I'm looking this morning at the
Gospel of Matthew, chapter 9, verse 9. Matthew 9, verse 9. One verse we'll look at this
morning. Now, there are many things that
clearly reveal the Bible to be the Word of God. The wisdom of
it clearly shows us that this is God's Word. The mystery of
it, the depth of it, how it is incomprehensible to the natural
man, the glory of it, the beauty of it, the truth of it, the power
of it. It's called a fire, a hammer,
the eyes of God, the profundity of it, or rather how profound
it is because so much is said in just a few words. In this
one verse of Scripture, In one verse you'll find several two-word
truths or phrases that clearly show us the sovereign salvation
of the Lord and Jesus Christ. His will, His power, His word,
His voice, His call, all for His In Matthew 9 I read, 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 followed him. It says Jesus passed. Two words,
Jesus passed. A man, Jesus, much more than
a man. This is the God-man, the Lord
of glory. God manifests in the flesh. It
says He passed forth. He was passing by. He passed
through this earth for a short period of time. He came to do
God's will. He came to do the will of the
Father that sent Him with a purpose on a mission to seek and save
His lost sheep, to find His sheep. And He went throughout all the
land finding His people. It says He passed forth. He was passing through. And it
says in verse 9, He saw a man. He saw. The Lord Jesus Christ
looked upon this man named Matthew. Matthew didn't see Him. If he
had seen Him before this time, he, like all people by nature,
saw no beauty in Him that he should desire Him. That's what
Isaiah 53 said. He had no form nor countenance,
no beauty that we should desire Him. He didn't stand out in the
crowd. He wasn't taller or more handsome
than any other. In fact, he had no beauty, the
Scripture says, nothing outwardly appealing to this man named Jesus. So if Matthew saw Him, he paid
no attention to Him. And that's the way it is with
all people by nature. They have no desire for the Lord
Jesus Christ. They see nothing in Him that
they need and nothing they want in Him. But thank God, Matthew
would later say, thank God this man, the Lord Jesus Christ, saw
Him. He saw Him. The Lord looked on
Him. The Lord had set his mind, his
affection on Matthew long before then. And it says he saw a man. What did the Lord Jesus Christ
see? A man. Just a man. Now the scripture
says what is man that God is mindful of him or would even
visit him? Isaiah wrote that the inhabitants
of the earth are as grasshoppers. Nothing. Vanity. Worms. That's what the scripture said.
Not too long ago, I purchased a bunch of worms for my garden. I was using these worms as fertilizer
for my garden. I bought these worms. I paid
money for these worms, but they're really a worthless creature.
They're creatures of the dirt. From the dirt they come and the
dirt they return. If they love darkness, they're
worthless. Not one of those worms that I
fed and housed ever thanked me, ever called upon me. And that's mankind by nature.
He's called a worm. That's what the Lord calls mankind,
a worm and nothing. Well, the Lord looked upon this
man. He saw a man. Blessed is the man, the psalm
says, whom Thou choosest and causest to approach unto Thee. He's about to cause this man
to follow Him. His name was Matthew. It says,
he saw a man named Matthew. Matthew means gift of the Lord. Gift of the Lord. Now, this man
and woman, his parents, they had a child, a boy, a man-child
was born, and they perhaps felt like he was a gift from the Lord,
and they named him Matthew. Well, long before these parents
ever thought of having a child, God foreknew this man named Matthew. For whom He did foreknow, He
did predestinate. Long before this, God the Father
gave this person, later to be named Matthew, to His Son, the
Lord Jesus Christ. That's what Christ said. All
that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me. The Father gave Him
and many more like Him to Jesus Christ, the covenant head. for
Jesus Christ to come to this earth and save them. They're
called His elect. God chose this man named Matthew
long before he was ever born. That's what Romans 9 verse 11
says, the children being not yet born, neither having done
any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election
might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth. And all
of God's people can say with Matthew, thank God he saw me. Thank God he looked upon me.
I never would have seen anything in him. Thank God he chose me. I never would have chosen him.
And it says, he saw a man named Matthew, a gift of God. He just
didn't know what a gift the Lord Jesus Christ was about to give
him. And it says, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the
receipt of customs. Or rather, he's sitting in his
customary seat. Publican. He's a tax collector.
Money was his life. He's sitting where he always
sat. Sitting day in and day out in his customary seat. Doing
what he always did. Living for this money. And he's
going to die counting his money. He's not counting the cost. He's
saving his money, but losing his soul. And the Lord, in great
mercy and great grace and in salvation, He looked upon this
man. He saw this man sitting there.
Psalm 1 says, in the seat of the scornful, he's sitting with
his fellow publicans, counting his money, sitting, whiling away
the hours. Well, soon he's about to be sitting
among princes, the Scripture says. He's about to be counting
his blessings and not his money. He's about to leave his money
to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom are the unsearchable
riches of God. Now, picture this. This is the
true salvation of God. This is the story of every believer,
every child of God, chosen by God. This man is a publican.
He's a sinner. Everybody knows it. He's sitting
where he always sat, doing what he always did, what he loved
to do, what he lived to do, make money. He's rich. He has a nice
home. He has plenty of horses. He had
clothes and savings. He has no thoughts of God, no
thoughts of eternity, no interest in religion at all but God. The Lord God looked upon him
in great mercy. The Lord God sent the Lord Jesus
Christ to save this man, to find this lost sheep. Now, Matthew
has no idea who is looking on him. The Lord Jesus Christ is
looking on Matthew in mercy, in grace, and is about to reveal
himself to him, is about to give him life. Not change his life.
He doesn't have life. He doesn't know the Son. He's
dead in trespass and sin. The Lord doesn't change our life,
per se. He gives life. You hath He quickened,
Ephesians 2 verse 1 says, who were dead in trespasses and sin. He causes His people to pass
from death unto life. He calls them forth from darkness
into His marvelous light, from the kingdom of Satan and death
and darkness into the kingdom of His dear Son, the kingdom
of light. Matthew has no idea, but the Lord is looking on him.
The Lord of glory has come for him. This is the day of his salvation. Matthew didn't see this coming.
He didn't see Him coming. But the Lord came to him. Do
you see that? No one will come to God, come to Christ, except
the Father which has sent Him. Draw them. They all come to Christ,
but not until He first comes to them through the preaching
of the gospel, what I'm doing right now. Now this day is the
day of salvation for Matthew. It's not the day Matthew makes
a decision. Oh no, that day was decided by
the Lord long ago. This is not the day he lets Jesus
into his heart. No, the Lord Jesus Christ has
come to give him a new heart. This is not the day he accepts
Jesus as his personal Savior. This is the day he finds out
He is his Savior. This is not the day that he accepts
Him. But this is the day he finds
out that he has been accepted in the Beloved. Salvation is
not something we get, it's something we receive. Salvation is not
something we do, it's something that's been done for us, to us.
in us by the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is not an offer, it's
an operation of God. Salvation is not our choice,
it's His choice. Not our works, His work. Not
our righteousness, His righteousness. Not our will, His will. Not our
faith, His gift of faith. Salvation comes to us, then we
come to Him. Salvation comes to us in the
form of hearing His Word. Like Matthew, the Lord chose
him, the Lord came to him, the Lord saw him, and the Lord spoke
to him, because it's all for his glory. He gets the glory. Now here's what it says, He passed
forth from thence, and he saw a man named Matthew sitting at
the receipt of customs, and the Lord Jesus Christ saith unto
him, he saith, He spoke to Matthew before Matthew ever spoke to
him. He spoke to Matthew. And he spoke unto him. He didn't
speak unto other publicans around him. He spoke unto him, to this
man, to this particular man, this sheep of his that he chose.
And he said two words, follow me. Follow me. He didn't ask him. The Lord of
Glory doesn't ask human beings to do things for Him. He has
come to tell them what He had purposed to do for them. The
King of Glory doesn't make requests. He gives command. David said
in Psalm 71, verse 3, Thou hast given commandment to save me. Salvation is by command. He didn't
ask Him anything. He didn't make a request. He
gave this command. Follow Me. Now if your God is
trying to save you, you've got the wrong God. He's not God.
If He's trying to tell you something, He's not God at all. God doesn't
try to do anything. If He wants to save you and can't,
that means He's a God that cannot save. That's another Jesus who's
trying to get in your door. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
door. You need to meet the God of the
Bible. Oh, I hope and pray that He'll come to you like Matthew
and call you. Maybe in this message, follow
me. Not men. Not your denomination. Not your creed, not your profession
of faith. Follow me. What happened? What
happened to Matthew? Where the voice of the King is,
there is power. The voice of the Sovereign Lord,
the Lord Jesus Christ who gives the command. When He speaks,
things happen. People follow Him. He arose.
Matthew arose. He's dead. Now He's risen to
walk in newness of life. And He followed Him. He followed
the Lord Jesus Christ. From that day forward, He's not
following men. He's not following the world.
He's not following His own opinion of this and that and the other.
He's following the Lord Jesus Christ. He's a follower. He's
a disciple. He's a believer. He's a worshiper
of the Lord Jesus Christ. the gospel in two words, follow
me. Oh, may the Lord cause you to
hear His voice. May He give the command to you,
follow me. Amen.