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Welcome to this message on a difficult but crucial passage of Scripture. Before we begin, I want to give you a disclaimer: this is not an easy message, and it won't be a long one. I'm carving out time at the end for a moment of prayer and reflection, because these verses are very weighty and heavy. I don't want you to feel like you're being disciplined or "whooped"—rather, I'm praying that the Holy Spirit would open your eyes to see clearly and awaken you to truth.
We're in the final chapters of our series "Wisdom and Wonder," walking through Matthew 12–28 together. Before Jesus sent His people out with a message, He gave them crucial teaching on how to govern themselves within biblical community. Matthew 18 is one of the most important chapters in all the New Testament for understanding how the church should function.
Our focus today is on just three verses: Matthew 18:7–9.
Let me read the beginning of Matthew 18 for context. The original manuscripts had no chapter divisions, so we need to read completely to understand the full thought.
Jesus begins by telling His followers that unless they turn and become like little children—humble, meek, not seeking glory or attention—they will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Greatness in God's eyes is attributed to humility, not status or power or fame.
Then Jesus delivers a stark warning:
Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better that you tie a millstone around your neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea.
The Lord is speaking directly to His followers—to those of us in the church. If you become the conduit through which another believer falls into sin, the Lord says it would be better for you to be dead than alive. That is how serious this is.
Now Jesus continues this argument with a double woe:
Woe to the world for temptations to sin. For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom temptation comes.
The word "woe" carries two meanings simultaneously. First, it is a declaration of unescapable punishment—judgment is coming. Second, it is a sorrowful expression—the Lord feels the weight of what is coming upon those who receive the woe. When Jesus says "woe," He is both pronouncing judgment and expressing grief.
First woe: "Woe to the world for temptations to sin." This is directed at every fallen institution, every corrupt government, every entity that makes it easy for people to commit sin. Woe to every government that exports sin. Woe to every institution, clinic, and organization that engineers temptation and leads people into darkness. Although sin is inevitable in a fallen world, the Lord is warning those who actively spread it.
Second woe: "Woe to the one by whom temptation comes." Although temptations are inevitable, you don't want to be the person responsible for spreading sin in society. Let the world be blinded by sin, but don't let God's children be agents of spreading that sin.
Why is the Lord so serious about this? Because He knows the deep damage sin causes. Christ has existed eternally. He has watched sin from the very beginning.
The first sin ever committed was not in the Garden of Eden—it happened in heaven. God created Lucifer, a magnificent archangel responsible for worship, whose very body was made of musical instruments. But one day, Lucifer saw his own beauty and pride entered his heart. In that pride, he began whispering to other angels: "I'm going to be better than God." Rebellion was born, and he led one-third of the angels in rebellion against God.
Because there is no dualism—Satan is not stronger than God—Satan was cast out of heaven. And those angels who followed him? The Scripture says they abandoned their place and are now chained in eternal fire. These are the demons that roam the earth today. They have been watching humanity, whispering, deceiving, leading people away from Christ.
Christ saw all of this. He has witnessed firsthand the catastrophic damage that sin causes. He knows how it destroys lives, families, nations, and societies. Sin is the bane of human existence. It has infected every part of the human being—our intellect, our emotions, our desires, our language, our hearts. Every single part of us has been corrupted by sin.
I hate sin. Not because I'm morally pure—quite the opposite. I hate sin because I know the pain it has brought into my own life. I know the destruction, the heartache, the frustration. I look back at seasons of my life, chapters I wish I could rip out of my story, all because of sin.
Last week, our nation watched as a famous music mogul was arrested on serious federal charges. Legal analysts spoke about the severity of his crimes. But what brought him to this point? Sin. The same sin that is alive in you and me.
While people comment on what he deserves, I want you to realize: so many of us don't even repent of our own sin. We're not worried about what we deserve or what we're going to face in judgment.
Sin is the source of all pain and suffering in our world. It causes relational tension, marital conflict, friendship breakdown. It has toppled empires and corrupted governments. It is the root of every sorrow you have ever experienced.
Because the Lord knows this destruction, He went to extreme measures to warn His followers:
If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands and two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire.
This is not a call for self-mutilation. This is a call for behavioral mutilation. The hand or foot is a metaphor for sins of commission—active sins you practice. These are sins you do repeatedly: watching pornography, sowing discord, being rebellious against authority, lying, cheating, stealing, wounding others unnecessarily, indulging in lust.
The Lord is saying: Recognize the sin. See it. Cut it off. It is better to suffer the pain of discipline and deny yourself what you want than to end up in hell because of your lack of repentance.
Don't think you can pray a prayer, walk an aisle, and then live however you want. The devil is a liar. When you recognize habitual, willful practices of sin in your life, the Lord looks at you and says: Deal with it aggressively.
I had to learn this myself. Two years into my marriage, my wife discovered my struggle with pornography. I had to tell her about what happened to me when I was ten years old, why I lived the way I did before marriage, why I struggled with lust. I had to be honest because I don't want dark areas in my life. Any area of darkness is a lane for the devil to traffic.
That's why I have accountability partners. If I have a bad day or a bad week, I call them: "This is what I did. Pray for me. This is what I thought. Pray for me." My wife and I have what we call a "safety circle"—a moment where I can share something heavy without judgment. I tell her the specific struggles I'm dealing with and ask her to pray for me.
You cannot have darkness in your life and have the presence of the Holy Spirit at the same time.
So when you see sins of commission in your life—whatever it is—you deal with it aggressively. You kill it. You keep ringing it out. You run from it. You throw yourself on the altar of God.
But the Lord doesn't stop there:
If your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than for two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.
The eye is a metaphor for the issues of your heart. This refers to sins of omission—the hidden sins that nobody sees but God sees. These are the sins in your heart: unforgiveness, pride, lust, anger, jealousy, envy, covetousness, self-inflation, idolatry.
The Lord is saying: If you see those things in your heart, pluck them out. This is heart mutilation—killing the sinful desires and thoughts that live in your heart.
When things rise up in my heart, I run to my prayer room. I ring out these sins before God: "Lord, I'm feeling lustful—I ring that out. Lord, I'm feeling jealous—I ring that out. Lord, I'm feeling covetous—I ring that out." You keep dealing aggressively with the sins of your heart.
Some of you have been deceived by grace. You think because we live in an era of grace, and you haven't seen the full wrath of God against sin, that you have a license for licentiousness. That is a lie from the pit of hell.
Look at what happened in the New Testament era. In Acts, a couple named Ananias and Sapphira lied to the Holy Spirit about their giving. God struck them dead. In the era of grace, God still judges sin with severity.
You think God is a fool? You think He's just a name on your bracelet? Because He's withholding His full wrath doesn't mean you have a license to sin.
The Lord is calling His church to holiness. Not just a song you sing. Not just something you post. But the way you live Monday through Saturday, not just on Sunday on a platform.
Be holy as I am holy.
That's not a suggestion. That's a command.
Some of you want anointing but you don't want to live holy. There is a price to be paid for an anointing. The western church sings about holiness, preaches about holiness, posts about holiness, but we don't live holy.
If the people of God won't take the words of our Savior seriously, what credibility do we have to the world? If you look just like the people who oppose God, what message do we have?
Some of you think the Lord is doing too much by calling us to repent and deal aggressively with sin. Let me show you what is actually serious.
In Luke 16, Jesus tells the story of a rich man clothed in purple and fine linen who feasted sumptuously every day. At his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, desiring to eat what fell from the rich man's table.
Both men died. Lazarus was carried by angels to Abraham's side—to glory. The rich man died and was buried, and in Hades he found himself in torment.
He looked up and saw Abraham far off with Lazarus at his side. He called out:
Father Abraham, have mercy on me. Send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in these flames.
But Abraham replied:
Son, remember that in your lifetime you received good things, and Lazarus received bad things. But now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who would pass from here to you may not be able to.
Once your fate is sealed, it cannot be changed. The rich man then begged:
I beg you, Father, send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them.
But Abraham said:
They have Moses and the prophets. Let them hear them.
The rich man protested:
No, Father, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.
And Abraham replied:
If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.
The hearts of men are so rebellious that even a person returning from death wouldn't convince them to repent. Why? Because we love sin.
You think the Lord is doing too much? You're not thinking about eternity. You're not thinking about what's coming.
Now, here's the beautiful truth: You can deal aggressively with your sin because you have been empowered to do so.
Christ died. He lived a perfect life. He died a sacrificial death to take the punishment for your sin to the cross. But then—and this is crucial—He rose again and gave you the Holy Spirit, which is the power of Christ on the inside of you to live a brand new life.
The Scripture says:
You have tasted of the heavenly gift. You have received the Holy Spirit. You understand the love of the Savior. You see what He did for you on the cross.
And yet some of you choose to live a life of rebellion and sin. But you've been empowered. You have the power to turn away from sin. The Lord gave you the power to not live a life of sin.
You can put down what you're looking at. You can stop watching what you're watching. You can ring out what you're feeling. He gave you the power. You don't need excuses. You need to take seriously the words of your Savior.
In this moment, I want to call you to two things:
First, increase your love for the Lord Jesus Christ. Do this through prayer, through devotion, through reading Scripture, through worship. The more you love Him, the harder it becomes to sin against Him, because you don't want to hurt someone you love.
Second, pray and ask God to give you a hatred for sin. Pray: "God, give me a hatred in my heart for sin. Let me hate what You hate." When you start to hate sin, you recognize it in yourself and in the world. You don't want to treat it like a pet anymore. When you find yourself in sin, you weep. You cry out. You say, "This is nasty. I don't want this in me." And you deal with it more aggressively.
The Lord did not tell you to do something that He did not empower you to do. You have the grace. You have the power. Deal aggressively with your sin.
Welcome to this message on a difficult but crucial passage of Scripture. Before we begin, I want to give you a disclaimer: this is not an easy message, and it won't be a long one. I'm carving out time at the end for a moment of prayer and reflection, because these verses are very weighty and heavy. I don't want you to feel like you're being disciplined or "whooped"—rather, I'm praying that the Holy Spirit would open your eyes to see clearly and awaken you to truth.
We're in the final chapters of our series "Wisdom and Wonder," walking through Matthew 12–28 together. Before Jesus sent His people out with a message, He gave them crucial teaching on how to govern themselves within biblical community. Matthew 18 is one of the most important chapters in all the New Testament for understanding how the church should function.
Our focus today is on just three verses: Matthew 18:7–9.
Let me read the beginning of Matthew 18 for context. The original manuscripts had no chapter divisions, so we need to read completely to understand the full thought.
Jesus begins by telling His followers that unless they turn and become like little children—humble, meek, not seeking glory or attention—they will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Greatness in God's eyes is attributed to humility, not status or power or fame.
Then Jesus delivers a stark warning:
Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better that you tie a millstone around your neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea.
The Lord is speaking directly to His followers—to those of us in the church. If you become the conduit through which another believer falls into sin, the Lord says it would be better for you to be dead than alive. That is how serious this is.
Now Jesus continues this argument with a double woe:
Woe to the world for temptations to sin. For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom temptation comes.
The word "woe" carries two meanings simultaneously. First, it is a declaration of unescapable punishment—judgment is coming. Second, it is a sorrowful expression—the Lord feels the weight of what is coming upon those who receive the woe. When Jesus says "woe," He is both pronouncing judgment and expressing grief.
First woe: "Woe to the world for temptations to sin." This is directed at every fallen institution, every corrupt government, every entity that makes it easy for people to commit sin. Woe to every government that exports sin. Woe to every institution, clinic, and organization that engineers temptation and leads people into darkness. Although sin is inevitable in a fallen world, the Lord is warning those who actively spread it.
Second woe: "Woe to the one by whom temptation comes." Although temptations are inevitable, you don't want to be the person responsible for spreading sin in society. Let the world be blinded by sin, but don't let God's children be agents of spreading that sin.
Why is the Lord so serious about this? Because He knows the deep damage sin causes. Christ has existed eternally. He has watched sin from the very beginning.
The first sin ever committed was not in the Garden of Eden—it happened in heaven. God created Lucifer, a magnificent archangel responsible for worship, whose very body was made of musical instruments. But one day, Lucifer saw his own beauty and pride entered his heart. In that pride, he began whispering to other angels: "I'm going to be better than God." Rebellion was born, and he led one-third of the angels in rebellion against God.
Because there is no dualism—Satan is not stronger than God—Satan was cast out of heaven. And those angels who followed him? The Scripture says they abandoned their place and are now chained in eternal fire. These are the demons that roam the earth today. They have been watching humanity, whispering, deceiving, leading people away from Christ.
Christ saw all of this. He has witnessed firsthand the catastrophic damage that sin causes. He knows how it destroys lives, families, nations, and societies. Sin is the bane of human existence. It has infected every part of the human being—our intellect, our emotions, our desires, our language, our hearts. Every single part of us has been corrupted by sin.
I hate sin. Not because I'm morally pure—quite the opposite. I hate sin because I know the pain it has brought into my own life. I know the destruction, the heartache, the frustration. I look back at seasons of my life, chapters I wish I could rip out of my story, all because of sin.
Last week, our nation watched as a famous music mogul was arrested on serious federal charges. Legal analysts spoke about the severity of his crimes. But what brought him to this point? Sin. The same sin that is alive in you and me.
While people comment on what he deserves, I want you to realize: so many of us don't even repent of our own sin. We're not worried about what we deserve or what we're going to face in judgment.
Sin is the source of all pain and suffering in our world. It causes relational tension, marital conflict, friendship breakdown. It has toppled empires and corrupted governments. It is the root of every sorrow you have ever experienced.
Because the Lord knows this destruction, He went to extreme measures to warn His followers:
If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands and two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire.
This is not a call for self-mutilation. This is a call for behavioral mutilation. The hand or foot is a metaphor for sins of commission—active sins you practice. These are sins you do repeatedly: watching pornography, sowing discord, being rebellious against authority, lying, cheating, stealing, wounding others unnecessarily, indulging in lust.
The Lord is saying: Recognize the sin. See it. Cut it off. It is better to suffer the pain of discipline and deny yourself what you want than to end up in hell because of your lack of repentance.
Don't think you can pray a prayer, walk an aisle, and then live however you want. The devil is a liar. When you recognize habitual, willful practices of sin in your life, the Lord looks at you and says: Deal with it aggressively.
I had to learn this myself. Two years into my marriage, my wife discovered my struggle with pornography. I had to tell her about what happened to me when I was ten years old, why I lived the way I did before marriage, why I struggled with lust. I had to be honest because I don't want dark areas in my life. Any area of darkness is a lane for the devil to traffic.
That's why I have accountability partners. If I have a bad day or a bad week, I call them: "This is what I did. Pray for me. This is what I thought. Pray for me." My wife and I have what we call a "safety circle"—a moment where I can share something heavy without judgment. I tell her the specific struggles I'm dealing with and ask her to pray for me.
You cannot have darkness in your life and have the presence of the Holy Spirit at the same time.
So when you see sins of commission in your life—whatever it is—you deal with it aggressively. You kill it. You keep ringing it out. You run from it. You throw yourself on the altar of God.
But the Lord doesn't stop there:
If your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than for two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.
The eye is a metaphor for the issues of your heart. This refers to sins of omission—the hidden sins that nobody sees but God sees. These are the sins in your heart: unforgiveness, pride, lust, anger, jealousy, envy, covetousness, self-inflation, idolatry.
The Lord is saying: If you see those things in your heart, pluck them out. This is heart mutilation—killing the sinful desires and thoughts that live in your heart.
When things rise up in my heart, I run to my prayer room. I ring out these sins before God: "Lord, I'm feeling lustful—I ring that out. Lord, I'm feeling jealous—I ring that out. Lord, I'm feeling covetous—I ring that out." You keep dealing aggressively with the sins of your heart.
Some of you have been deceived by grace. You think because we live in an era of grace, and you haven't seen the full wrath of God against sin, that you have a license for licentiousness. That is a lie from the pit of hell.
Look at what happened in the New Testament era. In Acts, a couple named Ananias and Sapphira lied to the Holy Spirit about their giving. God struck them dead. In the era of grace, God still judges sin with severity.
You think God is a fool? You think He's just a name on your bracelet? Because He's withholding His full wrath doesn't mean you have a license to sin.
The Lord is calling His church to holiness. Not just a song you sing. Not just something you post. But the way you live Monday through Saturday, not just on Sunday on a platform.
Be holy as I am holy.
That's not a suggestion. That's a command.
Some of you want anointing but you don't want to live holy. There is a price to be paid for an anointing. The western church sings about holiness, preaches about holiness, posts about holiness, but we don't live holy.
If the people of God won't take the words of our Savior seriously, what credibility do we have to the world? If you look just like the people who oppose God, what message do we have?
Some of you think the Lord is doing too much by calling us to repent and deal aggressively with sin. Let me show you what is actually serious.
In Luke 16, Jesus tells the story of a rich man clothed in purple and fine linen who feasted sumptuously every day. At his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, desiring to eat what fell from the rich man's table.
Both men died. Lazarus was carried by angels to Abraham's side—to glory. The rich man died and was buried, and in Hades he found himself in torment.
He looked up and saw Abraham far off with Lazarus at his side. He called out:
Father Abraham, have mercy on me. Send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in these flames.
But Abraham replied:
Son, remember that in your lifetime you received good things, and Lazarus received bad things. But now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who would pass from here to you may not be able to.
Once your fate is sealed, it cannot be changed. The rich man then begged:
I beg you, Father, send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them.
But Abraham said:
They have Moses and the prophets. Let them hear them.
The rich man protested:
No, Father, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.
And Abraham replied:
If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.
The hearts of men are so rebellious that even a person returning from death wouldn't convince them to repent. Why? Because we love sin.
You think the Lord is doing too much? You're not thinking about eternity. You're not thinking about what's coming.
Now, here's the beautiful truth: You can deal aggressively with your sin because you have been empowered to do so.
Christ died. He lived a perfect life. He died a sacrificial death to take the punishment for your sin to the cross. But then—and this is crucial—He rose again and gave you the Holy Spirit, which is the power of Christ on the inside of you to live a brand new life.
The Scripture says:
You have tasted of the heavenly gift. You have received the Holy Spirit. You understand the love of the Savior. You see what He did for you on the cross.
And yet some of you choose to live a life of rebellion and sin. But you've been empowered. You have the power to turn away from sin. The Lord gave you the power to not live a life of sin.
You can put down what you're looking at. You can stop watching what you're watching. You can ring out what you're feeling. He gave you the power. You don't need excuses. You need to take seriously the words of your Savior.
In this moment, I want to call you to two things:
First, increase your love for the Lord Jesus Christ. Do this through prayer, through devotion, through reading Scripture, through worship. The more you love Him, the harder it becomes to sin against Him, because you don't want to hurt someone you love.
Second, pray and ask God to give you a hatred for sin. Pray: "God, give me a hatred in my heart for sin. Let me hate what You hate." When you start to hate sin, you recognize it in yourself and in the world. You don't want to treat it like a pet anymore. When you find yourself in sin, you weep. You cry out. You say, "This is nasty. I don't want this in me." And you deal with it more aggressively.
The Lord did not tell you to do something that He did not empower you to do. You have the grace. You have the power. Deal aggressively with your sin.
