on some of those lyrics. They are awesome. The one that hit me, and this goes really well with what I'll be speaking about today, is in verse two, the end of the second stanza. It says, happy my case, followed by I now am a sinner. Think about that for a second. Happy my case. And the next words are, I am a sinner. That actually makes sense when you see the words that Christ says at Matthew's table. And he says, for I came not to call the righteous, but for sinners. Happy my case. I am one of those. You know, we're never happy about our sin. We're never proud of it. We've battled with the shame of it.

But Christ has given one qualifier for the people who he came to save. And that qualifier is they must be sinners. Now, we all are. But when Christ mentions not the righteous, or not called the righteous, that's basically in air quotes, because no one is righteous, but the Pharisees thought they were. And we think we're righteous at times, but we are not. And God's people are shown the table that they sit at. And the scoundrels we are, and the scoundrels we're surrounded by, but Christ is at that table. So happy my case, I now am a sinner, but only a sinner can be saved by grace. So those lyrics make a lot of sense. And my sermon is pretty much over now. That was the whole thing. Let's expound on what I just said.

So we'll be staying in Matthew 9, 9 through 13, and we'll bounce around a little bit, but that's where we're gonna start. So first of all, I wanna look at the fact that so often we read in the Gospels of Christ, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, all these amazing events that include Christ in this world. And we get so used to it, since we're children, we're told the stories of what Jesus did here.

Sometimes I get lost in my own head. A lot of times I get lost in my own head. But I really get lost sometimes in the fact that this is God, the creator of all things, the word, doing mundane human things in a world that he created. That doesn't fit in my brain.

The concept of God in the living flesh, living a life in this world is beyond me. Especially when you break it down to specific events, God in flesh as a child. How can the creator of the universe be a child? God in flesh needing food and needing water for sustenance. God needing rest. God in flesh in this situation sitting at a table. I know that sounds really small and insignificant, but think about that.

He created the world, the trees of which that table was made were put into motion by him. And there he sat. He was the originator of those trees that became the table next to which he was sitting. Only God can obliterate the rules that we as humanity operate by, our understanding of the rules of the world. He can obliterate them because he wrote them. He has no limitations. He is God.

And we are so incredibly limited that it is hard for us to understand those things. Hence, the mysteries of God. Because to our limited capabilities, they are mysteries. Not that they aren't perfect, they're just beyond us. And this is a good thing. If God was limited to our understanding, we would all be in a heap of trouble. there would be no God at all if he was limited to our understanding, or limited at all. So let's focus on this one moment that's hard for us to fathom.

Jesus, God in flesh, sitting at this table. And it's not an ordinary table, not in the table itself. It's not an ordinary table in the fact that who's sitting there with him. This is a picture of those who quote unquote qualify for salvation through the sacrifice of Christ.

And it is definitely not a respectable room. And you'll see that throughout the scriptures that Christ, the people that he surrounded himself with, the people that he loved, by earthly standards were quite despicable. And I don't think we really even understand the level of despicable that this table was. These are people that you, these are people that were known specifically for their sin.

We don't have that as much. We like to take care of our reputations and make people see us in a bright light, in a way that isn't real. Do you want people to see who you really are? The thoughts that you have? The things that you do in your mind? Or maybe even out of your mind? We guard that reputation. This group of people had no shot at that. They were tax collectors. They were prostitutes. They were the dredge of society.

And I don't know if we really understand that. These are the kind of people that when you see them, you have an immediate physical reaction. We have people like that. and we judge them, I'll never say I don't. You'll walk by someone on the street that obviously has homeless or dirty or speaking strangely or whatever, any type of thing, there's so many ways for us to look at somebody and without even thinking we have a reaction.

These are the kind of people that Christ sat with. And I don't want to say these people like they're any less than me. That's the point. These people are us. These were the kind of members of society where you weren't like unsure of the levels of sin that they did. It was out on display. Like they were the obvious dredge of society. Everybody knew everything about their sinfulness.

And that's on purpose. Christ did that on purpose, not only because he came to save those people, but at that moment, that table, those individuals were there to show us who Christ came for and who God's people are. These are the kind of people you wouldn't want near your kids. You wouldn't want your name connected to theirs. These are not, oh, they made a mistake.

These are people whose lives were defined by sin. It says we only know them as tax collectors and sinners, but sin was their definition. Tax collectors we've talked about. We've actually spoke on this exact passage not that long ago about tax collectors and how they were hated and despised by everyone.

Jews hated them, Romans hated them. They were fully alone in this world and they were morally corrupt. They stole from everyone and they did it for money and had no other friends or family in this world. They were despised. And then the other group is just quote unquote sinners. They were only known as sinners. Their defining factor at that table was that person is a sinner.

That's who was sitting at this table with the Prince of Peace, with the creator of the world, the light of the world. So the Pharisee's reaction is understandable. We would have had the exact same reaction. were it not for the Spirit of God. Anyone beyond the Spirit of God would have had the exact same reaction as the Pharisees. He doesn't stand at a distance. He doesn't lecture from the doorway. He sits at the table and eats with them. He identifies himself with them in a way that would have been absolutely shocking culturally.

Shocking then and shocking now. Would have been shocking to the Pharisees and it would have been shocking to you. To kind of modernize this, imagine someone who shows up now in this world claiming to be the fulfillment of all that you believe. That's what happened to these Pharisees and these Jews. That's what Christ was. He showed up saying, I am the fulfillment of the Old Testament. saying, I am the Messiah you're waiting for. To being the son of God, he said.

Shocking to these people. And then, that individual goes directly to the house of the most despised individuals on earth. Put yourself in that position. You would think that guy's crazy. sitting down with the homeless, the filthy, the prostitutes, the addicts, the nastiest this world has to offer.

It's easy for the judge or the Pharisees to judge and have that reaction. It's natural to who we are. The only way you don't have that reaction is by the intervening spirit of God. Without that spirit, the reaction would have been the same for all of us. By nature, we all would have been on the side of the Pharisees. And the Pharisees see this, and they ask the obvious question.

You're coming to tell us who you are. Why would you sit with them? You and I, we all have eyes. We know who these people are. We know the lives they live. Why are you sitting with them? Why would someone claiming to represent God sit in a room at a table like that? Why associate with people like this? Why lower yourself to that kind of company?

And if we're honest, it's not just a question that we understand, it's a question that we kind of feel. It's like part of us, right? It's almost like I mentioned earlier, when you see a certain kind of person, you get a physical reaction. That's what they would have had. They wouldn't even had to think about it or contemplate on it. It'd have been like, why? What are you doing? Just a reaction. It would be immediate, instinctive.

This is not where I want to be. Why do you want to be here? Every one of us, by default, hearing this story, places ourselves in the wrong spot. We picture ourselves, not necessarily with the Pharisees, but we don't picture ourselves at the table. Maybe we're standing in the room or standing outside. But still separate, still different. That's our nature.

And Jesus destroys that distance with one sentence and he says, I came not to call the righteous, but sinners. That's not just a description, it's a category. Those, that is who qualifies. We often speak and read scripture about that tells us there is nothing we can do to deserve or earn the love of God, which is absolutely true. But there is a qualifier to becoming God's people.

Christ's own words, I came not to call the righteous, but sinners. So if you are one of God's people, if you believe in the sovereignty of God and that salvation is only by the perfect, finished work of Christ, you are not standing outside that house, you are sitting at the table.

Not because your sin looks exactly like theirs on the surface. You might not be nearly as obvious in your lifestyle as these people were. You weren't the modern equivalent of a tax collector or a prostitute. But what this is telling us is that you may not have the same reputation here. You might not have the same visible consequences here. You might not have crossed the same lines publicly.

But before a holy God who judges, According to the heart, you are no different than them. The issue is not how your sin compares to someone else. The issue is that your sin exists at all. And it does. pride, self-centeredness, lust, bitterness, control, idolatry. I'm not gonna list all the ways in which we can be sinful. That would take forever. We are broken to the core of our being. We are under a curse that infects every part of who we are. in our very best of our abilities and our best attributes that we're a little bit proud of is the heart of a sinner. That's what Christ is showing us here.

And in a way, we have to embrace that, which sounds strange, but that's exactly what the Pharisees would not do. Well, I am not one of them. They especially thought highly of themselves, but even us, maybe we don't put ourselves on a Pharisee level, but boy, you know, I sin, absolutely, but I don't know if I'm quite that bad. Untrue. You're at a table with the worst.

And that sounds terrifying, but it is the best possible place to be. Our heart is sinful. Our heart naturally does not love God. Matter of fact, our heart naturally hates him. Our heart resists him. Our heart puts ourself first, always. By heart, or by nature, our hearts are enemies of God.

And that's not a small problem, that's the only problem. The issues you're dealing with from your day-to-day life are all silly and eventually come to an end and are eventually pointless. Now, I'm not saying we shouldn't feel for each other and support each other throughout this life, but in the big picture of eternity, the problems you deal with on a daily basis mean nothing. There is one major problem. Your heart is an enemy of God because of what Adam has done and because of your own sin. That is the only real problem you should be concerned with.

That's why Jesus says in this passage, those who are well have no need for a doctor. Now we know what he means by that. No one is well. But the Pharisees thought they were. We think we are at times. Without the Spirit of God, you do think you're well. The only way you can truly understand the fact that you are not well is by the Spirit of God. And this is consistent everywhere you look.

Look at the apostles. The apostles were not impressive men. So you've got this table full of sinners. Then you've got the apostles who follow him throughout his entire ministry. These are impulsive, uneducated, immature, fearful, prideful, unstable men. Not one of them held a high regard in society. No one looked at them and thought, wow, that's someone I look up to. These were fishermen, tax collectors.

There's a reason Christ keeps surrounding himself with the dredge, with the sinful. That's who he came for. We all are, but he came for those that are shown this. Peter denied Christ when he needed him most. The others ran away. These are not just the people at the dinner table. These were the men that were given the keys to the kingdom. These were the men that after Christ went up to heaven and sat on the right hand of his father on the throne. These were the men that were charged with spreading the gospel throughout the world. The tax collectors and the uneducated fishermen.

They were entrusted with building the church. worthless on their own. And that's the picture. God is making it so clear, Christ is making it so clear that men have nothing to boast in. So he goes to those who we can even see have nothing to boast in. Which is something, because we can't see much, but we can see that. worthless on their own, not one thing from any of them to boast in. Then you have Paul.

He wasn't just unimpressive, he was downright evil, openly, hostile, violent, an enemy of Christ. And yet God doesn't just forgive him, God chooses him to be the final apostle and to write some of the most important words that have ever been written. Some of the most beautiful gospel words that you'll ever read. From a man who was not only worthless, they say he was short and he had weepy eyes and he wasn't a very good speaker, On top of the fact that when he began as an adult, he was a hater of Christ. He went after the church, persecuted them, wanted them dead.

These are the people that Christ surrounds himself with. We always joked that Joe was the perfect preacher for us because there was no way, I mean I love Joe, he's one of my favorite human beings that's ever been, one of my best friends. But there was nothing about Joe that you were gonna boast in. He was a blessed, blessed preacher. But God doesn't put remarkable, impressive individuals around him because he wants you to know there is nothing in any of us that is impressive.

Look at these sinners surrounding me. These are my people. It is obvious that their salvation is all mine. It's clear they can't do it on their own. Look at what Paul says in 1 Timothy 1.15, it says, here's a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance. Christ Jesus came to the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason, for that very reason, that I am the worst of sinners, I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display His immense patience as an example for those who would believe in Him and receive eternal life. I was chosen, Paul's saying, I was chosen because of how awful I was.

And then go to verse 17. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God be honor and glory forever and ever. That's the point. All the glory goes to Christ. How could it go anywhere else? You could never look at Paul and give him glory. who was at this table, who was chosen to be apostles, who Paul was, and what God had in store for him. None of this is random. It's an intentional, powerful grace. Go back to 1 Corinthians 27 through 29 that I read earlier. First Corinthians chapter one, 26 through 29. Actually, I'll go through 31st even. Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards. Not many influential. Not many were of noble birth.

But God chose the foolish things of this world to shame the wise. God chose the weak things of this world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things. And the things that are not to nullify the things that are. So that no one, this is the key, so that no one may boast before him.

It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God. That is our righteousness, holiness, and redemption. Therefore it is written, let him who boasts, boast in the Lord. God chose a people not because we are worthy, not because we are promising, not because they were impressive in any way, he chose because these people were so obviously unworthy that it was clear that salvation had nothing to do with their efforts. That's why those people were at the table. That's why the apostles are who they are. That's why Paul is who he is. Paul said it himself. I am the chief of sinners, that is why I was chosen.

God shows what is low and despised in the world. Even things that are not to bring things that are so that no human being may boast in the presence of God. To show us once again the perfection and sovereignty of God. And the finished work of his son. Nothing can be added to it. So he chose individuals where it was so clear they could not.

If those who have been saved have nothing to offer, then by fault, all the work is done by the Savior. All the glory of the work done goes to the Savior. The only boasting that can be done in the only saving work that has ever truly been done goes to the Savior. Which means that if you belong to Christ, it is not because you made the right decision at the right time, it is because God chose to love you. simply according to His perfect will.

He is God. You are exactly how you needed to be in order to qualify for His salvation. It says, for I came to call the righteous, or not the righteous, but sinners. You are a sinner. But we don't stop there, obviously, because if you stop at your sin, and you focus solely on that, it becomes crushing.

It can be something that becomes very difficult to get past. A weight. Different times of your life, you might experience it worse than others, but it can be so heavy. We have two different kinds of struggles, the kind where we're the Pharisee and we look at it and we're like, well, we're not fully that bad. But then we can go through times where it feels like no one could be worse.

If you are defined by your sin, then it can't. Then you have no hope. But the gospel doesn't stop there. Like the song we read, I don't remember the exact words now, but it talks about, I am a sinner, happy my case. Well, he's not just happy because he's a sinner, he's happy, he's a sinner saved by grace. being saved by the grace of God through Christ is the greatest possible thing that can ever happen. And that only happens to sinners. The point of being shown your condition, the Spirit of God is gonna show all of God's people the truth of their condition. And the point of being shown your condition clearly is so that you can see His mercy clearly. If your salvation depended on your worth, you would lose it. If it depended on your consistency, you would never have it. If it depended on your strength, it would collapse, but it doesn't. It fully depends on Him.

In Ephesians, it says, as for you who were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work and those who are disobedient, all of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. This is true for all of us. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.

But because of his great love for you. Not because of anything else. Not because of anything you've done or anything that separates you. from the rest of humanity, but because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ, even when we were dead. It is by grace you have been saved, but because of his great love for us, God did. God did it. You did not improve, you did not fix yourself, not you at all, but God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive in Christ. It is by grace you have been saved. God stepped in. God fully executed his perfect plan of salvation for his people through the Son, the perfect Savior.

So when we talk about who's at this table and it becomes a clear light shining on who we are, it can be hard when we are shown our natural place, the sin in which that we don't have an escape from. But that is not where we need to be looking. He clearly defines who we are, sinners. our natural place. But the beauty in that definition isn't just you are sinners, it's sinners are who I came for. So instead of focusing on your sin and being weighed down by the guilt and shame that comes with it, be grateful that yes, you are a sinner and you are aware of your sin, but Sinners are who Christ came to save and you are one of them. So don't stay defined by the table that you're sitting at or the people you're sitting with. You are defined by Him who sits with you. If you are in Christ, you are not the sinner that he tolerates. You are a child adopted by the Father. In 1 John 3, it says, see what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we would be called children of God, and that is what we are, child of God.

At that table, their identity was taxpayers and sinners. That was their title. That is what they were known as. And in 1 John, it tells us that is no longer the case. When Christ gave himself, when Christ was forsaken by his own father, separated from him for the first time, suffered in unimaginable ways and died and defeated death and rose again. Since that moment, your sin that defined you, that put you at that table is gone. You went from a tax collector and a sinner at the table with your Savior to a child of God. solely based on what Christ has done. That jump is hard to explain. There's no bigger chasm between a sinner and the child of the ever-living God. The blessing that that is is something we will never understand until we're there.

And again, that is why they sing praises for eternity. Because they've been shown what a true blessing that is. And when you finally see it, you'll do the same. You'll never stop singing glory, glory, glory to Christ. Because you'll finally see what he has done for you. the tax collector, the prostitute, the dredge of society deserving of nothing, dead, dead in your transgressions and sins. And not only were you given life or given health, you were given everything. You were given a place at the table in heaven for eternity.

That is your identity, not your past, not your failures, not your worst moments. You are a child of God. That is not a title that you created or had anything to do with. It's not as flimsy as who you are and your strengths. That title has been given to you. It is as solid and unchanging as God himself. So never doubt it. We have doubts. Mostly when we tend to look at ourselves. And you know what? Looking at ourselves will create doubts.

Every time. Well, we're here, we have that flesh, that body of death that still sits at the table at Matthew's house as a sinner, as a tax collector. But the child of God, your true identity, at some point you will drop that body of death. and you will move on and you will go home and you will be your true self earned by your savior, the child of God. And like I said, that is as solid and unchanging and undoubtful. You can't doubt it. It's not doubt a bull, it's put in place by God himself. To doubt it is to doubt him.

Your place as a child of God is as solid and unchanging as God himself because that who has made it so. I really love this symbolism that Christ shows us, that God shows us, putting us in our place, what table that we sit at and who we sit with. But it's not about the sinners and the tax collectors that we sit with, it's about who comes and sits with us. He came to save sinners, of which we all are.

If you're blessed enough to be shown your true nature, then you are no longer of that nature. Isn't that amazing? If you've been blessed enough by the Spirit of God to be shown your true sinful nature, You are now one of his, and in all reality, in front of the judge, you no longer have that nature. That's wild. The only individuals that are ever truly shown and understand their absolute sinful nature don't have it anymore. What a blessing.

I'm so grateful that he takes these opportunities to show us these things and show us where we were and now where we are and how little and how nothing we had to do with it. He goes to great lengths to show us that. No one can boast in anything beyond our perfect Savior and we don't need to. We have one boast and it's in Christ. We owe everything to him. We love Him, and we only love Him because He loves us. And because He loves us, we will never not love Him. It all hinges on the power of Christ.

I don't want it anywhere else. It makes me so thankful that the salvation of my soul rests on the strength of Jesus Christ. I don't hold on to that daily, but when I do get the opportunity and God shows me that or makes me realize it at times, it is such a comfort. It can actually make everything else kind of melt away for a while.

Whatever you're dealing with, whatever struggles you have, when you are shown to remember you are a child of God, and you only became a child of God through Christ, and you will never not be a child of God because of Christ. Our Father, we thank you so much for all the ways that you remind us and show us of the gospel of your Son. the perfect sacrifice that he was, and the power and strength and love that he is, the light, the only light in darkness. We are just so grateful, Lord, that you've shown us that light, given us eyes to be able to see it and softened our hearts to be able to understand as much as we need to, to know who we are and who we need, And we are so grateful, Lord, that you'll never let us wander, not to the point of true danger. You'll never let us leave. So grateful, Lord, we thank you for all of these things. We thank you for all the love you have for your children. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen. You can take out your hymn book