything he gave up to enter the world. He gave up glory.
He already had everything. He's the only child that was ever born that lost things when he came, that was given up things. And not only was he born humbly, but he lived humbly and at the end of his life, the day before he dies, he's washing the feet of people that were arguing over who was the greatest.
I mean, you could not get any lower. He esteemed them as more important than himself. I have never gotten over John 13 through 18. I spent a couple years preaching through the Gospel of John. When you land in chapter 13 through 18, you get the last day before he dies.
They're in the upper room, the whole setting. And you would think for one time in his existence that he would focus on himself. Like he was like, you know what guys, for the last three years I've provided for you, cared for you, fed you, all these things.
You know what, tomorrow I'm gonna die. And can you guys just put your hands on me, pray for me, care for me, minister for me? It's none of that. Not one time does he complain, not one time does he argue, not one time does he like, hey can you do something for me? It's all about them. He's like, peace I leave with you, and he's praying for them. John 17, the entire chapter is a prayer for them. I mean, he's just pouring into them, he's caring for them. This is the God that we serve.
And then people come along and say, so you're gonna tell me God's a good God, and they have no comprehension. This God that we have, the Lord Jesus Christ, the humility that he shows, the Bible refers to him even as Christians. For us, he's our elder brother. He's our Lord, Savior, King, and God, but he's also our elder brother, the first begotten. And should we not be like him?
One day we're gonna stand before his nail pierced hands, and I just wonder what kind of service our life will reflect in response. What kind of humility that we will have shown. You know there's, humility draws you close to Christ, and one thing will keep you from him is pride. Psalm 10 verse 4 said, the wicked through the pride of his countenance will not seek after God. Pride always keeps people from God.
If you're not saved, do not let pride keep you from him. And then let me give you a third point today, is receiving children is to receive Christ. Verse 5, he says, in whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me.
This is so incredible. He says, if you receive a little child, that is, whoever will receive with love, kindness, and care, one who has a spirit like this child, who has come humbly, who's come meek, who has received Christ, who is a child of God. If you receive that person, it's as though they are receiving Christ himself. In other words, how you treat a child of God is how you're treating the God of that child. Now children here speak of those who have placed their faith in Christ, those who belong to him, as well as somebody that I believe it can also refer to children who are young, who have not come to the age of accountability, who aren't old enough to even understand the gospel. You know the Bible refers to physical children that are young, that are before the age of understanding as God's children.
I've had people say, well you know the Bible doesn't say children go to heaven when they die, it doesn't explicitly say that, but it does implicitly imply that. And just, I could do a whole message on this, but in Ezekiel 16 verse 20, this is fascinating, God is talking to pagan nations. He says, thou has taken thy sons and thy daughters whom thou has borne to me, and thou has sacrificed them to be devoured.
In those days they would take in among the Philistines and some of the other pagan groups at that time, they would take their children in the outstretched arms of Molech or Dagon, they would put, there was a fire, and they would lay their child in sacrifice to that pagan God as that child would die. Such a wicked, evil, hellish act. And he says, and you sacrifice them to be devoured.
Is this of thy whoredoms a small matter? He says that you have slain my children. You know how many times the Bible refers to unbelievers as his God's children?
Zero. He calls children that are not yet at the age of accountability, he says they're my children, they're God's. You know Jesus blessed little children in Matthew 19. You know many times he puts his hands on and blesses unbelievers?
Never. There are many, David said, I cannot bring my child back to me, but I can go to be with him. A lot of other thoughts could be given, but God lays full ownership of those children that were offered in sacrifice. So I think when he says here, whoever receives a little child and my name receives me, we know according to verse 3, anybody who comes as a child is a child of God.
They become like a little child. We know in 1st John he says, little children, this last time I write unto you, and he calls the believers there that he's writing to in 1st John, little children, four times. Even the disciples are called little children earlier in Matthew chapter 12. So Jesus says, whosoever shall receive one such little child in my name.
Now what does that mean? It means for my sake. You receive them because they belong to me or on the grounds of your relationship with Christ. Christ is your motive and because of that you receive this child. Jesus is the reason you're receiving them, not the goodness of the child, but the goodness of Christ.
You have a vertical motive that has lived itself out in a horizontal reception of that child. So when Jesus says, whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receives me, I believe primarily is referring to one who has become a child in the faith, who has done what Jesus said in verse 3, but it also can speak of physically young children who belong to God. Now the primary point of this, and you need to get this, is how we treat fellow believers in Christ who become children and put their faith in Christ, as well as how we treat young children who belong to God, is the tangible way in our physical life how we will serve Jesus.
Jesus attaches himself to children in the faith or children in general in essence. As parents, we understand this. If somebody blesses your child, you find out they did, they went over and above and did something special for your child, you feel it, don't you? It's as though they did it to you personally. In the same way, if somebody abused your child and hurt your child, you feel it.
It's as though they did it to you. And we see this in Acts 9, don't we? When Jesus came to Paul, he says, Saul, Saul, he said, why are you persecuting who? He says, me. Saul was persecuting believers, the children of God, but he says, I feel it.
You're persecuting me. And this is such a powerful truth, and I want us to get this. He's attaching himself to the life of this child. And here there is an application of humility that's real and tangible. You want to be humble, verse 4, verse 5, this is how.
This is how you do this. How you treat a fellow believer in Christ, Jesus feels the effect of that. How you minister to the humblest in society, little children, for the sake of God, God feels it. And in heaven, Jesus, in Matthew 25, is rewarding some saints. And he told them how they cared for him and how he clothed, they clothed him and how they visited him. And these saints in heaven are like, this is what they say to Jesus in Matthew 25, verse 34. Then shall the king say to them on his right hand, come blessed of the Father, inherit the kingdom, prepare for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me meat, I was thirsty, you gave me a drink, I was a stranger, you took me in, I was naked, you clothed me, I was sick, you visited me in prison, you came to me. And they said, when did we do these things for you?
We didn't see you on the earth. Like, what are you talking about, Jesus? In Matthew 25, verse 40, and the king shall answer and say, verily I say, as much as you've done it unto one of the least of these, my brethren, you have done it to me. And so Jesus is attaching himself to the, in life, physically, to the people around us who are believers, and even the most humblest of believers. In the words of James 1 27, he says, pure religion and undefiled is to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep yourself unspotted from the world. To minister to the most helpless, widows and fatherless in those cultures were completely helpless. And what Jesus is saying, when you minister in that arena, you're literally doing it to Jesus himself. So he's saying, you guys want to know how to be great, first make sure you're a child of God, humble yourself like a child, and minister to others in a way that reflects that kind of humility. Greatness in God's economy, in other words, involves how you treat the least. Children were the lowest on the social ladder in that culture.
In Judaism, according to Daryl Brock, children were 12 and under weren't even taught the Torah because they just didn't, they considered them a waste of time. It's an amazing thought. If you want to be great, it isn't about promoting self, it's about promoting the least. Jesus is saying, value this child in my name or because your love for me, receive the value of this child and esteem them. What God values is much different than what we value. We lift up the greats and Jesus is lifting up the least.
The greatest in that world at that time were the 12 and Jesus lifts up a child and says, you want to be great, begin to serve in this capacity. Here, look at this child, this is the path to value what the world devalues, to elevate what the world deflates, to lift up what the world puts down. God's economy of greatness, things work in reverse. The weak are the strong, the humble are the exalted, the meek are the great ones, those who lose their life find it, those who give are the ones who receive, those who die will live, those who deny themselves receive everything, those that receive a child, the lowest will receive the Lord the highest. Are you living in that economy?
Are you living in that economy? It's so paradoxical to our depravity, our nature and the world system that the only way you'll do it is if Christ is your motive. In his name, in his name. Luke 14, Jesus said it this way, he said, when you, when you make a feast, don't call the popular people, don't call the rich, the famous, all those people, he says, because they'll pay you back. He says, I tell you who to call, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind.
And he says, and then you'll be best blessed because they cannot repay you, but you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just. I would ask the question, how do you treat the lowest on the totem pole in the church? Is nursery under you? Is it too little of a job? I wonder if baby Jesus were back in the nursery, how many ladies would be like, man, I want to work in the nursery. Do you understand that's a reality? You know Jesus is in the nursery every week? You know he's in the toddlers class? You know he's in the kids class? You know Jesus is the kids getting on the bus?
You know he's that, he's that person that's so poor they don't have a vehicle and they can't, and so they have to get picked up? Let me ask you, is your leather seat so good that you wouldn't let that person sit on it? If you haven't worked in the nursery or in the kids classes, I encourage you to volunteer for that. You need to be a member, you need to be somebody who's, we know that's saved and you've been here for a while, we have a have a process to make sure there's safety back there, but but you need to plug in, you need to minister. I can tell you this, you want to serve Jesus? It's not by sitting in a pew, it's by serving people.
Do you understand what he's saying? When you do it to the least of these, that's how you're doing it to me. Lord, when did we see you? It was when you did it, those things that nobody saw and they could never repay. One of the greatest testimonies to our faith is what we do to people who have no ability to pay us back. I learned humility from my father and and I'm not as humble as my father, but I remember my father at times, he would bring home homeless people, which my mom was not a fan of. And I'm not saying for you to do that, but he had such a big heart that he would, he would just, my dad would dress up like Abraham or Moses and go teach in a kid's class. My dad drives a bus, he goes and picks up elderly people, he goes and picks up children, he's gonna be turning 70, not sitting on the sidelines. What have you done? What have I done?
Is it below us? My wife was nine months pregnant driving a church van in Chillicothe. She was going on 12 months probably at the time. She was ready to have that baby.
I mean, she was ready to have that baby. It's not about, it's not about making a name for ourself. Do you understand, and sometimes you say, oh I would do that, I would serve those. It starts with what I'm already doing. I remember when I was in Chillicothe, this little kid, he was the biggest punk in the kids department. You know, and there's some kids you just like better than others. This kid just drove me nuts, man. And he came up to me one day, he's like, hey Josh, can you tie my shoe? And I'm thinking, I want to whip your tails what I want to do. And I felt like the Lord telling me, would you do that for Jesus? Now he didn't verbally tell me that, but I had read enough the Bible for him to bring that back to my mind, and I'm telling you, it humbled me. And I got down on my knees and I tied that little dirty kid's shoe, that dirty shoe, and that kid was just mouthy, man.
He's not thank you, he's not, hey give me a high five, he just tie it, you know, and then he runs off. But you know what, I'm not looking for your praise today. I have failed more in that area than I've succeeded in life, but we need to learn to humble ourself. This is where it is, and those opportunities are all in this church around us, caring for people, loving people, ministering for people.
Hey, I'll make some food for that that funeral, or I'll help with that event, or I'll help with that kid's class, or I'll help with that. I can tell you, if Jesus were here, we'd be like, hey I'll do it for Jesus right there, I see him. And Jesus, Jesus creates in our lives such paradoxical issues that the only way you would do it is if you believed him. And so today we've looked at three lessons. If you want to enter the kingdom, you've got to be converted like a child. If you want to be great for God, you've got to humble yourself. And how you treat children is how you and I treat Christ. Let's all stand this morning with heads bowed, eyes closed.
