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Week 14 — Day 1
1 In that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying, Who then is greatest 1in the kingdom of the heavens?
2 And He called a little child to Him and stood him in their midst
3 And said, Truly I say to you, Unless you turn and become like little children, you shall by no means enter into the kingdom of the heavens.
4 He therefore who will humble himself like this little child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of the heavens.
6 And whoever stumbles one of these little ones who believe into Me, it is more profitable for him that a great millstone be hung around his neck and he be drowned in the open sea.
10 See that you do not despise one of these little ones…
Chapters eighteen, nineteen, and twenty are a distinct section of the Gospel of Matthew dealing with the relationships among the kingdom people.…We need to have an overall view of these three chapters, which cover five matters. [These five matters are: pride, our inability to forgive others — the root of which lies in our dispositional anger, lust, riches, and ambition.] All these problems are within us. If we would get into the depths of these chapters, we would certainly be touched. For instance, we would see that we are people full of pride and that anger is hidden in our disposition. No matter how patient or forbearing we try to be, anger is still deeply rooted in our disposition. This is what makes it difficult for us to forgive others. Furthermore, we are troubled by lust and riches, both of which damage the kingdom life. Finally, there is the problem of ambition. Matthew purposely covers these five problems in his Gospel to show that we must take care of them in order to be in the kingdom. Pride, dispositional anger, lust, riches, and ambition are all “scorpions.” We need a divine pest control to kill these “scorpions.”
In the kingdom life, humility is required (18:1-4). In principle, all the kingdom people must be little children. To be humble is to be like a little child. If we are not humble, we will either be offended by others or we will offend others, that is, we will either be stumbled by others or stumble others. All stumbling takes place because of pride. If we were not proud, we would not be stumbled.…If a little child is offended, the offense will be forgotten in just a few minutes. But once adults are offended, they are stumbled because of their pride. Furthermore, the stumbling we cause to others also issues from our pride.
It is a serious matter to stumble someone [v. 6]. In these verses the Lord warns us to deal with this matter. If the hand, the foot, or the eye causes us to stumble [vv. 8-9], we must deal with these causes of stumbling in a serious way.…In order to be in the proper kingdom life, we need to be humble. Then we will not be stumbled or be a cause of stumbling to others. All stumbling must be abandoned.
No matter how small we are, we are lovely in the eyes of the Father, and He cares for us. He does not like to see anyone stumbled. We so easily offend the little ones for whom the Father cares, and as little ones ourselves we are easily stumbled. If we would avoid being stumbled and stumbling others, we need to be humbled. Humility will rescue us. (Life-study of Matthew, pp. 603, 607-608)
11 This chapter deals with the way we should live and act in the kingdom of the heavens: (1) we should become like little children (vv. 2-4); (2) we should not stumble others or set up any stumbling block (vv. 5-9); (3) we should not despise even a little believer (vv. 10-14); (4) we should hear the church and not be condemned by it (vv. 15-20); and (5) we should forgive a brother without limit (vv. 21-35). All this indicates that to enter into the kingdom of the heavens we must be humble and not despise any believer, but love our brother and forgive our brother.
Suggested daily reading: Life-study of Matthew, pp. 603-608; Hymns: #943
Enlightenment and inspiration:
Week 14 — Day 2
15 Moreover if your brother sins against you, go, 1reprove him 2between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother.
16 But if he does not hear you, take with you one or two more, that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.
17 And if he refuses to hear them, 1tell it to the 2church; and if he refuses to hear the church also, let him be to you 3just like the Gentile and the tax collector.
18 Truly I say to you, Whatever you 1bind on the earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you 1loose on the earth shall have been loosed in heaven.
19 Again, truly I say to you that if two of you are in harmony on earth concerning any matter for which they 1ask, it will be done for them from My Father who is in the heavens.
20 For where there are 1two or three 2gathered into My name, there am I in their midst.
151 That he may know his sin and confess his wrongdoing.
152 That no third party may know the wrongdoing of the sinning brother. This is a covering of love.
171 If a brother sins against us, we need to deal with him first in love (v. 15), then by two or three witnesses (v. 16), and finally through the church with authority (v. 17).
172 The church revealed in 16:18 is the universal church, which is the unique Body of Christ, whereas the church revealed here is the local church, the expression of the unique Body of Christ in a certain locality. Chapter 16 concerns the building of the universal church, whereas this chapter concerns the practice of the local church. In both of its aspects the church represents the kingdom of the heavens, having authority to bind and to loose.
173 If any believer refuses to hear the church, he will lose the fellowship of the church and will be like the Gentile (the heathen) and the tax collector (the sinner), who are outside the fellowship of the church.
181 Here to bind means to condemn, and to loose means to forgive.
191 Strictly, ask here refers to prayer that deals with the brother who refuses to hear the church (v. 17).
201 These two or three are the two or three in v. 16. They are gathered together into the Lord’s name, but they are not the church; for v. 17 says that if there is some problem, they need to tell it to the church.
202 The meetings of the believers are initiated by the Lord, who calls the believers out of all persons, matters, and things that occupy them and gathers them together into His name to enjoy the riches of His presence.
Such a gathering of a few people, of two or three, implies one of the ways for the church to meet locally. Such meetings of a few people must have been held in the believers’ homes, as mentioned in Acts 2:46 and 5:42, for the purpose of prayer (Matt. 18:19; Acts 12:5, 12), fellowship, the breaking of bread, teaching, or the preaching of the gospel (Acts 2:42; 5:42). Many such meetings may be held separately in the same locality, yet they are still the unique church in that locality (Matt. 18:17). Otherwise, they are not separate meetings but divisions, and they become sects (Gal. 5:20).
The church must [remove] fornicators and idolaters [1 Cor. 5:13]. But the offending brother who will not listen to two or three or to the church may not necessarily require [removal]. Although the situation with him is unpleasant, it is not in the same category as fornication or idolatry. He is cut off from the fellowship of the church in order that this loss of fellowship may encourage him to repent and to recover his fellowship with the church. (Life-study of Matthew, p. 609)
Suggested daily reading: Life-study of Matthew, pp. 608-612; Hymns: #857
Enlightenment and inspiration:
Week 14 — Day 3
21 Then Peter came and said to Him, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?
22 Jesus said to him, I do not say to you, Up to seven times, but, Up to seventy times seven.
23 For this reason the kingdom of the heavens has become like a king who desired to 1settle accounts with his slaves.
24 And when he began to settle them, one who owed him 1ten thousand talents was brought to him.
25 But since he did not have the means to repay, the master commanded him to be sold, as well as his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made.
26 Then the slave fell down and worshipped him, saying, Be patient with me and I will repay you all.
27 And the master of that slave was moved with compassion and released him and 1forgave him the loan.
When most Christians read Matthew, they do not realize that this book deals not only with the doctrine of the kingdom, but with the practical kingdom life.
In order to remain in the kingdom life, we must have humility. If we have humility, we shall neither offend others nor be offended by others. We shall neither stumble others nor be stumbled by them.…We need to hate pride and treat it as a “gopher” that must be killed. Otherwise, the “gopher” of pride will ruin the kingdom life.
In chapter eighteen we see how to deal with someone who offends others.…It is also a word indicating that it is a serious matter to offend others. The seriousness of this is shown by the danger of being cut off from the fellowship of the church. To be cut off from the fellowship of the church means to be put out of the kingdom life. This is serious.
In the Lord’s word about dealing with an offending brother, the authority of the kingdom is involved. Verse 18 says, “Truly I say to you, Whatever you bind on the earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on the earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”…If you consider verse 18 in its context, you will realize that it is not an insignificant matter to rebel against the church. The church simply follows the heavens to bind what the heavens have already bound. The church’s binding is the execution of the heavens’ binding.…The same is true regarding repentance.…If you repent to the church, the heavens will immediately loose you, and then the church will loose what has been loosed in the heavens.
After listening to the Lord’s word about the kingdom life, Peter asked Him a question: “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” (v. 21).…“Jesus said to him,…Up to seventy times seven” [v. 22]. Seventy times seven means that we must forgive others an unlimited number of times. There is no need to count or keep a record of the number of times you forgive others. Over and over and over, you need to forgive them. In verses 23 through 35 the Lord gives a parable as an illustration.…According to the context of this parable, the settling of accounts here refers to the Lord’s dealing with us in this age through such things as severe illness or certain extreme hardships which cause us to realize how much we owe the Lord and to beg Him to forgive us. (Life-study of Matthew, pp. 613-616)
231 This refers to the judgment at the judgment seat of Christ (2 Cor. 5:10).
241 [According to this verse, one slave owed him ten thousand talents, that is, about twelve million dollars.] Such a large amount indicates that it was impossible for the debtor to pay off the debt. This refers to the heavy debt of our sins against the Lord accumulated after we are saved.
271 This refers to the forgiveness of our debts incurred after we are saved and become slaves of the Lord.
Suggested daily reading: Life-study of Matthew, pp. 613-616; Hymns: #942
Enlightenment and inspiration:
Week 14 — Day 4
28 But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a 1hundred denarii, and he took hold of him and began to choke him, saying, Repay me what you owe.
29 Then his fellow slave fell down and begged him, saying, Be patient with me and I will repay you.
30 But he would not; instead, he went away and threw him into prison until he would repay what was owed.
31 Then his fellow slaves, seeing what had taken place, were greatly 1grieved and came and explained fully to their master all that had taken place.
32 Then his master called him to him and said to him, Evil slave, all that debt I forgave you, because you begged me.
33 Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave even as I had mercy on you?
34 And his master became angry and 1delivered him to the torturers until he would repay all that was owed.
35 So also will My heavenly Father do to you if each of you does not forgive his brother from your hearts.
Verse 28…definitely refers to things that take place in this age.
How small is any brother’s debt to us compared to our debt to the Lord!…Nevertheless, we may not be willing to forgive [vv. 29-30]. The offended brother, the one not willing to forgive others, was certainly saved. Thus, in this parable the Lord is dealing not with sinners, but with believers, with saved ones. He deals with a brother who has been offended, yet who is not willing to forgive.
In verses 15 through 20 the emphasis is on the offending brother needing to repent. But in the parable the emphasis is on the offended one needing to forgive. Both our unwillingness to repent and our unwillingness to forgive will keep us out of the kingdom…not only in this age but in the coming age.…Perhaps you have not heard such a serious word before and were misled concerning this matter. Many Christians do not know how to interpret this part of the Word because they have not seen God’s dispensational administration. They do not realize that God has ordained three ages: the present age, the coming age, and the eternal age. According to Matthew 12:32, certain sins cannot be forgiven either in this age or in the coming age. This indicates that other sins can be forgiven in this age or in the next age.
If we do not practice the way of repentance and forgiveness, the longer we stay in the church life, the more offenses there will be.…This will annul the kingdom life and cause us to forfeit the church life. May the Lord grant us the grace we need. If I offend you, I need to go to you and repent. If you offend me, I need to look to the Lord for the grace to forgive you from my heart. And once I have forgiven an offense, I should forget it and never mention it again. If we do this, we will have the proper kingdom life. Then we will share in the manifestation of the kingdom. (Life-study of Matthew, pp. 616-618, 621-623)
281 Less than one ten thousandth of ten thousand talents. It refers to a sin committed against us by a brother after we are saved and become slaves of the Lord.
311 Our not forgiving the brother who sins against us will grieve the other brothers, and they may bring this matter to the Lord.
341 This refers to the Lord’s dealing with His believers at His coming back. If we do not forgive the brother who sins against us, we will be disciplined by the Lord until we forgive him from the heart, i.e., until we repay all that is owed. Then the Lord will forgive us. This is forgiveness in the kingdom. This implies that if we do not forgive a brother from our heart today, we will not be allowed to enter into the kingdom in the coming age. See note 322 in ch. 12.
Suggested daily reading: Life-study of Matthew, pp. 616-623; Hymns: #26
Enlightenment and inspiration:
Week 14 — Day 5
3 And some Pharisees came to Him, testing Him and saying, Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause?
4 And He answered and said, Have you not read that 1He who created them from the beginning made them male and female,
5 And said, “For this cause shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall be joined to his wife; and the two shall be one flesh”?
7 They said to Him, Why then did Moses 1command us to give her a certificate of divorce and divorce her?
8 He said to them, Moses, because of your hardness of heart, allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the 1beginning it has not been so.
9 But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife, except for 1fornication, and marries another, commits adultery; and he who marries her who has been divorced commits adultery.
10 His disciples said to Him, If the case of the man with his wife is like this, it is not profitable to marry.
11 And He said to them, 1Not all men can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given.
12 For there are eunuchs who were born so from their mother’s womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs 1who made themselves eunuchs because of the kingdom of the heavens. He who can accept it, let him accept it.
41 From here to the end of v. 6, the Lord’s word not only acknowledged God’s creation of man but also confirmed God’s ordination regarding man’s marriage, that is, that one male and one female are to be joined and yoked together as one flesh and are not to be separated by man.
71 This commandment was not a part of the basic law but was a supplement to the law. It was given by Moses not according to God’s ordination from the beginning but as something temporary, because of the hardness of man’s heart.
81 The commandment given by Moses concerning divorce was a deviation from God’s original ordination concerning marriage, but for the kingdom of the heavens Christ as the heavenly King recovered marriage back to the beginning. This indicates that the kingdom of the heavens, which corresponds with God’s ordination from the beginning, does not allow divorce.
91 Lit. harlotry, whoredom. This is worse than adultery. The Lord’s word here indicates definitely that nothing but fornication breaks the marriage tie. (Of course, death breaks it spontaneously.) Hence, except for fornication there is no excuse for divorce.
111 Not all men, but only those to whom God has given the gift, are able to refrain from marriage. Without God’s gift, anyone who attempts to remain unmarried will meet with temptations.
121 These are the ones to whom God has given the gift to remain unmarried for the sake of the kingdom of the heavens. Paul was such a one (1 Cor. 7:7-8; 9:5).
A eunuch is one who deals thoroughly with lust. In order to be such a spiritual eunuch, we need grace.…By grace it is possible to deal with the subtle, evil “scorpion” of lust that damages our life.
The religionists’ temptation here [in verse 3] afforded the Lord an opportunity to reveal a further matter concerning the kingdom of the heavens. Chapter eighteen reveals how we must deal with the brothers so that we can enter into the kingdom of the heavens, whereas this chapter reveals that marriage life (vv. 3-12) and our attitude toward riches (vv. 16-30) are related to the kingdom of the heavens. Marriage life touches the matter of lust, and our attitude toward riches touches the matter of covetousness. The kingdom of the heavens rules out every trace of our lust and covetousness. (Life-study of Matthew, pp. 629-630)
Suggested daily reading: Life-study of Matthew, pp. 625-630; Hymns: #312
Enlightenment and inspiration:
Week 14 — Day 6
16 And behold, someone came to Him and said, Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may 1have eternal life?
17 And He said to him, Why do you ask Me concerning what is good? There is only 1One who is good. But if you want to 2enter into life, 3keep the commandments.
21 Jesus said to him, If you want to be 1perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in the heavens; and come, 2follow Me.
22 But the young man, hearing this word, went away sorrowing, for he had many possessions.
24 And again I say to you, It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
25 And when the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and said, Who then can be saved?
26 And looking upon them, Jesus said to them, With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.
161 Having eternal life as spoken of in Matthew differs from having eternal life as spoken of in John. Matthew is concerned with the kingdom, whereas John is concerned with life. In John, to have eternal life is to be saved by God’s uncreated life that we may live by that life today and for eternity; but in Matthew, to have eternal life is to participate in the reality of the kingdom of the heavens in this age by God’s eternal life and to share in the kingdom’s manifestation in the coming age, thereby enjoying God’s eternal life in a fuller way.
171 This One is God. Only God is good. This indicates not only that the young man asking the question was not good but also that the Lord Jesus is God, who is good. If He were not God, He too would not be good.
172 Here to enter into life means to enter into the kingdom of the heavens (v. 23). The kingdom of the heavens is a realm of God’s eternal life. Hence, when we enter into it, we enter into God’s life. This differs from being saved. To be saved is to have God’s life enter into us to be our life, whereas to enter into the kingdom of the heavens is to enter into God’s life to enjoy the riches of God’s life. The former is to be redeemed and regenerated by the Holy Spirit, whereby we receive God’s life; the latter is to live and walk by God’s life. One is a matter of life; the other is a matter of living. See note 161.
173 This is not the requirement for salvation; it is related to entering into the kingdom of the heavens. According to the constitution of the kingdom of the heavens, to enter into the kingdom of the heavens requires us to meet not only the standard of the old law but also the standard of the complemented new law given by the King (5:17-48). Salvation requires only faith, whereas the kingdom of the heavens requires the surpassing righteousness that issues from the keeping of the old law and the complemented law given by the heavenly King.
211 Even though the young man had observed the commandments of the old law — or so he assumed — he still was not perfect, not up to the standard of the requirement of the complemented new law, for he was not willing to sell what he had and store up treasure in heaven, as the constitution of the kingdom required (6:19-21).
212 To follow the Lord is to love Him above all things (10:37-38). This is the supreme requirement for entering into the kingdom of the heavens.
As most Christians do today, the disciples confused salvation [v. 25] with entering into the kingdom of the heavens.…By our human life it is impossible to enter into the kingdom of the heavens, but it is possible [v. 26] by God’s divine life, which is Christ Himself imparted into us so that we can live the kingdom life. (Life-study of Matthew, pp. 637-638)
Suggested daily reading: Life-study of Matthew, pp. 630-638; Hymns: #943
Enlightenment and inspiration:
Week 14 — Prophecy
IV. The King’s being rejected (12:1—27:66)
D. The path of rejection (16:13—23:39)
1. Before going to Judea (16:13—18:35)
g. Relationships in the kingdom (18:1-35)
2. After arriving in Judea (19:1—20:16)
а. Healing the following crowd (19:2)
b. Further temptation by the fundamentalists (19:3-12)
c. Laying hands on the children (19:13-15)
d. The way for a rich man to enter into the kingdom (19:16-26)
Chapters eighteen, nineteen, and twenty are a distinct section of the Gospel of Matthew dealing with the relationships among the kingdom people. We need to have an overall view of these three chapters, which cover five matters: pride, our inability to forgive others — the root of which lies in our dispositional anger, lust, riches, and ambition. All these problems are within us. We need a divine pest control to kill these “scorpions.”
Matthew 18 deals with the way we should live and act in the kingdom of the heavens: (1) we should become like little children (vv. 2-4); (2) we should not stumble others or set up any stumbling block (vv. 5-9); (3) we should not despise even a little believer (vv. 10-14); (4) we should hear the church and not be condemned by it (vv. 15-20); and (5) we should forgive a brother without limit (vv. 21-35).
All stumbling takes place because of pride. Humility will rescue us.
In both of its aspects, universal and local, the church represents the kingdom of the heavens, having authority to bind and to loose. If any believer refuses to hear the church, he will lose the fellowship of the church and will be like the Gentile (the heathen) and the tax collector (the sinner), who are outside the fellowship of the church. Such a one is cut off from the fellowship of the church in order that this loss of fellowship may encourage him to repent and to recover his fellowship with the church.
In chapter eighteen we see how to deal with someone who offends others as well as the seriousness of offending others. In verses 15 through 20 the emphasis is on the offending brother needing to repent. But in the parable (vv. 23-35) the emphasis is on the offended one needing to forgive. Both our unwillingness to repent and our unwillingness to forgive will keep us out of the kingdom not only in this age but also in the coming age. If I offend you, I need to go to you and repent. If you offend me, I need to look to the Lord for the grace to forgive you from my heart. If we do this, we will have the proper kingdom life and will share in the manifestation of the kingdom.
The religionists’ temptation (Matt. 19:3) afforded the Lord an opportunity to reveal that marriage life (vv. 3-12) and our attitude toward riches (vv. 16-30) are related to the kingdom of the heavens. Marriage life touches the matter of lust, and our attitude toward riches touches the matter of covetousness. The kingdom of the heavens rules out every trace of our lust and covetousness.
Matthew 19:16-26 reveals the way for a rich man to enter into the kingdom. To have eternal life (v. 16) in the Gospel of John is mainly for regeneration, for the new birth. But in the Gospel of Matthew, eternal life is for the kingdom. To enter into life here (v. 17) is to enter into the kingdom of the heavens (v. 23), a realm of God’s eternal life. This differs from being saved. When we are saved we receive God’s life, but to enter into the kingdom of the heavens is to live and walk by God’s life. To live and walk by God’s life is to follow the Lord. To follow the Lord is to love Him above all things (10:37-38). This is the supreme requirement for entering into the kingdom of the heavens.
Composition for prophecy with main point and sub-points:
