Possibility of Causing a Brother to Sin

Introduction and Review of Mark 9:33-41

0:02 This sermon was preached on Sunday morning, November 2nd, 1986, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey.

0:12 Now let us turn together to the Gospel according to Mark and the ninth chapter as we continue our consecutive expositions through Mark's spirit-inspired record of the life, the ministry, the teaching, and ultimately the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Mark chapter 9, and I shall begin the reading at verse 33, though our attention will be focused primarily this morning upon verse 42. It is essential that we feel afresh the pressure of the setting of this entire section, and so I will read from verse 42.

0:56 Verse 33 to the end of the chapter. With respect to our Lord in the twelve, Mark writes, And they came to Capernaum, and when he was in the house, he asked them, What were you reasoning on the way? But they held their peace, for they had disputed one with another on the way who was the greatest. And he sat down and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man would be first, He would be first, He would be first, He shall be last of all, and servant of all.

1:34 And he took a little child, and set him in the midst of them. And taking him in his arms, he said unto them, Whosoever shall receive one of such little children in my name, receives me. And whosoever receives me, receives not me, but him that sent me. John said unto him, Teacher, we saw, We saw one casting out demons in your name, and we forbade him, because he followed not us.

2:08 But Jesus said, Forbid him not, for there is no man who shall do a mighty work in my name, and be able quickly to speak evil of me. For he that is not against us is for us. For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink, because you are Christ's, Christ's. Verily I say unto you, He shall in no wise lose his reward.

2:37 And whosoever shall cause one of these little ones that believe on me to stumble, it were better for him if a great millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea. And if your hand cause you to stumble, cut it off. It is good for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having to go to hell. rather than having to go to hell.

3:01 Rather than having your two hands to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. For it is good for you to enter into life halt, rather than having your two feet to be cast into hell. And if your eye causes you to stumble, cast it out.

3:26 It is good for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having to go to hell. Rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. For everyone shall be salted with fire. Salt is good.

3:49 But if the salt have lost its saltness, wherewith will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another. Now let us again bow in prayer and ask God by the Spirit to help us that we may understand and feel the weight of these words of our Lord Jesus.

4:19 Our Father, we have prayed together in the hymn we have sung that our hearts may be fruitful fields for the seed of your word. And we now come again acknowledging that unless you open our eyes we cannot behold. We cannot behold. And we also acknowledge to our shame that many times we have beheld things that we have been those who having heard did not put into practice what we heard.

4:55 So we pray for the grace of illumination and we pray for the grace of glad obedience before this, your holy and infallible word. Amen. Now this morning as we come to this passage of necessity I must give a more lengthy introduction. An introduction comprised basically of a review and an overview.

Jesus' Three-Fold Rationale for Not Forbidding the Exorcist

5:28 And having given that, we will then focus our attention on verse 42. As I've already indicated in our studies of the Gospel of Mark, we have come to this section in chapter 9 which has its fundamental reference point in the incidents recorded in verses 33 through 37. And let me try to recapture in just a couple of minutes what we examined at much greater length in a previous study. On the return from the area of Caesarea Philippi which was up north of the Galilean region, a return from the Mount of Transfiguration,

6:10 the precise location of which is unknown to us, our Lord with his disciples is found making his way back down to Capernaum. When they arrive at Capernaum they enter into an unnamed house, probably the special house that they often used in Capernaum. And as they enter the house, putting together the parallel passage in Matthew, apparently the disciples ask what they try to project as just a generalization, a general question, who is greatest in the kingdom? And Jesus is apparently silent as they come through the outer section of the house and enter the inside of the house

6:55 and he then asks them a question, what were you talking about on our trip down to Capernaum? And there is an embarrassed silence. And that embarrassed silence is rooted in the fact that they had been arguing about who was going to be number one in the kingdom. They had been arguing, in a dispute that had to do with carnal ambition for status in the kingdom.

7:22 And our Lord in response to his knowledge of what they were arguing about takes a little child, sets the child in the midst, and then again bringing together the united witness of Matthew, Mark, and Luke on this incident, our Lord focuses upon three basic lessons having to do with humility in response to the fact that we are in the kingdom. We are in the kingdom. We are in the kingdom. We are in the kingdom.

7:43 We are in the kingdom. We are in the kingdom. We are in the kingdom. We are in the kingdom.

7:44 We are in the relationship to the kingdom concerning which all of their thinking was taken up in terms of status in the kingdom. And the first lesson he gives them is recorded in Matthew 18, 3 concerning humility in relationship to entering the kingdom. He says, you fellows are talking about who's going to be hot shot in the kingdom, I tell you, unless there is a fundamental change of mind and heart and disposition to the place of childbirth or childlike dependence as opposed to this carnal pushiness, you'll never even enter the kingdom. And then he gives a lesson on humility in relationship to status in the kingdom.

8:29 He says, the great ones in the kingdom are those who are last and those who take the place of table servants to others. And then he concludes the lessons on humility by focusing on humility in relationship to our fellow members in the kingdom. Verse 37, Whosoever shall receive one such little child, that is, as you receive those who have been brought to that spiritual condition of the dependantness of the child, the vulnerability of the child, the receptiveness of the child, as you yourself have entered into the spirit of humility, you will then,

9:13 see that mark in others and receive them, as you receive me, and receiving me, he said, you receive my Father. Now these words apparently prick the conscience of John regarding the incident that John spontaneously confesses in verse 38. The incident of this unnamed person who was casting out demons and doing so in the name of Christ. And as I said, he was casting out demons as we saw in our previous study.

9:45 There is no indication that he was a maverick who had once followed with Christ and was now off to do his own thing. He wasn't a charlatan who was just going through a charade and seeking by means of some specious arguments to give the impression that he was doing good. He was actually casting out demons. And he was doing it in the name of Christ.

10:10 But John forbids him simply because he did not follow with the twelve or possibly with John and with James who were sent out as a pair in the original mission of the twelve as recorded in Mark chapter 6. Well, our Lord negates that prohibition and then he gives a three-fold reason for that negation. You'll notice in verse 39 Jesus said, forbid him not for verse 41, verse 40, for and verse 41, for. Now, when I preached in the passage previously, I said it was my judgment that the first two four statements belong together and that the

10:53 third was a transition into what followed. And that's the position taken by certain commentators and their judgment swayed me at the time I preached two weeks ago. However, in preparation for today, I've cast my lot in with those who believe that these three things constitute a three-fold cord of rationale for Jesus' words, do not forbid him. The first reason is there is no man who should do a mighty work in my name and be able quickly to speak against me.

11:28 It's the principle of general consistency between deed and word. Why did you forbid this man? If he's casting out demons in my name, giving all the credit to me, thereby promoting my glory, my cause, my fame, it is very unlikely that such a man will turn around and speak evil of the very name in which he is accomplishing these mighty works. And the second principle is the principle of non-neutrality to Christ and his followers, verse 40.

12:01 He that is not against us is for us. He said you must remember there is no neutrality. And as you saw that man, would you say that he was fighting against us? That he was hindering our cause? Or was

12:17 he promoting it? You've just told me he was casting out demons in my name. I've already told you if I by the finger of God cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come among you. Surely from that you should have known this man was not against us. He may not have been

12:35 with us, but he was for us. He's engaged in the same work in which we are engaged and therefore in the principle of non-neutrality you should have recognized a friend not an enemy. And then the third principle, verse 41, is the principle of the lesser including the greater. For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink because you are Christ's truly I say unto you he shall in no wise lose his reward. What is our Lord doing?

13:10 He is enforcing his negation of the prohibition don't forbid him with this principle of the lesser including the greater. Now precisely what was he conveying to the disciples? Just this. He says as you are out on one of your preaching tours and you come into a town or a village hot and thirsty and weary from your journey and the hot climate of that area could be very wearisome. And as you

13:40 come into an area you make it known that you come as my messengers. You come as ambassadors of my grace and of the very instruments of my power and blessing to men. Now as you come in my name some humble disciple sees you thirsty and he comes to you saying do you come in the name of Jesus of Nazareth? And you respond by saying yes I come as his official ambassador. And this person says

14:10 well for love of Jesus of Nazareth. For confidence that he is what he claims to be in his name. Upon the name that you are his is an awkward literal rendering. I give you this cup of water. Now our Lord says

14:28 if while out on your preaching mission, your healing mission, your mission of casting out demons and raising the sick and healing raising the dead and healing the sick if someone were to just give you in connection with who I am and what I've come to do, a cup of cold water, my father will mark that activity and give to that person the reward of grace. In other words he says if a cup of cold water is given in connection with my name and that cup of cold water is an index that a man is attached to me in faith and love and will receive the

15:12 reward of grace in the last day why would you forbid a man who in connection with that same name was not going around just giving out cups of water but he was casting out demons. You see if the father notes the lesser deed, the cup of water will he not recognize the greater? And so our Lord gives us a third reason for not forbidding that unnamed disciple this principle of the lesser including the greater. He says to his disciples as he had said earlier in the sermon on the mount, be like your heavenly father have a heart as large as his is and all whom he

Transition to the Warning Against Causing a Brother to Sin (Mark 9:42)

15:57 acknowledges to be his you acknowledge them likewise for your father will reward the cup of water given in my name you are under obligation to recognize this strange unnamed disciple because in connection with my name he is what he is and he's doing what he is doing. Now with this matter of John's confession freely addressed, the action assessed and corrected Jesus now returns to the main issue of the little ones and if you will follow in your Bibles you will see the connection verse 37 whosoever shall receive one of such little children

16:41 in my name receives me and whoever receives me receives not me but him that sent me now drop directly to verse 42 and whosoever shall cause one of these little ones that believe on me to stumble you see the connection in a real sense verses 38 to 41 are a connected but real parenthesis Jesus has just had this little one in his arms he is using him as a symbol of the character trait of all the true sons and daughters of his kingdom

17:25 he uses the child not in terms of any subjective graces in the child but in terms of its objective condition dependantness and vulnerability and he says in that posture all who come unto my kingdom and enter in the growth of that disposition they grow in true greatness and filled more and more with that disposition they are inclined to receive others in whom they see that disposition of humility and now he goes on having dealt with John's spontaneous confession

18:08 having corrected John and James or perhaps all twelve of the apostles he now comes back to the subject of the little ones who believe on him and in verses 42 to 50 basically what we have is this we have a warning against being an occasion of sin to other believers that's verse 42 that leads in to a warning against being an occasion of sin to ourselves verses 43 to 48 and then there is thirdly a three-fold word of instruction connected with the imagery of salt now please don't look down at that and start

18:53 wondering what in the world is he going to say about that next week or two weeks from now well the answer is I'm not sure some have said this may well be the most difficult passage in all of the New Testament and the more I study it the more I agree with them but it is clear that there is an exhortation and instruction connected with the imagery of salt in verses 49 through the middle of verse 50 and then to show that this is all one unit it concludes with a capstone exhortation be at peace with one another this whole section opened up with the disciples having a fuss about who's going to be number one it concludes with an exhortation

The Persons Envisioned: Believers and Those Who Cause Them to Stumble

19:37 be at peace with one another now this morning we'll only have time to look at this warning against being an occasion of sin to other believers verse 42 first of all note the persons envisioned in the text and there are two individuals brought under the spotlight in the text first of all there is a believer in Christ and whosoever shall cause one of these little ones that believe on me to stumble our Lord is envisioning in the text everyone who has become

20:21 through grace a little child in his kingdom he is envisioning those who have been brought to faith or to faith in himself as God's Messiah now he may be referring to those in whom faith is just beginning he may be referring to those who have come to what we would say a full blown faith unto salvation and eternal life that seed of divine life which can never be removed but whatever it is it is obvious that our Lord is envisioning

21:03 the little ones that believe on me now surely it would include any children who have come to faith in him but the main emphasis is not a lesson about children and those who would press into this a doctrine of child salvation are missing the whole point Jesus is sorting out this disposition of this passion to be somebody to be number one in the kingdom and in that spirit of pride to have a censorious exclusive spirit with reference to others who manifest their attachment to Jesus Christ that's the whole setting of the passage and we must never forget that in our

21:48 meditation upon it so the persons envisioned are first of all a believer in Christ and then secondly there is envisioned one who causes such a believer to be ensnared in sin look at the text and whosoever man woman boy or girl in whatever age in whatever circumstances shall cause one of these little ones that believe on me to stumble now obviously the key to the whole text is the word to stumble now both in its verb and noun forms scandalizo and scandalon the words have

22:32 as their root idea the bait stick which would spring a trap and cause an animal to be entrapped you'd hide the noose or the trap a deadfall trap in such a way that the animal or even the person would not know that he would be ensnared and then there would be a stick on which the bait was attached and when the animal would tug at the bait the stick would move and the trap would open and the animal or the person would be ensnared and so perhaps a better rendering would be the word ensnared because this word in its universal usage in the New Testament always

23:15 speaks of being ensnared in the sense of falling into sin on the one hand it may be the ensnarement that results in final apostasy and spiritual destruction it's the very word used in Mark 4 and verse 17 in this way in Mark 4 and verse 17 in our Lord's interpretation of his own parable on the sower in the soils he says they have no root in themselves but endure for a while then when tribulation arises because of the word straightway they here's our word they stumble

23:59 the trap is sprung and they fall and there of course it is the stumbling of the language of Hebrews the falling away of Hebrews chapter 6 we find it in John chapter 6 here is the apostasy of the Lord of the world of the world of the world of those who have been falling with Jesus taken up with the filling of their bellies but no heart for the filling of their souls with the bread of life and when Jesus speaks of the necessity of eating his flesh and drinking his blood if we would have eternal life verse 60 of John 6 many therefore of his disciples when they heard this said this is a hard saying

24:44 who can hear it and Jesus goes on in verse 61 and says but Jesus knowing in himself that his disciples murmured at this said to them does this cause you here's our verb does this cause you to stumble do these words cause you to stumble and then he goes on as it were to give them more occasions of stumbling and we read in verse 66 upon this many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him here's a verse that says here his own word became an occasion of stumbling that is a turning away a falling into a course of unbelief and cynicism

25:28 from which there is no recorded deliverance or it does in some instances refer to a falling that is but a temporary spiritual lapse for example in Mark 14 27 and I trust you don't find this hideous because the whole meaning of the passage hinges on our understanding of this word to stumble Mark 14 and verse 27 our Lord speaks to his own and says all of you shall be here's our verb offended

26:11 the marginal reading of the 1901 cause to stumble for it is written I will smite the shepherd and the sheep shall be scattered how be it when I'm raised up I'll go before you into Galilee but Peter said although all should be offended all should be caused to stumble into the sin of denial and rejection yet will not I and then the Lord goes on to predict that there will be a temporary but thank God a recoverable fall in the case of Peter and the other disciples now furthermore it is clear from the usage of this word in the New Testament and I've fully examined all of the usages

26:54 in preparation to state this that some occasions to sin some stumblings are precipitated by someone speaking the truth or by obeying the will of God now obviously such occasions are not included in our text when it says whosoever shall cause one of these little ones that believe on me to stumble it were better that a millstone were hanged about his neck does that mean that anything I say or do that causes someone to fall into sin either the sin of irrecoverable apostasy or temporary backsliding a temporary lapse in grace that I'm to be held accountable no not all

27:38 instances because the scripture records certain instances where someone doing the will of God or speaking the word of God caused another person to sin we've just looked at a passage Jesus said all of you shall be offended because of his obedience to the will of God he said I'm going to the cross I'm going to suffering and to rejection that is going to precipitate your temporary fall into denial and in Peter's case cursing and swearing and lying well does that mean that Jesus is going to have a millstone hung about his neck he caused Peter to stumble well ridiculous you say that's right

28:21 and often ridiculous the word of God for not comparing scripture with scripture letting scripture regulate the limits of its own meaning so it is not to be taken absolutely no Jesus himself said I came not to send peace but a sword I came to set a man against his father the daughter against her mother the daughter-in-law against the mother-in-law and a man's foe should be they of his own household is it sin when someone turns upon a Christian curses him attempts to kill him socially ostracized well of course it is well who caused that sin the person did by becoming a Christian but Jesus said I accept full responsibility for it I came to bring the sword

29:06 so you see there are instances where obedience to the will of God becomes the occasion of stumbling into sin such instances are accepted from this verse likewise we saw the occasion of speaking the truth that caused stumbling the very message of the cross is called in 1st Corinthians 123 the stumbling block the trap stick of the cross so that we must exclude from this text anything that has to do with the occasions to sin that come when someone is doing the revealed will of God or speaking the word of God and what can

29:50 we say then in summary bringing all of these strands together we can say this the person envisioned in this text whosoever shall cause one of these little ones that believe on me to stumble here is the person it is anyone who for any reason by any means other than allegiance to truth speaking the word of God becomes an occasion of a believer to fall into sin anyone who for any reason by any means other than the ones mentioned who causes becomes

30:35 the occasion of a believer falling into sin that's the person envisioned in the text as one has written to cause to stumble is to betray another into sin or error either by example precept or any other way conceivable now those are the people envisioned in the text now notice secondly the possibility is compared in the text in these words Jesus sets before us two possible conditions with respect to any man woman boy or girl in any age and those two possibilities are

The Possibilities Compared: Causing Stumbling vs. Gruesome Death

31:18 number one the possibility is to live long enough to be the occasion of causing a believer in Jesus to fall into sin that's one possibility to live long enough to be the occasion of causing a believer to be entrapped to be ensnared in sin whether by bad example whether by bad teaching it is our sin which as it were springs the trap and this brother this little one who believes in Christ is caused to stumble whether that stumbling results in apostasy

32:02 or a temporary lapse in grace now the other possibility is set forth in this graphic imagery and I will read the words as they are found excuse me in the text whosoever shall cause one of these little ones that believe in me to stumble it were better for him if a great millstone were hanged about his neck and he were cast into the sea the other possibility to living long enough to become the occasion of sin to a believer in Christ is the possibility of being cut off by a

32:45 gruesome cruel and shocking murder of our persons now here's the imagery and Jesus chose his words carefully he said it would be better and that he's contrasting two possibilities is very very clear in the parallel passage in Luke 17 2 it would be better that someone should take a millstone now you kids know what a millstone is you've seen pictures in the old days when you had your grain and you wanted to grind it after you had taken off the chaff by the process of winnowing in which animals might trample on the grain and then someone comes along with a big wooden fork like instrument and throws it up in the air and the wind blows the chaff

33:28 away well then they would take the whole heads of grain over to their mill now there were hand mills two stones large enough for someone to turn by means of a hand crank but then there were larger mills that would have stones about the size of a tractor wheel with its rim on it as I was trying to think of a contemporary image of it now most of you have seen a tractor wheel stands up about so high well imagine two tractor wheels laying on their sides alright here are these huge stones about so thick and they're lying on their sides both of the stones together like the two sides of a hamburger bun and down through the middle of the top stone there is a hole

34:12 and into that hole the person would pour the grain and as the stones were turned the stones would grind the grain and then they had a fluted area where the grain would then work its way out and it would be gathered and used for bread and other means of eating other kinds of food now that large stone was too big for a woman to turn even if she fit the description of the woman in Proverbs 31 who makes strong her arms even if she worked out at Jack LaLanne she would have a difficult time with that stone so they would harness a donkey to that stone and the donkey would all day long go around in a circle attached to

34:55 that stone by a wooden bar and I actually saw something very similar to this in Pakistan and they had not a donkey tied to it or attached to it but they had an ox and they had a blind folding all day long he just walked in a circle walked in a circle and the very words Jesus uses are carefully chosen we might literally render the passage and whosoever shall cause one of these little ones that believe on me to stumble it were better for him if a donkey's millstone were hanged about his neck you see the picture someone comes over to the mill at the end of the day when the donkey's been let off to pasture and all the grain's been collected and

35:40 four or five men push the stone up on its edge then they come with a thick rope and they put it right through the hole where the grain is poured down and then they take that rope and they grab you by the shoulders and they attach it around your neck then they hoist the stone and you up onto a cart and they drive the cart down to the edge of the shore of the sea of Galilee and they work you and the stone into a boat and they get you out in the middle of the deepest part of the sea and while you're alive and screaming and pleading for mercy they dump you over the side gangland style to have that stone take you living and kicking to the bottom of the ocean

36:24 and the tense of the verb used is made to make it very vivid a present tense for the hanging of the millstone and a perfect for having been drowned in the sea that we might see it before our very eyes you say that's gruesome it is it is gruesome it's gangland murder described by Jesus in the first century we've read of the people who've had concrete blocks tied around their neck and feet and thrown into Flushing Bay that's the imagery that Jesus the gentle meek son of God is using I didn't write it my task is to expound

37:07 it and here in this text Jesus says two possibilities are set before you my disciples here they are the possibility of living long enough to be the occasion of sin in one of my little ones just one of them with faith perhaps very very near its incipient stages the weakest of my little ones the possibility is to live long enough that by something other than speaking the truth or doing the will of God you become the occasion of them falling into sin but he said there's another possibility that if you were going to do that on Wednesday

37:51 someone would come along mistaken you for someone that someone else had put a contract on and being mistaken rough crude heartless men would grab you by the shoulders tie the millstone about your neck take you into the midst of the sea of Galilee and dump you and leave there's the two possibilities live long enough to cause stumbling or be caught up in sin to cause stumbling or be caught up in sin to cause stumbling or be caught up in sin to cause stumbling or be caught up in sin by a gruesome cruel and shocking murder now then having looked at the persons envisioned in the text

Practical Application: Two Obvious Doctrines

38:35 the possibilities compared in the text now what's its practical application to us well I exhort you first of all to consider well the two obvious doctrines contained in the text two very obvious doctrines and the first one is this our influence upon others by word and deed our influence upon others by word and deed our influence upon others by word and deed is an awesome aspect of our accountability to God is an awesome aspect of our accountability to God our influence upon others by word and deed is an awesome aspect of our accountability to God watch this you see what Jesus is impressing upon His Applicant disciples in this setting

39:19 theQué he diaz de alineo this year 이 a this unnamed disciple, but I want to impress upon you in this setting, he says, that if you are to cause one such little one that believes on me to stumble, it were better that a millstone were hanged about your neck and you be drowned in the sea. I am saying to you, my disciples, that my Father in heaven holds you accountable for your influence upon others with respect to whether or not they fall into sin or are kept aloof from sin.

40:03 According to Matthew 18.6, sin cannot be avoided in this present order. In that parallel passage, our Lord says, It is necessary that offenses or causes of stupor, stumbling will come in this present world order, the devil being who he is, human nature being what it is, humanity being what it is, a mixture of sheep and goats, the righteous and the unrighteous. Sin will remain until the Son of God comes and purges all sin from the new heavens and the new earth.

40:37 But, he says, woe unto him through whom the occasion to sin comes. We are accountable to God. For our influence upon others with respect to whether or not they fall into sin. Now, if our obedience to the clearly revealed will of God, and if our faithful, loving fidelity to speak the word of God causes people to fall into the sin of unjust hatred and bitterness and animosity, God takes all of that responsibility upon himself.

41:18 But, if someone, if someone is emboldened to sin because of my carelessness, or because of my calculated efforts to manipulate them to my own ends, or for whatever reason, Almighty God holds us accountable for our influence. What a frightening doctrine. But it's there in the text, or the text makes no sense. The second great doctrine in the text is this.

41:49 Our influence upon professed, disciples of Christ is of peculiar concern to our Lord. Notice, he doesn't say whosoever shall cause a fellow human being to stumble, but whosoever shall cause one of these little ones that believe on me to stumble. There is a peculiar concern of our Lord directed to our influence upon all the professed, disciples of Christ. And it could well be that when our Lord said in verse 37,

42:30 whosoever shall receive one such little children in my name receives me, when John's conscience was pricked, he was saying, wait a minute, I wonder if that man we forbade fits that description. Maybe the reason he was casting out demons was that he had become a little child, and unlike the proud Pharisees who would not acknowledge our Lord, for who he was, he saw him for who he was, and in that faith believed upon him, and in that faith even rose to the position where without any direct commission, he was able to cast out demons in the name of Jesus of Nazareth. What an amazing believer he was. And John's conscience pricks him, and the Lord, as it were,

43:12 turns the screw into conscience and says, if you cause one in whom faith in me and allegiance to me is emerging and coming to flower, if you cause him for whatever reason to fall into sin, into the sin of turning away from me, into the sin of cynicism, into the sin of saying, well, maybe nothing's real, if these who are closest to him say I ought to shut my mouth, maybe it's all a dream, maybe I ought to throw the whole thing over. He says, you cause one such little one to stumble, it were better for you that you'd been murdered gangland style the day before you told him to cease and desist. It would be better. It would be better if you were even now

43:55 a stone in the middle of the Sea of Galilee.

44:03 Dear people, what a frightening doctrine.

44:08 What a frightening doctrine. Our influence upon professed disciples of Christ is of peculiar concern to our Lord. If a cup of cold water given in his name shall not lose its reward, what will causing one who gives that cup to stumble receive? Receive in the way of our Lord's disapproval.

Practical Application: The Great Duty to Avoid Causing Others to Sin

44:35 So those, I say, are the two doctrines that lie on the surface of the text. But then, secondly and finally, consider well the great duty contained in the text. What duty is set before us in this text? This is the duty.

44:52 It is the solemn duty of every believer carefully to avoid all words and deeds which cause another believer, to be ensnared by sin.

45:08 To state it positively, it is the solemn duty of every believer to do every biblical duty that will help keep his fellow believers from sin.

45:23 There's the duty of the text that our Lord was impressing upon the minds of his own.

45:30 Does Scripture give us a hint as to how believers can cause others to sin? Yes. In some of the stumbling, stumbling passages, there are more than hints. For example, in Romans 14, 13, Paul is addressing the whole matter of the careless, loveless indulgence of Christian liberty.

45:51 And he says, Let us not therefore judge one another any more, but judge this rather that no man put a stumbling block in his brother's way, or, here's our verb, an occasion of falling. That no one put in his brother's way an occasion, of falling. Sorry, the noun usage, I believe, is there, skandalon.

46:15 In other words, by the careless indulgence of something perfectly legitimate to me and my conscience before God, I can cause another person to fall into what to him is sin? Yes! And he says, Let us take all of our faculties of critical analysis not to be nitpicking our brethren, standing in judgment over them, but standing in judgment of our sin. There is nothing we are doing or leaving undone that is causing the weakest of our brethren to stumble into sin.

47:01 And I'm convinced that sitting here this morning there are people whom I have every reason to believe are true disciples that need the pressure of this text. Because you are causing some of your nearest and dearest relationships who happen to be believers in Christ to sin. And you're doing it with a high hand. You say, Pastor, what do you mean?

Application to Husbands: Causing Wives to Sin

47:23 I mean just this.

47:25 God says to husbands, Love your wives as Christ loved the church. Nourish them and cherish them as you do your own body. Peter says, Dwell with your wives according to knowledge. And there's no man who's been in this place longer than two years who isn't aware of those texts.

47:48 Some of you have been here many more years. You've heard them carefully and repeatedly. And yet you are causing your wives to sin by your blatant, stubborn refusal to obey those texts.

48:05 And your wives are sinning sins of resentment,

48:09 bitterness.

48:11 They are vulnerable to sins of at least emotional if not physical infidelity. Why? Because you refuse to love them with a nourishing and a cherishing love. I've pleaded with you.

48:28 Here, will you at least affirm your love verbally once a week? Just tell me you love me. I'm not the moochy type.

48:39 Well, too bad.

48:46 God says,

48:49 Nourish your wives. Dwell with her according to knowledge. He says to the gushers and to the icebergs, Love them as Christ loves the church.

49:03 No, it's your own stubborn refusal.

49:12 You see, I feel funny if I say them. So what? Feeling funny doesn't make you sin, does it? Feeling funny doesn't leave you vulnerable to another woman, does it?

49:22 Doesn't fill you with resentment, does it? You leave your wife vulnerable to all those who say I love you.

49:41 If they dare just hold me. Oh, I'm not the hugging type. Well, what do you get married for? Let the husband render to the wife her due.

49:55 And what do you owe to her? You owe to her to meet her needs in terms of the tangible, physical expressions of your love. It's not a matter of liberty. That's a matter of duty.

50:10 There's some of you men who may sit here right now seething with resentment. And you know why you resent it? Because I've spoken so plainly and pointedly you can't miss the message.

50:21 But I tell you, man, if that wife comes to me confessing the sin of mental infidelity, maybe not physical, but don't write that off.

50:34 Most Christian women get involved in extramarital affairs not because they simply get, quote, turned on by some man that walks by. There's an important, emotional vacuum that leaves them vulnerable to the first Christian or non-Christian man that comes along that seems to show a little bit of emotional empathy.

50:53 It'll be awfully hard for me if I'm called upon to have anything to do with sorting out that mess,

51:01 not to lay the primary blame at your feet.

Application to Wives: Causing Husbands to Sin

51:07 I've spoken for seven minutes to the man. Turn about his fair play.

51:12 And ye wives, be subject unto your husbands in everything. Be chaste. Keepers at home. Loving your own husband.

51:23 Loving your children.

51:27 Be like Sarah who obeyed Abraham calling him Lord whose daughters you are.

51:33 There's some of you women that say I just wasn't cut out to be submissive to anybody. No, neither was I.

51:41 Because we're all cut out of the same Adamic cloth which is rebellious against all constituted authority. But you name the name of Christ. He says you wives be subject to your husbands as Christ. As the church is subject to Christ in everything.

51:57 And what are you doing? You're causing your husband to stumble into sins of resentment. Sins of bitterness. Sins of excessive words of anger.

52:07 But you are the ones triggering this by your refute to take the posture of sweet loving submissiveness to your husband.

52:21 God says it were better for you that a millstone were hanged about your neck.

52:27 I didn't write the text.

Application to Parents: Causing Children to Sin

52:31 The Holy Ghost did. You parents unwilling for the discipline on your own spirit of consistent loving discipline of your children some of whom have the incipient the beginnings of faith in the Lord Jesus and yet tragically will be caused to stumble. Why? Because you just won't pay the price of perpetual watchfulness over the formation of their character.

53:00 Over the development of their perspectives on this institution and on this world. You are the ones who are the ones who are the ones who are the ones who are the ones that God has established. You simply are too self-centered to undergo the daily self-denial involved in being a consistent parent. You're too proud to confess your sins to your children.

53:22 It's been months or years before since you've done that. And your children say if that's reality I don't want it. I see something in Christ that draws me but what I see in my mom and dad repels.

53:38 What a horrible horrible invite.

The Weight of the Warning and the Call to Repentance

53:43 Now you carry it out into all the other relationships. Our relationships in the congregation as we live and walk and laugh and some of us opportunities to play and work together. Oh may God write upon our hearts this text.

54:01 It were better that the millstone may hang about our necks and we be drowned in the sea than we cause one such little one who believes in him to stumble. You say pastor well what's involved in that warning? Is it talking about some kind of purgatory after death? Is it talking about I don't know and I've searched the word in all the parallel passages and I've searched the commentators and I must be silent where God is silent.

54:29 I don't know. But all I know is there's enough in that gruesome gory description of the other alternatives to scare me away. I'm ever wanting to find out why Jesus spoke such sobering words in terms of their ultimate implication. I don't know but all I know is that he says to his own and he says to us by the spirit through the word whosoever he be of you young in the faith old in the faith young man middle age man old man old woman it makes no difference whoever of you claims attachment to me shall occasion sin in my life.

55:13 And one fellow believer one such little one who believes in me it were better that your life be cut off in a gruesome gory brutal death than you cause one such little one who believes in me to stumble. What a warning against our being the occasion of sin to one another. But you say Pastor my conscience has already smitten me I think of the many ways I've already been guilty what do I do? Nowhere does it say that being the occasion of sin to another is the unpardonable sin.

55:54 So you go to that fountain open for sin and uncleanness. You go to him who died and shed his blood that we might be forgiven and you go with his own promise and joyfully yet with a broken spirit brandish it before the throne of God if we confess our sins. He is faithful and just to forgive and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And then you go to your wife and beg her to forgive you.

56:26 Tell her I've been a stubborn old goat those words of tenderness I've been to say them carbon is what it is. And if you've got a speech impediment go to a speech therapist until you can frame the words I love you. Or you've been an idolater who's made a god of your own needs or lack of needs. And made that the standard for her and robbed her of that fulfillment which is her due.

57:08 You wives go to your husbands and beg their forgiveness for being so witchy. Every time your husband makes a suggestion he grits his teeth he knows it's like lighting a fuse an explosion is going to come. He can predict it so he's either gotten to the place now where he tries to rule like a tyrant just to maintain his own sense of masculinity or he's become a wimp and he's given up. And between tyrants and wimps one wonders if there's anything left in the way of godly assertive but tender loving men.

57:46 You wives you're the occasion of sin to your husbands confess it to the Lord to them you parents gather your children around confess to them if in anything and the specifics where you know you have been get specific name your sins humble yourself and say God helping me if you ever say I'm going to stumble into hell there's going to be no roadblocks from what I was and what I did and any block I put there is going to be removed by confession to God and confession to you. You say pastor that's an impossible standard is it? I think not. Dear people as I told the men in the academy there are some passages in the word of God

58:31 that when you open your spirit and mind enough to feel their weight the weight so presses upon the spirit you wonder if you can preach the passage and as I just sought to feel the weight of the words of Jesus as they would have come upon those ears with that graphic imagery of the large tractor tire size millstone and the rope around the neck I said oh Lord this is R rated this is violent that's right it is Jesus knows how insensitive we are to sin He knows how natively self justifying and selflessing how self centered we are

59:16 He wanted His disciples to go away with that imagery embedded in their minds the next time they walked by a large mill they'd say to one another if that millstone were taken off a rope put to the hole tied about our necks oh let's not be arguing about who's going to be number one and occasion sins of passionate speech with one another oh brothers let us remember the words of our master one wonders how many times they came to mind every time they passed the large millstone turned by a donkey I wonder I wonder

60:00 if maybe we ought not to set up in the lobby for the next four weeks a paper mache millstone with a large rope through it and a question mark over the top and each one who passes it say am I a candidate for this alternative am I a candidate for this alternative am I a candidate for this alternative the Lord says if you're going to cause one such little one that believes on Him to sin this Tuesday it were better that you have the millstone on Monday and be in the middle of Flushing Bay

60:41 God help us we will not in any way do anything other than say Lord Jesus let me feel the weight of your word and adjust whatever must be adjusted to be obedient to it let us pray our Lord we confess to you with shame our crass self-centeredness our carnal self-indulgence

61:24 our pride and all the other sins that make us insensitive or even downright indifferent to whether or not we cause our brothers and sisters to stumble into sin we pray that you would forgive us that you would forgive us that you would purge us you would so work in us that even this day there will be those who know that we've had dealings with you in this place that wherein we've been the occasion of sin to one another in our homes in the most intimate relationships of husband and wife and father and mother and child to our less intimate

62:09 but real relationships of brothers and sisters in the same congregation oh Lord help us help us we pray that we may have a heightened sense of the awesome stewardship we have of our influence upon one another write this word upon our hearts and may the Lord Jesus himself receive glory as we seek to live out the implications of this word in all of our relationships with one another hear us and answer us we please you lead in Jesus name amen