Amen. Right, up to Matthew 18 already. It seems to have flown for me, maybe not for
you guys, I don't know. But we'll do a quick recap, just to remind you again of what happened
last week in Matthew 17. We looked at the Mount of Transfiguration, which was basically
a vision of Jesus in his glory and his coming kingdom. And something we talked about afterwards
myself and my family, it happened to be the 40-day fast trio up there as well, didn't
it? So all three of those guys done the 40-day fast, we were talking about fasting. I think,
yeah, actually, they're all up there on the Mount of Transfiguration. So maybe that's
why Peter was like, I'll just do three tabernacles out there, all the same, and God had to kind
of remind him, this is my beloved son. So we saw how Peter said in his second epistle
that we have a more sure word of prophecy, though. So, you know, you've got this amazing
kind of vision that he's seen and he was witness to, and he's going, how have we have a more
sure word of prophecy? And that being the word of God, right? And look, it doesn't matter
what you think you might have experienced. And some, you know, a lot of these wicked
false church types have to talk about experiences and they've experiences. Oh, no, this must
be true because I experienced that. It's got, it's the word of God which we stand on, isn't
it? Yeah, not experiences. So we looked at that. We looked at the similarities between
John and Elijah and then we saw Jesus healing this guy's son who was, who was a lunatic
and then he was calling them a faithless and perverse generation, wasn't he? He said if
they had faith as a grain of mustard seed, basically they would have fasted and prayed
is how I see that, you know. If they had that faith, they would have fasted and prayed and
often we don't have the faith to pray and or fast with that as well. And then we saw
Jesus telling them again how he's going to die and rise again. And then we had this tax
collector, you know, who's like, yeah, forget all that Messiah stuff, where's the money,
you know? And he came and asked if Jesus pays his taxes. Peter kind of lied, didn't he?
And then, but then he provided what was needed to pay so as not to offend them and we talked
about how, you know, God doesn't want us to go and offend, you know, we need to live by
the laws of the land. And if you don't like the taxes here, you don't like the land, we'll
go somewhere else. But I doubt you're going to find somewhere, you know, much better.
It's all pretty wicked, isn't it? You know, I don't think that Roman government was any
better. So anyway, we're going to be continuing now with Matthew chapter 18 of verse one,
which says, at the same time came the disciples unto Jesus saying, who is the greatest in
the kingdom of heaven? As usual, I'd like to pray before we continue. Father, thank
you for this chapter. Thank you for this. Just just the great messages that you've given
us out of fear. Please help me to just preach that clearly now and accurately. Lord, I help
everyone to have a tent of fears. Please keep the distractions to a minimum and help everyone
to just pay attention to what your word has to say to them. Lord, fill in with your spirit
please, Lord. In Jesus name, pray all of this. Amen. That's an innocent question, isn't it?
You know, they're like, is it David, Abraham, Moses, Elijah? Is that what they're asking?
Who would win the fight between maybe like Samson and Adonai or whatever? You know, the
guy like killed 800. It's not really though, is it? Because that's not what they were asking.
The parallel passage in Luke's Gospel makes it clearer. You don't have to turn it, but
Luke 9 46 says, then there arose a reasoning among them, which of them should be greatest?
So what they're asking here when they're saying who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?
They're talking about themselves. So they're comparing themselves. They're debating about
which of them is the best Christian. Hence him then we see in the second him telling
them to humble themselves. And we could read this and laugh. And I don't know, I was thinking
about this. As you look through the Gospels, you're almost seeing like that growth from
really what I, you know, because he does say he's revealed them unto babes, like spiritual
babes and they're growing and growing through the Gospels, aren't they? And obviously they
turn into like great men of God, all these guys. But at the time I don't see them as
maybe being that at that point. And obviously they're learning a lot and we can look at
that and get all funny about it, but they didn't have the complete Bible at this point.
They were kind of newer sort of Christians, you could say, couldn't you? But how many
Christians regardless, whether they're new or not, maybe think like this, but just don't
verbalise it. And, you know, they're kind of talking among themselves. You could go,
oh, can you believe it that they were saying that? But many do think like this. OK, many
do amongst churches, amongst even before churches, soul winning groups and whatever else. Basically
just constantly competing with each other. OK, and this is something that you're going
to get in churches, but I'm just going to constantly preach about because that's what
we don't want, do we? And it's carnal, yet so many people do it, don't they? So many
Christians do it, so many churches, so many pastors will talk about the same thing and
they get that in churches, the competitive Christian. And it's so bizarre, isn't it?
Because really it's so clear in the Bible that that's not how we're meant to be yet.
Look, we're all carnal, we all have the flesh and people, different people get tempted by
different things, won't they? And this can be something that's a temptation for many.
Now, you could look at it and think, well, maybe it's, you know, maybe it's just kind
of the guys, yeah, just competing, you know, for example, you know, I think I'm a better
soul winner than that one and then mine are like, yeah, you know, I've definitely been
getting a few more sellers. And obviously we had some of that retardation in our church
before, didn't we? It's just ridiculous, sort of stupid numbers and boastful about it and
all of this sort of stuff. The funniest one obviously being the hospital soul winning,
you know, just got the surgeon saved, just got a second surgeon saved, you know, praise
God. It was amazing, wasn't it? However, look, that can't, look, it's something that we obviously
don't want to get pulled into. We don't want to get pulled into trying to compete and because
we don't really have a, and that's not what it's about. It's not about that at all. But
it's not just guys. Women can get like this too, okay. And sadly, you know, there are
many women in church, we had that previously before as well, trying to be like the best,
the best matriarchal type or trying to be the best soul winner. And it's just ridiculous.
It's absolutely ridiculous. And as well, you know, there are seasons with women as well.
So you get women who like get really full of themselves because they're able to get
out and then someone else isn't and then they are. And it's just ridiculous, all of it,
you know, and it's so carnal. And you can see through it, yet people still do it, don't
they? Couples preaching, how about preaching as well? You get people that when they're
getting up behind a pulpit, and look, this will be across churches, is their goal to
edify the church or is their goal to look great? So often it's to look great. So often
the goal is how do I look? How am I better than the other one? Am I going to look like
a better preacher than whoever it is, you know? And it's ridiculous, isn't it? It's
ridiculous yet again, so many Christians get pulled into this. And really, this is just
what we're seeing here. Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? They're just like,
who's the best Christian out of them? And they've just got it all wrong, haven't they?
Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 10, because our goal isn't to compete, it's to serve God,
isn't it? It's to serve God. And look, there are people that can sound very smooth, and
I've been sat there with, you know, under preachers and listened to them and been there
at churches where, oh, well, you know, they sound like they've got all this info and they
sound very smooth and they sound, but you can just tell the way they're even saying
things, it's all about them. It's all about how they appear, all about how they're going
to sound, all about how intellectual they might sound, all about how spiritual they
think they sound. But you're not getting anything from the sermon, are you? And we just want
to hear the word of God preached, and we want people to be edified, and that needs to be
all of our motivation. Anyone who preaches here, when you're going out preaching, your
motivation is to get people saved, not what can I get, how many numbers can I get? When
you preach behind a pulpit, your motivation has to be, what are people going to get from
it? Am I going to preach these truths? Am I going to get some edification from it?
Second Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 12, it says, for we dare not make ourselves of
the number or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves, but they measuring
themselves by themselves and comparing themselves among themselves are not wise. So they're
not wise. So anyone who's doing that, and look, some people can be really subtle with
this and you notice it, you see little bits of behaviour, which is a very subtle way of
trying to lift themselves up, trying to compete with others. The Bible just says they're not
wise. Not being wise isn't a good thing, is it? You know, we don't want to appear to be
not wise, however clever sometimes people think they are with it. And it's something
that we have to avoid, okay? We have to avoid that comparing ourselves, commending ourselves,
comparing ourselves with each other. You know, we're all brothers and sisters and we're all
here to just ultimately to be the body of Christ and go out and get more and more people
saved. Look at verse 2, it says, and Jesus, back to Matthew 18, and Jesus called a little
child unto him and set him in the midst of them. So, by the way, notice how he didn't
send him off to Sunday school, did he? He got a little child, sent him off for when
a guy learns some like cool songs, he said, he set them in the midst, so he set this child
in the middle of them, right? Right in the middle. And said, verily I say unto you, except
ye be convert and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
So there's a few lessons I think you can get from that. Number one here is that to be saved
in the first place, we need to become as little children, right? Now, what does that mean?
Well, firstly, like I preach in our parenting series, before children have a knowledge between
good and evil, they're saved, aren't they? That's what, I have no doubt about that. Paul
said, we could go to again, but I've preached it a couple of weeks ago. Paul said in Romans
7, 9, for I was alive without the law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived
and I died. Okay, so there was a point for me in Paul's life, I believe when we compare
it and look at Deuteronomy 1 and other places, I believe, and that's a picture I think of
them entering heaven, and it's a picture obviously, I believe it's when you understand
the difference between good and evil. And like I said, it's not difference between mommy
and daddy being annoyed or not, yeah? In John 3, 3, Jesus said to Nicodemus, except a man
be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Okay, so you have to basically, you have
to become a child theoretically in that you're going to be saved and become basically sinless
like a child. Okay, like a child is not responsible for their sins before that age of understanding
the difference between good and evil. Now, here's the thing with that, is that that can
be hard for the pride of some, like I said before, that can be difficult. And, you know,
with this competitive stuff as well, that's just a reality, isn't it? You get someone,
especially you get someone coming to church from a false background, from a false Christianity
especially background, but you probably say from any false religion really, and they come
in and they are newly saved. That's hard for them a lot of the time to deal with, because
ultimately they're a spiritual baby, they're a child. Yet, for many, it's like, yeah, but
I've done all this and I've kind of been at church or I've done this and, but it doesn't
mean anything, does it? Because they've just been born again. So then for many, they kind
of, they want to try and like, some will even go as far as maybe, you know, wanting
to appear to have been saved for longer and stuff like that. And I've been across, come
across people like this before, because look, it's one thing getting saved, but then to
accept that, look, I'm basically a child in Christ now and I need to learn and I need
to, you know, appreciate that I don't know that much yet, et cetera. It is difficult,
it is difficult. But, you know, with that in mind, look, the greatest is the most humble,
yeah? So you've got, you've got verse four, which says, whosoever therefore shall humble
himself as his little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. So, like I said,
from verse three, the first lesson was we need to become as little children. The second
is that when we're converted, we become spiritual babies, okay? So we do, look, that's just
the truth of life. Every single person here, if you're saved, there was a point when you're
a spiritual baby, okay? When you were young in Christ, when you, when, and some maybe
still are, you know, whether they're here or watching online, some people still are
and there's nothing wrong with that, you know? That's a good time because you can learn and
learn and grow and learn and we just have to accept that, don't we? When we are like
that. But yeah, the greatest is the most humble. He said, whosoever therefore shall humble
himself as his little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Now, Proverbs 18
12 says, before destruction, the heart of man is haughty and before honor is humility.
So to become great in God's eyes, to be one of those people up here, when it comes to
God's kingdom, the kingdom of heaven, we need to be humble like a little child. And most
little children are pretty humble, aren't they? And we're talking quite, you know, young
here. Obviously, as they get older, they can get a bit haughty, can't they? But here, young
children, little children here, he's saying, whosoever therefore shall humble himself is
his little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And look, that's something
that we should all constantly aspire to be like, shouldn't we? It's just to accept that
we're not, we're not the great people that we often tell ourselves we are. And especially
because God's way is so opposite to our wicked world, isn't it? Isn't that the complete opposite
to really how we're taught in the world? How many people are constantly being told to have
some pride and take pride in this, take pride in yourself and don't let them talk to you
like that. Don't let them treat you like that. It's you, you know, it's constantly affirming
this pride, let alone the fact that we now have all the, whatever they call the alphabet
people, their whole thing is about pride, being like proud of the fact that you're a
sodomite. I mean, it's absolutely amazing, isn't it? But that you got the world on one
side, then you got the Christian on the other, who's being constantly told to humble yourself,
humble yourself. And obviously we do get influenced by the world, don't we? And we
get influenced by all the movies we've maybe watched and all these other things, which
it's constantly about pride, pride, pride. Yet we need to try and put all that away and
be humble, humble, humble. And, you know, something I've said before is, is I think
there's an issue. It's not, look, some people go too far and they get like really holier
than thou with everything. Okay. However, there is an element of truth in that we've
just been filled up. Many people here were saved as adults. Yeah. And maybe quite, you
know, many years into being an adult. Yeah. And they've been filled up for years and all
this worldly brainwash, worldly brainwash, worldly brainwash, and then you get saved
and you're kind of like, well, I could, you know, get away with a little bit of worldly
brainwash, but it's kind of like, you try to get rid of it, aren't you? And I'm not
saying that you can, you know, people try and get, all right, that's it. Everything
gone. You never, you just got to keep away from everyone and anything. However, we do
have to be circumspect as well and understand and appreciate that we've already had so much
of it that we need to kind of reverse that. You need to be immersed and in the word of
God and reading your Bible and in the things of God, maybe more so really you could say
than if you'd just grown up as a Christian and you could maybe get away with that little
bit of exposure here and there. And I'm not trying to encourage that. However, it's different
when you just had it so much and you're trying to get away from that, trying to raise godly
children and we're so often just battling against previous brainwash, aren't we? So
much conditioning that sometimes we're not even aware of. The way we think, the way we
act, the way we react to things is so often a kind of a result of the lives we've already
lived and the influence we've had, then add the flesh to that as well, then add the devil
to that and you've kind of got a hard battle, haven't you? But it's a good battle to take
on, isn't it? He said, and who so shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth
me. So what does that mean? What does it mean to receive one such little child in my name?
Well, I believe that he's saying that a child, I believe he sent a child can preach the gospel
because John 1 12 says, but as many as received him to them gave you power to become the sons
of God, even to them that believe in his name. Yeah. John 13 20 says, rarely, rarely I sent
you he that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me and he that receiveth me receiveth him
that sent me. So here we say who shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth
me. Yeah. So now does he mean a spiritual child or a physical child here? Well, he is,
he has got a little child here is the example, but you could read, you could, you could argue
both there anyway, because look, and obviously I preach about this in the parenting series.
It's not, it's not our job to force anyone. Okay. We're not here to force anyone to go
out soul winning. Okay. And that includes your own children as well. I don't think you
want to be forcing them, but newly saved and young Christians can preach the gospel. Can't
they? They can preach the gospel. There's not like a time or you've got to have been
saved for this much time to preach gospel. Often that's the best time, isn't it? Yeah.
What did the woman at the well do that the, you know, she, she, she went straight out
the woman of Samaria and started telling everything, everyone about Jesus Christ, you
know, what did the, the maniac, you know, of the Gadarenes, I think it was, what did
he do? He was told, go out and tell everyone. And sometimes that's when you're most sort
of fired up as well. I know I was fired up when I first got saved. I wanted to tell people,
but sadly the teaching I was getting was so poor. I don't really know how to do it properly.
So I'm just trying to convince them about God and Jesus and stuff and just getting it
all wrong. And, and, and it was a shame because I was at that point I was so zealous as well.
And look, you don't have, it's not because the other thing is this as well is that people
are, Oh, well you better, you know, you better just, just spend a long time before you preach
gospel. And look, we want people to learn how to preach gospel first. Yeah. And obviously
if you're at our church, you're not saying go out and be a talker because you've just
got saved. If they want to, great, get them out of soul with him. Great time to learn
because it's not complicated. Anyone think preaching the gospel is complicated? Is the
gospel complicated? Sure isn't, is it? Gospel is so easy, a little child can, can, can understand
it. Yeah. It's as easy as taking a bite of bread, as easy as drinking a cup of water.
So why can't a child then preach the gospel? No reason why not, is there? Why can't a spiritual
baby preach the gospel? No reason. As long as they know how to, they can preach the gospel,
okay? And, and look, they've got the Holy Spirit like you and I, yeah, they can preach
the gospel because it's not, it's, it's not, what are you really doing? You're reading
verses and explaining the verse. It's not hard. And you know what, if you, if you just
spend a bit of time and it's not really kind of a chore, is it? It's not the hardest thing
to do. Spend a bit of time just mapping your Bible and learning some things and how you'd
explain the verse. It's not really difficult. Now, here's the thing with that. There are
different levels for different, and different people have different personalities and there
are some that are very confident, just outgoing people are very happy to talk to people who
would, who would happily take a salesman's job. And I don't know if they still do this
anymore. In the old days you'd get people knocked around with like dishcloths and stuff.
They still have these people anymore. In my house no one could seem to be able to find
so they don't really get door knockers. But I used to have people that used to just knock
round and they're trying to sell you this, trying to sell you this. Nowadays there's
people trying to offer the time out of your drive or do your roof. But okay, so, but people
are able to do that and some people would be, I could never do that job and other people
could, and those people if they got saved, I'd imagine they'd be probably quicker at
going out and preaching the gospel, yeah? It doesn't mean they're better people or anything
else, but they're still able to do that. Some people are more able and other people aren't.
We're not trying to force anyone. However, if you are saved, you are able to do it, okay?
That is the same with kids. However, we don't want to force kids to do it. But what's great
about kids is that when you have a child with you and you go out and try and preach the
gospel, it does make things a lot easier, doesn't it? I was saying this the other day,
it makes it so much easier. People are warmer at the door. People are a little bit less
threatened, especially at night when you're preaching in the dark cold night and you knock
you on the door and you're all kind of duffled up and maybe hats on and scarves and everything
else. It's kind of nice when they see a young child there. And look, they do help a lot.
And obviously, we want to get our kids out with us at the least, but they are able to
preach. He said, here, whoso shall receive one little child in my name receiveth me.
But here's another lesson as well with this. Is it just because someone preaches the gospel,
it doesn't mean that they've suddenly matured to an aged Christian, does it? So another
mistake we can make is we see someone preaching the gospel and we're like, right, they must
be a really mature Christian. Oh, wow. They're able, they're a confident person. They're
able to knock on the door. They must be really mature. But it doesn't mean that either because
all you have to do is explain some salvation verses and be confident enough, bold enough
to do it. Now look, boldness can come from the Holy Spirit as well, but some people just
are more likely to do that. So it's something we've got to understand as well. And look,
people here, I don't, you know, I'm preaching to the choir probably, but often people will
walk into a church or have someone that comes from another church. Oh, they preach the gospel.
They must be a mature Christian. So they must, we're going to judge them by the standards
of mature Christian. Often they're still a babe in Christ. And we have to remember that
as well. And, and just, you know, because sometimes they might say something weird stuff
and we're thinking, what on earth, you know, what must be a heretic, must be unsaved, must
be like some wicked person. It's like, no, they're just a babe in Christ. It's just a
compliment enough to preach the gospel, right? There's something to remember that as well.
But here's another thing is that without soul winning, you'll never be a mature Christian.
Okay. You will never be a mature Christian if you're not soul winning. So it doesn't
matter. It doesn't matter how many times you read the Bible. It doesn't matter how often
you go to church. If you aren't, and look, I include silent partnering here though, if
you're not out regularly preaching the gospel and obviously, you know, family responsibilities
permitting that women that just have babies and other things like that, there's illnesses,
sicknesses, there's injury, there's other issues where people might not. But however,
if you are going out and preaching the gospel, if you're not going to preach the gospel,
for me, you'll never be a mature Christian because it's like the obvious first thing
to do, isn't it? You don't have your spiritual armour on your feet. You're not going out
and doing the first commandment, the first works, the first love. And for me, you'll
never be mature. So all these people out there that act like they're these like really, you
know, mature Christians and you knock on their door and they start trying to debate the Bible
with you, you don't preach the gospel, you don't know anything. Like we've had these
guys on our channel just because of the flat earth thing. And they're coming on, they're
trying to sound so like intelligent and quoting Bible verses, completely just messing them
up, quoting false Bible versions, quoting things wrong, quoting them and trying to like
claim that this proves this and that, and complete nonsense. And none of them are preaching
the gospel. I wonder, they're all either babes or sadly, a lot of them are just unsaved
heretics, aren't they? OK, so verse six says, But who so shall offend one of these little
ones, which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about
his neck, that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. So this isn't necessarily talk
about saying something that someone doesn't like, because we use the word offend for you've
offended someone. Oh, it's so offensive because you preached about the sodomites. So it's
so offensive because you preach on a woman's role in the home. So, you know, that's not
that's not what it's talking about. This is basically causing someone to stumble, to fall,
to ensnare them. OK, so the offense here, offending one of these little ones is basically
causing a stumbling block, like Jesus Christ is a rock of offense to the Jews. Yeah, he
was a stumbling block to them. Here it's talking about that stumbling block. OK, so causing
some sort of offense, some sort of stumbling block to one of these little ones, which believe
me saying here. So God values his young believers highly, doesn't he? Doesn't he just? He says
it's he didn't just say you're in trouble. He made a real point here that it were better
for him that a millstone, which basically just like this huge stone, I think for grinding
down grain, were hanged about his neck and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.
I mean, that's quite a visual of quite a nasty way to die, isn't it, to be drowned. I remember
having a bit of a fear drowning when I was younger, and that's a bit of a nasty way to
go, isn't it? And so he clearly values them highly because they're not just some lesser
Christians until they're adults, are they? And many churches treat them like that, don't
they? Oh, well, they're just kind of kids. They can just go off with like the kind of
whoever it is, get a few like women on rotation, no matter who they are, as long as they regularly
come to the church. They can teach them some way or something, colour in some stuff, whatever.
Just get them out, get them out of here. We don't want them hearing, don't want them like,
you know, they might make some noise or something, you know. But we don't see, we don't believe
that, do we? They're not lesser Christians. And here's a funny thing. In fact, those humble
little ones, because he did say, you've got to humble yourself as this little child, are
greater than the pride filled adult, aren't they? He just said earlier that basically,
what did he say in verse, I think it was four, he said, whosoever shall humble himself as
his little child, the same is greater than the kingdom of heaven. So you could argue
from that that some of these little children are kind of, as things stand, probably the
greatest in our church, because they don't have all that pride, just messing things up
and making God just look down and go, oh, just more pride, more pride, more pride. And
they're humble. So these are like, look, God values them highly, right? Better that a millstone
were hanged about his neck, they were drowned in a depth of the sea then caused a stumbling
block to these humble little children. But you could say as well that people that try
to hurt, target, shake the faith of these young believers, look, there's going to be
a bad faith for them, isn't there? And there's a lot of people out there do that. Okay, these
wolves that were in our church, they were targeting, at least my children got targeted
a bit by them, they're trying to say stuff, they're trying to shake them, they're trying
to bully them, that's what they do, okay? Because they're wolves, they go for the young,
whether it's the new Christians, whether it's the weak Christians, or whether it's the children.
And they're constantly trying to probe and just try to see what they can get, what sort
of weaknesses they have and then they can attack. It's wicked, isn't it? Absolutely
wicked. And that's another reason why we're family integrated, because you get one of
those wolves in the Sunday school or something else, you've got all sorts of trouble, haven't you?
So the other people that can do that though is unsaved family and so-called friends.
They target your young, don't they? They want to shake the faith of your kids, they want
to, you know, do you have to go there? They want to try and get them watching the junk,
you know, get them listening to the junk. They want to try and encourage them with the
worldly stuff and try and pull them away from church. And they're easily used, aren't they?
Because in their mind, oh, they just need to lighten up, they just need to know more
about the world, they need to be a bit more fun or whatever else it is. And that's something
we have to watch out for as well, don't we? But again, the warning's out for all of those
that do that. He then said in verse 7, woe unto the world because of offences, for it
must needs be that offences come, but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh. So
that's a strong warning and then he continues here, 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.
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 hell fire.
So is Jesus saying that we could lose our salvation if we don't cut our hand and feet
off and pluck our eyes out? Is that what he's saying? Of course he's not. Galatians 2.16,
everyone knows, or many know this verse says, knowing that man is not justified by the works
of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that
we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law, for by the
works of the law shall no flesh be justified. And that includes cutting off limbs and plucking
our eyes, yeah? So who's the subject here? Well, verse 7 says the world, doesn't it?
Says woe unto the world because of offences, for it must needs be that offences come, but
woe to that man by whom the offence cometh, yeah? And that's who he's talking about here,
because then he says wherefore if thy hand, so he then uses the singular thy and thee
whilst talking to the hypothetical man, okay? And obviously it's still, it's an analogy
and he's not saying to the hypothetical worldly guy you need to pluck out your eyes and cut
off your arms, but he's just giving this, he's basically saying look, if that limb would
cause a stumbling block to you getting saved, you'd be better to cut it off, because that's
how serious it is to go into the lake of fire for eternity, that's what he's talking about
here. But because in verse 10 he then continues addressing his disciples with the ye again
and talking to them as a plural. So here he says woe unto the world because of offences,
talking about the world, for it must needs be that offence come, but woe to that man
by whom the offence cometh, wherefore if thy hand or thy foot about that man, that worldly
man there. So basically saying to the unsaved, yeah, you'd better cut off your limbs, pluck
out your eyes and go to hell, yeah? And like I said, because look, whatever's a stumbling
block to salvation, you'd be better to get rid of, okay? You'd just be better to get
rid of that, whatever that is, than, and for some people their stumbling block is something
that they think they enjoy, it's like, you know, whatever sin it is, whatever pleasure,
whatever carnal pleasure it is, is the reason they don't want to hear the gospel, is the
reason they don't want to think about God, acknowledge God, you'd be better to literally
cut off your arm than to risk going to hell. And you could argue that based on the subject
of offending the young believers, there's maybe more of an urgency with that offender,
isn't there as well, you know, that type of person, because look, you know, he's saying,
look, it'd be better that a mill stumble casts back their neck, and these sorts of people
are just wicked, aren't they? And they need to get on, and whatever that stumbling block
is, whatever that issue is, they need to get rid of that quickly. But he's back talking
to the disciples in verse 10 here, and obviously we saw that sort, we've seen this sort of
language before, it's like he's just giving the extreme of how hell isn't some sort of
it. I knocked on the door today, and the guy who answered said to me, he said something
about, well, his girlfriend's into all that, or something like that, and I said, okay,
well, you know, more importantly, you know, about going to heaven, and he just said, ah,
whatever, probably going to hell. I said, okay, well, would you like to, you know, would
you like to know, you know, that you can go to heaven for sure, you know, or something
along those lines. He said, nah, I'm happy. I said, are you sure you're happy to go down
there? He said, yeah, I don't care. I said, I'll leave you to it then, you know, and laughing
as he shut the door. But whatever his stumbling block was, he would have been better to cut
his hand off, wouldn't he, because hell isn't a laughing matter. It's funny, because he
wasn't just saying it like, oh, yeah, yeah, whatever, hell, he kind of, you know, came
from within, like, yeah, I know about hell, I know I'm probably going there, whatever.
It's so sad, isn't it? What a mess, like, to laugh and just for the sake of what, hearing
the Gospel, but many people like that, and Jesus is saying, look, you'd be better to
cut off your limbs, pluck out your eyes. So anyway, verse 10, he's back to talk to the
disciples. He says, take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones, for I say unto
you, that in heaven there angels do always behold the face of my Father, which is in
heaven. Now, okay, so some might use this verse to say that everyone starts with a guardian
angel. Anyone heard someone saying that, that when you're, all children have that? Anyone
heard that before? I've heard people trying to say that if you're, that from birth you
have a guardian angel. And I've heard some people would say, well, maybe, and they look
back on their lives, and they say, well, maybe because they were going to get saved, they
had something like that themselves. I'm not sure, but he did say, he did say here in verse
6, who so shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me? So specifically
here we're talking about save children, aren't we? Okay, save children. Now, some would say
this isn't talking about that sort of thing before, but he did just say, verse 10, take
heed that ye despise not one of these little ones, okay, so it's the same little ones that
he's talking about, that believe in him, for I say unto you that in heaven there angels
do always behold the face of my Father, which is in heaven. So these are young believing
children, they have angels, they're angels, which do always behold the face of God the
Father. Now, this isn't some strange child spirit or something, okay, so I believe it's,
some would call it God, I believe it is talking about protecting angels, okay, that's in my
view. Turn to Psalm 34, because the Bible does teach that as believers we have access
to spiritual protection, doesn't it? Okay, from his angels. Psalm 34 you're turning to,
and verse 4 we're going to look from, Psalm 34 and verse 4 says, I sought the Lord, and
he heard me and delivered me from all my fears. Okay, notice he sought the Lord, yeah? They
looked unto him, okay, these are the people, these are other saved people, and were lightened,
and their faces were not ashamed. This poor man cried and the Lord heard him and saved
him out of all his troubles. Great, verse 7 says, the angel of the Lord encampeth round
about them that fear him and deliver them. So is this free reign to do what you like
because the angel will deliver you? It does say that the angel of the Lord compass, it
says, encampeth, sorry, round about them that fear him, okay? It does say that, doesn't
it? But although fearing the Lord can sometimes refer to just being saved, here it's referring
to those serving God, okay? Verse 8 says, O taste and see that the Lord is good, blessed
is a man that trusteth in him. So again, trusting in him, we've seen seeking him, we've seen
looking unto him. Then verse 9 says, O fear the Lord, ye his saints, for there is no want
to them that fear him. So he's talking to his saints, isn't he? And he's telling them,
and by the way, saints are believers in case anyone's got any kind of weird Catholic or
higher church CV hang ups here. No, this is just believers. He's telling them to fear
him though, isn't he? So he's telling the believers to fear the Lord because look, people,
yeah, there's a fear of the Lord that has to go hand in hand with salvation. A lot of
people who are saved don't live their life fearing the Lord, do they? Okay? He's saying
fear the Lord. Verse 4 said that he sought the Lord. Verse 5, they looked unto him. Verse
8, the man that trusteth in him. So for me, the angel of the Lord delivers you when you
fear him, seek, look unto, trust, yeah? Basically when you're serving God, when you're seeking
the things of God, when you're fearing God, fearing his chastisement, et cetera, yeah?
Turn to Psalm 91 because it says exactly the same thing in Psalm 91 as well. Because some
would go too far and be like, well, I've got a guardian angel, I can do what I want, you
know, the angels are looking after me. It's all fine, I'm saved, yeah? No, the point was
there it was people fearing him, it was believers who were then fearing him living a life of
serving God really, isn't it? Psalm 91 and verse 9, Psalm 91, 9 says because, because
thou has made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most high, thy habitation. Okay?
And I don't think that's just salvation here, I think it's making him basically the centre
of your life, you know, living amongst it or living with him in your life. There shall
no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall give
his angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways. So again, we're seeing those
angels protecting, yeah? They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot
against the stone. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder, the young lion and the dragon,
shalt thou trample under feet. Because he has set his love upon me, okay, talking as
God here, therefore will I deliver him, I will set him on high, because he hath known
my name. So knowing him, loving him, don't forget Jesus said in John 14.15, if you love
me, keep my commandments, okay? So that's part of loving him, isn't it? Because there
are many that will say, won't there? They'll be, oh yeah, yeah, I love Jesus, yeah, Jesus,
he's my guy, you know, I love Jesus. Don't like all those strict Old Testament laws though,
you know, don't like the judgementalism, you know, against the sodomites or whatever
it is, but I love Jesus. They don't, do they? Jesus said, if you love me, keep my commandments.
I love Jesus, but forget all that soul winning stuff, you know? Love Jesus, but yeah, don't
know about going out and knocking on doors, you know, that's a bit uncomfortable, a bit
awkward, a bit cold or whatever else, yeah? Well, he said, if you love me, keep my commandments.
There are many that claim to love him, okay, but when we do all of that, when we do all
of those things, we can rely on spiritual protection too. Now, is it one angel or more?
So verse 11 said, for he shall give his angels charge over thee, singular, yeah? Okay, that
person who has, who has basically made God, you know, made the Lord the most high thy
habitation, okay? So we see plural there, we saw singular back in, back in the previous
Psalm. Turn to 2nd Kings 6, because for me it depends on what you're doing for God. Basically,
how hot the battle is around you, because for some the battle's hot around you. When
you're serving God properly, when you're doing the things of God, when you're going out doing
things for God, living for God, you know, keep his commandments because you're loving
him, you're knowing him, you're, you're serving him, you're fearing him, you're doing the
things of God, I think you probably need multiple angels, okay? Because the battle's going to
be hot, the spiritual battle we're talking about here. In 2nd Kings 6, we're going to
see that in a minute, because sadly, there are some believers out there that are probably,
probably sharing one angel amongst many of them, really, because they're not doing anything
for God. And again, this isn't competing, this is just, look, these people need to get
right and get, start doing stuff for God, get fear in God and start living for him,
yeah? But there are probably many out there where there's probably one angel, probably,
probably not even doing much amongst all of them, probably got his feet up in the calf,
in the angel calf as we talk, waiting for a call to come in, because nothing's going
on. And then for others, like we're going to see over here in 2nd Kings 6, they got
a whole army there, because they're doing so much for God. In 2nd Kings 6, the battle's
hot, right? Elisha's helping Israel against Syria, he's warning the king basically of
each place that they're looking to attack, yeah? The king of Syria wants to take him,
because he's basically scuppering all his plans to attack Israel by basically just prophesying
of where they're going to be next, you know, he's got some great insight as a man of God.
Verse 13 says, and he said, go and spy where he is, this is the king of Syria, that I may
send and fetch him, 2nd Kings 6 and verse 13, and it was told him saying, behold, he
is in Dothan, therefore sent ye thither horses and chariots and a great host, and they came
by night and compass the city about. So he's basically just sent this huge army to where
like poor old Elisha, well you think poor old Elisha is just kind of there on his own,
you know, and you think, he's just sent this army now, he's just in this place, Dothan,
and when the servant of the man of God was risen early and gone forth, behold, so he's
got this servant with him and host, okay, that's an army, compass the city both with
horses and chariots, and his servant said unto him, alas, my master, how shall we do?
So he's saying, look, like, they got, what are we going to do? There's this huge army
surrounding the city, there's just you and me here, you know, what are we going to do?
And he answered, fear not, for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.
So this servant's probably thinking, what are you talking about, Elisha, you know, they've
got a whole army, the Syrian army surrounding the city, and look at verse 17, Elisha prayed
and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes that he may see, and the Lord opened the eyes
of the young man that he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots
of fire round about, Elisha. Okay, so he's opened his eyes, so basically he's like put
these spiritual glasses on, we often joke about that, if only you had your spiritual
glasses on, you could see what's going on. And he's seen the mountain, I'm assuming they're
right by a mountain here, just full of horses and chariots of fire round about, and the
point is that they're up high, yeah, the point is that this is spiritual, okay, chariots
of fire, you don't usually get in the kind of physical kind of armies, it'd be quite
cool if you did, but these are clearly, these are angels, right? And when they came down
to him, Elisha prayed unto the Lord and said, smite this people, I pray thee with blindness,
and he smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha. Now what's interesting
is that it would only, I believe, needed one of those angels to have dealt with the
physical threat. So you don't have to turn there, but when the king of Assyria came up
against Hezekiah, it says in 2 Kings 19.35, and it came to pass that night that the angel,
singular of the Lord, went out and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred, four
score and five thousand, that's a hundred and eighty-five thousand, and when they arose
early in the morning, behold, they're all dead corpses. One angel, a hundred and eighty-five
thousand people. Pretty powerful, right? Okay, that's some powerful beings, right? So why
did Elisha have the mountain full of horses and chariots of fire? Clearly spiritual, right?
For the spiritual battle, and Elisha being in the centre of it, it was a spiritual battle.
So look, one of those angels could have dealt with the physical people, he wasn't even concerned,
he just said to his servant, just like open, or he basically got his eyes open and said
have a look at that. But it's not about the physical battle, because we don't wrestle
against flesh and blood, do we? However, it was all of those surrounding him because of
the spiritual battle, because this was someone doing great things for God. And while doing
great things for God, that spiritual battle is raging around you. And we've joked about
this before, I remember at the previous church, but it's very true, I believe if your eyes
are open, if you had a spiritual glass on now, we would probably see, and not because
oh we're just so great, because we're the only church really in the UK that are going
out and regularly soul winning and preaching, preaching the importance of soul winning preaching,
the word of God clearly, you'd see chariots of fire and horses above this church, I believe
right now. And you'd probably see a battle going on right now as well, because there's
a spiritual battle going on. And there's spiritual battle going on around all of us,
because the devil wants you. And these are beings that can kill 185,000 people in a night,
a host with one angel, it said in 2 Kings 19. That to me says that we can't battle
them alone, can we? So how do we deal with these, and I'm talking about these devils,
because I'd imagine it seems they've probably got quite a lot of power, how do we deal with
them is because we have God protect us with his angels. So with all of that in mind, go
back to Matthew 18, which said in verse 10, 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. So if the level of protection from angels is dependent upon
us that we just saw, fearing, seeking, looking unto, trusting God, making him our habitation,
setting our love upon and knowing him, that was dependent upon us, wasn't it? Perhaps
for the little saved children, that protection is maybe a bit more automatic, perhaps. Because
before they're really able to get to grips with serving God in spirit and truth, they
need protection, don't they? Or they'd just be getting wiped out straight away, wouldn't
they? Before they're able to even make a decision to do any of that, because they can learn
the gospel quite young, can't they? I believe you can get, you know, I reckon you're looking
at sort of on average 6, 7, 8, something like that, sometimes a little younger, sometimes
a little older, they're able to understand, I believe. Well, thank God they get that protection,
isn't it? Thank God they do because the spiritual attack is raging out there, isn't it? And
what does it mean to always behold the face of the Father, do you think? Well, either
Jesus is highlighting the power and purity of the angels, you could say they're able
to behold God's face and still live, aren't they? Because normal people can't do that.
Or two, beholding his face represents constantly fulfilling his will to protect them, maybe.
Unlike when we get older and compromise ourselves. I don't know, but what's the point? What's
the point of that? Well, be careful not to despise the children, that's what he said,
because God has a lot of care for them. And you could say, maybe we get a bit of spiritual
protection for free or something as well. Don't despise them, don't hate them, because
look, they've got angels protecting them, right? And look, if they're saved, look, we
shouldn't, because you think, yeah, why could you hate children? What are you doing? Look,
I've been to churches where they seem to hate children. I've been around so-called
Christians that seem to just hate children, OK? And we're told to beware, we're told
to not do that, OK? Don't despise them, because they're valued highly by God is really the
lesson there, isn't it? Then he said in verse 11, for the Son of Man is come to save that
which was lost. How think ye, for man have an hundred sheep, sorry, 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 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 the point is the value of one soul saved, yeah? Whether they be six
years old or six years old, yeah? It's a great thing to get a child saved, isn't it? And
often you can, oh, I hope they were young. Look, if you get a child saved and you're
confident, they understood it, they got saved, that's a great thing, isn't it? That's a moment
for celebration, isn't it? Now, the sheep here, rather than, you know, talking about
save specifically, are the lost sheep of the House of Israel, OK? So, do you know what
this passage tells me? Because it is talking about salvation, so that lost sheep isn't
someone who's already saved, I think it's going out and getting them saved. It tells
me that God puts more value on soul winning than on any other church ministry. That's
what that tells me. Because, look, we want to build the saints up here, yeah? We want
to do nice things together, we want to serve God in all other areas and, you know, we all,
obviously there's stuff to do to make this church function in the first place, right?
OK? And it's no good if no one did anything because we wouldn't really have a functioning
church and then we wouldn't be going out and going soul winning and being sent out by the
church, which is what's meant to happen. However, he rejoices more over a soul saved
than anything you or I do to please him. OK? For me, that's what I see there. Verse 13
says, and if so be that he find it, verily I sound to you, he rejoiceth more of that
sheep than of the ninety and nine which went not astray. So he rejoices more for that one
salvation than that one sheep that went not astray, sorry, than those ninety-nine that
went not astray. So the joy that God gets from getting one salvation, yeah, more than
all the people doing whatever it is they're doing, I think, you know, in the church and
everything else. Now, look, don't get me wrong, we still want to do good stuff, yeah, but
God puts a lot more value on soul winning, doesn't he, than many other things. God puts
more value on soul winning than homeless ministries. OK? God puts more money, puts
more value on soul winning than giving free food to people that refuse to work and instead
get high on drugs every day. You know that God puts a lot more value on soul winning
than that. They're not even a ninety-nine, it didn't go astray. A lot of them are God
haters and rejecters and people that despise him. And he puts more value on going out and
preaching the gospel. Because how many churches are like, what's your homeless ministry? How
about what's your soul winning ministry? How about that? Why aren't you going out and preaching
the gospel? He puts more value on soul winning than running a food bank in a church, doesn't
he, than basically pooling together our money to give food to people rather than just going
out and preaching the gospel. There are churches which, I mean, when we pick these chairs up,
I mean, that so-called church, it was just full of food. I don't even think they did
anything. I don't even think they even have services. They just gave out food. Oh, what
a great thing to do. How about preach the gospel? Oh, we'll feed them until they go
to hell. How about that? He puts more value on soul winning than singing hymns in the
high street, doesn't he? Then carol singing, then carol concerting and all that stuff,
he puts more value on soul winning. Soul winning is the most important thing, isn't it? He
rejoices over one person getting saved. He puts more value on soul winning than Messy
Church. What is that about, Messy Church? Coming to trash the church. We've got pain.
We've got all sorts of permanent market trashing. You know, it's weird, isn't it, Messy? What
a name for that as well. Come in and just kind of abuse the church and great, we go
to Messy Church, get loads of arts and crafts and go home. Do they even try and give them
the gospel? No, because most of them are unsaved anyway. Probably all of them are.
More value on soul winning than posting New Testament Bibles through letterboxes. How
did you know that? More value on soul winning than posting Bibles. What a waste of time
that is. Yeah? No one's getting saved from a Bible on their own. The Bible says they're
getting saved. It's not happening. The Bible doesn't say they're going to read the Bible
and get saved. How many of these, we've got to post the tracts, post this, post that.
How about preaching the gospel? It puts more value on preaching the gospel than all this
rubbish. More value on preaching the gospel than flower arranging outside the front of
the church. Can you believe it? Because how many elderly, not even elderly, how many people
think, oh, well, I really do something for God because I'm arranging flowers and weeding
at the front of some soppy church somewhere. How about preach the gospel? Go out and preach
the gospel. He didn't say go ye into all the world and give them free food, did he?
Go ye into all the world and give the people that refuse to work free food. Go ye into
all the world and post Bibles and post tracts. He said, go ye into all the world and preach
the gospel to every creature. That's what we're told to do. And Jesus is saying that
these kids are important, isn't he? That's what he's saying. And here's the thing, just
because it's cold, just because it's dark, the lost don't get less important, do they?
That's something we need to remember, don't we? Because as it gets colder, as it gets
darker, people start turning up less, don't they? But are the lost any less important?
Are any less people dying? In fact, more people are dying because it's so cold and because
the heating bill's so expensive now. It's so cold, I mean, I can't remember it being
this cold for this long. Anyone remember a minus five spell? Nearly. Half raised. The
beast from the east. When was that? Oh man, okay. I can't remember, he obviously isn't
very long. How cold did it get? Minus, okay. Have they called this anything? Just a snap.
They didn't even come up with something cool for it. Unbelievable. Lazy. They got lazier.
This is a problem, yeah? Weather forecast, not like it used to be. But it doesn't get
less important, does it? We still need to go out and preach the gospel. Verse 12, where
we are in Matthew, chapter 18 says, How think ye, if a man have an 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? So, we haven't started the mountaineering soul-winning
yet, okay? I don't think we've got, do they even class up as mountains here? Snowden's
a mountain, isn't it? How about the Snowden soul-winning trip? Is anyone up in Snowden?
Well, you'd find a lot of, like, outdoory types, wouldn't you, up there? Anyone want to hear the
gospel? Okay. But we haven't started that yet. Yet, look, here he's talking about this shepherd
going up into the mountains to find that one sheep, yeah? And going out on a dark winter's
night, even a cold dark winter's night isn't quite going up into the mountains, is it?
And, look, we need to go and seek that which has gone astray. And that's the sort of attitude we
should have, isn't it? The sort of attitude to go out and seek that one, because, look, it can be,
especially like, you know, I say it a lot, the local area soul-winning isn't like the other,
sir, because we've really ever since, really, just tried to find receptive soul-winning, haven't we?
Sometimes it hasn't always been that receptive, but, I mean, the place where I was tonight,
I mean, we've been going there the last few weeks, I don't think we've had a salvation
out there, have we? Oh, it's pretty. However, we got some verse there, and I believe we're
playing the field there, you know, and we've got out half a gospel here, and maybe a gospel
presentation there, and a few other verses there. Look, next year, maybe we'll get some people saved
there. And there is value in nice shit, and no one else is going to knock those doors, are they?
No one's coming to Wickford and knocking doors round here. And, look, we are called to do that,
aren't we? And, look, okay, of course, there's no one really knocking doors anywhere, sadly. Yeah,
it's sad, but true. But this is where we are, this is where we church are, and it's not our
fault that all those other churches, those other ones that did have the gospel, right, those other
ones that were soul-winning, maybe at some point in the past, it's not our fault that they're not,
and we will hopefully plant and spread and preach the gospel in other areas of the UK. But right
now, this is our mission field as well, isn't it? You know, we need to go out and preach the gospel,
have that value, that one that gets saved on a Wednesday night, amen. It's going to be amazing,
isn't it? We'll be rejoicing in here, we'll have a party, especially if it's from that
area where we've been going, because that's been a bit hard going. But it's hardly Beverly Hills,
is it? I mean, it's hardly, you know, Richmond upon Thames or something like that, it's not,
it's, this is Wickford, but it does get a bit unreceptible in place, doesn't it? Okay, so
he said in verse 14, even so it is not the will of your father which is in heaven,
that one of these little ones should perish. Okay, so, and back to the little ones, because it
doesn't matter who their parents are, how sinful they might have got in a short space of time,
how much they're already maybe bullying other kids already or something else. Come on, you can look
at these kids and say, well, that one looks like a bit of a, bit of a brat or something else. He's
not willing that one of them should perish, is he? Makes you think of 2 Peter 3, 9, which says,
the Lord is not slack concerning his promises, some men count slackness,
but is long-suffering to us, Lord, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come
to repentance. Okay, God's not willing that any should perish. Okay, any of these, and there's
little ones, they're all savable, aren't they? They're all savable. I don't think you're going
to get a reprobate as a little child. Yeah, look, children can be reprobated, but as a little child,
no, I don't think so. So, look, he wants, and then, look, they're great to try and preach
gospel to. They're not always receptive, are they? Sometimes you get ones that are as hot,
it's just, it's shocking when they are just like, no, not really, not interested. I wonder if David
is a bit older, he was maybe in his teens, but no, no, not really interested, no. You say,
how sad, you know, because usually when you get someone a bit younger, you think, okay,
they're more likely, but when they're, when they're particularly young, when they're those
little ones, look, they need saving, don't they? They need saving, and that's where we come back
to the original point that we made, or one of the original points, is where children are so
helpful for those situations, aren't they? And, look, I'm much happier preaching the gospel when
I've got a kid or two next to me, to a child, than I am when I'm standing with one of you
burly geezers in here, really, because I'm just thinking, oh, I'm going to get grief soon, you
know. But it's so much nicer when you've got a kid with you. Even better if the child is up for,
and wants to preach the gospel, and it's great if your kids want to, and want to do that, but if not
just to have you guys there, just makes such a difference, doesn't it? You know, to be able to
preach the gospel to those youngsters, because they're so much more receptive, and God's not
willing that, that any should perish, that all should come to repentance here. It's said that
one of these little ones should perish. It's not the will of our Father which is in heaven, okay,
and we, we want to try and preach the gospel to them. We want to be sensitive with that,
that, truthfully, if I knock on a door, and a kid asks, I will say are your parents there,
you know, and, and ask them, you know, permission, but sometimes, parents sometimes just let you
preach the gospel to their kids, don't they? Oh, and they do that, and it, and the other day got,
got a lady saved, and asked her, you know, I noticed your daughter there behind, do you think
she might want to hear the gospel? And she pulled her out. Funnily enough, the mum was much more
receptive than the 10-year-old girl. The mum was like the lowest hanging fruit, just got it all
you know, straight away, and then the daughter was actually a bit hard at work, and needed a
bit longer spent with her and everything else, and, but something we need to remember when we're
soul winning as well, ask them, look, if someone's just got saved, ask them, you know, any kids there
that might want to hear the gospel, because look, we want to be getting them saved, aren't we?
So, that was Matthew chapter 18, part one. We're going to finish up there, and then we're going to
start from verse 15 in part two next week. Yeah, some good topics in there, I think, and some good
reminders for us, and some good lessons to learn from that as well. We're going to finish up in a
word of prayer now. Father, thank you for your word, thank you for just another great chapter
of this gospel, Lord, with just so many truths there that we can get out of that, just about not
being those sort of carnal, competitive Christians that sadly, you know, is a temptation for so many.
Help us not to be like that, Lord. Help us to also just, you know, remember to value those children
that are in this church. Help us, Lord, to respect those children here, to respect the fact that,
you know, that not only, you know, do we have saved children here, but there are many unsaved
children out and about that need the gospel preached into them, Lord. Help us to just have
a heart for doing that. You know, be sensible with it as well, you know. We don't want to,
you know, cause undue trouble and issues, but help us to be wise with that. Help us to get the gospel
out, Lord. Help us to get these people saved. Help us to get home safe and sound on these icy
roads, Lord. Help everyone to just stay safe out there, to stay warm, and to be back here on Sunday,
which should hopefully be warmer weather for another day in your house. In Jesus' name, pray all of this.