2819 Church - WISDOM & WONDER | A Measure of True Greatness | Matthew 18:1-6 | Philip Anthony Mitchell

Episode Date: January 4, 2025

In Season 7 of “WISDOM & WONDER,” Philip Anthony Mitchell breaks down a powerful passage of scripture found in Matthew 18:1-6. Welcome to the official Youtube channel for 2819 Church. This channel features powerful and life-impacting messages from Philip Anthony Mitchell and guest communicators. As you listen to these sound biblical messages you can expect to be challenged, stirred, matured and inspired in your faith and walk with God. For more information about us visit 2819Church.org.

You could be seated. Amen. I know that we live in a a culture that is very time oriented and very busy. Everything runs like this. And we attend a lot of gatherings, sporting events,

entertainment events, all manner of events. There has to be a gathering in the earth where people come together and we transcend the moment that we're in where we feel the presence of God. And then we got to learn sometimes to just sit in his presence. And we expect six days out there in the world and we come together as a church and sometimes we got a sense

when the Holy Spirit wants to do something in your heart outside of a man outside of a sermon and really we could just go home right now sometimes more than what you need is a sermon is just need to sense and know that the presence of God is tangible and for those of us who are young in the faith it's so easy to take what we feel right now for granted all across this country there places are places people are gathering.

It's like Ichabod. It's like we don't feel the manifest presence of God. And in these last days that we're living in right now, these end times, I mean, these little outpourings of glory. And I want to encourage you, if you're young in the faith, man, sit in that outpouring. Lean into that outpouring.

Sometimes you're watching us worship, don't even know what you need you will get if you just lean into God's presence in that moment. Spectators always leave things on the table that God intended to give you. You'll never know in a moment like this when the Spirit of God can speak to your word about your future, can tell you that's your husband or your wife, can tell you that deal you're about to make, don't make it,

or just remind you that you're loved and that you're seen, and that even in the middle of trial, you're not forgotten. For some of you, you just need to know that you're seen and that even in the middle of trial you're not forgotten for some of you you just need to know that you're seen and that you're loved and although you you may leave this room and go back out to problems and situations there is the sense of assurance that the Lord is with you and what you're going through sometimes we just need to sit in his presence to feel that. David said this one thing I desire, that will I seek. I may dwell in the house the Lord forever that is there is nothing you're gonna feel no orgasm no high no bottle no touch there's nothing you're gonna feel on this side of heaven more powerful than what we're lingering in right now. The presence manifests of almighty God. Your high will come down. Your orgasm

will go away. You'll come down from that stupor and still feel just as miserable as you was before. But there is one thing that will satisfy your soul watch this word perpetually and continually it's this right here this moment right here those tears that you're shedding this moment right, this will satisfy the deepest longings of your soul. The presence of Almighty God. Do I got a witness anywhere out there? It's hard to be depressed in his presence. It's hard to worry in his presence.

You come into his presence and the problems you had outside there, they seem so small. Things fade away. Chains break. Heavy burdens on your shoulder just roll off and yokes are destroyed. And sometimes in our busyness, we rob ourselves of moments like this,

both in corporate gatherings, in your car, in your job, in a gym, in the shower, busy. But is there anyone thankful for the manifest presence of the Lord? No? Not thankful? I said, is there anybody thankful? No? No? No? I said, is there anybody

thankful for the manifest presence of the Lord? You was once far away where you couldn't feel that. But he's brought you near to himself. And now you can feel his manifest presence. Is there anybody thankful?

Thank you. My G, you thankful? You thankful? All right, my G. All right. That's what I'm talking about right there. That's what I'm talking about right there. That's what I'm talking about. Before we jump into the proclamation of God's word, I want to say to all of you, especially those who are new at our church,

that the logo on my chest is not just the name of our church. It's the great commission of the Lord Jesus Christ and what he's commanded us to do. And I know I'm not the only one that's crying around the country. That in my prayer time, I have this acute awareness from the Lord Jesus Christ that our time is running out. You're going to hear me say that over and over like a broken record because good leaders repeat themselves. And there were people who would cry against the Lord and say, you did not warn us.

I'm telling y'all right now, time is running out. I'm so serious about this. I feel like the hand of the Savior is on the doorknob just looking back at the father waiting to say go see the father rearranging the pieces all around the globe preparing the world for the rise of the Antichrist for the one world government one world currency currencies just the blind people who call themselves Christians who are not paying attention you only boxed into your little square you're not looking

at the global headlines that are screaming right out of the pages of the scriptures warning men and women all around the country to get aboard the arc of safety before it's too late because time is running out and for all of that we are just thirsty for empty gatherings and empty sermons and empty podcasts that has all of us busy with

things that's not going to matter a hundred years from now and there's no parts of your life flowing like a tributary into the great commission we are just busy about stuff that's not even gonna matter for that the only thing that's gonna remain is what we have done for christ together and i want to awaken as many of you as possible with your young tight skin time is running out and that what we need to be busy about as a family is being busy together as a family in our prayers, in our service, in our giving, doing all we can to spread this glorious gospel and to multiply disciples

because it's just not going to matter in the end. I buried my stepfather yesterday, sitting there in a funeral, staring at a box. And now that he's gone, don't nobody care what house he lived in? Nobody care what car he drove? Nobody even care how much money he got saved in the bank. The only thing that matters is the deposits he made in the lives of those he loved and what he has done for Christ. And now Christ is more real to him

than I would ever know. And I am reminded that we all got a date with eternity. And I'm doing everything I can to awaken as many people as I can, to remind as many people as I can to stop playing around with the one life you got. I didn't even stop you wasting the one life you have instead of putting all of it on the altar for the work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Like, what else are you doing with your life that's going to be more important than that? Some of you, I wish I could just snatch you from all of your false prophets and your false voices and your idols that got you comfortable when we are in a warfare that got you comfortable when the lord has anointed you for this hour and for this season you don't even know how dangerous you are when you kneel down you don't even know how dangerous you are when you kneel down. You don't even know how dangerous you are when you open your word. You don't even know how dangerous you are when you're praying for people on the other side of the world. You don't even know how dangerous you are. So we want to be busy about the spread of this gospel and the multiplying disciples we're not

going to be busy about having services we are going to be busy about the lord's work and i want to give you a testimony man a couple months ago i was in florida doing a bible study with a group of pastors. I met a pastor there from Orlando, from Africa, from the country of Malawi. His name was Pastor Dilitso. And he's from a nation in Africa that's being consumed by Islam, that being hijacked by this false religion,

this great false monotheism. And he has this burden in his heart to plant four churches in the north, the south, the east, and the west of this small country, Malawi, with the hopes of doing all he can through his ministry to push out the gospel across his nation to win as many souls as possible. And they have one facility sitting on a plot of land in Malawi and felt the call of the Lord to go ahead and plant that second church build that second facility and did not have the money to purchase the land and it was right there in the bible study the Holy Spirit rose up on the inside of me and say man of God do not worry another day the people of 2019 will fund this vision for you.

And we sent that pastor back to Africa with a bag. Give me my picture control room and I want to report to you. I want to report to you that PastorLizzo has purchased that land. And we're not just wasting money. You're not just trying to put me in a house or a jet no we're using money to put souls in heaven that for everybody who was bought into this ministry who are sowing seeds into the gospel who are making an investment into eternity I want to tell you that when that structure is built on that land, for every soul that will be saved in Malawi, for every life that will be transformed,

that's going to be in perpetuity credited to your heavenly bank account for your generosity. It's like if we're not spending money to do this then what are we spending our money on that because of the generosity of the people of god here at 2019 the the small group of y'all who are giving and believe in christ believe in this ministry this is what the fruit of your giving this is the fruit of your giving. This is the fruit of your generosity. Not only land and Africa, but the missionary we support in the Middle East. Can't call her name or her country. Or the missionary we support in Madagascar.

That we're not just in a school in Atlanta. No, we're doing our part with what little we have to push out this gospel as far as we can. I ain't rich. No. And I ain't a slave to that green God. There will be a portion of my income devoted

to this. That according to that Bible, when we arrive in heaven we will see friends we have put there because of our generosity so to all of you who are faithful givers supporters watch thank you and without you we can't be here every Sunday. We can't purchase equipment. We can't spread the gospel. We can't do stuff like this. We can't support missionaries.

Watch. Thank you. I appreciate you, and we welcome you to 2819 if you are a digital disciple we welcome you to 2819 and if you are unbeliever and you are not a follower of the lord jesus christ we're so glad that you're here among us right now you could be long before you believe you can be Christ. We're so glad that you're here among us right now. You could be long before you believe you can be amongst us. We're so thankful that you're here eavesdropping on these holy gospel conversations. Believing that at some point in time in one of these gatherings, the Lord Jesus would draw you to himself and bring you into the kingdom of light. Those of you who have been called before the foundation of the world, in an instant, in a

moment, even while the word is being proclaimed, we pray the Father will bring you near to himself. We are in a series right now called Wisdom and Wonder. We are walking through the book of Matthew together, and in this series, we're walking through Matthew chapter 12 through 20 together. Okay? Matthew 12 through 20 together. Don't want to assume you know who Matthew is. He was an outcast Jew who lived in the first century AD. He was converted to Christianity by the Lord Jesus Christ. He went on to become a follower of Christ, an apostle, and an eyewitness of his ministry. He recorded everything he saw and heard to the best of his ability. And according to Fox's Book of Martyrs, you should buy that book, Fox's Book of Martyrs. And according to Fox's Book of Martyrs,

he was killed for the faith. He was killed for what he saw, a resurrected Christ. And we are studying the book that bears his name. Today, we're going to unpack one of the most important chapters in the New Testament, one of the most important chapters in the New Testament, one of the most important chapters in the book of Matthew. Matthew writes a book with five discourses, five major sermons that he recorded from the Lord Jesus Christ. The Sermon on the Mount is one, okay, and there's five of them in the book of Matthew. Matthew chapter 18 forms a bridge from the fourth discourse heading into the last discourse, which is the sermon, which is the, the, the, in Matthew 24 and then the great commission. This is one of the most important chapters in the new Testament. Some of

you have heard passages from this task, from this chapter. Some of you have heard people, I, Sajid text from this chapter, have heard people pick it apart. But this whole chapter, chapter 18, is one sermon from the Lord Jesus Christ. It's going to take us five weeks to unpack this sermon. And all I want to do today is lay a foundation for this five-week sermon, this five-week teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ, one of the most important chapters in the New Testament. For all of our note takers today, we'll unpack together Matthew chapter 18,

verses one through six. And we'll tag a title to this text, a measure of true greatness. A measure of true greatness. Eternal God and ever wise Father, for the third time today I pray, Holy Spirit, you would anoint me in my weakness to proclaim these infallible riches of your word.

We feel your tangible presence all around us. We feel that time is running out. We feel that you're calling us to be serious in these last days and last hours. Lord, not for form or for fashion or for entertainment, I pray that you would awaken the sons and daughters in this room, that you would open the eyes of sons and daughters in this room, that you would open the eyes of sons and daughters in this room,

that you would poke the heart of sons and daughters in this room. I pray for those who are far away from you, the atheist and the unbeliever, you would draw them to yourself as the word is being proclaimed. We are not thinking about a restaurant. We are not thinking about where we're going after this. We're not thinking about anything except this moment right here for some of us may not even live to see next week next month next year we're not thinking about

anything except this moment right here this hour that you've given us this opportunity to gather and be together Lord for a day may come where we may not be able to gather we may not be able to sit in come when we may not be able to gather. We may not be able to sit in a room. We may not be able to open the Bible and hear teaching from the scriptures. So, Father, these moments, would you just drive away weariness and tiredness and thoughts of all these other things we need to be doing? No! I pray, God, Lord, you would arrest us and hold us hostage to this moment right here. Not some other moment. This one right here.

And that we would lean in to hear your voice through the proclamation of your word. transformed and changed in the mighty and the majestic and the matchless name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And all of God's people say amen. Amen. A measure of true greatness. Family, as I'm preaching this message to you right now

in September of 24, we are probably living in the most narcissistic, the most self-absorbed, the most glory-seeking generation in the history of our nation. Never in my life have I seen a people so desperate to be seen, so desperate to be known, so desperate to be famous, so desperate to be influencers, so desperate for positions and title and prestige. From the ill motives that people are using to reach the highest office in our land

to the married couple who are poor living in bankhead fighting in their house for dominance in their home all of us in this room because of our fallen nature we have this bent towards having an exaggeration of an inflated estimation of ourselves. Too many of us think more highly of ourselves than we ought to. So we are offended at people not because they have done something wrong, but we are offended because we have an exaggerated self-esteem, an exaggerated estimation of ourselves. For so often in our society, we see this manifest itself in society in unhealthy ambitions, in vain ambitions. We see this manifesting itself in toxic fights for comparison and compromise and competition and fighting one another for seats at the table and who's the

better person over this. We see people fighting on ministry teams and people fighting for songs and people fighting to be on platforms and everybody got something to say. Everybody is a sage. Everybody got an IG live. And family-wide, this kind of unhealthy ambition to be seen, to be known, to be famous,

why this kind of healthy ambition for power and prestige and position is something very normal in our society. It is something completely different when we see this behavior manifesting itself in the church. I want to remind all of you who are sitting in this room right now that this thing that we are a part of, this thing we call the gathering of the saints, this thing we call the church, although it has been infiltrated by man-made doctrines and secular humanistic doctrines and perverted doctrines. And although we look at it for all its perversions, I do want to remind you that this thing we call the church, this thing we call in Greek the ecclesia of Jesus, which does not mean a building. I want you to stop doing that.

Stop telling people, I'm headed to the church. You're headed to a building. We are the church. That came because of Constantine in Rome when they created basilicas and then we started calling basilicas the church no the word church when it's first heard in the scriptures is the Greek word ecclesia which simply means gathering is that's why we call these gatherings not services we don't call this school a church. You're not headed to the church. You're headed to the gathering, right? And although we see that kind of behavior manifesting in the world, man, it is something different when we see that kind of nasty, toxic behavior manifesting itself amongst God's people, amongst the gathering of God's people. Now, family, I just want to remind

you that man did not create this, but it was the Lord Jesus Christ who created this thing that we call the church. As imperfect as she is with all the issues that she has, I just want to remind you that it was Christ who founded this and not man, right? The scriptures that you have in front of you, the original manuscripts, which I had an opportunity to see some of them, the Dead Sea Scrolls, they do not have chapters and verses and headers. These writers of these ancient texts wrote whole arguments that ran all the way through from the beginning to the end. These chapters and verses are only here so we can find verses in the Bible. It is Matthew who recorded for us back in Matthew chapter 16 that Christ asked his followers in northern Israel where I have been, who do men

say that I am? They said, some say you're Jeremiah. Some say you're Elijah and this prophet and this prophet. He said, okay, but who do y'all say that i am because it's one thing for the world to have a misunderstanding of christ but his people need to understand who he is that he's not a homeboy he's not a name on a bracelet he's not a t-shirt he is who peter said he was you are the christ not his last name the anointed one you are the son of almighty god and the lord turns to peter and matthew 16 changes his name from simon which means little stone to peter which means rock in the greek and says peter flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but you are Peter. And on this rock, on this revelation that I am the son of God and upon you who will become the pastor of the

very first church on the day of Pentecost, I will build my church, not T.D. Jakes' church, not Stephen Furtick's church, not Philip's church. I, Jesus said, will build my church. And the gates of hell cannot prevail against us. There is no force in all of the world that's going to stop the progression of the church. Watch. the world that's gonna stop the progression of the church watch Matthew chapter 16 Jesus founds the church in a vision watch Matthew chapter 28 Jesus gives the church its first mission I don't care what ministry you came from or what they had on a board the entire church only has one mission matthew 28 therefore and make disciples that's the only mission of the church if we ain't about that

life we ain't about nothing so the lord watch created an entity of followers. Then he gave that followers a commission. Go spread the gospel, multiply disciples, not churchgoers, multiply committed followers after me. Right. But in Matthew chapter 18, what the Lord gives the future church is its first teachings about community. This is very important because before the Lord sends them out, he first teaches them how to live amongst each other as brothers and sisters. This is important because nobody want to hear about your God of love when you are nasty to your brother and your sister. Let me repeat. You love to post, and you love to get on Instagram Live,

but when people get near you, they can't stand you. Don't nobody want to hear about our God of love when we don't know how to love each other right inside the context of biblical community. So the Lord being a wise teacher, wisdom and wonder, right, before he sends them out with a message, first he teaches them about how y'all must live amongst yourselves. Now in the New Testament letters, before Paul writes a letter, before James writes a letter, before Peter writes a letter, all of the doctrine in the New Testament about community begins right here with Matthew chapter 18. All of the teachings

about how we govern ourselves in the context of community begins right here in Matthew 18. Look at me. The very first teachings in the New Testament about community in the context of the church begins right here in Matthew chapter 18. So if we don't get Matthew chapter 18 right, then we don't get the rest of the gospel right. Why? Because we don't have credibility to preach to people if we don't know how to love each other right in here. When you do community poorly, it robs you of the credibility for your message. So man, you always preach in Christ,

but you are very unloving to the people you claim that you are a part of. So in order for the followers of Christ to have credibility in their message, what the Lord does as a wise teacher first is teaches them how to live amongst themselves in gospel community. So before you get to a Romans, before you get to a 1st and 2nd Corinthians, before you get to a Thessalonians, before you get to all of those doctrines, the very first teaching in the New Testament to you, the followers of Christ, on how we should conduct ourselves when we come together as a family, when we're hanging out in Starbucks, when we're in our squad, when you're in the living room,

when we're in the offices together, the very first teaching on how we should conduct ourselves in the gathering and outside the gathering comes right here in Matthew chapter 18. Matthew chapter 18 is the foundation of all doctrine for proper biblical community. Are you listening to me? If you're listening, shout yes. Yes. So Jesus is in his early 30s. It's just about a month away before he would be executed. He has traveled to the city of Capernaum where he set up his home base of ministry operation. Last week, I showed you that when they arrived in this city, the temple tax collectors rolled up on Peter to try to force him to pay the temple tax

and Jesus to pay the temple tax. We walked through that text together seeing how Jesus paid a debt for a man who could not afford it and paid a debt for himself, a man who did not have to pay a debt. We see this beautiful picture of the gospel, Christ paying for the sins of those who cannot pay and paying for the sins for those who did not have to pay. And then immediately after that whole confusion with Peter, when the Lord had to correct him for his false statements, Matthew records this tense exchange between Christ and his followers. Matthew chapter 18, beginning in verse 1. Six verses. Here we go.

Matthew 18, verse 1. Matthew recorded, because he was there that day. At that time, what time? Immediately after the temple tax issue, the disciples of Christ, or the disciples, came to Jesus saying, watch, who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? Now, family, I want you to pay close attention to what they're asking the Lord. They're in the home with the Lord. He is trying to prepare them for his exit. Just a few moments before this, we read back in Matthew chapter 17, when the Lord had prophesied to them about his coming execution, about his death and his resurrection. He's teaching them about eternal principles to prepare them for his exit. And the only thing that they are preoccupied with

is Lord amongst us 12, when you leave, which one of us is going to be the greatest? Now it makes sense to me that they would probably be asking this to some degree because they heard Jesus kept saying to them that I'm about to leave. And then think about it. 11 of them heard Jesus say to Peter, man, on this rock, I will build my church. Now there is issues inside the camp. Is Peter his favorite? Why is he exalting Peter above us? Why is Peter getting a promotion and not me? It was nine of them who saw Jesus, Matthew chapter 17, take three disciples on top of a mountain, Peter, James, and John, while the other nine was at the bottom trying to figure out how long they're going to be up there. Man, what's going on up there on

that mountain? And when they come down from that mountain, why is Peter different? Why is James different? Why John got a new pep in his step? What did they see up there that we did not see? So wait, Peter's your favorite? And now Peter, James, and John, why are you like this emotional dude, John? What's up with this dude, James? They see, watch, this power vacuum happening right now. The Lord is about to leave. The hottest rabbi in the streets of the time is about to leave. They're hearing him exalt Peter. They see three men on a mountaintop, and then amongst themselves, they're trying to figure out, well, when the Lord leaves and his seat is open, man, which one of us is going to take that seat? So now watch. Inside of them,

watch, what do we see? The question that they're asking, there's nothing pure about this question. We see that these men, watch, are filled with unhealthy ambition to be seen. They are unfilled with unhealthy ambition for power, for glory, watch this word, for status. This ain't the first time they asked the Lord this question. This is a constant conversation that the disciples are having amongst themselves. In fact, Mark tells us something that happened on the way to Capernaum. Look at Mark chapter 9 and verse 33. In Mark chapter 9 and verse 33, Mark recorded this. He was not one of the 12. People need to get their doctrine together. Only two gospel writers was part of the 12, John and Matthew. Mark got his

information from Peter. He was a companion in Peter, and Luke was a doctor who got his information from his own study. Mark writes in Mark chapter 9, verse 33, and they came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house, he asked them, that is Jesus, what were y'all discussing on the way here? But they kept silent, for on the way they had... They had argued with one another about who was the greatest in their group. Now some of you laugh, but you ain't no different. Why? greatest in their group. Now, some of you laugh, but you ain't no different. Why? Because all this question does is exposes the fact that their heart, man, is full of ambition.

And the Scripture teaches us, man, that from the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. That's why you need to be paying attention to when people are talking. Some of you, man, you're not. You're listening when people are talking all around you, and if you listen carefully to their talk, you'll start hearing what's in their heart start listening to some of these preachers you would hear what's in their heart you start listening to some of these people on instagram you start hearing what's in their heart from the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks and so the lord here sees their question and from the abundance of the heart we see in the text that these men are full of unhealthy ambitions. They're full of a desire for glory.

They want to be seen. They're just like you and I, man. Everybody got to be an influencer. Everybody got to have a ministry. Everybody got to have their name in lights. Everybody got to be on a platform. Everybody has to be on a mic. I mean, thank God for social media, but one part of it I hate is that it's given mic.

It created a platform for fools to have a voice. And so now everybody got a revelation, right? You just got saved on Monday and we're listening to your doctrine on Wednesday? Why? Because all of us, man, listen, in our nature, you know what's in there. For some of us, we nibble on it. And for some of us, man, we gorge ourselves with it. It's desire for this inflated exaggeration of yourself.

You want to feel more important than what you really are. So watch. So you post only for the sake of going viral. And if you don't get enough likes, you take it down and you turn your angle just so you can get a little bit more likes on the next post. And what you're really doing is what? You're trying to massage the insecurities of your heart by hoping enough people will like your post because what you're trying to stroke is your desire for exaggerated importance. So we are addicted to approval. We are addicted to likes. We are addicted to likes.

We are addicted to praise. We love that stuff because what we're really itching is that broken part of us that want to feel more important than what we really are. Don't front. It's in the room. Somebody say, yeah, it is. I got one honest person up here. It's in the room it's in us it's that business we're just like them we want to feel important we want status we want people to love us and to like us that's why you crumble as soon as somebody critiques

something you have to say you find your self-worth in your title. You find your self-worth in positions. God forbid you lose your job. Then you lose your whole identity. You're so title-driven that something shifts in shifting that title or you lose your job or you're no longer an athlete you lose your whole identity because you find importance in all of these intangible things but not in christ i mean these disciples are jews these disciples have the old testament these disciples know that according to the old testament a kingdom was coming and in their mind the kingdom would be a military kingdom. Watch this.

That the Lord would overthrow the occupation of Rome. And in the overthrow of the occupation of Rome, I mean, he's going to flex on all of Rome. And when the Lord flexes on all of Rome, the only thing they're thinking about is what seat am I going to have at the table? now watch the lord in his love sees in them this unhealthy toxic desire for glory that's in you and it's in me i mean you can you can front and act like you want it's in the room i could it's in here that toxic desire for glory it's it's the way you it's the way you respond to social media it's all over you it's's in here. The Lord sees this in him and in his love. Watch how he responds to their question. Verse two, and calling to himself, watch, a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, listen, truly, I say to you, all of you, plural, unless you turn and become like children,

you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Stop. That is a profound and powerful statement. The Lord turns to them and said, all of y'all, listen, he takes up a child. The other gospel writer says he picked up a child in his arms, and then he sat the child down in front of him, and we're going to make the child a little boy. In this context, a child would have been no older than two years old. So imagine the Lord with a little boy, two years old, just rubbing the top of his head while they're all staring at the child. And then he looks at these men in their eyes and say to all of y'all who are glory seeking and glory chasing, and you feel important and you're

trying to get status. I want you to pay attention. Unless you turn and unless you become like this little child, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Look, you'll be, you've been around me for three years and you're going to miss the kingdom because you're not like this child. You've been around me for three years, and you're going to miss the kingdom because you're not like this child. You've been in church your whole life, but you're going to miss the kingdom because you're not like this child. You've been going to services your whole life, but you're going to miss the kingdom because you're not like this child. Man, it's going to be a terrible day in the end when people stand before the Lord, and he said, I never knew you. You did services. You did conferences, you did books, you listened to podcasts, but you never turned, you never became, you was never like this little

child. And because you're not like this little child, you cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven. You're going to be on the outside as a beggar. Now, family, I want to draw your attention to three words in the text the first word is turn he says unless you turn you will never enter into the kingdom of heaven the word turn there is a theological word for the watch this word unless you repent is what he's saying to them unless you repent from that unhealthy desire that's in your heart and in minds. Now listen to me carefully. Some of you, when you hear repent, all you hear is, I'm sorry, Lord. Repentance is not an apology because you can apologize for wrong and continue

down the same path of destruction. Tell that to a girlfriend that's tired of getting punched in her mouth by an abusive boyfriend who keeps apologizing for his right fist and his left fist. She don't want to hear an apology. She wants you to turn from your behavior. Right? Right. So repentance is not, Lord, I'm sorry. Repentance is taking your mind, your heart, and your life and going in a different direction than the direction you're in. So I'm traveling this way. The Lord confronts me in my sin. At the moment of that confrontation by the Holy Spirit, I have to make a decision. Apologize and continue in sin or apologize and repent. I say, Lord, I will go in the opposite direction. You cannot go on 75 north and south at the same time. You can only go in one direction. So when

the Lord confronts you on sin, you got to make a decision in that moment. Am I going to turn or am I going to continue? He tells these followers, this is insane to me, the men that have been walking with him for three and a half years, you think they got an easy ticket in? No. Unless y'all dudes repent, you're never going to make it into the kingdom of heaven. And it's the same thing for you and I. When you feel the conviction of the Lord coming against you for some nasty area of your life, and he says to you, you need to repent in this area. He ain't just asking for an apology from you. He's telling you, man, to turn from that behavior. Man, you're really arrogant in this area. Turn. Man, you're really prideful in this area. Turn. Man, you're really lustful in this area.

Turn. Man, you'll be fighting people all the time in this area. Turn. You think you all are that in this area? Turn. The second word I want to draw your attention to in the text is the word become. He said, unless you turn and become like little children. Now, this word become is a very powerful word. It presupposes one thing and puts a demand on the disciples for a second thing. Number one, turn and become presupposes that the disciples needed to change. Just like all of us in here needed to change. Ain't nobody here arrived. Ain't nobody in this room got it all together. We all need to change.

We need to turn and we need to become. The second thing become tells us that become is another word for process. That you need to be transformed. The theological term for that is called, watch this word, sanctification. It is the process through which you are transformed from glory to glory, from maturity to maturity. It is the process of being turned. Now, all of you sitting here and you're looking at me, and I want to say something to you that's not going to make you excited. Here it is right here. Listen to me. You ready for this in the back? I want to tell you something that's not going to make you excited. I know y'all love hearing sermons that make you think the gospel is about you.

I know you love hearing messages that make you think that, especially in America, I already know a lot of y'all have come from churches. You like reading devotional books that make you feel all gushy on the inside. You love listening to devotional podcasts that make you feel all gushy on the inside. It's giving. It's all about me. It's giving. I'm wonderful. It's giving. Jesus exists for me. It's giving. He's my genie. It's giving whatever I ask him to do, he's going to do. He's giving. He was created to serve me. I was not created to serve him. That's what he's giving in America. See, a little journal.

That's what he's giving. Oh, Jesus, my friend, my little bracelet. I asked him for this, and he has to come through for that. think your Christianity is for God to serve you because of the toxicity of the messages you've been listening to that have been infiltrated by secular humanistic doctrines so you love churches that's all about your purpose and all about your bag and you actually listen to that and think man Christianity is about you striving because getting and the Lord being behind you for whatever you want to do oh the Lord got my back on whatever you want to do no but family there is a meta theme in the New Testament a meta theme

is anything you can trace from the beginning of the Bible to the end. And there is one message in the New Testament. It is not sexy. It is not exciting. It is boring in America. But some of you don't even know it's in there because all you do is listen to sermons, but you never read for yourself.

And if you would just sit down and even just read one small portion of the new testament read galatians read ephesians take 20 minutes and just read something small you're gonna realize no matter which new testament letter you read you're gonna realize there's only one message in the new testament just one just one one one message for us here is here is the end goal of christianity new testament you ready one. You ready for it? You ready? Here it is.

Grow up. All of the letters of the New Testament are trying to get you to watch. Grow up. They're trying to get you to mature. The stuff written to husbands is for you to mature. The stuff written to husbands is for you to mature. The stuff written to wives is for you to mature. The stuff written to singles is for you to mature. All of it is trying to get you to mature spiritually, mentally, emotionally. All of it is trying to get you to grow up. Watch. Because the end goal of Christianity is not that you will be rich and famous and got a bag. The end goal of Christianity is when you die, you will look like the one who saved you.

That what the Holy Spirit is trying to do through the writings of the New Testament and his conviction of you is trying to transform you into the image of Christ. So when he's dealing with your impatience, he's trying to get you to grow. when he's dealing with your impatience, he's trying to get you to grow. When he's dealing with your idolatry, he's trying to get you to grow. When he's dealing with your lustfulness, he's trying to get you to grow. When he's dealing with your whoredom, he's trying to get you to grow. When he's talking about your finances, he's trying to get you to grow. The whole thing, if you read through the New Testament, it'll be like, yo, just gut punches left, right, and third. It's like you going in the gym for your mind, for your heart, and for your soul. The real message

of the New Testament is grow the heck up. I want to use another word, but y'all going to send me letters and I'm sick of y'all doing that. I'm from New York. I just want to use another word, but you won't let me. Grow the heck up. Grow up. Mature. You've been doing this for 20 years and you're still wrestling with the same stuff? You've been walking with Jesus for 10 years and you still got the same nasty attitude?

You've been with Jesus for 15 years and you still praying for just tangible things? You 20 years in and still begging for houses and cars? Like you never read, pray your kingdom come? Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven? You ain't never read that. You 20 years in and ain't no part of your prayer life flowing into the streams of the great commission. You 20 years in and still begging God for a condo and a boat. You ain't even praying for souls. You ain't praying for churches to be

planted. You ain't praying for the gospel to spread. You ain't praying for churches to be planted. You ain't praying for the gospel to spread. You ain't praying for eyes to be open. Your prayer life is boring because you're immature. So the Lord says to them, watch. We, Philip and you, my sister and my brother, we have to become, we have to be sanctified, we have to be transformed, watch, into the likeness of these little children, which brings me to the third one I want to draw to your attention, like children, now this is profound to me, this is insane, he said to them, all y'all men, they might, I think the disciples was like late teenagers, early 20s.

They wasn't in their 30s. They were young men. He said to them, y'all need to be like this little child right here. If you don't watch this, become like this little child. It's going to make sense in a second. You cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven. Now pay attention to the text. The Lord is teaching them about, watch this, community. And he's saying, I need all of y'all who's going to be in community for y'all to be like little children. The next question we should ask is, how do little children get down? Now, I'm not talking about little Jaquavion, who's two, and you're trying to teach him to curse people out, and he's standing on the table at Olive Garden, and you're saying, I can't control him. I'm not talking about little Jaquavion. I'm talking about a first century two-year-old, little Zacchaeus, little Zacharias,

little Samuel, little children who are being taught in the ways of the Lord. I'm not talking about little Jaquavion. I'm not talking about him. I hear these modern parents. You got a two-year-old running your house. I don't know how to control him. Train up a child in the way that they should go. I don't know how to control him Train up a child In the way that they should go I don't know how to control them Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child And the rod of correction would drive it far away

I don't know how to control them Discipline your child with the rod For they shall not surely die I don't know how to control them You know, read. He's two. Tell little Watch. I want everybody, peep the two-year-old in front of the Lord, standing right there, little brown-headed Jewish boy, because they're inside Peter's house. Somebody inside Peter's house had a little child. Look at the little brown-headed Jewish boy standing there with his brown eyes, looking innocent as ever.

And while they're staring at him, these grown men, the Lord says, if y'all don't become like him, you cannot enter the kingdom. Well, do you know that children in the first century A.D. had no sense of importance? And what else do we know about children well a two-year-old has no desire for status a two-year-old has no desire for glory a two-year-old doesn't have unhealthy ambitions a two-year-old is not competing to be the first person in a line A two-year-old is not vying to be the greatest person in their classroom. A two-year-old, watch, is dependent upon a caretaker. Gosh. A two-year-old is dependent upon a caretaker to provide for them and to protect them and to look out for them. A two-year-old don't like being in the arms of strangers so another voice they won't follow. They love to follow the voice of their savior, of their caretaker.

A two-year-old would cry and hop out the hands of a bad person because they want to be close to their caretaker. A two-year-old likes staying close to their father. A two-year-old is extremely meek. A two-year-old is extremely lowly. A two-year-old knows, watch, they have no desire for themselves. They have no will that's greater than their parents. They have no plans for the future for their own. They're totally surrendered to the so the lord is saying to all of you unless you watch become like this little child be attached to your caretaker see your caretaker for your provision your caretaker for all your needs you have no personal will that's greater than your caretaker. You love the voice of your caretaker, so you stay close to his voice. Another voice you will not follow.

Another stranger you will not follow. You're lowly. You're meek. You stay close to that caretaker. You have no will of your own that's greater than the will of your caretaker. You have no dream of your own that's greater than the will of your caretaker. You have no vision board of your own that's greater than the will of your caretaker. Watch.

You have no desire for status. God. Watch. And watch what the Lord does next in the text. The Lord don't even leave it to them to figure out what he's saying. He gives them his own hermeneutic. He uses his own word to interpret his own word. Lord, you're telling us we got to become like children, but we don't really understand. All right, let me make it clear to y'all. Verse four, whoever humbles himself like this child

is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Man, that rocked me when I read that. You know why that rocked me? Because I've never attached greatness to humility. You never either. You're always running around society saying, he's a great man of God. She's a great man of God. Why are they great? You think they're great because they have a platform?

You think they're great because they got a big following? You think they're great because they have gifting? You think they're great because they have talent? You run around society always calling people great, but you're calling them great because of all the tangible things you see in their life. But in the eyes of God, greatness is humility. You call men great for their power and prestige. God calls people great because of the content of their character. You see some pastor who got thousands of followers in a big ministry. You call him great, but he has a shallow prayer life.

And the person who's really great is the old woman in the church who has no social media following, who can dethrone principalities and powers from her prayer closet. No, that woman is great. Y'all call me great. My wife, Lena, is great. Y'all call me great. My wife, Lena, is great. She's more humble than I am. She's more lowly than I am. She's more meek than I am.

If anybody in our home is great, Lena is great. But you will never call her that because she's not on a platform with a microphone. So only because you see platforms, you say, oh, Philip Anthony Mitchell is great. Why? Do you know me close enough to know that I have a humble heart and spirit? See? And the reason you keep calling people great who got nasty attitudes, who are full of pride and arrogance, is because you let that worldliness creep into the church so you keep tagging greatness to people

who have no concept of humility. I'm tired of seeing videos with you hopping out of a car. I'm tired of seeing videos with you hopping out of a jet. I'm tired of seeing preachers walking around flaunting all your wealth, but they're a great man of God.

Where is the humility? See? You call them great because you're full of the world God calls humility great because he's full of the word so God attaches greatness to humility and humility almost done it's not self-deprecation it's not hating yourself it's not thinking of yourself less humility is having a proper esteem of god and a proper esteem of yourself humility recognizes i have nothing apart from god I could do nothing apart from God. He is great. I am not. He is the Savior. I am not. My whole life belongs to him. That is humility. It doesn't matter if I got a million followers, 200 followers. It doesn't matter if I lead a church of thousands. If I don't have a proper esteem of myself as a servant and as a child, then I am not great in the eyes of the Lord.

I'm great in your eyes, but I am not great in the eyes of the Lord. I'm great in your eyes, but I'm not great in his eyes. Now everybody look at me. I'm about to close. Look right at me. I don't want you to get lost. This chapter's about what? Community.

This is Jesus doing his first teachings, watch, on how we should live amongst each other. Now pay attention. The first thing the Lord is teaching them in order for y'all to watch, to be in community is to be humble. Why? Because watch,

it takes humility to survive the rigors of community. Some of you, you've come here with what we call church hurt. Somebody took advantage of you. Somebody offended you. Some pastor was preying on you. Somebody had sex with you and you didn't like it. You was abused. You was mistreated by people in the church. The reason that happened to you is because you was running around believers who act like adults, but they don't act like children. The Lord ain't calling us to be childish. He's calling us to be childlike. And for all of you right now that's trying to give me pushback, like, no, you can't tell me to act like a child. Nowhere in the Bible are you ever called an adult. You're never called an adult of God. Everywhere in this book, you're always called a child of God. Nowhere are you ever called an

adult. You know why the Lord don't call you an adult? Because adults are set in their ways. Adults have hardened hearts. Adults don't like to be coached. Adults don't call you an adult? Because adults are set in their ways. Adults have hardened hearts. Adults don't like to be coached. Adults don't like to be corrected. Adults are very prideful and arrogant. Adults can't be told they're wrong. Adults don't like to repent. But the Lord don't want us acting like adults. You can be an adult chronologically, but in your mind and your heart, he wants you to have childlike humility. Because if we all act like little children, we will survive this experiment together. We got a better chance of loving each other well if we act like little children. You fighting with somebody on the worship team because you want to be the lead on a song.

You acting like an adult. You're not acting like a child. You fighting on some team because you want to be recognized by the leader. You acting like an adult, but you're not acting like a child. They say to you, man, we're going to have to do something different with this team. You get mad and you cuss everybody out. You're acting like a stubborn adult, but you're not acting like a little child. It's because we don't have child-likeness is why we are hurting The time. Somebody ask me for proof that this is what the Lord wants. Ask me. Show me the proof.

Show me the proof. Ask me, come on. Show me the proof. The proof that the Lord wants us to behave this way in the context of community. Watch. The proof that the Lord wants us to behave this way in the context of community. Watch the very next verse. it. If everyone is acting in the spirit of a child with humility, then when we have community with one another, what we feel is the reciprocity of the character of Christ. So I'm fellowshipping with you, and you're fellowshipping with me, and we're going to Starbucks, and we're having lattes together, and we're getting an ASEAN refresher together, strawberry with the lemonade and not the water. And we're sitting there doing our Bible study in John chapter 3 with the ASEAN refresher, venti, because the strawberries get in the way with all the ice.

And we're sitting there, we're packing with ice so you get two sips, right? So you got to get the venti so you get more of the asean and we're in there and we're loving on one another and we and we and we're having conversation with one another and we're having this dialogue and because we're both childlike and because we're both humble you're feeling christ in me and i'm feeling christ in you and now we have this one this beautiful dance of community going because we're both humble and we're both christ-like and we're both childlike it's giving intimacy it's giving reciprocity it's giving i like the way this feel it's giving friendship it's giving brotherhood it's giving brotherhood. It's giving sisterhood. It's giving, I like him. It's giving, I like her. It's giving, let's hang out some more. It's giving, let's go get something to eat. It's giving, let's go to the movies. It's giving.

I mean, it's really giving. It's giving, family. And all this to you, watch. As I'm describing this to you, I'm about to finish. Watch, watch this. What I'm describing to you, watch, feels good. But when you act in adultish, it's not giving. I'm done. But I want you to see in the text, hold on.

This is not an open door policy to give everybody that kind of reciprocity. Because there's a disclaimer in the text. Peep the details in the text. He said, such a child. That word such is a criteria. For if they're not Christ-like, protect yourself. The Lord ain't called me to have that kind of intimacy with somebody who's not childlike because I don't want to keep getting hurt by arrogant adults who don't act childlike he said such a child there was a transition in the text when he's using the physical child to now typecast his children, you and I.

Now, family, before we leave, the last verse is the worst. Look at me. I'm about to offend half the room right now. Look at me. The Lord is teaching you and I about how to live in gospel community. You're going to survive

the rigors of community. You need humility. You need to be childlike. But then he doesn't stay there he goes one step further here is the heat verse six but whoever gosh causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin it will be better than a heavy millstone be tied around their neck and they'd be drowned in the depths of the sea pass I don't get it so the Lord is saying if you're gonna survive community you need to have humility that's giving you need to be childlike that's giving but here

is something that destroys relationships tears up churches when other believers lead other believers into sin when your life causes other believers to sin said pastor i don't get it when you tempt people into sin when you got compromising friends who see you in sin and they'd be like girl it's all right he know your heart and then let you just have a license for licentiousness and sin yeah he knows your heart he knows your heart is wicked and full of sin you dating her in the. You taking her to Cabo for what? You taking her to Mexico for what? You got one hotel room for what?

And you supposed to be a man of God, but now you put her in a position to sin. This passage is for the seductress. This passage is for the seductress. This passage is for the fake friends. This passage is for the homosexual pastors who are married to men and tell people in their church, it's okay that God sees love

and you're trying to redefine the definition of marriage while you're leading people into sin. The devil is a lie this passage is for the false prophets and wolves who try to apologize to the lgbtq community on behalf of black people we owe you no apology we all need to come out of sin what are we talking about We owe you no apology. We all need to come out of sin. What are we talking about?

This passage is for those who love to gossip and sow seeds of discord. And you're in the church trying to build your own ministry and you're trying to lead people into your own thing. This is for all of us because of our mouths, our ways, our our compromise our lives who lead people around us into sin watch you need to hear the lord god said he hates sin so bad and he hates sin so much said, it will be better for you to be dead than cause one Christian to end up in sin. You better stop banging her.

Better shut down that pipe game. The Lord said, it will be better for you, watch, to be a dead man than to lead one Christian into sin. It'd be better for you to be a dead woman than to dare lead one Christian into sin. Why? Because sin is destructive. It ruins lives, ruins marriages, ruins relationships. Can we go deeper? Watch this. It ruins lives, ruins marriages, ruins relationships. Can we go deeper? Watch this.

It ruins community. So it's for this reason the Lord says be humble, be childlike, but I need to protect y'all from hurting each other. You need to stop practicing sin. And if you're in sin, don't invite people into your sin. You better hide that. it'll be better for you to be dead than lead somebody into sin don't tempt them into sin don't manipulate them into sin don't force them into sin this is for all the men who like calling girls daughters and you're

praying on them to get in their drawers this is for the dudes running around the church taking down women and stacking up your body count. This is for the sister in the church sending DMs to married men. Oh, you think that's cute? Cute? The Lord said you might as well go ahead and jump off a bridge. It'll be better for you to be dead than to cause any other Christian to end up in sin. You better stop that gossip.

Better stop that slander. Better stop sowing seeds in the dark. You better stop trying to tear up the squads. You better stop taking her to Mexico when you're not married. They're not coming back next week. Oh, I know where they're going. They're going to your fake church with your fake preacher. That's going to give you a fake sermon to give you a license for licentiousness.

Going to keep you blinded and deaf. Keep you comfortable. You're going to shout on the way out while you're headed to hell at the same time. How are you looking over at your friend? Why are you inviting me here? Like, this is the way he get down every week? It's like that? Huh.

All right, 2819 check. All right, where are we going next week? Post check. Who coming back next week? Listen to me. I know you're wrestling with brokenness. I know you're wrestling with insecurities. I know you are struggling with the desire to feel important.

I know you want to be a great influencer. Look, I know, I get it, I understand, I've been there, I feel you. There's a sister in our church. If I called her name right now, you would know her. She's one of the most famous preachers in America. A prolific author. Preaches at conferences all around the country and around the world. You can find her on Wikipedia, all three names.

Right? People call her a great woman of God. A poet, a preacher, an author, married to a close friend of mine. Great people of God. Man, I'm thinking about her because she has over a million people following her on her social media platforms she's in the top less than 1% of all human beings on Instagram who has over a million followers we're doing all this stuff for followers and I called her when I was preparing this message I said a sis what does it feel like being on that mountaintop since according to

stats less than 1% of all human beings with Instagram will ever have over a million followers. What does it feel like to be on that mountaintop, to have all of that status, to have all of that glory? Everybody's singing your praises. You're famous. Everywhere you go, they want to take pictures. Man, what does that feel like? I asked her. She said to me, bro, this mountaintop up here, she said, it's false. It's a mirage. It's painful up there. Everybody trying to get up there. I'm hear her voice from the mountaintop saying, don't spend your whole life doing vain things and compromising your morals to get to that mountaintop. She said, it's not worth it.

She said for her, the more God increases her platform, the more she wants to go down in humility. She said that to me. She said, because, bro, I am afraid of how God treats people who are prideful and arrogant. And so I want to leave you with this right here. Family, I know we all wrestle with insecurities. But man, if we're going to survive this beautiful thing called community, we got to be childlike in humility. We got to be Christ-like in humility. We got to protect each other from sin. We got to say, girl, don't date him. Girl, don't go on that trip. My dude, man, it's time to start running through these women.

Man, put a ring on that. Like, we got to start encouraging each other. We got to start encouraging each other. Come out of sin. Like, yo, let me pray with you before you make that decision. Man, you're struggling with lust. Call me before you go look at pornography again. Listen, you was in masturbation the other night. All right, let's think about how we can get out of this. It's like we keep each other out of sin. We lift each other out of darkness, out of licentiousness. We lift each other from that place. We live with Christ-like humility. We see greatness as humility.

And we do community as little children of God. A family of Jesus set the example for us. He came from glory. He is the kenosis. He condescended to become a man and put on flesh. He divulged himself of some of his privileges. He became a man. He bowed down and washed the feet of people who even betrayed him. He followed the father to obedience to death on the cross. And now he has been highly exalted because the fastest way up in the kingdom is down. And so I want to encourage all of you, my family, listen, if we're going to do this right, if people are going to respect our message, if we're going to have credibility and not be seen as hypocrites, we got to do community well. We got to love well. We got to be humble. We got to be childlike.

We got to be Christ-like. We got to protect each other from sin. We got to be anti-sin, aggressive against sin. We got to make sure we're not leading other people away from the Father. And my prayer for you is that you would take this serious so that you could continue to enjoy the beauties and the blessings of what god has given us here the grace of community let's pray please stay still while I pray for you eternal God and ever wise Father Father I pray the weight of the word would come to bear on the hearts and minds of your sons and daughters.

I pray you help us to see the genius and the beauty of community. I pray you help us to see the genius and the beauty of Christ-likeness, child-likeness. Teach us, Lord, to be lowly. Teach us, Lord, to be humble. I pray a spirit of humility will come upon your sons and daughters. I pray, God, a hatred for sin, a hatred for all that is licentious, a hatred for all that is ungodly will come upon your sons and daughters. I pray you give us a love for holiness, a love for purity, a love for keeping each other other accountable that we will have something that is

giving something that is beautiful something that is wonderful in your sight and i pray father lord for the unbeliever under the sound of my voice that you would draw them to yourself even right now while they're sitting in their chair i pray god for the healing of those who have been wounded by church hurt and that you would help us here what 28 19 and all of our digital disciples god live in the context of child likeness and humility and anti-sinfulness i pray this blessing over the brothers and sisters in the mighty and the majestic and the matchless name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and all God's people will receive say amen and amen and amen put your hands together