Matthew 18:10-14

The Gospel Of Matthew  •  Sermon  •  Submitted
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Scripture Reading: Luke 15:11-32

Introduction

I have in My Hands 100 $1 Bills
Yes, I Know I Shouldn’t Be Flaunting My Great Wealth in Church
But I Want You to Imagine with Me for a Second
Imagine You’re Taking These 100 Dollars to the Opry Mills Mall in Nashville
You’ve Got the Whole Day to Shop…
So You Go in Every Single One of the Over 200 Stores
At the End of the Day, You Decide Not to Buy Anything
But When You Count Your Money…
You Find that $1 is Missing
Now You’re Faced with a Decision
Do You Retrace Your Steps Through the Entire Mall…
In Hopes of Finding Your 1 Lost Dollar
Or Do You Say, “Ah, it’s Only $1!”
“I’ve Still Got $99 in My Pocket”
“No Need to Spend Hours Searching for One Lost Dollar”
“Besides, While I’m Searching for the One that’s Lost…”
“I Might End Up Losing More”
To Most (if Not All) of Us, Searching for the Lost Dollar is Ridiculous
We Don’t Value $1 Enough to Go Through Such Trouble
When You Lose Something You Greatly Value…
It’s Devastating
And You’re Willing to Go to Extreme Lengths to Find it
And if You Happen to Find it…
It’s a Cause for Celebration
Most of the Time, Losing a Dollar Doesn’t Devastate Us
Sure, it’s a Bummer, But Nothing to Cry About
And Most of Us Think Finding a Dollar is Pretty Cool…
But Not Worthy of Throwing a Party
I’m Afraid that We May Assign the Same Value to Our Siblings in Christ…
That We Assign to a Dollar
When a Brother or Sister Steps Away From the Faith…
Does it Devastate Us?
Or is it Just a Bummer?
Do We Value Them Enough to Try to Bring Them Back to Jesus?
Or Do We Just Go on with Our Lives, Sparing Ourselves the Trouble?
Do We Celebrate/Throw a Party When They Return to Faithfulness?
Or Does a Half-Hearted Smile and a Hug Suffice?
In Our Text, Jesus Tells Us that God Greatly Values His Children
So Much So that When Just a Single One Goes Missing…
He is Devastated and Seeks to Find Them
And When He Does, it’s a Cause for Great Celebration
And Here’s the Main Point We’re to Walk Away with:
He Wants Us to Value Each Other…
To the Same Degree that He Values Us

Matthew 18:10-14

We are in the 4th of the 5 Major Teaching Discourses of Jesus
This Discourse is All About Relationships in the Kingdom:
How We’re to Treat One Another, as Citizens of God’s Kingdom
Jesus Began His Discourse By Saying that…
The Greatest/Most Honorable/Most Important/Highest Status in His Kingdom…
Are Those Who Humble Themselves to the Lowly Status of a Child
To Be Superior, You Must Be Inferior
To Be Honored, You Must Take the Place of Dishonor
To Be Important/Significant, You Must Make Yourself of No Importance/Significance
To Be the Greatest, the First, the Highest Rank…
You Must Place Yourself at the Bottom - Below Everyone Else
You Must Make Yourself a Servant to All
He Then Moves on to Say that We Must Love/Accept/Care for…
The Lowly/Humble Citizens of the Kingdom
And Judgment will Be Horrendous for Those Who Cause Them to Sin
It would Be Better to Be Crippled/Lame/Blind for Eternity…
Than to Suffer the Judgment of Causing a Disciple of Jesus to Sin
Now, Jesus is Going to Tell Us How Much God Values…
Each and Everyone of His Children
And the Message is:
We should Value Each Other Too
Matthew 18:10 (NASB95)
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.
Disciples of Jesus are Not to Be Despised
Despised = To Look Down on, Think Little of
To Consider of Very Little Value
Jesus is Saying, “Don’t Look at Any of God’s Children…”
“And Consider Them of Little Value”
And What He Says Next has Sparked Many Imaginations:
“Their Angels in Heaven…”
Sounds Like Jesus is Referring to Guardian Angels, Doesn’t it?
In Daniel, There are Angels that Represent Individual Nations
In Revelation, There are Angels that Represent Individual Churches
And Here, it Sounds Like Jesus is Saying…
There are Angels that Represent Individual Christians
Is that What Jesus is Saying?
It’s Possible!
Notice What the Author of Hebrews Says About Angels
Hebrews 1:14 (NASB95)
14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?
Angels Minister/Render Service for the Sake of Christians
They Minister/Serve on Our Behalf for Our Benefit
What All Does that Entail?
I have No Earthly Idea
But I Know it’s True
(Put Matthew 18:10 Back Up)
Is that What Jesus is Referring to Here?
Possibly
So is Jesus Referring to “Guardian” Angels?
Notice Jesus Never Used the Word “Guardian”
“Guardian Angel” Makes Us Think of Angels…
Whose Mission it is to Protect Us From Any Harm
We Don’t See Any Scriptural Evidence for Such a Thing
But is it Possible that Individual Christians have Individual Angels…
Assigned to Them and Serving Them in Some Way?
Sure, that’s Absolutely Possible
But I Think What’s More Important than Speculating on that…
Is Focusing on What Jesus Actually Said in this Text
He Said Their Angels in Heaven:
“Continually See the Face of My Father Who is in Heaven”
This is Royal Throne-Room Language
They are Always in the Presence of God Almighty
I Believe the Point Jesus is Making Here is This:
“Don’t Consider God’s Children of Little Value…”
“Because Their Angels have Immediate Access to God”
God is Always Keeping Up with His Children
He’s Always Watching
He’s Always Aware
So Do Not Under-Value His Children Whom He Greatly Values
Matthew 18:11 (NASB95)
11 “For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.
The NASB Puts in Brackets Verses that aren’t in the Earliest/Most Reliable Manuscripts
A Scribe Most Likely Took this Statement From Luke 19:10
And Added it Here Because of How it Fits with What Jesus Says Next
But, Whether it’s Original in Matthew or Not, it’s True
And the Following Parable Illustrates this Fact
Matthew 18:12–14 (NASB95)
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.
Jesus Compares the Heavenly Father to a Shepherd of 100 Sheep…
Who Values Each of His Sheep So Much…
That He’s Willing to Leave 99 of Them on the Mountain…
To Search for a Single One that Goes Missing
When One of His Children Goes Astray into Sin…
He is Devastated
They Don’t Become Less Valuable to Him
They’re Still Just as Valuable to Him as Those Who Remain Faithful
He Doesn’t Give Up on Them
He Pursues Them
“Truly I Tell You”
What I’m Telling You is True and Extremely Important
If the Father Finds His One Child Who Went Astray…
“He Rejoices Over it…”
“More Than Over the 99 which have Not Gone Astray”
His Joy Over Finding His One Lost Child…
Exceeds the Joy of Knowing that His Other 99 are Safe
That’s Not to Say that He Doesn’t Rejoice Over Those Who Stay Faithful
He is Delighted When His Children Remain with Him
But He’s Even More Delighted When One that Strays…
Is Returned to the Safety of His Love and Care
He Doesn’t Want Even a Single One of His Children to Perish
Jesus Tells this Same Parable Under Different Circumstances in Luke’s Account:
Notice How He Describes God’s Joy Over Finding One Lost Sheep
Luke 15:5–7 (NASB95)
5 “When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 “And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ 7 “I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

Application

To Make this Passage More Practical…
Let’s Look at the 3 Primary Components:
Value God’s Children (Even the Least of Them)
Search for the Ones that Go Astray
Celebrate if They Return
In Order to Value God’s Children:
We Need to Recognize the Value God Places on Them
He’s Devastated When He Loses Even One
And He’s Willing to Leave the Rest in Order to Find it
If He Values Each of Us in that a Way…
We Need to Value Each Other in that Same Way
But in Order to Do that…
We Need to Be Close to God’s Children
We Need More Times of Intimate Fellowship
I’m a Firm Believer the Church Today Needs More Times of…
Small Group Gatherings and In-House Get-Togethers
This Larger Assembly is Good…
But if We’re Being Honest…
Close Relationships and Intimacy…
Are Nearly Impossible to Cultivate in this Environment
It’s So Much Easier for People Get Overlooked/Neglected
It’s Far Too Easy to Slip in and Slip Out…
Without having to Interact with Anyone
In Smaller, Relaxed Settings, Like a Living Room, Back Porch, or Coffee Shop…
Is a Much Better Environment for:
Building Relationships
Growing in Intimacy
Confessing Struggles and Sins
Personally Applying the Scriptures
I Want to Challenge All of Us to Seek Opportunities…
Grow Closer with Your Siblings in Christ
We Need More Opportunities…
To Be with Each Other Outside of this Building
And that Starts with Every Individual Here
In Order to Go Search for the Ones that Go Astray:
Everyone Needs to Be Involved
It’s Not About Trying to Force Relationships with Everyone Here
It’s Not Possible to Be Best Friends with Everyone
But if We All had a Small, Tight-Knit Group of Christians…
That We were Close to…
And Kept in Constant Contact with…
Sheep Falling Through the Cracks and Going Astray…
Would Be Far Less Likely
And if Anyone Did Fall into Sinful Practice…
They would have a Group of People…
Who Notice and are Going to Be There to Bring Them Back
The Command to Seek/Bring Back the Straying Ones…
Is the Responsibility of Every Christian
It’s Not an Elder’s, Deacon’s, or Preacher’s Duty
It’s a Christian’s Duty
When We Value Each Other the Way God Values Each of Us…
We’ll Take the Initiative to Gently and Lovingly Bring Them Back to the Fold
And that is So Much Easier and More Effective…
When Everyone has a Close-Knit Group Within the Church
In Order to Celebrate the Return of a Straying Sibling:
We Need to Experience the Joy that God Feels Over Their Return
I Love that We Form a Line and Give Lots of Hugs and Kind Words
But if That’s Our Only Way of Celebrating with Sibling that’s Returned Home…
It Makes Me Question if We Truly Believed They were Lost
We’re Called to Be More Than Just Happy
We’re Called to Celebrate
We Need to Be Intentional and Make Time/Sacrifices for Them
Take Them Out to Eat
Invite Them Over for Lunch
Get Them a Special Gift
Reach Out to Them that Week
When a Lost Sibling Returns to the Lord and to the Church…
It Ought to Be Less of a Solemn Welcome Back…
And More of a Celebration/Party
There’s So Much More that could Be Said…
But the Point is this:
God Greatly Values Each and Every One of Us
And We are Expected to Greatly Value Each Other Too
What We Can’t Do, is Value Each Other Like that 1 Missing Dollar
Very Little Value
Not Worth Our Time
Barely Affected By its Return
What We Need are:
Close Relationships with Our Siblings
Seeking to Bring Them Home if They Stray
And Celebrating with Them if They Return
This is Who Jesus is to Us
And this is Who We Should to Each Other
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