Somebody Loves You

Raul Ries: And it's really important that we understand that God has not only a purpose for my life, has a purpose for every one of us here today. And the more you want to be used of God, the more demands He will make to you, not legalism, because we're saved by the grace of God, but to much is given, much more is required. The Bible says that.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Somebody Loves You Radio, the Bible teaching ministry of Raul Ries in Diamond Bar, California. Well, we are continuing our focus on the world-changing cross of Jesus Christ. Raul will encourage us today to respond to Jesus' sacrifice with a commitment to righteous obedience.

Every day presents a fresh opportunity to point others to Jesus through the witness of our lives, and God can work through us to grow the faith of others who are just starting out on their spiritual journey. Today's lesson is titled, "Do Not Stumble Christians." Here's Raul Ries in Matthew chapter 18.

Raul Ries: We're coming now as Jesus is leading His disciples and is on His way to Jerusalem. And what's pretty amazing about that is that in chapter 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18 now, He's getting closer to the cross, so now He's really being a spokesman of truth even in a greater way.

And the reason for that is because in the first six verses of chapter 18, He's been dealing with humility. According to Nehemiah Rogers, he says, "Humility is the repentance of true pride." I thought that was good. And I think that Jesus, on His way to the cross as He began to open His heart to them, that now in verses 5 through 10, He's going to be sharing with us that we need to be careful not to stumble any Christian.

Notice what I said. There are many Christians today that are stumbling a lot of young Christians and non-believers too. What do I mean? By the way we live, by the things that we say. And I think it's really of importance that we understand that according to the scripture, the Bible says that one day we're going to have to give an account of our words. Whatever comes out of your mouth comes from where? The heart, Jesus said.

And so we have to really be careful that before we open our mouth, we have to think. And if you're angry, be careful that you don't open your mouth. You wait so that God can really do a work in your life, in your heart. So it's really of importance that we understand as we read the scriptures, let's begin by reading at verse 5 of chapter 18. I'll read all the way down to verse 10.

He says, "Whoever receives one of this little child like this in my name receives me. But whoever causes one of these little ones who believes in me to sin, it would be better for that person if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned in the depths of the sea." Notice what he's saying. Here he begins with a warning not to the non-believer, he's speaking to the believers.

He brings a little child in front of him, in front of the disciples, in front of the crowd, and he says, "If you really want to be great in the kingdom of God, you have to be like this little child. You can't have pride." Children are very naive, they're learning. Yes, they make a lot of mistakes, they sin a lot too.

But it's interesting that as we begin as a little child in the Lord, we begin as children in the Lord, and as we begin to mature in the Lord, there has to be that change of heart and mind and attitude so that God can use my life. There are hundreds and thousands and millions of people in churches today that have never really developed spiritually speaking. They've never had. Paul says they're carnal people, not spiritual people.

And to become a spiritual man, there has to be true humility in my life and a hunger and a thirst to really know the will of God in my life. Why? Because a humble person helps to build up other people. Doesn't tear them down. Doesn't defame them. It's building up, not himself, he builds up others. He stands in the background and he allows people to be built up.

He becomes a stepping stone, not a stumbling block. Think what I just said. Think of how many of us are really stepping stones or are you a stumbling stone? What do I mean by that? Well, if you're a stumbling stone, then Jesus wants to talk to you today because you're in danger, great danger.

It's really important that we understand that here as Jesus is speaking, that when He was giving the sermon on the mount in Matthew 5, 6, and 7, He was speaking not to the multitudes, but He was speaking to the disciples. And even here as He speaking in verse 6, He says, "But whosoever causes one of these little ones who believes in me to sin," and to sin means to make that person that is weaker and you're the stronger.

And you don't watch yourself when you're drinking or you're partying or watching television or watching movies or whatever you're doing and you're making another person stumble, then you're liable for judgment because you should know better than that. When we as Christians, as father and husband and wives, we should be protecting our children. They're the little ones that Jesus is talking about.

And if you make any one of my little ones stumble, it would be better for you to put a millstone around your neck and cast yourself into the deepest part of the Sea of Galilee and drown yourself. You're in deep trouble. We should be guarding their minds. There are children today at the age of 12 and 13 years old already experimenting with sex.

And it's really of importance that as parents we need to guard our children, we need to guard them with all of our lives. We need to protect their minds and their hearts. They're going to see enough in this world already without television, without movies that are always promoting evil, always with a second meaning.

And if you're really going to follow Jesus Christ, if you're going to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, just like Paul said in the book of Hebrews chapter 12:14, he says, "Apart from what? If you don't have holiness in your life, you will never see God. No one can ever see God apart from holiness."

My life has to be holy before God. I need to be what? I need to be responsible for my actions. I need to be responsible as a Christian. I need to become that stepping stone, not a stumbling block. Jesus in the sermon on the mount chapter 5:29, he said this: "If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you, for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish than for your whole body to be cast into Gehenna, the lake of fire."

And then he said, "If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you, for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish than for your whole body to be cast into hell." Jesus is going to bring this out again here in chapter 18. It's real important that if you're sinning against God, cut off the sin. He's not literally saying pluck out your eye or cut your right hand or cut your right foot.

Why? Because you still have your left and you still have another eye. He's literally saying, get rid of sin in your life if you want to be used of God. But if you have continually sin against God, then God cannot use your life the way he wants to. Plus, you're going to make people go to hell. You're going to stumble them.

Paul the apostle in the book of Corinthians chapter 12, he uses the eye, the hand, the foot, to illustrate the mutual dependence of the members of the body of Christ, how God says there's a head, which is who? Christ himself. And we become the fingers, we become the toes, we become the ears, we become the eyes, the nose, the mouth. We become one part of the body of Christ.

And many times, a lot of times, we don't like to become a toe that is always in darkness and it smells. We don't like that. If God made you a toe, you've got to be a toe. You cut off my right toe and guess what happens? I can't walk correctly. I lose my balance.

In the Old Testament in battles because they would shoot the bow and the arrow, you know what they would do to the warriors? They would cut off their right thumbs and their left thumbs so they couldn't hold the bow or pull back on it. You become useless. You become crippled. And isn't that what sin does? It cripples our lives.

Think of how many crippled people in the body of Christ because of their selfishness and not awareness of the Holy Spirit speaking to them. They become useless instead of useful in the body of Christ. And some of you are sitting here today. You know why? Because you don't know how to die to yourself.

When Jesus was speaking to the disciples as we studied already in Matthew 16, in verse 24, 25, and 26, Jesus on His way to the cross, they're at Caesarea Philippi, and He says, "Okay, you guys, you guys really want to be my disciples?" He said, "If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me."

And then he said this, "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." He says, "And for what profit is it to a man or a woman if they gain the whole world and lose their own souls? Or what will a man or a woman give in exchange for their soul?" What is the thing that you sold out to? Drugs, alcohol, sex, money, power, pride? Those things will cause you to stumble many people.

Guest (Male): You're listening to Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries. To browse our full selection of faith-grounding resources, visit somebodylovesyou.com. You can also email Raul for a personal response to your Bible questions and prayer needs. His address is pastorraul@somebodylovesyou.com. Now back to more with Raul Ries.

Raul Ries: Paul the apostle in the book of Romans chapter 14, he says that if you think—because the problem was going on in Corinth and in Rome where people would go to the marketplace and I would buy a steak, and the steak had been offered to an idol. So I would go home, and if I, my conscience for conscience sake by myself, I could cook it, I could eat it, and no problem.

And if I had a party and invited people over and we're sitting there with the steak and they say, "Well, where did you buy the steak?" "Oh, I bought it down at the grocery store, you know where they go down to the temple and worship idols? They offered them to idols and then they bring them and sell them, we bought it from them." They go, "Uh oh, I can't eat that." You see?

But an idol is nothing because then if that brother is mature but he's not an infant in Christ, then what do I do? That I don't give them those things that are offered to idols. If they're mature, then we can all eat peaceably. You have to be careful how you walk, how you talk, the things that you share with people, the what you eat, what you drink.

Because you may have the freedom and I tell people, if you have the freedom to drink a beer, to do whatever, do it at home. Do it in the privacy of your home. If you do it at restaurant, if you do it publicly, you never know what weak Christian is watching you and you're going to make them stumble and God will hold you responsible. Paul teaches that. We need to be careful of our freedoms. Just because you're free, that other person is not free.

And this is what Jesus here is trying to teach. Remember the sermon on the mount chapter 5, 6, and 7, when he's speaking about true attitudes? He calls them the beatitudes. The multitude of people left and he kept all 12 of them, one of them a devil, Judas, a betrayer, thief taking from the purse.

And he begins by saying, "Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth." He starts out with the, notice with the negative, and now he goes to the positive. "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall what? Be called the sons of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted," notice, "for not being weird but for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Not for being weird. For righteousness sake that you're being persecuted. Why? Because people see the holiness of God in your life and then they torment you or they prosecute you. That's when you are blessed."

And yet think of the times that you and I and many, many Christians stumble other Christians that are just infants in the Lord by the things that we say, the things that we do. This is why Jesus is so strict here when He's talking to them. Check this out. In verse 7 now, He begins observation number one. He gives another warning.

He says, "Woe to the world because of all the offenses that they have." And the word offense here means stumbling, all the stumbling blocks. Think about that. And what does He say? "For stumbling offenses must come, but woe to that person by whom the offense comes." Wow. Underline that.

You notice the warning now? Jesus says, "I know that people sin, I know that people make mistakes, but woe to that person that makes the mistake and stumbles another person and kicks them out of the kingdom of God." Wow. That's not good. Keeping people out of God's kingdom by the things that you do. Woe to you. He's going to use the word "woe" three times here in his next verses.

And what's interesting, the word woe here means to curse literally. Cursed be you. He says, "Cursed be the world because of offenses, for offenses must come, but cursed be that man by whom the offenses come." See the warning? He's telling you to be careful in your marriage, be careful with your children, what they see, what they watch, where you take them to places.

Making sure that people that are weak do not see you doing something that is going to shrink their growth in Christ or set them back or even push them away from Christ because then we're in deep trouble. So Jesus here is warning. And the problem here is that He's talking to the disciples because the disciples were so interested in greatness concerning the kingdom of God. "Lord, who's going to be the greatest in the kingdom of God?"

Who cares who's the greatest? The greatest is the one that takes the lowest place. The servant of all becomes the greatest of all. And think of how many people are trying to capture and hold on to those positions where God has placed them and it's gone to their heads and they don't want to let go of that position. And the Lord says, "You don't want to let go? Then I'm going to have to use force." And what does God do? He breaks you.

Check this out, warning number two, verse 8. Look what he says. "If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off." Well, if I cut one of my feet or my foot or my hand or pluck out one of my eyes, I still have the other. If I pluck both of my eyes, I already have seen, so my mind already has been imprinted by all those images. There's no way of getting out of it.

But literally here he's not saying pluck out your eye, cut your left hand or your right hand or your right foot or your left foot. He's saying get rid of the sin. Cut off and cast it from you, for it is better for you to enter into life lame and maimed rather than having two hands or two feet and to be cast where? Into everlasting fire. Wow. That's a warning. The lake of fire, not hell. The lake of fire.

People that make other people stumble and they don't get rid of their sin, they end up where? In the lake of fire. God doesn't play games. That's the word of the Lord. That's God's word. Nobody can escape it. Maybe today you're finding yourself in a place where you find yourself stumbling someone at work or in school or in the gym or at the beach or at the mountains.

Wherever you may be, your behavior has to be what? Cannot be compromised. You have to be aware of your surroundings. You have to be aware of who's with you and who's not with you and who's around you. Because there may be someone sitting there or standing there or whatever they're doing and they watch you do something that you do not of ignorance but willfully and you make them stumble. Woe is you.

We need to be careful so that we don't have a woe in our lives, a curse because we're not doing what's right. Observation number three, verse 9. He says, "If your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out, cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye rather than having two eyes and to be cast into hell and fire, or Gehenna."

So Jesus is not literally saying, okay, go pluck your eye, cut your hand, cut your foot. No, he's saying get rid of the sin. The problem and the issue is what? Sin. Not body parts. Sin separates us from God. And that's why it's really of importance for every one of us that are sitting here today. To much is given, much more is required.

The more you sit in this church and the more you hear the book of Matthew and you hear through the Bible and you go through the Bible, the greater the judgment will be in your lives. So you have to make a decision, either to obey it or to disobey it. But you can't hang out neutral. It won't work. You've got to make up your mind what you're going to do.

Like Joshua said, "For me and my house, we're going to serve the Lord, no matter what anybody else does." And bringing up your children and bringing up your grandchildren, we need to be careful not to make them stumble but to be witnesses so they can serve and love the Lord. Just like these young guys up here playing worship music today, they're being trained. One day they'll be pastors, they'll be out doing what God called them to do.

And it's really important that we understand that God has not only a purpose for my life, has a purpose for every one of us here today. And the more you want to be used of God, the more demands He will make to you, not legalism, because we're saved by the grace of God, but to much is given, much more is required. The Bible says that. And that's why Jesus brought up the little child and said, "You guys, this is what I want you to be: humble, honest, holy, and do what's right. Obey my word."

Guest (Male): What a challenging reminder that our lives are constantly on display and we can positively impact others with our witness. You're listening to Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries. Today's message is titled "Do Not Stumble Christians." If you'd like to get an unedited version, just call us at 800-634-9165 and for a donation of $5 or more, we'll send a copy to you.

Now as you think about how you can strengthen those newer in their faith, we'd like to offer you this entire series from Raul. It's titled, "Why the Cross Mattered and Still Does." Available on CD or USB, this 13-part study establishes the universal need for a Savior and illuminates how Jesus secured the way to God's forgiveness and redemption. You'll also see how the abundant life in Christ becomes even richer when you share his love with others.

Visit somebodylovesyou.com or call 800-634-9165 to order Raul's 13-lesson series, "Why the Cross Mattered and Still Does." We'll send you the CD set for $25 or the flash drive for $16. That's 800-634-9165.

Our mailing address if you'd like to order by writing us is Somebody Loves You Radio, Post Office Box 4440, Diamond Bar, California 91765. Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries is fully listener supported. Thank you for your partnership. Those gifts help us keep sharing the good news of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Join us next time as we continue this Easter series with a very important look at the nature of a true commitment to Christ. We'll see that following Jesus requires more than a one-time prayer; it takes a daily choice to surrender to him. Now with a closing comment, here's Raul once again.

Raul Ries: Check this out, verse 10. "Take heed," notice, "that you do not despise one of these little ones." Notice again God's protection and God's awareness of true believers. Make sure you take heed, be aware, that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels are always see the face of my father who is in heaven.

Wow. God is fully aware and his angels are fully aware of who? Of little children. God's little children in the kingdom of God. He wants them to grow, He wants them to develop, and He wants them to be great in the kingdom of God by becoming the servant of all. Humility, not pride.

Guest (Male): This program is sponsored by Somebody Loves You Radio in Diamond Bar, California.