Day 18, Matthew 18 
Children are generally not proud, but humble. Because
God promises to resist and humble the proud, and
because He promises to exalt and give grace to the
humble (Luke 18:14; 1 Pet. 5:5), children serve as
excellent examples of the kind of people who are
going to heaven---and who are considered great in
God's eyes. There are no proud people on the way
to heaven, because those who are truly saved have
humbled themselves, acknowledged their sins, repented,
and now live in submission to God, conscious of His
grace.
Incidentally, it is from scriptures such as these
that we derive the conviction that all children who
die go to heaven. If children serve as God's example
of heaven-bound people, then it stands to reason
that all of them are heaven-bound. They must all
eventually reach an age, however, when they too must "be
converted and become like children" (18:3) if
they are to enter heaven. Obviously that would be
when they are no longer children, but adults, the
time that theologians refer to as "the age of
accountability."
According to Jesus, children can indeed believe
in Him (18:6) and because God wants none of them
to perish (18:14), anyone who causes a believing
child to stumble, that is, to doubt or disbelieve
in Him, faces dire consequences. Being tied
to a millstone and tossed into the ocean is a precursor
of what lies beyond death for such a person.
Imagine quickly descending past the cold depth
of 3,280 feet---where surface light no longer penetrates---and
where the pressure of the water is 1,474 pounds per
square inch. Not a pleasant experience.
True believers would never cause a believing child
to stumble. But unbelievers and hypocrites are guilty
of it all the time, as they set sinful examples before
children and sow Satan's lies in little minds.
How tragic it is when, through their words or deeds,
parents cause their own children to stumble into
sin. What an awesome responsibility it is to raise
children whose "angels in heaven continually
behold the face of God" (18:10).
Perhaps the first two steps of church discipline
that Jesus outlined in 18:15-17 can be followed in
modern institutional churches, but everyone knows
that the final step---when the entire church gets
involved---is impossible. Jesus envisioned churches
like those we find in the book of Acts---small groups
that regularly met in houses. Only in those small
settings is the third step possible, where everyone
knows and loves both the offender and the offended.
Notice that Jesus' words about being in the midst
of a gathering of just two or three persons (18:20)
are found just three verses after His words about
the church (18:17).
Some groups have certainly gone overboard attempting
to follow Jesus' instructions to treat unrepentant
members as "Gentiles and tax-gathers," forgetting
that Jesus reached out to such folks with love and
the gospel. Certainly those who shun members who
refuse to submit to their man-made rules and traditions
are greatly missing the mark, especially when their
members continue to serve the Lord in other churches.
It is unlikely that Peter, after just hearing Jesus'
instruction about confronting offending brothers
and excommunicating those who don't repent, was wondering
how many times he should forgive an unrepentant brother.
Certainly mercy can be offered to anyone, but forgiveness
can only be given to those who ask for it, because
forgiveness is the erasing of a debt that results
in restoration of the broken relationship. God offers
mercy to all, but only forgives those who repent.
He does not expect of us what He does not practice
Himself.
In the parable of the unforgiving servant, notice
that the first servant asked for
forgiveness and received it. The second servant then asked the
first servant for forgiveness and was refused. That
angered his master and resulted in the reinstatement
of the first servant's formerly-forgiven debt and
consequent punishment. Jesus promised the same for
those of us who refuse to forgive a brother in Christ.
I wish I could write more about this, and I have
on our website here.
If you have questions, take a look!
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