Welcome to the Steadfast Baptist Church tonight the seat will go ahead and get
started once you found a seat grab a hymnal and we will start tonight's
service with song number 66 number 66 Calvary love you and we thank you so much
for this church once again thank you for the opportunity to gather here and sing
unto you Lord we just ask that you help us to lift up our voices and fill us
with your spirit that's in Jesus name amen all right for our next song let's go
to song number 10 song number 10 near the cross song number 10 if you didn't
already get a bulletin you would like one you can lift up your hand real quick
one of us just can come by and get you guys a bulletin we are wrapping up on
Matthew 28 is a Bible memory passage any child 18 and under that can quote the
verse of the week and get an ice cream immediately following the service on the
inside we have our service time so winning times our church stats please
keep updating them and if you have maps please put them in our bins just so we
can update our soul winning efforts on the right we have a list of several
expecting ladies please be in prayer for them upcoming events this Sunday is
gonna be we don't have practice it's gonna be the real thing alright so we're
looking forward to it and we're gonna be getting to hear on this Easter Sunday
both our kids choir and youth choir and so they've been preparing and I'm
excited for them to perform Mansfield soul winning marathon is this Saturday
and we have a sign up sheet here in the foyer it looks like a lot of people have
signed up but please if you are planning on pending will you make sure to sign up
for us just so we can have a pretty accurate count as far as food and
everything we're gonna be doing a lot of soul winning in the morning and
afternoon we'll just be meeting here around 9 a.m. have breakfast for a little
bit go out for a few hours come back have lunch and then go back out again in
the afternoon so if you can make it for the whole thing we would love that if
you can only make it for a portion we don't want to discourage anybody so show
up for whatever you can and whatever you'd like to participate in also we
have the Lord Supper is gonna be this Sunday evening of course I personally
believe that the crucifixion was on Thursday but instead of having a special
service on Thursday or doing it today we're just doing it Sunday evening I
think that'll maximize attendance for that particular service so if you'd like
to attend the evening service we'll have the Lord Supper there's a baby shower
for the Scott family on the third in the back it has some details we have a
Mother's Day brunch May 10th and my wife is also has a sign-up sheet out here if
you can sign up that way but if you've signed up in the application the ladies
group chat you don't have to do both so if you do one of the other you should be
good and I think we're gonna have a big turnout this year and so I'm very
excited to see how that goes church reminders down below on the back is the
details about that baby shower it's gonna be on the third from 12 to 2 if
you would like to attend it is nursing is only preferred if you can bring a
side dish or dessert you're more than welcome please RSVP RSVP to miss
Millstead and they are registered on Amazon as well now we don't have it in
the bulletin yet I want to see if I can pull this up just to make sure if I can
get the stats right but we do have a congratulations to the Lugos on the
birth of Annalise Marie Lugo and if I can get let me get the stat she was 20
and a half inches long 9 pounds 11 ounces and she was born on the 14th so
congratulations of the Lugo family they're not backslidden folks okay there
just had a baby no I'm just kidding it's a joke and so that's really exciting for
them I think there was a meal train also organized by Miss Millstead if you want
to help them on that but congratulations to them very exciting and then also
we have our prayer list and so we'll go through that here quickly we have the
names that we've been praying for their grandmother for her vision and health
and salvation we're also praying for the Carlson's mother miss Rebecca and
father for both of their health we're praying for miss Miller's friends mom
who's been struggling with cancer if you continue to pray for the Scots for
brother Horace and miss grace for health and then also miss Olivia and then if
you continue to pray for the Garcia's brother Tony for his health we're
continuing to pray for the good winds friend miss Sarah for recovery from
surgery continue to pray for miss Larky's arm also we're praying for
brother Brad his father and sister's health and then also he was asking prayer
for himself for some work we're also praying for brother Diego's friend miss
Morris if you'd continue to pray for her health issues and then I think it's it
was told me 8 p.m. tonight miss Sarah is having surgery and so if you would pray
for her it's the morning where they're at and so if you just pray for their
surgery to go well also if you pray for miss Cindy has a friend who is struggling
with some health issues and then if you'd pray for the Apsals father I guess
an update is has gotten a little bit worse and so if you just really pray for
them they would greatly appreciate that and then also if you'd pray for the
Stewart's mother Miss Turner who's been diagnosed with Alzheimer and that's
definitely something that's not fun to deal with my grandmother had Alzheimer's
and it's definitely it's kind of an ugly disease and so we'll pray for Miss
Turner as well so let's go ahead and pray for them as a church family thank
you heavenly father so much for our church thank you so much for all the
ladies are expecting thank you for those who recently delivered I pray that you
would just be with all of these ladies and their pregnancies and these young
children I pray that you would also just help our church family that's
struggling with these serious illnesses these these cancers and other serious
health issues I pray if possible you just give them healing please give them
favor those of our friends and family that are also struggling with health
issues I pray that you would just give them a miracle if possible that you
would at least just give them comfort and peace during their difficulty I
pray those that need to hear the gospel that you would soften their hearts that
you would give the us an opportunity to open our mouths boldly to make known the
gospel to them and get them saved I pray that you would also be with our friends
and family that having surgery or recovering please help them and and guide
those medical endeavors to go well I pray they'd also bless our church
family needs help with their work or with favor at their job and I pray that
you would continue to use our church to get many people saved I pray that you
blessed upcoming soul winning marathon and I pray that you would just help our
church do everything in honor and glory of your son in Jesus name we pray amen
so that's pretty much all I have as far as announcements we're gonna go ahead
and sing our psalm of the week it's psalm 126 it's in our psalm binders so
if you have one of the special binders it's psalm 126 psalm 126 psalm 126
let's all sing it out together go ahead and turn in your Bibles to Matthew
chapter 18 that's the book of Matthew chapter number 18 chapter number 18
Bible reads the same time came the disciples into Jesus saying who is the
greatest in the kingdom of heaven and Jesus called the little child unto him
and set him in the midst of them and said verily I say unto you accept ye be
converted and become as little children you shall not enter into the kingdom of
heaven whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child the same is
the greatest in the kingdom of heaven and whoso shall receive one such little
child in my name receiveth me but whoso shall offend one of these little ones
which believe in me it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about
his neck and that he were drowned in the depths of the sea woe unto the world
because of offenses for it must needs be that offenses come but woe to that man
by whom the offense cometh wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee cut
them off and cast them from thee it is better for thee to enter into life
halt or maimed rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into
everlasting fire and if thine eye offend thee pluck it out and cast it from thee
it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye rather than having two eyes
to be cast into hellfire take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones
for i say unto you that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my
father which is in heaven for the son of man has come to save that which was lost
how think ye if a man have in hundred sheep and one of them be gone astray
doth he not leave the ninety and nine and goeth into the mountains and seeketh
that which is gone astray and if so be that he findeth it verily i
say unto you he rejoiceth more of that sheep than of the ninety and nine which
went not astray even so it is not the will of your father which is in heaven
that one of these little ones should perish moreover if thy brother shall
trespass against thee go and tell him his faults
between thee and him alone if he shall hear thee thou has gained thy brother
but if he will not hear thee then take with thee one or two more
that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established
and if he shall neglect to hear them tell it unto the church
but if he neglect to hear the church let him be unto thee as an heathen man and
a publican barely i say unto you whatsoever you bind
on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatsoever you shall loose on earth
shall be loosed in heaven again i say unto you that if two or two of
you shall agree on earth as touching anything
that they shall ask it shall be done for them of my father which is in heaven
for where two or three are gathered together in my name there am i in the
midst of them then came peter to him and said lord how
off shall shall my brother sin against me and i should forgive him
till seven times jesus saith unto him i say not unto thee until seven times
but until seventy times seven therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened
unto a certain king which would take account of his servants
and when he had begun to reckon one was brought unto him which owed him ten
thousand talents but for as much as he had not to pay
his lord commanded him to be sold and his wife and children
and all that he had and payment to be made there the servant therefore fell
down and worshiped him saying lord have patience with me
and i will pay thee all then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion
and loosed him and forgave him the debt but the same
servant went out and found one of his fellow servants which owed him
and hundred pence and he laid hands on him and took him by
the throat saying pay me that thou oweest and his fellow servant fell down
his feet and besought him saying have patience with me
and i will pay thee all and he would not but went and cast him into prison till
he should pay the debt so when his fellow servant saw what was
done they were very sorry and came and told unto their lord
all that was done then his lord after that he had called him said unto him
oh that wicked servant i forgave thee all that debt because thou desires me
shouldest now thou also have had compassion on thy fellow servant
even as i had pity on thee and his lord was wroth and delivered him to the
tormentors till he should pay all that was due unto him
so likewise so likewise shall my heavenly father do also unto you
if ye from your hearts forgive not everyone his brother that trespasses
let us pray heavenly father thank you for allowing us to be in church thank you
for this church and thank you for all the souls that are getting saved i just
pray that you bless pastor shelly fill him with your holy spirit help him to
preach your word unto us and help us to receive it with an open heart
praise in jesus name amen amen matthew chapter 18 verse 1 the bible
says at that same time came the disciples unto jesus saying
who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven now when you compare this to
some other places in the new testament it seems likely that what's really the
meaning of this question is it's almost like the disciples are
hoping that jesus will just point someone out of the crowd and just say
well peter's the greatest or john's the greatest they're kind of looking for
some affirmation of one of them being the greatest
and in fact in other places in the bible they argue amongst themselves
about who is the greatest of each other who's going to be the best
one another so you see a little bit of competitive spirit
amongst the disciples but this attitude is actually corrected by the lord jesus
christ and he says in verse two and jesus called
a little child unto him and set him in the midst of them
and said verily i say unto you except you be converted
and become his little children shall not enter in the kingdom of heaven
whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child the same as
greatest in the kingdom of heaven so when jesus christ has asked this
question about who's the greatest in heaven it's interesting how a lot of
times he doesn't always answer a question directly
he kind of gets to the heart of the issue and
here he's giving this idea of first of all
you're not even going to get into heaven unless you
become like a little child now you know when it uses the word disciples
sometimes the bible is referring to just the 12
sometimes it's referring to all the people following him obviously when
we're talking about the 12 they're all saved except for judas and
there's not really any meaning to preach you know salvation messages to them
but many cases a lot of these disciples i
believe many of them are not even saved yet so
sometimes jesus christ is still planting seeds of salvation
in these messages that he's giving okay now first of all he's saying except you
be converted and become as little children
you should not enter into the kingdom of heaven the kingdom of heaven
represents the idea of being saved being a christian
and it has a lot of different contexts that it could be used but just loosely
it's just basically being a christian being saved
that you're entering into this spiritual kingdom of heaven
and he's saying that you kind of almost have to have some
aspect of a little child to be saved what what is the aspect of a little
child that you have to have to be saved is
you have to humble yourself why is it that children are so much easier to get
saved than older people it's because they're more humble it's
because they just have a more humble attitude
and they rely on others for the vast majority of their life
and so it's really easy for them to trust someone else to accomplish things
for them as children grow up they start to get a
little bit more independence don't they at first they want you to tie their
shoes then there's going to come a day when
they get mad if you tie their shoes for them
you know and there's it just kind of keeps graduating where hey they want
help getting dressed then they don't want help getting dressed anymore
and just lots of different little things like this you know at first they'll want
help learning how to drive the car but once
they got it they don't want help learning how to drive the car anymore
and so in the same way it's like for salvation in a sense
little children it's a lot easier for them to
want to recognize that hey Jesus paid all my sins and has offered me free
salvation and I just accept it whereas the older people get and the
longer they live their life they've kind of earned a lot more
things and it ends up making it much more
difficult for them to want to trust salvation as a free gift. You can see
this in the same context of being rich. Why is it that rich people are often
much more difficult to get saved than poor people? Well because
generally speaking people that have money or that are rich
worked very hard to accumulate that wealth. You know I'm not saying there
isn't exceptions to this but just generally speaking most people
that have money or have acquired money over their lifetime,
it's because they worked very very hard and so they earned
that money. They've earned the position, the status, they've learned to trust in
themselves and they think that they're better than
other people and so it's very difficult for them to then accept free salvation
and trust what Jesus Christ did because they want to earn their own
salvation. And there's so many people today
that want to believe that salvation is what they do or their works
or who they are but you have to humble yourself as a little child
and accept salvation as a free gift in order to be saved.
And salvation is really, if you think about it,
it's an exercise of humility because we have to repent of trusting in ourselves
and we have to put our faith in what Jesus Christ did.
It's not of ourselves the city man should boast. Why is it that people don't
get saved? Because they want to boast. Because they want to believe in their
works. Because they want to have something to do with earning it.
But the Bible makes it clear it's a free gift in Romans chapter number five
three different times. Romans chapter number five says it's a free gift, free
gift, free gift. Where is boasting then? It is excluded
is what the Bible says. And so we have to humble ourselves in
order to get saved. And you and I both know when we go out
and talk to people and try to evangelize, many times someone doesn't get saved you
can tell the pride that they have. "Oh I already know what the Bible says."
Or "Oh I've been in church my whole life." Or
"Oh my dad's a pastor." Or they'll just kind of give these
labels and you'll say "Oh okay well then what does the Bible say you have to do
to be saved?" And then they're just like "Well I know.
I already know." "Okay well what does it say then?" "I know."
It's like you can tell that they just don't want to admit that they actually
don't know. They don't want to admit that they're
actually confused and so they're afraid of actually
having to humble themselves and getting saved by someone else. In
fact I've had somebody before you know you knock on the door and I'm
asking what you have to do to be saved and you just the first thing you say is
just like I know more than you like okay let's just say that's even true okay
but that doesn't mean that just because you might know more than me in some
areas or some ways doesn't mean that I don't know something you don't know I
mean there could be someone that's inferior to you lower IQ younger than
you and yet they still have some information or knowledge that you don't
in fact it's usually called technology right you know the boomers they don't
know how to operate some of the new technologies out there and then you get
a toddler and the toddler knows how to use it and you're kind of thinking like
how is that even possible because look you know all of us probably have some
knowledge or some information that other people don't and we should have a humble
attitude in life we don't have this attitude where we always think that we
know better we know everything that we're always right we should be willing
to listen to other people and of course that's one of the attributes of someone
that's gonna get saved they have to humble themselves that's how they end
up getting saved verse 4 also says who's over there so humble himself as this
little child the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven not only does
humbling yourself to accept free salvation get you into heaven having a
high status in heaven or being one of the greatest in heaven is also related
to humility so those who stay humble will also be those who are greatly used
by God and end up achieving great things for God and in God's sight are gonna be
the most rewarded now I want to go to some a lot of verses on this point
because I think this is an important point in this chapter but let's go to
Matthew 5 for a second and look at verse number 19 you know the Bible tells us
explicitly and we've already read this we've already studied this but it tells
us how to be great in the kingdom of God what does it say in Matthew chapter
number 5 verse number 19 whosoever therefore shall break one of these least
commandments and shall teach men so he shall be called the least in the kingdom
of heaven but whoso shall do and teach them the same shall be called great in
the kingdom of heaven so how do you become great in the kingdom of heaven
it's by keeping God's commandments now do I have to keep the commandments to go
to heaven no I don't have to keep a single commandment in order to go to
heaven all I have to do is believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and he gives me
free salvation I become a son of God I've been sealed with the Holy Spirit of
promise I can't lose it if I even wanted to I'm in Jesus hand I'm in the Father's
hand I'm sealed into the day of redemption I've been passed from death
unto life I can't even come into future condemnation so in my new man I can't
even sin but that doesn't mean that I can't still do things that are wrong
after being saved and of course there's consequences to breaking God's
commandments in this life and the loss of position and reward in heaven so
there is a direct consequence to the sins that we commit in this life when we
get saved we should keep God's commandment still and in fact that's how
you demonstrate that you love God and I would argue that's how you demonstrate
that you're humble. Humility would be to say hey I don't know what's right I
don't know what's the best but this is right this is the best and so I'm gonna
submit myself I'm gonna humble myself unto the Word of God and I'm gonna
follow what God says and that's gonna cause you to end up being great in
heaven. What would be the opposite attitude? Oh I know better than the Bible
and you say hey that commandment that the Bible says no you don't have to
follow that and so you not only do not follow it you teach other people not to
follow it and you would think like why do people teach people to break
commandments? Because they want to justify the fact that they're breaking
that commandment. Why is it that as soon as someone gets divorced now divorce is
not a sin? Because they want to justify the fact that they just got divorced. Why
is it that when someone stops going soul winning, soul winning is not a
commandment now. Why is it as soon as someone stops going to church three
times a week? Well you don't have to actually go to church three times a week
just whenever you feel like it. Or then pretty soon it's just Easter only right?
Well I go to church once a once a year so now I haven't forsaken the assembly.
Or they don't really like the church they go to so now they go to a church
with a woman pastor and they say oh yeah I know where the Bible says
explicitly that a woman's not supposed to teach the Bible and I know that she's
supposed to keep silence in the church but that was just in Paul's day. That was
Paul's opinion. Well let me tell you something you know the Word of God is
not Paul's opinion the Word of God is the Holy Ghost's opinion and you know
what I'm not gonna go to a church that is gonna be in violation of clear
scripture and if you want to be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven you
know what you're gonna keep the even least of the commandments. Oh you know if
you go to Steadfast Baptist Church they'll try to get you to follow
everything in the book. They'll try they'll even take you to Leviticus
they'll take you to Deuteronomy they'll take you to all kinds of verses and they
have all these standards and they have all these rules. You know why? Because I'm
not trying to be the least in the kingdom of heaven I'm trying to be the
greatest in the kingdom of heaven. You know there's plenty of churches out
there that'll teach you you know we're free in Christ you can just live however
you want you can just do whatever you want we've already been saved you know
that's a bad attitude it's ungodly and if in fact it's satanic it's satanic
because the devil of course wants you to not accomplish anything for him the
devil wants to distract you and the devil wants you to destroy your life and
sin even after being saved of course the devil doesn't want us to get saved but
even if you get saved it's not like the devil's gonna stop trying to get you
off the right track the devil is still our adversary and the devil still wants
to destroy us and you know what we need to keep God's commandments we need to
be humble and lower ourselves and say you know what I need Wednesday night
church I need to memorize scripture I haven't learned everything in the Bible I
need someone to get up and preach the Bible you know there's this attitude
that a lot of you have oh I already know more than my pastor I already I've
already heard him speak I already know I'm smarter than him I actually in fact
I can interpret the Bible better than him I could speak better than him you
know that's not a humble attitude at all and even if you were better than your
pastor you know what you can just sit down and shut up and listen to the
pastor preach because I've been in plenty of church services where I
didn't really think the pastor or the preacher was necessarily the greatest or
maybe even the most knowledgeable and yet I got a lot of good things out of
the sermon and other people in my life that were important to me got good
things out of the sermon because you know what the Word of God has power no
matter who's preaching it and we need to submit ourselves and humble ourselves
and say you know what I need to go to church I need to listen to someone
preach I need to sing the songs and hymns I need to go out there and drag
myself out and go soul-winning I need to sing the Psalms and the hymns and I
need to renew my mind every single day and you know what I need to get on my
knees and I need to pray for God's help that is a humble attitude and that is
the person that's gonna be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven just like a
little child ask his parents all day long can you tie my shoes can you help
me in the bathroom can you give me food can you give me drink can you fill up my
cup they're just constantly asking for help help help help help that's what
God wants us to be like in the Christian life we're constantly praying to God and
we're seeking him to defend us and deliver us and nourish us and provide
for us and guide us and we're going to the Word of God every day saying I need
the Bible today not I got it not no you know that's Old Testament or you know
that's legalistic or oh that's strict or that's fundamental or those are
standards or no no no it's the Word of God and we should keep the least of
God's commandments that's humility go over to James chapter 4 let's keep going
on this thought this is such an important thought I don't want to be the
least in the kingdom of heaven because I'm gonna be there a lot longer than
here I don't know how long I'm gonna live but I know that I'm gonna live in
eternity way longer and so you know it's way more important to me is to enjoy
that period of my life than enjoy this period of my life but here's the thing
God's commandments are not grievous anyways people would think like oh man
you're really missing out by going to church you know what I actually like
church you know a lot of people that show up on Wednesday night they like
they get excited that it's Wednesday night and they get to go to church who
would say hey I like going to church on Wednesday night I saw you didn't raise
a hand I'm just kidding it was a trick question okay yeah I like going on
Wednesday night you know why because I like seeing you guys I like being around
people that are normal and everybody acts like we're weird nope they're weird
okay church is the coolest and the most normal people I've ever met and they're
fun to hang out with and they like the Bible and you know we should say hey I
need church I like church I want to be in church you know that's the type of
attitude we need and you know when we do those things God will give us a heart to
enjoy them you know you don't really also enjoy things that you're not doing
the more you do something the more you typically end up enjoying it or wanting
it or desiring it you know there's like sports there's certain sports out there
that maybe you've never played it or never tried it it doesn't really
interest you that much but here's the thing when you play it or you do it more
you end up getting a little bit more desire for it you end up starting to
like it and you kind of want to do it there's certain foods that maybe you've
never tried and you just don't really have any interest in because you
frankly speaking have never tried it but if you ended up trying it and giving it
a chance you might end up actually liking it and growing some kind of a
taste for that particular food I know as a kid I've always been a picky eater
let me say this when I was a kid I was an extremely picky eater when I had a
burger it was meat and bun only I refused to have anything else on it but
then eventually you know I started having like onions and lettuce and
tomatoes and pickles and all this and now I love it I would love to have I
love all the vegetables on my burger now of course sometimes you try things
like mayonnaise and you're like wow that's gross okay I hate mayonnaise I
don't like mayonnaise it's not for a lack of trying it it's not for a lack
of having it I've just never really liked it but here's the weird thing I
like mayonnaise and tuna so you know you can't figure me out all right I got a
lot of kind of problems when it comes to food but at the end of the day you know
sometimes you got to just try things in order to end up liking them here's one
how about just try Wednesday night church maybe you'll end up liking it hey maybe
try reading the Bible daily and maybe you'll end up liking it you know if
there's an area in your life where you're feeling like I need to have desire
or I want to enjoy this more but I'm struggling you know you just give it
give more energy and effort to it you know that's how you end up liking
things and you'll appreciate them more James chapter 4 says in verse number 5
do you think that the scripture say than vain the spirit that dwells in us less
than the envy but he giveth more grace wherefore he sayeth God resisted the
proud but giveth grace under the humble look God is gonna give grace under
those who humble themselves what does it mean to humble yourself you know in some
ways humbling can actually be a verb because it simply means to just lower
yourself you know the Bible could talk about an animal in the text at humbles
itself it's just talking about it it's getting in a lower position just
crouching down that's just a just a humble lowering yourself physically or
lowering yourself just kind of in a mental way of just simply saying this
person's more important than me here's another way to humble yourself is not
just to lower yourself but to elevate others so you can lower yourself and you
could also elevate others both are forms of humility another aspect of humility is
depending on God for success not thinking that you can be successful on
your own but depending on God to give you success here's another thing
depending on God for advice not thinking that you have the right wisdom I mean
the Bible says trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not on thine
understanding and all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy
paths so according to the Bible we're not supposed to trust in our own
opinions and our own mindset we're supposed to trust in the Word of God if
the Word of God says something and I think something else I'm supposed to
repent change my mind humble myself and believe what the Bible says and not
argue with the Bible and agree with the Bible's opinion not my opinion now in
Philippians in James chapter 4 look at verse 10 now humble yourselves in the
sight of the Lord and he shall lift you up if you want to be elevated by God if
you want to have a great position by God you must humble yourself go to
Philippians go backwards to Philippians chapter number 2 Galatians Ephesians
Philippians Colossians so it's right there and the GEPC alright Philippians
chapter 2 look at verse number 3 the Bible says let nothing be done through
strife or vainglory but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than
themselves true humility is when you can actually genuinely believe in your own
mind that other people are more important and better than you what is
pride pride is believing you're better than others what is humility believing
that others are better than you you know here would be a great one if spouses
could actually believe genuinely that their spouse is more important than
them and you know in a lot of ways my wife is more important than me because
she has so much more time with the children than I do and her influence on
that children on those children are probably going to be more impactful than
me because I just I don't spend as much time with them when it comes to my
children's lives my wife has a greater impact on those children than I ever
will just by sheer volume of time that means I need to try my best to empower
her to be a great mother and to be able to be a great educator and to spend
great time with them and to be a spiritual example under them you know
it's important for me to encourage my wife to be a spiritual godly woman not
just for my sake but for my children's sake and it's also important for me to
look at my children and say wow they have so much potential and to actually
elevate their lives and make sacrifices for them and for their lives and to
actually genuinely believe that they might be better.
It's also important hey in the house of god there are people in this room
that are just frankly speaking way better than me at lots of different
things you know when it comes to our instruments and when it comes to our
music and when it comes to all kinds of aspects of how our church runs
there are just people that are just better than me at things and you know
best if I could empower them to end up doing those tasks and having them do
those tasks instead of me having to do everything because you know what I'm
not the best at everything and we should always look at opportunities in ways to
use other people's talents and encourage other people and look at other people's
opportunities to do great works I mean let's look at our evangelist Duncan
Urbanic in the Philippines this guy is super important to the cause of Christ I
mean this guy is almost single-handedly getting more people saved than our
entire church in a year's time I mean that's a really important work and in a
lot of ways he's better than me because frankly speaking I probably wouldn't be
willing to leave my homeland you know this guy was willing to leave his
homeland and you know for all of us that's very difficult for any of us to
leave our homeland no matter what homeland it is no matter where you're
from we our homeland is just really special to us our native language is
very special to us just the customs and the traditions and the food and all the
different things that we were born in it's natural it's easy we like it and
it's convenient and to leave such a place to go somewhere else is a very
extreme sacrifice and so for someone like him to make a sacrifice of leaving
his homeland to go to a foreign country whether it's better or worse just
leaving it itself is a difficult task and look at the great importance of this
man going out there and preaching the gospel and getting thousands of people
saved I mean this guy's time is valuable this guy's life is valuable and we
should elevate other people and not just constantly worry about self constantly
always thinking about how we're better than other people you know we should try
to replace those thoughts with thoughts of other people how they're important
and esteeming other better than yourself this is true humility who is going to be
the greatest person in heaven the person that is humbled himself enough to say
other people are more important you know did this the Lord Jesus Christ
because this whole passage is about the Lord Jesus Christ and instead of the
Lord Jesus Christ coming down to earth to just show off how much better he is
than all of us you know what he did he humbled himself and became a servant a
person of no reputation so that we could be elevated and become the sons of God
he lowered himself humbled himself put himself in no reputation so that he
could elevate other people and give us free salvation I mean Jesus Christ we're
gonna celebrate this week his crucifixion one of the most humiliating
and painful experiences that could ever be had in all of eternity that the Lord
Jesus Christ was willing to go through just so that we could be saved and isn't
sad how many people get saved and then do nothing for Christ when he was
willing to take the humiliation of the cross for us you know Christ didn't come
down to be served he came to serve he didn't come down to be ministered unto
he came to minister and to give his life a ransom for many and what are we
supposed to do we're supposed to follow in like example of we're supposed to be
ministers we're supposed to be servants we're supposed to give our lives for
others because we see their lives is more important than our own this is what
it looks like to be great in the kingdom of heaven you say well I don't want to
do that well then you won't be great the greatest people are those who serve go
to Luke chapter 22 go to Luke 22 and we'll see the disciples arguing about
this Luke chapter number 22 what does it mean to humble yourself like a little
child what does it mean to be great in the kingdom of heaven well number one
it's keeping the least commandments and teaching people to keep the least
commandments it's lowering yourself and humbling yourself needing and depending
upon God esteeming others better than yourself serving Luke 22 verse 24 brings
up the same concept and there was also a strife among them which of them should
be counted the greatest you know Peter James John there hey I'm gonna be the
greatest no I'm gonna be the greatest what is a verse 25 and he said unto
them the kings of the Gentiles exercised lordship over them and they that
exercise authority upon them are called benefactors but ye shall not be so but
he that is greatest among you let him be as the younger and he that is chief as
he that does serve isn't it so funny that the Bible almost virtually never
uses the word lordship but it does occasionally and when it uses lordship
it's a negative mention and then there's all these people that have this quote
lordship salvation in fact the most famous proponent of lordship salvation
is John MacArthur John MacArthur teaches that lordship salvation is necessary to
be saved and yet lordship here is actually a negative mention in the Bible
you know it's not lordship salvation salvation is free and this is what's
ridiculous they'll say you have to make Jesus the Lord of your life to be saved
I can't make Jesus the Lord because he is the Lord just like I can't make the
president the president just like I can't make anybody in some position that
they already have have that position you know Jesus Christ is the Lord whether I
want him to be the Lord or not or whether I obey him or not he's still the
Lord okay and making him the Lord does not improve my chances of being saved
being saved is a free gift offered by humbling myself and accepting the free
gift of salvation and Jesus Christ by no coincidence in the same passage when
they want to be great he's saying look you guys want to be great because you
wanted a Lord over each other we're not supposed to be lording over one another
the Gentiles they love this lordship stuff you know what the kingdom of
heaven is not like this where we're lording over each other it's where we're
serving each other he says in verse number 26 but ye but ye shall not be so
but he that is greatest among you let him be as the younger and he that is
chief as he that doth serve so it's like if you're in the highest position of
authority he's saying why don't you act like you're the servant in the room not
the guy that's going to be ministered but the guy that's going to minister the
most why don't you instead of taking shotgun
taking the first seat act like the younger brother
and let someone else take the shotgun seat let someone else take
the nice seat instead of saying i'm the member that's been here for 10 years
why don't you act like the visitor and have the visitor act like he's the 10
year member and give them the honor and give them the
respect. This is the attitude and the idea of Christianity where we're
esteeming other better than ourselves. Not saying, "Do you know who I am? This is my
seat. This is my parking spot. This is where we sit in church." As opposed to
saying, "Hey, you're a brand new visitor, why don't you sit here?" Some newer family,
some newer person, let them sit there. Let them have the high place. Let them have
the esteem. Let them have the honor. Let them have the attention of your friend or
the pastor or whoever, because it's not about you. You're supposed to lower yourself and
esteem other better than yourself. This is what's going to cause you to truly be great in the eyes
of God. Go if you would to Matthew chapter number 18. Go back to Matthew chapter 18.
I think it's important to dwell on those thoughts because this is really a key component of
Christianity is humility. Now it says in verse number five, "And whoso shall receive such
little child in my name receive with me?" He says so if you receive a little child in Jesus Christ's
name you're receiving Jesus because Jesus takes everything personally. He says in verse six,
"But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that
a millstone were hanged about his neck and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea." So if you
do positive and good things on the little children Jesus Christ takes that personally and it's like
you did something good under Jesus. You do something negative unto a little child. Jesus
Christ also takes that personally and he's greatly offended on their behalf. So it's not
like Jesus Christ is a respecter of persons even when it comes to age. Those who are older Christ
does not care more for than a little child. Yet there could be an attitude in society that thinks
children are less important, of less value in society or in the church. But you know what?
Children are just as important as adults in the church. And when we got soul winning, preaching
the gospel to children is just as important as preaching the gospel to adults. And so we shouldn't
look down upon children for being young. Jesus Christ received little children, and we should also
receive little children. Go if you would back to Matthew 10. We've already read this, but I'll make
note of it again, how Jesus Christ takes things personally. Look at verse number 40. "He that
receiveth you, receiveth me. And he that receiveth me, receiveth him that sent me. He that receiveth
a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward. And he that receiveth a
righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward. And
whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only
in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward."
So when we go out soul winning and you take your little kids with you and someone offers
them just a cup of water or a bottle of water when you're going out soul winning, the Bible
saying that person's going to be rewarded the same as if they gave it to an adult or
if they gave it to Jesus Christ himself because Jesus Christ takes everything personally.
And so we should do good unto all people, including children.
We should love little children.
And in Matthew chapter 18, the context again is not just children, it's children that believe
in him, isn't it?
It's people that are actually saved and that have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ.
And he says, if you offend one of these little ones, he says it would be better for you
to just be killed in a pretty gruesome way, having a millstone tied about your neck and
just thrown in the depths of the sea.
Now, some people would say that the death penalty was abolished in the New Testament.
And I'm thinking like, Jesus doesn't seem to be that offended by the death penalty here.
In fact, I would argue that he's advocating for it.
Not just in this place.
The Bible says, "Who so curseth father and mother, let him die the death."
That's just a direct quote from Jesus Christ.
So you know, getting rid of the death penalty hurts society and it hurts children.
Because people who offend children often do not just do it one time in their life.
They're a repeat serial offender.
And we live in a society and a culture today that has taken away the death penalty for
child molesters.
Our Supreme Court, not that long ago, had made some ruling making it illegal to have
the death penalty for child molesters.
Only a child molester would pass such a law.
That is insane.
That is crazy.
And of course the Lord Jesus Christ is saying, "Look, these people that would do things to
children, you know, they should receive a strong, strong punishment."
And I feel like even the world mostly agrees with this on this point.
This should be a point that Christians should be championing today because even the world's
like, "Yeah, that makes sense."
But what's sad is how many churches today are saying, "No, no, no.
We need to love these people and bring them into church.
We need to give them a second chance."
Let me tell you something.
Those people do not have a second chance here.
They don't have a first chance.
If we even just think that there is an issue, we'll take care of it.
And you know what?
We should be strong on this point because we should love children.
If you love children, you would hate anybody that would offend them.
And if Jesus Christ is taking this personal, we should take it personal.
That children should be protected.
Children should be safe.
And it's just our approach on Christ.
How many churches a day constantly just hit headline news.
Oh, another staff worker molest child, youth pastor molest child,
daycare worker molest child, pastor molest child, assistant pastor molest child.
I mean, we've had it here constantly.
Even Robert Morris himself of Gateway Church,
arguably the largest church in the world, Gateway Church,
he had molested 11-year-old when he was in his 20s and married.
He was staying with some church family and he molested their daughter
while staying in their house for four years, for four years.
And then, you know, the dad for some weird reason decided not to tell the cops.
Please tell the cops.
Please get the authorities involved.
It was just as long as he stepped down.
But then he only stepped down for like a year or two
and then went right back into the ministry.
And then it's come out a lot later in time when there's been a lot more damage.
And this guy's another proponent of lordship salvation, preaching a false gospel,
wasting so much money and effort and energy on a bad church and a bad movement
and just causing a reproach to the cause of Christ, building like a weed.
And so, you know, if we got rid of child molesters the way we should,
that would have never happened.
How many people that have been influenced by Gateway
would have actually gone to a better church
if he had have been dealt with the way the Bible says.
But yet somehow people think, no, I'm smarter than God.
Let's not do that.
Let's not have the death penalty for child offenders and this stuff.
No, no, no, we need to trust the Word of God.
We need to go to the Old Testament and the New Testament
to establish our laws and trust in the Lord and not in our own wisdom.
Child molesters should be eradicated from society.
They're not worth living.
I will never have any empathy or sympathy for them.
I want nothing to do with them.
I believe that they're reprobate.
I believe they can't even be saved because someone to do such a thing
has to have some kind of a vile affection inside of them
and has to have some kind of a darkness that is just so anti-natural feelings and affection
that to me it's a clear example of someone that's a reprobate
and given over to reprobate mind and they need to be dealt with appropriately.
And it's sad that people don't believe in the reprobate doctrine anymore.
I mean it's not like I'm making up words it's a word in the Bible folks.
The Bible says that there are people that are reprobate
and you know when you look at statistics it's ugly
but you look at statistics they did a survey of a bunch of child molesters in prison
and the average number of victims among them was 150 victims.
150 victims.
You think that what I'm saying is bad?
How about looking at 150 children in the eyes and saying
oh well we wanted to give so-and-so a second chance.
It's disgusting.
It's evil.
It's wicked.
People just don't realize how bad it is.
People are trying to cover this up and you know what?
We should expose it.
We should bring light to this issue.
Now if we keep reading in this text it says in verse number seven,
"Woe unto the world because of offenses.
For it must needs be that offenses come.
But woe to that man by whom the offense cometh.
Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off and cast it from thee.
It is better for thee to enter into life, halt or maim,
rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire.
And if thy eye offend thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee.
It is better for thee to enter into life with one eye,
rather than having two eyes to be cast into hellfire."
Now people say, "Oh, you're this like loud hellfire preacher."
That's Jesus. Did you notice what the Bible says?
Who in their Bible in verse number seven says,
"Woe unto the world because of offenses" has an exclamation mark there, exclamation.
You know what that is? That's someone yelling, okay?
That's Jesus Christ yelling. Yes, Jesus Christ cried with a loud voice
and he's preaching hell fire. He's preaching damnation.
He's preaching condemnation because hell is that bad.
You know, my words aren't going to hurt you, but hell will really hurt you.
And of course, he's warning a lot of these people because a lot of these people aren't saved.
They're still trusting in themselves. They still believe that they're righteous.
And he's trying to say, "Man, any little offense, anything that you do
could cause you to go to hell and you would be so much better off,
you know, hurting yourself, cutting off your own arms and cutting off your hands
than just going to hell." It's not that he's prescribing that. It's not that he's suggesting
that. He's just trying to make a comparison because no rational normal person would ever
injure themselves in such a way. It would just be irrational. And he's saying somehow that's
more rational than going to hell. Think about how irrational it would be to cut your hand off
and then how many people don't even know if they're going to go to hell or not.
Like they haven't even resolved that. It's like hey if you die there would you go to hell? I don't
know. What if they said hey there's a really good chance your hand's going to be cut off tomorrow.
Do you want to know how to prevent that from happening? Don't you think they would care a
little bit? Don't you think they'd be a little concerned? But for some reason hell itself is
less scary than losing an arm or losing an eye. But you know what? Hell is way worse and we should
wake people up and say hey look as much as you wouldn't want your hands and your eyes ripped off
you should really be careful with hell. And so we need to get people saved. You know how dare you
confront people on if they're saved or not? How dare you not? I mean how dare you just allow
people to die and go to hell? You know that would be my question to you. How many people have you
ever given the gospel to? I mean how could you say you love people when you've never even one time
tried to help them to not go to hell? That's unloving. Oh you're unloving you go around and
harass people at their door. No no unloving is never harassing somebody at the door. That's
unloving. Says in verse 10, "Take heed that you despise not one of these little ones for I
say unto you that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my father which is in heaven."
So he really has just been kind of keeping this theme about talking about little children
and he's using these little children to teach a lot of different examples. Number one you humble
yourself like a little child to get saved. Number two you stay like a humble little child in your
mind to become great in the kingdom of heaven. Number three he warns about people that hurt
little children and cause any offense because you're in danger of hellfire if you don't get
saved. And he brings up in verse number 10 that we should not do anything negative to children
because they have angels that guard over them and just even despising them just not even liking them
you know could put you in jeopardy of God punishing you. Notice what it says that in heaven
their angels do always behold the face of my father which is in heaven. So this is kind of where we
get this idea of quote guardian angels. I don't think the Bible really says guardian angels this
is where we get this idea that you have little children they have their own angels and not even
just angels they get some of the special angels because notice these are angels that can behold
the face of God the father in heaven. You know it'd be kind of a weird verse if God the father
didn't have a face and wasn't in heaven. Doesn't this verse seem to have some significance that he
has a face that they can see and that he's in heaven? And keep your finger here go if you would
to another place go to Luke chapter one go to Luke chapter number one. There's a lot of little
doctrines you can kind of find here in the Bible but what a what a meaningless verse if God the
father isn't in heaven and doesn't have a face but this is significant and the Bible tells us
about significant angels in the Bible. Look at Luke chapter one verse 19 and the angel answering
said unto him I am Gabriel that stand in the presence of God and am sent to speak unto thee
and to show thee these glad tidings. So when Gabriel comes to give this great news about the
Lord Jesus Christ he wants to let him know like I'm not just some angel here I'm an angel that's in
the presence of God so this is a special angel in the Bible and this particular angel is he's one
that gets to stand in the presence of God up in heaven and that's one of the reasons why he's
going to be punished here Zacharias for not having believed the message about John the Baptist
because this is an important angel he's significant he stands in the presence of God
so notice he punishes him for not believing his message how much more are guardian angels going
to punish people when they despise little children and do bad things to little children you don't
want to mess with God because his angels could be sent down and could punish you for not believing
the Bible just like Zacharias is punished for not believing Gabriel you can be punished for not
believing Matthew chapter number 18 verse number 10 which says hey don't despise these little
children if you despise the little children God could send Gabriel down and punish you and what
was the punishment he couldn't even talk lost his voice we should be careful how we treat little
children we should have respect under little children and we should love little children
if we go to Matthew chapter number 18 there's an attitude out there that hates children it's an
ungodly attitude oh they're just snotty and brats and whiny and complaining yeah all that's true
but we should still love them we shouldn't despise children we should we should love them
and we should care for them we should do good under them and you know what i have six of them
and i'm i hope i get more people are always people are always just like attacking me i just
got in public and they're just like hey you know what causes that i'm just like yeah it's great
he's like if you get a tv that'll fix it no it won't i don't have a tv but it won't fix it and
you know what i'm hoping i get more they're just like are you done no how many more you're gonna
have i don't know as many as i can there's like i love children children are great you know i hate
this anti-children attitude out there in times past you know society wasn't as down on children
they used to look at children as a blessing and i wish we could get back to that and realize that
children are a blessing from god they are not some kind of a curse yeah is it a burden sure
but anything worth it's a burden anything worth it's going to take effort energy we should love
our children and look at them as a blessing and not despise them boy i wouldn't want to be someone
that despises the children god's given me what will he do to me for despising them how many
women have gotten children and they get mad about the children they have or despise the children
they have and then god punished them didn't give them any more or took away the child that they had
or punishes them in some other way you know god can punish us we should be appreciative of what
god has given us and love the children that god has given us because their angels are the angels
that behold the face of god the father which is in heaven he's not an abstract idea he's in heaven
and he really has a face look at verse 11 for the son of man has come to save that which was lost
now if you read that verse with me you're reading a king james bible because the niv takes it out
if you have an niv you did not read that verse with me because it's just gone along with 16
other whole verses along with tons of phrases in the bible as well why would you take that verse
this is a loved verse this is a verse that a lot of people love use and quote for the son of man
has come to save that which was lost what an important verse of the bible niv gone you know
what you should get rid of the niv not this verse verse 12 how think ye if a man have a hundred sheep
and one of them be gone astray do they not leave the ninety and nine and goeth into the mountains
and seeketh that which is gone astray and if so be that he find it verily i say unto you he rejoiceth
more of that sheep than of the ninety and nine which went not astray even so it is not the will
of your father which is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish so again he kind
of continues again with this little child example and how caring for a little child is almost like
how christ cares for just one little sheep amongst a whole flock of a hundred and how he chases after
that one and he cares for that one i think you could look at this verse in two different ways
we could look at it as number one like a salvation perspective or we could look at it as a restoration
perspective now you would say like how could it be salvation if they're sheep because if they're
sheep aren't they already saved but the bible uses this kind of language for people that aren't
even saved yet i want to look at a couple examples keep your finger to john chapter 10 go to john
chapter number 10 sometimes god talks in a eternal perspective not in a current perspective because
someone who's not saved uh is not really a sheep maybe in that moment but they are a sheep from an
eternal perspective so sometimes god may refer to people in that in that manner here's an example
of that in john chapter 10 look at what it says in verse 16 and other sheep i have which are not of
this fold them also i must bring and they shall hear my voice and there should be one fold and
one shepherd so this is talking about gentiles that are going to get saved in the future and
when the lord jesus christ refers to them what does he call them sheep but it's not that they're
sheep yet they are sheep from an eternal perspective they're they are sheep from god's
understanding of knowing the future from the past but it's not that they are currently sheep so in
the same way we could apply that to the parable of hey this is a sheep not because it's saved yet
but it's a sheep because it's going to end up getting saved and christ was going out there
and seeking that lost sheep and ended up restoring it just like jesus christ went to the lost sheep
of the house of israel and he preached the gospel many people got saved they weren't a sheep yet
but they were a sheep from an eternal perspective that he ended up bringing in and so we see that
he's going out and seeking and saving that which was lost okay that's one way to interpret this
from a salvistic perspective give way to second timothy chapter two i'll prove it in another way
too that sometimes when god refers to people he's referring to their eternal state and not their
current state and of course when we get saved the bible says we change so there is a change i mean
we're not born the sons of god we have to become a son of god through believing in the lord jesus
christ but it does say in first john chapter number three beloved or behold now are we the sons of god
so in first john chapter three verse two it says behold now are we the sons of god because when we
believed in jesus christ we were born again spiritually and we became a child of god second
timothy chapter two verse ten says therefore i endure all things for the elect's sakes that they
may also obtain the salvation which is in christ jesus with eternal glory well here's the thing
you can't get someone elect saved but what does he mean by that he's saying the people that are
going to end up getting saved they are elect in a sense from an eternal state even though they
might not be elect currently and i want to go out there and and get them saved for you know i want
to endure all kinds of things for their sake for the elect's sake but it's not that they're saved
yet it's just for the people that would would get saved for the people that will get saved in the
same way i think you refer to that in matthew chapter 18 so that's one way to look at this
parable another way to look at this parable is just the fact the fact of like maybe they're all
saved and sometimes when someone strays away from the faith or is backslidden you know christ will
leave the 99 that are not backslidden and care for the one that's backslidden and try to restore
them in a spirit of meekness and love and try to restore them and you know i think that we should
have the same attitude we should have the same attitude that if someone is struggling to serve
god is in a low point is maybe a little backslidden that it's great when we can come alongside them
and encourage them to try and come back to the lord try to get back into church try to serve god
so you know sometimes we have people that leave our church and they're not mad at us they don't
hate the pastor they're not like secretly recording us they're not doing all kinds of evil stuff they
just simply you know the cares of this world the deceitfulness of riches or just the offense of
persecution or just the difficulty of going to church they just get a little backslidden they
leave church or they get out of church and then they come back you know we should be excited that
they came back we should restore such in one we should be glad that they're there we should shake
their hand we should be kind to them and we should try to encourage them you know i would hope that
people that get backslidden wouldn't be afraid to come back to church and and there is that fear
there is that intimidation of oh man you know i'm kind of afraid what people will say but you know
let's not give them an excuse by then treating them differently or giving them a look or oh man
finally coming back to church huh it's like hey great to see you and you know i don't even have
to pretend because that's just my honest opinion like i just get excited when i get to see someone
i hadn't seen in a while and there's people that were great people that were coming to our church
and then life happens whatever they're not and if they walk through the door i would just be super
excited to see them again and we should kind of have that same attitude and sometimes we even
elevate the backslidden above those that are not backslidden giving them a little more time
effort or energy now if someone's a railing judas i'm not going off and seeking that person
and trying to bring them back in the fold neither is jesus bringing that up okay obviously those
type of people were treating what does the bible say in verse 17 let him be unto thee as a heathen
man and a publican so when someone has been church disciplined no we're not we're not treating that
person like hey let's give you a bunch of extra attention and try to win you back over we're not
going to win you back over you have to fix yourself and then we'll let you come back in okay now he
says in verse number 15 moreover thy brother shall trespass against thee go and tell him his fault
between thee and him alone if he shall hear thee thou's gain thy brother but if he will not hear
thee then take with thee one or two more that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may
be established and if he shall neglect to hear them tell it unto the church but if he neglect
to hear the church let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican i've already dealt
with this passage a lot recently in a previous sermon called conflict resolution if you really
want a detailed explanation go listen to that sermon i will make a few points though about
this passage one would be this that you know if you don't want the whole church to find out about
you causing problems you should just go ahead and say sorry when you're first confronted but
notice if you're willing to just be stubborn and you're just not willing to fix issues
then the whole church is going to end up finding out about your issue in many cases and you know
that's that could be like embarrassing and some people might be like oh this church shames people
publicly that's what the bible is saying the bible is saying hey if you won't get these things right
if you won't fix them well pretty much the whole church is going to find out and then the whole
church has to treat you a certain way what does it say in verse 17 but if you neglect to hear the
church let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican and you know that's important for the
whole church to do i'm going to say this it's more important for that person's friends to do it than
anybody else too because especially in a church our size our church is larger than us we're not
all friends so for me to not hang out with some people in this room is just another day in the
office it's just another day every week but there's probably some people in here that they do hang out
with talk to text whatever have some kind of relationship and so it's really important for
those people to be the ones that hold them accountable and you know what i would love it
if my friends would hold me accountable if i was causing a problem in the same way i'm going to
hold my friends accountable if they're causing a problem and going down this road so we should try
to help one another to serve christ together and then not cause these problems and we want to make
sure we have a healthy church you know i was thinking about it like our church is just so
i think a lot of us just don't really appreciate the church that we have because we're used to it
man i just remember being part of so many churches where there's just all these people in there that
you're thinking like why won't someone deal with that person you know i'm talking about like there's
these weird people in church that are causing problems and it's just like no one will deal
with that issue no one will deal with that person or just like egregious sin issues and you're just
thinking like no one's dealing with that no one's dealing with this problem and in the same way it
would just be like if your body had all these health issues like you have an open womb you have
cuts you know things are going wrong with your head and you're just ignoring all of it we want
to be a healthy body we have to deal with issues and people can criticize all day long that we
would exercise church discipline or deal with issues like this but you know what it causes us
to be very healthy and let me tell you something we're a very healthy church especially when you
compare it to what's out there there's a lot of problems and a lot of churches today that we don't
have because we actually deal with issues and you should appreciate that that you don't have to come
to church and deal with all these problem people all the time all these awkward situations that can
be avoided if we exercise church discipline the bible says in verse number 19 again i say to you
that if two of you shall agree on earth is touching anything that they shall ask it shall be done for
them of my father which is in heaven for where two or three are gathered together in my name there
am i in the midst of them notice that you know church is authority but even just christians is
a whole lot of authority here's a good idea how about you pray at night with your spouse because
think about it two people come in together agreeing what does the bible say that if two of you shall
agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask it shall be done for them in my of my
father notice again he's in heaven i like how the bible just hammers that point which is in heaven
hey praying with another person coming together with another brother in christ and praying is
powerful coming together with your spouse and praying is powerful because god can answer prayer
and so we should on a regular basis be coming together with other people and praying together
hey when we come together as a church and pray there's a special power and authority to that
that god gives us and wants us to exercise so i believe corporate prayer is important as well
verse 21 then came peter him and said lord how often my brother sinned against me
and i forgive him till seven times jesus say that him i say it under the until seven times but until
70 times seven now again you know we read a lot of the bible it's clear it's not just saying like
you're letting things go always but if your brother does something wrong comes and apologizes you're
supposed to forgive them you're supposed to let it go at that point and and you say like how many
times pretty much forever as many times your brother screws up you just let it go that's
a great christian attitude is that we just are constantly being willing to forgive our brother
forgiveness should always be on the table for the repentant but those that are not repentant of
course obviously they may have to be church disciplined or stay away or the relationship
changed but when they are repentant we have to forgive them that's not optional and i was going
to give a whole parable about this look what it says in verse 23 therefore is the kingdom of heaven
likened to a certain king which would take account of his servants and when he had begun to reckon
one was brought unto him which owed him ten thousand talents but for as much as he had not
to pay his lord commanded him to be sold and his wife and children and all that he had and payment
to be made the servant therefore fell down and worshiped him saying lord i have patience with me
and i will pay thee all then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion and loosed him
and forgave him the debt but the same servant went out and found one of his fellow servants which
owed him a hundred pence and he laid his hands on him and took him by the throat saying pay me that
thou owest and his fellow servant fell down at his feet and beside him saying have patience with me
and i will pay thee all and he would not but went and cast him into prison till he should pay the
debt so when his fellow servants saw what was done they were very sorry and came and told under
their lord all that was done then at then his lord after that he had called him said on him oh that
wicked servant i forgave thee all that debt because thou desiredest me shouldest not thou also have
had compassion on thy fellow servant even as i had pity on thee and his lord was wroth and delivered
him to the tormentors till he should pay all that was due unto him so likewise so my heavenly father
do also unto you if you from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses so he
gives a long parable here to warn us about forgiveness and if you really think about what
the parable is trying to allude to is think about this 10 000 talents he owns it's almost like we've
caused 10 000 sins against god like we're guilty of 10 000 sins and yet when we got saved god
forgave us of all of that and we don't have to go to hell for all of that and he was merciful and
long-suffering towards us for that but then what if our brother comes and trespasses against us
one or two times and then we can't extend them forgiveness it just seems so egregious considering
that god forgave you 10 000 times over and you can't forgive somebody one or two times but you
know it it just will not surprise you if you know things about church people will hold the smallest
most petty grudges against one another and you're just thinking like how in the world has god
forgiven you of all of your sins all of your lies all of your stealing all of your dishonoring your
parents all of the grievous things and I mean worse things than this getting drunk fornication
all this stuff that you did to god and then this person well you know she gave me a bad look one
day get over yourself you know we need to forgive and especially if someone came to you and said I'm
sorry or I apologize we should just be quick to forgive quick to let it go and think about the
warning here if you won't get over little petty tiny grudges god may say oh well you know that
list of all the things you did in your entire life I'm going to make sure you get punished for all
of them now all that fornication you did all that drunkenness you did all that debauchery you did
all that partying you did all those lies you've told all the things that you've taken all the
times you're disrespectful I'm going to make sure you get punished for all of it because you won't
let this little tiny grudge grow that scares me that makes me want to just say like if someone
comes to me and apologizes I'm like you're forgiven it's good that's severe attitude
just immediate forgiveness immediate yeah no problem don't worry about it and hey people
have come to apologize to me for all kinds of things in many cases I wasn't I didn't even care
I'm just like you didn't need to apologize but whatever and if you know anything about me if
you've ever come to apologize to me you would know I'm just like yep no problem don't worry about it
I forgive you hey we should do that to our spouse too shouldn't we we should do that to everybody in
our life everybody that's harmed us everybody that's hurt us hey when they get on their knees
and say please forgive me we should just say no problem you're good we should let bygones be
bygones the Christian attitude should just always be to forgive always be to let things go look at
chapter seven verse one for a second here's another huge warning about this same thing
chapter seven we've already read but look at verse one again judge not that you be not judged for
with what judgment you judge you shall be judged and will it measure you meet it should be measured
to you again hey how you treat other people god will treat you i'll just go to one more place go
to psalm 18 go to psalm 18 the bible gives this warning over and over and over again i'm going to
read you another verse first peter 3 says love his brethren be pitiful be courteous not rendering
evil for evil railing for railing but contraries contrary wise blessing knowing that you are there
to call that you should inherit a blessing you know we should be pitiful we should show pity
towards our brethren and if they screw up make mistakes we just say hey no problem when they
apologize psalm 18 i want to look at verse number 25 and this is just a great one to kind of
encapsulate this this verse with the merciful thou wilt show thyself merciful with an upright man
thou wilt show thyself upright verse 26 with the purer thou wilt show thyself purer and with the
foward thou wilt show thyself foward so how you treat others in many cases is how God will treat
you if you're very merciful and forgiving towards other people God will often be very
merciful and forgiving towards you if you're very contrary and you're always against people
then God's gonna be against you and boy I would not want to be someone that's constantly against
other Christians constantly attacking other Christians because you know what's gonna happen
God's gonna be constantly attacking you you're constantly just calling everybody a fool
and an idiot well then God will make you look like a fool and make you look like an idiot
hey how you how you treat other people God's gonna treat you and let me tell you something
I'm just as much a sinner as the next guy I need God's mercy and grace I don't want to be punished
according as I deserve I want God to be merciful upon me and so you know if I want that I need to
extend mercy to others and I need to be gracious to others and when others ask for forgiveness
or are wanting to restore things we should just immediately restore them fix them do good under
them that's how God will treat us we need to humble ourselves in this life and we need to
make sure that we're treating children the way that they should be treated not being respected
persons and when people need forgiveness we need to extend it to them this is the christian attitude
that we should have in our lives let's close in prayer thank you heavenly father so much for
being merciful unto us thank you for the ultimate sacrifice that you gave with your son on the cross
i pray that we wouldn't despise that by treating our brethren with a begrudging heart and not
letting things go but rather we'd see the example of you forgiving us and that we should also follow
and like suit and forgive our other forgive our brethren forgive others when they trespass against
us i pray that we would love children that we'd see them as special and important i pray that you
would help us to have a humble attitude and we esteem other better than ourselves and i pray
that you would help our church to do great works for you for your son's name in jesus name we pray
amen in closing let's go to song number 27 song number 27 the old rugged cross song number 27