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It seems Jesus talked quite a bit about stumbling. One interesting thing about stumbling is that it seems only believers can stumble. I was unable to find any verses about
non-saved people stumbling. Perhaps it's because they are already on the wrong path to begin with. It seems certain parts of our flesh can cause us to stumble.
Matt 5:29; "If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.
Matt 5:30; "If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.
I don't think the verses above are so much about literally cutting off your limbs, as much as making the point, God doesn't want us to keep doing things to make us stumble.
It's interesting Jesus mentions this not only in the sermon on the mount, but again in another sermon later in Matt 18. It says that some people are stumbling blocks.
I've certainly known friends, family, co-workers, and yes even some people who call themselves Christians who have tried to persuade to do things I don't think God would approve of.
We ourselves can cause new Christians (little children) to stumble.
Matt 18:4; "Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Matt 18:5; "And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me;
Matt 18:6; 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.
Matt 18:7; "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!
Matt 18:8; "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.
Matt 18:9; "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.
( also see Mark 9:42-47; and Luke 17:2; )
It seems that doing some of the things Jesus has asked us to do causes some to stumble. Now certainly it isn't Jesus who causes us to stumble, but rather our own selfish hard hearts.
Sometimes we can stumble to the point we no longer want to walk with Jesus.
John 6:53; So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves.
John 6:54; "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.
John 6:60; Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this said, "This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?"
John 6:61; But Jesus, conscious that His disciples grumbled at this, said to them, "Does this cause you to stumble?
John 6:66; As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore.
John 6:67; So Jesus said to the twelve, "You do not want to go away also, do you?"
We ourselves can cause others to stumble, we need to be careful what we do in front of other people, our actions are our testimony.
1 Cor 8:10; For if someone sees you, who have knowledge, dining in an idol's temple, will not his conscience, if he is weak, be strengthened to eat things sacrificed to idols?
1 Cor 8:11; For through your knowledge he who is weak is ruined, the brother for whose sake Christ died.
1 Cor 8:12; And so, by sinning against the brethren and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ.
1 Cor 8:13; Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause my brother to stumble.
Paul says he was willing to give up anything that caused other believers to stumble. Even those of us who profess to be teachers of the word sometimes stumble.
The passage below is a good warning to those who want to be teachers. Not everyone is judged the same, some of us will have a stricter judgment.
Jas 3:1; Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment.
Jas 3:2; For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well.
Jesus himself was called a stumbling block to the Jews, it was prophesied this would happen ( Jer 6:21; ). But it wasn't Jesus who stumbled, it was those who were disobedient.
1 Pet 2:6; For this is contained in Scripture: "BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A CHOICE STONE, A PRECIOUS CORNER stone, AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED."
1 Pet 2:7; This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve, "THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE VERY CORNER stone,"
1 Pet 2:8; and, "A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE"; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed.
Peter gives some good advice about how to avoid stumbling.
2 Pet 1:5; Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge,
2 Pet 1:6; and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness,
2 Pet 1:7; and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love.
2 Pet 1:8; For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Pet 1:9; For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins.
2 Pet 1:10; Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble;
2 Pet 1:11; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.
It seems we all stumble at some point, even Peter when he took his eyes off of Jesus and looked at the waves around him. Sometimes the circumstances and storms
of life cause us to stumble.
Matt 14:24; But the boat was already a long distance from the land, battered by the waves; for the wind was contrary.
Matt 14:25; And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea.
Matt 14:26; When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out in fear.
Matt 14:27; But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid."
Matt 14:28; Peter said to Him, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water."
Matt 14:29; And He said, "Come!" And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus.
Matt 14:30; But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, "Lord, save me!"
Matt 14:31; Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and *said to him, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?"
We should try not be stumbling blocks, Jesus talks about those who are stumbling blocks in His kingdom.
Matt 13:40; "So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age.
Matt 13:41; "The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness,
Matt 13:42; and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Sometimes Satan can give us ideas, we think we are doing something good for God, but really we are just being selfish and looking at our own interests.
Satan is definitely the biggest stumbling block. He is sneaky and crafty. Refusing to put God's interests above our own may be the most common stumbling block of all.
Matt 16:22; Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, "God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You."
Matt 16:23; But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's."
Matt 16:24; Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.
Jesus said that he would send us a helper, the Holy Spirit and that it may keep us from stumbling (if we listen to Him).
John 15:26; "When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me,
John 15:27; and you will testify also, because you have been with Me from the beginning.
John 16:1; "These things I have spoken to you so that you may be kept from stumbling.
One day we will all stand before the judgment seat. Let us remember not to cause others to stumble. Will you be someone God calls a "stumbling block"?
Rom 14:12; So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God.
Rom 14:13; Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this--not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother's way.
Rom 14:21; It is good not to eat meat or to drink wine, or to do anything by which your brother stumbles.
Even the (false) teachings of some churches can be a stumbling block.
Rev 2:14 'But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality.
Jesus himself gives us this warning.
John 11:9; Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.
John 11:10; "But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him."
So let us walk in the light, not in the darkness so that we might not stumble, nor cause anyone else to stumble. Are you considered "bad company"? Have you caused others to stumble?
1 Cor 15:33; Do not be deceived: "Bad company corrupts good morals."
1 Cor 15:34; Become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning; for some have no knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame.
non-saved people stumbling. Perhaps it's because they are already on the wrong path to begin with. It seems certain parts of our flesh can cause us to stumble.
Matt 5:29; "If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.
Matt 5:30; "If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.
I don't think the verses above are so much about literally cutting off your limbs, as much as making the point, God doesn't want us to keep doing things to make us stumble.
It's interesting Jesus mentions this not only in the sermon on the mount, but again in another sermon later in Matt 18. It says that some people are stumbling blocks.
I've certainly known friends, family, co-workers, and yes even some people who call themselves Christians who have tried to persuade to do things I don't think God would approve of.
We ourselves can cause new Christians (little children) to stumble.
Matt 18:4; "Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Matt 18:5; "And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me;
Matt 18:6; 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.
Matt 18:7; "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!
Matt 18:8; "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.
Matt 18:9; "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.
( also see Mark 9:42-47; and Luke 17:2; )
It seems that doing some of the things Jesus has asked us to do causes some to stumble. Now certainly it isn't Jesus who causes us to stumble, but rather our own selfish hard hearts.
Sometimes we can stumble to the point we no longer want to walk with Jesus.
John 6:53; So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves.
John 6:54; "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.
John 6:60; Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this said, "This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?"
John 6:61; But Jesus, conscious that His disciples grumbled at this, said to them, "Does this cause you to stumble?
John 6:66; As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore.
John 6:67; So Jesus said to the twelve, "You do not want to go away also, do you?"
We ourselves can cause others to stumble, we need to be careful what we do in front of other people, our actions are our testimony.
1 Cor 8:10; For if someone sees you, who have knowledge, dining in an idol's temple, will not his conscience, if he is weak, be strengthened to eat things sacrificed to idols?
1 Cor 8:11; For through your knowledge he who is weak is ruined, the brother for whose sake Christ died.
1 Cor 8:12; And so, by sinning against the brethren and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ.
1 Cor 8:13; Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause my brother to stumble.
Paul says he was willing to give up anything that caused other believers to stumble. Even those of us who profess to be teachers of the word sometimes stumble.
The passage below is a good warning to those who want to be teachers. Not everyone is judged the same, some of us will have a stricter judgment.
Jas 3:1; Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment.
Jas 3:2; For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well.
Jesus himself was called a stumbling block to the Jews, it was prophesied this would happen ( Jer 6:21; ). But it wasn't Jesus who stumbled, it was those who were disobedient.
1 Pet 2:6; For this is contained in Scripture: "BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A CHOICE STONE, A PRECIOUS CORNER stone, AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED."
1 Pet 2:7; This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve, "THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE VERY CORNER stone,"
1 Pet 2:8; and, "A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE"; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed.
Peter gives some good advice about how to avoid stumbling.
2 Pet 1:5; Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge,
2 Pet 1:6; and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness,
2 Pet 1:7; and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love.
2 Pet 1:8; For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Pet 1:9; For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins.
2 Pet 1:10; Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble;
2 Pet 1:11; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.
It seems we all stumble at some point, even Peter when he took his eyes off of Jesus and looked at the waves around him. Sometimes the circumstances and storms
of life cause us to stumble.
Matt 14:24; But the boat was already a long distance from the land, battered by the waves; for the wind was contrary.
Matt 14:25; And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea.
Matt 14:26; When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out in fear.
Matt 14:27; But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid."
Matt 14:28; Peter said to Him, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water."
Matt 14:29; And He said, "Come!" And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus.
Matt 14:30; But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, "Lord, save me!"
Matt 14:31; Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and *said to him, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?"
We should try not be stumbling blocks, Jesus talks about those who are stumbling blocks in His kingdom.
Matt 13:40; "So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age.
Matt 13:41; "The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness,
Matt 13:42; and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Sometimes Satan can give us ideas, we think we are doing something good for God, but really we are just being selfish and looking at our own interests.
Satan is definitely the biggest stumbling block. He is sneaky and crafty. Refusing to put God's interests above our own may be the most common stumbling block of all.
Matt 16:22; Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, "God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You."
Matt 16:23; But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's."
Matt 16:24; Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.
Jesus said that he would send us a helper, the Holy Spirit and that it may keep us from stumbling (if we listen to Him).
John 15:26; "When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me,
John 15:27; and you will testify also, because you have been with Me from the beginning.
John 16:1; "These things I have spoken to you so that you may be kept from stumbling.
One day we will all stand before the judgment seat. Let us remember not to cause others to stumble. Will you be someone God calls a "stumbling block"?
Rom 14:12; So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God.
Rom 14:13; Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this--not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother's way.
Rom 14:21; It is good not to eat meat or to drink wine, or to do anything by which your brother stumbles.
Even the (false) teachings of some churches can be a stumbling block.
Rev 2:14 'But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality.
Jesus himself gives us this warning.
John 11:9; Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.
John 11:10; "But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him."
So let us walk in the light, not in the darkness so that we might not stumble, nor cause anyone else to stumble. Are you considered "bad company"? Have you caused others to stumble?
1 Cor 15:33; Do not be deceived: "Bad company corrupts good morals."
1 Cor 15:34; Become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning; for some have no knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame.
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