In the series of studies that
we begin, looking at the life and times of Peter the Apostle. Our study title is Simon Peter,
an Apostle of Christ. And we're looking into how the
Lord moved in Peter's life throughout the time that he called him when
he was a fisherman, throughout that time when he was called
Simon, and the Lord called him to be
an apostle, then the Lord taught him how to be an apostle. Just as God teaches each and
every one of His children to be their part in the body of
Christ, we all have a part. You know, one of the things that
we, I, tend to overlook a little is how much part each one of
us have. You realize that an elderly woman
came into the church and gave a penny in Scripture. And God declared that she had
more righteousness in her, she had more devotion in her act
of giving that one penny than any of the other members of that
congregation at that time. This little woman, her presence,
Her worship was her part. That was her part in the body
of Christ. Just to be there and worship the Lord Jesus Christ
with the rest of them. We all have our part, no matter
what that part could be. Even if that part is showing
up once a week and mowing the lawns, or showing up whenever
you can and helping out in the maintenance of the buildings,
or showing up and reading scripture, whatever that part might be.
Or just showing up. That's part of the body of Christ.
And we need to remember that. Some people only show up on Sunday
mornings once in a while for the second service. That's their
part that God has given them. If God wanted us here more, He'd
bring us here more, wouldn't He? I jumped into Friday night Bible
study, and I want to share this with you, because I jumped in
head first, as most of you know, I mean, this whole situation
of becoming a pastor and being responsible was kind of thrust. The Lord took it and He said,
this is what I want John to do. But I was hesitant to go with
Friday night Bible study. Yet one person said, I really
need more. One hour a week is just not enough.
I need more of Christ. And because of that one person,
now we've got into a series of Bible studies, and we've kept
that every Friday night. You see what I'm saying about
how if the Lord wants us, He will bring us to that point. Each of us have a part in that
body. no matter what that is, whether
it be the fingernail, the finger, the thumb, the arm, the shoulder,
whatever that part might be. What a glorious part we have,
because there are so, so many who do not have any part at all.
In fact, there was a time when we walked just like that without
any part, isn't it? What grace and what mercy we
have and we know now for the love of Christ working in us
has brought us to these situations and giving us these parts that
we have in worshiping him. Peter, we saw on how the Lord
did a work in his life in the power of Christ, the power of
God in the flesh in calling Peter to come to himself. But then
we also looked at another lesson where Peter was on his knees.
He bowed his head and put his face down to the knees of the
Lord Jesus Christ, understanding that He was flesh and unworthy
of such wonderful, merciful grace that was to be in the presence
of God Almighty. Just as you and I have experienced
that very same thing. Many of you have shared with
me in your calling out of darkness and how the Lord worked in your
life and showed you who you were. And how in the first time you
heard of who Jesus was, you realized the wonderful, Holy, perfect
God in the Son of the Lord Jesus Christ. Lastly, we saw that Peter had
to be taught. And that was the teaching that
this one, his calling. Lastly, we saw who it was that
was teaching this one to be sent of God to preach his gospel.
We saw that it is God who teaches all of his people. We must be
taught of God. Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona,
for flesh and blood hath not revealed these things unto thee,
but my Father in heaven. We saw Christ's authority, his
right to forgive sins. And as God the Father hath the
right, so does his Son. He says, I and my Father are
one. Our great Savior taught by example to his apostles. He
had the right to forgive men of their sins. As the God-man,
God manifests in the flesh, everything he does is right. Everything
he did was perfect. Everything he did was holy. He
satisfied the law perfectly for us. He had to. It had to be perfectly
satisfied. Otherwise, God could not accept
us, could he? Today I'd like you to consider
more of this teaching and what it points us to, this teaching
of the right that Christ has. Turn to Matthew chapter 9 if
you would please. We are often told by the religious
world that God came in the flesh to save all of mankind, yet the
basis of all scripture, all scripture, from beginning to end, is clearly
teaches about a select few. The people of Israel were told
that they were chosen out of all of the world, not for any
strength that they had, because they were actually the smallest
of all nations at that time. For that matter, I believe they've
been pretty close to the smallest of all nations ever since. They were chosen to be the people
of God for they were the smallest of nations at that time and they
were the weakest of peoples at that time and there was nothing
of themselves that would merit this favor of God. To be quite
honest with you, if I were walking in that day when Christ walked
this earth, I too would think just like the world does. I remember
a time when I did walk just like the world does and think just
like the world is. But in that time, I would have
thought exactly like they did that, you know, for God, for
Christ was walking around and it seemed like he was saving
everybody, didn't it? At least in their world. He was healing
this person, healing that person. He was doing so many miracles,
it would have seemed like he was healing everybody. He was
saving the world. Yet he was not. But it was to be revealed that
the world does not see the truth of the things, and in fact, they
choose to look upon what is the desire of their own wicked hearts
rather than the truth. Are you with me in Matthew 9?
Look at verse 10, if you would, please. Matthew 9, verse 10.
And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold,
many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his
disciples. Notice this. Picture a table,
lots of food set out, bread, maybe some meat, maybe some wine. And the Lord is sitting with
sinners, the lowest of low according to
the Pharisees. And here these Pharisees are
that's spoken of in verse 11. And when the Pharisees saw it,
they said unto his disciples, why eateth your master with publicans
and sinners? If your master is God Almighty
in the flesh, what is he doing sitting with these lowlifes?
What is he doing sitting with this one who's sitting in the
corner beating on his chest saying, Lord have mercy on me, I'm a
sinner. What is he doing sitting with
this man who was at his knees, Lord depart from me, I am unworthy
to be with you. Why isn't he eating with us?
Us, the righteous, those of us who have followed all the stuff
that we should do, done all the right things that we should do,
those of us. And when the Pharisees saw it,
they said unto his disciples, why eateth your master with publicans
and sinners? But when Jesus heard that, remember
they were speaking to the disciples. And when Jesus heard that, He
said this unto them, they that be whole need not a position. Now remember, our Lord is teaching
His disciples and His apostles about Himself. He didn't come to save the whole
world. The world thinks highly of themselves. I'm not a sinner. We've heard that about the lady
and her child that got up and worked out of here. I'm not that
kind of a sinner. And she said it loud enough for most of us
to hear, didn't she, Polly? I don't know if you remember that or
not, but I remember very clearly her getting up, holding her granddaughter's
hand, and walking out of here, doing that very thing. Kind of caught Pastor Gene by
surprise there when that happened, didn't it? He kind of had to
stop it. He said, well, some people can't stand the truth.
The problem is most people can't stand the truth. Most people
don't see themselves as sinners the way we do. Because that takes
the revelation of God to the man's heart to get rid of the
pride that we have within us. They that behold need not a physician,
but they that are sick. But go ye and learn what that
meaneth. For I will have mercy and not
sacrifice. For I am not come to call the
righteous, but sinners unto repentance. Our Lord is teaching His disciples
that I did not come to call those who had followed the law. I have
come to call those who can't follow the law, those who I have
shown what they are, those who I have revealed what the flesh
is before me. We are here told what the mission
and the message of Jesus Christ is. His mission, the reason God
became a man, the reason God left His glory in heaven and
became the servant, Jesus Christ, was to save sinners. His message is this, mercy, grace,
and salvation for sinners. He came to show mercy. He came
to teach us to show mercy. Let us never forget who we are,
sinners saved by grace. Let us never forget who Jesus
Christ is, the Savior of sinners. How delightful it is to see our
great Redeemer encircled at Matthew's table with publicans and sinners,
a table that I could sit at. A table that I would feel at
home with brothers and sisters at. Because I'm in the same boat
as they are. The grumbling of the Pharisees
was exactly what might have been expected. It's no different in
our day. But our Lord's response to their
attempted slander is as delightful as it is instructive. the very
character of Christ as the physician of our souls. Robert Hawker wrote
this, he says, it naturally led him to haunt the haunts of sickness
for the exercise of his profession. He, by quoting Hosea 6-6 when
he said, I will have mercy and not sacrifice, and then applying
the passage to himself and his great work of saving sinners.
Our blessed Savior declared himself to be Jehovah-rope, the Lord
that healeth thee, that we read about in Exodus 15-26. Our Lord
also said, go ye and learn what that meaneth. We just said a moment ago, didn't
we? Flesh and blood can't reveal these things unto you, but my
Father who is in heaven and our Lord is telling these righteous,
these self-righteous men, go and learn what that means. These
very men who knew that scripture like it was written on the back
of their hands had no idea what the true meaning of it was. Charles
Spurgeon wrote this, he says, our Lord having gloriously defended
himself from the insinuations of the proud Pharisee, now he
carries the war to the enemies. He puts it right into their territory.
He says to them, go ye and learn. That alone would be a galling
thing to say to men who thought that they knew everything already.
The Pharisees were a crowd of snobbish know-it-alls, self-righteous
religionists. Nothing could have been more
offensive to the know-it-all crowd than to have the master
say unto them, go ye and learn what that meaneth. Like most
men, these men presumed that they knew everything, and the
Lord Jesus told them that they didn't even know the meaning
of scriptures that they claimed to believe and to defend. They were told to learn the meaning
of Hosea 6.6. And then the Lord Jesus told
them the meaning Himself. He says, to have mercy upon sinners
is a work more pleasing to God than the offering of sacrifices.
Your offering of sacrifices has nothing to do with your salvation.
But I will use that as a picture of My work, of My sacrifice,
of My Son. The Son of God prefers to be
merciful himself and prefers for us to be merciful. For religion
and religious activity without mercy is but a cloak of hypocrisy. The Lord Jesus came into this
world not to be served by the good, but to serve the lost. He had come to call to repentance
those who needed repentance. and not those who imagine that
they are righteous and therefore need no repentance. Why should
I turn? I'm following everything exactly
the way you tell me to. I'm sacrificing. I'm showing
up for Sunday. I'm walking to the front of the
aisle. I'm doing this. I'm doing this. I, I, I, I, I. The Son of God came to save sinners. Real. Real sinners. Come ye weary, heavy laden, bruised
and mangled by the fall. If you tarry till you're better,
you will never come at all. Turn over to chapter 11 and chapter
12 of Matthew. And we'll take a quick look at
this in our closing. And at that time, Jesus answered
and said, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because
Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast
revealed them unto babes. Not many wise. Not many rich. There's a few, but not many. Our Lord Jesus Christ prays in
another prayer, he says, Lord, I pray for them, them that thou
has given me, not for the world. Election is taught throughout
scripture. The apostles are learning here that Christ did not come
to save righteous, but to save sinners, the very kind of sinner
that bowed down at the knees of Jesus and said, I am unworthy,
depart from me, for I am a sinner. babes in Christ, even so, Father,
for it seemed good in thy sight. All things are delivered unto
me of my Father, and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father. Neither
knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever
the Son will reveal Him." Matthew had to learn these very things,
just as Jonah had to learn that salvation is of the Lord and
of the Lord alone. And how did Jonah have to learn
that? He had to experience it. Matthew, Mark, Luke, Peter, John. They all walked with our Lord
Jesus Christ and saw these things and heard the very things. But yet even they didn't know
some of these things that was going on at that very time, did
they? It wasn't until the Holy Ghost came upon them that they
were able to stand boldly before other people and declare, salvation
is of the Lord. Our Lord reveals what He wants
to us when He wants to and when we need it. And it's revealed
to us perfectly according to His will. Come unto Me, all ye
that labor and are heavy laden. Come unto Me, all you who work
for your salvation. Put that away. Put that heavy
burden of works away and I will give you rest. This morning we
read in the men's meeting in Hebrews, look for the rest in Christ,
for that's the only true rest there is. Take my yoke upon you, in verse
29. Learn of me, for I am meek and
lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For
my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Chapter 12, verse 1,
And at that time Jesus went on the Sabbath day through the corn,
and his disciples were hungered. And he began to pluck the ears
of the corn, and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it,
they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not
lawful to do upon the Sabbath day. But he said unto them, Have ye
not read what David did when he was hungered, and they that
were with him? I wonder what they were thinking
when the Lord said that to them. They knew that scripture, and
the Lord knew they knew that scripture. How dare you come and accuse
God's people of something when you know what's in Scripture
already? They were starting to do it right then, weren't they?
Accuse our Lord of things that weren't true. How that he entered into the
house of God and did eat the showbread, in verse 4, which
was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with
him, but only for the priests. And he goes on to say, or have
ye not read in the law how that on the Sabbath days the priests
in the temple profane the Sabbath and are blameless? But I say
unto you that in this place is one greater than the temple. Our Lord never kept anything
secret, folks. He said these things very plainly,
didn't He? Can we not see that now? But
yet there was a day when these things were hidden unto us also.
Until the Lord reveals these things to our hearts, we cannot
learn them. And here He is teaching that
very thing to His disciples, to His apostles, that they may
go out afterwards and write epistles like Peter wrote in 1 Peter and
2 Peter. But I say unto you that in this
place is one greater than the temple, but if ye had known what
this meaneth, I will have mercy and not sacrifice, ye would not
have condemned the guiltless. If you would have understood,
if you could have understood, you
would have known what that scripture means. For the Son of Man is
Lord even of the Sabbath day. He's Lord of all, isn't He? Can you get a picture of His
disciples sitting around and hearing Him say this to these
men who are all dressed in their beautiful robes? As He sits at the table with
people who have holes in their clothes, maybe? Maybe they haven't had time to
take a bath or something for a while because they've had so
much work to do. You know, back in those days, it wasn't that
long ago, folks, where that was all life was about, was working
24 hours a day so that you would have a meal to eat the next day.
We've only had this, well, we'll go to the store and get food
whenever we want to thing for a very short time, really, if
you think about it throughout history. But yet, these men with their
fancy robes, And the apostles are sitting there watching the
Master of everything. And what He's saying to them,
I don't want you. You're not what I came here to do. I came
here to save these. These who need saving. Praise
our Lord that He came to save anybody. Right? Praise our Lord that He came to save us. Stand with me if you would.