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If I were to refer to someone as a 10, do you know what I mean? If I call someone a 10, do you know what I mean by that? It's a rating of someone. And I say this, I ask this question because sometimes we view people as a 10, like cream of the crop type people or attractive people. When I first took up an official position in the church, early 20s, it was leading a small youth ministry. I hadn't been ordained yet, but being very young at it, it was very natural for some veteran youth workers to come around me and offer some advice about youth ministry and growing the ministry, giving tips and pointers. I'll never forget one piece of advice, though, And it was advice that I rejected, praise the Lord. But it was just a piece of advice that I couldn't stomach. So this man told me that there's a surefire way to grow the ministry. He said, in order to grow the ministry, what you need to do is zone in and focus on those students, those young people who are tens among their classmates. Focus on the tens, he said. Because then, guess who's gonna follow them? The nines are gonna follow them. And the nines will then attract the eights. And the eights will attract the sevens. And the sevens will attract the sixes. And I hope that your skin is just kind of crawling as I'm saying this to you. It's kind of a weird way to view people. and view people in ministry, all the way down to the ones. Don't focus on the ones. Those are obviously the loner kids, the weird kids, you know, that don't have a lot of friends, that aren't popular. Focus on the tens. I had to reject this simply because I thought, not just that it was bad advice, I honestly thought that God would strike me, he would wound me, he would hit me if I did something like this. But I'll tell you that this idea of preference and favoritism and elevating the flesh and regarding some flesh is more important than other people. Some people is more important than other people is a danger even in the church. Even in the church. Favoritism, preferences, partiality. These are things that the New Testament warns us about. And especially today, Jesus is saying to those first pastors in the church, those disciples, do not despise the little ones, not even one such child in the family of God. Do not despise him or her. You cannot do it. You cannot do it. There's a great danger for us to be preferential, to look at people who, you know, James, the brother of our Lord on earth, said that there are times in the church where a poor person, obviously poor, obviously impoverished, walks in among the assembly to worship. And he sits down, but that's the seat for the rich person. And in the church, what was happening is James brought a condemnation and indictment against the church because they were telling the poor person in the church, James chapter 2, you move and give your spot to the rich. And James says, no, that's inappropriate. Why is this? It's because God's heart is so big for every little one in his family. And that's the big thing Jesus is trying to communicate to his disciples, is God has a huge heart for every person in his family. And so must you. Get a big heart. Get a bigger heart. Make room in your hearts for the children of God. Each and every one. That's one of the dangers. The other danger is just what you see in here, right? In the church, we have this danger towards partiality. But in the other danger, the other danger is this. We are prone to wander, aren't we, church? We are prone to be deceived, to be seduced, to be led astray into error and bad behavior and false thinking. We're prone to wander off. And so what's the big solution Jesus is putting forth to these disciples in Matthew 18? He's saying the solution to partiality in the church and the solution to wandering off from the church is the very big heart of God for his people. It's so big that he loves each one and it's so big that he will go after each child when that child has gone astray. That's kind of an overview of this passage. And Matthew 18 is just a wonderful, wonderful sermon that Jesus gives. It's one of his last sermons. In fact, it is the capstone, the finish line to Jesus' Galilean ministry. As you know, Jesus has been ministering in Galilee and a little bit more north of Galilee for around three years. And in his ministry, what he's been doing is he has been setting up the kingdom of heaven on earth. He's been demonstrating the kingdom through great acts of power, casting out demons, healing the sick, raising the dead, preaching the gospel of the good news of the kingdom of God. And now he is capping it all off by instructing his disciples, when I leave and when I am resurrected and when I ascend to my throne in heaven to reign over my kingdom while it's on earth, you all have to make sure that in the church, the church, that visible manifestation of the kingdom of God on earth is like me. It is Christ-like. Jesus is going to give one final sermon after this. It's the Mount of Olives sermon or the Olivet sermon where he talks about the fall of Jerusalem. But this really is it. This is like Moses instructing the Israelites before Joshua takes over and leads them to conquer the promised land. Here Jesus is in Galilee. And the very the very next chapter, Matthew 19, verse one, Jesus turns his face and sets his course for Jerusalem. Jesus is only weeks away from the Passover where he will lay down his life as the Lamb of God who will take away the sins of the world. And he's getting his disciples ready with all that is important, the most important things. He's saying, you all, you disciples are going to be entrusted with the church and the church must be these things you find in Matthew 18. And what do you see here? I've explained this in previous weeks. Matthew 18, Jesus starts out, you've got to be humble, be childlike. Then he says, you've got to be holy, so fight your sin, flee temptation. And then he says, you've got to be looking out for one another. Not despising the little ones, but looking out for one another. And then be forgiving. And don't you just love the logic of that? I mean, the logic is just so beautiful. Just take it in the life of the Christian in the church. You know, we start out and we're humble. We humbly come to God and believe in him and receive his gift of salvation because we realize we can't earn God's grace on our own. So we have to humble ourselves and say, God, I need you. And then he begins that work of sanctification in us, which we start to despise our sin and want to cut away sin and that which leads us away from God. But then after that, you start to realize that you're doing this whole life of faith with other people, those other people being called the family of God. And surprise, the family of God messes up sometimes. They stumble, they fail, they sin, and they sin against you, you personally. They do it. And just think about the logic again. What is Jesus saying? And Jesus wants his disciples to deal with the sin as a family. But again, you've got to understand the process. You can't just Go yelling at your brother and sister in Christ and expect them to be perfect and meet all your expectations. No. Remember what it is. You start with your humility. You start with you yourself taking your sins and your issues to task. And then you turn towards the other. Right? It's what Jesus says. It's almost like Jesus is bringing you back to the Sermon on the Mount when he says, he says, don't try and remove the speck from your brother's eye when you have a what? A log, a plank, a two by four sticking out of yours. Excuse me. Right? He says, you hypocrites, first, first take the log out of your eye, then you'll be able to see so that you can remove the speck from your brother's eye. Galatians 6.1. Brothers, when any of you are, when someone is in a trespass, you who are spiritual should go and restore that one. But keep watch over yourself lest you be tempted too. So you've got to start with yourself and then Right? And then now you can start to turn and give care and correction towards the people of God. And this is where this sermon takes us right here in Matthew 18 verse 10. Right? It's right as you're turning, right as you're turning towards that person next to you, your husband, your wife, your church member, your child, you're turning to that person next to you and you're about to start doing life with this person. Jesus inserts this statement, do not despise one of these little ones. Because the thing that you have to have, the instinct you have to have, Christian, to another Christian, is what Jesus says in this parable. The instinct that you have to have towards the little ones, to the Christians next to you, is this. God loves that little one. He loves that little one so much What He has done for you in your life, while you were yet a sinner and Christ died for you, He gave His one and only Son, guess what? God loves that little one next to you just as far, just as much. He loves the little one. You need to have that in mind. You need to have that kind of caring instinct in mind that God loves His people. I think this would solve a lot of problems in the church, right? If we just understood how much God loved the other, right? If you understood how much God loved that person that you just have it out for, that person who's just been driving you nuts, that person that you just despise, if you understood how much God loved that person, that would just change everything. Jesus says, be careful, do not despise. He says, see to it, see that you don't despise one of these little ones. And as I've already shared with you, the little one is another word for Christian. And I'll talk about why I mean that in just a moment. A little one, someone who is kind of unregarded, small, And he says, don't despise. And sometimes when we read despise, we tend to think of despising as hating. And that's part of it. But most often when the Bible uses the term despise, and especially in the New Testament, the word means to look down upon. You know, the You know, you think you're holier than that person. You think you're better than that person, right? That person is small in your eyes. That's what despising means. To look down upon one. A great example of this in the New Testament is when Paul writes to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians chapter 11. And he tells the church that they've been coming together for communion, but the rich in the church, the wealthy in the church, have been despising the poor. The ones who don't have to work the long hours in the day, they show up to the church supper early with all their food and their drink, and they eat it all and party. And then the poor people come in from work, and there's nothing to share with the poor. And Paul says, do you think you're actually taking the Lord's supper when you do this? No, you are despising the people of God. You are despising the church of Christ, Paul says. You're not to look down. Despising happens in a number of ways, where you just think, hey, that person, I do not prefer that person, I prefer other people. We can find many ways to despise little ones in the church. We can despise many ways to despise, we can think of many ways to despise Christians. And it happens in a variety of ways. You think you're out and about and you hear people make some sort of comment about the church and the Christians and how they're all hypocrites and why would anyone go to church? And you might think in your mind, well I'll just side and say, yeah, them Christians, They're a bunch of sinners, but I'm not like them. I'm a Christian, I'm just not like those Christians, right? That's despising the little ones. Or you hear people say, that church over there, why would anyone go there? And you're like, it's talking about Nelsons. And you're thinking, yeah, there's some rough people there, and, you know, the people there are kind of wonky, and you're kind of mumbling along with the thing. Look, that's despising the little ones. Say, hey, no, the church is my people. I love my people. They're my family. They're my brothers, my sisters, my mothers and fathers. They're my kids. Like I'm joined to them. That's what you do. You don't side along with people. It's just like, would you take that if someone was insulting your family? You would say, whoa, look, nobody's perfect. But hey, these are my people. I love them. Sometimes we can prefer. prefer others at the expense of others. And this just happens, and it's a sad thing, but we can look at our ministries, our personal ministries, and say, you know what, I will serve anywhere, I'll go anywhere and do anything, I'll go anywhere in the church and serve and put my hands and back to work, but then maybe in your own family, maybe with your own spouse, you really don't have any regard or taste for service to that little one. And it's just, we have to remember what Jesus says. Do not despise one of these little ones. Not even a one. That's one of the key terms here you see over and over and over in this passage. Don't despise one of these little ones. Right? Jesus keeps on saying one, one, one. Little ones, little ones, little ones. Don't despise a single one. Don't be preferential. Don't do it. Churches can really be this way. Churches can be this way when we talk about things like target audiences and all those sorts of things. This is not the way God sees his church. God sees his church as a group of his little ones, as his family of little ones. So we're right at this turning point, the basic fundamental thing we must know is how much God loves his people. And so this is the summary statement that I want to give to you today. The main thing is that you must value every member of Christ's flock because Jesus has the most, the utmost shepherding care for each one. Jesus has the utmost shepherding care for each little one. So value everyone. Now, I want to give a little bit of a historical note as you think about this. When the early church began to take off, when the early Christian movement began to take off, this was a very strange group of people. It did not begin by going through the palatial and fancy places of society. The early Christian movement did not do that. It was started really by this homeless carpenter, Jesus, who died on a Roman cross, and his followers, who at the time were really ordinary, at best, ordinary young men. Carpenters, fishermen, a tax collector. Most of them young, not wealthy. And not only that, but the women and the children that attended to Jesus and his ministry, they weren't that popular in the eyes of the world either. The women that attended to Jesus' ministry, some of them were called formally women of the world. And so this, it's kind of like a ragtag group of people, this small movement, and as the Holy Spirit is poured out at Pentecost and the church starts to spread, it's spreading among people who were not actually all that noble in the eyes of the world. In fact, to be called a follower of the way or to be called a follower of Jesus was to be viewed as kind of a person who was part of something called the Nazarene sect of Judaism. This little finger off the arm of Judaism. And people were like, yeah, that's someone who follows the Nazarene. They're like weird. That's like, they're Jews, but they're like weird Jews. They're not like the other Jews. They were just viewed as weird. And Paul even writes about this if you go to 1 Corinthians 1. He says what this church is like. 1 Corinthians 1. He says, Consider your calling, brothers. 1 Corinthians 1.26. Not many of you were wise according to worldly standards. Not many were powerful. Not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong. God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. So, why I say this is because the world, the world, the natural way of the world is to look upon the church, to look upon the people of God, the children of God, the little ones of God, and to think very little of them. to think very small, to despise the people of God. That's the way the world looks upon the church. And Jesus knew the world would look upon the church that way. And so when he tells his disciples, don't despise the little ones of God, he's saying, look, this is a countercultural way of being. The world will despise my people. You don't despise my people. And this will be a salt and light in all the world. And it is really true. that people have found shelter in the family of God because the family of God has declared that the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is one who is not partial. He shows no partiality to the flesh. Rich or poor, handicapped, former debtors, former worldlings, former prostitutes, former gamblers, former drug addicts, former whatever it is, you come to Jesus having nothing, guess what? You are a little one in the family of God, amen? That's what Jesus is wanting his people to see. So open up your hearts. Get a bigger heart for the people of God. Of course, there's going to be the influential ones. Yes, of course there is. But we're not called to show partiality towards people. So I want to give three displays of God's care for his little ones based on this teaching of Jesus. Three displays of God's care. How do we know God has such a big heart for his little children? How do we know he has such a big heart? How do we know? Number one, God has given each little one a representation of angels. You could call it a ministry of angels. This is an incredible statement, isn't it? Right? I tell you that in heaven, their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven. Well, what does that mean? Does that mean everybody has a guardian angel? Is that what Jesus is talking about? Well, no, it's not really that. What is Jesus trying to get at? Remember, he's trying to show the value, the heart of God for a little one. If I were to take you to Hebrews chapter one, verses 13 through 14, and I think in our adult Sunday school class we've been studying angels. We understand that angels are ministering spirits sent by God for those who have inherited salvation. They are God's ministers who have a special interest in the little ones of God to help them, to guard them, to protect them, and to minister to them so that they can make progress in their faith. We know this happens on earth a number of times in the Bible. Remember when Jesus was on earth, and he was tempted by Satan in the wilderness. After Satan leaves Jesus, and Jesus had defeated him in temptation, who comes and attends to the needs of Jesus in the wilderness. Do you remember who it was? It was angels who came and ministered to Jesus. If I take you to Acts chapter 12 verse 11, the apostle Peter was rescued. He was in prison for the faith. He was in prison, in Herod's prison, in prison for the faith. And it says that as he was asleep, an angel of the Lord led him out of the prison. And when he finally comes to, he realizes that God has sent his angel to take care of him. Why do I say all this? I say all this because Jesus is not wanting you to necessarily be obsessive over angels like looking around for a guardian angel or looking around for a vision of an angel. That's not really it. Or for you to hear a message from angels. That's not really it at all. He's wanting his disciples to consider that if God sees to it that he dispatches the angelic armies of his own throne to help one little child then that must mean that child is pretty valuable to God, isn't it? Doesn't that mean that? I mean, think about it. If we were to have a former president come to our worship service today, or maybe the current president come to our worship service today, do you know what kind of security detail would be all over this place? It would be hopping, y'all. There would be a lot going on. Why is this? because that man is so valuable. Now think about this. Think about this. Each one of God's children has a security detail sent by God. The angel, the angels that stand before God's throne saying, God, I'll go help them right now. I will go. I'm ready. You send me right now. I'll go and help your little ones. So Jesus is saying, consider that. That is how important the little one is to God. Next, I want you to see this. The second thing I want you to see is that Jesus is the little one's good and perfect shepherd. I think this is one of the most heartwarming and reassuring parables we could ever know. Right? That the shepherd goes in search of the lost lamb, leaves the 99. I mean, how many songs do we have singing it? I mean, the most famous hymn that we sing, Amazing Grace, says, I once was lost, but now I'm what? Found. All those songs come right out of the heart of this parable. That Jesus is not content to say, oh, I lost one. I got 99 others. He wants to show his disciples that each little one is so important that a good shepherd, that Jesus treats one like a shepherd who would leave 99 and go after one sheep. A number of things to notice about this really great parable. I want you to consider what Jesus does to his disciples. Oh, let me back up actually. You might be a little stumped right now if you've been following along in your scriptures. And it's verse 11. Go to verse 11. Oh wait, it's not there, is it? Does that make you scratch your head a little bit? Yeah, same thing. Go to verse 21 of Matthew 17. Oh yeah, that one's not there either, right? You're like, wait a second, why does the Bible skip around like this and just jump over verses? If you have the King James Version of the Bible, if you have the KJV or the New King James Version, then you have these verses in there. But if you have another translation like the ESV or the NASB or the LSB, you don't have that verse in there. You probably have a note that says, look down at the bottom. OK, and you know, probably says something like the Son of Man came to save the lost. Amen. Right. That's what it says. Am I right about that? Did I get that right? Yeah, for the Son of Man came to save the lost. Now, just so you know, there are a number of these verses, they come up a number of times in the New Testament. All this, all of this means It's very simple. The King James Version of the Bible bases its New Testament manuscripts on a later tradition called the Received received text or the, that's the manuscript tradition. And those are, those, that manuscript tradition comes a little later in history than the earliest manuscripts we have of Matthew. Okay. So the earliest manuscripts we have of Matthew, so we're thinking late first century all the way into the third and fourth century, right? Those manuscripts don't have the verse in there, but then the later manuscripts do. Well, what happens? Did someone copy that in there? Well, Maybe. We don't know exactly, but what we do know is that this verse is actually truly something that Jesus said. Because if you look up Luke's telling of the gospel, Luke's telling of the gospel and Luke's telling of this parable, he includes these words here. So maybe as the manuscripts are getting handed down, Someone thought, well, in Luke's account, I'll just smooth it over and put what Luke has Jesus saying in with Matthew. We don't exactly know, okay? So the basic thing is... The earliest manuscripts don't have this verse in there. The later manuscripts do, right? This happens a number of times in the New Testament. It's not something to be worried about, but if I were to have like a sword Bible drill and I said, hey, everybody, let's turn to Matthew chapter 18, verse 11, no one would get there, right? We'd all be a little stumped. The earliest manuscripts don't have it in there. The later ones do. You see this in a number of passages, the end of Mark's gospel, the last few verses, the woman who was caught in adultery in John chapter eight. Those are verses that are part of the later manuscript tradition. It's not to say they didn't happen or Jesus didn't say it. It's just that in the earliest manuscripts, we don't have those in there. So, but it is a great thing to remember, the son of man came to save the lost. That's what this passage is about. So let's go back to verse 12 here. All right, so Jesus begins this question, or begins this parable by actually asking a question. And if you have the King James, it says, what think ye? Or what do you think, Jesus asks. What do you think? Suppose a man, suppose a man has 100 sheep, and one goes astray. What do you think? Why does he ask what do you think? I think it means Jesus is putting his disciples to the test right now. He's putting all who read this to the test. What do you think? What do you think about this shepherd? What do you think about this man? What do you think about your own heart? Is your heart open like this shepherd? Is your heart open like God? Is your heart open to the Christians? What do you think? Will you be like this man who I'm about to explain to you? The one who leaves the 99? The second thing you should see here is the desperation of the one that went astray. By the way, to go astray is not a cute thing, right? This sheep leaves the fold of the shepherd, 99, and goes astray. And if you think that's cute, like, oh, the little sheep got lost for a little bit and just bopping around eating flowers in another field somewhere, like, you do not want to be in this condition of being astray. Why is this? Well, look at how it ends. Look at how this whole thing ends. It's not my will. It's not the will of the Father who's in heaven that any one of these should perish. So that means the astray that the sheep is in, that condition is extremely desperate and dangerous. It's not a good thing. It's not a good thing. In other words, a rescue has to happen or this sheep will die. Now, what does it mean then to go astray? Like we think it means simply to, you might think it just means to get lost. Well, this is a very important word in our New Testament, this word to go astray. And it really comes with two things. It comes with two ideas. To go astray means to get into some really bad conduct, some bad behaviors. And then it also means to to be deceived spiritually, to get into spiritual errors. And going astray is both something that you're culpable for and something that you're led into, right? Do you see what I mean? You're responsible for it and it happens. It happens. You've been led astray. You caught a whiff of something that someone else was doing, and you started following that scent, and it led you somewhere else. You got entranced by something shiny on the hill over there, and you went in search of that thing. Let me read you some of the times where the New Testament writers talk about going astray. Matthew 24, 24, Jesus is teaching that that in the times when the destruction of Jerusalem is going to happen, there will be many false Christs, many false messiahs who will rise up among the people and lead them astray. 1 Corinthians 6, 9 says, do not be deceived. Don't be led astray into believing that you can be unrighteous and still inherit the kingdom of heaven. He says, don't be deceived. It won't be the idolatrous, the sexual immoral, the homosexuals, the drunkards, the swindlers. None of them will inherit the kingdom of heaven. Don't be deceived. Don't be led astray. 1 Corinthians 15.33 Don't be deceived. Don't be led astray. Bad company corrupts good... Do you know what it is? Bad company corrupts good morals, good character. You can't hang around bad company and expect to be living right in the sight of God for long. It will corrupt you. Galatians 6-7 says if you sow to your flesh, you will reap according to your flesh. Don't be deceived. Don't be deceived in thinking that if you sow to the flesh, you'll reap spiritual blessings. Don't be deceived that way. Hebrews 5-2 says you become deceived because of ignorance. You can become deceived because of ignorance. Second Peter 2-15. Leaving the right path, it describes leaving the right way, the way that leads to life, to try and gain, to try and profit from wrongdoing. That's a deception. 1 John 1.8 says you are deceived when you believe that you are without sin. Right? That's that prideful deception. I haven't done anything wrong, right? I can't do anything wrong. You're deceived. Revelation 2.20 talks about being seduced and to sexual immorality and to idolatry. That's what it means to go astray. And ultimately, James 5.19 says it in one way. It summarizes it perfectly. James 5.19 says it means to wander from the truth, wander from the truth, wander from the fold of God. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. And we wander outside of that. All sorts of bad things are going to happen. All sorts of dangers are going to happen. That's what it means to be deceived. But, here's the thing, you must see the willingness of the shepherd to seek and save the lost one. This is such a great, a great characteristic, because you know what the shepherd says in this passage? You know what he says? He says nothing. There's nothing he says. He just goes and gets the sheep. He just goes and traverses whatever he has to traverse, brave any danger, and goes and gets the sheep. He doesn't say, oh, goodness. Oh, it was Roberta again. She wandered off again. When is she going to learn? Oh, it was Jimmy, that stubborn sheep. He can't keep his nose down. He's just gotta go find something better. He doesn't say, well, that sheep came from bad stock. Or that sheep's gonna get what's coming to him or her. That's not what the shepherd says. The shepherd says nothing, y'all. He just simply goes and is the shepherd. In other words, the shepherd does not even despise the sheep when it is astray. That's something incredible to think about. The shepherd doesn't even look down his nose at the sheep that's gone astray. When we have people who have gone astray in the church, we tend to think, oh, yeah, you know, knew that was coming. Knew they wouldn't be around for a while. They were going to. We tend to say all these things and we tend to try and answer ourselves for why they're getting into this behavior, for why they're doing these things. You know why they're doing these things. Stop acting like you're some sort of wizard. You know why people do things. Why do people do things? Because we are prone to wander. That's the way we all are. But Jesus, Jesus says, take a look at this man. What do you think about him? Are you like this? Are you like this? He doesn't even despise the sheep that goes away. See him on the go, traversing the mountains with one thing on his mind and heart, I must find my lamb. And here's the thing, when he picks up the sheep finally, and by the way, this is a success story, because Jesus doesn't fail. The shepherd that's a model for us doesn't fail to find the sheep. He doesn't get a few miles into the journey and say, oh goodness, it's getting dark out. It's getting scary out. A storm's coming. I'll never find the sheep in this weather. I'll never find the sheep in this time. I'll never find the sheep anytime soon. That's not what he says. It's a success story. And it says how much joy he has. If he finds it, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the 99 that never went astray. You think, why would he, you know, what, poor 99, right? Why don't they get a celebration? But we know this isn't the, this is just the way our hearts, the way their hearts are wired. If you were to have a, if you were to have a child, right, that goes off into a world of sin, and your other children stay the course, and that child comes back, you would be so happy, wouldn't you? If you have a child, maybe it's a physical thing, you have a child who catches a sickness, a disease, and it almost takes that child's life from them, and they're restored to health. You're absolutely joyful. You should be celebrating. It doesn't mean that you wish your other children had been sick, right, or lost. You're just so happy. So happy. And that's the heart of God, right? He rescues and has joy. He doesn't show anger because he lost time. He's not impatient because he had to work extra or longer or that he had to brave danger. There's nothing but joy in the heart of the Savior Shepherd. Think about that. That is the heart of God. That's the heart of God for sinners. While we were yet sinners, Jesus died for us. For the joy that was set before him, Jesus says, he endured the cross. It was so that Jesus could bring many sons to glory as we sing, that he was pierced for our transgressions. and crushed for our sins. Jesus says, Jesus said, I lay my own life down willingly of my own accord. For the sheep. This is the heart of Jesus. And I think all of us can identify every one of us should be able to identify with that sheep. And then Jesus picked us up that one day when we were lost and wandering, whenever it was, and said, come home with me. Come with me, little one. Come with me. And we went with Jesus. It wasn't because we were so great at figuring out this world on our own. It was because Jesus came and found you. It's because Jesus came and rescued you that you are able to now be a child of God, to be back in the fold of God. It may not even be that radical salvation story, but you just need to remember maybe you've been here and you've been in a bit of a slow fade. You haven't been standing tall in temptations and you've been falling and you've been wandering off, you could say. You've been going astray for a season. Oh, listen, today, let there be joy in the heart of the Savior and come back to Him. Hear the Savior's voice on the words of this sermon to you. And come back. Because you're His child. And you're wandering far from the fold of God. And you're in danger. And Jesus will not let that keep on, will not let that happen. He wants you back with His children, with His people. Come back to God. Stop straying. It's time to come home. Finally, thirdly, you should never look down on a little one because the Father has decreed an everlasting salvation for each of his children. This statement is a statement of God's sovereign grace, sovereign and electing grace. It's a promise of eternal security. whom the Father brings to the Son, God promises to preserve and keep. He promises to complete the good work of salvation. He wills that not one of his children will perish. So guess what? Not one of his children will perish. It's not going to happen. Let me read to you. John 6, verses 37 through 40. Hear the comfort and the confidence you can have because of Jesus' words. John 6, 37. He says this, All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out, for I have come down from heaven. Not to do my own will, but the will of Him who sent me. And this is the will of Him who sent me, that I shall lose nothing, I should lose nothing of all that He is giving me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life. And I will raise Him up on the last day. It's not, I might raise him up on the last day if I find him somewhere. Notice I will raise him up on the last day. John 10, and I put this earlier in your outline, John 10 verses 11 through 18 and then 27 through 30. I'll just read 27 through 30 because it's amazing. John 10, 27-30, My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand, because I and the Father are one. What's Jesus showing there for you who are His sheep? He's saying, you're in My hand, and you're in the Father's hand. And I and the Father are one. It's like you cannot be snatched if you are in Jesus Christ. You cannot perish. It will not happen. It's an impossibility. God has declared, it's His decree that none of His children should perish. This is, by the way, the missionary mindset when we go into the world and share the Gospel. We know that there are people everywhere we go, when they hear the Gospel, that they will come home to God because God is the Good Shepherd. Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd. And He will bring them home and they'll never perish. And this is the call ringing in this pulpit. that if you've been swaying or swerving from the truth, fading away, don't harden your heart. He bids you to stop wandering and come and return to him. And this is the way, really, that you must pray as a parent. For if you have wayward children and they belong to God, God will not let them perish, people. Do you hear me? Pray accordingly with faith and not without hope. Pray according to this promise. How do we know then, finally, that all of this is true? How do we know Jesus really is the Good Shepherd? How do we know that Jesus is the one who would leave the 99 and go after the one? Well, Jesus said it. He says, this is how you know I'm the Good Shepherd. Because I lay my life down for the sheep. That's how we know Jesus is the willing shepherd. Because he died on the cross. He died on the cross and while we were wandering far from the fold of God, while you were wandering far from the fold of God, He put forth His grace to you in the cross where He shed His blood for your forgiveness. So that now you who were lost can be found. You who were an enemy of God can be now called a son or a daughter. You who were far off can be brought near to the throne of God. That's what Jesus did when he died on the cross. It was the shepherding staff on display for everyone who comes to it. The very care of God extended out to every little one, to every child who would, by faith, embrace Jesus. It was that shepherd's staff, that cross, where he defeated sin and beat off all the attacks of the devil and evil against every little one of God. So now when we look to the cross, what do we see? We see the shepherding care of the Lord our God. How much he loves his flock, and the least of us, and how we are tended by such a caring God as him. So again, I ask, have you been straying? Have you been wandering? Have you been veering off? Hey, it's time to come home. Hear the voice of your good shepherd call to you. Hear the voice in this passage that He is the One who has left the 99. He left heaven for you to come and bring you home to God. Do not turn your ear away. Do not turn your heart away from this one whose heart is so big for every child. And church, remember, this is the care that we are to extend out to others. Because God so loved us, what does 1 John tell us? Because God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. This is the point. Do not despise one of God's little ones. Do not despise it. Let the care of God, the heart of God inform all your thinking about the people whom he calls his children. Amen. Amen.
The one that went astray, Matthew 18:10-14
Series The Gospel of Matthew
Sermon ID | 22252048501844 |
Duration | 49:40 |
Date | |
Category | Sunday Service |
Bible Text | Matthew 18:10-14 |
Language | English |
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