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Please turn with me in your Bibles 
to Matthew chapter 18. Matthew chapter 18, we find ourselves 
in the fourth discourse in Matthew's gospel. This one speaking specifically 
to community issues or life within the church. very specifically 
the things that are underscored, the role of humility or disregard 
for status. We saw that last week in verses 
1 to 4. This morning we'll take up verses 
5 to 9, which deals with the damning danger of causing offense 
to others. Verses 10 to 14 indicate the 
reconciliation, or rather the recovery, of the lost sheep. Discipline and reconciliation 
are dealt with in 15 to 20, and then forgiveness as a whole in 
the remainder of the chapter. As Chamberlain says in chapter 
10, the focus was on his disciples' mission to the world. Here the 
subject is relationships in the new community, in the church 
Messiah has come to build. So I'll begin reading in chapter 
18 at verse 1. At that time the disciples came 
to Jesus saying, Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven? Then Jesus called a little child 
to him, set him in the midst of them, and said, Assuredly, 
I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little 
children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. 
Therefore, whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest 
in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one little child 
like this in my name receives me. whoever causes one of these 
little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for 
him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned 
in the depth of the sea." Woe to the world because of offenses, 
for offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense 
comes. 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. 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 hellfire. 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. For the Son of Man has come to 
save that which was lost. 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? 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. Even so it is not the will of 
your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones 
should perish. Moreover, if your brother sins against you, go 
and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears 
you, you've gained your brother. 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." 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. 
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. 
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. For where two or three are gathered 
together in my name, I am there in the midst of them. Amen. Well, 
let us pray. Our blessed God and our Holy 
Father, we gather together now to look at a very applicable 
portion of Holy Scripture, and we pray that the ministry of 
the Spirit would be known among us. We pray that He would illumine 
us, and guide us, and lead us, and humble us, and cause us to 
be subject to this Word, cause us to be obedient to this Word, 
cause us to be repentant, as no doubt we have sinned, we have 
caused offense. Even now we confess our sins 
and our transgressions and pray that you would wash us and purify 
us in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. We know, God, that you 
are a merciful God, a gracious and a good God. And we pray that 
you would cleanse us now from all unrighteousness and help 
us to receive with glad hearts your holy word. And we pray these 
things through Jesus Christ. Amen. Well, in many respects, 
chapter 18 is very specifically applicable to the Church of Christ 
in our particular day. As I just went through in a cursory 
fashion to highlight some of the specifics that are dealt 
with in this chapter, certainly this finds us where we are. We 
need to pursue humility. In fact, Jesus in the section 
we looked at last week said assuredly I say to you unless you are converted 
and become as little children you will by no means enter the 
kingdom of heaven. This is not optional. This isn't 
just a virtue we add on when we get to a certain state or 
phase in our Christianity. If we are kingdom citizens If 
we have professed the saving religion, if we have confessed 
that God in Christ has reconciled us from our sin, then humility 
is what we need to be about. Killing pride, destroying pride, 
seeking to put those things to death are consistent with kingdom 
citizens. And here in this passage, in 
verses 5 to 9, Jesus warns against causing offense. This is something 
that is taken up in the rest of the New Testament, most notably 
in the Apostle Paul, in Romans chapter 14, 1 Corinthians chapter 
8 through 10, and then as well in the book of Galatians. The 
Apostle rightly, understanding the Lord Jesus, tells the people 
of God that they are not to cause offense to one another. Now, 
let me just qualify what this means. This does not mean disagreements. This does not mean that two good 
brothers have a differing view on something that is non-essential 
in terms of salvation. This isn't being offended by, 
you know, somebody who doesn't like your cooking, or being offended 
by somebody who's not your bestest friend. The idea that is being 
enjoined upon us here is not enticing or causing another person 
to sit. Enticing or causing another person 
to stumble in such a way that they sit against God. Chamberlain 
defines the word that is used here, offense. It is the word 
that we get scandal from. If you looked at the Greek and 
you saw the Greek alphabet, you would see that it's scandal. 
Scandalon or scandalizo, that is the verbal form. It means 
to cause or set a trap. It means to promote a stumbling 
block or offense. In this case, a temptation or 
enticement to sin. In this context, Scandalizzo 
describes conduct that causes someone to be ensnared by sin 
or to fall into sin. I think Davies and Allison also 
help us to understand something about this verb. You see, our 
tendency is to see sin this way. If a brother or a sister causes 
or tries to cause another brother or a sister to commit adultery 
with them, horror of horrors, that is an offense and that is 
a sin and we must condemn it and identify it as such. But 
teaching false doctrine teaching heresy. In fact, there's a tradition 
of interpretation that saw this section as applicable primarily 
to church leaders within the context of Christ's little ones. We need to understand it's not 
just the moral, and again, it's bad. We ought not to try and 
entice someone to commit adultery, or to commit theft, or to commit 
Sabbath-breaking, or to commit any sort of sin that is condemned 
by the Bible. But as well, it's intellectual. 
Davies and Allison say the verb means to pervert and mislead 
intellectually and morally. So if we try to pervert and mislead 
someone with reference to the truth of God's Word, we are guilty 
of causing offense to them. So let's look at verses 5 to 
9 under two broad considerations. First, the response to the little 
ones in verses 5 to 6, and then secondly, the warning against 
causing offense in verses 7 to 9. But notice first the response 
in verses 5 and 6. Jesus says very clearly in verse 
5, whoever receives one little child like this in my name receives 
me. Now remember that in verses 1 
to 4, When the disciples asked, who is the greatest in the kingdom 
of heaven? Jesus took a little child and 
he set him in the midst of them. I call it a him, it doesn't specify. It could have been a her. But 
for the sake of easiness, I'm gonna call him him. That hopefully 
doesn't offend anybody. You're not gonna write to your 
member of parliament and talk about that sexist pig at the 
Free Grace Baptist Church. Jesus teaches them concerning 
humility. And it's interesting, in the 
parallel passage, as we get to this point, and Mark says that 
Jesus takes the little child up into his arms. Again, our 
gentle, blessed, glorious, kind Lord Jesus. Children were not 
afraid of Him. I mentioned last week, children 
and dogs are good judges of character. Now, they can be wrong, certainly, 
but by and large, children and dogs have a great read on people. The dog that wags its tail and 
is happy to see you, that's a good thing. The dog that bares its 
teeth typically means that there is something wrong. And the same 
is the case with little children. Jesus brings this child into 
His arms to use the child as an illustration of spiritual 
truth. So it is a physical child in 
verses 1 to 4. Here, the analogy begins to be 
spread out. Verse 5, whoever receives one 
little child like this, not this little child, but one like this, 
that embodies the principle of the kingdom, humility, abasement, 
lowliness, one that does not jockey for position, one that 
does not say, who then is the greatest in the kingdom, but 
rather one who just seeks to live faithfully for the glory 
of God most high. So it's not this child, but it's 
a child like this. And then notice in verse 6, it's 
expanded to little ones. And then it's defined very clearly 
for us, who believes in my name. What we are talking about in 
this section is believers. Some have seen this as sort of 
the weaker brothers within the church, or some of the brothers 
that have been downcast, or some of the brothers that have been 
marginalized. I don't think so. Verse 6 clearly 
defines for us, whoever believes or who believes in my name. Twice 
other in the rest of the context, he speaks of these little ones. 
The idea here is that we are not to cause offense to one another. We are not to reject one another. Jesus says there are two ways 
of dealing with little ones in verses 5 and 6. Just as we've 
seen in Matthew's Gospel, there are two ways of dealing with 
Jesus. You either receive Him, or you reject Him. You either 
bow and confess Him as Lord and Savior to the glory of God the 
Father, or you reject Him and resist Him. Remember in Matthew 
11, Jesus speaks specifically to this. I thank thee, Father, 
Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things 
from the wise and prudent, but you have revealed them unto babes." 
You see, there isn't a third position. You either receive 
Christ by grace, or you reject Him. And the same is true with 
Christ's people. You either receive them, verse 
5, or you reject them, verse 6. Notice in verse 5, whoever 
receives one little child like this in my name receives me. The humility that is evidenced 
by the kingdom citizen, while it may be scoffed at by the world, 
While it may be belittled by the world, while the world may 
look at it as a sign of weakness, as a sign of impotence, the church 
is to look upon it as something to receive. In other words, brethren, 
when somebody demonstrates this ethic of the kingdom, which is 
humility, we need to receive them. We need to honor them. We need to realize that this 
is what the Kingdom of Heaven is all about. Calvin made this 
statement concerning this verse. He says, this is added by way 
of consolation. Verse 5, he said, this is what 
Kingdom ethics looks like. This is what greatness in the 
kingdom looks like. It looks like humility. So what 
happens in verse 5? Whoever receives one little child 
like this in my name receives me. Calvin says, this is added 
by way of consolation that we may not account it troublesome 
or disagreeable to exercise humility by means of which Christ not 
only receives us under his protection but likewise recommends us to 
the favor of men. And thus believers are taught 
in what way they ought to esteem each other. It is by everyone 
humbling himself. You see, this ought to undergird 
the church of Jesus Christ. This ought to be that which characterizes 
the people of God. A humility. A self-abasement, a self-effacement, 
a giving preference to others, deferring to others, valuing 
and prizing others more than we value and prize ourselves. And when we see a brother or 
a sister, we receive him, we welcome him, we recognize the 
fact that grace is in his heart. You see what Jesus goes on to 
say, if we do not, then it is to reject Jesus Christ himself. In Matthew 10, 40 to 42, Jesus 
makes the same connection. He who receives you, receives 
me. And he also receives the one 
who sent me. Brethren, you need to consider 
this reality. If you reject one for whom Jesus 
died, you are rejecting Jesus. If you resist those whom the 
Lord God Almighty has purpose to save from every tribe, tongue, 
people and nation, and you don't recognize them and you don't 
receive them, you are rejecting the very redemptive plan of God 
Almighty. This is very serious stuff. James 
takes this up in James chapter 2. My brethren, My brethren, 
do not be impartial. Do not say to the rich man, I 
want you to sit right up front and say to the poor man, you 
take a place in the back. Don't let your filth and your 
garbage drip upon our beautiful seats. You stay way back there. This kind of stuff happens. Maybe 
it's not pronounced like that today, as it is indicated there 
in James 2, but you know, we've all got our axes to grind, we've 
all got our prejudices, we've all got our issues. Jesus says, 
whoever receives one little child like this in my name, receives 
me. Notice verse 6, talking about 
the rejection of these little ones. He says, whoever causes 
one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, It would 
be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and 
he were drowned in the depth of the sea." She just loved Jesus. He doesn't play games, does he? 
He doesn't say, well, how can I say this so that you'll receive 
it well? How do I make this palatable 
to you? How do I say this so that in 
a PC environment, a politically correct environment, I don't 
bring unnecessary offense? You see, that's the great crime 
and the sin, at least in 21st century North America. It's making 
people feel bad, and we certainly don't want to make them feel 
bad. We'll lie to them, we'll tell them falsity, we'll just 
say whatever it is we think they want to hear, because we don't 
want to be guilty of making people feel bad. What's Jesus do? Jesus makes you feel bad if you're 
going to cause offense to one of his little ones. Look at verse 
6. Whoever causes one of these little 
ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if 
a millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned 
in the depth of the sea. First, we've already defined 
what this offense is, or what this scandal is. It's immoral 
and it's intellectual. It is causing a brother or a 
sister for whom Jesus died to sin, or putting in their path 
an occasion for sin. Where do we see this described? 
I've already mentioned Romans 14, 1 Corinthians 8-10, Galatians 
5, it's scattered throughout the other epistles as well. But 
the point is simply this, we need to make sure that in our 
interpersonal relationships, in the way that we deal with 
one another, In the way that we react and respond to one another, 
we need to make sure we are guarding our hearts against this offense 
of causing offense. Jesus is clear, whoever causes 
one of these little ones who believe in me to sin. That's 
a good rendition, a good interpretation that the New King James offers 
here. Again, we're not talking about, I didn't like your meatloaf. 
Wow, I'm so offended. I don't like your new car." Well, 
he really hurt me. I disagree with you on the doctrine 
of impassibility. That is a personal attack. That 
is not a personal attack. Paul takes it up in Romans 14. 
The issue specifically is meat. There are weaker brethren who 
think that they should only eat vegetables. And there are stronger 
brethren who see that we can eat meat too. You say, well those 
stronger brethren, they're just messed up. It's the weaker ones 
that we ought to root for. Those weaker brethren, they need 
to get strong and they need to mature and they need to grow 
and they need to get solid and quit bugging those stronger brethren. 
You know how Paul treats it? You all need to get along with 
each other. You all need to love each other. You know what the 
weaker or the stronger brother's tendency is with the weaker brother? 
It is to despise him. Now I don't think that means 
he hates him the very fiber of his being. The verb also has 
the idea of disregard, disdain. The weaker or the stronger brother 
is just about to cut into a nice big porterhouse and the weaker 
brother says, oh brother you can't do that, it's only vegetables. 
I gotta tell you, if that were me cutting into that porterhouse, 
it would rise up in me to at least not look upon them real 
favorably. Right? Just being honest here. I've been on both sides of this 
fence, weaker brother, stronger brother. What's the tendency 
for the weaker brother? To judge the stronger brother. Now having been on the receiving 
end of that in my Christian life, that hasn't promoted a godly 
Christian walk for me, when I know that there are brethren out there 
who are judging me with a standard that isn't God's. That's not 
righteous. What is Jesus saying in John 
5? Judge with righteous judgment. I'm sorry, John 7. You see, the 
same people that say, well, we ought not to ever judge, miss 
the boat completely. Matthew 7 doesn't even teach 
we ought never to judge. Jesus underscores the reality 
we are to judge with righteous judgment. Weaker brethren, if 
your stronger brother is not violating the law of God, leave 
him alone. Stronger brother, if your weaker 
brother isn't at the place where they can dive into a porterhouse, 
don't eat in front of them. Don't parade your liberty. Don't 
put a stumbling block in front of them. Do not create a trap. You see, we all, by the grace 
of God, end up together in places called church. We've all got 
various backgrounds, various upbringings, various things that 
have affected us and shaped us and molded us to become the wonderful 
people that we are. And God tells us we need to make 
sure that we are getting along with one another with receptivity 
and love, with kindness and affection, with gentleness. Brethren, watch 
it. This is probably one of the more 
applicable sections in all of the New Testament to churches 
in our particular day. There's a thousand shibboleths 
out there. Well, we do it this way, and 
we do it this way, and we do... Fine. Do it whatever way you 
want. But don't judge a brother who 
doesn't do it that way, unless it's a violation of the law of 
God. That is in us to elevate our 
preferences to other people's law. I've used the illustration. I think every shoe area ought 
to have a shoe horn. I've been in a couple of homes 
this past week. One of them didn't. Oh, that 
really enraged me. I can't believe they didn't have 
a shoe horn. I had to put my finger on my foot and in my shoe. 
I don't like that. But my son, conversely, not only 
has a shoe horn, but he's got the same one I've got. Man, is 
he ever godly? Is he ever holy? He has listened 
to the preaching of the Word. We do that, may not be over shoehorns, 
but it's over preferences nevertheless. What's Paul's point in Romans 
14? Whether you eat or not, you will 
stand before God to give an account. That's the emphasis in the passage. Who are you to judge another? Again, if it's a violation of 
the law, if you see your brother or sister running out of a bank, 
wearing a ski mask, guns a-blazing, you can reprove him. That's wrong. 
That violates several words or several commandments in the law. 
But if he eats a porterhouse on a Thursday night or a Friday 
night, leave him alone. This is Jesus' statement. Whoever 
causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin. Now 
notice the sanction. Look, just for a moment. I thought 
Calvin's treatment on this section was so pastoral. There's this 
caricature out there of John Calvin, the killer of Servetus. 
John Calvin, the theological machine. John Calvin, the author 
of predestination. No, God is the author of predestination. Calvin just expounded on it. 
And he wasn't the first. That's not the case. He wasn't a perfect man. He wasn't 
a faultless man. He certainly had a pastor's heart. 
Listen to what he says with reference to this whole idea of causing 
offense. He says, if any man through our 
fault either stumbles or is drawn aside from the right course or 
retarded in it, we are said to offend him. If any man through 
our fault either stumbles or is drawn aside from the right 
course or retarded in it, we are said to offend him. Remember 
the larger context as well. In Matthew 17, Peter asked Jesus 
about the payment of the temple tax. And Jesus says, I have freedom. I have liberty. As a son of the 
king, I am not levied with taxes to pay on the temple. But he 
says, nevertheless, lest we offend them. And the them in that particular 
statement is unbelieving temple tax gatherers in Capernaum in 
the first century. Jesus has a desire not to offend 
them. What ought it to be when we get 
into the church and we start dealing with one another? If 
Jesus doesn't want you to offend Revenue Canada, which every fiber 
of your being might want to offend them, nevertheless, you seek 
by the grace of God to be a Romans 13 man or woman. What about the 
church? Of course we shouldn't want to 
offend one another. Of course we don't want to engage 
in that sort of wretchedness. Notice the sanction. Or notice 
the lesser to the greater. It would be better for him if 
a millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned 
in the depth of the sea. That's a lesser to the greater 
argument. And as far as a lesser, this 
is a big one. There were two types of millstones. 
You had your home stone, I don't know if that's what they called 
it, but you had the stone in your home. And the woman in her kitchen, 
that's another sexist, racist, horrible thing. Could have been 
a man or a woman who had their millstone. They would grind the 
wheat in their kitchen. There's a smaller version, which 
if you hung that around someone's neck, a fight to the top of the 
water was doable. But this millstone, at least 
the New King James doesn't include it. I don't know what the other 
translations out there say. It's great millstone in Revelation 
18, but there it's a mega millstone, a great millstone. This one is 
actually millstone of a donkey. Millstone of a donkey. You see, 
this isn't your kitchen, your handy-dandy kitchen apparatus. 
This is an outside stone that's huge, probably used for a larger 
community. And you would hook the donkey 
to it, and the donkey would spend its day walking in a circle. 
And that operation would effectively grind that wheat down. You see 
what Jesus is saying? If you cause offense to one of 
these little ones, if you cause offense to someone for whom Jesus 
shed his blood, if you put in their path a stumbling block, 
if you put in their path a trap, if you do anything to take them 
off that course between here and heaven, then it would be 
better for you to have this donkey-pulled apparatus draped around your 
neck and you plunged into the depth of the sea. The Jews didn't 
execute through drowning. The Romans did, however. And 
this was a common form of execution at this particular time. You 
see what Jesus is saying? It would be better for you to 
be executed at the hands of the Roman government, to have this 
millstone that is pulled by a donkey, draped around your neck, and 
you cast into the depths of the sea. Do you kind of get from 
this that Jesus doesn't want us to offend one another? Can 
you see that lesson on the surface of the text? Can you see how 
important this really is? Can you see how Romans 14 and 
1 Corinthians 8-10 and Galatians and those other places where 
it's peppered through the scripture are really dealing with real 
life issues that the people of God need to take seriously? You're not to offend one of your 
brothers. Plain and simple. We see it in 
the church context, we could take it to the home. Remember 
one of the things I used to say to my children, the Bible tells 
me as a father not to exasperate my children, not to provoke them 
under wrath. But it doesn't give you license 
to do that to your parents. We ought to be genuinely striving 
in our homes, in our churches, in our communities of saints, 
to be promoting the well-being of each other, instead of tearing 
down or insisting upon our rights. There are times to invoke one's 
rights. When Paul knew there was a conspiracy 
to target him for execution, what did he do? I am a Roman 
citizen and I appeal to Caesar. That wasn't so Paul could spend 
his retirement on the golf course. It was to advance the gospel 
and cause of Christ. But there is time to invoke your 
personal rights. In the church, for the most part, 
no. No. This attitude of, I have 
to be right, and I can't admit to being wrong, and I will go 
to my grave pounding my pulpit that I was right in that exchange, 
I just don't get that mindset. I still don't understand it. 
It's one of those things I've struggled with as a Christian. 
It's like, you've been forgiven. Doesn't God tell us to forgive 
one another even as God and Christ forgave you? We certainly like 
to apply that passage when it's us that needs the forgiveness. 
Are we as quick to give it when somebody stands in need? Jesus 
does not take this lightly, commenting on this sanction. threatened 
or this lesser form of sanction. Davies and Allison say, to offend 
one of the little ones is to commit a black sin deserving 
of the greatest punishment. The divine displeasure will be 
horrible. Our beloved John Gill said, "...our 
Lord's sense is that it was much better for a man to endure the 
severest temporal punishment, rather than by offending and 
evil treating any of his disciples, expose himself to everlasting 
destruction." So this, in a sense, is a general statement concerning 
scandal with reference to the rejection of little ones for 
whom Jesus died. Now let's look in more detail 
at this specific warning against causing offenses in verses 7 
to 9. It breaks down into two categories. 
The first is the cause from without, and secondly is the cause from 
within. In other words, verse 7 deals 
with offenses that come external to us. Offenses that come from 
an ungodly world. Offenses that come from unbelievers. But 8 and 9 deal specifically 
with offenses that occur within the covenant community, within 
the people of God, within those who profess saving faith. So 
note first in verse 7, Jesus says, woe to the world because 
of offenses. Now this could be a strict pronouncement 
of woe and condemnation upon the world. Matthew typically 
doesn't employ it that way though, or it could be just a general 
sense of how deplorable the situation is in the world. And that because 
it's that way, the world is not blessed, but the world is cursed. The world has woe. The world 
is under this particular reign or tyranny of sin, such that 
the world causes offenses to the people of God. Note the presupposition 
involved there. Note what he says. Woe to the 
world because of offenses. We sang 481 for a reason this 
morning. If you think, for a moment, that 
you are going to sail these seas without any hindrance, or if 
you think you are going to just be, you know, wafted up into 
heaven, you're the second Enoch. He was not, for God took him. That's probably not the case. Well, while you're in this world, 
you will have tribulation. The world will offend you. The 
world will put up stumbling blocks. The world will set traps. The 
world will try to scandalize you. That's a given reality and 
our Lord assumes it. Woe to the world because of offenses. It is the way that it is. It 
is what existing in a godless culture means. It is reality. You may not like it. You may 
wish it away. You may wish that it was different. 
You may say, Lord God Almighty, we long for that day when the 
new heavens and the new earth will come and righteousness will 
dwell therein. But you know, right now that's 
not the case. There is this presupposition. Notice this is also included 
in the decree of God. Woe to the world because of offenses, 
for offenses must come. You hear that? Offenses must 
come. Yeah, they must come because 
we live in a world filled with unbelievers and they hate God 
and they hate God's people. But they must come because God 
in His sovereignty, God in His prerogative, God in His decree 
has remedial ends for the offenses that come. There must also be 
factions among you. 1 Corinthians chapter 11. Why? So that those who are approved 
may be recognized. Heresy hits churches. So that 
those who are heretics can be thrown out. But so those who 
are approved may be solidified and strengthened in the body. 
God has his purposes for these things. You know, sometimes I 
think that's the way we treat prayer. As if it's, you know, 
taking the loony and throwing it into the fountain. Well, I 
wish that there were no more problems. I don't think it's 
necessarily evil to say, God, I'm going through a lot of struggles 
right now. Please give me the grace to deal with it. We need 
to understand that even in this, God has his purposes. Woe to 
the world because of offenses, for offenses must come. Notice 
what Jesus goes on to say. Look at what the Lord says, but 
woe to that man by whom the offense comes. The world that contains 
such offenders is a reality. The one who specifically causes 
another to sin or to stumble or entices or traps is pronounced 
with a woe. You see that? This leads, I think, 
to the practical implications specified by the Apostle in 2 
Thessalonians 1. It is right with God to repay 
those who trouble you. You see, Jesus knows that you 
live in a world that has offenses. Jesus knows that you have struggles. Jesus knows that there are trials 
and temptations. Jesus knows there is that person 
at work that is going out of their way, as it were, to set 
a bear trap for you to fall into. Jesus knows of the existence 
of these persons, and Jesus pronounces this woe upon them, and we can 
trust and be assured that one day Jesus will deal with that. So in other words, the difficulties 
that we deal with now, the trials that we face now, the problems 
and the struggles and the hardships and the woes that we face now, 
we trust and are affirmed in the reality that God will make 
everything right. God will vindicate His Holy Bride. God will bring judgment upon 
those who do harm to His people. The Lord Jesus is presiding over 
the stoning death of Stephen. He's standing at the right hand 
of the glory of God. I take Gil's position. He's there 
to show that he's going to receive his holy martyr Stephen when 
he dies. But he's also standing as the 
judge and the jury over this spectacle. And he will make these 
men ultimately pay for their crimes against his holy martyr. 
You see, brethren, Jesus understands the presence and the reality 
of these offenses. But Jesus as well says, woe to 
those who cause them. And we can extrapolate from this 
that one day that woe will be paid. Now notice, we have issues 
from without, verse 7. But notice the threat from within, 
verses 8 and 9. If your hand or foot This is 
very personal now. This is very individualized. This is the community of God. 
This is the church of Christ. So much so that there is a small 
minority, but there is a vein of interpretation that says what's 
being enjoined in verses 8 and 9 is church discipline. It's 
church discipline. You see, it's the church that 
takes the offending hand, it's the church that takes the offending 
foot, it's the church that takes the offending eye, and respectively 
cuts them off or plucks them out. Casts them far from them. Now certainly 15 to 20 teaches 
church discipline in chapter 18. I don't believe that's what's 
going on in verses 8 and 9. It's dealing with us as individuals. If your hand or your foot causes 
you to stumble. If your eye causes you to stumble. This is very specific and I think 
it goes one of two ways here. The first is, if anything, whether 
it be the world or the professing people of God, cause you to stumble, 
or if it be your own self in terms of a hand, or in terms 
of a foot, or in terms of an eye, whatever it is that throws 
a stumbling block in front of your path, whatever seeks to 
entice or trap you, you deal with it. If your hand causes 
offense on the personal level, cut it off and cast it from you. If you cannot deal with lust, 
if you cannot handle that particular sin, if your eyes are burning, 
Jesus says it's better to gouge them out. Now, He is speaking 
metaphorically. He is not speaking literally. 
He is not actually telling you. But the metaphor highlights the 
nature of the battle. The metaphor illustrates vividly 
how important this is. You see, the reality is, is if 
you're struggling with lust, you could pluck an eye out and 
still have the struggle. You're struggling with theft, 
you could cut the hand off and still steal with the other hand. 
You cut both of them off, you'll find a way with your neck and 
your shoulder, whatever way, you will find a way to sin. It's 
an unfortunate reality. The metaphor illustrates the 
radical measures that are to be employed. If you as a brother 
or sister have something in your life that is a stumbling block, 
something in your life that is a trap, cut the hand off, pluck 
the eye out, cast it far from you. But I think there's another, 
at least, meaning involved. What's the context? The context 
is me not causing offense to others. So what is he saying? Before you cause offense to someone 
else, before you push your porterhouse in front of their face, before 
you parade your Christian liberty, before you judge them as a weaker 
brother judging the stronger brother, before you get to that 
place, cut your own hand off. Cut your own foot off. Pluck 
that eye out so that you do not be the cause of offense to someone 
else. I think both of those meanings 
are there. For us, as individuals, if there 
is something in our lives, it could be a movie, it could be 
a show, it could be a book, it could be a friend, it could be 
an iPhone, it could be something innocuous in and of itself, but 
because our heart looks upon things and twists and distorts 
it, if those things cause you a stumbling, or cause you to 
stumble, or cause a trap in your life, cut them off. Deal with 
them. If you're sinning against God, 
make no peace with these things. Then 
as well, don't cause other brethren to stumble. It'd be better for 
you to enter into life with one hand than to cause one of these 
little ones for whom Jesus died to stumble. Listen to Spurgeon. He says, our main concern, he's 
commenting on us dealing with our own sin. Okay? Does everybody 
understand that? Start taking verses 8 and 9. 
It's our own sin. Okay? If this causes me to sin, 
I need to cut it off and I need to cast it far from me. But if 
I have the desire or the tendency or the temptation to cause someone 
else to sin, I need to cut that hand off, I need to pluck that 
eye out. So there's two shades of meaning, I think, that are 
going on in this particular verse. Spurgeon comments on the first. 
He says, our main concern should be to enter into life. And if 
this should cost us skill of hand, nimbleness of foot, and 
refinement of vision as it may, we must cheerfully deny ourselves 
that we may possess eternal life. Radical measures. You see, the 
attentive reader will know that this isn't the first time that 
Jesus has used such words, is it? He uses it with reference 
to sexual immorality in Matthew 5. Cut your hand off, gouge your 
eye out. Here it's not just sexual immorality. It seems to be comprehensive 
in nature. seems to be anything that would bar our trajectory 
to heaven. The world's going to throw those 
stumbling blocks in front of you. The traps are going to be 
set for you. Unfortunately, among the professing 
people of God, they're going to judge you, they're going to 
despise you, they are going to cause you offense. But if there 
are things in your life that you have allowed If you have 
made truck with something that is offensive to God and blocks 
your communion with God, you don't just say, I'm gonna deal 
with that, you know, next month. I ordered a book on Amazon on 
how to deal with sin. I can't wait to read it because 
then I'll really deal with sin. Cut your hand off and pluck your 
eye out. That may need to happen right 
here, right now. There may be some professing 
Christians in this place that are genuinely people of God that 
have unfortunately allowed things in that they shouldn't have. 
I just gotta think that someone, somewhere, somehow stumbles with 
their smartphone. Someone, somewhere, somehow stumbles 
with their computer. Maybe none of you do. That's 
great. That'd be awesome. Maybe some 
men aren't always as pleasant to their wives as they give the 
appearance of. Or maybe some ladies aren't always 
as submissive to their husbands as they might give the appearance 
of. Or maybe you've allowed yourself to be surrounded with things 
that ultimately corrupt you. You know, the Bible is clear. 
We are to be a friend to sinners. We are to imbibe the ethic of 
Jesus and be a friend of sinners. Absolutely. But when we are with 
sinners more than we are with Christians, what can tend to 
happen, at least for weak people like me, is that they tend to 
rub off on me more than I rub off on them. You know my illustration. Again, after almost 18 years, 
you've heard of it. James 1, pure and undefiled religion 
of the sight of God and the Father is this, to visit widows and 
orphans in their distress and to keep oneself unspotted from 
the world. Wear white pants out on a muddy 
day and see if you affect change on that mud. I'm gonna wear the 
white pants and I'm gonna make all those mud puddles turn white. 
That's not what happens. The mud puddles make your white 
pants turn muddy. Maybe you've allowed some of 
these things. Maybe your hand is causing offense. Maybe your eye is looking upon 
things it ought not. Jesus say order a book on Amazon.com, 
read John Owen. Those are all good things. After 
you cut your hand off, after you cut your foot off, and while 
you're looking out of one ocular cavity, then you can read Owen. Use that one good eye to motor 
through John Owen Volume 6. That will be a helpful and blessed 
thing. But it also applies to us causing 
offense. Listen to what Calvin says with 
reference to the second shade. What dreadful vengeance then 
awaits those who by offending shall bring ruin on their brethren. 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." Rob Bell was 
wrong. Any man who has challenged the 
doctrine of hellfire is wrong. Jesus affirms it, Jesus confirms 
it, Jesus calls it everlasting fire in this particular statement 
and in the next he calls it hellfire. 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 hellfire. Again, do not go home today and 
surgically amputate your hand. Do not go home today and take 
a fork and try to pull your eye out. Jesus is not calling you 
to a literalism in this place. He is using a metaphor to underscore 
the great need for radical dealing with sin. Both in our own lives, 
when it comes to what I want to do to gratify my own wicked 
art, or when it comes to others, what I want to make them or entice 
them to do. or cause them to stumble. Brethren, 
Romans 14 says, whatever is not of faith is sin. You cause that 
weak brother to eat something that's lawful in and of itself 
is sin for him. When you weak brothers, when 
you judge the strong, that's a struggle. You don't want to 
be thought ill of by brethren you love and esteem and respect. 
Well, they look down at you like some pariah because you exercise 
a liberty that God has said you can. We're not talking about 
something lawless or unlawful. If God the Lord says you can 
do something, you can do it. And if you judge, say, well, 
I know and I'm this and I'm that, your arrogance is asserting a 
rival lawgiver in the universe, and that's not cool. We need 
to take these things to heart. the weaker, or the stronger, 
want to despise. Don't do that. Well, I learned 
early on that this was my use of liberties. Praise God, you're 
so ingenious. Praise God, you're so wonderful. 
Praise God that you've got to this knowledge, to the place 
where you could teach Bible studies on the doctrine of Christian 
liberty. Don't judge another brother for whom Jesus died. 
If he doesn't want to eat a porterhouse, that means there's more for us, 
brother. Just a joke. This is no small thing is what 
I'm trying to underscore. Well, in terms of some concluding 
thoughts, first, oh, we got another hour. That's great. It's only 
11.20. The one day we're thankful they don't 
touch the clock. We just started. Okay, you can 
take a deep breath, grab your, you know, thigh, wake up. Welcome 
to Hour 2. Just kidding. Just kidding. People 
are going to start running out of here. First, we learn that 
believers are to receive other believers. Whoever receives one 
little child like this in my name receives me. The church 
is to be a community. And I say that word with a degree 
of hesitation because that word has usurped church. Today, church 
sounds so medieval. It sounds so Reformation. It 
sounds so patristic. We're a community, right? We're a community. No, we're 
a church. We are the blood-bought children 
of God Most High. We are that Psalm 87 description, 
God loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwelling places 
of Jacob. Never be afraid to say, I love my church. Now having said that, the church 
is a community of those who ought to receive one another. We are, 
just to burst your bubbles, not going to have everybody be our 
bestest friends. That's just not gonna happen. 
If you're not everybody's best friend, that's okay. Deal with 
it. But we all ought to love each 
other. You get the distinction? You understand? I like to think 
I love all the ladies in the church, but I'm married to one. 
There's special affection, special communion, special union with 
that one. Jesus had 12 close disciples. He takes three to the Mount of 
Transfiguration. He takes three into the Garden 
of Gethsemane. There is one of the three that 
is called the Beloved Disciple. He laid his head upon the bosom 
of Jesus in the Upper Room Discourse. That's probably in us to well 
up and say, why doesn't he lay his head on my bosom? Why is 
John getting all that time with Jesus? We are not to be that 
way. We may not be everybody's bestest 
buddies in the life and the context of the church, but we must love 
the people of God. You must! You don't have a right 
to resist the people of God! That's just not optional! Well, 
you know, Him I like, Him not so much. No. You love all men 
that are in Christ. You're supposed to love everybody, 
right? Hopefully we love the church. Hopefully we love the 
ones for whom Jesus died and rose again. Jesus himself identified 
us this way, "...by this all men will know that you are my 
disciples, if you have love for one another." John 13, 35. What 
is the badge of our profession? If you said the 1689, you're 
wrong. The badge of our profession is 
that we love one another. You may all need to go home, 
as I certainly need to go home and pray, God, increase my love 
for the people of God. I get we're not always all together 
lovely, chief among 10,000. That's set of one, our head. The church in many respects is 
just a, it's a very interesting thing. God saves men from tribe, 
tongue, people, and nation. He sees salesmen from different 
ethnic backgrounds, from different cultural backgrounds, different 
social backgrounds, different economic backgrounds, and he 
throws us all together. Outside, we'd have nothing in 
common. Nothing. But inside we have Jesus 
in common. Inside we're saved. Inside we're 
brothers and sisters. Inside we have everything. Now, certainly we ought to take 
that outside as well. But I'm saying, there are people 
in this congregation that in your former life as an ungodly 
sinner, you probably wouldn't have hung out with. Guess what? You're singing hymns of praise 
to God on a Sunday morning in Chilliwack, British Columbia. 
It truly is an amazing reality. I've often thought only Jesus 
could build his church, because we couldn't. We wouldn't! We'd pick up our own social, 
economic, homogeneous group. We'll all just be over here. 
That's not what it's supposed to look like. I got this zany 
conviction that the church on earth, the church militant, ought 
to image and mirror the church triumphant. When you look at 
Revelation 5 and 7, you see men from every tribe, tongue, people, 
and nation. Our churches ought to reflect that. Every tribe, 
tongue, people, and nation. Because the common bond, or the 
denominator, is the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Secondly, 
we need to understand that this passage enjoins upon us, or teaches 
us, that there will be offense in a godless world. There will 
be offense in a godless world. If no one ever had the courage 
to tell you that, that's the reality. Listen to Jesus. There must be offenses. You're 
not going to walk down the streets and have people, you know, celebrating 
the fact that you're in Christ. Your workmates aren't going to 
say, you know, we love the fact that you never curse, and you 
gently chide us when we do. We love it that you're always 
on time. We love that the boss really loves you because that's 
not going to happen. They're going to be upset about 
that. They're going to try and cause offense. But I think assumed 
in the text, certainly we're going to see it tonight in 2 
Timothy 2, you need to persevere. We need to man up. We need to 
quit ye like men, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians. There is a 
sense, my dear brothers and sisters, that in terms of the community 
of faith, with reference to believer to believer, we need to get a 
lot more sensitive. We need to get a lot more kind. We need to get a lot more gracious 
and a lot more merciful toward those who are in the church. 
But when it comes to those outside the church, we need to man up. 
We need to grow some skin. We need to make sure that we 
do not fall apart at every possible offense that may come our way. 
Listen to what Calvin says again. There are few who make tolerable 
progress in the faith of Christ. And of the few who have begun 
to walk in the way of salvation, there is scarcely one in ten 
who has the courage to persevere till he reaches the goal. You've 
professed faith in Christ. Get up and run. Get up and go. Pick up your Bible, go to your 
knees and pray, be in church, feed off the people of God, most 
of all feed off the triune God, and run. Perseverance is needful. And then lastly, the damning 
danger of causing others offense. The context, I hope, sufficiently 
illustrates the gravity of this. Let the words of Proverbs 6, 
19 ring in your ears. Proverbs 6, these six things 
Yahweh hates, yea, seven are an abomination to Him. Yahweh 
hates hands that shed innocent blood. He hates abortion. He hates euthanasia. He hates 
hands that shed innocent blood. We can certainly affirm and confirm 
that 100%. 19 says, he hates those who sow 
discord among the brethren. Sows discord. causes stumbling 
blocks, promotes offense, sets traps. Do you think God looks 
upon you and all your unbridled zeal seeking to legislate where 
he does not? Or seeking to exercise liberty 
where he has not said not? You say, wow, I'm so proud of 
him. No, he abominates those who sow discord among the brethren. The prevalence of this sin is 
seen not only in the New Testament documents, the history of the 
church is sufficiently able to reveal to you that this indeed 
happens. And probably your own history 
over the last week, if you're thinking biblically, you're thinking 
honestly and you're thinking accurately, why is it that we 
look down upon other brothers and sisters? The penalty confirms 
eternal conscious punishment in 8 and 9, the Lord affirms 
that execution by drowning via a millstone pulled by a donkey 
hung around one's neck is preferable to what becomes 
of those who offend little ones for whom Jesus died. Some people 
take the illustration of this millstone pulled by a donkey. Well, that's just ludicrous. 
That couldn't really happen. Exactly. Jesus uses ludicrous 
illustrations. When Jesus says, you're like 
the man who strains out the gnat, but swallows the camel, He's 
really trying to get you to react. And in this instance, the same 
thing. That stone hung around that net, thrown into not just 
the sea, but the depths of the sea. That is a walk in the park. That is happy days again. That 
is joy and bliss and all good things. over everlasting fire, 
over conscious eternal punishment in the lake of fire that will 
befall those who cause these little ones to stumble. We'll 
praise God Almighty for the blood. Because if we do reflect on Romans 
14, and we do reflect on 1 Corinthians 8-10, and we do reflect on our 
early history, or probably contemporary history as Christians, we can 
probably see that we have done this. We have caused brethren 
to stumble. We have been a cause of offense.