Spoken At SGBC

12-15-96

Luke #82

Luke 9:46-50

"Upside Down and Backwards"

We come this morning to a discussion of the necessity of the rebirth, how one becomes great in the Kingdom of God, the serious nature of treating God's children poorly, and of eternal security. As the eighty second lesson in our study of Luke's Gospel our official text will be Luke 9:46-50. However, in order to gain a complete understanding of the text we must work from all three Gospels and primarily Matthew's version of this event. In the following passage I have sought to bring Mark and Luke's unique contributions into Matthew's more complete record. Please follow along in the printed copy of today's lesson since the scriptures I will read come from three different Gospels.

(Luke 9:46-47 NASB) And an argument arose among them as to WHICH OF THEM MIGHT BE THE GREATEST. {47} But Jesus, knowing what they were thinking in their heart, took a child and stood him by His side,

(Matthew 18:3-11 NASB) {3} and said, "Truly I say to you, unless you are CONVERTED and become like children (The word converted means to be "turned". It takes in all that salvation is. It speaks especially of the fact that people who are saved are changed. They are converted from one thing to another. Converted people have become what they were not before, they are fundamentally different, they are new creatures in Christ with new characters. They have been turned from darkness to light. Jesus here declares that without conversion. . . .) you shall not ENTER the kingdom of heaven. (Mark 9:35 NASB) And sitting down, He called the twelve and said to them, "IF ANYONE WANTS TO BE FIRST, HE SHALL BE LAST OF ALL, AND SERVANT OF ALL." {4} "Whoever then HUMBLES HIMSELF AS THIS CHILD, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. {5} "And whoever RECEIVES ONE SUCH CHILD in My name receives Me; {6} but whoever causes one of these LITTLE ONES WHO BELIEVE IN ME (The reference is to believers of any and all ages, not just Christian children.) to stumble, it is better for him that a heavy millstone be hung around his neck, and that he be drowned in the depth of the sea. {7} "WOE TO THE WORLD because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but WOE TO THAT MAN through whom the stumbling block comes! (So serious is causing one of God's redeemed to sin that Jesus now counsels that one should go to extremes to prevent it.) {8} "And if your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the eternal fire. {9} "And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out, and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than having two eyes, to be cast into the fiery hell. {10} "See that you do not despise (The word means to look down upon, treat with disrespect or to think lightly of a fellow believer and especially a weak or immature believer.) one of these little ones, for I say to you, that their angels in heaven continually behold the face of My Father who is in heaven. {11} "For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. {14}"What do you think? If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying? (That is, he does not despise or think lightly of that sheep.) {13} "And if it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray. (Those who have not gone astray represent the mature and stable believers who are not children spiritually.) {14} "Thus it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish. Which is to say, God does not intend and will not allow even the weakest of Christians to fall from grace, to loose his salvation. It is not God's will for that to happen therefore it cannot happen. This then is our text. Now we will begin to look at it in more detail.

As the title indicates there are four sections or headings to today's lesson.

The first is "You Must Be Born Again." Of course this has reference to Christ's words as found in (Matthew 18:3-4 where Jesus says, "Truly I say to you, unless you are CONVERTED AND BECOME like children, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.

The Disciples were concerned with greatness as the world measures greatness. Jesus immediately turns their attentions away from such thinking to consider, not greatness, but admission into the Kingdom in the first place. Unless you are converted, says Jesus, and BECOME something other than what you are now you will not go to heaven. You shall not enter the kingdom of God unless and until you are born again. No conversion, no heaven, no kingdom of God!

Conversion? This word is not used very often in our day, what does it mean? Conversion is the result of salvation. Conversion is what takes place in a person who has been born again by the power of the Spirit. Conversion is defined in our text when Jesus says, "unless you are converted and BECOME. To be converted is to BECOME a new person in thought, desire and behavior, it is to be changed and turned. It is to be altered inside and out because you have been born again. Conversion is very important for Jesus declares that no man will enter the kingdom without it. Conversion is the proof that one has been born again, it is the fruit of the Holy Spirit given to all who are saved. Our text reveals that true conversion will reveal itself in one becoming CHILDLIKE.

What childlike characteristics does Jesus refer to? There are after all some pretty mean and nasty children. I believe He refers to the, unworldliness, and the dependent spirit of a little child. He refers to his sense of weakness, inability and the knowledge of his own ignorance. The child knows his knowledge is lacking therefore he asks his father for wisdom. The child knows he cannot do for himself therefore he asks and depends on his father for all things. Jesus also speaks here of a child's innocence. What do I mean by that? Some of you are saying amen others, "wait just a minute!" So what do I mean when I speak of a child's innocence? I do not of course mean that children are not fallen sinners with the rest of humanity for they are. The innocence I speak of is that of involvement and practice. The young child, three to four years of age for instance is innocent or separate from the pursuit of and the passionate practice of gross sin. What Christ is saying is this. A truly converted or born again person has the following characteristics. He is aware of his utter weakness and total dependance upon God for all things. Therefore, he seeks strength and supply from his Father. The Christian understands his ignorance of God's will and ways and is therefore always crying out to God for knowledge. The Christian is not worldly minded but spiritually minded. He is in the world but he is not part of the world and does not love the things of the world. One truly converted has been turned from the pursuit of and practice of sin to the pursuit of and practice of holiness and love. The Christian lives like the beloved child, to please his father. This person is not striving for greatness in the Kingdom of God but is content to rest in His