Who are you Really!?
Matthew 18 • Sermon • Submitted
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· 9 viewsJesus told His disciples not to allow one of His children to fall into sin
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Introduction:
Introduction:
Last week we started in Matthew chapter 18. We dove into the first 4 verses. We also compared Matthew’s account to Mark’s account. We saw that Mark gave us a little back story of what events took place before the disciples asked Jesus a question.
We also went back to Luke to figure out why the disciples asked Jesus this particular question.
The question was “who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
Because we went back and read about the events that took place before that question, it gave us good insight to why Peter, James, and John asked Jesus this off-the-wall question.
Explain
So tonight we are going to continue with Matthew chapter 18:5-6 and see what Jesus thinks about when we cause His children to stumble or fall into sin.
So the question I have for you tonight is: Who are you really?
Are you a consistent version of you?
Are you a wishy-washy version of you?
Are you a don’t really care version of you?
Who are you really?
Let me ask this question another way according to our scripture.
Are you a person who causes one of God’s children to stumble (fall into sin)?
Or Are you are person who lifts others up and help guide God’s children?
In other words how do people see you?
I was talking with an adult the other day about
Who are you at school where you spend 90% of your day?
Who are you at home and church. Are they the same person or are they different?
So I ask the question again, Who are you really?
Jesus does a great job in our passage tonight of telling His disciples and telling us how serious He was about causing His children to sin.
Who we portray ourselves to be is what others will see.
Your talk and your actions will either the clarify the gospel or confuse the gospel.
When people look at your life will it clarify the gospel or will it build a wall stopping others to see and hear the gospel.
So lets dive in our passage tonight.
5 “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, 6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.
5 “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me,
Matthew 18:
5 “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, 6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.
7 “Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes!
(v.5): Jesus says, “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me.”
The word receive means: to receive, accept, welcome. Or to welcome, believe, to take hold of.
So in verse 5 we see a a different aspect of the kingdom being brought out by Jesus. But one in which the child is still important. Back in the day the Jews did not see children of any importance. The only ones who thought children were important was their own parents.
So what Jesus is saying is , to receive just one of them is important. But then He uses another word. “Such” this widens the thought to include all children. In this world today we have a bad habit of serving the great and the popular, but if we want to be like Jesus the priority MUST be to receive and welcome the world’s little people.
The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel according to Matthew 4. Life in the Messianic Community, 18:1–35
A different aspect of the kingdom is now brought out, but one in which the child is still important. Jesus speaks of anyone who welcomes14 one such little child. The numeral one indicates the minimum, the smallest possible number of children, and such widens the thought to include children in general, not only the child there in the middle. To receive even one of them hospitably is important. It is the habit of the world to serve the great and the popular, but for the follower of Jesus the priority must be to receive and welcome the world’s little people. Jesus says further that the reception is to be in my name, where the name is used “of all that the name implies, of rank, authority, character etc.”
The mark of being like Jesus is serving those who have nothing to offer you.
People expecting Jesus to spend all of His time with the religious elect and and the “church goers”
But that not who Jesus hung out with. Jesus hung out with drunks, leapers, the blind, ect.... He was not worried about being popular.
The only reasons the Pharisees wanted Jesus to be with them and teach in their synagogues was for themselves. It was all because they wanted to be popular and have status.
So to a teenager being like Jesus would be like you befriending the unpopular. The ones everyone makes fun of, the one who no one wants to hang out with, the one on one wants around because they are awkward. You want to be like Jesus go hang with people like that.
The flip side is: You hang out with people who will make you popular.
So I’ll say it again. The mark of being like Jesus is serving those who have nothing to offer you.
So again according to this passage: Who are you really?
Are you being like Jesus in confining in the “children” of the world. The one’s who can’t help themselves.
Or are you more worried about being like the religious elect making sure that everyone knows your social status.
The next part of this verse is tough and its hard. Jesus tells His disciples and us just how serious He is about making one of His children stumble.
6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.
noun
noun: temptation; plural noun: temptations
a desire to do something, especially something wrong or unwise.
In order to understand the seriousness of what Jesus is saying, we have to go back in time.
So what is a Millstone?
A Millstone was used for grinding grain. The millstone was so big and heavy it took a donkey to turn it.
So I asked myself this question. Did they really put millstones around peoples necks and through them in the deepest part of the sea.
After research, I found that Syria and Greece used this type of execution for the worst of the worst, the murderers, the rapist, the thieves ect…
So how serious does Jesus take someone causing His children to stumble.
“it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea”.
What the first time you caused someone to sin, by pressuring them into something you knew was wrong, someone put a millstone around your neck and took you in the middle of the ocean and dropped you.
Does that paint a picture of how serious Jesus is about causing one of His children to sin.
Now think about it this way: How many times in your life have you personally caused someone to sin. Or lets bring it in to today. How many people did you cause to sin today?
I bet that everyone of us by our actions or the words we said towards someone has caused someone to sin just this week. So everyone get up so I can hang a millstone around your neck and go drop all of us off in the middle of the sea to drown.
So I will ask the question again. Who are you really?
Are you like the Pharisees, throwing God’s children (little people of this world) to the side causing them to stumble just so you can have a great social status?
By the way your social status wont get you into heaven.
Are you the kind of person who is like Jesus, the one who servers the one’s who have nothing to offer? Not worrying about His social status and causing people to sin.
Bobby’s story:
Heres the deal. Jesus told us in this story how serious He was about causing one of His children to sin. The good news is He is not sitting here about to put a millstone around our necks and throwing us to the depths of the sea to drown. He gives grace and he forgives if we are truly repentant.
But there are some of you in here tonight if you don’t figure out Who you really are will feel like there is a millstone wrapped around your neck. I promise you if you don’t take Jesus’ words serious and if you don’t take sin serious there is something much worse than a millstone and that's spending eternity separated from God in Hell.
So again the question you have to ask yourself is Who are you Really?
If the answer is not like Jesus, then you need to use this opportunity to get on your face and repent.
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