The Danger of Causing Sin Matthew 18:1-14
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Intro:
Intro:
Happy Birthday Aaron
Read Matthew 18:1-14
Read Matthew 18:1-14
Transition:
I have four children who are precious to me.
I love them deeply and am zealous for their welfare, especially their spiritual welfare.
My deepest desire is that they continually grow into Christlikeness, conforming to the mind and will of the Lord.
I feel an almost painful sense of responsibility and commitment to protect my children from every form of harm and danger.
From time to time, when people and influences have come into their lives that I know would be harmful to them, I have done my best to shield them from those dangers.
As any normal parent, I have great appreciation for those who help my children and great indignation for those who harm them.
Most parents are more grateful for what is done on behalf of and for the benefit of their children than for anything that could be done for themselves.
Likewise, most parents find it easier to forgive an offense against themselves than one against their child.
Parents are grateful to friends, teachers, and others who encourage, support, and build up their children.
They are incensed, however, by a young man who makes their daughter pregnant, a supposed friend who induces their son to try drugs, or an unbelieving professor who tries to lead their son or daughter away from their Christian faith.
God is the perfect model of this kind of parental concern, because He has always been deeply concerned about the way His children are treated.
It is of utmost importance to Him that they be protected and nurtured.
He therefore promises blessing to those who treat His children well and gives dire warning to those who cause them harm.
When a person mistreats a Christian he mistreats Christ.
This side of the truth also applies to believers and unbelievers.
Whether the person is the worst persecuting pagan who causes harm to a Christian or whether he is a believer who causes harm to a fellow Christian, the result is the same: Christ Himself is attacked.
I. Humble Yourself vs. 1-4
I. Humble Yourself vs. 1-4
The first sign of sin is pride
vs. 1 Who’s the Greatest?
Jesus deals with an age old question
It doesn’t matter where you are or what you are doing, people want to know who’s the best
In the movie top gun there is a classic scene where the instructor letting everyone know who is the best and Maverick is looking around
Goose asks him what he is doing and Maverick asks him what he is doing “Just wondering who is the best.”
The instructor then ask Maverick if he thinks he ie can be the best and Maverick answers yes
Ever since the first sin there is in innate desire to be the best and the disciples weren’t any different
Jesus uses as an opportunity to begin a theme and teach multiple lessons
vs. 2-3 Become Like a Child
The theme is that of a child
He is not telling us to be childish
When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.
Childish and Child are two different words in the Greek
One is teachable the other is immature
He is telling us to be humble like a child
We need to come to Jesus as someone who is teachable
vs. 4 Humble Yourself
To humble yourself you need to
Accept that you are a sinner in need of grace
Lower your view of yourself
Think and Talk about yourself a lot less
A child looks up to older kids and adults
My oldest daughter is a senior and there are three 7th grade girls who thinks she walks on water
It drives my two youngest nuts
My wife and I love it
They come up to her each day so humble and compliment her on her outfit or her hair
That is how we approach Jesus
He is not our buddy
He is the really cool older kid we want to be around and model our life after
II. Woe to You Groomers vs. 5-9
II. Woe to You Groomers vs. 5-9
Jesus continues the little ones theme by warning against leading them into sin
The meaning behind the word “causes” isn’t just a one time thing
It literally means to lead into a lifestyle or habit
To groom
Jesus is essentially saying Woe to you Groomers
First, He addresses those in the church
Then to those in the world
The punishment is greater for those who lead children astray
Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ.
Jesus says “Woe to anyone who cause one of these little ones to sin”
These aren’t my words
These are Red letter words straight out of Jesus’s mouth
It would be better to have a millstone tied around your neck and drown than to lead one of these little ones into sin and stand before Jesus
I can’t think of a subject more pertinent than this one
In an age of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion which seems so lofty and ideal
It has devolved into drag shows, gay porn in elementary school libraries, and gender reassignment surgeries being pushed on 9 year olds
First, He starts with Christians
vs. 5-6 Woe to the Tempters
Christians have become lax in what they allow their children to become involved in
There are the normal childhood temptations that we dealt with like drinking and relationships
Parents, don’t encourage those
Nowadays things are even more challenging
Our kids have to affirm different genders, sexual orientations, and cultural thoughts or experience serious backlash
The pressure to define and accept pronouns is intense
Some Parents encourage their children to participate to be accepted or gain popularity
Jesus says it is better for you to tie a millstone around your neck and drown than cause a young person to sin
Let that sink in
You will stand before God on judgment day and give an account of your actions
vs. 7 Woe to the World
Then Jesus turns his attention to the World
The word “Woe” means calamity or disaster is coming
Woe to the one by whom the temptation comes
I’ve seen so many adults try to cast off blame on teenager by saying they’re the ones who did it
God see it differently
If you provided the pathway God holds you more responsible
Woe to you adults who encourage abortions
Abortion is the easy way out of guilt free sex
Have the girl get an abortion and the problem is gone, or is it
The long term damage is immeasurable
Woe to you adults who produce confusion in a child’s sexual orientation by allowing gay porn for early grades in school libraries
Muslim’s are the ones leading the charge at school boards
Woe to you who allow grown men to dress as women and perform drag shows to young children
There are 100’s of reports of school districts sponsoring drag shows assemblies
Woe to you teacher unions who shut down schools, required masks, vaccines, and focused on everything except educating and have left a whole generation years behind, emotionally damaged, and now immune compromised
Studies are finding students are so damaged they are not sure how they are going to recover
Academically they are more than two years behind
Emotionally they don’t know how to interact with their peers
Medically their immune system is underdeveloped
Two years of separation has killed immune systems and they can’t fight them
All of these are causing kids to compensate by using drugs, cutting themselves, and suicide is through the roof
vs. 8-9 Cut it Off
III. Heart for the Sheep vs. 10-14
III. Heart for the Sheep vs. 10-14
vs. 10 Care for the Little Ones
vs. 11-14 Leave the 99