You would please open your Bibles to Matthew chapter 18. Matthew chapter 18 will be in verses 1 through 14. This is God's Word. At that time, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said, I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, It would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin. Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come. 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 maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell. See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my father in heaven. What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the 99 on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the 99 that did not wander off. In the same way, your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost. May God add his blessing to this reading from his holy and inspired word. The disciples wanted to know who was the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Why? Well, they wanted rank. They were excited about the fact that Jesus had started his ministry calling people to repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And so they're wanting to know, What's the hierarchy here, okay? Two of his disciples that he was really close to, James and John, were hoping to get the seats on either side of him in the kingdom, okay? They wanted to be the, I mean, Jesus obviously is the king, but we want to be right there next to him, okay? Jesus responded by calling a little child to him. Notice that the child came to him when Jesus called. Jesus called the little child to him and he said, I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. You don't need to be worried about rank. Don't think that your entrance to the kingdom is automatic. Unless you change and become like little children, you'll never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, in what way are we supposed to be like little children? Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever would be first must be last. Be the servant of all, Jesus said. And I want you to notice also the obedience of the child. Have you ever called a child to you and they didn't come? If you're an adult and you've had any responsibility with children over a period of time, I can guarantee you that that has happened to you. This child humbly obeyed the call of God. And that is what must happen. if we are to enter the kingdom of heaven. Jesus, in fact, said to Nicodemus, you must be born again. Not if you want to enter the kingdom of God, you have to attain by hard work, a level of maturity and expertise that will outpace everyone else. It's not what Jesus said. He said to a man who had already outpaced many, who was a teacher in Israel, who was a member of the Sanhedrin, he said, you need to be born again. Nicodemus said, how can a man be born when he's old? He can't enter a second time into his mother's womb. Jesus said, we're not talking about physical birth. You need to be born of the spirit. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the spirit is spirit. You need life, eternal life. Not just physical life. You've got physical life. Congratulations. So does everybody else who's alive. But if you want to enter the kingdom, if you want to even perceive the kingdom, Jesus said, you have to be born again. You have to be born of the spirit. That's a work of God. So Jesus tells his disciples, unless you change and become like a little child, you won't enter the kingdom. You need to humble yourself. And then he says, and whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. Whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. Does that mean all little children are Jesus for a while? No. It means that Jesus takes personally the way we treat those who are his. You remember when Saul of Tarsus was on his way to round up some more Christians? He was mistreating them, imprisoning them, and even having them killed. And he's on his way to do it some more. And Jesus confronts him on the road to Damascus. And his question is Saul. Saul, why are you persecuting me? Saul says, who are you, Lord? He says, I'm Jesus, whom you are persecuting. Because the way that Saul of Tarsus treated the Christians, Jesus took as happening to him. Why? Because as Paul, the apostle, would later write, we are his body. We are the body of Christ, those who are in Christ. Not all people everywhere are in Christ. Not all people everywhere are God's children. Jesus would say to the Pharisees, you are sons of your father, the devil. Well, that seems harsh. He was just telling the truth. And you and I need to realize not everybody is God's child. Well, in one sense, you know, God created us all, and so in that sense, we are all children of God. Yeah, in that sense, the Bible speaks of that. The Bible goes on to make it very, very clear that there are many, many people who do not receive saving grace. Many, Jesus said, will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, didn't we prophesy in your name and your name work miracles? We did all these things, Lord. He says, I'll say to them, depart from me. I never knew you, you who practice lawlessness. He didn't say some, he said many will say to me in that day, and I will say to them, depart from me. I never knew you. These were not people who lost their salvation. These are people who were never saved despite being extremely religious and extremely active in ministry. Remember a guy named Judas? He was one of the people standing there when Jesus said that. He was one of the people standing here when Jesus said this. So, Jesus says, whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. Jesus didn't say the punishment that awaits such a person is like drowning. He says, oh no, drowning would be nice compared to what awaits a person who leads one of these little ones who believe in me into sin. Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin. Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come. How seriously do we take sin? I mean, just think for a moment about your own life. Now, I mean, obviously, we look at certain things that other people do, and we deplore such behavior. We abhor such behavior. We are just shocked. But what about your life? Is there stuff in your life that you think is really not that big a deal? God takes sin very seriously. Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sins. The wages of sin is death. This is very serious. When I was a little kid, my dad was putting some stuff near the furnace on the wall to try and protect the house from fire. I'd never seen anything quite like it before, and I wanted to handle it. My dad said, no, you're not to touch this. It's asbestos. Well, now everybody's like, asbestos! There's asbestos in the building. Bring in a hazmat crew. Back then, you could buy it at the hardware store. But my father knew that asbestos carried serious health risks, so he was very careful in handling it, and he didn't want me to touch it. When he wasn't around, I of course went over because I wanted to check it out. Stupid. You understand? Thank God I don't have mesothelioma, but a whole bunch of people who worked with asbestos A whole bunch of other people who didn't know that they were around asbestos have ended up with a horrible, miserable, debilitating type of cancer because that stuff's potentially deadly. Well, let me tell you about sin for a moment. It's not potentially deadly, it's deadly. You understand? I mean, I trust that you are not so crazy that you would think, well, I wouldn't mind handling asbestos. You should because of the risk. But when we sin, it's not just a risk. We're doing something that God, the creator, God, the ruler, God, the judge, God, our heavenly father, says is deadly. Don't do that. Well, Pastor, I'm sorry, it's a little late for me. I think all of us have sinned, right? Yes, exactly. And that's why all of us need a Savior. But if you think that because Jesus died to save us, sin's no longer a big deal, because I mean, now we can continue in sin that grace may abound. God forbid. God forbid. If you are in Christ, you should not want anything to do with it. Well, don't Christians still sometimes sin? Yes, we do, but don't think that it's no big deal. God calls us to repentance, and we had better be especially careful about doing anything that would encourage someone else particularly one of these little ones who believe in him to sin. Because according to Jesus, we'd be better off dead. Woe to the world because of such things. Then he says in verse eight, if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It's better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It's better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell." Wow. My brother years ago observed that if all of us took this literally, all that would be left is a room full of navels. Okay? I mean, if you try to cure the problem with physical surgery, that's not going to work. Notice that Jesus chose things we have two of. If my hand causes me to sin and I cut it off, I've still got a problem, don't I? Because I got another hand. If my foot is the problem, I'm not going to solve my problem by getting rid of that foot because I'm still going to get in trouble with the other one. If my eye, if the problem is what I look at, and I get rid of one of my eyes, I still have a problem. Jesus isn't talking here about physical surgery. He's talking about a absolutely ruthless approach to getting rid of sin in our lives, okay? And the things that he chose, our hand, what do you hold? Our foot, where do you go? Our eyes, what are we gazing on? What are we looking at? We've got a huge problem, not just in American culture, but in the American church with pornography on the part of men and women, looking at things that simply stir ungodly appetites, and make you want something that can't satisfy. It is a web of lies. There was a restaurant chain that had one of their early locations in Atlanta. And I got to know the head waiter real well, because I used to take people there for business lunches. And they would come around with a tray that had the various desserts you could choose from. And let me tell you, they looked so good. Oh, my word. I mean, just mouthwateringly good. So tempting. As I got to know this guy, he and I worked out a little routine when it was time for dessert. I'd say, would you bring the dessert tray around? And he'd come with it and kind of show it to us. And I'd say, can I see that chocolate cheesecake a little more closely? And he'd say, sure. And he'd pull it off and toss it to me. I'd catch it and look at it. And of course, everybody at the table, when he tosses it in my direction, they're like. But the reason we could do that is because he and I both knew that it was plastic. It was plastic, it wasn't edible. They're not gonna put a bunch of the best desserts out every hour to refresh them, because in that atmosphere, they would not keep looking that way, hour after hour, unless they were made of plastic. Sort of food porn, understand? Looks really good. cannot satisfy, isn't real. And yet we've got a generation that has grown up hooked on looking at a lie and thinking, yeah, that's what I want. And as a result, going hungry, missing out on the good that God has created. Ranch staff and students, say it with me. Sex is designed by God to be an expression of love between a man and a woman who are married to each other. One more time. Sex is designed by God to be an expression of love between a man and a woman who are married to each other. Porn is a total violation of that. Total violation of that. And it's addictive. So if your eye offends you, gouge it out. Are you really telling me to gouge out my eye? Not your physical eye. Ruthlessly change so that you're not looking at that stuff anymore. Is that clear? It is better for you to enter the kingdom without an eye, without a hand, without a foot, than it is, Jesus says, to be thrown into the fire of hell. God's judgment is real. There's a little kid there, remember? Jesus called a child to him and the child came. If you want to know something of Jesus' personality, There were kids around him a lot, and they weren't afraid to come to him. Apparently, he was not a grouch. He talked about hell. He said things that were extremely challenging, but children could tell that he could be trusted. Jesus says, verse 10, See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you, their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven." What do you think? If a man owns 100 sheep and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the 99 on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he's happier about that one sheep than about the 99 that did not wander off. In the same way, your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost. Who takes priority in your life? Big people? Important people, powerful people, wealthy people. Man, we gotta treat them right. Jesus says you better treat the little ones right. Because Jesus says the way you treat them is the way you treat me. I take it personally. Don't slight a child. Don't slight someone who is not up to your standard mentally, educationally, financially, socially. Years ago, there was a military vet who had suffered injury in the war, and he wanted to hang out with me. Well, I mean, he was older than I was. I was a high school kid. But he wanted me to babysit his child and he wanted me to spend time with the family and all this. And, you know, I did that some. But if he wanted to go somewhere with me, just kind of to have a good time, I didn't want to do it. And I'm ashamed to say that one of the reasons was I didn't think it would be good for my image. Isn't that sad? I just, I thought as a teenager that somehow if I'm with this guy, it would bring me down several notches in the social standings. Pathetic. Well, I prayed about it because I was a Christian and my prayer was not, Lord, should I do this? My prayer was, Lord, please make him stop. I don't want to be his buddy. And the Lord said, I'm willing to be seen with you. I started to cry because I realized how incredibly crazy it is for me to think that somehow I don't belong with that person. Holy God was willing to come and not just identify with me, but take the wrath that I deserved. Jesus says, see to it you don't look down on one of these little ones. What about your security? What does that say about this? Jesus says their angels see the face of my Father every day. Face time with the ruler of the universe. Their angels have direct access to the Father. Why? Because those angels are especially important. No, because children are especially important to God. God specially cares for them. when Jonah was protesting that God had relented and was going to allow Nineveh to not be destroyed for a while. Nineveh would eventually be destroyed, but God had relented from that initial warning. Jonah was upset, and God said, there are a whole bunch of children in that city. The image that he used was he said, there are all these people in that city who don't know their right hand from their left. That's a description of little children. That's how they were described back then. Those who didn't yet know their right from their left, little kids. How important are little kids to God? So important that their angels get special status. Of course, they do grow up, they become teenagers. And at that point, just kidding, just kidding, that's a little humor, a little humor for the sake of our teenagers and those who work with them. But the fact of the matter is, People that we consider unimportant are very important to God. He takes special care for the poor, special care for those who have limitations. Our security had better be in Him, because everything else goes away. What will you do with the opportunity that God is giving you? Jesus says that God is not willing for any of these little ones to be lost. Who are these little ones? Oh, Jesus refers to them as those who believe in him. Don't miss that. Those who believe in him twice in the verses that go before. He says, anyone who causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin would be better off with a large millstone hung around his neck and drowned in the depths of the sea. Verse 10, see to it you do not look down on one of these little ones, for I tell you that there are angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven. And then he talks about sheep that are his sheep. They're not just wild animals out there. These are his sheep. And he doesn't want any of those who are his to be lost. It's talking about one who wanders away. not one who was never part of the fold. Well, so does that mean that God doesn't care about people who aren't saved? No, it doesn't mean that at all. Because the way you become one of his is that you used to be one of those, and then you were born again by his grace. But if God is calling you, like he called that little child, at the start of the passage. If he's saying to you, come, come to me, come here. What's your response? This is your moment, this is your opportunity. Will you come to Jesus? Let's pray. Father, apart from you, we can do nothing. But we thank you that Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost, not that which was trash, not that which was worthless. You saw us as valuable, precious in your sight, because you saw not just where we were and what we were, but you saw what the Father had destined for us to be. And so you came for us. Blessed be the name of the Lord.