Lessons from a Child Pt 2

Well if you would join me in Matthew 18. Matthew 18, we're going to read verse 1 down to verse 14, this great passage of Scripture that has so many weighty truths.

We're going to look at today. Verse 1, the Bible says in Matthew 18, at the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them. Said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. And then he transitions in verse 6 and says, 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. Pretty, pretty staggering words from the loving Jesus, aren't they? Woe unto the world because of offenses, for it must needs be that offenses come, but woe unto the 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 life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. And if thy eye offend thee, pluck it out, 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. For 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 goeth into the mountain, and seeketh that which is gone astray? And if it so be they find it, verily I say unto you that he rejoiceth 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 your word before us is is like the greatest riches that we could ever receive from you. We thank you for the truth. We pray that today it would be written on our hearts that we would receive the truth in our lives that we might walk according to your word. Lord give us wisdom today to understand and discern what you have for us today. Help us to examine our lives. Lord help us to live a life that's void of offense, that we would live a life that's honoring to our King. You are deserving of all that we have and all that we are. And Lord today if anyone doesn't know Christ that today would be the day of salvation, glorify your name in this place. We ask it in Jesus name and God's people said amen.

You may be seated today. Well this morning we continue in our verse-by-verse study through the wonderful Gospel of Matthew and Jesus is about six to eight months away from the cross and he is here in chapter 18 asked a question by his disciples about who the greatest in the kingdom is. Now I know that pride had swelled up in their hearts and they were began to argue over who was the greatest but I will say I appreciate their desire to see what greatness is in the eyes of God.

The disciples did not ask him who was the greatest king or the greatest ruler or the greatest Caesar but rather they're asking who is the greatest in God's eyes. You know the most popular position in America is that of the office of president. We've had 46 presidents. Many of you could name a multitude of presidents. Probably a few of you could name all 46 but we think about the the presidents of our United States that have been so important as figures and people of influence but you know hundreds of years from now if Christ does not return in that time that people may not remember hardly any of the presidents naming maybe just a few. Do you know if I were to ask you today can you name three of the emperors of Rome? Many of you could do that but some of you would struggle to name three of the emperors of Rome and Rome was the greatest empire on the earth 2,000 years ago and reign over everything for hundreds and hundreds of years and there were 77 emperors and my point is simply this is what the world elevates as time goes on becomes de-elevated in the realm of eternity. People elevate things that don't really matter. LeBron James will not be remembered much in a few hundred years probably so hopefully they'll remember better ones like Michael Jordan or something but now I believe that their aim was right they they wanted to know what was great in the eyes of God but their motive was corrupted by pride they wanted to be great for God but unfortunately their motive deteriorated into an argument among the guys but I do wish that more people were concerned about being great for God to live for God to live a life that matters for the glory of God. Now what is interesting about this Jesus doesn't straight-up rebuke them instead of rebuking them he shows them how to be great and he walks through five different truths in this passage that we're going to look at today we looked at three of them last week and I want to review them quickly because they're foundational and then we're gonna spend our time today on the final two. The first thing Jesus does is he calls a little child into the midst of them now he was in Capernaum which is a little village really village more of a city little city town where Peter Andrew James and John lived and I showed you a picture there a few weeks ago and and they were just right on the Sea of Galilee there and this is very likely in Peter's home many commentators believe that this very likely could have been Peter's own son or child or we don't know if it's his boy or girl but calls his child but we know it was a it was a child that was old enough to the word here is pey on in the Greek it could be an infant or a little child we know it's a little child because the child came to him when he called them and Mark's account says he picked the child up in his arms and that a great picture the Son of God the creator of all things holding this child and and he begins to use this child like a parable to teach them spiritual truths from a physical example and the first thing he teaches them is is not how to be great but how to enter the kingdom because before you can be great for God you got to make sure you're going into the kingdom of God and so he tells them in verse 2 after he calls a little child study him in the midst he says in verse 3 verily I say unto you except you be converted and become as little children he said you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven salvation here is referred to as being converted it means to be changed to be altered to be something that you're not now and we live in a world today where people want to be saved but they don't want to be converted they still want to live their life but they want to have a eternal security card right let me pray a prayer of assurance and then of insurance and then maybe I can get to heaven it doesn't work like that JD Greer rightly wrote a book that says stop asking Jesus in your heart one of the most impactful preachers in our country and he's right the Bible never says ask Jesus in your heart the Bible teaches salvation is a submission to Jesus as the Lord of your life that you come to him and repent of your sins and fully commit your life to the Lord the Bible says that if you shall confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart God raised him from the dead you shall be saved there is a confession that Jesus is the Lord of your life you submit to him the thief on the cross didn't say Jesus come into my heart the thief on the cross said Lord remember me in your kingdom confessed him as Lord and today that is you recognizing Jesus is God very God that you would bow your life to him and trust in him as your Lord and Savior and when you do that you will be changed that's why the Bible says unless you're changed then you're not converted Titus 1 16 says they profess that they know God but in works they deny him Jesus says it's not everyone who calls me Lord that is even entering it's he that do with the will of my father which is in heaven it's not that works save you it's that works expose you because if you're truly saved it will be evidenced in your life so are you entering the kingdom you must come as a child and children are dependent they don't come with resources and so as a child you must come with that kind of a humble spirit saying Christ you are my sufficiency receive me not based on my worthiness or goodness but based on your worthiness and goodness secondly Jesus taught to be great in the kingdom you must humble yourself like a little child in verse 4 he says whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child the same as the greatest in the kingdom of heaven now greatness in God's economy we looked at was not by fighting for the top but fighting for the bottom Jesus said it's not who has the title that elevates himself it's the one who humbles themselves in Matthew 20 27 he says whosoever will be chief among you let him be your servant they that humbled himself he said will be exalted so that's the way God's economy works I would ask you for self-reflection with those in your life consider you to be a humble person does your life evidence that you serve other people do you have a servant-hearted mindset and I love how I see that in so many in this church and what a blessing you are and that is a that is a way to glorify God and to be rewarded by the King now the third truth that Jesus gives here is in verse 5 he tells us how to tangibly reveal that humility and he says in verse number 5 and who so shall receive one such little child in my name receives who receives me the point here is this the little child here is not simply like a physical child it's little little child here is referring to someone who did what he says to do in verse 3 they have been converted and became like a little child and when you do that when you become a child of God when you become a believer then when somebody receives you because you are a child of Christ then they are in effect receiving Christ how they treat you is how they're retreating the Lord and if you have children you know that to be the case if somebody hurts your child you feel the effect if somebody blesses your child you feel the effect and that is what he's teaching here now in heaven in Matthew 25 Jesus is rewarding Saints in heaven for their life on earth what's fascinating he says he says I'm gonna bless you and reward you because when when when you were on earth he says and I was hungry you fed me when I was thirsty you gave me to drink and he begins to go through all of these things when I was naked you clothed me when I was in prison you came and visited me and the Saints are like when did we see you Jesus we never saw you on the earth and his response was as much as you've done it to the least of these my brethren you have done it to me so what Jesus is teaching is tangibly how you treat other believers and especially those who are the least of the believers those who can who have the least abilities to repay you back is how you're treating Christ so if you want God to be honored by your life how you treat other believers is the tangible way that you are treating Jesus Christ and he will bless you for that so if receiving and loving and blessing a child of God is to minister to Christ if ministering to the least is actually ministering to the greatest which tangibly is like people who are working with the nursery and the kids classes and and helping those that have the no ability to repay them is really honoring Christ the greatest this morning then what would it mean to offend hurt in or injure a child of God to disrupt their faith and that brings us to point number four in verse number six look what he says in verse six he says but who so shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck that he were drowned in the depths of the sea that is a heavy statement isn't it we're gonna spend a few moments on this so there's two questions one is who are the little ones and what does it mean to offend first of all little ones here is speaking of those who believe on Jesus because in verse six he says who so shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me these are these are Christians they could be physically of young age and but they could spiritually be those who just simply believe on him it doesn't mean that they're a young Christian necessarily you can be an older Christian be called a little one first John the epistle first John was written by the aged John and he writes to the church to believers in first John and six times he refers to the believers he's writing to as little ones or little children first John 2 and my little children I'm writing unto you now he's not writing to a junior church he's not writing to a kid's class he's writing to older physically older believers but they're in his eyes he sees them as precious children of God and and he has a as a term of endearment as he sees himself as being a father in a sense to them and loving them and bringing them God's truth Jesus also calls the disciples little children in John 13 33 he says to the 12 disciples little children yet a little while am I with you you shall seek me and as I said to the Jews with our go you cannot come soon I say to you and he was telling them that the day before he died in the upper room in Matthew 10 this is a pretty interesting passage Jesus sends his 12 disciples out to preach the gospel to different cities and here in Matthew 10 it really reflects the same sentiment that you find in Matthew 18 in Matthew 10 verse 40 he says this he that receives you as I send you out to preach whoever receives you because in those days you would go preach and they didn't have like call the head seating it you know they didn't have a like a restaurants to go eat at like that they didn't have like hotels to stay in they would go preach and say is there anywhere I can stay and people were already hospital was the nature of the culture to say hey come and dine with me come and stay at my place and they would invite you in and he says when they do that if they receive you like that they are receiving me because when they the message you're caring is not your message it's my message and what they do to the messenger is what they're doing to the one who sent you and then he says in verse 41 of Matthew 10 he that receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophets reward he that receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man receives a righteous man's award reward and then he concludes in verse 42 he says in whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these and now he's calling his disciples little ones one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple or because he is a disciple of mine verily I say to you he shall in the wise lose his reward so it's one thing to house them and to feed them he says but even if somebody as my little one as one who I'm sending out if they even give you a cup of cold water he said he said they will not lose their reward this is a very powerful reality Jesus is attaching eternal heavenly rewards to earthly service to God's people true disciples show kindness and hospitality to one another and and you need to know this that even in the small and insignificant ways that you can minister to other Christians is the tangible way you will minister to Jesus and it will be remembered and rewarded by God you say Lord when did I hold that door open for you it was when that elderly lady who was coming in in her chair and you held that door open and it cost you some time but you wanted to make sure she got in safe and God records that in and when you took that umbrella and you saw that elder man who was struggling to get in out of the rain and you went out and put that umbrella over him you're doing that to Christ and as you're ministering to that individual there and and things that can be so insignificant in your eyes God says as you've done it to these you're in even a cup of cold water you thought the Roman emperors were important you thought the presidents were important I can tell you what God records it's recording even the insignificant things like giving a cup of cold water because that person is a child of God that you would minister into their life does that make everything in our life of importance you understand everything you do in life is sacred everything you do in life is important everything you do in life has value that's why the Bible says whether you eat or drink do everything to the glory of who even in the insignificant things there is extreme significance like it's just a baby being born in a no-name town called Bethlehem and he's upholding the world by the word of his power and eternity rests on that child what the world deems is so insignificant is massive to God and I'm trying to get our attention this morning and saying your life carries eternal value every day you live if it's that important if your service carries that much value and significance would that be a pretty good motivation to be at church if you're watching online I'm so thankful you can watch online but I can tell you if you can physically be here and you choose to stay at home who are you ministering to at your house who are you giving a cup of water to don't turn me off I can look at you right now God never called people to isolation if you say well my faith is between me and God wrong wrong there is no closet Christianity with Jesus he said are you ashamed of me he said I'll be ashamed of you when I come back and split the eastern sky open with my father's angels there is no he said if you confess me before men I'll confess you before my father you know we have a we have a dear lady in our church getting baptized at the end of service her testimony is that she has trusted in Jesus Christ you know what baptism is it's going public and saying I have believed in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior I am not ashamed of Jesus and I belong to him and that confession is a public way that lets everybody know that they're a believer in Christ that's why it is essential after you've been saved that you would be baptized and if you don't get baptized you are evidencing that you're that in some sense that you are not comfortable getting public with Jesus they'd be in the same way like yeah I want to get married to you honey but I don't want to get up in front of people and do it she'll after she smacks you right now if that should be a great motivation to be at church but also it should be a motivation to serve somewhere right we have a few sign ups left on the sheets that should be a good motivation hey is there any is there any kids class is there any cleanup areas is there any is there any bottom of the totem pole jobs that nobody else really wants to do that's what I want to do that's what I want to do I want to do the thing that that would that would get the least esteem right people look at Pastor Josh and like oh you know he's the preacher there he's a lead pastor we have other pastors here but he's a lead pastor and there's people that could be rewarded so much more eternally for their service today at lighthouse because they're serving the least of these it's it's not about some position you have it's about what you do with the life God's given to you are you considered a servant by those around you this this works itself out not only at church but also in your families you need to be serving fellow believers your service will not go unnoticed that that is so important first Corinthians 1558 says therefore my beloved brethren be steadfast unmovable always abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord isn't it great to know that the things you do for God are not wasted we had a guy that years ago some of you would know him some of you probably wouldn't know him the majority of you probably wouldn't know him but we had it we had a man who was a retired electrician years ago and his name was Lanny Bobo raise your hand if you know a guy named Lanny Bobo from years ago raise your hand if you don't know that name you're sitting in the sanctuary and one of the reasons we're out of debt and we have electricity that is superbly done on this side is because there was a man who was a retired electrician who would spend about 40-plus hours of his life for months and months probably about seven months of his life coming up here without any pay to clean out electricity to rerun everything it was a massive undertaking massive undertaking it would have cost us we had no financial ability to pay electricians coming to do that we I mean we were scraping man God used humble men that were willing to sacrifice and in a name that most of us don't remember I can tell you God remembers and he is in heaven today he is rewarded for this humble service he never wanted notoriety never wanted his name and and people hung drywall came in here and painted did carpet work that all kinds of work in here sacrificing giving their time many of you still do those kind of things I can tell you what men do not esteem and what they don't notice on earth will be known as for eternity there are there are thousands of people that have been saved through the ministries of lighthouse and he has made a major impact and influence on allowing that gospel message to be carried out it is it is when you minister when you serve when you do the things that you're saying you know what even if nobody sees it even if nobody remembers my name God remembers this is this is what you're called to this is the glorious thing and in heaven God's like I see that I see that even that little cup of water in my name will be rewarded forever that how can Christianity ever be boring right I mean this is the most thrilling thing everything you do is eternally consequential massive implications you wake up tomorrow massive implications in your life like how you live how you carry your life shouldn't that make a person wake up and say I got purpose you know why people kill themselves have no purpose you know what people get depressed have no purpose well the reason you have no purpose is you haven't come to understand why you exist it's not about you making you happy and you selfie right it's about you living for the glory of God the transcendent one who you will spend eternity for and the great joy is to live for him there's nothing that will fulfill your life more than knowing Christ and living for him in his presence is fullness of joy and in his right hand our pleasures for evermore I can tell you friend this week little Jesus's will be in your life little Jesus experiences opportunities to serve the king and serving in ways and and I pray that God would open all of our eyes up to that reality we need it don't we so he says don't offend one of these little ones now now going back what are the offenses if you notice in verse 6 he says but who so shall offend one of these little ones both which believe in me now the word offense comes from the Greek word skandali dzo you ever see one of those survivor shows like where these guys go on an island see if they can live for like who can live the longest those are really intriguing to me you know they they figure out ways to live but one thing they'll do is they'll make like a little trap for animals like a like a sometimes a snare but but the word skandali dzo the word is actually used like if you if you propped up something you had that little that little trigger that they would hit and it would bring the rock down and kill the little rodent or whatever they was trying to kill that little trigger part was called the skandali dzo this skandali dzo is the verb form of the the noun skandali dzo but it was it was the trap for that and the idea was that you would trap something or you'd snare something it carries the idea that you would create some some way to trap someone or trip them up and in it and it's translated also in the Bible as a stumbling block it's used this way also in Leviticus chapter 19 verse 14 this is a physical picture of this word it says thou shall not curse the deaf why would you not curse the deaf well that would be a terrible thing to do anyway but but they can't hear you so you're wronging them and they don't even know you're wronging them and he says nor put a stumbling block before the blind I mean that's a terrible thing wouldn't be somebody can't see and you're like hey let's go put this stick in front of them right yeah only the kids in here are starting to laugh because they're like that would be terrible right so you can't laugh because it's so mean now if your dad had a blindfold on every woman in here would be cracking up to see their husband fall over a stick but but here it says don't do that because you're you're doing something that would cause them to be tripped up that you would cause them to to fall and to mess up their path and that's the idea of what a scondolizo is it's something to trip someone up if you remember when Jesus was saying in Luke in Matthew 8 16 Matthew 16 he says I'm gonna go up to Jerusalem be crucified three days later rise again Peter rebukes him you remember what Jesus does he rebukes Peter and says get behind me Satan for thou art and scondolizo to me you're an offense unto me you're trying to trip me up from going to the cross in in the New Testament when Paul would preach about the crucifixion he said to the Greeks it's foolishness but to the Jews it's a scondolan it is scandalous to them it trips them up the crucified Messiah to the Jews was so offensive to them they could not stand the idea of it that's why Peter rebuked Jesus that's why that's why to the Jews it was an offense now in the New Testament the word was used metaphorically as an enticement to sin like to trip someone up to get them to sin to cause them to doubt God to disbelieve in him now it's used that way throughout the New Testament and Jesus said in Matthew 11 6 that blessed is he who is not offended in me that doesn't get tripped up in their faith in me and and so here Jesus gives one of the strongest most severe warnings perhaps the greatest warning in the Bible to someone who would intentionally do something to call someone to get tripped up into sin or to doubt God in verse 6 he says if it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck and he was drowned in the depths of the sea if you were to study history you would find that the Greeks the Romans and the Syrians one way that they would provide capital punishment was to tie a large stone around a criminal's neck take them out to a lake or to do a body of water and cast them off of the boat and they would drown into that body of water Jews did not do that there is one time where Josephus the chief historian of the Jews in the first century writes about a Jew that was drowned in that manner and in punishment but but that was not typically done to them now Jesus says he uses it here as a as a warning of the severity of causing offense you say what is a millstone a millstone was like they called him a donkey stone but it was a massive stone that a donkey would would walk in circles and it would grind like grain or whatever else would be put underneath it and so this would be foul even hundreds of pounds if not into the thousands of pounds he said it would be better to tie that stone around your neck and be drowned into the depths of the sea the most horrifying type of death and punishment would be better than leading another believer into sin did you know Jesus put that emphasis and that warning on how severe it is to offend another believer when's the last time you went throughout your wake and said bait man I better not offend other Christians because that's how severe God takes it then in verse 7 Jesus steps into the office of a prophet and he gives here a divine pronouncement he says woe unto the world because of offenses we read the word whoa and it doesn't really have a heavy significance to us we think it's like whoa you know like whoa watch yourself that's not the idea whoa was a there were two types of prophetic pronouncements and when I say prophetic pronouncements I mean like that carried divine authority there were oracles of wheel and oracles of whoa oracles of wheel were like divine pronouncements of blessing wheel being akin to the word well-being so when Jesus began his sermon on the mount remember what he said he starts off with eight different oracles of wheel he says blessed are the poor in spirit theirs is the kingdom of God blessed are they that hunger and thirst for righteousness blessed are the pure in heart and he goes through all these blessings and what he's saying is I will pronounce as a prophet divine blessing on those who follow these truths the opposite of the divine blessing pronouncement is the divine cursing or the divine judgment and that's what's known as the Oracle of woe that's why when you get to the book of Revelation it calls the judgments the woe judgments it would say things like whoa whoa whoa into the habitants of the earth and and that's not like saying whoa guys it's saying that this is a divine pronouncement from a prophetic office that God's judgment is upon you so Jesus in the office of a prophet in verse 7 says woe unto the world because of skandalons that because of these offenses for it must needs be that offenses come or it is inevitable that offenses come if you live in America and you have a cell phone or TV or any media device you can have any type of social media any type of news any type of TV that you watch there will be things that come on your screen advertisements different things that the world promotes or produces that you don't want to see you didn't want to see that picture of that situation and and and because in America sex sells doesn't it so they put provocative stuff out there they put sinful things out there to try to entice buyers by getting their attention and Jesus is saying if you are alluring people into sin woe unto you world woe unto you person that's doing things in the world that's producing things that could cause people to sin but then he goes into it very personally and he says not only that but he says in verse 7 but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh exclamation point just as there are incredible eternal positive rewards to those who minister and do what's right to God's people they are eternally rewarded so he's saying those who would cause even one of these little ones to stumble come under God's judgment now what are things that can offend other believers what are ways we can offend other believers let me just talk about this for a moment well some things people can do to lead other people into sin or to trip up their walk with the Lord is to have conversations that can become gossip with our mouth we can cause sin to happen you know sins of the tongue speaking evil of other people somebody can wrong you but the Bible says if they wrong you need to go to them and seek to reconcile that and to deal with that but if you go out and you begin to tell other people about how they wronged you you have now sinned against them and and and you can become a scondolizzo against them and in so doing you are falling unto under the judgment of God this is serious stuff well you don't know what they did sure they may have done something and they need to be confronted and rebuked and dealt with but don't you allow their sin to cause you to sin y'all with me okay this is this is the severity of this sometimes people sin because they get upset at another believer and then they're not willing to reconcile rather they ignore them they're cold they're distant they're unloving that violates the second command that says we need to love others as ourself it is exactly why the entire second half of Matthew 18 deals with forgiveness Peter's like how often do I forgive my brother seven times and Jesus says not seven times but seventy times seven he gets into a parable of the unforgiving servant you know one of the scondolizzo that create that are created among many times among believers is when somebody doesn't forgive somebody else that can happen in your marriage among your kids and your parents and your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ a co-worker whoever else but I can tell you that can create a massive stumbling block for people unforgiveness is extremely dangerous and woe to the person who will not forgive in dating relationships it's leading person people into sexual sin you might be a teenager you may be in college or an older adult sex is only designed for the bounds of marriage sex outside of marriage is called fornication in the Bible and the Bible says flee fornication Ephesians 5 3 says fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness let it not once be named among you has become a Saints if you're in a relationship with somebody and you're getting caught up in sexual sin and you're enticing that young lady into sexual sin or you're enticing that man into sexual sin woe unto you woe unto your soul that is a very serious thing you think you're gonna hear that statement one time in the next seven days on social media you think one time you're ever you never hear we water it down but I can tell you God doesn't water it down I've been so disappointed to say the least to see not only the the sexual sin that is that is so massive in our culture today not only do young people struggle with this but also older people struggle with this there are people that are in their 50 60 70s and 80s that are living together not married woe unto you and if you're doing that for financial purposes well you don't know you I'll lose my you know these financial gains and this benefit here and so you're gonna put money above righteousness woe unto you woe unto you woe unto your life that could be a huge stumbling block to your children or grandchildren woe unto you get that right and if you want a comfortable church this isn't it but if you want to hear the truth from God so that when you stand before him you'll never be able to say I didn't know that you want a church that tells you the truth right you need to be shaken and you're like you're making me uncomfortable how do you think you'll feel then you would say boy I wish Josh really hammered that even harder so I would have gotten away from this sin I can tell you there's never been a person who saved himself for marriage it was like you know what I should have went out and okay I'm not gonna ask you to raise your hand you're like thanks preacher cuz we wouldn't do it anyway and I don't even know the question you're gonna ask there's no one today that looks back and says I am so thankful that I dated that person in the past we got sexually involved we slept together or we messed around together I'm so glad I had those experiences while you're living and married to the person you are now you're not looking back and being thankful for those things right nobody is everybody's like well I wish I didn't do that wish I would have saved myself stay pure right and so be that person now I think I think people need to make sure they're ready for marriage but I think it's our culture has created this 27 28 year old ideal that I had somebody other day so you know they're 24 years old they're getting ready to get married boy I wish they'd wait wait for what so you're okay for them to live together right whoa under that situation it's an incredible thing and so now if you're now if you're 18 years old it's not saying go and get married next week you need to do that under guidance and you need to be wise about that but I don't think it's wrong for 18 19 20 year olds if they're ready and depends on what kind of maturity rate that they're at but now there's many ways we can we can offend other people and and sometimes people cause other people to not trust God they may be going through a difficult time and instead of pointing them to God they point them away from God causing them to doubt I think about the think about the 12 spies when they went out 10 of them gave a bad report two of them gave a good report and guess what the 10 calls the entire nation to doubt God well into those 10 so so I just want you to know today it is is you have to be aware that it's dangerous to allow sin in your life that could cause people to stumble the other thing is sometimes people use Christian liberties irresponsibly one of those Christian liberties I think is drinking wine I personally don't think drinking wine is sin my wife on the other hand I told you the other week she don't drink we don't drink but you know in the Bible they had wine offerings to God they had different things like that but I I in my life have chosen not to partake in any of that because I don't want to be an offense to anyone and I know for some people that would cause them to stumble and I like peach tea is fine so but I can tell you if you have a Christian liberty no matter what that is and if somebody else is offended by it you need to be willing to give that up that's what love and maturity does whoa and do you if you don't whoa and do you if you allow your life to be a stumbling block Paul said it this way in Romans 14 21 it is good neither to eat flesh nor to drink wine nor anything whereby thy brother stumbleth scondolizzo or is offended it was made weak don't do anything that would cause them to get caught up in sin you know it's such a big deal in the New Testament that in that in first Corinthians 10 Paul said if because in those days eating meat offered to idols cause people to stumble Paul said eating meat offered to an idol that idol means nothing so they would offer a sacrifice these pagans would and the Greek culture in the Roman culture and then they would sell it on the common marketplace and he says that meat you can eat there's nothing wrong with that but if somebody is like hey that meat was offered to an idol and it offends them he says don't eat that meat he says if you're invited this is what Paul said in first Corinthians 10 he said if you're invited to a feast by an unbeliever and they set before you some food he said don't ask any questions just eat it he said but if somebody is with you and they're like hey that meat was offered to an idol and that's a believe the believers with you and an unbelievers like hey here's some meat but the unbeliever that's with you is like hey we shouldn't eat that that was offered to an idol Paul says better to offend the unbeliever than the believer don't eat the meat for his conscience sake you put the offense of the Christian in front of the offense of the unbeliever the unbeliever doesn't belong to Christ the believer does better that you don't offend them better to offend the lost and the saved you know the Bible teaches that well you do now go home and read first Corinthians 10 but that's how severe it is why because how you treat their conscience is how you're treating Christ you don't want to offend people so in your life just make sure that there's nothing in your life that you're out there purposely or intentionally doing that could cause offense this is a severe warning Matthew 18 is to anyone whose life encourages causes people to stumble I can tell you sometimes people's lives can be a stumbling block to other people and you have to be aware of that now in verse 8 and 9 he shows us how drastic we should take the measures to keep from causing offenses to others or even to our own life look what he says in verse 8 where for because of this because of how dangerous offenses are if your hand or your foot offends you if it's a scoundrel onto you cut them off and cast them from the it's better to enter into life halt or maimed rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire and if thine eye offend thee pluck it out cast it from thee it's better to enter into life halt now now what is Jesus saying here is he saying we need to go home and amputate our bodies no because you could cut your hand off but that's not the source of your sin is it the source of your sins your heart and and and so what he's saying is deal drastically this is a metaphorical truth deal drastically it's better that if these things are causing you to sin to radically remove them from your life get rid of them as quick and fast as possible you don't want to have anything in your life because you don't want to go to hell for some sin and you don't want to trip up somebody else and cause them to stumble in their life it's better that if it were possible because we know it's not saying you'll you know if you had a lost a hand and you're not going to have two hands in heaven this is this is not what the Bible is teaching here this is a metaphor of that reality of how severe this needs to be when you get to heaven you'll have a fully functioning body now this is again Jesus taught the same thing back in Matthew 5 29 through 30 now another way to offend another believer is in verse 10 look what he says in verse 10 he says take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones again little ones talking about a believer I say unto you that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my father which is in heaven so another way you can you can offend people is by belittling them treating them with no value looking down upon them this could happen the pharisees would look down their nose at other people they were self-righteous and they look down their nose at other people they they would they would put other people down as insignificant also this could this this is applied in Romans 14 and as well as 1st Corinthians 8 when somebody's like well I have that spiritual freedom there's nothing wrong with me doing that and somebody's like man that's offending me well you just need to grow up and when you begin to belittle them that is despising them and that's exactly what he's talking about and then he says their angels do always behold the face of our father which is in heaven and so some people have said well this this is pointing to the fact that every believer has a guardian angel I don't I don't know that every believer would have a guardian angel I don't think that's that's necessarily what this is talking about we do know Hebrews chapter 1 verse 14 teaches that angels are ministering spirits sent forth to minister to those who will be the heirs of salvation to those who would believe I think a lot of us probably would be dead today if certain angels at certain points in our life probably kept us from killing ourselves by running off the road or doing something stupid but but in amen but in the old testament the nation of Israel had Michael watching over that nation but D.A. Carson summarizes it well he says nowhere in scripture or Jewish tradition of the new testament period is there any suggestion that one angel is assigned to every person Jesus is just saying that every believer is of great significance that they have angels that watch over God's people and that their angels are beholding the face of the father they're in God's own presence and that don't belittle those who have such significance acts 24 16 Paul summarizes it this way he says herein do I exercise myself to have always a conscious void of offense toward God and toward men now I want to wrap this up with the last few verses here with the final point that strained children need to be restored in verse 11 through 14 Jesus uses a similar parable in Matt in Luke chapter 15 which is talking about unbelievers being restored here it's talking about Christians being restored he's not dealing with lost people that are unsaved here in in Matthew 18 where he is dealing with lost people in Luke 15 verse 3 through 7 it refers to them as lost we're here if you notice the word in verse 12 it says how thank you if a man have a hundred sheep and one of them it doesn't say they're lost it just says they've gone astray it's a different Greek word and so the word astray there means they've wandered away it's from the Greek word plano it's where we get the word planet from it's like the wondering one so any if there's a what he's saying here in verse 12 through 14 if there is an offense that comes to the life of a believer and they stray from the fold what happens is this does doesn't the good shepherd leave the 99 go into the mountains and seeks that which has gone astray what he's saying here is every child of God every sheep of God's fold is so valuable to the chief shepherd that he will go after that soul to restore them to a right standing with himself verse 13 and if so be that he find it verily I say unto you he rejoices more of that sheep the one that got restored it's not even salvation it's just restoring their walk it's a recommitment rededication bringing them back he's more excited about that than the 99 which went not astray and we understand that if you had four children and three were in your home and they were living for God and one was astray and if that child came back home and was restored after a long season away you would be so thrilled it's not that you love them more than the other three it's just that the joy of the restoration is so valuable to you and if excitement would be there and so sometimes people think you know I've been away from God and I've been straying away from God and you know if I come back to God you know he's going to be angry with me and you know and they think about God like some some angry bitter father that would that would be upset with their sin for a long season that is not God listen to Psalm 86 5 for the Lord for thou Lord art good ready to forgive and pleneous and mercy to all that call upon thee if you come to him today he will rejoice over you if you've been wandering astray he will celebrate you and your decision to come back now friend do you recognize that reality I like what John MacArthur said he said it should be a great comfort to stumble to stumbling believers to know that when they repent and return that their Lord Jesus Christ and the father who is in heaven will be overjoyed guy if God concerns himself with such joy to restoring one of the 99 should that not cause us to seek to restore believers that have fallen away shouldn't we reach out to believers that we know have wondered and seek to bring them back into the fold if you see somebody that hasn't been for a while reach out to them care for them as your brothers and sisters in Christ and also it should cause us to be a warning sign that we should not ever offend another believer so as I conclude today five lessons from a child if you want to enter the kingdom you you got to come like a little child totally dependent upon Christ humble yourself it's nothing good that you can do to save yourself it's only in Christ secondly to be great in the kingdom you must humble yourself like a child but those in your life consider you to be a humble servant-hearted person thirdly to receive children in the Lord is to receive Christ how we treat fellow believers as the tangible way that we literally serve Jesus number four offending God's children is to offend Christ himself is there anything in your life that you know that might be offending them you need to get it out parents children don't do anything to offend one another if you have you need to go and repent of that and get right don't do that to co-workers don't do that to other believers don't don't allow offenses into your life make sure your life is an example for others to follow not a stumbling block for them to climb over and number five straying children need to be restored two things if you have strayed God desires your restoration and he will rejoice over you and secondly Christian if you know somebody that needs to be restored why don't you reach out to him this week God could use you to be that impact in their life let's all stand this morning.