The Good Shepherd Protects His Flock (Matthew Sermon 84)

Introduction

I still remember my favorite car ever. It was a 1970 Ford Custom 500, bought it for $500 from a retired marine. I’ll never forget it. I was in need of a car. I’d just come off my first mission trip in Kenya, I needed a car and the Lord knew what I needed and there it was sitting on somebody’s front lawn with a piece of cardboard with spray paint on it that said, “For Sale.”

And so I stopped off and there was this straight shooting Marine, and I asked him about the car, he’s in the middle of eating dinner, but he didn’t mind. I hoped he didn’t mind, he had a sign out, so I figured he’d wanna sell the car. At any rate I said, “It looks kinda old, how many miles does it have on?” He said, “142,502.6.” I said, “Alright,” I said, “Why are you selling it?” He pointed to a brand new car in his driveway and he said, “2.9% financing.” So I said, “Does it still run?” He said, “I drove it to work yesterday.” So I said, “Alright, this guy seems pretty honest.” And one thing led to another. I asked how much he wanted to sell it for. He said, “What do you wanna give me?” And so I guessed at $500, and he took it and I drove that car for eight years for $500, I’ll never forget it.

But toward the end of its life it started to develop some problems. And one of the problems it developed was a leak in the power steering train, okay? And what that did was effectively give me intermittent power steering. That’ll kill you. I don’t mean that facetiously, I mean, it’ll kill you, it’ll drive into a Jersey barrier or into a tree or into something, who knows. You’re riding down the road, everything’s fine, and suddenly the car jerks left or jerks right, that’s not good. Brothers, these things should not be. So I took it to a friend and he said, “It’s gonna be too much money, you probably just need to give up on the power steering.” And so, we just drained it and from then on it was just manual power steering. I’ve never driven anything so stiff in all of my life, very tough to steer.

But that image of intermittent power steering has kind of stuck with me as a metaphor for how I live my Christian life. Can it really be that we are that intermittent in our love for Jesus Christ? That we’re really kind of all over the road when it comes to serving Jesus? Is it really that bad, friends? It’s worse than that. As the hymn writer put it, “Prone to wander, Lord I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. Here’s my heart, oh, take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above.” Can you not say amen to that about your own heart?

Doesn’t Romans 7 testify to the wandering nature of your heart? Even though there’s been a radical transformation between you and sin, and you’re a new creation in Christ yet still, you roam after those things the Lord has forbidden. And isn’t it good news that Jesus comes looking for you when you do? That the Good Shepherd leaves those 99 on the hills and goes and looks for the one that wanders off. How much do we need that?

I think about what I consider probably the worst night of the apostle Peter’s life, it’s the night that Jesus was arrested. You remember how that night began? With an argument about which of them was the greatest, and Jesus had the level with them, and especially with Peter, when he said “Simon, Simon, Satan has demanded to sift you.” That’s plural, not just you, Peter, but all of you. “Simon, Simon, Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat. But I’ve prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail and after you turn back and strengthen your brothers.” “What is this turn back? Lord, I’m ready to go and die with you. Even if all of them fall away, I never will.” “Simon, I tell you the truth, before this very night ends, before the rooster crows, you will deny three times that you even know me.” Peter denied it with an oath, promised that he never would deny Jesus.

Well, you know what happened, how the Lord in Matthew 18, by demanding that his arrestors should identify the one that they had come to arrest. “Who are you looking for?” “Jesus of Nazareth.” And he says, “I am,” and remember, they all fell on the ground, and then Jesus asked a second time, “Who are you looking for?” “Jesus of Nazareth.” And he said, “I told you that I am. If you’re looking for me, then let these go.” Jesus said this, so that the word he had spoken will be fulfilled: “I have not lost any of all that you have given me.” He was crafting a net of protection, so they could all run away. They weren’t ready. And so he was filtering their tests, he was filtering their temptations, so that they wouldn’t have to face martyrdom that night. They weren’t ready for it.

But Peter, he disagreed, you know, thought he was ready. So he follows Jesus at a distance. You remember what happened. Tries to get in the high priest’s house and servant girl at the door catches him. He’s ready for the big burly guard, but he’s not ready for the servant girl at the door. And so Satan catches him unaware, it’s a little question. “You’re not one of his disciples, are you?” “No, no, I’m not. I’m not one of his disciples.” There’s the first one. Now he’s caught in a lie, and it gets worse and worse, pretty soon some people are around him, challenging him, questioning him, he’s back-peddling, afraid for his life, he’s not ready. Jesus said he wasn’t ready. It’s why he crafted a safety net for him so he wouldn’t have to face this. Oh, you know the story, pretty soon he denies vigorously, not just a little, he calls down curses on himself if he knows Jesus. That’s how bad it got. Do you think you’re ready for Satan? Just you and Satan, duking it out, just the two of you? You are not ready. It’s too powerful, the temptation. And so there he was.

After the third denial, suddenly the rooster crows, you remember what happened, and Peter recalls Jesus’ words. And it just so happened at that moment, in the Luke account, Jesus was going by as he went from one phase of his trial to the next, and he had the opportunity to look right at Peter, look right at him. He didn’t have to say a word; Peter remembered. “This very night you will disown me three times.” And Peter went away, he needed to do that, and he wept bitterly, and he needed to do that.

And after the resurrection, you know, in John 21, Jesus restores him, asking three times, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me more than these?” “You know that I love you.” He hurt him in order to heal him. So he works on him. What a picture of our Good Shepherd. Do you not see it, isn’t it beautiful? And what a picture of us, our intermittent power steering. “Oh Lord, I love you, I’ll always be with you. There’s nothing they can do to me,” and that very night disowning him, that’s who we are friends. And if you don’t know that, you don’t know yourself. And part of the gospel is to enable you to know yourself.

I. Christ the Good Shepherd

Context

Now you know the context here in Matthew 18. The disciples were arguing about which of them was the greatest, a constant theme, bickering about it. Jesus has a little child come and stand in their midst as an object lesson, and he tells them that whoever humbles himself like this little child will be great in the Kingdom of Heaven, gives them that object lesson. And he then turns to the issue of sin. “If anyone causes one of these little ones who believes in me to sin, it would be better to have a large millstone hung around his neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea.” And then he gives them and all of us a warning about the deadly power of sin. “Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble, such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come! If your right hand causes you to sin, then cut it off and throw it away. It’s better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.”

You know what, our ultimate assurance in this dreadful battle that we have against sin is this, it’s right here in the middle of the chapter that we have a Good Shepherd, who is going to leave the 99 on the hills and go to look for the one that wanders off. Isn’t that sweet news to your soul today? It is to mine. I wander off, I’m prone to wander, it’s good news to me that Jesus is gonna come get me, and bring me back. That’s what we have here.

Old Testament Picture of God as Good Shepherd

Now, there are many pictures in the Old Testament of God as Good Shepherd. First one to use it was Jacob when he was placing his patriarchal hands on Joseph’s children Manasseh and Ephraim. Remember that time in Genesis 45, it says “Jacob blessed Joseph and said, ‘May the God before whom my father’s Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this very day, bless these boys, Manasseh and Ephraim.’” Oh, how sweet is that, he knew what it meant to be a shepherd, he was one. And so he introduces that image, God is my shepherd.

Of course the most famous one is David who himself had been a shepherd before he was a king. Psalm 23, “The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” That’s our Good Shepherd.

Or then Psalm 95:6-7, “Come let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, we are the flock of his hand.” For me, one of the most appealing is Isaiah 40:11, which gives a picture of this omnipotent God, you know, the one that sits enthroned above the circle of the Earth, and its people are like grasshoppers, this mighty powerful God. But it says of him in Isaiah 40:11, “He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart, he gently leads those that have young.” How sweet is that?

Perhaps the most extended treatment in the Old Testament of this theme is found in Ezekiel 34, that’s what it says there, verse 11-16, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep, and look after them. As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries and I’ll bring them into their own land and I’ll pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land and I will tend them in a good pasture. The mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land, there they will lie down in good grazing land and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I myself will tend my sheep, and have them lie down, declares the sovereign Lord. I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong, I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.”

Look at all the things that God says there that he will do for his flock. He says, I will search for them, I will look after them, I will rescue them, I will gather them, I will bring them into their own land, I will pasture them and tend them, I will search for the lost, I will bring back the strays, I will bind up the injured, I will strengthen the weak, I will destroy the sleek and the strong, by that he means the self-reliant who don’t need God. I will shepherd with justice, he says. I will judge, I will make a covenant of peace, I will bless them and I will provide for them. That’s our Good Shepherd, friends.

And so, we have the picture of God caring for us, probably the best example of how he cares for us as our Good Shepherd, and how much he knows about our proneness to wander, we find in that great suffering servant passage in Isaiah 53 where it says, “All we like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way. And the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” Well, on whom did the Lord lay our wandering and our straying? Well, he laid it on our Good Shepherd.

Christ’s Claim in John 10

John 10, Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd. My sheep go in and come out, and they find pasture. I’m not like the hired hand who cares nothing for the sheep, and they’re scattered. I’m not like that. I lay down my life for the sheep.” And so Jesus takes our sins on himself, our Good Shepherd laid down his life for us. He shed his blood.

Maybe you’ve never known his love, maybe you’ve never seen yourself to be what you really are, a sheep constantly wandering away from God through rebellion and through sin. You’ve never come to faith in Christ. Can I just speak to you directly and plainly what it will take for you to go to heaven? You need to recognize your straying and your wandering from God. And you need to hate it and turn away from it and you need to come to Christ and trust in him, the Good Shepherd who shed his blood on the cross for sinners like you and me. You need to trust in him and find salvation in his warm embrace.

Christ the Good Shepherd Here

But what I read in Matthew 18:12-14 is that my Good Shepherd is not done going after me. Have you noticed that? He goes and looks for the one that wanders off. He’s talking about his little ones being led into sin, and he goes and, as the Good Shepherd, he goes and gets them. Look at Verse 12. “What do you think?” he says, “If a man owns 100 sheep and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the 99 on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off?”

He is promising here, he’s going to protect every single solitary sheep of his, all of them. He’s not playing a numbers game, and 99% is pretty good. Actually, it’s an A-plus. Let’s be honest. We’re not perfectionistic about these things. Well, we’re perfectionistic about some things. I’ve said this before, I’ll say it again. Suppose you’re on an airplane and the pilot says, “I want you to know, I’ve safely landed 99% of my flights in the last year.” 99%. How many crashes was that? Is that two, three, how many flights were there? I would be worried. Or the youth pastor that says, “I brought 99% of the kids back safely from the ski trip, only one of them perished.” And you’re the parents finding out about his grade report, and you’re thinking, “Well, it’s not bad, 99%.” No, you’re not wondering that, you wanna know whose child died? Is it yours?

Friends there are some things far more important than all of that, far more important than plane crashes and children not making it safely back from a ski trip, we’re talking about eternity in heaven or hell. The Good Shepherd knows his sheep and he’s gonna get them all safely through this world. And there is no power in heaven or earth or under the earth that can deter him in that purpose. And that’s what he’s saying here, that we constantly wander off and he constantly brings us back. He is our Good Shepherd, he’s speaking here of the value and worth of every single sheep in his flock. They’re all of infinite worth and value to him, and he’ll do what it takes to get them safely through.

II. The Danger of the Flock

External Danger

Now, that brings us the question, what kind of danger are we in? What is the danger of the flock? Well, there is a great external danger and there is great internal danger. External to us, we start with Satan who is portrayed as a ravenous lion, or like a wolf.

In 1 Peter 5:8, “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.” Like a 600-pound beast that can rip you limb from limb. Now you may have very high thoughts of yourself, you may think of yourself as a strong believer. I would urge you to not think high thoughts of yourself, because the scripture says, “If any man thinks he stands, take heed lest he fall.” Think humble thoughts of yourself.

Look what happened to Peter in one night, I say in a few hours, look what the devil did to him. Satan demanded to sift him like wheat and Peter arrogantly stepped out of the safety net that Jesus had provided for him, and he was cannon fodder friends. He was ripped, and if Jesus hadn’t rescued him, he would have been lost that night. “I’ve prayed for you Simon that your faith may not fail and it won’t. I’ll get you through the night.” But Satan is, he’s deadly dangerous.

Ephesians 6, “Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” You’re talking about the devil and all of his organized kingdom. An organized system of malevolent wickedness against you. Paul speaks of the schemes of the devil. We’re not unaware of his schemes and the plots, wiles. He is called the god of this world. Martin Luther said if we were armed with our own strength, our striving would be losing. We would lose.

So that’s one of the dangers of the flock this wolf, and there is secondly the world that Satan has set up. It’s alluring, it’s enticing, it’s distracting, it’s filled with all kinds of idols and gravitational pulls and it’s constantly beckoning like the siren call to get away from safety and to dash your ship on the rocks. But it doesn’t call like that, “Come over here and dash your ship on the rocks.” That’s not how it works. It’s promising pleasure, it’s promising freedom, it’s promising good things, it’s the siren call of the world.

Internal Danger

Well, those are the external dangers, what about the internal danger? Well, it’s called the flesh, or sin nature. That’s why I began with that illustration of intermittent power steering. You’re all over the road, friends, and if you don’t think you are then see yourself in the light of heaven and perfection and the angels who always do God’s will. Look at the pledges that you make to God, the vows that you make and then break so easily. The intentions you have toward holiness to make progress and how easy it is to be deterred from that, to be distracted from it.

Paul put it very plainly in Romans 7:18-20, “I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do – this I keep on doing. Now, if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.” Oh, don’t let anyone tell you that this is Paul in his pre-conversion status. The words “no longer” would mean nothing if that were the case. “It is no longer I who do it,” now that what? Now that I’m a non-Christian struggling with sin? No. He’s talking as a Christian who has been made a new creation and still struggles with indwelling sin. It’s no longer I who do it, but I do it. It’s sin living in me. There’s your danger.

The world, the flesh, and the devil. It’s been the same. And so what happens? Well, we start to drift, we start to drift little by little by little, we start to drift from Christ. Hebrews 2:1 says, “We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.”

John Bunyan in his classic, Pilgrim’s Progress, Christian and Faithful are having a discussion back and forth about apostasy, how it happens. How does somebody drift away from Jesus, what are the steps? These are the kind of things those folks talked about as they walked along the road. What do you talk about? I’m always convicted by the conversations they have in Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress. Boy, they make the most of every opportunity, don’t they? There’s nothing wrong with talking about the weather and the ball game and all that, but let’s make that short and let’s get to some significant things. And so what they talk about is: What are the steps by which somebody gradually aposticizes?

Alright, this is what the answer was. First they stop thinking about God, death, and the judgment to come. They don’t think about that anymore. Little by little, secondly, they throw off private duty, such as private prayer and curbing their lusts and watching and sorrow for sin and the like. Thirdly, they avoid the company of lively and warm Christians. Don’t wanna be around them. Fourthly, after that, they grow cold to public duty, such as listening to sermons, reading, and Christian fellowship, public worship and the like. Fifthly, they begin to pick holes in the coats of some of the godly, to find faults with the believers. Sixthly, they begin to adhere to and associate themselves with fleshly, loose, and openly sinful men. Hanging out with the wrong kind of people. Seventh, then they give way to sinful habits in secret, and they’re glad if they can see such sinful habits in any that are counted honest, that they may more boldly do it through their bad example.

Eighth, after this, they begin to play with little sins more openly and more boldly. And then ninth, being hardened, they show themselves finally as they truly are, thus being launched again into the gulf of misery, unless a miracle of grace prevent it, they everlastingly perish in their own self-deceit. Those are nine steps of apostasy, of drifting away from Christ.

This actually does in fact happen to gospel hypocrites. Those are people who make a claim of being Christians, but they really aren’t. And so it says in 1 John 2:19, “They went out from us but they did not really belong to us, for if they had belonged to us they would have remained with us. But their going out showed that none of them belonged to us.”

Without Christ’s Vigilance We Would Be Lost

And I tell you, without Christ’s vigilance as our Good Shepherd, that would happen to every last one of us. And if you don’t think so you don’t know faith and you don’t know Jesus and you don’t know salvation as you should. Do not trust in yourself, but trust in Christ. He is our Good Shepherd.

III. The Eternal Security of the Believer

And now, I wanna speak a word of encouragement to you who are genuinely Christ’s sheep. To you who are the elect of God, known of God before the foundation of the world, that that can never happen to you.

Note the Actions of the Good Shepherd

Note the actions of the Good Shepherd. He leaves the 99 on the hills and he goes and searches for the one sheep until he finds it.

Note the Joy of the Good Shepherd

And note the joy of the Good Shepherd. In verse 13, “And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the 99 that wandered off.” Now the Greek implies it’s possible he might not find it. Well, it is possible he might not find the sheep he’s looking for, but is it possible that Jesus won’t find the sheep he’s looking for? I tell you it’s impossible. He’s just using an analogy, he’s talking about a human shepherd and how diligently he searches for one sheep, and how much more then the Good Shepherd will search for you. He shed his blood for you, he’s not gonna let you go. And he brings him back.

And he says he’s happier about that one sheep than about the 99 that never wandered off. Now, what does that mean? He loves them more? “He loves the straying ones more,” well that’s not it. It’s got to do with his concern.

Think of a mother who spends her whole night looking after a sick child, a child feverish, very high temperature. And what will she do for that child? She may have four other children, they’re all sleeping in their bed, she’s not thinking about them. She’s thinking about this one child, she’s giving that child a bath, she’s trying to reduce that child’s temperature, giving it medication. She may be in contact with a doctor, a nurse, whatever it takes. And if after a day or so of struggle, finally the child’s fever breaks and eventually the temperature returns to 98.6, she’s happier about that one child’s 98.6 than about the other four who didn’t need to return to that health. That’s all. That’s all.

I remember back in 1987, I was reading about this, about little baby Jessica McClure who fell 22 feet down into a water pipe. I don’t know if you remember that, this was years ago. And I remember praying for that little 18-month-old, 22 feet down, wedged in there, and for 58 and a half hours they labored to get that baby out, and they got it out, safe and sound. I remember being happy, just, I didn’t even know this baby. I didn’t even know who baby Jessica was, I was just happy.

That didn’t mean that those workers and all those people that were laboring so hard on that baby Jessica for 58 and a half hours cared more about baby Jessica than any other baby on the face of the earth, that’s not it. It’s gotta do with the peril that she was in. And once relieved from that peril, what joy there is at the baby’s health and strength. That’s all.

And so he rejoices; he’s glad to have you back. When you’ve been wandering he’s glad to have you back. Like the father of the prodigal son, glad to have the son back. And what does Satan tell you when he’s induced the wandering? “God will never want you back, you’ve been defiled, you can’t come back.” Well, that’s a lie from the pit of hell, friends. He’s glad to have you back. He puts you up on his shoulders and he carries you back. That’s how you got back.

Note the Decree of God the Father

And so, note the decree of the Father in verse 14. I’ll take it as a decree, is that alright? ESV gives us this, “So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish,” I take that as the will of decree, friends. He has decreed that you will not perish. This is the doctrine of “once saved, always saved,” you can’t lose your salvation, and all that. This is a doctrine that’s spoken against and attacked by some.

Attacks on this Doctrine

Let’s take John Wesley for example, he thought that believing that you could never lose your salvation, no matter how much you sinned, that Jesus would go get you and bring you back, will lead to a lifetime of immorality and wickedness, and God would be dishonored. And so this is what Wesley, the father of the Methodist movement, said. “The sum of all is this,” this is a quote now, from Wesley, please understand, I’m quoting Wesley. And not favorably. Do you guys get that? Do you have a sense that I’m not quoting this favorably? There’s a lot to honor about John Wesley, but this is not one of the things that I honor about John Wesley, but I just wanna read the quote, now listen. Just parenthetically, as I prejudice you against the quote, parenthetically, imagine how dreary your Christian life would be if this were true.

Okay, I’m done poisoning you against the quote, just listen: “The sum of all is this. If the scriptures are true, those who are holy or righteous in the judgment of God Himself, those who are endued with the faith that purifies the heart, that produces a good conscience, those who are grafted into the good olive tree, the spiritual invisible church, those who are branches of the true vine of whom Christ says, ‘I am the vine and ye are the branches,’ those who so effectually know Christ as by that knowledge to have escaped the pollutions of the world, those who see the light of the glory of God and the face of Jesus Christ, and who have been made partakers of the Holy Ghost of the witness and of the fruits of the Spirit, those who live by faith in the Son of God, those who are sanctified by the blood of the covenant, may nevertheless so fall from God as to perish everlastingly.” Oh my goodness, I tell you, no.

Many Testimonies to this Truth

And I tell you, scripture says, no. Romans chapter 8 verses 28-30 says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him and who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called and those he called he also justified, and those he justified he also glorified.” That’s up in heaven, friends. Everyone who begins, finishes. Everyone who is justified is, in the end, glorified.

Or this one, John 6:38-40, “I have come down,” says Jesus, our Good Shepherd, “I have come down from heaven not to do my own will, but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.” That’s not 99%, friends. That’s none. “I will lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day, for my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”

1 Peter 1:5 says, “We are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that’s ready to be revealed in the last time.” Jude 24 and 25 says, “Now to him who is able to keep you from falling, and to present you before his presence blameless with great joy – to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power, and authority.”

Now, you may say, or a Wesleyan or Arminian may say to me, “Yes, but that’s from external dangers, right? Never says anything about us wandering away.” Friends, that was always the problem, wasn’t that always the problem? That we wandered away? It’s not like our Savior said, “I never realized it was this bad, I never knew that you would have such a heart prone to wander. I didn’t really know you.” It’s like a married couple, “I didn’t realize… “

Oh, he knows. He knows, he has searched us, he knows us, he knows our proneness to wonder. That was the whole problem. He’s not saving the world and he’s not saving Satan, he’s saving us in the world from the flesh and from Satan, you see it? He knows.

How God Guarantees our Final Salvation

So how does God guarantee our final salvation? Well, he acts constantly on our behalf, that’s the whole thing. It’s not like, “Stamped. Once saved, always saved. I have the stamp. I’m getting in, see my stamp, I’m in.” Alright? That’s not it. It’s that he actively constantly shepherds you. He stands at the right hand of God and pleads his own blood on your behalf, he filters your temptations, he mobilizes brothers and sisters around you. And you may dislike them for a time, but he’s using them, you know what I’m saying?

He mobilizes pastors to preach sermons, he brings books into your life, he filters your temptations every day, no temptation sees you except what is common to man, but God is faithful and he won’t let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. And with the temptation he’s gonna provide a way of escape. If you don’t take the way of escape he’ll come and get you.

The Role of the Church

And what is the role of the church in all that? Well, we’re gonna get to that. In a couple of weeks I’m gonna preach the next passage in Matthew, on church discipline. Sometimes he takes two or three others and they confront you in sin. And you repent, readily. Lest you go to the next level, but that’s what Jesus has set up, a structure whereby the wandering can be brought back, brought to repentance, renewed and refreshed. And then at the end of Matthew 18 there’s the parable of the 10,000 talents and how we should stand ready to forgive, at any moment, anybody who asks forgiveness of us. Because we’ve been forgiven so much by God. So he has set up all of the system to restore the sinning Christian.

IV. Our Responsibilities

Trust in Christ Alone

So what are our responsibilities? Well, first trust in Christ alone. I’ve already said this. Don’t trust in yourself. Don’t be like Peter was that night, “Even if all fall away, I never will. There’s no temptation that can get me. I could never do such and such.” Don’t say those things. Tremble. Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, realize the power of sin is deadly. You’re in a battle for your lives. Fight sin. That’s why Jesus uses language of “cut off your hand, throw it away.” Trust in Christ alone. Trust in Him.

Rest Securely in Christ… but don’t use it for sin

Rest securely in Christ, believe in these doctrines of “once saved, always saved,” but don’t trade it in for sin, that’s not what it’s meant for. Sin is always deadly, it hurts, don’t you know? You know that, don’t you? It hurts. It hurts marriages, it hurts families, it hurts churches, it hurts individuals, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts. And yes he brings you back but, oh, it hurts. And it’s ruinous. Don’t do it. You don’t trade in assurance so that you can have some sin.

Guard Your Heart

Thirdly, guard your heart, protect your own heart. Wander less in 2009 than you ever did before. Okay? “Guard your heart, for from it flow the well-springs of life,” Proverbs 4:23.

Repent Quickly

Fourthly, repent quickly. Quickly. When the Spirit confronts you with sin, repent quickly. When a brother or sister comes and confronts you, don’t dig in your heels. Repent quickly, get back quickly on the path.

Watch Over One Another with Brotherly Love

Fifthly, it says, watch over one another in brotherly love. That’s what our church covenant says. Let’s pray for each other. James says, “Whoever turns a sinner back from the error of his ways will cover over a multitude of sins and save him from death.” James chapter 5, the last verse in the book of James. Let’s do that for each other, friends. Let’s love each other.

And pray for the elders, because this is one of the number one ministries of the elders, is to shepherd souls, to go through the list of members and pray for them and say, “How are they doing, are they doing well?”

And so if an elder calls you or interacts with you and just asks how you’re doing spiritually, it’s because they’re carrying out their God-ordained office, that’s what they’re doing. Pray for us to be faithful in doing it.

Always Be Ready to Forgive and Restore

And finally, always be ready to restore and forgive. Any time a brother or sister asks you for forgiveness, the Good Shepherd brings them back and welcomes them, so also should we. Let’s close in prayer.

These are only preliminary, unedited outlines and may differ from Andy’s final message.

The greatest issue of our lives is this:  will I go to heaven when I die, or will I be eternally lost?

As we go on in the Christian life, this question deepens… “Lord, I see so much evil in this world, and even worse, I see so much evil still in my own soul… how can I know that I will not turn away, fall away from Christ in the end and be lost?”

Where is my security?  How can I have any sense of safety in this dangerous world?

I had a striking experience some years ago… I went to visit a woman who was dying of cancer… very seriously ill… I came to minister to her, and to speak to her of her soul; she was extremely anxious about death, afraid of dying

I gave her some basic milk-like verses from John’s gospel:

John 5:24 “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.

But after I left, she spoke to a Christian nurse standing there:  “I never really understood the Bible.”  The nurse told me that when I next visited.

Later that night, she fell into a coma from which she never recovered.

As I came to visit her the next day, I was horrified to see her thrashing around in her bed in some kind of agony… I asked the nurse who was there and she said she was in mental agony, not physical, since she was so heavily medicated.

I wondered about the state of her soul… and I wondered about myself… how do I know that I won’t die like that, or worse?  Stripped of all assurance, lost, having no faith in Christ

Matthew 18:12-14  What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off?  ¹³ And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off.  ¹⁴ In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost.

Today’s text teaches us where to look for our security… to the activity of Christ as our Good Shepherd

I. Christ the Good Shepherd

A. Context

1. Apostles bickering about who is the greatest

2. Christ seeks to humble them, and to train them

a. He calls a little child and has him stand in their midst

b. He presents the child as the paradigm example of the humble trusting faith-filled state that every true Christian must have

c. He then uses the humility of the child to speak to the apostles about their visions of greatness

d. The Kingdom of Heaven is made up of child-like ones

e. Whoever is humble like that will be the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven; and whoever welcomes a little child is welcoming Christ

f. But if anyone causes one of those little ones to sin, it would be better for that person to have a large millstone hung around his neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea

3. warning against sin:

4. ultimate assurance in the dreadful battle against sin:  Christ, the Good Shepherd who will make certain that every one of his sheep makes it safely to heaven

B. Old Testament Picture of God as Good Shepherd

1. Jacob the first to use this analogy

Genesis 48:15  Then [Jacob] blessed Joseph and said, “May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day bless these boys…”

2. most famous:  Psalm 23

Psalm 23:1-3  he LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.  ² He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters,  ³ he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

3. another reference in Psalms:

Psalm 95:6-7  Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;  ⁷ for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.

4. most appealing:  Isaiah 40

Isaiah 40:11  He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.

5. most extended treatment:  Ezekiel 34

Ezekiel 34:11-16  “‘For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them.  ¹² As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness.  ¹³ I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land.  ¹⁴ I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel.  ¹⁵ I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign LORD.  ¹⁶ I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.

Listen to all the things Israel’s Good Shepherd says He will do for His people:

• I will search for them.
• I will look after them.
• I will rescue them.
• I will gather them.
• I will bring them into their own land.
• I will pasture them and tend them.
• I will search for the lost and bring back the strays.
• I will bind up the injured.
• I will strengthen the weak.
• I will destroy the sleek and the strong. (Self-reliant vs. God reliant)
• I will shepherd with justice.
• I will judge.
• I will make a covenant of peace.
• I will bless them.
• I will provide for them.

6. the greatest image of the people of God as the wandering sheep is in Isaiah 53

Isaiah 53:6  We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

This is a clear prediction of the Substitutionary death of Christ for us…

7. this prefigures the coming of Christ… as does Micah 5

Micah 5:2-4  But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times…  ⁴ He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth.

C. Christ’s Claim in John 10

John 10:1-4  I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber.  ² The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep.  ³ The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  ⁴ When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.

John 10:11-15  “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.  ¹² The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it.  ¹³ The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.  ¹⁴ “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me–  ¹⁵ just as the Father knows me and I know the Father– and I lay down my life for the sheep.

D. Christ the Good Shepherd Here

Matthew 18:12  “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off?

1. He is promising that He will protect EVERY SINGLE ONE of His flock…

2. He is not playing a numbers game in which a 99% score is good

3. if a single sheep should wander off, He will do everything in His power to bring that single sheep back safely home

4. Christ uses a powerful image here…  one that His hearers would have been well familiar with

a. Shepherds abounded in Palestine

b. So also did dangerous terrain, with rocky crags and precipitous cliffs and ravines

c. Sheep were constantly wandering off

5. Christ is speaking here of the value and worth of every single sheep in His flock… even the littlest ones that these mighty apostles might have despised… might have looked down upon

6. Christ values them highly

II. The Danger of the Flock

Perhaps sheep might bring a question to Darwin’s theory of natural selection… “survival of the fittest”… they have everything against them:  they are weak, dumb, slow and delicious!  Seemingly designed to be eaten by wild beasts

They are in constant danger… and so are we

A. External Danger

1. Satan

1 Peter 5:8  Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

The devil seeks to devour the sheep

Ephesians 6:11-12  Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.  ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Martin Luther:

For still our ancient foe

            doth seek to work us woe;

            his craft and power are great,

            and armed with cruel hate,

            on earth is not his equal.

Did we in our own strength confide,

            our striving would be losing,

Satan is called the “god of this world”… he lays traps for us, attacks our very souls, and harasses lost people constantly by his demons:

Matthew 9:36  When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

2. the world

a. enticing and alluring us with soul-killing lusts

b. yearning for power, pleasure, possessions

c. Vanity Fair

Constantly selling idols to entice us from true affection to Christ

So also the world can be violent, persecuting Christians to intimidate them from following Christ

We are constantly surrounded by spiritual danger

B. Internal Danger

Christ mentions the one sheep “wandering off”

This sheep are prone to do… following their own appetites from one patch of grass to the next until they have lost their way

As the hymnwriter put it, “Prone to wander, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love”

Romans 7:18-20  I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.  ¹⁹ For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do– this I keep on doing.  ²⁰ Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

1. perhaps we begin to drift spiritually

Hebrews 2:1  We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.

2. it can happen gradually… or even suddenly

a. some new habits creep in… what we watch on TV or DVD;  what websites we visit

b. soon we are enslaved to sin:  materialism, sexual temptation, pleasure-seeking, etc.

3. desire for God diminishes:  we have officially wandered away from Christ

a. any Christian duty is an oppressive burden

b. we maintain the outward forms of the Christian life only for the sake of show, for our pride’s sake

c. soon, we don’t even do that at all

Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress listed these gradual steps to apostasy

1. They stop thinking about God, death, and judgment to come.

2. Little by little, they throw off private duties, as private prayer, curbing their lusts, watching, sorrow for sin, and the like.

3. Then they avoid the company of lively and warm Christians.

4. After that they grow cold to public duty, as listening to sermons, reading, Christian fellowship, and the like.

5. Then they begin to pick holes in the coats of some of the godly… to find faults with the believers

6. Then they begin to adhere to, and associate themselves with, fleshly, loose, and openly sinful men.

7. Then they give way to sinful habits in secret; and they are glad if they can see such sinful habits in any that are counted honest, that they may the more boldly do it through their example.

8. After this they begin to play with little sins openly.

9. And then, being hardened, they show themselves as they truly are. Thus, being launched again into the gulf of misery, unless a miracle of grace prevent it, they everlastingly perish in their own self-deceit.

This actually does happen to hypocrites… those who only claimed to be Christians

1 John 2:19  They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.

C. Without Christ’s Vigilance We Would Be Lost

1. the power of these dangers is overwhelming

2. were it not for the constant protection and sustaining grace of our Good Shepherd we would be lost eternally

3. for the true believer, Christ will always come to the rescue

III. The Eternal Security of the Believer

A. Note the Actions of the Good Shepherd

1. he leaves the ninety-nine on the hills

2. he diligently searches until he finds it

3. Christ taught this in the cycle of parables in Luke 15:  the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the “Prodigal Son”

4. in all three cases the one who has lost something valuable keeps looking until he or she finds it

5. Christ will continue to “seek and save” us until we are no longer in danger

B. Note the Joy of the Good Shepherd

Vs. 13 And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off.

1. Greek implies some question as to whether or not the shepherd’s search will be successful

a. In real life, many wandering sheep are never found at all

b. This danger makes the joy all the deeper if he should happen to find the sheep

c. Now in a moment, I will say that all the elect of God can never be finally lost… God will sovereignly see to it that they are recovered

d. However, that truth in no way diminishes the joy God feels when we repent of our sinful straying and return to Christ

2. more joy over the one that sheep than the others who remained secure

3. this does not mean that He loves them more… but just that He had a joy-filled response to the safe return of the wandering sheep

4. illustrations

illus.  a mother with a seriously sick child, the child is burning up with fever… the mother will stay up all night, give the child baths, tend the child’s every need, even to the neglect of her other children… and when that child recovers and his temperature returns to 98.6, she is far more relieved and joyful over that child’s health than over

Illus.  at 8 p.m. central daylight time on October 17, 1987, a national drama came to a joyful conclusion when 18-month old Jessica McClure was safely rescued from an abandoned water well after 58 1/2 hours.  She had tumbled into the water shaft and had gotten wedged in the shaft 22 feet down.  The drama, in which hundreds of workers from the surrounding oil fields worked day and night to rescue the child, Jessica McClure, peaked in the final, emotional hour as workers reached her and gingerly hoisted her to the surface amid wild applause of onlookers and quiet tears of the burly workers.  The effort had captivated the nation, and hundreds of thousands of people responded with tears and shouts of joy at her safe rescue… their joy at her safe rescue in no way implied she was more valuable than any other baby in America… but it is the reasonable emotional reaction to her great danger and her rescue

So it is when Christ successfully rescues one of His wandering sheep from sin and brings that person safely back to the fold

C. Note the Decree of God the Father

Matthew 18:14  In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost.

1. very strong statement

2. Christ points here to the will of God the Father… this is His will of decree

^ESV Matthew 18:14 So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

3. the human shepherd may fail in his attempt to rescue the wandering sheep

4. the emergency rescue team might have failed in their attempt to rescue baby Jessica from the well shaft

5. God the Father will NOT fail in rescuing one of His little ones

6. he is NOT willing that any of these elect ones should perish

7. this is the doctrine of the eternal security of the believer… and it rests on God’s sovereign decree… His will expressed before the foundation of the world

“once saved, always saved”

more actively… your Good Shepherd will come get you and bring you home if you wander

D. Attacks on this Doctrine

1. arminians, who strongly emphasize the human side of salvation, strongly oppose this doctrine

2. they believe it gives people a license to sin

3. John Wesley, father of the Methodist movement, cited many passages which warn about falling away to prove this point… he summed up his article with this bone-chilling assertion:

The sum of all is this: If the Scriptures are true, those who are holy or righteous in the judgment of God himself; those who are endued with the faith that purifies the heart, that produces a good conscience; those who are grafted into the good olive-tree, the spiritual, invisible Church; those who are branches of the true vine, of whom Christ says, “I am the vine, ye are branches;” those who so effectually know Christ as by that knowledge to have escaped the pollutions of the world; those who see the light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, and who have been made partakers of the Holy Ghost, of the witness and of the fruits of the Spirit; those who live by faith in the Son of God; those who are sanctified by the blood of the covenant, may nevertheless so fall from God as to perish everlastingly.

Therefore let him that standeth take heed lest he fall.

However, many other passages testify to the eternal security of God’s elect:

E. Many Testimonies to this Truth

Romans 8:28-30  And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.  ²⁹ For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.  ³⁰ And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

John 6:38-40  For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.  ³⁹ And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.  For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”

John 10:27-30  My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.  ²⁸ I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.  ²⁹ My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.  ³⁰ I and the Father are one.”

1 Peter 1:5  shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

Ephesians 1:13-14  And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,  ¹⁴ who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession– to the praise of his glory.

Jude 1:24-25  To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy–  ²⁵ to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

F. How God Guarantees our Final Salvation

How then does God guarantee the final salvation of the elect?

1.  by actively filtering the temptations they face, putting a hedge of protection around them that Satan has to ask to penetrate

2.  by strengthening them to face those temptations… giving them promises and warnings in Scripture suitable to the test

3.  by convicting them by the indwelling Spirit if they should stumble into sin

4.  by putting them into healthy churches with godly undershepherds who help pursue them should they wander

G. The Role of the Church

1. next two passages:  church discipline, and the parable of forgiveness

a. Matthew 18:15-20 talks about church discipline… one of the great ways that God deals with sinning church members… and a tremendous test of true faith;  all Christians sin, but true Christians repent readily when confronted with their sin… in this way Christ himself is dealing with His church

Matthew 18:20  For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.”

b. Matthew 18:21-35:  the parable of the ten thousand talents… a strong message of forgiveness for the repentant sinner

2. the context is on the restoration of sinning church members

3. the Good Shepherd goes out to get the wandering sheep by means of other undershepherds and other Christians

IV. Our Responsibilities

A. Trust in Christ Alone

1. your own faith and courage and purity and love for God are insufficient to get you through the rest of your time on earth

2. your security is in the activity of your Good Shepherd, who will lead you in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake

3. be aware of the great power at work in you and around you, protecting you from falling away

4. put your trust solely on Christ—His blood shed on the cross, His intercessions for you at the right hand of God

B. Rest Securely in Christ… but don’t use it for sin

1. the doctrine of the eternal security of the believer is not meant to be traded for sin

2. there are ample warnings against the deadly effects of sin

3. you don’t know for sure if you are one of the elect other than a general principle of personal holiness in your life

Romans 8:13-14  if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live,  ¹⁴ because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

4. so do not use the doctrine of “once saved, always saved” as an excuse for sin

C. Guard Your Heart

Proverbs 4:23  Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.

1. watch yourselves carefully… guard what you love, what you follow, what you do

2. be careful over the habit patterns of your life

3. do not put the Lord to the test based on the doctrine of the eternal security of the believer

D. Repent Quickly

1. If you’re starting to drift, study the gospel again more carefully

Hebrews 2:1  We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.

2. become accountable to the church more than ever before

E. Watch Over One Another with Brotherly Love

1. the process of church discipline we will discuss next time is vital to the health of the church

2. optimistically, it should be seen as the way that Christ actively seeks wandering people and brings them back to spiritual health

3. we need to care whether or not a brother or sister is wandering or drifting into sin

F. Always Be Ready to Forgive and Restore

1. God rejoices over the wandering believer who turns back again and repents

2. so we also should be ready to forgive and restore someone who repents and asks forgiveness