The Day of New Beginnings

The Little Ones

 

It is the state of our hearts that determines how much of God will be revealed to us. James 4:6 says that God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble. Humility has not been understood by the religious world. The Pharisees loved the respectful greetings in the market places. They delighted in the places of honor at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues. All their deeds were done in order to be praised by man (Mt. 23:5-15). Yet Jesus taught just the opposite. 
 
Mat. 6:
1 ¶  Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.
2  Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
3  But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:
4  That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.
5 ¶  And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
6  But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
 
Verse six states, “Thy Father which is in secret…” God is IN secret. It doesn’t just say, “God is secret,” but God is in secret.” What does that mean? It is the nature of the Lord to hide Himself. God is secret and He sees in secret. This means that God does not identify Himself with the Adamic nature of man at all. When the realm of our carnal nature is manifested, God is absent. When Jesus taught the disciples to pray, fast, and give in secret, He meant that all servitude must be wrought in God. It must be His nature that is manifested in all that we do. 
 
The humility that God is looking for cannot be manifested except through the work of the cross in our lives. It is the putting to death of the self life that enables us to move in the secret realm and glorify God. Mat. 6:5-6 says that the Father who sees in secret will reward us openly for the works done in secret. How are we rewarded? The reward is having the Lord revealed in us. This is what Jesus meant when He said, “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; and whoever humbles himself will be exalted (Mat. 23:12).” Christ is exalted in us for all to see when our works flow from the secret realm of His nature. 
 
Mat. 11: 
11  "Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist! Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
 
There has been much speculation over this verse. What did Jesus mean when He said that the least in the Kingdom of heaven was greater than John? This was not a put-down of John the Baptist. The “least” that Jesus referred to was Himself. In Mat. 23:11 Jesus said that “the greatest among you shall be your servant.” Phil. 2:3-11 reveals the serving nature of Christ to us:
 
3  Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;
4  do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.
5  Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,
6  who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7  but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.
8  Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
9  For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,
10  so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11  and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
 
Christ emptied Himself and took the form of a bondservant. He did not come as a great king, but as a servant. He became the “least”. In Mat. 20:25-28 He states: “…You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It is not so among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be you slave; just as the Son of man did not com to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” 
 
Mat. 18:1-14:
1 ¶  At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, "Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"
2  And He called a child to Himself and set him before them,
3  and said, "Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
4  "Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
5  "And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me;
6  but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.
7 ¶  "Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!
8  "If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be cast into the eternal fire.
9  "If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be cast into the fiery hell.
10  "See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven.
11  [["For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.]]
12  "What do you think? If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying?
13  "If it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray.
14  "So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish.
 
The true apostles and prophets that come on the scene in this day will be clothed the same way Jesus was. They will not come as “mighty men of God”, but as humble servants ministering the life of Christ. In verse one of the text the disciples asked Jesus who was the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus called a child to Himself and answered, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted (literal - turned) and become like children, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever then humbles Himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Unless we are turned we will not enter the Kingdom. Turned from what? We must be turned from our Adamic natures, from the pride and ego of the self life. This is what motivated the disciples to ask Jesus who was the greatest in the first place (Mk 9:33-37, Lk. 9:46-48).
 
4  "Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
5  "And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me;
 
Jesus said in verse four that whoever humbles himself as a child is greatest. In verse five he states that whoever receives one such child receives Him. Jesus is conveying a mystical truth here. The “child” of verse five is the one who humbles himself. To humble oneself is to manifest the nature of Christ. To receive one who has humbled himself is to receive Christ Himself. In verses six through 14 Jesus speaks of the little ones. There is a duel interpretation here. While these passages can be related to literal children, they also refer to those who are humbling themselves, to those who are manifesting the nature of Christ. In verse 10 Jesus says not to despise one of these little ones. Why would we despise a little one? We would do so because the humility of Christ is repugnant to the Adamic nature.
 
Verses six through nine reveal the lengths we are to go to prevent causing one of the little ones to stumble. Mystically this is telling us the necessity of crucifying the Adamic nature. It is the self life that is the stumbling block to Christ’s nature being formed in us. The cutting off of the hands or feet, or the plucking out of the eye, all mystically point to the crucifixion of the Adamic, flesh nature. 
 
Ultimately, it is Christ Himself who is the little one. To walk as a little one is to have Christ’s nature forming within us.