Transcript

Children of The Father

Matthew 18:1-14
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Pastor Randy Smith

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By simply googling four words I retrieved page after page of endless debate and speculation. "Who is the greatest?" Just the mere question piques our interest. We want to be great. We admire the great. We want to submit our input when it comes to determining true greatness. Who is the greatest guitar player? Who is the greatest athlete? Who is the greatest civil rights leader? Who is the greatest President? Who is the greatest James Bond? And my favorite, who is the greatest human who ever lived? Jesus Christ was fortunate enough to make one particular poll, but He needed to share the ballot with the likes of Superman, Hugh Hefner, P. Diddy, Elvis and "myself."

Our human fascination with greatness and desire to be great ourselves is not a recent novelty. Wikipedia lists all the historic individuals who followed their name by words "the Great." By the time I reached the "H's" I was already in the fifty's and got tired of counting.

Even spiritual people like Jesus' disciples over 2,000 years ago were not exempt from this common temptation - the desire for greatness. This morning we will see a good example of that. Not only will their prideful hearts will be revealed, but Jesus will also reveal a definition of true greatness. Our Lord's response will no doubt shock some of you. Today we will learn about the greatness required to enter God's kingdom and the greatness most esteemed among those in the kingdom. Today we will learn about the people who are truly great. Will you be among them?

1. THE QUESTION

I have directly followed the biblical text with our outline this morning. The layout is simple. In verse 1 the disciples ask Jesus a question and in verses 2-14 Jesus provides the answer. So let's first begin with the question.

It was by far not the first time the thought entered the minds of the disciples. Repeatedly throughout the Gospels they wanted to know who was the greatest. At times they argued among themselves (Mk. 9:34) and at times they had their mother ask Jesus the question (Mt. 20:21). In our account this morning they were busted (Lk. 9:46-47) and forced to come right out and ask Jesus the question themselves. Verse 1, "Who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"

I believe the timing of their question is a significant revelation of their selfishness. On the one hand, Jesus just predicted His suffering (Mt. 17:22-23). Yet the fact of His death and resurrection was inferior to their quest for superiority. We will see the same cycle repeated when we study chapter 20. Whatever sorrow they may have experienced about the death of their Friend quickly gave way to the desire for personal exaltation. "Thanks for telling us about the cross, Jesus, but what we really want to know…" On the other hand it was somewhat predictable. No doubt up to this point Peter in their minds was the leading candidate for preeminence. But he was just rebuked and referred to as Satan two chapters earlier, so now each of them probably thought they were back in the running.

"Who is the greatest, Jesus?"

What we see is a clear problem with pride - the same pride that you and I struggle with today. And what we see is a Savior who still loved these men and willingly laid His life down for them. But in between their selfish pursuits and His sacrificial offering on the cross, we see a response that must have caught everyone by surprise.

2. THE RESPONSE

As we move to the second point, let's read verse 2. "And He called a child to Himself and set him before them." Though they deserved it, there was no hint of anger, impatience or disbelief on the part of Jesus. And while every eye was upon our Lord, without a word, the Savior calmly took a small child in His arms (Mk. 9:36). These grown men stared at the insignificant kid no doubt wondering as to the purpose of this strange object lesson.

The Father loves His children (vs. 3-4)

Then He spoke to reveal who the Father loves in verse 3. "Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven."

This must have silenced His men. The theme was a lesson they had heard before. All the way back in chapter five the Beatitudes stress the same point. "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Mt. 5:3).

The world seeks competition. Jesus seeks mortification. The world seeks elevation. Jesus seeks the humiliation of a child. What a powerful lesson. Bottom line: Apart from a radical change in our nature, a "conversion" as Jesus calls it, we will not even enter God's kingdom. Unless we adopt the humble, trusting, soft heart, understanding of our weaknesses, tender, unconcern for social status attitude of a child we have no hope of heaven. We are talking about an attitude that reverses the Fall by declaring not a declaration of independence from God, but a declaration of dependence upon Him. The humble dependence of a child to a parent. I could provide countless examples as to how we see this with our new son Shane.

So while these guys are debating as to who will be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, Jesus turns the table and says, "You better just be sure you are first getting into the kingdom of heaven yourselves!"

And while these guys were consumed with greatness, Jesus scratches their itch. He takes the opportunity to define who will be great in His kingdom. Verse 4, "Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."

If you think our society looks down upon children, it was nothing compared to attitudes in the first-century. Little children were seen as unimportant and insignificant. They couldn't work on the farm, defend the family, make critical decisions or provide for financial needs. They were the epitome of weakness which makes the words of Jesus even more radical back then than they are today.

Our Lord is extolling what we call in the church "childlike faith." I am not talking about childish faith. God wants us to mature spiritually, increase in wisdom and fight the good fight, but God also wants us to descend to greatness. As we grow in Christ we should also grow in humility. We see an ever-increasing dependence on God demonstrated primarily by prayer. We see an ever-increasing awfulness in our sins and greater appreciation for His grace. With soft and teachable hearts we hunger more for the wisdom of the Word than the wisdom of the world. We see ourselves less and less, esteem others more and live ultimately for God's glory. This is humility. This is spiritual growth. This is Christian maturity demonstrated in childlike faith.

Only childlike hearts enter the kingdom and only childlike hearts will receive greatness in the kingdom because such hearts resemble our Lord Jesus Christ. Such hearts give evidence that God is working within and making His children more like His Son. And we all know about the humility of Christ. "Who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him" (Phil. 2:6-9a). And God the Father will also highly exalt those who follow in His humble footsteps.

Make me, O Lord, a child again.

So tender, frail and small,

In self possessing nothing,

And in Thee possessing all.

O Savior, make me small once more,

That downward I may grow,

And in this heart of mine restore

The faith of long ago.

With Thee may I be crucified -

No linger I that lives -

O Savior, crush my sinful pride

By grace which pardon gives.

Make me, O Lord, a child again,

Obedient to Thy call,

In self possessing nothing.

And in Thee possessing all.

(Author Unknown)

So the Father loves His dependent children. I now want you to see in verses 5-10 how the Father defends His children.

The Father defends His children (vs. 5-10)

Verses 5 and 6, "And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea."

Now I would not deny that Jesus has a special affection for small children as small children have a special affection for Him, but these verses, often taken out of context, do not apply to that situation. "Children" is the most common name for Christians in the New Testament. Seven times in 1 John we see Christians referred to as "little children" (1 Jn. 2:1, 12, 28; 3:7, 18, 4:4, 5:21). Jesus is still talking about God's spiritual children or as He says in verse 6, "One of these little ones who believe in Me."

Christian, you are a special child of the Father. He takes a personal interest in each of you. Therefore a blessing and a curse are presented to the way you are treated by others.

When someone welcomes you, as it says in verse 5, such an individual is welcoming Christ. As we learned last week, "Christ lives in me" (Gal. 2:20). We are inseparable from our Savior. To welcome us is to welcome Him. No doubt God the Father is involved as well (cf. Mt. 10:42; Lk. 10:16). The same is true today. How you treat my kids has a direct effect on how you are treating me. God will bless those who bless you.

On the other hand, when someone causes you to stumble (slandalizo), to be led into sin, as it says in verse 6, Christ expresses great disgust. As a matter of fact, someone leading God's children into sin is so offensive in God's sight the verse says it would be better if such a person died a painful death by drowning by having a millstone tied around his or her neck.

Every time I tour the Allaire Village, just to the right of the blacksmith shop I see the millstones Jesus spoke about in this verse. Large circular cement objects originally attached to a donkey to crush grain. Tie one of those guys to someone's neck and throw him overboard, and he would sink in no time at all with no hope of resurfacing for air.

Allow this verse to reveal the seriousness of sin, the danger of sin, the ability of sin to draw one away from Christ. Carefully note the disgust of Christ toward "whoever" leads one of His "little ones" in such a direction.

Since the warning is so peril, you might be wondering how could I lead a Christian into sin? Permit me to give you a few examples: Maybe it is dressing in such a way that intentionally draws too much attention to yourself inciting lust. Maybe it is responding to a situation that provokes anger or jealously in another. Maybe it is pushing a friend on a date to go too far physically. Maybe it is flaunting your liberty causing someone to violate his or her convictions. Maybe it is encouraging someone to watch an improper movie or consume too much alcohol. Maybe it is engaging in gossip or spreading slander. Maybe it is showing favoritism and partiality. Maybe it is enticing someone to buy into a lie. Maybe it is failing to provide when you have the resources. Maybe it is ridiculing someone's physical features or spiritual knowledge. Or maybe it is just setting a poor example for others who see and follow your behavior regarding church or personal issues.

Verse 7, "Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!"

Once again, if you ever doubted as to how your actions that causes another believer to be led into sin disgust God, look no further than these verses. Even here the ante is now upped from physical death to eternal woe. Jesus says it is "inevitable" that these "stumbling blocks" will come but "woe" to such an individual. In other words, temptations will always be out there in this world, but just don't be the one through whom they come!

Therefore we must ask ourselves, are we helping or hindering other believers in their walk with Christ? Ask yourself, am I emulating the Holy Spirit and promoting holiness, or am I imitating Satan and promoting temptation? Because of me, ask yourself, is God's church moving closer to Christlikeness? Therefore, if there is sin in our lives we must radically amputate it both for ourselves and our example to others lest we face the awful consequences spoken of in this section.

Speaking in hyperbolic language, verses 8 and 9, "If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be cast into the eternal fire. If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be cast into the fiery hell."

We saw this language back in chapter 5 (Mt. 5:29-30). We are not talking about a literal removal of body parts, but rather a serious battle to eradicate sin from our lives. The graphic nature of this language is intended to jolt us. "Cut off…your foot." "Cut off…your hand." "Pluck out…your eye." And if this language doesn't alert us, dwell for a moment on the words "eternal fire" and "fiery hell" in these two verses. This is serious! Therefore, verse 10, "See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven."

The Father seeks His children (vs.11-14)

So the Father loves His little children. He defends His little children. And lastly, He seeks His little children.

For starters, God the Son seeks! Verse 11, "For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost."

We've sung this song often in our church:

Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood;
How His kindness yet pursues me
Mortal tongue can never tell,
Clothed in flesh, till death shall loose me
I cannot proclaim it well.

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I'm constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here's my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

Come Thou Font of Every Blessing - Robert Robinson

We often think of Jesus as the Good Shepherd who purchased us and called us and protects us and teaches us and keeps us close to Himself (Jn. 10:1-30), but verses 12-14 seem to put more focus on the Father. Then again, ending the great discourse of the Good Shepherd in John 10 Jesus says, "I and the Father are one" (Jn. 10:30).

Verses 12-14, "What do you think? If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying? If it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray. So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish."

What personal attention! Even if others in the flock are fine, if you stray the Father demonstrates personal concern for you! Like a good shepherd in Palestine, a missing sheep was not identified by a number, but rather by an intimate knowledge of each sheep and an innate awareness that one dear to the shepherd's heart was absent. And when you return, like the Prodigal Son, the verse says God rejoices more over you being found than the ninety-nine who never left. And if it is God's will that none of His sheep be lost (this sub point), you can understand His disgust toward anyone how would lead them astray (the last sub point). What a God we serve!

So remember that when you leave the flock because of sin or just feel weak and helpless and scorned by the world, you have a heavenly Father that will pursue you and gather you to Himself (and if you believe that and appreciate that, you will have no problem with next week's sermon!). As God demonstrated on the cross, He is the One who takes your sorrows and woes and pain on Himself and gives you in return His love and assurance. And like a good shepherd, He will keep doing that even when you do not want it.

So while the disciples were arguing about who is the greatest, they should have had their minds off of themselves and focused on shepherding the spiritual needs of God's flock (cf. Jn. 21:15-17).

So God loves His children. God defends His children. And God seeks His children when they go astray. And the child of God is one with childlike faith. And to answer the disciple's question, the greatest in the kingdom is the one who has matured to the highest levels of humility demonstrated in a steadfast, Godward pursuit that leads others in the same direction.

Beloved, let's not live or think like the world. The world looks down on Christians for the very graces that God esteems. May we not promote the attractive and the rich and the athletic, but rather the meek and the humble and the childlike. For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Such are the beautiful ones and great ones in God's sight. Isaiah 66:2, "To this one I will look, to him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word."