From the desk of Pastor Ben

Ways To Cause Sin – Part 2

“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!”
(Matthew 18:7)

The apostle Paul warns parents against indirectly causing their children to stumble: “Do not provoke your children to anger” (Ephesians 6:4). Such things as partiality, unrealistic demands, and being too critical can drive children to sinful reactions. Being detached and indifferent to your children’s concerns can also provoke sin. Neglecting children (even because of church commitments) and showing little interest in their opinions can also prompt sinful responses. Your children’s resentment and anger can spill over to affect friends, relatives, and fellow church members and cause them to stumble.

Another way people can cause God’s children to stumble is through sinful example. Believers can stumble into sinful attitudes and practices just by following the bad examples of others. This is another area in which parents must be on guard, realizing they continually provide examples, good or bad, for their children to emulate.

An alcoholic father left his house one night and headed for his favorite bar. He soon heard a crunching noise in the snow behind him and looked back to see his young son close behind him. When he was asked what he was doing there, the son said, “I’m trying to follow in your footsteps,Dad.” The father reportedly never took another drink after that.

Paul admonished Timothy that “in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity” he was to be “an example to those who believe” (1 Timothy 4:12). Church leaders, no matter in what capacity, can’t escape being examples, for better or worse, to those believers given into their care.

Ask Yourself:
What could you do to rectify any errors of yours that have sent your children an inaccurate, unintended message about who God is and how He works? What might be the consequences of refusing to humble yourself in regard to these sins, not owning up to them for others’ sake?

From the desk of Pastor Ben

Children of God – Part 1

“Whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me.”
(Matthew 18:5)

It is impossible to separate Jesus Christ from His people. Therefore, whatever affects believers affects Him. The context of this verse makes it clear that Jesus was not speaking of the particular toddler on His lap but was using the child to symbolize and describe the spiritual children of God. No matter how weak and unimpressive a believer may be, we must treat him as a precious child of God because there is a solidarity between God and saints and among all who share His life by the in-dwelling Spirit.

Jesus affirmed this truth to His apostles with these profound words, “The one who listens to you listens to Me, and the one who rejects you rejects Me; and he who rejects Me rejects the One who sent Me” (Luke 10:16). When Saul of Tarsus (soon to be the apostle Paul) was persecuting Christians, Christ stopped him on the way to Damascus by asking, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” (Acts 9:4). Later, Paul rebuked the Corinthian believers for their sexual immorality with prostitutes: “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? May it never be! (1 Corinthians 6:15). Jesus is not personally contaminated by believers’ sins any more than sunlight is contaminated by shining on a garbage dump. But His name is stained and His work hindered when His children sin, just as He is blessed when they are received.

Ask Yourself:
How often do you find yourself getting annoyed with or at cross purposes to other believers? Though you may have valid grounds for being upset, how can you turn a potential clash into a potential site for unity and reconciliation? Why is it so important to avoid disunity in the body of Christ?

From the desk of Pastor Ben

The Humility of Conversion – Part 3

“Unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”         (Matthew 18:3)

We can’t stress enough that young children make no claims of worthiness or greatness. They merely submit to the care of their parents and others who love them. Average youngsters recognize they have no resources to stay alive or put toward their needs. This is the kind of humble submissiveness that can and must lead someone to the humility of conversion.

And this is the child-like faith-response that produces greatness in God’s sight and His kingdom. Such people are ones who are humble, not greedy or ambitious, genuinely sincere, selfless, receptive to all the Father offers, and earnest to obey whatever their Lord commands.

What a contrast to the contemporary “gospel” that emphasizes self-fulfillment and promises personal success and wealth. Such understandings are the opposite of Christ’s gospel and make a mockery of the New Testament teaching on Christian living. The Lord Jesus taught unequivocally that anyone who, on his or her own terms, “has found his life will lose it” (Matthew 10:39). Those who arrogantly glorify themselves not only will not be great in the kingdom, but will never enter it.

James restates the imperative of humble conversion: “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. . . .Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.” (James 4:6-8, 10)

Ask Yourself:
God is always present with us, of course, but there is hard work involved in drawing near to Him when sinful temptations are pushing us away. What have you always done without by keeping your distance, and what does He always provide when you do come close?

From the desk of Pastor Ben

The Humility of Conversion – Part 2

“Unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”         (Matthew 18:3)

Genuine conversion, according to our Lord, requires people to “become like children.” Little children often exhibit the sort of traits — simplicity, dependency, helplessness, unpretentiousness — that God demands of adults who desire true spiritual conversion. Children are not naturally unaffected by sin, displaying the effects of sin from the earliest age. However, they are generally naive and unassuming, humbly trusting others, with no ambition for personal greatness.

The sinner who “humbles himself as this child,” Jesus proclaimed (Matthew 18:4), is like the one who realizes the humility of conversion and finds greatness in the kingdom. The verb translated “humbles” literally means to make low. From the Lord’s perspective, any man or woman who lowers themselves is the one whom God elevates. Jesus told the Pharisees, “Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted” (23:12). Anyone not willing to humble himself as Jesus did (Philippians 2:8) will have no place in His kingdom.

Jesus instructed that believers will rise higher in His kingdom as their pride decreases and they sink lower in their sense of self-importance. The New Testament commentator R.C.H. Lenski observed, “He who thinks of making no claims shall have all that others claim and by claiming cannot obtain. . . . Only an empty vessel can God fill with His gifts. And the emptier we are of anything that is due to ourselves, the more God can pour into these vessels His eternal riches, honors, and glories.”

Ask Yourself:
What are your greatest challenges to practicing humility in your life? When you think about the most humble people you know, how do you believe they deal with the very situations and attitudes that cause you to trip over your pride and your sense of self-importance?

From the desk of Pastor Ben

Ways To Cause Sin – Part1

“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!”
(Matthew 18:7)

Eve is the original example of a person who directly tempted another to sin. After falling to Satan’s temptation, Eve lured Adam into joining her disobedience. Moses’ brother Aaron caused Israel to sin by condoning creation of the golden calf for worship while his brother received God’s commandments on Mt. Sinai. Jeroboam was the supremely sinful king in Israel, the one to whom other kings were compared as “walking in the sins of Jeroboam” (1 Kings 16:31; 2 Kings 3:3).

Jesus indicted the hypocritical Jewish leaders with causing others to sin. Although not always guilty of physical adultery themselves, the Jews enabled others to commit it through the human tradition of allowing a husband to divorce his wife without proper cause (Matthew 5:32). Our Lord rebuked the churches at Pergamum and Thyatira because members in both places tolerated false teaching and sinful standards of living (Revelation 2:14, 20).

Today, a husband might tell his wife, “Let’s claim this deduction on our tax return. Maybe it doesn’t really qualify, but we need to save as much tax as possible, and no one will ever know.” In doing this, the man commits the double sin of cheating on his taxes and inducing his wife to go along with they fraud.

Those examples are ways of leading another, especially a child of God, to sin. It’s amazing how reluctant we are of exposing our physical children to harm. Yet it’s sad how we often are not nearly as eager to protect those in our spiritual family from evil.

Ask Yourself:
Could you identify some pockets of compromise in your life where you have allowed dishonesty, or bitterness, or impatience, or revenge to interrupt not only the free flow of relationship with God, but also the integrity of your relationship with others? How could you correct this?

From the desk of Pastor Ben

The Humility of Conversion – Part 1

“Unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”         (Matthew 18:3)

Jesus’ phrase “are converted” translates a form of the Greek word that elsewhere in the New Testament is always rendered with the meaning of “turning” or “turning around.” The idea is that a person must make an about-face and head in the opposite direction. Peter used a form of the same word twice in his sermon shortly after Pentecost as he urged his audience to “repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away” and said of Christ that “God raised up His Servant and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways” (Acts 3:19, 26). Paul used this word in describing what the Thessalonian believers did — they had “turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God” (1 Thessalonians 1:9).

Conversion complements repentance. Repentance entails being sorry for sin and turning away from it. Conversion is the humble expression of the will that completely turns from sin to God. The psalmist alludes to these two sides of the salvation coin when he asserts “sinners will be converted to You” (Psalm 51:13). That Jesus used our key word here in the passive voice proves that the apostles or anyone else could not experience conversion by their own efforts. In order to flee from sin to righteousness, a person needs someone else to turn him or her around. Certainly in this process we must exert our will, but ultimately it is God through the Holy Spirit who has the power to accomplish conversion.

Ask Yourself:
It would be much easier and more convenient if this turnabout negated the need to continue turning away from sin on a daily, routine basis. But what does God accomplish in us by keeping us trusting Him, not yet experiencing (as we one day will) ultimate freedom from sin?

From the desk of Pastor Ben

Entering the Kingdom – Part 2

“Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”         (Matthew 18:3)

Another faith component that allows entrance into God’s kingdom is meekness. The meek neither claim nor demand any glory for themselves, but are committed to fighting for God’s causes. They will also have a desire for obedience. This goes far beyond a simple wish to be in the kingdom or a mere awareness that Jesus is its Lord (Matthew 7:21). God will produce in the souls of those entering His kingdom a personal submission to Christ as Lord and a new heart that longs to obey Him.

Entering the kingdom means following Jesus’ call to salvation (Matthew 19:21). And such people are willing to make a public confession of their desire to obey Him. Our Lord says, “Therefore, everyone who confesses Me before men, I will confess him before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:32-33).

Another component necessary for entering the kingdom of heaven is persistence. For example, the woman with the demon-possessed daughter did not quit when Jesus initially ignored her, when the apostles wanted to send her away, or when Jesus reminded her she was a Gentile. She persisted even with the spiritual leftovers until Christ met her need. In response to such childlike persistence, the Lord said, “O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish” (Matthew 15:28).

Ask Yourself:
Meekness is not often a highly valued or highly desired character trait. But what are some of the blessings God provides to those who choose to let God determine their worth rather than demanding their way, insisting that others recognize their value and importance?

From the desk of Pastor Ben

The Lesson of Childlike Humility

“Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest
in the kingdom of heaven.”         (Matthew 18:4)

Like all believers, the apostles needed repeated reminders of the need for humility. Here, Jesus uses a child to illustrate His lesson. The Greek word for “child” indicates a very young child, perhaps an infant or toddler. This particular child may have belonged to Peter’s family and may have already been known to Jesus. The child likely cooperated readily with Jesus’ illustration and happily went to His arms. Jesus and children got along well with one another, and this setting was a wonderful opportunity for Him to teach childlike humility for His followers.

It’s impossible to miss that Jesus’ teaching on humility was directed at His apostles — and by extension to us — because they really needed to grasp its significance. From their arguments about who was the greatest, they undoubtedly were not living by their Lord’s standard of humility. Instead, they allowed themselves to be caught up in pride and self-interest. Perhaps some who heard this teaching were not even saved yet (certainly that would include Judas Iscariot, who was ultimately lost). Others had already entered the heavenly kingdom but had allowed their humanness rather than their new natures to dictate their attitudes. This ought to remind any of us who are Christians of how often we still fall victim to the power of sin that still seeks to influence us.

Jesus’ lesson on childlike humility illustrates a crucial and far-reaching requirement for membership in the kingdom. Entrance into it demands humble, childlike faith. There is simply no other way to receive God’s saving grace.

Ask Yourself:
Jesus was a master at using simple, memorable object lessons to teach deep truths of His kingdom. What are some of the most profound insights and concepts you’ve learned, not from long, laborious study, but simply from everyday occurrences God used to catch your eye?

From the desk of Pastor Ben

Entering the Kingdom – Part 1

“Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”         (Matthew 18:3)

The gospel of Matthew spends much of its focus on persons entering the divine kingdom through faith in Jesus Christ. The first component for entering is repentance. John the Baptist declared, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:2). This is the very same message with which Jesus began His own ministry (Matthew 4:17). Repentance calls for people to recognize their sin and have a genuine desire to turn from it. This essential component of salvation is not a human work but a gift that only God can grant (2 Timothy 2:25).

The second component necessary for kingdom entrance is the recognition of spiritual bankruptcy. This too is a divine work, beyond human capability because the Holy Spirit must convict a person of sin (John 16:8-11). The Beatitudes point us in that direction with Jesus’ call to humility, expressed there as poverty of spirit (Matthew 5:3). Someone with poverty of spirit sees himself as utterly unworthy and undeserving of membership in the kingdom and brings a sense of guilt and frustration over his inability to remove sin. The Greek term from which we get “poor in spirit” denotes a beggar who has absolutely no personal merit to boast of. Because the repentant and bankrupt person recognizes his or her sin, they mourn over it (vs. 4); because they know they don’t have their own righteousness, they hunger and thirst for God’s (vs.6); and because they can’t cleans their own sin, they long for the purity of heart (vs. 8) that God must provide for kingdom entrance.

Ask Yourself:
Are you as convinced as you’d like to be that your sinful flesh has no ability at all to generate good deeds and pure motives? Why is this so important to admit and honestly believe? And what always remains missing from the believer’s life until he is sure of it?

From the desk of Pastor Ben

The Kingdom of Heaven

“Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”         (Matthew 18:3)

In this verse, Jesus uses the phrase “kingdom of heaven” as a synonym for kingdom of God. The Jews had adopted, out of reverence for God’s name, the word heaven instead of Yahweh (the covenant name for God). Therefore, this usage made “heaven” simply another way of saying “God.” The phrases kingdom of heaven” and “kingdom of God” both indicate the rule of God, with the first emphasizing the sphere and character of His rule and the second pointing to the ruler Himself. The Father rules His kingdom with heavenly principles and blessings and in heavenly power and majesty. Any person in that kingdom willingly comes under the sovereign rule of God.

When Jesus speaks here of entering the kingdom of heaven, He means one must come in by saving faith. He uses it 2 other times in the gospel of Matthew (7:21; 19:23-24), and in each instance it denotes personal salvation. God wants people to enter His kingdom and does not wish “for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). The purpose of Jesus’ earthly ministry and those of John the Baptist and the apostles was to call people into the divine, heavenly kingdom. And that is still the overarching task for today’s church.

Ask Yourself:
What kinds of causes or issues have become more important to you and to your church than the ingathering of lost souls into the kingdom? Why do you supposed we are so susceptible to being lured off-message, distracted with other “good” but less eternal undertakings?