Text: Matthew 18:12-14
“If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he will rejoice over it more than over the ninety-nine that didn’t wander away!. In the same way, it is not my heavenly Father’s will that even one of these little ones should perish”.
Brethren, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God(Luke 15:7)
We will be looking at the parable of the lost sheep today, and there are some questions we tend not to ask even though we may have read or heard about this parable so many times.
First of all, why leave the ninety-nine to go after the one that is lost. Do we even think about that at all? Let’s be sincere, that is not wise or as we would say, that’s not common sense. Lot of questions like who will look over the remaining ninety-nine when I leave and what if and what if. But here is the thing, the ninety-nine has each other to draw strength from, they have each other to lead them. But the one who is lost has no one but him or herself, scared and thinking of pending death, and that’s a loss for the Shepherd (God).
It is not the Will of God for anyone to perish(MATTHEW 18:14). We are like that lost sheep which was found by Christ. Yes, Christ found us and brought us back into the fold(arms) of the Father. This is a clear indication that God is after recusing every lost soul out there. And we are the ones to go out there and search for those sheep which are lost. Grace has found us, let us therefore not go astray again. The Father takes no delight in any lost soul, that’s why Jesus said in luke 5:32, I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” He is after the lost sheep. No wonder the psalmist pondered on the love of God for man. (Psalms 8:4)
Every believer in the world are in the ninety-nine bracket, and for this reason, the bible says. ”Let us not give up the habit of meeting together, as some are doing. Instead, let us encourage one another all the more, since you see that the Day of the Lord is coming nearer” (Hebrews 10:25). In essence, the gathering of brethren(believers) is important for when we are together we have each other’s back and we can draw strength(direction, insight) from one another while the Shepherd goes after that last one who has been alone and needs all the help he or she could get. God will stop at nothing to find that lost soul, no matter how far and while doing that He always got our back. If we see our fellow brethren backsliding, let us continue to pray for them, do all we could do to help and ask God to retrace their step back to Him.
Conclusion.
The bible says “Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live” (Ezekiel 33:11).
Highlight.
Brethren, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God
Prayer.
May every lost souls out in dark places find their way back to the Light in Jesus name.
