The sermon, based on Matthew 18:1-14, explores the concept of greatness in the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus uses a child to illustrate that entry into the Kingdom requires conversion and becoming as humble as a child. The sermon emphasizes that true greatness is not about rank or privilege but about humility and serving others. It warns against causing others to sin, highlighting the severe consequences of such actions. The message stresses personal holiness as essential to avoid leading others astray. The parable of the lost sheep is used to depict God's heart for seeking and saving the lost, underscoring that God values every individual. The sermon encourages believers to embody the humility of Christ, who laid aside His glory to serve and redeem humanity, reinforcing that receiving others in Jesus' name is akin to receiving Jesus Himself.

Our passage today is Matthew 18, 1-14. At that time the disciples came to Jesus saying, Who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? Then Jesus called a little child to him, set him in the midst of them, and said, Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself as a little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one little child like this in my name receives me.

Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned in the depths of the sea. Woe to the world because of offenses, for offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes. If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life lame or maimed rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you.

It is better for you to enter into life with one eye rather than having two eyes to be cast into hellfire. Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven. For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. What do you think if a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying? And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the 99 that did not go astray even so it is not the will of your father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish father thank you for your goodness to us.

Thank you for your word. Lord, I pray that we would bind them about our neck and hide them upon the table of our heart. Lord, may We hide your word in our heart that we might not send against you. Lord, thank you for my brothers and sisters here today. Lord, I pray a blessing on each one of them.

Lord, I pray for Jason this morning as he shares with us what you have taught him. Lord, may our hearts just absorb the Word like the dry ground absorbs the rain. Lord, we pray in Jesus' name, Amen. So our text today has brought us together to think about greatness in the Kingdom of Heaven. What does it mean to be great in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Last week we had Jesus talking about the core tenets of the Gospel. It's all there. That a father would deliver up his own son so that he could pour out wrath against sin upon him so that the innocent could die in place of the guilty and God could redeem a people for himself and collect a people from the four corners of the earth and save them and make them into a family. Jesus speaks of himself being delivered up, being killed, but the grave couldn't hold him. So on the third day, he is raised from the dead in glory, and he's made king of a kingdom.

And after speaking of this, we get this microcosm of the gospel this little world that we can look at and say hey that's just like the gospel and it's Jesus being asked for the temple tax money and he tells he teaches Peter that he doesn't have to pay that. He's exempt from that. Because the temple tax is for the worship of God, and he's God. All the temple tax is for worshipping him. And so he doesn't have to pay that tax.

And he asks Peter, who do the kings of the earth get taxes from? Do they get it from their sons or do they get it from their other subjects? And of course the answer is obvious. But the point is Jesus has laid aside all of his glory, all of his rights, and he did that in order to purchase a people. He was the law giver, but he allowed himself to be born under the law.

And he fulfilled the law even though he's not subject by nature to the law in any way because he's God, he's the law giver. And so we had the gospel preached by Jesus In speaking of being delivered up, being killed, being raised from the dead, and then we have this little picture of the gospel. Jesus laying aside all his glory, all his rights, humiliating himself, taking on the form of a servant, and purchasing a people through the work of the cross. This week our text takes up the same theme. The question on the table this week is Who then is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?

Who is the greatest? And it's not a departure from what Jesus was talking about when he talked about humiliating himself, laying down his rights. It's actually a continuation on the same theme. And the message for us is that what Jesus was when he took on the form of a servant, when he decided to forego his rights and his glory, we must be. He was that and we're to follow in his footsteps.

As we go to the text, let's pray. Father God, I thank you for this text. How I need to be trained by this text. How I need to be changed by this text. And I know I'm not alone in this room, God I pray that your Spirit would fall upon us to bring to bear your mighty Word, to help us to be like Jesus.

Oh God, help us, help us. We see that we're a thousand miles away from what we should be. And we're still earthly in our thinking in so many different ways, but we don't want to be God. We want to be changed. We want our minds to be transformed, renewed.

Help us through your Word today in Jesus' name, Amen. So we're going to begin just looking very carefully at verses 1 through 4. In verses 1 through 4, Jesus tells us who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Here in Matthew, the disciples have come to Jesus and they've asked him that question. In Mark, we get a little bit more of the back story.

In Mark 9 is our parallel text. And in Mark 9, it says that they're in Capernaum, which is right where we were in our text last week. So the basic scenery hasn't changed. They were in Capernaum last week when the temple tax collectors came calling. And they're in Capernaum again in a house.

And Jesus says to his disciples, what was it you disputed among yourselves on the road? And they're silent in Mark 9. And in Luke, the parallel passage in Luke 9, he says that he had known their thoughts. So this is what's happening. This is what's happening in the background.

Jesus knew their thoughts. He knew what they had been squabbling about on the road. And he asks them. And they're too embarrassed to say. But what Matthew records is they finally do ask the question.

But they ask it in a very benign way, in a very innocent way. Who then is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven? And If you read that question and you didn't know the back story from Mark 9, you might think, well this is great. They're wanting to know what characterizes someone who becomes great in the kingdom of God. But from Mark 9 we know they really want a name.

They want a name. Say the name Peter, or say the name John, or say the name Andrew, because he was the first called. Peter, because Jesus had already said he was the rock upon which he would build the church. Or John, because he was the beloved disciple. Or Judas because he had been given charge of the money.

And they want to know the name, but they ask the question in a way where their selfish ambition is kind of covered up by the way that they ask the question. Matthew Henry says this, instead of asking how they might have strength and grace to suffer with him, they ask him, Who shall be highest in reigning with him? Note, many love to hear and speak of privileges and glory, who are willing to pass by the thoughts of work and trouble. Did you catch that? Many love to hear and speak of privileges and glory who are willing to pass by the thoughts of work and trouble.

We should read this text and really be cut to the heart, knowing that this is the human condition. That we do like to think and speak of privileges and glory and to turn those things over in our minds and in our weaker moments, even to speak of them. And we're so willing to pass by the thoughts of work and trouble. This is what is happening in this text. So they've asked the question, and Jesus commences an object lesson.

The object is a little child that he takes and he sits in the midst of them. So he's teaching with word pictures. He's got an object and he's going to use the object to teach his disciples. The disciples wanted to know who's the greatest and really truthfully, they wanted the name. They wanted to know by name who is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Jesus begins at a different point. They want to talk about rank. He wants to talk about entry. He wants to talk about who is even in the Kingdom of Heaven. And he says this, unless you are converted, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

You won't even enter it unless you are converted and you become as a little child. The disciples are ready to divvy out positions. There's going to be a kingdom, hooray. And we're here, we're the inner circle of this king who's going to have a kingdom And we're going to be people of rank. And so let's talk about how we divvy up the places of honor.

But Jesus says, let's talk about how you enter The kingdom. Now from this, I don't think it's fruitful or profitable to spend a lot of time trying to draw many conclusions about the eternal states of the disciples. That is not the point of this text. We know at least Judas is not regenerate. He's not born again.

And he's not going to be a part of this kingdom at that time or at any time. And undoubtedly there were regenerate members of the disciples there. But it's not the point of the text to try to parse who's who here. Are you in and are you out? Jesus is actually making a broad principle for them to apply.

And this is the point. This is the point of the text. Subjects of the kingdom are not to think like that. The subjects of the kingdom of heaven aren't to occupy their thoughts or their conversations or their time thinking about divvying out the places of honor. God is training His people not to think like that.

We know the world thinks like that. And we were born in the world, our brains were pickled in those juices, And even the regenerate are recovering from that. Jesus is actually coming with a rebuke to say, my people don't think like that. My people don't occupy their thoughts, their words, their time with considering things like that. Remember back just a chapter ago where Peter says, no Jesus, you're not going to the cross.

And Jesus' response is, you're not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men." This is a replay of that. Peter was guilty of it in chapter 16. He rebuked Jesus. He said, No, Jesus, you're not going to the cross. And Jesus rebukes him right back and very strongly And he says, you're not mindful of the things of God.

Here the disciples are, and they're not mindful of the things of God. They're not thinking about the things that the people of God need to think about, are required to think about. Even novices in the Kingdom of God aren't to think like that. And so, wanting to know the name of the one who will be greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven is such a premature discussion. And so Jesus is resetting the discussion from that back to who is even converted?

Who can even enter into the Kingdom of God? Jesus said this, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew chapter 5 verse 3, Sermon on the Mount. Theirs is the kingdom of heaven, the poor in spirit. The spirit behind this question is not being poor in spirit.

Jesus said, blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Matthew chapter 5 verse 4. Those are sequential verses. Sermon on the Mount. Jesus said, blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

You want to inherit the earth? You want to be first? Be meek. Matthew chapter 5 verse 5. All these are in sequence.

Sermon on the Mount. Jesus said, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. Matthew 5 verse 6, all these verses in sequence. Sermon on the Mount. Guys, hunger and Thirst for righteousness.

Don't argue over rank and places. Where is the hungering and thirst for righteousness? Where is the poverty of spirit? Where is the mourning over sin? Where is the meekness?

The things that categorize believers, those who have been born again. In verse 4, Jesus explains what he means. Therefore, Whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of God. So you want to talk about rank and places in the kingdom. I want to talk about conversion.

And by the way, that word conversion means to turn. To turn. It's the language of repentance. It's the language of being born again, being made a new creation. Be converted.

Turn. There needs to be a turning away and a turning towards and becoming as a little child. So Jesus has told them they have to be like a child and then in verse 4 he tells them what that means, which is they have to humble themselves like a child. I think King David has absolutely nailed what this means. So please turn to Psalm 131.

Psalm 131. Psalm 131. And we're going to labor through the whole Psalm, even though it's three verses. Psalm 131, David writes this song of assents saying exactly what Jesus is saying in Matthew 18. Psalm 131, song of a sense of David.

Lord, my heart is not haughty, nor my eyes lofty. Neither do I concern myself with great matters, nor with things too profound for me. Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul like a weaned child with his mother. Like a weaned child is my soul within me. O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forth and forever.

David has described what Jesus is talking about in Matthew 18. David says, my heart's not haughty. David is humble before the Lord. His eyes are not lofty." And he says, I'm not worried about the things that are yours to worry about, O God. I don't concern myself with great matters.

I don't concern myself with things too profound for me. You are God. You concern yourself with those things, God, but I do not concern myself with them. And then he describes himself like a weaned child with his mother. Sometimes a child that's not weaned is agitated, is agitated, wanting to be fed when they're near their mother, when they're around their mother.

But a weaned child is just trusting, just trusting in its mother, just resting in the arms of its mother. And so David exhorts Israel to be like this, hope in God, Hope in God. Don't concern yourself with the things that are God's territory. Humble yourselves and hope in Him. Trust in Him.

Rest in Him. People like this, people who have humbled themselves as a little child, people who have become like David in Psalm 131, these are the greatest in the kingdom of God. That's what Jesus says. And the places of honor are reserved for them. Not the people who love to think about those places of honor or talk about those places of honor or contend for those places of honor.

Those places aren't reserved for people like that. They are reserved for people who will humble themselves as a little child who will be like a weaned child with its mother, just resting, just trusting, just hoping. Verses 5-11. Back to Matthew 18 in our text. Verses 5-11.

Jesus says, Whoever receives one little child like this in my name, receives me. But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world because of offenses, for offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offenses come. If your foot, excuse me, If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life lame or maimed rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into the everlasting fire.

And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye rather than having two eyes to be cast into hellfire. Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven. For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost." Jesus has given us the skeleton, he has given us the bones, the framework to think about this and he said if you want to even enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, you've got to become like a little child.

You've got to be converted to turn and become like a little child. And Then he gives us a formula. For those who are in the Kingdom of Heaven, who have been converted, who have become like a little child, humility equals greatness. That's the formula that Jesus has given us. So he's answering the question, not in what they were hoping for, to get a name out of Jesus, but he's telling them, okay, you want to know what greatness is, you want to be great, humility equals greatness in my kingdom.

And now, having given this framework, having set out the skeleton and given us bones, he's starting to hang meat on the bones. He's starting to flesh it out and tell us exactly what he means. And he tells us what it looks like, and he tells us what it doesn't look like. So that they can compare and say, this looks like me, or this doesn't look like me. We see this so clear in verses 5 and 6.

We have this mighty contrast that is given us in verses 5 and 6 between the one who receives a child in the name of Jesus versus the one who causes to sin. These are just set in stark opposition one against the other. Either you're one who receives people, Christians, in the name of Jesus, or you're one who causes to sin, causes people to sin, causes the people of God to sin. Now what does it mean to receive one little child like this in the name of Jesus? What does that mean?

Mark 9, our parallel text in Mark, adds this. Matthew doesn't tell us this, but Mark records it. This was part of the conversation. If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all. That's what Mark records.

If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all." That's what Mark records. If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all. He won't consider himself to be first. He'll consider others better than himself. He'll prefer the interests of others to his own interests.

And he'll be the servant of all. Though he's great in the Kingdom of Heaven, he won't stand on that at all. In fact, that's not even how he achieved greatness in the Kingdom of Heaven. It was becoming a servant of everyone else. This is completely consistent with the text that will hit months from now in Matthew 25, where Jesus tells the parable of the sheep and the goats.

To the sheep, He'll say, I was hungry. You fed me. I was thirsty. You gave me a drink. I was a stranger, you didn't take me in.

I was naked, you didn't clothe me. I was sick, you didn't visit me. I was in prison and you didn't come to me. He'll say, Jesus, when did we do that? And he'll say, as much as you've neglected the least of these, you never did it to me.

You neglected me. Friends, this is just simply the great commandment and the second which is like it. This is just about love for God and love for your neighbor. It's not that complex of a text. And as we Just keep taking little bits of the text and taking it back to the question that Jesus is answering which is, who is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?

It keeps us out of the weeds. If you don't keep tying back to that question, you just go round and round and you're asked, you're trying to over nuance, over slice and dice the text. But when you keep taking things back to who is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven, you start to realize, this is just the great commandment. And the second, which is like it, that we would love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and that we would love our neighbor as ourselves because all the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments. Find their meaning in these two commandments.

You want to know what God requires of you? To love Him and to love your neighbor. God has been gracious to give us His mind to help us to understand what that means to love God and to love our neighbors in these other commandments. They all tie back to love for God and love for neighbor. That's what we see in this text.

When you do it in the name of Christ, when you receive one in the name of Christ for his glory, for the honor of him, out of gratitude for him, when you receive one in the name of Christ, then you do it unto Christ. And that's what he says. Whoever receives one little child like this in my name, receives me. Now listen to what Matthew recorded Jesus saying in Matthew 10. This is as the twelve are being sent out to preach and heal and cast out demons.

Jesus says this in Matthew 10 through 42, He who receives you disciples, receives me. Just what He is saying in Matthew 18. And he who receives Me, receives him who sent Me. He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet, shall receive a prophet's reward. And he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man, shall receive a righteous man's reward.

And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of water in the name of a disciple, assuredly I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward." Receiving in the name of Jesus is receiving Jesus. Now Jesus expands on the other side of this. We said there is a big contrast in verse 5 and 6. There is receiving and then there is causing to sin. Now Jesus expands significantly on causing to sin.

He says it is better to have a millstone hung around your neck and to be cast into the depth of the sea, than it is for you to entice another to sin. For you to entice a little one to sin, you'd be better off to die before you did it, so that you wouldn't incur the judgment of it. The millstone literally in Greek it is a millstone turned by a donkey. This is the big mama millstone. And so the NASB actually translates it, the Greek words are exactly the same.

The NASB translates it heavy millstone. They add a word just because there's this nuance here and the ESV translates it a great millstone. But it's the one that's got to be drug around by a donkey because it weighs so much. This isn't your home millstone where you're just grinding a little for flower. This is the big upper and lower that requires a beast of burden just to make it go around.

And it's better to have one of those hung around your neck and to be tossed into a thousand feet of water so that you are irretrievably, hopelessly dragged down into the depths from which there would never be any return than it is to entice to sin. And Jesus says in verse 7, Woe to the world for offenses. But he acknowledges the reality, the providence of God, that God has made a world where there are offenses, where there are enticements to sin, where there are stumbling blocks. This is the plan and design of God, and that is a woe to the world, that there are offenses. But Jesus pronounces a second woe on the one through which that offense comes.

And then he says, if your hand or foot causes you to sin, if your eye causes you to sin. Now I want to add a therefore in between these two things. You've been talking about offenses. You've been talking about ones who would cause another to sin. And now he talks about personal sin.

But I want to say to you that There's no shift in subject here. It's one subject. Woe to you who entice to sin. It would be better for you if you'd be drowned in a thousand foot of water with the big millstone around your neck. Woe to you.

Therefore, if your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off. Because it would be better to be drowned in a thousand foot of water than to entice to sin, therefore if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you." It is personal holiness that keeps us from enticing others to sin. It's personal holiness. Not self-righteousness, not law keeping for the sake of law keeping, but personal holiness. Being set aside for the glory of God And keeping ourselves for him in his ways.

That is what keeps you from enticing others to sin, from dragging others into your sin. Turn to Matthew 5. Matthew 5. Jesus has already taught this in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5 verses 19 and 20. Jesus says, Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven." Relevant to our topic today?

Relevant? But whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Here in Matthew 5, Jesus is again, or I guess for the first time, making the connection between personal obedience and what you teach about the commandments. If you personally obey the least of the commandments and you teach others to do so, you will be great in the Kingdom of Heaven.

That's what Jesus is saying in Matthew 18 as well. If you break a null set aside the least of the commandments and teach others to do so, you'll be the least in the kingdom of heaven. And if you love that thing, whatever it is, it can be as healthy as a hand or a foot or an eye if you love that thing so much so that you simply will not cut it off when it causes you to sin, then your soul is in peril of hell for eternity. If you love that thing, you're saying whatever you're saying, But if in your heart you love that thing more than you love God, and you prove it by keeping it around, nurturing it, and proving that your affection is not God, but it's that thing, whatever it is. So you won't cut it off, you won't pluck it out, you won't cast it from you.

Your soul is in danger of hell. Will we worship God? Or will we worship our idols and prove that our faith is dead? This is not workspace righteousness. It's not.

It's not. It's not. But it is the reality that you will worship. You will worship God Almighty and bow your knee to Him, or you'll worship that idol. And you'll love it.

And you'll serve it. And you'll prove that your faith is just an intellectual faith. It's a dead faith. It's a lifeless faith. It's a mechanical faith.

It's a sterile faith, but it is not a saving faith. Verse 10, Jesus says, take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven. So we're not to despise or disdain or to think little of or to minimize one of these little ones. I would trace that back to verse 6.

Who believe in me? People of God, as they grow in greatness in the Kingdom of Heaven, they despise less. They despise less as they are growing in greatness in the kingdom of heaven. They disdain less. They make little of less and less and less.

And why don't you despise? Because God doesn't despise. God doesn't despise little ones. God doesn't despise little ones. Listen to Hebrews 1.14.

In Hebrews 1.14, the writer is talking about Jesus' superiority to the angels. And then he turns his attention to angels and he says this, Hebrews 1.14, are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation? That's what angels are. You want a definition of angels? Hebrews 1.14.

Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation? Yes, that's what they are. They are there and they are sent forth for those who will receive salvation to minister to them, to serve those who will receive salvation. God cares about little ones. And there is a host of angels that are sent forth by God to minister to those who will receive salvation.

In verse 11, Jesus says, For the Son of Man has come to save that which is lost. He's not a despiser of the small. He's a redeemer of the small. That's what Jesus is. He doesn't despise them, he redeems them.

He preserves them. He serves them. Jesus says, I did not come to be served, but to serve and to give my life as a ransom for many. He's not a despiser of the small, he's a redeemer of them. The last section of our text, back to Matthew 18, verses 12 through 14.

What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying? And if he should find it, assuredly I say to you, He rejoices more over that sheep than over the 99 that did not go astray. Even so, it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish. Our text today ends with Jesus giving an illustration of the heart of God on the matter.

We have been given the heart of God on the matter. There's two questions that we're dying to know when we read these three verses. The first is this, who is the man who has a hundred sheep and loses one? Who is that in the parable? And the second is, who is the lost sheep?

The one who has the sheep is the Son of Man. I lumped verse 11 in with the previous ones because It fits there, but it really fits here too. Like a good transition does, it fits with what's before it and what's behind it. The Son of Man came to save that which was lost. That preface leads us into this parable.

They're His sheep. Jesus owns the sheep. Fathers don't own the sheep, mothers don't own the sheep. Elders don't own the sheep, popes don't own the sheep, Jesus owns the sheep. They're his sheep.

But Jesus is still answering the question, who then is greatest in the kingdom of God? And this is part of the answer. Jesus wants us to be like Him. Jesus wants us to conform our minds to his mind. And this is the heart of Jesus Christ.

He came to save that which is lost. When one of his sheep wanders away, he goes and gets it. And he wants us to be like him. He wants us to take up our cross and follow Him, to do the things that we see Him doing because we love Him for it. Those who receive in my name, Jesus says, are acting like me.

They receive me. So those who entice to sin, who lead in to sin, are actively working in opposition to Jesus. That's what we have when we look across the whole thing. We see that the heart of Jesus Christ is to go after a lost one and yet you have people who are working in 180% the opposite direction. They are enticing to sin.

They are leading astray and they are in active opposition to the work and ministry of Jesus Christ as the Son of Man who's come to save that which is lost. All this just knits together, and He's teaching us who the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven is. It's those who are like Him, who think like Him, who have the heart that He has, that when you have a hundred sheep and one of them strays away, You go into the mountains and you go get that sheep. Because that's what Jesus does. That's what Jesus did.

If you're saved, that's why you're saved. Because he went and got you. Who were the sheep? The sheep or the elect? The sheep or the elect?

I spent so much time wrestling. Is this evangelism or is this Jesus preserving those that he's already justified? Is this perseverance of the saints or is it evangelism? Well, in Luke he uses it in another setting and it's evangelism there so it must be, no, no. This is thinking about it wrong.

Fundamentally, it's the same thing. At its heart, it's the same thing. So we don't need to start drawing lines between evangelism and bringing back one who has been justified. It is the same ministry of Jesus Christ. You cannot save yourself.

Jesus has to come get you. You cannot preserve yourself. Jesus has to keep you in his flock. You cannot preserve yourself in the Kingdom of God any more than you can save yourself. We lose sight of that, but that is true.

I tell you it's true. You cannot preserve yourself in the Kingdom of God any more than you can make yourself be born again. Then you can raise yourself from the dead. You cannot do it. And yet, He who has begun a good work in you will be faithful to bring it to completion at the day of Christ Jesus.

He'll be faithful. The only reason you stay in the flock and haven't wandered off in the weeds and been devoured by wolves is because Jesus Christ a hundred times has left the 99 to go and get you. I've been walking with the Lord for close to 30 years now. How many times has he gone and got me. Since the time when I was justified.

If you think Jesus just saves you and justifies you, and then you'll take it from there, oh may it never be that we would think that way. He has come and got you again and again and again. If you're in his flock, that's because he's come and got you again. And he's not done. John 6, 39, Jesus says this, This is the will of the Father who sent me, that of all he has given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.

That's worth a re-read. That is worth a re-read. John 6, 39. This is the will of the Father who sent me. This is the will of God.

That of all he has given me, I should lose nothing but should raise it up at the last day." A few concluding remarks. Before we presume upon God, before we start divvying up the places of honor, we should look to our souls. Have we been converted? Have we turned? Have we become as a little child?

Disciples ready to skip right past that, not Jesus, Not Jesus. Unless you are converted and become as a little child, you will by no means enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Forget about discussions of greatness. Have you been converted and become like a little child? Now we learn from this passage that the great in the kingdom of heaven do these things.

They're humble. They receive ones in the name of Jesus. So they receive Jesus. They are so careful not to cause to sin, not to lead into sin. They have the mind of Christ where they go after one that's lost.

That's what the great in the Kingdom of Heaven do. So I can feel the wheels in my brain turning. Okay, great. Now we have a list. Awesome!

We've got a list and we can do the list and we can be great in the Kingdom of Heaven. Do you realize how antithetical that is to this passage? And your brain did it too. Don't look at me like that. Mind your own business.

It's easy to make that list and check it twice, and now we've got the road map to greatness in the Kingdom of Heaven. No, no, no! Do we have the humility of Jesus Christ who left the glory of heaven to come? Who was the law giver but was born under the law to come and fulfill it on our behalf? Do we have his humility?

This text is particularly about the Lord's people. In other words, when he gives us the object lesson and he sits the child in their midst, he makes the child into a believer in his object lesson. It's one who's humbled, trusting, Like a weaned child with his mother. It's a believer. And then in verse 6 he says, one of these little ones who believes in me.

So it's particular to the Lord's people. But it's not exclusively about the Lord's people. In other words, it does not do violence to the text at all to expand the application and say there are real little children. Based on this text, you really shouldn't lead them into sin. Lest we spend our time trying to parse who's elect and who's not elect what in the world.

That's not what this text is about. So it's particularly about the Lord's people, but it's not exclusively about the Lord's people. And I want to speak for a minute in closing about The beauty of this being about the Lord's people. Have you considered what's in this text? You're a little child?

You're humble? If someone receives you in the name of Jesus, serves you, prefers you. It's like they received Jesus. They are actually rewarded for it. Jesus has built into His kingdom kindness for the rest of his people.

He's just built it into his kingdom. If you trust in him, if you're in his kingdom, you're just the recipient of it. He's causing, he's driving, he's teaching, he's training, he's discipling all of his people to prefer you, to be kind to you, to receive you, to give to you. If you're a little child in the kingdom of God, Those who would entice you, lead you into sin are his enemies. And he makes war on them.

And he says, you better think long and hard before you entice Jim Santles to sin. It would be better for you to have a millstone, the big one, hung around your neck and thrown into the depths of the sea. He says, if you're one of my people and you stray because your corruptions still remain and your flesh is still at war with your spirit, if you stray, I'm not letting you go. You're mine. I'm going to get you.

I'm going to bring you back. This is what it means to be part of the people of God. It reminds me so much of the Apostle Paul who gets knocked off his horse on the way to Damascus. Paul has been persecuting the church. What does Jesus say?

Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? You persecute my church. You persecute me. Their friends are my friends. Their enemies are my enemies.

This is the kingdom of heaven. Its king cares about the individual subjects. The one. Not just trying to keep the Kingdom together, not happy that we still got the 99, but cares about the One and will go get the One. This is the Kingdom of Heaven.

This is the King of Heaven. What He's like and what He'll do because He loves His people. Let's pray. Father, I thank you for this glorious vision of the Kingdom of Heaven. Burn it into our souls, press it upon our hearts, O God.

That we would know that you're this kind of king, we would never doubt it for another minute of our lives. We would know that we're so tenderly cared for, so thoroughly cared for. Oh God, I praise you for this text. And I pray God that you would lay us low, you would give us the humility of Jesus Christ, that we would be last of all and the servant of all because we're looking to a better country. And we've received so much and we have an overabundance to give and to share through the mercies of Jesus Christ.

I thank you in the name of Jesus. Amen.