October 31, 2021
Evening Service

Jesus taught us this morning the importance of being humble and sincere in our faith.  This came as a result of the disciples quarreling among themselves about who among them would be the “greatest” in Jesus’ new kingdom.  We looked at the danger in creating your identity by comparing yourself to others because our true identity comes from Christ.  Jesus used the faith of children, humble and sincere, to help explain His point.  He then emphasized the role we all play in raising our children to follow Him.  When we invest in children, we are investing in Jesus; “Whoever receives on little one like this in My name receives Me.”  As the teaching continues Jesus now opens to us the importance of not offending our brothers by leading them into sinful activities.

Mat 18:7-10 Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes!  (8)  "If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the everlasting fire.  (9)  And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire.  (10)  "Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven.

            Jesus is revealing to us that offences will come to all of us.  Others will do and say things that that offend us, cause us harm physically or just emotionally.  No one is exempt from this and Jesus deals with this more in depth shorty.  His focus in this discourse is the importance that we do our best not to be the offender.  We often think that our sin harms only us, but that is far from the truth.  Every addict feels that it is their business what they do in harming themselves and often fail to see the harm it does to others.  The truth is the addiction of a family member affects every member of that family.  We as Jesus followers should not find ourselves as offenders when it comes to sin.  By yielding to the temptation of sin we not only harm ourselves, but those around us who look up to us.  If we through our sin in some way become an agent for others to sin, Jesus says that great will be that person’s guilt.

 Jesus encourages us to deal quickly and decisively with whatever is causing us to yield to the temptation of sin.  If it is our hand or foot, cut it off.  If it is our eye, then pluck it out.  It is much easier to be handicapped in this life than to continue to yield to sin’s lure.  I don’t feel Jesus is speaking literally in this command, but He is stressing to us to do all we can to remove ourselves from the things that tempt us.  For an alcoholic, that means going different places, doing different things, and making new friends.  In reality you are cutting out of your lives places, activities and even people that lead you down the wrong path.  If we cannot prevent or discipline ourselves from watching things on our television or computer that do not honor God, then we need to turn off the cable or internet.  This in reality plucks away the temptation we have to watch such things.  Sin is a serious part of our walk with Jesus that we must deal with and never take it lightly.  The more we do something the easier it is to do again and again and it quickly becomes a habit that we do not want to have. Jesus continues his teaching with a parable.

 

Mat 18:11-14 For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.  (12)  "What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying?  (13)  And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray.  (14)  Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

            This parable is a wonderful summary of Jesus’ ministry.  He came to save the lost and every single one is important.  The view of a shepherd leaving the 99 to find the 1 is such a great example of the heart of God.  One lost is too many.  Peter reveals to us heart of God.

 

2Pe 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

            God’s heart is that all of mankind would come to a point of repentance and be saved.  He has done everything needed for that to happen even to the point of leaving the 99 to find the 1 who is lost.  We too are to have the heart of God as well.  We need to value each and every life with the same importance Jesus does.  We need to go to great lengths to not be the one who offends a brother or be the one who causes him to sin.  To be a help and encouragement to others, we all need to walk closer to Jesus.  As we get our own lives in order, seeking Him first in everything, we can be a light to those around us.  By following Jesus, we become a better parent, spouse, and friend.  We become “Salt and Light” just as Jesus commanded us to.  Jesus now shares with us what we are to do when we are the one offended.

 

Mat 18:15-20 "Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother.  (16)  But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that 'BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY WORD MAY BE ESTABLISHED.'  (17)  And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.  (18)  "Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.  (19)  "Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.  (20)  For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them."

            This process of settling differences is very detailed in how we are to do it within the church spelling it out step by step.  First we must be sure that we have been sinned against.  Many people wear their feelings on their sleeve and are deeply offended by something that really is not a sin, but maybe only an oversight.  We too often place misguided motivations behind someone’s actions that really isn’t there.  Secondly, when we have established and offence or sin has occurred, we go directly to that person and confront them with his fault.  You don’t go tell everyone you know what this person has done to you to get their sympathy or create a disregard for the offending brother; you go directly to the source.  The quicker this process is started, the better it is for all involved.  Time seems to make the situation simmer to a higher level than it was in the beginning.  Some people wait years before starting this process and often wish they had not waited so long.  Go to the brother and if “he hears you, you have gained a brother.”  Problem solved and all parties restored.  However, if he does not acknowledge and apologize for his sin then you are instructed to take two or three witnesses with you following the pattern from the OT teachings.  If no resolution is found, then it needs to go before the church.  If he then refuses to hear, he is to be excommunicated from the fellowship and denied from partaking of the communion service.  This is done not so much as a punishment, but a further encouragement to face the sin and seek forgiveness for it.

            Jesus then affirms the disciple’s authority is saying that what they “bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever they loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”  The disciples later handed that authority over to the leadership of each fellowship to do the same thing.  This authority is just as powerful as if Jesus Himself administered it.  Notice how He confirms that in verse 20; “where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”  This also stresses that we choose wisely those who make up the leadership of our church.  They must be committed to following Jesus and not get caught up in the authority they are granted.  The process is straight forward and should be followed when offences occur.

 

            Tonight we have seen the importance of living a life that does not offend our brothers or encourage them to allow sin in their lives.  We have seen the heart of God that would leave the 99 to seek the single lost sheep.  Finally, Jesus gives us an explicit plan to follow when we have been offended against finishing with bringing it before the entire church.

 

Heavenly Father, thank You for these teaching that show to us the importance of avoiding sin in our lives for our sakes as well as for those around us.  Thank You for the process in which we can resolve these offences that will come our way.  Thank You for being here among us tonight.