There are many places in the Bible that mention God's punishment for the defeated Christians in the millennial kingdom. We will take a look at these places now. Later, we will draw a conclusion concerning them.
Let us first consider Matthew 18:1-3. "In that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying, Who then is greatest in the kingdom of the heavens? And He called a little child to Him and stood him in their midst and said, Truly I say to you, Unless you turn and become like little children, you shall by no means enter into the kingdom of the heavens." Here the disciples asked a question concerning the kingdom of the heavens. It is a question concerning greatness in the kingdom. It is not a question concerning salvation and perdition, but a question concerning being great or small, high or low, in the kingdom. The Lord Jesus showed us that unless we turn and become like little children, we cannot enter into the kingdom of the heavens. Following this, verse 4 says, "He therefore who will humble himself like this little child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of the heavens." Verse 3 gives us the condition for entering the kingdom, while verse 4 gives us the way to be great in the kingdom. Verse 3 says that we must turn and become like children before we can enter the kingdom, and verse 4 says that if we continue to be children and humble ourselves, we will be the greatest in the kingdom of the heavens. This shows us that in the kingdom we should continue in the same way that we begin. The direction we face when we enter the kingdom should be the same direction we face when we continue in it. To enter into the kingdom of the heavens, we must turn and become like little children; and to be great in the kingdom of the heavens, we must continue to be humble like children. Here the Lord continues to bring up the matter of being like children.
Following this, the Lord said, "And whoever receives one such little child because of My name, receives Me" (v. 5). Whoever receives someone like this child because of Christ's name, that is, someone who turns to become like a child and who continues to be humble like a child, receives Christ. "And whoever stumbles one of these little ones who believe in Me, it is more profitable for him that a great millstone be hung around his neck and he be drowned in the open sea" (v. 6). This word indicates that stumbling others is a bigger problem than suffering and being killed in an ignoble way. Suppose someone kills you and casts your body into the sea. You are not even buried properly. Indeed this would be an unfortunate tragedy. But if you stumble others, your fate will be worse than this. Verse 7 says, "Woe to the world because of stumbling blocks! For it is necessary for stumbling blocks to come, but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes."