Pay It Backward (Matthew 20v1-16)

It was a three-car race for the undisputed Piston Cup champion.  Lightning McQueen was going to win… Until he saw that Chick Hicks had clipped the King, sending him into a horrific end-over-end crash – a terrible way to end his storied career.

Barely able to stop before crossing the finish line for the win, McQueen let Chick Hicks cross as the winner while he went back to help the King.  He pushed the crippled racer across the finish line, taking last place.

It’s a modern day parable of Jesus’ statement, “the last shall be first, and the first last.”  He may have officially finished last, but McQueen was first with everyone for his sacrifice.

“The last shall be first” was one of Jesus’ favorite sayings.  It occurs here and in Mark 10:31 and in Luke 13:30, each time in a different context.

It’s occurrence in Matthew is interesting because Jesus said, in the last verse of chapter nineteen, “many who are first will be last, and the last first,” then in verse sixteen of chapter twenty, reversing the order, He said, “so the last will be first, and the first last.”

In between, Jesus told the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard.  The owner of the vineyard hires laborers to work in his field during the harvest at various times during the day and pays those he hired last just as much as he pays those he hired at first.

We are those laborers, at work in the Lord’s field, the world.  We might sometimes be first, sometimes be last; but either way we ought to approach the work in the spirit of our Lord’s generosity – what we call grace.

I’ll organize my thoughts around two points: #1 Serve With Grace When You Are One Of The First, and #2 Serve With Grace When You Are One Of The Last.

#1    Serve With Grace
    When You’re One Of The First

Let’s read through the parable, make some comments about it, then get into its application to our lives.

Mat 20:1    “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.
Mat 20:2    Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.

A Jewish workday was twelve hours, starting at 6:00AM.  They worked six days a week.

At the start of the long workday, the owner went to find laborers for his harvest.  Hired laborers in ancient Israel were the lowest class of workers.  They were unskilled, untrained, and they were unemployed except for a day at a time.

Life for a day laborer was somewhat desperate and precarious because if they didn’t work, they didn’t eat, and neither did their families.

Slaves and servants had steady jobs.  Even though they might have been poor, they could share in many of the blessings of a stable household.  The day laborers were much worse off.

The vineyard owner went to the marketplace where the day laborers congregated.  “When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard.”

You’ve probably heard that a denarius was a days wage.  It was – but not for a day laborer.  It was standard pay for a skilled employee.  It was standard pay for a Roman soldier.  It was more than a day laborer could expect to receive.  Way more.

Mat 20:3    And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace,
Mat 20:4    and said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went.
Mat 20:5    Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise.
Mat 20:6    And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle, and said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day?’
Mat 20:7    They said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right you will receive.’

These other laborers, hired throughout the day, may have arrived from another village, where they were not hired.  They weren’t lazy; they just had not yet been hired for the day.

They probably knew what the owner had paid those earlier guys if they had been there from the beginning.  The word would have circulated that his hires were going to work for a denarius a day, a very generous wage.  They were therefore willing, without negotiating, to take whatever this very generous man would give them.

Mat 20:8    “So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, ‘Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first.’
Mat 20:9    And when those came who were hired about the eleventh hour, they each received a denarius.

A denarius a day was generous; but a denarius an hour was incredible.  He was giving them more than a decent, day laborers daily wage for a single hour of work in the relative cool of the day.  These last workers probably had to try just to work up a sweat.

Mat 20:10    But when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise received each a denarius.
Mat 20:11    And when they had received it, they complained against the landowner,
Mat 20:12    saying, ‘These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day.’
Mat 20:13    But he answered one of them and said, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius?
Mat 20:14    Take what is yours and go your way. I wish to give to this last man the same as to you.
Mat 20:15    Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? Or is your eye evil because I am good?’

The “heat of the day” means the burner of the day.  It had been a scorcher with the hot east wind burning the flesh, parching the lips, and hoarsing the throat.

With hoarse voices, and through parched lips, those sunburned workers grumbled.  With unassailable logic, the owner pointed out he had done nothing wrong.  He had been more than fair with them.  What was it to them if he wanted to be generous?

A parable is told to illustrate something.  In this case, it was to illustrate the oft repeated saying of Jesus.  The parable was preceded by, “many who are first will be last, and the last first.”  It is concluded by,

Mat 20:16    So the last will be first, and the first last…

All of the workers were the recipients of tremendous generosity and had no cause whatsoever to complain.  The first workers were treated as if they were no better than the last workers; the last workers were treated as well as the first workers.

This is what the parable is not about:

It’s not about eternal life, because eternal life is the free gift of God, and no one works for it.

It’s not about eternal rewards, either, because the passages in the Bible that discuss your eternal rewards make it clear that some will have more than others.

The parable is about our serving The Lord as citizens of the kingdom of Heaven.

While we wait for His return to establish the literal, physical kingdom of Heaven on earth, we are sent out into the world – into the field – to be His harvest workers.

Obviously, with The Lord gone some two thousand years, some workers came first, while others – like us – are coming later.  At some point there will be a last worker – the guy or gal who receives Christ and then is immediately raptured at the return of The Lord for His church.

Just as obviously, workers are scattered all over the earth, in every possible social and economic situation – making all of our service very different.  Those who suffer persecution we might describe as bearing the heat of the day while others who enjoy a relatively comfy life never work up a sweat, so to speak.

But no matter the time or the place, serving The Lord takes place because of, and in the sphere of, His grace.

Grace was the currency of the vineyard owner in the parable and it is God’s currency as we serve in the spiritual fields of this world.

What Jesus shows us in this parable is that He is generous to a fault.  He gives to all more than they could hope to earn or deserve.

For example, though we serve with the expectation of a reward, our service is already owed to The Lord on account of His free and abundant grace which saved us.

One of our favorite verses is Romans 12:1,

Rom 12:1    I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

We offer ourselves as living sacrifices because it is “reasonable” to do so.  It only makes sense to serve The Lord in light of His saving grace.

As we serve Him, He empowers us by His grace.  We do not serve Him in our own strength, or by our own wisdom.

Every opportunity to serve Him is set before us by His grace, as He opens doors or shuts them.

If we have what would be deemed ‘success’ in serving Him, that, too, is by grace.

If we suffer for Him on account of our serving, we are sustained by His grace.

We cannot claim any contribution in serving The Lord except our availability.  And, even then, we understand that if we were to not make ourselves available, God’s work would press forward without us.

I should serve with grace, therefore, if and when I am one of the first.

Who, or when, am I “first?”  Let’s start with the context of the parable.  Peter and the other disciples were, you might say, first.  They were the first to leave everything and follow Jesus.  They were promised first positions in the coming kingdom of Heaven on the earth.

They, along with little over one hundred others, would be first to receive the promise of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost.

They’d also be among the first to be martyred for preaching the Gospel.

If I’m Peter, listening to this parable, I should get from it that I ought to revel in God’s grace to me, a lowly fisherman, to be used by Him.  With no training, other than exposure to Jesus, he would become a world leader in the future kingdom.

He ought to rejoice at God’s grace in the lives of all those that come after him – no matter if they give all or relatively little.  If Jesus wants to be gracious to the last, then who am I to have an evil eye and grumble about it?

Also in the context of the parable, you could say that Israel was first in God’s plan.  He chose them to represent Him.  They had the Scriptures, the prophets, and many other spiritual blessings.  But they would reject Jesus as Messiah and the Gospel would go out to all – Jew and Gentile.  The Gentile, who was last, would become first in this current dispensation of God’s grace while the kingdom is postponed.

In fact, the Gospel going out to the Gentiles was a huge stumblingblock to the Jews.  There are three entire chapters in the New Testament – Romans nine, ten, and eleven – that explain how and why Gentiles are currently first.

What about us?  How are we first?

One application is obvious, and that is that we tend to have an attitude that God should deal with us on the basis of tenure and seniority.  Those things might be important factors in your employment, but they have no place in your serving The Lord.

Have you ever thought that you were doing most of the work, while others, or another, slacked off?  I’ve heard it said that, in churches, 90% of the work is done by 10% of the people.  I don’t think it’s true of us, but, if it were, is that something to have an evil eye towards, and to grumble about?

If I’m understanding The Lord, I want to be first and bear the heat of the day.  I should see myself having an advantage over those who are last because I get to enjoy God’s grace more than they can.  If my serving is unto Him, then I want to be hired at 6:00AM and work until 6:00PM, trusting in God’s generosity to me and enjoying it in the lives of those who come after me.

I might secretly hope, on the one hand, that I’m the only hire, so I can experience all the grace.

But I simultaneously hope The Lord will raise-up other workers – not because I need the help, but so that they, too, can experience His grace.  I don’t want folks to serve because there is work to be done so much as, if they don’t serve, they are missing out on God’s grace.

Here is another thought on the first being the last.  We must concentrate our spiritual efforts on finishing well.  Anyone can start well.  In fact, in a marathon, or a long distance race, even an average runner can take the early lead.

So many fall by the wayside, the victims of, rather than the victors over, the devil’s temptations of their flesh using the things of the world.  They are ‘last’ in the sense of ruining their lives, as well as ruining or at least harming the lives of others.

Maybe you’ve been saved twenty, thirty, forty, fifty years.  You can’t coast to the finish line.  You should be getting stronger, spiritually, taking longer strides, pushing yourself harder than ever before.  When you do, you’ll find grace in abundance.

Yet another application is being careful that, having begun in the Spirit, you do not seek to continue in the flesh.  It’s easy enough to do as a certain measure of pride in your competence or seeming maturity can creep in, and you begin to trust in your own wisdom, or the wisdom of men, rather than the wisdom of God.

Then, too, we can go from first to last if we leave our first love for Jesus.  The church at Ephesus, written to in the Book of the Revelation, was pounding out good works and standing on good doctrine.  But Jesus had something against them, that they had left their first love.  He was now last in their lives.

One more sobering thought.  When Jesus said these words, and told this parable, Judas was among the twelve apostles.  He was among the first but would fall and become not just last, but lost.

You may not be saved.  You may merely think you are among the first when, in the end, The Lord will have to say, “I never knew you; depart from Me.”

Be certain that you are born-again, born from above, and a child of God.

How do you know if you’re serving in grace, without grumbling?  Charles Swindoll wrote,

Grace is given with no expectations, no conditions, no constraints, and no record.  Grace is not genuine unless it can be abused by the person receiving it.

Get out there early and bear the heat of the day.  Work tirelessly, without grumbling, for the sheer joy of being used by God.  Finish strong, keeping yourself in first-love with Jesus.

#2    Serve With Grace
    When You’re One Of The Last

Do we still use the phrase, No brainer?  It would seem, on the surface, that if you’re one of the “last,” you’d be all about grace.

Being last, though, has its challenges.  For example, when your sphere of ministry or spiritual influence is small, even after months or years or decades of serving Jesus, you can feel last in a very depressed sort of way.

It is then that you must remember the grace of God is abundant to you – just as abundant as to anyone else.  You cannot compare yourself to others, or measure by the standards of men.

If we did, many if not most of the persons in the Bible would be considered last.

Jeremiah always comes to mind when we suggest a quality minister and ministry that seemed a dismal failure.  Talk about a messenger that went unheeded – for four decades.

Do you think it was any comfort to Jeremiah to be proven right by the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple?  Yet we applaud him as a persevering hero of the faith.

I don’t want to leave this point too soon.  Money and membership, square footage and staff, are ways we tend to judge the success of a ministry.  God must be blessing if they are growing and building; God must be judging if they are not.

We cannot succumb to the judgement of men.  Only God’s judgment is valid and He says we can have His grace in abundance despite size and stature.

What if you are afflicted?  There’s a whole group of professing believers who hold to the aberrant teaching that sickness and suffering are signs you lack faith and are not in the will of God.  We know that is not true; that our light affliction is but for a moment and is working for us an eternal weight of glory.

But we still feel last – abandoned by others, and even by Jesus, when our lives are dominated by suffering.  Put on the shelf, so to speak.

The apostle Paul reveled in his afflictions specifically because they kept him in touch with the abundant grace of God.  So should we when we feel they make us last.

What about ability?  Don’t you sometimes feel last because you don’t seem to have the abilities, or talents, that others have?  It can seem as though anyone is better able than you to present the Gospel, or to serve The Lord.

We need to believe that ministry – genuine ministry – is not by might, nor by power, but by the Spirit of The Lord.  The things we think are so valuable can become hindrances to walking in the Spirit.

When God wanted to reach the nation of Ethiopia with the Gospel, he sent a simple, ordinary but Spirit-filled disciple to sit along the road.  Philip went up, by the prompting of the Spirit, to the Ethiopian Eunuch as he was returning home.  A conversation ensued in which the Eunuch – one of the most powerful men in the Ethiopian government – was saved and baptized.

Would we have sent Philip?  I daresay it would have been hard for us to do so, simply because we think that those who are last in abilities cannot be used on such a high level.  Yet if we operate in the grace of God, any believer will do at any time, because it’s all The Lord anyway.

Then there is the problem of your growing weary in well doing.  You faint, spiritually speaking, as you become overwhelmed in the work.  You want to throw in the towel; you say to yourself, “I can’t take any more.”

Ever feel that way – feel last from the shear weariness?  Grace is yours in abundance at those times.

You may be among the last.  But you can be faithful, can you not?  It is required in servants that they be faithful – not that they be successful or talented or healthy or any other such measurement.

The last can be as blessed as the first since we are dealing with the grace of God.

You can be first in some things, and last in others.  In all cases, as you work in the Lord’s field, it is all of grace, and He has it in abundance.

Jesus ended His lesson by saying, “for many are called, but few chosen.”  One resource I consulted had this to say:

It is easy to misunderstand the word “many” in the New Testament, because it has slightly different meanings in Greek and in English.  In both languages, it refers to a large group.  In English, “many” is restrictive, but in Greek it is inclusive.  In other words, if I say “many of the people came,” in English, it implies that most of them did not.  If I said the equivalent of “many of the people came,” in Greek, it would imply that practically everyone did.

In this case, we are dealing with a Greek usage that divides the whole into two unequal parts, which are called “the many” and “the few.”  In Greek, “the many” and “the few” add up to everyone.

This concluding phrase is a sort of altar call.  At least, that’s what we might call it.  Having established that, among those who are saved, the first and the last are both recipients of, and should operate in, the sphere of grace, it is important to determine if you are among the saved.

In other words, there’s no use trying to figure out if you are among the first or the last if you are not born-again.

Instead of determining if you are first or last, you must determine if you are many or few.

The “many,” the whole world, is called:

1Jn 2:2    And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.

Joh 12:32    And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.”

Jesus Christ died for everyone, but not everyone will be saved.  Only the “few.”  There is one condition: whoever believes.

1Ti 4:10    For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe.

The few are those from the many who believe – they believe Jesus Christ is the sinless, Son of God; God in human flesh; Who died as their Substitute in order to save them from their sin.

You are saved by grace when it operates on your heart to free your will to believe in Jesus.  Then you are to continue serving God in His grace, by His grace.

In some things you may be first, in others, last. But in all things, and at all times, walk in grace.

Goodness, Graciousness, Great Call To Follow!

“Americans today, compared to 55 years ago, own twice as many cars and eat out twice as much per person, but we don’t seem to be any happier because of it.”

That’s a quote from a 2013 article, “The Psychology of Materialism & Why It’s Making You Unhappy.”

According to the American Psychological Association, the overall well-being of Americans has, if anything, declined since the 1950s, while our consumption has only increased.

Another quote: “Compared with their grandparents, today’s young adults have grown up with much more affluence, slightly less happiness and much greater risk of depression and assorted social pathology.  Our becoming much better off over the last four decades has not been accompanied by one iota of increased subjective well-being” (David G. Myers, author of The American Paradox: Spiritual Hunger in an Age of Plenty).

We live in a consumer culture and a lot of Americans struggle with materialism.

The story of the rich young ruler touches, obviously, on materialism.  There are two mistakes people commonly make when studying this story:

One mistake is to believe Jesus’ demands upon the rich young ruler to give everything away applies to everyone.  Jesus never made this a general command to all who would follow Him, but especially to this one rich man whose riches were clearly an obstacle to his discipleship.
The second mistake is to believe this applies to almost no one,  certainly not to us, when we are clearly living in a consumer culture and there are those today for whom the best thing they could do for themselves spiritually is to radically forsake the materialism that is ruling and ruining them.

The rich young ruler “went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.”  It’s commonly noted that he was possessed by his possessions, rather than the other way around.

Building upon that, I’ll organize my thoughts around two questions: #1 What On Earth Possesses You?, and #2 What In Eternity Will You Possess?

#1    What On Earth Possesses You?
    (v16-22)

It’s hard to talk about money and materialism.  It’s always the other guy who is rich – not me, not us.

It’s true that God does not demand of everyone what Jesus demanded of the rich young ruler.  In the Bible, Abraham, David, and Solomon were all incredibly wealthy.   In the New Testament, Joseph of Arimathea and Barnabas were men of wealth who did right with their riches.

At the same time, there are severe warnings about the love of money, and how we handle the money and possessions entrusted to us.

1Ti 6:9    But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition.
1Ti 6:10    For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

I suggest, here at the beginning of our study, that you not immediately make either of the mistakes I mentioned, but allow God the Holy Spirit to apply His Word to you, in your situation.

Mat 19:16    Now behold, one came and said to Him, “Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?”

Matthew, Mark, and Luke all tell us this man was rich.  Matthew tells us he was young (v22), and Luke tells us he was a ruler.  Hence, he is the rich young ruler.

“Ruler” probably refers to his official position in the local synagogue.  This guy was a sincere, religious man, keeping the Law of Moses blamelessly.  If you were a Jewish parent, he’s the guy you’d want your daughter to marry.

He wanted to know “what good thing” he must do.  There was an ongoing dialog and debate among religious Jews about the Law of Moses.  It contained some 613 commands, but the Jews were always trying to determine which ones or one was the greatest command.

The rich young ruler approached Jesus as if He were another rabbi, in order to solicit His opinion on which is the greatest commandment.

Mat 19:17    So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”

Before answering his question, Jesus challenged the rich young ruler regarding who he thought Jesus was.  Either Jesus was good, or he ought not to have called Him good; but, seeing as there is none good but God, Jesus – Who is good – must be God.

A lot of well-meaning people have questions they’d like Jesus to answer; but they don’t really believe Jesus is God.  In fact, He has answered all the questions that need settling in order for you to be saved and, afterward, to serve Him.

But the one really important question is always the one Jesus is asking people by His Holy Spirit, “Who do you say that I am?”

Jesus said, “if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”  He was not suggesting that a person could be saved by keeping the Law.  You have to take His statement in context.  As we will see, He was using the Law as it was intended – to show the rich young ruler how he fell short of the perfect righteousness that the Law demands.

We ought to use the Law just that way – showing folks why the Bible says that, although they may seem good, or at least less bad than others, they are nevertheless sinners who fall short of the righteousness of God.

Mat 19:18    He said to Him, “Which ones?” Jesus said, ” ‘YOU SHALL NOT MURDER,’ ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY,’ ‘YOU SHALL NOT STEAL,’ ‘YOU SHALL NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS,’
Mat 19:19    ‘HONOR YOUR FATHER AND YOUR MOTHER,’ and, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ ”

On another occasion, later in Matthew, when asked what is the greatest commandment, Jesus will say, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (22:37-40).

Here, He mentions five of the six commandments that govern a mans relationship with his fellow man, as well as the summary of the Law from Leviticus.  That’s because Jesus wasn’t so much answering the rich young ruler’s question as He was using the Law to convict him of his sin.

Mat 19:20    The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?”

He wasn’t being boastful or arrogant.  It was possible to keep these five commandments, at least outwardly.  And, in doing so, others would say that you were fulfilling the one commandment from Leviticus, to “love your neighbor as yourself.”

The apostle Paul, for example, when reviewing his life in Judaism said, “according to the righteousness stipulated in the Law I was blameless” (Philippians 3:6 NET).

The rich young ruler had it all.  I’m guessing he was ruggedly handsome on top of everything else.  But he remained troubled.  He was sensing eternity in his heart, but with no assurance of his salvation, since it was by works.

Mat 19:21    Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

This might sound like salvation by works, except for what we read in the next verse:

Mat 19:22    But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

Here we see his heart exposed by the very Law he claimed to keep.  He hadn’t murdered anyone; he hadn’t committed adultery.  He had not stolen, or born false witness.  He respected his parents.  Overall, he seemed to love his neighbor as himself.

But inwardly he coveted and lusted after riches.

He preferred his earthly possessions to eternal life, and no amount of commandment-keeping was going to be able to save him from the natural, sinful bent of his own wicked heart.

I wonder if this is why, when reviewing the commandments, Jesus did not mention the tenth, “thou shalt not covet.”  It was the one commandment which the rich young ruler could not have honestly said, “this I have kept from my youth,” because his heart was captivated by his great possessions.

Jesus demonstrated how to use the Law.  You show a person that if they perfectly keep the Law, they can be saved; but that observing it outwardly is not keeping it, and that everyone has broken God’s Law in their heart.

The rich young ruler, brought to see his own heart and challenged to make a decision, chose earth over eternity.  “He went away sorrowful,” still sensing eternity in his heart, but unwilling to repent and bring forth the fruits of repentance which, for him, would mean divesting himself of his wealth.

He was “sorrowful” while yet retaining his “great possessions.”  The things of earth cannot substitute for the things of the Spirit your heart longs for.

His love of money kept the rich young ruler bound to earth, rather than freed for eternity.  Money may not be the issue for you; but, before we talk about other things, let’s be sure.

Forget about whether you think you are rich or poor and concentrate on your giving to God.  According to a recent article I read,

Tithers make up only 10-25% of a normal congregation.

Only 5 percent of the US tithes, with 80% of Americans only giving 2% of their income.

Christians are only giving at 2.5% per capita, while during the Great Depression they gave at a 3.3% rate.

God is  probably not asking you to give Him every penny.  But if you give nothing, or next to nothing, to God, it is an indication that your possessions posses you in a fashion similar to the rich young ruler.

Maybe possessions are not a problem for you.  Is there something else, or someone else, that possesses you in a way that is hindering the call of Jesus to fully follow Him?

You might frame this with a different question, namely, “What is it you would refuse to give-up for Jesus if He asked you to?”

Jesus has every right to demand that we sacrifice for Him.  After all, He left Heaven for us, to save us, while we were yet sinners in rebellion against Him.

But more than that, Jesus knows that whatever, or whoever, we covet in our hearts can never satisfy our deepest longings, because only He can do that.  If we insist on holding onto that which we covet, we will find ourselves “sorrowful” in the end.

For some of us, there is one thing that we seem to continually struggle with, that hinders our full devotion to Jesus.  But for us and for others, there can be more than one thing, or the one thing might change over time.

The apostle John was writing to believers – disciples – when he said, “keep yourself from idols” (First John 5:21).  The devil utilizes the world to tempt our flesh with all manner of things that divide our hearts and hinder our devotion to The Lord.

Each of us, individually but with the Lord’s help, must answer for ourselves the question, “What possesses me?”

When we do, we should expect Him to show us things we must sacrifice, or give away, or leave behind.  If we never or rarely have a rich young ruler encounter with The Lord, we’re just not listening to the still small voice of His Spirit, because this side of eternity, our heart’s are too susceptible to other influences.

#2    What In Eternity Will You Possess?
    (v23-30)

What happened to the rich young ruler?  We don’t know.  All we do know is that he had an encounter with the living God but chose to reject eternal life.

Mat 19:23    Then Jesus said to His disciples, “Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 19:24    And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

Prosperity is, apparently, perilous.  For one thing, it gives a person a sense that God must be blessing him, which can give their heart a false sense of assurance that all is well in their walk with The Lord.

For another thing, riches can hinder a person’s dependance upon God.  Who needs God to act when you’re able to provide for yourself?

God promised Israel He’d prosper them for their obedience, but it was always when they were prospering that they promptly forgot God, and instead went after the idols of their neighbors in the world.

Mat 19:25    When His disciples heard it, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?”

Like all Jews, the disciples equated riches with God’s favor.  In addition, we’ve seen that the rich young ruler was an exemplary Jew.  If he couldn’t be saved, who could?

Well, it wasn’t that he couldn’t be saved, but that he wouldn’t be saved because he refused to repent and give evidence of it by doing what The Lord asked of him.

Mat 19:26    But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

The salvation of anyone – rich or poor – is impossible except for the intervention of God.  God draws men and women and children to Himself, by His grace operating on their hearts, revealing their sin and showing them the Savior.

Salvation is all of God, but that does not cancel out your responsibility.  By His grace The Lord frees your will to receive Him by faith, or to reject Him.  His grace is not irresistible but requires a decision on your part.

One theologian puts it like this:

We speak of the will of man being freed by grace to emphasize that people do not have a naturally free will when it comes to believing in Jesus, but that God must graciously take action to free our wills if we are going to be able to believe in his Son whom He sent for the salvation of all.  When our wills are freed, we can either accept God’s saving grace in faith or reject it to our own ruin.  In other words, God’s saving grace is resistible, which is to say that He dispenses His calling, drawing, and convicting grace (which would bring us to salvation if responded to with faith) in such a way that we may reject it.  We become free to believe in Jesus and free to reject him.

Seeing that the rich young ruler would have had to sacrifice all his possessions to follow Jesus got the disciples wondering what a person would gain thereby.

Mat 19:27    Then Peter answered and said to Him, “See, we have left all and followed You. Therefore what shall we have?”

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with Peter’s question, as long as you keep it in perspective.  You shouldn’t sacrifice only to gain, or only if you’re going to gain.  But there’s nothing wrong with knowing what is in store for you in eternity.

Even Jesus, when we read about His sacrifice on the Cross, knew that by it He would gain by bringing many sons to glory.  We read of Him in Hebrews that, “for the joy that was set before Him [He] endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (12:2).

Mat 19:28    So Jesus said to them, “Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

The “regeneration” was Jesus’ way of describing the Kingdom of God on the earth.  God had promised Israel an earthly kingdom; and Jesus came offering it, as its King.  The Jews, however, rejected Him and, when they did, it delayed the establishing of their kingdom.

Jesus would be crucified, rise from the dead three days later, then ascend into Heaven after another forty days.  There He waits to return in His Second Coming to establish the kingdom on the earth.

It will last for one thousand years and, during that time, the earth will, indeed, be regenerated.  My favorite phrase to describe that process is “streams in the desert,” derived from Isaiah 41:18, “I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.”

During that thousand-year kingdom, also called by scholars the Millennium, Jesus will “sit on the throne,” ruling over the earth from Jerusalem.  His disciples will “sit on twelve thrones,” co-ruling with Him, “judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”

That’s what Peter and the boys could expect during the kingdom age.  Leading up to it, Jesus promised them spiritual resources.

Mat 19:29    And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life.

This verse, at least the bulk of it, describes your spiritual resources now, on the earth, while you are asked to make sacrifices and surrender all to Jesus.

A relationship with Jesus must take priority over every human relationship and, ultimately, it could cost you your family and friends.

Likewise, as with the rich young ruler, you might be asked – either directly by The Lord or indirectly through persecution – to give up your “lands,” and other possessions.

But whatever you sacrifice on this earth, waiting for the kingdom, will be compensated by your spiritual family.  You find, as a believer, you have millions of people who can function, emotionally and physically even, as brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, wives, and children.  In other words, you are a member of a huge, loving, even if sometimes dysfunctional, family of believers.

And they should help you, physically, if you need them to.

By the way – can I get back, just for a moment, about the stats on giving by Christians?  In that same article, the author said,

What would happen if believers were to increase their giving to a minimum of, let’s say, 10%?  There would be an additional $165 billion for churches to use and distribute.  The global impact would be phenomenal.  Here’s just a few things the Church could do with the kind of money:

$25 billion could relieve global hunger, starvation and deaths from preventable diseases in five years.
$12 billion could eliminate illiteracy in five years.
$15 billion could solve the world’s water and sanitation issues, specifically at places in the world where 1 billion people live on less than $1 per day.
$1 billion could fully fund all overseas mission work.
$100 – $110 billion would still be left over for additional ministry expansion.

Notice the words that close verse twenty-nine, “and inherit eternal life.”  That’s the greatest reward of all.  It reminds us that, even though we will enjoy spiritual resources in abundance on earth, times will still be tough, but we are looking beyond earth, beyond even the Kingdom of God on the earth, to eternity.

“And inherit eternal life.”  What an understatement!  As if it’s not the greatest news a sinner could hope to hear; or that a suffering servant could hope to cling to.

Mat 19:30    But many who are first will be last, and the last first.

In other words, our methods for judging spiritual success are frequently wrong.  In the Jewish culture of the first century, the rich young ruler was thought to be “first,” and the disciple of Jesus “last.”

But in the kingdom, the simplest believer is ahead of the rich young ruler.

I came across this quote: “some people are so poor that all they have is money.”

If you are not a believer, what does it profit you to gain the whole world if, in the end, your soul is lost?

If you are a believer, you are rich in faith, and have all spiritual blessings in heavenly places, and have a glorious entrance into eternity awaiting you.

Live in ways that reflect the joy of your salvation.

No Child Left Unblessed

They’ve been labelled ‘brat-bans.’  It’s a trend among businesses that are telling parents their children are not allowed.  Leading the charge are a handful of movie theaters, restaurants, airlines, and vacation destinations that have put child free policies in place in order to create a better experience for adults.

On its double-decker aircraft, Malaysia Airlines imposed an age-limit on the whole upper floor, banning children under 12 years of age from being seated there.  Babies are banned in the first class cabin.

The Alamo theater chain in Texas and Virginia bans children under 6 years old.  CEO Tim League says, “If the movie is a non-crossover kids movie, we sometimes flex this age down to 3 and up, and we also have select ‘Baby Day’ screenings each week for infants and small children.  If you want to take your 4-year-old to see The Hangover 2 at 10pm, however, you’ll have to go somewhere else.”

Jesus’ disciples were notorious brat-banners.  They tried to turn-away parents who were bringing their kids to Jesus to be blessed by Him.  He rebuked His disciples, uttering the famous line, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”

Was His intention simply to overrule any possible ban we might put on children, in any circumstance, on any occasion?

Or was He using the occasion to teach us something much more profound about kids that we should pay closer attention to?

Let’s take a look and see what conclusions we can draw.  I’ll organize my thoughts around two points: #1 Bring Your Kids To Jesus’ Loving Arms, and #2 Trust Your Kids In Jesus’ Loving Arms.

#1    Bring Your Kids To Jesus’ Loving Arms

It’s important we set the scene for Jesus’ comments.  He had just finished a controversial discussion with the Pharisees regarding marriage, divorce, and remarriage.  In the parallel account in the Gospel of Mark we learn that Jesus and His disciples went into a house, where they pressed Him further about the issues of marriage and celibacy (10:10-16).

It was in the house, having a conversation with His boys, that parents were coming to Him to have Him bless their children.

In Luke’s Gospel, the kids involved – at least some of them – are described as infants (18:15-17).

Mat 19:13    Then little children were brought to Him that He might put His hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them.

Many reasons can be suggested for them wanting to turn away the children.  Let’s give them the benefit of the doubt: Maybe they wanted to go on having an adult conversation about human sexuality and knew it would be inappropriate for kids.

I think almost all of us believe that there are age-appropriate boundaries we should set for kids.  It’s not a brat-ban to be careful what kids are exposed to.

In the Jewish culture of the first century, according to sources I read, parents had a practice of bringing their infants, usually on or around their first birthday, to the synagogue so that the rabbi could pray over them and pronounce a blessing.

This event in Matthew was what we would call a baby dedication.  Dedicating a baby, or even an older child, is not one of the two ordinances required of Christians in the New Testament.   As Christians, we are to be baptized, and we are to participate in the Lord’s Supper.

I’ve been told that baby dedications are therefore unbiblical, but that’s not really true, because all we are doing is acknowledging that the child is a gift from The Lord and praying for him or her and the parents.

There does not seem to be any conflict with Scripture as long as parents do not view it as something that is required, or as somehow assuring the salvation of the child.

The dedications in Matthew were prompted by the news that Jesus was in the house.  If you wanted Him to bless your baby, you’d have to take advantage of the timing, because He’d be on His way soon enough (v15).

Mat 19:14    But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”
Mat 19:15    And He laid His hands on them and departed from there.

When the disciples rebuked the parents, The Lord overruled them, and turned their error into a teachable moment.

He had previously explained to them that the humility of an obedient, trusting, submissive child to his or her father was a model for our behavior as citizens of His kingdom.  Rebuking them for their attempt to turn away these kids was a reminder of that important truth.

There was very definitely a spiritual principle in His words.   We could put it like this: For whatever reason or reasons, the disciples were acting childishly when they should have been more childlike.

As for a literal principle to follow, we could say the text is telling us to bring our kids to Jesus.

How do we bring our kids to Jesus today?

Being God, an attribute of His deity is that Jesus is everywhere.  But I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that we ought to bring our kids to where Jesus said He’d be in a special way – among His gathered church on earth when we meet.

Secondly, we bring our kids to Jesus when we dedicate them.  As I said, dedication is not a requirement, but neither is it unscriptural or prohibited.  It’s a very precious custom.  It’s humbling and exhilarating to stand before your church family and ask for prayer to help you raise your children in the ways of The Lord.

Thirdly, we bring our kids to Jesus by exposing them, all the time, to The Lord and to the things of The Lord.  We are not Israel, but the exhortation of Deuteronomy six to parents is still appropriate for raising godly children:

Deu 6:4    “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one!
Deu 6:5    You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
Deu 6:6    “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.
Deu 6:7    You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.
Deu 6:8    You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.
Deu 6:9    You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Fourthly, we bring our kids to Jesus by evangelizing them.  We’re going to talk more about a child’s spiritual condition, and about the age of accountability, in just a moment.

For now, we need to be reminded that our kids need to make a personal, willful decision to trust Jesus Christ as their Savior from sin.  We should ask them to receive The Lord and, since they are kids, go on encouraging them to receive The Lord until they have attained an age of accountability.

Our granddaughter, CJ, is 8.  Last April, on the 12th of April to be exact, she was over and, on her own, wanted to watch the recent series, The Bible.  During the episode about Abraham she started asking us about going to Heaven.  We told her all she needed to do was to ask Jesus to come into her heart.  I asked her if she wanted me to help her with a sinner’s prayer; she said “No,” that she could pray on her own.

And then she did.  She told God she’d been sinning a lot and wanted to be forgiven and be a good little girl and be better at school.

It was a sweet blessing for Pam and I.

So far we understand Jesus’ comment, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven,” to be a spiritual rebuke or reminder to us to have childlike humility; and, on a practical level, to be an encouragement to constantly expose our kids to the things of The Lord, including church, in order to evangelize them.

I want, briefly, to mention something that has made me, in particular, extremely unpopular over the years.  It’s our policy of asking parents with young children to not sit here in the main sanctuary, but rather in one of the other locations available to them, e.g., the fabulous and family friendly Fellowship Hall.

I bring this up now only because, whenever someone objects to this policy, they quote these words of Jesus about letting the little children come to Him.

On a purely biblical level, and without getting emotional about it, Jesus did not mean that kids of any age could interrupt Him anytime they or their parents wanted to.  When He uttered that sentence, He was hanging out in a house; He was not in a synagogue or in some more formal setting.

The Bible does suggest, at least on one occasion, that you might want to restrict younger kids from the public assembly.  It’s in the book of Nehemiah.  They gathered together all the people to hear the reading of the Law.  In Nehemiah 8:2 we read,

Neh 8:2    So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly of men and women and all who could hear with understanding on the first day of the seventh month.

Those “who could hear with understanding” were children over a certain unspecified age.  Children were welcome, but there was an age-appropriate restriction.

I think our accommodation of kids is really pretty fantastic.  Recognizing that younger kids can, in fact, cause distractions, we have a beautiful, comfortable, casual place for families who prefer being together to experience worship and the word.

Wednesday nights we are extremely family friendly as kids join us for worship and, if their parents desire it, for the entire service.  We make sure that the things we do are kid-friendly.

Let me tell you, it can be pretty noisy on Wednesday nights as the kids wiggle and giggle through the worship, and sometimes the study.

One more thing.  Our Children’s Ministry isn’t just for babysitting.  We share the Gospel in age appropriate ways in order to evangelize the kids.  The kids love their teachers, and enjoy their classes.  Why wouldn’t a parent want to take advantage of that kind of help bringing their child to Jesus?

We take Jesus’ statement seriously, but we place greater emphasis on the spiritual component.  We want to see children brought to Him in order to be saved, so we provide age appropriate instruction.  Recognizing the rights of parents to stay together as a family should they so desire, we provide places on campus where that is possible and extremely comfortable, while simultaneously maintaining the sanctuary as a place where distractions can be kept to a minimum for folks who want to focus totally on the Word.  And we have a much more lax policy at our mid- week service.

I see it as a win-win for everyone and I am truly sad when folks are offended we have any policies in place.

We saw in Nehemiah a biblical reference to those “who could hear with understanding.”  It indicates that understanding brings responsibility; or, as we more commonly say, accountability.

When you start saying there is an age of accountability, it raises all sorts of important questions.  The most important one might be, “What happens to children who die before the age of accountability?”

We say they go to Heaven.

#2    Trust Your Kids In Jesus’ Loving Arms

If you think all Christians agree that children who die before the age of accountability go to Heaven, you’ve got another think coming.  The most common answer you’ll get is, “I don’t know,” or “We can’t be certain.”

Some come to the very opposite of our belief that they go to Heaven.  They go so far as to say that infants and children who die are, in fact, condemned to Hell – although they might soften this by suggesting that the children of believers, and certain other infants and children, are among God’s elect.

When talking about infants and children who cannot believe because they lack understanding, theologians normally include those with mental impairments that render them incapable of believing.  We’ll refer to them all as those who cannot believe.

The Bible makes no distinction between some who need salvation and others who do not.  All are equally lost – including those who cannot believe.

You enter the world a sinner, with a sin nature, before you ever commit a conscious, willful act of sin.  Everyone is born “dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1).

Everyone – including those who cannot believe – are lost, perishing, condemned, and under God’s wrath.  One author put it this way: “Babies are beautiful and lovely, but they are also lost.  They are delightful, but also depraved.  They are filled with life, but they are also dead in trespasses and sin.”
All are in need of God’s salvation, and that is why Jesus died for all.  Many passages teach that salvation is sufficient for, and intended for, everyone:

Joh 3:16    For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Heb 2:9    But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.

Joh 12:32    And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.”

1Jn 2:2    And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.

Jesus Christ died for everyone, but not everyone will be saved.  There is one condition: whoever believes.

1Ti 4:10    For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe.

Let’s talk about what it means to believe, since it is the one condition for salvation.

Why do people believe in Jesus?  Do they believe on their own, without any outside influence by God?

No, they do not decide on their own.  It is only by the grace of God operating on the human heart that a person can exercise faith to believe and thus be saved.

The Holy Spirit plays a vital role in bringing a sinner to see his or her need for salvation.  Jesus said, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him” (John 6:44).

The Father draws men to Himself as the Holy Spirit uses the Word of God to convict of sin, of righteousness, and of the judgment to come.  God’s grace operates on the human heart to free the will of the sinner to be able to believe and receive The Lord.

A child or the mentally deficient cannot believe.  The ministry of the Holy Spirit is therefore not able to operate on those who are incapable of understanding the Word.

Only adults, and those who can understand, are commanded to repent and believe in order to be saved.  If you cannot understand, or repent, or believe, then the work of Jesus on the Cross, which is unlimited in its scope, can be rightfully applied to you by God.

If the one condition of salvation is to believe, and a person cannot believe, will they be held responsible by God for something they were unable to do and miss out on Heaven?  To say “Yes,” to me at least, is an insult to everything Jesus Christ reveals to us of the character and nature of God.

Taking these biblical facts into account, we say the following:

All who can believe must do so to receive eternal life, but all who cannot believe receive the same eternal life provided by Jesus for them since they are unable to receive it or reject it.

Our arguments are good, but are there specific Scriptures about children that can help us?  And by that I mean, Are there specific passages that address the eternal destiny of those who cannot believe?  There are.

Job was being severely tested by God.  He despaired of his life.  He cried out,

Job 3:11    “Why did I not die at birth? Why did I not perish when I came from the womb?
Job 3:12    Why did the knees receive me? Or why the breasts, that I should nurse?
Job 3:13    For now I would have lain still and been quiet, I would have been asleep; Then I would have been at rest.

Job wished he’d been still-born.  He believed he would have been better off.  He describes the destiny of the still-born using the words “still,” “quiet,” “asleep,” and “at rest.”

He’s certainly not describing a state in which he would have been annihilated and ceased to exist.  If he meant that, he would have said that it would have been better if he had never been conceived.

It seems clear to me that Job thought he would be in a place of eternal rest.  He didn’t know as much about Heaven as we who have the complete revelation of God know; but he knew there was a better place, and that an infant still-born would go there.

The most often referenced Bible passage regarding the destiny of the unborn is Second Samuel 12:22-23.  King David had sinned by sleeping with Bathsheeba and having her husband killed.  The prophet Nathan rebuked him, letting David know that, as part of his punishment, the child born to him with Bathsheeba would die shortly after birth.

David fasted and prayed for the child until he died.  Then he got up, cleaned-up, and ate, and went about his normal routine as King.  His servants were confused about his behavior.  They thought he should be all the sadder at the death of his son.

This was his answer:

2Sa 12:22    And he said, “While the child was alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘Who can tell whether the LORD will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’
2Sa 12:23    But now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.”

Life after death was a certainty for David.  He definitely and confidently believed that he would in the future again be with his son.  He had no doubt whatsoever that his infant son, taken in death before he could receive or reject his father’s God, would be there also.

Two arguments are leveled against this position by those who say it doesn’t teach the salvation of those who cannot believe:

The first argument is that David simply meant one day he would join his son in death.  They say there is no expectation of Heaven in his words.  But that is absurd to me, because it is clear from David’s words that he was anticipating a joyous reunion that could only take place in Paradise.

The second argument is that David’s son would indeed be in Heaven, but only because he was the child of a believer.  Their position is that the children of believers do indeed go to Heaven, but not (or most likely not) the children of nonbelievers.  I find this, too, to be absurd.  While a believing parent or parents are a blessing, no one is saved because their parents were saved.

Notice that those who use the second argument are conceding that people who cannot believe can be saved apart from personal faith which they cannot exercise.  They are compelled to limit it to the children of believers not on account of the Bible, but because of their theology.  Their understanding of the Cross limits the atonement Jesus made for sin to an elect group rather than it’s being available to whosoever will believe.

If the Bible teaches that there is an age of accountability, that, too, would be strong evidence God does not hold those under that age accountable but instead saves them if they die before reaching it.

It seems that there is an age of accountability.  In talking about the children of the wicked city of Nineveh, The Lord described them as those who could not “discern between their right hand and their left” (4:11).  In other words, they were too young to have conscious discernment.

In Deuteronomy 1:39 The Lord was speaking to the generation of Israelites who had sinned by refusing to enter the Promised Land.  He describes children as those who “had no knowledge between good and evil.”  They were therefore not held accountable and would be allowed in to the land.

We saw, too, in Nehemiah that there was an age at which a child could understand what was being said in God’s Word.

What is the age of accountability?  No definite answer can be given because it varies from person-to-person.  James 4:17 tells us what accountability is, but cannot give us a specific age.

Jas 4:17    Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.

We say, therefore, that there are specific passages that address the destiny of those who cannot believe, and that, taken together, reveal to us that they do, in fact, go to Heaven.

There are undoubtedly infant and child deaths represented here today.  Miscarriages… Abortions.

You might be a believer; you might be an unbeliever.

Your child, or children, who died for whatever reason before they could be held accountable: They are safe in the arms of Jesus.

Divorce Thwart

When the grand boys visit, the house gets progressively messier as they bring out various toys.

Zeke, right now, loves Jenga Boom.  It’s Jenga but there’s a platform that you build upon that winds up and counts down towards a catastrophic collapse, spreading the blocks all over the place.

When Gene and Kelly come to pick up the boys, they always say, “Let’s put away the toys.”

They never say to the boys, “Let’s divorce the toys.”

Here in Matthew nineteen, we will see the words “divorce” and “put away.”  We assume they mean the same thing.  They do not.

Have you read in Malachi 2:16 that God hates divorce?  The Hebrew text of Malachi 2:16 uses the word shalach, which is the Hebrew word that means to put or to send away.  Yet, the modern English translations all insert the word “divorce” in the verse, which is the Hebrew word keriythuwth, and the Hebrew word keriythuwth is not found in the Hebrew text of the prophet Malachi.

It is crucial we understand this distinction.  Being put away, and being divorced, are very different things.  I’ll organize my thoughts around two points: #1 God’s Design For Your Marriage Comes From The Garden, and #2 God’s Dynamic For Your Marriage Comes By Grace.

#1    God’s Design For Your Marriage
    Comes From The Garden
    (v1-10)

Among the Jews, a wife could be “put away” by her husband without any legal intervention.  It was usually an arbitrary action by the husband, not subject to the wife’s consent.

When a husband wanted to “put away” his wife, for any reason, no one could hinder him from doing it.  If a man got tired of his wife, he could simply send her out of his house.  In our society we might say that he had “kicked her out of the house.”

The dismissed wife was in a kind of legal limbo.  She was technically still a married woman.
As a wife who had been abandoned she would have a very difficult time even surviving if she did not have her original family to go back to.  Remarriage to another man was unlikely since the circumstances of her dismissal by her husband put a stigma upon her.

With this background, we’re ready for our text.

Mat 19:1    Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these sayings, that He departed from Galilee and came to the region of Judea beyond the Jordan.
Mat 19:2    And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them there.

Matthew noted that Jesus “healed” the multitudes.  How tragic that against a backdrop of alleviating all manner of human pain and suffering, the Pharisees are coming to accuse Jesus, to try to stumble Him.  You’d think they’d be embarrassed.

Mat 19:3    The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?”

It might be a good time to read the passage from Deuteronomy that forms the background for their question.

Deu 24:1    “When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some uncleanness in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house,
Deu 24:2    when she has departed from his house, and goes and becomes another man’s wife,
Deu 24:3    if the latter husband detests her and writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her as his wife,
Deu 24:4    then her former husband who divorced her must not take her back to be his wife after she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the LORD, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.

J. Carl Laney explains the historical setting, with some cynicism, when he says, “men were [putting away] their wives for a ‘weekend fling’ and then taking them back again when the dirty laundry had piled up and the house needed cleaning.”

I read an article this week about a Japanese woman asking her husband for a divorce because he admitted he doesn’t like the movie Frozen.  It turns out not everybody wants to build a snowman.  I say, let it go.

Moses addressed this terrible practice of putting away wives. He called for the husband to give the dismissed wife a certificate of divorce.  You can read the boilerplate certificate of divorce that was used in Bible times.  It’s a little too long for me to read it now, but I will say that it is all very positive towards the put away wife, with no mention of any wrong doing on her part.

God demonstrated His concern for the put away wife by requiring her husband to give her a legal bill of divorcement.  This would remove any stigma from her and enable her to legally remarry.

This powerfully illustrates that God does not hold the offended party to blame, but sets them free.  It is a glimpse into the heart of God – an important one to have in our discussion of divorce and remarriage.

Bear in mind, too, that the passage in Deuteronomy is a command regulating remarriage; it isn’t really a passage that spells out the grounds for divorce.

While we’re here, what about remarriage to a former spouse in our society?  I would approach Moses’ prohibition as being unique to Israel’s tribal society, in much the same way as the regulation that if your brother dies childless, you are required to sleep with his wife so that his lineage will continue.

Deuteronomy does say “because he has found some uncleanness in her… he writes her a certificate of divorcement.”

What, exactly, is meant by “uncleanness?”   There are at least eight valid, but conflicting, scholarly answers to that question.  The popular one is that it must be some sort of sexual sin.  But that is unlikely.  The Law of Moses already prescribed severe penalties for sexual sin, like stoning to death, not divorce.

Besides, the text also says that the second husband writes her a certificate of divorcement simply because “he detests her.”

This woman is perfectly free to remarry, and any subsequent marriages are deemed legal – as long as she does not remarry a previous spouse.

Taken as a whole, the passage discourages divorce, prohibiting remarrying a former spouse, but it also establishes the importance of putting away a wife only if she is given a certificate of divorce that protects her and frees her to remarry.

The interpretation of “uncleanness” divided the two schools of Rabbi Hillel and Rabbi Shammai, famous first-century Jewish scholars.

Hillel took a very lax view and said that the husband could divorce his wife for almost any reason, while Shammai took the stricter view and said Moses was speaking only about certain sexual sin.

The Jews were putting away their wives for any reason at all.  Jesus first attempted to elevate their thinking by taking them back to the beginning of marriage.

Mat 19:4    And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE,’
Mat 19:5    and said, ‘FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH’ ?
Mat 19:6    So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”

Instead of going back to Deuteronomy, Jesus went back to Genesis.  He wanted them, and us, to understand God’s design for marriage when He brought Eve to Adam in the Garden of Eden.

Here is a quick but insightful summary of God’s design for marriage: It is a divinely appointed physical and spiritual union of one man and one woman that is permanent as long as they both shall live.

Later passages in the Bible answer specific questions about marriage and about human sexuality, but the union of Adam and Eve addresses those questions by way of God’s example.

Sex is to be between one man and one woman – not two men or two women or multiple spouses.

It is to be practiced within the context of marriage – not before you are married or with another with whom you are not married.

Biblical marriage is to be honored, guarded, and protected.

Adam and Eve, in a beautiful Garden, walking with and communing with God, naked but unashamed… That’s what God thinks about marriage.  He meant it for our good, to bring joy and pleasure to us.

As believers, indwelt by God the Holy Spirit, we ought to focus on God’s ideal for us in every area, rather than asking how we can lower our appreciation of His standards but still be walking with Him.

Case in point: You should never need to understand why Moses regulated the putting away of wives with a certificate of divorce.  To use a common idiom, Don’t even go there!

Mat 19:7    They said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?”
Mat 19:8    He said to them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.

Both Jewish schools thought of the passage in Deuteronomy as a command to give a certificate of divorce.  But Moses gave only one commandment in that passage: The divorced wife could not return to her first husband if she was put away by a subsequent husband.

Moses did not command divorce; he merely regulated it.

Mat 19:9    And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.”

Once again, the word for “divorces” is put away.  Jesus was referring to the necessity of a certificate of divorcement, giving the offended spouse the right to remarry.  Without it, the parties are still bound legally and, so, any subsequent marriages would be adulterous, based on the Genesis account which presents marriage as a permanent earthly union.

Putting away a spouse would be similar to what we call separation; the marriage still exists, so sex with someone other than your spouse, or remarriage, constitutes sexual sin.

Talking about divorce and remarriage causes stress, because just about every one of us has been involved, directly or indirectly, with divorce; and many of those divorces are what we would have to call ‘unbiblical,’ because they were for reasons other than the one Jesus gives here, and that the Bible gives elsewhere.

Jesus was addressing Jewish practices, but as He did, He established the biblical grounds for a divorce that would allow the innocent, wounded party to dissolve the marriage and be free to remarry.

Those grounds are “sexual immorality.”  It is the more modern translation of the word fornication.

In Hebrew and in Greek, the word fornication includes incest, sodomy, harlotry, perversion, bestiality, and (really) all sexual sin, both before and after marriage.

I don’t mean to be crude, but do you remember the Monica Lewinsky scandal?  Then President Clinton, when he gave his deposition in the Paula Jones case, said he had never had “sexual relations” with Monica Lewinsky.  He had a rather narrow view of what constitutes sexual relations.  It was fornication.

“Adultery” is fornication committed by a married man or woman.

There are those who argue that fornication does not give you grounds for divorce and remarriage.  They narrow the word’s meaning in various ways, e.g., trying to say it only refers to sexual immorality during the betrothal and therefore before the marriage.

Not true; Jesus specifically gives it as an exception, freeing the innocent, wounded party from the marriage.

At the same time, He wasn’t commanding a divorce when there is fornication; only permitting it.  Many marriages have survived the sexual immorality of one or both spouses who have repented and been granted forgiveness.

Is it more spiritual to stay together?  We tend to think it is; those are the testimonies that seem to be highlighted.  But if Jesus gives you a choice – a sincere choice – then what is most spiritual is how He directs you in your particular situation.

If you ask me, or most evangelical, orthodox Christians, the Bible gives two clear grounds for divorce: sexual immorality, and abandonment by an unbeliever, taught by the apostle Paul in 1Corinthians 7:15.

That’s our position, and we’re sticking to it.

Having said that, it’s not always so cut-and-dried.  For example,  let’s say your spouse is involved in pornography.  The word fornication is a translation of porneia, from where we get our word pornography.  Is it grounds for divorce?  And, if it is, how deeply must the offending spouse be involved in it?

What, exactly, constitutes abandonment?  What about physical abuse?  Or mental, or verbal abuse?  Are those abandonments?  And, again we must ask, how severe must they become?

Are you really going to tell a woman being abused to endure it because her dirtbag husband won’t abandon her and isn’t sleeping with another woman?

This is where something I mentioned earlier comes into play.  God wants to protect the innocent – not add to their misery.  He was concerned about the plight of the wife being unjustly put away, and He stepped in to regulate the hardness of men’s hearts so she was set free to remarry.  He is no less gracious today, under the new covenant.

One conservative but insightful commentator put it this way:

In summary, what are the biblical grounds for divorce?  The answer is sexual immorality and abandonment.  Are there additional grounds for divorce beyond these two?  Possibly.  Is divorce ever to be treated lightly or employed as the first recourse?  Absolutely not.

Within the framework of the two biblical grounds revealed for divorce, we need to struggle with each situation and its unique details, holding to the sanctity of marriage as it was originally modeled, but extending grace to innocents who are the victims of sin.

#2    God’s Dynamic For Your Marriage
    Comes By Grace
    (v11-12)

The disciples were freaked.  Suddenly marriage was a whole lot more serious than their culture had taught them.  They had a knee jerk reaction.

Mat 19:10    His disciples said to Him, “If such is the case of the man with his wife, it is better not to marry.”

If a husband can’t put way his wife for frivolous reasons, they thought “it is better not to marry.”

Instead of following Jesus into the Garden of Eden, and renewing their appreciation of marriage, they were concerned about getting out of a so-called bad marriage.

They were looking at marriage the way a lot of people do – including Christians.  They were looking at it selfishly – from the perspective of how it might not always be a benefit to them, but could sometimes involve self-sacrifice.  They thought of it as something to be endured, rather than enjoyed.

I’d add this, too.  They weren’t thinking of marriage in terms of submitting to God to bring Him glory.  They weren’t thinking of it as a ministry to Him, for Him.

Jesus addressed their consternation by being practical:

Mat 19:11    But He said to them, “All cannot accept this saying, but only those to whom it has been given:
Mat 19:12    For there are eunuchs who were born thus from their mother’s womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He who is able to accept it, let him accept it.”

A textbook eunuch is typically a man who has been castrated, usually early enough in his life for this change to have hormonal consequences.

Jesus made His point by describing three types of eunuchs::

Some men are eunuchs because they were born that way.

Others are so because they were castrated by men; oriental rulers often subjected the harem attendants to surgery to make them eunuchs.

Jesus also had in mind those who have made themselves eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven’s sake.  These men could be married, and they have no physical impairment.  Yet in dedication to the King and His kingdom, they willingly forego marriage in order to give themselves to the cause of Christ without distraction.  As Paul wrote later, “He who is unmarried cares for the things of the Lord – how he may please the Lord” (1Corinthians 7:32).  Their celibacy is not physical but a matter of voluntary abstinence.

Jesus reminded them that the ability to remain single and therefore celibate was not the general rule; only those to whom special grace was given could forego marriage.

Let me say something about people being “born that way.”  It’s a pretty broad statement by Jesus, and therefore can include any number of things.

For example today we hear a lot about people who have same sex attraction “being born that way.”  I’m not sure where the scientific community is right now, or I should say, the scientific evidence, for same sex attraction.  It’s usually quite conflicting.

But even if a person is “born that way,” it is no excuse they must act upon drives and impulses that Scripture determines to be sinful.

Nick Roen is a Master of Divinity student at Bethlehem College & Seminary.  He has a burden to help the church think through issues regarding sexuality, singleness, and celibacy.  He’s burdened because he is a Christian with same sex attraction.

He wrote the following:

Same sex attraction is the result of a broken creation, and in that sense it is “sinful” or “dishonorable” [as we are told in Romans 1:26].  It is an effect of the fall.

However, experiencing same sex attraction is not the same as sinning.  Rather, same sex attractions should be treated like any temptation to sin.  They should be fought with blood-earnestness in a way that recognizes the deceitfulness of the heart and the finitude of the mind.

When I do this – when I fight temptation, turn to Jesus, trust his promises, and rely on his Spirit – God is pleased.  He is not mainly displeased because I need to fight, but pleased because I am fighting.

This is good news for all of us who experience all manner of temptations!  May this fact lead us, no matter our particular groaning, to rest in Jesus more deeply, fight temptation more fiercely, and look forward to the day when our fight of faith will result in “praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1Peter 1:7).

Roen suggests that sanctified singleness is the solution we must proclaim:

If we are going to ask those who struggle with same sex attraction to reject their longings for as long as the Lord wills, then we must have a strong theology of singleness that does not present it as simply a transitional stage on the way to marriage.  It seems that in many churches, marriage is assumed for everyone, and when it doesn’t happen for certain people, they are left wondering if the church is a place where they can truly belong.

“He who is able to accept it, let him accept it.”  You “accept” a gift; so, here, Jesus was indicating that to remain celibate, whether by choice or not, you must accept God’s grace.

You’re going to need His grace in marriage just as much.  You can be assured it is available to you; but you must avail yourself of it.

Marriage is not about you.  It is about God.  It is about pleasing God by submitting to one another and stepping in to the roles He has established – the roles of husband and wife, with their corresponding duties and delights.

Maybe you are mulling over something that was read, or said, and have questions about your own unique situation.  We would love to pray with you, to talk with you – in order to determine the direction God has for you.

Whatever direction it is, The Lord has grace for you to walk with Him according to His will so your life can be a testimony to His glory.

The Magnificent 70×7

You know what a 3-Strikes law is and does.

It’s a statute enacted by state governments in the United States which mandates state courts to impose harsher sentences on habitual offenders who are convicted of three or more serious criminal offenses.

Like them or not – some people don’t – 3-Strikes laws represent our feeling that you should only give a repeat offender so many chances.

The Jews in the first century had a type of 3-Strikes law.   At least, they had a 3-Strikes mentality.  The rabbis, citing several verses from the prophet Amos (1:3, 6, 9, 11, & 13), taught that since God forgave Israel’s enemies only three times, it was presumptuous and unnecessary to forgive anyone more than three times.

One rabbi whose writings we have said, “If a man commits an offense once, they forgive him; if he commits an offense a second time, they forgive him; if he commits an offense a third time, they forgive him; the fourth time they do not forgive him.”

Peter more than doubled that when he asked Jesus, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”

Jesus blew Peter’s doors off, saying in response, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.”

How is that even possible?

That is what we need to find out today.  I’ll organize my thoughts around two points: #1 Your Forgiveness Doesn’t Have A Limit, and #2 Your Forgiveness Does Have A Leniency.

#1    Your Forgiveness Doesn’t Have A Limit
    (v21-22)

These verses don’t stand alone.  Jesus had just instructed His followers how we are to proceed when one among us sins.  We are to go to the sinning brother or sister, one-on-one, tell them they are in sin, seeking to gain them back into fellowship with us and with The Lord.

If they will not confess their sin, and repent, we are to go to them two-or-three on one.

If they will not confess their sin, and repent, we are to tell the church.

If they will not confess their sin, and repent, we are to treat the sinning brother or sister as a heathen or a tax collector.

Mulling this over, Peter wanted to know how to deal with a repeat offender.  He was familiar with the rabbi’s and their 3-Strikes approach; but he has heard Jesus teach that our righteousness must exceed that of the most religious Jews.

He thus suggested his amplified version of 3-Strikes.

Mat 18:21    Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”

Peter doubled it and added one for good measure.

But that’s the problem.  Forgiveness, by its very nature, cannot be measured.

A 3-Strikes law makes sense in the civil courts, to protect society from habitual offenders.  But we cannot have the same mentality when discussing the spiritual quality of forgiveness.

If you are a Christian, God has, in Jesus Christ, forgiven you.  Is there a limit to it?

Psa 103:12    As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.

Adam Clark said of this verse, “As the east and the west can never meet in one point, but be for ever at the same distance from each other, so our sins and their decreed punishment are removed to an eternal distance by God’s mercy.”

Albert Barnes said, “We are safe from all condemnation for our sins, as if they had not been committed at all.”

William MacDonald said, “The believer and his sins will never meet.  Those sins have been put out of God’s sight forever by a miracle of love.”

In Isaiah 38:17 we read, “For You have cast all my sins behind Your back.”

“Behind the back” is a strong figure for “out of sight” and “out of mind.”

“Casting” behind the back implies resolute purpose. It is as if God had thoroughly made up His mind that He would never look upon them again; He had done with them forever.

In Micah 7:19 we read, “He will again have compassion on us, And will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins Into the depths of the sea.”  Nothing brings to us the sense of hopeless, irretrievable loss, like dropping a thing into the fathomless depths of mid-ocean.

It is with that understanding of God’s limitless forgiveness that Jesus answered Peter.

Mat 18:22    Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.

Jesus multiplied the number, not to set a limit or to measure forgiveness, but to show that it cannot be limited or measured.

It is like trying to measure the distance between the east and the west.  It cannot be done.

Forgiveness is never a quantity; it is a quality – a spiritual quality.

It might be a good time to pause and discuss exactly what we mean by forgiveness; or, at the very least, to say a few important things about the quality of biblical forgiveness.

I’ll start with this: Forgiveness is not unconditional.

God does not forgive unconditionally.  His forgiveness has clear, unmistakeable conditions.  Both Jesus, as well as the apostles after Him, preached “repentance and the forgiveness of sins” (Luke 24:47; Acts 17:30).

In the parallel passage to this in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus said,

Luk 17:3    Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.
Luk 17:4    And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.”

The word translated “repent” means to turn.  It indicates a turn around, an about face, in your thinking that leads to an about face in your behavior.

There can be no granting of forgiveness without this change of mind and turning from sin.
If there was forgiveness apart from repentance, everyone would automatically be saved; and they are not – only whosoever believes in Jesus Christ.

I might add that the very fact that there is a procedure set forth in this chapter for dealing with sin proves that forgiveness is not unconditional.

Jesus didn’t say, “if your brother sins against you, forgive him unconditionally.”  No; He said, “if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.  If he hears you, you have gained your brother.”

We “tell” the one in sin so that they will confess.  True confession has been described as “agreement with another who is in agreement with God’s Word.”

You cannot skip confession and repentance and get to real biblical forgiveness any other way.  You are therefore not obligated to forgive someone who is unrepentant.  Instead, you are obligated to urge them to repent.

I hope that is somewhat liberating for you.  Most of the cultural voices are telling you to forgive unconditionally; and it sounds spiritual.  But it isn’t, because it isn’t biblical.

Here is something else we need to understand about forgiveness.  It is not a feeling, or based upon feelings.  In the process Jesus outlined, He never suggests that you must wait until you ‘feel’ like forgiving the repentant sinner.

And that’s why, as near as I can explain it, forgiveness must be a promise you make to the repentant sinner.

God promises to forgive you when He says, “I will not remember your sins” (Isaiah 43:25).  In another place He says, “sin I will remember no more” (Jeremiah 31:34).

God cannot forget our sins; He is, after all, omniscient.  But He can choose to not remember them – to never bring them up, or hold them against us.

He can do it because Jesus died for our sins on the Cross.  When I confess Him as my Savior, and repent, and by faith am saved, my sins are as far away from me as the east is from the west; they are no more remembered by my Father in Heaven.

When the conditions are met, His forgiveness is limitless.  So must ours be of those who repent.

That sounds so amazing; so spiritual.  I want to forgive that way… But, truth be told, I’m a 3-Strikes guy.  In some cases, I’m a 1-Strike guy.

How can I really practice limitless forgiveness?

#2    Your Forgiveness Does Have A Leniency
    (v23-35)

Jesus illustrated what He meant by the telling of an often misunderstood parable – the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant.

Let’s read it in full.

Mat 18:23    Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.
Mat 18:24    And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.
Mat 18:25    But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made.
Mat 18:26    The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’
Mat 18:27    Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.
Mat 18:28    “But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’
Mat 18:29    So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’
Mat 18:30    And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt.
Mat 18:31    So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done.
Mat 18:32    Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me.
Mat 18:33    Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’
Mat 18:34    And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him.

An allegory is filled with symbolism and most, if not all, of its details signify something else.

Not so a parable; it’s usually making a single, bigger point.  We will not find an exact counterpart for every detail in a parable; in fact, we should not, or else we might make the parable say something more than was intended.

In this parable, for instance, the king represents God – but not every action of this earthly king has a correspondence to our heavenly Father.

Peter had asked a question about how many times we are required to forgive a repeat offender.  The question exposes his natural reluctance to go on forgiving someone.  The parable of the unforgiving servant was told to show us the error of our natural reluctance to forgive others – especially when they are multiple offenders.

The “certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants” represents God as He surveys the human race.

The “one who owed him ten thousand talents” represents the sinner.

A “talent” isn’t a coin; it is a weight of precious metals.  The sum owed here would be in the millions of dollars.  The exact amount is not given because it isn’t the point.  The point is, it is a debt that could never hope to be paid by the servant.

The debt represents your sin as a man or woman before God.  Like the servant, you go through your life as if there will be no accounting for it, no reckoning of it, by God.  But then something arrests your attention; some crisis, perhaps.  The grace of God that is operating to free your will brings you to a place where you see the crushing weight of your debt of sin; you are terrified, knowing you can never save yourself.  You might even make empty resolutions to change; but you know you are too far gone.

I had a moment like that.  Many of you who came to Christ later in life had a moment, or moments, like that.

All you can do is throw yourself on the mercy of the king.  When you do, you find He is “moved with compassion” for you.  He immediately cancels your debt.  It is as if it has been paid in full.

It has, of course, been paid in full, by Jesus, on the Cross.  Do you remember Jesus’ cry from the Cross, “It is finished?”

Found only in the Gospel of John, the Greek word translated “it is finished” is tetelestai, an accounting term that means “paid in full.”

When Jesus uttered those words, He was declaring the debt owed to His Father was wiped away completely and forever.  Jesus eliminated the debt owed by mankind – the debt of sin.

What would you expect from the servant who had been forgiven this incalculable debt?  You’d expect him to show mercy to any who owed him a far lesser debt.

Instead, he finds a fellow servant who owes him a very small amount.  The second debtor appeals to him in the same way he had appealed to the king.  But, instead of compassion, the first servant had contempt, and refused to forgive the debt.

Upon hearing about the unforgiving servant, the king rebuked him, and had him thrown into prison.

The unforgiving servant represents us when we are reluctant to forgive a brother or a sister who has met the condition of repentance.

How can we, who have been forgiven so much by God, withhold forgiveness from those whose sin or sins against us are far less than ours against God?
We who have been forgiven an infinite debt ought to be willing to forgive others an insignificant debt.

No matter their debt, it is insignificant compared to our sin before God.

If there is confession and repentance, and we refuse to forgive, we are exactly like the unforgiving servant.

When we do promise our forgiveness, and reconcile, then we are exactly like our Heavenly Father.

Allow me to address a perceived difficulty, or two, in this parable.  In the final verse, we read,

Mat 18:35    “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.”

On the surface it seems to be saying that the king, i.e., God, will withdraw His forgiveness from you unless you forgive others.

That cannot be true for the simple fact that it would make salvation depend upon your good works to maintain it.  Salvation – eternal life – has nothing to do with your good works, or lack of them.  It is always the free gift of grace when you trust Jesus Christ to save you.

We need to distinguish between two kinds of forgiveness.  Theologians call them Judicial Forgiveness, and Parental Forgiveness.

Those are good names in that you can guess what they stand for, without much explanation, and it makes perfect sense.

When a person comes to the Cross, confesses their sin, repents, and believes in Jesus, God as Judge forgives their sin once-and-for-all.  He remembers it no more.  They will not, they cannot, be judged for their sin – past, present, or future – and condemned by it to Hell.

The saved person is now a child of God placed in the family of God; God is their Father.  As Father, He is training us daily to obey Him and thereby grow in maturity.

We still disobey – just like kids in any family.  When we sin, we need to ask for forgiveness of our Father.  We need to be restored to fellowship with Him.  If not, we are subject to His loving but firm parental discipline.

Judicial Forgiveness is something granted once-and-for-all.  Parental Forgiveness is ongoing as we are being changed, conformed, into the image of Jesus Christ.

Thus there is what we might call “forgiveness after forgiveness.”  Forgiven for eternity, we must ask forgiveness in our daily lives as children of God in the family of God.

The forgiveness that the king is talking about is illustrating God’s Parental Forgiveness – not His Judicial Forgiveness.  It is not teaching a loss of salvation.

Another thing that disturbs people about the parable are the “tormentors.”  I think this is simply part of the storytelling – part of the parable that doesn’t necessarily have a symbolic meaning.

If you do want to assign some spiritual meaning to it, then it would probably be a reference to the biblical truth that “whom The Lord loves, He chastens.”

The “tormentors” in the story represent whatever discipline your gracious Heavenly Father deems appropriate for your sin of unforgiveness.

Here is something to consider in light of the overall context of the verses.  If a brother or sister repents, and you refuse to forgive them, your refusal is itself a sin that puts you in a position to be confronted with your sin.

The most important words in this entire study might be “from his heart.”  Here is why I say that.

None of us can really forgive others the way God has forgiven us without His power to do so.  Forgiveness – limitless forgiveness –  is not natural for us; it must be supernatural.

That’s not to say we have to wait for it to happen; that’s not to say that we need some special touch from above.

It is already supernaturally possible for you as a Christian because you are indwelt by God the Holy Spirit

I must therefore yield to the Spirit and promise to forgive in response to repentance.

I’ve found that, for the most part, when a Christian is genuinely repentant, the person or persons he or she has sinned against are empowered to forgive them.  Something truly spiritual happens; it’s a moment to remember.

(I want to call it a magic moment, but I can’t for obvious reasons!)

That doesn’t mean there won’t be an ongoing struggle in the heart of the one promising to forgive.  We still have the flesh to contend with, and the devil hates it when we forgive others the way God in Jesus forgave us.

It doesn’t mean that there won’t be consequences, either.  Depending on the sin, I might be able to forgive the offender, but things may not be able, immediately or ever, to go back the way they were.

You see this when, for example, a Christian leader falls into sin.  They repent; you forgive them.  But that doesn’t mean they keep their position of ministry.

Your forgiveness should have a certain leniency.  By that I mean you should always be ready to forgive an offense because of how much you’ve been forgiven by God; and on account of what it cost – the death of Jesus Christ.

Eph 4:32    And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

When you’re having trouble promising forgiveness, remembering someone’s sin no more, casting it behind your back and dropping it into the ocean, think about how much you’ve been forgiven by God at the Cross of Jesus Christ.

To Boldly Go Where One Man Can Be Restored

A father walks into his teen aged son’s room holding a small box.  He confronts the boy, asking him, “Is this yours?”

At first the boy denies any knowledge of the box – even though his dad tells him that his mom found it in his room.

It’s a box of weed, along with other drug paraphernalia.

After several lying denials, the father, now agitated, asks, “Who taught you how to do this stuff?”

There is a dramatic pause, and then the boy exclaims, “You, alright; I learned it by watching you!”

In this 1987 public service ad by Partnership for a Drug Free America, the dad’s authority to confront his son was compromised by his own behavior.

Let me ask all of us a question: Is our authority to confront other believers who are in sin compromised by our own behavior?

It’s an important question to ponder as we approach our text.  We are in the well-known passage about church discipline – about how to deal with believers who are deliberately sinning.

As we will see, it all begins, and therefore in some sense depends upon, each of us as individuals being not just willing but able to go privately to a sinning brother or sister and confront their sin.

We need to be like those described in Galatians 6:1, where we read, “if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness…”

“You who are spiritual,” meaning walking with The Lord, in the Spirit.  If we are, we may hope to go and gain back a brother.

If we are not “spiritual,” we may not even feel the Spirit’s prompting “go” in the first place.

Let’s be among the spiritual God can use.

I’ll organize my thoughts around two points: You’ve Been Appointed To “Go” And Thereby Gain A Brother Who Is In Sin, and #2 We’ve Been Authorized To “Go” And Thereby Gain A Brother Who Is In Sin.

#1    You’ve Been Appointed To “Go”
    And Thereby Gain A Brother Who Is In Sin
    (v15)

Jesus had just told His disciples a parable about the value God the Father puts upon every child of God.  He compared our Father to a shepherd who will leave ninety-nine sheep in order to go after the one straying sheep, to bring it back to the safety of the shepherd and the flock.

Our text describes one of the primary ways God goes after those who stray in the church age in which we live.

The remarkable thing – the thing to sit up and take heed of – is that He sends you and I after them.  We are His first plan of action.

Don’t miss this: The process we call church discipline depends first and foremost upon you and me as individuals.  Before two or three others get involved, and way before the whole church gets involved, it’s just you and the sinner – mano y mano.

(Or womano y womano).

Mat 18:15    “Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother.

The issue is sin – something the Bible clearly and unmistakably defines as sin.  If it’s something else, say, a personality issue, or some other disagreement – for sure, get together and try to sort it out.

But if there is no sin, the resolve is, as much as lies in you, to be at peace with the other person.  It’s not a matter for getting others involved, or for church discipline.

Someone who identifies as a brother or a sister in Jesus Christ is committing sin; or you suspect very strongly they are.  You are appointed by God to “go” to them and “tell” them.

This is a responsibility that falls on each and every believer.  It’s not just for the pastor, or an elder, or a deacon.  All of us are so appointed.

The words, “against you,” might not be in your translation.  They are not in all of the old manuscripts we have from which we translate the Bible.

The context argues for a broader application than a sin or sins against you personally.  Jesus wasn’t talking about a personal offense as if you could ignore the fact a brother or sister is in sin if it isn’t directly against you.

All sin by other believers does directly impact the body of Christ – including you.

It can impact the body of Christ by being a terrible testimony to nonbelievers.
It can impact the body of Christ by grieving the Holy Spirit and thereby hindering His work in the church.

The “tell[ing]” of the sin is to be done privately, and that means without consulting others or asking their advise or counsel by first telling them about the person’s sin.

“If he [or she] hears you, you have gained your brother [or your sister].”  The goal, and your desire, ought to be to “gain” the person.  The word is borrowed from the world of commerce, where it is used to described accumulating wealth.

A brother or a sister in Jesus Christ is far too valuable to let alone in their sin.  It will endanger them; it can destroy them – and with them, those around them.

No, they have strayed and need to be told in order to be restored for their own good as well as everyone else’s.  They need to be accumulated, as it were, back into the fellowship of believers.

So you, and I, are to “go” to them.  And, you know what?  Why wouldn’t we “go” to them, since we love The Lord with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength, and we love them.

One reason we might not “go” is because we’ve been taught, or we assume, it is the job of a church leader.  Nope.  Not at step one; not at ground zero.

Another reason we might not “go” is because we hate confrontation; we’re not wired for it.  That’s  not a valid excuse.

And then there just might be the reason I alluded to earlier.  If I am sinning, I’m afraid the person I’m going to tell their sin will turn it back on me and, in a way, say, “I learned it from you!”

None of us are sinless, but there is a difference between being a sinner and habitually committing deliberate sin.  We need to get it together, confess our sin, let The Lord cleanse us from all of our unrighteousness, and then “go” tell our brother or sister their “fault.”

God wants to use you, to use us, to restore a brother or sister; to “gain” them back.  Each of us is far too precious for any of us to ignore sin – either in our own lives, or in the lives of others.

#2    We’ve Been Appointed To “Go”
    And Thereby Gain A Brother Who Is In Sin
    (v16-20)

Let’s say you “go” and the person won’t hear you – meaning they refuse to repent of their sin.  Now what?

Mat 18:16    But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY WORD MAY BE ESTABLISHED.’

While we can identify at least five distinct ‘steps’ in this process, that does not mean we must rapidly move from one step to the next; or that we always go in order.

You may, for example, “go” privately to the sinning brother or sister multiple times before you realize that they are refusing to repent.
Or it may be that the sin is so obvious, so blatant, that there is no need for a one-on-one, but rather you start with a larger group to seek the sinners repentance.

In the textbook case, if they continue in sin after you privately “go” to them and “tell” them, you are to enlist the help of others who are spiritual.

The “one or two more” are to function as “witnesses.”  I take that to mean that, ideally, they do not know about the person’s sin.  You haven’t prepped them ahead of time; you haven’t stacked the deck against the brother you’re confronting.

They may, in fact, determine that your claims are without merit.  Remember, there needs to be actual, deliberate sin – not just a personal offense or hurt feelings.

But if there is sin, taking a witness or witnesses amps up the confrontation as the sinning brother or sister now starts to see that this is really serious.

The witness or witnesses will also be needed if things don’t get resolved and they proceed to “tell[ing]” the whole fellowship.  They can give testimony that things have been handled biblically, with grace and love.

Mat 18:17    And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.

“Hear them” means that the witnesses agree that there is sin and they, too, urge the person to repent.  If the person still refuses, then the “church” must be told.

Again, there is no rush to get to this point; not usually, anyway.  You might make several attempts with the witnesses before “tell[ing] it to the church.”

There is a wide diversity of biblical scholarship on exactly how to “tell the church.”

Some say it is during a regular service of the church, with believers and nonbelievers in the assembly.

Some say it is at a special meeting of the church’s believing members called specifically to deal with the discipline.

Some suggest it can be a smaller group within the larger church – comprised of those believers who have regular contact with the sinning person, e.g., their Bible study group or their fellow ushers.

There is also scholarly disagreement on exactly what you “tell” the church.

I can only say that, for me, there are a variety of ways you might “tell it to the church,” depending upon the person and the particulars.

Since the goal, at this point, is still to see the person restored, the principle to follow is to keep the number of people who know as small as possible but as large as is necessary.

What do you tell the church? You tell the church their sin, and the steps taken to restore them thus far.

You tell the church in order to enlist everyone who needs to know that the person is in sin, in order that everyone told might urge them to repent and thus be deputized as agents of restoration.

Throughout this process we are all to be thinking and acting as one in order to gain the person who is sinning.

Mat 18:17    … But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.

I don’t need to tell you that this, too, is a source of disagreement and controversy.  Here is my take.

Jesus was talking to Jews, and from a Jewish perspective, a “heathen” was a Gentile – a person who was never a member of God’s spiritual community.

A “tax collector” was a Jew who deliberately chose to abandon God’s people in order to live like a Gentile.

That’s helpful to me in this sense.  I don’t know if the sinning brother or sister is refusing to repent because they can’t, or because they won’t.

I don’t know if they are like a heathen – someone who never was saved, a tare among the wheat, and can’t repent of their specific sin because they first need to come to Jesus to be saved.
Or if they are a genuine believer, who has the Holy Spirit, but who won’t yield to Him, but instead choose to continue in deliberate sin.

Either way, I am to treat the person who continues unrepentant in deliberate sin as I would treat an unsaved person.

But not just like I would treat any unsaved person.  Listen to this passage about church discipline from First Corinthians 5:9-13.

1Co 5:9    I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people.
1Co 5:10    Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world.
1Co 5:11    But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner – not even to eat with such a person.
1Co 5:12    For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside?
1Co 5:13    But those who are outside God judges. Therefore “PUT AWAY FROM YOURSELVES THE EVIL PERSON.”

You are to treat a professing Christian who is sinning as an unbeliever, but with a good deal more caution than someone who doesn’t claim to be a Christian.

What did Paul mean by, “put away from yourselves?”  It’s not as obvious as you might think.  Most scholars say it means removal from the church; they say it means excommunication.

Dr. Jay Adams, revered by some as the guru of church discipline, says of “removal,”

Some think that [the disciplined person] is not to be allowed to attend worship services of the church.  That is a wrong reading of the passage.  What Paul means is that he is removed from the care and discipline of the church; he is no longer to be considered a member… But since he is to be treated as a heathen, and [since] heathen are permitted to attend the services of the church, unless he is acting divisively he should be allowed to hear the preaching of the Word and should be witnessed to by the members, treating him like any unbeliever who enters.

Regardless what we think “removal” means, whether at a church service, or in public, or in private, we are to continue to urge the person to repent, treating them as we would treat an unbeliever, but keeping the passage I quoted from First Corinthians in mind, which tells us to be more guarded against them than we would a person who has never confessed Jesus Christ.

Another writer says,

Not to have fellowship or even social contact with the unrepentant brother does not exclude all contact.  When there is opportunity to admonish him and try to call him back, the opportunity should be taken.  But the contact should be for the purpose of admonishment and no other.  [You therefore] put [him] out and call [him] back – to keep the sinning brother out of fellowship until he repents, but also to keep calling him back in hopes that he will.

I don’t have to tell you how very hard, and sad, all of this is.  But the difficulty and the grief doesn’t excuse us from obedience.

The question that always comes up, and might be on your mind, is, “Why don’t we see more church discipline?”
Meaning, of course, why aren’t we “telling the church” on a more regular basis.

As a practical matter, by the time we get to that point in the discipline, usually the person has already left the fellowship, and most or all the believers he or she had fellowship with know about their sin.  It’s therefore unnecessary to “tell it to the church.”  The whole church is protected, since the person is gone and is not affecting them; and the smaller part of the church that needs to know, knows.

There are always conversations going on at the earlier one-on-one and two-or-three-on-one stages.  Whenever we hear about sin, we deal with it, as graciously and mercifully as we can.

By “we” I now mean “me,” and the leadership in our church.

If you don’t see us doing anything, it may be that we don’t know about it.
Or it may be that we know something more about it than you do.

Verses eighteen, nineteen, and twenty are familiar to us, but usually are taken out of context and quoted as stand-alone promises.  In fact, they reveal how and why the church on earth has authority to deal with brothers and sisters who sin.

Mat 18:18    “Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

This was a Jewish saying of the day that Jesus’ disciples would have understood to mean that, when the church follows God’s principles for disciplining its members, it can be assured they are acting with the prior authorization of Heaven.

I’ve confronted folks over the years and a common retort by them is, “it’s none of your business.”  Another is, “it’s between me and God.”

That’s not true.  We are all connected, as a human body is connected.  And God has given us instruction on how to deal with sin in our midst.  It’s never a none-of-your-business, private thing.  It’s not just between them and God.

Mat 18:19    “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.

This certainly can have application to prayer in a general sense; but we need to be careful and temper it by everything else the Bible says about answered prayer, e.g., it must be according to God’s will.  Otherwise this verse gives the false impression that God is bound to do anything and everything “two” of you demand of Him.

In context, if “two of you,” referring back to the witnesses in verse sixteen, “agree on earth,” they are representing God, and their decision that the sinning brother or sister has either repented or has refused to repent, is authoritative.

Mat 18:20    For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”
First I want to point out something we sometimes overlook in this verse.  Jesus claims an attribute of deity; He claims to be everywhere believers are, or as we say, omnipresent.

He is omnipresent because Jesus is God.

Certainly it is OK to claim this as a promise that whenever we pray together, Jesus manifests Himself in a special way.  Nothing wrong there.

In context, this is referring to the “two or three” witnesses we spoke of in the discipline process.  Again, it is a word about our authority as believers to carry-out what God has commanded.  The Father and the Son have delegated us their authority to “go” and try to “gain” the straying sheep.

My desire today is to present this text, and this subject, in as precise a way as I can so as to, on the one hand, make us understand that the process of church discipline is not as cut-and-dried – not so ‘mechanical’ – as some would have us think; but, on the other hand, that it is incredibly important we apply church discipline, both in order to try to “gain” the sinning brother, as well as protect the members of the fellowship.

My theme, however, is something more individual.  It is for us to understand that church discipline is me… and it’s you… loving The Lord with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, keeping ourselves spiritual so that we are ready and able to “go” after the stray and “tell” him or her their sin and “gain” them back.

Church discipline isn’t just what the “church” does officially, at a service, through its leaders.

It is me and you loving someone enough to want to do what God says in order to restore them.

I’m A God’s-4-Us Kid!

Wanna feel like a kid again?

You might need to travel to Peru.  One McDonald’s in Lima is hoping to make you feel like a kid again by installing a huge counter that forces adults to reach way up to pay their bill and grab their food.

If that won’t do it, maybe a life-sized, drivable Mario Kart will make you feel like a kid again.  The battery-powered kart features forward and reverse driving, on and-off road tires, a seat belt and a brake pedal system.  It comes loaded with sound effects from the video game.  Too bad it has a maximum speed of 2.5 mph.

I got to thinking about feeling like a kid because of something Jesus says in our text.

Mat 18:3    and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.

Mat 18:4    Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

According to Jesus, we are to become and remain childlike.

He then warns about severe consequences if we are not childlike, or if we somehow mistreat those who are.

I’ll organize my thoughts on our text around two points: #1 Get Back To Thinking Of Yourself As A Little Child, and #2 Go Forward Treating Everyone As Little Children.

#1    Get Back To Thinking Of Yourself
    As A Little Child
    (v1-4)

The “child” Jesus has in mind is a child at his or her best.  He’s not talking about a spoiled child, or one we’d call a ‘brat.’  He’s not referring to the kid who ruined the movie for you by throwing a tantrum, or who was slugging his mother in line at WalMart.

We are in a section of the Gospel of Matthew in which Jesus was revealing a mystery to His disciples.  Because Israel’s leaders would reject Him as their King, He would not at that time establish the kingdom of Heaven on earth that the Jews were promised in their Scriptures.  Jesus would be crucified and buried, but rise from the dead to ascend into Heaven.

He would be returning and, in His Second Coming to the earth, He will establish the kingdom.

The disciples – including us – live between these comings as the members of something totally new, the church.  While we wait for Jesus to return for us, we are citizens of the kingdom of Heaven, but live on a hostile earth that is still under the sway of the devil.

Jesus has been giving us instruction on how to live during this perilous delay.  The instruction He gives in this section is, in some ways, the most unusual thus far.  He wants us to be childlike.

Mat 18:1    At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

The boys wanted some clarification.  They’d seen Peter, James and John go up the mountain with Jesus.  Then Peter had been singled-out by the enemies of Jesus to ask if The Lord had paid His Temple tax.  Then Jesus sent Peter to catch a fish that had money in its mouth with which to pay the tax.

It seemed as though there was a flow chart emerging, with Peter, then James and John, taking prominence.

Jesus had been speaking to them of His abasement; they spoke to Him of their advancement.  How dense we can sometimes be.

Mat 18:2    Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them,
Mat 18:3    and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.

Since they were most likely at Peter’s home in Capernaum, there has always been speculation that this was one of his children.  We can’t know for sure.

“Converted and become as little children” is another metaphor for getting saved.  It’s not unlike Jesus telling Nicodemus, “you must be born-again,” as a way of illustrating what it means to be saved.

You must be born-again to become a child of God.  Have you been?  Have you been converted?  Nothing else matters unless you are His child by virtue of a new, spiritual birth.

Mat 18:4    Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

The disciples were concerned about “greatness,” meaning position, and prominence, and power in the new kingdom.

A child has no position, or prominence, or power, in a kingdom.  They must be protected and cared for by others.  Sadly, tragically, in many countries, children are neglected or exploited and treated as mere property.

To enter the kingdom of Heaven you must be born-again as a child of God.  The born-again child of God is then to remain childlike.  It’s not automatic; it requires your commitment.

Spiritual humility is, first of all, recognizing personal sinfulness and unworthiness and inability to do anything at all to become worthy before God and earn salvation wholly or even partially.  Humility depends entirely on God’s mercy for forgiveness and salvation.  It looks to Jesus Christ as the Savior, who offered up himself as the perfect sacrifice for all sins.

“Humble yourself” means you must consciously choose to approach life with the best qualities of an unspoiled child.

You humble yourself by choosing to depend upon The Lord the way a child must depend upon his or her father.

You humble yourself by choosing to obey The Lord the way a child ought to obey his or her father.

You humble yourself by choosing to submit to The Lord the way a child ought to submit to his or her father.

You humble yourself by choosing to trust The Lord the way a child ought to trust his or her father.

Those qualities by no means exhaust the best of what it means to be childlike.  We could add things like being teachable and vulnerable.  But those four are the ones that best communicate the spiritual qualities of childlikeness.

Dependance, obedience, submission, and trust are choices you must make everyday in your walk with The Lord.  To the extent you choose them, you humble yourself and follow God’s plan for your life, rather than your own plan, or someone else’s.

When you are first born-again and become a child of God, you are in a childlike spiritual state.  Coming to Christ and confessing and repenting of your sins, you are totally dependent upon Jesus to save you.  You trust in Him alone for eternal life.  You want to submit to Him and obey His every desire and command for you.

It’s as we grow older in The Lord that we can move away from this childlike state.  One commentator said, “it’s easier to believe Jesus for eternal salvation than it is to depend on Him for gas to put into your car.”

The point is well taken.  And that’s why I’m saying, “get back to thinking of yourself as a little child.”  It’s where we all started.

I know life is serious; tragic, even.  I know many of you have suffered, or are currently suffering.

None of that cancels-out Jesus’ love or the Father’s care.  I’m to depend, obey, submit, and trust as a child.

Not just any child.  I am His child, the one in whom He has begun a good work, and has promised to complete it.

#2    Go Forward Treating Everyone
    As Little Children
    (v5-14)

We start off well; but the world is a perilous place, and both the devil and my flesh can interfere with my humbling myself to remain childlike.

The remaining verses of our text instruct us about some of the perils we face going forward while waiting for The Lord.

Mat 18:5    Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me.
Mat 18:6    “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea.

The disciples – including us – have a mission while Jesus is away.  It is to be His witnesses, to share the Gospel of salvation by grace alone through faith.

These two verses seem to describe the two possible responses to our message.

Either someone “receives” us as God’s “child,” and thus “receives” The Lord.

Or, someone rejects our message, and thus rejects The Lord.

The phrase, “whoever causes one of these little ones to sin,” does not necessarily mean that the believers are led to commit sin.  The Expositor’s Greek Testament says, “it is the opposite of receiving; it is treating [someone] harshly and contemptuously.”

Another version puts it like this:

(BBE)  But whoever is a cause of trouble to one of these little ones who have faith in me…

We can certainly apply this verse to enticing the followers of Jesus to sin.  That is one way of causing them trouble.  But it also has a broader application, that of rejecting them, and with them The Lord, and actively causing them trouble, e.g., by persecuting them.

It would be better for such a person to die a criminals death before they had any opportunity to mistreat God’s children.

These two verses, then, are about the reception, in this age, that others give you as a born-again child of God.  Some will receive Him; most will not, and, for them, they face condemnation should they die in their sins.

Something to note; something precious.  Jesus says that whatever is done to you, it’s being done to Him as well.  He identifies with you that much.

Mat 18:7    Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes!

Instead of the kingdom of Heaven on the earth, the devil remains loose on the earth, and the world system is antagonistic to us little children.

Thus, “offenses must come,” meaning the world will hold peril for us so long as Jesus is away.  William MacDonald writes, “the world, the flesh, and the devil are leagued to seduce and pervert.”

“Woe to that man by whom offenses come” tells us that men will be held responsible for their beliefs and behavior.  It can seem a small comfort, or no comfort at all, that God will one day call nonbelievers to account while they are allowed to go unpunished now.  But we must understand that their end is horrifying, should they not be converted before their own death.

We are to choose to remain childlike despite living in a kingdom on earth that is hostile to God’s spiritual children.  Some will receive The Lord, while most will not but will, when given opportunity, cause us trouble of the most severe kind.

As if that isn’t bad enough, we have ourselves to contend with, as described in verses eight and nine.

Mat 18:8    “If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the everlasting fire.
Mat 18:9    And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire.

Jesus was referring to what the Bible calls “the flesh.”  When we talk about the flesh, it isn’t the actual, physical members of your body we mean.  It is that principle you find left in you after you are converted, that tendency to sin.

Your flesh utilizes the physical members of your body to try to satisfy its lusts; but cutting off body parts can’t overcome the flesh.

This is an illustration – not a recommendation.  If your hand, or foot, or eye, was responsible for causing you to sin, then you’d be better off cutting them off, or plucking them out.

The flesh should be dealt with just as radically as if you were amputating a limb or an eye to prevent you from sinning.

Sin is serious.  If a person dies in their sins, without trusting Jesus Christ for salvation, they will be “cast into the everlasting fire,” “cast into hell fire.”

These verses are not about a Christian somehow forfeiting his or her salvation on account of sin.  They are about the two ways of life on earth while awaiting the return of Jesus.

The unsaved go on living in the flesh, seeming to prosper and satisfy themselves, but, in the end, they will perish eternally by being cast into hell fire.
Meanwhile the Christian denies his or her flesh, and can therefore look like an amputee for their spiritual discipline.  But they are living for something and for Someone beyond this earth.

It is better to choose Jesus, and appear to the world as a spiritual amputee, than to remain unsaved and perish eternally.

Sin, which brought death into the world, and is punished by eternal suffering in Hell, is why Jesus Christ came into the world, as a man, and died in our place.  He died so no one ever need perish on account of sin.

And by His death and resurrection, He provides the power for you as a believer to overcome sin.

Why would we then, as children of God, want to toy with sin?  Jesus didn’t die so we could sin a little, or a lot, and still go to Heaven.  He died, and rose again, so we could be set free from sin, so that we could yield our members to Him rather than to our flesh.

That being the case, we ought to yield our members to the Holy Spirit rather than to the flesh.  We must be in constant discipline over the flesh – mastering it, maiming it, mutilating it.

It is better to be a believer and go forward in life maiming and mutilating your flesh, spiritually speaking, than to have remained in sin as a nonbeliever and perish eternally.

It’s like that scene in Jaws when the fellas are comparing their scars.  They’re the marks that tell the story of the choices they made.   Just so, the spiritual amputations you choose when you deny, rather than indulge, your flesh tell your spiritual story.

I keep being reminded of how childlike a person is who gets saved later in life.  Old habits are abandoned – sometimes literally thrown in the trash.  For some it will be books, or music, or videos, or alcohol, or recreational drugs, or some hobby or habit that was an idol.

Over time, things that you were once so excited to be free from start to creep back into your life.  You start toying with sin – the very sin that Jesus died to set you free from; that would have led you to perish eternally.

We are to pursue holiness, not revert to the flesh.  We are to master, maim, and mutilate sin, not try to manage it.

We are waiting for The Lord with other little ones – other believers.  Verses ten through fourteen encourage us to value each child of God as the Father does, despite their being difficult.

Mat 18:10    “Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven.

Do we each have a single guardian angel?  A Clarence?  Probably not; but angels are God’s messengering servants, and angels are always watching over us.

“Despise” can have a variety of meanings, e.g., to look down upon.  The best single word definition would be dis-esteem.  The idea is to esteem every other believer as a precious child of God – to see them as God sees them.

Mat 18:11    For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.

While we were yet sinners, in rebellion against God, lost in our disgusting sin, Jesus valued us enough to come into the world we had ruined to save us.

How can I therefore not value each and every person for whom He died?

Jesus switches metaphors, from the little child to sheep.

Mat 18:12    “What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying?
Mat 18:13    And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray.

Making sure the ninety-nine are safe, the shepherd searches for the one who is “straying.”  It’s obviously a problem sheep; it put itself in danger, and both the shepherd and the rest of the flock.

But the shepherd won’t write it off as a loss.  He is compelled to go after the sheep.  He wants to spare it from the lion or the bear or the wolf; or from starvation or dehydration or injury.

If a shepherd so treats his sheep, how much more should we treat one of God’s dear flock?

We normally apply this to going after Christians who are sinning; and that is a fine application.

But the bigger teaching here is to value all God’s sheep the way He does.  Some of the ninety-nine are less than desirable.  They may not be straying – but you sort of wish they weren’t staying!

We are to instead esteem them better than ourselves.  We are to serve them – to serve one another.

Mat 18:14    Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

Jesus applies the parable of the lost sheep to the little ones He’s been talking about – the born-again children of God.  Jesus died on the Cross so they would not perish; how can we treat them as if we did not care if they perished?

Charles Spurgeon said it like this:

We must not treat the poor, the obscure, the little-gifted, as though we thought they would be better out of our way, or as if they were of no consequence whatever, and could be most properly ignored.  This is in a certain sense to make them perish; for those whom we regard as nothing become to us as if they were nothing.

Do you want to feel like a kid again?  If you were saved later in life, and you experienced a radical conversion, then think back to the childlike faith you had when you received Jesus Christ.  Get back to the dependance, the obedience, the submission, and the trust you had as a baby believer.  Live there don’t grow out of it.

Maybe your conversion wasn’t so radical.  In fact, you may have gone on struggling with some sin for quite some time afterward.

Or maybe you were saved from a very young age – when you were still a child.

You can still grasp what we are talking about – what it means to be childlike.  It’s a simple, but powerful, illustration.

Perhaps you’ve never come to the Cross to confess and repent of your sins.  Better do it today.  God is not willing you should perish, but apart from faith in Jesus Christ, you’ll be cast into the everlasting fire, cast into hell fire.

How To Maintain A Love-Wait Relationship

How long would you wait in line for something?

The answer, I suppose, depends on the “something.”  One guy waited over two weeks in line outside an Apple store on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan to purchase a gold iPhone 5s.

In 2005, a guy camped outside a movie theater in Seattle for 139 days to be the first in line to see Star Wars Episode 3.

You probably wouldn’t wait that long for an iPhone.  Or a movie.

What about for a job?  Recently in Long Island applicants camped out in line for five days to apply for a job.

One thing these examples have in common is that you know, usually to the minute, exactly when your waiting will end.

What if you were asked to wait indefinitely, in adverse conditions, with no set time for the end of your waiting?

And what if you had no choice but you had to wait?

That is essentially the situation we find ourselves in as believers in Jesus Christ.  We live between His two comings to the earth and are anticipating His return to resurrect and rapture His church.

While His return for us is presented in the Bible as imminent, we must wait for it indefinitely, with no set time.

It calls for a special kind of patience – a robust, active spiritual patience.

Our text suggests two aspects of that kind of patience while waiting for The Lord.  I’ll organize my thoughts around two points: #1 While Waiting For His Return, You Are To Proclaim The Patience Of Jesus, and #2 While Waiting For His Return, You Are To Practice The Patience Of Jesus.

#1    While Waiting For His Return,
    You Are To Proclaim The Patience Of Jesus Christ
    (v9-13)

Let me spend just a moment explaining the phrase, “the patience of Jesus Christ.”  I get it from Second Thessalonians 3:5.

2Th 3:5    Now may the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patience of Christ.

Older translations render “the patience of Christ” as “the patient waiting for Christ.”

Which is it?  It is both.  We see the patience of Jesus, both in His earthly ministry and in His waiting to return for us; and we are called upon to imitate His patience as we wait.

In our text, as The Lord explains to His disciples what just happened in His transfiguration, we first see that His followers must wait, but that we have a message to proclaim while waiting.

Mat 17:9    Now as they came down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, “Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man is risen from the dead.”

The “vision,” in verses one through eight, was of Jesus being transfigured.  For a brief moment, the three disciples with Him on that mountain saw Him as He will appear in His Second Coming.  And they saw Moses and Elijah discussing the End Times with Jesus.

They were instructed to tell no one until after the resurrection.  One reason was that the Jews were expecting their Messiah to establish a kingdom on the earth.  Hearing about Jesus being transfigured would give the Jews the impression He was about to establish the kingdom.

He was not, because the nation’s leaders were going to officially reject Him as their King.  The vision was for His disciples, to encourage them that even though Jesus was going to be crucified, He would come in glory, as promised in the Old Testament, and establish the kingdom.

Mat 17:10    And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”

The “scribes,” who were teachers, were interpreting Malachi 4:5, which says,

Mal 4:5    Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.

Having seen Elijah appearing with Jesus, the disciples were confused about the timing of the kingdom.

Mat 17:11    Jesus answered and said to them, “Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things.
Mat 17:12    But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished. Likewise the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands.”
Mat 17:13    Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist.

Jesus said that Elijah had already come, and that Elijah is still to come in the future.

Elijah had come in the spirit and power of John the Baptist.  Had the nation of Israel received Jesus as their Messiah, John’s ministry would have been the fulfillment of the prophecy in Malachi.

The Jews did not receive Jesus.  As a result, they rejected John the Baptist, allowing Herod to behead him.  Jesus, too, would “suffer,” leading to His crucifixion.

In His resurrection, Jesus would return to Heaven to await His return a second time.

In the Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, two witnesses precede the Second Coming of The Lord.  They may be Moses and Elijah, and, in fact, we say that one of them will be Elijah in a literal fulfillment of Jesus’ words to His disciples.

This is our message.  Jesus came, as the God-man, and died on the Cross, at Calvary, for the sins of the world.  He rose again, the third day.  He ascended into Heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father.  He is coming a second time to establish His kingdom on the earth for a thousand years.  Before His Second Coming, and before the Great Tribulation on the earth that precedes His Second Coming, He will return to resurrect and rapture His church.

Since there has been a two thousand year wait, it has given rise to scoffing at the promise of His coming.

To which the apostle Peter explains,

2Pe 3:8    But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
2Pe 3:9    The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

In verse fifteen Peter added, “and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation.”

The Lord is patiently waiting.  We could go further back in talking about the patience of Jesus.

He certainly was patient as He lived in relative obscurity for some thirty years before He stepped forward to be baptized.

He was patient in the years of His ministry in that He set aside the prerogatives of His deity to wait upon His Father to tell Him what to do, where to go, and what to say.

He was patient during what we call His passion – enduring cruelty from both men and demons as He was crucified and entombed.

He was patient after His resurrection, waiting forty days to ascend into Heaven.

He’s patiently waiting in Heaven, for His Father to give Him the “Go!” to resurrect and rapture His church.

He is certainly patient with His church – with you and I – as we walk with Him on a daily basis.

Bringing us back to His “longsuffering” not willing any should perish, but instead repent and believe and be saved.

O, the wonder of the patience of Jesus Christ, our Lord!

#2    While Waiting For His Return,
    You Are To Practice The Patience Of Jesus Christ
    (v14-27)

There are multiple exhortations to believers to practice a robust, active, spiritual patience.

For example we are told, in Hebrews 12:1, to run with patience the race set before us.  The Christian life is compared to a race – a long distance race.

Normally we associate being patient with being passive; with not doing something.  If we’re in a race, however, patience must be something much more active than we normally think.

In the episodes that follow, the underlying theme is that Jesus’ followers, His disciples, practice an active patience.

Mat 17:14    And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying,
Mat 17:15    “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water.

While Jesus, Peter, James and John were gone, the other nine disciples had failed to exorcize a demon from this young boy.

Our modern versions say he was “epileptic,” and that may indeed have been his medical diagnosis.  The word so translated is moonstruck, because they believed lunar cycles affected behavior.

Even if it was epilepsy, the real issue behind the boy’s physical condition was a demon.
People always wonder why we do not see more cases of demon possession.  I don’t know – but I’m glad!

I would throw this out for your consideration.  People give themselves over to their own lusts, to their own selfishness, so readily that there’s no need for demons to possess them.  They’re already doing a great job ruining their own lives.

Plus, it’s not unusual for an enemy to change tactics during a long and protracted war.  Satan has a lot of things available to him he didn’t have in the first century.

Mat 17:16    So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him.”
Mat 17:17    Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me.”
Mat 17:18    And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour.

Was Jesus rebuking His disciples?  Maybe; but certainly He had a lot more folks in mind.  He was talking to the entire “generation” who had seen His miracles over the length of time He had been with them.

They were rejecting Him; thus they were “faithless,” leaving them and their world “perverse,” rather than its being perfected by the King.

I think what The Lord may have been getting at is that He had proven He could and would bind the devil and establish the kingdom.
But they would not receive Him, so they were choosing to remain under the authority of the god of this world, the ruler of the powers of darkness.

For our purposes this morning, we are most interested in the answer to the disciples question:

Mat 17:19    Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?”
Mat 17:20    So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.

Most of the time we focus on “faith” and the “mustard seed.”  That’s fine; but I think Jesus was simply saying that even a tiny amount of faith is sufficient to accomplish whatever task God has set before you.

To me, the more important comment is, “because of your unbelief.”

The disciples had been successful previously in casting out demons.  This time they had failed due to “unbelief.”

What, precisely, is unbelief?  Listen to this rather long quote from J.C. Ryle:

The word translated [unbelief] will be found twelve times in the New Testament and always, so far as I can see, in one signification… It consists in not believing something which God has said – some warning that He gave – some promise that He held out – some advice that He offers – some judgment that He threatens – some message that He sends.  In short, to refuse to admit the truth of God’s revealed Word, and to live as if we did not think that Word was to be depended on – is the essence of unbelief.

Unbelief is the oldest of the many spiritual diseases by which fallen human nature is afflicted.  It began in the day when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, and brought sin into the world. They did not believe what God had told them, would be the consequence of disobedience; and they did believe the Tempter, saying, “You shall not surely die.”

Unbelief ruined millions in the day of Noah’s flood: they would not believe the great “preacher of righteousness,” when he warned them for a hundred and twenty years to flee from the wrath to come.

Unbelief slew myriads in the day when Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by fire from heaven.  When righteous Lot called on his sons-in-law to escape for their lives, “he seemed as one who mocked.”

Unbelief kept Israel wandering forty years in the wilderness, until a whole generation was dead. We are expressly told, “They could not enter in because of unbelief.”

Think of the situation in these verses as an illustration for us.  Jesus was gone, for a time, being revealed in His glory on the mountain.  A group of His disciples were on the ground below, still dealing with the fact that Satan was unbound, loose to create havoc.

In the Lord’s absence, short as it was, unbelief had set in.  Could it be that unbelief is especially a problem that creeps in unexpectedly when disciples are patiently waiting for The Lord to return?

Could it be that unbelief is something we must constantly guard against?

The answer to both questions would seem to be, “Yes.”  Even as, in some measure, we are growing in The Lord, the passage of time waiting for Him gives opportunity for unbelief to set in.

How do we guard against unbelief?

Mat 17:21    However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”

I don’t think Jesus meant that, if presented with an especially difficult demon, they were to send the possessed person away and spend time praying and fasting.

Jesus is calling for a lifestyle of prayer and fasting, not an emergency session.

The application we could make is this: you practice an active patience while waiting for Jesus by maintaining your spiritual life; by being ready; by stirring up the gift or gifts God has given you; by remaining awake and sober; by not neglecting to gather together with other believers.

In other words you stay focused on Jesus.  Unbelief may still creep in; it is, after all, the earliest of sins.  But when it does you can overcome it rather than be overcome by it.

These verses are preparing us for conditions that will exist on earth until The Lord returns.  Satan is loose, going about as a roaring lion, seeking who he may devour.

Mat 17:22    Now while they were staying in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men,
Mat 17:23    and they will kill Him, and the third day He will be raised up.” And they were exceedingly sorrowful.

Of course they were “exceedingly sorrowful.”  They loved Jesus, and they longed for the kingdom, and they had given all to follow Him.

Their problem was that they were too close to the situation to see the joy of the entire statement.  Jesus would be raised from the dead – Glory!  Hallelujah!!

We are surrounded by evil, and evil forces.  Bad things happen to good people, and to God’s people.  But we face them with patience empowered by the resurrection of Jesus, which not only guarantees us of a future resurrection or rapture, but of power to live here and now.
The final episode of this chapter seems disjointed but it fits nicely into the theme of practicing patience.

Mat 17:24    When they had come to Capernaum, those who received the temple tax came to Peter and said, “Does your Teacher not pay the temple tax?”
Mat 17:25    He said, “Yes.” And when he had come into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take customs or taxes, from their sons or from strangers?”
Mat 17:26    Peter said to Him, “From strangers.” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free.
Mat 17:27    Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first. And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money; take that and give it to them for Me and you.”

Every male Jew over the age of nineteen had to pay a set temple tax.  It was mandated in the Book of Exodus.

The Jews disagreed over this tax:

The strict Essene community that eventually settled in Qumran believed the temple tax was a once-in-a-lifetime tax upon reaching the appropriate age.

The Sadducees refused to pay it; not sure their reasoning.

The Pharisees said it was an annual tax upon every male for their entire lifetime.

Apparently Jesus had not yet paid His annual temple tax and the tax collectors came to receive it, but also to catch Jesus in a controversy.

Jesus had a word of knowledge and anticipated Peter’s question before he asked it.

Jesus pointed out to Peter that “kings of the earth” do not require taxes from their own family.  It is one of the perks, I guess, of royalty.

Since Jesus was, and is, the King, then His subjects – the disciples in this case – should not be required to pay the temple tax.  In fact no believer in Jesus should have had to pay it.

But in order to not offend anyone, Jesus would pay the tax for Himself and for Peter.

He did so with a notable miracle – having Peter cast a hook to catch the one fish in the entire sea that had the coin in its mouth.

There are any number of important lessons here, but let’s concentrate on the one that helps us understand what it means to practice patience.

The disciples were free from paying the tax, but they ought to subject their freedom to a greater principle, and that is to not do anything that would cause another person to stumble and sin.

This is a great New Testament principle; it is a rule of life for waiting Christians.

We are a people under God’s grace.  Unless otherwise specified, all things are lawful for us to partake of and enjoy.  We should guard our spiritual freedoms and not allow ourselves to be brought under legal requirements that are no longer in force.

So, for example, if I’m the apostle Paul, and I want to have Titus travel with me into Jewish territories, I refuse to have him circumcised because he is 100% Gentile and circumcision would be giving up grace for legalism.

But, if I’m the apostle Paul, and I want to have Timothy travel with me into Jewish territories, I absolutely have him circumcised because he is 50% Jewish and his uncircumcision would be a great offense to Jews.  I would, in that case, be exercising my freedom at the expense of hindering folks from hearing and receiving the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

This is a huge issue as we wait patiently for The Lord.  It is not always an easy one to resolve.  I will say, and this is only my personal observation, that it seems as though Christians have ventured too far into the attitude of flaunting their freedoms at the expense of offending others.

You practice patience by caring more about offending others than demanding your freedom.

One commentator reminds us of something important when he says, “Never give up God’s rights, but we may sometimes safely give up our own.”

For example we should not be brought back under the rules and rituals of the Law of Moses.  If anybody wants me to ‘keep’ the Sabbath, I’m going to oppose that tooth-and-nail.

We are talking about the gray areas of liberties we have to partake of foods and drinks and entertainments and such things.

Another commentator said,

Christian liberty… is to take all that Christ provides, be free from having to fulfill a legal code to please God, being free from the frustration that says I can’t make it.  Being free from an external set of legal rules that I have to keep.  Free to just function in the overflow of the work of the Spirit inside.  Christian liberty.  And it all comes by faith in Jesus Christ.

This liberty, however, comes with a responsibility.  The apostle Paul said,

1Co 8:9    But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak.

I’m not going to give you a list of do’s and don’ts.  The point is: while living between the two comings of Jesus, we are to practice patience by always thinking of others first and, if necessary, yielding our freedoms.

Jesus is patiently waiting to return for us.  We are to practice patience by guarding against unbelief, by appropriating the power of the resurrection, and by exercising our liberties with care for others.

Jas 5:7    Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain.
Jas 5:8    You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

I’m A Loser And That’s What I Aspire To Be (Matthew 16v24-17v8)

I had not heard of Berkshire Hathaway.  Have you?

It’s not a person.  It’s an American corporation.  Headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, it oversees and manages a number of subsidiary companies.

The company wholly owns GEICO, BNSF, Lubrizol, Dairy Queen, Fruit of the Loom, Helzberg Diamonds and NetJets; it owns half of Heinz and an undisclosed percentage of Mars, Incorporated, and has significant minority holdings in American Express, The Coca-Cola Company, Wells Fargo, and IBM.

According to Fortune500, in 2013 it was the fifth most profitable company in the U.S., and number 18 in the world.

The most profitable U.S. company was WalMart – ranked second in the world behind Royal Dutch Shell.

On the loss side, J.C. Penney had the worst stock performance of any Fortune500 company.

Profits and losses of a different kind are the subject of our verses.

Mat 16:26    For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

In business, it’s not uncommon to be asked to present a profit and loss statement – also known as a P&L.

What if you were asked to present a spiritual P&L?

I’ll organize my thoughts around two questions: #1 How Does Your P&L Read?, and #2 How Will Your P&L Reward?

#1    How Does Your P&L Read?
    (16:24-26)

Jesus had just revealed to His twelve disciples that He would be rejected by Israel’s leaders, suffer at their hands, then be crucified.  He would rise from the dead and, though He had not yet told them, ascend into Heaven to await His Second Coming.

Between His first coming and His Second Coming, He would be building His church on the earth.  These first disciples would make other disciples, and so on, up until The Lord calls His church home.

It seems appropriate, therefore, to talk a little about what it means, from the Lord’s perspective, to be His disciple.

Greg Laurie made popular the statement, “All disciples are believers, but not all believers are disciples.”  It captures what we see all the time among Christians.  There are those whose commitment to Jesus seems, for lack of a better word, “uncommitted.”

Others teach what has been labeled Lordship Salvation.  Their position could be summarized by saying, “if Jesus isn’t Lord of all, then He’s not Lord at all.”

We want to be biblical and, biblically speaking, Jesus can be Lord of aspects of my life while I withhold other areas of my life from His control.

I would cite Romans 12:1 as a prooftext that, at least sometimes, believers do not settle the Lordship of Christ in their lives until some time after they’ve been saved.  Paul told those who were already believers to “present themselves as living sacrifices, wholly and acceptable to God.”  Apparently they were not doing so at the time.

James told believers to “submit to God” (4:7).  Apparently they were not doing so at the time.

In fact, any of the Bible’s many exhortations to greater dedication indicate that not all genuine believers are committed disciples.

But we want to be, do we not?  Sure we do – and here is how:

Mat 16:24    Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
Mat 16:25    For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
Mat 16:26    For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

The desire to follow Jesus by denying yourself and taking up your cross, and the commitment to lose your life, is best brought into focus by first answering the questions posed in verse twenty-six.

Question #1 – “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?”

The “soul” is referring to the real you – the part of you that is eternal and will exist beyond this life.

Do you remember the very first MasterCard “priceless” commercial?  A young boy and his dad were attending a baseball game.  The narrator says, “Two tickets: $46.00.  Two hot dogs, two popcorns, two sodas: $27.00.  One autographed baseball: $50.00.  Real conversation with your eleven year old son: Priceless.  There are some things money can’t buy.  For everything else, there’s MasterCard.”

The ad works because we understand that things pertaining to the soul are precious when compared to the things of the world.

“Loses his soul” can apply to both nonbelievers and believers:

If a person rejects Jesus Christ and pursues only the things of the world, at the final judgment they’re going to find they’ve lost their soul to an eternity in Hell.

If a Christian loves the world rather than The Lord, they will suffer the loss of reward when they stand before Him.

The question supposes you, by yourself, gained the entire world.  It would still pale in comparison to the value of your one soul.

Since the whole world gained cannot substitute for a soul, how can any lesser worldly pursuit or passion be worthy of my greatest efforts?  I should prefer things that are spiritual for they alone are precious.

Question #2 “What will a man give in exchange for his soul?”  It literally reads, “for the redemption” of his soul.  If he had the whole world to give, and would give it, it would not be a sufficient ransom for it.

This is definitely looking at the nonbeliever.  It reminds me of the rich man and Lazarus, described in the Gospel of Luke.  After he died, the rich man, in torment, would have given everything to save himself; but it was too late.

The Lord is to be preferred to the world; I get it.  But how do I approach the world while awaiting eternity?

Basic discipleship is described in verses twenty-four and twenty-five.

Mat 16:24    Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
If I don’t “desire to come after” – to follow – Jesus after answering those two questions, then there’s something seriously wrong with me.

On a more positive note, His was the richest, purest, fullest living of all time.  He walked on this earth in perfect obedience to His Heavenly Father.  His was the most profitable life ever lived, on every level.  Following Jesus is how life is meant to be lived.

First, you “deny [your]self.”  Denying yourself isn’t the same as self-denial.  People always think of the Christian life as one of self-denial.  I’d like to do some things, but God says not to, so I can’t – even though they’re so much fun!

Denying self is totally different.  Because I know God loves me, any boundaries He has set are for my own good.  I therefore gladly submit to Him and find true satisfaction and genuine joy rather than pursuing the world’s happiness which often leads me into slavery to sin and self.

Second, you “take up your cross.”  Criminals who had been sentenced to death carried the crossbeam on their shoulders to the place of their crucifixion.  It signified to onlookers they were in total submission to the government – to the point of death at its hand.

As a Christian, I want to die, everyday, to self and to sin.  I can – but only as I submit to the guidance and governing of God.

“Taking up your cross” is choosing to yield the members of my body to the Spirit of God rather than to my flesh.  Yes, it involves discipline and sacrifice; but it’s for my benefit, not detriment.  It makes me better.

Third, Jesus said, “follow Me.”  Odd, don’t you think, that He said, “if anyone desires to come after Me… follow Me.”  It could read, “if anyone desires to follow Me… follow Me.”

Maybe I’m oversimplifying, but I think Jesus was saying we need to quit holding back, stop waiting, and engage.

You know those exhortations I mentioned earlier – like presenting your body a living sacrifice, and submitting to God?  Heed them!  Do them!  Follow them and you will be following Him.

Don’t assume that, because you’re a Christian, you are a disciple in every area.  You’re not; I’m not.  Part of my daily walk is to discover where I’m holding back.

Mat 16:25    For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

In those areas I’m holding back, I’m trying to “save” aspects of my life.  Maybe because I’m afraid to give them to The Lord; after all, He might want me to do something I don’t want to.

Maybe I’m trying to “save” some remnant of my flesh, some guilty pleasure I enjoy and want to keep hidden.

You’ve probably heard it said, “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.”  The Bible puts it better, saying, “for we are God’s masterpiece.  He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago” (Ephesians 2:10).

Losing your life for God is the only way you will “find” the good things He planned for you long ago.

All that being said… If your thought life, and your activities, and your investments, could be summarized on a spiritual P&L, what would it look like?

Let’s make the commitments necessary so that the bottom line of our lives shows constant spiritual gains.

#2    How Will Your P&L Reward?
    (16:27-17:8)

It’s pretty important to any discussion of discipleship to emphasize that the best is yet to come.  I choose discipleship now, knowing that my commitments to Jesus will be rewarded when I leave this temporary timeline for eternity.

Jesus gave His disciples a glimpse of what was coming.

Mat 16:27    For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.

You know those “works” you did for Jesus when you could have been pursuing the things of the world?  The Lord is keeping a record of them in order to “reward” you.

You won’t realize your full reward until The Lord returns.  But, when He does, you’ll go one-on-one with Him in a review of your works with the goal of His showering you with rewards.

Some Christians minimize receiving rewards since it seems we’re only going to offer them back to The Lord.  Let me ask you this: Do you want to be empty-handed when the time comes to throw your crowns at His feet?
Besides that, it delights The Lord to reward you.  Do you want to deny Him His delight?

Mat 16:28    Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”

There is no mystery as to what Jesus meant.  You see it immediately – in chapter seventeen.  Three of His disciples get a glimpse of what The Lord will look like when He returns in His Second Coming.

Mat 17:1    Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves.
Mat 17:2    and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.

“Transfigured” is where we get our word metamorphosis.  It is an outward change that comes from within.  Jesus didn’t reflect light; He radiated it.

For a brief moment, on that undisclosed mountain, the deity of Jesus Christ shone forth.

Mat 17:3    And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.

This verse is a wealth of information.  It teaches us, for example, that saints have conscious existence in the afterlife.  There’s no such thing as soul-sleep or reincarnation.

It also teaches us that we will be able to recognize everyone in eternity.  Moses had died some 1400 years earlier; Elijah had ridden his chariot of fire alive into Heaven some 900 years earlier.  Yet the disciples knew exactly who they were.

Why these two guys?  For one thing, they closed-out the Jewish Scriptures we call the Old Testament.  In Malachi 4:4-5 you read,

Mal 4:4    “Remember the Law of Moses, My servant, Which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, With the statutes and judgments.
Mal 4:5    Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.

They represented the Law and the Prophets – the whole of God’s revelation thus far.  In symbolism they were pointing to Jesus as the fulfillment of all God had promised Israel and the nations of the world.

The transfiguration gives us a glimpse of Jesus at His Second Coming to earth.  He’ll come in His glory to establish the kingdom.

Mat 17:4    Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

Jews constructed tabernacles during the Feast of Tabernacles.  That feast both commemorated their wilderness wanderings as well as proclaimed their hope in the coming kingdom on the earth.

Even though Peter’s suggestion was off-base, it was at least grounded in some understanding of Jewish history.  You have to remember that these guys, despite Jesus’ clear words to the contrary, kept thinking He was going to establish the kingdom at any moment.

Mat 17:5    While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!”

The “bright cloud” was what is called the shekinah glory of God.  It was the presence of God with the Jews in their exodus.  It had filled the tabernacle and, later, the temple.  During the siege by Babylon against Jerusalem, Ezekiel records the departure of that glory from the temple.  It had returned at Jesus’ birth during the announcement to the shepherds guarding their flocks.  Here it was again.

“Hear Him!” reminds us that Jesus is not just another great religious person.  He’s the Son of Man, the Son of the living God, the God-man.

Mat 17:6    And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid.

Fear and worship are not incompatible.  C.S. Lewis captured this idea in his Narnia books.  In an exchange between Mr. and Mrs. Beaver and the children, you read:

“Ooh!” said Susan. “I thought he was a man.  Is he – quite safe?  I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.”

“That you will, dearie, and no mistake,” said Mrs. Beaver; “if there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just silly.”

“Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy.

“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver; “don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you?  Who said anything about safe?  ‘Course he isn’t safe.  But he’s good.  He’s the King, I tell you.”

If you meet with Jesus after death, and are not a believer, Jesus is not “safe.”  It will be too late for your soul to be saved.

As a believer, while you’re “safe” for eternity, life can be anything but “safe” as a disciple.

Mat 17:7    But Jesus came and touched them and said, “Arise, and do not be afraid.”
Mat 17:8    When they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.

We’re drawn to the word “touched.”  The God-man, transfigured before them, revealed in His glory, “touched” them.

It prompted one commentator to exclaim “the touch of His manhood was more reassuring to poor flesh and blood than the blaze of the Godhead.”

Aren’t you glad your God and Savior understands what it’s like to be human?

Heb 4:15    For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Whatever you are struggling with today, let Him touch you, and look beyond, to your reward.

There will be a final P&L for all of us.  Again, I stress, let’s have a lot in the spiritual profit column.

Dr. Charles Ryrie, a favorite theologian of mine, has this to say about discipleship:

The Lord Jesus, the God-man, offers… salvation freely, and He can do so because He is God who became man.  The same Lord Jesus through many New Testament writers asks those who have believed to submit to His mastery over their lives.  Some do to a great extent.  No one does it fully and always.  Some do to a lesser extent.  But He was, is, and always will be Lord whether He is acknowledged as the God-man Savior or whether He is acknowledged as Master of the believer’s life.

If your reaction to that is, “Whew!  I can go on living a mediocre spiritual life, concentrating on accumulating more-and-more of the things of the world,” then you’ve completely missed the point.

Instead, get a glimpse of the glory of your Lord and be like the prophet Isaiah, who when He saw The Lord, said, “Here am I, God; send me!”