Matthew 77
(Chapter 18)
We all need work!
Matthew 18:7–9 (NIV)
7Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come!
8If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire.
9And if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.
The world is in trouble
7Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come!
· God will bring all the world to account someday
· And here Jesus has a warning for all that live in the world!
· He says Woe to the world
· Because the world (Satan’s domain) is the chief cause for the stumbling (sin) in the world
· And God see all and remembers all
· And He will hold accountable those in the world
Philippians 2:9–11 (ESV)
9Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,
10so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
·
Jesus says such things must come
· Paul says this
2 Thessalonians 2:9–12 (ESV)
9The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders,
10and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.
11Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false,
12in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
· Everything that happens on this earth is by God’s design
· In God's will
· But that does not protect anyone from God’s wrath!
· The world is spiraling out of control, or is it? (Such things must come)
·
Woe to the person through whom they come!
· God will reckon with those who ruin the eternal interests of precious souls
· Woe to Whoever in any way hinders the salvation of others, will find their own condemnation all the more painful
· Woe to Whoever stands in the way of the saints, and their work for the kingdom will be called to answer and suffer the wrath of God
· Matthew Henry: Even Though God makes the sins of sinners to serve his purposes, that will not secure them from his wrath
We need to continue to work on our sin
8If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire.
9And if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away.
Pretty harsh words
· They are harsh words that bear repeating over and over again! (we don’t talk about our sin nearly enough)
o We tend to overlook our sin
o We forget that our sin is not something to be hidden, but something that should be brought to the light
o Our Sin is Something that we should be constantly dealing with
o Because the world and all it has to offer will continue to try and seduce us with it!
Sin is not just caused by the world we live in!
· Sin comes from within also
· Even if Satan was not around to temp you
· You would still sin because we are born into it!
o It exists at the core of our very soul
o Sin is constantly pulling at us
· Paul says in 2 Cor 12 that he has a thorn in his flesh
· And in his letter to the Romans
Romans 7:20–23 (NIV)
20Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
21So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me.
22For in my inner being I delight in God’s law;
23but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.
· Sin lives in
· Rages in me
· And is present in every decision I make
· Sin and Satan work around the clock to draw you into it and away from God
· So, it is something that we must deal with, and battle with constantly!
· That is why the harsh words and warning from Jesus!
Our Sin
· We can sin internally
o Our thoughts
o Our motives
o Our lust and desires
· Or externally
o Our actions
o Our deeds
· And even if what we are trying to do is good and righteous sin can creep in
o That’s why this is a battle that we have to deal with
o That we have to confront head-on
o And bring to the light
o The more we try to hide it and deny it the more we feed the Sin raging within us!
We need to be thinking eternally
It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.
· Jesus never said this walk would be easy
· As a matter of fact, He said that we would take up our cross and follow Him!
o That we would have to deny ourselves
o That we would suffer for Him
o That the world would hate us for following Him
· He said that we would have to be eternally minded
· That we would have to walk together
Basically, that by the end of it all, as we come to the end of our time here on this earth we would be battle-scarred, and look forward to the day He calls us home!!!!
2 Corinthians 5:8 (NIV)
8We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
The battle is long, but God is always with us!
Isaiah 54:17 (ESV)
17no weapon that is fashioned against you shall prosper, and you shall refute every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and their vindication from me, declares the Lord.”
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