Who is the greatest?

Matthew 18 and verse 1, At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them. And he said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name, receives me. But whoso shall offend or cause to stumble 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. Woe unto the world because of offenses, or things that cause people to sin.

For it must needs be that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh. Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, cast them from thee. It's better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire.

And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee. It is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire. Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones.

For I say unto you that in heaven, there are angels who always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven. For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. How think ye, if a man of a hundred sheep and one of them be gone astray, does he not leave the ninety and nine and go into the mountains and seek that which has gone astray? And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoices more of that sheep than of the ninety and nine which went not astray.

Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish. In chapter 17, chapter 16, the Lord Jesus has been telling his disciples that he's going to be killed. He's going to rise again.

But in verse one here, the disciples come to him and ask a very interesting question. They say, who is the greatest? Who is the greatest? Isn't that just like human nature? Isn't that like our human nature? Maybe we wouldn't think in our own minds to be the greatest, but just a little greater than others, maybe intellectually, socially, materially, appearance wise. I likely don't have to tell you that in Matthew 18, we have the first mention of the local church in the New Testament.

And you get the word offenses and trespasses, sin, these things that plague all of us. And that can be such a challenge to having an assembly that honors the Lord. Because I'll say this, if that's our attitude, who's the greatest? If we're trying to be the greatest, in one way or another, it can cause untold harm in an assembly.

Very interesting the way the Lord deals with this. In fact, he gives, it seems to me, three qualities. He takes the disciples right where they are at this question, who's the greatest? And then he branches out into three qualities that he wants us to be characterized by.

We're going to look at the importance of humility, honesty, and forgiveness. But first of all, this question, who's the greatest? The Lord is the master teacher, isn't he? And I don't know what kind of answer the disciples were looking for, but I don't think they expected the Lord to do what he did. And so he gets a little child of all people, puts them right in the midst.

And it's like he's saying, you want to be the greatest? Listen, unless a person becomes like a little child, you're not even going to be in the kingdom of heaven. And what is he getting at there? Well, I don't know exactly, but to me, a little child is usually characterized by a sense of helplessness. They know they can't do everything themselves.

They're dependent on their father or mother or whoever for so many things. They're dependent. They trust.

And they're usually not trying to be greater. So he takes them back, first of all, when it comes to salvation. But then in verse four, he says, whoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, that's the kind of person that's greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

So what characterized people at salvation when we had to realize our ungreatness, our dependence on God for salvation, and we just trusted what his son did on the cross for us. God wants that to be seen. He wants that to characterize us in our lives as believers.

Dependence. Not trying to be the greatest. I'll ask you the same question I ask myself.

Does this childlike dependence and trust and not seeking place or status, does that characterize me? Does it characterize you? And these aren't just idle questions. God alone knows the untold difficulties that assemblies have gone through because of this very thing. Because pride is a deep root in every one of us.

A deep root. What's interesting now, the Lord's going to branch out a little bit. It's not only us and having that childlike humility or dependence.

But notice what he says in verse five. And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name, receiveth me. And what I see here now, the Lord is going from just what should characterize us, character really, to our relationship with other people.

And I don't think it's too much of a stretch to see the implications of verse five, that the way we treat other believers is the way we treat the Lord. So let's bring it down to where we live. The way you and I treat maybe some people, if we knew that was the Lord Jesus, would we treat him that way? I would suggest that how we treat other believers is more important than being the greatest.

This is what's great in the Lord's eyes. And we can be thankful that we have his word because he wants us to see things from his perspective. And isn't that what the Bible is? And how much we need that day by day to look into it, to see how God sees things, not just how man sees things.

But then in verse six, it's not just maybe treating other believers well, but he tells us in verse six, the tremendous seriousness of being a stumbling block to another believer. You know, we can be so concerned about being a greater this or that and miss what's really important to the Lord. Notice what he says in verse six, but who shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me? I take that to be a believer, not just a child.

But, you know, causing a believer to stumble or sin, he says very strong language. It would have been better for him to have a big, heavy stone, millstone, hanged around his head and they were drowned in the depth of the sea. The Lord didn't use language like that for no reason.

So humility, that childlike dependence and trust in God. How do I treat other believers? Is that important to me? Now, verse eight and nine are a difficulty for me. I don't know how you see them, but I wonder, and I just suggest this, I wouldn't be dogmatic, but I wonder if there were other people besides the disciples listening to this interchange between the disciples' question and the Lord.

And so the Lord's going to give them something now, and he's going to talk not just about being a stumbling block to other people, but things that can be a stumbling block in our own life, even as far as being saved. And he uses the extreme language of, you know, if your hand or your foot or your eye, if it's causing you to sin, it's a stumbling block to you, better to cut it off than to end up in everlasting fire. But down to verse 10.

Take heed, he says, that you despise not one of these little ones. Now, I would suggest again that he's just not talking about children, but other believers that are characterized by childlike faith in God. He says, don't despise them, don't look down on them.

Is there one of us in this audience today who has never done that? And we look at somebody else and, you know, we put them down in our own eyes and we think it lifts us up. The Lord gives us a reason why we shouldn't do that. He says in verse 10, he says, In heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father, which is in heaven.

God is their Father. These people that maybe we've looked down our nose at, looked down on, God is their Father. They belong to him.

And here's the point, they are of tremendous value to him. The least believer, least in our own eyes. And not only that, but if we read down in, well, verse 11.

The Lord Jesus came to save them. Verse 13, the Lord rejoices in them. In verse 14, God sent his son to the cross so they wouldn't perish.

Every believer, whether you've saved just a few days or many decades, are tremendous value, tremendous value to God. And God wants other believers to be a tremendous value to us. We need to realize their value, everyone.

So what lessons in this first section do we learn from Matthew 18? Just out of this one question that the disciples asked, who's the greatest? First of all, we should be characterized by childlike dependence on God, not trying to be the greatest. Secondly, we need to be more concerned about being a stumbling block to God's people than greatness. But thirdly, we should put great value on God's people because he does.

Do we do that? Are we concerned about being a help to God's people? Or more concerned about just being critical, tearing them down, maybe even talking to other people about them? These are the things that can destroy an assembly. You know, parents know that from time to time their kids are going to bicker, squabble, and fight. I mean, sibling rivalry, right? But do parents like it? Parents want their kids to get along.

You think it's any different with God and us, his children? He wants us to get along. He wants us to see the value of one another. So let's move on to this next section, verse 15.

The Lord Jesus continues to say, Moreover, if your brother shall trespass against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.

And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and as a publican. So what do we do when somebody does something that we just can't seem to overlook? Eats away at us? You know, some things, if somebody just says something, you think, well, maybe they're having a bad day, and you don't think another thing of it.

That's good, just to let things blow by. But there are some things you can't. What to do? Spend the rest of your life stewing about it? Talk to others about it? Try to get everybody on your side? No.

Brother, sister. Just as children in a family, their relationship with one another is important to their parents, our relationships are important to God. He wants us to get along.

And so when there are difficulties, he tells us here what to do. He wants us to be honest. And of course, he says in verse 15, if somebody does something to you, it says, go and tell them it's fault between you and him alone.

You ever had to do that? Not very comfortable. Not very comfortable at all. But you know, often you find out there's just been a misunderstanding.

And just talking about it, you know, the problem is solved. One will say, oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. And the other one will say, well, this is how I... You know, just... And it's often been said, you know, you do that not to win the battle, but to win the brother or the sister.

The question is, do we do this? Or do we just let things fester? You say, well, suppose the person won't listen to you. They think you're whacked. Well, the Lord covers that contingency.

You take two or three other people that have some familiarity with the circumstances, and, you know, you go to this person and say, you know, I'm not the only one that sees it this way. And hopefully, the person will realize it's just not you that's, you know, off the wall here. But then what? If they still won't listen, well, you tell it to the assembly.

Notice it starts with one first. Not talking to everybody else about it. Just go to them, and hopefully it can be nipped in the bud, and it's taken care of, and it's behind you.

And you can put that after these things we've been hearing about this morning. But, of course, if they won't listen to the assembly, if they won't submit to assembly authority and government, then they'll be treated like somebody that's not even saved. Honesty.

Brother or sister, God wants us to get along. Is it important? It's important to him. So, the importance of humility, the importance of honesty, but there's one more section here, and I'm going to start at verse 21.

Then came Peter to him and said, Lord, how often shall my brothers sin against me, and I forgive them? Till seven times? Jesus says to him, I say not unto thee until seven times, but until seventy times seven. Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king which would take account of his servants. And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him which owed him ten thousand talents.

Now, some say that could be several billion dollars, maybe six billion. But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his Lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife and children and all that he had in payment to be made. The servant therefore fell down and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.

Then the Lord of that servant was moved with compassion and loosed him and forgave him the debt. But the same servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred pence. Now, some say that would possibly be several thousand dollars, maybe, say, six thousand.

His fellow servant fell down at his feet No. Verse 28. But the same servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred pence, and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that you owe us.

And his fellow servant fell down at his feet and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. It says the same thing. But verse 30 says, And he would not, but went and cast him into prison till he should pay the debt.

So when his fellow servant saw what was done, they were very sorry and came and told unto their lord all that was done. Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt because thou desirest me. Shouldn't you also have had compassion on your fellow servant, even as I had pity on thee? And his lord was wroth and delivered him to the tormentors till he should pay all that was due to him.

So likewise shall my heavenly father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses. So we go in the beginning of the chapter from not being a stumbling block to one another to the middle part. If somebody does something, you know, you talk to them about it, just don't let it fester and get worse and become a big mountain to this last part, forgiveness.

And you know, I realize it's easy to talk about it, but it can be very difficult to do. But again, the lord, the master, teacher, I mean, what an illustration. This man who owed the king six, six billion dollars, say, six billion dollars, and you know, the king wanted the money or he was going to sell him into slavery.

And the man pleaded with the king, and the king had compassion on him and forgave him the debt. You know the story well. The same man who'd been forgiven so many billion dollars, somebody owed him just a few thousand, say, six thousand.

He grabs him by the throat, wants his money. The man said, well, you know, just give me time. I'll get it to you.

And that servant wouldn't listen, but he throws him in prison. Now, brother and sister, isn't that the way we are sometimes? We've been forgiven so much from God. So many of our sins we've forgotten about.

And when we do think about, there's things that cause us shame, and we don't want to think about it any longer. We just thank God for the blood of Jesus Christ that cleanses us from all sin, right? And yet somebody can step on our toes. Somebody can step on my toes.

I get bent out of shape. And you just want your pound of flesh. Ephesians 4, it's put this way, Be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you.

I'm done here. I don't know about you, but I find it possible to read a passage like Matthew 18, and understand it perhaps with my head, and as we were hearing earlier today, nod in agreement. But as we've been challenged already this morning, is it going to change us? Are we just going to continue on? I mean, I can read this, and just be up here, never get into my heart, never get into my shoes, never cause any change.

Quite a question. Who's the greatest? May the Lord help us, by His grace, to see what greatness is to God.