God’s Concern for the Straying Sheep

We’ve been looking at chapter 18. In this section Jesus is talking about believers, calling them the little children of God.

We are to humble ourselves as a little child and be converted (3).

We are to be sure we don’t cause one of God’s children to sin (6).

We are to seek to restore God’s children when they sin against us (15).

We are to forgive one another as children of God (21-35).

This morning we look at verses 10-14. The main point of these passages is found in verse 14.

“It is not the will of your Father which is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.”

God is intent on not losing a single one of His children.

As I studied these passages my mind wen to that wonderful doctrine of the perseverance of the saints.

It is called by other names like the eternal security of the believer. But I don’t think that captures what is meant by the doctrine.

For many eternal security means:

Fire insurance

Pray a prayer and live how you like

Perseverance of the saints means;

All those who have been truly saved will by God’s power continue in faith and good works until the end.

Certainly, true believers can stray. They can fall into sin. They can give into temptation. But the Lord will deliver them through conviction and repentance and restoration.

There is a similar parable to this one in Luke 15. But it’s important to notice the differences between these two passages. Jesus uses the same illustration to teach two different things. That’s not uncommon even with preachers today.

In Luke Jesus is preaching to the religious leaders

Here Jesus is preaching to the disciples.

In Luke the parable is linked with two other parables and the focus is the joy of salvation.

Here it is in the context of God’s concern for those who are already saved.

In Luke the parable is used to justify Jesus’ association with sinners.

Here the parable is used to show that it is not the will of God that any of His children perish.

What does God do to ensure that His children do not perish?

Is He casual? Does He save us and then send us out on our own? Is His attitude toward us nonchalant?

No!

If God left us to ourselves, we would:

Abandon the faith

Embrace immorality

Adopt ungodly mindsets

This morning I want to show you a few things God has done to ensure His little ones don’t perish.

1. God’s Warning (10).

2. The Angels Watching (10).

3. The Shepherds Searching (11-14).

1. God’s Warning (10).

A. This warning is a repeated warning.

Better that a millstone… (6)

Woe unto the world! Woe unto the man! (7)

I’ve known fathers who came to their senses after seeing their children forsake God. I’ve known men who came to Christ because they realized they caused their children to go down the broad road.

Illustration by J Vernon Mcgee

An old man kept a jug of whiskey in his corn crib. One snowy night he snuck out to have a drink. He grabbed the jug and turned to look behind him. There was his little boy standing in the man’s footprints in the snow. He asked, “What are you doing son?” He said, “I’m just following your footsteps.” He sent the boy inside and smashed the jug of whiskey.

The word “despised” means “to look down on”. It means we think we know better than they do.

When I was lost I thought I knew better than Christians. I thought they were foolish. I looked down on them. There are many today who pity Christians. They think them to be foolish, naïve, brainwashed.

Dear friend, don’t feel sorry for Christians.

They’re not brainwashed, they’re blood washed!

They’re not fools, they’re wise!

Don’t look down on them. The God they worship is very real and we will all stand before Him someday.

B. How might we despise God’s children?

Ungodliness- lead them into sin. Tempt them. Model ungodly behavior before them (6-7).

Unwillingness to confront them when they are in sin-leave them in their sin (15-20). Humbly, truthfully.

Unforgiveness (21-35). Cause them to feel unloved.

C. This warning is especially needed in our culture.

Believers are often hated because we point out sin. Paul said in 1 Cor. 4:10 that there were people in the church who despised him. Why? Because he preached on sin.

There is a traffic light on the way to work I despise sometimes. It stays green for about ten seconds. If I don’t catch it just right I’ll be there waiting a while.

I may think “I hate that light! I wish it wasn’t even there.”

But what if they removed it? What if it wasn’t there? I may go through there one morning and crash into a car. You know what I’d say then? I’d say “Why wasn’t there a light there?”

There are people who don’t like the lights God has put in this world because the light reveals their sin. But if the lights were not there when they stood before God they’d say, “Why wasn’t there a light?”

God warns us not to despise His people. It’s one of His ways to ensure that His children do not perish.

2. The Angels Watching (10).

A. A misunderstanding.

Some use this verse to teach we all have a guardian angel. That’s not what this verse teaches. If we’re not careful we will develop an unhealthy view of angels.

We may pray to them.

We may think we can command them to do certain things.

We may idolize them.

We may convince ourselves we see them.

We may trust in them rather than God to protect us.

The danger in this is we know there are fallen angels on this earth. The Bible says Satan disguises himself as an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14). If we have an unhealthy interest in angels, we could be an easy target for demonic spirits on this earth.

B. A biblical understanding.

Hebrews 1:14 says they are ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation. In other words, they assist God in accomplishing His will. They do what God says do. This may include spiritual warfare, protection, testing (Heb. 13:2), etc.

But notice that the angels are continually looking at the face of the Father. They’re not continually looking at believers. They are continually looking at Him because they are always ready and eager to do what He says, to get direction from Him. They want to minister to the saved. And I think the main point is that God is so concerned about believers that He has instructed and continues to instruct His Holy angels to watch over them. That doesn’t mean we have one particular angel. It means that the angels, generally speaking, minister to the saved. God hasn’t given us just one; He has assigned the multitude of the heavenly host to watch over believers. And they do so willingly because they love God’s children.

Let me say this, because it’s good. The Bible says there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels when a sinner is saved (Luke 15:10). It doesn’t say the angels rejoice. It says there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels. God rejoices when a sinner is saved. They are looking at the face of the Father and they see Him rejoice in the salvation of His people. They minister to us because they see how much it pleases the Father!

C. God protects His children with His heavenly army.

I think that we have no idea how much God does for us through His heavenly army.

Illustration:

Elisha and his servant pursued by Syrian Army. Servant woke up early in morning and saw they were surrounded by horses and chariots. Elisha told him “they that be with us are more than they that be with them”.

He prayed the Lord would open his servants’ eyes. His servant saw an angelic army surrounding the Syrians. The Syrians were defeated and Elisha and his servant rescued.

Angels protected Lot and his family from evil men in Sodom.

In Revelation we see angels defeating the demonic forces of Satan.

There is a spiritual realm we cannot see but God is busy in it. He is protecting us from more darkness than you can imagine.

We don’t pray to them because they get their orders from God.

We don’t praise them because they get their power from God.

We are protected by them.

3. The Shepherd Searching (11-14).

A. Sheep will wander.

Some will wander from the faith without leaving the fold. Embrace a life of sin but continue coming to church.

Some will wander from the fold. They’ll leave the church.

For that reason, they must be watched.

Not watched in a legalistic sense.

We’re all going to miss a Sunday here or there.

We’re all going to operate in the flesh from time to time.

But it becomes pretty obvious will one of God’s little ones is wandering away.

If we care about God’s people, we will be watching them. Not to see if they fall. Watching them to make sure they are safe.

Why does the shepherd watch the sheep?

Is it because he is legalistic? Is it because he is harsh? No. He watches because he cares.

Hebrews 13:17 says that one of the responsibilities of pastors is “they watch over your souls.”

Illustration of accountability partners. Used to be a very big thing. Not so much anymore. It’s a biblical thing. It’s a good thing.

B. We should be grieved when sheep wander.

The parable implies the shepherd is grieved when one of the sheep wanders.

Here’s a question that will tell you a lot about yourself spiritually:

Who are you grieved over spiritually right now?

If you can’t think of anyone it means one of two things:

1) You don’t know Christ so you don’t care about people in a spiritual way.

2) You have wandered away yourself.

Some get mad when people wander- that’s not gonna help.

Some people are glad when people wander- remember the older brother in the story of the prodigal. He wasn’t happy his brother returned home.

Some people are sad when people wander.

C. We should pursue wandering sheep.

The Shepherd left the 99. They were safe.

He didn’t say:

I have 99 more sheep, no big deal.

That dumb sheep shouldn’t have wandered.

I’m not going to waste my time and energy looking for that thing.

No. He left the 99 and traveled through the rough mountainous terrain looking for the sheep.

It seems to me our response is often to simply replace the sheep with another sheep.

Would we do that with our kids?

Junior wandered away again. I’m not gonna waste my time looking for him. Let’s just have another one!

We’d never do that. We don’t replace our children. We pursue them.

I’m not suggesting we can keep every person who comes to our church and professes Christ:

Some move away.

Some find another congregation to worship with.

But if a person has shown genuine spiritual fruit and they begin to wander we should pursue them. We shouldn’t just let them go. Let me give you two examples from Scripture:

The first is Judas. He was never saved but he appeared to be. Jesus knew he wasn’t saved but the disciples didn’t. Judas wandered away because he was not a sheep at all. He was a goat.

Jesus never pursued him. He allowed him to leave the group.

The second is Peter. Peter denied Jesus. What did Jesus do concerning Peter?

He prayed for him. In Luke 22 Jesus said to Peter “Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”

After Jesus rose from the dead Peter had separated himself from the other disciples. He had wandered away. Jesus sent word to Peter to meet Him in Galilee (Mark 16:7).

It’s difficult for us to know if someone is a sheep or a goat. But sometimes it becomes clear that a person was never truly saved.

They have no conviction of sin at all.

They have embraced some sort of horrible heresy.

They have rejected their belief in Christ and the Word of God.

In those instances, we should pray for their salvation.

But not everyone who wanders is Judas. Sometimes those who wander are more like Peter. If prayed for and spoken to with love and compassion they will return.

4. We should rejoice when wandering sheep return.

That’s what the shepherd did in verse 13.

We shouldn’t be waiting to wag our finger.

We shouldn’t look down our noses at them.

We should praise God. Their return to the flock is confirmation that they are genuinely saved. Just as we rejoiced in their salvation we should rejoice in their restoration.

Don’t miss the fact that this sheep was brought home by the shepherd. It is the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ who brings wandering sheep home.

It is not His will that even one of these little ones should perish.

That is why we have the warning from God not to despise His children.

That is why we have the protection of the angels.

That is why we have the shepherd searching for the wandering sheep.

Christ has done far too much for us to lose us.

The Good Shepherd has laid down His life for His sheep.

He came from heaven searching for us.

He went to the cross searching for us.

He rose again searching for us.

He pursued us when we were lost. He will pursue us when we wander. Praise God that He does.