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Sunday Morning 18th Nov 2007
Mat 18v1-4
This chapter is concerned about one thing - the Kingdom of
Heaven!
The focus is on two kingdom essentials.
1) Childlike humility - we need this to get into the
kingdom.
2) Deep gratitude over ones forgiveness - if we are in the
Kingdom we will have this.
The necessity for childlike humility in getting into
the Kingdom.
Matthew 18:1-4 At that time the disciples came to Jesus
and asked, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"
The disciples asked some strange questions during their
apprenticeship! Here they are worried about who is the
greatest in the kingdom! Jesus is simply concerned about
getting into the kingdom in the first place never mind who
is the greatest!
Matthew is setting the scene for one of the greatest
words of Jesus.
The disciples come to Jesus with a very childish
question - who is the best?!
After Peters confession of Christ and his witnessing of
the transfiguration he may have been agitating to be the
Prime Minister in the political kingdom that they still
thought Jesus was going to inaugurate.
So who was the best amongst them?!
2 He called a little child and had him stand
among them.
At first Jesus does not say a word. He brings in a
living illustration.
The child is set in the midst of them. They stop and
look. With the question still hanging in the air! “who
is the best”? here Jesus puts a little child in front of
them!
Note: the child is called and commissioned! The child
listens and obeys. We will come back to the child’s example.
3 And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you
change and become like little children, you will never enter
the kingdom of heaven.
With the living example before them Jesus now answers
their question.
“I tell you the truth” - this means we have to listen
very carefully. This is going to be a proclamation of
some special note.
It is vital because Jesus is talking about how we enter
the Kingdom of Heaven.
Jesus answers the question, “how do you get into
heaven.” That is the most important question to ask! Not
who is the greatest!
Jesus answer comes as a rebuke to the disciples.
They had begun to think they were safely in the Kingdom.
Home and dry! Jesus says in effect, stop worrying about
who is the Greatest, worry about getting in to heaven in
the first place!
So how do we get into heaven?
“unless you change” : You need to change! “strepho” is
the word in Greek and means to turn around!
To turn - to repent. To stop going your own way and go
Gods way!
Specifically the disciples had to stop thinking about
the kingdom on their terms!
It was not going to be a political revolution but a
spiritual one.
They had to put selfish ambition behind them.
But Jesus says their change needs to make them “like
little children.”
What is it about little children that Jesus is getting
at?
Quite simply from the example of the child in verse two
- it is their willingness to listen and obey because
they believe!
The child was not interested in debating who was the
greatest! He/she simply heard the call of Jesus and
obeyed.
Application:
Belief : to get into heaven you need to believe in
Jesus. That means you trust him absolutely!
Listen: to get into heaven you need to listen to Jesus.
He has the words of eternal life - Nobody else. Not
science, not money, not yourself!
Obey: do you believe and listen? Then obey. Obedience is
required to get into heaven!
Do you want to get into heaven? Jesus is calling you! Listen
to Him and obey his commission!
4 Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this
child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Finally Jesus answers their question!
Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven? The humble
ones!
Not those who jostle for the position of power and
honour!
How is humility shown? By obedient service to
whatever we are called to.
The child came and stood! Un-dramatic, simple service.
Jesus humbled himself by obediently doing the Fathers
will.
You. What do you need to do? Simple - come to Jesus.
Stop worrying about your own kingdom and what you have
achieved. And about your reputation etc.
How does a small child live? With no thought for
greatness and advancement!
A child does not worry about what other people are
thinking!
A small girl does not worry about how she looks, or if
she has washed her face. She is not concerned about how
others view her at all! She is totally selfless!
Greatness in the kingdom follows this same way!
Don’t worry about what others say or do. Or about how
you look. Just follow Jesus! That is it.
Conclusion;
What sort of questions occupy your mind?
The only question that matters is : am I following Jesus? Am
I in the Kingdom?
Or another way to state that is: ‘is discipleship to
Jesus Christ thee number one priority in your life?’
To be a disciple of Jesus total commitment to him is an
absolute necessity.
Sunday Evening 18ht Nov 2007
Mat 18 v15-17 & 21-35
The necessity of forgiveness in the Kingdom
For us to be in the kingdom we must have been
forgiven:
Therefore our practice should be to forgive.
If we do not practice forgiveness then we are not really in
the Kingdom.
We are always going to have to deal with forgiveness on this
side of eternity.
Even, in the church, we will have to deal with forgiveness.
We will need to be forgiven at times and we will need
to forgive others at times.
V21-22:
How often should we forgive? Forgive interminably!
Jesus says that there should be no limit to our forgiveness
and then goes on to illustrate that with one of his stories.
The parable is there to show what things are really like in
the kingdom of heaven.
As servants of God we have been forgiven a vast amount!
Beyond calculation.
How then can we even think about not forgiving others?!
This is what the Kingdom of Heaven is like.
Scene one
V23: the King wants to settle the accounts. This is his
kingdom He is in charge. He can call to account at any time
He so desires!
V24: a servant who has borrowed money is called to pay back!
He owes millions. A vast amount that he could never pay
back!
Note: we are all living on borrowed resource! Our time, our
health, our money, our talents, etc - all gift! None of it
has been earned.
V25: thus, he and all his are sold into slavery so that at
least some of the money can be paid back! Such a vast amount
is owed that he has condemned his family line to slavery for
generations to come!
V26: the servant has one last hope. Casts himself on his
kings mercy! Worth a try, he has nothing to lose anyway! -
bye the way he has no chance of paying back everything! He
is maybe just trying to buy some time so that he can make
good his escape!
V27: then the king in his great mercy simply cancels the
debt!
Note: this is exactly what the Kingdom of Heaven is like! We
have no hope of paying our debt to God. But if we cast
ourselves on his mercy he will simply cancel our debt!
Scene two:
V28: the servant leaves the kings courtroom and in one of
the outerooms meets a fellow servant who owed him a tiny
little fraction of money! He demands payment!
Note: right there something is wrong! Having experienced
forgiveness how is it that he even remembers this tiny
amount that is owed to him!
V29: the fellow servant, using the same words as v26, begs
time to pay back.
V30: the shock in the story: the man refused to forgive. Has
him thrown in jail.
Scene 3
V31: other servants note the overall picture and seeing the
injustice in it tell the king!
V32-33: the king is appalled. Should not the servant have
had mercy!
V34: he is thrown into jail to pay for his crime of not
showing mercy and pay his debt.
The conclusion.
V35: you will be punished for your sin if you do not forgive
your brother who sins against you!
The whole point of the story is to illustrate that the
forgiven must forgive! There can be no excuse. No
exception to the rule.
How do you tread your brother in the Kingdom of heaven? V15,
v21v, v35
1st what if your brother sins against you?
V15-20.
Take steps to deal with the matter. Outward discipline.
2nd what if your brother sins against you time
and again? V21-35.
You must forgive from your heart, an internal willingness to
always forgive is required. (childlike - they don’t hold
grudges. Find it easy to forgive.)
Note : we cannot forget, (unless we lose our memories), but
we are not asked to forget. Yet we can attach different
thoughts to our memories, instead of wanting revenge we can
think how much we have been forgiven!
In the kingdom then the rules have changed!
Having experienced the mercy of God in not giving up what we
deserved and the grace of God in giving us what we could
never earn; we need to revel in it and extend that to others
as they so ask!
The world seeks revenge and holds grudges. We in the kingdom
have to step apart from that.