Mat 18: 1-7 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 And He called a child to Himself and set him among them, 3 and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you change and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 So whoever will humble himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoever receives one such child in My name, receives Me. 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 to sin, it is better for him that a heavy millstone be hung around his neck, and that he be drowned in the depths of the sea. “Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to the person through whom the]stumbling block comes!
As parents, our children are very precious to us. We are very concerned that they grow up properly. Especially as Christians, our great desire, burden, and prayer is that they come to the knowledge of truth, be saved, and come to know Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior. We love them and treasure them, and protect them from harm and danger.
If I see any habit of mine is harming my child, not for anything, but for them, we are happily willing to give that up for them, to sacrifice anything for them. However close friends or relatives may be, if I see that they are teaching wrong things to my children and lead them away from Bible truth, if I see someone teach them wrong attitudes or words, if I can, I want to chase them and keep them as far as possible from my children. So we try to protect our children from the evil influences of the world.
Someone can do anything to me, cause any damage. As a Christian, by God’s grace, I may easily forgive them. If someone does any harm to my children before my very eyes, irreparable harm, I am not sure how I will react. Though outwardly I may not do it, I may be tempted to have very cruel thoughts of revenge. I may be tempted not to do it directly, but to hire the terrible gangster, most cruel ruffian, and do some harm to that person who caused my children any harm. That is wrong, as God commands us to forgive any harm, but I may be tempted to have such thoughts for the love of my children.
If imperfect parents feel like this towards our children, can you imagine how the fountain of all Fatherly love, our heavenly Father, would feel about his children? Our children are naturally given to us by God, but think of God’s children, how much he did for them. He eternally loved them, chose them, planned their salvation, did the greatest sacrifice a God could do, redeemed them by giving his only Son, and in time, effectually called them through the regenerating work of grace of the Holy Spirit (HS), and converted them and made them his children. They were purchased with the most costly price. You can imagine how great a concern it is in the heart of God that his children be well cared for, respected, and protected and nurtured in the direction of his holy will for them.
The passage we are going to meditate on today in Matthew 18 is a reflection of the care that God has for his little children. Verses 6 and 7 contain some of the most shocking and most frightening words in the Bible. When we understand the language and kind of words Jesus is using here, it is actually the language of a gangster, a big ruffian threatening to cause the greatest harm to you.
The disciples in their selfish pride are provoking one another to sin. By arguing and hassling and debating about who is the greatest in the kingdom, they are provoking each other to bitterness, to rivalry, to ambition, to pride, to envy, and to self-seeking. In other words, they are mutually causing each other to sin. And our Lord takes on this matter by instructing them as to the importance of not causing one another to sin.
As Christians, we are concerned about our own holiness; we desire to live a pure life. Do we stop to think and worry about the holiness of other people around us? Generally, selfishly, we are fine, we are living ok, and we don’t worry about how we affect anyone else. That’s quite contrary to what God is saying and what Christ is teaching in this passage. We must not only do no evil in our own lives, but we must never cause another Christian to sin. That is our important duty towards other brothers. That is the specific message of this passage.
Now let’s understand this with three headings: 1. Great NT principle. 2. The great danger that comes if you don’t realize this principle. 3. How to prevent that danger. We will see two today and the third one next week.
1. Great New Testament Principle: How You Treat Other Believers is How You Treat Christ
It is impossible to separate God from his people. Even in the Old Testament (OT) the prophet said, “He that toucheth my people toucheth the apple of my eye.” The Hebrew way of saying the pupil of the eye. God says when you touch my people, you jam your finger in my eye, and that irritates me at the most vulnerable part of the exposed anatomy, the most sensitive thing to be wounded or injured. You are poking God in the most sensitive area when you touch his people; that’s a basic principle.
To the disciples who were arguing and causing other disciples to sin, the Lord first teaches the lesson of humility. He taught them the humility needed to enter the kingdom (Verse 3), humility within ourselves in the kingdom (Verse 4), and humility with other members (Verse 5). You need to demonstrate this kind of humility (Verse 5) by receiving one such little child in Christ’s name.
You need to understand this principle: How you treat other believers is how you treat Christ. The group of other believers is the church. In a way, how you treat the church is how you treat Christ.
Because when you receive his people, Verse 5, you’re receiving Christ. Mark adds you receive the Father. The implication is God is bound up with his people as one. This is a NT principle. It is everywhere in the NT. This is great teaching of the union with Christ. Matthew 10:40 he said, “He receiveth you receiveth me, he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.” Luke 10:16: “He that heareth you heareth me. he that despiseth you despiseth me. he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me.” John 14:20: “And the day you shall know that I am in my Father and ye in me and I in you.”
The great Trinitarian God in this redemptive act has united his children to himself, and how you treat them he takes it as how you treat him. We know Paul when persecuting, the Lord asked “why you are persecuting me?” “You’re doing it to me.” Epistles are filled with the phrase “In Christ” terms filled in the NT. Great teaching of union with Christ all epistles talk about that. God’s life is bound up with his people, and when you touch his people, you’re touching him. Very important foundational principle.
How you treat other believers is how you treat the Trinitarian God, Father, Son, and HS. In fact, the whole judgment decision of the eternal destiny of every soul in Matthew 25 is based on what? Not what you did, but, amazing, what you failed to do to other believers. “I was hungry, naked, in jail, you didn’t care. So what you failed to do to them, you failed do to me. So go into eternal fire.”
This is a NT principle we all need to deeply grasp this. Today, in the lifetime God has given you in this world, how you treat other believers, how you treat the Church, how important the church is to you is how you treat the Trinitarian God, Father, Son, and HS.
2. The Great Danger of Causing a Believer to Stumble
If that is so, see the danger that comes without realizing this principle.
You in your life, without realizing this principle, in your sin, carelessness, pride, or arrogance, if you treat any of them in a wrong way, you are a gone case. That is what he says in Verse 6:
“but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it is better for him that a heavy millstone be hung around his neck, and that he be drowned in the depths of the sea.”
Whoever causes one of these little ones to stumble. See the danger.
There are two persons envisioned in the text: One—”whosoever,” in or out of the church, “whoever,” doesn’t matter, “shall offend,” to cause to stumble. Second, there is “one of these little ones who believe in me,” anyone who has become a little child through the grace of God, brought to faith in Christ. Maybe beginning in faith or grown in faith: “little ones that believe on me.”
To offend, to cause to stumble. How do you offend a Christian? By causing them to do what? To sin. Some translation directly says “cause to sin.” To scandalize. It is a subtle act, not directly doing it. It is like catching an animal with a bait. You don’t show the danger, hide the trap so the animal would not know, but you throw a bait stick which will spring a bait, and then there is bait attached to the stick. The animal thinks nothing is wrong, it is a food, attractive food. It wants to catch it. You slowly step by step bring the animal to the place where the trap is there, then suddenly the trap will open and the animal would be trapped. To scandalize: to trap them, gradually by your influences, words, attitude, example. You influence and spoil the mind, and cause to be caught in a trap, to make them stumble and fall into sin.
That’s the very opposite of Verse 5, where those who receive in my name are realizing what you do to them, you do to Christ. On the other hand, the antithesis of ‘receiving’ is ‘causing to stumble,’ make them fall into sin. Receiving implies we receive and help them to grow in truth in a way that because of our influence, they overcome sin, and grow in grace, and live holy lives. Instead of that receiving, not realizing the great NT principle, you cause them to stumble and fall into sin.
Like the disciples arguing and fighting who is greatest. Instead of humbling themselves and growing in grace, in their pride, they created an atmosphere of carnality and selfishness, resulting in contests about selfish ambition, pre-eminence, by arrogance, by non-recognition, backbiting, gossiping, revenge, worldliness. These things would stifle the tender life of any lowly believer, would grieve the HS in them, and maybe a cause for stumbling, making him fall into sin.
Be careful to receive little ones as you receive Christ. You always deal selflessly, with goodwill, want to do good, avoid by all means any ways to offend, not create any opportunity for them to be offended because of your pride or selfish motives. You protect them, care for them, receive them as one who belongs to Jesus Christ.
But here is someone in his remaining sin, pride, and worldliness, without realizing the NT principle, dares to cause another believer to stumble. A better rendering would be “ensnared” in the sense of falling into sin.
Here we have to understand that we must be careful not to go to an extreme, but compare other passages and find a biblical balance to this truth. Sometimes people will get offended because of truth or because of holiness. People stumbled even with Jesus. John 6, large crowds came to him believing, but when he spoke the truth about eating his flesh and drinking blood. Verse 61 he says “does this cause you stumble, offend you?” Many of them stumbled and didn’t follow him, they fell away. Verse 66: “many of his disciples went back.” Here His own words become a means of stumbling, falling away into the course of unbelief. Does this mean we should put a millstone for Jesus? Or Jesus’ obedience to the Father’s will, he went to the cross. Mark 14:27: “all of you shall be offended, cause to stumble. I will smite the shepherd, sheep will be scattered.”
So when Jesus spoke truth or obeyed God, people were stumbled into sin. Does it mean Jesus will have a millstone on his neck? No. So we have to be careful not to take this to an extreme and become passive: “oh, I don’t to speak the truth clearly, I don’t want to make stumbling.” No, no. The balance:
We have to understand that is excluded here. When we speak the truth, we have to faithfully preach the truth. People will get stumbled if they are unbelievers or even growing believers sometimes. When we obey truth and live holy lives, we will cause people to stumble. That is not included here. That must be excluded: when someone is speaking the truth or doing the revealed will of God, if that causes you to stumble, that is not the scope of this verse.
The person envisioned in this text is anyone who for any reason, by any means other than obeying truth or speaking the Word of God, becomes an occasion for the believer to fall into sin, causes a believer to sin. To cause to stumble, either by example, precept, or any other way.
The Frightening Punishment
What to do to them? Language is two possibilities compared:
Verse 6: “but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it is better for him that a heavy millstone be hung around his neck, and that he be drowned in the depths of the sea.”
Two possible conditions are mentioned in the text: 1. The possibility to live long enough to be an occasion causing a believer to be entrapped in sin, whether by bad example, thoughts, words, life, or teaching. You continue to live in this world. Maybe God gives you 50, 60, 70 years life. In providence, you live in church and keep causing by your example and life cause others to stumble, without realizing the great NT principle, and live without any sense of how I may be a cause for stumbling to others. That is one possibility.
The other possibility is set forth in graphic language. It is exceedingly better, desirable, profitable for you, good, eternally better, instead of living and causing stumbling. At this same second, if your life is taken away by the most cruel gangster, ruffian, terrorist take your life away.
The language Jesus uses is the first century gangster murder language. If I can say it in today’s language, we see it in newspapers and movies. Imagine some big don, gangster, ruffian. You are surrounded by thousands of his henchmen, terrible face. He is staring at you with two big eyes fully red and angry with you. He gives two options to you. One option: you continue to live and keep doing something against me. I will allow you do as much as you want, as long as you want, but after that, I am going to unleash my anger and wrath on you in the most terrible, cruel, horrible, unimaginable punishment to you and anyone. Nobody can even imagine what I am going to do. This is the first option: continue causing stumbling.
The second option: Instead of that, something much exceedingly better for you, good for you. You ask what would be so better and profitable? “You take this big knife and cutting blade. First, with the cutting blade pull all your teeth, then take the knife cut all toes, and fingers. One hand we will do. And then there are a hundred thousand gangsters here. We each will cut you to one piece.” This is so better for you than you live and continue to sin against me, because what I am going to do is so cruel. This way of dying will be much, much better and it will be like a mosquito bite. Do you see the argument from the lesser to the greater? The thing I will be doing will be so much worse. He gives a picture of one percent of that, which is much better. That is the kind of language.
You imagine what can be a more cruel death by a ruffian. The worst thing he can do: at most he can threaten to take my life, maybe in the most cruel way, but he cannot do anything after that. What do you think will be the threatening of the eternal Son of God be, who can give you an eternal soul and can also give an eternal body that can never die? What will he do? What unimaginable torment? How much degree can that be, with his infinite power, anger, and justice, and how long will that be? For all eternity. What unimaginable punishments can he give? Instead of dying like that, he says another kind of death is much better.
Believe me, he kind of uses gangster language here: “You continue and have a life of causing one of my little ones to stumble. You continue to live, breath, eat, and have a life. That is one possibility. What is going to come to you eternally is so horrible.”
Even before you started to do this, it is better. See his gangster language:
Verse 6: “but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it is better for him that a heavy millstone be hung around his neck, and that he be drowned in the depths of the sea.”
The other possibility, instead of causing the believer to sin: now itself, this very second, much exceedingly much better, profitable, desirable for your life to be cut off by the gruesome, shocking murder of your person.
Example: One of the horrible, shocking ways of dying those days is this: a heavy millstone.
Jesus chooses words carefully. What is a millstone? See, we say commentaries are written by Westerners, foreigners. See how will ever Americans/Westerners understand? It is Eastern culture. Millstone—what will they know? We know what it is. We have seen it in olden days and even movies: a grinding stone, two stones that grind grains.
The Lord is not talking about the small stone used in the house. The word is “heavy millstone,” “upper-millstone.” The size is bigger than the tractor tire or bulldozer wheel on the road, which would be very thick and heavy. Both sides are on one another like a burger. On the top stone, there is a hole. Into that hole, grain is poured, and the stones are turned. They would grind the grain and then there is a hole through which the powder will come out. It will be used for bread and other food.
That large stone was very big; ordinary men cannot turn it. It was so large and heavy that it had to be harnessed to a donkey by a large beam, so that the stone could be turned by brute force. So they had a donkey that would all day long go round in a circle. The Greek “mulos onikos,” the mule stone, or the asses’ stone. It actually means “donkey stone.” In our place, we have an ox. All day, it will walk in a circle: a big stone, the one that Samson was tied up to when he was grinding grain in his blindness. A beast had to pull it. A massive, huge stone, weighing tons, huge, would come into their minds when they heard “mulos onikos.”
You take that donkey stone, weighing tons, put a big strong rope in the grain hole, and they attach it around your neck, tight tie. How it will be on your neck: you are tied to a big millstone. Imagine. Next, what will they do? Then put you in a cart and drive the cart to the seashore, and they put you into a large boat and take you the deepest part of the sea. The tense of the verb used is intense, to make it very vivid, that we might see it with our very eyes, all that is happening. And while you are alive, screaming and pleading for mercy:
Then some ten ruffian men get up, and they push the stone and dump you over the side, gangland style with the slide. The stone weighing tons of kilograms is cast into the sea with your neck tied. Suddenly it pulls you down. You see it going down, and then we feel the tons of weight pulling you down. And I mean you’d go to the bottom like a rocket. And what sea pressure and stone weight pressure on your neck will do to you is unimaginable.
Gangster, ruffian murder described in first century terms. Why so much effort? Just put a rope and tie him on some tree like Judas, or just throw you in the middle of the sea without any stone. No, no, or a small stone in the little pond, shallower water would do the job just as much. Ah no, you should not die so easily. This is first century gangster murder. If I may say this reverently, Jesus almost speaks like a gangster/hit-man in this passage: “if you play with my little ones…” Such murder is much better. So gruesome, so terrible. We don’t realize that those days the Jewish mind shuddered at this. Jews didn’t drown people for any kind of crime; it was to them a horrible, unimaginable punishment. And to be drowned all alone with a millstone around your neck in some far-off region of the ocean was terrifying, lonely, under all the sea creatures. The Romans did that for terrible crimes.
But really, it’s much worse than that! He is not saying this terrible thing be done to you, but it would be better off if that were done to you. That is the best option instead of causing one of my little ones to stumble. It will be like a mosquito bite for you. My little ones for whom the Father loved and chose, planned redemption in eternity, the Son suffered and died, and the HS applied that redemption and made them a child. The Trinitarian God’s children, who are redeemed by their greatest work in eternity and made children. I have gathered them through the gospel and brought them to my church, my little flock. They have been broken, made like children, weak, lowly, helpless, vulnerable. These children need care and need protection and they need guarding, and they don’t need exposure to danger. They are hated by the world, rejected, insulted by everyone for my name’s sake. They need to be cared, loved, protected. They need to be taught truth, grow in grace, and be sanctified by truth. There are thousands of temptations for them. Sin can easily drag them. To these, anyone who causes such a one to stumble, it is an enormous crime, enormous. Offending by drawing them to sin (1 Corinthians 8:10, 11), grieving and vexing their righteous souls, discouraging them, taking occasion from their mildness to make advantage/a prey of them, make them sin and spoil their faith in anyway. Be careful how you deal with them.
Two possibilities are set forth. The possibility of living long enough to be the occasion of sin for just one of my little ones, just one of them, the weakest of my disciples, maybe faith just starting in them, live long enough, be the occasion of them falling into sin. There is another possibility: rough, crude gangster men grab you by the shoulders, tie a millstone, and take you to the midst of the sea and dump you and leave you.
He sees it as such a horrible crime to make a born-again, pure disciple to stumble, to stain usually pure Christians washed in the blood of the Lamb of God. It is surely the very height of malice, and the act of Satan himself. It displays a heart of so much depravity, hatred for holiness and Christ. No fate can be worse than to have such a spirit and live and breath in this world.
For such a man, to be flung like a dog with a stone round his neck, would be better for a man than to live to do such a thing. The deed itself, and God giving you lifespan and breath and allowing you to do that act itself, apart from any other future retribution, is its own punishment: terrible abandonment of God to fill up the maximum measure of your sin so you can get maximum wrath in eternity. Yet our Lord’s solemn words not only point to such a future retribution, which is infinitely more terrible than the miserable fate described would be for the body, but to the consequences of the act, so fatal in its consequences, that it were better to die drowned than to live so. Better to hang and die than to live such a life.
The Son of God is warning that an unspeakably worse destiny awaits such a person than anything that could be done with a millstone and the sea! He speaks later of being “cast into the everlasting fire” (v. 8), or of being “cast into hell-fire” (v. 9).
Being thrown into the midst of the deep sea with a millstone tied about one’s neck would be a horrible end. But it’s temporary compared to the eternal judgment Jesus is speaking of. Clearly, the Judge of all the earth is putting the people of this world on notice never to mess with any of His little believing ones. No one had better ever interfere with their faith, or hinder them from coming to Him; and once they come, no one had better ever cause them to stumble in their faith or tempt them into sin! They will most certainly answer to the Judge of all the earth for it if they do.
That is the imagery, the threatening, the gentle, compassionate, meek Son of God is using, speaking the gangster language. So cruel. What do you think Jesus is? He can speak even this language. Oh, what a threatening! I can imagine there were a few gulps in the room. Some of them would have sweated, and the child even gone to the bathroom. Do you agree these are the most frightening words we find in the Bible is here?
If so, the next verse is a natural consequence:
Verse 7: “Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to the person through whom the stumbling block comes!”
Yes, it is truly so terrible to cause my little ones to stumble and fall in sin. But here Jesus speaks realistically of life in this fallen world. Just because it so horribly seen by God, doesn’t mean the world will be scared and tremble and avoid this. No, he speaks with realism: what is happening and how blind the world is. “Woe to the world because of offenses” (v. 7); that is, because of the occasions and enticements to sin that are in it. We live in a world that is full of such things. We can’t expect to escape being touched by them.
“Woe to the world because of offenses.” The obstructions and oppositions given to faith and holiness in all places are the bane, or poison, and plague of mankind, and the ruin of thousands. This present world is an evil world; it is so full of offenses, of sins, and snares, and sorrows. It is a dangerous road we travel, full of stumbling-blocks, deep holes, traps, slides, precipices, and false guides. Woe to the world.
It is filled with offenses. As for those whom God hath chosen and called out of the world, and delivered from it, they are preserved by the power of God from the prejudice of these offenses, and are helped over all these stones of stumbling.
“Woe”—that means curse, judgment term—unspeakable misery, wrath that is going to come. If one stumbling offense against one child brings so much punishment, don’t think: “Oh, everyone does it in the world; so many bad things they do; what big thing am I doing? I will join the world and cause some little stumbling blocks to church people. So many do so many ways in the world.” Realize: “Woe to the world.”
This world is under a terrible curse. “Woe unto the world because of offenses.” Woe, woe. He says, “I curse this world for offending my children, and it does.” We’ve all been victimized by this world. How much it tempts and makes us stumble! Its attractions, the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, the pride of life. The purveyors of the filth and garbage of this world, poisoning our soul, mind, and heart, not only through people, but through technology, the media, mobile, TV, and entertainment. Not only the system, but the evil people in this world, those godless, Christless people who would lead us into sin. He pronounced a curse, and “woe to them.”
Then he says, “It must needs be that offenses come.” In other words, it is inevitable since the world is what it is—fallen and depraved. It cannot let believers alone; the world will always be setting sin traps and death traps. That’s the nature of its fallenness. “For offenses must come.” Literally, they are “necessary.” In some mysterious way, even they are a part of God’s decree. In His sovereign wisdom, He has permitted that it be so.
But that in no way eliminates the culpability and guilt of an individual. Nevertheless, He doesn’t fail to hold the ‘secondary cause’ of that offense responsible. He goes on to say, “But woe to that man by whom the offense comes!” “Woe to that man or woman who allows those offenses through him.” You’d be better off dead cruelly than to offend because of what you’re going to pay when you offend. “Woe, curse.” Those who seduce God’s children to sin, those who hinder their spiritual life, have the promise of cursing from God, even to the littlest child.
What frightening words! We have seen the NT principle: How you treat other believers is how you treat Christ, in fact, the Trinitarian God. Next, we have seen the great peril through that principle: if you cause one of these little ones to stumble, unimaginable destiny awaits for you; better this second to die the most cruelest murderous death.
3. How to Prevent That Peril
Now, how to prevent that peril in our lives is very important. But like a mega serial, this will continue next week, Verses 8-10. We will see them next week. Now let us see some applications.
Applications
1. Accountability for Influence
God will judge us for our life’s influence upon others. Our influence upon others by word and deed and life is an awesome aspect of our accountability to God. God will judge us for that.
You may have in your pride, your arrogance, discouraged a disciple, and made him stumble. You may by your example of disobedience to God in your own life—by life, word, or deed—given an example and made others bold to stumble and sin. Understand from this verse: “it were better for a millstone hanged upon your neck, [and you] drown in the sea.”
Understand God will not judge you only for your sins, but also for what impact your sins, disobedience, and failing in duty had on others, embolden others to sin. The blood of those sins will come upon you.
Jesus warns in this passage, “I say to you, my Father in heaven will hold you accountable for your influence upon others, whether your talking, whether your silence, whether acts, with respect to whether or not they caused others to fall into sin, or kept them away from sin.” What influence have you had in church on others? God will judge you for that.
We are accountable for our influence upon others with respect to whether or not they fall into sin.
These little ones are being saved by God from their sins and the world, and brought into his kingdom as little children, this community of people as a little flock, as weak, helpless sheep. Why? So we can by receiving them, loving, caring, teaching, by our actions, word, and example should encourage and help them to live and overcome sin and live not for the world and its lusts, but for God’s kingdom. It is only the church that should help; everywhere outside, “woe to the world,” it is filled with stumbling blocks. Its only lust of eyes, flesh, pride of life.
But among ourselves within the church, if our example, words, or actions cause one of these little ones in any way to stumble in faith, and create hindrance to growth, make them fall in sin—because of our bad example, stagnant growth, disobedience, failure in duty, wrong model—and others don’t grow and continue to stumble and sin, God will hold you accountable. He says better for you to die the most gruesome death than live such a life.
Almighty God will hold us accountable for our influence upon others. What a frightening doctrine! It is there in the text. God will judge us for our influence upon others. Oh, have you thought about what impact and influence your life is having on people around you—in your family, work, in the church? God will judge you for that.
2. Peculiar Concern for Believers
This is especially in the church. Our influence upon other believers of Christ is of peculiar concern to our Lord. He doesn’t say “whoever causes a fellow human being,” but “whoever so shall cause one of these little ones that believe in me to stumble.” There is a peculiar concern of our Lord directed to our influence upon Christ’s disciples.
It could be that “whosoever shall receive one such little children in my name receives me.” One in whom faith is growing and emerging to be a great flower, if we by our example cause them to sin, the sin of turning away from me, into the sin of doubt, doubting my word. Oh, we keep hearing God’s word preached in sermons. If we are so experienced at taking that casually, “I hear and forget.” Then these who are so experienced, closest to him for so many years, live like this, think like this. The new believers may think, “Then this is all maybe a dream and a lie,” and cause them to stumble. “So I will also follow them.” It were better for you to be murdered gangland style before you made them stumble.
It would be better even now you are tied to a millstone and thrown in a sea so tomorrow you don’t make him stumble.
Oh, what a frightening doctrine! Our influence upon the disciples of Christ is of peculiar concern to Christ.
If a cup of cold water given in his name shall not lose its reward, what will causing one of such to stumble receive in the way of the Lord’s anger? Christ here warns all people, as they will answer it at their utmost peril.
3. Our Solemn Duty
Consider well the great duty set forth in the text: what is our duty according to this text? It is the solemn duty of every believer to carefully avoid all words and deeds which cause another believer to be ensnared by sin.
To state it positively, it is the solemn duty of every believer to do every biblical duty and be the best example so his example will help keep his fellow believers to avoid any sin and not be a cause to stumble into sin. There is a duty of the text, which the Lord was impressing on his own.
The Bible gives us examples of how we can cause another believer to stumble. One is by direct temptation, like Satan tempted Eve. Many a women tempt men by their looks, lack of proper dress. Friends showing wrong things in mobile or TV, making us do wrong things against God’s law.
You can make others stumble and fall into sin by teaching false teaching; they lead God’s people into the worse kind of sin, and that is a misrepresentation of who God is, which is idolatry, breaking the first commandment.
Then you can make people stumble by provoking them to anger by our bitter words, lose patience, not doing your duty.
Then setting a wrong example. As parents, a wrong example for children. As believers, if you’re not faithful to the things of God, to the Word of God, in prayer, to the responsibilities of church membership, if you’re not faithful to live an uncompromising life, you’re setting a pattern that’ll lead other people into sin, because it’ll say to them, “You don’t have to do these things, they’re optional.” “Here’s a Christian, he’s been a Christian or she’s been a Christian longer than I have, look at her life, it isn’t what it ought to be.” It’s a very serious issue. People are watching us, and we have to be careful.
Romans 14:13 discusses abusing our liberty. Paul talking about careless, loveless indulging of Christian liberty: “Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister.“
By careless indulgence of something perfectly legitimate to me in my conscience before God, I can cause another person to fall into what to him is sin. Yes. Let us take all our faculties of critical analysis not to be nitpicking our brethren, but standing in judgment over ourselves, to scrutiny our lives to be certain that there is nothing we are doing or leaving undone that is causing the weakest of our brethren to be stumble into sin.
Oh, how much we need the pressure of this text! First as Christian families, in our own home, how much we cause nearest and dearest relationships who happen to be believers in Christ causing them sin. We do it with a high hand.
God says to husbands “love your wives as Christ loved the church,” “nourish them and cherish them as you do your own body.” Peter says “dwell with them with discretion.” You have heard this for so many years. You have heard it clearly explained and repeated. Yet you are causing your wives to sin by your blatant, stubborn refusal to obey those texts. By your unloving attitude, bitter words, horrible carelessness. Don’t you think most problems comes in the family because we fail here? We are not loving husbands. God’s word says “don’t be embittered with wives,” but we do. And becoming unloving, you make them vulnerable, if not to physical, but to emotional infidelity. Why? Because you refuse to love them with nourishing and cherishing love.
They pleaded with you: “Don’t see me as a servant, a machine, but can you affirm your love to me, at least once a week? Do you love me?” “Oh, I am not that emotional type. My father never told my mother how much he loves her. [I] have seen always drinking and hitting her. Be happy I am not hitting you. I cannot keep tell you I love you. I am not the mushy/sentimental type.” Too bad you are not the mushy type. Women are sentimental; you can never deal with them unless you learn to treat them like that.
Does God say only mushy types love wives? No, he says to the hard type: love them as Christ loves the church. It is your own horrible pride, stubbornly not loving your wives. To say those words, “I love dear.” **”Oh, I feel funny to say. I said before marriage, three months after marriage, now, so what?” Feeling funny is fine, learn it.
You leave her vulnerable to so many sins by your stubborn, proud refusal to express your love. Husbands, “render to her wife her due,” what you owe. You owe to her to meet her emotional, physical needs, tangible expressions of love.
It is not a matter of liberty, but a matter of duty. Most women fall into emotional adultery, not because they are bad, but so fed up with a stone-like husband, so attracted to someone who shows some kind of emotional empathy. You are causing your wife to sin, husbands, by not obeying God’s word to love your wives with cherishing love.
Ye wives, “subject to husband in everything,” “be chaste,” “keepers at home,” “loving your own husbands,” “loving your children.” Be like Sarah, calling him Lord with respect, whose daughters you are.
“Oh, I was not cut out to be submissive to anybody, in my parents’ or in my husband’s house.” Neither was I! We are born rebellious against all authority. In the name of Christ, he says you be subject to husband as church is subject to Christ.
You causing your husbands for sins of resentment, bitterness, sins of excessive words of anger. You are the one triggering the sins by your refusal to take the posture of sweet, loving submissiveness to the husband.
You wives, oh, how much stumbling you are causing to your husbands! Every time he makes a suggestion or feedback, he knows it is like lighting a cracker, an explosion is going to come, he can predict it. He has become a wimp or a tyrant. Is there anything left of godly, assertive, tender husbands? Wives, you have made your husbands sin. Confess it to Lord. You are sinning resentment, using your emotions and sometimes even your body as blackmail, and make husbands who are Christ’s disciples stumble, and hindering them to grow by your lack of patience and anger, unforgiving spirit. How much do you submit and give yourself to husbands, as Christ commands?
Husbands are vulnerable, if not to physical, but to emotional infidelity, why? Because you refuse to submit to them. God says better for you that a millstone hung around the neck.
Parents, unwilling for consistent, loving discipline of your children, some of whom have the beginning of faith in Lord Jesus, and tragically will be caused to stumble. Why? Because you just won’t pay the price of perpetual watchfulness, the development of their character. Spend time with them, talking to them, teaching them, no time. Develop their perspectives of authority which God has established. We are too self-centered to undergo the daily self-denial involved in being a consistent parent.
What examples are we setting before our children as believing parents, by our actions, words, deeds? Husband and wife fighting before children. Too proud to confess your sins to children. Where do they learn to speak proudly, with anger, stubborn words? Aren’t the children many ways a reflection of our homes when no outsider is around? Where do they learn to say sorry, “forgive me”? Are they not reflections of our own attitude? If my parents are like that, I learn from them.
How much we cause our children to stumble in faith and sin. One child says, “Oh, in the church I hear so much, something in Christ that draws, but what I see my mum or dad, that repels me. I don’t want such a Christianity, Christian home.” Are we such a Father, such a Mother? What a horrible indictment! Better for you to put a millstone and drown in the sea than live such a life. You apply that in all other relationships.
As a church:
As we live and laugh and fellowship, plan, live a church life, oh, may God write upon our hearts this text: “it were better that a millstone hang around our neck and we drowned in the sea than we cause one such little ones to stumble.”
Oh, it’s scary such that Jesus spoke such terrible words. Whosoever you are—young, old, experienced, non-experienced—it makes no difference. Whoever causes one such little believer to stumble, better your life be cut off in a gruesome, gory, brutal death.
We should enter the kingdom of heaven with childlike humility, within the kingdom, humble ourselves as a child, and in that humility receive one of such a child in Christ’s name. This verse talks about the opposite of receiving such a child, causing him to stumble. The antithesis of ‘receiving’ is ‘causing to stumble,’ by which is meant giving occasion for moral fall. This opposite teaches us what it means to receive in Christ’s name.
Receiving implies we receive them in all Christ’s love, and grow them by teaching and example, so that in every way because of our influence, they overcome sin, and grow in grace, and live holy lives. That is the impact we should have on other believers. Never be a cause for falling into any sin. Are we like that? When people come into our contact, always hear something from God’s word that help us to overcome sin, or our influence leads them to some sin? What are we?
We should avoid like the disciples that day, to cause them to stumble by our pride, and we not growing in grace, our world love, to create an atmosphere of carnality and selfishness, resulting in contests about pre-eminence, by arrogance, by non-recognition, backbiting, gossiping, revenge, worldliness, hatred, bitterness. These things would stifle the tender life of any lowly believer who found himself in it. These are the things would grieve the HS in them, and hinder their growth, maybe a cause for stumbling.
How much of the present church life needs this rebuke today! What do we find? Instead of growing one another in truth and holiness, they create a selfish, carnal atmosphere, and create stumbling blocks. How are we? It is a good test of our Christian character to ask: “Would it help or hinder a lowly believer to live beside us?” How many professing Christians are really, though unconsciously, doing their utmost to pull down their more Christlike brethren to their own low level! The worldliness and selfish ambitions of the Church are responsible for the stumbling of many who would else have been of Christ’s ‘little ones.’
Christ terribly says for such a man, to be flung like a dog with a stone round his neck, would be better for a man than to live to do such a thing. The deed itself, and God giving you lifespan and breath and allowing you to do that act itself, apart from any other future retribution, is its own punishment. Better to hang and die than to live such a life.
These disciples fighting over who is the greatest, what a lesson for them! Oh, whenever the disciples saw the millstone, what a reminder this must be! Maybe we should make Sunday school children do a millstone in cardboard and put it up as a reminder for all of us, with a rope to throw it. Question mark: Am I a candidate for this alternative?
If you cause one brother to sin on Tuesday, better on Monday you are tied and thrown in the middle of the Indian Ocean.
Oh, may God help us feel the weight of the Word, and adjust and change our lives to be obedient to it.
Christ says “woe to the world through which offenses come.” How much this woe needs to be thundered!
Woe to the Indian churches that instead of receiving Christ’s children born again by the gospel, teaching truth and sanctifying them, helping them overcome sins, they are teaching false teaching and make them stumble and fall into sin, teach them to live a hypocritical life.
Woe to them when they undercut a growing faith in Him; or when they deliberately keep those little ones from coming to the knowledge of truth.
Woe to those who deliberately mix the pure gospel message up with the lies, false teaching, man-made philosophies and religions of this world in order to confuse them or hide its truth from them.
Woe to the Bible colleges that are causing so many to stumble. A Bible teacher or college professor who mocks a childlike faith in the Bible of Jesus’ little ones; or who makes it their aim to destroy the faith of those unfortunate believers who end up in their classroom.
Woe to those who recruit Jesus’ little ones to cults and false religions through the pretense of professing the truths of the Christian faith; thus embittering their poor victims from the pure claims of His word.
Woe to anyone who would dare to lead one of Jesus’ little ones into sin in order to justify their own sinful inclinations. And especially, woe to those who ever dare to lay a hand on any of Jesus’ precious little ones as an object of their own vile lusts!
Remember this is a lesson coming from Pride. Pride is the primary cause for causing others to sin. It is our crass self-centeredness, our carnal pride, that make us insensitive or downright indifferent to whether or not we cause our brothers and sisters to stumble into sin.
If you are convicted and see that your life is one of stumbling to others, it is time to deeply examine your hearts. Why there is no humility in life? Maybe you have not come to Christ in the childlike humility where he said unless you convert and become like children—helpless, weak, dependent child. Has that happened in your life? Again, let me tell you, if that is not happened to you, you cannot have the other two; you will not be able to humble yourself as a child, and instead of receiving them and growing them in holiness, you will be a stumbling block to cause them to sin. Christ says instead of living like that in the church, better to die the most cruel death. May God speak to your heart through these words.
“Oh Pastor, my conscience is already smitten. I feel guilty of causing others to sin. What do I do?” He doesn’t say this is an unpardonable sin. Go to the fountain that cleanses all sins. Go to him who died for sinners that we might be forgiven. Go with his own promise: “if we confess our sins, he is faithful [to] forgive and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Go to your wife, beg her to forgive you. “I have been a stone, stubborn man without any feelings. I know you have longed to hear words of tenderness. I am so stubborn.” Wives, ask your husbands to forgive for being so domineering. “Every time he makes a suggestion or feedback, he knows it is like lighting a cracker, an explosion is going to come, he can predict it. He has become a wimp or a tyrant.” Is there anything left of godly, assertive, tender husbands? Wives, you have made your husbands sin; confess it to the Lord. Gather the children; if anything you have sinned, name your sins, humble yourself before God.
Grace Reformed Baptist Church, Bangalore 