Jesus Loves Us More Than Enough! Series

Jesus Loves Us More than Enough!

The Gospel of Matthew

Matthew 18:1-14

Sermon by Rick Crandall

(Prepared October 3, 2022)

BACKGROUND:

*Please open your Bibles to Matthew 18. In our last study, Jesus began by answering the disciples' question in vs. 1: "Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?''

*Turns out, they were wondering about that question, because they had been arguing about it as they walked on the road to Capernaum. Mark 9:33-35 says:

33. Then He came to Capernaum. And when He was in the house He asked them, "What was it you disputed among yourselves on the road?''

34. But they kept silent, for on the road they had disputed among themselves who would be the greatest.

35. And He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, "If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.''

*On the road, maybe all of them thought they were entitled to be greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And they were stubborn about it, even up to the night before the cross. (1)

*But Jesus tried to teach them that their whole idea of greatness was upside down, and He used a little child to do it. In vs. 2-4:

2. . . Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them,

3. and said, "Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.

4. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

*Then Jesus began to express His love for little children, and it's the same kind of love He has for us. Please think about God's love as we read vs. 1-14.

MESSAGE:

*There should be no doubt that God loves every single one of us. John 3:16 is one of the most loved verses in the Bible. And there Jesus said, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

*John 3:16 is the heart of the Gospel straight from the heart of God. "For God so loved the world." This word "world" is found 79 times in the Gospel of John. And "this word is not talking about the physical world or the sinful world system. It's talking about the world's people.

*Walter Wilson said: 'No one in all the world could possibly love everyone in the world. In fact, most people find it hard to love all their relatives.' But in spite of our faults, God's love is so great that it's possible for Him to love every person in the whole world! God loves Americans, but He also loves Russians, Chinese, Arabs, Pakistanis, the British, Japanese, Israelis, everyone." (2)

*You have probably heard this truth in the song our daughter Katie and I used to sing in the car every day when she 4. The tune was first written as a marching song during the Civil War. The original words were "Tramp, Tramp, Tramp, the Boys are Marching."

*But after the war, Claire Woolston wrote new words that turned that tune into one of the all-time favorite Christian songs for children:

"Jesus loves the little children,

ALL the children of the world.

Red and yellow, black and white,

They are precious in His sight.

Jesus loves the little children of the world." (3)

*Jesus loves the little children, and all the big children too! God so loved the world! That means God loves the oldest to the youngest! And He didn't start loving those little babies when they were born. No. God loved them, as my daddy used to say, "when they were just a twinkle in their mother's eye."

*God loves all of us! But how much does He love us?

1. FIRST: JESUS LOVES US ENOUGH TO WARN US ABOUT THE DANGER OF SIN.

*When the Lord thought of that little child beside Him, and all the little children in the world, He began to think about the godless, evil people who would harm those children in any way. Jesus especially thought about the people who would lead children away from Him into sin. And He began to warn about the dangers of sin.

*The world doesn't want to hear about sin. Talking about sin is old fashioned, out of date. Talking about sin makes people feel uncomfortable. It crimps their style, so many people would rather just not talk about it. But Jesus talks about sin. And why? Because He loves us enough to warn us about the great danger of our sin. And the Lord makes this danger clear in three ways.

[1] JESUS BEGAN BY TELLING US IT WOULD BE BETTER TO LOSE OUR LIVES THAN LEAD LITTLE CHILDREN INTO SIN.