Well, it's been several weeks
since we've had our Friday night study here at Rescue, and I'm
thankful to be back at the helm and running things again and
doing the studies. I took a break, and we were with
Norm Wells last week. Wayne Boyd brought several messages,
and we were just so blessed with that. But it's good to be back
in the chair tonight, and I want to begin with the handout. Keep
your Bibles handy. We're going to look at Matthew
chapter 18, and we're also going to be looking at Ezekiel chapter
36. So let's begin, though, first
with some verses out of Luke chapter 10. And it's here in
your handout, if you would. In chapter 10, verse 21 through
23, we read these words. In that hour, Jesus rejoiced
in spirit and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and
earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent
and hath revealed them unto babes. Even so, father, for it seem
good in thy sight, all things are delivered to me of my father,
and no man knoweth of who the son is but the father, and who
the father is but the son, and he to whom the son will reveal
him And he turned him unto his disciples and said privately,
blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see. Now, I've titled tonight's study
Revealed Unto Babes, because that's what the word of the Lord
is. It's revealed. We see the truth for one reason
and one reason only, because God has revealed it to our hearts. The word rejoice, back in their
handout there, the word rejoice, it just jumped out at me when
I was reading this. I've read this verse many, many,
many, many times, but to see the Lord rejoicing in something
that has to do with me just amazes me. I'm so unworthy of anything
from him, yet he rejoices. He rejoiced. It jumps out. The word is agaleo. That's the best I can do in pronouncing
it. That's Greek to me, by the way. It means, much properly,
to jump. for joy, that is to exalt, to
be exceeding glad, with exceeding joy, rejoice greatly. God in the flesh rejoiced that
God the Father revealed the gospel, and who did he reveal it to?
Unto babes. Now, our subject in our study
of Matthew's letter tonight has brought us to chapter 18, so
if you look in your Bibles now with me at chapter 18, I want
to read the first 14 verses. Chapter 18, beginning at verse
1, we read, And at that 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 said, Verily I say unto you, except ye be converted
and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom
of heaven. That's a pretty stern warning. That's a pretty strong statement.
Verse 4, whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this
little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Now,
I'm going to preach on that, Lord willing, this Sunday. The
same is... The same is the greatest in the
kingdom of heaven. Verse 5, let's go on with that.
And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth
me. 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.
Woe unto the world because of the offenses, 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 and cast them from thee. It is
better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed rather than
have 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 their angels do always behold the face
of my Father which is in heaven. For the Son of Man has come to
save that which was lost. How think ye, if a man have a
hundred sheep and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave
the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh
that which is gone astray? And if so be that he find it,
verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep. than of the
ninety-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." Now, the whole chapter of chapter 18 is one
message. We're just going to take the
first 14 verses tonight, and I don't even think we're going
to be able to get through all of these 14 verses as well. So I want to go back to our handouts
now, mid-page, and I want to begin with a quote from Don Fortner
that he wrote. He said, the Word of God uses
many names to describe and identify the Lord's people. But more frequently
than anything else, the name that is used is children. We are called Children of Promise,
Children of Light, Dear Children, Beloved Children, Children of
the Day, and Little Children. This is a great privilege and
a matter of great joy, writes Don. All who believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ are the children of God, chosen in eternity, adopted
in love, accepted in the beloved heirs of God and joint heirs
with Christ. And Don writes, and always under
the Father's tender care. And he quotes, from 1st John
3 verse 1 through 2, Behold what manner of love the Father hath
bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God. Beloved,
now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we
shall be, but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be
like him, for we shall see him as he is. Page two. Don goes
on to say, the meaning of this is so much more, though. The
word children not only expresses the idea of great privilege and
the highest honor, it also is a word that implies our nature
and state, our condition in this world. Children are weak. dependent, unable to care for
themselves, and immature. As I was reading these words,
I couldn't help but think of sheep. And he closes and he says,
and just a side note, children are easily persuaded, tenderhearted,
and quick to forgive. Now Matthew 18 tells us that
all who are converted by the grace of God become as little
children in this world. Now of course there are babies,
there are young men, there are old men in the kingdom of God.
1 John 2 verse 12-13 tells us this where he writes, I write
unto you little children because your sins are forgiven. You are
forgiven you for his name's sake. I write unto you fathers, because
ye have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you
young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto
you little children, because ye have known the father. Yet
there is a very real sense in which it could be said that as
long as we are in this world, in this body of flesh, we are
in a state or a condition of spiritual childhood. The commentators
seem to agree the purpose of this message is to teach us,
to teach us the Church of God as a family of imperfect. Now, I want to stop there for
a minute. Every trouble that we see in
our brothers and sisters throughout this country, throughout this
time that you and I walk this earth, is because of that word
right there, an imperfect family. Every single one of us stand
in the sins of our flesh. We are imperfect, and that's
at best. We are weak, weak children. And this is to teach us how to
get along with each other in this world. Now consider with
me five points that the Lord brings out in his message of
this chapter 18. First off, everyone who enters
the kingdom of heaven must do so as a child of God. That's
what we read in the first 14 verses there. They must do so
as a child of God, as a child. All of God's children are to
be treated by us as God's children. That's what we read in verses
5 through 9. They are all to be cared for
as God's children, which is verse 10 through 14. And when they
require it, all must be disciplined as God's children. And our Lord
lays that out for us in verses 15 through 20. We'll get to that
at a later date. And lastly, they must all be
forgiven as God's children, again, further in the, and that's in
verses 21 through 35. So we'll get to those last two
points for sure in another day. But I wanna really concentrate
on those first 14 verses today. Now we're not gonna have time
to cover all the five points tonight, so we'll take it what
we can in the time that we have, and we'll pick up again in our
following studies. Now first, what brought the need
What brought the need for this lesson to be preached by our
Savior? The thing that inspired this sermon was a question that
seemed to have been a constant matter of debate among the Lord's
disciples. And even as it is to this day,
who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? Who is the greatest? These dear brothers in Christ
were still looking for Christ to establish a kingdom of earthly
nature. And each one wanted to have a
carnal place of prominence in that kingdom. Their question
is one that revealed ignorance, arrogance, and terrible ambition
in these men. And it's a question that still
plagues many of a church of God today. The bewares of God's Word
are not just to fill up space. The warnings of God are for our
own good. Listen to these words from Proverbs
3, verse 5 through 8. Trust in the Lord with all thine
heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy
ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise
in thine own eyes. Fear the Lord and depart from
evil. It shall be health to thy navel
and morrow to thy bones." It'll be good for us. It'll be good
to our navel and healthy for our bones. if we lean upon him
and depart from evil. There is only one great in the
kingdom of God, and that great one is Christ. Listen to these
words from Matthew 11, 11. Verily I say unto you, among
them that are born of a woman there has not risen a greater
than John the Baptist, notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom
of heaven is greater than he. And again, when I was doing this
study, I thought to myself, there's a message right there. He that
is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he, John the
Baptist. All who believe are equal in
him, in Christ. There are no degrees of reward.
among the redeemed. The Lord says in his priestly
prayer in John 17 verse 24, he says, Father, I will that they
also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am that they
may behold my glory which thou hast given me. Folks, Christ
is our reward. And seeing as he is perfection
in every way, what could be of any degree more than that? What
shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? If God's given us all things,
then how can there be any degrees of reward? And if you've got
Christ as your reward, what more do you need? He's all in all,
is he not? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. Page
four. Who is he that condemneth? It
is Christ that died, yea, rather that is risen again, who is even
at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for
us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Our Lord's
response to their question reveals the necessity of conversion. Christ said, verily I say unto
you, except ye be converted and become as little children, ye
shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. That's in verse three.
It is impossible. for anyone to be saved without
being changed. Not outwardly changed, but inwardly
changed. The Lord told Nicodemus, you
must be born again in John 3, 3. Look in your Bibles with me
over at Ezekiel chapter 36. Ezekiel chapter 36. And I'll
give you a moment to turn there in case you haven't already gotten
there. In Ezekiel chapter 36, and we're talking about being
changed. Again, it is impossible for anyone
to be saved without being changed, not outwardly, but inwardly. Salvation is a heart matter.
We're going to be dealing with sin of this flesh until the day
the Lord takes us out of this. But our heart, in our heart,
where our Savior dwells, we don't have to fight sin anymore, for
he has fought it and won the battle. Look here at verse 22
of Ezekiel chapter 36. Therefore say unto the house
of Israel, thus saith the Lord God, I do not this for your sakes,
O house of Israel, but for mine holy namesake, which ye have
profaned among the heathen, whether ye went. And I will sanctify
my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have
profaned in the midst of them, and the heathen shall know that
I am the Lord, saith the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified
in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among
the heathen, and gather you out of all the countries, and will
bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water
upon you, and ye shall be clean from all your filthiness, and
from all your idols will I cleanse you." A new heart. And this is
what I was mentioning a moment ago, this change, this change
of heart. Do you remember a time? Do you
remember when you had no heart for the Lord? Oh, you may have
had a heart for some kind of a God. You may have had a heart
for a God who had no power over you, who just dangled out there
in front of you salvation, and it was up to you to reach over
and grab a hold of it. It was up to you to receive it.
It was up to you to make a decision to follow it. A new heart, he
says in verse 26, also will I give you, and a new spirit. This is
that change we're talking about. It will I put within you, and
I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will
give you a heart of flesh, and I will put my spirit within you
and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my judgments
and do them. When did we ever keep the judgments
of the Lord? Are we not perfected in our Savior? Isn't that what it tells us in
Hebrews chapter 10? Were we not purged by His one
offering as it says in Hebrews chapter 1? That's when. And ye shall keep my judgments
and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land
that I gave to your fathers, and ye shall be my people, and
I will be your God. I will also save you from all
your uncleanness, and I will call the corn, and will increase
it, and lay no famine upon you. And I will multiply the fruit
of the tree, and increase the field, that it shall receive
no more reproach, a famine among the heathen. Then shall you remember
your own evil ways, in your doings that were not good, and shall
loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and
for your abominations. Not for your sakes do I this,
saith the Lord God, be it known unto you. Be ashamed and confounded
for your own ways, O house of Israel. Thus saith the Lord God,
in the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities,
I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the waste
shall be billed." Back in our handouts mid-page, by nature
there is no fear of God in our hearts, there's no love for God
in our souls, and no faith toward God in us, only corruption and
sin. What then? Are we better than
they? No, no, in no wise, for we have
before proved, both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under
sin. As it is written, there is none
righteous, no, not one. There is none that understandeth,
there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of
the way, and they are together become unprofitable. There is
none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open
sepulcher, and their tongues they have used deceit. The poison
of ash is under their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and
bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed
blood. Destruction and misery are in
their ways, and the way of peace they have not known. There is
no fear of God before their eyes. Romans 3, verse 9 through 18. Folks, that's us in the flesh.
Do you know the world cannot see themselves that way, the
truth of what they are, unless God reveals it unto them? We
all grow up thinking, oh, there's a little bit of good in us if
we just fan the flame, give a little fanning to the flame there, and
it'll grow. No. To be known, to know yourself
as the center that you are, God Almighty must reveal that to
you. By nature, we are entirely, back
in our handout again, page four. entirely unfit for God's presence. Every one of us, not one of us
is in a better boat than that in the flesh. Listen to these
words from Isaiah 64, verse 6-7. But we are all as an unclean
thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags, and we all
do fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us
away. And there is none that call upon thy name, that stirreth
up himself to take hold of thee. For thou hast hid thy face from
us, and has consumed us because of our iniquities." Conversion
is as necessary as election and redemption. Without it, there
is no salvation. Listen to these words from Revelation
21 verse 27. And there shall in no wise enter
into it, speaking of the kingdom of heaven, anything that defileth,
neither whatsoever worketh abomination or maketh a lie, but they which
are written in the Lamb's book of life. Oh, there's hope. There's
hope for one who his name may be written in the book of life.
In Matthew 18, verse 2 through 4, our Savior teaches us the
nature of true conversion. He says, and Jesus called a little
child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, and said,
verily I say unto you, except ye be converted. I wanted that to sink in for
a moment. I brought a message. A couple of weeks back, about
a bunch of words that had some things in common. They all ended
with ed. If you just say the word convert,
you can take that as a past, present, or anything. But when
you put ed on there, that means it's done. Except ye be converted. Somebody else had to do it. 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." Conversion is a change, the turning of a sinner to God.
It is not something that we do, but something that is done to
us. Thou hast chastised me, and I
was chastised as a bullock accustomed to the yoke. That means a cow
that had been accustomed to being turned by a yoke. Turn thou me,
and I shall be turned, for thou art the Lord my God. Jeremiah 31, 18. Notice the language
of the Holy Scripture. It's not except ye convert yourself,
But except ye be converted and become as little children, ye
shall not enter the kingdom of heaven. Verse 3. Consider this.
Turn now us unto thee, O Lord, and we shall be turned. Renew
our days as of old. Lamentations 5, verse 21. Someone
once wrote this. He said, conversion is a change.
It is a change of natures. Listen to these words from 2
Corinthians 5.17. Therefore, if any man be in Christ,
he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things are become new. A change of masters. And these
words from Luke 14, 25 through 27, and there went a great multitudes
with him. And he turned and said unto them,
if any man come to me and hate not his father and his mother
and his wife and his children, see the change. This is talking
about the change of masters and his sisters, yea, of his own
life. Also, he cannot be a disciple.
And whosoever doth not bear his cross and come after me cannot
be my disciple. It's also a change of motives.
Listen to 2 Corinthians 8 verse 9. For ye know the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes,
there's the motive, for your sakes he became poor, though
ye through his poverty, that ye through his poverty might
be rich. It's also a change of manners.
From Galatians 5, verse 22 through 23, you read this. But the fruit
of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness,
faith, meekness, temperance. Against such there is no law.
Page 6. This change starts with regeneration. We read these words in Ephesians
2, verses 1 through 6. And you hath he quickened. That
means made alive. who were dead in trespasses and
sin. This is regeneration, given life. You know, regeneration was what
gave Lazarus. It's what gave Lazarus the ability
to hear Christ when he said, come, Lazarus, come. Lazarus had to have life to hear
those words. That's the regeneration. In you
hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sin, where
in time past he walked according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit
that now worketh in the children of disobedience, among whom also
we all had our conversation, our walk in times past in the
lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and
of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as
others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love
were with he loved us." Folks, this is grace. This is grace
right here. This is the love of God. Even
when we were dead in sins, has quickened us, made us alive together
with Christ. By grace, you're saved and have
raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places
in Christ Jesus. When a sinner is born again,
he enters into an entirely new world, an entirely new life. Christ enters into him, and he
enters into Christ in such a real way that he is made a partaker
of a divine nature, as it is spoken of in 2 Peter 1.4. But
conversion is an ongoing, continual operation of grace. Regeneration
is the commencement of life. Conversion is the continual movement
of the soul towards God. A believer's continual coming
to Christ. 1 Peter 2 verse 4 says these
words, to whom coming. Did you catch that? Not to whom
came, but to coming. That refers to coming over and
over in a continual way as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed
of men, but chosen of God and precious. Or how about these
words from Romans 6, verse 11 through 18? Likewise, reckon
ye also yourselves to be dead indeed and to sin, but alive
unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore
reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it and the lust
thereof, neither yield your members and instruments of unrighteousness
unto sin, but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive
from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness
unto God. For sin shall not have dominion
over you, for ye are not under the law, but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because
we are not under the law but under grace? God forbid. Know ye not that to whom ye yield
yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye
obey, whether of sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked that ye were
the servants of sin. that ye have obeyed from the
heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then
made free from sin, you become the servants of righteousness. Page 7. And this as well, Philippians
3, verse 4 through 14. Though I might also, writes Paul,
have confidence in the flesh, if any other man thinketh that
he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more. circumcised
the eighth day of the stock of Israel, and of the tribe of Benjamin,
and Hebrew of the Hebrews, as touching the law of Pharisee
concerning zeal, persecuting the church, touching the righteousness
which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gained to
me, those I counted lost for Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I
count all things but lost for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord. For whom I have suffered the
loss of all things, and do count them but done, that I may win
Christ and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ. the righteousness which is of
God by faith, that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection,
and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his
death. If by any means I might attain
unto the resurrection of the dead, not as though I had already
attained, either were already perfect, but I follow after,
if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended
of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself
to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting those
things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things
which are before. I press towards the mark of the
prize for the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, Philippians
3, verse 4 through 14. Folks, as it is with all things
spiritual, these things are a heart matter. The flesh profiteth nothing. In my heart, I desire to walk
the Lord's ways. In my heart, I desire to please
Him. Yet I know my flesh is full of
sin from head to toe. That's why I continually come
to Him. We continually look to Christ
as Israel was to look to the brazen serpent. The illustration
our master used to exemplify conversion is clear and instructive.
Jesus called the little child into him and said, except ye
be converted and become as a little child, as little children, ye
shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Page 8. What did he
intend to convey by this child and these statements? I believe
he conveyed this, first, that children are completely dependent.
So we must be completely dependent upon Him, living by faith, trusting
Him alone as our Savior. I believe the Lord intended us
through these examples that children are modest, humble, and assuming. So those who are converted by
the grace of God, knowing and confessing their sin before Him,
are modest, humble, and assuming. Children are sincere and honest.
Remember that show that was on TV? Children say the funniest
things. They're sincere and honest in
most ways. A grace experienced in the soul
makes people sincere and honest. Children are relatively free
of envy and ambition, and grace teaches us to deny such lust
of the flesh. Children are quick to forgive,
and those who have experienced forgiveness forgive one another. You could say conversion over
time causes us to experience the vital union with Christ by
faith, which is the fruit and the evidence of our union with
Christ from eternity. And then I close with dumb as
rocks, in parentheses, because I wanted to remind myself to
talk to you about this, to share this with you. I was in a conversation
just recently with a man I believe is a dear brother in Christ.
And he was expressing to me a description of himself in his knowledge of
God. And I giggled when I heard him
say it because, Every child of God expresses the same description
of ourselves. We don't know diddly-squat. We have just a small inkling
of what this heart matter really is. When we read these words
that the Lord is teaching us here about you must be converted
to a child, I thought about the dumb as rocks
word that was used to describe himself. I remembered when my
children were little. My son, it was really cute at
the time, but he would get behind these big old huge boxes of yarn
and try to push them to the back of the truck. He was only maybe
two, three years old. I can't remember. He wasn't in
school yet, so he wasn't five yet. And then they'd get other
boxes that had glass in it and there's just no way he couldn't
pick any of them up. And he couldn't slide it to the back of the truck.
And he'd be like, Dad, I can get this. I can get this, Daddy.
And I'd be like thinking to myself, you're just dumb as rocks. It's
way too heavy for you. Folks, that's what we are. We're just dumb as rocks. I don't
understand, I can't understand most of what I read in God's
Word. But every once in a while, He
gives us a little light of something. A little vision of His truth. And we see just truly what we
are. Not only are we truly sinners
undeserving of God, we're dumb as rocks! And we have no other
choice but to trust in Him. His ways are not our ways. Lean not, here it is, Proverbs
3 verse 5 through 8, trust in the Lord with all thine heart. Lean not unto thine own understanding. God help us to do that. Lord
help us to turn away from what we think our wisdom is and seek
the wisdom of Christ. Christ is our wisdom. Christ
is our redemption. He's everything. Turn away from
what we think our understanding is. In all ways, acknowledge
Him. Acknowledge Him as God in the
flesh. Acknowledge Him as the creator
of all it is. Acknowledge Him as our sovereign
Lord. And He shall direct our paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes. Fear the Lord and depart from
evil. It shall be health to thy navel
and morrow to thy bones. I laughed when he said, I'm just
dumb as rocks, John. You know why I laughed? Because
I am too. And I'm not ashamed to admit
it. I trust the Lord. God help me not to trust in my
own wisdom, because I have none. I pray the Lord bless you folks
with tonight's message.