Jesus was welcoming outsiders

JESUS WAS WELCOMINGOUTSIDERS
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Luke 9:49-5049"Master,"saidJohn, "we saw
someonedriving out demons in your name and we
tried to stop him, because he is not one of us." 50"Do
not stop him," Jesus said, "for whoever is not against
you is for you."
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Rebuke Of SectarianNarrowness
Mark 9:38-41. Parallelpassage:Luke 9:49, 50
J.J. Given
I. THE KEY-NOTE OF THE PASSAGE. The sentence whichappears to
furnish the key to the understanding of this instructive and interesting
passageis contained in the following short sentence:- " He that is not against
us is on our part," or, as it stands yet more conciselyin St. Luke, "He that is
not againstus is for us."
II. A seeming contradiction. The statementjust quoted from the GospelofSt.
Luke (Luke 9:50) appears to be at variance with anotherstatement further on
in the same Gospel, where, at the eleventh chapter and twenty-third verse, it is
written, "He that is not with me is againstme." The discrepancy, however, is

only apparent. In order to perceive this, we must considerthe occasions on
which the words recorded were respectivelyspoken;for, as our Lord and his
apostles usually adapted their language to the occasion, we shallthus best
learn the designwith which eachof those sentiments was uttered.
Accordingly, we learn that some one not consorting with Christ or his apostles
was, nevertheless, casting out devils in the Savior's name, and that John
forbade him. Our Lord sets John right in the matter by saying, "Forbid him
not;" that is, do not interfere with any who may be attempting anything good
in my name. And then he assigns the reason;for "he that is not againstus is
for us;" he who is not directly opposedto us is rather to be regardedas on our
side; he who is not preventing our progress may be lookedupon, at least
negatively, as promoting it. Just as is intimated by the Apostle Paulon a
certain occasion, eventhough envy and strife should be the impelling motive,
if Christ is preachedhis cause is advanced, and "I therein do rejoice." So here
we may fairly understand the words of the Masterto mean - Whosoeverthis
man may be, or whatevermay be his object, he is weakening Satan's kingdom
by casting out devils, and therefore, so far from being againstme, he must be
lookedupon as an auxiliary in the greatwaragainstthe greatenemy of man.
Besides, by such forbearance as I thus counsel, he may be drawn into closer
and more effective co-operationagainstthe common adversary. Such is the
plain meaning of the passagebefore us. On the other hand, in the second
passage, ourLord had been chargedby the hostile, cavilling Pharisees with
casting out devils by Beelzebub the prince of devils. This charge had called
forth the rejoinder of our Lord, that "everykingdom divided againstitself is
brought to desolation." Suchwould be the case if Satan castout Satan. The
only reasonable alternative was that the Saviorwas casting out devils by the
Spirit of God, and so the kingdom of God had come unto them. He follows up
this reply by a warning againstlukewarmness and an exhortation to decision,
that the crisis had come when men must choose sides,that they must electto
take part with God or with Satan. Neutrality was impossible. In view of two
kingdoms so opposed, there was no possibility of belonging to both; nay, there
was no middle ground betweenloyalty and rebellion. If not on the side of the
Savior, he must be on the side of Satan; if not a subject of the former, he must
be a slave of the latter, and so an enemy to the cause ofChrist: "He that is not
with me is againstme."

III. THE SAME SUBJECT VIEWED FROM A PRACTICAL
STANDPOINT. The one text implies that men may take different roads to the
same place, or reach the same point by different routes. This is true morally
as well as geographically. It condemns the narrowness that refuses to tolerate
want of uniformity, and commends forbearance towards all who in reality
serve the same Masterand seek the same object, viz. the glory of God, though
their forms may be diverse, their modes of worship different, and even their
creeds divergent in expression. The other text affirms that, in the natural and
increasing conflictbetweengood and evil, our hesitation to unite with the good
is tantamount with adhesionto the evil. The one text does not insist on
uniformity, the other inculcates unity. Again, conformity to the same
standards is not an indispensable condition of Christianity, as we infer from
the one text; but cordiality in embracing Christ and espousing his cause is of
its very essence. We are taught by the one that there may be many folds,
though there is but one flock; but by the other that, as there is but one
Shepherd, union to him is indispensable to membership in his flock. Further,
the one makes charity to others imperative, provided they have the same great
end in view, howeverdivergent the means adopted for its attainment; the
other requires of us decisionfor ourselves in seeking that end. - J.J.G.
Biblical Illustrator
Shake off the very dust.
Luke 9:5, 6
No connivance with those who reject the gospel
M. F. Sadler, M. A.
The Jews were accustomed, ontheir return from heathen countries to the
Holy Land, to shake off the dust from their feetat the frontier. This act
signified a breaking away from all joint participation in the life of the

idolatrous world. The Apostles were to actin the same way with reference to
any Jewishcities which might rejectin their personthe Kingdom of God. The
rejectionof the gospelis not the rejectionof a mere theory on which men may
innocently entertain different opinions. It is the rejectionof a message which,
if faithfully received, reveals God, and subdues us to Him, and transforms us
into His likeness. It is the refusal of the only remedy for moral evil which God
has given to man. And notice that this remedy, being offered to us by men sent
by God, may be rejectedin rejecting their messageortheir preaching. The
faults or idiosyncrasies ofthe preachedare takenno accountof by the Lord. It
is one with what He says elsewhere, "He that heareth you, heareth Me, and he
that despisethyou, despisethMe, and he that dispiseth Me, despisethHim that
sent Me."
(M. F. Sadler, M. A.)
Dust
E. R. Conder, D. D.
What can seemof less consequence,ormore worthless, than a pinch of dust?
You have but to open your fingers and the wind blows it away in a moment
and you see it no more. Yet if but one small grain of dust is blown into your
eye it will give you a greatdeal of trouble. One of the terrible plagues of Egypt
sprang from a handful of dust, which God commanded Moses to fling into the
air. Every little grain scatteredinto millions and millions of invisible poison-
atoms floating through the air; and wherever they settled, on man or beast,
dreadful boils and ulcers broke out. In the greatdeserts of Arabia and Africa
the stormy wind sometimes brings such clouds of sand-dust, hot and stifling,
that they hide the sun, and make the day as dark as night. The travellers have
to lie flat on their faces, andthe horses and camels to bend their noses down
close to the ground, or they would be suffocated. Sometimes whole caravans
have thus perished; and even a greatarmy was once destroyed and buried in
these terrible clouds of hot dust. In Egypt, temples and cities have been buried
under hills of sand, made up of tiny grains, which the wind has kept sweeping

up from the desertfor hundreds of years. Very greatthings, you see, may
come from very small things — even from dust.
(E. R. Conder, D. D.)
Dust witnessing to the actions ofpeople
E. R. Conder, D. D.
Once, in a certain part of Germany, a box of treasure that was being sent by
railway was found at the end of the journey to have been opened and emptied
of the treasure, and filled with stones and rubbish. The question was who was
the robber? Some sand was found sticking to the box, and a clever
mineralogisthaving lookedat the grains of sand through his microscope,said
that there was only one station on the railway where there was that kind of
sand. Then they knew that the box must have been taken out at that station;
and so they found out who was the robber. The dust under his feet, where he
had setdown the box to open it, was a witness againsthim. Suppose when
people take off their shoes orboots when they come home, every grain of dust
could have a tiny tongue and tell where it came from! What different stories
they would have to tell! "We," sayone little pair of shoes, "are allcovered
with sand from the sea-shore, where we have been running about all day,"
"We," saya strong, clumsy pair of boots, "have been all day following the
plough." "And we have brought sand from the floor of country cottages";
"and we, dust from the unswept floors of poor garrets";"and we, mud from
many a lane and court and alley." Well-used shoes these;that are busy day
after day, carrying comfortto the poor, and the sick, and the sorrowful. And
here are a pair of eleganthigh-heeledboots with hardly a speck on them, for
they have done nothing but stepfrom the carpet to the carriage, and from the
carriage to the carpet: I am afraid they have no story worth telling. And here
are the village postman's shoes, stainedwith mud of all colours, and thick with
dust from twenty miles of road and footpath, park swardand farmyard, as he
trudged his daily round. Here is a solitary shoe, for its poor old ownerhas but
one leg, and a woodenstump for the other; and it is laden with the dust of the
crossing he has been sweeping, for a few pence, all day long. Some people, I

am afraid, would rub and wipe their shoes fora long time, as hard as they
could, if they thought the dust under their feetwould tell tales of where they
have been. At every step you take, you bring something awaywith you and
leave something behind.
(E. R. Conder, D. D.)
Heralds of Joy
C. H. Spurgeon.
If a herald were sent to a besiegedcity with the tidings that no terms of
capitulation would be offered, but that every rebel without exceptionshould
be put to death, methinks he would go with lingering footsteps, halting by the
way to let out his heavy heart in sobs and groans;but if insteadthereof, he
were commissionedto go to the gates with the white flag to proclaim a free
pardon, a generalact of amnesty and oblivion, surely he would run as though
he had wings to his heels, with a joyful alacrity, to tell to his fellow-citizens the
goodpleasure of their merciful king. Heralds of salvation, ye carry the most
joyful of all messages to the sons of men l When the angels were commissioned
for once to become preachers ofthe gospel, and it was but for once, they made
the welkinring at midnight with their choralsongs, "Gloryto God in the
highest, and on earth peace, good-willtowardmen." They did not moan out a
dolorous dirge as of those proclaiming death, but the glad tidings of greatjoy
were setto music, and announcedwith holy mirth and celestialsong. "Peace
on earth; glory to God in the highest" is the joy-note of the gospel — and in
such a key should it ever be proclaimed. We find the most eminent of God's
servants frequently magnifying their office as preachers of the gospel.
Whitfield was wont to call his pulpit his throne; and when he stoodupon some
rising knoll to preachto the thousands gatheredin the open air, he was more
happy than if he had assumedthe imperial purple, for he ruled the hearts of
men more gloriously than cloth a king.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)

COMMENTARIES
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
9:43-50 This prediction of Christ's sufferings was plain enough, but the
disciples would not understand it, because it agreednot with their notions. A
little child is the emblem by which Christ teaches us simplicity and humility.
What greaterhonour canany man attain to in this world, than to be received
by men as a messengerofGod and Christ; and to have God and Christ own
themselves receivedand welcomedin him! If ever any societyof Christians in
this world, had reasonto silence those not of their own communion, the twelve
disciples at this time had; yet Christ warned them not to do the like again.
Those may be found faithful followers ofChrist, and may be acceptedofhim,
who do not follow with us.
Barnes'Notes on the Bible
See the notes at Matthew 18:1-5. Compare Mark 9:33-38.
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary
49, 50. John answered, &c.—The link of connectionhere with the foregoing
context lies in the words "in My name" (Lu 9:48). "Oh, as to that," said John,
young, warm, but not sufficiently apprehending Christ's teaching in these
things, "we saw one casting out devils in Thy name, and we forbade him:
Were we wrong?" "Ye were wrong." "Butwe did because he followethnot
us,'" "No matter. For(1) There is no man which shall do a miracle in My
name that can lightly [soon] speak evil of Me' [Mr 9:39]. And (2) If such a
person cannotbe supposedto be 'againstus,' you are to considerhim 'for
us.'" Two principles of immense importance. Christ does not say this man
should not have followed"with them," but simply teaches how he was to be
regardedthough he did not—as a reverer of His name and a promoter of His
cause. Surelythis condemns not only those horrible attempts by force to shut
up all within one visible pale of discipleship, which have deluged Christendom

with blood in Christ's name, but the same spirit in its milder form of proud
ecclesiastic scowlupon all who "after the form which they calla sect(as the
word signifies, Ac 24:14), do so worship the God of their fathers." Visible
unity in Christ's Church is devoutly to be sought, but this is not the way to it.
See the noble spirit of Moses (Nu11:24-29).
Matthew Poole's Commentary
See Poole on"Luke 9:49"
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
And Jesus saidunto him, forbid him not,.... "Or forbid not" him, or any other
so doing:
for he that is not againstus, is for us: in two exemplars of Beza's it is read,
"for he is not againstyou": the Vulgate Latin, and Syriac versions, insteadof
"us", in both clauses read"you", and so likewise the Persic and Ethiopic
versions;See Gill on Mark 9:39, Mark 9:40.
Geneva Study Bible
And Jesus saidunto him, Forbid him not: for he that is not againstus is for
us.
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges
50. he that is not againstus is for us] Cf. Php 1:18. The complementary but
not contradictorytruth to this, is “He who is not with me is againstme,”
Matthew 12:30. Both are true in different circumstances. Neutralityis
sometimes as deadly as opposition(Jdg 5:23); it is sometimes as effectualas
aid (Sueton., Jul. Caes. 75). See Vinet, La tolerance et I’intolerance de
I’Evangile (Discours, p. 268). Renan calls these “two irreconcilable rules of
proselytism, and a contradiction evokedby a passionate struggle.”Guizot
expresses his astonishmentat so frivolous a criticism, and calls them two
contrastedfacts which every one must have noticed in the course ofan active

life. “Les deux assertions, loinde se contredire, peuvent etre egalementvraies,
et Jesus-Christ en les exprimant a parle en observateursagace, nonen
moraliste qui donne les preceptes.” Miditations, p. 229.
It is a greatpity that the chapterdoes not end at this verse;since it closes
another greatsectionin our Lord’s ministry—the epochof oppositionand
flight. A new phase of the ministry begins at Luke 9:51.
Luke 9:51 to Luke 18:31. Rejectedby the Samaritans. A lessonof Tolerance.
This sectionforms a greatepisode in St Luke, which may be calledthe
departure for the final conflict, and is identical with the journey (probably to
the Feastofthe Dedication, John10:22) which is partially Luke 9:51-56. And
it came to pass, when the time was come that he touched upon in Matthew
18:1 to Matthew 20:16 and Mark 10:1-31. It contains many incidents recorded
by this Evangelistalone, and though the recordedidentifications of time and
place are vague, yet they all point (Luke 9:51, Luke 13:22, Luke 17:11, Luke
10:38)to a slow, solemn, and public progress from Galilee to Jerusalem, of
which the events themselves are often grouped by subjective considerations.
So little certain is the order of the separate incidents, that one writer (Rev. W.
Stewart)has made an ingenious attempt to shew that it is determined by the
alphabetic arrangementof the leading Greek verbs (ἀγαπᾶν, Luke 10:25-42;
αἰτεῖν, Luke 11:1-5; Luke 11:8-13, &c.). CanonWestcottarranges the order
thus: The Rejectionof the Jews foreshewn;preparation, Luke 9:43 to Luk
11:13;Lessons of Warning, Luke 11:14 to Luk 13:9; Lessons ofProgress,
Luke 13:10 to Luk 14:24;Lessons ofDiscipleship, Luke 14:25—xvii. 10;the
Coming End, Luke 17:10 to Luk 18:30.
The order of events after ‘the Galilaeanspring’ of our Lord’s ministry on the
plain of Gennesarethseems to have been this: After the period of flight among

the heathen or in countries which were only semi-Jewish, ofwhich almost the
sole recordedincident is the healing of the daughter of the Syrophoenician
woman (Matthew 15:21-28). He returned to Peraea and fed the four thousand.
He then sailed back to Gennesareth, but left it in deep sorrow on being met by
the Phariseeswith insolent demands for a signfrom heaven. Turning His back
once more on Galilee, He again travelled northwards; healed a blind man at
Bethsaida Julias;receivedSt Peter’s greatconfessiononthe way to Caesarea
Philippi; was transfigured; healed the demoniac boy; rebuked the ambition of
the disciples by the example of the little child; returned for a brief restin
Capernaum, during which occurredthe incident of the Temple Tax; then
journeyed to the Feastof Tabernacles, during which occurredthe incidents so
fully narrated by St John (John 7:1 to Joh 10:21). The events and teachings in
this greatsectionof St Luke seemto belong mainly, if not entirely, to the two
months betweenthe hasty return of Jesus to Galilee and His arrival in
Jerusalem, two months afterwards, at the FeastofDedication;—a period
respecting which St Luke must have had accessto specialsources of
information.
For fuller discussionof the question I must refer to my Life of Christ, ii. 89-
150.
Bengel's Gnomen
Luke 9:50. Ὃς γὰρ οὐκ ἔστι καθʼ ὑμῶν, ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν ἐστιν, for he who is not
againstyou is for you) So too Mark 9:40, although some Greek MSS. in Mark,
and most of them in Luke, have written ἡμῶν for ὑμῶν. To such a degree
were the Greek transcribers indifferent in their confounding these pronouns,
that the true reading must be decidednot so much by the number of Greek
MSS., as by the ancientversions, which translate and presentthese pronouns
with greateraccuracyofdistinction, and also especiallyby a comparisonof
the context. The more or the less different is the condition of these concerning
whom the expressionwe and you is used, the more or the less weightin
proportion the variety of reading has. And in this passage the variety of
reading is not a matter of indifference. For when He is speaking ofexternal

associationand mode of procedure (conversatione), the Lord used the first
person Plural, “Let us pass over to the other side; Lo, we go up to Jerusalem,”
etc. But when matters of a more internal characterwere concerned, He made
an appropriate distinction in His language, and did not say, we, but, I, or else,
you. “I ascend,” saithHe, “to My Fatherand your Father, and My God and
your God,” not, “to our Father and God.” Therefore He does not here say,
“He who is not againstus, is for us,” but, “he who is not againstyou, is for
you;” and in another passage, “He who is not with Me, is againstMe.”[87]
[87] ABCDabc Vulg. have καθʼ ὑμῶν. BCDabc Vulg. have also ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν.
But AΔ have ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν. Rec. Texthas καθʼἡμῶν—ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν. In Mark 9:40,
ADabc Vulg. read ὑμῶν twice. But BCΔ Memph. later Syr. in marg. read
ἡμῶν.—ED. and TRANSL.
Pulpit Commentary
Verse 50. - And Jesus saidunto him, Forbid him not: for he that is not against
us is for us. The older authorities, manuscripts, and the more venerable
versions here read for the last clause, "He that is not againstyou is for you."
Exegeticallyas wellas critically this amended reading is to be preferred. The
offence of the stranger, if it were an offence, was not againstJesus, whose
Name had evidently been used reverently and with faith, but againstthe
disciples, whose rights and privileges were presumably infringed upon. The
Master's reply contained a broad and far-reaching truth. No earthly society,
howeverholy, would be able exclusively to claim the Divine powers
inseparably connectedwith a true and faithful use of his Name. This is the
grand and massive answerwhich stretches overa history of eighteen
centuries, and which will possibly extend over many yet to come; the answer
which gives an ample reasonwhy noble Christian work is done whether
emanating from Churches bearing the name of Protestant, or Roman, or
Greek. THE SO-CALLED JOURNEYINGS TOWARDSJERUSALEM.The
greatcharacteristic feature in St. Luke's Gospel, distinguishing it especially
from the other two synopticalGospels ofSS. Matthew and Mark, are the
events in the public ministry of Jesus dwelt on in the next ten chapters of this

Gospel. Many incidents in the succeeding chapters are recordedby this
evangelist alone. Two questions suggestthemselves.
1. To what period of the Lord's public work does this large and important
sectionof our Gospelrefer?
2.
(1) Why is this period, comparativelyspeaking, so little dwelt on by the other
two synoptists SS. Matthew and Mark?
(2) Where did St. Luke probably derive his information here?
1. Commentators frequently, and with some accuracy, speakofthis great
sectionof St. Luke's work as "the journeyings towards Jerusalem." Three
times does this writer especiallytell us that this was the objectand end of the
journeys he was describing;in Luke 9:51, "He steadfastlysethis face to go to
Jerusalem;" in Luke 13:22, "He went through the cities and villages...
journeying toward Jerusalem;" in Luke 17:11, "And it came to pass, as he
went to Jerusalem." These journeyings to Jerusalemwere evidently just
before the end. They were the close ofthe public life. They immediately
precededthe last PassoverFeast, whichall the four evangelists tellus the
Lord kept at Jerusalem, and in the course of which he was crucified. They fill
up, then, the last six or sevenmonths of his earth-life - that period, roughly
speaking, from the FeastofTabernacles(alluded to in John 7.), which falls in
October, until the PassoverFeastin the following spring. These lastmonths
were occupiedby the Masterin a slow progress from Capernaum, through
those parts of Galilee hitherto generally unvisited by him, gradually making
his waytoward the capital, which we know he reachedin time for the

PassoverFeast,during which he was crucified. In the course of this period it
seems, however, likelythat, in St. Luke's accountof Mary and Martha (ch.
10:38-42), we have an allusion to a short visit to Jerusalemof the Lord,
undertaken in the course of these journeyings, at the DedicationFeast(John
10:22).
2.
(1) In these last journeyings it appears that the Lord was in the habit of
constantly sending out by themselves small companies ofhis disciples as
missionaries in the neighbouring districts, thus accustoming his followers, in
view of his own approaching death, to act alone and to think alone. It is,
therefore, extremely probable that SS. Matthew and Peter(the realauthor of
St. Mark's Gospel)were, during this period of our Lord's work, constantly
absent from their Master's immediate neighbourhood. These apostles would
naturally choose, as the specialsubjects of their own teaching and preaching,
those events at which they personally had been present. Much of what was
done and said by the Masterduring these last six months was done during the
temporary absence, onspecialmissionduty, of these two evangelists.
(2) When we considerthe probable sources whence St. Luke derived his
detailed information concerning this period, we are, of course, landed in
conjecture. We know, however, that the whole of his narrative was composed
after careful researchinto well-siftedevidence, supplied generallyby
eyewitnesses,ofthe events described. Thus, in the earlierchapters, we have
already discussedthe high probability of the Virgin-mother herself having
furnished the information; so here there is little doubt that SS. Paul and Luke,
in their researchesduring the compositionof the Third Gospel, met with men
and women who had formed part of that largercompany which had been with
Jesus, we know, during those last months of his ministry among us. Nor is it,
surely, an unreasonable thought for us to see, in connectionwith this

important portion of our Gospel, the hand of the Holy Spirit, who, unseen,
guided the pen of the four evangelists,especiallythrowing Luke and his
master, Paul, into the societyof men who had watchedthe greatTeacher
closelyduring that period of his work, when the other two synoptists, SS.
Matthew and Peter(Mark), were frequently absent. From the language
employed in this portion of the Gospel, there seems a high probability that
many of the notes or documents supplied to SS. Luke and Paul were written
or dictated in Aramaic (Hebrew).
PRECEPTAUSTIN RESOURCES
Luke 9:49 John answeredand said, "Master, we saw someonecasting out
demons in Your name; and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow
along with us.
KJV And John answeredand said, Master, we saw one casting out devils in
thy name; and we forbad him, because he followethnot with us.
we saw someone casting out demons Nu 11:27-29;Mk 9:38-40;10:13,14;Acts
4:18,19;5:28; 1 Th 2:16; 3 Jn 1:9,10
Luke 9 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries
Luke 9:46-56 - StevenCole
Luke 9:49-50 Humility: The Mark of True Greatness,Part2 - John
MacArthur

Luke 9:46-56 Humility: An EssentialElementfor Ministry - John MacArthur
A SPIRIT TO AVOID
IN KINGDOM WORK
Mark has a parallel passage:
Mark 9:38-40 John said to Him, “Teacher(cf John 13:13), we saw someone
casting out demons in Your name, and we tried to prevent him because he was
not following us.” But Jesus said, “Do not hinder him, for there is no one who
will perform a miracle in My name, and be able soonafterward to speak evil
of Me. 40“Forhe who is not againstus is for us.
Jesus will use the disciple's prideful, jealous response to this man to teachon
humility.
Stein on John - As one of the “inner three,” John assumedauthority and
exercisedit by forbidding those outside of the immediate fellowship of
disciples to minister in Jesus’name. (New American Commentary)
Master(1988)(epistatesfrom ephistemi = to setover) means a personof high
status, chief, commander. All NT uses by Luke (except the 10 lepers in Lk
17:13), all spokenby the disciples and all refer to Jesus. Matthew and Mark
use either "Teacher" or"Rabbi" instead of Master. TDNT comments that
"the transcription rabbi used by the other Evangelists is avoided by the
Hellenist Luke (directed to Greek audiences who would not understand
"rabbi")." Luke employed epistates as an equivalent of didaskalos,“teacher”
(Luke 8:24; cf. Mark 4:38; 9:38; Luke 9:49). Epistates coulddescribe a chief
commander, a magistrate, a governorof a city, or a president of a college, but
one thing all have in common is authority. In using MasterSimon recognized
Jesus'authority.

What a paradox - This strange interloper was able to accomplishwhat the 12
had been unable to accomplishwith the demon possessedboy! O, how quickly
the flesh loses sightof what is of eternal value for the Kingdom, especiallyif
their method is not exactlylike mine! We are all guilty of this sin of
comparisonand exclusivity from time to time. "That pastorjust uses too
much distracting alliteration!" or "Thatpastor never uses helpful
alliteration!" You get the point!
Leon Morris quips that "This has been the error of Christians in every age
and it is interesting to see it in the very first generationof Jesus’followers."
Casting out (driving) (1544)(ekbállō from ek = out + bállō = to cast, throw,
drive) means to cast, throw out often with the idea of force. Used of our
Lord’s expulsion of demons
(Mt 9:34; Mk 1:34,39).
Casting out demons in Your Name - see Luke 10:17;Acts 3:6; 4:7, 10, 30;
16:18;19:13–16.
Demons (1140)(daimonion) refers to unclean, wicked, orevil spirits that
sought habitation in men's bodies.
Leon Morris on in Your name - Some commentators rejectthis, saying that
exorcismin the name of Jesus is unlikely to have been carried out in his
lifetime. They think Luke is reading back the experience of the church into
the time of Jesus. Butthis seems superficial. When Jesus was as successfulin
casting out demons as the preceding chapters show, nothing is more natural
than that someone should attempt the same in his name. (TNTC)

Hendriksen - With this man the phrase "in Christ's name" was not a magical
formula; it was reality.
To hinder (2967)(koluo fromkólos = docked, lopped, clipped, kolazo = curtail)
means to cut off, to cut short, to weakenand generallyto hinder, to prevent, to
check, to restrain or to forbid by word or act. The idea is to cause something
not to happen. Koluo candescribe the keeping back of something from
someone (Acts 10:47 referring to the Holy Spirit - see verse below). To hinder
means to make slow or difficult the progress ofsomething by interfering in
some way with the activity or progress thereof. In short koluo means to make
it difficult for someone to do something or for something to happen.
Luke uses the imperfect tense which means either "we were trying to hinder
him" or "we kept (repeatedly) hindering him." In either case, their efforts to
hinder this man were sadly and paradoxically a hindrance to the work of
God!
Luke's uses of koluo - Lk. 6:29; Lk. 9:49; Lk. 9:50; Lk. 11:52;Lk. 18:16;Lk.
23:2; Acts 8:36; Acts 10:47; Acts 11:17; Acts 16:6; Acts 24:23;Acts 27:43
Because(hoti) is a a term of explanation. What is John explaining to Jesus?
He does not follow along with us - Notice they did not sayhe did not follow
Jesus. It is quite possible he is a followerof Jesus, and certainly he followed
His example and gave glory to His Name. He may have been among the 70 in
Lk 10:17-note. We need to avoid (deny self) the natural (fleshly, self-centered)
tendency to look down on other believers who do not "do it" exactlythe way
we do it! You've never done that have you? (That's a rhetoricalquestion!).

Follow along (190)(akoloutheo froma = expressing union/likeness + keleuthos
= way, road) means going in the same way, walking the same road. The idea
being "to follow with" another. It implies fellowship, joint-participation, a
side-by-side walking with another and was the common verb describing the
actionof a disciple (Mt 4:20, 22, 25;9:9; 19:27, 28; 27:55;Mk 1:18; 9:38; Jn
1:41; 12:26).
This man was not a disciple of Jesus, certainlynot in the same sense as John
and the others. He was a stranger, an outside to their cliche!Jesus is warning
us againstthe ever presentdangers of intolerance or narrow exclusivism.
Hendriksen - Even today that spirit of narrow exclusivism is at times
mistakenfor loyalty to one's church or denomination. We hear people say,
"Our denomination is the purest manifestation of the body of Christ on
earth." As long as we are on this sinful earth, a terrain where hypocrisy in
high places frequently corrupts not only political but even ecclesiasticallife,
would it not be better to leave such judgments to God? Let us not be more
restrictive than was Moses. Letus not be less broad-minded than was Paul
(Phil. 1:14-18). Let us follow the teaching of Jesus and, while maintaining
what we ourselves regardas purity of doctrine, let us reachout the hand of
brotherhood to all those who love the Lord Jesus Christand build upon the
firm foundation of his infallible Word. Doing this, let us pray that we may be
instrumental in leading others to the wayof salvation, to the glory of God (I
Cor. 9:19, 22; 10:31, 33). (BakerNew TestamentCommentary – Exposition of
the GospelAccording to Luke)
Rod Mattoon- They were still struggling with this "number one" or "being
the greatest"issue. So the disciples opposedor "forbad" him. It is the same
word that is translated "hinder" in Acts 8:36.—And as they went on their
way, they came unto a certainwater: and the eunuch said. See. here is water:
what doth hinder me to be baptized? The response ofthe Lord is very clear,
"Forbid him not! Don't getin his way! He is for us not againstus." The
attitude of the disciples has managed to float down the streamof time to our
present day ocean. Nothing has changedbecause this same mentality still

exists today. It is sad that Bible-believing churches or Bible collegeswill
oppose or fight with one another in order to make claims of being the best, the
biggest, or the greatest. These groups will oppose a goodwork in three basic
ways:
Confrontation, fighting, or arguing with people in these churches or schools.
Constantcriticism of the ministry.
Conspiracyto destroy the work through slander, public attacks,or
destruction of property. Where are we commissionedto do this in the Bible?
There are many churches and Bible colleges todaythat believe the Bible is the
Word of God, and preach the truth of the Gospel, but don't have the name
"Baptist" in their name. Are they our enemies? Goodheavens, "No,"yet,
some believers act like it. Do I like or agree with their methods or some of the
things that they do in their assembly? No, but that doesn't mean they are my
enemies. There are Baptistchurches and colleges thatdo things I don't agree
with at all. As long as they are not preaching lies or false doctrine, and as long
as they are preaching salvation through Christ alone, I'll thank the Lord for
them, even though I am not in total-agreementwith some of the things they do
in their organization. Paul was facedwith this type of problem, when he was
in jail at Philippi, only his situation was worse. Whatdid he do? He rejoiced
that Christ was preached. (Treasures from Luke, Volume 2)
Luke 9:50 But Jesus saidto him, "Do not hinder him; for he who is not
againstyou is for you.
KJV And Jesus saidunto him, Forbid him not: for he that is not againstus is
for us.
Do not hinder Joshua 9:14; Proverbs 3:5,6; Matthew 13:28-30;Mt 17:24,26;
Philippians 1:15-18

for Lk 11:23;16:13; Matthew 12:30; Mark 9:41; 1 Corinthians 12:3
Luke 9 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries
Luke 9:46-56 - StevenCole
Luke 9:49-50 Humility: The Mark of True Greatness,Part2 - John
MacArthur
Luke 9:46-56 Humility: An EssentialElementfor Ministry - John MacArthur
IN KINGDOM WORK
THERE IS NO NEUTRALITY
This vignette is similar to that describedby Paul in prison -
Some, to be sure, are preaching Christ even from envy and strife, but some
also from goodwill; 16the latter do it out of love, knowing that I am appointed
for the defense of the gospel;17 the former proclaim Christ out of selfish
ambition rather than from pure motives, thinking to cause me distress in my
imprisonment. 18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or
in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in this I rejoice. Yes, and I will
rejoice,(Philippians 1:15-18-note)
Do not hinder (2967)see this verb koluo above. The presentimperative with a
negative is a command to stop an action they are already doing.
For (gar) is a term of explanation. What is Jesus explaining? ClearlyJesus is
telling His men why to not hinder other kingdom workers that may not do it
exactly like they do it! (Which was ineffective in the case ofthe demon
possessedboy!). In Mark 9:39 Jesus gives a slightly different explanation

writing "for there is no one who will perform a miracle in My name, and be
able soonafterwardto speak evil of Me."
He who is not againstyou is for you - As the title above notes, there is no
neutrality. One is either working for the King and the eternal Kingdom of
light or one is working (overtly or indirectly) for the would be "king" (Satan)
and his passing kingdom of darkness. Clearlythis "stranger" to the "inner
12" was the "realdeal" and was also a disciple of Jesus, albeitjust not in the
inner circle (cf Lk 11:23). "The Lord removed any doubt that this man was a
genuine disciple, since He would never have forbidden the apostles to rebuke a
false teacher." (MacArthur)
The opposite of this "proverb" is found in Luke 11:23a “He who is not with
Me is againstMe." Steincomments that "These (Ed:two opposite proverbs)
complement, rather than contradict, eachother and revealthat one cannot be
neutral with respectto Jesus."
Against is kata (down on) which speaks generallyof a downwardmovement
and here speaks specificallyagainst, opposedto, in conflict or disagreement
with.
For is huper which means on behalf of, in favor of and "on your side."
Leon Morris - Anyone who opposes demons in Jesus’name is to be welcomed,
not opposed. He is on the right side. Plummer aptly points out that this gives
the testwe should apply to others, whereas the saying ‘He who is not with me
is againstme’ (Lk 11:23) we should apply to ourself.
Henry Morris on not againstyou - This seems to conflict superficially with
Christ's statements in Luke 9:23; 11:23; etc. However, they refer to two
different situations. When people attempt to be neutral about Christ, they are

really againstHim. However, when people are sincerelytrying to honor Him
but doing it more out of ignorant zeal than full understanding, the Lord
recognizes thatthey are really for Him and will not discourage them from
their efforts. In fact, by implication, Christ will somehow see to it that
sincerity will be rewarded with greaterunderstanding (Hebrews 11:6; John
7:17).
MacArthur - Pride promotes exclusivity, but humility promotes unity. We
cannot embrace those who claim to be Christ’s but do not preach the truth of
Christ. Howeverwe must embrace all who both name the name of Christ and
also speak His truth, whateverorganizationthey belong to. Christians must
have the attitude of Paul, who rejoicedwhen the truth was proclaimed—even
when those preaching it were cruelly hostile to him (Phil. 1:15-18).
(MacArthur New TestamentCommentary – Luke 6-10).
William Barclay- There is no passagein which Jesus so directly teaches the
duty of tolerance as in this. In many ways tolerance is a lostvirtue, and often,
where it does exist, it exists from the wrong cause. Ofall the greatestreligious
leaders none was such a model of tolerance as John Wesley. 'I have no more
right', he said, 'to object to a man for holding a different opinion from mine
than I have to differ with a man because he wears a wig and I wearmy own
hair; but if he takes his wig off and shakes the powder in my face, I shall
considerit my duty to getquit of him as soonas possible... The thing which I
resolvedto use every possible method of preventing was a narrowness of
spirit, a party zeal, a being straitenedin our own bowels—thatmiserable
bigotry which makes many so unready to believe that there is any work of
God but among themselves... We think and let think.' When his nephew,
Samuel, the son of his brother Charles, entered the Roman Catholic Church,
he wrote to him, 'Whether in this Church or that I care not. You may be
savedin either or damned in either; but I fearyou are not born again.'The
Methodist invitation to the sacramentis simply, 'Let all who love the Lord
come here.' (Luke 9)

Constable - This incident exposedan attitude of rivalry among the Twelve
that existedtoward other disciples of Jesus. This was not a problem of
orthodoxy; the exorcistbelieved in Jesus. It was rather a problem of
fellowship or association;he was not one of the Twelve. He appears to have
been on the fringe of Jesus'followers.The Twelve wantedto exclude him, but
Jesus wantedto include him. Jesus'reply was proverbial. He had stated the
reverse truth earlier(Matt. 12:30). Disciples shouldregard people who do not
oppose them as associatesratherthan as enemies. This incident concludes the
sectionof Luke's Gospelthat records Jesus'ministry in and around Galilee
(Lk 4:14-9:50). Its major emphasis has been the identity of Jesus.
Life Application Study Bible - The disciples were jealous. Nine of them
togetherhad been unable to castout a single evil spirit (Lk 9:40), but when
they saw a man who was not one of their group casting out demons, they told
him to stop. Our pride is hurt when someone else succeedswhere we have
failed, but Jesus says there is no room for such jealousyin the spiritual
warfare of his Kingdom. Share Jesus'open-arms attitude toward Christian
workers outside your group. Rejoice whenthey are able to bring people to
Christ.
J C Ryle - In the secondplace, our Lord Jesus Christ gives us a warning
againsta bigoted and illiberal spirit. As in the preceding verses, so here, the
occasionofthe warning is supplied by the conduct of His own disciples. We
read that John said to Him, "Master, we saw one casting out devils in your
name — and we forbade him, because he follows not with us." Who this man
was, and why he did not associatewith the disciples, we do not know. But we
do know that he was doing a goodwork in casting out devils, and that he was
doing what he did in the name of Christ. And yet John says, "we forbade
him." Very striking is the reply which the Lord at once gave him — "Forbid
him not — for he that is not againstus is for us."

The conduct of John and the disciples on this occasionis a curious illustration
of the samenessofhuman nature, in every age. Thousands, in every period of
Church history, have spent their lives in copying John's mistake. They have
labored to stop every man who will not work for Christ in their way, from
working for Christ at all. They have imagined, in their petty self conceit, that
no man can be a soldier of Christ, unless he wears their uniform, and fights in
their regiment. They have been ready to sayof every Christian who does not
see everything with their eyes, "Forbid him! Forbid him! for he follows not
with us."
The solemnremark of our Lord Jesus Christ, on this occasion, demands our
specialnotice. He pronounces no opinion upon the conduct of the man of
whom John speaks. He neither praises nor blames him for following an
independent course, and not working with His disciples. He simply declares
that he must not be forbidden, and that those who work the same kind of
work that we do, should be regarded not as enemies, but allies. "He that is not
againstus is for us."
The principle laid down in this passageis of greatimportance. A right
understanding of it will prove most useful to us in these latter days. The
divisions and varieties of opinion which exist among Christians are
undeniably very great. The schisms and separations which are continually
arising about Church-government, and modes of worship, are very perplexing
to tender consciences. Shallwe approve those divisions? We cannot do so.
Union is strength. The disunion of Christians is one cause of the slow progress
of vital Christianity. Shall we denounce, and hold up to public reprobation, all
who will not agree to work with us, and to oppose Satanin our way? It is
useless to do so. Hard words never yet made men of one mind. Unity was
never yet brought about by force. What then ought we to do? We must leave
alone those who do not agree with us, and wait quietly until God shall think fit

to bring us together. Whateverwe may think of our divisions, the words of
our Lord must never be forgotten — "Forbid them not."
The plain truth is, that we are all too ready to say, "We are the men, and
wisdom shall die with us." (Job 12:2.) We forget that no individual Church on
earth has an absolute monopoly of all wisdom, and that people may be right in
the main, without agreeing with us. We must learn to be thankful if sin is
opposed, and the Gospelpreached, and the devil's kingdom pulled down,
though the work may not be done exactly in the way we like. We must try to
believe that men may be true-hearted followers ofJesus Christ, and yet for
some wise reasonmay be kept back from seeing all things in religion just as
we do. Above all, we must praise God if souls are converted, and Christ is
magnified — no matter who the preacher may be, and to what Church he may
belong. Happy are those who cansay with Paul, "If Christ be preached, I
rejoice, yes and will rejoice," (Phil. 1:18.)and with Moses, "Are you jealous
for my sake? Iwish that all the Lord's people were prophets, and that the
Lord would put his Spirit upon them all!" (Num. 11:29.)
WILLIAM BARCLAY
TWO LESSONS IN TOLERANCE (Luke 9:49-56)
9:49-56 John said to Jesus, "Master, we saw a man casting out demons in your
name; and we stopped him because he does not follow with us." Jesus saidto
him, "Don't try to stop him, for he who is not againstus is for us."

When the days that he should be receivedup were on their way to being
completed he fixed his face firmly to go to Jerusalem. He sent messengerson
ahead. When they had gone on they went into a village of the Samaritans to
make ready for him; and they refused to receive them because his face was set
in the direction of Jerusalem. When his disciples, James and John, learned of
this they said, "Lord, would you like us to order fire to come down from
heaven and destroy them?" He turned to them and rebuked them; and they
went on to another village.
Here we have two lessons in tolerance.
There were many exorcists in Palestine, allclaiming to be able to castout
demons; and no doubt John regardedthis man as a competitor and wishedto
eliminate him. But Jesus wouldnot permit him.
The direct way from Galilee to Jerusalemled through Samaria;but most
Jews avoidedit. There was a centuries'old quarrel betweenthe Jews and the
Samaritans (John 4:9). The Samaritans in fact did everything they could to
hinder and even to injure any bands of pilgrims who attempted to pass
through their territory. For Jesus to take that way to Jerusalemwas unusual;
and to attempt to find hospitality in a Samaritan village was still more
unusual. When he did this he was extending a hand of friendship to a people
who were enemies. In this case notonly was hospitality refused but the offer of
friendship was spurned. No doubt, therefore, James and John believed they
were doing a praiseworthy thing when they offered to call in divine aid to blot
out the village. But Jesus would not permit them.
There is no passagein which Jesus so directly teaches the duty of tolerance as
in this. In many ways tolerance is a lostvirtue, and often, where it does exist,
it exists from the wrong cause. Of all the greatestreligious leaders none was

such a pattern of tolerance as John Wesley. "Ihave no more right," he said,
"to objectto a man for holding a different opinion from mine than I have to
differ with a man because he wears a wig and I wearmy own hair; but if he
takes his wig off and shakes the powder in my face, I shall considerit my duty
to get quit of him as soonas possible. . . . The thing which I resolvedto use
every possible method of preventing was a narrowness ofspirit, a party zeal, a
being straitened in our own bowels--thatmiserable bigotry which makes
many so unready to believe that there is any work of God but among
themselves. . .. We think and let think." When his nephew, Samuel, the sonof
his brother Charles, entered the Roman Catholic Church, he wrote to him,
"Whether in this Church or that I care not. You may be savedin either or
damned in either; but I fear you are not born again." The Methodist
invitation to the sacramentis simply, "Let all who love the Lord come here."
The convictionthat our beliefs and our methods alone are correcthas been
the cause ofmore tragedy and distress in the church than almost any other
thing. Oliver Cromwell wrote once to the intransigent Scots, "Ibeseechyou
by the bowels of Christ, think it possible that you may be mistaken." T. R.
Glover somewhere quotes a saying, "Rememberthat whatever your hand
finds to do, someone thinks differently!"
There are many ways to God. He has his own secretstairwayinto every heart.
He fulfils himself in many ways;and no man or church has a monopoly of his
truth.
But--and this is intensely important--our tolerance must be basednot on
indifference but on love. We ought to be tolerant not because we couldnot
care less;but because we look at the other personwith eyes of love. When
Abraham Lincoln was criticized for being too courteous to his enemies and
reminded that it was his duty to destroy them, he gave the greatanswer, "Do I
not destroymy enemies when I make them my friends?" Even if a man be

utterly mistaken, we must never regard him as an enemy to be destroyedbut
as a strayed friend to be recoveredby love.
THOMAS CONSTABLE
Verse 49-50
The exclusionof others9:49-50 (cf. Mark 9:38-40)
Disciples needto be aware oftheir attitude toward believers who are outside
their circle of fellowship as well as their attitude toward those within that
circle. Again Luke"s accountof this incident omits details to cut through to
the heart of the matter.
This incident exposedan attitude of rivalry among the Twelve that existed
toward other disciples of Jesus. This was not a problem of orthodoxy; the
exorcistbelieved in Jesus. It was rather a problem of fellowshipor
association;he was not one of the Twelve. He appears to have been on the
fringe of Jesus" followers.The Twelve wantedto exclude him, but Jesus
wanted to include him. Jesus" reply was proverbial. He had stated the reverse
truth earlier ( Matthew 12:30). Disciples should regardpeople who do not
oppose them as associatesratherthan as enemies.
This incident concludes the sectionof Luke"s Gospelthat records Jesus"
ministry in and around Galilee ( Luke 4:14 to Luke 9:50). Its major emphasis
has been the identity of Jesus.

STEVEN COLE
To be effective servants of Christ, we must learn the lessonoflove for all
(9:49-56).
There are two groups representedhere: those who are fellow servants of
Christ (9:49-50);and, those who are opposedto Christ (9:51-56). We must
learn to show love to both groups, although the form our love takes may
differ.
A. LOVE FOR ALL MEANS BEING TOLERANT WITH FELLOW
SERVANTS OF JESUS CHRIST (9:49-50).
I hesitatedbefore I used the word “tolerant,” since it is a greatly misused
word. It seems to be the supreme virtue in our country right now, and there is
a correctsense in which tolerance is a virtue. The word is used wrongly as a
means of opening the door to any and every kind of sin. In this wrong sense,
we are told that it is arrogantfor us to say that any behavior or belief is
wrong; all beliefs and behavior are neutrally the same. In this sense ofthe
word, Christians cannotbe “tolerant.” We must hold firmly to sound doctrine
and to biblical standards of morality. But in the correctsense, the word
tolerant means treating those who differ from us with kindness, courtesy, and
respect. I am using the word in this sense whenI say that we must be tolerant
with our fellow servants of Christ.
I don’t know whether John here was seeking to justify himself or whether he
was confessing his sin in light of Jesus’teaching about the leastbeing the
great. But he tells Jesus that they had encountered someone casting out
demons in Jesus’name (probably on their first preaching tour), and they tried
to hinder him because he wasn’ta part of their group. Jesus correctedJohn,
“Do not hinder him; for he who is not againstyou is for you.” On another

occasion, Jesussaid, “He who is not with Me is againstMe” (11:23).
Obviously, Jesus was not contradicting Himself. Rather (as several
commentators observe), the secondverse is one by which a person should test
himself: if I am not fully committed to Jesus Christ, I am His enemy. To be
neutral is to be againstHim. But the verse in our text is one by which we test
others: we should treat him as an ally unless he is obviously againstus.
We would be wrong to conclude from this verse that we should join forces
with everyone professing the name of Christ, no matter what their doctrine or
practice. Some doctrinal differences are very serious and we must not
compromise sound doctrine (Gal. 1:6-9). Some methods or practices by
professing Christians mandate that we not work closelywith them. But the
warning of this verse is that we often cloak our pride of being right under the
banner of religious zeal. Godis biggerthan our exclusive circles, and He uses
people in His service whom we would not pick.
This opens up a subjectthat could easilyrequire a whole sermon series. But
let me briefly offer a few guidelines on when we should or should not work
with other professing Christians. On a church level, it would be wrong to
identify our church in a public manner with any church or group that denied
fundamental doctrines of the gospel. To join in worship or outreach with a
church that denies the substitutionary atonementof Christ or that we are
savedby grace through faith alone would be wrong. To have our church join a
unity service with liberal churches that deny the sinfulness of the human race
or the need for the saving grace of Christ would be to compromise the gospel.
Also, there are times when it is not wise to work closelywith other Christian
groups even though they do hold to the fundamentals. Paul and Barnabas
separatedoverthe matter of whether to take Mark along with them on the
secondmissionaryjourney (Acts 15:36-41). Obviously, some matters are more
significant than others and so we must pray for discernment and seek to obey

Scripture. The main thing is to guard againstpride and to be kind and
gracious whenwe must disagree orseparate from other professing Christians
because ofdifferent principles.
BOB DEFFINBAUGH
The Disciples’Dilemma
(9:49-50)
Competition (for this is really what ambition produces)is not only found in its
many-faceted personalforms, but also in various collective versions. Thus, we
come to the next event in Luke’s gospel, the case ofthe non-franchised, non-
ordained, non-approved exorcist:
“Master,”saidJohn, “we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we
tried to stop him, because he is not one of us.” “Do not stop him,” Jesus said,
“for whoeveris not againstyou is for you.” As the time approached for him to
be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutelysetout for Jerusalem(Luke 9:49-50).
Apparently the disciples were not successfulin stopping this exorcist, either,
for they tell the Lord that they tried to stop him. Isn’t it interesting that this
group of men who fought with one another for position also resistedanyone
else having a successfulministry. If they were unable to successfullycastout a
demon, why should they allow this “outsider” to do so? Jesus respondedby
rebuking the disciples, reminding them that anyone who was not against
them, anyone who was doing good in His name, was no enemy.

MATTHEW HENRY
The rebuke Christ gave to his disciples for discouraging one that honoured
him and servedhim, but was not of their communion, not only not one of the
twelve, nor one of the seventy, but not one of those that ever associatedwith
them, or attended on them, but, upon occasionalhearing of Christ, believed in
him, and made use of his name with faith and prayer in a serious manner, for
the casting out of devils. Now, 1. This man they rebuked and restrained they
would not let him pray and preach, though it was to the honour of Christ,
though it did good to men and weakenedSatan's kingdom, because he did not
follow Christ with them he separatedfrom their church, was not ordained as
they were, paid them no respect, nor gave them the right hand of fellowship.
Now, if ever any societyof Christians in this world had reasonto silence those
that were not of their communion, the twelve disciples at this time had and
yet, 2. Jesus Christ chid them for what they did, and warned them not to do
the like again, nor any that profess to be successors ofthe apostles:"Forbid
him not (Luke 9:50), but rather encourage him, for he is carrying on the same
design that you are, though, for reasons bestknown to himself, he does not
follow with you and he will meet you in the same end, though he does not
accompanyyou in the same way. You do well to do as you do, but it does not
therefore follow that he does ill to do as he does, and that you do wellto put
him under an interdict, for he that is not againstus is for us, and therefore
ought to be countenancedby us." We need not lose any of our friends, while
we have so few, and so many enemies. Those may be found faithful followers
of Christ, and, as such, may be acceptedofhim, though they do not follow
with us. See Mark 9:38,39. O what a greatdeal of mischief to the church, even
from those that boastof relationto Christ, and pretend to envy for his sake,
would be prevented, if this passageofstory were but duly considered!

JOHN MACARTHUR
The Mark of True Greatness, Part2
Sermons Luke 9:49–50 42-131 Apr 6, 2003
A + A - RESET
Let's return in our study of the Word of God to the 9th chapterof the gospel
of Luke. We began lastSunday a look at verses 46 through 50, Luke 9:46
through 50. And we'll complete that this morning.
Let me just read this againto set it in your mind, Luke chapter 9 beginning at
verse 46. "An argument started among them,” that is among the twelve
apostles,”as to which of them might be the greatest. ButJesus knowing what
they were thinking in their heart took a child and stood him by His side and
said to them, 'Whoeverreceives this child in My name receives Me. And
whoeverreceives Me receives Him who sent Me. For the one who is least
among all of you, this is the one who is great.' John answeredand said,
'Master, we saw someone casting outdemons in Your name and we tried to
prevent him because he does not follow along with us.' But Jesus said to him,
'Do not hinder him for he who is not againstyou is for you.'"
Now as I said last time, this is a lessonon humility, really a full lessonon
humility, and though there are just brief verses in the lesson, there's an awful
lot of very important truth here. We as Christians are calledto live lives of
humility in a world of self-promotion. It goes againstthe grain of all that
fallenness avers and affirms. Nothing, as I said last week, is more
characteristic ofa sinful fallen heart than pride and selfishness andself
promotion and self centeredness. It is also true that the very heart of the
Christian gospel, the very heart of regeneration, the very heart of
sanctificationis humility. So we are at odds with what is natural to us and to
the world around us. Throughout all of Scripture the people of God are
commanded and calledto be humble. And you canfind those passagesfor

yourself. You can look up a concordance, find the word "humble" or the
word "humility" or some kind of dictionary and you will see analmost endless
listing of passageswhere humility is enjoined upon us and describedand
defined for us. We are called as the children of God to be humble.
You do remember our study of Luke 9 where Jesus said, "If any man come
after Me, let him deny himself." That is the essentialelementin saving faith,
self-denial. You're literally putting your trust in Christ for your salvation,
recognizing that there's nothing in you commendable, nothing in you worthy,
nothing in you of value, nothing in you in terms of achievement, nothing to
commend you to God whatsoever. It is in that attitude of spiritual
bankruptcy, spiritual poverty, that attitude of self suicide, Jesus even calledit
hating oneself, that attitude of denying oneselfthat true salvationcan occur.
You come into the kingdom of God humble.
Now that is not because youget yourself there. And I want to point this out
because through the years some have said that if you call people to self-
abasement, if you call people to humble themselves, if you callpeople to
repentance, you are asking the unregenerate personto do some work to
prepare his own heart for God to save him. And nothing could be further
from the truth. To sayit simply, you can no more humble yourself than you
can awakenyourselffrom the dead. You can no more humble yourself than
you cangive your blind heart sight. You can no more humble yourself than
you canmake yourself to understand the things of God which are foolishness
to you. You can't do any of that. You can't bring yourself to repentance.
You can't bring yourself to humility. You cannotbring yourself to spiritual
life. You cannotbring yourself to saving faith. All of it is the work of God. It
is God who by the convicting powerof the Spirit of God breaks down pride.
It is God, who using the Word of God, penetrates the stubborn and proud
heart, crushes it and humbles it and breaks it and makes it contrite and
penitent. That is part of the work of God, not apart from the human will, but
through the means of the human will. That is to say an unaided human will

cannot give itself life or sight or understanding or bring itself to humility or
penitence. It all is the work of God. So at leastat that moment in the life of
every person who is justified, every personwho is regenerated, there is that
greatmoment, that greatreality of humility wrought by the Spirit of God at
which point we enter the kingdom like a child, that is with no achievement, no
accomplishmentin utter weaknessand absolute dependence, having
accomplishednothing. We are savedin that sense of personal, spiritual
emptiness. And at that moment, regenerationtakesplace, justification,
conversion, redemption, adoption all the glorious realities of our salvation.
But as mighty a work as that is, and it is a mighty work, it is the mighty work
of the Spirit of God crushing natural pride. In that mighty work of bringing
us through conviction to the end of ourselves, the Spirit of God has exhibited
His powerto save us. But after that moment, pride still remains in our flesh.
It's still there. It's a part of our fallenness. It's a part of our being human. It's
remaining sin. It's residual sin that is in us because we're still in our human
form. So, though our pride was utterly crushed at the time of our true
salvation, follow this, it didn't die. It didn't disappear. It wasn'tdealt a fatal
blow. It will be at our glorificationwhen we leave this flesh and we enter into
a new glorified humanity, like unto the resurrection humanity of Jesus Christ.
But until that time, as long as we're in this life, remaining pride is there and so
the battle goes onand on and on to bring our self-will and our pride and our
selfishness back to the point where it was when we were redeemed. The Spirit
of God continues to work toward that end but our will does not always
cooperate,as it did at the time of the greatmiracle of our redemption. And so
there goes onin the life of the believer a battle to keepremembering that we
are nothing, that we are but children, that we have no achievement, no
accomplishment. We are the weak and the ignoble and the nobodies and the
nothings that we are describedto be by the New Testament.
And so, Jesus understands that while the disciples of His, the apostles ofHis
may have had their pride crushed at the time of their salvation, the battle still

goes onand that's very apparent because it is on the occasionofthis exhibit of
their remaining pride that Jesus teachesus lessons ofhumility. These are
critical lessons because the Bible says God gives grace to the humble.
Scripture indicates that God blesses the humble, that God honors the humble,
that He lifts up the humble, that He exalts the humble, that He uses the
humble, that He instructs the humble. And you can go on and on and on. So,
humility is the ground in which all the rest of Christian virtue grows and
humility is the soilthat receives the rain, the refreshing rain of God's richest
blessing. We then must engage allof our powers and dependency upon the
Holy Spirit to gain the humility that the Lord would have of us in order that
we might truly representourselves as the children of God and that we might
be in the position to be most blessedand to produce the most virtuous fruit.
It's not an easybattle because we are still human and pride is part of being
human.
There are three areas in which we are assaultedsinfully. One... These are
according to 1 John 2:15 to 17. One is the lust of the flesh, the other is the lust
of the eyes, and the third is the pride of life. It's still there. We still have lusts
of the flesh, lusts of the eyes and we still fight the battle on the front of the
pride of life.
Our Lord then needs to teach us, and isn't it wonderful? We are really now
embarking for the next huge portion of the gospelof Luke on Jesus'training
of the twelve. We have the very best teacher. Somebodymight question
whether Jesus is an adequate teacherof humility since He's God, and it's
awfully hard for God to be humble. But just the opposite is true. There is no
greaterteacherof humility than the one who humbled Himself most. No one
has ever been higher and no one has evergone lower. No one could be higher
than to be looking face to face into the very presence ofGod because He is one
with God in trinitarian essence. Youcan't go higher than that, and no one
could ever go lower than to bear the full wrath of God for the weightof all the
people of all the ages who would ever believe. No one higher could ever go

lowerand no one lowercould ever go higher for having gone to the very
bottom to receive the wrath of God for our sins, He was exaltedto the right
hand of God to reign foreverand ever and given a name, the name “Lord,”
that every knee should bow. This is the greatestpicture of humility possible.
There's none anywhere close. And so He teaches not only from the vantage
point of precept, but He teaches from the vantage point of example. He is the
one who was humbled beyond all comprehension, beyond the experience of
any other person.
To see that, I want you to look at Philippians chapter2 and this is an
important passageto relate to our look at Luke 9. In Philippians chapter 2,
the apostle Pauladdresses this subject of humility, using Jesus as the supreme
example. But the way he begins is very helpful. He starts with motivation. If
we are going to be humble and that's the idea here, down in verse 3 you'll
notice in the middle of the verse, "With humility of mind." You can sort of
take that as the premise. He's after humility of mind. That's what he wants.
He wants us to be humble. Now he wants to motivate us to that humility and
then he wants to teachus the elements of that humility and then he wants to
give us an example of that humility. But notice how he motivates back in
verse 1: "Therefore, if there is any encouragementin Christ, if there is any
consolationoflove." Let me just say that those two phrases both relate to the
person of Christ and the work of Christ. And we could sum it up by saying
this: If the encouragementyou have received from Christ, if the salvation and
the goodnessand the grace and the mercy and the forgiveness thatis yours in
Christ, if...if the love that has provided to you this truth means anything,
that's his motivation. If Christ and all His encouragementand consolationof
love has any value to you, if pleasing the one who has given you so much
matters to you, be humble.
In other words, it comes back to a question of saying to yourself, “If I choose
not to be humble, it is then to spurn Christ and all of His goodness,

encouragement, consolation, andlove poured out toward me. In spite of that I
choose to be disobedient to what He asks ofme.”
Then he moves to the second. He says, "If there's any fellowship of the Spirit,”
if any affectionand compassioncoming from that. If the indwelling presence
of the Holy Spirit in your life has any value, if having partnership, living
union with the Spirit of God whose temple you are means anything, if having
receivedthe affections, the sympathies and the compassions ofthe Spirit of
God in your life has any value, be humble. And then in verse 2 he says,
"Make my joy complete." If my joy means anything to you...Paulis saying
if...if you care at all about me, the one who brought you the messageofthe
gospel, the one in whom God used to be the preacher, if my joy means
anything to you, if the Holy Spirit means anything to you, if Christ means
anything to you, then humble yourself. It is to sayin a sense that if you don't
humble yourself, then Christ's work in your behalf and the Holy Spirit's work
in your behalf and the effort of those who brought you the gospeland were the
human instruments that God used are of little significance to you. If you care
at all about Christ, if you care about the Holy Spirit, if you care at all about
me, be humble. And he defines it by being of the same mind. That is thinking
the same things, maintaining the same love, loving everybody the same;in
other words, no hierarchies, being united in Spirit, intent on one purpose.
That's all language about unity. It's all language about unity because humility
produces unity. As we saw lasttime, pride destroys unity. If Christ, who
wants His church to be one, means anything to you, if the Holy Spirit, who
wants His church to be one, means anything to you, if my joy and I want the
church to be one, if that means anything to you then be one. Think the same
thing. Love eachother the same. Seek unity. Focus on one purpose.
How do you do that? Wellhow you do it is describedin verses 3 and 4. Here
are the principles, "Do nothing from selfishness."That's the first thing, don't
be selfish. That's... That's personally ambitious. You've got to get rid of self,
and here we are back at this same thing we saidabout salvation, you've got to

get rid of self to come into the kingdom. Now that you're in the kingdom you
have a battle to keepsuppressing your remaining pride. And this word selfish
here has to do with internal, personalambition. Get rid of personalambition
of wanting to be superior to someone else, more successfulthan someone else,
to achieve more than someone else.
Secondly, he says, "Do nothing from empty conceit." The first word,
selfishness, is that internal attitude. The secondone: empty conceit, looks at
how others view you. Don't seek externalglory, empty self-glory, [???]
kenodoxia, uselessglory, accolades fromothers. If we're going to have unity
and there's going to be humility, and you've got to deal with the selfishness in
your heart, the desire for personalachievement, ambition, and you've gotto
also getrid of that desire to receive gloryfrom those around you, just does not
belong in the kingdom.
Further, verse 3: "With humility of mind, regardone another as more
important than yourselves." Considereverybody else more important than
you. Consideryourself as the leastof the least. And verse 4, "Don't look
merely for...look outmerely for your own interests, things that are personalto
you, but also for the interest of others."
This is really all about what we saw at the very beginning of our salvation,
self-denial. It's not just the wayto be saved;it's the wayto live as a Christian.
And in verse 5 he then turns to the example, "Have this attitude in yourselves
which was also in Christ Jesus." Jesus, he says, is the perfect illustration of
this kind of attitude. And what is the attitude? Humility of mind, humility of
mind is the attitude, thinking humbly about yourself, because that's what
Jesus did. And he describes that in verses 6 and following, "Although He
existed in the form of God, He didn't regard equality with God a thing to be
grasped” or clutched or held onto, He was willing to give it up for the purpose
of redemption, so “He emptied Himself.” He divested Himself of all of his

divine prerogatives and made Himself submissive to the will of the Fatherand
the work of the Holy Spirit. Came into the world, took the form of a
bondservant, He didn't come down as a king to reign the first time, He came
down as a humble servant, a bondservant. He became in the likeness ofmen.
He was found in appearance, orthe form of a man. He humbled Himself not
only to become a man, and a serving man, but all the way down obedient to
the point of death and not just death but the ignominious, shameful death on a
cross. As I said, no one was ever higher, no one ever went lower.
So when you hear Jesus teachabout humility, He knows what He's talking
about. He had to put aside concernfor Himself on behalf of concernfor
others. He had to be looking out for the interests of others. And that's exactly
what He did. And He was rewarded, as verse 9 says, because whenit was
done, God highly exalted Him and bestowedonHim the name which is above
every name which is, I saida moment ago, is the name “Lord.” He is the
supreme example of humility. Let's go back to Luke chapter 9 and hear from
the lips of the supreme example the lessonon humility. It wasn't something
He didn't know about, it was something He knew very well.
Now you remember the background. The disciples had been on the road with
Jesus. Theyhad been returning to Capernaum, the city at the northern tip of
the Sea ofGalilee which was the headquarters for the Galilean ministry of
Jesus. Whenthey arrived there, the argument had apparently been going on
along the road. When they got there, it surfaced. Verse 46 says, "An
argument started among them." It had been going on actually along the road.
When they finally gotthe house at Capernaum, then the whole thing surfaced.
Jesus drew it out and the following discussiontook place.
Now we went into the detail last week onthe setting, so, we won't do it again.
But we began to look at the destructiveness ofpride. Jesus teaches the lessons
on humility off of this backgroundof pride. The first thing I said to you about

pride is that pride ruins unity. And that's essentiallywhat we were just
learning from Philippians. Pride ruins unity. Verse 46:"An argument
started among them." It wasn't enough that they had enemies in the political
structure of the land, the religious leaders of Israel, it wasn't enough that they
had enemies in the supernatural realm, demons, they had to turn themselves
into enemies of eachother. How self-defeating is that? That's what pride
does. We all remember what they were arguing about, right? And they were
arguing about the pecking order, the rewards, the glory that eachof them felt
that they were worthy to receive. And pride always createsanargument. It
always separates. This is still the most common destroyerof spiritual
ministry. Pride, it ruins unity, it generatesarguments as people pit themselves
againsteachother.
Secondlywe saw that pride raises relativity, and this is really criticalbecause
they were arguing as to which of them would be the greatest, whichof them
was going to rank the highest in the kingdom when the Messiahestablished
His kingdom. Was it going to be one of the three, Peter, James and John,
because they had the inside track, they were the inner circle, they had been to
the transfiguration? Was it going to be Peter? Who was it going to be? The
others may have had a case that when they were sent out to do miracles
everywhere two by two, they had done some powerful miracles that may have
equipped them to at leastbe as high in rank as Peter, James, and John though
they hadn't been to the transfiguration. Maybe they had been used to do some
resurrections, maybe they rankedhigher. Who knew? And they were
debating about all these silly things. This is what pride does. It generates
relativity, it ranks people againsteachother, it pits people againsteachother
and it fractures the body of Christ into imaginary levels. This is contrary to
the kingdom of God all together. There are no such things in the kingdom of
God, absolutelynone. There is no ranking, there is no pecking order.
People say, "Well, what about my rewards in heaven, my rewards in
heaven?" Whenyou get to heaven the Lord will give you the reward, but

every one of us will get the reward of eternal life with all of its fullness and its
riches. There will be certain things that you have been faithful to do in this
life that won't make you more honorable in heaven, but will define in some
ways the duties and responsibilities that you have there; but they in
themselves will be absolute. And if I read my Bible right, when you do receive
your crown, you're going to turn around and castit at the feet of Jesus
anyway and we'll all be back to receiving the same glorious eternal life.
There's no sorting out and ranking people. That's why I just...I resistthat in
any framework within the body of Christ. I understand it in the world and
that's why it's counterintuitive in the church.
Now you say, "Wellwait a minute, aren't you...aren’t you in charge here?"
No. I'm the teacherand the preacher, but I am a man under the authority of
the Word of God, under the authority of Christ. And I am a mutual member
of a fellowship of men who have been given the responsibility to teach the
Word of God and shepherd the flock, and who are no more important than
anybody in the flock. It's just that our duty is different perhaps than yours
and our responsibilities are different than yours and we have to be obedient to
that responsibility and that giftedness which God has given us. We don't rank
any higher. That's why I don't like titles. People say, "Whatshould I call
you?" And I say, "My name is John. That will do." Nobodycalled Jesus,
"Dr. Jesus." And nobody called Paul, "Dr. Paul." I don't mind that in an
academic realm. I don't mind that in a medical realm. I don't mind that with
the Ph.D. world. That just doesn't have anything to do with the body of
Christ. We don't have any pecking order in the body of Christ. We don't
have any ranks. The leastin the kingdom, Jesus said, is greaterthan the
greatestin the past. John the Baptistis the greatestman that ever lived, Jesus
said, and yet the leastin My kingdom is greaterthan John. There is no
relative ranking in the kingdom. That's why I don't like awards and honors
and all of that that go on within the kingdom.

Third thing we learned, pride not only ruins unity, raises relativity, but it
reveals depravity. We learned that, didn't we, in verse 47, "Jesus knowing
what they were thinking in their heart," that was the problem. The problem,
wheneveryou get into this kind of dispute, this kind of debate, whenever you
start wrangling and hassling over who is superior to whom and who is
supposedto be in the limelight and who is supposedto get what they want,
etc., etc., all you're doing is manifesting the corruption of your heart. That's
all you're doing.
I remember one time many years ago I was fairly new at Grace Church and
there were some things I wantedto be patient about, although I've never been
a particularly patient person, as my wife would give testimony to. I hope I've
learned a little through the years. But there are some things I'm not very
patient with, and that's error. And there was a class here at the church, and
someone was teaching whatwas not accurate teaching of Scripture, and so I
removed a teacherfrom a class, Sunday schoolclass. Well, this was a
situation where these people who were in the class, "That's ourteacher. He's
always been our teacher." And so they were very upset. And so what they did
was they had a parking lot protest. They sat in their cars in the parking lot
through the whole service on Sunday morning. These were... Thesewere
older people sitting in the car all during the service in a parking lot protest,
followedthe next week by a patio protest in which they sat in the patio during
the class.
So I said...Isaid to the leader, "I want to meet with you and I just...I just feel
it's important that we meet."
He said, "Absolutely."

So I remember in my brash young years, I walkedin the room and I said,
"Thank you for meeting with me. I want to read something to you." And this
is what I read. "I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men but as
to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food
for you are not able to receive it, indeed evennow you're not able for you're
still fleshly. Forsince there is jealousyand strife among you, are you not
fleshly? Are you not walking like mere men?" I said, "Now, are you willing
to repent?"
Oh, it got just like it did in here, really quiet.
This is an issue of repentance. I'm not even asking anybody to submit to me
at that point, I'm asking that people submit to the truth, whateverthe
relationships are.
Well that class came around wonderfully well and continued to flourish under
other leadership. And that was kind of a stark approach but then I was, as I
said, young, but it was right. What... What happens when you have conflict in
the church is it's surfacing depravity. It's just like opening the window and
saying, "You want to see whatI'm like inside, here it is." Pride reveals
depravity. And Jesus knew whatthey were thinking in their heart, the heart
is the problem.
Now comes the lessonin verse 47. "He took a child and stoodhim by His
side." Here's going to be Jesus giving a lessonto move them away from the
conventionalwisdom that still pervades in their minds and the residual
remaining pride that still lives in their fallen flesh. And He takes a child.
Now why? I'll just remind you of what I said lasttime. Becausea child... This
is, by the way, a very small child, a child that He stoodby Him, probably a
little toddler, and then lifted up and held in His arms, according to Mark 9:36.

So this is a tiny little child and Jesus is going to say, "This is how you all are,
folks, you're like this child. You're not like some graduate student. You're not
like some accomplishedperson. You're not some adult. You're not even a
teenager. You're not even a child who's learned to play the scale onthe piano.
You haven't accomplishedanything." In other words, you've come into the
Kingdom with nothing to commend you. And that's consistentteaching that
Jesus did. ConsistentlyHe said this, He taught this. You see it in Matthew 18.
You see it in Mark 9. Jesus saidto them, "Look, everybody comes into the
kingdom broken, humble, unselfish with no achievement, no
accomplishment." In Matthew 18:4 which is parallel to this, He takes the
child in His arms, He says, "Nobodycomes into My kingdom unless they come
in like this." None of you brought credentials into the kingdom. The only
thing you had to getyou in the kingdom was the mercy of God. You had
nothing. You came through the narrow gates, stripped absolutelybare and
naked, overwhelmed with your sin, broken, crushed, as it were. Your
selfishness, yourpride was crushedat that time by the powerful work of the
Holy Spirit and you came in empty and bankrupt. That's the way you came
in. And that's still the way you are. You still have nothing to commend
yourself.
So Jesus is saying, "Look, in My kingdom, everybody's a child. Nobodyranks
in My kingdom." A child is the best human illustration of a believer in the
kingdom because we have no rank. We're there by grace and the goodness of
God. No greatnessbelongs to children, they're dependent. They have
achievednothing. They make no significant contribution to a conversation.
Toddlers, they just interrupt. Shh-Shh. I'm not saying we don't love them.
We love them. We adore them. We cherishthem. But they're without
achievement, without accomplishment, without merit.
In the 18th chapter of Luke, we remember againin the 15th verse, they were
bringing babies to Him and He would touch them. The disciples saw it, they
beganrebuking them. Why? Because thatwas conventionalwisdom; the

Jewishrabbis didn't pay any attention to children. Many of them never lived
to be adults anyway and the rest of them were not able to engage in a
meaningful conversation, therefore they weren't able to be taught. And so the
disciples just pickedup on the conventionalwisdom, said, "Getthe kids out of
here." Jesus said, "Permitthe children to come to Me. Don't hinder them, for
the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I say to you, whoever
doesn't receive the kingdom of God like a child won't enter it at all." They're
a perfect illustration of the kind of personyou need to be if you come into the
kingdom. God isn't interested in your accomplishments and your
achievements. You come in as a bankrupt sinner like the restof us. And
Jesus is saying to these disciples, and to us, have you forgottenthat? It's never
been about your merit. It's never been about your accomplishment and your
achievement. You came in as a child. You're still a child. You need to
conduct yourself like a child and defer. There are no relative rankings in the
kingdom, it's all absolute. You're a child and yet you're great. If you're in the
kingdom, you're great. Whoevercomes in the kingdom is equally greatto
everybody else who comes in the kingdom. It's not greaterand greatest, it's
anybody in the kingdom, in the sphere of salvationis great.
"Whoever,” Matthew 18:4, “humbles himself as this child; he is the greatest
in the kingdom of heaven." When you humbled yourself like a child and came
in the kingdom, you became the greatest, andwe're all the greatestbecause
there are no ranks. It's an absolute greatness,we all receive the same
righteousness ofChrist imputed to our account, the same greatness. Don't
forgetthat, you're a child. And as a child, you defer and you have no selfish
ambition and you seek no external glory.
Let me give you three other points, just quickly. And that was... Thattook
longerthan it should have. Number four, pride rejects deity. This is an
important point. Pride rejects deity. It not only ruins unity, raises relativity,
and reveals depravity, but it rejects deity. Verse 48, "He said to them,
'Whoeverreceives this child in My name receives Me. Whoeverreceives Me

receives Him who sent Me.'" Now I've just turned that around. What pride
does is rejectChrist and if you reject Christ you rejectGod.
You say, "Wait a minute, I would never rejectChrist, I would never reject
God." Well ask yourself, "How did you receive the last believer? Did you
pick a fight with another Christian? Did you pick a fight with a fellow
Christian? Did you rank yourself above and beyond some other Christian?
Then in a sense you're ranking yourself above Christ. Whoever is Christ's is
one with Christ. "He that is joined to the Lord is one spirit," right? First
Corinthians 6. So much are you one spirit with Christ that Paul says if you
join to a harlot, you join Christ to a harlot. What a horrifying thought that is.
Jesus said, "Look, if you do the deed of kindness to someone who believes in
Me, you do it to Me." Right? You give them a cup of cold waterin My name,
you've done it unto Me. If you've gone to visit them in prison, you've done it
unto Me. The Lord is not separatedfrom His people. He's one with His
people. So how you treat fellow believers is how you treat Christ. And the
appropriate thing would be not to be selfish, not to be ambitious, not to be
filled with empty conceitabout your ownneed for glory. The important thing,
not to be consumed with your own interests but rather to look at every person
as Christ and to say, "I defer to You. I defer to You."
Turn to Matthew 18 because we needto look there in this respectbecause the
teaching is really unique and memorable. In Matthew chapter 18, verse 5 we
have the same statement, "Whoeverreceives one suchchild in My name
receives Me." He's not talking about little children here, although as I
pointed out last week, I think He is especiallyconcernedand holds in unique
care the little ones. He's talking here about believers who are like children. I
do believe that, as you know, and I've taught this, that the little children
before the age when they canunderstand the truth and receive it or rejectit
are the specialcare of the Lord and should they die, they go into His kingdom.
And I think Jesus makes that clear. But they're an illustration of the
emphasis here. "Whoeverreceivesone such child." What kind of child? The

child who believes in Me, the child who has enteredthe kingdom of heaven.
When you receive one of those children, when you open your arms and
embrace those, you're embracing Me. And He saidin Luke 9, "And when you
embrace Me you're embracing My Father." So whenyou defer to and when
you love and when you seek the goodof and the well-being of and the benefit
of another believer, you are embracing Christ and you're embracing the
Father for Christ is in the believerand the Fatheris in the Son, profound,
profound truth. And to make it important, verse 6 gives a warning. "If you
ever cause one of these little ones who believe in Me," and that tells us we're
not talking about physical children, because physicalchildren can't believe,
not talking about infants here because infants cannotbelieve or not believe.
But if you cause one of these little ones who believe in Me, that is one of the
children in the kingdom, one of the believers to stumble, that is to fall into sin,
it would be better for a personwho did that to have a heavy millstone hung
around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.
Now I think Jesus... Thatis the strongestthing Jesus eversaid in regardto life
in His church. That is just absolutelypowerful. I don't know how you could
say anything more frightening than that. You'd be better off to die a horrible
death. The Jews associateddrowning... The rabbis used to talk about the fact
that God was going to drown the Gentiles, the pagans. The Jews hated the
idea of being taken wayout to sea and the thought of having a massive
millstone, a grinding stone that was pulled by an animal put around your neck
and having that stone send you to the bottom fastwas a horrific thought. And
Jesus grabs the most extreme and frightening kind of death to let those people
know how serious it is that you would ever cause anotherbeliever to stumble,
that you would ever do anything to offend another believer. You would be
better off to die a horrifying death in the depths of the sea, plummeting to the
bottom with a millstone around your neck. You're much better off than to
start an argument that leads another believer into sin, to start a conflict that
leads another believer into sin, to defer, to do anything from selfishambition,
anything from personalpride, seeking personalglory, anything to argue about
ranks that causes people to get caught up in debate and discussionand strife

and jealousyand discord. You'd be better off dead. I don't know how you
could say it any more seriouslythan that.
And we can cause others to stumble by direct temptation. You literally solicit
them to do evil. Or by indirect temptation, you irritate them and so that they
get angry. You know their hot buttons and they reactbecause that's what you
tried to get out of them. You can generate that both directly and indirectly.
You can cause people to stumble in sin...into sin by a sinful example that you
set. They see it and follow. You can cause people to stumble into sin by
failing to lead them into paths of righteousness. And it does happen. Verse 7
says woe to the world because ofstumbling blocks. Imean, we live in a world
where it's going to happen. We expect the world to do it and what Jesus is
saying is woe to the world because ofit. And it is inevitable. Stumbling blocks
come, but woe to the man through whom the stumbling block comes. We
understand the world is going to try to lead us into sin directly and indirectly.
The world is going to seta bad example. The world isn't going to lead us in
the path of righteousness. ButJesus is sort of asking the rhetoricalquestion.
You don't expect it to come from the family of God. Parents, you be careful
what kind of example you set for your children. You don't want to cause
them to stumble. You'd be better off dead, Jesus said. And verses 8 and 9 are
sort of a proverbial saying that Jesus saidon a number of occasions. "Ifyour
hand or foot cause you to stumble, cut it off, throw it away. Betterfor you to
enter life crippled or lame than to have two hands, two feet and be castinto
the eternalfire. If your eye causes youto stumble, pluck it out, throw it from
you. Better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be cast
into the fiery hell." I don't think Jesus expectedus to exegete everyelement of
that. He was just saying, you know that proverb that you need to take drastic
actionif what you're doing causes somebodyto stumble. It's not literally
saying hack yourself up and yank your eyes out. He's saying deal drastically
with anything in your life that's causing another believer to stumble because
you'd be better off dead.

And verse 10 sort of sums it up. "See that you do not despise,"
[???]kataphroneo, look down, belittle, think little of one of these little ones
who believes in Me. Don't ever think of someone else as lowerthan you and
someone else in the family of God because their angels in heaven are very
concernedabout them. They're so concernedabout them it says in verse 10
that they're always watching the fact of their Father. The Fathercares for all
His children and His holy angels, Hebrews 1:14 says, are ministering spirits to
His children, are there watching the Father's face so that they can
immediately hear His concernand be dispatched to the aid of His children. If
the Father's caring about His children, if the holy angels are caring about His
children, if all of heaven is set for the care of His children, you better be
careful how you treat them. Humble yourself because it's pride that causes us
to lead others to stumble, that causes discordand disunity. So there is no
rank in the kingdom. And all pride does is rejectdeity. It rejects Christ in
rejecting others who are Christ's.
Number five in our little list. Pride not only ruins unity, raises relativity,
reveals depravity, rejects deity, but it reverses reality. Pride reverses reality.
Notice the statementin Luke chapter 9 and verse 48, the end of the verse,
"Forthe one who is leastamong you of all, this is the one who's great." While
you're there trying to push yourself up in your agenda and your notoriety and
your fame and trying to fulfill your own ambition and getglory from
everybody around you, you're going in the reverse from spiritual reality.
What you ought to be doing is deferring, deferring and seeking the back place
and the lower place because the one who is leastis the one who's great.
Greatness is equated with lowliness. Greatnessis equated with humility. It's
the opposite. It's counterintuitive. It's the opposite of the way people think.
It turns the conventionalwisdom on its head. Insteadof fighting for your
rights, you defer and you defer and you defer and you defer and you then...
You're cultivating humility in your heart which God graces and honors and
blesses andlifts up and uses.

Well finally, one last point. Pride reacts with exclusivity. Pride reacts with
exclusivity. John answeredin verse 49 and said, "Master, we saw someone
casting out demons in Your name and we tried to prevent him because he
doesn't follow along with us."
Now what does John jump into this thing like that? I'll tell you why. He's
feeling conviction. He's thinking to himself, "Oh boy, we could be in some
serious trouble." He...He remembers an occasion, probably not long before
this, when he rebuked, probably the restas well, not just him, we saw
someone and we tried to prevent him because he didn't follow along with us.
They all gangedup on this poor guy. And he now feels the sting of being
rebuked because he has virtually gone out there and said, "Hey, buddy, you
don't rank with us. What are you doing?"
There was a guy — we don't know anything about him — someone casting out
demons in Your name. He was out there and he had believed in Jesus, we can
assume that. He was functioning in Your name. In other words, he wasn't
violating that. There are people, you know, who speak in the name of Jesus
but they don't truly representHim. That's like Jeremiah, how many times in
Jeremiahdoes the prophet Jeremiahsay there were prophets who spoke in
my name but they weren't giving you my message? And we've got them all
over the place today, don't we? On television, everywhere in the cults and
isms and spasms and all the rest of the things that go on in the name of
Christianity; we've gotall these people who say they representGod and they
speak in Jesus'name and they don't. But this man apparently really did.
And, in fact, in the gospelof Mark, Jesus evensaid...andmaybe it's worth
reading, it's in Mark chapter 9 because it is an important thing to know
exactly how the Lord described this man. Verse 39, "Do not hinder him for
there's no one who will perform a miracle in My name and be able soon
afterward to speak evil of Me." My assumption is then that the man was
actually able to do what he was attempting to do in the name of Jesus Christ.
The Lord actually let him do it. This is somewhatof an anomaly because it

Jesus was welcoming outsiders

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