J.C. Ryle's Devotional Thoughts on the Gospel of Luke. Section 100. Stumbling Blocks. Luke Chapter 17, Verses 1-4.

Then said he unto the disciples, It is impossible but that offences will come. But woe unto him through whom they come! It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones. Take heed to yourselves. If your brother trespass against you, rebuke him. And if he repent, forgive him. And if he trespass against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to you, saying, I repent, you shall forgive him.

We are taught, for one thing in these verses, the great sinfulness of putting stumbling blocks in the way of other men's souls. The Lord Jesus says, things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come. It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin.

When do men cause others to sin? They do it, beyond doubt, whenever they persecute believers or endeavor to deter them from serving Christ. But this, unhappily, is not all. Professing Christians do it whenever they bring discredit on their religion by inconsistencies of temperament, of word, or of deed. We do it whenever we make our Christianity unlovely in the eyes of the world by conduct inconsistent with our profession.

The world may not understand the doctrines and principles of believers, but they're very keen-sighted about their practice. The sin against which our Lord warns us was the sin of David. When he had broken the seventh commandment and taken the wife of Uriah to be his wife, the prophet Nathan said to him, You have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme. 2 Samuel chapter 12 verse 14 It was a sin which Paul charges on the Jews when he says, The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you. Romans chapter 2 verse 24 It is the sin of which he frequently entreats Christians to beware. Give no offense, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God. 1 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 32

The subject is a deeply searching one. The sin which our Lord brings before us is unhappily very common. The inconsistencies of professing Christians too often supply the men of the world with an excuse for neglecting religion altogether. An inconsistent believer, whether he knows it or not, is daily doing harm to souls. His life is a positive injury to the gospel of Christ.

Let us often ask ourselves whether we're doing good or harm in the world. If we are Christians, we cannot live to ourselves. The eyes of many will always be upon us. Men will judge the gospel by what they see far more than by what they hear. If they see the Christian contradicting by his practice what he professes to believe, then they are justly stumbled and offended.

For the world's sake, as well as for our own, let us labour to be eminently holy. Let us endeavour to make our religion beautiful in the eyes of men, and to adorn the doctrine of Christ in all things. Let us strive daily to lay aside every weight and the sin which most easily besets us, and so to live that men can find no fault in us except concerning the law of our God.

Let us watch jealously over our tempers and tongues and the discharge of our social duties. Anything is better than doing harm to souls. The cross of Christ will always give offense. Let us not increase that offense by carelessness in our daily life. The natural man cannot be expected to love the gospel. But let us not disgust him by inconsistent living.

We are taught for another thing in these verses the great importance of a forgiving spirit. The Lord Jesus says if your brother sins rebuke him and if he repents forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day and seven times comes back to you and says I repent forgive him.

There are few Christian duties which are so frequently and strongly dwelt upon in the New Testament as this forgiving injuries. It fills a prominent place in the Lord's Prayer. The only profession we make in all that prayer is that of forgiving those who sin against us. Forgiving others is a test of being forgiven ourselves. The man who cannot forgive his neighbor the few trifling offenses he may have committed against him can know nothing experimentally of that free and full pardon which is offered by Christ. Matthew 18, verse 35, Ephesians 4, verse 32.

Not least, forgiving others is one leading mark of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The presence of the Spirit in the heart may always be known by the fruits which he causes to be brought forth in the life. The man who has not learned to bear and forebear, to put up with much and overlook much, is not born of the Spirit. 1 John 3, 14, 5, 44, 45

The doctrine laid down by our Lord in this place is deeply humbling. It most plainly shows the wide contrariety which exists between the ways of the world and the gospel of Christ. Who does not know that pride and arrogance and readiness to take offense and implacable determination never to forget and never to forgive are common among baptized men and women? Thousands will go to the Lord's table, and even profess to love the gospel, who will blaze up in a moment at the least appearance of what they call offensive conduct, and make a quarrel out of the merest trifles. Thousands are perpetually quarrelling with all around them, always complaining how badly other people behave, and always forgetting that their own quarrelsome disposition is the spark which causes the flame.

One general remark applies to all such people. They're making their own lives miserable and showing their unfitness for the kingdom of God. An unforgiving and quarrelsome spirit is the surest mark of an unregenerate heart. What do the scriptures say? Since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men? 1 Corinthians 3 3 1 John 3 18 20 4 20

Let us leave the whole passage with jealous self-inquiry. Few passages ought to humble Christians so much and to make them feel so deeply their need of the blood of atonement and the mediation of Christ. How often we have given offense and caused others to stumble. How often we have allowed unkind and angry and revengeful thoughts to nestle undisturbed in our hearts. These things ought not so to be.

The more carefully we attend to such practical lessons as this passage contains, the more shall we recommend our religion to others, and the more inward peace shall we find in our own souls. you