The Book of  Luke, Stumbling Blocks, Rebukers, Repenters, and Forgivers, Part II - Lesson 189

 

Luke 17:1‑4, Then said he unto the disciples, It is impossible but that offences will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come! ²It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones. ³Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. ⁴And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.

 

The Lord Jesus Christ instructs his disciples in this passage that pressure to sin will come.

 

He uses the word offenses which means that there will be traps set by some to influence others to sin. 

 

This is inevitable in this fallen world and we can do little to stop the world’s onslaught, in fact Jesus says it is impossible.

 

But a believer in Christ, a Christian is given that which is needed to prepare himself for this pressure.

 

He has all of the armament of the Word of God at his disposal and is expected to arm him or herself with the sword of the Lord which is the Word of God. 

 

Without the Word of God you and I are defenseless against the world, the flesh, and the devil and would easily become its prey.

 

Jesus Christ is the Word of God and every time he spoke, he spoke the word of God.

 

Remember the incident where Peter did not believe his word and because of this he let his mouth be a tool of the devil.

 

For Peter became a tool of the devil when Peter attempted to turn Jesus Christ away from the way of the cross. 

 

Jesus Christ did not let this pass for he loved Peter and when you love someone you do not let sin go un-rebuked for rebuke comes from those who love. 

 

In loving Peter Jesus turned and said to him, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.  Matthew 16:23.

 

Jesus Christ cared for Peter and did not hesitate in rebuking him for being an agent of Satan. 

 

Peter, at this moment, spoke for Satan; he was not thinking God’s thoughts, but men’s thoughts. 

 

He was not speaking as a disciple, but as an enemy of God.

 

So Christians can easily become a stumbling block to others, but when they do so they are not speaking for God, and they stop  functioning as a Christian. 

 

When by their speech, they speak for Satan, they speak as an unbeliever.

 

Not that they are an unbeliever but that they function as one, they are indistinguishable from one, for in that moment they have become Satan’s tool.

 

At the bottom line, being a stumbling block is a satanic thing. 

 

It is a characteristic of unbelievers, unbelievers who are destined to hell. 

 

I cannot cause you to sin but I can be a stumbling block that you fall over because you were not alert and you did not have your eyes open to that which the Lord tells us is inevitable.

 

You are responsible for your sin but I am also responsible if I  place stumbling blocks or offenses in your path.

 

We are an offense to others when we influence them in the direction of sin.

 

This is the exact opposite of what we are to be as Hebrews 10:24 tells us:  And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:

 

We are never to provoke one another unto sin!

 

In our passage, Jesus never said what the outcome of a stumbling block would be.

 

But he does give us a choice as to what would be better for that stumbling block than his final destiny.

 

Jesus said that being drowned in the sea, with a millstone hung around his neck, would be a better fate than that which could occur.

 

Being an offense and influencing others to sin is a bad thing and drowning in the sea is a bad thing but Christ says that the latter is better. 

 

The gospel of Matthews tells us that the final destiny of the offender is to join the tares as they are gathered up and cast into the fire. 

 

⁴¹The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; ⁴²And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

 

So we see here that when Jesus Christ is talking about offenders, those that promote sin in others, he is generally talking about unbelievers.

 

This does not mean that Christians cannot offend but their ultimate end is not with the tares for other scriptures always support the security of the believer. 

 

But the message that we must take is the seriousness of influencing others to sin. 

 

I think that the admonition that the one who is a stumbling block would be better off being thrown in the sea tied to a millstone tells us that at the least that one thrown into the sea would stop them from being a stumbling block. 

 

The seriousness of being an offense is again emphasized in Mark 9 where Jesus Christ tells his disciples to cut off their hand or their foot or pluck out their eye if their hand, foot or eye will keep them from entering the kingdom of God

 

Mark 9:47,  And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire:

 

Jesus is that serious about not being a stumbling block even to the point of dying or maiming yourself to prevent such behavior.

 

I wonder if that is what happened to those who ate of the communion bread unworthily as described in 1 Cor. 11. 

 

Were they being stumbling blocks to God’s own?

 

²⁹For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. ³⁰For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.

 

One thing we also learn from this is God’s intense love of his own. 

 

God so loved the world that he gave us his Son that his house would be filled and he will do everything to keep offenders from hurting his little ones. 

 

Mothers and fathers  would go to all extremes, even to the point of giving their own life to protect their little ones for this intensity comes from God who also has this great love toward his little ones. 

 

He is saying to all: keep your hands off of mine, for my Son died for them and I will not tolerate anyone who intends to hurt them.

 

So look out Pharisee for the Lord has just declared war upon you. 

 

Might as well go ahead and tie that millstone around your neck and cast yourself into the sea for this will keep you from continuing to offend.

 

The Pharisees have consistently tried to discredit Jesus, and have sought to turn men and women from following Him.

 

My, how this shows what religion does, for religion binds men and women against the truth. 

 

How hard it is for a man to disentangle himself from the clutches of religion. 

 

Many religions baptize babies. 

 

They make sure to bind them at the earliest for this is the first religious binding on that child. 

 

It is a binding which keeps him or her from truth for it creates a dependency upon a baptism which is tied to salvation.  

 

It is an offense against God to preach any other Savior than the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

But religion is in for it for God has declared war on religion and religious people will be severely punished for all the hindrance that they have been down though the centuries in keeping people from knowing the truth.

I remember the story that Pastor Hobbs told about the young lady who stood her ground and would not let her boyfriend out of the aisle to respond to an invitation to receive Christ at a revival meeting. 

 

Jesus tells that young lady to attach a millstone and go throw herself into the sea for that young lady’s action to prevent that boy from getting saved will be remembered in the judgment. 

 

For she chose to be an offense and in the mind of Jesus Christ it is better to be dead than to be an offense.

But the Christian is not to be an offense that separates from Christ but he is to seek and restore the sinner when he or she has fallen. 

We have not liberty to influence others to sin but we have unrestricted liberty to seek to restore the sinner for this is the example set for us by Jesus Christ. 

³Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. ⁴And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.

 

I am afraid that we do not take sin as seriously as we should for we are not very good at what is directed in this passage.

 

But the command is clear and when we learn of sin in the life of a brother, and I suppose that means both brothers in Christ and brothers outside of Christ, like the prodigal and his brother,  we are obligated to do our part in that which will bring that brother to repentance.

 

This begins with rebuke.

 

Rebuke seeks to bring that disobedient brother to realize the sinful nature of his actions.

 

Rebuke seeks to make him aware of the seriousness of sin, and therefore to turn from his sin and not do it anymore.

 

And when this brother repents, he is to be forgiven, and forgiven and forgiven as many times as he repents. 

 

So this is a two part action, the first being rebuke. 

 

We have to get past this first part in order to get to the second part, forgiveness. 

 

Don’t you, as a child of God, want to forgive your brother? 

 

In order to do so you must first humbly confront him with his sin in order to give him opportunity to repent and seek your forgiveness.

 

There is an important principle in Lev 19:17 that is pertinent to this command to rebuke the erring brother.  It tells us

 

Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him.

 

The principle is: rebuke is evidence of love for your neighbor. 

 

Lack of rebuke is evidence of hate for your neighbor. 

 

And the reason for rebuke is so that your neighbor will not suffer greater consequences of the sin for which they are being rebuked. 

 

We are to be nippers in the bud of sin that the bud of sin does not grow into full flower for that is the action of love.

 

Rebuke is warning for the purpose of protecting your friend or brother from the consequences of wrong and hurtful behavior.

 

So rebuke given to me is love and is the act of a true friend, a friend who cares about my soul.

 

For I am a sinner prone to wander.

 

I lean toward my own will and my own way. 

 

I am not perfect without possibility of falling.

 

My eyes are blind to my own faults. 

 

I need a true friend who rebukes. 

 

I need rebuke that opens to me what I am. 

 

My heart is so deceitful that it will convince me of anything  in order to make me look good in my own eyes. 

 

This is where rebuke comes in.  

 

I need true friends who care enough about me to want me to go the right way. 

 

I want a pastor who loves his flock and shows that love by the necessary rebukes.

 

I don't need love that hides, love that conceals, love that overlooks my sin for its own comfort and wellbeing. 

 

I don’t need love that won't rock the boat of my life to warn me that I'm in danger. 

 

I need rebuke which reveals true love. 

 

I want love that helps God produce in me a work of God.

 

I need continual wounds from a true friend who loves me enough to rebuke me.

 

I need open wounds that are probed to discover my corruption and apply the ointment that is needed for healing.

 

And all those who desire godliness will want their faults to be revealed that they may be all God wants them to be. 

 

This is quite a statement and far beyond most is it not, but I believe this is where God wants to grow us.

 

And those who in sincerity of the heart, perform this difficult act of love are rare and faithful friends and are to be valued above the greatest treasure.

 

Someone wise person long ago said this:  "He that would be safe must have a faithful friend, or a bitter enemy, that he may fly from vice or sin by the admonitions of the friend, or the invective of the enemy." 

 

I need the heat of rebuke from a friend and if I don't get the heat of rebuke from a friend then give me the cold of rebuke from an enemy. 

 

One way or another I need rebuke.

Rebuke is not easy to accept but if we receive it with humility and a desire to improve ourselves for God, it is a must in this life. 

Only a fool does not profit when he is rebuked for his mistakes.

The first thing you should do when you are rebuked is to ask yourself whether the rebuke contains any truth. 

If it does, you should learn from it, even when it is not given with the right motivation and in the right spirit. 

So many do not receive rebuke if it is not given in accordance with certain standards which are very hard to meet and in fact are designed to be very hard to meet. 

That is foolish for that man or woman will never learn a thing or improve for God.

But commit the matter instantly to God, asking Him to remove all resentment or counter-criticism on your part and teach you the needed lessons.

Remember that we are all great sinners and that the one who has criticized us does not begin to know the worst about us.

If you have made a mistake or committed a sin, humbly and frankly confess it to God and to anyone you may have injured.

Be willing to learn that you are not infallible and that you need God’s grace and wisdom every moment of the day to keep on the straight path.

When you are criticized, accept what is true and act upon it, and you therefore will become a stronger Christian and one who can be used of God.

It is said, He who profits from rebuke is the wise person.

So the beginning step in gaining profit from rebuke is to repent of the sin for which the rebuke was given. 

Then newness begins for forgiveness brings newness. 

Forgiveness means that old things are passed away and that all things become new with that person who forgave.

Without forgiveness future remembrances of that sin will cloud the relationship and cause further sin. 

So Jesus Christ tells us in this passage that our forgiveness is to be unending. 

We are to constantly be looking for opportunities to forgive. 

Not opportunities to harbor grudges and hatred for those who have sinned against us or others.

Forgiveness is to be granted, Jesus said, even to those who sin against us repeatedly and habitually.

For this is the heart of God with us, is it not?

Does not God forgive us of our repeated and habitually committed sin?

Are we not to be conformed to the image of Christ in this? 

³Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. ⁴And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.

Fanny Crosby wrote this hymn, Rescue the Perishing which gives us a glimpse of God’s heart which He wants to implant in our heart through the power of His Spirit.