First Baptist Church Litchfield
July 12, 2026

      • Psalm 51:1–4ESV

      • Psalm 51:10–12ESV

  • Grace Greater Than Our Sin
  • Grace Unmeasured

      • 2 Corinthians 12:9–10ESV

  • Come Thou Fount
  • Shine Into Our Night
  • He Looked Beyond My Fault And Saw My Need

  • What kind of influence are you?

    Never before in the history of the world has it been easier to influence another person's life.
    A hundred years ago, if you wanted to influence people, you had to stand behind a pulpit, write a book, teach in a classroom, or hold public office. Your influence was largely limited to your family, your church, your workplace, and your community.
    Today, all you need is a smartphone.
    With a few taps, your words, opinions, videos, photographs, and convictions can reach hundreds or even thousands of people in a matter of seconds. Social media has transformed ordinary people into influencers. Some have millions of followers. Most of us don't. But every one of us has an audience. Every post, every comment, every picture, every video, every joke, every argument, every "like," and every "share" is shaping someone.
    The question isn't whether you're influencing people.
    The question is: What kind of influence are you?
    As a Christian, you must ask yourself, “How am I influencing people for the kingdom of God?”
    Am I making it easier for people to follow Jesus?
    Or am I quietly encouraging them to love the world?
    Am I helping people treasure Christ?
    Or am I teaching them to treasure themselves?
    Jesus would tell us that these questions are far more serious than simply managing our online reputation. He is concerned with the eternal influence our lives have on the souls of other people.
    The frightening reality is that influence doesn't stop when we close our phones.
    Parents you have the greatest influence on your children. Grandparents, you influence your grandchildren. Husbands you influence your wives, and wives, you influence your husbands. Pastors influence their congregations. Friends influence friends. Older Christians influence younger Christians.
    Every believer is discipling someone, either intentionally or unintentionally.
    That is why Jesus' words in Matthew 18:6-9 land so hard on us this morning.
    After placing a little child in the middle of the disciples and teaching them that greatness in His kingdom is marked by childlike humility, Jesus immediately turns to the responsibility His disciples have toward one another. He warns that if anyone causes one of His little ones to stumble, the judgment awaiting that person is so severe that drowning with a massive millstone around his neck would be preferable.
    Then, without changing subjects, Jesus turns the spotlight on us. He says that the best way to protect others from stumbling is to wage ruthless war against our own sin. The greatest gift you can give another believer is not your popularity, your platform, or your personality. It is your holiness.
    Brothers and sisters, Jesus is teaching us that your life is always preaching a sermon. Every day, through your words, your actions, your attitudes, your online presence, and your private holiness, you are either helping people walk toward Christ or pulling them away from Him.
    This is the burden of our text this morning:

    Christian, be as zealous in protecting others from sin as you are in preserving your own holiness.

    Today, Jesus gives us two sobering commands that teach us how to use our influence for the good of His people and the glory of His name.

    Protect your neighbor by refusing to become a stumbling block (Matthew 18:6-7)

    These may be the most sobering words Jesus has spoken in Matthew's Gospel; it would be better for you to have a great millstone fastened around your neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea. I don’t know if Jesus had used that kind of tone and those kind of words so far in the gospel of Matthew. We tend to think of Jesus as a gentle and gracious Savior. Why would he use such terrifying imagery? Well, because your spiritual welfare and the welfare of those around you matters to Jesus.
    The little ones who believe in me are the insignificant or unimpressive believers we spoke of last week. They the the least of these in the kingdom of God. For the words sin and temptation, Matthew uses the Greek word σκανδαλίζω (skandalizō). This verb means to cause to stumble, or to be a stumbling block. In this context, a stumbling block is anything that entices another believer to sin, weakens their faith, discourages their obedience, or hinders their pursuit of Christ.
    We become stumbling blocks whenever we normalize sin, excuse disobedience, encourage compromise, ridicule holiness, tempt another believer to violate their conscience, or use our freedom without regard for another Christian's spiritual welfare. You cause others to stumble when you provoke them to do things that damage their faith. One commentator said you become a stumbling block when you bring spiritual harm to someones soul by enticing them to moral corruption that brings God’s judgement.
    Imagine a brand-new believer who finally begins trusting the people in his church. Then one afternoon someone says, “Did you hear about so-and-so?" For the next twenty minutes they dissect another Christian's failures. That young believer leaves thinking, “Is this what Christians do?"
    Do you know what that conversation does to the new believer’s confidence in the church? It weakens it. His love for those people is tempted to become cold. His heart is tempted to harden. You may say it was not a major sin. It wasn’t like someone committed adultery. Nobody murdered anyone. But a little one stumbled because of gossip.
    The Bible says that gossip is a sin. Gossip entertains conversation that is unkind, disapproving, and flat out untrue about someone. Gossip employs character assassination. The danger of gossip is that it is like fire. It spreads and destroys relationships and devours church communities. Furthermore, Jesus says gossip lives among other evils of the heart such as murder and adultery. Gossip is a stumbling block to loving your neighbor and living in the truth.
    Paul applies this very principle in Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians 8. The issue wasn't gossip but Christian liberty. Mature believers understood they had freedom to eat certain foods, but Paul says if exercising your freedom causes your brother to stumble, then love willingly lays down its rights. Whether its gossip or liberty, if your influence is not helping your brother pursue Christ, then Jesus warns you in verse seven. He says, “Woe to you who cause one to stumble.”
    Whenever Jesus pronounces "woe" He is doing two things simultaneously. He is grieving over sin while warning of judgment. Mercy and justice meet in that single word. On the one hand, Jesus laments that temptation fills the world.
    Ever since Genesis 3, this world has become one giant obstacle course filled with stumbling blocks. Satan tempts you. Your flesh craves what God abhors. The world seduces you away from holy joy. Everywhere we turn, something is pulling us away from Christ. Jesus acknowledges that reality. He says temptation is inevitable in a fallen world. On the other hand, He also recognizes there is a vast difference between living in a world full of stumbling blocks and becoming one yourself.
    His use of woe is also a warning of judgement to those who cause others to stumble before the Lord. The severity of his warning, that it would be better for someone who causes a little one to drown (Mark 9:42), underscores how seriously Jesus takes the corruption of faith in others. Physical death would be preferable to the spiritual judgment awaiting those who deliberately or carelessly lead others astray.
    You might be tempted to think Jesus is being a fatalist. Jesus is about fatalism, but he is about accountability: temptations may come, but He warns that those who become agents of temptation will answer to God. Jeroboam, sadly, is an illustration of God’s judgement on those who lead others into sin.

    Jeroboam: A Legacy of Leading Others into Sin

    After the kingdom divided, 1 Kings 12 records that Jeroboam feared the people would return to Jerusalem to worship. Instead of trusting God, he built two golden calves and told Israel:"Behold your gods, O Israel."
    He established false worship, appointed false priests, and created counterfeit feast days. Notice what the biblical writers repeatedly say about him:
    "Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin."
    That phrase appears four times in First and Second Kings (e.g., 1 Kings 14:16; 2 Kings 10:29; 17:21–23). God judged Jeroboam’s sin, not only because he was a sinful man, but because he led an entire nation into sin. God eventually destroyed his dynasty (1 Kings 14).
    So, why does Jesus use such severe language regarding stumbling blocks? Because when you lead another believer into sin, you are attacking someone Christ purchased with His own blood. You are damaging someone the Good Shepherd died to save. Jesus takes personally what happens to His sheep because He purchased them at the cost of His own blood (Acts 20:28).
    So, think about your influence in the church, community, and home.

    Fathers, are you leading your children toward Christ or away from Him?

    Mothers, do your words encourage holiness or compromise?

    Teenagers, are your friendships strengthening your friends' faith or weakening it?

    Church members, when people leave a conversation with you, what do they love more Jesus or sin?

    Church, are we as a church leading people to Jesus or away from him? We are living in a day and age where the Western church is confusing and filled with compromise. We have churches who name Christ, and yet tell the LGBTQ community that Jesus approves of their lifestyle. We’ve normalized divorce. We look the other way at infidelity. We justify unrighteous anger in the culture war. The Western church is not doing a good job of protecting our neighbors from sin.
    Christian, every day your life is either placing stepping stones toward Christ or stumbling blocks away from Him.
    Your words, your example, your entertainment, your social media, your conversations, your parenting, your friendships, all of it is shaping someone else's walk with Jesus. Be zealous not only for your own holiness but for the little ones. Ask yourself every day, "Will I love my brother and my sister? Will my influence help them love Christ more?" Love refuses to become a stumbling block because love values another believer's soul more than its own comfort, preferences, or rights.
    Be zealous for the holiness of those around you.
    Because the measure of Christian influence is not how many people follow you, but how many people follow Christ because of you.
    If verses 6–7 tell us not to become a stumbling block to others, verses 8–9 tell us how to keep from becoming one.

    Protect your neighbor by ruthlessly pursuing your own holiness (Matthew 18:8-9)

    The greatest way to protect your brother or sister from sin is to wage war against your own. Jesus now turns His attention from our influence on others to the source of that influence; our own hearts.
    He says, “And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.”
    Jesus says you must attack sin ruthlessly. Cut it off. Do away with it. Do whatever it takes to not let it have any dominion over you. We do not entertain sin in moderation. Jesus calls us to mortification.
    John Owen says,
    Indwelling sin always abides whilst we are in this world; therefore it is always to be mortified…be killing sin, or sin will be killing you.
    John Owen (Puritan Divine and Statesman)
    Sin is never something the Christian excuses, tolerates, or manages. It is our greatest enemy and deserves to be put to death.
    The word mortify comes from the Latin mortis, meaning "death." To mortify sin is to put it to death before it destroys you and everyone around you.
    Of course, Jesus is not commanding literal self-mutilation. If cutting off your hand could remove sin, then one-handed sinners would no longer exist. But Jesus has already told us where sin comes from. In Matthew 15:19 He says, "Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander." Your hand is not the problem. Your heart is the problem.
    The hand, the foot, and the eye are simply instruments through which the heart expresses itself. Jesus is saying, "Whatever your sinful heart is using to lead you into sin, remove it. Ruthlessly. Immediately. Completely.”
    Holiness is not about mutilating your body. It is about mortifying your sin. So, Christian, look at your hands.

    Your Hand: Take Radical Measures Against Sinful Doing

    Jesus says, “If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off…” Your hands are a symbol of what you do. You work with your hands. You shake hands to make deals. With the stroke of a pen you sign write letters and contracts. You send text messages, emails, and post on social media with your hands. Throughout scripture, your hands symbolize your conduct.
    The Bible says your hands can be used as instruments for sin. Isaiah says, “For your hands are defiled with blood and your fingers with iniquity (Isaiah 59:3). David speaks of wicked men,"In whose hands are evil devices" (Psalm 26:10). Micah describes people who are skilled in doing evil with their hands (Micah 7:3). Solomon condemns those whose hands shed innocent blood as something the Lord hates (Proverbs 6:16-19).
    The point is clear. Your hands reveal your heart.
    Jesus is not commanding us to amputate our hands. He is commanding us to amputate every sinful practice our hands are pursuing.

    If your phone becomes an instrument of lust, cut it off.

    If social media fuels envy, anger, or gossip, cut it off.

    If certain relationships continually lead you into compromise, cut them off.

    If your business practices require dishonesty, walk away.

    Whatever your hands repeatedly use to dishonor Christ must be ruthlessly removed. Why?
    Because your personal holiness is never merely personal. The sins you tolerate today may become the stumbling blocks someone else trips over tomorrow. The safest church is not the one with the most fundamentalist practices. It is the one filled with Christians who are relentlessly killing their own sin and pursuing holy conduct.
    Christian, look at your feet.

    Your Foot:Take Radical Measures Against Sinful Paths

    Your foot symbolizes the direction of your life, the path you choose to walk, and the habits you develop. Scripture repeatedly uses the imagery of the foot to describe the course of a person's life.
    Isaiah describes the wicked as those whose "feet run to evil" (Isaiah 59:7). Paul echoes the same truth in Romans 3:15, describing sinners as those whose "feet are swift to shed blood." Solomon warns his son,
    "My son, do not walk in the way with them; hold back your foot from their paths, for their feet run to evil" (Proverbs 1:15–16).
    In other words, don't go where sin lives.
    That was Lot's tragic mistake. Although he knew Sodom was exceedingly wicked before the Lord (Genesis 13:13), he gradually moved closer to it. First, he looked toward Sodom. Then he pitched his tents near Sodom. Eventually, he lived in Sodom. The path he chose not only endangered his own soul but also devastated his family. One step at a time, Lot walked into a place God would soon destroy under His judgment.
    Jesus says, "If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off." If there is a place, a relationship, an environment, or a habit that repeatedly leads you away from Christ, stop walking that path. Don't flirt with temptation. Don't see how close you can get to sin without falling. Turn around and walk away.
    Listen to Solomon’s exhortation:
    "Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil" (Proverbs 4:26–27).
    Direct your life toward holiness.
    The Apostle Paul develops this same imagery throughout his letters. For Paul, walking is a metaphor for the Christian life. He calls believers to "walk in love" (Ephesians 5:2), "walk as children of light" (Ephesians 5:8), and "look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise" (Ephesians 5:15).
    Every day your feet are taking you somewhere. The question is, are they leading you closer to Christ or closer to temptation?
    Remember, your path is never just about you. Others are following your example. The places you go, the habits you cultivate, and the compromises you tolerate may become the very stumbling blocks that cause another believer to fall. Protect your brothers and sisters by refusing to walk any path that leads away from Christ.
    Finally, Christian, consider your eyes.

    Your Eye: Take Radical Measures Against Sinful Desire

    There is an old Sunday School hymn that sings careful little eyes what you see. The lyrics caution us to be careful about what we watch with the idea that our eyes directly feed our thoughts and actions. It's a timeless reminder that our daily intake, whether it's on a screen, in a conversation, or through our habits, it truly matters to the kingdom of God.
    The Bible uses the imagery of our eyes to describe desire, covetedness, lust, envy, and spiritual perception. The eye is the gateway of sinful desires. Sin entered the world because Eve saw that the tree was good for food, and that is was a delight to the eyes…she took its fruit and ate (Genesis 3:6) Do you see the progression? She saw with her eyes, which led to her desire being provoked, that compelled her hands to take the fruit to eat it, and she sinned.
    The same thing happed to Achan in Joshua 7:20-21. He saw the treasure of Jericho, He desired the wealth, he took the treasure and hid it, he sinned, and God judged him and his family for it.
    What about David, a man after God’s own heart? David saw Bathsheba, desired her, took her, and sinned against her, her husband, and the Lord (2 Samuel 11:2-4).
    Jesus says the eyes are the lamp of your body. If your eye is healthy your body is full of life. If your eye is bad, you are filled with darkness (Matthew 6:22-23). Using the same imagery in our text, Jesus cautioned Matthew’s readers in chapter five about the eye looking upon someone as an object of lust (Matthew 5:27-29).
    Your eyes reveal what your heart treasures. Whatever your eyes continually feast upon, your heart will eventually hunger for. Before sin is committed with your hands...
    before your feet walk toward temptation...
    your eyes often see something the heart begins to crave.
    Eve saw the fruit.
    Achan saw the treasure.
    David saw Bathsheba.
    Their eyes awakened desires that eventually led to a devastating fall.
    That is why Job declared,
    "I have made a covenant with my eyes." (Job 31:1)
    Jesus is teaching us that if there is anything your eyes continually gaze upon that feeds sinful desires, remove it. Don't manage temptation. Mortify it. Pray for the Spirit of God to turn your eyes upon Jesus and give you strength:
    Father, keep me from setting my eyes on anything that dishonors You. Turn my eyes away from worthless things, and fix my heart on Christ, that I may walk in holiness and lead others to do the same.

    Why must we be ruthless with our sin?

    Because if we are not, the consequences are eternally severe.
    Twice in this passage Jesus speaks of hell. He describes it as "the eternal fire" (v. 8) and "the hell of fire" (v. 9). Jesus is reminding us that sin is never a small matter because it is ultimately an offense against a holy God.
    A growing number of people, even within professing Christianity, have begun to argue that hell is not eternal. Some teach that the wicked will simply be annihilated. Others suggest that hell is only temporary and that everyone will eventually be reconciled to God. While those ideas may sound more comforting, they are not the teaching of Jesus.
    Our Lord speaks of hell as a place of eternal, irreversible judgment. In Matthew 25:46, He says, "And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." The same word, eternal, describes both heaven and hell. If eternal life has no end, neither does eternal punishment.
    Jesus uses the word Gehenna, a name drawn from the Valley of Hinnom just outside Jerusalem. In the Old Testament, it became infamous as a place of idolatry, child sacrifice, and ultimately a symbol of God's judgment (Jeremiah 7:31–32). By the time of Jesus, Gehenna had become the established image of final divine judgment upon the wicked.
    Do not miss Jesus' point.
    Hell is the exclamation point after His warning.
    The One who welcomes children, heals the sick, and forgives sinners is the same Savior who lovingly warns us about eternal judgment. His warnings are not meant to drive us to despair but to drive us to repentance.
    Jesus is calling us to ruthless holiness because He loves us too much to leave us comfortable with the very sin that leads to destruction.
    So heed His warning. Turn from your sin. Mortify it daily.
    Flee to Christ, who endured the judgment we deserved so that all who repent and believe in Him might receive eternal life instead of eternal condemnation.

    Be a Zealous Holy Influence for the Kingdom

    Our culture is fascinated with influence. Companies pay millions of dollars to people with large followings because influence changes people. It shapes what we buy, what we believe, how we dress, where we go, and even how we think. But Jesus reminds us that influence is far more serious than gaining followers on social media.
    Every Christian is an influencer. Whether you realize it or not, someone is watching your life.
    Your children are.
    Your spouse is.
    Your coworkers are.
    Young believers are.
    Your church family is.
    The question is not whether you have influence.
    The question is,

    What kind of influence are you?

    Are you placing stepping stones that help people follow Jesus or stumbling blocks?

    Jesus says, "Don't become a stumbling block."
    Protect your brothers and sisters from sin.
    Then He says,"Cut off your hand. Cut off your foot. Tear out your eye."
    Protect your brothers and sisters by ruthlessly pursuing your own holiness.
    Christian, be as zealous in protecting others from sin as you are in preserving your own holiness.
    But if we're honest, every one of us has failed. We've all said things we shouldn't have said. We've all influenced someone in the wrong direction. We've all become stumbling blocks. We've all looked where we shouldn't have looked. Walked where we shouldn't have walked. Done what we shouldn't have done.
    If this passage only called us to try harder, we would leave here condemned. But there is good news.
    There is another influence. Where Adam led humanity into sin, Jesus leads His people into righteousness. Where we have been stumbling blocks, Jesus became the Cornerstone. Where we have failed to protect others, Jesus laid down His life to protect His sheep.
    At the cross, He bore the judgment our sin deserved so that through faith in Him we might be forgiven, transformed, and empowered by His Spirit to walk in holiness.
    Church, don't leave here merely determined to sin less. Leave here determined to love more. Love Christ enough to kill your sin.
    Love your brothers and sisters enough never to become a stumbling block.
    Love the church enough to protect its holiness.
    This week, before you speak...
    before you post...
    before you watch...
    before you go...
    before you act...
    Ask one simple question:

    "Will this help someone follow Jesus, or will it be a stumbling block?”

    May God make First Baptist Church a church where every member is fiercely committed to protecting one another from sin, passionately pursuing personal holiness, and joyfully helping one another follow Christ until the day we see Him face to face. Amen

      • Matthew 18:6–9ESV

      • Matthew 18:6–7ESV

  • Grace Alone
  • Judge Of The Secrets
First Baptist Church Litchfield
pastorjason.fbcl@gmail.com
217-324-4232
http://www.firstbaptistlitchfield.org/
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