Offending Christ's Little Ones

Luke chapter 17, and we're going to read the first six verses. Luke chapter 17, verse one. Then said he, that is the Lord Jesus, it is he who is speaking, then said he unto the disciples, it is impossible, but their offenses 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 thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him, and if he repent, forgive him. And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent, thou shalt forgive him.

And the apostles said unto the Lord, increase our faith. And the Lord said, if ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, be thou plucked up by the root and be thou planted in the sea, and it should obey you. Amen. May the Lord bless to us this reading from his word.

I don't know if these chapters that we are reading at the moment in Luke chapter 15, 16 and 17 are from a continuous session of the Lord's teaching or if they were perhaps delivered at different times and gathered together here by Luke. Sometimes it appears as though the Lord is speaking directly to the Pharisees. At other times it seems his disciples are the principal audience. And of course it might have been both. He may have addressed one group and then another. Be that as it may, here Luke tells us it is to the disciples that these opening verses are spoken. And we can see in them a blend of instruction and warning that is appropriate to the Lord's own people. And actually, like all good sermons, the Lord's words are both comforting and searching to the church. There's wisdom to help us understand the trials and providences of life and there is a prayer to keep us strong as we endeavour to stand fast, stay faithful, encourage our brethren and follow the Lord.

The Lord would have his disciples know and us to know that trials and temptations and offences will come into our lives. They will shake our peace they will disrupt our comfort, they will cause us pain. Offences and temptations are therefore to be reckoned with, to be banked upon as part and parcel of our Christian experience here on earth. As long as we are in this world, as long as we are in this flesh, There will be offences and there will be trials that will afflict us. And some of us are experiencing these right now. Some of those of us who are here are experiencing them. And some who can't be here because they're experiencing them testifies to the rightness of what is here said by the Lord. These trials, these temptations, will be real. They will be serious. They will be hurtful. If they were not all of these things, they would not be offensive to us.

They would not stir up our hearts and grieve our souls and cast a shadow over our thoughts. And the Lord needn't have bothered speaking these words in the first place. The fact that he did, by way of preparation and warning is a mark of his kindness to us on his part to make his people wise for the experience when it comes and better equipped to endure what the Lord has willed should come to pass. The Lord is telling us it is impossible that the church as a body and in its individual members be spared hardships.

It's an impossibility. These troubles, these offences must come. One lady told me recently that she was being stretched from every side. That was how she perceived her life to be at the moment. And you think to yourself, I can only be stretched so far and then I'm going to snap. But old age does that to us. Old age doesn't mitigate our trials. It aggravates them. In fact, sometimes it seems that we are more vulnerable to attacks from Satan the longer we are in the Christian life. The wickedness of man, the weakness of our own flesh are more and more aware to us, sensible to us, felt by us. And sin in this world burdens a believer's life and weighs down upon us.

But there are two things promised in this opening verse that I want to draw your attention to. The first one is this. The Lord knows. It is his purpose. It is his purpose for his glory and it is his purpose in order that these things should be conducive to our good. And that might seem strange and it might seem perverse. But this is what the Lord teaches us in the scriptures. I don't know how that works in every individual situation. And you might find yourself saying to me, how can this be to God's glory? How can this be to my good? Well, I tell you it is. The designs and the devices of the wicked will not succeed. They may make us stumble, but we shall not fall. They may cause us to weep, but they will not cause us to perish.

Wait a little time, be patient, and you will see the salvation of the Lord. That was what the Lord said to the children of Israel at the edge of the Red Sea. Stand still. and you'll see the salvation of the Lord. Endure hardship for a season and you will discover how all these things are working together for your good. That's the first thing the Lord teaches us in this verse, he knows. The second thing is this, he is managing every situation and he will hold to account the wicked for every offence inflicted on his people.

The world may imagine it can profit at our expense, but they will fall into the pits that they have dug, and you and I and all the Lord's people will be preserved. Christ says, Woe unto you by whom the offence comes. It's a very serious matter if Christ says woe to you. If men and women realised the danger they were in when they laid a hand upon one of the Lord's little ones, they would tremble. Woe is sadness, it is sorrow, it is retribution.

Do you remember when Herod slew James with the sword? Do you imagine that when that was happening, the Lord Jesus Christ was not watching? Do you think that he did not ordain by this means of Herod's viciousness to promote his dearly beloved child to eternal happiness? He was bringing about that end by the wickedness of that man. Do you think that the Lord condoned Herod's plan to slay Peter as well? Well, he did not.

And for the sake of James, and for the sake of Peter, and for the sake of the young church, the apostolic church, the church of Jesus Christ, Luke tells us in Acts chapter 12, verse 23, the angel of the Lord smote him. because he gave not God the glory, and he was eaten of worms and gave up the ghost, but the word of God grew and multiplied. Paul was in prison for the offence of the cross. Would the spread of the gospel be jeopardised? Not at all.

Far from stifling the truth of the gospel, the gospel was furthered. and Christ's church blessed by the schemes of the wicked and the trials and the troubles of the elect. God, for wise ends and good reason, permits the world's opposition against the church. That does not excuse man's sin or wickedness, God overrules Satan's antagonism against his little ones and he softens the effects of the world's evil intentions against us. That doesn't diminish in any way the crime of the wicked. It doesn't lessen the severity of their punishment.

That image that the Lord draws to our minds, who would have thought that the Lord Jesus would present us with a picture of a millstone being hanged about a person's neck and that person being thrown into the sea? And yet he says, that end will be more preferable than what the Lord will do to anyone who offends his little ones.

Every sin in this world is ultimately directed against God and his church. Every sin in this world is ultimately directed against the Lord Jesus Christ and his people. Satan rages because of Christ and his church. But every sin in that day of judgement, every sin will be attributed to its proper source and every punishment will be justly applied.

In our troubles we are not alone. Our Lord Jesus knew that our troubles must come. And he loves us and he treasures the littlest amongst us, the poorest, the meanest of his people. And he will be our comforter and our friend in times of need. If they touch us, he will touch them.

Because as Zechariah tells us in chapter two, verse eight, whosoever toucheth you, toucheth the apple of his eye. So much for the world offending the church, the men and women of the world offending a believer. But there's more from the Lord here in this little passage. He says, take heed to yourselves. So he's been telling us what's going to happen to the wicked who offend the believer. Then he says, take heed to yourselves. What if a believer offends a believer? What if a brother offends a brother?

Well, in that case there will be no drowning in the sea with a millstone for a necklace. The Lord Jesus does not punish believers. Their sins against God are already removed and covered by the blood of Christ. And yet, sadly, We are not above offending and hurting our fellow believer and we ought to take heed to ourselves upon that matter.

Think about it and reflect upon our own ways so as not to be the cause of offence to our brothers and sisters in the Lord. If a brother does offend us, there is recourse. The Lord tells us there is a place for rebuke This ought to be private, it ought to be personal.

If the offence is genuinely repented of, it is to be forgiven and it is to be forgotten, as the Lord has forgiven us. A method to resolve genuine and serious offence is provided for in a parallel passage to this chapter in Luke, it's actually a little bit more extensive, in Matthew chapter 15. Witnesses are to be employed and ultimately the church leadership and the local body of believers will be involved. But if a brother or a sister truly repents for their offence, they are to be forgiven. And the repetition that the Lord gives us in this verse, where he says, The repetition of times there probably signifies the realness, the genuineness of the forgiveness, as well as the frequency. It is not for a believer to punish another believer.

Separation may be necessary, but if a man is truly one of the Lord's, then the Lord will discipline and the Holy Spirit will restore his wayward child. I'm sure that the disciples realised the import of what the Lord was saying here, because their response reveals it in verse five.

Maybe it was concern for the offences that would come and their ability to bear up under them. Or maybe it was their own evil nature and fleshy weakness or themselves being the cause of the offence to their brethren. Or perhaps they doubted their ability, if offended, to be able to forgive time after time as the Lord directed. Whatever it was that pricked their minds and spurred their response, the remedy was the same.

The disciples asked, Lord, increase our faith. And this need is true for so much in a believer's life. And here's the irony. It is a believer who feels the need of faith. and a believer who prays this prayer. Lord, increase our faith. By God's grace, we are constantly learning about our own weaknesses. And here it is given to the disciples to ask on behalf of themselves and on behalf of all of us for more faith from the Lord Jesus.

Are we troubled? Lord, increase our faith. Are we the troublemakers? God, forgive us and Lord, increase our faith. Are we too blind to see how we have offended others? Lord, increase our faith. Are we too full of self-righteousness to forgive our brethren? Lord, increase our faith. And forgive us when we imagine that our faith is sufficient in itself.

Instead, always increase our faith and that there is a constant need to be praying this prayer on all our parts and making this request is clear from the Lord's reply. Even the smallest quantity of faith, says the Lord, could achieve great things, even supernatural things because Plucking up a tree, whatever kind of tree, a sycamine might be, and planting it in the sea is an amazing thing indeed. If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could do that. The lesson is surely that great things are done by faith. and enlargements and increases of faith is a thing that we all ought to desire and ask for. Remember the father of the child in Mark 9, cried out with tears, Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief. Maybe the disciples were being specified, maybe they were specifically in view here in this passage concerning their apostolic ministry and what lay ahead of them. But I think we all have an interest in such matters and I think we all have an interest in such a prayer. Strengthen faith sufficient for the tasks given and the service required ought to be our desire all the days of our life. May the Lord increase our faith. Amen.

Offending Christ's Little Ones

Sermon Transcript

About Peter L. Meney

Comments

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Music

Recent Comments

About

Legal

Subscribe

Account

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Recent Comments

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Collections

Music

About

Legal

Subscribe

Offending Christ's Little Ones

Sermon Transcript

About Peter L. Meney

Comments

More from Peter L. Meney

Related Sermons

Same Scripture

Articles by Peter L. Meney

Where this book stands in the tradition

Plato

Augustine

The Western Christian Tradition

This Book