Chapter 18
Verses 1-6 Read the Bible verses.
The disciples asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
Jesus said, “The greatest would be the person who is humble and believing like a little child.”
Why? Little children have no trouble believing what people tell them.
Jesus said we should be able to believe God the same way that children are able to believe so easily.
If a person could believe as easily and truly as a little child–there is no end to what God could do in their life.
Most of our problems come from unbelief–we don’t believe–we doubt.
The reason grown-ups have a hard time believing is because they have had too many experiences in life where they have believed someone and then that person failed them. Maybe that person hurt them deeply. Maybe that person cheated them or lied to them.
As adults we keep those experiences in our minds. Those memories keep us from being so willing to believe the next time.
In life we need to learn to be careful. We learn not to believe everyone. The trouble is that this learning pattern also makes us not believe God. We get into a pattern of trying to think things through so we don’t get hurt and we react to God in the same way.
We want to see what is ahead. We want to see it first and then believe. We want to understand first, then believe.
Jesus told them again and again that they had to believe first and then they would see.
Jesus was saying that it would best for us if we could have that open heart of a child when we talk with God. We need that easy trust and believing.
Children are humble. Children allow themselves to be told what to do. They think that the grown-ups know best. Jesus said that we need to be like that when we come to God. We need to forget all our grown-up knowledge and experience. We need to trust that He will not choose things that are for our harm.
God sometimes allows pain in our lives and we feel hurt for the time. But in the end, it will not harm us. Hurt is something we feel for a short time. Harm is something that is more serious and lasting. God will not harm us. The painful, hurtful things that God allows in our life we not harm us. The hurt will be for a short time, but we will not be harmed.
God is always looking to our future in heaven. God is always most interested in our learning spiritually. Things that hurt make us turn to God for help and comfort. Harm is something that would be against us for our future well-being spiritually.
Sometimes God allows “hurts” so we learn spiritual lessons.
God will never harm us spiritually.
Things in this life are not lasting. Houses, cars, money, relationships with people and family–none of these things will not last beyond death.
Our spirit goes beyond death. Our spiritually health is always God’s first concern.
Jesus gave a warning to anyone who might harm a child, especially to make them lose faith.
Jesus said if a person does something to a child that makes that child lose faith, it would be better if that person were drowned.
Chapter 18 Verses 7-9 Read the Bible verses.
Jesus said it will be bad for anyone who makes another person to sin and lose faith.
Temptation to do wrong is always out there in the world. The people who cause other people to sin will have to answer to God.
Jesus tried to help the people see how important it was not to sin.
He said if your hand makes you sin, or if your foot makes you sin, or your eye makes you sin–cut it off or pull it out. It would be better for you to lose a hand, a foot, or an eye than to go to hell.
Really cutting off your hand or your foot or pulling out your eye would not make you stop sinning, nor would it take away your sin.
This is a story-picture to help people see how important it is to keep themselves from sin.
If what your eyes are seeing makes you sin–stop looking at it. If you watch movies, videos, or magazines that make you sin in your mind–stop looking at it.
If where you go is a temptation to make you sin–stop going there.
If where you go makes you buy things that make you sin–stop going there.
Cut it off—pull it out! Don’t allow what you see or where you go or what you buy allow you to sin. Stop doing it.
If you can choose what to put on and what to eat each day, you can choose what to think and what you buy and where you go.
It is true that certain things we do changes the chemicals in our brain and it makes us want that thing more and more. Then it becomes harder and harder to stop the want-desire. Smoking, drinking. Drugs, watching pornography all make a certain kind of chemical in our brain to increase. It gives a “feel good” feeling. The more we do them, the more that part of our brain tells us we want it. It takes more and more of that thing to make the “feel good” to happen. It becomes a never-ending circle.
It becomes very hard to break the circle. Sometimes we need someone or some group to work with us to help us break the circle.
We need God’s help and power to help us break the circle and bring our brain chemicals back to where they should be.
If you are in a place of the never-ending circle, there is hope and help. You can get your brain chemicals back to normal.
Not only is this something that is in your physical body, but your spirit is in it, too. And Satan loves to sit on your shoulder telling you that you will never break the circle. Remember that he is a liar. He does not tell the truth.
The truth is you can break the circle.
Chapter 18 Verse 10 Read the Bible verse.
Jesus tells the disciples how important children are. Jesus said that children are so loved that their angels are always in standing in the presence of Father.
Bible study books give different explanations of what this verse means. Each one seems to have a different idea. There are not other Bible verses like this. It is hard to understand exactly what this verse means.
The Bible tells us that angels are servants that do what God tells them to do. Angels are sent to earth to help people, and to tell people things. They go only when God sends them.
When we are God’s children, God takes care of us. Sometimes he sends angels to keep us from danger. Many times we may never know if an angel was there. Sometimes we know that we have been kept from danger is a special way because we saw what happened and we know God must have saved us. But we may not have seen an angel.
Other times it does not seem that an angel helped. Bad things happen to us. God allows bad things to happen. In these times we can learn to depend on God more.
Some people think that each one of God’s believers has a personal guardian angel who is with us all the time.
The Bible does not say it that way. God has many angels and he can send them whenever and to whomever he wants.
Every second God the Father watches the whole world and he knows what everyone in the world is doing and thinking. He does not miss anything that happens to us.
There are many children in this world that are sick, hungry and have bad things happen to them.
We believe that young children go to heaven when they die. But children who are old enough to understand sin and salvation need to make their own decision about it.
People and children do not become angels when they die.
Angels are special created beings different from humans.
When humans go the heaven they get a new glorified body like Jesus had after his resurrection.
So it seems this sentence “their angels are always in the presence of the Father” is not completely understood.
Chapter 18 Verse 11 Read the Bible verse.
“For the Son of man came to seek and to save that which was lost.”
This was the whole purpose and reason for Jesus’ coming to earth.
There are people who have written books and made movies about the idea that Jesus was married and had children.
No where in the Bible do we find any idea that Jesus was married.
There are many verses that tell how single-minded Jesus was about doing the Father’s will. Jesus was always looking forward to the day of the cross and his dying. Jesus knew he had come to die. That was his only purpose and never did he go off the path from that purpose.
Chapter 18 Verses 12- 14 Read the Bible verses.
Jesus tells a story about a shepherd (person who watches sheep). He tells that even when the man had 99 sheep safe in the pen, he worried about the 1 that was lost. The man went out to look for the sheep. He looked until he found it and brought it home safely.
Jesus said that he was like that shepherd. Many people believe in Jesus and are saved, but if there is one that does not, Jesus will keep looking and calling for that one.
Jesus does not want anyone to die in his sin. He wants all to come to safety in Jesus’ forgiveness. He wants all to come to heaven.
The Holy Spirit calls people. God puts things in their pathway to try to make them think about God and hear him call to them. God sends people to talk to them. God lets them hear radio or see TV programs that talk about Jesus and salvation. God calls people in many ways trying to get them to come to him.
He does not want any to perish (die), but he wants all to come to repentance (turning from their sin).
Chapter 18 Verses 15- 17 Read the Bible verses.
Jesus said if another believer sins against you and does wrong against you, that you should go to the person and talk to them about it. Tell them what they did that hurt you. Give them a chance to say they are sorry, and give them a chance to make it right.
If you go to them personally alone and talk, then you may be able to make things right and you will be friends again.
If you talk to them alone, then they will not be embarrassed or have to “keep face” in front or others. They will be more willing to listen and be sorry.
If they will not listen or be sorry or try to make things right, or if they keep doing the same thing,–then take someone with you as a witness–and then tell them again about the problem.
If they still will not listen, then go tell the church leaders. Have the church leaders bring the person in and you and both of you talk about it in front of the church leaders.
Whatever the church leaders decide is the answer for the problem, you should do it.
Sometimes it will mean that you should not have anything to do with that person.
Chapter 18 Verses 18- 20 Read the Bible verses.
Whatever you bind on earth is bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth is loosed in heaven.
This is another verse that is hard to understand, and Bible study books have different ideas about what it means.
It seems to mean that the church leaders have the authority to make decisions and judgments about things people do.
There may be another meaning. It does not seem to be clear.
Jesus speaks in the next verse and says, “Again I say unto you”
So verse 19 must have the same thought idea as verse 18.
Jesus said that if two are three agree on any one thing and ask for it the Father will do it. And if two or three are gathered in his name he is there among them.
Chapter 18 Verses 22- 35 Read the Bible verses.
Peter asked how many times he need to forgive someone. Peter thought that 7 times was a lot.
Jesus told him that he needed to forgive 490 times!
If you forgive that many times you have stopped counting.
Jesus was trying to tell us that God forgives like that. God does not count how many times he forgives us. Isn’t that wonderful!
Jesus forgives us again and again–even for the same thing.
Jesus wants us to forgive the same way.
Jesus told a story about a king who called in a servant who owed him money. The servant owed a large amount of money. He begged the king to give him more time to pay. The king felt sorry for him, so he said that he would forgive him of the debt and he did not have to pay it.
The servant then went out and he saw a man who owed him a small amount of money and he told him he wanted the money. The man begged to be given more time to pay. But the servant did not feel sorry for him, he put him in jail.
Some people saw what happened and they went and told the king.
The king was so angry. He called the servant in and said, “I forgave you a large amount of debt. You would not forgive that man of a small amount he owed you. I will not forgive you now. You can go to jail.”
Jesus said that God feels the same way about us. If we are not willing to forgive people who sin against us, then he will not be willing to forgive us.
This is very serious! Many people hold hard feelings toward others because they did bad things to them. They refuse to forgive them. They feel they cannot. But if they don’t, then God will not forgive them.
If you have hard feelings because someone did something to you that hurt you deeply and you do not seem to be able to forgive, you need to think about this.
You must forgive or you will not be forgiven by God.
Deep feelings of hurt can stay with us for years. They are not easy to give up.
If you forgive someone it does not mean that they are not responsible for what they did. If you forgive someone it does not mean that you forget it ever happened. If you forgive someone it does not mean that what they did is overlooked and is okay.
You will always remember what happened. Forgiving means that you will not hold it against them and remind them or others.
They will always be responsible for what they did. What they did will never become right. It is just that you will not keep “charging” them for what they did. It means that you will not keep demanding payment from them for their sin.
When God forgives us. It does not mean that God becomes weak-minded and can’t remember. That is not in the nature of God to lose his memory. But God will not remember it against us. God will not bring it up again.
When we forgive others, we don’t hold it against the person anymore.
We stop demanding payment from them. When we are hurt deeply we want someone to pay. We want them to make it right.
The problem is–that person will not be able to make it right. That person was “broken” somewhere inside for them to do what they did. If they were able to “make it right” they would have done it in the first place.
Waiting and demanding for them to make it right could use up our whole lifetime. God said that he would make things right for us. God said he would restore us.
We cannot be restored if we keep hanging on to “making them pay”.
We have to stop “charging” them for the crime, we have to forgive the crime. We have to let God be the one who takes care of their crime.
Then God can restore us to be whole once again.