Matthew 78
(Chapter 18)
We need to take care of Gods Children!
Matthew 18:10–11 (NIV)
10“See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.
11
So, who are the little ones anyway??
· They are the lost
· The unchurched
· The De-churched
· The wounded and the jaded
· The down and broken
· The poor and disenfranchised
· The one that walked away for any reason
Look around its us, this church has always existed for just such people, the cowboy church model was born out of a necessity to reach a culture of people that was forgotten!
Let’s never forget this
10“See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.
His first point: See that you do not despise one of these little ones.
· I take this a warning
· And powerful suggestions that we all should heed
· This is our big brother, giving us some sound advice, because he know dad a little better than we do
· And he knows that if we, as the amplified bible puts it,
o Beware that you do not despise or feel scornful toward or think little of one of these little ones,
o DAD WILL NOT BE HAPPY!!
· He is saying DON’T BE THAT KID!
o You know the ones
o The ones that thinks they have it all figured out
o The one that thinks they are better than you are because “fill in the blank”
o DON’T BE THAT BULLY
· Because it will incur Dad’s wrath!
His second point: For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.
MH: This is what Christ is saying to us, and we need to take Him at his word, He is the one who came from heaven to let us know what is done in the world of angels.[1]
First point: That Gods angels are their angels!
· That God send his angles to look out for them and answer back
· In Hebrews it says
Hebrews 1:14 (AMP)
Are not the angels all ministering spirits (servants) sent out in the service [of God for the assistance] of those who are to inherit salvation?
· Forget about the idea that we all have a gradian angel
· Jesus is saying that we have a host of angels
Matthew Henry:
Some have imagined that every particular saint has a guardian angel; but why should we suppose this, when we are sure that every particular saint, when there is occasion, has a guard of angels?[2]
· And especially the “little ones”
· They are the most exposed
· The most vulnerable
· The ones that need the most care!
· Powerful Men have guards with guns, the children of God have flock’s angels!
· What a wonderful thing for us all to hold on too!
o That when we are down
o When we are at our weakest Gods sends is angels to minister to us and look out for us!
Second point: they are reporting back in real time!
· The verse says: they always see the face of my Father in heaven.
· Even when they are ministering to us, they constantly are seeing the face of God
· That means two things
o that God is constantly giving them instructions to help the ones he sent them to minister too
o and that he is informed always as the how is mistreating the “little ones”
· So understand this God, is always watching out for you and is seeing how we treat others
· We are never out of the watchful eye of God!
The left-out verse
Matthew 18:11 (NKJV)
11For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.
“I don’t want to get in the theological reasons that this verse is in some translations and not others! But I do want to add it for today”
· This makes perfect sense to me
· I have always felt that was what I was called to do
· It has been a burning, the driving force for my ministry
· It is what drew me to the cowboy church
· And I have fought at every turn those that want to change it
o The church today has for too long done everything in their power to be the “bully on the playground”
o They impose rules that drive the hurt and lost out the door
o They require assimilation
o Conformity, and drive more people out then in
o It is time to become the church that Jesus came to die for
· The church that follows Jesus!
Luke 9:23 (NKJV)
23Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.
· It’s time to take up our cross
· It’s time to have a burning desire for the lost of this world
· The broken hearted
· The disenfranchised
· The wounded and the jade
· The ones Jesus came to save!
[1] Henry, M. (1994). Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible: complete and unabridged in one volume (p. 1705). Peabody: Hendrickson.
[2] Henry, M. (1994). Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible: complete and unabridged in one volume (p. 1705). Peabody: Hendrickson.
