Title: Faith like a Child
Contents
Word: Matthew 18:1-10
Subject : Child Faith
The revival lecturer's "Those who don't give donations are safe" said one young soul to a stumble. Today's text is talking about stumbling. In particular, it is emphasized that children should not stumble. Scholars are looking at a child here as a term referring to a person who has just started a life of faith, rather than a child in reality.
(Ephesians 2:8, Rev.) “By grace you have been saved, through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.”
Salvation is not obtained through my efforts or my abilities. And yet, pride comes when it feels as if I have done something for salvation or for the glory of God. Pride arises because we have forgotten that salvation is a gift from God. The second is that the person who has forgotten who he is becomes arrogant. What the Bible says about my existence, my true self, is a sinner. On this earth, people with good physical ancestry, people with good brains, people with good body, good looks, and people with good eyes can be classified in countless ways, but there is no such distinction before God. All are sinners.
(Romans 3:23, Revised) “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
My existence is a sinner and I have absolutely no power to save myself. Therefore, salvation is only the grace and gift of God. There is nothing better for me before God than anyone else. There is no reason to be any higher than others before God. There's no reason to be any bigger.
Nevertheless, the Lord laments that there are things that cause the world to stumble.
In verse 4, Jesus tells us the only way not to stumble and not to stumble in this situation. “Be a child” “Humble yourself” The only alternative not to stumble, the only way not to stumble is to humble yourself. But that's not easy. Our sinful nature encourages us to exalt ourselves. They envy those who are exalted and become jealous and jealous when they exceed them. Have you ever heard the proverb, “If your cousin is terrified, your stomach hurts”? The religious life is against one's own nature. It is against the sinful nature. It is not easy to live a low life in a world whose eyes are turned over to be high. But it must be lowered. This is because God's warnings against proud people are terrifying. Let's look at James 4:6.
James 4:6 God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble
Verse 10 continues with a warning against the proud. God sends them a guardian angel. The Israelites believed that everyone has a guardian angel. I thought that these guardian angels would report to God every action they were entrusted with. As stated in verse 10, if proud people despise the lowly, it will also be a report to God. And the report will be a witness against him on the last day of judgment.
Conclusion.
1 Corinthians 13 is commonly referred to as a “love chapter”. Similarly, Matthew 18 is referred to as “the head of the community” or “the head of the church.” What kind of people gather in church? This is the chapter that tells you what to do. The church community is a community of people who come together to humble themselves. Let's look at Mark 10:43-45, the core of the gospel.
It is not so among you; whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life many to give as a ransom for a man.
We have gathered here to make this Word come true. Serving is our training that we must continue while we live on this earth. I pray that the saints will be praised before God through the training of service and humility.