We are not leaving the subject of conscience or stumbling blocks. We are amplifying it and we will look at that here today. Matthew chapter 18, we're going to read a fairly lengthy passage. If you have any condition that makes it difficult for you to stand a little longer, please don't hesitate to remain seated. Otherwise, please stand with me and we will give our attention to the inspired, infallible, and preserved Word of God. Matthew 18, beginning in verse 1, At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, and said, Verily I say unto you, except ye be converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Now before we go any further, you need to make sure of what Christ just said. If we don't have the conversion he's talking about here, there is no kingdom for you. except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whoso therefore, whosoever therefore, shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me." 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 he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe unto the world because of offenses, for it must needs be that offenses come. But woe to that man by whom the offense cometh. 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 halt 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 and 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. Take heed that ye despise not one. Everybody hear the math there? Not one. Not one of these little ones. For I say unto you that in heaven their angel do always behold the face of my father, which is in heaven. For the son of man is come to save that which was lost. How think ye, if a man have a hundred sheep and one of them be gone astray, that they not leave the ninety and nine and go into the mountains and seeketh that which is gone astray? If so be that he find it verily, and if so be that he find it verily, I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep than of the ninety and nine which went not astray. Even so, it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish. Moreover, if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone. If he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church. But if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican. Verily I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, It shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. Amen. We've just been assured that while the context here is church discipline, that when we are gathered in the name of Christ Jesus, He's here. We want to realize and live in that light. Let's pray. Oh, our gracious heavenly Father, how great thou art, how great thou art. Thy faithfulness to us is beyond our comprehension. Day by day, thou dost love us, thou dost bear with us in our weakness, in our slowness to walk in thy truth, in our limitations. Oh, how we praise and thank thee that thy eternal purpose is to carry us forward, to make us like thy precious Son, Jesus Christ. We magnify Thee in this. We thank Thee that the end result isn't simply a chopped and channeled version of what we already are. We thank Thee that we will be like Christ. We will see Him in His glory. We shall see Him as He is and we will be made like Him. And we praise and thank Thee for it. Help us today to grasp that the Church of Jesus Christ is a vital part of that entire holy project. We thank Thee, O God, for Thy purpose before the foundation of the world. We thank Thee that Thou hast moved in the hearts of many in this place and brought us to a saving knowledge of Christ. Now we plead with thee, feed thy sheep today, and I pray that those who do not know thee will be clearly, biblically brought to an understanding of their lostness, and that Jesus Christ is a willing Savior. We pray it all in the name of our Lord and Master. Amen. Please be seated. Pride, like a skunk at a garden party, made its stench known among the disciples of Jesus Christ. That devilish pride moved the disciples to ask Him, who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? Now what prompted their question? Mark's gospel tells us that this eruption of pride happened on the way to Capernaum. He adds this detail. When they reached the house, most likely Peter's house, Jesus asked them a question. What was it that you disputed among yourselves by the way? How did they answer? They held their peace. They said nothing. What held their tongues? Why did they not answer Jesus? Mark's gospel reveals what happened on the way to Capernaum. They had disputed among themselves who should be the greatest. What a shameful scene. Jesus, the meek and lowly one, Jesus the eternal Son of God who made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men. Jesus the Son of Man who came not to be ministered unto but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many. Jesus. understood that the hearts of his disciples were boiling over with pride. As Luke tells us, he knew their thoughts. And Jesus's question exposed it. What were you arguing about? I tell you, when God asks us questions, he's not looking for information. He's looking to expose our hearts to us and to others. He knows. Jesus's question silenced them for a moment. They were like children whose parents caught them doing something that they'd been told not to do. Imagine some of us have had that experience. And this is where Matthew picks up. Instead of continuing to argue among themselves about who would be greatest in the kingdom, they look to Jesus to settle the matter. Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? So Jesus answered their question. He put a little child amid them, and said, except ye be converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Now this is chapter 18. In chapter 16, Peter had said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And everybody agreed. But now, the Lord is setting a very sober warning before them. And that is not unusual throughout the Gospels. There's always a balance in the things that Christ says. And it's important for us to know those gospels clearly enough and all of scripture clearly enough to understand that a balance is a very important thing with God and it should be for us. Whosoever therefore, says Christ, shall humble, shall humble himself. Whose responsibility is it to humble? Oh, I can't do anything. Only God can do it. Hmm, I don't know what Jesus says here. It's true, we can't do any good thing without the Spirit of God. But if we have the Spirit of God, which every born-again believer has, You have the ability to obey the living Christ. You have the goods. You have the power. You have the ability to obey the Lord Jesus. It is his glorious spirit and grace. But that is exactly why we are made new creatures, given new hearts, given The gift of the Holy Spirit. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. I mean, there are brawny fishermen. There are tax collectors in this group. Men, grown men. And Jesus says, you see this child? Here's the model for it, guys. Humble yourself like this little child. You can imagine a little child standing among a group of men. That might be a little intimidating to some. Jesus goes on to say, whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. Now that applies to every one of God's children. That also means then if we stumble or if we reject God's Christ's children, we're rejecting the Savior. That puts a very serious edge on this paragraph. Jesus said, this is mine, my kingdom, and in my kingdom, all my children are precious, all of them. One of the well-known slogans in our day, or at least in some circles, is don't mess with Texas, right? Christ is saying, these are mine, don't mess with them. in a sinful way. If you receive them, you're receiving me. Oh, the closeness between Christ and His people is astonishing. Then came the warning, but whoso shall offend one And 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 he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Now let me ask you just before we go any further, how important do you hear the people of God are to Christ? Do you think Christ takes seriously what you say and do regarding his people? He's just said it. And he's put a very high price tag on it. 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 he were drowned in the depths of the sea. That's a violent image. Millstones in those days were often up to 100 pounds. Jesus is saying one of the biggest weights around that you deal with on a daily basis, you know what they are, that ought to be tied to your neck and you'd be cast into the midst of the sea. You would be out of sight and gone very quickly. For what? For stumbling one of his children. That's sober. In this context, the word offend means cause to stumble into sin, or to hinder, hinder, to hinder one's walk with Jesus. Well, you know, God's sovereign, God's got all power, God's got all grace. I mean, he's just gonna handle all this, right? Well, yes, but when he saves us, He brings us into his family. He gives us everything necessary to walk with him. And he expects us to write checks on that treasure. He wants us to trust him and that four letter word obey him. So. To offend one of God's little children is a serious matter. I've not taken that seriously throughout my whole walk. And I'm deeply grieved that I haven't. Because as we look at this, I can't think of certain things that I've done that in my evaluation of things would have been so terrible to anybody. But when I began to understand stumbling blocks and the importance of someone's conscience, I realized I have violated what Christ has said. And I'm thankful that in his precious blood, he has cleansed my stumbling others. Now let me be clear about this. Jesus, the expression of God's love to this world, said to his disciples that it would be better to drown than to stumble one believer. So the title of our message is Stumbling Your Congregation. This is part one. May our loving Heavenly Father make His presence known in our midst by the power of His Spirit. This is God's temple. There should be something about it that speaks of His power. And may Christ, the head of the church, open our hearts to receive His Spirit-breathed Word. These are words of life. May Christ help them, help us to take them in. So we've had a major heading over the last couple of months, maybe a little longer than that. In what ways can we stumble others? That's the general idea that we're working under. We've seen that we can stumble others in our family. We have learned that the Spirit breathes scriptures from the Spirit breathes scriptures that husbands and wives can stumble one another. Parents can stumble their children and children can stumble their parents and siblings if they have siblings. Siblings. Let us always remember Solomon's wise words. Every head of his home needs to take this seriously. He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind. Nevertheless, by faith in Christ Jesus, by his super abounding grace, by his never ceasing intercession for us, By the Holy Spirit's empowering presence, and by repentance and mortification of sin, we can overcome and heal any problem in our homes. We can. There's hope for God's people. Our Father wants to see our homes honoring Him. And He gives us what we need to do that. Now, You will never have a perfect home. But you will always have a perfect Savior. So we can stumble others in our congregation moving from our earthly families to God's heavenly family. We can, I wish it weren't so. I wish we had some kind of, there used to be these old things on cars, curb feelers, they looked like some kind of insect thing that was hanging from your car, but they would feel the curb and let you know you were getting too close to it when you were trying to parallel park, and when you were trying to park in any tight situation. Wouldn't it be great if we all had one like that when it comes to offending God's children? You're getting close. Be careful. Lights. Trying to get your attention here. You're about to stumble one of God's children. Well, believe it or not, if we would give ourselves to the memorization and the contemplation of Scripture by the power of the Holy Spirit, we can start having that sensitivity. It only comes by self-denial. So, this chapter in Matthew's gospel makes all of this abundantly clear. It should grieve our souls to think that we can grieve one of God's children. But we can. I wish I could say I never have. So sorry for the rest of you that do, but that's not the case. I don't even have to try to offend. I can even do, as Peter did, something I think was good, but ends up being the wrong thing at the wrong time. It should drive us to pray against it. That is, grieving God's children, stumbling God's children. It should drive us to pray. Lord, as I come to the gathering of thy people today, let me come seeking peace. Let me come without grudge. Let me come to encourage and bless. It isn't just, oh, oh, I want something from the service. It's not wrong to be hungry. It's not wrong to come and say, oh, I want to meet with God. I want to know his power. I want the fellowship of the saints. That's all fine. But what are you coming to give? Not just what are you coming to get. Are you coming with your brothers and sisters in mind intent on edifying them and building peace? Or do you have your little things that irritate and aggravate you and so you just kind of avoid that part of the congregation and just hang with your buds? That's not biblical Christianity. Every one of Christ's little children is important to him. Sometimes we all ought to be flocking to the weaker parts, the uncomely parts, as Paul calls it. After everybody flocks to me at the end of the service, I will know what you're thinking. But the fact is, We want to know. We want to worship and adore and engage with our God. There are certain things that kill that. That's exactly why Paul said, don't grieve the Holy Spirit. That'll show back up as we come to this issue about stumbling the congregation. That's certainly what Paul was saying to the Corinthians. Therefore, the idea of stumbling another should move us to avoid it at all costs. If we can get out of the me, it's about me and what I get, if we can get out of that, and like, what can I do to encourage my brothers and sisters? Who is it in the congregation that I don't really know that well that I need to go and get to know? You might find out Maybe you've been missing the greatest prayer partner in your life. You don't know what you're missing if you don't know the people that God brings here. So it is quite clear from this entire chapter that you can stumble God's people and we will see that. I will give a very brief exposition of these verses. Now, I did a number of sermons on this when we went through Matthew, but we're going to come to it and freshen it up a little bit, make it a bit more concise. So, Paul would later write that the household of God was built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets. Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone in whom all the building, all right, the whole building, in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord. God's has a construction company, if I can say it that way. He's all about building. He's all about building. Listen, in our day, many don't like this language. He's about building his churches. I don't need the churches. I'm OK. I don't need the churches. Oh, they're all a bunch of hypocrites anyway. You hypocrite. Jesus called you to his churches. There is no Christianity without his churches. That's what Jesus died on Calvary's cross to bring into this world. Well, I thought it was just about to save me and take me off to heaven. Well, you've got some schooling to do before that. And this is the school. You need some nursing. Here's the nursery. You need to be taught how to fight the battle. Here it is. This is what God has appointed, the church of Jesus Christ. I mean, you notice that the book of Revelation doesn't begin with, all right, well, now I'm gonna go out and talk to just a bunch of people now. No, he speaks to seven churches. Jesus shed his blood to build his church. Jesus himself said, I will build my church. So Paul says it's a building and it is fitly framed together growing into an holy temple in the Lord. Gathering here is important. But we need to understand what's going on. A church is not simply, quote, a building in which you go hear a sermon. Now, it can include that. But the church of the living God is a living structure. It's a living building. It's fitly framed by God through the power of His Spirit in the light of His Word. You are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. This is a real thing. And do you believe that? Or do you just come and see whether you get a five or a six or a nine point sermon? This is living. This is an organism as much as it is an organization. It is to be in order, says Paul. First Corinthians 1440. Let all things be done decently and in order. Where? In the church. It's his building. It's his habitation. That's hard for me to get. There are days when I wake up and I don't think the living God is living in me. All I can feel is the weight of dragging this flesh around. But sometimes, that's one of the sure signals that he's there. The more you see who you are, the more God's been at work. Because you're gonna, if you're the one painting the picture of who and what you are, oh, it's gonna be so pretty. It's just gonna be like, oh, it's just lovely. But when you come to the word of God and he begins to show you who and what you are, you realize, I need a savior. And there is one. The Lord Jesus Christ. He's given us everything infinitely necessary to be saved and kept for the glories of the kingdom to come. God is building. He's building a temple. This is his address. Not 2603 West Wright Street. But you. This is God's living building. You're a living stone. I can't press this enough. Jesus, the power of heaven and earth, dwells within every one of his children, every one. I mean, you know, let's be honest. You know, we can look at some people and go, hmm, hmm. Maybe he just doesn't have much of the Spirit. I know he's probably lost because he doesn't agree with me. That's a bad posture. We need to know and to love God's children because he does. It's not just the little pals you hang with. Paul was speaking plainly. of the church of Jesus Christ in Ephesians 2. The foundation of the apostles and prophets does not mean the men in and of themselves. It means the revelation of Jesus Christ, His gospel, His church, His kingdom that they proclaimed. That's the foundation. It's not just men. It's the Christ that they preached to the world. That's the foundation. Jesus Christ was and is the reason for creation. I mean, creation is not here just to argue with atheists. You're missing the point. I mean, we want to defend the faith. That's fine. We can defend creation. I'm not attacking that. I'm saying if that's all you're thinking about when you think of creation, you're missing the point. This world, this universe was created through Christ for Christ. He is the reason for creation, the purpose of human history, the focus of the Bible, the light and glory of God in this world, and the coming king of God's eternal kingdom. There's no one like him, never has been, never will be exactly like him. He is unique. But God's purpose is to make us like him. You're still gonna be you. But somehow it's going to be more like Christ than you ever were. His church is important to him. Don't miss this. The whole issue of God's eternal decree, predestination, all of that. Is it just about you being saved? It is about the glorious people, plural, of God that are going to be the blessed bride to Christ for all eternity. Jesus loved his church before the foundation of the world. He loved his church by dying upon Calvary's cross and rising again the third day to redeem it. He loves his church now and intercedes for her every moment of her existence. He loves his church. and will return to take her to himself. We had that so beautifully preached to us last Wednesday. If you have not heard last Wednesday's message, I urge you to do so as soon as you can. It's wonderfully encouraging. Jesus is going to return and take us to Himself. Why? Because He loved us before the foundation of the world. He purposed to become the prophet, priest, and king for us. He purposed to become the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world. He loves His people, every one of them. Every one of them. Don't stumble them. Encourage them. Build them up in the faith. And when you don't, repent quickly. Jesus will love and reign with His church for all eternity. He's wanted us from eternity, he will have us for eternity. That's how much he loves us. In order to have us, I mean, you know, when young men are interested in young women, not always the case, but generally speaking, they'll do almost anything they can to have that young woman say, okay, I'll marry you. I mean, they'll do anything. Ask Ron McCurdy. There's some men in here that have written some extensive essays for him. That's good practice, by the way. Now, we live in a culture that's me-oriented. And we come into the world like that. Anyway, we don't need any encouragement for everything around us to be about us. Right. But you see, Christ's love changes that. We love him, and the more we love him, the more we love his people. If that's not happening, you need to ask yourself some very serious questions. What's stopping the project? Well now, with these things being said and these things being true, we must consider then the seriousness of the offense of stumbling his congregations. And we will be looking more at the very nature of the church itself But today we're moving through these first passages. Jesus has set the little child before the big men and told them you need to have a radical transformation to enter the kingdom. And it's like becoming like this little child. One thing about little children is their neediness. and their neediness for you all day, every day. Mommy, mommy, mommy. If daddy were here, he'd hear that more often. Daddy, daddy, daddy. But you see, that's exactly the way it ought to be. We ought to be saying, oh Lord, oh Lord, oh Lord, I need you today. Grant me the grace, grant me the strength. I have come to realize how much you love your children. I see it in your becoming man. I see it in your keeping the law in my place. I see it as you hung upon Calvary's cross, the blood streaming from your head, your hands, your sides, your feet. I see your love for your people, the glory of your resurrection, the promise of eternity with you. I see it. Help me not to grieve your people. Help me not to stumble your people. Help me to take what you've given me and encourage and build them with. Because it's a serious offense to stumble your congregation. It has happened here, stumbling your congregation. To stumble just one of Christ's people is a serious offense. What if you stumble an entire congregation? What if you take action? What if you pursue something that causes disruption and heartache and confusion in God's people? It's not okay. To stumble just one is a serious offense against Jesus the Christ. He says so, not I. Every believer Every believer in Christ from the weakest here to those that we might or may even think of themselves as strong. Every single one is His blood-bought property. His completely. So how we treat each other matters. How we speak. Tone of voice. Facial gestures, body language. I mean, there's so many ways we can stumble God's people without even trying. Now, let me tell you, I'm going to say this plainly. I love my wife. I love my bride. It was an old song, not trying to bring up any bad memories for anybody here, just to make this point. Part of the chorus was, I saw your face, and that's the last I've seen of my heart. Now that's just human language, but what's it saying? You're the one. You're the one. My wife. is the one for me. Her name is written on the walls of my heart. You need to be careful what you say about her. When she suffers, I suffer. When she is afflicted, I'm delighted that I can serve her. If I could take away her misery, trials, and afflictions, I would do that. Now, if a weak, sinful blockhead like me thinks for 48 years of that woman, What do you think Christ thinks about his bride? I'm not a good fist fighter. I'm sure you're sighing in relief. But don't mess with my wife ever. What do you think Christ thinks when we mess with his bride. It's a serious offense against him. He says so. Don't you touch, don't you stumble one of my little ones. Every believer in Christ, I repeat, is his blood bought property. He can look at any one of us and go mine and have no opposition. Mine. That's why playing the harlot with the world grieves him deeply. Now, we hear just how serious an offense it is to grieve, to stumble his people, to to cause them not to walk with him as they should. Jesus says in verses 7 through 10 of verse 18, in fact, he warned his disciples, woe unto the world. Now this is interesting. He changes over the world. Why does he do that? Woe unto the world because of offenses, for it must needs be that offenses come. But woe to that man by whom the offense cometh. Hmm. Jesus uses or Jesus's use of the word woe is a cry. It is a pronouncement of judgment and doom. And the world here does not mean the globe we inhabit. It means the satanic world system that lives in slavery to its lusts and its own selfish desires. It means the mass of unbelieving people whose hearts are dark and hardened against the things of God. Jesus pronounced woe upon the wicked world system that stood and stands against God and His kingdom. A world that stands against God's Christ. A world that stands against God's children. There will be no martyrs. whose persecutors will not face the living God in wrath. Unless God in his mercy saves some of them. Now, nothing angers a loving parent, a concerned parent, like someone who tempts or debauches or hurts their child. Not so? My mom was five foot two. In the eyes of the world, that's not a towering person. But if you said anything about me that she didn't like, All five foot two would be in your face. That's part of my problem. But that's it. I mean, this was like the Lord gave her one. That's all she had. And she took up for me. My dad wasn't around very much. But I will tell you what, that five foot two of Irish temper was impressive. Now all of you probably have at least, if you haven't had that experience, maybe you've seen it with somebody else's family. Now I'm not talking about parents being foolish and never acknowledging that their children do wrong things. There's plenty of those, and we've had some here. Oh no, not my children. Well, what do you have in your household? Are they all saints? No, but they couldn't have done that. And very often, you find out later, oh, they did. I'm not talking about that. I'm just talking about the fact that a parent that loves his or her children, cares for them, provides for them, protects them, builds them, doing what they can for them to have a life that looks reasonable. But anybody that wants to tempt or debauch or hurt that child, they're going to be in trouble with that parent. This evil demonic system wars against Christ's little children and does so with all the power it can. The world will do everything it can to stumble you. The powers of darkness are regularly looking for ways, and very often successfully doing so, stumbling you. Christ's little children. The Lord Jesus doesn't sit on His throne and say, well, I've got a few more over here. He's wrapped up with every single one of His children. Every one of them. They matter to Him. And you can't touch them. You can't stumble them. You can't hinder their walk with Jesus that He doesn't notice. And here, Jesus pronounces a certain expectation of God's fierce wrath upon those who mess with his children. Now, that should encourage you. The issue is, are we guilty? We need to sit back and say, Lord, show me where I've done this so that I can repent. When someone leaves this congregation, and many have, over the last two decades, but when people leave, one of the first questions I ask is, have I done anything of which I need to repent? Have I said something? Have I done something? Please give me the opportunity to repent if I have. You don't love somebody if they've sinned against you and you're holding it against them, and you don't tell them. I mean, love covers the multitude of sins. We can look at people. There are people that we know and that we love, and they can sin, and there are times when we just take the blanket of love and just cover over that thing, and it's okay. But if it's something that's always in there burning, you need to talk with them. Let me illustrate this. If you look carefully There's a red bump, a pink bump on my little finger. That hasn't always been with me. Several months ago, my beloved was working in the kitchen and she dropped a big heavy glass top that was from a jar. Boy, it hit our tile floor and shattered. I couldn't even guess how many pieces it shattered into. But there were slivers everywhere. So we did everything we could to clean it up. We took the broom, we took the little broom, we took the big broom, we took the vacuum cleaner. I mean, we did everything we could to get that all clear. You don't want to step on that or come into contact with those slivers another way. Some weeks later, after we thought we'd gotten everything, something else fell to the floor, and I immediately went down on the floor to pick it up for my beloved. And my hand went down on the floor like it would as I was getting down. And I picked up the thing that had fallen and noticed blood running down my finger. I was like, hmm, what did I just do? I barely even felt it. But here's the deal. It was a sliver of that glass. It wasn't huge, but it was still a sharp sliver of glass. It went right up into my finger. And then my body went to work doing what bodies do. It's like, OK, alien substance in the body. Let's deal with this. So it started making a bump and it started doing everything it could to cover that thing up. Now, the problem was, even though it was getting covered up, The glass was still in there and all I have to do is put my hand down and it comes right back. I forget about it until I put my hand down and then I realize there's still a sliver of glass in there. A grudge is a whole lot like that. Someone hurts you, says something, does something, hurts you. just like that sliver of glass. It goes up in there and it hurts. But then after a while, it doesn't hurt so much. Just as the body does everything it can to grow around that foreign, that alien object so that it doesn't hurt the body as much, so does life. But you know what? All it takes is touching that, and you remember. Somebody that's hurt you, eh, you're past that, and then you see them, and it all comes back. That hurt. Someone that you think you've forgiven. Yeah, this is all over, I've done that, you know, yeah, all that. and someone mentions them, maybe in a favorable light, and it's right back. No matter how much of a cushion you get around that grudge, it's still there. And until you get it out, it's gonna stay there, and it's going to affect where you put your hand, how you put your hand. what you use your hand for that you used to, but now you don't. You're gonna do that, and some of you are, in your life. And you'll act like, oh, everything's just fine. Everything's great. Oh, that's water under the bridge. And then you'll see them. Then you'll hear them. Someone will bring them up. Or something comes to your mind, and it hurts, just like the first time. You gotta deal with that. If you're not dealing with that, I guarantee you, you're stumbling people here. Because you're going to avoid this, you're going to avoid that, you don't want to do this, you don't want to do that, because that might hurt again. Some of you know. So the issue is to go to Christ and say, I can't get this thing out of here. Lord, come help me to truly forgive. Help me to repent of this thing I'm carrying around because it's affecting my life. This happens in churches all the time. And I will tell you, if Brother Clarence were standing right here by me, he would say one of the most disappointing things in all the pastorate is to have someone come to you three, four, five, six years later and go, well, you did this. Where were you six years ago? Jesus tells us in this passage how to deal with that. Why didn't you deal with that? Jesus was real. All of his teaching was real. It was all rooted in human beings. So the world's hatred for Christ and his people is certain. It is inevitable. And because of their immaturity, their weakness and their limitations, Christ's people can and do fall into sin. The world is in trouble with Christ because he loves his children. Do you realize that? Is there someone giving you a hard time because you're a Christian? Your head is not missing one detail. Your prophet, your priest, your king is not. I mean, some people think that just because, and the scriptures mention this, just because God doesn't just immediately kill him for doing something, that he's not going to deal with it. Oh no, he's going to deal with everything. Everything. Everything. This is why Jesus goes on. He talks about the world first. Why? Because sin in the world and stumbling is inevitable. It's going to happen. It's a part of living. You're going to work with people in the workplace that may crush your spirit or hurt you. There may be people in the congregation that hurt you. Now, if they're doing it on purpose, then something needs to happen there. Now, if they're not doing it, and it continues to bother you, you eventually need to say, I need to talk with you. privately. Jesus is going to give us that a little further in the chapter. So, the world is in trouble because it hates God's children, it hates God's Word, it hates God's Son, but our Lord goes on to speak about how dreadful for His own people to sin. We expect that from the world. You're going to see it. It's happening. Read the news. Don't read the news if you are trying to avoid depression. So, if thy hand or foot, thy foot offend thee, he moves from the world to speaking to us personally. What does he say? Well, just holler grace and everything will be fine. No. He says, cut your hand off. Pluck your eye out. The context here is the horror of sin. And you as a child of God were set free from its power by the blood, the sacrifice of Christ, and the blessings of a new heart and a new spirit that He's given you. Walk in that. If you can walk in that, you can. This is why Jesus says, He that overcomes, I will. Well, who can overcome? His children. Not just super Christians. His children all have the goods. He hasn't cheated one of his children. But the enemy doesn't want you to know that. The enemy wants you to think, nobody here likes you. Nobody enjoys your company. No one wants you to do this. Or, oh, I saw the way that guy was looking at me. He's judging me. Well, he might be, but he might not. How would you know? Need to find out, because you're going to grieve the Spirit. You're going to grieve yourself in coming to worship the living God. This should be a place where we come joyfully. This should be a joyful center, if I can put it that way. This gathering should know sobriety. It should know solemnity. It should know reverence. But it should know joy, real joy, joy unspeakable. As long as you've got grudges hanging around. You know, that does sound kind of like a creature, doesn't it? A grudge. What did he die of? Oh, a grudge got him. Oh, no. A grudge. I mean, there's just something about the way it sounds. But Jesus is reproving and He's telling us again how wretched sin is. Cut your hand off. Cut your foot off. It offends you. It means causing you to sin. It is better for thee to enter into life halt and maimed rather than to have two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. And if thine eye offend thee, plug it out and cast it from thee. It is better for thee to enter into life with what? What is Jesus telling you? The dreadfulness of sin. This is what this is about. How bad is it? Now he's not telling anybody to really gouge his eye out, but he's saying you need to do whatever you need to do to avoid that sin. And this is in the context of sinning against his people. In other words, it is better to be maimed or disfigured than to sin, if I can put it that way. Now please don't misunderstand me. Jesus is not telling us to literally cut our hands off. But I just give you a really simple example. I've watched this over the years. Are you looking at porn? What have you done to make sure you don't? Are you still looking at it on your phone? Why do you still have that phone? Are you looking at it on your computer? What have you done to avoid that? And we could just take a big long list of various sins, the way you speak to somebody, the way you act towards somebody, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Jesus is telling us how foul, how horrible, how crippling, how corrupting sin is. And He wants us to say, you're right. And then He wants us to look at the cross and see how He in His body bore our sins upon the cross so that we can be free people, free. And that when we fail, we run to Christ, not away from Him. Run to Christ, not away from Him when you fail, when you sin. You need the cross. 40 years after walking with the Lord, as much as you did the first day. You need Christ and Christ is available. Christ isn't. No, sorry, Jeff. No, no, it's been a tough week, man. Can't get to you right now. Never. Never. I mean, just never. Lord, look at all this stuff that's happening to me. Yeah, I said it. Where have you been? Oh, show me how to walk through this. Great. This is the this is the project. This is what we're going to do. Let's walk through it. Well. My hour has evaporated, so we'll come back here. I knew we would have a part two. I just will not project so that I will not bear false witness to the congregation. How many parts there'll be? There'll be a few more. Why? Because the churches in this nation are powerless, irrelevant. Why? Because this church needs the power of God's spirit surging through it. This church needs to get serious about its own sins, beginning with pastor. And dealing with God in a way that's biblical. Dealing with one another. The Lord Jesus is gonna give us a three-step method from heaven about how to work out anything among God's people. They won't do it, that's the problem. If you don't get through that first step, we'll talk about this next week. If you don't get through the first step, the private meeting, you're generally not gonna deal with that thing God's way. You go personally to the person that you think has sinned against you. And you need to be sure that it's a biblically defined sin, not just your preference. And then you need to go to them privately. Don't come to the pastors. Don't go to five other people in the congregation. What do you think I ought to do? Jesus has already told you. You don't need any counsel. Go to that person and say, you said this last week. It crushed my heart. Why did you say that? They're not enough maturity in most professing Christians, in my experience, to do what Jesus said. When you do, it clears things up. I wasn't talking to you. I held something in against a pastor for weeks, and I was miserable. And finally, I couldn't stand it anymore, and I kept looking at the scriptures, and I was like, I know what Jesus is telling me to do, but I don't want to do it. He's a pastor. And then finally it was like, no, I can't live with this. And I went to him and I said, you said this on this particular day. Man, it really hurt me. Why did you do that? I thought we were friends. He said, what? And I explained to him what he said. And he said, I wasn't talking about what you think I said. What were you talking about? And he told me. And it was like, hmm, I didn't get that. And instead of him asking my forgiveness, I said, would you forgive me for coming in here and accusing you of something you didn't do? And he very graciously did. But it was over. Done. 15 people in the congregation didn't need to take sides with him and 20 on my side. It was done. Jesus knows what he wants done in his churches. So. The church of Jesus Christ is important. He loves his children. He loves his children. He gave himself for them. They are alive because of his power. And he wants us to walk in his kingdom according to his glorious lordship, always keeping in our view what he's done to put away our sins so that when we fail, we go right to where we went the first day we were converted, went to the cross and see our sin finish there. And when you've got a room full of people doing that, it's amazing how the entire atmosphere in the building changes. So I urge you, if indeed any of these things have been helpful or useful to you, obey the Lord because he loves you. Obey the Lord because you love him back and because you want to see the health and peace of his congregation. Many of the things that we think someone's done to us have simply been tricks by the devil. And then when there are real issues, the Lord tells us exactly how to deal with them. So, let's not stumble our congregation. It's happened. It's painful. Let's not stumble one another. Let's build one another up in the faith. Let's encourage one another. That will not come just by feelings. It will come by faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's pray. Our Holy Father, we so need Thee. And we thank Thee that because of Thy Son, we have Thee. We're always under Thy wonderful gaze and Thou dost look upon us with great love and great encouragement. Help us not to hide from Thee. Help us not to neglect Thee. Help us not to ignore Thee. Oh, but help us to bow at the cross. Help us to see the burdens of our sins rolling away. Help us, O righteous Father, to have a clear heart and a clear mind and a clear conscience before Thee and before Thy people. It's never easy, but it's always worth it. Help us, O righteous Father, to be peacemakers and so be called the children of God. We pray it in the name of our Lord. Amen.