Matthew 18:13

If a man have an hundred sheep.

Seeking the lost

1. The image under which it pleases God to describe His creatures upon earth, “Sheep” “gone astray.”

2. What is said as to the dealings of God with His creatures under these circumstances, “seeketh,” etc.

3. The feelings with which the Shepherd is described as regarding the sheep when found, “He rejoiceth more,” etc.

4. The general deduction which our gracious Saviour draws from these several particulars “Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.”

(1) What a conception does this text lead us to form of the character of God our Redeemer.

(2) What an encouragement does the doctrine of the text supply as to our dealings with others. (J. W. Cunningham.)

The example of saving the lost

I. Who are they that are here described as persons lost, and what is meant by the expression? Our blessed Saviour means all who did not receive Him as the messenger and interpreter of the Divine will to mankind.

II. In what sense our blessed Saviour is here said to have come to save mankind.

(1) He came to instruct mankind in the true and the whole nature of the Divine will:

(2) to show, in His own example, that human nature is capable of such a degree of perfection, as will make us fit objects of the Divine favour:

(3) to make a satisfaction for us upon the cross, such as showed that God would not pardon the sins of men unless His justice was satisfied; and, therefore, Christ’s suffering and death upon this account were a full and proper satisfaction made to the Divine justice for the sins of such as were till then lost to the benefits of eternal life.

III. How far should the example of Christ, in this particular of saving that which was lost, be imitated by us. The natural means, those of instruction and of example, which He made use of in His life-time for reforming mankind, and improving their morals, these are what we may copy after Him. (Nich. Brady.)

A needful caution

I. A needful caution. “Take heed that ye despise not,” etc.

1. To despise them is fearfully dangerous.

2. The interest taken in them by the highest intelligences should prevent us from thinking lightly of them.

3. The high destiny which awaits them.

II. A blessed announcement. “For the Son of Man is come,” etc.

1. The title assumed.

2. The act declared, not merely to improve, but to save.

3. The miserable objects regarded.

III. A familiar comparison. “How think ye” (Matthew 18:12). These words may be considered:

1. In their literal signification. The recovery of lost property is a principle of human nature.

2. In their spiritual allusion.

IV. As encouraging inference. “Even so it is not the will of My Father,” etc.

1. The harmony that existed between the mission of Christ and the purposes of the Eternal Father.

2. If it is not the, will of God that the most despised and insignificant believer should perish, their salvation is assured. (Expository Outlines.)

The Son of Man the Saviour of the lost

I. A proof and statement of the Saviour’s work and errand.

1. One feature of the mediatorial character is particularly displayed in the very name in which the Saviour is introduced to our attention, “the Son of Man.”

2. These words point out the fact of the Saviour’s incarnation, “The Son of Man is come.”

3. This description of the object of His coming we may contrast with another, when He comes a second time into this our world.

II. View the Saviour’s errand and work as it is exhibited to us in that figurative illustration that follows the text,

1. He represents the state of the guilty sinner whom He came into the world to save under the idea of a wandering sheep. Prone to wander.

2. The care and kindness of the Great Shepherd of the sheep. Manifests particular care over case of individual sinner.

3. Christ’s search for the lost embraces all the means used for the salvation of sinners.

4. He carries back the sheep when He has found it. To prevent exposure to danger.

5. His joy.

III. The great principle of the divine conduct that is developed in the work to which we have turned your attention, “It is not the will of your Father which is in heaven,” etc.

1. The connection that is here obviously formed between the end in view, and the means for the accomplishment of that end.

2. In redemption the will of the Father and Son are equal.

3. The work of Christ was designed to accomplish that intention, and is efficacious to its accomplishment.

4. Magnify the fulness of Christ’s work.

5. Have you learnt that your characters are that of lost sheep? (R. H. Cooper.)

God’s minute and all-inclusive care of the universe

I. He is the Shepherd of the flock.

II. His love is impartially shown to all who are in the fold.

III. The salvation of the least is worth all the efforts of the highest. (J. Parker, D. D.)

The shepherd faithfulness of the Son of Man in seeking the lost

I. Let us notice the consolation in His comparing them with sheep who have gone astray.

1. It reveals to us how dear every single soul is to the Lord.

2. He misses each sheep as soon as it is lost.

3. He will leave the ninety and nine on the mountains and hunt for only one that has gone astray.

4. He rejoices over the one that is found.

II. For what does it render us responsible?

1. That we keep watch over those who are liable to go astray.

2. The shepherd-faithfulness of our Lord renders you responsible for compassion on the lost.

3. Also for active, zealous seeking and leading home all who are willing to be saved.

4. It requires us to rejoice over every one who lets himself be saved. (T. Christlieb, D. D.)

The lost sheep and the seeking Shepherd

I. The figure of the one wanderer

1. All men are Christ’s sheep. All men are Christ’s because He has created them. “We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.”

2. The picture of the sheep as wandering, “which goeth astray.” It pictures the process of wandering; not the result as accomplished. The sheep has gone astray, though when it set out on its journey it never thought of straying; more mischief is wrought from want of thought than by an evil will.

3. The progressive character of our wanderings from God. A man never gets to the end of the distance that separates between him and the Father if his face is turned away from God. Every moment the separation is increasing.

4. The contrast between the description given of the wandering sheep in our text and in St. Luke. Here it is represented as wandering, there it is represented as lost. God wants to possess us through our love; if He does not we are lost to Him.

II. The picture of the seeker. The incarnation of Christ was for the seeking of man. (Dr. Maclaren.)