I want you to turn, please, to the longest chapter in the Bible, Psalm 119, where the 176 verses give reference to the Word of God in every verse. Toward the end of those 176 statements about God's Word, the Lord makes a statement about what it takes to offend a person who loves His Word. I want you to look at it please, that's Psalm 119, verse 165. Great peace have they which love thy law. That's the Word of God. And nothing shall offend them. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, please give direction by the Holy Spirit Empower, we pray, your word as it goes out. Speak to all of our hearts, and may Jesus Christ be glorified as we see decisions made in hearts. For Jesus' sake, amen. Great peace have they which love thy law, and nothing shall offend them. Great peace Every blessing connected with peace comes your way whenever you love the Word of God. And nothing, and nothing, He states, shall offend them. The pastor in a town, in a small town was walking down the street one day, and up ahead he saw two ladies of his congregation walking opposite directions And as each approached the other, they both turned their heads to avoid speaking to one another. Well, as the one coming toward the pastor met him, he stopped her and he wanted to know what was wrong between them. And she said, well, she said, you know that she has chickens. He said, yes, well, you know, I have flowers. And the pastor said, yes, well, her chickens got into my flowers and we're not speaking. Sounds ridiculous, doesn't it? But great peace have they which love thy law, and nothing shall offend them. I've known of Christians to quit speaking to one another over barking dogs. I knew of two families, church-going families live next door to each other. One had a concrete driveway and sometimes visitors would pull in on that concrete driveway. When they'd open the door of the car, they'd step out. Sometimes they'd step over on the grass. Well, the next door neighbor said, my property line runs right next to that concrete driveway. I don't like for people stepping on my grass. So you know what he did? Went out with a handful of nails and just strode them up and down next to the driveway so anybody steps on them, they could stick a nail in their feet. Great peace have they which love thy law, and nothing shall offend them. Question, what does it take to offend you? Someone said, if you carry a chip on your shoulder, it's a sign of a block of wood higher up. What does it take to offend you? Number one, I want you to write down please the offended and turn with me to the book of Matthew. As we're looking at word study today, this is a Bible conference, and sometimes you can go expositionally, sometimes you can go with word studies or all kinds of things, but I just want to share with you, whenever the Bible says, Great peace have they which love thy law, and nothing shall offend them. There are several different meanings to different words that are translated offend in the scriptures, but the only ones that I'm dealing with in today's Message has to do with those that mean to cause to stumble. To cause to stumble. Great peace have they which love thy law, and nothing shall offend them, or nothing will cause them to stumble. Look please at Matthew 18. Matthew 18 and look at verse 6. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones, which, believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that it were drowned in the depth of the sea." In Matthew 18 verse 6, reference is given to those who may be easily offended. Who are they? He said, who so shall offend one of these, what are the next two words, Glantz? Little ones. In what sense? Well, go back to verse 2. Jesus called a little child unto Him and set Him in the midst of them. So you know specifically that He is talking about little children. But as you're looking at it, then you know certainly the Lord does not want us to offend or to cause little children to stumble. He would not want you to cause a child to stumble in the way of salvation. Make sure that if you're giving gospel to children, that they understand exactly what it means to receive Jesus Christ as personal Savior. Do not cause them to stumble. However, notice please in verse 3, Jesus also said, Verily I say unto you, except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter the kingdom of heaven. So as he's speaking to adults, he said that these adults also needed to become as little children. Then you go to verse 6, but who shall offend one of these little ones? Therefore, we ought to make sure that the plan of salvation is plain and clear and simple to everybody. Never want to cause anybody to stumble in the way of salvation. Then you talk about newborn Christians as being babes in Christ. All right, yes, we might expect them to be easily offended. But could I ask you some questions? How long should Christians remain babes? Great peace have they which love thy law, and nothing shall offend them. Have you ever noticed children You can offend children, doesn't take them long to get over it, does it? They bounce back. They may be angry for a moment, back playing again the next moment. The only grudges held by children are those promoted by adults. Now listen carefully, if you're easily offended like a little child, get over it just as quickly as a little child. Don't allow someone to cause you to stumble and to fall to where you just lie there and cry about it. Get up and let's go for Jesus Christ. When I was a boy, we used to shoot marbles. This younger generation hardly knows what it is, I'm sure, just to shoot marbles. That was our major sport. No, seriously. We would get those big marbles, and we would draw the circle, put the marbles in it, and then we would get down it. By the way, my dad never allowed us to play for keeps. He said, no, you're not going to do that. You can shoot marbles if you want to, but don't play for keeps. But invariably, somebody in a game of marbles would start cheating, and if they were called on it, they'd say, I'll take my marbles and go home. They'd get offended. What does it take to offend you? What does it take to cause you to stumble. Write down number two, the offenders. The offended and the offenders. Certainly the desire of all believers ought to be to never offend or cause anyone to stumble. if they be babes in Christ or if they be little children. You ought never to desire to offend anyone or cause anyone to stumble. Let's go please to 1 Corinthians chapter 8 for just a moment. 1 Corinthians chapter 8. Paul said in 1 Corinthians chapter 8, in verse 13, If meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend." Now let's look at it for just a moment. Paul indicated if there is anything in my life that I can adjust to keep from causing my brother to stumble, I want to do it. Are you getting the message? Look at verse 12. And by the way, look back up to verse 11 for just a moment. And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish for whom Christ died. So he speaks of the weaker brother. And then in verse 12, he said, but when ye sin so against the brethren and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ. He said if you cause someone to stumble when you could make a correction on that matter, then you are sinning against Christ. Make adjustments necessary within the limits of the Word of God so as not to be offensive or to cause someone to stumble. I'm not talking about to compromise the Word of God. Oh, no. I am talking about the matters of your personal life. Is there anything that will cause someone else to stumble because of an action or something that you say, anything you would do in your personal life? In Paul's day, the problem arose concerning the matter of eating meat that was offered to idols. Paul said, I don't have any problem with eating the meat. I'm not worshiping those idols, even though I'm eating the meat of the sacrifices. It would not bother me in the least. But, he said, if it causes my brother, my weak brother, to stumble, then I won't eat the meat. I was in my first pastorate a number of years ago, excuse me, I started to say a number of years ago, back in the dark ages. It was over 42 years ago when I started pastoring my first church. And I remember as my wife and I were young at the time that there would be young people that would just frequent our home. I didn't have a youth pastor, didn't have anybody on the staff but just me. And so therefore, young people would come by, just frequent our house. We enjoyed a good time with them. Well, rather than for them just to sit and gossip, we decided, all right, we'll pull out table games and let you play games while you're at our house. Well, in the process, we pulled out different kinds of games and we pulled out Monopoly. Anybody here ever played Monopoly? Oh, most of you have. Well, in the process, of course, of playing Monopoly, the word got out to one of the deacon's wives that the pastor was having the young people to play Monopoly. You've got those little dice that are with the game. He's teaching our young people to gamble. So when I got the word, because she didn't come to me, she was going to other people. And whenever she went to other people telling about it, the word came back to the pastor. So I just politely got in my car, drove over to their house. The deacon came to the door. When he came to the door, I said, I'd like to talk with your wife. I could tell he was a little nervous. And so he turned, walked away. And I said, hey, come back here. I said, I want you to stay here and listen to what I've got to say to your wife. I said, ma'am, I said, I understand that our playing monopoly at our house is offending you. It's disturbing you. I don't want to disturb you as your pastor. So ma'am, I'll tell you what, if our playing Monopoly disturbs you, we will put our Monopoly game away and will not play Monopoly again as long as I'm your pastor." And we did not. However, I said, ma'am, I said, there's also something about you that offends me. And she said, what's that? I said, it is your tongue. I said, next time you have something to say about Pastor Man, would you please come to me instead of going to everybody else in the church and telling them about it? I guess I was a weak brother, but I got offended. No, seriously. I mean, here's the thing though. If there was a matter in my life that would cause her to stumble, I said, no, I don't want to do it. No matter how simple it is. There are other offenders, by the way, other than people. Turn please to Matthew chapter 5. Matthew chapter 5. In Matthew chapter 5, look at verse 29. Christ is speaking and He said, "...and if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, cast it from thee, for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. So you know he's speaking here in regard to unsaved people having things that offend them. However, notice on, and if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, cast it from thee, for it is unprofitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. Go please to Matthew 18. Matthew 18, look at verse 8. After he's spoken concerning the matter of offending little ones, he goes to verse 8. Wherefore, if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off and cast them from thee. It is better for thee to enter into life hauled or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, cast it from thee. It is better for thee to enter into life with one eye rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire. I'm not so naive as to assume that everybody who comes to a Christian college comes in saved. There may be some student, some person who is here today, and as you walked into this service, and you may profess to know Jesus Christ, but I don't know your heart. What could be keeping you from really trusting the Lord in your own soul? Could it be some part of you that has such a flesh craving? that you want to do what your eye wants you to see, you want to walk where your feet want you to walk, you want to handle what your hands want you to handle, you want to follow after the flesh rather than to receive Jesus Christ as your Savior, I would trust that you would repent of sin and receive Jesus Christ today. However, just because you got saved, doesn't mean that your eye, your hand, or your foot may not offend you or cause you to stumble. Last night, Brother Davison was talking about the possibilities of different things that might cause you to want to look at things. What about the internet? What about pornography? What about the magazines? What about going places you have no business to go? What about your feet taking you? What about you wanting to put your hands where you have no business putting them? So although you may be saved by the grace of God, you need to take into consideration that there are things of your own body that may cause you to stumble. Several years ago, Dr. Lee Roberson was preaching from these passages in Matthew, in Chattanooga, Tennessee when he was pastoring. And he was talking about offensive eyes and hands and feet. There was a man in the congregation in that service that walked outside the church, took out his pocket knife and literally cut his eye out of its socket. He was found walking down the street with his eyeball hanging down on his cheek and blood coursing down his cheek. And when someone found him, they rushed him to the emergency room at the hospital and he was treated. However, his eye was gone. And you may respond, well, brother man, that's awful. And it is. But if a person's eye keeps you from getting saved, and if afterward he got saved, surely the loss of his eye would be worth it. And by the way, I'm not promoting today that you go outside and gouge your eye out. But do your eyes, do your hands, do your feet cause you to stumble? Let's go please to another member that might cause you to stumble. Go to the book of James. James chapter 3 and verse 2. James 3 and verse 2. For in many things We offend all, or we cause all to stumble. If any man offend not in word, the same as a perfect man enable also to bridle the whole body. So he mentions this member of the body, which is the tongue. If we could ever get our tongues under control, so James indicates, we would be those spiritual mature people to the point that we could control our eyes, we could control our feet, we could control our hands, because the tongue is the hardest member to bring under control. What does it take to offend you? The offended the offenders. Number three, write down the offended unexpectedly. The offended unexpectedly. Go please to Mark chapter 14. We're talking about unexpected offenses then. You kind of expect your mouth sometimes to become offensive. You expect your eyes, your hands, your feet. You may expect someone else to offend you, but sometimes we get the idea that, hey, look, I'll never be offended. I'll never be caused to stumble. Well, look please at Mark 14 and verse 27. Jesus saith unto them, all ye shall be offended because of me this night. And by the way, he was talking about the matter of notice. It is written, I will smite the shepherd and the sheep shall be scattered. So he's indicating because of his going to the cross that they would stumble. They did not expect their Messiah to go to the cross and die. They expected him to go to the throne and to reign. But he said, he did not compromise his death. He still went through it. He didn't compromise the word of God. But he said, all ye shall be offended because of me this night. Every one of you will be caused to stumble. Look please at verse 29. But Peter said unto him, although all shall be offended, yet will not I. Lord Jesus, if everybody stumbles, I won't stumble. I'm not going down. I'll stand for you all the way to the cross. Wherever you go, I'll stand. Isn't it strange how strong our pride makes us think we are? Isn't it strange? How our pride makes us, watch it now, think we love the Word of God. Great peace have they which love thy law, and nothing shall offend them. Isn't it strange how our pride makes us think that our great peace will never be disturbed Great peace have they which love thy law. Well, brother man, don't you realize I'm here as a Bible college student. I love the Word of God. So you think you'll never fall. You think you'll never stumble. Let me share with you a thing that is right now taking place with my personal ministry. A man by the name of Paul, I'll just call him Paul. Paul, a man who's a retired military man after 20 years. A man with a college degree. After getting out of the military, teaching in a public school, public high school. Paul very active in our church. Several weeks ago, I got a call from Paul. I could tell by the phone call that Paul was very distraught. I had a heavy schedule, but I said, well, Paul, I said, I'll get to you just as soon as I possibly can. I'll try to get there today. I got to his home and he met me at the door. And when he met me at the door, Paul was weeping. And he said, Pastor, come in. I've got to talk to you. He took me in. He sat me down on the other side of his dining room table. And he sat on one side, I on the other. His wife sat next to him. Three fine boys, outstanding young people. Paul sat there and he began to sigh. He said, pastor, he said, I got saved. He said, for 24 years, he said, I've had a clean testimony for Jesus Christ. But he said, after 24 years, he said, I am accused of some things going on at the school. He said, if I'm proven guilty of those things, he said, pastor, I'm going to have to do time in prison. Then he went on to say, let me tell you, he said, I'll just be honest with you. He said, because I've got to open up and just confess my sins. His wife got up and walked out of the room because she didn't want to hear what he had to say. But here's a man after 24 years of an impeccable testimony for Jesus Christ, who has fallen into immorality, not with one, not with two. He had 11 different accusations from students against him. I said, Paul, when did you start stumbling? When did you start going down? And in tears he said, Pastor, he said, a few months ago, he said, I quit having my daily devotions. I quit praying. I quit looking to the Lord. And he said, Pastor, I've stumbled. I've fallen. And this next week, He is to get his sentence. Immorality with minors. It has stunned us. I'll never fall. Don't ever think you will never fall. You had better stay on guard every moment of your life. Great peace have they which love thy law, and nothing shall offend them. If you don't stay in the word of God, you can fall just as easily as anyone else. And your peace will be gone. It caught this Paul unexpectedly. It caught Peter the apostle unexpectedly. What will it take to cause you to stumble and fall? The offended unexpectedly. But I don't want to leave you there. Let's go to number four. The victorious expectedly. I'm going to make a paradoxical statement, if you don't mind. The strong Christian is a dead Christian. That's a paradox. But the strong Christian is a dead Christian. Look at Romans chapter 6 verse 11. Likewise, reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15 verse 31, I die, how often class? Daily. I die daily. The strong Christian is a dead Christian. What do you expect a dead person to do? You stick him with a pen. What does he do? You hit a dead person with an uppercut. What does he do? You kick him in the shin. What does he do? You spit in his face. What does he do? Excuse me, if he has any reaction at all, I'll tell you one thing, he's not dead. And I can also assure you something else. He won't have victory over those areas until he dies. And neither will you. But what does it take to offend you? What does it take to cause you to stumble? Somebody's reaction toward you about something? If you're dead, you won't have any reaction. Reckon yourself to be dead. Dear pastor friend of mine, I call him one of my preacher boys. Thing is, he's in his mid-fifties, hardly a preacher boy, but the thing is that he was a deacon in a church where I was pastor a number of years ago when he surrendered to the call to preach. He was married, had three children. He pulled up stakes, left a good paying job, went to school for eight years, four years of college, four years of seminary. went out into the pastorate. He's been serving the Lord for many years now. A few days ago, I received a phone call that Kent Michonne's wife was in the hospital. Kent is now pastor at Port St. Lucie, Florida. In the past, Kent would call me up And whenever he would call me and I'd answer the phone, he'd say, Brother Paul? And I'd recognize his voice and I'd say, yes. He said, this is Timothy. I'm calling you to get some advice. So the other day when I got word that his wife was in the hospital and quite sick, I called him. I said, Brother Kent, I understand Rosetta's in the hospital. And he went on to describe to me her physical situation two days ago, Wednesday. Two days ago, Kent and Rosetta got the word that Rosetta has bone cancer in its last stages. I said, Brother Kent, we love you and Rosetta. I want to know how you're doing. By the way, I learned a long time ago that the only man in the church who does not have a pastor to call on is the pastor. So every time I know of a Bible preaching pastor who faces some difficult days, I like to call him and help him if I possibly can. So I said, Kent, I'm just concerned about you and Rosetta and about how you're doing." Kent said, well, pastor, he said, we're doing fine. He said, if God does not see fit to let Rosetta live, he said, oh yes, I want her to live. She's been a blessing to me. We've got some precious children. He said, I want her to live. I want her to get well. But he said, I don't think this thing caught God by surprise. So he said, I just want you to know, he said, all my life, ever since I got saved, he said, I've endeavored to do God's will for my life. I've wanted to follow the Lord's direction. And he said, I feel that I have, and I feel I'm exactly where the Lord would have me to be. And pastor, I'm not going to let this disturb my peace. I said, glory to God. Great peace have they which love thy law, and nothing shall offend them. Not even death itself is going to serve them bad. You may measure your spiritual depth this morning by your death to self and how deeply you are buried in the word of God. great peace have they which love thy law, and nothing shall offend them. Heads about. Father,