From the desk of Pastor Ben

The Humility of Conversion – Part 3

“Unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”         (Matthew 18:3)

We can’t stress enough that young children make no claims of worthiness or greatness. They merely submit to the care of their parents and others who love them. Average youngsters recognize they have no resources to stay alive or put toward their needs. This is the kind of humble submissiveness that can and must lead someone to the humility of conversion.

And this is the child-like faith-response that produces greatness in God’s sight and His kingdom. Such people are ones who are humble, not greedy or ambitious, genuinely sincere, selfless, receptive to all the Father offers, and earnest to obey whatever their Lord commands.

What a contrast to the contemporary “gospel” that emphasizes self-fulfillment and promises personal success and wealth. Such understandings are the opposite of Christ’s gospel and make a mockery of the New Testament teaching on Christian living. The Lord Jesus taught unequivocally that anyone who, on his or her own terms, “has found his life will lose it” (Matthew 10:39). Those who arrogantly glorify themselves not only will not be great in the kingdom, but will never enter it.

James restates the imperative of humble conversion: “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. . . .Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.” (James 4:6-8, 10)

Ask Yourself:
God is always present with us, of course, but there is hard work involved in drawing near to Him when sinful temptations are pushing us away. What have you always done without by keeping your distance, and what does He always provide when you do come close?

From the desk of Pastor Ben

The Humility of Conversion – Part 2

“Unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”         (Matthew 18:3)

Genuine conversion, according to our Lord, requires people to “become like children.” Little children often exhibit the sort of traits — simplicity, dependency, helplessness, unpretentiousness — that God demands of adults who desire true spiritual conversion. Children are not naturally unaffected by sin, displaying the effects of sin from the earliest age. However, they are generally naive and unassuming, humbly trusting others, with no ambition for personal greatness.

The sinner who “humbles himself as this child,” Jesus proclaimed (Matthew 18:4), is like the one who realizes the humility of conversion and finds greatness in the kingdom. The verb translated “humbles” literally means to make low. From the Lord’s perspective, any man or woman who lowers themselves is the one whom God elevates. Jesus told the Pharisees, “Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted” (23:12). Anyone not willing to humble himself as Jesus did (Philippians 2:8) will have no place in His kingdom.

Jesus instructed that believers will rise higher in His kingdom as their pride decreases and they sink lower in their sense of self-importance. The New Testament commentator R.C.H. Lenski observed, “He who thinks of making no claims shall have all that others claim and by claiming cannot obtain. . . . Only an empty vessel can God fill with His gifts. And the emptier we are of anything that is due to ourselves, the more God can pour into these vessels His eternal riches, honors, and glories.”

Ask Yourself:
What are your greatest challenges to practicing humility in your life? When you think about the most humble people you know, how do you believe they deal with the very situations and attitudes that cause you to trip over your pride and your sense of self-importance?

From the desk of Pastor Ben

Ways To Cause Sin – Part1

“Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks!
For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe
to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!”
(Matthew 18:7)

Eve is the original example of a person who directly tempted another to sin. After falling to Satan’s temptation, Eve lured Adam into joining her disobedience. Moses’ brother Aaron caused Israel to sin by condoning creation of the golden calf for worship while his brother received God’s commandments on Mt. Sinai. Jeroboam was the supremely sinful king in Israel, the one to whom other kings were compared as “walking in the sins of Jeroboam” (1 Kings 16:31; 2 Kings 3:3).

Jesus indicted the hypocritical Jewish leaders with causing others to sin. Although not always guilty of physical adultery themselves, the Jews enabled others to commit it through the human tradition of allowing a husband to divorce his wife without proper cause (Matthew 5:32). Our Lord rebuked the churches at Pergamum and Thyatira because members in both places tolerated false teaching and sinful standards of living (Revelation 2:14, 20).

Today, a husband might tell his wife, “Let’s claim this deduction on our tax return. Maybe it doesn’t really qualify, but we need to save as much tax as possible, and no one will ever know.” In doing this, the man commits the double sin of cheating on his taxes and inducing his wife to go along with they fraud.

Those examples are ways of leading another, especially a child of God, to sin. It’s amazing how reluctant we are of exposing our physical children to harm. Yet it’s sad how we often are not nearly as eager to protect those in our spiritual family from evil.

Ask Yourself:
Could you identify some pockets of compromise in your life where you have allowed dishonesty, or bitterness, or impatience, or revenge to interrupt not only the free flow of relationship with God, but also the integrity of your relationship with others? How could you correct this?

From the desk of Pastor Ben

The Humility of Conversion – Part 1

“Unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”         (Matthew 18:3)

Jesus’ phrase “are converted” translates a form of the Greek word that elsewhere in the New Testament is always rendered with the meaning of “turning” or “turning around.” The idea is that a person must make an about-face and head in the opposite direction. Peter used a form of the same word twice in his sermon shortly after Pentecost as he urged his audience to “repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away” and said of Christ that “God raised up His Servant and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways” (Acts 3:19, 26). Paul used this word in describing what the Thessalonian believers did — they had “turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God” (1 Thessalonians 1:9).

Conversion complements repentance. Repentance entails being sorry for sin and turning away from it. Conversion is the humble expression of the will that completely turns from sin to God. The psalmist alludes to these two sides of the salvation coin when he asserts “sinners will be converted to You” (Psalm 51:13). That Jesus used our key word here in the passive voice proves that the apostles or anyone else could not experience conversion by their own efforts. In order to flee from sin to righteousness, a person needs someone else to turn him or her around. Certainly in this process we must exert our will, but ultimately it is God through the Holy Spirit who has the power to accomplish conversion.

Ask Yourself:
It would be much easier and more convenient if this turnabout negated the need to continue turning away from sin on a daily, routine basis. But what does God accomplish in us by keeping us trusting Him, not yet experiencing (as we one day will) ultimate freedom from sin?

From the desk of Pastor Ben

Entering the Kingdom – Part 2

“Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”         (Matthew 18:3)

Another faith component that allows entrance into God’s kingdom is meekness. The meek neither claim nor demand any glory for themselves, but are committed to fighting for God’s causes. They will also have a desire for obedience. This goes far beyond a simple wish to be in the kingdom or a mere awareness that Jesus is its Lord (Matthew 7:21). God will produce in the souls of those entering His kingdom a personal submission to Christ as Lord and a new heart that longs to obey Him.

Entering the kingdom means following Jesus’ call to salvation (Matthew 19:21). And such people are willing to make a public confession of their desire to obey Him. Our Lord says, “Therefore, everyone who confesses Me before men, I will confess him before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:32-33).

Another component necessary for entering the kingdom of heaven is persistence. For example, the woman with the demon-possessed daughter did not quit when Jesus initially ignored her, when the apostles wanted to send her away, or when Jesus reminded her she was a Gentile. She persisted even with the spiritual leftovers until Christ met her need. In response to such childlike persistence, the Lord said, “O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish” (Matthew 15:28).

Ask Yourself:
Meekness is not often a highly valued or highly desired character trait. But what are some of the blessings God provides to those who choose to let God determine their worth rather than demanding their way, insisting that others recognize their value and importance?

From the desk of Pastor Ben

The Lesson of Childlike Humility

“Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest
in the kingdom of heaven.”         (Matthew 18:4)

Like all believers, the apostles needed repeated reminders of the need for humility. Here, Jesus uses a child to illustrate His lesson. The Greek word for “child” indicates a very young child, perhaps an infant or toddler. This particular child may have belonged to Peter’s family and may have already been known to Jesus. The child likely cooperated readily with Jesus’ illustration and happily went to His arms. Jesus and children got along well with one another, and this setting was a wonderful opportunity for Him to teach childlike humility for His followers.

It’s impossible to miss that Jesus’ teaching on humility was directed at His apostles — and by extension to us — because they really needed to grasp its significance. From their arguments about who was the greatest, they undoubtedly were not living by their Lord’s standard of humility. Instead, they allowed themselves to be caught up in pride and self-interest. Perhaps some who heard this teaching were not even saved yet (certainly that would include Judas Iscariot, who was ultimately lost). Others had already entered the heavenly kingdom but had allowed their humanness rather than their new natures to dictate their attitudes. This ought to remind any of us who are Christians of how often we still fall victim to the power of sin that still seeks to influence us.

Jesus’ lesson on childlike humility illustrates a crucial and far-reaching requirement for membership in the kingdom. Entrance into it demands humble, childlike faith. There is simply no other way to receive God’s saving grace.

Ask Yourself:
Jesus was a master at using simple, memorable object lessons to teach deep truths of His kingdom. What are some of the most profound insights and concepts you’ve learned, not from long, laborious study, but simply from everyday occurrences God used to catch your eye?

From the desk of Pastor Ben

Entering the Kingdom – Part 1

“Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”         (Matthew 18:3)

The gospel of Matthew spends much of its focus on persons entering the divine kingdom through faith in Jesus Christ. The first component for entering is repentance. John the Baptist declared, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:2). This is the very same message with which Jesus began His own ministry (Matthew 4:17). Repentance calls for people to recognize their sin and have a genuine desire to turn from it. This essential component of salvation is not a human work but a gift that only God can grant (2 Timothy 2:25).

The second component necessary for kingdom entrance is the recognition of spiritual bankruptcy. This too is a divine work, beyond human capability because the Holy Spirit must convict a person of sin (John 16:8-11). The Beatitudes point us in that direction with Jesus’ call to humility, expressed there as poverty of spirit (Matthew 5:3). Someone with poverty of spirit sees himself as utterly unworthy and undeserving of membership in the kingdom and brings a sense of guilt and frustration over his inability to remove sin. The Greek term from which we get “poor in spirit” denotes a beggar who has absolutely no personal merit to boast of. Because the repentant and bankrupt person recognizes his or her sin, they mourn over it (vs. 4); because they know they don’t have their own righteousness, they hunger and thirst for God’s (vs.6); and because they can’t cleans their own sin, they long for the purity of heart (vs. 8) that God must provide for kingdom entrance.

Ask Yourself:
Are you as convinced as you’d like to be that your sinful flesh has no ability at all to generate good deeds and pure motives? Why is this so important to admit and honestly believe? And what always remains missing from the believer’s life until he is sure of it?

From the desk of Pastor Ben

The Kingdom of Heaven

“Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”         (Matthew 18:3)

In this verse, Jesus uses the phrase “kingdom of heaven” as a synonym for kingdom of God. The Jews had adopted, out of reverence for God’s name, the word heaven instead of Yahweh (the covenant name for God). Therefore, this usage made “heaven” simply another way of saying “God.” The phrases kingdom of heaven” and “kingdom of God” both indicate the rule of God, with the first emphasizing the sphere and character of His rule and the second pointing to the ruler Himself. The Father rules His kingdom with heavenly principles and blessings and in heavenly power and majesty. Any person in that kingdom willingly comes under the sovereign rule of God.

When Jesus speaks here of entering the kingdom of heaven, He means one must come in by saving faith. He uses it 2 other times in the gospel of Matthew (7:21; 19:23-24), and in each instance it denotes personal salvation. God wants people to enter His kingdom and does not wish “for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). The purpose of Jesus’ earthly ministry and those of John the Baptist and the apostles was to call people into the divine, heavenly kingdom. And that is still the overarching task for today’s church.

Ask Yourself:
What kinds of causes or issues have become more important to you and to your church than the ingathering of lost souls into the kingdom? Why do you supposed we are so susceptible to being lured off-message, distracted with other “good” but less eternal undertakings?

From the desk of Pastor Ben

Who Is the Greatest? – Part 1

“At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, ‘Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, and said, ‘Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.’”         (Matthew 18:1-3)

A selfish question betraying the apostles’ sinful ambitions prompted our Lord’s teaching on greatness and His kingdom. The question here stemmed from an argument they’d had among themselves “as to which of them might be the greatest” (Luke 9:46). When Jesus asked them what they were discussing, the disciples were so ashamed that “they kept silent” (Mark 9:33-34). That silence shows they knew they had been acting inconsistently with Jesus’ teaching on humility and that they were as proud and ambitious as ever.

Even as they had not really accepted what Jesus taught about humility, the apostles had not genuinely embraced what He taught about the kingdom. Much like Isaiah’s audience in Isaiah 6:9, the disciples listened but did not perceive and looked but did not understand. They still anticipated a soon establishment of Christ’s earthly kingdom (Acts 1:6), with each of them having a high ranking and one of them being the highest.

Although the apostles did not fully understand what Jesus told them about His upcoming suffering and death (Matthew 17:22-23), they should have sensed its gravity. But they were so caught up in their own desires for personal prestige and glory that they were unreceptive to most of what the Lord said about His suffering, crucifixion, and resurrection. The apostles thereby showed no concept of humility or compassion, and certainly no willingness to take up their own crosses and follow Him to death as He had taught them (Matthew 10:38-39; 16:24-26).

Ask Yourself:
Why the need among ourselves to outrank and out-perform, to be thought of more highly than others? What freedom would you be able to possess and enjoy if you were relieved of needing to appear more important, more together, more impressive, or more valuable?

From the desk of Pastor Ben

Who Is the Greatest? – Part 2

“At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, ‘Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, and said, ‘Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.’”         (Matthew 18:1-3)

Several months after this lesson, at the probable instigation of James and John, their mother kept ambition alive when she told Jesus, “Command that in Your kingdom these two sons of mine may sit one on Your right and one on Your left” (Matthew 20:21). To the Lord it must have been especially painful that this request came right after He had predicted His suffering and death in vs. 19. In the same way, on the night before His death, at the Last Supper, the apostles were still arguing about their own greatness (Luke 22:24). On neither occasion was there any indication of sympathy or grief concerning what Christ would soon endure on their behalf and on behalf of all who believe.

Concerning rank and greatness, the other apostles might at times have been jealous of Peter, since he was most intimate with Jesus and their leading spokesman. Peter was privileged, along with James and John, to see the transfiguration, and only Peter had walked on water and had his temple tax miraculously provided in a fish. But Jesus commanded only him to “Get behind Me, Satan!” (Matthew 16:23). The other disciples may have thought that the position of greatest among them was not yet finalized.

What the church today desperately needs to draw from the apostles’ displays of selfish ambition is a realization that personal greatness is not the issue for the Lord. Rather, believers must accept their obligation to selflessly serve fellow believers.

Ask Yourself:
Have you ever experienced someone being oblivious to your suffering, perhaps entering into flippant, meaningless conversation while you were dealing with something heavy and severe? How can you keep from being the one who is insensitive to the needs of those around you?