(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

In Matthew chapter 18, some different things that are being talked about here, and so it's not like one subject through the whole thing, but there is a lot that is linked as far as a lot to deal with children here at the beginning. And so in verse 1 there, we see this question that's brought up as far as who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. So in verse 1 there it says, at the same time came the disciples unto Jesus saying, who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? So this gets brought up actually a lot as far as the mother of John and James and John, the sons of Zebedee, she comes up and says, I want my two sons to sit on one on the left hand and one on the right. So this question comes up a lot in the gospels as far as who is going to be greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And so that should tell you something, first of all, that you're dealing with the fact of they're not talking about going to heaven, they're talking about being greater in heaven. And so he doesn't rebuke them and say, no one is greater. So it does show you that not everybody is at the same status, so to speak, in heaven. Though being in heaven is going to be great whether you're in the highest status or lowest status, it's not like it's still going to be a glorious place to be. But in verse 2 there, notice what Jesus does here, it says, 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 as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. So first of all, he's making a point saying, listen, unless you be, and he's not saying you need to become a little child, he's saying that you become as little children. So the whole point is that you have to humble yourself to get saved, you have to humble yourself and realize that hey, it has nothing to do with me, it has nothing to do with my own works and my own righteousness, it's all Jesus, I'm a sinner, I can do nothing on myself, it's all him. So obviously you need to have that humbleness that a child would have to where they realize they can't do it by their own bootstraps, they're not picking themselves up by their own bootstraps, they need someone to depend on. And so that's salvation in a nutshell, is that we're depending on Jesus fully to get us to heaven. And so he starts off with that and it kind of sounds similar to except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God, it's very similar, but obviously being born again is becoming a child of God, this is saying you need to become as a little child, be converted as a little child, meaning that it's the state of mind that you're in, it's kind of the humbleness of mind that you have to go into getting saved. And so anybody that gets saved has become as a child, because you have to be humble in order to realize it has nothing to do with you. But then he goes on to answer that question about the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. So he starts off with saying, hey, you need to be as a little child to even enter in the kingdom of heaven. But then he's saying that you need to humble yourselves as a little child if you want to be greatest. So humility is how you get there to begin with, but then humility is how you're going to excel once you've obtained being a child of God, once you've obtained salvation through faith, humility is the key. So in verse 4 it says, whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. So they're asking that question, who's the greatest, or who's going to be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, and he's saying you need to be as a little child. Sounds a little opposite from what the world would teach you as far as how you'd be great in this world. They usually don't say be as a child. But it all has to do with humility, he's not saying being a child, because the Bible says when I was a child, I spake as a child, and when I became a man I put off childish things. So obviously there's the aspects of a child that you don't want to have, but the good aspect of a child is the humility. The dependence, right? The dependence that you have in God is what you're looking for as far as that attribute of a child that you want to be like. Now in Matthew 23, in other places it covers this a lot, but Matthew 23 and verse 11, it says this, it says, but he that is greatest among you shall be your servant, and whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased, and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted. So this is a theme throughout the Bible, if you look at Proverbs, it's constantly saying, you know, basically if you'll humble yourself, then you'll be exalted, and he'll exalt you in due time, if you'll humble yourself, and so if you want to be high up, then you need to be low. Okay? Okay, now go to Mark chapter 9, Mark chapter 9, I'm going to show you another place where they disputed this, and we'll get into a very famous kind of phrase that's used, you probably heard the phrase, the first shall be last and the last first, so that applies to salvation as far as, you know, as far as in the world, you know, the meek shall inherit the earth and stuff like that, but it's really more so dealing with how, what your authority is going to be in heaven, as far as if you're last in this world, you're going to be first in the next, and if you're first in this world, you're going to be last there, okay? That's pretty much what's being said there, but in Mark 9 verse 33, it says, and he came to Capernaum, and being in the house, he asked them, what was that ye disputed among yourselves by the way? So obviously they were disputing about something, and he's saying, you know, what was that that you were disputing about, and it says in verse 34, it says, but they held their peace, for by the way, they had disputed among themselves who should be the greatest, and he sat down and called the twelve, and saith unto them, if any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all. So when you see that phrase, whosoever shall be first, you know, the first shall be last and the last first, that's what it's talking about. Meaning, you know, if you want to be first, then you need to be last of all and servant of all, right? Did you ever hear the phrase, nice guys finish last? Right? Well, if you finish last in this life, you'll be first in the next, okay? Because what does that mean? It means you're putting everybody else before yourself, right? You're serving them, not being served, okay? Other passages, it talks about how Jesus came not to be ministered unto, but the minister, and so he was the greatest servant of all. And so obviously he's going to shine brighter than anybody, for many reasons, he's God, but he's the son of righteousness, and we're going to shine as the stars in the firmament, right? But keep reading there, it says in verse 36, it says, and he took a child and set him in the midst of them, and when he had taken him in his arms, he said unto them, whosoever shall receive one of such children in my name receiveth me, and whosoever shall receive me, receiveth not me, but him that sent me. So this sounds very familiar to Matthew 18, five, which is the next verse that we're getting to. So you see how this is all linked, when he's talking about the children, humbling yourself as a child, or as one of these little ones, then you'll be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. So we have to have that mind of being humble, having that lowly state of mind, esteeming others better than yourselves, looking on another man's wealth, meaning that you're looking on their well-being before your own, okay? So that's the attitude that you need to have as far as, you know, serving others, having that servant's heart, and you know, taking time, and we do this when we go soul winning, right? Because there's a lot of other things we could be doing when we go out, instead of going out soul winning and getting doors slammed in our face, what are you doing? You're putting others before yourself. You're taking time out of your day to put others before yourself. It's not just in soul winning, though. I mean, this applies to even the brethren, right? When it comes to serving people in the church and serving other people, and a lot of times the Bible even talks about how, you know, especially those of the household of faith, you know, that we do good unto others, especially those of the household of faith. So it doesn't say, like, leave off all the believing and just serve, like, the unbelievers. No, it's actually saying, you know, focus on the believers. Even if we're preaching the gospel to others, when it comes to doing good and, you know, and helping out and all that stuff, usually it's saying, especially to the household of faith. Okay? As brothers and sisters in Christ, we should be helping each other out. And so, but anyway, going on to Matthew chapter 18, verse 5, it says, and whoso shall receive one such little, little child in my name receiveth me. So that's a strong statement. I mean, if you think about this, because we're talking about children, and this is why we have children in the service. This isn't the only reason why we have children in the service. This is the big reason why we have children in the service, because Jesus had suffered a little children to come unto me. And there's a lot of churches nowadays that don't want to have, you know, children are kind of like the, you know, we want to get them away so we can have our peace and quiet and serenity in this one spot, you know what I mean? And it shouldn't be that way. It should be the fact that the children are actually the most important. And Jesus is saying, if you receive one of these children, you're receiving me. That's a strong statement, and we shouldn't take it lightly. And so yes, children can be loud, children can make noises, they're going to be disruptive, you know, but we're not, this isn't supposed to be some pristine church that doesn't have any distractions or anything. We try to keep distractions to the minimum, you know, but at the same time, this isn't a Catholic church, okay? We don't have pane glass windows and all the fancy stuff around here and so we're not here for a show. And so if, like I said, if we end up having holes in the wall or someone draws on the walls and, you know, even if they're my children, you know, so, you know, if you have all that stuff, listen, you know, where no oxen are, the crib is clean. But there's much increase by the strength of the ox. And so that next generation, and Jesus is saying, you know, listen, you need, if you receive them, you're receiving me. And so, you know, our children take a high priority in our church, if not, you know, and obviously, I'm not saying that like the adults don't matter, because obviously, you guys matter, and I'm preaching to you, you got to raise your children right, and I'm preaching those messages for you, but, you know, they are not in a lower state by any means, if anything, I'm preaching to them a little more, okay, because they're the next generation, they're the ones that are going to take the torch after we're gone. And so, but notice what it says in verse six here, keeping that in mind, notice what it says, it says, 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. 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. So I think about, I think about people like Bill Nye, the science guy, you know, these people that are like, literally their whole mission is to get after kids and to pump in, you know, science, falsely so called, and they're trying to destroy the faith of those that believe in Jesus. And Jesus is saying, it's better for you to put a millstone around your neck and be cast into the sea. And Bill Nye, the science guy, you know, which is, you know, hilarious, because I remember when I was a kid, that's what he was, that's what he was, you know, and he was had this little show and all that stuff on like Nickelodeon, or I don't know, I forget what it was on, but it doesn't matter. You know, this guy is a moron. I mean, he claims to be a scientist, he doesn't know what he's talking about. And he's just out. He's after your children. He's after the minds of the children. And he, you know, the hell is going to be heated up for him. And so, but Jesus is showing that, you know, basically putting, putting the punishment on those that would offend those that believe in him. And so, going on thinking about that, that phrase, woe to him, or to the man by whom the offense cometh, sounds very similar to what Jesus said about Judas. Go to Mark chapter 14, Mark chapter 14, because there's going to be, there's going to be Judases, okay. I'm not talking about Joel Osteen. He's just a plain old wolf, you know, and the Pope and all this stuff. I'm talking about people that are going to look like they're independent, fundamental Baptists, that are going to try to beguile little children, they're going to try to offend little children. And you know, that's one big reason why we don't have a nursery. That's why we have them here in the service. That's why the parents are to look after your children. And you know, that's why they need to be in here to hear the sermon. So that when that false prophet comes, they have ammunition, right? And they're not just, they're not just hearing some milquetoast little message to where it has nothing to do with what the Bible's saying, or it's watered down, right, and we're just talking about goodness and light. No, they need to hear the hard stuff too. They need to hear the reality at a young age. And in Mark chapter 14, verse 21, it says, the son of man indeed goeth as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the son of man is betrayed. Good were it for that man if he had never been born. That's a strong statement. That's not made to anybody else in the Bible. Like it'll say woe unto them. You think about, you know, it's better for him to be cast into the sea, but he's saying it would have been better if he'd just never been born. That's what he says about Judas. And you know, I think about these false prophets, like go to 2 Peter chapter 2, did you say are they after your children, you know, when it comes to this? Yeah, that's what they're after. Because they know that an adult, they're not going to probably convince that adult, right? They know that that adult's probably pretty strong. They probably, I'm not saying they can't, okay? But by and large, they're coming after the children because they're not going to be as stable, they're not going to be as grounded as the adult. Because the adult's going to have more discernment. Listen, we've been around longer, we know people, and we're not going to be as naive, okay? And so children tend to be a little more naive, children tend to be a little more trusting, and they're the ones that are the most vulnerable to be attacked, so to speak, as far as, and I'm talking about doctrine a lot of times too, you know, being, I'm not just talking about, you know, physically harmed or anything like that, I'm talking about, you know, being deceived and being kind of drawn away with diverse doctrines and just weird stuff like that. In 2 Peter chapter 2 and verse 12 it says, but these as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not, and shall utterly perish in their own corruption, and shall receive the reward of unrighteousness as they that count it pleasure to ride in the daytime. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you. It sounds like Judas a little bit there, Judas was feasting with the 12, with Jesus, even at the Last Supper, and, you know, it says in Jude, feasting without fear as well. Notice in verse 14, having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, beguiling unstable souls. Now just because someone has an unstable soul doesn't mean they're not saved, okay, because you can be saved and not be rooted and grounded, okay, we already covered the sower, the parable of the sower, with someone that doesn't, that's not rooted and grounded, and, you know, those are the ones that are going to be offended, right, by and by when tribulation comes, they're offended. But then also, you know, just think about, you know, as it goes on here, it says in heart they have exercised with covetous practices, cursed children, which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bozor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness. Judas was a thief, and he had the bag, and he was all about money, right, because remember when Mary, you know, opened the alabaster box, and he said, you know what, this waste, you know, we could have been giving that to the poor, he didn't want to give it to the poor, he wanted to have it for himself, right, because he had the bag, and it even says that because he had the bag. It also shows you that Jesus didn't care about the money of the church, right, he knew that Jesus was, or Judas was a devil, and he gave him the bag, and he let him have the bag, so I'm not saying that we're going to just be lax and daisy with our finances, but what I'm saying is that I don't care that much about the finances, you know, I want to pay the bills, but I'm not worried about money or anything like that, and you know, Jesus definitely wasn't either. But you know, the Bible's warning obviously to offend these little ones that believe, and you've got to think about this, that's an extreme case obviously when you're dealing with false prophets and stuff like that, that would offend children that believe in him, but you've got to think too that as parents, we are who they're looking to as far as leadership, and let's say we get out of church, and we get out, you know, reading the Bible, and we get out of those type of things, and they're saved, nothing's going to change that, you know, if your children get saved and all that, but you know, they're going to end up not being strong in the Lord if you're not strong in the Lord, and what you do affects your children. I mean, if we all just stop going to church right now, our children will suffer for it, and so we need to be thinking about that as parents as far as not offending our children that believe, you know, even if they're saved. Listen, salvation is the most important thing obviously that they go to heaven, but that's not the end. That's not the end game that we're looking at here, and so we need to be thinking about their future. We need to be thinking about them not being offended in this life, not being offended at Christ, right, because the last thing I want is my children to turn out to be some liberals, like some liberal Christians, you know, they're saved, but you know, they, you know, they're not following to the T what the Bible says about things that are controversial in this world, and they're just kind of Cal-talented to what the world teaches and all that stuff. You know, that's not what I want, and so, but if I start doing it, then they're going to follow suit. So Matthew chapter 18 verse 8, I've kind of already preached on this, this kind of portion here, but I kind of want to touch on it again, where Jesus said here in verse 8, it says, 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, halts, 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 hell fire. So obviously, what we're dealing with here, we're not dealing with a saved person, right? Because a saved person isn't in danger of hell fire. It says, He that doth overcome it shall not be heard of the second death. Okay, so it's very clear. So what we're dealing with here, obviously, is a warning, and what you've got to think about with this, and I've already preached this because this was already in the Sermon on the Mount, is that Jesus is showing the severity of hell, and he's saying that hell is so bad that it's better for you to cut off your hand or cut off your foot or pluck your eye out than go there. But go to James chapter 2 because when it says, even if your hand offend thee, but it's interesting that phrase, it doesn't say if your hand offend one of these little ones. Because the these and thes and something like that will confuse it. He's just saying, if your foot offend you. That's what it's saying. It's in singular because he's talking like in a singular manner, but he's basically saying if your foot offend you or if your hand offend you or if your eye offend you, okay? And what could that be? Well, the Bible talks about how fornication is a sin against your own body, right? And so it could be things like that as far as a sin that's going against your own body and so, but it's obviously still a sin to God. And so he's basically just saying it doesn't matter what part of the body, you know, would cause that to happen. It doesn't matter. And so he could have gone on for days with different, you know, elements of your body, you know, if your ear offend you, you know, like whatever. He's just showing the severity of hell that if it were by the law and let's say you were sinless and you hadn't committed a sin and your hand would allow you to sin, he's saying cut that thing off because it's better for you to not have a hand walking through life than to have both your hands and be cast into hell, okay? Because in James chapter 2 and verse 10, it says, for whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all, but he that said do not commit adultery said also do not kill, not if thou commit adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. So we know that it doesn't matter what point you break, right? It's not a matter of like, well, you know, I haven't killed anybody, but, you know, I have told a lie. Well, it doesn't matter. That lie will send you to hell. That covetousness will send you to hell. Saying the Lord's name in vain will send you to hell. It doesn't matter what sin you break and you say, well, I haven't broke all these other ones. No, it's just one point. One point whatsoever maketh a lie shall not enter in. And so he's showing the severity, okay, and listen, you say, well, you know, he's talking to save people. Why would he say this? You know, well, Judas wasn't saved. You say, why would he even, he mentioned that, you know, well, he mentioned it to the Pharisees about them being in danger of hell fire and brimstone, even though they didn't have any hope. And so it comes down to that he's showing that severity and showing us, hey, this is a big deal. This isn't something to just breeze over or to not think about. And so, and in other places, too, when it talks about that, it'll go into like the rich young ruler and talk about how he's trying to be justified by the law, and you can really apply that to him and say, hey, well, if you're perfect and if your hand offends you, you better cut it off. And if your foot offends you, you better cut it off, and if your eye's gonna offend you, you better pluck it out because, you know, you better make sure you stay perfect then. You know, that's what he's saying there. And so, but then, you know, dealing with suffering little children, he kind of goes back to this. So one thing I want to point out is that he's still talking about those little children as he goes into what we'll see dealing with the sheep, you know, the lost sheep. And verse 10 of Matthew chapter 18, it says, take heed that you despise not one of these little ones. Now, we know from up above, you know, earlier in the chapter that these little ones are ones that believe in him, okay? I want to make that clear because it's gonna make sense to make sense of the passage as we go through the next verse and so on. But notice what it says here. For I say unto you that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven. That's interesting because I believe this is showing us the special treatment that children that believe in the Lord have. I don't believe he's just stating this and everybody, it happens to everybody, why would he say that? You know, like, why would he make a statement like this unless it is kind of a special case? And you say, well, their angels, what are you talking about? Well in Hebrew chapter 1, go to Hebrew chapter 1, I just want to show you this but keep your finger obviously in Matthew chapter 18. I believe God takes care of us all with angels and he has, there's a whole spiritual realm that we don't see. If you remember in Kings, you know, there was the, where, or, remember when the man of God was saying, and I believe it was Elijah or Elisha, was saying, you know, open this young man's eyes and he saw chariots of fire filling the mountain because he said there's more with us than with them because there's like this whole host of this army, I think it was Elisha, anyway. But anyway, you don't see that though, you're not normally seeing that but you know what, you know, when we're out soul winning and stuff like that, you don't see the spiritual realm and it does exist. Or if there's a battle going on, you know, as far as, or if there's like danger or something like that, there's a spiritual realm that's there. And if God opened your eyes, you would see it. And so Hebrews chapter 1 and verse 13, it says, but to which the angel said to you at any time, sit on my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool, notice he's talking about the angels and it says, are they, who, the angels, are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation? So I believe that there's these angels, I believe every child has an angel that's assigned to them, that, that basically they are there beholding the Father's face as far as being, you know, a messenger for that child. And I believe this is something special for children as far as where the angels are at, right? I believe there's angels that are for us all, meaning that they're all ministering spirits for them who shall be heirs of salvation. And even for those that haven't even gotten saved yet, but they are going to get saved, like Cornelius, right, he sent an angel to him and said, go call for Peter. And so, you know, just because they're not saved yet doesn't mean that they don't have an angel that's there to, you know, be there with them and help them and all this stuff. And so you can say the guardian angel, we don't, it's not in the Bible, but that's really kind of what it is, you know, as far as he's stating a fact that, hey, do not offend these. And there's actually angels that are before the face of my father that are for every one of these children. And so he's showing the importance that he puts on children. And so, you know, knowing that, we should think about, hey, how much more should we protect our children? How much more should we teach our children? How much more should we suffer the little children if God is putting that much emphasis on their well-being? And so, but I always think that's interesting as far as there are angels who always behold the face of my father, which is in heaven, that's a big deal. No one has seen the face of the father, but these angels are seeing the face of the father and are before him. And so, you know, and I just think of like little kids that pray and stuff like that. I mean, I think I would listen to, you know, I listen to those, I would probably listen to those prayers more than anybody, you know, because it's just so sweet and innocent. And you know, you think about how vulnerable and dependent they are. I mean, we just got to talking about being as humble as a child and just the fact of how God looks at that. And so, we're kind of seeing in the mind of Christ, in the mind of God a little bit here about how he feels about children. And so, he loves the little children. And obviously, we sing that, that, you know, he loves the children, red, yellow, black and white, they're precious in his sight. And so, it's just nice to see that and obviously see that little insight as far as what's going on and up in heaven dealing with the children. But going on there in verse 11, so keep that in mind because it says that, it's talking about these little ones, before that it talks about the little ones that believe in him. And notice what it says in verse 11, it says, For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. Now, this phrase, and we use this a lot dealing with the lost as far as people that aren't saved and obviously the saved are saved. Now, obviously the saved, you know, I'm not saying that's wrong to use lost as being unbelievers but in context, and I preached on this before, in context when we're dealing with this saved and lost passage, dealing with the sheep or the prodigal son or the lost money, we're dealing with saved people, okay. And so, and I kind of want to prove that out. I want to read this whole portion here and I'm going to show you why I believe that. But I do believe it can be talking about unsaved people too, okay. So, now in verse 12, it says, How think ye, if a man have an 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 find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep than of the ninety and nine which went not astray. And so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish. Now, weren't these little ones those that believe in him? Now also think about this just logically. He has a hundred sheep. One goes astray. They were, they were, they were a sheep, right. They were his sheep. I know my sheep and they follow me and, you know, and it talks about that. And so, but notice that it says that it's not the will of your Father which is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish. Now just remember this, that perish doesn't always mean perish in the lake of fire, okay, or perish and go to hell. Perish, you know, how about Esther said, If I perish, I perish. What's she talking about? Dying. Okay. And so we're talking about the well-being or being saved physically or being lost in this world kind of so to speak. How about, you know, what shall profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul? So being lost doesn't always mean like you're not saved, okay. And it's talking about a sheep that goes astray, okay. And so I believe this is talking about, you know, basically someone that's saved going astray. And why I say that, go to John chapter 18, John chapter 18. I believe this is talking about physical salvation in most of these cases. The loss can apply to an unsaved person, okay. So I'm going to show you what I mean by that. So in John chapter 18 and verse 8, it says, Jesus answered, I have told you that I am he. If therefore you seek me, let these go their way. Now just to get some context, they're in the Garden of Gethsemane, they're trying to arrest Jesus and he's saying, let these go their way. He's talking about his disciples and it says, verse 9, that the saying might be fulfilled which he spake of them which thou gavest me have I lost none. So what does that mean? You know, because obviously they're saved, spiritually. So he's saying, let them go their ways so that it will be fulfilled that I didn't lose any of them. So they've gone to hell if he didn't let them go their way. Now he's talking about perishing physically, right. That none of these little ones should perish and then this. Now go back to John chapter 17 because it says that the saying might be fulfilled which he spake. Well, John 17 is where he says it. So in verse 12 of John chapter 17. So John 17 verse 12, it says, while I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name. Those that thou gavest me have I kept or I have kept and none of them is lost but the son of perdition that the scripture might be fulfilled. Okay, so the son of perdition is classified as being lost, okay. But what does lost mean? It means that you're going to perish. Does that make sense? Like, what's the opposite of saved? Perish. Does that make sense? I'm going to seek and save that which is lost. So if you're not lost, if you're, you know, if you're saved and you're not lost and so you can have the physical and the spiritual realm to that, okay. So Judas was considered lost but when he's talking about his disciples not being lost, he's talking about them not perishing and remember, that's why he said don't take anything with you but later on he's saying take a sword. Why? Because he's not with them anymore and he promised to them that they would not perish meaning that there was nothing physically that happened to them. Show me where Jesus was in his ministry and any of his disciples ever got beat up or anything happened, any harm happened to them. Now after he rose from the dead, different story. People started dying left and right, you know, and people are being stoned and people are being beaten, okay. And so when you're dealing with this, you know, I came to seek and save that which is lost. Yeah, there is the application of saving, you know, the lost meaning like people that are, the wrath of God is abiding on them, right, and we need to get them saved spiritually but in context when you're dealing with the hundred sheep and, you know, one goes astray or the woman that loses the piece of money and she's looking for it or the prodigal son, those are all in the same chapter in Luke and I preached a whole sermon about that but his son was a son and when he came back he was still a son, okay, but it had to do with reconciliation with the father, you know, going astray from your father and coming back into the fold, okay, and so what you're dealing with is a Christian that's going astray and obviously, you know, it talks about perishing, why? Because when you go astray, you know, you're given unto Satan so to speak, right, and we're going to be getting in, it's interesting because this goes straight into talking about things about the church and being cast out of the church and so, but I do want to show you, go to Psalm 119, I should have had to turn there, Psalm 119, at the very end of Psalm 119, you still don't believe me that the lost is talking about Jesus' sheep that are saved but they can either perish or they go astray, so we're not Calvinists, we don't believe in the perseverance of the saints, meaning that we do believe you can go astray, that's not God's will and that's why he rejoices when one sinner repenteth, that's what that's in context, that's what it's talking about when he came to seek and save that which is lost, one sinner that repented, he's talking about basically getting back on the right track, you know, getting, you know, repenting of, you know, whatever you're going into and coming back to the fold and that could be a sin, you know, that you went into some sin, you repented, that came back to the fold, but in Psalm 119, at the very end of the chapter there, so in verse 173, just to give some context, it says, let thine hand help me, for I have chosen thy precepts, I have longed for thy salvation, O Lord, and thy law is my delight, so I want to say, first of all, David a lot of times is talking about physical salvation, he's like, save me, you know, save me from my enemies and he's constantly saying that, you know, because he's, I mean, you got to think about it when he was fleeing from Saul, he's like constantly saying, you know, save me, you know, I'm in distress, I'm at the point of death, you know, and he just keeps going into that, and in verse 175, it says, let my soul live, and it shall praise thee, and let thy judgments help me, I have gone astray like a lost sheep, seek thy servant, for I do not forget thy commandments, so there's a man after God's own heart who said, I have gone astray like a lost sheep, seek me, right, and so, obviously, it's a two-fold thing, meaning that the seeking to save that which is lost can definitely apply to unsaved people, but it can also apply to people that are saved that just need to get back in, or talking about someone that's lost, meaning they're going to, they perished, right, we lost them, I mean, we use that terminology when it comes to like losing a loved one, right, we lost so-and-so the other day, what are you talking about, you know, they didn't lose their way home, right, they died, and so, you gotta understand that sometimes things can be used in a dual aspect, but I do believe in a lot of the context is in the New Testament, you're dealing with saved people, so when he says, you know, go on to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, I think that's in context, probably talking about unsaved people, mostly, you know, like giving them the gospel, preaching them the kingdom of God, right, go on to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, but not everybody was unsaved, right, so he's bringing people back into the fold as well, and finding people that already were saved, and so, there's kind of a dual meaning there, dealing with that, now, as you go on there, we do go straight into, kind of, where church discipline, so to speak, would come into play, or basically just casting out a brother that transgressed against another brother, and so in Matthew 18, verse 15, it says, moreover, if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone. If he shall hear thee, thou hast 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. Okay, so basically, it's like, if someone trespasses against you, a brother, then you're supposed to go to him alone, right, just kind of deal with it privately, just go to him privately, so you don't want to make a big scene, right, if someone, like, does you wrong, you don't just, like, get up and, like, grandstand them, or do a diatribe, I just learned this word, so Pastor Anderson was like, we were doing a Greek lesson or whatever, and he was talking about diatribes, but anyway, so, I'm not going to go into that, but all that means, you don't just get up on a seat and just start, like, you know, just calling this person out and saying, hey, brother, why'd you do that to me, and everybody's listening, okay, so it also talks about how, you know, if you're going to win a brother, you know, you don't do it, like, you try to do it privately, okay, because you don't want them to have to, like, now kind of defend themselves, right, you know, in front of everybody, and so it's going to end up working better if you do it privately, but it says if that doesn't work, and they're just like nuts to you, man, you know, I plowed into the back of your car, I don't care, you know, and they just say nuts to you, and I'm just kind of using that as a silly example, but then it says, okay, well, if that doesn't work, take two or more people with you, okay, and so, and here's the thing, I don't necessarily, you know, it depends on the crime, you know, that's done here, but I don't think you necessarily have to go, like, to that step, I think you should try to go to them alone, but if they're just being belligerent, I mean, just take it straight to the church, okay, I don't think there's anything wrong with that, but basically, this is the step, them alone, then take two or three people with you, so you have witnesses that are witnessing that, hey, you're trying to reconcile this thing, and they're just being belligerent, and then if that doesn't work, take it to the church, now, you know what this shows me, is that two people doesn't make up a church, two or three people don't make up a church, right, and if you think about it, I mean, think about this, you know, if a pastor is supposed to have children, you know, that's more than three people, so, anyway, all I have to say is that, you know, people are like, oh, we're having church in our living room, it's me and my family, it's like, yeah, I guess you could have more than three people in there, obviously, but that's not church, okay, so, just because you have a multitude of people there, because they'll say, they'll go on later and it talks about where two or three are gathered together, and my name, okay, well, it's interesting, because it said that, you know, you took it to two or three people, and then he says, then take it to the church, okay, so, anyway, all I have to say is that, if he doesn't hear them, then let him be as a heathen man and a publican, so basically, they're gonna cast him out like a leper, basically, they're gonna cast him out, you know, like a heathen man and a publican, like, kind of like they're an infidel, pretty much, like they're an unbeliever, kind of treating them like that, and this goes into 1 Corinthians 5, but go to 1 Corinthians 6, so, 1 Corinthians 5 is dealing with something different, okay, so, 1 Corinthians 5, and this is where people will say, well, you know, if someone's, you know, committing some sin, like railing or something like that, you need to go to them alone, no, that's not what this says, this is not talking about someone being a railer, extortioner, fornicator, or anything like that, okay, this is talking about someone wronging you personally, right, and so if someone's disrupting the church, or disrespecting the office of a pastor, or something like that, or there's false doctrine, listen, we're not going through this whole rigmarole right here, you know, it talks about people that came in with false doctrines as far as salvation, in Galatians 2, it says we gave them space not for an hour, no, not for an hour, okay, so we're not going through this thing, this is dealing with, you know, kind of someone wronged you in the church, and you know, basically this is how you handle it, this is the chain of command so to speak of how you handle it, so this is different than 1 Corinthians 5, but it both is dealing with throwing someone out, does that make sense, so it's similar, but it's a different case of church discipline. Now, 1 Corinthians 6 though, I do believe is kind of dealing with this issue, okay, because notice in verse 1, so 1 Corinthians 5 is kind of dealing with major sins that you should be kicked out of the church for, and verse 1 of 1 Corinthians 6, it says, dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints, so when we read in Matthew 18, did you see anything about taking them to the law? No. Jesus did not say, you know, go find the magistrate, you know, and take care of this, now we're not, we're talking about things that aren't crimes, okay, if someone murders somebody, that should go before the magistrate, okay, you're like, what about Sodomy, they won't be here anyway, I don't care if I know whether they did it or not, you know, faggots aren't allowed here, but all I can say is that that's a crime to God, you know, and so if it's a crime, that's a different story, right, as far as what we're dealing with is someone like hits you in the back of your car, or even someone slugs you in the face or something like that, okay, we're not dealing with, you know, like crimes that should have capital punishment or something like that, right, so, but he's saying don't go to law against your brother, okay, and so in verse 2 it says, do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world, and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters, know ye not that we shall judge angels, how much more things that pertain to this life, if then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church, so he's kind of throwing this in her face, he obviously doesn't want them to put the least esteemed in the church, he says, I speak this to your shame, is it so that there is not a wise man among you, no, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren, but brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbeliever, so he's basically saying, listen, it's better for you to find the least esteemed person that's a believer, right, the lowest on the totem pole of a believer is better than an unbeliever, so that's what he's saying there, it's like it's better for you to do this, and so he's speaking to their shame, and saying like, set up the least esteemed, I can see someone going through this pattern and be like, see, you need to set up the least esteemed person, it's like, no, he's obviously rebuking them and speaking to their shame, so obviously you should set up the highest esteemed person, the one that has the most integrity to judge these matters, but, you know, if you're going to go through the law, it's better for you to have the person that's the most derelict believer that's there, okay, now notice in verse 7 there, it says, now therefore, there is utterly a fault among you, because you go to law one with another, why do you not rather take wrong, why do you not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded, nay, you do wrong and defraud, and that your brother, so he's basically stating here, it's better off for you to just be defrauded than to take someone to the law, right, so, you know, let's say someone scams you out of money, and all that, it's better off for you to go and just be defrauded, now, that doesn't mean that you just, that you just negate Matthew 18, because according to Matthew 18, the church should cast that person out, if they don't, if they don't deal with it, okay, but there should be forgiveness there, too, does that make sense, like, it depends how big of a deal it is, if the person repents of it, and let's say, let's say someone does something that hurts you financially, and then they're sorry about it, and all that stuff, and it's just like, I don't have the money to pay you back for what happened, you're better off just to be like, alright, it's whatever, you know, I'll suffer myself to be defrauded, it's forgiven, it's forgotten, let's just move on, but if the person's belligerent about it, it doesn't say to forgive somebody that doesn't repent, okay, so later on, it says, you know, how many times should I forgive my brother, but it doesn't say to just forgive, even if they don't, they don't ask for forgiveness, right, and so, but we should have that mercy and that grace to say, you know what, I'll just suffer to be defrauded, just to have unity, you know, but that person should be, you know, if they don't, if they have the means to pay you back and they won't do it, then, according to the Bible, they should be cast out of the church until they get that right and, you know, and that's where it gets into, where it says in Matthew 18 and verse 18, it says, verily I say unto you, whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven, this is quoted from Matthew 16, so you remember Matthew 16 and if you want to turn back a couple chapters there, Matthew 16, this is where it says, thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it and verse 19, it says, I will give unto you the keys of the kingdom of heaven and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven, what is that talking about, it's talking about the fact that any, it states in Matthew 18 that whatever you agree on together, whether there's two or three people that are agreeing on this, basically it's, if you bind it here, if you bind them and let's say you say no, you're going to stay here, it's forgiven, it's forgotten, then it's forgiven and forgotten in heaven and it's bound in heaven, but if you say no, you're cast out as a publican and in heathen, guess what, then he's cast out as a publican in heaven as far as in God's eyes, okay, we're not talking about losing salvation or not going to heaven, what we're talking about is the authority of the local church and Jesus says, I'm giving you those keys, I'm giving you that authority and people don't think that the church has authority, right, to throw people out, listen, the church has the authority to throw people out and so I have that in our constitution, which is like a page long, but it's pretty much just dealing with things like our doctrine comes from the King James Bible, you know, here's our statement of faith, that's our doctrine and you know, when it comes to church discipline, I have the right to throw people out according to 1 Corinthians 5, according to Matthew chapter 18 and so we have that authority as a church to, you know, institute church discipline and so you say, oh, you know, what people, yeah, people will literally try to go to court to say that they were thrown out of the church and they should be put back in and obviously they're wrong to do that, but we have Bible authority to do that, so, not to them, but all I'd say, we haven't had to do that, you know, as far as church members, I've thrown people out, but they weren't church members, you know, this is different, you know, we're dealing with church discipline, not dealing with unsaved heretics, okay, that's obvious that you're throwing those people out, but going on there, dealing with forgiveness, so it's interesting obviously because you're dealing with, you know, people defrauding you and in 1 Corinthians 6, it's saying, you know, stop for yourself to be defrauded, so basically, you know, be merciful, be gracious, have forgiveness and notice in verse 21, it says, then came Peter to him and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him, till seven times, Jesus said unto him, I say not unto thee until seven times, but until seventy times seven, now I remember seeing a meme where it says, you know, when Jesus says seventy times seven, it says, just forgive because math is hard, so, yeah, but anyway, so obviously, I do believe that he's pretty much just saying, listen, as much as he comes back and repents, forgive him and there's another passage where it talks about that, you know, if my brother comes back, if he repents, forgive him and it's saying the same thing, so it's basically saying, if he comes back and he repents of what he did to you, then you need to forgive him and that never ends, but he's kind of throwing out seventy times seven, but I don't believe that's by accident, okay, meaning I don't believe that anything in the Bible is accidental, coincidental or incidental, so go to Daniel chapter nine and obviously, I have Daniel on my mind, so you're going to have to forgive me because we're going through the book of Daniel, but it's interesting that he uses that term seventy times seven, so that's four hundred and ninety times, but do you think if your brother were to do it four hundred and ninety one, you're like, nope, you're cut off, I was keeping, I had a clicker, you know, every time you messed up, I've been tallying that up, that's called having a grudge, my friends, you know, so obviously, that's not what Jesus is saying is I keep a tally, you know, once he gets to that four hundred and ninety one mark, but notice in Daniel chapter nine and verse twenty four, it says this, it says seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy sea to finish the transgression and to make an end of sins and to make reconciliation for iniquity and to bring in everlasting righteousness to seal up the vision of prophecy and to anoint the most holy, so I just thought that was interesting because seventy weeks, what is that? Seventy times seven, exactly, seventy times seven because what's a week? Seven days, you know, like seven, right, so a week is a number seven of something. In this case, it's a week of years, right, and so there's four hundred and ninety years and remember, that's why, and I don't want to get ahead of myself, but in Daniel chapter nine we're going to be covering this, but that's why you have seventy years that they were in captivity because there was seventy Sabbaths that they missed and when did the Sabbaths happen? Every seven years, which would have been four hundred and ninety years, okay, so anyway, all I have to say is that it all works together, but all I have to say is that I just thought that was interesting that he mentioned not seven times, seventy times seven and that has to do with dealing with iniquity and reconciling iniquity, so I don't think anything is in the Bible by accident and so that's just a little kind of side note there, so, but the last thing that we see here is where Jesus tells this story about this king who had some servants and a lot of times when you're seeing the king mentioned, it's God, okay, it's either God the Father or Jesus and stuff like that as far as when he's kind of telling a story or telling a parable and so notice in verse twenty three, it says, 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. The servant, therefore, fell down and worshipped 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. So, we see here that this story and the thing is when you look at these parables or these stories, you really just need to look at the surface meaning first, okay. So, what's the surface meaning? There was this king, he had a servant who had this huge debt, right, huge debt and he was humble and asked for forgiveness and the king was merciful and just forgave him all his debt. So, that's a very gracious king, right, because, you know, by all means he should have been sold, you know, that's the way the Bible, you know, as far as like you got to pay your debt and so, but notice that what does this servant do, okay. After that king forgave him all his debt, it says in verse 28, but the same servant went out and found one of his fellow servants which owed him a hundred pence and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat saying, pay me that thou owest. So, obviously, it was a lot different in price. He owed that same servant 10,000 talents, okay. This guy, the fellow servant owed him a hundred pence, okay. That's a big difference in money there, okay and it says that he took him by the throat saying pay me what thou owes and it says and his fellow servant fell down at his feet and besought him saying have patience with me and I'll pay thee all. Sound familiar? It's the same exact story only it's the other way around. It says and he would not but went and cast him into prison until he should pay the debt. Now, let me ask you a question. How is he going to pay that debt in prison? I mean, at least the king was selling the person up into bondage, you know, the way like a bond servant where you can actually pay off your debt. What are you going to do in prison? So, anyway, a side note why prison is awful or not biblical and all that stuff, but anyway, so in verse 31 there it says, so when his fellow servants 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, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt because thou desirest me. Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow servant, even as I had a pity on thee? And his lord was wrought and delivered him to the tormentors till he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall my heavenly father do also unto you if you from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses. Now, in a lot of these parables that we're going to get to, and a lot of these I've preached on before, you actually have when you're dealing with these servants, actually you'll have kind of the good servants and then you'll have like the Judas, you know, the reprobate, and so they're cast into outer darkness. It doesn't say anything about being cast into outer darkness here. When we're talking about this debt, okay, I do not believe that this debt is synonymous with your sins being forgiven and going to heaven, okay. What I believe this is dealing with is that, let's say Brother Dave and I, you know, we're in this story, right? Let's say I had a huge, you know, I committed some really grievous sin, okay, here in this life. We're both saved. Let's say, you know, I murdered somebody, okay, huge, that's a big one. I murdered somebody and let's say I was pardoned of that, but then, you know, Brother Dave over here like stole a candy bar, okay, obviously wrong, and I didn't forgive him for that. He stole something from me and I just didn't forgive him for that. Do you see how God's going to be very angry about that? Because I was forgiven for a major sin, like huge sin, and he like stole like candy from me or something like that and then I'm like, you're going to jail until you pay for that, you know, or something like that. And this is kind of a silly illustration, but what it means is that if I'm not willing to forget some little thing that my brother does to me when God has really been gracious to me as far as the things I've committed against him, you know, that's in his eyes what he's saying here is that if you don't forgive your brothers, I'm not going to forgive you. Now, this isn't talking about not being forgiven to go to heaven. This is talking about as a safer, go to, go to Matthew chapter six, Matthew chapter six, we kind of dealt with this already, actually, on the Sermon on the Mount, but this is in the Lord's Prayer. So this is just kind of a story to illustrate what is being said in the Lord's Prayer. So in Matthew six, verse nine, it says, After this manner, therefore, pray ye, Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. Notice that forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. It's interesting that even use that frame debt when we're talking about trespasses or sins and stuff like that. But in verse 19, I'm sorry, verse 13 says, And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. So he's using this story of like physical debt to represent like if your brother sins against you. And isn't that how it started when Peter saying, How long shall I forgive my brother that sins against me? Okay, so think about this. We sin against God on a daily basis. As believers, right? We're in the flesh. You know, we're obviously we should be constantly trying not to sin. But if we're honest with ourselves, he that said he had no he that said he had no sin deceives himself and the truth is not in him. So we sin. And so God is constantly getting sinned against and then your brother sins against you like one time you're like, you're done. No forgiveness. So you see how God is being very gracious with us? Because we're, as his children sing against them, and then our fellow brother sins against us, and we're like throwing them under the bus. And so basically, if you want God to forgive you and have mercy on you, as a believer, then you need to be merciful to your brother, and you need to forgive your brother. Okay, go to James chapter two, I'm gonna close with this James chapter two, verse 12. James chapter two, verse 12. It says this, it says, so speaky and so do is they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. For he shall have mercy or he shall have judgment without mercy that has showed no mercy and mercy rejoices against judgment. That's what you're dealing with is having mercy. If you want God to be merciful to you for the things that you do, then you need to be merciful unto your brother. And so that's the whole crux of what we're getting there is the fact that that, you know, God's going to deal with you how you deal with someone else. And you know that phrase where it says that what measure you meet shall be measured unto you again. You know, that's used in Matthew seven dealing with judging somebody, but it's actually also used in another aspect as far as giving. You know, when it talks about giving, if you give unto others, if it's going to be given back to you, and it even says it's going to be given like overflowing. And so if you're merciful to your brother, listen, God will be merciful to you. And so if you want to have mercy when you're judged, because listen, as a child of God, the Lord loveth him, he chastens and discourages every son who may receive it. If you want to have mercy in that chastening when it comes because we all make mistakes, then you better be merciful to your brother when they mess up. And so that's what it's teaching there. And obviously, it goes perfect hand in hand dealing with church discipline if your brother trespassed against you. And so having mercy, suffering yourself to be defrauded, you know, basically taking it on the chin, because if you do that, God will see it. And God will reward that as far as giving you less judgment or being more merciful or gracious to you when you mess up. So let's end with a word of prayer. And Lord, Lord, we thank you for this evening. Thank you for your word. We thank you for the book of Matthew, just a magnificent book, as far as just so many truths in it. And Lord just praise be with us throughout this week. I pray that you'd help us with our jobs. I pray that you'd bless our finances, Lord, that we can pay all our bills and, and Lord also that you just bless our families with health and just be with us and, and help us to bring glory to your name. And Lord, we love you and pray all this in Jesus Christ's name. Amen.