[0:00] Take your Bibles if you would and turn with me to Matthew chapter 18. Matthew chapter 18 and verse 1. I'm excited every time I open the Bible, but sometimes there are just stories that just thrill me as I learn things that I didn't really know before I started studying it.
[0:14] And this is one of those passages. So I hope that you will open your Bible and study along with me and see if the Lord teaches you and shows you and grows you in some things this morning. Matthew chapter 18.
[0:25] We're going to read verse 1 to get started in this passage of Scripture. The Bible says, at the same time, came the disciples unto Jesus saying, who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?
[0:37] Father, please help us to learn humility. Help us to learn how to treat each other. Help us as a church to learn the great lesson you are teaching your people in this passage.
[0:49] And I'll give you praise and honor and glory in Jesus' name. Amen. Now there are approximately seven big lessons the Lord's going to teach in this chapter that Matthew writes in Matthew chapter 18. But this first one's about humility.
[1:01] And I'd like you to kind of, in your mind, draw a picture and to get a scene here. You got Jesus and the apostles. There's 12 of these guys that are all sitting around. And they know that he is the Messiah now.
[1:12] They figured that much out. They've caught on. He is the Messiah. And he is working. And he's about to set up his kingdom. They don't understand quite yet that the kingdom he's setting up is a spiritual kingdom.
[1:23] They're thinking it's still an earthly kingdom. And so they're sitting there and they're kind of pompous. And you can kind of see them. And they're winking at each other. And, you know, you can see Peter and James and John. They're kind of like, hey, I wonder who gets to sit on the right hand.
[1:35] Who gets to sit on the left hand. I wonder who's going to get to be the big shot in this little outfit. And so they say to Jesus, hey, we'd just like to know. Who's the greatest? Just kind of asking.
[1:46] Like to figure out who's going to be the big shot in this little outfit here. Who's the greatest in the kingdom of God? And then Jesus does the last thing you could possibly think. Can you see them if they were Americans?
[1:57] Their chest is puffed out. They got a big cocky smile on their head. They're kind of like, who's the greatest? Go ahead. You can tell me. I don't mind. That's kind of what you can picture.
[2:08] And so Jesus calls a kid to come over there. The word that's used is for a very small child. Probably almost, you know, like a toddler. Like I got two little grandkids about that.
[2:19] So I probably got more than that. But I got two that live in my house. That are that size. You got 18. You get confused. But anyway. And he calls them over. And he sets a kid on his lap. And he goes, well, if you're not like one of these little kids, you don't even get in the kingdom.
[2:32] So you're sitting there wanting to know who's the greatest. You got your chest all puffed out. This little kid ain't all that worried about that. Maybe you got something wrong. So go with me, if you would, through this passage of Scripture.
[2:42] This is a passage of Scripture about humility. You probably never took it that way. You probably focused on the child. But you want to focus on the question. There's a question asked and a question to be answered.
[2:55] Look, if you would, at chapter 18 and verse 1 again. At the same time, they just got through getting a lecture on, do we pay our taxes or do we not pay our taxes? Are we involved in government? Are we not involved in government? Of course we're involved.
[3:05] Of course we're going to pay our taxes. Of course we're going to do that. And at the same time that they were asking that, and they were having that discussion, they said to him, the disciples, that could be a term talking about all of them, but in this story, since they just got through talking, we know it's really the 12.
[3:18] They said, who's the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? They're wanting to be great. Apparently, they're still thinking that the earthly kingdom is coming.
[3:29] Now, you have to understand, why were the Jews so confused? And if you're a Bible student, you'd understand that there's some things that go on in the scriptures. They weren't wrong to look for the Messiah to come and set up his kingdom.
[3:42] He is going to come and set up his kingdom. Both truths are taught in the Bible. If you can understand a tad of Bible prophecy, see an Old Testament prophet looking forward to the future, and they're like mountain peaks of prophecy.
[3:55] So over here, there's this big point in the Bible that says, he's coming, and he's going to die. And there's another peak way over here, and there's a long valley between it, and on that peak, he's coming to reign.
[4:06] So he's going to come and die. They would have known those scriptures, but he was also coming to reign, and they would have known those scriptures. And by the way, what you typically do when you study your Bible, is you pick what you like the best.
[4:17] And if I got my choice, the dying part ain't that fun, so the raining part sounds like a lot of fun, so let's do that. Let me show you a passage of scripture where you can see those two things kind of combined. So when a prophet saw him, he saw them real close together.
[4:30] He didn't see the expanse because he only knows what he knows so far. He's only telling what he sees. So go with me to Acts chapter 2 and verse 16, and you can underline this in your Bible so you'll kind of understand the confusion the young men are having.
[4:43] You've got to understand that they're not bad guys. They're not just trying to say, we don't want you to suffer, we want you to reign. They think the Bible teaches that he's about to reign. In Acts chapter 2 and verse 16, it's the day of Pentecost, and Peter's talking, and Peter said, guys, what you're seeing is what the prophet Joel said would happen.
[5:01] And so he quotes the Old Testament. Verse 17, Acts 2, 17, it shall come to pass in the last days. Underline that. In the last days, saith God, I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh.
[5:14] Verse 18, I will pour out in those days of my spirit. Verse 19, and I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath, blood and fire and vapor and smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness, the moon will be turned to blood.
[5:27] Great and notable day of the Lord come. And whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. And so here's what you've got happening. On that day, Peter stood up and he said, y'all see these guys are speaking in tongues, the Holy Spirit's come on them, something wonderful is happening.
[5:39] That's exactly what Joel told us. And he made a comment. This is what Joel told us. These are the last days. But a lot of that last day stuff never did happen. He wasn't mistaken. He was just didn't know the big thing.
[5:50] So you're in the last days right now. From that day when Joel said that, all the way till now, 2,000 years, or since it happened at Pentecost, 2,000 years, we're in the last days. We're waiting any minute for Jesus to come, but there were two mountain peaks.
[6:03] So the apostles kind of thought, they thought maybe they were right. They wanted to be great. They were looking into the future. We often see in Scripture what we would like to happen rather than what God is saying will happen at this time.
[6:16] So when you read the Bible, you know, you want God to do the good stuff and you want to ignore the bad stuff and you want to think it wouldn't happen. Do you have any idea of maybe the people who were alive in the days after Joseph and till Moses, 430 years past, do you reckon any of them were thinking, maybe my baby's going to be the baby that leads us out of Egypt?
[6:34] Do you have any idea of maybe some of them thought, God, we're looking for the deliverer, and they lived and they died and they never saw the promises come true. And at Hebrews 11, many people knew promises and never saw them happen.
[6:48] My favorite of all, of the promises that they were waiting on to see come true is found in the story of Genesis. In Genesis chapter 3, Eve has sinned.
[6:58] Her name is still woman. She's not called Eve yet. And she has sinned and she knows they're about to die and they're talking to Jesus and they're expecting to die at any second. Because he said, in the day you eat them, you will surely die.
[7:12] And, but he looks at her and says, he looks at her and he looks at Adam and he says, you know what, Genesis 3, 15, he said, you're going to have a baby. Your woman will have a baby someday and that baby will stomp the head of the devil's baby, of Satan's baby, of the, so it's a prophecy.
[7:27] Woman's seed destroyed the devil's seed. We're going to see something great happen. And then the next thing that happens in Genesis 4, 1, she gets pregnant. Look at what it says in Genesis 4, 1. You got your Bible open there? Genesis chapter 4, verse 1, look what happens.
[7:39] She said, and Adam knew Eve and his wife and she conceived and bare Cain and said, I've gotten a man from the Lord. Remember the promise? I got a man from the Lord. So I think she's pretty excited.
[7:50] Well, that didn't work out too good if you recall. She had Cain. Cain killed Abel. Cain's not going to be the man. So in verse 25, she got another kid. Look what she said in that verse. And Adam knew his wife again and she bare a son and called his name Seth.
[8:02] For God said, she has appointed me another, and there's that same word out of Genesis 3, 15, seed instead of Abel. So God gave me somebody else. God gave me somebody else. Isaiah chapter 7, and verse 14, every young Jewish girl probably looked for this promise to come true.
[8:17] The Bible said, therefore, the Lord himself shall give you a sign. A virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Emmanuel. And that's what happened to Mary.
[8:27] In Luke chapter 1, verse 28, the Bible's, it wasn't that Mary was so famous like the religious people like to make. It wasn't her. It was God's favor on her. And in Luke 1, 28, hail thou art highly favored.
[8:38] The Lord's with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Verse 30, thou hast found favor with God. Verse 31, thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son and you will call his name Jesus.
[8:50] So there's these promises, these promises, and that's kind of why the boys got confused. But they were thinking, hey, by the way, if he's going to go into his kingdom, I'd like to be, I mean, I've been working with him for three and a half years.
[9:04] We know him. I've been carrying water for him. I've been doing all these things for him. I hope I get a position. I hope I get to be the minister of public works or something. I want a position in the new kingdom. They were out for personal ambition, personal power, prestige, self-exaltation.
[9:19] But that was all the opposite of what Jesus wanted to have in his kingdom. In his kingdom, we're to completely forget ourselves. We live to serve, not be served.
[9:29] When you consider yourself important, then you're not living for the kingdom. So that's a big lesson for the day. So here's the question. Just get with me to the question. The question was, in verse 1, who's the greatest?
[9:45] And he said, I'm going to answer that question for you. I'm going to answer that question for you. I'm going to show you who the greatest is. Now, I want you to understand, they're not bad guys. They're kind of like you and me.
[9:57] We want God's blessing. We want God's power. We want to enjoy things. We'd like God to give us stuff. And we can talk bad about prosperity gospel preachers, but we all got a little bit of it in us. Amen?
[10:08] Like, I want God to take care of me. I'm a giver, and I want God to bless me. We want all of that. And so sometimes, maybe we're a little bit like these apostles. Who's the greatest? So the second thing you see happens in verse 2.
[10:20] What? It was our humility. It was in humility that we came to Christ. It was in humility that we came to Christ. Verse 2. And Jesus called a little child unto him and set him in the midst of them and said, Verily I say unto you, except you be converted and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
[10:38] I hope you underline in verse 2, little child. And in verse 3, little children. And so he said, hey, he said, you want to know who the greatest is? Bring me a child.
[10:49] A small child. Who's the kid? Who knows? Maybe they're at Peter's house, and Peter was married. He had a mother-in-law. Probably had a kid. Maybe it's Peter's boy. Who knows? Maybe it's Peter's daughter. But they called the child. The child sits on his knee.
[10:59] I want you to notice in the passage that you must enter into the kingdom of heaven in verse 3. Would you underline that? You've got to enter into the kingdom of heaven. That means you're not in the kingdom. That means there's two kingdoms going on.
[11:11] So there were some people that weren't in the kingdom. There's somebody that's going to be in the kingdom, so they're entering the kingdom. There are two kingdoms. The Colossians chapter 1 in verse 13. The Bible said, Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, the authority of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son, who has moved us into his kingdom.
[11:30] So understand before we go further that there are two kingdoms. There's a kingdom of darkness, a kingdom of sin, a kingdom of rebellion, a kingdom of doing it your own way. I did it my way.
[11:42] That's this kingdom. There's another kingdom over here, and this kingdom is a kingdom of Jesus, a kingdom of God, a kingdom of heaven. And you can't get out of that kingdom into this kingdom without repenting.
[11:54] You can't get in there unless you become, changed, be converted, changed to be like a little child. That was Jesus' message. That was John the Baptist's message. In Matthew chapter 3 and verse 2, repent ye for the kingdom of heaven's at hand.
[12:07] Matthew 4, 17, Jesus began to preach and to say repent. That is, recognize you're sinful. That is, to honestly turn away from your sin to Jesus.
[12:19] Now listen to me. If you're in this kingdom right here, you might just be thinking, I'm okay. I'm okay. You're okay. We're all okay. Everything's fine. We don't need Jesus. I think that Jesus stuff is nice.
[12:30] I think it's pretty. I think that's all sweet, but I really don't need him. I'm not one of them needy people. I don't need AA. I don't need Christianity. I'm fine where I am. Well see, to get into that kingdom, you've got to get out of that.
[12:42] I'm a big adult and I don't need any help. I'm a cocky guy that's got everything under control and my life's all okay and I don't need any help. You've got to get out of that and you've got to be transferred.
[12:53] You've got to be moved over to his kingdom. Look if you would in Acts chapter 3 and verse 26. You might not be able to keep up with all the verses. Write them down and check them out later. Acts chapter 3 and verse 26. Unto you first, God, having raised up his son Jesus, sent him to bless you in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.
[13:11] I was over here. I was in my twisted sinful state. Iniquity. I was in my twisted way of living thinking about me, not thinking about God and he turned me and I came into his kingdom.
[13:24] That's what happened. The Bible says in 1 Thessalonians chapter 1 and verse 9, for they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.
[13:40] You were serving false gods. You were serving yourself. You were serving religion. You were doing anything. Whatever it was, whatever it was, it was your way. It was what you thought was right. It's what you agreed to.
[13:51] That's one of the biggest problems we have. It's like, I know what I think. I think everybody will do what they think. I think everybody will have their own opinion. And God's like, no, you all have your own opinions. There's only one that counts. It's mine. That's why I'm God and you're not.
[14:03] And so they turned to him. It means recognizing that you are spiritually bankrupt, unworthy, and undeserving. It's to become aware of your guilt. It's to be frustrated that you can't fix it.
[14:17] It's to realize over here, I've been doing everything I know to do. I'm a good guy. I really have done good. Everybody knows I'm a good guy. I've won man of the year. I've been who's who and everything else that can get me in.
[14:28] I'm just really a great guy. But something inside begins to say, you ain't doing too good. Somewhere along the way, us religious Christian people that go to church all the time, we kind of think drug addicts and alcoholics and sex fiends and murderers and all those guys, they're the ones that really need to get said, man, they're over there in the bad kingdom, not me.
[14:48] But here's what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches in Isaiah chapter 53, I believe it's verse 6, every man is turned out of his way to your own way and so I could be over here being wicked or I could be in his kingdom.
[15:00] Do you understand that General Motors doesn't care which kind of car you buy? All they want you to do is buy their car. So they sell cars for really poor people and they sell cars for really rich people and all they say is this, look guys, I don't care which one you buy.
[15:13] You want to buy one of those really small subcompacts? As long as you pay us money, we're happy. You want to buy one of these really big ones? As long as you do, we're really great with that. All we want you, don't buy Ford, buy our car. Amen? You know what the devil's saying?
[15:24] I really don't care which sin you get into. You like to be a drunk? Be a drunk. You want to be a whoremonger? Be a whoremonger. You want to be an arrogant, prideful guy? Whatever you want as long as you don't follow Jesus.
[15:36] See, his whole point is everybody else has a plan but God has one plan and his plan is Jesus. You don't get into that camp unless you are convicted of your sin. In John chapter 16 and verse 7, Jesus said he was going to leave the comforter the Holy Spirit who dwells in us if we're born again but he came to reprove, verse 8, to reprove the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment to show us, hey, you've sinned because you have not believed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God who died on the cross for you.
[16:06] So the question was asked, who's the greatest? The answer was given, unless you become like this child, you guys are too pompous, too arrogant.
[16:18] You think about yourself and your strength. Just so you know, let me just, I think Americans have a real problem with this. I think we got a real problem with it. When I was a kid, I was told all kinds of stuff like every tub sits on its own bottom, every man ought to lift himself up by his own bootstraps, an American ends and I can, and I can, amen?
[16:38] These stripes, these colors don't run. So we were built somehow with this, I'm pretty good stuff. That's like, that's how they pumped that into us as kids. Our patriotism and everything else, I can do it, you can do it.
[16:52] Our singer's saying, I did it my way. I lived my life my way. And he's saying, guys, you are going to have to come humbly. You're going to have to give up your independence and become dependent.
[17:04] You're going to have to come trusting as a child. Before I move to the next point, I'd like to ask you, where are you? Are you still arrogant? Are you still thinking, I'm pretty good.
[17:16] I mean, I ain't like the other guy. You remember the Pharisee that enters in to pray and there's a sinner, a tax collector, a publican standing beside him. Jesus tells the story, they both go up to the temple to pray and the religious guy raises his hands, looks up in heaven and says, hey God, I'm here, you know I tithe, you know I'm a good guy, you know I have good stuff and I ain't like that guy right there.
[17:36] Jesus told that story. That story. And he said, after he got through praying, the sinner guy, the publican guy, hit himself on the chest and said, God be merciful, he bowed his head, said God be merciful to be a sinner.
[17:46] And Jesus said, that's the guy that got fixed. The other guy went home just like he came. How many of us are saved church-wise? All we've really done is get our name on a church roll.
[17:58] All we've really done is look culturally acceptable. Not a whole lot different than what a Muslim might do to follow in the footsteps of their parents. But we've never truly gotten to a place in our life where we said, whew, I messed up.
[18:12] I've been living life my way, having my opinions and doing what I want to do and there's a need in my life to realize I need Jesus. You were already pretty good and you just added one more notch to your spiritual gun.
[18:24] You got baptized. You signed that little church card. You joined up. You became one of us. And so all of a sudden, hey, I'm alright. I was born to a really good family. I was raised in a good home.
[18:35] I'm an American, bless God. What do you expect? I'm from the southeast. I'm from the buckle on the Bible belt. I'm a pretty good guy. And I joined, I already joined the church. I'm okay. Here's the problem.
[18:47] A lot of people are going to wake up in Matthew chapter 7 and they're going to wake up in hell and they're going to say, Lord, Lord, didn't we do all this good stuff? And he's going to say, I never knew you. It's not about what you do. It's not about what you do.
[18:58] It's actually about you becoming like a child. And the child comes in and says, I didn't do anything. I love you, Jesus. Can I sit on your knee? It's about humbling yourself. And that was the story.
[19:09] And in our proud and arrogant Baptist ways, we look at other people like, I am the greatest. I'm not like that sinner. I don't do dope. And God's looking down and said, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
[19:23] You do not understand how things work with me. In our humility, we came to Christ. Third thing, there was a question asked.
[19:35] And then we saw that it was in our humility that we came to Christ like a child. We came to Christ. Doesn't mean that you got to be a child to get saved. It just means you're going to have to come like a child, trusting and dependent and not independent and not arrogant and not proud and boastful.
[19:50] I have a little granddaughter. Her name is Abby. She's just a little bitty thing. She can't even talk yet. But buddy, when she sees me, she comes running like sweet little Abby. Jumps up in my arms and lets me hold her.
[20:02] She ain't got a whole lot of I can in her. She's got a whole lot of you carrying me if you don't mind in her. Amen? Amen? Number three. We serve in humility.
[20:14] We serve in humility. Look at verse four if you would. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child the same as the greatest in the kingdom. I wish you'd put a circle around the word humble.
[20:26] You see, you get saved by being humble. You get saved by being, and by the way, the Greeks hated humility and the world hates humility. We like arrogance.
[20:37] We love it when that football player runs to the end zone and does his flip and jump and throws the ball and lets everybody know he's number one. We love that junkie, guys, because we wish we could be him. And if we don't like it, it's only because it's him doing it, not us.
[20:52] But he said, hey, you want to be great, come like this little child. Humble, and underline, I hope, the little child. This is the greatest. For the Lord Jesus, greatness is about lowering yourself, not raising yourself.
[21:07] It wasn't about walking in and going, hey, Jesus, we're real close. It's not long now until you've got your kingdom. We see that. You've proven it. You've been working miracles. You've been taking care of the government, paying the taxes, taking care of the temple.
[21:19] You're doing all the stuff you're supposed to do. It's pretty obvious you're going to be the big cheese and we just won't know we're going to get to be big cheese with you. And he said, bring a child here. That's real greatness. He said, by the way, if you want to be great in my kingdom, you're going to have to be like this little kid.
[21:32] Run and get me a glass of water if you don't mind. Run and get me a little glass of water if you don't mind. So in Philippians chapter 2 and verse 1, I don't have time to go through all that I'd like to show you this morning, but in Philippians chapter 2 and verse 1, the apostle Paul starts off and he says, if there be any consolation, if any comfort, if any fellowship, if any bowels of mercy, I want you all to be like-minded.
[21:52] Won't you think like this? Let nothing, verse 3, be done in strife and vainglory, but in lowliness of mind, in humility, and everybody ought to esteem each other better than themselves.
[22:04] Well, this ought to be a whole church full of, you're better than me. You're a finer guy than I am. You're a finer lady than I am. It ought not be a bunch of people walking in and saying, hey, I'm the stuff.
[22:16] Look not, verse 4, every man on his own things. Verse 5, let your mind be in you that was in Christ. Look at verse 6, he became, or 7, no reputation, a form of a servant.
[22:28] He humbled himself. We are to recognize that we are not important. That is pretty hard to recognize. At least we're important in our world.
[22:40] Don't forget, this is the world of selfies. This is the world of me. This is the world of, I need to take some pictures. I think the best one I can take is this one right here.
[22:52] I'm going to take a picture of the church, but let me make sure I'm the first one in the picture. I'll get a picture of all of you people, but there I am right there. That's us. In Matthew 23, 1, we'll get to later, he said, we lead by serving.
[23:09] Then spake Jesus to the disciples, to the multitude and his disciples, saying the scribes and the Pharisees, they sit at Moses' seat. They're the leaders, they know the scriptures, and they like to tell you what to do. And in verse 5, they love to be seen of men.
[23:21] And they love, in verse 6, to have the uppermost seats and the chief seats. And in verse 7, they love everybody to greet them, and they love to be called a man. Rabbi, Rabbi, we're glad you're here, Rabbi. They love that.
[23:32] But verse 11, he said, he that's greatest among you will be the servant. And if you exalt yourself, you'll be abased. But if you'll humble yourself, I'll exalt you. They wanted to be seen. They wanted the best seat.
[23:44] They wanted to be greeted properly. Jesus taught that the servant was the greatest. Luke 22, 25, he taught that the greatest is not the guy who has authority or exercises authority or lordship, but is the one that's the younger and that serves.
[24:02] And Jesus said, I don't know what y'all think about great is, but I'm the one doing the serving here. If great is what I am, then why, if I got a towel wrapped around me, then why am I washing your feet?
[24:15] Great is serving not being in charge. Go me to verse 5 if you would. The fourth thing I'd like you to see from this passage of scripture is in our humility, we know how to treat all people.
[24:26] In our humility, we know how to treat all people. Now watch this first. The story is not really about the children. The children are the object lesson. The question asked was, who's the greatest?
[24:39] The object lesson was, tell the child to come here. So Jesus is preaching and it's like children's church. He's got show and tell going on. He said, I'm going to tell you how to know. I've got a child here. Set this child in. He's got this kid sitting on his lap and he's saying, you have to be like this kid here.
[24:53] The kid's probably goo-goo-eyeing everybody and burping and all the other stuff that kids do, probably slobbering, wanting a piece of candy. He's just a kid. He's just a kid. And they're all like, wait a minute, I got on my three-piece suit today.
[25:05] Got on my wingtips. I'm the man. I know we're fixing to take over the kingdom and you have to be like him. Fact is, if you don't humble yourself, you can't even get saved. And if you're going to be in my kingdom, if you're going to be in my kingdom, you're going to have to learn to be a server.
[25:20] We're servers. And then he says, by the way, it's how we treat people. It's a good lesson for a church. Verse 5, he said, and whoso shall receive, we're in Matthew 18, 5, he said, whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receives me.
[25:36] What's that verse about? You see, this is a little child, not a big adult. So it's like, when I was a kid, the saying was, children are to be seen, anybody know how to finish that?
[25:48] And not heard. That's how I grew up. Kids are to be seen and not heard. Kids can come in, they can't make any noise, they're not to be, don't bother the adults. We even have, the fact is, most people I guess still do that kind of thing.
[25:59] Having Thanksgiving, you got the adult table, you got the kid table. And most of the kids are like, the day they get graduated to the adult table, they're like, finally, I have waited years to be treated like an adult around here.
[26:10] And so, now he says, he said, whoso receives one of these little children in my name, receives me. Now, I want you to understand the verse. So remember when Jesus said this, when you do it on one of the least of these, my children, you've done it unto me.
[26:23] He's not really talking about, you got to go around hugging babies or you can't get saved. I know what he's saying. What he's trying to get across to us is, how we treat people. And he says, he says, whoso receives the little one, little child in my name, you're receiving me.
[26:38] We're not to treat differently because people because of their status. You don't treat people based on their status. You don't look at them and say, that guy looks like he's got money or he's got a position. We're to treat all people kindly because we're doing it in Jesus' name and like we would do it if we were treating Jesus.
[26:54] I'll read you some verses in just a minute. But back in the day when I used to travel to churches all the time and I would, oftentimes, I wouldn't have a meeting. And so, like I didn't get a scheduled meeting for that Wednesday night or that Sunday night.
[27:06] And so, my wife and my four kids, we'd show up at a church and we'd get out of the church and here I come, man, got my suit on, my wife's dressed up nice, my kids are dressed up nice, our hair's combed. We look like the new family that just moved into the neighborhood.
[27:19] And Buddy, the deacons and the pastor are back there saying, hey man, glad you're here tonight. Where do you live? Oh, I say, I live about four hours from here. I just happened to be on my way back home and I thought I'd drop in. Oh.
[27:30] Because what they want is, you look like good material for our church. I believe you could give some money. Look at that suit you're wearing. You must be pretty well off and you're going to join our church. And Buddy, I'm almost a pastor within five minutes of being there.
[27:42] And then once I told him I was a missionary, I was like, oh, we're not that interested in having you. And so, here's what he's saying. When people come in, how do you treat them? How do you treat the little people? How do you treat the little people?
[27:53] So, let me read you a verse. Go with me to James chapter 2. James, who sat there that day, probably one of the pompous guys who's the greatest? You know, we got two guys whose mama goes in and says, Jesus, my boys didn't want to ask you but they told me to.
[28:07] They want to know who gets to sit on your right hand and on your left hand. She didn't say it that way. She covered real good. She came in and said, Jesus, I know women ain't supposed to be talking to you but I'm here to find out what you're going to do with my boys. They've been serving you for three and a half years.
[28:17] You're about to be a king. We want to know they're going to get to be prime minister, vice president, exactly what position. So, you've got to understand this. So, James now writes his book. He's writing his letter.
[28:28] In James chapter 3 and verse 1, he says, my brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ with respect to persons. The Lord of glory with respect to persons. If you've got your Bible in 2.1, underline respect to persons.
[28:40] Verse 2, he said, if a man comes in and has got on a gold ring and nice clothes and another guy comes in and he's got on poor clothes and cheap clothing, the guy who's wearing the really nice clothing, you say to him, whoa, I want you to sit right here in this place.
[28:55] Verse 4, he said, aren't you partial in yourselves? Aren't you having evil thoughts? In verse 5, he said, didn't God choose the poor people in this world who are rich in faith?
[29:07] Verse 6, he said, aren't they the rich guys that are taking you to judgment? I want you to love your neighbor as yourself. You just got to understand, here comes the president.
[29:17] Here comes Abraham Lincoln, going to be in a church service of ours. We look up, we see the president, we're like, hey, you guys clear out of your seats right there. Everybody, out, out, move, move, move. You don't have that much money, you're not that important. The president's here.
[29:29] Mr. Lincoln, please have a seat. Oh, you don't want to sit there? You just tell us where you want it. We'll move them. They ain't important. You are. Back in the old days, George Mueller was famous. He was the guy who had the orphanage with a couple of thousand kids in it.
[29:41] He was famous because in those days, the churches had pew rent. You're rented, you're pew. And that's how the pastor got paid. He didn't get paid from the tithes and the offerings.
[29:52] Charles Spurgeon didn't get paid from the tithes and offerings. And because he had such a large church, he was a millionaire. And he even got made fun of because he drove the fanciest carriage in town and that kind of stuff.
[30:02] He was a really sharp guy. And so they got pew rent. So everybody, if you're going to sit there, that seat right there on the front row, it costs this much. That's a ringside seat, son. Now, if you'll stand up in the back, we'll let you in for $2.
[30:13] You want to sit there? You want to sit right there? It was going to cost you one of them. They had all these seats. And so there were people in there that had pews that actually had heaters. They had wood stoves in there. And theirs had little high walls that you could come in with your family and open the door.
[30:25] Walk into your little pew, you'd have a ringside view of the preacher. Got your own heat. Good old cushions. But if you were poor, you just had a bare bench in the back that you could afford. And if you were really poor, you just stood up.
[30:35] And one day, George Bueller went to church and threw all the pews out and said, he brought in some more seats and he said, you just sit where you want to sit. No more stuff for the rich guy.
[30:45] That's what James is about. And Jesus said, how are y'all guys treating people? They come in, they're a color you don't like. They got to sit in the back. They got too many tattoos. They got to sit in the back. They don't look like they're a really nice guy.
[30:56] They got to sit somewhere else. Whatever it is, you got these rules. He said, won't you treat them like you treat me? Won't you treat them like you treat me? And he said, won't you treat them like you'd like to be treated?
[31:07] Won't you love your neighbor as yourself? That's what he's saying in James chapter 3, if you would. Last one, number 5. In 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 he were drowned in the depth of the sea.
[31:28] In our humility, we're to realize how responsible we are for how we live and how we treat others. This is probably more for our day and time because you have understood grace and you know you're saved by grace and so sometimes you flaunt your sin.
[31:42] You're like, well, God loves me anyway. And so all of a sudden you're doing things and you don't care how it affects people. And so maybe, maybe you're bragging about the fact that you commit this particular sin.
[31:53] Maybe you're bragging about the fact that you get to, maybe it's not a sin and for you it's not a sin so you'll eat this meat that was offered to idols and other people won't eat that meat and you'll go around and say, well, I eat meat offered to idols and you're bragging about, you're offending people.
[32:06] Who are you offending? Little guys. Who are you offending? Guys that may not understand as much as you. Who are you offending? People that may not be as grown up as you but you're offending them. It's not talking right here about offending a child. It's not talking about beating up a child.
[32:18] It's talking about how you treat other believers in the church. When you come in the church it ought to be walking around saying, I'm going to make sure I treat this person right. I'm going to live like I ought to live. I'm going to limit my liberty so I don't hurt my brother and offend my brother because if I offend my brother that's horrible.
[32:34] By the way, the apostles understood that and they taught that. So when you come to church not only do you let people sit in the right seat but let me just tell you this. On Facebook you're careful what you post because you don't want to cause a weaker brother to fall.
[32:46] And then when you're having a conversation with people you want to be careful what you say or do because you don't want to cause a brother to fall. You don't want somebody else to say, you're like, well I don't see nothing wrong with that and maybe they do. And so you're like, well you're a legalist.
[32:59] I hope you fall. Well, that's not our attitude. Our attitude is, I love you. I love you and I won't offend you. So let's look at some verses if we can. We're to be careful of our Christian walk so that we do not offend and cause others to fall.
[33:13] I can't just think of myself and the way I live and think. See, some Christians are like, well I don't really care what anybody else thinks about what I do. Well that's not a very smart move. And by the way, it changes real quick when you get to have children.
[33:25] You know, you remember that? Man, Betty and I first got married. We didn't have a lot of air conditioning. So I'd get home. I was 19 years old. By the front door, my shirt was off, my shoes were off, my socks were off.
[33:36] They'd say, you know, my pants were off. I might run around the house the whole time in my underwear. I was loving that freedom. I couldn't do that while my mom and daddy's house. But man, it was just me and Betty. Now she was always fully dressed. I never didn't understand that. But anyway, and I would say some things maybe that I shouldn't say and then all of a sudden Chris was born.
[33:51] And I might say a word that I didn't really think was that bad a word but then my son would go to church or school. He'd go to school and the teacher would be standing and he'd say a word. And the teacher would say, where'd you hear such a dirty word?
[34:05] My dad. And then they'd come say, Pastor, why don't you teach your kid these dirty words? And I was like, oh boy, we've got to change things. I don't want to do things before my little kid would get me in trouble. Amen? So here's what's going on.
[34:15] You're going to limit yourself. You don't walk around saying, well I can do what I want to do because I'm saved and he loves me and I understand that. In Romans chapter 14 and verse 13 the Bible said, let us not therefore judge one another.
[34:27] So quit judging each other. Quit walking around church saying look what you're doing and look what you're doing. So that you're supposed to judge yourself and say I'm not going to cause anybody to stumble in our church. I'm not going to put an occasion to fall.
[34:38] Chapter 14 verse 13. Chapter 14, Romans 14 verse 15, I'm not going to have them be grieved or hurt by my liberty. Chapter 15, Romans 14 verse 16, let not then your good be evil spoken of.
[34:51] Chapter 14 verse 18, in these things, for he that in these things serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved to men. So let's follow the things that make for peace.
[35:02] Don't sin against your brother. In 1 Corinthians chapter 8 and verse 12, he said, when you sin so against the brethren, you sin against Christ.
[35:14] So here's the thing, as a Christian, as a Christian, I got saved in humility and I serve in humility and I treat people with respect.
[35:25] I treat them with respect. It doesn't matter if they're red or green, black or white, or purple or from Mars. I'm going to treat them just like a wooden Bible because that's how you treat Jesus. Amen? And if they come in and they're rich or they're poor, I'm going to treat them the same way.
[35:37] If they come in and they haven't had a bath, I'm going to treat them the same way. I'm going to treat them the same way because that's what the Bible said do. And then I'm going to be real careful because I don't want to offend my brother. I want to help my brother grow in Christ and do what's right and not hurt my brother.
[35:49] That's who I am. So that's the end of the lesson. Start with the beginning again. Can you go back to the beginning with me? They're all sitting around. You can just see Jesus. He's just sitting over there. Of course, they'd have been on the floor. I'd get down there but I couldn't get back up.
[36:01] So anyway, Jesus is sitting there. He's sitting there with these guys and one of them looked over and said, Jesus, man, things are moving on real good. We're just about to take over the kingdom. It's obvious you're the Messiah. Woo! I'd like to know who's going to be the greatest in the kingdom?
[36:13] And you can see them, man. Can you see them? They're kind of cocky. Kind of got your chest puffed out thinking, I can just see Peter looking over at Bartholomew and saying, he don't even mention your name that much. I'm pretty sure I'm going to get the first spot.
[36:25] I can see him looking over at Thaddeus and saying, oh, Thaddeus. They'll probably let you be in charge of the ministry of sewage at the new kingdom. Can you see it? Who's the greatest?
[36:36] And Jesus says, hey, bring that kid here. And they bring a kid and everybody's quiet. What's a kid doing in an adult meeting? Bring the kid here. Sets him on his knee and he looks at him and says, boys, y'all don't understand.
[36:49] In my world, it ain't about how tall you are, how much you weigh, how much money you got, what color you are. It's about how humble you are. That's how my world works. And so if you want to get into my world, you better give up this pompous attitude you're in.
[37:03] And you better trust me. And so you got saved by believing and you serve in humility and you treat people with humility. and you treat them all the same and you don't want to offend your brother.
[37:14] You're living a new lifestyle, kingdom lifestyle, Jesus lifestyle, God lifestyle. You're not walking around the church judging each other. Boy, you give a church a few years and I hope and pray this doesn't happen in ours for a long time.
[37:27] But if you give a church a few years, some of the seasoned saints become the bitter, battling kind. Oh, oh, I like to judge everybody here. Oh, I'm more mature than everybody.
[37:39] And Jesus would say, excuse me, why don't you judge when you put a stumbling block? Quit offending little brothers. Quit offending new people. Be loving and compassionate. Where are you? Are you saved?
[37:50] Did you ever humble yourself and come to Christ? Did you? If you're not born again, today's your day. You need to say, man, I've been proud and thinking I was okay and thinking I'm good and so today I need to put my faith in Christ.
[38:02] Today's your day. The second thing is, are you living this life of humility for our church to continue to grow and God to continue to bless us, us to continue to serve others?
[38:13] We're going to have to get that serving attitude going pretty good. We're going to have to get that humble attitude going pretty good from the pastor on down, by the way. If the pastor's all hung up on what you call him, if the pastor's all hung up on everybody ought to respect him, if the pastor's all hung up on him, he cannot be a good leader.
[38:29] That's exactly what he's saying here. Peter, shut up. Humble yourself. Austin, knock it down a notch or two. You're just a man. There's only one great one around here and his name is Jesus.