Matthew 18:1-7 To Be Alive Is to Be an Influence

Highlights:

* The disciples were not yet "new creatures in Christ".

* It is a dangerous thing to influence a child of God to cease from pursuing the calling of God to become as a little child in His sight.

* God is going to make it manifest who is who in the body of Christ. It is just a matter of time.

* God uses unwise believers to try the hearts of His children.

* You want the benefits and eternal results of righteousness more than you want life itself, even if you don’t realize it.

* You do not want the results of not having fellowship with the body, whenever God decides to bring those results around.

* For us all to walk together in the light, “to speak the same thing, be of the same mind and of the same judgment, and to have the same love for one another” is more valuable to you than your life.

* To be alive is to be an influence.

* You cannot keep from being an influence, especially the children of God, because, as Paul said, we are “members one of another” (Rom. 12:5).

* You don’t have to say a word to anybody to be an influence on everybody.

* The souls of your brothers and sisters in Christ are more important than your liberty.

* We can “destroy” a brother (1Corinthians 8:8-11) by influencing him to do something his heart condemns him for doing.

* Your liberty in Christ is absolute. All things really are yours, and all things really are pure to those who are pure. But your liberty is so complete that:

(1) You are free to walk in it, and
(2) You are free not to walk in it

. . . the whole issue is this: What can we do that will make it more likely that God’s children will continue in Christ to become like a little child?

* In 1993, when Jesus finally got us out of Christianity, he taught me that if we developed a disdainful attitude toward Christians, he’d rather we still be one.

* There is absolutely nothing that is wrong for you to do IF GOD WANTS YOU TO DO IT.

* At the same time, there is nothing right for you to do UNLESS GOD WANTS YOU TO DO IT.

* Everything in this universe is nothing. All that matters is, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?”

* God is not asking us to do whatever others say is right. We are no longer “debtors to the flesh , to live after the flesh.” He only asks us to walk in love and do whatever the Spirit leads us to do. And we can do that. That standard, in fact, is what we will be judged by.

* The purpose for God giving us the mind of Christ is to make us one. The great goal is fellowship. Let’s work together, with Jesus, to that end.

Scriptures referenced in this video:
(Scriptures are from the PJV version, found online at https://goingtojesus.com/gtj_translat...

Matthew 20:20-21
Mark 9:33-35
Luke 22:24-26
Luke 8:1-3
Matthew 27:55-56
1Timothy 6:4-5
1Corinthians 11:18-19
Philippians 2:1-5
Romans 14:7, 13, 15-21
1Corinthians 8:8-11
Romans 14:23
1Corinthians 8:8-11
1Corinthians 8:12-13
1Corinthians 8:1-2
1Corinthians 9:19, 23
Romans 14:22
1Corinthians 6:12, 13
Romans 15:1-3, 5-6