Matthew 18 - Love for the Little Ones
Introduction
A. John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
1. The context of Matthew 18 begins in 17:24-27. The central phrase is “not to give offense.”
A. "Offend"- (Vine) Originally the part of the snare or trap where the bait is placed. Then the trap, Romans 11:9. In Revelation 2:14 It refers to the “teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality.”
B. Matthew 16:23 Peter's words were a “hindrance” or stumbling block set by Satan.
C. Matthew 13:41 In the parable of the Tares, "Those who do iniquity," serve as "stumbling stone."
2. There were things that Christ would not do, even though they were lawful, because he did not want anyone to draw the wrong conclusion and thus to lose his soul. He didn't want to leave a bad impression that might cause others to stumble.
B. Matthew 18 teaches us how serious it is to thwart God's love for "the little ones."
1. 1 John 4:19 He loved us first.
2. 1 John 4:8-10 “Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
I. The humble are the greatest in the kingdom. Matthew 18:1-5
A. The question is not only who is the “greatest” in the kingdom, but even who can enter the Kingdom of Heaven!
1. The child that Jesus put in their midst was a symbol of a certain character, the person who humbles himself like that child.
2. The humble are greater in the eyes of God. They are the people from which God takes servants for His kingdom. Not all the lowly are saved, but one cannot be saved without humility. Furthermore, the saved can't remain saved unless they continue to be humble.
3. The “children” are the humble ones who may still be lost, but also the humble ones who are already Christians. Therefore, Christ calls them children (V5), those who believe in Me (V6), those who stumble (V7), the little ones (V6, 10,14), the lost sheep (V12), brothers (V15,21), and servants (v23).
B. Matthew 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. " 1. Philippians 2:3-11, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
2. Romans 12:10, “Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.”
II. God is greatly angered when someone makes one of his loved ones stumble. Matthew 18:6-9.
A. God's great love makes him get very angry, when His beloved ones stumble because of the sin or carelessness of others, even when the others are the beloved of God.
B. If you are thinking of tripping up one of these little ones who believe in Jesus, it would be better for you to be hurled into the deep sea. “Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes!”
-- The Lord was angry, and fire fell upon Nadab And Abihu.
-- He got angry and opened the Earth and swallowed Dathan, Abiram and their families.
-- He got angry and sent the snake plague to Israel's camp.
-- In the mind of Jesus, when he looks at the man who makes one of his little ones to stumble, he sees him as belonging in the depths of the sea. (18:1-7)
C. Jesus warns the disciples, that if the flesh tempts us to fall or to cause someone else to stumble (whom God loves), it would be better for you to cut off your hand, or your foot, or to pluck out your right eye, because the Lord is thinking of throwing everyone that does such things into the hell of Fire. (18:8-9)
III. God loves the little ones. Matthew 18:10-14
A. Among the disciples, we are a pack of little ones. It is very easy to despise the humble. But do not forget, that God commands his angels to care for them and everyone will answer to God whose face their angels always see. (18:10). There is no man who can see God, but the holy angels can, and they are all "ministering spirits, sent for service in favor of those who will be heirs to salvation." Hebrews 1:14
B. “For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.” (18:11)
1. The humble little ones, who walk among the Christians, are the same ones that Jesus wanted to save when he died on the cross.
2. Despite their flaws, the Lord loves them as the shepherd loves his sheep. If one of a hundred should wander away, the Shepherd would leave the 99 to find the lost sheep. He will traverse the hills and dales to find the one who had gone astray. He still loves the lost, even if the lost one is foolish. He seeks to save it.
--When He finds it, He rejoices more for that one, than He does for those who never strayed from the path.
--He wants us to love the little ones too, even if it frustrates us to bear their weaknesses and their foolishness. There's a lot of stumbling. There are many snares of Satan leading them astray.
-- “So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.” (18:14)
IV. God demands that everyone help Him save the little ones. Matthew 18:15-20
A. "Therefore, if your brother sins against you," The brother who sins is “the sheep that would be astray.” He is the sheep whom the Shepherd Jesus loves, so much that He will leave the 99 and look for it.
1. The burden is ours. We serve at Jesus' command.
2. One must seek the offending brother by first reprimanding him, just the two of you alone. If the sheep hears you, you have won your
brother. (18:15)
3. If the case is more difficult, and though he was humble in the beginning, now resists correction, one must take others with him, one or two, as witnesses to confirm every word. (18:16) Deuteronomy 17:6; 2 Corinthians 13:1; 1 Timothy 5:19.
4. If the brother does not hear them, nor the church, “let him be to you as a Gentile and tax-collector.”
B. Everything is to win the brother.
1. 1 Corinthians 5:4-5 The hope is to save him, but also to save the other humble, little disciples, V7-13.
2. 2 Corinthians 2:5-11 They managed to save the brother in this case.
C. When the church obeys the order of the Lord, they agree with God and the sentence of the church is confirmed in heaven. (18:18-20)
V. We help God save the little ones by forgiving them when they repent. Matthew 18:21-35
A. Peter asked, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?”
1. Peter may have considered seven times to be generous, but Jesus multiplied seven by seventy. So much does Jesus want us to bear with each other the offenses we suffer among ourselves.
2. The humble, even among themselves, often offends, whether he intends to or not. It may be out of ignorance, by weakness, or by unknown desires. It does not matter. Christ wants us to love and work together in the cause of saving the lost in the world. Even the humble sin. They are the children of Christ, the brothers in Christ, the stray sheep, and God forgave us that we might work in his vineyard, saving sinners, the offenders: the sinners, both in the world and in the family of God.
B. Jesus presented a parable of "two debtors" to help us to have a little perspective on our debt that God cancelled and our obligation to cancel the debts of those who sin against us. (18:23-35)
1. The Kingdom of Heaven is similar to---a king who wanted to have an accounting of his servants. V. 23
-- God is the King and we are the servants whom God will judge. (Matthew 25)
2. A servant owed him 1,000 talents – he obviously had a high-ranking position in the kingdom. He became an administrator, but irresponsible or corrupt in the handling of the King's property. He could not pay and was sentenced to slavery, he with his wife, their children, and all they had. V. 24-25
--We all owe God more than we can pay because of our corruptions. We are sold to Satan and become slaves to sin. Never in our lives can we repay the debt of our sins. (Romans 6)
3. When he was moved to show mercy, the king let him go and forgave him for the debt. V. 26-27
-- God offers forgiveness to men, who because of their sins have no hope. (Ephesians 2)
4. But the forgiven servant condemned another fellow servant who owed him 100 denarii, choking him, saying, "Pay me what you owe me." He had no mercy on the other servant who owed him little compared to the debt the king had forgiven him. V. 28-30
--that is how we are, when after receiving the mercy of God, we do not give mercy to our fellow servants.
5. The first servant was called to trial and condemned. V. 31-34
--That is what our heavenly Father will do with us if we do not forgive “your brother from your heart.” Jesus is very demanding in this matter of forgiving His little ones.
Conclusion
A. Our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ His son love us very much. That love also extends to many more that they consider precious, their stray sheep.
B. He is very merciful to us, but He demands the same from us toward everyone else.