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! 8 And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.
The Parable of the Lost Sheep
10 “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven. 12 What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? 13 And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. 14 So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish. Matthew 18: 7-14 ESV
Matthew 18: 7-14
…11But now I am writing you not to associate with anyone who claims to be a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a verbal abuser, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat. 12 What business of mine is it to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? 13God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked man from among you.”… 1 Corinthians 5: 11-13
Woe to the world for temptations to sin - The world is against God in it's ideas, claiming autonomy over things that God made. We make the world aware of sin, we stand up for righteousness, but ultimately God will judge the world now and there will be a final judgment in the end which will also bring an end to this world's system. He is preparing his disciples so they can prepare the church, letting them know that the world is not going to be as excited as your are about your salvation. They probably won't celebrate your turning from the darkness they embrace to the light of the gospel truth. Knowing this, we need to be careful in how we answer the culture, making sure we are not speaking solely from tradition or preference, but actually clearly stating what God supports through careful study and understanding of His word.
For it is necessary that temptations come - In other words, in a fallen world, we should expect no more or no less. As you are being born again, coming alive in Christ through the working of the Holy Spirit, being sanctified, there will be things that offend you now that wouldn't have before. The world will be looking for new and even more bazaar ways to push the envelope of offense, and when you don't comply, when you don't agree, then they will first say it's because you are repressed. It will beckon you to a faux light, claim to offer freedom and enlightenment, and some tares will become present at this time. Then some of those tares will take up the world's message, bring it into the church, and they will help lead others off the cliff of conscience. Now the real church will be small, but shine gloriously, and they will now move to calling her a bigot for not sharing their ideals. Your friends will treat you like a leper, and more tares will appear. They will come after your job, for people who do not embrace the dark are a light they do not wish around, exposing the things they like to keep hidden. It is much easier to hate you from afar, to attack the character they assign to you, rather than have you return good for their evil. Many will tempt you by hunger, by friendship, by "Christians" who are not Biblical and therefore not Christian. Jesus is preparing His church for something contrary to the revolution that others would like. This is not political, and the children in the last section were a representation of a spiritual reality, so Christ prepares them for a battle as sojourners, with no earthly stakes. We are being set free to forgive, and to love our enemies. These temptations God will judge, but He has also sovereignly allowed them to test the faithful, to separate the sheep from the goats.
…22Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. “Far be it from You, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to You!” 23But Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me. For you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” 24Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.… Matthew 16: 22-24
…23Jesus answered, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with Me will betray Me. 24 The Son of Man will go just as it is written about Him, but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed. It would be better for him if he had not been born.” 25Then Judas, who would betray Him, said, “Surely not I, Rabbi?” Jesus answered, “You have said it yourself.”… Matthew 26: 23-25
1Now the Spirit expressly states that in later times some will abandon the faith to follow deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons, 2influenced by the hypocrisy of liars, whose consciences are seared with a hot iron. 3They will prohibit marriage and require abstinence from certain foods that God has created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.… 1 Timothy 4: 1-3
…3And when you do ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may squander it on your pleasures. 4You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world renders himself an enemy of God. 5Or do you think the Scripture says without reason that the Spirit He caused to dwell in us yearns with envy?… James 4: 3-5
If your hand or foot causes you to sin - Is this the cause, could you not help it? Was it your feet that just carried you where your mind did not want to go, did your hand reach out to steal what your heart did not covet? Is it God's fault for giving you eyes so that you can see, have they caused you to lust as well? No, it is of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. This takes us back again to the sermon on the mount, and hopefully the disciples were paying attention. Certainly it would be better to give up any of these bodily parts rather than forfeit eternity, but this is pointing them to a matter of the heart, you need a new one.
27You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ 28But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.… Matthew 5: 27-29
…9Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. 10Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. 11Cast me not away from Your presence; take not Your Holy Spirit from me.… Psalm 51: 9-11
…26I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and to carefully observe My ordinances. 28Then you will live in the land that I gave your forefathers; you will be My people, and I will be your God.… Ezekiel 36: 26-28
If I cut off my right hand, I can still sin with my left. If my left eye is gouged out, my right eye can still sin – and if all such members are gone, I can still sin in my heart and mind. God calls us to a far more radical transformation than any sort of bodily mutilation can address. - Enduring Word
See that you do not despise one of these little ones - As leaders in the church the disciples were not to be respecters of persons, not to look down on people because they are young, old, mentally slower, or awkward, these were Christ's sheep and they were to be loved. We don't show prominence to people because of their financial status, which is a plague in many churches, especially in the charismatic movement where they equate earthly wealth with spiritual maturity. All I will say to that this time is read the book of Job, his friends shared your error. Timothy was bullied because of his age, as someone who was spiritually mature, yet preaching a strong message that they didn't like, so they focused on his being young. This is a very worldly approach, it's like saying you can't speak out against abortion because you are not a woman, that's sexist, all that should matter is not the age, sex, or melanin level of the speaker, but whether or not what they are saying is true. If you have to find and make up ways to kill the conversation, then you haven't proven your side, and this should maybe give you pause to rethink it. Is it an argument from the facts? Is it logical? Does it rely heavily upon emotion?
…10but glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does good, first for the Jew, then for the Greek. 11For God does not show favoritism. 12All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law.… Romans 2: 10-12
33So I sent for you immediately, and you were kind enough to come. Now then, we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has instructed you to tell us.” 34Then Peter began to speak: “I now truly understand that God does not show favoritism, 35but welcomes those from every nation who fear Him and do what is right.… Acts 10: 33-35
Their angels always see the face of My Father - This is where some will go on about guardian angels, but the understanding of this in Scripture can be seen well in Hebrews and in the heavenly accounts of the prophets. The angels are always before the face of God, waiting for His direction, eager to do His will. It only took one of His messengers to kill 185,000 Assyrians. So, the intent here is to know that God is watching and His angels are watching, ready to take His cues. They are profoundly interested in us, our well being, and are ready in an instant.
…13Yet to which of the angels did God ever say: “Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet”? 14Are not the angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation? Hebrews 1: 13-14
…10Concerning this salvation, the prophets who foretold the grace to come to you searched and investigated carefully, 11trying to determine the time and setting to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. 12It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, when they foretold the things now announced by those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.… 1 Peter 1: 10-12
Go in search of the one that went astray - A sure sign of someone belonging to the Lord is that He will not leave them in a back slid state, will not leave them lost, but will send His angels, set out His shepherd's hook and bring them back. Sometimes we are also called to leave the ninety and nine and go on a special mission of mercy, in the hope of reconciling a brother or sister that has strayed. The church is our family, and so as we grow together we grow also in the burden and pain of those who are injured or lost. We leave those who are safe and go out to find the one who needs our help.
It's not the will of My Father in heaven that one of these little ones should perish - And we are to be about His Father's will, as those who have been adopted into His family by the atoning work of Christ. It's too easy to say, yep, they fell, it figures, I always had my doubts about them, but if it were me, if it was me who had stumbled and fell, then I would want their prayers. I would want them to confront me rather than talk about me behind my back, for God has spoken clearly against gossip, and if we don't know for sure, then we may also be guilty of slander. Stop gloating and start praying about the moat in your own eye, and then go find them and try to reason with them as the apple of God's eye, the thing He gave Himself for, and follow the steps that God laid out for either their restoration or to given over for a time to Satan, that their flesh may be destroyed here, but their spirit saved in the end.
1Brothers, if someone is caught in a trespass, you who are spiritual should restore him with a spirit of gentleness. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. 2Carry one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.… Galatians 6: 1-3
19My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, 20consider this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and cover over a multitude of sins.… James 5: 19-20
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