In hiding place, that shelter
near thy side, I lay my fear for you, and faith in heaven,
and thou canst die. Oh, what blessed love to bleed
and die, To bear the cross and shed the blood, Thank you, Sherry. Thank you,
Gabe. Go back to Matthew's Gospel now. Matthew 9. It's Matthew's account of the
gospel. It's God's gospel, but it is
Matthew's gospel. It's my gospel. The title of this message is
A Dinner for Sinners. A dinner for sinners. The scribes
and Pharisees asked His disciples, Why eateth your master? with
publicans and sinners. And the Lord answered in verse
12 and 13, saying, They that behold need not a position, but
they that are sick, go ye and learn what that meaneth. I will
have mercy and not sacrifice, for I am not come to call the
righteous, but sinners, to repent. I believe we have learned in
here what that meaneth, don't you? Someone once told, well
it was our sister Jeanette, they told her that we talk too much
about sin here. She meant that in a derogatory
manner. She said you talk too much about
sin, about people being sinners. Didn't I? The fact is, this whole book,
or Bible, is about how God saves sinners. That's why it was written. It began with what happened in
the garden. Sin. About one man's disobedience. Sin. And death. The consequences of sin. And
there are a multitude of stories throughout this book of the consequences
of sin. What sin had brought upon this
world. God destroyed it by blood because
of sin. But then in the volume of the
book, from Genesis to Revelation, it is written of the one who
came to put it away. That's why he came, to put away
sin, by the sacrifice of himself. So the Lord said, you go and
learn what this means. I'll have mercy. Thank God. Because that's our greatest need,
isn't it? He came to call sinners. Thank
God. This gospel is for sinners. In
the previous chapter, the last verse, it says they drove him
out of town. They came and saw that man that
had the demons taken out of him, sitting clothed in his right
mind at the feet of the Lord Jesus, and the people said, Get
out of here. We don't need you. We don't want
you here. Apparently, they weren't sinners.
But the common people, the sinners, heard Him gladly, didn't they?
And they resorted to Him. Well, here in these stories,
the Lord illustrates why He came and who He came for. In these
two old, old stories. Verse 1 and 2, He entered into
a ship, passed over and came into His own city, and behold,
behold, No, now that means stop and think about this. Stop and
look at this. They brought unto him a man sick
of the palsy. The Lord was in a house preaching
and the crowd was so great that they couldn't get to him. The house was full and there
were people all around the outside of the house looking in the windows,
in the doors. There were so many people. And
here came these four men, carrying their friend on a bed, desperate
to get him to the Lord Jesus Christ. Behold! And they couldn't
get in the door, so they climbed up on the roof, carrying this man in a stretcher. Anybody ever carried a stretcher
before with somebody in it? It's hard enough on flat ground.
But they carried him up a ladder onto the roof, took the tiles
off the roof, and lowered him down on ropes. They know, evidently, John, this
one here is the only one who can cure our brother of this
policy. Evidently, they had heard someone
else had been cured by him, and they led him down in the middle
of the house where the Lord Jesus Christ was. Do you reckon the
Lord would let such importunity or such desperate men go without
receiving an answer? Without receiving what they came
for? It says, verse 2, seeing their
faith. I wish I knew more about this.
I really do. I wish I knew more about this
sense of urgency for someone you know and love, so urgent
that you would not let him go until he does something for them. The Lord's seen their faith.
Then he said to the sick of the palsy, And I believe he was smiling
when he said that. You can't tell someone to be of good cheer
unless you are yourself. Right? He saw this. And I think he's smiling the
whole time. And they let him down. And he says, son, be of
good cheer. Thy sins be forgiven them. I believe that room was silent
after he said that. I believe when they saw this
man being lowered down into their midst, they were all waiting
on him to do a great miracle so that they could marvel at
him raising this lame man. They were all waiting on him
to show a great sign or a wonder, and the Lord At first, all he
does is say, Thy sins be forgiven. I believe everyone in there but
one man was disappointed. That man lied on that cot. Now,
the Lord only forgives the sins of those who ask for it. You
know that? Those who need it. Though this man's words are not
recorded, neither were the adulterous woman. Remember? Brought her in and thrust her
at the Lord's feet. What do you suppose she was thinking
of? What do you suppose was going
through her heart? So the Lord looks on the heart.
Better, someone said, to have a heart without words than words
without heart. But this man apparently was crying
out from his heart. Brother John just read us that
in Psalm 28. My heart greatly rejoices. The
Lord is my saving strength. The Lord heard his heart cry,
and he said, Son, thy sins be forgiven. Be of good cheer. The
Lord is teaching us several things here. Number one, he's teaching
us that sin is our greatest problem. Not sickness. Not bodily affliction. problems in this life or the
flesh, but sin is our greatest problem. This is the issue that
must be taken care of before there will be any peace, any
joy, any lasting happiness or cheer. See, our sins, Scripture says,
have separated us from God. And if he can remove the sins,
he's brought us back to God. And God said there's no peace
to the wicked. There'll be no rest to the wicked. There'll
be no happiness, no peace, no lasting peace, no joy to the
wicked, those who are estranged from Me, who say, No, God. But those who are reconciled
are a great peace. Great cause for cheer. The Lord
is teaching us that forgiveness of sins is more important than
physical health. More important than material
well-being. Now, you know that it's so that
religion is taken up with externals, aren't it? Because that's what
the world is interested in. John said, they are of the world,
therefore speak they of the world, and the world hears them. And
vast multitudes go to hear them, tell them how that all their
problems in this life can be over. Scripture doesn't say that. Truth says, the truth says, in
the world ye shall have tribulation. But be of good cheer. Christ
says, the truth says, I've overcome the world. I've overcome your
sins. I've put away your sin. Man that is born of woman, the
scripture says, is a few days and full of trouble. Full of
trouble. But if our sins are gone, though you have a lifetime of
trouble, It's over. No more trouble. Then
you'll live a life without trouble. Those who live here in a life
without trouble, if they die in their sins, will have an eternity
full of trouble. You see? The Lord is teaching
us that this is our greatest need. This is the issue. And
the Lord is teaching us His purpose for coming. His purpose was to
put away sin. How? How did the Lord Jesus Christ
put away sin? Did He just up and forgive this
man his sin? Brother Barnard used to say,
God doesn't forgive sins. You know what that means. You
know what the old man... Dad said when Barnard came, they
called him Old Brother Barnard. He was Sammy's age. The Lord is teaching us that
He came to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself, by dying.
By dying. The martyrs used to say, God
doesn't forgive sin, He punishes them. He put our sins on Christ. He forgave us, but He punished
Christ in our statement, He said. Religion doesn't understand that.
They really don't believe that Jesus Christ was a sin offering. Do they, John? They don't believe
that. They think he's some kind of martyr and people ought to
love him so much for just dying. Why did he die? Because a holy
God who will by no means clear the guilty, who will punish sin,
who must punish sin, put the sins of his people on Christ,
made him to be sin for us. and punished, killed the soul
that sinneth, must surely die. And God made his soul an offering
for sin. And so therefore, God not only
will forgive those whom Christ died, He must. The justice of
God. I don't want this to be purely
doctrinal. This is the good news. You see, God, if Christ died
for you, you must go for it. Your sins must, of a certainty,
be gone. But the world calls that barbaric.
God's not like that. He's love. He wouldn't kill somebody. Sin's not the issue, they say.
Yes, it is. Now, behold what the Lord said
to this man. Look at what He said. The first thing He said
to this man in verse 2 was, Oh, it's sounding good for this
fellow. Son. Who's speaking here? This man
may have been older in years than the Lord was at this time.
The Lord was 30 years old at this time. This man may have
been like Sammy, 48. An older man. Right? Really? Really. And yet
the Lord looks on him and says, Son, who is this? This is the one who came, of
whom Isaiah wrote, a child is born, but the Son, the everlasting
Son, is given. And you shall call His name,
wonderful Counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father. And so the Father, God, was manifest
in the flesh. And the Father said, the Father
who came for His sons, says to this one, Son, be of good cheer. Be of good cheer. I thought about
this. Scripture said, Behold what manner
of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called
sons of God. John, if you were going to adopt
a son, would you adopt one that was blind, haught, lame, and
a leper? Would you? The worst? Ugly? Would you? That's the only kind
the Lord does adopt. That's the ones He adopts. Lame
man. Why would He choose such a man?
For His own glory. For His own glory. That's why.
To the praise of the glory of His grace and His power to forgive
sin. John wrote this, Behold, little
children, little children, Little children. He kept saying little
children. And someday, the Lord himself is going to present us
to the Father, wholly unblameable, unapprovable in God's sight,
and say, Behold, I and the children which thou gavest me. John said,
Little children, I write unto you that you sin not. And, if
many do, the Judge is our Father. And our advocate's his son. Our
brother. So, cheer up. Son, be of good
cheer. The Lord is teaching here also,
if sins are gone, you can be of good cheer. If sins are gone, though you're
still sick. This man is still sick. He hasn't
yet healed him of his lameness. And yet he says, be of good cheer.
Your sins are forgiving you. I don't know how long he went
before he finally healed him, but he was sick a little while
longer. And the Lord is teaching us that though we are sick and
afflicted in body, this is something to really make you cheerful.
We can bear our infirmities, but we cannot bear sin and the
guilt of it. It's unbearable. Right? We can bear infirmities. The Lord's grace is sufficient.
But we cannot bear sin and its guilt. The Lord shows it to you. You must find someone to cast
it off. Well, the scribes in the Pharisee,
they said to themselves, this man blasphemes. And Mark and
Luke's account says, who can forgive sins but God? And that's true, isn't it? That would be a good answer for
these Jehovah Witnesses, wouldn't it? One line. Who can forgive
sins but God? Well, he said, your sins are
forgiven. He must be God. Right? If He's just a man, He's blaspheming. Many do, don't they? Many do. But if He's God, then God hath
visited us, and if He says our sins are gone, they're gone.
Be of good cheer. Now, in verse 4, the Lord says,
Why think ye evil in your hearts? Why? Because they were, that's
why. Because they were. They weren't
seeking God. These were religious men. They weren't seeking God's
glory. They weren't serving God. They
were serving themselves. Though what they did was in the
name of God, they really were out for their own names and their
own glory. That's just the way it is. That's
the way it is in religion. Cross the board. Cross the board. There's no halfway point there.
You're either in it for God's glory or you're not. You either
come in His name or you come in your own, right? The Lord
said in verse 5, weather is easier. Which is easier to say, thy sins
be forgiven thee, or to say, arise and walk? Barbara, both are easy to say. And many do say that today, don't
they? John, did you ever hear a man
say to you, son, thy sins be forgiven thee? Did you? Catherine, did you ever
hear it? Just because he said it, doesn't
mean it's so. Does it? Bless you, my son. That doesn't mean it's so, does
it? Doesn't mean it's so. But now
if this man says it, it's so. Victim? Factom. Right? Said. Done. The Lord said, I've spoken it.
I'll do it. Before the fact, Brother John,
before He died on the cross, is this eternal justification
or what? Before He died on the cross, He already forgave this
man his sins. Men argue that, don't they? Before the Lord died
on the cross, He already said, your sins are gone. Now, the
fact of the matter is, he is going to pay for them. But he
said it. It's done. It's done. So the Lord said, which is easier?
Neither. To do either one is impossible
with man. With man, it's impossible to
put away sin or to make a man arise and walk. And our Lord
said, this is why I said that. Verse 6, that you may know that
the Son of Man Have power on earth to forgive sin. Yes, all
power is given unto Him in heaven and earth. To give eternal life
to as many as God has given Him. And all that come to Him, Lord
John, He said, I will no wise cast out. And so that means everyone
that comes to Him for forgiveness of sin, they're gone. Every one
of them. He has the power. He has the
right. The Son of Man hath power. Then, he saith, finally, you
have to say, Son, be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven
thee. Then, as almost like an afterthought, arise, take up thy bed, and go
unto thy house. And we've said so many times,
you know, this man died of something, didn't he? He was thrilled to
walk. But I believe he was more thrilled to hear of forgiveness. He died of something at some
point. But he didn't die in sin. He didn't die of his sins. So
that's the good news. And he said, this joy, our Lord
said, this joy no man will take from you. They won't take it
from you. So he was of good cheer from then on. Brother Scott said,
I've never heard any bad news. Real bad news since I heard the
good news. So be of good cheer, sinner. And the man arose and
he departed to his house. When the Lord speaks, things
happen. When the Lord says, Rise, you
rise. Take up your bed. You remember? Oh, and he said, Make your bed.
Take up your bed. And he departed to his house.
And I believe that he did like the demoniac In the previous
chapter, he went home and told what great things the Lord had
done for him. The man wanted to follow him, the other man,
but the Lord said, no, you go home and tell what the Lord has
done for you. And I believe this man ran home. Ran home and said, honey, or
whoever was there, my sins are gone. Oh yeah, I am, but my sins
are gone. Verse 8, When the multitudes
saw it, they marveled and glorified God, which hath given such power unto
men. Now, there are a couple of ways to look at this. They
did marvel. All that the Lord did, they marveled at. And glorified
God. It wasn't long until they were
crying out to kill him. Right? So many times it's written
that many believed on him when they saw the miracle. Glorified
God. Well, a lot of people say that.
And it says here, though, here's a key verse that says it gave
such power unto men. Pentecostalism is all taken up
with the power that God gives to men. God's people are taken up with
Christ who is the power of God. There is no power but that which
comes from Christ and for His glory. That's how you know it's
of Christ, is it gives Him all the glory. That's how you know.
Alright, verse 9. As Jesus passed forth from thins, He left this
one man, put away his sins, And he passed forth from thence,
he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the receipt of custom. He's a tax collector, a publican. I told Margaret, I'm going to
speak tonight on tax collectors. She said, I'm not a tax collector.
I don't collect taxes. And she said, I don't tax churches. Oh my. The judge of the Lord will do
right. You can count on that. He knows. Blessed are you when
men say all manner of evil falsely against you. Just doing your
job. But this man was a cheat. He wasn't doing it by the book,
Margaret. He was a cheat. A tax collector. These publicans,
as you know, were crooks. They extorted money from their
own people. They were Jews that worked for
the Roman government and they pocketed most of the money and
they got rich over it. Zacchaeus was one of these fellows. He really is a friend of publicans,
isn't he? Zacchaeus and now old Matthew.
He saw a man. When the Lord passed by, he saw
Matthew. Matthew didn't see him. Matthew
wasn't looking up. Matthew's counting his money.
Matthew's going 1, 2, 3, 4. 1, 5, 6, 7, 8. The Lord looked on him, and here's
this man that has no interest in anybody or anything but making
money. Ever met any like that? But the Lord saw him. Now, wait
a minute. You're not going to call this
fellow. The Lord saw him, saw this man
sitting at the seat of custom, and he saith unto him. The Lord
always initiates salvation. The Lord not only initiates it,
he performs it, he finishes it. He saw him. The Lord saw him. And the Lord saith to him. The
Lord always speaks first. If anybody calls on the Lord,
it's because the Lord called them first. And the Lord said
two words to this man. Follow me. That's all he said. Now, we just saw the Lord's power
to put away sin. Now, here's the Lord's power
to call a sinner to Himself. The Lord said two words, follow
me. That man arose. And in, is it
Mark or Luke's gospel? I forget. Luke's gospel, we're
going to see, says he left everything. Like the woman at the well left
her water pot. Follow me. This is the effectual
call. What that means, that's a fancy
term for when he calls you come. Effectual call. Particular. There
are four things about this call. It was particular. It was this
man. Matthew. This man. It was unexpected. A publican? Of all people. Yeah, right. This man received a sinner. That's
the moral of this story. And I didn't come to call the
righteous, but sinners. The righteous pretend to come,
don't they? The righteous say they come. They pretend to come.
Sinners don't make any bones about it. They don't want to
come. They're not interested. They're not looking. I wasn't. Were you? This is unexpected. This is unsolved. Matthew doesn't need a Savior. At least, he doesn't think he
needs a Savior, but he's interested in money. It's unsolved. And it's from the Lord. The Lord
knew him first. Romans 8, for whom he did foreknow. That is forelove. That is know
before the world began. Set his love upon before the
world began. write their names in the Lamb's
Book of Life. Whom he did foreknow, he did
predestinate. That means their destiny is determined. Predetermined. A predetermined
end. A predetermined, predestined
meeting with the Lord Jesus Christ. A predestined confrontation to
hear the gospel. A call. Whom he did predestinate,
he called. That effectual call, and whom
he called, he justified. You can't be justified unless
you believe. Everybody he calls is going to believe. And whom
he justified, he glorified. He brought all the way home to
glory. The Lord said to this man two words. Follow me. This
was not an invitation. If you invite somebody to follow
you, this is how you say it. Would you like to follow me?
Would you, if you're not busy, like to maybe follow me? Would
you please follow me? That's an invitation, isn't it?
The Lord doesn't give invitations. We stress that point, don't we? To give an invitation implies
that you have the ability to accept it. He doesn't invite dead people
to come forward because they can't. Bless God, he says, follow me. Follow me. A command. Thou hast
given commandment to save me. The Lord gives commandments to
his sheep. Follow me. And they follow him. Sit. Lie
down in green pack. Heal. Stop barking. Stop whining. Be still. Follow me. Listen. Learn. He said, follow me. Follow me. I am the master. You're my servant. I lead. If Jesus has to take
the wheel, you've got the wrong Jesus, don't you? I am the Lord. You're the servant. I am your leader. You're the
follower. I am the teacher. You're the disciple. You're the
student. I am the lawgiver. You take order. You do the obeying. Follow me. Follow me. Not a man, not a denomination,
not a movement. Me. Follow me. Did it? Look at Luke chapter 5. Luke
chapter 5. We'll stay there to the end. Follow me. What if he hadn't?
What if he hadn't followed the Lord? What if he did? You know, people,
maybe religious people like to conjecture, don't they? Like
to bring up all sorts of, like to hypothesize, don't they? Well,
what if that he didn't? But what if he hadn't? But he
did. Every single person the Lord spoke to, they did what
he said. Stretch out your hand. He did. Follow me. He did. Zacchaeus come down.
He did. That tells us who this is. Well, he did. He followed him.
Verse 28, he says, He left all. Luke 5, He left all. He left. Boy, now this is salvation. He
had a table full of money. This is salvation, buddy. Money
answereth all things. Love of money is the root of
all evil. The love of money is the root of all evil. This man,
when the Lord said, follow him, this man, when he was affectionately
called by the Lord, this man no longer loved money. He left
that money. He turned his back on a pile
of money. Now that's salvation. Oh man,
this is a man who's been called. He forsakes all for Christ, doesn't
he? As if it were nothing. As if it were nothing. Many leave
the gospel for money. Many do. Many leave the gospel
for money, for family, for career, for pleasure. Only the called
of the Lord leave things for the gospel. That's right. Now, notice, this man was so
grateful. He was so happy. Levi. He was so happy, he made a great
big feast in his house. Verse 29, look at it. He invited the Lord. We must
ask. He invited the Lord over to his
house. He made him a great feast. This feast, Tammy, was for the
Lord. It just happened to be a bunch of people invited also.
But this was for the Lord. This man was so grateful to the
Lord that he made a great feast in his honor, in his own house.
Oh, to whom much is forgiven, they'll love much. I'm sure he
thought if Christ gave all and forgave all, then the least I
could do is give my all. That all I have is His. He gave
it to me. He understood now that all that
he had was given. The Lord gave. He now understands
everything I own I didn't earn it, but the Lord gave it to me.
So it's my reasonable service to devote what I have to Him. I owe a great debt. I'm living in His house. I'm
eating His food. I'm wearing His clothes. This feast that Matthew made
was a thanksgiving feast under the Lord. Thanksgiving feast. And it was also a farewell dinner. He called together all his old
cronies and buddies. Republicans. Senators. He called
them together to say, I'm leaving. I'm out of here. You won't see
me anymore. Maybe. I'm following that man. I'm leaving y'all. Kind of like
baptism. That's what baptism says. You
invite, you ask people to come. People that are baptized, ask
their family to come witness it. What you're saying is, I'm
out of here. I'm crucified with Christ. And
the world's crucified to me. A farewell dinner. This was also
a desire for his old friends to hear the gospel. Oh, like the woman, you come
see a man. That woman who was such a notorious
sinner, she ran home. She's ashamed of herself, but
she's not ashamed of the gospel now. She runs home and says,
you've got to come see a man. Jeanette, this was a woman who
was ashamed to show her face. But now, her sins are gone. She's happy. And she's got to
run and tell somebody, you've got to come hear what I heard.
Come home with me. Come one, come all, publicans.
Come home with me. I want you to hear what I heard,
who I heard. Come home. Will you come with
me? George, Bill, John, come with me. Okay. Free food? Yeah. They all came maybe for the wrong
reasons. But the right person was there. That's all that matters. It was a desire for old friends.
It was a dinner for sinners. That's the way it was. I thought
about this. That's a good description of what we do here every time.
The Lord has prepared us a table here. It's like Solomon's table. It's a feast of fat things. Wine
on the leaves. It's a veritable feast. Matthew
spared nothing. It was anything that anybody
could want if you were hungry. And the Lord, greater than Solomon,
has spread a table for us. If you come hungry, you will
not go home that way. If you just open your mouth,
you'll feel it. Want dessert? Get that too. A
feast. And this is a feast unto the
Lord, isn't it? Every feast in the Old Testament was unto the
Lord. For His glory, His honor. A thanksgiving feast. That's
what it was. And this is a farewell dinner.
When we come here, every time we come here, we're saying to
the world, you can have that, I'm going to worship the Lord.
May not be back. Right? There may be a time when
like Enoch, we say, honey, I may not come home. Don't know. Nancy, I really believe that
when God's people are gathered together, that's when Christ
is coming. Didn't he say? In the like manner as you've
seen him go, he'll come again. How's that? 120 people were on
a mount watching the Lord high and lifted up. What about the problem with time
in Australia? That's a good description, isn't
it? It's a farewell dinner, and it's a desire for our friends
and loved ones to hear the gospel. Would you come with me? Not come
join our church. Not come and, you know, we have
such good things for your kids that will keep them out of trouble.
No, come hear the gospel. You need to come hear Christ
free. So that's what we do every time.
Well, versus Matthew's gospel, the Lord said, Go back to Matthew. I said I'd close with Luke, but
the Lord said, go learn what this means. I will have mercy
and not sacrifice. Matthew 9. I will have mercy
and not sacrifice. I've not come to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance. This is the simplest, simplest
that I can make the gospel so that even a child could understand.
Are you a sinner? Brother Todd and I were talking
about it this afternoon on the phone. And we concluded a sinner,
like a Roman 7 sinner, like a Psalm 38 sinner, is one who cannot
not sin. Cannot not sin. Try as you may. That's a sinner. Paul said that. How to do it? I find not. Oh, wretched man that I am. Who shall deliver me? Who? There is therefore now no condemnation
to them that are in Christ, to whom He says, your sins are forgiven. A sinner is one who will not
look down on another sinner. You can't. If you're a bona fide
sinner, Let me show you that, alright? Matthew 10. And I close
with it. Matthew 10. The Lord called this
publican. There were two ranks of sinners.
Publicans. And in sinners, that means harlots
and street walkers. But publicans were first. The
worst. The chief. No good. Matthew is writing this account.
Matthew. Alright? And he tells the names
of those whom the Lord called. Look at it. Matthew 10, 2. The
names of the twelve apostles are these. The first, Simon.
Now, he could have said, oh, Simon, he denied the Lord. He didn't say that. It's Simon
who's called Peter, a rock. Andrew, his brother. James, the
son of Zebedee. And John, his brother. Philip
and Bartholomew. Thomas and Matthew. The publican. That's me, he said. Don't forget. I'm going to write
this for all. I'm the publican. Like old Jacob. That's my name. Old John Newton used to always
call himself, until the day of his death, the old African blasphemer. Don't forget the pit from which
you're digged. That will make you merciful.
That's who the Lord came for. To show mercy. And it will make
you like Him. Merciful. Okay. Let's stand. Our Lord, thank You, thank You
for the good news of full, free, eternal forgiveness of sins by
Your Word. by your power, by your blood,
by your righteousness. We thank you, Lord, for revealing
to us sinners that we are. This unspeakable gift, forgiveness
of sins, past, present, and all in the future. We come to you
daily. We hope, we pray for forgiveness
of sin. We thank you. I pray, Lord, that
you might call out others. You might call our friends and
families in to hear this glorious good news. We pray for your glory
and their salvation. It's in Christ's name we've met
here tonight. Amen. Thank you.