Matthew 18:7 Woe unto the world because of offences! For it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh
My grandfather used to tell a story about something his dad told him when he was just a boy. His grandfather said to him, “Bill, no one in our family has ever been in jail, and you are not going to be the first.” My grandfather used to laugh and say, “And he is right. I don’t know who it is going to be, but it ain’t gonna be me!” The fact is that my family, like your family, is capable of anything good or bad. Could one of us go to prison? Of course. Could one of us do wrong? Of course. The point was that it shouldn’t be me. It shouldn’t be my family.
That is in contrast to a common sentiment. Many people think, “Someone is going to do wrong; it might as well be me. Someone is going to get ahead by lying; it might as well be me. Someone is going to do some backstabbing; it might as well be me first.” There is a difference between acknowledging that the world is imperfect and accepting what is wrong in the world.
In Matthew 18:7 Jesus says, “Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offenses come.” We live in an imperfect world and there is a lot of misery and woe in the world because of sin. I wake up in the morning and often look at the clear sky, rising sun, and the birds flitting from tree to tree and think, “Wow! What a glorious world God has created!” Then I see the planes flying overhead, people getting ready for their day, and I think, “Man, this world is a troubled place!” Now I’m all for planes and certainly for the people I see emerging as the day goes on, but what God created is wonderful and what man has created of God’s world is oftentimes disastrous. There is woe because there is sin, and that is a general woe.
Jesus goes on to say in Matthew 18:7, “But woe to that man by whom the offense cometh!” There is a special and specific woe on the person from whom evil comes. So, what we are saying is that we acknowledge that there is evil in the world, but we do not have to accept that we will be the one doing it. There is a difference between acknowledging that the world is imperfect and accepting what is wrong in the world.
Now, Jesus later says in verse 14, “Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.” It is God’s will that people come to Christ and not perish. Do people reject Christ? Yes, but it is not God’s fault or His will. Back in verse 6 Jesus says, “But whoso shall offend [be a stumbling block, stand between someone and Jesus] one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.” Is it possible for someone to stand between the Lord Jesus and the one who needs Him? Yes! Is that God’s will? No! So, it is God’s will that people come to Christ and it is God’s will that I lead them there.
The question this morning is, “Am I blocking the way or leading the way to the One Who can save?” I am speaking both of an unsaved person needing salvation from sin and a believer looking for help and truth through Christ. When I see the evil in the world, do I say, “That’s just the way things are,” or “If I don’t take advantage of this situation, even though it is sinful, someone else will”? There is a difference between acknowledging that the world is imperfect and accepting what is wrong in the world. I can’t change everything, but I can change something. I can’t change other people, but I can ask God to change me. When I do my part, I can trust God that He can do His.