Matthew Chapter 18 Part 2 Set No Wicked Thing Before Our Eyes!

This chapter begins with Jesus' disciples arguing among themselves about who would be the greatest of them in the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus brought their sinful pride into the light so that He could address it. 

He was very blunt, saying unless your heart is humble like a child, before God and man, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.

Thus, Jesus used a little child to illustrate this truth and to show His disciples that they must be converted or turned away from pride to Christ.

Jesus compared His disciples to little children who will go forth preaching the gospel of the kingdom to the world.

Those who receive them and heed the message will be blessed.

Those who reject Christ, ignore the gospel and live for self will suffer judgment.

Those who actively hinder preachers of the gospel or who intend to harm them, will suffer severe judgment.

Jesus speaks about sin in the next paragraph and in context, it seems that He is speaking about those who  seek to entice Christians into sinning.

Matthew 18:7  Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh! 

The words "Woe unto the world" are used by Jesus to express pity and concern for the state of the world due to the prevalence of sin.

Having mentioned the offending of little ones, Jesus speaks more generally of offences. 

An offence is something that causes guilt or shame in our heart. 

An offense is a temptation that tends to draw men away from that which is God says is good, and drags them to that which God says is evil. 

Offenses sadden the heart of a righteous man and cause him grief.

False teachers who tempt Christians to follow error rather than staying on the narrow path of God that leads to eternal life, will suffer severe judgment from Christ.

1 Timothy 2:1-4  I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; 2  For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. 3  For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; 4  Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. 

God wants all people in every place throughout all human history, to be saved. 

He commands Christians to constantly pray for those who are in authority over us. 

We are to pray that God will allow us to live a quiet life marked by peace rather than conflict.

We are to pray that we might provide for our families through honest work and be upright in our behavior so that we can be the salt and light Jesus said we must be.

God's specific will is for all people everywhere to repent of sin and trust His Son for salvation.

The sacrifice of Christ and preaching the gospel is the heart of God and the fullest display of His love for all mankind (See John 3:15-18). 

This why He gave His only Son to be crucified on a cruel cross as the perfect Lamb, sacrificed for the sins of all humanity for all time.

It is with this view of God's love that Jesus said "Woe unto the world" because He fully knows the death, damage and destruction caused by sin since Adam and Eve fell.

Next, Jesus said "It must needs be that offenses come" which speaks to the certainty of sin and depravity in the world.

Sin's presence and it's damaging impact is a reality of the world in which we live.

Jesus pronounced this "woe" as a prediction based upon the root causes of sin and misery. Behind all sin lurks the hidden subtlety and malice of Satan, which preys upon the weakness and depravity of men's hearts.

Acts 20:28-31  Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. 29  For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. 30  Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. 31  Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears. 

Why did Jesus point this out to us? 

So that Christians in every age and place can be on their guard against it. 

The Holy Spirit guided the apostle Paul to give elders from Ephesus final warnings that reflect the words of our Lord.

Being forewarned that people will come promoting doctrines of devils or who follow seducing spirits, we must stand our ground by being rooted in God's Word.

The scriptures are always the holy antidote to fight the unholy temptation to sin and to righteously rebuke false doctrines and false teachers.

This present world is an evil world, full of offences, of sins, and snares, and sorrows. 

We travel on a dangerous road, full of dangerous stumbling-blocks, unseen precipices, and false guides.

Matthew 18:8-9  Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. 9  And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire. 

The same words repeated here were previously spoken by Christ, about the sin of adultery and looking on a woman with lust (See Matthew 5:27-30).

Jesus is not promoting self mutilation. 

Rather, He is teaching us to turn our eyes away from the forbidden fruit and to occupy our hands with doing that which is good and right and honorable.

Sexual sin involves our eyes seeing things which we should not see, then our lust is incited, fueling an unlawful passion for what we have seen.

Our feet lead us to the object of our lust and our hands work to fulfill our lust. 

The idea of plucking out our eye or cutting off a hand or foot, is not to be taken literally. This is a figurative method of expression.

Any worldly pleasures, relationships, or vocation that cannot be pursued without leading us into sin, must be abandoned.

First, It is certain, the inward lust must be mortified, though it be dear to us as an eye, or a hand.

Galatians 5:22-25  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 24  And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 25  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 

The flesh, with its affections and lusts, must be mortified. The body of sin must be destroyed and its corrupt tendencies and lusts must be checked.

Paul tells us to crucify the flesh with it's "affections", which refers to  the afflictions Christians suffer in this life as partakers of Christ's sufferings.

Then, Paul tells us that our fleshly lusts must also be crucified so that we may be guided by the Spirit of God and walk in His direction and presence day by day.

Mortifying the members of our fleshly body comes right in the context of teaching us about the fruit of the Spirit in our lives.

Jesus’ words about removing an offending eye are some of the strongest words He used, and are meant to jolt us awake.

Jesus is not commanding literal self‑mutilation, but He is revealing the seriousness of sin and the urgency of dealing with it decisively.

In Scripture, the eye is often symbolic of our desires, our focus, or our temptations. 

Our eye functions as the gateway to our heart, the seat of our emotion and feelings.

An eye that “offends” us means it becomes a stumbling block, a source of sin, or a doorway to temptation.

Jesus commands us to deal with it radically, not casually.

If something in our life continually leads us into sin, don’t negotiate with it—remove it.

This may mean cutting off a relationship that pulls us away from God or removing access to something that feeds temptation.

It certainly means changing our habits, environments, or routines.

It means refusing to entertain any thoughts that fuel our lusts and that could potentially lead us to sin.

Jesus’ whole Sermon on the Mount is about internal righteousness from God through the new birth, not external actions.

So the real “eye” that must be removed is our thought patterns, our desires, our habits and any area where we have compromised by not obeying God’s Word.

We turn to the scriptures to find help that God promises to give us, so that our eyes, feet and hands do not lead us into the path of sin and suffering.

Job 31:1  I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid? 

Notice how practical and relevant the scriptures are. The book of Job is considered by many to be the oldest book of the Bible.

This patriarch suffered many things as the Devil launched attack after attack upon him and his family.

All the terrible things that happened to Job were according to the permissive will of God. 

Job made a covenant with his eyes not to look with lust upon a younger maid servant in his household.

He knew that an eye that looked with lust could cause him to sin against God.

This covenant was made between Job and God as the patriarch sought divine help to filter what he saw with his eyes.

Psalm 101:1-3  A Psalm of David. I will sing of mercy and judgment: unto thee, O LORD, will I sing. 2  I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. O when wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. 3  I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me. 

King David wrote this and it helps to remember that his great sin with Bathsheba was fueled by lust after his eyes saw her bathing.

David received mercy and forgiveness from the LORD and he both sang about it and wrote of it in the Psalms.

 

David said that he learned to behave himself with wisdom to walk in the perfect ways marked out for him in the scriptures.

Notice what the king said. "I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes." 

This truth has powerful applications for modern life where anonymous pornagraphy and various dating apps fuel lust and illicit relationships.

Pornographic material is all around us and in our faces. Plucking out our eye means turning away from visual temptations.

This is what Jesus means when He says "If thine eye offend thee, pluck it out." 

Psalm 119:36-38  Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness. 37  Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way. 38  Stablish thy word unto thy servant, who is devoted to thy fear. 

Here the Psalmist asks for God to incline or turn his heart to the Word of God.

Like we must do, he asked for God's help to turn his eyes away from beholding vanity, the endless, empty cultural pursuits.

When we read, hear, study and memorize the scriptures, our inner man will be quickened, infused with spiritual life and made ready to serve God.

Proverbs 4:23-27  Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. 24  Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee. 25  Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. 26  Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. 27  Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil. 

King Solomon wisely connected what we see with our need to guard our heart with all diligence.

All the issues of life, especially relative to either  committing sin or living for God's glory, are governed by what is in our heart.

Programmers used to say "GIGO" which means garbage in, garbage out.

This is very true when it comes to our eyes and minds and hearts.

Matthew 15:19  For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: 

Jesus previously taught about what goes into our heart is what will come out in our words and actions.

Thus, if someone allows pornography to enter through their eyes, into their heart, then they have put fuel on the fire of sinful lusts.

When lust in our heart conceives, it brings forth sin (See James 1:15). 

Romans 12:1-2  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. 

This is why God's Spirit guided Paul to teach this valuable truth.

We must give our lives to God, and do as Christ and His apostles taught us to do.

Deny our fleshly desires, take up our cross daily, and follow Jesus.

Seeking to live pure and holy lives is acceptable to God and this is our reasonable service to Him.

We must not be conformed or pressed into cultural depravity and this happens as we are transformed by having our minds renewed.

The scriptures are living truth and when we read it, it shall not return void to God. 

Rather, it will do the work in our hearts that He wants to do for us.

It is living truth that feeds and builds up our new man in Christ, so that we can walk in newness of life.

It is living truth to show us the will of God for each one of us.

Galatians 2:20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. 

We must present our bodies as a living sacrifice. That is, we are alive, but the life we now life is devoted to following hard after God.

This is a life that we live by faith because scripture teaches us that those who are justified by God live by faith.

We believe the scriptures and what God says to us.

We seek to grow in our faith and mature in our walk with God.

We want to serve God and obey His Word.

We do not want to cave in to the lusts of our flesh.

Thus, our eye must be governed such that we filter out all that fuels lust in our heart.

We permit the good Word of God to come into our hearts so that our thoughts, words and actions are shaped by His eternal truth.

May we hear and heed Jesus' words.

Bob