Seeking Those who are Lost
Introduction. The parable of the lost sheep was designed by Jesus to tug at the heart of any who have compassion and care for others. Leaving the 99, going into the mountains, feeling fear and concern for the one lost, rejoicing when they are found, all combine to set a very emotional scene. Jesus used this parable to reveal God’s feelings regarding those lost in sin: “Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish” (Mt. 18:11-17).
Jesus application of His parable is clear: “Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother.” This is how those in the church act like the man in the parable. We too go alone to seek a lost sheep. If we can’t “find” him (get repentance), we continue searching by taking witnesses. If this too fails, the entire church is informed and now everyone is seeking him. If after all this, he remains lost, Jesus wanted him to know it, by the conduct of the church: “if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.” (Mt. 18:17). If we don’t follow these steps, we are not like the man in the parable.
When we love as God loves, we will do these things. “Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart” and be “kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love” (1Pet. 1:22; Rom. 12:12). As we become more spiritual, we will always respond as the man seeking his lost sheep: “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.” (Gal. 6:1) Thus, those who are spiritual, seek to find (restore) any brother in any trespass.
The preface to the parable was: “the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Mt. 18:11). Hence what led Jesus to leave heaven and suffer and die on the cross is the same emotion that led the man to seek for the lost sheep, and the same one we have when we go.
Restoring in any trespass. Regardless of the sin, Jesus gave a method to seek them. There are private sins (Mt. 18), public sins (1Cor. 5), “does not obey our word” sins (1Th. 3:6), false teaching sins (Rom. 16), factious sins (Titus 3), and “sins of omission” (Jas 4:17). Although the method changes depending on the nature of how they became lost, if there is “any trespass,” we are commanded to “go and restore” (Gal. 6:1).
If it is private, we go alone, take witnesses, tell it to the church and finally let them be as a publican or Gentile. If it is public, “when gathered together” “as the church,” we deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved” (1Cor. 5:3-5), since we “hate even the garment defiled by the flesh,” we want his fleshly nature destroyed (Gal. 5:19-23; Col. 3:1-11). We must “withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which he received from us.” (2Th. 3:6). Every brother, every sin, and every trespass. Whether private or public, every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the traditions received from the apostles (NT Scripture) is lost. We who are spiritual need to restore them.
What about “forsaking the assembly?” The answer is simple: Since God calls it a “wilful sin,” it falls under “any trespass:” “not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together,” “for if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.” (Heb. 10:25-28). No one can deny that a brother forsaking the assembly is lost and in a trespass. Since we are commanded to seek to restore a brother in any trespass, how can this be an exception? We who are spiritual must go and restore him because he is walking disorderly and not according to the traditions received from the apostles! What if he won’t listen because he has left the church with no intention of returning? What difference does it make what his intentions are? Jesus commanded us to withdraw from him!
While some respond, “we can’t withdraw from them, they have already withdrawn themselves,” this is human wisdom, not scripture. There is no scripture that describes anyone withdrawing himself from the church. Only Jesus can add to His body and only Jesus can remove him. Jesus has commanded that we “withdraw from every brother,” and nowhere in Scripture does He describe how a sinner can withdraw himself. The one forsaking the assembly is lost in a trespass. We must therefore seek him and try to restore him as we would a sinner in any other trespass. He is a member of the Lord’s body, added by the Lord to those who are saved (Acts 2:47). How can he leave that body without being sought and removed? No one is severed by the whims of a sinner. There is no sin that relieves us of the responsibility to try to restore and snatch them from the fire.
Conclusion. After all the sacrifices Jesus made to seek and save the lost, we need to give careful heed to what must be done if they become lost again. Every member of a local church is a sheep Jesus died to save. Only He knows how to deal with them if they lose their way. Out of love for Jesus and for the erring brother, we who are spiritual restore them exactly as He commanded. In this way, we follow the lead of Jesus who is the man in the parable. His command is that this must be done to every brother, in any trespass. Though a different command, the principle is the same: “he who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.” (1Th.4:8)
Addendum: Paul told the Corinthians that the manner in which they had dealt with the sinner in their midst after they received his first letter “put you to the test, whether you are obedient in all things.”
Passages Cited:
Jesus application of His parable is clear: “Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother.” This is how those in the church act like the man in the parable. We too go alone to seek a lost sheep. If we can’t “find” him (get repentance), we continue searching by taking witnesses. If this too fails, the entire church is informed and now everyone is seeking him. If after all this, he remains lost, Jesus wanted him to know it, by the conduct of the church: “if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.” (Mt. 18:17). If we don’t follow these steps, we are not like the man in the parable.
When we love as God loves, we will do these things. “Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart” and be “kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love” (1Pet. 1:22; Rom. 12:12). As we become more spiritual, we will always respond as the man seeking his lost sheep: “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.” (Gal. 6:1) Thus, those who are spiritual, seek to find (restore) any brother in any trespass.
The preface to the parable was: “the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Mt. 18:11). Hence what led Jesus to leave heaven and suffer and die on the cross is the same emotion that led the man to seek for the lost sheep, and the same one we have when we go.
Restoring in any trespass. Regardless of the sin, Jesus gave a method to seek them. There are private sins (Mt. 18), public sins (1Cor. 5), “does not obey our word” sins (1Th. 3:6), false teaching sins (Rom. 16), factious sins (Titus 3), and “sins of omission” (Jas 4:17). Although the method changes depending on the nature of how they became lost, if there is “any trespass,” we are commanded to “go and restore” (Gal. 6:1).
If it is private, we go alone, take witnesses, tell it to the church and finally let them be as a publican or Gentile. If it is public, “when gathered together” “as the church,” we deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved” (1Cor. 5:3-5), since we “hate even the garment defiled by the flesh,” we want his fleshly nature destroyed (Gal. 5:19-23; Col. 3:1-11). We must “withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which he received from us.” (2Th. 3:6). Every brother, every sin, and every trespass. Whether private or public, every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the traditions received from the apostles (NT Scripture) is lost. We who are spiritual need to restore them.
What about “forsaking the assembly?” The answer is simple: Since God calls it a “wilful sin,” it falls under “any trespass:” “not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together,” “for if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.” (Heb. 10:25-28). No one can deny that a brother forsaking the assembly is lost and in a trespass. Since we are commanded to seek to restore a brother in any trespass, how can this be an exception? We who are spiritual must go and restore him because he is walking disorderly and not according to the traditions received from the apostles! What if he won’t listen because he has left the church with no intention of returning? What difference does it make what his intentions are? Jesus commanded us to withdraw from him!
While some respond, “we can’t withdraw from them, they have already withdrawn themselves,” this is human wisdom, not scripture. There is no scripture that describes anyone withdrawing himself from the church. Only Jesus can add to His body and only Jesus can remove him. Jesus has commanded that we “withdraw from every brother,” and nowhere in Scripture does He describe how a sinner can withdraw himself. The one forsaking the assembly is lost in a trespass. We must therefore seek him and try to restore him as we would a sinner in any other trespass. He is a member of the Lord’s body, added by the Lord to those who are saved (Acts 2:47). How can he leave that body without being sought and removed? No one is severed by the whims of a sinner. There is no sin that relieves us of the responsibility to try to restore and snatch them from the fire.
Conclusion. After all the sacrifices Jesus made to seek and save the lost, we need to give careful heed to what must be done if they become lost again. Every member of a local church is a sheep Jesus died to save. Only He knows how to deal with them if they lose their way. Out of love for Jesus and for the erring brother, we who are spiritual restore them exactly as He commanded. In this way, we follow the lead of Jesus who is the man in the parable. His command is that this must be done to every brother, in any trespass. Though a different command, the principle is the same: “he who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.” (1Th.4:8)
Addendum: Paul told the Corinthians that the manner in which they had dealt with the sinner in their midst after they received his first letter “put you to the test, whether you are obedient in all things.”
- ”This punishment which was inflicted by the majority is sufficient for such a man, 7 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. 8 Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love to him. 9 For to this end I also wrote, that I might put you to the test, whether you are obedient in all things.” (2Cor. 2:6-9)
Passages Cited:
- ”11 For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. 12 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? 13 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. 14 Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish. 15 Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that 'by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. 17 And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.” (Mt. 18:11-17)
- ”1 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles — that a man has his father's wife! 2 And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you. 3 For I indeed, as absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged (as though I were present) him who has so done this deed. 4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, 5 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.” (1Cor. 5:1-5)
- ”6 But we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which he received from us. ... 14 And if anyone does not obey our word in this epistle, note that person and do not keep company with him, that he may be ashamed. 15 Yet do not count him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.” (2Th. 3:6, 14)