What does Jesus mean in Matthew 18:1-4 (our text for Sunday) when he says that we must first become like children in order to enter the Kingdom of God? In a debate over a different issue, John MacArthur comes to our text and gives a good summation. Here it is:
So this is not a Scripture that deals with anything that deals with actual children and their role in the Kingdom, but rather using a child as an illustration of the necessity of entering His Kingdom as a child would. What does that mean? With no achievement and no accomplishment, having done nothing, learned nothing, gained nothing, accumulated nothing, bringing nothing to bear upon that entrance. He is simply saying you come the way a child comes, and a child has nothing to offer, having achieved nothing, to come bare and naked with no accomplishment and no achievement and you come totally dependent. I think that’s the issue that He’s talking about, offering nothing to commend yourself to God, realizing your utter bankruptcy, it’s really a Beatitude Attitude.
His reference to the first Beatitude in Matthew 5 is perfect. We could also add all of the miracle stories. In each, there is a sense of desperation that drives their faith. They, that is the leper, the Gentiles, the sick, the paralyzed, the deaf, the blind, the mute, the demonized, and the dead, are desperate for healing and thus knowing, in full faith, that Jesus is their only hope, they come humbly to Jesus.
The context of Matthew 18:1-4 regards pride. So in short, when we realize that we are like children and cannot contribute to our own salvation, we come to Christ humbled and in the spirit of humility, we enter the Kingdom of God.
John MacArthur - Case for Believer's Baptism: The Credo Baptist Position
For more:
We Are Children: MacArthur Introduces Matthew 18:1-4
Showing posts with label Christians. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christians. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
We Are Children: MacArthur Introduces Matthew 18:1-4
This is good. Sunday we will be looking at Matthew 18:1-11 and John MacArthur's introduction on the theme of Christians being described as children in the New Testament is helpful.
Now, as we look at that passage, we basically are struck by the fact that Jesus picks up a little child in verse 2. And that child becomes the object lesson. The people of God are called by many names in the Bible, many beautiful names, many expressive names, many that describe various and sundry elements of belonging to God. But the most common name by which we are ever called is that of children. Beyond anything else, we are the children of God, the children of the Lord, the children of promise, the children of the day, the children of light, beloved children, dear children. Over and over again hundreds of times in the Old Testament and the New Testament, the people of God are called children.
And we rejoice in that reality. I think, however, for the most part we...we tend to see that as a term which links us to God. And when we hear that we are children, we celebrate the idea that that means we belong to God who is our Father, and surely that is true. And we have every reason to rejoice in that.
But the richness of the concept of being a child of God is not limited to the fact that that means we belong to God and we are His children and we are in His family. Inherent in the concept of children is the fact that we are children and we are well described as children. It not only means we belong to God, but it means like children we are imperfect, like children we are weak, like children we are dependent, as children we are simple and submissive and unskilled and ignorant and sometimes stubborn and very vulnerable. So that we see in the concept of children, not only that which implies a relationship to God, but that which describes us as marked out as children, with all of the foibles and failings and weaknesses that children have. John tells us in 1 John 2:12 that we are children. And so he says, "I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven."
So, as we look at the concept of the believer, we see him as a child. Now the whole of the eighteenth chapter of Matthew describes the child likeness of the believer, the child likeness of the believer. Somewhere in your Bible at the heading of Matthew 18, you need to write that down. This chapter is all about the child likeness of the believer. We're not the high and the mighty. We're not the noble. We're not the lofty. We're not the mature and the adult and the profound. We are children with all that that conveys, lowly children at best.
John MacArthur - Entering the Kingdom
Now, as we look at that passage, we basically are struck by the fact that Jesus picks up a little child in verse 2. And that child becomes the object lesson. The people of God are called by many names in the Bible, many beautiful names, many expressive names, many that describe various and sundry elements of belonging to God. But the most common name by which we are ever called is that of children. Beyond anything else, we are the children of God, the children of the Lord, the children of promise, the children of the day, the children of light, beloved children, dear children. Over and over again hundreds of times in the Old Testament and the New Testament, the people of God are called children.
And we rejoice in that reality. I think, however, for the most part we...we tend to see that as a term which links us to God. And when we hear that we are children, we celebrate the idea that that means we belong to God who is our Father, and surely that is true. And we have every reason to rejoice in that.
But the richness of the concept of being a child of God is not limited to the fact that that means we belong to God and we are His children and we are in His family. Inherent in the concept of children is the fact that we are children and we are well described as children. It not only means we belong to God, but it means like children we are imperfect, like children we are weak, like children we are dependent, as children we are simple and submissive and unskilled and ignorant and sometimes stubborn and very vulnerable. So that we see in the concept of children, not only that which implies a relationship to God, but that which describes us as marked out as children, with all of the foibles and failings and weaknesses that children have. John tells us in 1 John 2:12 that we are children. And so he says, "I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven."
So, as we look at the concept of the believer, we see him as a child. Now the whole of the eighteenth chapter of Matthew describes the child likeness of the believer, the child likeness of the believer. Somewhere in your Bible at the heading of Matthew 18, you need to write that down. This chapter is all about the child likeness of the believer. We're not the high and the mighty. We're not the noble. We're not the lofty. We're not the mature and the adult and the profound. We are children with all that that conveys, lowly children at best.
John MacArthur - Entering the Kingdom
Friday, December 30, 2011
The True Parable of Clergy With Sticks: A Warning Against Superficial Christianity
I'm not sure if you've seen this video or read about this in the news, but this is both priceless (the SNL skit writes itself) and tragic. Recently Areminian clergy and Greek Orthodox clergy fought with brooms in the middle of the Church of the Nativity which is believed to be built over the birthplace of Jesus. So here we are in the Christmas season in which we celebrate the incarnation of our Lord and the clergy of these two Christian traditions are fighting over jurisdiction issues inside the church.
At first I thought this was a parody, only to find out that its true.
I post this because this Sunday we will be discussing the Parable of the Soils in which Jesus describes the superficial Christian and I couldn't help but think about church hoppers, those who are easily offended, high maintenance believers, and those who cause divisions in the church. This is what we look like. Unfortunately, Christians seem to have a habit of devouring and destroying one another.
Superficial Christians, as we'll discuss Sunday, care about their wants, demands, and desires instead of caring about the others around them. Superficiality is a cancer in our churches and it leads to complacency, complaining, and divisiveness. But the gospel is better than that. The gospel calls us to crucify our pride and our superficiality and to pick up our cross and to follow Christ outside the camp.
We need more Christians who are willing to die to themselves and live to Christ rather than continue to crucify Christ so we can live for ourselves.
Telegraph - Clergymen fight with brooms at Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem
For more:
GBC - MacArthur on the Lessons of the Parable of the Soils
GBC - Things of This World - dc Talk
Sermon - November 8, 2009 - "God Be Merciful To Me a Sinner": The Gospel in 7 Words
GBC - Matthew Thus Far: Matthew 1-5
GBC - The Sermon on The Mount Series
GBC - Matthew 8-12 - The King Has Come: The Gospel According to Matthew Series
GBC - The Last Week of Jesus: From Triumphal Entry to Triumphal Grave Series
GBC - Fruitie-Tales: Living By the Fruit of the Spirit Series
At first I thought this was a parody, only to find out that its true.
I post this because this Sunday we will be discussing the Parable of the Soils in which Jesus describes the superficial Christian and I couldn't help but think about church hoppers, those who are easily offended, high maintenance believers, and those who cause divisions in the church. This is what we look like. Unfortunately, Christians seem to have a habit of devouring and destroying one another.
Superficial Christians, as we'll discuss Sunday, care about their wants, demands, and desires instead of caring about the others around them. Superficiality is a cancer in our churches and it leads to complacency, complaining, and divisiveness. But the gospel is better than that. The gospel calls us to crucify our pride and our superficiality and to pick up our cross and to follow Christ outside the camp.
We need more Christians who are willing to die to themselves and live to Christ rather than continue to crucify Christ so we can live for ourselves.
Telegraph - Clergymen fight with brooms at Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem
For more:
GBC - MacArthur on the Lessons of the Parable of the Soils
GBC - Things of This World - dc Talk
Sermon - November 8, 2009 - "God Be Merciful To Me a Sinner": The Gospel in 7 Words
GBC - Matthew Thus Far: Matthew 1-5
GBC - The Sermon on The Mount Series
GBC - Matthew 8-12 - The King Has Come: The Gospel According to Matthew Series
GBC - The Last Week of Jesus: From Triumphal Entry to Triumphal Grave Series
GBC - Fruitie-Tales: Living By the Fruit of the Spirit Series
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Applying Romans 13
Tomorrow we will be looking at Romans 13. A large portion of that chapter is related to living as a citizen. Christians are called to submit to government and political leaders. Although this is at times difficult, Christians are called to submit to one another; even to the government. What follows is an article I wrote regarding living as a Christian in an Obama administration when some policies (such as abortion and homosexuality and other critical issues) contradict our faith.
What Is To Be Our Response? Living as a Christian in an Obama Administration
In just a few minutes, the 44th President of the United States will be sworn into office. The election of Barack Obama is both historical and controversial. But as Christians, it is time that we begin to think how to respond and interact with the next four years. Barack Obama will oppose most of what social conservatives stand for: pro-life, the protection of marriage, the sanctity of life, etc.
I want to offer a few things that Christians must think of as we embark on the next 4 years.
PRAYER
The first and primary thing that Christians are called to do and that is to pray. Paul wrote to Timothy in 1 Timothy. 2:1 saying, "Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lad a quit and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence." It is clear then, that the response of all Christians, regardless of our leader, to make supplications, to give prayers, to interceded, and to give thanks to them.
Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr shows us how to pray on this day. He begins his prayer with:
We know that you and you alone are sovereign; that you rule over all, and that you alone are able to keep and defend us. We know that our times are in your hands, and that "the king's heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord" [Proverbs 21:1]. Our confidence is in you and in you alone. We come before you as a people who acknowledge our constant need for your provision, wisdom, and protection.
Father, we pray today for Barack Obama as he takes office as President of the United States. We pray that you will show the glory of your name in our times and in these days, confounding the wisdom of the wise, thwarting the plans of the arrogant, and vindicating those who do justice and practice righteousness.
Father, we pray with thanksgiving for the gift of government and the grace of civic order. Thank you for giving us rulers and for knowing our need for laws and ordered life together. Thank you for this nation and the blessings we know as its citizens. Thank you for freedoms unprecedented in human history. We understand that these freedoms come with unprecedented opportunities.
As Christians, we must remember that God brings glory to His name through anyone. I am reminded of King Cyrus of Persia and how God describes him as His "anointed one." It was not because Cyrus was righteous or God-fearing, but that God sovereignly used him to fulfill His purposes. Whenever we pray, it is a reminder that we are not the one that decides elections or chooses a president. God, and God alone, does that.
SUBMISSION
Paul also commands us to submit to government (Rom. 13). On the surface, this is pretty easy to do especially since we have had a pro-life, pro-traditional marriage, openly Christian president. But what about a president in whom we have very little in common with.
First, we must be reminded that Jesus, Paul, and all of the first Christians never had a leader that agreed with them on anything. Even the apologist Justin Martyr pleaded with Caesar that Christians were their greatest ally because they sought peace and obedience, but they were still being killed.
And so as Christians, we are called to submit to the demands of government even whenever we disagree with them (policy speaking). If taxes are raised, we must pay them. If laws are passed, we must obey them. Why? Because God, in His sovereignty and providential care, has given us our President whether we like it or not. Truth is, God couldn't care less what we think. He has given us our President. Period.
But we must make our self clear. We are to submit to God first. Therefore, there are two instances in which submission and obedience to government must not be done. First, we must not submit/obey whenever government demands we do something that God has commanded us not to do. Secondly, we must not submit/obey whenever government demand we do not do something God has commanded us to do.
Scripture gives us a number of instances where believers did not obey (cf. Daniel, his three friends, Peter and John, and others). However, we must not be falsely looking for occasions to disobey. Chances are, none of us will be put in a situation that directly contradicts our submission to God.
ENGAGEMENT
Finally (and this is no exhaustive list), we must be willing to engage the new President and Congress. By this I mean that we must hold our government accountable, celebrate when they are right, correct them when they are wrong, while doing it with an attitude of love, grace, compassion, and concern.
This is perhaps the toughest part of being a Christian in a fallen culture. We are called to be light who place our trust in the gospel first and then politics. Oftentimes we confuse the two. We begin with politics thinking that it will bring about the spreading of the gospel. We must not fall for this trap. Christianity does have political implications, as does all worldviews. But we must begin with the heart, not the tax code.
CONCLUSION
As we begin the journey toward the next four years, let us act as Christians, not as angry Republicans/Democrats/Libertarians/or anything else. We seek to fulfill the Great Commission to the glory of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Furthermore, let us not forget that we live in a dream world compared to the early Church. None of us have faced death in our country because of our faith. That day may come, but until then, let us not forget that though the early Church faced death, they continued to pray, submit, and engage their culture and their government.
We can learn a lot of them. But learning is only part of the equation. We must also live out what God has revealed. So today, let us pray for our new President hoping that God will glorify His name no matter who is sworn in every four years.
What Is To Be Our Response? Living as a Christian in an Obama Administration
In just a few minutes, the 44th President of the United States will be sworn into office. The election of Barack Obama is both historical and controversial. But as Christians, it is time that we begin to think how to respond and interact with the next four years. Barack Obama will oppose most of what social conservatives stand for: pro-life, the protection of marriage, the sanctity of life, etc.
I want to offer a few things that Christians must think of as we embark on the next 4 years.
PRAYER
The first and primary thing that Christians are called to do and that is to pray. Paul wrote to Timothy in 1 Timothy. 2:1 saying, "Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lad a quit and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence." It is clear then, that the response of all Christians, regardless of our leader, to make supplications, to give prayers, to interceded, and to give thanks to them.
Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr shows us how to pray on this day. He begins his prayer with:
We know that you and you alone are sovereign; that you rule over all, and that you alone are able to keep and defend us. We know that our times are in your hands, and that "the king's heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord" [Proverbs 21:1]. Our confidence is in you and in you alone. We come before you as a people who acknowledge our constant need for your provision, wisdom, and protection.
Father, we pray today for Barack Obama as he takes office as President of the United States. We pray that you will show the glory of your name in our times and in these days, confounding the wisdom of the wise, thwarting the plans of the arrogant, and vindicating those who do justice and practice righteousness.
Father, we pray with thanksgiving for the gift of government and the grace of civic order. Thank you for giving us rulers and for knowing our need for laws and ordered life together. Thank you for this nation and the blessings we know as its citizens. Thank you for freedoms unprecedented in human history. We understand that these freedoms come with unprecedented opportunities.
As Christians, we must remember that God brings glory to His name through anyone. I am reminded of King Cyrus of Persia and how God describes him as His "anointed one." It was not because Cyrus was righteous or God-fearing, but that God sovereignly used him to fulfill His purposes. Whenever we pray, it is a reminder that we are not the one that decides elections or chooses a president. God, and God alone, does that.
SUBMISSION
Paul also commands us to submit to government (Rom. 13). On the surface, this is pretty easy to do especially since we have had a pro-life, pro-traditional marriage, openly Christian president. But what about a president in whom we have very little in common with.
First, we must be reminded that Jesus, Paul, and all of the first Christians never had a leader that agreed with them on anything. Even the apologist Justin Martyr pleaded with Caesar that Christians were their greatest ally because they sought peace and obedience, but they were still being killed.
And so as Christians, we are called to submit to the demands of government even whenever we disagree with them (policy speaking). If taxes are raised, we must pay them. If laws are passed, we must obey them. Why? Because God, in His sovereignty and providential care, has given us our President whether we like it or not. Truth is, God couldn't care less what we think. He has given us our President. Period.
But we must make our self clear. We are to submit to God first. Therefore, there are two instances in which submission and obedience to government must not be done. First, we must not submit/obey whenever government demands we do something that God has commanded us not to do. Secondly, we must not submit/obey whenever government demand we do not do something God has commanded us to do.
Scripture gives us a number of instances where believers did not obey (cf. Daniel, his three friends, Peter and John, and others). However, we must not be falsely looking for occasions to disobey. Chances are, none of us will be put in a situation that directly contradicts our submission to God.
ENGAGEMENT
Finally (and this is no exhaustive list), we must be willing to engage the new President and Congress. By this I mean that we must hold our government accountable, celebrate when they are right, correct them when they are wrong, while doing it with an attitude of love, grace, compassion, and concern.
This is perhaps the toughest part of being a Christian in a fallen culture. We are called to be light who place our trust in the gospel first and then politics. Oftentimes we confuse the two. We begin with politics thinking that it will bring about the spreading of the gospel. We must not fall for this trap. Christianity does have political implications, as does all worldviews. But we must begin with the heart, not the tax code.
CONCLUSION
As we begin the journey toward the next four years, let us act as Christians, not as angry Republicans/Democrats/Libertarians/or anything else. We seek to fulfill the Great Commission to the glory of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Furthermore, let us not forget that we live in a dream world compared to the early Church. None of us have faced death in our country because of our faith. That day may come, but until then, let us not forget that though the early Church faced death, they continued to pray, submit, and engage their culture and their government.
We can learn a lot of them. But learning is only part of the equation. We must also live out what God has revealed. So today, let us pray for our new President hoping that God will glorify His name no matter who is sworn in every four years.
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