Matthew 15:1-9
The Teaching of Ancestors
Matthew 15:10-20
What Really Makes People Unclean
Matthew 15:21-28
A Canaanite Women With Great Faith
Matthew 15:29-39
Feeding The Four Thousand
Matthew 16:1-12
The Religious Leader’s Demand
Matthew 16:13-20
Peter’s Confession
Matthew 16:21-28
Surrender to The Cross
Matthew 17:1-13
The Transfiguration
Matthew 17:14-23
Healing of The Epileptic Son
Matthew 17:24-27
Jesus Pays The Temple Tax
Matthew 18:1-9
The Need For Humility
Matthew 18:10-14
New Babes in Christ
Matthew 18:15-20
The Biblical Principles For Church Discipline
Matthew 18:21-35
How Many Times Should We Forgive?
Matthew 19:1-8
Is Divorce Permissable?
Matthew 19:9-15
Divorce and Adultery
Matthew 19:16-30
The Rich Young Ruler
Matthew 20:1-16
A Right Attitude in Service
Matthew 20:17-28
A Leader Must Be a Servant
Matthew 20:29-34
The Two Blind Men
Matthew 21:1-17
Jesus Enters Jerusalem on a Donkey
Matthew 21:12-22
The Fuitless Fig Tree
New Babes in Christ
Matthew 18:10–14
» View this passage in NIV (Bible Gateway)
Celeste Sibley, one-time columnist for the Atlanta (GA) Constitution, took her three children to a diner for breakfast one morning. It was crowded and they had to take separate seats at the counter. Eight-year-old Mary was seated at the far end of the counter and when her food wa … More
Children are important to God. In order to demonstrate the importance God attaches to them, the Lord gave the disciples the following illustration (v. 10). Suppose a man who owns one hundred sheep suddenly discovers that one is missing (vv. 11-12). Will he not leave them and search for the one until he finds it. Then when he finds it there will be more rejoicing over that sheep than the ninety-nine which didn’t go astray (v. 13).
In the same way God, the Father is concerned about these little ones (new babes in Christ) and does not want to lose any of them (v. 14). While God permits man to perish in his unbelief, He does not send him to such condemnation against his will (II Peter 3:9). God wants “all men to come to the knowledge of the truth” (I Tim. 2:4). Instead, all of heaven rejoices over every lost sheep which is saved. After they are saved, He also wants them to be discipled. They are like new babies born into this world. “As newborn babies, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: (I Peter 2:2). They are not able to feed themselves and they need milk (simple teaching), not meat.
It is dangerous to look disrespectful upon small children because God values them highly. The Father cares for them and the angels watch over them (v. 10). In these days of child neglect and child abuse, we need to take this warning seriously. It is better to drown with a heavy millstone around your neck, than to abuse a child and face the judgment of God (Matt. 18:6).
Application
What am I doing to help new babes in Christ? Do I know of any new Christians who need someone to help them start to walk in the Christian life? Word of Life has a good ten week follow-up course to help new Christians.
Matthew 18:10-14 (English Standard Version)
Warning: MagpieRSS: Failed to parse RSS file. (Space required at line 39, column 24) in /var/www/html/familytimes/includes/magpie6-1/rss_fetch.inc on line 230
Warning: array_slice() expects parameter 1 to be array, null given in /var/www/html/familytimes/includes/rss/esvLookup.php on line 15
View this passage in NIV (Bible Gateway) »