were here, I actually brought you a message from Philippians, the second chapter, and I want you to go back to Philippians 2 and verse 13. I want to begin here and talk about the work that God is continually doing for his people. Philippians chapter 2 and verse 13, and then I'll tie this back to what I just read in Matthew chapter nine.

In Philippians chapter two and verse 13, the apostle says, for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. That statement greatly encourages me that it's God who works in me both to will and to do of his own good pleasure, it encourages me, especially when I think of my own inability and that I am without any natural strength to do anything spiritual.

I need salvation, but I'm not led of myself to pursue it. I need the grace of God, but I can't get it. I need to be righteous before the Lord, but I can't accomplish that. If my interest in everlasting life, if the conversion of my soul, if my eternal destiny is left up to me, if the conversion of my heart is my responsibility, I am of all men most helpless. It is a great comfort to my heart that it's God who works in me to will and to do of his own good pleasure.

Here is comfort for sinners. As to our inability, as to our weakness, as to our lack of strength, there's no question about those things. Christ said, you will not come to me that you might have life. That's us as much as it was the Pharisees to whom he spoke those words. The Savior said in John 6, and you cannot come to me that you might have life. That's as true of us as it was to the people to whom he spoke there in John chapter 6.

Here is encouragement, here is comfort, here is consolation for poor, weak, needy sinners. It is true that I'm weak. It is true that I am powerless to do anything spiritual. It's a sad truth, but my weakness is not the issue when it comes to the conversion of my soul. The issue is, can God do it? And he can. And Paul says he's continually working. When it says it's God who worketh in you, that ending of ETH indicates God is continually doing something.

You remember the Savior back in John chapter 5, He said, My Father worketh hitherto and I work. And He's working tonight. He's working in all of His people here. He's working in all of the Lord's people who are watching tonight. He's working in all of His people throughout all the world. Doing that which is according to His own will and His own purpose. You see, what I cannot do, He must do and He does do.

Hold here in Philippians 2, I'm gonna come back to it in just a minute. But look at 2 Corinthians 12, just a very few pages over. 2 Corinthians 12 and verse 9. 2 Corinthians 12, 9. And he said unto me, the Lord said to the apostle Paul, my grace is sufficient for thee for my strength is made perfect in weakness. The strength of God is made perfect. It is magnified in my weakness. And I read that today and I thought, Lord, magnify your strength in me because I'm nothing but weakness. Glorify thyself, show forth your power in me because I can contribute absolutely nothing, not to my salvation, not to my preservation, not to the keeping of my soul safe. I am absolutely weak, but he's my strength. And His strength is made perfect. It's magnified in my weakness.

And you can put it this way. And one old writer that I read today, I thought he put it very well. He said, considering my own weakness, I say, oh God, magnify yourself because my weakness gives God an opportunity to show forth how strong he is, how mighty he is, and his grace is always mighty when he puts it in the soul. So it's God who works in us. My weakness doesn't add anything. to the strength of the Lord, for His strength is perfect. Nothing can be added to it. But my inability gives God the opportunity to show forth His strength in me.

Do you not feel in your own heart that You would be nothing except the Lord had stretched out His strong arm to do a work in you. And the work that He's done in you, He's maintaining that. You see, He created life within us. Will He cease to do that? I know this, if the Lord ever left any of us, we'd be dead again. The Scripture says that Christ is our life. He is our life. I live because He lives. I breathe spiritually. I breathe out to God in prayer because He continually breathes in me.

You know, in Genesis we read that God breathed into Adam the breath of life and he became a living soul. God continually breathes into his people spiritual life. It's a breath of God. In fact, the word breath or wind is the same as the spirit. It's the spirit who continually breathes in us. I'm like a person who constantly needs to be, to have air given to me, breath given to me, life maintained in me. And that's the way it is with me, it's the way it is with you.

So it's God who is working in us to will and to do of His good pleasure. And God in working in us meets no obstacle that He can't overcome. We meet a lot of obstacles. We meet a lot of things that would stop us in our tracks, but not God. Not God. He brought us salvation when we weren't seeking it. He sought us and found us when we weren't searching for Him. He called on us in power when we had no desire to call on Him for mercy. This is our God. He's not weak. He's not helpless. He does His will in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. None can stay His hand or say unto Him, What doest thou?

And the power of our God is never so glorious as when it goes to work within us where there's nothing but weakness. I just feel like spiritually I'm as weak as water. You feel like that? I have no strength. I can't turn away the fiery darts of temptation. Can you? Is there any person who can withstand the assaults of Satan? And we cry out, Oh God, be our shield. Give us faith and maintain that. Thankfully, the Lord works in a powerful way within us to accomplish His will and His purpose.

And I want you to go back now to Matthew 9, and let me give you an illustration. An illustration of our God, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, working. in the heart of a man by the name of Matthew. Here is the Savior's irresistible, saving call of grace. It's the effectual call.

Jim, what do you mean by effectual? It's able to get the job done. I can call you and I do call you to come to Christ. Believe on the Son of God. I said everybody who's watching tonight, look to Christ, look and live. But my words won't cause you to look. I can't draw you. I can tell you the truth. That's all I can do. But I'll tell you what our God, he's never met a sinner yet that he couldn't bring that sinner to his knees and break the heart and actually take away the heart of stone and give a heart of flesh. Let me give you a few things here and I'll be brief, the weather's not, favorable out, so I'll try to give this to you, give you something to chew on for a while, four, five, six things as time allows.

Matthew, what do we know about him? Well, number one, he was a sinful man. He's like the least likely to follow Jesus of Nazareth. He's collecting tribute money And there was so much that they had to collect. And whatever they got over that stated amount that the government had levied against a person or their property or whatever, whatever they could get over and above that, they stuffed in their pockets. He was a licensed tax collector. He was a sinner with no interest in Christ. It doesn't say when the Lord Jesus passed forth, Matthew got up and said, I need your help. No. Matthew's sitting at the seat of custom. He's a sinner, had no understanding of his needs.

You say, well, people need Christ. Ask them if they need Him. They don't need Him. And one of the reasons they don't need Him is because what they hear about Him, that He actually needs them. That's how perverted religion is today. You can't do anything unless you let Him, unless you ask Him, unless you give Him permission. This man, Matthew, he had no awareness of his condition. And we didn't either. You tell somebody, you know, you're a sinner. Well, they say, well, everybody is. Well, yeah, that's right, everybody is. But everybody doesn't really believe it, and everybody doesn't know the full extent of their sinfulness. We're so sinful that we're dead in trespasses and sins. That's what Scripture says. We're so sinful that though Christ is the only Savior, we will not seek Him and we will not run to Him that we might have life. We're in bad shape. Matthew's in bad shape. Probably if you looked at his bank account, you'd say, boy, he's got it made. He probably had his own CPA, you know, kept the books for him. Boy, Matthew, you had a really good year this year. Yeah, but you're dead toward God. You're dead toward Christ. Your soul is empty of spiritual life. If a man gains the whole world and loses his own soul, has he gained anything? No, no. He was a sinful man.

Secondly, he had specific names. The writer of this book was a man named Matthew. And Matthew had two names. The first was Levi. And Levi means joined to. Remember, that was one of the sons of Jacob. Joined to. And little did Levi in our passage of scripture, who was also, he had another name, Matthew, but I wanna work on Levi first. Little did he know it, but he was joined to Jesus Christ in God's eternal purpose of grace. He was one with the Son of God. He had no idea of that. He had no conception of that, had no awareness, no knowledge of that, but he was joined to Christ from old eternity according to God's eternal purpose of grace. God chose him unto salvation. He was one with the Savior, didn't know anything about it. You see, all who were given to Jesus Christ in covenant grace in electing mercy were joined to Him. And from Him there is no divorce, there is no separation. Levi did not understand, he had no awareness of this, but he was put in the Son of God for safekeeping from old eternity. That's the way it was then, that's the way it will always be. He was joined to Christ. That's what the name Levi means. Joined to, he was joined to Christ. And his other name was Matthew. And Matthew means gift of Jehovah. He was given by the father to the son of God for safekeeping in covenant love. And not only was he given to Christ, but Christ was given to him. Thanks be unto God, Paul said, for his unspeakable gift.

Matthew is minding his own business, a fleshly business, a worldly business. He didn't have any idea that the Son of God had been given to him in old eternity, or that he would be given to him on this occasion. Our Lord, you see, would go on to redeem Matthew. He would save Matthew by his marvelous grace.

Matthew's a man totally committed to his career, like so many men and women are. thinking nothing except about materialism and prosperity. He's committed to his career. He wasn't engaged in prayer. When the Lord Jesus came Matthew's way, Matthew wasn't on his knees or on his face before God or desiring to be filled with the mercy of God. He thought of nothing but money and materialism. He wasn't reading the Word of God. Who in their right mind would ever say of Matthew, you know, he was a seeker. He was searching for the Lord. No, he was not. He's searching for the almighty dollar, except they didn't use dollars. He was searching for money.

Always keep this in mind. The emphasis in this passage of Scripture is not what Matthew did for Christ. It's what Christ did for Matthew. And that is always the way it is in conversion. The sinner doesn't lift one finger to aid himself. or herself. All of the work is that of the Savior.

You see, Ezekiel, in Ezekiel chapter 16, he wrote about the time of love. This was the time of love for Matthew.

Well, here's the third thing. Here is a saving There are three accounts given in the Synoptic Gospels. To speak of the Synoptic Gospels, most of you know it's Matthew, Mark, and Luke because they're very similar and in many ways repetitive. But there are three accounts in the Synoptic Gospels of the conversion of Matthew. obviously here, then in Mark chapter 2, 13 to 17, and then in Luke chapter 5, 27 to 32. Notice what it says in verse 9.

Here are three things. And Jesus passed forth. The Lord Jesus passed His way. He didn't have to. He didn't meet with a very warm reception earlier in this chapter. The religious leaders were critical of him, and when our Lord forgave the sins of this paralyzed man, they said he committed blasphemy. He was not in a friendly atmosphere. There was a lot of hostility toward the Lord Jesus Christ. And He passed by all those hypocrites, Pharisees, scribes, Sadducees. He passed them all by and stopped to visit with Matthew.

I wonder how many people the Lord passed by And then he came to you and he stopped. He stopped. Why did he come to you? Were you more deserving than others? Were you more worthy of his great salvation?

Our Lord passed forth from thence. The second thing is, he passed Matthew's way. The second thing is, he saw him. You see that in verse nine? He saw a man named Matthew sitting, inactive, sitting, sitting in his sin, sitting in his filthiness, sitting in his, Security, so he thought. Our Lord saw him. He saw him in his sins and he purposed to save him. He saw him filthy and he determined to wash him in his blood. He saw him held captive by Satan and our Lord determined to loose him and set him free. He saw him in debt to the justice of God and purposed to retire his indebtedness by his own death upon the cross. He saw him in his wickedness and he purposed to make him righteous. He saw him in his spiritual deadness and he determined to breathe spiritual life into him, to quicken him. He saw him in his spiritual ignorance and he determined to make him wise unto salvation. He saw him with eyes of love and compassion, just an old sinner. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, and Paul said, of whom I'm chief.

He passed his way, he saw him, and then he spoke to him. He spoke to him. Two words. Follow me. Follow me. Here is the effectual call. He saith unto him, oh, that each of us, oh, that each of you who are watching would hear from God by personal word. His word breaks the hardest heart. His word is a hammer. His word is a fire. If he would only speak to us, you can't make him speak to you. I pray that he will. because he alone speaks life to the dead. Lazarus, come forth. What do you think happened then? When life meets death, death gives way. And he who was bound came forth alive.

He said, follow me. That's not an invitation. That's not a request. This is the king speaking to one of his subjects. My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. I tell you when you'll follow Christ, when he speaks to you, when he speaks to you. This is the call that gets the job done. Matthew is made willing in the day of the Lord's power.

Our Lord passed his way, he saw him and he spoke to him. Now here's another thing. Here's the sudden conversion. It says in verse 10, or in the end of verse nine, and he arose and followed him. If the Lord of Glory issues a call to you, all of a sudden you'll have the ability to rise up and follow Him. You see, with His all-powerful call comes the ability to obey the call. You can't obey the call unless He issues it to you. But with the call, with the power, the very power of God behind the call, you'll rise up and follow Him. It's a sudden conversion.

Look at Luke. Look at Luke chapter five. Let me show you how Luke sets this forth. Luke chapter five. Luke tells us, that as a result of this call, Matthew did three things. And the call in the salvation, in the regeneration, in the new birth, Matthew could contribute nothing. But after he's made alive by the power of God, he does something. Here are three things he does.

Luke 5, verse 27. And after these things, Jesus went forth and saw a publican named Levi sitting at the receipt of custom, and he said unto him, Follow me. And Matthew did three things. Number one, he left all. He left his companions. He left his business. and all the profits of, he walked away from all of it. He could not remain in a business so filled with dishonesty because the Lord made him spiritually alive. You see, when Christ comes, he cleans up a man. Man thinks differently. He certainly thinks differently about himself because he sees himself as a sinner who needs a savior. He thinks differently about God. And he thinks differently now about how he represents the Lord. He says, this is not something I need to be involved in anymore.

He left all. And secondly, he rose up immediately. As it was in the old creation, so it is in the new creation. When the Lord says, let there be light, light rushes in. Our imaginations were darkened. We didn't know, we didn't see, didn't care. Then Christ, who is the light, he comes into us. And he fills the heart with light. And it's immediate. It's immediate.

And thirdly, he followed him. This is the commitment of faith. He saw the Savior, not only with physical eyes, but He saw Him as the Son of God. He saw Him as the Lord of glory. He saw Him as the Savior, the Redeemer. He saw Him as the promised Messiah. And He dropped His works religion. He was involved in a works religion that is Judaism. He stopped trying to keep the law for salvation. He followed Christ, he believed on the Lord Jesus Christ.

And then here's something else. All of a sudden we see him as a concerned saint. Back in Matthew 9, we find that Matthew having invited the Savior to his house for a feast, He honored the master and showed concern for his friends. He has a feast and he tells everybody, this is my Lord and Savior. And he invites his acquaintances because now he's concerned about them.

I remember when I first heard the gospel of grace, I couldn't wait to tell my family. It was the best news I'd ever heard. Now, they didn't receive it as I hoped that they would, but nevertheless, I was like Elihu in the book of Job. I was full of the matter. I just had to tell them, people that you love, you want them to know the truth. I saw them as being messed up in false religion like I was. I wanted to tell them. I wanted to let them know who my Savior is. That's the way it was with Matthew. He said, I want you all to come. I have a special guest I want you to meet. And he's my Savior. He's concerned.

And the last thing I'll give you is this. In Matthew 9, here's the commissioned Savior. What was he commissioned to do? Last statement of verse 13. I'm not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. This was his commission. He came to save sinners. I'm one. Lord, here I am. I have no goodness to claim whatsoever. And I'll tell all of you, I'm just a sinner saved by the free grace of my God and King. He sought me. He found me. He turned me around. He turned my darkness into light. He redeemed me by His blood. I'm his, and he's mine. That's the way it was with Matthew, our brother in Christ Jesus. There's his call, and there's his conversion.

Let's get our psalm books. I'm just gonna let you sing one stanza here of number 204, Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus. Hymn number 204, Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus. Just sing the first stanza, 204. OK.