Invitation to Change
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Good morning and welcome back!
And Happy October!
It seems as if time is absolutely flying by these days and before we know it is going to be Christmas again!
This morning if you will, start turning in your Bibles to the Gospel of Matthew chapter 18.
This morning we are going to be looking at an interaction that Jesus had with his disciples and really an invitation that Jesus gave to his disciples.
And that, if you have guessed by the title of the message is An Invitation to Change.
Just to set the stage though, this is a very familiar passage about a conversation between Jesus and His Disciples.
Jesus and the disciples were in the city of Capernaum ministering to the people.
And just prior to the events we are going to be talking about this morning, Peter, James, and John had witnessed the transfiguration of Christ.
They had also just witnessed Jesus healing the "lunatic" as the Bible puts it (was an epileptic).
And they had also just been instructed by Jesus about His betrayal, death, and resurrection.
So, they had been witness to some amazing things.
And Jesus had also told them about some amazing events that were getting ready to take place.
So the disciples like many of us would have done in their shoes, had begun to reason and talk amongst themselves.
They still at this point did not understand the true nature of the Kingdom of Heaven.
And their interpretation was that Jesus was going to set up an earthly kingdom, right then and there.
And, their natural conclusion was that since they were His disciples then they would be pretty important.
They were not grasping the Spiritual nature of things and the true nature of the Kingdom of Heaven.
They didn't understand that the flesh was corrupt and that there was no place for the flesh in God's Kingdom.
And they couldn't grasp, like many of us have a hard time with, that in Heaven we will be in God's very presence
And in order for us to be able to be in God’s presence, a change in us has to occur.
But, they really didn’t get that.
They were still operating in the natural, in the flesh only what they could see, hear, and touch.
Their idea of "greatness" involved power, prestige, authority, and place of honor.
Thus, the conversation we see unfolding here begins to take place between Jesus and his disciples.
So, that’s where we are at, and we will read through just the first 4 verses of Matthew 18 and dig right into it.
Matthew 18, starting in verse 1 . . .
Scripture Focus
Scripture Focus
At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Who Is The Greatest?
Who Is The Greatest?
So, right off the bat they stick their foot in their mouth.
They display their ignorance about the kingdom of heaven and about the true nature of Christ.
With all of this going on around them, the only thing the disciples were thinking about at that point was themselves.
They approach Jesus and again . . .
At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
And with that I can almost see Jesus taking a deep breath and a big sigh, probably shaking his head and rolling his eyes a bit at them.
And it was all because these disciples, who had been learning from Him and following Him for over three years have not been able to figure this "kingdom of heaven" out for themselves.
They have to come to Jesus with this question.
"Who is going to be the greatest, Lord?"
"Who is going to be the most important?"
"Who is going to have the most authority?"
"Who is going to be your favorite?"
Do you see the selfishness that is written all over this question?
Like we had said before, they were not operating in the Spiritual realm at all.
They were thinking in terms of what makes a man great in the eyes of man.
And, I can't help but think that part of their motivation was that all the ridicule, persecution, and rejection they had suffered at the hands of the Jews had kind of led them to have the "we'll show them" attitude.
Their line of thinking was, "you may have it now, but just you wait buddy. There will come a day when the tables are turned."
This not only led to that haughty attitude, but also a level of jealously amongst the disciples.
They were arguing among themselves too.
Just picture the conversations, Peter saying, "we'll I walked on the water with Jesus, I'm the pillar of the church, I'll be the greatest."
John saying, "Hold on just a minute, I'm the disciple that Jesus loved the most, I'm His favorite, so I'll be the greatest."
Now, we would never do anything like that would we?
"I'm the Pastor, so I'm more important than ______"
"I'm on the board, so I'm more important."
"I teach Sunday School, and we know Sunday School is the most important, so that means so am I."
“I give the most money so I’m the most important.”
“I volunteer for everything, so look at me.”
And we may not go to that level, but do we get sucked into the line of thinking that, "I do this, this, and this and I am so important that this church needs me. God needs me."?
The attitude is that "God is going to fail, if we don't cooperate."
That is a lie straight from the pits of hell.
God doesn't "need" any of us.
God is the creator of the universe, the infinite, eternal God.
And if we can't get on board with God’s plan, God will just raise up somebody else that will.
God's will, will be accomplished and His church will go on, with us or without us.
Now, God does wants us to be involved, not for His sake but for our own.
It is all designed to help us grow and mature and develop a closer, deeper relationship with Him.
But if Satan can get us off track and focused on the "me" or "self" then our focus is then off of God and God's will and the trap is set.
Things in the church become about "us" and not about God.
And problems ensue.
Let me show you some scripture . . .
I have been blameless before him and have kept myself from sin. The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to my cleanness in his sight. “To the faithful you show yourself faithful, to the blameless you show yourself blameless, to the pure you show yourself pure, but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd. You save the humble, but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them low.
And . . .
Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. Better to be lowly in spirit and among the oppressed than to share plunder with the proud.
So, from these two examples we see a couple of things.
When we are righteous, faithful, pure, and humble what happens?
God blesses us and is pleased with us.
However, when we are haughty, high minded, proud, and boastful, what happens?
We fall, we are brought low, we are destroyed.
And just because these Scriptures are taken from the Old Testament, the outcome and consequences do not change.
It is exactly the same.
Look at what Isaiah said centuries before Christ was even born . . .
The earth dries up and withers, the world languishes and withers, the exalted of the earth languish. The earth is defiled by its people; they have disobeyed the laws, violated the statutes and broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore a curse consumes the earth; its people must bear their guilt. Therefore earth’s inhabitants are burned up, and very few are left.
We have a lost generation, both out there in the world and in the church and the church doesn't even know it.
Our entire world is defiled, by the people.
And it is all because we have violated everything that God has told us to hold sacred and true.
And our world is cursed.
The curse can be fixed though, but we don’t more programs, not more activities, and more stuff.
What we need is Jesus, what we need is not more of the same but a Change!
And that change only comes through Jesus Christ.
Like a Child
Like a Child
Which is what Jesus gets into next with his disciples.
So, Jesus turns to his disciples and tells them . . .
He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
So, Jesus offers a visual aid to the disciples to help them to understand what it is going to take.
What it is going to take, to not only be the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven, but also what it is going to take to even get into the kingdom of Heaven.
And this is what we want to listen very closely to.
My fear is that there are some among us that have been deceived into thinking that they are going to be the greatest for some of the same reasons the disciples did.
Some of us may think that we are going to be the greatest because of all the good deeds we've done.
Or because of how faithful we've been in church attendance.
Or because of how faithful we've paid tithes.
Or because we've went through all the motions, done all the right "things" or checked off all the boxes on the "what do I have to do to be saved," list.
The truth of the matter is this . . .
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
We can "do" things all day long.
We can check things off and go through all the motions and steps.
We can even become great in the eyes of the world, both secular and church.
But, unless we do as Jesus is teaching here, it is all for naught.
It is vain and useless.
Why do you think Paul said . . .
No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
Paul understood that the flesh was deceiving.
That the praise of men was deceiving.
That if the flesh was able to rise up and rear its ugly head, regardless of how much he had "done,"
That in the end he would end up just as lost and undone as those he had been preaching to.
Remember what Paul said in Ephesians . . .
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.
And in Titus . . .
he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.
Folks, we didn’t do anything to earn or deserve our salvation.
And there is nothing we can do to earn.
We have to accept the free gift Christ is offering.
And we have to be willing to allow the Holy Spirit to make the changes in our hearts and lives necessary to make heaven a reality for us.
And just like Jesus said these things to His disciples, it is no different for us today.
And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
There has to be a conversion, A CHANGE.
We have to change our directions.
We have to change our thinking.
Jesus says we have to become as little children in order to inherit the kingdom of Heaven.
What is it that is unique about children?
They are impressionable and are open to learning.
They take things at face value.
They have faith.
They trust.
They believe.
They look at things differently than we do.
The are innocent, blameless.
They will only do what they have been taught.
We need to think about that.
Jesus goes on in verse 4 . . .
Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Notice the word, HUMBLE there.
Children are humble in the world.
They have no great esteem, power, or influence.
They are not focused on "getting ahead."
Children are more focused on pleasing others, being accepted, being loved.
When the CHANGE that God requires comes, there will be a level of HUMILITY that will also come.
And as we are open to change, things become less and less about us and more and more about Him.
And the goal for us today is to get to a point to where we realize it is all about Him and all our actions, attitudes, thoughts, and behaviors are focused on Him and not on us.
When we can reach that point, then and only then will we achieve true greatness.
Altar/Challenge
Altar/Challenge
The title of this message was "An Invitation to Change."
That is just what this is.
It is an open invitation to us all to make a change.
To some of us that change may be accepting Christ as our Lord and Savior.
To others, that change may be something different.
Maybe you had accepted Christ, but nothing had changed since then.
There is no deeper walk, deeper understanding.
There is no victory over the flesh.
You have tried to make it "all about Him," but for some reason it just hasn't happened.
Chances are, there is something you are holding on to.
Something you are unwilling to allow Him to take control over.
When we keep on doing the same old thing, the same old way, we are going to get the same old result.
We can't expect anything different, unless we are willing to change.
The question is not, whether or not change will occur, the question is, are you willing to allow change to occur?
So, whatever need you might have, I invite you to come and to change.
Let’s Pray . . .