Sheep

Let's turn to the Gospel of Matthew, please, Gospel of Matthew, and we'll read from chapter 1, Matthew chapter 1 and verse 1. The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Now, chapter 7, please. Chapter 7, verse 15, beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

Ye shall know them by their fruits. Verse 20, wherefore, by their fruits ye shall know them. Keep your Bible handy, we'll take some more verses as we move through.

The Gospel of Matthew is unique in our Bibles in many ways, but you'll notice the expression that it opens with, the book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of Abraham, the son of David, is that right? Wrong way around, isn't it? It's the son of David, there's the emphasis, the son of Abraham. You see, Matthew, as we've been reminded, is the Gospel of the king, and so you have the son of David. David was the warrior king, and the Lord of hosts one day, that's the title of a warrior, the Lord of hosts made a covenant one day with David, that he would establish David's kingdom, and there were many different facets to that covenant.

We're not dealing with that now, but David was destined to be the king, and of his seed there would be a king upon the throne. Now, he was a warrior king, not only was David a warrior king, but God called him out from the sheep coats, from minding sheep, so David had a care for sheep. We see that from the early record of his life.

David was a man who had a care for sheep, and so David, put them together, he is the shepherd king. And so we have the thought of the Davidic link with the Lord Jesus, and in Matthew chapter 1, you have a genealogy that traces all the way through from David, through Solomon, to Joseph, who was the husband of Mary. It's interesting that that is not the bloodline of the Lord Jesus.

You see, there was a historic anomaly back in the day, a man called Jeconiah, he was a descendant of the wicked king, and the Lord cursed him in terms of there would not be, of his seed, one to sit upon the throne. So, the Messiah could not come through that line, and Joseph's descendants were on that line. So that's why when we come to the Gospel of Luke then, we have the lineage which is through Mary, and that's the bloodline, down from David, through David's son Nathan, instead of through Solomon.

And so the word of God was preserved, and we have in fact the link with David, the bloodline, through Mary, the seed of the woman. You see the consistency in the word of God. Lovely to notice that.

Now, I want to focus in my remarks just briefly this afternoon, as the Lord gives help, to notice the link with sheep in the Gospel of Matthew. The link with sheep. And there will be a progression of thought as we move through.

The first one we're going to notice is what I've called fake sheep, and we read of them in Matthew chapter 7. Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing. They're pretending to be sheep. They've got the woolly coat on, but they've got a snout with fangs too.

You see, the wolves in sheep's clothing. And what the Lord Jesus is indicating is just this, that even though he will indicate in the Sermon on the Mount those features that will mark the citizens of his kingdom, from chapter 5 through chapter 7, yet there will be, mixing in, there will be those who are false. And there will be false teachers that arise before the establishment of that millennial kingdom that we've been hearing about.

And by the way, when you're studying your Bible, the normal view of the kingdom in God's kingdom program is that future millennial kingdom. Keep that in mind as you read through. So that is God's program.

He's moving through history toward that. And as God moves through in history, there will arise false teachers. Oh, I've been hearing about some false teaching already this afternoon.

They will plague the people of God. And they have certainly been around since apostolic times. For testimony to be preserved, all teaching must be compared with Scripture.

This is very basic. But you remember what the prophet Isaiah said in chapter 8. He said, to the law and to the testimony, if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. We must go only by the word of God and keep our expression scriptural when we're handling divine things.

Paul cautioned the Corinthians chapter 14. He said, let the prophets today, the teachers, speak two or three and let the other judge. So there is the possibility of fake teachers.

What about fake saints? That's a possibility too, isn't it? That's why there isn't joined upon overseers in God's assembly in the day of grace, the requirement to watch, to be vigilant, because there could be that which is unreal that would creep in and would compromise the testimony. Just as false teaching would compromise the testimony, false sheep as well would compromise the testimony. There's a need for discernment and said the Lord Jesus by their fruits, ye shall know them.

There needs to be light in them. There needs to be life in them. There needs to be love for Christ in them.

It's a test. Now I'm going to move from that. Let's come to chapter 9 please.

Matthew chapter 9. So the first kind of sheep that we're noticing are fake sheep. Now we come to chapter 9 and I want you to think about feeble sheep. Verse 36.

But when he saw the multitudes he was moved with compassion on them because they fainted and were scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd. So clearly shepherdless sheep are feeble sheep. The shepherds of Israel that had gone before had failed.

Ezekiel raises a warning against that and there had been partial recovery after the exile. There were people that came back with Zerubbabel, some with Ezra and later there was that work by Nehemiah and yet very quickly things degenerated again. You come to the book of Malachi and you find that there were leaders among the people and they wouldn't do anything for God unless they were paid for it.

Wouldn't open the doors unless they were paid. And so that mercenary element comes in. It was a motivation of self-interest that drove those that should have been the shepherds of the people of God.

And we learn this, that shepherdless sheep are feeble sheep. And so God has structured God's assembly in such a way that there should be genuine godly shepherds amongst his people. The Lord Jesus himself as he looked upon those multitude, here's the Shepherd King, and he looked upon them with compassion because he saw them as sheep that had no shepherds.

And in God's assembly there are under shepherds for our benefit. There are those with a care put into them by the Spirit of God who bring the Word of God before the people of God, who feed the people of God, nourish them, care for them, love them, pray over them, pray for them. And there is certainly a need for that even today.

Now in chapter 10 you would read about lost sheep of the house of Israel. You could apply that further in terms of the sheep themselves had gone lost, a wall if you will, and they had taken their own willful course. And of course that's still a possibility today.

People can take their own way and leave divine truth, leave divine testimony, and self-willed move out and they will be feeble sheep, lost. God has designed God's assembly for you and I, the sheep of his pasture, in order that we might benefit from one another and from the teaching that is given from the Word of God. Where would we be, brethren and sisters, without one another? We'd be feeble sheep, lost sheep.

All right, I'm going to leave that. Let's come to now the thought of sheep that are fallen from chapter 12. Let's go to chapter 12 and verse 11.

And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you that shall have one sheep? And if it fall into a pit on the Sabbath day, will he not lay hold of it and lift it out? How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath days. Feeble sheep, fallen sheep. You'll notice from these few verses that lifting up the fallen is something that pleases the master, delights his heart.

It is after all something according to his own character. And along the journey of life and testimony, there are many, sadly, that fall by the wayside. When we come to our New Testament, Paul would have that in mind too there in Galatians chapter 6 verse 1. And he says, Brethren, if any man be overtaken in a fault, that's the idea of he's been caught by a sin.

Someone perhaps who has been trying to keep away from it, they've been running from sin, but sin is faster. And they're overtaken by it. And as a result, there is a fault that occurs.

He goes on to say, You which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself lest thou be tempted. So when we become aware of a dear believer who has been overtaken by a fault, a Christian in touch with God should restore him. We can pray for him.

We might be able to speak a word in season. The idea of restoring is the thought of setting again a broken bone. Whether viewed to healing, that should speak to our approach and the way in which we would approach a believer.

It's not to clobber them over the head with a club, but to set that bone in view of their restoration. So fulfilling the law of Christ, and that can only be done in the power of the Spirit. That takes its teaching from chapter 5. You which are spiritual.

It's not a man who thinks that, well, I dress a certain way, or I conduct myself in a certain fashion, and I don't laugh at jokes and that sort of thing. And so I must be very spiritual. I'm the one to go restoring people.

You'd be the first one disqualified for that kind of attitude. Those that are spiritual are defined in the previous chapter. Their lives are governed by walking in the Spirit.

They're full of love. They're full of joy. They're full of peace and meekness and longs and so on all the way through.

Those are the qualities of those that should be involved in seeking to restore these sheep that are fallen in the spirit of meekness, gentleness, considering thyself. I think this was mentioned already yesterday. To recognize that it could have been me, and likely would be me, if it wasn't for the grace of God and the energy of the Spirit of God communicated through communion with Him.

Now just step back for a moment to chapter 10. So sheep that are fallen there and restoring the fallen. I did skip over this one.

Chapter 10, but I just want to mention it. And verse 16, said the Lord Jesus to his disciples, behold I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves. Be ye therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves.

So here the disciples are being sent out. They're going out into a hostile environment. Imagine a little sheep surrounded by wolves who could rip and tear it apart in no time.

There are fierce predators out there that want to destroy the sheep and bring them to nothing. And the sheep are no match for them. And so in that environment the disciples were sent out.

And we remind ourselves today that this world hasn't changed one bit. We still live in a hostile environment, don't we? A world that maybe has in some ways its friendly face on, but there is human hostility towards God and towards His people still in this world. And the very development in society and how things have accelerated even in the past 10 years, whereas it is called political incorrectness to hold a scriptural truth in certain areas, pretty soon you will be ostracized if you do not hold and agree and consent and go along with.

If the Lord be not come, we may be tested in these very areas. And there will be a need for wisdom. Notice the Lord says, therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.

Dependence upon God will be the key. A need for wisdom. Where do we get wisdom? James reminds us, if any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God who will give liberally.

And the wisdom that is from above is first pure. Keep yourself pure and peaceable and gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good truth without partiality, without hypocrisy. So the wisdom that comes from God is needed in this kind of environment.

Chapter 18 now, chapter 18 and verse 12, how think ye if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray? Doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more over that sheep than the ninety and nine which went not astray. So here's a straying sheep, but it is a sheep that may be found, a sheep that may be found. It's a child of the kingdom.

We learn that from further up in the chapter. It is a believer. It is one who is truly belonging to the Lord, but it becomes evident that they have gone astray.

They're following a direction which has taken them out of the way and there's a need for recovery. The similarity of the search for the lost sheep here and what you read off in Luke chapter 19, we note that. But you remember that in Luke chapter 19, it was the shepherd that went after the sheep until he find it, and he brings it back, speaking of the Lord Jesus.

But here the application is to the believer who sees a fellow believer going astray, and the responsibility upon us is to go after them, to search for them, and hear the languages, if so be that he find it, then there's rejoicing. Now I find that very searching. Is my love for a brother or a sister who isn't doing so well, is it enough that I make the effort to go and try to win them back? That is after the Lord Jesus and after his character, isn't it? The good shepherd.

And that delights his heart. And the length to which he was willing to go, we thought about it this morning. Sometimes we sing, none of the ransomed ever knew how deep were the waters crossed, nor how dark was the night that the Lord passed through, for he found the sheep that was lost, and yet the joy.

Whenever the erring saint is recovered, and brought back into the way. I haven't time to stick with it, but you know that in Matthew 18 there, in the verses that follow, there's a three-stage process of recovery. You don't run immediately to the oversight.

Now we're not talking about sins that demand excommunication from 1st Corinthians chapter 5 and 6. But here is one who has sinned in such a way that you've become aware of it, may not necessarily be against you, but your curve for that believer is that you go and you're willing to speak to them about it, trying to win them. If they listen, well and could, great, thank God for it. If not, then the two or three.

That's stage two. And they have something to say as well, because it's possible that he will not listen to them. And then if that happens, then it goes to stage three.

Stage three is where now it's told to the church. And still there's a pause. There's an opportunity to respond, because then if he doesn't listen to the church, then there's discipline carried out.

I haven't time to stay with that, so we'll leave that. Let's come to chapter 26. Chapter 26 now brings us to the evening before the cross, after those prophetic chapters 24 and 25.

In verse 31, Jesus says to them, all ye shall be offended because of me this night. For it is written, smite the shepherd and the sheep of the flock. The sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.

It was a small flock. There were but 12 disciples there, and a number of believers around them, so that later in the upper room on the day of Pentecost, there was about a hundred and twenty. And the Lord in resurrection ground was seen by about 500 brethren on one occasion.

But really, compared with the rest of the world, it was a small flock. And that still defines remnant testimony throughout the times of the Gentiles until the Lord comes and manifests glory. Testimony for God will be a small flock.

So we need not expect huge numbers in the days in which we live. But nice if there were. I've been amazed recently, I've noticed on the computer, Central America, Guatemala, in those places, conferences that are held by believers, thousands, thousands gathered in one place at one time.

Believers. Amazing. I don't know anywhere else in the world where you'd find that.

So it's amazing to think that God is doing a work in terms of numbers that would startle us here in the Midwest and in other parts that we're familiar with. So the sheep of the flock, small numbers. You know, the Lord Jesus, he anticipated that there would be other sheep added to that number back in the day.

He said, other sheep I have which are not of this fold, them also I must bring and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. And the Lord had us in mind when he said that. And so one flock, that's the mind of the Lord.

One body in the Lord, that was his mind and that was his design. And yet what we have around us today, denominations that follow one doctrinal error or two or three or more, and have so separated themselves from the divine pattern, it gets to the point you and I can have no truck with it. Now let's be clear on that.

The Word of God calls us to separation from the world and its system. Ultimately that false thing will be headed up by worship of the Antichrist and it's coming in for the judgment of God. Keep ourselves pure in doctrine, in practice, according to the Word of God, humbly, meekly going on with God, the sheep of the flock.

Let me come to the final reference in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 25. Chapter 25. We've thought of sheep that are fake, sheep that are feeble, sheep that are fallen, a sheep that is found, the sheep of the flock.

And now in chapter 25, verse 32, before him shall be gathered all nations and he shall separate them one from another as the shepherd divided his sheep from the goats and he shall set the sheep on his right hand but the goats on the left. Now this brings us right up to what we've been hearing already this afternoon. These sheep on his right hand, come ye blessed, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, sheep that are finally secure, sheep that are finally secure.

Now in the context, let's come to that. After the rapture of the church, the shepherd king will still do his work and there will be gathered out of the nations a people yet for his name, a multitude that no man can number, Revelation 7, that have been saved in the tribulation period and I believe martyred. They appear before the throne but here we find that before him it's going to be gathered when the Son of Man comes in his glory and he sits upon the throne of his glory.

Before him there will be gathered the nations of earth and according to Daniel chapter 12 there will be 30 days in which this can take place. You can talk to me afterwards if you're wondering about that. After he comes and manifests glory, the beast is taken with him, the false prophet cast into the lake of fire and then there is opportunity for this event to take place prior to the setting up of his kingdom.

This is him taking out of his kingdom all things that offend and from the abomination of that maketh desolate there shall be 1290 days. That allows 30 days after the Lord has come in glory and the judgment that's spoken of here I believe takes place in that period of time. So to the goats, unbelievers, they shall go into everlasting torment.

I believe they're sharing in the doom of the false prophet and the beast and going directly into the lake of fire. No need for them to be judged again, the Lord makes no mistakes. But for the sheep, that is those are born again.

Just like you and I are born again now, still in natural bodies. Sadly still with a fallen nature. They are the ones that will populate the earth in the initial stages of the millennium.

I believe that all those who have been resurrected are resurrected in glorified bodies and are fitted for a glorified place. Their destiny is the heavenly city. Having the glory of God and we will be there with them.

Abraham was looking for that city. Old Testament saints, they were looking for a better country that is unheavenly. They won't be disappointed.

And so we have the sheep finally secure. Even those that came out of the tribulation, they enter into that millennial kingdom. You and I have already been caught up to heaven has been hearing at the rapture seven years before.

And so shall we ever be with the Lord. How good to know there will be sheep and I'm among them that are finally secure. The Lord bless his word to our hearts.