Let's take our Bibles now and
turn to Matthew 18. This is a parable, and I incorporated
this in the reading last week of the Sunday School lesson,
but I didn't have too much to say about it. Beginning with
verse 11. Well, the Son of Man has come
to save that which was lost. How think ye, if a man having
a hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave
the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, seeketh that
which is gone astray? And if so be that he find it,
verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep than of the
ninety and nine which went not astray. Even so, it is not the
will of your Father which is in heaven that one of these little
ones should perish." Now, as I said, I incorporated
this parable in the reading of our Sunday school lesson last
week, but I made no comments about it. And I feel like this
is one of those parables that we can benefit from, one that
we need to just isolate and look at it and see what the Lord will
teach us from it. Now, one of the old writers said
concerning this parable that the 100 sheep represent the whole
world. The whole world as it was given
to Christ to mediate the sovereign purpose of God for the glory
of His great name. That's what he tells us in his
high priestly prayer. He said that the Father had given
Him power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to
as many as He has given Him. So that is what I believe this
is teaching. This 100 sheep represents the
whole world, which was given to Christ, given into His hands.
He is Lord of the dead and the living. Everything in this world,
creation, the people, providence, salvation, it's all in His hands. He's the Mediator God. And then
the 9 in 9, you're going to have to look in Luke's account. You don't have to do that right
now, but in Luke 15, 7, is the second account of this same parable.
And in his account, he says that the 9 in 9 represent the self-righteous. the self-righteous, which Luke
says in his account were ninety and nine just persons which need
no repentance. Now the only one who don't need
repentance out of all of fallen men is a man who is self-righteous. And this represented those self-righteous
Jews to whom he was speaking when he gave this parable. And
then the one for whom he searches, he tells us also in Luke chapter
15 verse 6, is my sheep. That's what he called him. My
sheep, which was lost. Salvation in the Scripture is
never set before us in declaration or in picture or in parable as
the Lord attempting to save all men. You can't find it. It's
just not in here. It's just not in here. Now, it's
all over religion. It's all over the billboards.
It's all over in their pulpits. It's all over in their professions.
It's everywhere in religion. But you can't find it in the
Word of God. It's not in here. Not in here. And I believe for obvious reasons.
God is all wise. All wise. For God to attempt
to do something and fail would be a breach of His wisdom, wouldn't
it? He wouldn't be all wise. If something
happened that He didn't foresee or foreknow, then that would
be a breach of God's wisdom. It wouldn't be a perfection of
God. All God's attributes are perfection. God is perfect. And
it would be a breach of that. God is everywhere and at all
times present. For him to fail at anything would
constitute his not being there. He wasn't there. He would have
stopped it, but he wasn't there. That's foolishness. You see what
I'm saying? It's a contradiction of the purpose
of God. God is omnipotent. That means
He is Almighty. There is no power except of God. We are told that over in Romans
13. There are no authorities. There are no powers. Everything
that has power was given that power by God, even Satan. You
go over there and read in the book of Jude and you will find
out over there that Michael, when contending with
the body of Moses, he dares not bring railing accusation against
Satan. Why? Because God gave him that
authority. And God's the one who will call
him down for. He's the one who will master
him. There's one God, and He's almighty. He's almighty. And for him to attempt to do
something but not accomplish it, would mean that there was
something or some power, some force in the universe greater
than He. God is also unchangeable. He don't change. I am the Lord. I change not. I change not. For God to attempt to do something
and not be able to do it would constitute a change in God, wouldn't
it? And it would be a violation of
His character. And God is love. If God loves all men and is attempting
to save all men, yet some will perish in hell, then God's love
is reduced to nothing but a wish. Just an affectionate desire. Just saying, well, I wanted them
to be saved, but they wouldn't have it. And if that's the love of God,
then His love is no different than mine. Because that's what
I do. It's an emotional thing with
me. It's something I want to do. It's something I attempt
to do, but not with God. God's love is perfect love. And it tells us over there in
Romans 8, in the end of that chapter, nothing can separate
you from that love. Nothing. And we could go on and
on with reasons why this thing of universal salvation could
never be the purpose of God. But as believers, let me just
simply give you the Word of God. He said, God has saved us and
called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but
according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us
in Christ Jesus before the world began. That ought to be sufficient,
shouldn't it? That ought to be sufficient.
Now in verse 11 of Matthew's account of this parable, we're
given in no uncertain terms the purpose for which our Lord came
into this world. He said, the Son of Man, that's
the Christ, that's the Messiah, that's the Promised One throughout
the Old Testament. He said, for the Son of Man is
come to save that which was lost. Save that which was lost. The
reason for His incarnation and ministry in this world is His
suretyship of God's sheep. His suretyship of God's everlasting
covenant of grace. In Hebrews chapter 13 and verse
20, Paul said, Now the God of peace that brought again from
the dead our Lord Jesus Christ, that great Shepherd of the sheep,
through the blood of the what? Everlasting Isn't that what he says there?
The blood of the everlasting covenant make you perfect in
every good work to do His will, working in you that which is
well-pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ. His covenant headship,
tied together with His life and death and resurrection and ascension
to the throne, constitute the ministry of the Great Shepherd
of the Sheep. The porter will not open the
door, he tells us in John, I think it's chapter 10, the porter will
not open the door of the sheep to be called except to the shepherd. Another one comes to call his
sheep, he's not going to answer the door. He's not going to answer
the call. He's going to ignore him. He's
going to preserve his sheep, hold his sheep back. I am the
good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. That's how you know who they
are. I am the good shepherd. He said,
I know my sheep and have known of mine. And to all of this unbelieving
world, he says, you believe not because you are not of my sheep.
He came to seek and to save that which was lost. He came to save
his sheep that was lost. Now let's go through this beautiful
parable and follow the outline given us by the Holy Spirit.
He begins by telling us something about the shepherd, that there
be no doubt as to whom this parable is about. I've heard these things
preached concerning pastors. They apply this to pastors. And
I suppose they're shepherds in a sense, they're under-shepherds
seeking his elect, knowing their lost condition. But of no under-shepherd
could it be said that all mankind has been given into their hands.
He left. He had a hundred sheep. I never
had a hundred sheep. Did you? God didn't put this
world in my hands. He didn't trust these things
to me, but he did to Christ. He did to Christ. And he tells
us clearly who the shepherd in this parable is. He's the Son
of Man. The Son of Man has come. This
is the shepherd. A shepherd is one whose life
is defined by his ministry to and care for his sheep. He's
not a hireling. He's not a hireling who has no
affection for his sheep. He's not an intimidated shepherd. David was a shepherd of the sheep.
He took on a line with his bare hands. I don't think I could
do that. Do you? I think I'd run from a coon.
I don't think I could take on a coon. He took on a line. And
he's not the unwilling shepherd who must be bribed for his service,
to be offered something for his favor. But he's the willing servant. No man taketh my life from me.
I lay it down willingly. That's what he says. I lay it
down of my own accord. And he knows his sheep. And he
knows how to lead them. And he knows where to find them.
He knows how to protect them. And he knows how to nurse them
who cannot nurse themselves. Who is the shepherd? Well, he's
Jehovah's Shepherd. In Zechariah 13, verse 7, it
said, Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, my shepherd, and
against the man who is my fellow. Jesus Christ is Jehovah's Shepherd,
smitten by the justice and wrath of God, so that his sheep might
go free. You remember when they came across
the brook Cedron to get Christ, you remember what he said to
them? He said, if you're after me, if you come for me, you let
these go. You can't have me unless you
let these go. And he made it very obvious to
them who he was, because the first thing he said to them,
I am. And they fell backward on the
ground. And then he told them, if you want me, you let these
go. He's Jehovah's Shepherd. And He's the Good Shepherd, the
Good Shepherd who is willing, loving, able to lay down His
life for the sheep. And He's the Great Shepherd,
the Scripture says, whom I read to you a few moments ago, who
rose triumphant from the grave and ascended to the throne of
God. He's Jehovah's Shepherd. He's the Good Shepherd. He's
the Great Shepherd. And He's the Chief Shepherd,
the Scripture says. shepherd, the head of the body
of the church, and he's called in the scriptures the shepherd
and bishop of our soul. He attends, preserves, and watches
over the souls of his elect. His eyes, the scripture said,
is always over the righteous. Always, always watching, attending,
careful. Said he never sleeps. He never
sleeps. unto him who is able to keep
you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence
of his glory with exceeding joy." That's the shepherd. And be assured
of this, no one knows his sheep like our shepherd. David said,
the Lord is my shepherd. He's my shepherd. He said, because
he's my shepherd, I shall not want. And he leadeth me. My Lord leadeth me, he said. My shepherd leads me. He leads
me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth
me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though
I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, he said,
I fear no evil, for thou art with me. The rod and the staff
of his shepherd, he said. They comfort me. And thou preparest
a table before me in the presence of mine enemies." That shepherd
would lead those sheep right out in those pastures, and all
around them are the wolves. That's what David said. He's
likening this life with the believer the same as that life of those
sheep out in that shepherd of which he was fully acquainted.
And he said, thou preparest a table before me in the presence of
mine enemies. Thou anointest my head with oil,
my cup runneth over. Surely, if the Lord is my shepherd,
if that be so, and his eyes is always over the righteous, and
he's the chief shepherd, the great shepherd, he's Jehovah's
Shepherd, If the Lord is my shepherd, surely, David said, goodness
and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I'll
dwell in the house of the Lord forever. That's the shepherd. And then the second thing prominent
in this parable is the sheep. Why would the Lord of glory use
a single sheep to represent His elect? Why would He do that? Have you ever thought about that?
Why didn't He say four or five sheep? were lost. Why did he
just say one sheep? A single sheep in all the accounts,
a single sheep is used to represent God's elect. I'll tell you why,
because all his sheep are one. They're all one in Christ. Ain't that what he said? There's
one body. That's the church, isn't it?
One body. Just one sheep. Just one sheep. There is one body, one spirit,
even as you are called in one hope of your calling, one Lord,
one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is above
all, through all, and in you all. He said in his prayer in
John 17, verse 23, he said, I in them, and thou in me, that they
may be made perfect. in one. His sheep are one sheep. What He says to you, He says
to me. What He says to me, He says to
you. I don't have to... If I go over
to... I went over to Wichita Falls
yesterday and preached. And I'm going to preach the same
thing to you here in just a little bit, that I preached to them. I don't have a different message
for you than I have for them. I have the same message. God's
elect are one. They all eat the same bread.
They all drink from the same rock. And for Christ to lose
one of His sheep would be for His body to be incomplete. It
would be like to lose an arm or lose a hand. In this one sheep,
He describes the whole of the flock gone astray. Listen to this here in Romans
chapter 3. He said they are all gone out of the way. They all
are. Why? Because they all want. That's
why. And talking about where and what
we are before conversion, Paul said, among whom we all had our
behavior in time past. We all did. We all did. They're all his sheep whom the
shepherd seeks, and he finds lost and wandering in the mountains. Now, here's something I've never
seen before. He sought his sheep in the mountains. You ever noticed
that before? I've heard this thing preached
on a hundred times and read books on it. Nobody ever mentioned
it. What are these mountains? I never
noticed that he said that. This sheep he seeks in the mountains. Matthew 18 verse 12. He goeth
into the mountains and seeketh that which is gone astray. Well,
an earthly mountain is like the false religion of this world.
Highly exalted, intimidating, full of predators and false refuges,
full of dangers and life-threatening snakes. These mountains. Mountains. The Lord said through
His prophet Jeremiah, He said, I will render unto Babylon. That's worldly religion. Worldly
religion. He uses that symbol over and
over and over throughout the whole Bible. And to all the inhabitants
of Chaldea, all their evil that they have done in Zion in your
sight, saith the Lord, behold, I am against thee, O destroying
mountain. That's what he called them. Why
would Christ go into the mountain? Because that's where a lost sheep
will go. That's where he goes. That's
where you're going to find him. He's going to be in that mountain
of religion somewhere. And then another mountain that
God's sheep must be saved from is Mount Sinai. Ain't that where
they go? That's exactly where they go.
They run to the law. They run to the law. I love that
song old Moose Parks sings so often. Indignant justice stood
in view to Sinai's fiery mount I flew, but justice cried with
frowning face. This mountain is no hiding place.
He goes to the mountain because that is where His sheep is lost. And then thirdly, is not this
world a high mountain from which God's sheep must be saved? Isaiah
chapter 2 speaks of a proud man and his loftiness being bowed
down in the day of the Lord, saying this, upon all high mountains
and upon all the hills that are lifted up, He is going to bring
you down. That's where He finds us. He
finds us in the mountains. All right, here's the third thing. Christ always finds His lost
sheep. Always. Always. Matthew said, if so be that He
findeth it, showing the greatness and urgency of the search. Luke
says He searches for it until He finds it. until he finds it. He never quits looking. He's
going to find his shit. I think sometimes in the light
of God's eternal predestination, we forget our own experience
of grace being sought out of the Lord and found in desperation. He found me. He found me. And oh, what a thing of amazement
it is when he does. What a thing of
a mate when the Lord finds you, when He finds you. Lady Huntington wrote this old
familiar hymn. We sing it all the time, Come
Thou Fount. And she penned this verse, Jesus
sought me when a stranger, wandering from the fold of God, He, to
save my soul from danger, interposed His precious blood. And now,
she sang, prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the
God I love, here's my heart, Lord, take and seal it. Seal
it from thy courts above." Christ always finds His sheep. And then,
fourthly, the salvation of His sheep. What's this? Here in Luke
15, verse 5. And when he hath found it, he
laith it on his shoulders, rejoicing." Rejoicing. Did you know even
the angels in heaven rejoice when a soul is saved? They don't fully understand it,
but they know that all things that God has done, even their
own existence, is for the salvation of these sinners to the glory
of His name. And they rejoice. They rejoice
as they see the glory of God manifested in the salvation of
His sheep. All of heaven rejoiced. They
rejoiced when Christ became a man and came onto this earth. They
rejoiced as they attended Him and took Him from the tomb. They
rejoiced on that cloud ascending into glory. And they rejoiced
around His throne. There is not a sweeter word to a lost
sinner than this word found. Paul, over there in Philippians,
when he said, you think you have something to glory in? I more.
And he goes through all those things. And then he cries out
from his soul. He said, oh, that I might be
found not having my own righteousness, but His righteousness. That I
might be found. What a sweet word that is. Father spied that prodigal son
a long way off and ran out to him and said, this is my son
who was dead, and he's alive again. He was lost, and now he's
found. Paul said that I might be found
in him. And then fifthly, rejoicing in
heaven over that which was lost, I say unto you that likewise
Luke 15.7, Likewise, joy shall be in heaven over one sinner
that repenteth more than the ninety and nine just persons
which need no repentance." The angels rejoiced when that old
publican stood there looking at the ground, saying, Lord,
have mercy on me, the sinner. They didn't rejoice at all when
that Pharisee prayed. There was nothing but silence.
But they rejoiced at that. And I tell you this, the self-righteous
in this world may rejoice in themselves. That old self-righteous
Pharisee, he rejoiced that he wasn't like other men. He rejoiced
he wasn't like that man in back of him praying. He said, I'm
glad I'm not like him. He rejoiced in that. But there
was no rejoicing in glory. No rejoicing in glory. They rejoice. He said, this rejoicing in heaven
requires the salvation of a sinner, the recovering of the lost. May
God teach us what this parable really is all about. And teach
it to us in our heart for Christ's sake.