Sermons

Matthew 18:10-20 – Sacrificial Rescue (pt. 1)

Intro: [READ vv. 10-20]

On surface, not obvious vv. 10-20 go together but read as a unit makes a logical connection.

• All Theme of Rescue.
  • God’s sacrificial rescue (vv. 10-14).
  • Believers rescuing believers (vv. 15-20).

[KEY] Summarizing how first come inside of Christ’s Kingdom.

• Were outside the King’s family.
  • God’s rescue mission brought inside.
  • Never to be outside again.
    • Our story.
    • Story for every believer.

 

• Born under darkness; Brought into light.

^ESV  Colossians 1:11-13 May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy,

¹² giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

¹³ He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, (Col 1:11-13 ESV)

 

[KEY] Xians rescued by grace.

• New status w/inheritance.
• Hopeless, lost, and desperate.
  • What the Lord is up to, seeking true worshippers (cf. Jn. 4).

^ESV  John 4:23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. (Joh 4:23 ESV)

• Rescuing sinners is one of Christ’s chief Kingdom Values.

 

Matthew 18 – Jesus’ Values of the Kingdom.

1. Childlike Humility (vv. 1-6)
2. Radical Amputation (vv. 7-9)
3. Sacrificial Rescue (vv. 10-14)
4. Affectionate Holiness (vv. 15-20)
5. Unconditional Forgiveness (vv. 21-35)

 

[TRANS] Understanding how recue applies, is not seeing Jesus’ teaching here, only in terms of saving someone from their initial sin.

• Not bringing someone inside Kingdom.
  • Keeping someone inside Kingdom.
  • Commitment by protecting someone inside Kingdom.

 

[Context] Understand – Not usual interpretation? Fresh eyes from context.

• Story of rescue that pertains to Christ’s “litttle ones” (v. 10).
  • New believers, new to the Kingdom.
    • When God brings “little ones” inside Kingdom, it’s permanent.
    • Christians are on their journey of faith.
      • Doctrine of perseverance.
      • True Christians run race to the finish line.

 

• Running marathon to heaven.
  • Author and Perfector of faith, awaits (cf. Heb. 12).
  • Those who’ve gone before, cheer from “clouds” (cf. Heb. 11).

^ESV  Hebrews 12:1-2 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

² looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Heb 12:1-2 ESV)

[KEY] Xian life never stagnant for long.

• Unobservable, unfruitful, undetectable (always fruit).
• Xians stumble, bt/evidence life.

 

[POINT] Value of X’s teaching is being assured “little ones” never face Xian/life alone.  

• Always w/runners.
• Never abandons children.

 

Prop: God’s two acts of rescue

1. Rescuing his little ones (vv. 10-14)

 

1. God’s warning for the tempters (v. 10)

[KEY] God’s care first and foremost, felt thru his warning.

[Appl] If ever been truly loved by someone, you know what it is like for person to be protective. And comfort that brings. If ever neglected by someone, supposed to love you, neglects you, you also know the severe pain that comes from neglect.

[KEY] Amazing reality of being Xian.

• God’s love is fierce and powerful.
• Incomparable to what anyone can offer you.

[Appl] No parent, spouse, friend, or sibling can match the love God has for you. Why is that? First, your mother and father, sister or brother, spouse or friend may have connection to you on a physical or spiritual level or both but there is something that without fail interrupts the best of any relationship and that something is your sin or his or her sin.

[Appl] Best relationships, wax or wain in life. Stability and instability come. Circumstances change. Each let each other down. No matter how influential someone is/has been, no one truly knows your inner workings. Best or worst of you.

Someone else does.   

 

[KEY] God created you.

• God’s perfect foreknowledge, where he knew you before the world existed.
  • Sovereignly predestined you to one day know him personally and then he knit and formed you in your mother’s womb, making you both physical and spiritual, human and eternal.

 

• At a particular point in time, either young, middle-aged, or old, God redeemed you, buying out of the slave market, causing your heart to be born again, making you his adopted son, reserving a home for you in heaven, guaranteeing for you and eternal inheritance.

 

 

• Gave you his Son, as sacrifice, sin conquering friend, high priest, and brotherly companion.
  • Gave his Spirit and Truth so you would say, A’men to all his promises as the full assurance you are his. HS in life, to grow you. HS assures growth will reach completion.

 

• As God’s “little ones” you are. To enjoy God’s perfect banquet of peace, given a seat at the marriage supper of the Lamb. Fellowship, love forever with God’s people, angels, and God, forever.

 

[TRANS] Mt. 18 has sweeping emphasis on “little ones.”

• New Converts inside of God’s kingdom or family.
  • God loves them in personal way, yet difficult to believe it.

[Illus] Think of what it was like to be first notionally conscious as a child. You might remember being cared with by way of provisions of a bed or cloths or food and if you had the privilege of being raised in a loving home or a Christian home, you probably came to appreciate this provision more and more over time, maybe even looking back. It may be a weak comparison to how God loved you; to look back and say, “I cannot believe how much I was loved.”

[Point] I think it is like this as we walk with God through life, in faith.

• God was always loving you even when there was still a language barrier.
  • Not know bible yet.
  • Still insensitive to HS or providence.

 

• For every believer, God has been your Ultimate Parent, always there, always watching.

 

[Note] Verse 10, describes this watch-care as protection, “not despise” [καταφρονήσητε  (Mat 18:10 BGT)].

• Jesus warns not entertain wrong ideas or to look down on someone who is new.
  • Not shun, bc/Father is watching over them from heaven.
    • Not talking @intellectually elite or the financially superior whom God’s is interested in.
    • Not the attractive or winsome, mighty or gifted (all of which can be in place) but it is the new believer, the one to whom God will look upon, this is the one whom we are warned not to hurt.

[KEY] We have talked for a couple of weeks of how a prideful, misguided, or morally compromised leader, stifles and deeply distresses young believers. What God protects against (cff. Rom. 16:17-18).

^ESV  Romans 16:17-18 I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. ¹⁸ For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. (Rom 16:18 ESV) (Rom 16:17 ESV)

[KEY] Father’s attentiveness is acute, angels positioned before his throne studying God’s face for any hint, to being dispatched for his children.

• [Question] “What is this like from heaven’s vantage point?
  • Nobody’s clear @angels intervening.
  • Be certain God’s warning and care are real.
    • Real as Heaven.
    • Real as God’s love.

 

• Heaven’s not yet visible, so Jesus illustrates for us what is!
  • Visualize God’s love by a story via a sacrificial rescue.
  • Shepherd rescuing his lamb.

 

[Context] Learned what looks like to go to war against our sin. Not blame world but self for sin’s origin. Willing declare war, stop, and starve our sins.

• With war, need encouragement to fight.
  • Not fighting it alone.
  • God fighting alongside you.
    • Through you, and for you, with you.
    • See God’s heart as your Shepherd/Protector.   

 

• God’s love for you, even when you stray from him.

 

1. God’s sacrifice for the stray (v. 12)

Jesus’ rhetorical question assumes you might be pondering what God’s rescue would look like.

[App] As “little one” if I needed help, what does God’s search and rescue team look like? I know I am called to fight my sin, and to guard my own heart from discouragement or what is false in the world. To discern what might ensnare me within the professing church.

 

[Question] “So, what happens if I start to drift away?”

[Answer] Jesus anticipates a line of thinking w/an illustration of a sheep herder.

• Man owns/manages flock as shepherd.
  • Owns “a hundred sheep” (v. 12).
    • Amount represents wealth.
    • More poses question as whether losing one of them matters.

 

• Has a hundred, “…and one of them has gone astray” (v. 12).

[KEY] Assumes, if one sheep wanders off, of course, shepherd will go after it.

• Less @shepherd being financially contentious.
  • He’s Reflexive per Hardwiring.
  • Immediately, going after wandering sheep.

 

• “gone astray” [πλανηθῇ (Mat 18:12 BGT)] is word for “planet.”
  • Wandering planet spinning w/in solar system.
  • Going astray as passive wandering, nt/deliberate defection.

[Appl] In the case of many young believers, earlier in their walk, vulnerable to false promises either sown in lives by others or own sinful hearts.

Doing battle w/heart temptations: pride, lust, greed, gossip, immoralities while trusting in their flesh, failed miserably. Instead of X.  

 

[Question] “What is someone, ensnared, supposed to do to come back?”

Ensnared inside cage barred with personal guilt and despair and questions like:

“Shouldn’t I know better as a new creature in Christ?”

“What have I done?”

“How can I ever face the family of God that I have professed to love?”

“Have I put myself outside of the grace and forgiveness of God?”

 

[Answer] No grounds for these ponderings — w/in the love and mercy of God described here. God is committed to you.

[Illus] Jesus pointing to flock on hillside? Illustrating a reflexive shepherd going after his straying sheep. Who needed to stay inside the safe keeping of the herd but wouldn’t. Out in the open, or in the shadows. Either way, it has become prey. Open for assault, attack, and certain death from an enemy.

[Note] Intuition alerts shepherd, one sheep is missing.

Keeping count, there are only “ninety-nine” (v. 12).

 

• Jesus asks, “…does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray?” (v. 12).
  • Rescue is automatic.
  • How our Father is hardwired toward his own.

 

• When the temptation comes, God provides a way of escape.

^ESV  1 Corinthians 10:1-13 For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea,

² and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea,

³ and all ate the same spiritual food,

⁴ and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.

⁵ Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.

⁶ Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did.

⁷ Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.”

⁸ We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day.

⁹ We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents,

¹⁰ nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer.

¹¹ Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.

¹² Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.

¹³ No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. (1Co 10:1-13 ESV)

 

[KEY] Though act is reflexive, do not miss, sacrifice.

• Staying in the herd, secures a sheep.
  • w/in protection of mountains.

 

• [Math] Computation of leaving all for one, not left Understated!
  • Father’s awareness of “little ones” grounded by an earthy picture.
  • Picture’s an unseen heaven, your unseen Father (cf. v. 10).

 

• God pursues, to dig you out of stagnation, all, so you Come back Home.    

 

 

1. God’s joy over the rescued (v. 13)

[KEY] God’s dynamic love is magnified by saving and keeping, grace.

[Appl] If you believe you are beyond God’s love, reach, disqualified. for falling back into your former way of life, there is grace.

 

Grace, grace, God’s grace, grace that will pardon and cleans within!

The redemption story of the helpless, wayward, straying, muddied, confused, prodigal that the LORD pursues is the great portrait of the love of God.

[KEY] Parable’s turning point, “And if he finds it…” (v. 13).

[Illus] Shepherd pursues and pursues, looking and calling for the lost sheep, holding out hope that he will find it. This is the heart of God toward straying sinners, in this case, “little ones” – new believers who just lose their way. When, the shepherd finds this stray, poetically, Jesus affirms that, “…truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray” (v. 13).

 

[TRANS] It is easy to know God’s immutability, his unchanging in his nature.

• Believers know to count on his faithfulness bc/does not change – w/all of life’s uncertainty.
  • While life swirls, God is stable.
  • God is the same, yesterday, today, and forever.

 

• God is unsurprised by all events.
  • God is immutable and transcendent.
    • God never changes by circumstances.
    • God is outside of all circumstances.
      • God is distinct from his creation.
      • As Creator.

[TRANS] While immutable and transcendent God is immanent.

The immanence of God means that he is knowable, perceivable or graspable. For example, Jesus Christ is God incarnate (in the flesh) and therefore he was immanent in the first century among those who knew him, perceived of him or experienced him with one or more of their five senses.Nov 14, 2019   

[Point] God’s sovereignty while comforting must be combined with God’s immanence. Otherwise, you’re not describing God.  

• Jesus’ Great Commission, promises, “I am with you always, even unto the end of the age.”

 

• But, did you know the history of this promise is that God made this same promise to Moses, Joshua, and other patriarchs and in Hebrews 13 to all believers.

^ESV  Hebrews 13:5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Heb 13:5 ESV)

• I’m bringing up the presence of God to emphasize that God draws near to his own.

 

• God loves you, knows you, cares for you, even in the rescue.

[Illus] If you have ever lost track of one of your children [as a child, or spiritually as an adult], you know the incredible rush of emotion when your child is found and accounted for. The joy of rescue subsumes whatever pain you were going through to run him or her down, to find them safe.

^ESV  Zephaniah 3:17 The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. (Zep 3:17 ESV)

[Illus] Having 6 children, there have been a time or two when I lost track of one or the other. One time Child as a two- or three-year-old fell fast asleep behind our couch. I was running around the house calling his name to no avail. Another time, Children on a Sunday after church, again popped our backyard lock, when I found him, two trucks were stopped with men carefully corralling him to safety from going onto Lake Otis. I lost a daughter one time in the surf, only to find her walking back from a stroll down the beach, had children of mine chased and threatened where they had to run to neighbors for safety.

[Point] Joy of a parent when everything is okay is unparalleled.

• Joy of rescue over against the ninety-nine who are safe.

 

• Point is for us Christians, not miss the heart of God that is dynamic and involved.
• He loves you with a parent’s love, so do not miss or underestimate this love.

[Appl] This kind of personal love is why I never count people out this side of heaven. If there are straying loved ones inside of your life, remember God has them attached to your life in some form or fashion for a reason.

So do not give up your pursuit as God’s shepherd. A stray is just that, a stray. Someone you pursue by prayer and love.  

 

1. God’s commitment to his little ones (v. 14)

To the logical mind, verse met with some confusion and perhaps even problems.

• Verse 14 connects with the principle with the parable.
  • Making a clear implication to God’s heart.
  • God is the pursuant shepherd, and he rejoices over the one who is found.

[Question] “What is the implication?”

• The point is to take an up-close look at the LORD’s will, which in this case, described as

 

• God is committed to rescue, preserve, and.

[KEY] I am using terms like “rescue” “preserve” and “keep” intentionally because of the keep everyone of “these little ones” (v. 14) context of Jesus’ teaching.

• This is a Sandwich!

 

• Jesus has just taught about not causing his “little ones” to stumble (v. 7) and not “despise little ones” (v. 10) on one end and the pursuing of straying “brothers” coming up in the next section (cf. Matt. 18:15-20).
  • God’s commitment is not merely generalized in terms of him saving someone.
  • Salvation for “little ones” is assumed.

 

• God’s will is rescuing, preserving, and keeping the ones who are his.

[Note] Important to correctly define the word “perish” w/in fuller explanation.

• The word “perish” [ἀπόληται (Mat 18:14 BGT)] is the same word used in John 3:16.

^ESV  John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (Joh 3:16 ESV)

• Jesus, there is clearly defining “perish” in terms of eternal life or eternal death.
  • To Nicodemus he describes the difference between being born again or not (cf. John 3).

[Note] In Matthew, these “little ones” are saved so to “perish” does not mean that on the face of it.

• For a believer to “perish” speaks in terms of a spiritual devastation [MacArthur study bible].
  • Someone becomes spiritually despondent.

 

[Appl] Now the broader context does beg the idea that when someone becomes spiritually unresponsive to steady loving accountability, this person can enter a category where neither you nor the individual can now know for certain whether he or she was ever genuinely saved in the first place. What we will begin to deal with next time.

 

• [Point] Shepherd pursues his own brings comfort bc/reassured your fight against your sin or lack thereof is with Christ at your side. You will be left alone when you splutter. God is the first line of defense to bring you back home.

[Question] God’s will to rescue “these little ones” then what about everyone else?

• Why does God set an especial love on some and not on others?
  • That is a good question and is the question of the ages, which has been called, “The problem of evil.”

 

• Since, God is all-powerful and is capable to save everyone, and strongly desires to, then why doesn’t he?

^ESV  Ezekiel 33:11 Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel? (Eze 33:11 ESV)

^ESV  Titus 2:11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, (Tit 2:11 ESV)

^ESV  2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. (2Pe 3:9 ESV)

 

• Remember Jeremiah’s tears as well as Jesus’ tears over Jerusalem.

 

[Question] “So, why doesn’t he save everyone in the first place and is only committed to save and keep his “little ones”?”

 

• This is a mystery that we cannot fully understand, but it is important to realize that two dynamics can be true at the same time.

 

• God can only be understood in a limited way, through what we know to be true in our experience because we (mankind) is made in his image.

 

[Illus] We know this in our human experience, where our heart my be breaking on the inside out of love for someone, while at the same time observe sins (unrepented of) that continue to haunt and destroy the ones we love.

 

Even a sitting judge hands down a guilty verdict, perhaps the death penalty, verbally on the outside, while his heart breaks with compassion on the inside.

 

It is safe to say that the bible describes God in this way. God loving the whole world while was the same time, holding the world under judgment for unrepentant sin. God who desires all to be saved, bc/of his justice will not override everyone’s predicament.

 

Still, isn’t God the author of everyone’s conversion and salvation? At this point, like Job, I have to put my hand over my mouth, and be still and know that he is God. As clay, we cannot hold the potter accountable for what we are in no position to reconcile.

 

I do not know why the LORD saves some and passes over others allowing them to die from reprobation.

 

Where someone rejects the Gospel to the point where God allows their conscience to be hardened.

 

Reprobation is God’s justice over sin but with this backdrop please see God’s grace.

 

God does intervene and saves and when he saves, then nothing can break his bond of commitment to keep!

 

Rescuing his “little ones” is the portrayal of God’s amazing grace!

 

[Conclusion] God’s rescue comes by way of his: Warning, Sacrifice, Joy, and Commitment.

 

• Do these words describe you and your life?

 

• Have you been rescued by the Divine Shepherd the Hound of Heaven?

 

• If you are straying, return to your loving Shepherd.

 

• He knows you have strayed, so now call out for his rescue.