Doctrine: The Little Ones of Christ are believers and not to be offended because Christ shows favor to them as citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Full Text: Matthew 8:1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, \u201cWho then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?\u201d 2\u00a0<\/sup>And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, 3\u00a0<\/sup>and said, \u201cTruly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me;but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.\u201cWoe to the world because of its<\/em> stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!\u201d (NASB1995)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Focus Text: Matthew 18:6 particularly \u201cAnd whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.\u201d (NASB1995)<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Matthew 18, the disciples of Christ are asking who would be greatest in the kingdom of heaven. It may have been a discourse between them for position, or possibly to know if there are preeminent spots in heaven whereas some have greater degrees of honor. It is not said the origin of the conversation in Matthew. What we do know is that Christ called a child over and set him as an example to the disciples. There are a few qualities that Christ calls out in this example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first two points above are the conditions of entrance into the kingdom of heaven. First to be converted, then to exercise the faith to follow Christ and honor Him in your life. This will be the hallmark of your ownership to God, with the proof being a humble life \u2013 with the simple point being made to make one great in the kingdom of God. A child is not encumbered with many cares in the house of his father, only to enjoy working for and pleasing his father \u2013 as all of his needs are met by his father, and he is cared for under the roof and protection of his parent \u2013 so much more should we have this child like humble attitude as a child of our Heavenly Father.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As for the kingdom of heaven, John the Baptist proclaimed that the kingdom of heaven is at hand, meaning it was ready on that day and available for those who would repent and believe. This kingdom of heaven is a present reality as noted in the Beatitudes \u201cis the kingdom of heaven\u201d, which is not a far-off place, but a present reality for the believer. What does it mean to \u201center the kingdom of heaven\u201d? This is the entrance into the family of God through the gift of the new birth applied to God\u2019s elect which was determined in eternity past, and paid for in full by the substitutionary death of Christ on the cross once and for all time. In the following verses, Christ is speaking as if the kingdom of heaven is in the life of the believer, as there would be no need to concern over stumbling in the presence of God\u2019s eternal throne in the third heaven, as those impediments do not exist there. So then – we can see that Christ is speaking about the kingdom of heaven that the redeemed live in while yet on earth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Point 1. As an emissary of Christ \u201cAnd whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me\u201d. We are an emissary of Christ on this earth, and Webster describes this word as a person send on a mission to act as a representative \u2013 with the Latin root of emittere<\/em>, meaning to \u201csend out\u201d. As ambassadors of Christ, we are to represent Him as an ambassador of a foreign country would be. A foreign diplomat is not a citizen of the country visited, but of his own country\u2026 and in this same sense, the Christian is not a citizen of the world any longer, but is made a citizen of a land whose maker and builder is God. The diplomat is to represent in the best way his home country, and to speak what his leader would which him to speak, and act in a manner that would please the ruler of his home country \u2013 carrying out his leaders\u2019 wishes and speak to the foreigners as if the leader was speaking himself. This is the picture used in Matthew 18:5. We are an ambassador for Christ in a foreign land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Point 2. Ownership of the emissary by the home country. Again in this discourse, Christ is not specifically discussing pediatrics, although it could reference young children that are elect in God. The major emphasis in this verse and in other uses of \u201clittle ones\u201d is of active believers in Christ of all ages. For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Point 3. The protection of Christ\u2019s \u201cLittle Ones\u201d: \u201cbut whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.\u201d Mt 18:6 NASB95. Christ can and does protect His own \u2013 those whom He has paid for with His own blood on the cross. Those little ones have a high value to Him, and He is willing to protect those whom were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1), by seeking after them when they are lost, and to protect them from those that would harm them. In a tighter focus, and the point at hand is those that cause Christ\u2019s little ones to stumble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Uses of the term stumble \/ stumbling block:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Point 4. The purpose of stumbling blocks. The child of God is elect \/ chosen before the foundation of the world by an active decree of God in His everlasting mercy and good pleasure. The price for the elect was paid by the Son of God with His own precious blood at Calvary, thereby sealing the elect forever as an act that cannot be changed, lost, or diminished. The elect are citizens and emissaries of the Kingdom of Heaven, both here in the present life and eternally sealed in heaven. Nothing can separate the saint of God from Christ, lest the blood would be of no effect, but we know that the power of Christ\u2019s blood taken into the heavenly temple and offered once to the Father caused the final payment for the sealing of the elect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Romans 8:28-32: \u201cAnd we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. 29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. 31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? 32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?\u201d If indeed all things work to the good of them that love God, it also stands that even stumbling blocks \u2013 ordained and placed by God \u2013 also work for the good of the believer. We know that stumbling blocks come, but the question remains \u2013 why?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Romans 9:22-23 gives us the reason. \u201cWhat if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? 23 <\/sup>And He did so<\/em> to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those stumbling blocks ordained by God by a positive decree to be placed into the way of a child of God are placed there for the good of the Christian and the demise of the reprobate. If all things work for our good, so do the stumbling blocks, and so does the destruction of the wicked, and it works for the blessing of the elect of God \u2013 those vessels of mercy \u2013 those that have received the promises of God and are citizens of the kingdom of heaven bought and paid for by the blood of Christ. Those stumbling blocks are placed of God, but the stumbling is caused by the wicked person\u2019s own will and devices and evil heart, and God is not the efficient cause of the person\u2019s fall \u2013 only the divine ordainer of the obstacle. The fall is the exercise of a reprobate will and action against the child of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Point 5. The final stumblingblock. Romans 9:33 \u201cBehold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, And he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.\u201d That stumblingblock spoken of in Isaiah 28:16 is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ \u2013 the ultimate stumbling block and stone of offense. In 1 Peter 2:8 we see \u201cAnd a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.\u201d \u2013 this showing that Jesus being the rock of offence causes stumbling to those that are stumbling and disobedient to the Word, yet the reprobate is appointed unto this stumbling. The appointment is a positive decree from God to set Christ as the Chief Cornerstone and the Rock of Offence, and other stumblingblocks are place in life that the unbeliever stumbles over to their final and complete demise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n May you find yourself not stumbling over the person and work of Christ, and if you are not in Christ, may you not be the efficient cause in causing a child of God to stumble thus causing your final and irreparable ruin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Doctrine: The Little Ones of Christ are believers and not to be offended because Christ shows favor to them as citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven. Full Text: Matthew 8:1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, \u201cWho then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?\u201d 2\u00a0And He called a child to … <\/p>\n\n
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