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Matthew 18:10-14Town North Presbyterian Church – Rev. David J. RogersJanuary 24, 2021My wife once told me the story about an autographed baseball that her mother owned many years ago.The baseball was signed by home run legend Hank Aaron. It was very VALUABLE (and would be even MORE valuable TODAY –since Hank Aaron died this past week!).One day when Kelly’s brother Scott was a young boy he wanted to go out in the field behind their house to play baseball. So he grabbed his bat and glove – but couldn’t find a baseball.So what did he do?Well, I’m sure you know what happened next.He grabbed the nearest baseball around – which happened to be the Hank Aaron autographed baseball – and went out in the field to play ball.And sure enough – as many boys do – he also LOST the baseball out in the field. It was NEVER found again.It was clearly a situation where the young boy SCOTT had LITTLE REGARD for a baseball that his MOM held in HIGH REGARD.That is SIMILAR to what Jesus was describing in the verses we read today.He warns us against having LITTLE REGARD for those God holds in HIGH REGARD.Jesus tells us it is WRONG to have such LOW REGARD to those whom God holds in such HIGH REGARD.We see this in verse 10 – when Jesus told the crowd something they must NEVER do.What did Jesus tell the crowd they must NEVER DO?Look at verse 10.“See that you do not despise one of these little ones.”WHO were these “little ones” Jesus was talking about?We know from the previous verses we have read the past several weeks.These “little ones” were followers of Jesus Christ. They were those people who had been HUMBLED like little children to see that they NEEDED Jesus the Savior. And as Jesus said in verse 6 – they were those who “…believed in Him.”And what did Jesus say we must NEVER DO to His followers?Jesus said: “See that you DO NOT DESPISE [them]…”WHAT does it mean NOT to DESPISE them?It means DO NOT look DOWN on them.DO NOT consider them of LITTLE VALUE – or hold them with LITTLE REGARD.WHY would Jesus tell us NOT TO DO this?It seems clear that it’s because we have a tendency TO DO this often.There are many times that we do this as Christians.There are times when another Christian may “rub you the wrong way.” Maybe this fellow Christian has a personality much like your sister – and you don’t like her either! So you just don’t have much regard for this person. You may not have any hostility toward this person. You may not HATE the person. You simply don’t really have much regard for her. You have LITTLE REGARD for her.Or maybe there is another Christian in the church that you just don’t respect. You have seen how he treats people – and how he runs his family – and frankly you don’t have any respect for him. Sometimes it even makes you annoyed and frustrated. Again, you don’t have any “hostility” toward him. You simply don’t have much respect. You have LITTLE REGARD for him.Or maybe there is a Christian with whom you disagree about COVID. You believe that Christian is being overly cautious. You believe that person is “believing a lie.” Or maybe you believe that other Christian is showing “little love” to others by dis-regarding wearing a mask.You used to have respect for that Christian – until COVID-19 hit, but now you have less regard for that fellow Christian. He has disappointed you. You have LITTLE REGARD for him.Or maybe there is a GROUP of Christians for whom you have LITTLE REGARD. Maybe you see certain “errors in their doctrine” that bother you. Or maybe you get frustrated at them for putting too much emphasis on “social justice” or “politics.” So you have LITTLE REGARD for him.Jesus knows this is our tendency as Christians.And Jesus knows this is the tendency of non-Christians around us.Many people in our world have LITTLE REGARD for Christians. When Christians speak up about the Lord Jesus in the public arena – many people simply “roll their eyes.”The marketplace – and the main power centers of our world – show LITTLE REGARD to Christians.But we see here that Jesus tells ALL OF US:“See that you do not despise one of these little ones.”WHY must we NEVER DO this?It’s simple. Jesus tells us we must never do it: Because GOD NEVER DOES!And that’s what I want you to consider this morning.We must never look down on Christians because God never does.After making this statement, Jesus goes on to explain how God treats His “little ones.” Jesus does this to show us why it is WRONG for us to do this. It is WRONG for us to have such LOW REGARD to those whom God holds in such HIGH REGARD.Jesus tells us to CONSIDER how GOD LOVES His “little ones”:FIRST, consider the way God DEFENDS His “little ones.”SECOND, consider the way God CARES for EACH of His “little ones.”THIRD, consider the way God COMMITS to His “little ones.”MP1: Consider the way God DEFENDS His “little ones” (10)FIRST, [when we are tempted to DESPISE other Christians] we MUST CONSIDER how God LOVES His “little ones” in the way He DEFENDS them.We see this in verse 10.“See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.”Notice the last sentence of that verse.“For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.”What does that mean?There are people who have taken this to mean that God assigns each Christian a “guardian angel.” But we don’t get indication throughout the Bible that God assigns ONE angel to ONE person. Instead, there is a heavenly “army” of angels – who are often sent by God to serve people. The writer of Hebrews tells us that angels are:“…ministering spirits – sent out to SERVE for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation.” (Hebrews 1)In other words, angels are God’s agents to SERVE God’s people.And so, that is the sense in which Jesus described them here.Jesus gives us a “glimpse” into the heavenly realms – telling us what is true. And the truth is that these angels – who serve God’s people – are always before the face of God ready to SERVE and HELP and DEFEND HIS “little ones.”In other words, this vast heavenly army of angels are in the presence of God – ready to hear God’s marching orders to SERVE and HELP and DEFEND His “little ones.”So here is the point:Jesus is telling us of God’s LOVE for His “little ones” in appointing this army of angels to be their DEFENDERS.It’s as if Jesus was saying it is NO SMALL MATTER to DESPISE those people whom God has given ANGELS to be their COMPANIONS and DEFENDERS! GOD clearly holds these people in HIGH REGARD to provide a heavenly host of angels for their needs!It is STRANGE that a MORTAL man should DESPISE a person – or treat him with little account – whom GOD holds in such high esteem!Jesus almost seems to be stating this as a THREAT. He tells anyone who would DESPISE His “little ones” that they are DEFENDED by an army of angels are continually ready at God’s throne.Illus: A few months ago a Utah hiker named Kyle Burgess captured a video that went viral.Kyle was hiking in Slate Canyon when he saw two little mountain lion cubs on the trail. One of the cubs ran off, but what Kyle didn’t notice was that MOM was right there with them.Kyle said the minute he saw MOM – he knew it was not a good situation.Sure enough, the mountain lion mom came after Kyle.The video showed the mountain lion roaring and growling – and coming toward Kyle – as Kyle kept slowly backing away. This went on for 6-minutes of sheer terror – as the mountain lion kept coming toward Kyle and lunging.And what the video showed was a similar thing to what Jesus is telling us here.Don’t mess with a mountain lion’s “little ones”! She will DEFEND her “little ones”!In the same way, Jesus says: “Don’t mess with God’s ‘little ones.’”God holds them in HIGH REGARD – and His army of angels are always in His presence.App: This is something you must CONSIDER when you find yourself DESPISING – or harboring ill will toward a Christian.You must CONSIDER this when you are in CONFLICT with another Christian.Consider how God LOVES the person and has enlisted a heavenly army to DEFEND her! WE must never look down on Christians – because GOD doesn’t.Instead, God DEFENDS His “little ones.” God holds them in such high regard that He has provided an army of angels for their needs.We need to consider this when we DESPISE other Christians.Jesus is telling us we must be careful – because if we do this we will find ourselves fighting against GOD!You are giving a person LITTLE REGARD – whom GOD gives HIGH REGARD.So this is the FIRST thing Jesus tells us to consider when we DESPISE a Christian.CONSIDER how God LOVES His “little ones” – and has enlisted a heavenly army to DEFEND them!MP2: Consider how God CARES for EACH ONE of His “little ones” (12-13)SECOND, [when we are tempted to DESPISE other Christians] we MUST CONSIDER how God LOVES His “little ones” in the way He meticulously CARES for EACH of them.We see this in verses 12-13.“What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? 13 And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray.”Notice Jesus used a short parable here. He used the image of a SHEPHERD and the shepherd’s CARE for his sheep.The image is of a shepherd who has exactly 100 sheep. This shepherd showed great CARE in taking care of his sheep – and knew every one of them by name.Then one morning while tending his sheep the shepherd noticed that one the sheep was missing. In the night it had obviously gone astray.What did the shepherd do?Did the shepherd say: “Well, 99 sheep are good enough! That’s how it goes in shepherding…you gain some, and you lose some!”No, Jesus says, not at all!It was not like that for the shepherd. This was not just “one of the herd.” This was “Benny!” (Sorry, that was the name for a sheep that came to my mind.)But you see the point of the parable Jesus gave.The POINT of the parable was that the shepherd too such METICULOUS CARE of EACH ONE of his sheep – that he went SEARCHING for ONE sheep!The shepherd had 100 sheep – and he was not content to lose even ONE.And many of you know – as Bible readers – that God uses image of a SHEPHERD throughout the bible to describe His relationship with His people.In the Psalms God is referred to as the SHEPHERD of His people Israel.And God’s people are referred to as the SHEEP of God’s pasture.God tells us through the prophet Isaiah that He will tend His flock like a SHEPHERD.God tells us through the prophet Ezekiel “I myself will be the SHEPHERD of my sheep.”And – of course – our Lord Jesus used this image to describe HIMSELF.Jesus said: “I am the GOOD SHEPHERD.”So Jesus used the image of a SHEPHERD here again – THIS TIME to DESCRIBE the METICULOUS CARE the SHEPHERD has for EVERY ONE of his sheep. The SHEPHERD knows EVERY ONE of them – and He has WATCHFUL CARE over EVERY SINGLE ONE of them. If one is missing – He will NOTICE – because he knows them by name.Illus: Over Christmas my daughter and I watched a documentary of the making of the Christmas movie Home Alone. As many of you who have watched the movie know – it is the story of a young boy who was accidentally LEFT at home when his family went on a Christmas vacation to Paris.In this documentary the writers described one big difficulty they had to overcome – when they wrote the story.They had to figure out a way to make it BELIEVABLE that a family could accidentally LEAVE one of their children behind when they went on vacation. They knew that when people watch this movie – they would find it UNBELIEVEABLE that a mother and father could actually FORGET one of their children and LEAVE him at home!Those writers understood exactly what Jesus was describing here.A MOTHER – just like a SHEPHERD. She KNOWS EACH ONE of her “little ones.” She CARES for EACH ONE of them. She always has a sense of RESPONSIBILITY and CARE for EACH ONE of them. If ONE is missing – she will VERY QUICKLY find out and NOTICE.Jesus is telling us the SAME is true when it comes to God’s CARE for His “little ones.” He shows METICULOUS CARE for EACH ONE of them.App: This is something you must consider when you find yourself DESPISING – or harboring ill will toward a Christian.You must CONSIDER this when you are in CONFLICT with another Christian.CONSIDER how God LOVES His “little ones” – and meticulously CARES for him!CONSIDER that GOD LOVES that “little one” just as much as He loves YOU!He is deeply OFFENDED when you LOOK DOWN on this “little one” that He LOVES.God LOVES His “little ones” – and meticulously CARES for them – like a SHEPHERD meticulously CARES for His SHEEP. GOD KNOWS when one of His “little ones” is DESPISED or INJURED or HARMED. And when you DESPISE or HARM one of His sheep – you are DESPISING someone that He DEARLY LOVES!Another thing to CONSIDER is what this image means for you if you are a Christian.It means you are one of HIS SHEEP! When you HEAR the voice of Jesus the Good Shepherd – and FOLLOW Him – you are one of HIS SHEEP! This is what it means to belong to His CHURCH.This is also true for YOU – who are CHILDREN of Town North. When your mom and dad had you BAPTIZED – you became SHEEP in the FLOCK of Jesus! HE is your SHEPHERD – and YOU are His SHEEP! He knows you by name – and He CARES for you and will PROVIDE for your needs – and will even SEEK AFTER YOU if you stray in the years ahead.It is REALLY good to have JESUS as your SHEPHERD – because He can ALWAYS be WITH you and PROVIDE for you even at times when your mom and dad cannot.Your mom and dad cannot be WITH you and give you STRENGTH when you are at school – but JESUS CAN. Your mom and dad cannot SEE or KNOW everything that you NEED – but JESUS DOES.Always remember that you are one of HIS SHEEP – and He CARES about EVERY ONE of His SHEEP. He KNOWS you by name – and is the SHEPHERD who can take CARE of you.That DOESN’T mean no one will ever say mean things – or do mean things – to you. But it means that Jesus is your SHEPHERD who can bring you through it.Jesus is STRONG enough to HELP you.This is important to remember for all of us to remember – as children or adults!We are ALL the “SHEEP of His pasture.” We are ALL His “little ones.”So this is the SECOND thing Jesus tells us to consider when you DESPISE a Christian.CONSIDER how God LOVES His “little ones” – in the way He meticulously CARES for EACH of them!MP3: Consider the way God COMMITS to His “little ones” (14)THIRD, [when we are tempted to DESPISE other Christians] we MUST CONSIDER how God LOVES His “little ones” in the way He COMMITS to His “little ones.”We see this in verse 14.“So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.”Notice what Jesus was telling the crowd about God’s COMMITMENT to these “little ones.”Notice Jesus told the crowd the WILL of GOD here.Jesus said it is God’s WILL to SAVE His “little ones.” In other words, God is DETERMINED to do it. God is definitely GOING to do it.He is DETERMINED to SAVE these “little ones” from PERISHING!Notice again Jesus said: “So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.”What did Jesus mean by PERISHING?It is clear from the context that Jesus did NOT mean “physical death.”Jesus was NOT saying that it is the Father’s will that NONE of these “little ones” should die in this world. Surely that wasn’t the case – because even the Good Shepherd, Jesus, Himself PERISHED in that sense!So Jesus did NOT mean it was God’s will that none of these “little ones” should PHYSICALLY DIE.So what did Jesus mean when He said it was NOT the Father’s will that any should PERISH?Jesus meant they would NOT PERISH in suffering eternal punishment in Hell.We see that clearly from the context here. A few verses earlier – in verses 8-9 – Jesus warned about “eternal fire” and the “hell of fire.”God tells us this will be the fate of every human being unless we are RESCUED.That is what Jesus meant in one of the most famous verses of the Bible (John 3:16) when He said:“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him SHOULD NOT PERISH but have eternal life.”The word “PERISH” is the SAME word as the word used here.And it means to PERISH in terms of suffering God’s eternal punishment forever.And notice in John 3:16 – as with the rest of the Bible – the point is that EVERY human being in the world IS PERISHING – UNLESS they are RESCUED by Jesus Christ.The bible tells us that because of the SIN of the first human being (Adam) – EVERY human being is PERISHING. EVERY human being – and the WORLD as we know it – is PERISHING. It is HEADING toward God’s JUDGMENT and torment because of SIN.But the GOOD NEWS is that GOD sent His SON Jesus Christ to SAVE!And that is HOW God DOES SAVE. God SAVES through His Son! Jesus came into the world to SUFFER the ETERNAL TORMENT for the SINS of His people. And that is precisely what He DID DO when He died on the CROSS.And that is precisely what Jesus was talking about here.God SENT His SON to SAVE His “little ones.” All who BELIEVE in Jesus Christ are His “little ones.”It was NOT the Father’s will that ANY of these “little ones” should perish.In other words, God LOVES these “little ones” SO MUCH – that He has COMMITTED Himself to SAVE them! He shows His LOVE to them in that He will do WHATEVER it takes to SAVE them – EVEN the COST of sending His OWN SON.App: That is IMPORTANT to CONSIDER when you find yourself DESPISING a Christian.You must CONSIDER that THIS person is one for whom GOD was willing to pay the COST of HIS OWN SON. If GOD the Father was willing to PAY such a HIGH COST – He must have an incredibly DEEP LOVE – and DEEP COMMITMENT – to this person!You must then ask yourself: “How can I have such LITTLE regard for this person?”“How can I DESPISE this person for whom GOD gave His only SON?”“HOW can I DESPISE this person for whom Jesus was willing to SUFFER the torment of Hell?”Jesus is telling us these are things we must CONSIDER deeply when we have LITTLE REGARD for ANY Christian. That person may seem like an INSIGNIFICANT person in the world’s eyes. The person may seem like the most INSIGNIFICANT person in the church!But as one of God’s “little ones” – that person is LOVED by God at a HIGH COST!This does NOT mean it is OKAY to treat non-Christians with LITTLE REGARD.But that is NOT what Jesus is talking about here.Jesus is talking about the “little ones” of His flock – who WILL be treated with LITTLE REGARD by the world.As a follower of Jesus – He KNOWS the world WILL have LITTLE REGARD for you.If you truly follow Christ – and stand under His banner – and LIVE as one of His followers – you WILL be held in LITTLE REGARD by the world. Many times you WILL be DESPISED. That is what will happen to Christ’s FOLLOWERS who truly FOLLOW Him.You will be DEPISED.This is the way it has been for followers of Jesus throughout history.Jesus said: “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”This is why we should never think it STRANGE when people revile us, or persecute us, or say all kinds of evil against us FALSELY on Christ’s account. This is simply part of being a disciple of Jesus.There may be times and places where people will be PRAISED for following Jesus.Young people – you know what I am talking about. When you are at home with your parents – or here with adults who follow Jesus – you will be PRAISED for following Jesus. Your parents – and Sunday School teachers will PRAISE you for following Jesus. They will WANT you to follow Jesus.But that is NOT the way it will be in most other areas of your life.Most other people will NOT PRAISE you – or ENCOURAGE you – to follow Jesus. Some will LAUGH at you for following Him. Some will IGNORE you for following Him.But Jesus REMINDS you here that His “little ones” are VALUABLE to Him.GOD LOVES His “little ones.”He DEFENDS them – and CARES for EACH of them – and is COMMITTED to them.CONSIDER that when people LOOK DOWN on you and HATE you.That is something we must ALL CONSIDER when show LITTLE REGARD for one of Christ’s “little ones.”Conclusion:Ironically, Kelly’s brother Scott (whom I told you about earlier) grew up to become a collector of sports memorabilia. Years later he came to see the VALUE of that baseball his mom held in such HIGH REGARD. So he bought her another baseball signed by Hank Aaron – to replace the one he lost.And that’s the way it should turn out for us when we hear these words from Jesus Christ.Hopefully, we will now SEE THE VALUE of God’s “little ones” around us.Hopefully, we can see the VALUE of these people for whom Jesus Christ was willing to SUFFER on the CROSS.That’s one thing to CONSIDER when you come to the Lord’s table today.CONSIDER the SUFFERING Christ endured – NOT ONLY for YOU – but for ALL those who come to this table with you today. As you come forward – and see all of your brothers and sisters in Christ coming forward with you – CONSIDER:“These are ones that Jesus Christ DEEPLY LOVES.”Let’s pray… ................
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