Matthew 18:10-20

Saving the Straying

Matthew 18:10-20

How tenderly the Master speaks of the children! We must turn back to become like them, Matthew 18:3. To cause them to stumble is to incur terrible penalties, Matthew 18:6. Not one of them is to be despised, Matthew 18:10.

Each has an angel from the Father's presence chamber-one of the most exalted-to take charge of him, Matthew 18:10. To seek and to save one of these, the Good Shepherd is prepared to traverse the mountain paths, Matthew 18:12. It is not the Father's will that one should perish.

When we have sinned against our brother, we must seek him out and be reconciled. See Matthew 5:23-24. But when our brother has sinned against us, we are to make three efforts before we give him up as hopeless. It is the presence of Jesus with His people that brings them into unison with the unseen world, so that their decisions and prayers are simultaneous with the divine mind. The Advocate-Paraclete in our hearts is at one with the Advocate-Paraclete on the throne, John 14:16.