I'm going to ask you to take
your Bibles and turn with me to the book of Matthew 10. Matthew 10. And I'd like to read verses 1
to 4. Matthew 10, verse 1. And when
he had called unto him, his twelve disciples. He gave them power
against or over unclean spirits to cast them out and to heal
all manner of sickness and all manner of disease. Now, the names
of the twelve apostles are these. The first, Simon, who is called
Peter, and Andrew, his brother, James, the son of Zebedee, and
John his brother, Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew
the publican, James the son of Alphaeus and Labaius, whose surname
was Thaddeus, Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also
betrayed him. Let's pray together. Our Father, we thank you this
evening. for the blessed privilege that
we have to call upon your holy name. Lord, we thank you for
your mercy, your grace. Lord, for giving us a heart that
longs to be here, longs to hear the gospel, longs to behold the
Lord Jesus Christ by faith. Lord, would you bless the Word
tonight? Help us to worship. Lord, teach
us by your Spirit, for Christ's sake. Amen. There's something that's truly
wonderful that is set forth in those four verses that we just
read. And we do well to consider this
blessed fact. The Spirit of God who moved upon
the Scripture says, holy men of God, wrote as the Spirit of
God gave them utterance. And this evening we just read
a passage of Scripture that was penned under the inspiration
of God's Spirit by Matthew, one of the Lord's apostles. And we
need to look again at something that the Holy Spirit moved Matthew
to write. It's found in that third verse. It says, Philip and Bartholomew,
Thomas and Matthew the publican. That's what I'm going to preach
on tonight. That's the title of my message. Matthew the publican. Now, a publican was actually
a tax collector. They were those whose office
it was to get the taxes in from the people, and they were a despised
people. They were despised by the Jews
just because not only that they collected taxes, but it was the
way in which, as a general rule, they collected their taxes. They were, by and large, underhanded. Whatever it took, you know, maybe
to get a little bit, skim a little bit here and there as a publican. In fact, the Scripture It sets
forth that usually the title, publicans, was usually tied in
with this word too, sinners. Sinners and publicans. And especially whenever the publican
was a Jew, one that had hired himself out to the Romans, worked
for the Roman government, and extracted the taxes from their
own people. They were looked upon by the
Jews as the dregs of society. I mean absolutely nobodies. They hated the publicans. Two of the famous publicans I
think of right now, one of them is Matthew, the other was Zacchaeus. Publicans. Now, from that title
right there, Matthew the Publican, I'd like for us to look for just
a few minutes at three things about that title. First of all,
I'd like for us to consider the mercy of Almighty God. Just turn back one page, more
than likely in your Bible, to Matthew 9.9. Matthew 9.9, the scripture says,
And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man named Matthew
sitting at the receipt of custom, and he saith unto him, Follow
me. And he arose, and he followed
him. Now, I know for sure the thought
to call Matthew did not just occur at the moment that the
Lord walked by. I know it. It says Jesus passed
forth from Thessalonians. He saw a man. It was not as though
that He just happened to be walking by, and there He saw a man. This was a man, obviously, that
the Lord had eternally loved. He always knew Him. I know my
sheep. Their mind. They were given to
Him in electing grace. But here's the one that the Lord
specifically called out. He came to this place, to this
one, chosen by His Father, entrusted to Him who is the surety, and
when it pleased God. It's like when the Lord must
needs go through Samaria. When it pleased God. And this
is when He called everyone that's called out of darkness tonight.
When it pleased God, He said unto you, follow Me. And you
heard Him. The sheep of God hear the voice
of the Lord. All power, John 17 says, had
been given unto the Son that He should give eternal life to
as many as the Father had given Him. And when the Lord spoke,
effectually called him. Matthew responded. He heard the
voice of the Master. Matthew heard that effectual
call. Now, we may tell men, and we
do tell men, trust the Lord Jesus Christ. Call upon the Lord while
He may be found. Come unto Me, all ye that are
weak and heavy laden. I'll give you rest. Those words
not blessed by the Spirit of God. fall on dead ears. But if the Lord blesses them,
God's sheep hear. The Lord gives them a new heart.
They hear with an effectual call. They hear with love. They hear
with a heart now made new to long after Him, love Him, comes
to Him. Matthew had not been looking
for the Lord. Matthew, the Scripture does not
say that Matthew had made any inquiries after the Lord. He
was sitting at the table. He was collecting taxes. And
the Lord called him. The Lord called that man from
being a tax collector to being an apostle of the Lord of glory. Oh, what a step up. I'll bet
you he thought he had a good job. This is a cushion job. Tax collector. Extracting money
from people. And the Lord called that man,
that man whose heart formerly was after that money, that business. The Lord spoke to him and he
moved. Luke's account says this, Luke
5, 27, 28, it says, After these things, he went forth and saw
a publican named Levi sitting at the receipt of customs, and
he said unto him, Follow me, and listen to this, here's what
Luke says, And he left all, rose up, and followed him. Here he was, he had his table
sitting there, he's got all of his books sitting there, he's
got his money sitting there, he's got everything. You know,
all the receipts of who's paid what, and this, that, and the
other. And this man, he left his former associates, he left
his business, left his profits, and he followed the Lord. Here
was one that was found that was not seeking. No man seeks after
God until the Lord calls him out of darkness. No man seeks
God of himself. What mercy! Boy, how instant
the effect. God calls and His people come. He left it all. I thought about
that today. There it was. Everything that
man's whole life Bound up in that. He's going to have to give
an account to the Roman government. He's going to know who's paid
and who hasn't paid, and this, that, and the other. And he left
it all and trusted God. Well, a man will leave it. Just leave it. If the Lord calls
him, he will. Here's the second thing I know.
Though mercy had been shown to Matthew, No mercy has been shown
to any man, any woman. A regenerated sinner remembers
the pit from which he's dug. Now, the Spirit of God moved
Mark, the writer of the book of Mark, to list the names of
the apostles. I want you to turn to Mark 3.
Mark 3, verses 14-19. You remember now, this is what
the Spirit of God moved upon Mark to write. Mark 3, verse
14. He ordained twelve. that they
should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach,
and to have power to heal sicknesses, to cast out devils. And Simon
he surnamed Peter, James the son of Zebedee, John the brother
of James, and he surnamed them Boanerges. which is the sons
of thunder, and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew,
and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddeus, and
Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, which also betrayed
him, and they went into a house." That's what Mark said, under
the inspiration of God's Spirit. One of the apostles' names was
Matthew. Book of Luke, chapter 6. Luke 6.13, the Scripture says, And when it was
day, he called unto him his disciples, and of them he chose twelve.
whom also he named Apostle, Simon, whom he called, or who he named
Peter, Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip, Bartholomew,
Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon called
Zelotes, Judas the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, which
also was the traitor. But when we read again, or consider
what Matthew wrote, under the inspiration of God's Spirit,
how did Matthew write it? Matthew the Publican. Grace humbles a man. Grace brings a man down. Peter fell at the Lord's feet
and said, depart from me, for I am a sinful man. Paul says, Christ Jesus, came
into this world to save sinners. Paul, the apostle, he said, of
whom I am chief. And I do not believe that he
wrote that out of false humility. He wrote that under the inspiration
of God's Spirit. I am the chief. Man or woman that God calls out
of darkness. The Lord gives them an understanding
of what they are by nature. Matthew never forgot where the
Lord found him. He wasn't in the temple listening
to the means of God's grace, the reading of the Scripture.
He knew he wasn't seeking the Lord. What was he doing? He was fully engaged in the affairs
of this world. And whatever it took, it just
didn't matter. No thought of God, no thought
of His Christ, no thought of His glory, no thought of His
Son. It was all about Matthew. No time to think about eternity. The Lord showed mercy to him.
And he never forgot it. This is where the Lord finds
His people. calls them out of darkness, and
they do realize that in themselves, being born in Adam, they know
that the whole head is sick, the whole heart is faint, and
from the sole of their foot to the head, there is no soundness
in it but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores. We know
there is not a believer in this room tonight that does not admit
in myself I am a spiritual publican. I know what I am by nature. By
the grace of God, the Lord has called me out. And thirdly, those
that the Lord has shown mercy, they judge others to be more
worthy than themselves. Philippians 2-3, let nothing
be done through strife or vain glory, but in lowliness of mind,
let each esteem other better than themselves. Boy, I'm telling
you, by the grace of God only will a man do that. We're so
prone to elevate ourselves. There's not a person in here
that is not guilty of this. I know I am. We're all like that. We're to not seek recognition. And we all seek recognition.
We're not to be seeking after personal praise from others,
but we're all like that. In humility, the Scripture sets
forth, let us regard our brothers and sisters to be superior to
ourselves Lord, help me here. We're all guilty. Paul says in Ephesians 3, 7 and
8, whereof I was made a minister according to the gift of the
grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of His
power unto me, who am less than the least of all saints in this
grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable
riches of Christ." You know, when those other writers wrote,
I'll just read this, in Mark 3.18, naming those apostles,
it says, and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew,
and Thomas, Luke wrote it like this, Luke 6.15. This is what Luke wrote. Matthew
and Thomas, both of them wrote Matthew and Thomas. But when Matthew wrote it, Matthew
10, that gospel that Matthew penned, this is what he wrote. Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas. and Matthew the publican. The
one that would be the doubter. The one that would say, unless
I put my hand in his side, unless I put my finger in the holes
in his hands, I'm not going to believe. This was one of the
apostles. And Matthew, under the Spirit
of God's direction, put Thomas ahead of himself and named himself
to be the publican. When we see frailties and weaknesses
in our brethren, you just remember it's only by the restraining
grace of God that keeps a worse action from breaking out in you
and in me. If the Lord has shown you mercy,
remember it's by grace that you've been saved. He walked up to that
receipt of custom, and he told Matthew, follow me. And he left
it all. Secondly, remember the pit from
which you've been dug. Yes, I'm Marvin the Publican. in myself a cheat. Thirdly, Lord,
help me to esteem others greater than myself for Christ's sake. Lord, bless these words to our
heart.