for us. Wonderful, wonderful. That's a good message in that
song for what we'll look at today. The name of the message today
is called An Irresistible Call. Open your Bibles again, if you
would, to Matthew chapter 9. Today in our encounter with Christ,
we'll be looking at the Lord Jesus Christ having a divine
encounter with a tax collector. A divine encounter with a tax
collector. And sometimes these tax collectors
took advantage of their position amongst the fellow citizens. They were tax collectors for
the Romans. And so because they collected taxes for the Romans
and they were Israelites, people of their nation despised them.
Because they looked at them as traitors. collecting money for
those who have invaded their country and are now in control. And these men are going around collecting
taxes for them. And I'll tell you what, the Romans
taxed these countries they took over pretty heavily. They went about as far as they
could without causing revolts. But these publicans, they were
despised among the Israelites. They were just despised. Boy. And they had an occupation
that gave little esteem in the eyes of their fellow Israelites.
And again, they were involved in abuses, taking more than they
should have, taking advantage of their fellow countrymen. I
had Brother Travis read Matthew 9, 1 to 13 there for the setting
of the context that we're going to look at today. And in verses
1 to 8, as Brother Travis was reading there, we saw the miracle,
which the Lord Jesus Christ wrought in healing the paralytic man. And so what does that show us?
That shows us God's power over the human body, that he can do
whatever he wills. If he wills to heal someone,
he can heal them. If he wills not to heal someone, he won't
heal them. But for his people, he'll give them grace if he doesn't
heal them. To make it through that situation, doesn't he? Gives
us grace and strength. And look what he says here. We
also see that he has the power to forgive sins. When he says
in that narrative, son, be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven
thee. He's telling them right there, he's God. Because only
God can forgive sins, right? So he's manifesting his power
over sin, too. His power to forgive the sinner. So God's display of power is
both over diseases and bodily afflictions, which humanity is
afflicted with. And we're afflicted with the
plague of sin, aren't we? We need to be healed. And scripture
says that for God's people, we're healed by the stripes of Christ.
By his stripes, he's healed us. By his stripes, by his work. Now turn to Matthew chapter nine,
and we'll read verses nine to 13 again, where we now will see,
now we're gonna see God's power over the human will. See, sometimes folks make it
sound like the human will has power over God. Now, we all have
a will. We do. I'm not going to deny
that. We have a will. But that will is tied to our
nature. So if you're dead in trespasses and sin, all you're
going to do is choose sin. Because your will is bound to
that nature. But if you're born again by the
Holy Spirit of God, now you have a new nature guiding you. Now
you will choose to fight sin and hate sin in yourself more
than in anybody else. So we are going to see here,
though, God's power. It's not man's will that has
power. Our will is, again, absolutely chained to our nature. And if
you have a nature that's dead and trespasses and sins, all
you're going to do is sin. Now, we're still sinners even
after we're saved, right? Every one of us would admit that. But
now we have a battle within us that we never had before. The old-timers used to call it
civil war within the believer. I like that, because it's like
a civil war, isn't it? Oh, my. So look at this, though. Look at this. God Almighty, I'll
tell you this. If you've come to Christ, if
you've come to Christ, it's because God made you willing in the day
of His power, the scripture says. Your will, your will was moved
by the new nature, you see? See, we don't deny man has a
will. The new nature, when you're born again to the Holy Spirit
of God, you've been given the faith to believe. And as Linda
said, now he's everything to us. Now Christ is everything
to me. He wasn't before. My old dead
nature, he wasn't everything to me. Was he to you? No. But now he's everything. He's
my wisdom, my righteousness, my sanctification, my redemption.
He's the King of kings and the Lord of lords. I just want to
praise him. And it's so for you too, isn't
it? Because of the new nature within us. because now we're
guided. Now our will is guided by this
new nature. It's the Holy Spirit in us. We're
born again by the Holy Spirit of God. Now we have a new nature
governing, governing our will. That's why you go and contrition
to God when we sinned and we say, Lord, forgive me. Even though
we're saved, we still say, Lord, forgive me. That's why, because
of that new nature within us. That's why we cry out to the
Lord in prayer, is because of that new nature within us. See,
our wills are now, again, governed by that new nature. We're new
creatures in Christ, the scripture says. We're not what we were. We're not what we were. And we
will also see here that no one can stay in the Lord's hands.
No one can stay, if God's gonna save someone, He's gonna save
them. If God's going to do something in this world that he willed
and purposed, there is absolutely no one that's going to stay his
hand. Daniel says that, right? Nebuchadnezzar, after he ate
dirt for a little while, he said, there's no one who can stay God's
hand. He does whatever he wills in the army of heaven, because
he's a supreme leader. He's a supreme king. He does
whatever He wills, and the army of heaven and all the inhabitants
of the earth are reputed as nothing. Well, praise God, He has mercy
and grace on some of us nothings. Right? Now, because He chose us in Christ,
we're trophies of the grace of God. So then why does he have
mercy on some? Because he died in their room
and place at Calvary's Cross. Because he redeemed them, purchased
them with his precious, precious blood. Look at this in Matthew
chapter 9, verses 9 to 3, or 9 to 13, 9 to 3, what am I talking
about? Matthew chapter 9, verses 9 to
13. We see here that God, the Lord Jesus Christ, God in the
flesh, is going to have a divine encounter with a man named Matthew.
a man named Matthew. It says here, and as Jesus passed
forth from thence, from when he healed the paralytic man,
he saw a man named Matthew sitting at receipt of custom, and saith
unto him, follow me. Now he didn't say it to everybody,
did he? He zoned right into Matthew, and he said, follow me. And he
arose and followed him. 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. Matthew had them back
to his house. And Matthew didn't just invite
the Lord back, he invited all kinds of other publicans and
sinners. Oh, aren't you glad it says that? Aren't you glad that Christ sits
in the midst of publicans and sinners, beloved? I'm so thankful,
because I'm a sinner. I'm so thankful when I read these
verses that Christ sat in the midst of publicans and sinners. and sat down with him and his
disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples,
why eateth your master with publicans and sinners? Why is he eating?
Why is he eating with those tax collectors? Why is he eating
with those sinners? These self-righteous, I can just
hear them dripping, their self-righteousness. These Pharisees, oh, we don't
even let them touch us. They're just dripping with that
self-righteousness and that proud pride. Why is he doing that with
those publicans and sinners? Oh, hallelujah. And he sits with
publicans and sinners. Praise be to God that he's in
the midst of publicans and sinners. Oh, that's good news for sinners.
And he says, but when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, they
that behold need not a physician, but they that are sick. And then
look what he says, but go ye and learn what that meaneth.
Go, go search the scriptures and learn what that means. Huh. I will have mercy and not
sacrifice. That's a quote from Hosea chapter
six, verse six. He says, for I'm not come to
call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Look at that. You're not come
to call the righteous, the proud, self-righteous Pharisees who
don't even want people to touch them. Oh, my. We can't even eat
with those folks. They're so beneath us. I'm glad that Jesus ate with
them publicans in there, because that's where I am from. I'm cut
from the same mold as those folks. My. Makes my heart rejoice. Makes my heart rejoice. So marvel
here. at how divine grace works. And we have here a display of
divine grace. In all the encounters that we've
looked at, we've seen open displays of God's grace and mercy, haven't
we? It's been a wonderful study so far because we've seen how
God works and moves, and just wonderful displays of mercy on
undeserving people. Matthew's not deserving of being
called by God, not at all. He has no merit in himself. God
didn't look down through time and say, well, Matthew's going
to have faith, so I better write him in the book of life. No. That's not how it works. When
God looked down through time, he saw us all dead in trespasses
and sins. And he said, have mercy on that
one, and that one, and that one. And that was all done in eternity. That's amazing, isn't it? It
leaves us in literal awe that God would have mercy on us. It's
just incredible. And it's all according to God's
divine will and purpose. If you're sitting here today
and you're saved by the grace of God, you are sitting here
saved according to the will and purpose of God. Just let that sink in. We didn't
know when we were born. As I mentioned in Sunday school,
when we were little tykes running around when we were little, we
had no idea that we were one of God's elect. We didn't have
a clue. As we grew up into adolescence, we had no clue. And as we grew
up into being a young man or a woman, we had no clue. And
maybe the Lord saved you when you were a teenager. Maybe the
Lord saved you when you're in your 20s or 30s or even older.
that time that was purposed by God, you heard the gospel, and
you were born again by the Holy Spirit of God, and given faith
to believe, to look to Christ. You know when we say look to
Christ, you know what that means? Just look to Him. Just trust
Him. There's no magic potion or anything. It's just looking.
It's just trusting every day. Lord, I'm trusting You. You're my salvation, you're my
everything. That's what it means to look to Christ, just to trust
Him, to rest in Him. And God-given faith does that,
doesn't it? Now, God-given faith is, right, in us, right? But it's still God-given faith.
And just because we're like that sometimes, that doesn't change
the fact that we're still, we're born again, we're saved by God,
that's done. The work is finished. Where our faith is so small,
isn't it? When we stop and think, our faith is so tiny. We doubt
so much, or we have things go on in our lives where we just,
but our faith, but faith is a grain of mustard seed. We just look
to Christ, don't we? And that faith is God-given,
like we looked at last week. Remember, we looked at that?
That faith is God-given. It's God-given faith. Look at verse nine here. And
Jesus passed forth from thence. He saw a man named Matthew sitting
at the seat of customs. And he saith unto him, follow
me. And he arose. Now again, Matthew's a publican.
He's a tax collector. He's hated by his people, just
despised, thoroughly despised. Now we would think that he's
a tax collector. What is he absorbed in? He's
not thinking about it. He's absorbed in the money, isn't
he? He's thinking about the money. He's thinking about the job that
he's doing. He's absorbed in that. How much can he get? How
much will he charge? How much do the Romans want?
How much will he get? He's absorbed by what he does. His thoughts are filled with
how to get money and how to spend it, or how to save it. Whatever
his thoughts were with that. And notice here, Matthew's not
seeking the Lord at all. He got up this morning, He went
to the place where he collects taxes, and he's not seeking the
Lord at all. As far as we know, there's no
conviction. Nothing. He's not seeking God, he's not
looking for God, he's just going to work like he goes every single
day, and he's sitting there collecting the receipt of customs, and he's
collecting taxes. And he has absolutely no idea
that he's going to have a divine encounter with he who is God
incarnate in the flesh. He has no idea that he's going
to look into the eyes of he who will become the lover of his
soul. He has no idea. He has no idea that the one who's
going to come to him and speak to him is the one who's loved
him for eternity. He has no idea. He's just doing
his job. He's just collecting taxes. And
as far as we know, he has no concern for his soul, as far
as we know. The text doesn't say anything.
He has no concern for his soul, no concern for eternal things.
He's not even conscious of his need for Christ. Sounds like how we were when
we were dead in trespasses and sins, doesn't it? It sure does. Oh my. What a picture of grace
we're gonna see here. And also note that Matthew's
not told to pray a prayer or anything. He's not told to do
anything, is he? He's just sitting there doing
his work. Just doing his work. What this shows us is the truth
of the scripture that says there's none that seeketh after God.
He's not seeking God. He's not seeking God at all.
He's just sitting there doing his work. Same thing he did every
single day. Or he took the Sabbath off. But
the same thing that he did for six days. He used to sit there
and do it. There's no preparations here. No preparations at all. Nothing preceded the Savior's
call. Nothing. Matthew did not first experience
deep feelings of guilt or a great time of mourning. He didn't experience
that. Not at all. He didn't experience repentance,
as far as we know here. He didn't even acquire great
knowledge, did he? No, he's just sitting there doing his work.
And he can have a divine encounter. Oh, what grace! What grace is
shown here! What omnipotent power is shown
here! What mercy is shown here! He's
an unconcerned sinner! And there's no merit in him?
No merit, no merit, no merit, just like in us. No merit that
God would show us mercy. Nothing at all that God would
show us mercy in us. It all comes from our great God.
And you know what we see here? We see here the scripture says,
I am found of them that sought me not. Isaiah says that. I am found of them that sought
me not. Here he is doing his work. He's not seeking God. And
we're going to see what happens when the Lord calls him by his
grace. when the God Lord calls him with
an effectual call, an irresistible call, an irresistible call, beloved. Again, Matthew's sitting there
counting money. Who found Matthew? Matthew wasn't looking for God,
was he? He wasn't looking for Christ. Who found him? Christ
found him. He passed by all those other
people. There might have even been someone paying Matthew money,
and he looked right at Matthew. He's looking at one of his sheep. Christ found Matthew. Matthew
didn't find Christ. Christ found Matthew. What a picture of sovereign and
majestic grace, conquering grace, we have right here before us.
Our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, here, he takes, beloved, one
of the most despised people in Israel. I'm talking, they hated
the tax collectors. They hated the publicans. We
hear it in the words of the Pharisees. They despised them. He takes
one of the most hated persons in Israel and makes him a trophy
of his grace. What? Power. All with a word. Follow me. Follow me. My goodness. And the Lord passed by all those
other people according to his sovereign decree, and the Lord
Jesus Christ looked upon Matthew. He looked upon Matthew, just
like that man at the Pool of Bethsaida we saw a few weeks
back. The Lord looked right at him, passed by all those other
people, remember, and came right to that man. Take up your bed
and walk. And then he walked away from
all the others. Walked away from all the others. Found one of
his sheep, beloved. It just shows you God's effectual
grace. He searches us out. We don't seek him. Just like
in Luke 15, he goes and finds the lost sheep. If you're saved,
it's because he found you. Isn't that wonderful? He sought
you out. He gave you a new nature so that your will would choose
him, would flee to him by faith, God-given faith. It's beautiful,
beloved. It's absolutely beautiful. So what we see here is God's
sovereign decree. We also see God's sovereign mercy
on display too, don't we? He sees one of his sheep, who
he came to save, who he will soon shed his precious blood
to redeem, purchase from under the law, one that the Father's
given him from eternity, one that he's loved from eternity,
If you're one of God's people, He's loved you for eternity.
We can't totally fathom that, can we? But it's true. And note
here how God-given faith reacts. Because we know He's born again
by the Holy Spirit of God. We know He's being given faith
to follow Christ, because no one can follow Christ without
being given faith to believe. And again, what comes first,
faith or regeneration? Well, regeneration, remember,
because the will is bound to the nature. Now you have a new
nature, you're born again, and you willingly follow Christ.
It's beautiful. Look at these words. Look at
these sovereign, irresistible, gracious words. Follow me. Two words, follow me. And note
again how God-given faith reacts to this sovereign, irresistible
call. Here's one of God's sheep being
made willing right before our eyes. He's being made willing
right before our eyes. Made willing by God's God-given
power. Born again by the power of God
the Holy Spirit. Given faith to believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ. And marvel in the next words
as the scriptures proclaim that Matthew, what did Matthew do?
He rose and followed him. He didn't say, well, I'm gonna
sit here, and I'm gonna count the cost, and I'm gonna, you
know, I don't know. He didn't do that, did he? He
followed. Because it's an irresistible
call of God. When you and I came to Christ,
we came to Christ because of an irresistible call of God.
Through the preaching of the word of God. He gave us faith,
just like, just regenerated us, just like that. Gave us faith
to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And we followed him.
I love that song again, because it brought forth how he's the
Alpha and the Omega. He's everything. He's everything.
That's what he is. Paul said, he's my all in all. He who was not my all in all
is now my everything. Oh, my goodness. He means everything
to me. What grace is on display here?
Marvel, God saves this despised tax collector. He's despised
by the people around him. And God calls him from being
a tax collector to write in one of the Gospels. Now, first calls him by, and
he's saved. He calls him with an effectual
call. But look how Matthew was used later on. He didn't have
any idea he'd be writing a Gospel. He was moved by the Holy Spirit
of God, wasn't he, to write the Gospel of Matthew. Now here we
have it. His name is now known by millions. He had no idea that
would happen. But who would he focus you to?
He wouldn't focus you to himself. He'd say, look to Christ. Look to him. And we know that
because of the words that the Holy Spirit had him author. My,
we know, we know that he had God-given faith. You know what
it says here? Listen to what the Greek Bible,
I have that Greek literal Bible, and I pulled this verse up just
to see what the Greek literal Bible says. It says this, and
Jesus passing on from there saw a man called Matthew sitting
at the tax booth, and he said unto him, said to him follow
me in heaven arisen he followed him he just got up and follow
him sitting there doing his tax being
a tax collector where it says follow me oh he gets right up
and he didn't left everything behind didn't he my Sovereign and sovereign, irresistible
grace. In what words? You know these
words came with power, right? Because he's the Lord Jesus Christ.
Listen to what the psalm says here. It says here, and it says
here above us, make haste and delay not. Matthew makes haste,
doesn't he? He doesn't delay. That's what
God-given faith does. It doesn't delay, it makes haste,
it runs to Christ. It runs to Christ. And you know
what's on display here in this text? Psalm 29.4 says, the voice
of the Lord is powerful. The voice of the Lord is full
of majesty. What power we see here. All he says is, follow
me. What power behind those words, beloved? God in the flesh says
to Matthew, follow me. Can anyone resist God's call?
Can anyone stay the Lord's hand? No. Anyone in the armies of heaven
and amongst the inhabitants of the earth, if God calls them,
can they say, no, I don't think I want to come? No, none can
stay his hand. He calls him by his grace with
an effectual, irresistible call. And what is the result, again,
of God-given faith? It gets up and follows him. Oh,
my. It's incredible. So here's the
God-man. The Lord Jesus Christ commands
and Matthew must follow. He must follow. He makes haste
to follow Christ. Praise the name of God. Oh my. And let us ponder again Matthew's
reaction. It says here in the scriptures
that he arose and followed him. He followed Christ. He followed
Christ. He wasn't following a mere man.
He wasn't following a mere prophet. He was following the Messiah.
He was following Christ. He waited for nothing. He didn't
say, well, I'm going to wait for a convenient time. Well, maybe tomorrow. How many
times I heard people say, well, maybe tomorrow, or maybe when
I get a little older, I'll make a decision for Christ. Well,
my goodness. Number one, if Christ doesn't
save you, you're not going to be saved. Right? See, they think all the
power is in their hands. But the scripture also says that
today is the accepted time. Don't wait. You might not have
tomorrow. I might not have tomorrow. Don't
wait. Behold, now is the accepted time.
Behold, now is the day of salvation, today. If you're not saved, flee
to Christ. You might breathe your last breath
tonight and not even know it. Or you might tarry for a few
years And then breathe your last breath
and go to Christless eternity. My oh my. So Matthew, he didn't wait for
a convenient time. You know, Felix told Paul this.
He said, as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment. Paul
came before Felix, and he preached the gospel of Felix, who was
a leader. And Felix said this. He said
this in Acts chapter 24, verse 25. He said, and he reasoned
of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come. Felix trembled
and answered. So Felix heard the word, but
he only heard the word. It didn't come to him in power.
He only heard the word. He trembled. And he answered,
go thy way for this time when I have a convenient season, I'll
call for you. I'll call for you. I'll call
for you later, Paul. When I have a convenient time
to hear what you have to say, then I'll call for you. He never
called for him. He perished in his sins and went to a Christless
eternity. Today is the accepted time. Today is the day of salvation.
Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation.
2 Corinthians 6, verse 2. Now. Flee to Christ now. Today is the day to flee to Christ.
Tomorrow is not promised for any of us. We do not know when
we will breathe our last breath. So we see Matthew here in contrast
to Felix. Felix told Paul, I'll call for
you when it's a convenient time. So he only heard the words. It didn't come to him, as we
saw in Thessalonians this morning in the Bible study, it didn't
come to him in power. But the Lord's words came to
Matthew in power, beloved. Power of the Holy Spirit of God. What a contrast we see between
the two. And we see when one's regenerated and born again of
the Holy Spirit of God and given faith, they will follow immediately
Christ. You know God can save you without
you moving a muscle? Because it's a heart work? God
can take these messages as they go out and use them to save lost
souls without those folks moving a muscle? All by the power of
God? That's what he did for you and
I if we're saved. saved us by his grace and mercy. And Matthew
immediately followed the Lord. And he is blessed. Not only was
he blessed in being saved by the Lord, but again, he's blessed
and used to write the gospel of Matthew. And now we get blessed
by his words, because he points us to Christ. That's who he points
us to, all by the power of God the Holy Spirit. And you know,
God the Holy Spirit will always glorify Christ. Scripture says
he won't speak of himself. He will always glorify Christ.
He will always exalt Christ. Always. Always point the believer
to Christ. You know, think of this, too,
in light of this. Here we read about Matthew, and
he wrote the Gospel of Matthew, and think of this. The richest
man in the world is soon forgotten. There's people who lived in this
world we don't even know. Rich men who lived in this world.
Their names aren't even held record or anything. They're gone.
But in Matthew's name, we hear about it. Isn't that wonderful?
We hear about this despised publican, this one who no one wanted to
be around, and Christ saved him by his grace and his mercy. And
remember, every child of God is called by the same sovereign,
irresistible grace. You and I as believers were called
by the same sovereign, irresistible grace. And as God uses gospel
messages and the Holy Spirit takes those words of the preachers
and he gives life to the lost sinners, it's by the same power
as we see on display here. By the same power. Oh my. Aren't you thankful God had mercy
upon you? It's wonderful. How deserving
sinners we are and he had mercy on us. Oh, it's incredible. No wonder we praise his name.
No wonder we say Christ is my all in all. No wonder. My. And look at this in Matthew here.
It says, and no sooner did the Lord Jesus open his heart to
receive him than Matthew opened up his house to the Lord. Look
at 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. So Matthew opens up
his home to the Lord. And then he invites other publicans,
come on, come here, come here, this man who called me. You know,
see, who would only be friends with publicans, other publicans
and sinners, right? Because the upper crust, the
religious folks despise them, look down upon them. And again, even common citizens
like you and I were looked down upon. or were looked down upon,
even these tax collectors. But the sinners, the despised
ones, they were their friends. Other publicans were their friends,
because they get together, they're all despised, aren't they? You
know, God's people get together and we're despised by the world,
aren't we? And here we are together. Rejoicing. Rejoice in the wonderful
things that Christ has done for us. Oh, it's incredible. And observe the instant effects
of Matthew's conversion. No sooner does Christ call him
and Matthew obeys. Just like that. Just like that. The Lord opened
up Matthew's heart, beloved. Turn, if you would, to Acts chapter
16. The Lord opened up Matthew's heart to receive him. And then
Matthew opens up his home. welcome Christ. And not only
Christ, but he welcomes in other publicans and other sinners.
Come, come meet Christ. Come, come find mercy, just as
I did. And this text reminded me, as
I was putting together this message, this text reminded me of Lydia.
Lydia. We see her here in Acts, Acts
chapter 16, verse 11. And Lydia is one who the Lord
opened her heart to receive the words of Paul. That's what he
does for every born-again believer. Again, now, again, do we go to
Christ willingly? Yes, because that new nature. Yeah, our will is now turned
to follow Christ by God-given faith. It's absolutely beautiful.
Look at this. In Acts chapter 16, verses 11
to 15 now, Paul's preaching to these ladies down by the river. Therefore, loosing from Troas,
we came with a straight course to Samotharica, and the next
day to Neapolis, and from thence to Philippi, which is the chief
city of that part of Macedonia, and a colony. And we were in
that city abiding certain days. And on the Sabbath, we went out
of the city by a riverside. See, you preach the gospel wherever
one puts it on your heart. Where prayer was wont to be made.
And we sat down and spake unto the woman which was ordered thither.
So we know what Paul would speak to them about. He'd speak to
them about Christ, wouldn't he? He'd tell them about Christ.
And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple of the city
of Thyatira, which worshiped God, heard us. Look at this,
whose heart the Lord opened. That's what he does for his people.
He opens our hearts. He gives us new hearts, right,
to worship him and adore him. Look at that. And she attended
unto the things which were spoken of Paul. She believed. She believed. The things that
Paul spoke, she believed. Do you believe the words the
preachers tell you? That sovereign grace preachers who are sent
by God tell you that salvation's in Christ and Christ alone? Do
you look to Him alone for your salvation? Is He your only hope?
That comes from God, beloved. That comes from God and God alone.
I'll never tell you what you have to do, because there's nothing
you have to do for salvation. It's all done by Christ and Him
alone. He accomplished it. He obtained
salvation for us, scripture says. We're born again by His Spirit.
He sent the Comforter. Why does He send the Comforter?
Because you must be born again. You must be born again. So He
sends the Comforter who regenerates us, which is a word meaning born
again. Oh my. Look at Lydia. The Lord opened her heart. And
she was baptized in her household, and she besought us, saying,
if you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house.
She headed him over to her house and abided there, and she constrained
us. So here's Matthew. The Lord's called him. He's followed
the Lord immediately. And here, the scene set before
us, the great Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, God incarnate in
the flesh, is encircled in Matthew's house. publicans and sinners isn't that wonderful and the Pharisees hate it we'll
see that later but look at this he's encircled with publicans
and sinners verse 10 again 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 sitting in the midst of Christ.
Publicans and sinners, the ones who no one would accept, they
were despised. Oh my. And then look at the reaction
of these self-righteous Pharisees. And we still have Pharisees,
they come in all different flavors. You must be baptized to be saved. You must do this and that to
be saved. Oh my, it's awful. You must do something to be saved. You must do something to keep
yourself saved. Bunch of Pharisees. Salvation's
in Christ alone, plus nothing. It is He who's completed the
perfect sin-atoning work. And we just praise God that He's
given us faith to believe Him and believe upon what He did
for us. Rest in Him. My, look at these Pharisees here,
though. Look at verse 11. And when the
Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, why eateth your
master with publicans and sinners? Oh, these words are just dripping
with self-righteousness, aren't they? You know what? I have to confess, I was a Pharisee
when I was in religion. I was, beloved. I used to say,
how can people be like that and be a Christian? And I never considered
how horrible I was, how much of a sinner I was. I used to
look down on people for not going knocking on doors with me and
the preacher. That's awful. That's horrible. And I found out I was worse than
them. My, when God really revealed
himself to me, That's nothing but a self-righteous Pharisee
looking down on other people. That's what these folks are doing.
I can see it. I can see them saying this. Why are you with
your master with public institutions? What are you doing sitting with
him? What's he doing? We don't go
near those folks. They're a bunch of tax collectors,
a bunch of despised ones. Well, hallelujah. that Christ
sought Republicans and sinners. That's what we say. Because what
are we? We're sinners. We're sinners.
Sinners saved by grace, we who are in Christ. But sinners still,
though. And again, this shouldn't surprise us. This murmuring of
the Pharisees shouldn't surprise us, because it's the same today
with self-righteous people. It's the same. Mankind has not
changed. We're the same. And you know what makes us like
this? Pride. Pride. Even after we're saved, we still
got a lot of pride, don't we? Yeah. I remember Donnie Bell
saying there's enough pride in him to burn the whole church
down that he preaches in. It's true. True right here, too. My. Lord's so good to us. Isn't the Lord so merciful to
us? Isn't he so wonderful that he'd have mercy upon we sinners?
Isn't he incredible that he'd sit with the despised ones and
sinners, tax collectors, the ones everybody hated? Here he
is right in the midst of them. Oh my. You know, heaven's filled
with people who are sinners saved by the grace of God. Saved only by the grace of God.
They didn't get there by anything they've done, except all what
Christ has done. My oh my. And you know what this
shows too? This shows that they were ignorant
of God's design for which the Messiah was to come into the
world. They were supposedly looking for the Messiah, but they were
ignorant of why the Messiah would come into this world. Why would
the Messiah come into this world? To be a savior. He's the great
physician. He's the healer of sin-sick souls. And we see that brought forth
in the next verse, that they drew from the lips of our Lord
a rebuke, but it's accompanied by blessed words for sinners.
He says, I come not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
So there's a rebuke, and then there's a blessing for sinners.
Rebuke to the self-righteous and a blessing to sinners. Oh,
it's wonderful, isn't it? It's wonderful. I come not to
call the righteous. I didn't come to call self-righteous
Pharisees. I come to call these sinners,
these despised ones, right here. And look at Matthew 9, chapter
9, verses 12 and 13. We'll read that now. Oh, we see
the wonderful grace of God on display here. But when Jesus
heard that, he said unto them, they that behold need not a physician.
So if you don't think you need to be saved, you think you're
whole? That's what Christ said here
to the Pharisees. You think you're whole, you don't think you even
need a savior. You say you're looking for the Messiah, but
you say you don't need him. But they that are sick, publicans
and sinners. Look at this. But go ye learn
what that means. I will have mercy and not sacrifices.
I am not come to call the righteous. There's the rebuke. But sinners
to repentance. There's the balm. Oh, it's beautiful. Oh, it's beautiful. So what wonderful
words from he who is called the great physician. He who is called
the savior of sinners. They think they're fine, these
Pharisees. They think God will accept them based upon what they
do. Their supposed righteousness, which is nothing but filthy rags
in the eyes of the Lord. You know, God only accepts sinners
in Christ. He won't accept sinners any other
way. Only in Christ. He said, this is my beloved son
in whom I'm well pleased. And he's pleased with those who
are in Christ. Are you in Christ? Rejoice if you are. Give God
all the glory. Give him all the glory. Oh, God
only accepts sinners in Christ, who is the only Redeemer. There's
no other way to the Father. There's no other way to Heaven,
except through Christ and Him alone. He finished the work all
by himself. And our Lord responds with these
words, they that behold need not a physician, but they that
are sick. But go ye and learn what that meaneth. I will have
mercy and not sacrifice. For I have come not to call the
righteous, but sinners to repentance. You know who's speaking these
words? Jehovah Raphi, the Lord that healeth. The Lord that,
he healed us from all our sins, didn't he? He's the Lord, and
He's also Jehovah-Jireh to us. Jehovah-Jireh is speaking these
words too. The Lord that provides, He provides that salvation to
His people. Every knee will bow to Him. He's
the King of kings, and He's the Lord of lords. We see that right
here on display when He says to Matthew, follow me, and then
Matthew got right up and followed Him. What a word of power. Have we ever comprehended the
true measure of His divine in human nature, that he's the God-man? Think about that this week. Just
let that roll around in your minds this week, that he's the
God-man. He's God in the flesh. And we
see how low and how condescending our great king was. Where is
he holding court? He's the king of kings and the
lord of lords, but he's on this earth. Where is he holding court?
With publicans and sinners. not among the who's who of the
religious world. He's holding court as the king
of kings while he's on earth with publicans and sinners. That's
wonderful. He's right in their midst. My,
and even when he was on earth, known as the Son of Man, what
gleams of his divine glory shone forth in those truly royal acts
which he did. he showed that he had all power
he showed that he was king of kings and it came to pass I love
this again in verse 10 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 that's the best place to be sitting
at the feet of Jesus That's the best place for a sinner to be,
sitting at the feet of Christ. So he who is Lord of the sea,
he who is conqueror over the demons, which we've seen in this
study, he who is healer of the sick, he who is the forgiver
of all sins for his people, now has company with publicans and
sinners, the lowest of the low. And when the Pharisees saw it,
they didn't see his condescending work. They didn't see that he
was humiliating himself and lowering himself. They didn't see that
at all. They are so full of pride. They thought it was absolutely
wicked that he was eaten with publicans and sinners. They that be whole need not a
physician, but they that are sick. So beloved of God, our
Lord Jesus Christ came here on purpose. He came here on purpose
that He might save us from our sins. He came here on purpose.
And He finished the work 2,000 years ago. The work is finished. It's done. And you who feel sick
with sin today and sick of sin, flee to Christ. He's the only
hope. Come sit down with Him as these
publicans and sinners did. Come sit down at His feet. And
remember the words, all that the Father giveth me shall come
to me, and him that cometh to me, I will no wise cast out.
What words of hope, what words of assurance. We come to him
with nothing, as poor, bankrupt sinners. We own our sinnership,
we own the fact that we are sinners. And we come to him by faith,
why? Because we've been given a new nature, and our wills are
now guided by that nature, and we flee to Christ. Let us never
forget that Christ is the sinner's savior. And he came here to save we who
are his people. Praise be to God.