“Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven. For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. (Matthew 18:10-11)
There's nothing spooky about God's angels. Angels, Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation? (Hebrews 1:14; see HEBREWS: Christ Above the Angels) The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, And delivers them. (Psalm 34:7) And until a child reaches the "age of accountability", For before the Child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, ... (Isaiah 7:16) God's angels keep watch over them. And if their lives are cut short, for whatever reason or by whatever means, they go straight to their Father who is in heaven. But as for the rest of us, who have passed the age of accountability, knowing to refuse evil and choose good, the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. “What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying? And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish. (Matthew 18:12-14)
All of us, whether we choose to admit it or not, were lost spiritually, until we came into the saving knowledge of God's Word and accepted the free gift of salvation that God offers through faith in His Son, Christ Jesus. Jesus will use this same parable in a future lesson, but He adds, I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance. (John 15:7) God is a holy God, righteous God, just God, and also a loving God, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (I Timothy 2:4) People can claim to love us one day, and the next want to have nothing to do with us, but God never gives up on us, except for those who get to the point where they "harden their heart" and refuse to accept or believe The Truth; then having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. (Ephesians 4:18-19)
We can harden our hearts to the point that God won't give up on us, but Therefore God also gave them up to ... (Romans 1:24), to whatever we want to do; deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. (I Corinthians 5:5) In other words, God's saying if we want to stay lost, He'll let us stay lost, and He'll allow the world to do whatever it wants to us. Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. (James 4:4) But His desire still remains that the world will break us down to the point that we come to the realization that we were wrong, and repent so that our souls may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. (Acts 8:22) For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. (II Corinthians 7:10)
Not only did God send His Son to save that which was lost, but ...all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; (Mark 3:28) Just as God has forgiven us for so much, we are to do the same towards one another. “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him what he did without other people hearing it. If he listens to you, you have won your brother back again. But if he will not listen to you, take one or two other people with you. Every word may be remembered by the two or three who heard. If he will not listen to them, tell the trouble to the church. If he does not listen to the church, think of him as a person who is as bad as one who does not know God and a person who gathers taxes. “For sure, I tell you, whatever you do not allow on earth will not have been allowed in heaven. Whatever you allow on earth will have been allowed in heaven. Again I tell you this: If two of you agree on earth about anything you pray for, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there I am with them.” (Matthew 18:15-20 NLV)
The point Jesus is making is that, as children of God, we should be able to resolve all our problems among ourselves, if not one on one, then as a collective body of believers, who all love God and each other, and want to obey God's Word and do His will. If he listens to you, you have won your brother back again. However if someone professes to be a believer, but remains stubborn and refuses to acknowledge their mistake and ask for forgiveness, then the person is to be thought of as a person who is as bad as one who does not know God. Yet again, we forgive him, but deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. We don't go and gossip or talk about the person or the situation with anyone outside of the body of Christ. We just pray and trust that God will allow the person's heart to be convicted and changed, so that he will repent. But if anyone has caused grief,... —not to be too severe. This punishment which was inflicted by the majority is sufficient for such a man, so that, on the contrary, you ought rather to forgive and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up with too much sorrow. Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love to him. (II Corinthians 2:5-8)
Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt. “But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’ So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt. (Matthew 18:21-30)
So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done. Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.” (Matthew 18:31-35) The moral of the story is, Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. (Matthew 7:12) In other words, "treat others the way you want to be treated"! For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (Romans 3:22-23) therefore we all need to be willing to forgive each other. Just as Jesus explained about the prostitute woman, ...who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; "Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.” Then He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” (Luke 7:37-38, 47-48; see THE GOSPEL: Don't Care What Others Think)
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