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Jesus was confronted by His disciples who wanted to know what type of disciple was the greatest in the Kingdom of God. Jesus replied in a manner which led to vital truths concerning the entire concept of the Kingdom of Heaven. It helps us understand why there is a kingdom and what our roles in this kingdom are -- what the Kingdom is all about.
Now we do know that the Kingdom is to be in earth as it is in Heaven. This was the first point noted in the Lord's prayer in the form of a prayer request. And it is connected with His will. We read "Thy will be done" and "Thy Kingdom come." God's Kingdom in earth is a very important concept that we need to be fully familiar with. In fact, its the entire reason we are here today in Church. God has a will and a purpose. Above all others, this purpose is so important, but yet so little understood. God help us to grasp it truth!
Jesus responded to their question in a manner the disciples did not expect. He said that except they were converted, or turned (to be literal as to the intent of the term "converted"), they could not even enter the Kingdom. He was telling them they had better concern themselves more, at the moment, over entering the kingdom rather than over who is greatest in that kingdom.
To be "converted" means to "turn." Mankind has been on a pathway away from God since Adam fell. Man is on a pathway that is contrary to the will of God and to the kingdom of God. We learn this when we consider the fact that God's purpose is to influence this entire world with His Spirit. This takes us back to the beginning of mankind and the first couple, Adam and Eve. God made man in His image. That was for the purpose of putting God's LIFE into Adam so that this life might manifest adequately through man. He made man in a "shape" that would best suit His purpose in flowing through man into this world, and thereby expressing Himself.
This purpose in the earth is actually grander and greater than the purpose that is already fulfilled in Heaven. He reigns in Heaven. But He desires to rule in earth now. And the manner in which he will rule in earth is quite a bit more involved and deeper and more grand than the manner in which He rules in Heaven. In earth He chose to make bottles of his form all over the world. And He desired to fill those bottles with His Spirit and through those bottles, influence the material realm with His Spirit and thus rule in the physical domain.
At this point in our lesson we must consider Satan. Satan desired to rule in heaven instead of God. And God cast him from heaven and thus maintained rule in heaven. It was obviously a futile attempt for Satan to try to gain rule in heaven, since he was up against Almighty God. How insane could one be to think that one can actually rule Heaven and not be stopped by the Almighty God in the process?
Satan was cast from Heaven, and God's Kingdom in Heaven is maintained. But now there is the issue of Satan having been cast into the earth that concerns us greatly. And he still wants to rule. He knows he cannot rule heaven so he is trying to rule in earth now. We have amongst us a creature that wants to rule this place. But as God's will is done in heaven it must also be done in earth. In other words, Satan will not rule here any more than he did in heaven. He will be cast out of the earth as he was cast out of heaven. God will see to it. It is written! However, God's will and kingdom will be fulfilled in earth by a different means than it was in Heaven. His "will" is going to be done in earth as it is in heaven, but it will be done through a different "means". The means is the issue.
God's will has not changed for mankind. He still chooses to fill man with His life and influence the material realm through man. Oh, what a difference from the manner in which His Kingdom exists in Heaven! The angels hear his word and obey him. But with mankind, He chose to not only desire to lead man towards His will, but He chose to accomplish the fulfillment of that rule by infilling and indwelling man. How angels would desire to take our places! They adore God. And to think that God chose to make us in such a way as to INDWELL US, and in that manner, bring His Kingdom to predominance in the material world! It is far grander than the means He chose to do so in Heaven! He indwells us!
Adam became filled with a different filling than what God desired Him to be filled with. Instead of God's nature and very Spirit, Adam became filled with Satan's nature of skin-for-skin, or self-for-self. Satan managed to plug up the bottles and leave no room for God's Spirit to be able to indwell His image. In this manner Satan thwarted God's Kingdom from existing in this earth. However, God's will was not foiled. Again, it is as insane to think that Satan can rule in the earth and exclude God from doing so as it was for him to think that he could rule in Heaven and get away with the attempts to do so.
Jesus, the last Adam came in the image of God. And Jesus replied to the disciples that they must concern themselves more over getting into the Kingdom of God rather than determining who is greatest who is already in it. And then he said that the one who humbles himself as a little child is the greatest in the kingdom.
What a profound thought! Think of the implications Jesus was bringing up here. To think that one desired to be great in another's kingdom is like desiring one's own kingdom in the middle of another's kingdom! The entire point is missed! Jesus said that the greatest in His kingdom is to actually not seek at all for distinction! The one who humbles himself, and doesn't exalt himself, will be greatest. This sounds contradictory in man's thinking because man thinks he go through an elevation if he wants to be "up there." And that makes full sense. But to say that one must instead be as far away from distinction as can be by not making oneself known, by humbling oneself, sounds nonsensical. But it makes perfect sense.
The entire purpose of God is to fill us and manifest Himself through us into the world. Anything that hinders that from happening hinders the entire progress of His Kingdom's purpose. He wants to influence the world. And when a person seeks to have oneself influence and be made known and visible, that much "space" for God to influence and be made visible is taken up. God loses as much "space" to let people see Him in this world as we use to let people see us in this world. Therefore the most beneficial vessels used for the purpose of His Kingdom are the vessels that fully allow Him to manifest through them. And the vessels that contain His Spirit, but seek to make themselves visible, are the ones of least use in His kingdom. The more we seek to be great in this kingdom the more we are useless to His Kingdom. So the greatest is actually the one who humbles himself and gets himself out of the way the most.
The Kingdom of God is His program. It is His means to fill all and be God of not only heaven, but also of earth. He was called the God of Heaven and earth when there was someone in this world who allowed His will instead of self's will to be done. But when people did the will of self, and were in bondage, He was only known as the God of Heaven, and not of Heaven and earth. His will is done in heaven. His kingdom is in heaven. But His will must be done and must come to earth. And we have to pray like that because we are the vessels who will either consciously and with effort seek to make ourselves visible or consciously and with effort deny self so as to allow Him to be visible through us.
Satan in his attempts to plug up this will of God will face a selfless believer, filled with God's Spirit, and be utterly defeated in attempts to hinder God through that person. When a person is selfless, Satan cannot deal with that one. He only managed to plug the woman in Genesis when he succeeded in getting her eyes off God's purpose and focused upon herself and what things could be done for her. And when he confronts us with all that he has in the world, the lust of the eyes and the lust of the flesh and the pride of life... things that we indulge in because self is all that concerns us... and we have more desire to see Him be our concern, then Satan is defeated.
He would have been totally defeated if eve turned around to him and said, "I see what you are trying to do. You want me to take my eyes off the fruit of life, the purpose of God making me that He might fill me and manifest His Spirit through me, making Him God of Heaven and earth, and look to myself and put my eyes upon what can benefit the promotion of me. You want to hinder God flowing through me by having me close completely to his will and desire instead to see me spread through as much of the earth as possible."
Those power-mongers who are already rich beyond our dreams and never have to work again in order to pay for their living expenses continue to want more and want more because they have a satanic nature in them that desires to be made known to more and more people. They seek to uplift self in this world. They want as much of the world to know their name and to see them as they can. Money is not the goal, but a means to that goal. They want their name everywhere. A lust of self-for-self burns in them.
I read the story of a rock singer who was voted the best singer-songwriter of a certain year. He sold more albums than anybody else that year. And he wanted to maintain that status, in fact, become more famous. He made a feature length film and desired it to become a blockbuster at the theaters across America. And when it was hardly noticed, he immediately fired the manager mercilessly, who schemed and devised for the singer's name to get to where it was that profitable year.
The singer has all the money he will every need. Why does he seek to go further? He does not need the money. Why get more famous? The reason is that he has a lust in his heart that Satan managed to get into eve's heart, to promote herself rather than God. God desires to influence all creation with His Spirit. And he chose to use us as a vessel in a manner never before done in heaven. And Satan wishes to stop that and put his influence into mankind and see it fill all the world. That singer is only a puppet and a bottle filled with the putrid filth of Satan's nature. Ultimately Satan gets the glory. Satan rules where chaos dwells. When everyone wants to be king and none are willing to serve another, there is chaos. And where there is chaos, Satan's nature rules.
Jesus said that when he casts out a devil with the finger of God we can stand on the thought that the kingdom of God is come to that place. Devils are dedicated to hindering God's will and situating a self-for-self kingdom by getting people, whom they can possess, to seek to uplift themselves. Satan knows that when people do that, the bottles God created to fill and influence all material realm through, He has stopped God's influence, and he remains free to go unpunished and do his will and spread the murder, thievery, fornication he desires to spread. He dwells in darkness and if light comes to exist in the same place as darkness, he knows what will win out.
It is interesting to realize that Jesus said we must LET OUR LIGHT SHINE BEFORE MEN. It is in us. In fact it is like saying, Not my will but thine be done. Thy will be done. Thy kingdom come in earth as it is in heaven. You must choose to see this happen. The light is in you. But it is under a bushel and covered over if you have the Life the Holy Ghost, but yet seek to let people hear about "you".
And this can even be accomplished so that the devil laughs in glee when we think like this: "I want to do something for God. I want to be in as many churches as I can and preach to as many people as I can and feel so good when all the people in all of our churches know my name." Do we want to be used powerfully by God so that people will know about us? Do we want to serve Him, but at the same time be great in His kingdom by being a Jesus-name Christian, and yet being famous?"
It must be, I must decrease and He must increase. It must be that we seek to get out of the way and stop using up "space" in this material sphere that He can use, by getting people to notice "us" instead of giving it to Him to use. So when we can stop letting so much of us come forth from our lives for people to see we actually remove a bushel that stops him from coming forth and we begin to experience what we were created to experience... we experience a flowing forth of light from inside of us that totally drives away the darkness in this world. Its up to us! Let your light so shine!
Ten Jesus said that whoever offends one of these little ones, who so humbly stepped aside and let Jesus take the "space" they used to promote themselves so He can be promoted instead, and who has been made into such a perfect vessel that allows His influence to flow forth from so freely, it is better if that offender were drowned in a sea. To work against such a fitting vessel.. one who humbled themselves so selflessly so that God's will could be done instead, is to work against the Kingdom of God.
Tying a millstone around your neck and throwing you into the sea is the closest thing in this world to throwing Satan out of Heaven like lightning. And it would be better to experience drowning in that manner than to experience what will be experienced as reward for hindering God's perfect vessels! It is an uprising against the kingdom of God and it will be dealt with in the same measure that Satan was dealt with when he was cast down from heaven.
Then Jesus said, "Woe unto the world because of offenses." He noted the world in the same manner in which John noted the world in his first epistle. John said the antichrist spirit is the spirit of the world in general. All that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the Father and the forwarding of the Kingdom of God, but is of the world. And all these things were used by Satan to plug up God's vessel created to be filled with God's life and to release that life.
Jesus said that offenses will necessarily come because Satan is not going to sit back and let us manifest God's Spirit. But woe to the one through whom the offense comes. He implied it often comes through brothers in Christ! And this is the dangerous element. A brother who offends another brother is fighting the increase of the Lord's Kingdom.
Then Jesus said in verse 8 that if a man's hand offended him, having just stated that some in the BODY OF THE CHURCH offend those who are excellent vessels for God's purpose, he should cut off that hand. He speaks likewise of the foot and eye. And He said that it is better for the body to enter into life with one hand missing than for the whole body to go to hell because of the offense of the one member.
Do we see what He is trying to say in light of the offense to the little ones?
Verse 10 says again, Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones. It seems like the entire issue of offending little ones contains an explanation by way of illustration with the hand being cut off for offending the body. In other words, the hand that offends the body is the brother who offends a humble, suitable vessel of God, and seeks to hinder that excellent vessel. And that offending member must be cut off from the body of the church.
The Son of man is come to save that which was lost. What was lost was the humanity that was created to be a vessel for His Spirit to flow through. And he is winning it back. And to actually seek to offend such an excellent vessel that allows God's Spirit to flow is to work against that purpose of God. Why did he say these things? You must understand that the desire of the disciples to be great in the kingdom might lead them in their self promotion to walk on top of brothers and sisters in the process, as the world does in its self for self spirit. And that means working against God's will to flow through that one that is stepped on. God will not sit well with that.
Verse 12 shows Jesus resorting to another picture to get this point across next as evidenced by his words, "How think ye..." in light of the thoughts just noted by Him. He asks them whether it makes sense to leave the 99 sheep that are safe in the fold to go out and to find the one lost sheep that departed in hopes that the lost may return found. e can only mean one thing. When a brother offends a little one, it is as though a hand were cut off from the body and as if one sheep left the fold. It is no longer in the fold. When the brother offends and works against another member of the body that is in the kingdom in order to manifest God's will and is so excellent a vessel to flow through, that brother has worked against the greater purpose of the body. And therefore that brother is like a hand cut off. He is like a sheep who is no longer in the fold. As soon as one offends another member of the body, that one is considered by God to be cut off and out of the sheepfold, lost. He is out there where God first took him from when he rescued him. God sought to save what was lost from his purpose. And his purpose is to influence the material world through human vessels. But when a vessel seeks it sown influence, and works against another brother, that one has gone right back into the lost state from which God originally saved them in the start.
If the shepherd finds the lost sheep, he rejoices. Then Jesus says "Moreover if thy brother trespass against thee, go an d tell him his fault, and tell him alone. If he hears you, rejoice. You gained your lost brother." He is saying that as soon as one trespasses against another, that one is like a lost sheep. And if the shepherd finds him it is because we have gone to that brother and he repented of his trespass to us. He trespassed, so he is out. You might think we should just wait for him to return and repent. But we not only need to see that we are fit vessels to flow through, but we need enough desire to see God influence through the entire body as much as possible that when we see a brother leave we seek to restore him so God can flow through him, too. That is real body-consciousness!
If he will not hear you alone, then take the church with you. Two or three with you. And if he will not hear them, then consider him a heathen and an outsider altogether. And consider him a sheep that was never found when you sought to find him. You may have chatted to him, and you may see him everyday, but consider him a sheep never found because you cannot rejoice. And Jesus said we rejoice that the lost sheep is found. When you talk to a lost brother, for the purpose of seeing him admit his error and "hear" you, you only rejoice when he repents.
After Jesus says we must consider such a one a heathen, he says the reason is that we have the power to bind on earth and loose on earth so as to have it be said that it is also bound in heaven and loosed in heaven. When we, the church body, consider a brother a heathen because he will not admit and repent of his error in offense, then God is saying that you can count it marked in heaven's books, too, that one is loosed from the body. It is no longer your obligation to go and seek it to bring it back. You tried and did not succeed.
But if you find them repenting after you confronted them with their offense, then you consider them part of the sheepfold and you can say they are bound to the body in heaven as well. Verse 19 says that if any two or three of the BODY agree about a thing, then it is done by the Father. And as if to explain it, He said that wherever two or three of us are, you can say that He is there, too. And to therefore loose a person from the body because they would not repent of their offense is to say that Jesus Himself loosed them, fro we are His body.
Someone who, in one single instance, offends a brother, and does not repent can not be part of the body. But when Peter asked what to do with those who trespass and repent seven times in one day, Jesus said a very loving statement. Such a person would not do that unless he considered being part of the Body a very important thing in his life. And if he made seven mistakes in one day, and repented seven times, that one's love for the body is evident. And Jesus said forgive them even if they do this seventy times seven! They see the value of the body. And if they are that conscious of the body, though they have many flaws, they are going to be excellent vessels in a little while. LET THEM IN! Its more important to recognize the need to be part of the program of God than it is to be so perfect.
To have a person , though filled with imperfections, but still is conscious of the purpose God has in this world with His body, and how much the body means to God is to have a vessel that can be greatly used after the wrinkles are all ironed out. To have another potential vessel, that has His Spirit, though it be a little too plugged for much use, with offenses that occur now and then, that has a desire to be part of the program of God's will, is to have something more valuable than a person who makes only one mistake but never has enough concern for God's will to repent and reinstate himself back into the Body for God's purpose.
If the Lord expects this out of us, then we must realize that, should we sin every day 490 sins, and no one does that in the church, He will forgive us if we come to him that many times. He is not so hard as they told you he was!
Jesus said this is the reason that the kingdom is similar to a man who forgave his servant the debt of ten thousand talents. But the same man went out and imprisoned another who owed him only 100 pence, and the forgiving man took him and imprisoned him demanding all the debt he originally owed.
We need to forgive as we are forgiven. Here is the Lord's prayer again.
In other words, Jesus said, we were forgiven and therefore let us ever forgive our brothers. If we do not, we are causing confusion to the entire purpose of seeing the need for as many as can come be in this body for God to use. We are denying the very thing that is God's will to accept so that His purpose might be more close to being fulfilled.
We may not be perfect yet, and we may offend each other now and then, but if we will admit our wrong and have enough concern for the body to be willing to be humble by repenting, then that humility is what God can work on to make us into the excellent vessels that a little, childlike saint of God is in order for the Kingdom to flow out from and into this dark world!
