The Book of Matthew
Matthew was taught by Dr. James Modlish

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

18:1-3 Conversion is always to Jesus Christ (Jn. 5:40; 1:12,13) never an organization. otherwise it is totally a kingdom application.

18:4-6 Heart attitude is important to any age:

Old Testament saint - (Ps. 131).

Transition - (Lk. 10:21).

New Testament - (Rom. 12:16; 1 Pet. 2:1-3).

18:5 (10:14; Lk. 9:48), its a "as much as ye have done it to one or these" passages (Matt. 25:30-46).

[1]. Better to drown than to offend a believer, in this age "little children" are believers, the greatest offense is doctrinal. (Rom. 14).

18:7-9 The kind of offenses are the ones that cause people to stumble (1 Cor. 10:12,13).

18:7 could be a direct shot at Judas. The text never says you cut something off to go to heaven, but it would be better to cut anything off that is keeping you from being converted.

18:10,11 Angels minister to saints (Heb. 1:14): one to Hagar, Jesus, Paul in (Acts 27), Peter in jail. However, this does not assign an angel to everyone. A child either has an angel, or the child's appearance is in heaven, for an angel is an appearance (Acts 7:30,32; Gen. 32:30; Jud. 13:1-20).

18:12-14 Direct application has to be to Israel, same verse in Lk. 19:10, 19:9 says son of Abraham. Word lost occurs 23 times between Adam and crucifixion, and only once after resurrection, so the lost sheep always turn up to be Israel.

Look at the confusion in this group as they try to make the "sheep" a Gentile!

[1]. The sheep is not "lost," but "astray," therefore, he becomes not an unsaved Gentile as (2 Cor. 4:3), but a wandering "Christian" in danger of "perishing" (as in 1 Cor. 8:11).
[2]. If the sheep is a straying "Christian," then the Shepherd leaves 99 Christians, that do not stray, to get the one that strayed. But He hath said, "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee." How then does He "leave"? see (Heb. 13:5; Jn. 14:16.)
[3]. In reversing the line-of-fire, let us say that the sheep is a lost, wayward, Hell-bound sinner (since the word "lost" is used in the same parable in Lk. 15:4).
[4]. Trouble! For this sheep is "astray" and 99 more are not, yet "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God," and "There is none that doeth good, no, not one" (Rom. 3). "All we like sheep have gone astray" (Isa. 53:1-8).
[5]. The lost or stray sheep is likened to "one of these little ones which believe in me!!" (see Matt. 18:6,14).

The teaching of the parable is:

One: Christ leaves the 99 sheep of the house of Israel, that are obeying the commandments of the Old Testament, and goes out to seek the "sinner" in Israel who has broken them (Matt. 9:13).

Two: the "lost sheep" who will listen are a remnant in Christ's day and they represent the remnant who will believe in the Tribulation.

Three: in both periods there is an element of works mixed with faith, so there is a possibility that the sheep (a saved Israelite) can be "lost" as in Luke. GENTILES are spoken of as "sheep" only in regard to saved Christian Gentiles in this age (John 10), and individuals saved out of the nations after the Tribulation (Matt. 25:30-46).

18:15-17 To trips are necessary, this is also Pauline doctrine (Titus 3:10,11) - see also Lk. 17:3.

18:19,20 Advances us into post resurrection.

18:21,22 490 years from Egypt to Temple.

That is not all. There are an even 490 years of 360 days (lunar years) from the dedication of the temple (1 Ki. 8:1) to the restoration of Israel after the 70 years of captivity (Ezra 1:1). Thus we find 490 from Joshua to Saul, 490 from Saul to Nebuchadnezzar, 490 from the first dedication in (2 Chron. 5) (1000-1004 B.C.) to the second dedication (517 B.C.). (The foundation was laid 53 years from the destruction of Jerusalem in 536-634 B.C.). If this were not enough, there are 490 years from the covenant that God made with Abraham (Gen. 12) to the covenant Joshua makes on entering the promised land (Josh. 24). There are 483 years from the commandment to rebuild Jerusalem (Neh. 2) to the triumphal entry of the Messiah, Palm Sunday (Dan. 9), and the remaining seven years (making a total of 490) are to be found in the seven year period of the Great Tribulation yet future, preceding the second coming.

18:23-34 If you don't put some dispensationalism in this thing there are big problems. Rome get purgatory out of it. The liberals make salvation out of it, the fundamentalist spiritualize the whole thing.

Things to observe:

[1]. (18:34) is not in a "life after death" setting.
[2]. The tormentors are not torments.
[3]. Neither purgatory nor hell are mentioned in the parable, while a kingdom parable never fails to mention the burning when it is there (13:42,50).
[4]. "All that was due" was paid by the Lord Jesus at Calvary (Acts 13:38-40; Gal. 3:13; Col. 2:14; Heb. 1:3).

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