Day 32

Chase: Hello and welcome to the Point Church Podcast. We're really glad you're here. Before we jump in, if you'd like to stay connected, you can download the Point Church app. It's a simple way to find messages, resource, and what's happening. And if this podcast is helpful, take a moment to like, subscribe, and share. You can find us on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Amazon Music. Let's get into today's episode. Hello, everyone, and welcome back to the Point Church Podcast. I'm here with Pastor Sam Azur. Walking and reading through the gospel of Matthew verse by verse ⁓ and today we're in chapter eighteen in Matthew ⁓ and it begins with this at the time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, So who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? He called a small child over child and had him stand among them. Truly I tell you, he said, unless you turn and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like a like this child, this one is the is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one child like this in my name welcomes me. Yeah. So again, if we remember yesterday, last you know, last chapter, Jesus is like s pretty upset with the disciples for not getting it. Yeah. And then this one begins with so Who's the best? So you were colorized. Like, come on. And then Jesus seems to pick up just a random child, which fun fact, ⁓ maybe it's not fun, I think is interesting. There was a early church father named Polycarp who was discipled by John, you know, who wrote the book of John. And it was always speculated he lived to be a very old age, but it was always speculated that he was the child that Jesus picked up. That is cool. Yeah, I don't know. It was just kind of like an interesting thing. I was like, ⁓ okay. So I it didn't seem like he really went out of his way to crush the rumor. No you know, but it is like so imagine all of this conversation that's happening though, whether it's that guy or not, is with a child. So like all these things Jesus is saying is with a child. So yeah, he's like, Whoever welcomes a child welcomes me. Now the reason he picks a child is because r like in our Western culture, we think children, we romanticize children. Like we're like children are innocent and pure and good and everything you know, back then that's not how they thought about kids. Like you you worked you were, you know, not s you speak when spoken to. You know what I mean? Like there wasn't like this, ⁓ they're gonna save our marriage or, you know, make us a that wasn't a thing. No. It was like you're kind of useless, kids, in many ways. Like they it wasn't propped up the way it is in our culture. No. ⁓ but Jesus is saying like not only I do value little ones, but I value those who seem worthless. That the world seems like ⁓ they're not that Jesus like, no, that's like welcoming me, which is consistent with other teachings he's had. Those you think are worthless, I am among them. Do not discard them. Yeah. And he continues on in verse six, but whoever calls is one of these little ones who believe in me to fall away, it would be better for him if a heavy millstone were hung around his neck and he were he were drowned in the depths of the sea. Woe to the world because of offenses. For offenses will inevitably come, but woe to the person by whom the offense comes. Yes. So Jesus is not saying your punishment is a millstone. That's not the punishment. He's saying it's better than the punishment. Than the punishment like that's coming for doing that. Like it's better if you drown, because it's gonna be momentary and it's gonna be terrifying, but it's only for a little bit. But if you cause one of these little ones, if you give them false teaching, if you harm them, if you go out of your way to teach them something false, especially about me, and boy, I hope there are some churches out there listening as I say this, Jesus takes that incredibly serious. Incredibly incredibly serious. Amen to that. ⁓ in verse eight it says, If your hand or your foot causes you to fall away, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you To enter life maimed or lame than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire fire. And if your eyes cause you to fall away, gouge it out and throw it away, it is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell fire. This might sound familiar. Yes, this is Sermon on the Mount. Yep. But specifically around Jesus teaching out sexual morality. Yeah. I don't know if that's meant to be a direct, I've I've never researched it. Just going through this study, I was like, that's interesting, that is connected there. Yeah. So I think what you could safely say is harm done to a child that is unrepented for and unredeemed, like we all make mistakes. Okay, I'm not a perfect parent. You're not a perfect parent. Our you know, I mean our wives are amazing mothers, but they're not perfect either. Nope. But any unrepented Like you you're not even trying, like you're going out of your way to harm that child and we can, you know, whatever that entails. ⁓ yeah, Jesus like, cut it off. Whatever is causing you to do that. Yeah. So yeah, very if you don't if you don't, yeah, right. Exactly. ⁓ so again, Jesus is saying same language Sermon on the Mount, there is something in us that if left to our own devices, left to grow in our hearts, will harm. Others, specifically children, and we have to deal with it and hand it over to him. Yep. Verse 10 it says, See to it that you don't despise one of these little ones, because I tell you that in heaven their angels continually view the face of the Father in heaven, of my father in heaven. What do you think? If someone has a hundred sheep and one Of them goes astray, won't he leave the ninety nine on the hillside and go and search for the stray? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over that sheep more than over the ninety nine that did not go astray. In the same way, it is it is not the will of your father in heaven that one of these little ones perish. Yes. So I again Jesus is using harsh, direct language, but he's showing you his heart behind this. Yes. He is so passionate that he is he is a passionate parent for protecting children. Yes. But also it's not just twelve year olds or four year olds. It's like all of us. If we are God's children, that He's attempting to win us back because we've gone astray. Yes. He is saying, you know, in many ways we've heard that line of like you're only as happy as your most unhappy child. Yeah. Because that's the one who's breaking your heart. That's the one your heart goes out to. He's like, God's like that. Mm-hmm. And he's searching, he's searching, he's pursuing. So how can we understand the heart of God? Understand the heart of a parent. Mm-hmm. Not to cause harm to their children, but to be fierce in protecting them and and loving anything they can to go and find them if they are lost. And Pick them up lovingly and rejoice, not shaming. How dare you? You did just I'm so glad I found you. Exactly. It's so much a again, this is like the same heart, a prequel to the prodigal son story. Yeah. Yeah, very much. Mm-hmm. ⁓ in verse 15 it says, If your brother sins against you, go tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have one, your brother. But if he won't listen, Take one or two others with you, so that by the testimony of two or three witnesses, every fact may be established. If he doesn't pay attention to them, tell the church. If he doesn't pray pay attention even to the church, let him be like the ⁓ be like the Gentile and tax collector to you. Yes. This is called ⁓ in the church leadership world, I guess it's a world I don't know. Leadership realm. This is called the Matthew 18 principle. How to deal with you know people who are you know bothering, hurting each other. Yeah. This what this does going directly one on one, then two on one to the person, cuts out gossip. Yeah. It cuts out loose language, which tears churches apart. Yeah. Like it it runs through a church congregation like hellfire. Just gossip because people refuse to go one on one. Instead they'll bring it up to everyone else to try and rally them on their side. And there's even been some Bible studies I've been a part of where people have been like, Hey, pray for me because I'm going through something with so and so. ⁓ my goodness. Then it's the focus and yeah. You're gonna Yeah, you're human. But here's how you handle it and don't maximize the damage. You minimize the damage, go one on one. Deal with it, forgive them, love them, heal it. If that doesn't work, bring someone else and say, Hey, maybe we need a mediator. If not, okay, well, we still want to restore that person who continues to sin and unrepent. If they're not listening to the church, they sh really shouldn't be in the church. Yeah. Hand them over until they're ready to repent and come back. Yeah. Very opposite of how a lot of churches operate where they're like, Well, we don't want to lose them because it's like Jesus. Like, no, no, no. The goal is restoration and healing. Yeah. That's what we're going after. And he gives you a step by step how to do Exactly. It's very practical. It very much is. ⁓ in verse eighteen it says, Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you lose on earth will have been loosed in heaven. Again, truly I tell you, if two or or two of you on earth agree about any matter that you pray for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name I am there among them. Yeah. So again, identical language to what he told Peter about his confession that you are the Christ, Son of the Living God, at Caesarea Philippi from a few chapters ago. But now he's saying it to the twelve of them, again, trying to restore them as men who he's still, I'm sure. Pretty frustrated with, but he's still trying to restore them. Hey, ⁓ this is the authority I'm giving you, the power I'm giving you. Yeah. Where two or three are gathered in my name, which sometimes can feel a little wonky because you're like, ⁓ God, Jesus isn't with me unless I'm with another believer. Now, of course, there's strength in being with other believers. Mm-hmm. That's why you need the church, it's why you need community, that's why you need a Bible study, all those things. But when we're introduced later to the Holy Spirit, it's described as a person. Yes. It's the Spirit of Jesus. So, like even when you're on your own, there's still a second one present with you, the spirit of Christ. So again, just to kind of dispel that. Yep. Verse 21 says, Then Peter approached him and asked, Lord, how many times must I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? As many as seven times? I tell you, not as many as seven, Jesus replied, but seventy times seven. Yeah. So Peter thinks this is I mean it's my speculation, but Peter is like seven, like the the number of completion. I've done seven, so that's complete. And Jesus is like, No. How many times has the Lord forgiven you? Mm-hmm. Infinite. Yeah, you become a person of forgiveness. Yeah. It's not about counting. It's about you just forgive. It's automatic because God forgave you. And then he goes into this next teaching to help. understand what that looks like. Yep. In verse twenty three, for this reason the kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servant. When he began to settle accounts, one who owed ten thousand talents was brought before him. Since he did not have the money to pay it back, his master commanded that he, his wife, his children and everything he had be sold to pay the debt. At this sir At this at this, the servant fell face down before him and said, Be patient with me, and I will pay you everything. Then the master of the servant had compassion, released him, and forgave him the loan. So there's a there's a note in my Bible about how large the debt is that's owed. So it says ten thousand talents, okay, is what's owed. Yep. One talent ⁓ is worth about twenty years' wages. Per laborer. So twenty times ten thousand. So two hundred thousand years he'd have to work for this king to pay it off. He's like, Be patient with me. Yeah. You'll never this king's never gonna get his money back. No. Two hundred thousand years of waiting for the servant, and he says, Hey man, give me a minute. Just give me a break. Yeah. So it's very flippant. Like the the servant does not take this debt serious, honestly. Well for what he's asking for the king to forgive, he's not really taking it that serious. No. And he's like, just be patient with me. I'll I'll get you the money. How? How will you ever come up with that money? So that's what Jesus is saying. The debt that's owed is infinite. Yeah. Like might as well be on Mars. You'll never pay it. You can't do it yourself. Yep. And we'll see how he responds in verse twenty eight. That servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and started choking him and said, Pay what you owe. So a denari was ⁓ one day's wage. Yep. Yeah. So this guy needed a hundred days wages from his friend after it was just forgiven two hundred thousand years of wages. He's going and choking out another guy who was just in his position for a much smaller Yeah. And I'm when you're when we put it in those terms, you're like, What? I now understand why Jesus is a little frustrated. Yeah. Because he's over here covering debt we don't even understand. And yet because we don't understand what he's done, we do not have our hearts changed. Our hearts are not changed, and therefore we just take it out on each other over petty things. Petty things in comparison because we don't have a heart of gratitude. ⁓ it's fine. Look what Jesus did for me. I can forgive it. And that's what Jesus is trying to show. That's what we do to each other when we don't understand what's been done for us. So it has to begin with what God's done for you to extend it to others. Yep. At verse 29 it says, At this his fellow servant fell down And began begging him, Be patient with me and I will pay you back. Which he probably could. A hundred days probably could. But he wasn't willing. Instead he went and threw him into prison until he could pay what what was owned. When the other servants saw what was t what had taken place, they were deeply distressed and went and reported to their master everything that had happened. Then after he had summoned him, that his master said to him, You wicked servant. I forgave you all the debt because you begged me. Shouldn't you have also ⁓ should shouldn't you also have had mercy on your fellow servant as I had mercy on you? And because he was angry, his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured until he could pay everything that was owed. So also my heavenly Father will do due to you unless every one of you forgives his brother or sister or From your heart. So he is stern on forgiveness. But it's so reasonable. Yep. It's not unreasonable. If someone wrote you a check for a million dollars, yeah. And you're choking your neighbor out over ten bucks. Yeah. You don't understand what you have. No. You don't understand what's been d given to you. No. How could there how could anger not be the response? To injustice and evil and an unrepented heart that doesn't understand. Yeah. Like that's the gospel message. Is each of us, when we place our faith in Jesus and our sins are forgiven, it's a debt larger than we even understand. And the more that you walk with Jesus, the more you realize you're like, He forgave that, he forgave that. He's still forgiving that. That should change you. That should change you. And if it doesn't. What what's left? Like what's left? Seriously. And that's not saying and what what I love about this passage that makes me think about it differently is like we sometimes think like, ⁓ gosh, that that person's gonna be in prison forever. Well, they didn't have to be. No. No one has to go to prison, or what they're you know, we know it's describing hell. Yeah. But like no one has to go to hell. No. No one has to. The the king has enough to cover everyone's debt. That's why Jesus came. That's the message. Hell hell can be empty. Yeah. No one has to be there. I pray it is. Right. But We need the king to forgive our debts so that we can forgive others. That's how we get set free. Yeah. So it's not like, ⁓ we better, you know, not it's like just receive what the king has given you. Yeah. And pass it along. It's it goes into that obedience of giving, you know, this anger or whatever you have for someone, giving it to the Lord. Yes. And that what clears your heart is not your own. Being. No. It is Jesus. It's not your goodness. No, it's Jesus. And so it goes into the obedience factor of giving him everything. Yes. And then you have eternity. I think I've said it before on here, but I'll just I've been just saying more and more is that line from ⁓ Romans 5, verse 1, Paul says, In view of God's mercy, this is how you should live. Yeah. In view of God's mercy, this is how you treat your spouse. In view of God's mercy, this is how you treat your children, your coworker, your enemies, your friends, whoever. It's in view of what God has done. And until that drives into your heart, you'll you'll be like that servant. But once it drives deep enough into your heart that you're like, ⁓ my goodness, Jesus, you did that for me, then you are no longer like that servant. And you're not in threat of being thrown into any that guy should have been thrown a party. That servant should have been thrown a party. I have two hundred thousand years wiped out. Yeah. I and no one owes me nothing anymore. Exactly. Yeah. I'm canceling all my debts too. That's a heart of gratitude. That's a heart of change. Mm-hmm. So that's what Jesus is teaching. That's a free heart. I'm living in a new life. Mm-hmm. Exactly. That's what should happen. So I think that's what again Jesus is really trying to get them to understand is so when you ask who's the greatest at the beginning of the chapter, he's like, You're asking the wrong question. Very wrong question. What you should be asking is, what did I do to deserve this? And the answer is nothing. Mm-hmm. You just receive. Yeah. You receive and you give. Freely give as you were freely given. Yeah. 'Cause I love you. Yes. Exactly. All right. Well that'll wrap up today. We'll see you back tomorrow. ⁓ thank you for tuning in.

Romans 5:1