The heavenly Father wants to see those wandering sheep not exterminated, not eradicated, but He wants to see them restored. He wants to see them in fellowship. In fact, He's ready to go to the far country to bring them back. Now you have that attitude. Can you imagine what a tremendous command that is to a church in the midst of persecution? You're telling me that you want me to love that brother who has strayed from the faith? Yes, I want you to love him, and I want you to desire to see him won back into the fold. These are tremendous things that Jesus is teaching us. He's teaching us how we ought to relate in the context of the family. And in verses 18-20, He goes one step further and He says, furthermore, here's how I want you to relate to people who have sinned against you. Not just people who are wandering from the faith, but people who have hurt you. And we breathe such a great sigh of relief when we see the utter realism of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus knows that when He gathers his people into the Church, we're not going to be a perfect collection of people. We're going to sin against one another. There are going to be times when we need one another, and where we fail one another in those times of need. There are going to be times of need when we really need someone to hug us, to call us, to help us and that call doesn't come. And there are going to be times when we need some godly counsel and help, and we get stabbed in the back by someone who shares some information to someone else that really, really embarrasses us.
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Coming from Arab, Alabama, and growing up in Tampa, Fla. I moved with my family to Georgia in 1969. I was saved by God’s marvelous Grace in September 1972 at Blue Springs Baptist Church located down the road from North Cobb High School in Acworth, Ga. Called to preach at 16...