The Parable of the Lost Sheep

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Hey everybody, I'm Pastor Jeff Durbin with Apologia Church. I want to thank you all so much for watching the content right here on Apologia Studios channel

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What you're about to watch is a sermon a message from Apologia Church's worship service

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God bless you All right, so if you're not already in there will Matthew 10, we'll look at 10 a we'll start off there which says see that you do not despise one of these little ones

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So the little ones here is referring to the children from verses 1 through 6 which pastor

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Jeff Talked about a couple weeks ago Remember the the initial context of this conversation

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Essentially the disciples were having a contest to determine as the scripture says who was the greatest in the kingdom of heaven

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So I'm as I'm preparing this I'm picturing what this looked like So I see you have

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John maybe reclining on Jesus bosom He's like Lord these clowns over here acting a fool trying to figure out who's the greatest you got

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Bartholomew over in the corner He's like, hey guys, look what I can do and he's like doing some weird thing because nobody ever notices

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Bartholomew anyways Then you have Judas pretending to flex says oh, yeah Beat this

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I can lift 30 pieces of silver and then Peter, of course

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Immediately jumping into the challenge. I can definitely be that I can bench press Jesus So he's over here trying to lift

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Jesus and then you have Thomas half listening says I doubt it Seriously though We all know

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Christ's words in Matthew 2016 which says so the last will be first in the first last and in this context of Chapter 18

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Christ has not yet spoken these words because that was in chapter 20 However, I do believe that Christ had already taught this principle to to the

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Apostles date They knew this this was something they were familiar with Especially considering what he taught in the

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Sermon on the Mount which was in Matthew 5 verse 5 says blessed are the meek For they shall inherit the earth

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So here Christ essentially is telling them While you over here are all trying to figure out who's the best be careful not to trample these little ones over here

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Matthew Henry Referring to little ones calls them the infant seed of the faithful live along to the family of Christ and are not to be despised

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So the word despise here is to feel contempt for someone or something because it is thought to be bad or without value

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So although although this can literally and physically be applied to children It can also be metaphorically and spiritually applied to children of the faith baby

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Christians or as we'll see later the week the weaker brother and We know that they are believers because of verse 6 where it says but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me

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To sin. So these are ones that are believing in Christ They're not simply little ones but believing ones as well

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Romans 14 commands us not to despise nor pass judgment on our weaker brothers and when we get later in the message

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We'll actually dive into Romans 14 more in detail and see what that actually looks like But the point is it's the same language here in This verse

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Matthew Henry here says we must not make a jest of their infirmities Not look upon them with contempt not conduct ourselves scornfully or disdainfully

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Toward them as if we cared not would become of them. We must not say though They be offended and grieved and stumble.

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What is that to us? Nor should we make a slight matter of doing that which will entangle and perplex them and as a side note,

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I Believe we can also apply this this verse to family worship as Adults seeking to grow in Christ in worship on Sundays.

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We should not despise the children We talked about this a lot here that there are whiny and restless children

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We should not look down on them with contempt nor their parents, but we should try to encourage and support these families

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But this is the way of our culture our culture despises children They're willing to dispose of their children like dross all in the name of comfort

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And my fear is that so many churches have done the same they've bought into the same mindset They send their children away during worship or during the word or during sacraments and they do it all for the comfort of the adults

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Obviously we find this shameful and we are convicted against it again as Henry stated

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These children are the infant seed of the faithful So moving on to 10b then says for I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my father who is in heaven

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So I'm gonna do a brief discussion here on angelology, which is just the study of angels

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So in Greek, it's angle loss which simply means messenger and in the

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Hebrew Malik which it has means the same thing a messenger So, of course, we're not talking about cute little fat baby angels hanging out in the clouds all day playing their little tiny harps

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These types of angels trigger your cute aggression, but they simply aren't biblical the angels we're talking about usually appear as men dressed in bright white and Instead of bringing happy warm and snugly feelings they incite feelings of fear

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Trembling and terror and they often cause people to fall before them in worship It's clear throughout scripture both in the

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Old Testament and New Testament that God has assigned angels to his people To watch over us to minister to us and to serve us

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So I'm going to go through some passages of scripture here quickly just to show you some of these verses

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Psalm 91 9 through 13 Because you have made the

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Lord your dwelling place the most high who is my refuge No evil shall be allowed to follow you. No plague come near your tent

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For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you and all your ways on their hands

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They will bear you up lest you strike your foot against the stone you will tread on the line and the adder the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot and Then the

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New Testament we have Hebrews 1 13 through 14 which says and to which of the angels has he ever said sit at my right hand until I make you your

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Enemies a footstool for your feet Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?

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So again, you see here the angels serving God's people and then further down in Hebrews 13 verse 2

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It says do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers for thereby some have entertained angels unawares

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So obviously we all know there's a lot of passages throughout scripture telling us to be hospitable to care for strangers to be good

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Samaritans This passage this verse here is saying that you never know when you could be helping an angel in disguise

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So quickly, I want to talk about guardian angels because this is a question that always comes up. Do we have guardian angels?

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What does that mean? So I want to look at Acts 12 13 through 16 and This is referring to Peter Verse 13.

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It says and when he knocked at the door of the gateway a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer Recognizing Peter's voice and her joy.

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She did not open the gate but ran in and reported that Peter was standing at the gate They said to her you are out of your mind but she kept insisting that it was so and they kept saying it is his angel and Verse 16

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Peter continued knocking and when they opened they saw him and were amazed So essentially this is a common probably still is a common

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Jewish belief That every one of God's people has their own assigned guardian angel

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There's they're specifically assigned to that person to care for them. This however is not scriptural

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That comes from an apocryphal story of Tobit So that's where that whole idea of guardian angel comes from it's from that from Hebrew tradition

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But this passage shows them that it was a widespread belief Enough that these people were thinking that Peter was there was his angel not actually

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Peter So I'm gonna look at now some actual practical tasks that angels have

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Referring to to the body of Christ. So angels are watching the church First Corinthians 4 9 for I think that God has

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Exhibited us Apostles as last of all like men sentenced to death because we have become a spectacle to the world to angels and to men so again you see here that angels are watching us and In Ephesians 3 9 through 10 to me though I am the very least of the saints this grace was given to preach the

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Gentiles The unsearchable riches of Christ and to bring to light for everyone What is the plane or what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things?

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so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and Authorities in the heavenly places and then in verse current our first Corinthians 11 8 through 10

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For man was not made from woman but woman from man neither was man created for woman but woman for man

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That is why a wife ought to have a symbol of authority on her head because of the angels Now I'm not gonna take the time right now to exegete this passage as I know

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There's probably some women in here that would like to hear me exegete this passage, but the point is that The angels are watching here and Then first Timothy 5 21.

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This is to pastors It says in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels

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I charge you to keep these rules without prejudging doing nothing from partiality so again, these angels are watching pastors and Then Matthew 16 27

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Angels actually help reward believers It says for the Son of Man is coming with his angels and the glory of his father and then he will repay each person according to what he has done and There's another another job that they have angels are guiding us

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So if you look at acts 826 here, we have an angel that's directs

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Philip To the eunuch and now an angel of the Lord which was not

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Christ will get into in a second Said to Philip rise and go toward the south to the road that comes down from Jerusalem to Gaza This is a desert place

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So you have an angel speaking to Philip telling him where to go and then further down in acts 10

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Verses 3 through 8 we have an angel Directs Cornelius to Peter.

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So again, you have an angel guiding and directing in verse 3 It says about the ninth hour of the day He saw clearly in a vision an angel of God come in and say to him

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Cornelius and he stared at him in terror See there we have there's an angel He's terrified and said what is it

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Lord? and he said to him your prayers and your alms have ascended as Memorial to before God and now send men to Joppa and bring one

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Simeon who was called Peter Simon sorry who was called Peter He is lodging with one

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Simon a tanner whose house is by the sea when the angel who spoke to him had departed He called two of his servants and devout soldier from among those who had attended him and having related everything to him

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He sent them to Joppa. So there's this passage here just as a note This is a very important passage in church history because because the angel sent

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Cornelius to Peter And this is what led to Peter accepting the Gentiles and to the faith And then continuing into chapter 11 over actually 10 22 first it says and they said

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Cornelius a Centurion an upright and God -fearing man who was well spoken of by the whole

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Jewish nation Was directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and to hear what you have to say

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And then in verse 30 and Cornelius said four days ago about this hour I was praying in my house at the ninth hour and behold a man stood before me in bright clothing again

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There you have the angel and bright clothing and then 1113 and he told us

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How we had seen the angel stand in his house How he had seen the angel stand in his house and say send the

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Joppa and bring Simon who was called Peter So again, you see from these passages that the angels are actually guiding people

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Angels also provide so quickly we see them providing for Hagar and Ishmael in Genesis chapter 21 and Psalm 28 25 or 78 25, excuse me, we see

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That the food being provided for Or the manna being provided for Israel was actually from the angels and then in first Kings 19 you see the angels providing food for Elijah and Then it's all 91 if you guys remember we mentioned that a minute ago.

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We actually see angels protecting us Angels provide deliverance

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Let's see X 5 17 through 21 you see them delivering the Apostles Starting for 17, but the high priest rose up and all who were with him

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That is the party of the Sadducees and filled with jealousy They arrested the Apostles and put them in public prison but during the night an angel the

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Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out and said go and Stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life

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And when they heard this they enter the temple at daybreak and began to teach so here you see them delivering the

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Apostles and guiding and directing them and Then X 12 6 through 11.

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This is with Peter Now when Herod was about to bring them out on that very night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers bound with two chains and Centuries before the door regarding the prison and behold an angel of the

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Lord stood next to him and a light shone in the cell He struck Peter on the side and woke him saying get up quickly the chains fell off his hands and the angel said to him dress yourself and put on your sandals and he did so and He said to him wrap your cloak around you and follow me and he went out and followed him

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He did not know that what was being done by the angel was real But thought he was seeing a vision

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So this is all happiness chains are falling off the angel saying go get dressed and he thinks it's just basically sleeping verse 10 when they had passed the first and second guard that came to the iron gate leading into the city it opened for them of Its own cords here

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You see the gate actually opened on its own and they went out and went along one Street and immediately the angel left him

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And when Peter came to himself He said now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all

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That the Jewish people were expecting And then we see in Daniel 9 20 through 23.

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We see the angels dispatch prayer While I was speaking and praying confessing my sin and the sin of my people

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Israel and presenting my plea before the Lord my God for the Holy Hill of my God while I was speaking in prayer the man

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Gabriel Whom I had seen in the vision at the first came to me in a swift flight at the time of the evening sacrifice

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So Gabriel is an angel. He's a probably the most famous angel besides maybe Michael and scripture

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He made me understand speaking with me and saying Oh Daniel I have now come out to give you insight and understanding

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At the beginning of your pleas for mercy a word a word went out and I have come to tell it to you For you are greatly loved therefore consider the word and understand the vision and the end you see the same thing further in Daniel chapter 10 and then

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We even see angels actually attending people in death so a Luke 16 22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side and then we see in Jude 9

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That Michael I mentioned him a second ago The archangel was actually fighting over Moses body said but when the archangel

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Michael Contending with the devil was disputing about the body of Moses He did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said the

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Lord rebuke you And then lastly here I want to look at I mentioned the angel of the

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Lord Or also angel of Yahweh some translations might say

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This is mentioned throughout the Old Testament So most of these instances not all but most in the

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Old Testament when you see the angel of the Lord or the angel of Yahweh These are believed to be Christophanies Which are just pre -incarnate

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Appearances of Christ. So this is where you see Christ in scripture before he came as a child

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There's a lot of reasons we can get in a whole a whole message just on that but I'm not gonna get in that today

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But here are a couple verses just to show you what I'm talking about So Psalm 34 7 the angel the

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Lord of camps and camps around those who fear him and delivers them So, of course, we're told in scripture not to fear angels

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But here in this verse we see or we're also told to fear we're told to fear God But in this passage, it clearly teaches that the angel

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Lord of camps around those who fear him and he delivers them And then in Judges 6

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Gideon encounters the angel of the Lord Who tells Gideon the Lord is with you?

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So he sees in scripture says the angel Lord and the angel replies and says the Lord is with you and throughout the rest of that passage then

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The angel of the Lord is referred to as Lord or Yahweh So to pick back up in Matthew then you notice that the rest of this verse says

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That their angels always see the face of my father who is who is in heaven So that their angels here have constant access to God the

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Father And it was customary and Eastern courts that highly respected servants would would stand before the king

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Literally looking into his face for care and concern for wisdom. They were they were waiting for a moment's notice to act

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We actually see this in scripture occurring with King Solomon and first Kings 10 8 It says happy are your men happy are your servants who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom?

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so likewise Angels have the same access to God They stand in his presence they actually have fellowship with him and they're waiting to be dispatched

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They're waiting to do the assigned work on behalf of the Saints Psalm 103 20 says blessed the

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Lord. Oh you his angels you mighty ones who do his word obeying the voice of his word

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Matthew Henry here says the happiness of heaven consists in the vision of God seeing him face to face as he is beholding his beauty

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This the angels have without interruption When they are ministering to us on earth yet, even then by contemplation they behold the face of God So the point here that I want to make is that angels are clearly involved in the lives of people of the people of God To what extent

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I'm not sure but scripture is clear that to some degree We're cared for by angels by his messengers and here

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Spurgeon says the highest Courtiers of glory counted their honor to watch over the lowly in heart

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So moving on to Matthew then let's look at verse 11 That's a test

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Are you all there's no verse 11 is there This is a disputed passage you have you're looking at the

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ESV there's probably a footnote It's not there it's It's not found in the oldest manuscripts, but it is found in scripture in Luke 1910

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So that passage is from Luke 1910 just not from that location So some versions put it in there some use a footnote some put it in brackets

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Some of the early copyists probably realized it was maybe not possible there and so they put it in brackets or they made a note

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To keep it safe So that's why it's weird when you're like, wait a minute. There's no verse 11. It's goes from 10 to 12.

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So verse 12 through 13 What do you think if a man has a hundred sheep and one of them has gone astray?

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Does he not leave the 99 on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray and if he finds it?

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Truly I say to you he rejoices over it and more than over the 99 that never went astray

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There's a parallel passage in Luke 15 3 through 10 Just so you have it it says so he told them this parable and what man of you having hundred sheep if he has lost one of them does not

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Leave the 99 in the open country and go after the one that is lost until he finds it And when he when he has found it

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He lays it on his shoulders Rejoicing and when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors saying to them rejoice with me for I have found my sheep

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That was lost just so I tell you there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents and over 99 righteous persons

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Who need no repentance or what woman having ten silver coins if she loses one coin does not light a lamp and sweep the house

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And seek diligently until she finds it and when she has found it She calls together her friends and neighbors saying rejoice with me for I have found the coin that I had lost

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Just so I tell you there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents

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So again, you see here in Luke that the angels are before God and they're joyous when

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God finds that sheep So now we're moving from the relationship of believers to angels to the relationship of believers to God the

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Father and here he's seen as a shepherd He's concerned about every single believer

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This really is I think a pretty simple parable the point is that every one of his sheep is precious to him and Notice that this is about believers.

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It doesn't mention any goats, but sheep they are already belong to the shepherds fold

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So I have a couple analogies here actually, I'm stole this from MacArthur, but He told he tells a story

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It's like if I go to sit down at dinner and I noticed that my oldest child is missing and I'm like, hey

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Cheryl where's Evie? She's like, I don't know Well, don't worry about it. We have another one

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No, that's not gonna happen. Right if a child's missing you're gonna you're gonna stop what you're doing You're gonna do everything you can to find them

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So how many of you in here you can feel free to raise your hand how many of you have lost a dog or another pet a

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Few people it's probably terrifying right? Nothing else mattered at that moment

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How much more important would it be if you lost a child The same goes for God the father when his children are lost

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Now who has lost a child? Is it? Shame on you. I'm kidding.

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I'm kidding. I Actually was lost twice as a child tight tell you why

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The first time I was five and I was at SeaWorld actually remember this vividly There was we walked in and there was the penguins and I stopped to look at the penguins for a little bit and then

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Grab somebody's hand and started walking and shortly realized it wasn't my dad Thankfully, I had the wherewithal to go to the information desk and tell him

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I was lost So then my parents hear them calling their name, you know over the thing Mark and Susan Pearson come find your child, you know, like but they were terrified right?

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They lost me. They were terrified the second time Basically was like home alone at McDonald's Only I wasn't alone but I was probably 13 or 14 and my cousin and I were riding up with my dad in the back of his truck up to my grandparents cabin and I think we went into the bathroom before we got back on the road and my dad drove off and left us

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Didn't realize it because we were riding in the back and So we were pretty terrified

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But it was this is well before you had cell phones readily available except for maybe the Zack Morris like car phone

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You know like but we didn't have phones. So I think we picked up the The pay for the self pay phone and we're calling anybody we could think of it

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And I think my cousin even called he was a missionary kid I think he even called the missions organization trying to track somebody down We're stuck at McDonald's in the middle of nowhere for like two or three hours before my dad realized we were missing and came back and got us

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Obviously they found us But Every family has that kid, right?

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That kid that's always lost or always hurt and my family it was my younger brother

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Jared It was always wandering off somewhere always getting hurt and So I'm let me preface this by saying

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I'm not saying this right here to brag But I'm actually very grateful that God's given me a bit of an internal compass

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As long as I know where north is I can usually find my way out of any situation if I can just drive somewhere

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One time and like 20 years later. I can remember how to get there. I'm thankful for that I realized not everybody has that gift.

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My seven -year -old definitely has that she always knows where we're at. She was knows where we're going My my three -year -old not so much.

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I think she's more like her mother It wasn't for the invention of GPS Then I'll stop there

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But there are people here at Apologia that I love dearly They wouldn't know they were stuck on the tracks of a train hit them

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And forgive me sage I'm gonna use sage as an example here Most of you know pastor

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Jeff's oldest son sage He's that kid And he knows he's nodding a few

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I'm gonna tell you a story about winter camp. You don't mind a few years ago winter camp They were out hiking. This was in Greer four hours from here in the middle of nowhere no real cell phone service and sage got lost and Wandered off I think after an hour or two

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I think if I remember correctly just kind of fell on the ground and just kind of gave up like oh I guess my life's over and I Think he even befriended a straight dog if I remember correctly thankfully somebody drove by and found him laying on the ground and but what

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I get Is I remember the call from pastor Jeff calling me panicked because sage was missing up in the woods in the mountains and Again, thankfully

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I found somebody was able to get a call out let him know and then you know a couple hours later He got another call that they had found him and and so he was relieved right the family rejoiced

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When they found him there they were panicked at first They were Jeff would have done anything he could in his power to find sage couldn't do much because he's four hours away

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But when they when they found him the family was relieved and they rejoiced and that's that's the point I wanted to get to here

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So God loses one child. He leaves the others to find him And rejoices when he was found

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So shepherds became tracking experts Why because sheep are prone to wander and just like sheep.

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So are we? My favorite verse from one of my favorite hymns is come thou fount.

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Oh To grace how great a debtor daily. I'm constrained to be let that goodness like a fetter

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By my wandering heart to thee prone to wander Lord. I feel it prone to leave the

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God I love Here's my heart. Oh take and seal it seal it for thy courts above We daily need the shepherds goodness like a fetter, which is to chain to bind our wine wandering hearts to him

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Like sheep were prone to wander. We're prone to leave the God we love And when we do wander just like the shepherd

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God doesn't sit around and wait for us to return he immediately embarks on An exhaustive an extensive search.

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No cost is too big and he never comes back empty -handed Shepherds would often return with the dead bones of the lost sheep, but they wouldn't give up They would search and search until they found that sheep even if they had deceased

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This shows that God is interested in individual heartfelt forgiving care

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When the lost sheep is found the emphasis is on restoration and forgiveness

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God along with his angels rejoice Because he delights in forgiveness This reconciliation in this restoration is so intimate to the father

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Like we see in Luke 15 that when the lost sheep is found the shepherd just doesn't make him follow him home

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He doesn't say all right. I found you know, follow me home Or he doesn't like make him walk in front of him and disgrace and have everybody laugh at him

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But he puts him on his shoulders. He actually carries the burden for that sheep. It carries him home

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Now this is not a license to sin but it exemplifies the extent of God's grace He pursues us because he does not want us to be devastated.

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He loves us this deeply because we are his children and And because of this

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We come to verse 14 So it is not the will of my father who was in heaven that one of these little ones should perish

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It's pretty simple. It's pretty straightforward Whether it's literally little children or little ones in the faith

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It is God's will that none of them should perish and here perish is literally to die

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Especially in a violent or sudden way or to suffer complete ruin or destruction

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Some translations have rendered perish to get lost Matthew Henry here makes three points.

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I want to share one It is his will that these little ones should be saved.

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It is the will of his design and delight He has designed it and set his heart upon it and he will affect it

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It is the will of his precept that all should do what they can to further and nothing to hinder it point to This care extends itself to every particular member of the flock even the meanest

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We think if but one or two be offended and ensnared it is no great matter we need not mind it, but God's thoughts of love and tenderness are above ours and then the third point it

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Is intimated that those who do anything by which any of these little ones are brought into danger or perishing

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Contradict the will of God and highly provoke him and though they cannot prevail in it yet. They will be reckoned with for By him who in his

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Saints as in the other things is jealous of his honor and will not bear to have it trampled on So in conclusion, it's a long conclusion so don't get your hopes up yet What Does this look like practically for us today, how do we how do we apply this passage to our lives?

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Just as the culture despises children. It also despises the lowly That would be the poor the needy the downtrodden the drugs of society.

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I'm I'll be honest I'm thankful for this church as you all know, we were founded on the needs of the outcasts of addicts,

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I Think that we do a great job of helping the needy. We got the blessing bags ministry.

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We do the homeless center every year We got the homeless Outreach once a month. We got redeemed rebels

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So I want to encourage you guys you're doing we're doing a great job, but I think we can always do better. I Want to move here to James chapter 2

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And look at verses 1 through 9 My brothers show no partiality as you hold the faith in our

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Lord Jesus Christ the Lord of our glory For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly and a poor man shabby clothing

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Also comes in have you pay and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say you sit here in a

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Good place. Well, you say to the poor man you stand over there or sit down at my feet. Have you?

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Not been made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts

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Listen my beloved brothers Has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom?

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What she has promised to those who love him, but if you have dishonored the poor man and not the rich Are not the rich the ones who oppress you and the ones who drag you into court

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Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called if you really fulfill the royal law

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According to the scripture you shall love your neighbor as yourself you are doing well But if you show partiality

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You are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors So obviously the point of this this passage is, you know

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If someone comes in and they look wealthy they're dressed nice you give them the best seat in the house

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But somebody comes in and they look like they just wandered in off the street and you say, you know Go stand over there in the corner That's that's showing partiality that's not loving your neighbor as you want to be loved

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And I'm in no way of accusing anyone here of doing this But we all need to ask ourselves myself included if we've done this in any way

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How are we showing partiality to anyone because of their appearance? This can also be applied to skin color

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There's been a lot of discussion recently within the church in our culture in our nation on Racism Which is nothing more than tribalism

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It's simply a violation of the second table and it's just as we read here in James 2 Have you treated someone differently because of the color of their skin?

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Have you not loved someone as you want to be loved because they look different than you So the next point

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I want to make that is when it comes to despising those weaker in the faith or Contending over adiaphora, which are just non -essentials.

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These are things that don't matter to salvation. I Mentioned we're gonna look at Romans 14.

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So let's if you guys want go ahead and turn there. We'll be there for for a little while I'm gonna read the whole chapter actually

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So again Romans 14, this is good instruction as to how to love one another and honor one another and and not

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Contend in a sinful way for things that aren't essential so starting verse 1 As for the one who is weak in faith welcome him but not to quarrel over opinions

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One person believes he may eat anything while the weak person eats only vegetables Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats

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For God has welcomed him Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls and he will be upheld for the

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Lord is able to make him stand verse 5 One person esteems one day as better than another

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While another esteems all days alike each one should be fully convinced in his own mind The one who observes the day observes it in honor of the

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Lord the one who eats eats in honor of the Lord since he Gives thanks to God while the one who abstains abstains in honor of the

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Lord and gives thanks to God For none of us lives to himself and none of us dies to himself

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For if we live we live to the Lord and if we die we die to the Lord So then whether we live or whether we die

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We are the Lord's for this and Christ died and lived again that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living and then verse 10

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Why do you pass judgment on your brother or you why do you despise? There's that word we talked about despising the little ones the same word

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Why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God for it is written as I live says the

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Lord every knee shall bow To me and every tongue shall confess to God So then each of us will give an account of himself to God and then verse 13

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Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer But rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother

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I know and am persuaded and the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself

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But it is unclean for anyone who thinks it is unclean for if your brother is grieved by what you eat

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You are no longer walking in love By what you eat do not destroy the one whom

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Christ died For whom Christ died? So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil

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For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit Whoever thus serves

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Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual up building and in verse 20

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Do not for the sake of food destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean

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But it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble

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The faith that you have keep between yourself and God Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves but whoever has

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Doubts is condemned if he eats because the eating is not from faith for whatever does not proceed from faith is sin

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And then continuing quickly here into verse 15 and then we'll be Stop reading

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Verse 1 he says we who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves

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Let each of us please his neighbor for his good to build him up For what

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Christ did not I'm sorry for Christ did not please himself But as it is written the reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me

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For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction That through endurance and through the encouragement of the scriptures

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We might have hope and the God of endurance and encouragement Grant you to live in such harmony with one another in accord with Christ Jesus that together

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You may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you for the glory of God So I Know it was a large chunk to get into I'm not gonna take the time right now to exegete this passage

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But I want to I want to take it and make some practical applications So again in light of the second table, we need to be seeking

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Harmony with one another in accord with Christ Jesus. It means encouraging one another building one another up That we may be one vote with one voice

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That we with one voice may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. I Can assure you even as I was preparing for this message.

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These are these are questions. I've had to ask myself So I have I have several practical practical points here.

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We can we can apply this to First one is I think an obvious one. It's the one you hear probably preached most on this on this passages is alcohol, right and We have wine up here for communion.

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I'll tell you the story if you guys don't know this We we planted obviously out of a rehab facility.

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So for the first, I don't know four or five six years Maybe we had grape juice

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Because we didn't want to create a stumbling block for for those that were new babies in Christ that struggled with alcohol and and one day

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I Guess it was over a period of time, but Jeff and I were really convicted You know what? We need to switch to wines wines biblical

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This is what they use in Scripture that didn't use grape juice And so one Sunday many many of you were probably there one

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Sunday. We said, okay we're gonna do grape juice in this side and wine in this side and I think it was

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One person went to the grape juice. Maybe it was like and the line was like out in the hall And we're like, all right,

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I guess we're going to full wine here. So but that's the point is that That's a common example is alcohol and that's just the the history of it here at apology.

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Um Personally I'll mention that I Grew up very very legalistic

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And it took me years to feel comfortable being around alcohol because I was brought up Told that if you drink alcohol you're going to hell like that's that's the mindset

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I had growing up So second here is to be patient with one another

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Ephesians 4 1 through 3 says there I therefore a prisoner for the Lord urge you to walk in a manner Worthy of the calling to which you have been called with all humility and gentleness with patience

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Bearing one enough on one another in love bearing with one another in love eager to maintain the unity of the

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Spirit and the bond of peace So do not grow impatient with fellow believers just because they have differing views or differing convictions

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So I'm gonna talk through here some of these convictions practically like what are some of these convictions that I know

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Our points of contention maybe with even within our body So the first one is what about food?

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Right, this doesn't just apply to the food that was offered to idols What about what type of food there's a lot of families in here that eat

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Mostly organic there's families in here. They can't afford to eat mostly organic Some some families in your shop at Whole Foods or as Jason Ridley calls a whole paycheck

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Some people can't afford that and they shop at Walmart, right? What about the the amount of sugar or gluten you feed your kids?

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Whatever you eat, whatever you feed your kids eat it to the glory of God That's the point and we shouldn't be contending over these non -essentials

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What about birthing? We have a lot of families in here a lot of babies and therefore there's a lot of birthing method convictions

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Some prefer home birth some prefer hospital births some prefer to have a doctor some prefer to have midwives

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Some prefer epidurals Some prefer natural birth Whatever your convictions

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Birth those babies to the glory of God and and don't argue about it with others. They have a different conviction

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What about head coverings? I mentioned that earlier Jeff has mentioned this a lot. We love and respect and we understand both positions whether women should have head covering or not during worship and Our position is whatever you do where you have your head cover or not do it to the glory of God What about the quiver full movement again, we we know we have large families in here

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Praise God and we have small families. We're thankful for all of our children But each family is unique.

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Each family situation is unique. It's not black and white the point here I want to make is however many kids you have you better raise them up and the discipline and instruction of the

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Lord What about media Some families have

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TVs some families have decided to pull their TVs some people Love Disney some people say

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I wouldn't touch Disney with a 10 -foot pole Some people say it's okay to listen to secular music.

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Some people say you only listen to Caleb If you do, we'll have a talk later

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Our families at this church have differing convictions on what we watch and when we listen to The point again is whatever we put before our eyes and whatever we put in our ears it better glorify

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God Another one I thought of earlier is vaccinations.

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That's a huge one, right or or Healthcare some people prefer a natural doctor some prefer traditional doctors again whatever whatever it is if you vaccinate your kids if you don't vaccinate if you go to a naturopath or you go to a

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Traditional doctor do it to the glory of God So what about age?

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First Timothy 4 12 let no one despise there's that word again That no one despise you for your youth that set the

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Believers an example in speech and conduct and love and faith and impurity So here again do not despise someone for their youth

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Likewise if they're older than you don't despise them because they're older than you Further down in first Timothy chapter 5 1 through 2 it says do not rebuke an older man

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But encourage him as you would a father younger men as brothers older women as mothers younger women as sisters and all purity

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Do not defraud Now this is one you don't hear people talk about very often

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So do not defraud or take advantage of your brothers Mark 10 19 says, you know, the commandments do not murder.

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Do not commit adultery. Do not steal do not bear false witness Do not defraud

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Honor your father and mother and the first Corinthians 6 5 through 8. I say this to your shame

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Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle dispute between the brothers But brother goes to law against brother and that Before unbelievers to have lawsuits at all with one another is already defeat for you

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Why not rather suffer wrong why not rather be defrauded but you yourselves wrong and defraud even your own brothers and And second

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Corinthians 7 to make room in your hearts for us we have wronged no one we have corrupted

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No one we have taken advantage of no one. So here we see clearly scripture saying don't defraud your brothers

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Don't take advantage of one another Sadly enough. I've been in ministry long enough to know this happens all the time within the church

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And not necessarily within our church, but just the church in general with especially in our culture. I can tell you as a ministry

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We have I have many stories of people Treating businesses better than they would treat a ministry

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So again, this can this can also apply to more than just money it can also apply to time

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Be considerate of your brothers and your sisters be considerate of their time and their energy

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Please do not take advantage of that Especially when it comes to your pastors Please don't be a vortex

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What I mean by that is We all know people that When you get in conversation with them, they

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Suck you in like a vortex and it's very hard to get out of that conversation. So, please don't be that person be respectful of Everyone's time but especially your pastor's time.

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I beg of you Lastly It's my last point let me preface this by saying

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That as one of your pastors standing before you I'm in no way using this as a time to whine and complain but all these things we just mentioned

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Can also apply to the way the sheep treat their shepherds Just as God the

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Father Will not hesitate to look for his lost sheep as you're under shepherds

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I can promise you that neither pastor Jeff nor myself will hesitate to look for you should you lose your way

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Many of you here can attest to that But please don't be that sheep

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It is of no advantage to you Hebrews 13 17 says obey your leaders and submit to them for they're keeping watch over your souls

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So just as the shepherd watches over the sheep. That is our job to watch over your souls as sheep as those who will have

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Excuse me. Let's try that again as those who will have to give an account So we were accountable to God for the way that we shepherd you

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Let them do this with joy and not with groaning for that would be of no advantage to you

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So I promise you this if you are lost We will do everything in our power to find you and when you are found we will rejoice

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However, there was another aspect of this That few talk about everyone knows psalm 23, right

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The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want he makes me lie down in green pastures. He leaves me beside still waters

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He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his namesake Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death

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I will fear no evil for you are with me your rod and your staff They comfort me you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies

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You annoy my head with oil my cup overflows Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the

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Lord forever So we all know this passage But very rarely do you hear someone talk about the end of verse 4 which says your rod and your staff they comfort me

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Everyone knows what the staff is It's the long stick with the hook on end on one end and it was basically used to retrieve

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Lost sheep it was used to guide and direct them It was used to free them from bushes to lift them up out of water

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It served as protection for sheep that strayed too far and found themselves in trouble

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It represents the shepherds guiding love and concern for his sheep But the shepherd also carried a rod and I've noticed recently if you look at pictures

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Depictions of shepherds usually see them with the staff with a hook and maybe a sheep around their neck as we mentioned earlier

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But you never see them with the staff and a rod and they always carried both

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The rod was used to protect the harmless gentle sheep. It was used to whack predators in the head if they attacked

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But it was also used to reprimand unruly sheep It served as protection from outside side danger as well as discipline for the uncooperative sheep within the flock

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There's it's it's known that shepherds if they had a sheep that continually wandered off and got lost all the time

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They would actually break one of their legs so they couldn't wander off anymore And this was a form of discipline that kept them within the flock that protected their lives

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So the rod represents the shepherds and no -nonsense Chastising hand against sin and untruth

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So my point is this please do not allow sin to cause you to wander off the disciplining of sheep is fun for no one at all and Does not bring your pastor's joy, but groaning

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I'm gonna end with a quote from a W pink here. He says If on the one hand nothing is more encouraging to a pastor than for his people to be responsive and docile

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It is equally true that nothing is more disheartening and saddening to him and to meet with opposition from those

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Whose highest interest he is serving with all his might for the members of a church to so conduct themselves as to be a constant source of grief unto the ministers to despise their own mercies and Not only prevents the receiving his instruction into their hearts which results in their spiritual barrenness