Learn What That Meaneth

Q: What does the Bible say about forgiveness of sins?

The Bible states that Jesus has the authority to forgive sins, as discussed in Matthew 9. In Matthew 9, Jesus demonstrates His divine authority to forgive sins by telling the paralyzed man, 'Thy sins be forgiven thee.' This act clearly establishes His identity as God, for only God can forgive sins. The scribes recognized this, asserting that no man can forgive sin, thereby highlighting the profound truth that forgiveness is ultimately a divine act accessible through faith in Christ. The biblical understanding of forgiveness encompasses a complete absolution of sin, which is achieved not by our merit, but through the atoning work of Jesus Christ on the cross.

Q: Why is the call of Matthew significant in the Bible?

Matthew's call highlights Jesus' power to transform unlikely sinners into instruments of grace. The calling of Matthew, a tax collector, is significant because it illustrates the irresistible grace of God and the transformative power of Jesus’ call. In Matthew 9:9, Jesus calls Matthew to 'Follow me,' demonstrating that salvation is not based on one's past or social standing but is a gift of God's sovereign grace. Matthew's immediate response to leave everything behind underscores the effectual nature of Christ's call. This event also serves as a reminder that God can use anyone, regardless of their past, for His glorious purpose, which is a foundation for understanding God's mercy and grace.

Q: How do we know Jesus is God according to the sermon?

Jesus proves His divinity in Matthew 9 by forgiving sins and knowing people's thoughts. In Matthew 9, Jesus asserts His divinity by forgiving the sins of a paralyzed man and knowing the unspoken thoughts of the scribes. The act of declaring forgiveness is a divine prerogative, which prompted the scribes to accuse Him of blasphemy since they understood that only God has the authority to forgive sins. Jesus' answer revealed His omniscience, affirming His identity as the God who knows the hearts of men. Hence, the sermon emphasizes that Jesus’ ability to forgive sins and His knowledge of people's innermost thoughts and intentions point to His unity with God the Father and His divine nature.

Q: Why is mercy emphasized in the teaching of Jesus?

Mercy is central to Jesus' ministry as He came to save sinners, not the righteous. In Matthew 9:13, Jesus quotes Hosea, stating, 'I will have mercy and not sacrifice.' This directive emphasizes mercy over ritualistic religious practices. The ministry of Jesus is fundamentally about extending grace and mercy to those who recognize their need for forgiveness—the sinners. The Pharisees, in their self-righteousness, failed to see their own need for grace, and Jesus’ message challenges that mindset. This teaching calls for humility and recognition of our status as sinners in need of mercy, which is vital in sovereign grace theology, highlighting that God's grace is extended to the undeserving.

Let's turn together to Matthew chapter 9. Matthew the ninth chapter. We'll begin our reading with verse one. And he entered into a ship and passed over and came into his own city. And behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed, And Jesus, seeing their faith, said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee. And behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth. And Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts, For whether it is easier to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee, or to say, Arise and walk, but that you may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins, then saith he to the sick of the palsy, Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house.

And he arose, and departed to his house. But when the multitude saw it, they marveled and glorified God, which had given such power unto men. And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the receipt of custom, and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose and followed him. And it came to pass, as Jesus said it, Meet in the house Behold, many publicans and sinners came 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? But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that behold need not a position, but they that are sick. But 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 repentance.

Now the Pharisees were a crowd of snobbish, know-it-all, self-righteous religionists. Nothing could have been more offensive to them Then for our Savior to say what he did in verse 13, go ye and learn what that meaneth. These fellows, like most people, never shut up long enough to learn anything, because they thought they knew everything. But our Savior pointed them to the scriptures, which they claimed to believe and pretended to defend.

And he said, now, fellas, you need to go learn what this means. You need to sit down and listen and learn what this means. And he refers specifically back to Hosea chapter six and verse six, where God says, I will have mercy and not sacrifice. Now, I have taken our Lord's words to the Pharisees for the title of my message this evening, Learn What That Meaneth, because I hope you've come here tonight seeking to learn what that meaneth that we have read here in these 13 verses of Matthew chapter 9.

The Gadarenes, you will remember in chapter 8, resented the loss of their hogs. Because their hogs had been destroyed, they were disgusted with the master, and they urged him to depart out of their coast. They said, just go away and leave us alone. And the master did. He did exactly what they asked him to do. He left them alone. He departed from the coast of Gadara, insofar as we are able to discern from the scriptures, never to return again. He never went back there. They said, go and get out of our coast. And the Lord Jesus did what they asked. He got out of their way. He stepped aside and left them alone and crossed over the Sea of Galilee one more time to the city of Capernaum.

Now, in this first verse, the city of Capernaum is called his own city, because at that time it was the place of his chief residence and the principal area of his ministry, where he preached and performed his miracles. Our Lord, you remember, had declared that a prophet is not without honor save in his own country and among his own people. And so he came back here to Capernaum, and here he performed his miracles, and here he preached his gospel, and here he was not honored. Men and women did not honor him, even here in Capernaum.

But as we read this opening verse of Matthew 9, and he entered into a ship and passed over and came into his own city, there is a display both of God's justice and of his mercy. When the Gadarenes bid him depart from their coast, he left them. And that's a display of God's justice. You can mark this down. You can mark it down.

The Son of God will never tarry where he is not wanted. He will not. He will not abide where he is spurned, neglected, and despised. If men by their words or by their deeds or by their neglect say to the Son of God, depart from our coast, he will depart and never return. Read Proverbs chapter 1 and let all be warned that our Lord Jesus will not carry where he is not wanted.

Those who become weary of him don't need to fret themselves, they won't be bothered by him. They won't be bothered by it. There's a sermon in that and a warning in that. May God give us grace that we may never become weary of our savior, weary of his worship, weary of his word, weary of his work. Those who become weary of him won't be bothered by him.

The Gadarenes said, depart out of our coast and in justice. He did exactly what they asked. He gave them what they asked for. He departed out of their coast. But here is his mercy. The Gadarenes who spurned him were by their hardness of heart and unbelief messengers of mercy to those of Capernaum, because their hardness of heart and unbelief sent the Savior back across the Sea of Galilee to Capernaum. Though there were those in Gadara who would not hear the word, who would not receive the messenger of grace, who would not receive the Son of God, there were others who would. And the Savior, as he told his disciples, in essence he dusted off his feet and he left them alone and went over to Capernaum.

And at Capernaum they brought him a man sick of the palsy. And this man, sick of the palsy, was healed. And then the Lord Jesus came to Matthew, the tax collector. Matthew, the tax collector, was called by the grace of God. And the Lord Jesus preached the gospel to a people to whom he would not have preached it had he not been sent by the unbelief of the Gadarenes over to Capernaum. You see, in God's providence, he does all things well. ruling even the unbelief of men to accomplish his purpose and send his gospel where he will.

Now then, let's look at these 13 verses, and I trust that by the Spirit of God we may learn what that meaneth, which the Spirit of God has recorded in these verses. The miracles performed by Christ and recorded in this passage of Scripture are designed to teach us who Jesus Christ is and what he came here to do. Let me show you five things in these verses of Scripture. You just hold your Bible open and follow with me through the Scriptures.

The first thing clearly demonstrated in this passage is the fact that the man Christ Jesus The man, Christ Jesus, this man who stood here on the coast of Capernaum, this man whom the people saw in Gadara and said, depart out of our coast, this man who stood here before these other men in flesh and blood, this man, Christ Jesus, is himself the God of all grace, of all forgiveness, and of all salvation.

We read here in verse 2, and behold they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, a paralyzed man. We don't know whether he'd been paralyzed all his life, or whether he was paralyzed because of some kind of an accident, but he was paralyzed, lying on a bed.

Now the word bed here might better be translated a stretcher. They brought him out lying on a stretcher. Perhaps it might even be better translated a mat. It was common for beggars to lie on a mat. It was just something for him to lie on, and these fellows carried him to the master. Lying on his bed, and Jesus, seeing their fate, said to the sick of the palsy, Son, be of good cheer.

Thy sins be forgiven thee. Now here the Lord Jesus publicly declares himself to be God Almighty. So how do you get that out of the passage? Because our Lord Jesus here publicly says, I forgive you of your sins. And the Jews understood exactly what he was saying. They didn't believe he was God. They simply saw him to be a man. And they said, he blessed faith. Nobody can forgive sin but God. So our Savior is here giving a public declaration that he is God, for he says to this man, thy sins be forgiven thee.

They brought unto him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed. Here is a sick man. A sick man who had some caring friends. And these caring friends realized right away they could not do what their friend needed to have done to him. They could not raise him up off his bed of sickness. They could not put away his disease or put away his sins. But they knew full well that he could be healed because they had seen others healed. Maybe they had themselves been healed, I don't know. But they knew that he could be healed because they knew the Master could heal him.

And so they came. Luke tells us there were four of them, or Mark tells us there were four of them. He was carried at four, and they came here to Capernaum where the Lord Jesus was teaching, and because they could not get into the crown and get him into the Savior's presence, they went up on top of the building, the covering over the porch, they tore away the tiles, and they let him down. in the midst of the crowd, right in front of the Savior. And the Scripture says here that when the Lord Jesus saw their faith, He said, Son, be of good cheer.

Now, with regard to the souls of men, this passage teaches us clearly that the sphere of our responsibility, are you listening? With regard to the souls of men, The sphere of our responsibility is the sphere of our ability. In other words, we are responsible to do what we can do for the souls of men. These men could not heal their friend. They could not put away his disease, they could not forgive his sins, but they could bring him to the master, and that's what they did.

You remember when our Lord Jesus came to the tomb of Lazarus? He was about to raise Lazarus from the dead, and he said to the folks who stood by, take ye away the stone. Now probably he could easily have taken away the stone. That wasn't a problem. If he could speak the word and cause the dead to live, he could speak the word and disintegrate the stone. But there were some folks standing right there who could roll the stone away. And that was their responsibility. He said take it away.

That's our responsibility. We're here in God's grace and providence as instruments in his hands which he has ordained to be instruments of good to others by doing what he puts in our hands, the ability to do. That means for me as a preacher, It is my responsibility to give myself relentlessly to the business of preaching the gospel. If God gives me talent to write, it's my responsibility to use it. If God gives me opportunity to minister, it's my responsibility to seize it. That means for us as a congregation, as God opens doors of ministry for us and gives us the ability, the means, whereby to proclaim the gospel around the world, whether it be by my voice or by the voice of another man, we are to seize the opportunity and proclaim the gospel wherever we can. And that means for you, wherever God gives you opportunity and ability to proclaim the gospel of his grace, to call sinners to come and hear the word, To carry the gospel to others, that's your responsibility. The sphere of our responsibility is the sphere of our ability.

That's what the passage here teaches us. Then Jesus, seeing their faith, said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, be of good cheer. Thy sins be forgiven thee. Now, there's so much to learn from this. Let me just state some things. Number one, God honors faith. God honors them. Jesus seeing their faith. Now I stress frequently the fact that he saw the faith of those men.

But I recognize that you can't believe for another man. I'm aware of that. I can't believe the gospel for you. But what our text is declaring is that Jesus saw the faith of these four who brought the man and he saw his faith. He saw their faith and said to that man, Thy sins be forgiven thee.

When the Lord Jesus sees faith, he grants forgiveness. Now, the forgiveness is not caused by faith. The forgiveness is not the result of faith. The forgiveness is not the fruit of faith. But the knowledge of forgiveness, the word of forgiveness is spoken only when faith is exercised. In other words, though Jesus Christ has accomplished redemption for his people at Calvary, though forgiveness and redemption was declared to be ours before the world began, you don't hear forgiveness in your conscience with peace until the Son of God speaks peace to your faith and says, your sins are forgiven you. How do you have this word given? I believe him. Now, believing him, he says, I'm forgiven. I have peace. Secondly, wherever there is faith in Christ, there is an assurance of adoption.

Not only did our Savior speak a word of forgiveness, but he called this man son. Now, the word son might better be translated child. It is a word that implies a father speaking to his son. It is a word that implies a family relationship. The man is called son, and so the Lord Jesus is here declaring his sonship in relationship with God Almighty.

You who believe are the sons of God, the children of God. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, do you? I do believe it. By the way, that means God had bestowed his love on me, calling me the son of God, the child of God. And God joined me with Jesus Christ because you are sons. God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, help your father. God is my father.

Sons of God we are by his election, but sons of God we know ourselves to be by faith in Jesus Christ the Lord. And thirdly, wherever there is assurance of sonship, there is a cause for cheer. Our Savior says, Son, be of good cheer." Now remember, when the scriptures are written, they were written in precise order by divine inspiration. And the Savior said to this man, be of good cheer, just after he said, son.

But he said it before he said, take up your bed and walk. In other words, the man was still in his paralyzed condition, laying on that mat. Nothing about his physical features had changed. He was still there, just like he was before. Nothing had been relieved. He couldn't move a muscle, barely.

But the Savior said, you're God's son. Be of good cheer. That's reason enough to be of good cheer, isn't it? Is it not? no matter what my physical circumstances are, no matter what my physical condition is, no matter what my present situation is, read through that passage in Psalm 16, the lines are fallen to me in pleasant places. Whatever the lines of God's providence are for me, they're pleasant places, for these are the paths chosen for me, as my portion is the Lord himself. You understand that? Be of good cheer. And then, fourthly, wherever there is faith, this blessed faith, there is the absolute free and full forgiveness of all our sins. This forgiveness that the Savior spoke to this man was complete.

He said, thy sins, not thy sin as though he would forgive one and not another, but thy sins be forgiven thee. And he said, thy sins be forgiven thee, using an absolute word. He says, thy sins be forgiven, as if to say never to return, never to be charged. For the forgiveness of sins is an immutable forgiveness. And this forgiveness of sins is based upon absolute justice.

How can God in heaven, in his holiness, forgive sins? How can you do it? Now, I hope you're never tired of hearing this. It's the simplest of messages, but the most important of all, God doesn't sweep sin under the rug and pretend that it doesn't exist. God cannot just speak a word and forgive sin. It cannot be done. For God has sworn the soul that sinneth, it shall die, and God cannot lie. Well, how then can God both punish sin to the full satisfaction of justice and yet forgives him as though he exercised no justice?

There's only one way. He is faithful and just through the blood of Jesus Christ, his son, to forgive us of all our sins. You understand that? Because Christ paid the price due to our sins. God in his justice freely forgives us of our sins. This forgiveness is perpetual. How can I say this properly? God has forgiven our sins. It's a done deal.

It's finished, yes. that God continually speaks the word of forgiveness to us as we continually plead the blood of Jesus Christ. The scripture says, the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth. That word, James, means it continues by on and on and on and on, cleansing us from our sins. It continually purges us from our sins. Now, fifthly, learn this. He who forgives sin is God our Savior. The Jews said this man blasphemeth, and any mere man who pronounces the forgiveness of sin, who pronounces the absolution of sin, is a blasphemer.

I don't care if folks call him the Pope. I don't care if he goes by the title priest. I don't care if he's a preacher who stands at the front of the church and pronounces to men the forgiveness of sin. I'm telling you, no man can absolve sin but this man who is God Almighty. And you can only get it from him. Only from him. It'll do you no good to hear me say your sins are forgiven you. It'll do you no good to hear a thousand preachers say your sins are forgiven you.

But oh, if you can go to him, if you will go to him, if you will trust the Son of God, the God-man, by the merit of his blood, declares your sins are forgiven you. Do you trust him? Do you hear him? Do you hear him? Now then, secondly, the Lord Jesus Christ, the God of all grace and forgiveness, also demonstrates himself to be the God of perfect and total omniscience, from whom nothing can be hid.

Read verse 3. And behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves. What's that mean? That means just like you're sitting right where you are, Mark, thinking something. That's what it means. They didn't even mutter the word. They said within themselves. They just thought. This man blasphemes. This man's blaspheming. But the Lord Jesus heard their thoughts. He heard their thoughts. And Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? This is he of whom David spoke in Psalm 139.

And he said, Lord, you know everything. You know everything. Turn to Hebrews chapter four. Hebrews chapter four, this is that one of whom the apostle here speaks in verse 12. He's the omniscient, all-seeing, all-knowing God. For the Word of God, the Word of God, the living Word, Jesus Christ, our Savior, the Word of God, the Word who is God, is quick and is living, powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." Now, how do you know that's talking about the living Word, the Son of God, rather than the written Word, the Bible? Because of verse 13. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight, in sight of the Word. But all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do."

Let me ask you some questions. What do you think in private? In private, when nobody's around, what do you think? What do you think of? sitting as you are now in the house of God when you appear to be most solemn. What are you thinking of right now? What are your thoughts?

No man knows. Your dearest companion doesn't know. Sometimes I'll be driving down the road We'll go for a long, long spell and not say anything, and Shelby knows I'm thinking. And she says, what you thinking about? And I say, nothing. She says, you are too, but I don't know what it is. What's thinking? Because nobody knows what you're thinking. Nobody does. Oh, yes, somebody does. He's a discerner of the thoughts and intents of your heart.

So strict is his judgment that according to Romans 2.16, our God will judge the very thoughts of men by my gospel. Judge the very thoughts of men. You mean God will hold a man guilty because of what he thinks?

Yes, sir. That's exactly what he says. Now, to the unbeliever, the Lord's omniscience is terrifying. It's terrifying. You see, any man is capable of hiding what he really is from other people. He's capable of it. But no man is capable of hiding his thoughts from himself. Can't do it. You can't do it. You can keep them saying the word, but you can't keep them thinking the thoughts. No man's capable of hiding from himself what he thinks, and as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.

This is the reason why most religions and most preachers hold people under terror with the threat of judgment, and they hold them in terror by pointing to their secret thoughts. And men are terrified. You know what you think. You will face God with your thoughts. But to the believer, the omniscience of God our Savior means one of the most comforting things in all the world.

Do you remember when Peter denied the Lord three times? And cursed, said, I don't know the man. And he left and went back to fishing. And the master came to him. And he said, Peter, do you love me? And Peter said, yes, Lord, I love you. And he said again, Peter, do you love me? And he said, yes, Lord, I love you. And he said to him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, love us that way. Do you sure enough love me, Peter? And Peter was grieved because he said to him a third time, Do you sure enough love me, Peter? And listen to what he said. And listen. Lord.

You know everything. You know everything. You heard what I said. You saw what I did. You know what I am. You know everything. Lord, you know in my heart of hearts, I love you. Peter was confessing. Wasn't you to be so? Lord, you know that I am by nature. You know that I am in my sin. You know what I have done. You know the price of my pardon. You paid the price. And you know that you've given me a heart. I do love you in spite of everything I say, in spite of everything I've done. You know that I love you. How we ought to thank God for the blood of Jesus Christ that cleanseth us from all sin. and being cleansed from all sin, how we ought to pray for grace, grace to reign even over our thoughts as well as our actions.

David prayed like this. Who can understand his errors? I can't. I can't. So many times I think I'm doing good and I do bad. That's right. That's right. So many times I think I'm doing exactly what I'll be doing, and it turns out to be exactly what I ought to have done. Who can understand his errors?

Cleanse thou me from secret faults. Keep back my servant also from presumptuous sins, that is, from deliberately doing what I know is wrong. Let them not have dominion over me, neither my secret faults nor my presumptuous sins. Then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer." Thirdly, look at verses 5 through 8 here in Matthew 9.

Here our Lord Jesus gives a clear demonstration of the fact that he is not only the God of forgiveness and the God of omniscience, but that he is the omnipotent God as well. For wither is easier, he says, to say thy sins be forgiven thee, or to say arise and walk.

Hmm. Which one you reckon be easier to do? Well, I can stand here and say your sins have forgiven you. And that fellow might be convinced, but you, nah, you're not gonna pay any attention, which is easier. Now then, so that you will understand that I'm God.

Say, what is that? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins. He looked at that fellow right there, and he said, arise up, take up your bed, go to your house. Arise, take up thy bed, and go into thy house. Now, two things need to be understood. First, our Savior proved himself to be God Almighty by healing the paralyzed man with his words. Everybody in the crowd knew he was paralyzed. Capernaum wasn't such a big place. Everybody in town knew who he was. Very late. Paralyzed.

What's the Master going to do? He's going to stand here and act pious and say, your sins be forgiven you, and he's going to deceive these folks. Oh, no. No, he's going to say your sins be forgiven you, and then you're going to prove he has power to do it.

Son, get up and go home. Now look at the next line. And he arose and departed to his house. Here's the second thing to be observed in this passage. This man proved himself to be indeed born of God by his unhesitating obedience to the master's word. The Lord said, take up your bed and go home. Now can you imagine what reasons he might have given for not going home? Here he is in this crowd. Just suppose you had just picked up your bed. Just suppose you had for the first time in your life stood on your feet. And the man standing right in front of you, who you know to be your God, you're gonna go home? The master said, pick up your bed, and contrary to feeling, emotion, desire, what comes natural to you, go to your house. Don't go to the temple. Don't go to the temple and do sacrifices. Don't go to the theater and be entertained. Don't go out in the streets and make a show of yourself. Go home. Go home.

And that man did exactly what the master told him to do. Like that. That's what faith does. Faith obeys the word of Christ. Those who are born of God are obedient to him. Those who have been made to experience the grace of God walk before God in the obedience of faith. Faith doesn't stand back in question and doubt and debate. Faith says, speak, Lord, I'll do what you say, and does it. Matter of fact, faith doesn't say, I'll do what you say. Faith just says, speak, Lord, and does what he says. That's all. Just see what God speaks and does it. Fourthly, we see the calling here of Matthew. Now the calling and conversion of Matthew gives us an illustration of the fact that our Savior's call is the irresistible, effectual, saving call of God's almighty, invincible grace.

And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man named Matthew. Now, that wasn't his given name. His given name was Levi. But Matthew's the one doing the writing, and he prefers to call himself Matthew. Do you know what the word Matthew means? It means gift of God. And Matthew looked upon himself from the time of this calling to the day of his entering into glory. as a man who had been given by God to Jesus Christ, the gift of God.

He saw one named Matthew sitting at the receipt of custom, and he saith unto him, 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. Here is a man named Matthew sitting at the receipt of customs.

You see, he was a tax collector. He seems to have been doing what he was supposed to be doing as far as his career was concerned. He had chosen a good career to advance himself. He was thoroughly absorbed with his good career. He seems to have thought of nothing but getting money, spending money, and getting more money. But then we see the blessed intervention of God's sovereign grace. Here's Sutton Atkins. Not the least bit concerned in the glory of God. Just concerned in getting some money. That's it. Just concerned about doing his business. But scripture says Jesus passed forth. The Lord Jesus passed by. Oh, blessed day was that day when the Son of God crossed my path, got my attention, called my name.

He came to Matthew. Matthew didn't come to him. He came to Matthew. Jesus saw him. He saw who he was, what he was doing. And he saw what he was going to make of him. And then the Lord Jesus called him. He said, Matthew, follow me. Well, let's see. Wonder what Matthew's going to do. Wonder if he will decide for Jesus. Wonder whose will is going to win out. Well, that's foolishness. Do you know who did the calling? This is God Almighty. This is God who called light out of darkness. This is God who called the world into being out of nothing. This is God who said to the sun, shine! And there it shined.

He says to Matthew, follow me. What do you reckon Matthew's going to do? I bet he follows him. What do you think? And Matthew arose and followed him, followed him. Now then, after he arose and followed him, he made a supper. Matthew apparently had the good sense to recognize that folks will come to a feast a whole lot quicker than they'll come to a sermon. So he provided a feast and called for the Master to come give the sermon. And he had a great number of folks in his house, publicans like himself, sinners like himself. And the Master was there with them in verse 10. Matthew's decision here to follow the Master, which was the result of our Savior's everlasting, eternal determination to call him, was something he never regretted. Tell you what, you stop and think for a minute. We give honor to men for such silly things. Everybody here knows the name of Rockefeller. Rockefeller, boy, he's a rich man.

He's a rich man. Mighty man. Everybody here knows the name of Kennedy. Mighty, mighty, mighty man. Without looking it up, name me one rich man who lived over 100 years ago. Name me one. Everybody here knows the name of Pete Rose. Great, great athlete. Everybody here knows the name of Magic Johnson. Great, great basketball player. Everybody here knows the name of Muhammad Ali. Great fighter. Name me one ball player, one athlete, one boxer, one of anything who ever lived a hundred years before this. Name me one. Just forget them. Forget them. Here's a man who followed Christ. And because he followed Christ, he wrote a book that has been read in every nation in the world.

He was a worthless, useless scandal of a man. a tax collector. And I don't mean that to imply that tax collectors these days are, by virtue of their careers, scandalous men. But tax collectors in Matthew's day, by virtue of their careers, were scandalous men. He was a worthless man.

But the master called him, and he followed Christ, and multiplied millions of men have been blessed by him. And as long as time shall stand, folks are going to remember the name Matthew, the man who was a tax collector whom the master called. Oh, not only does our Savior grant to those who follow him immortality and life to come, he grants immortality right here and now. By following Him, by following Him, regardless of what comes to pass, we become useful to men and useful to ourselves as well. Matthew followed the Savior when he was called. Oh, may he now call you. One last thing.

In verses 10 through 13, we are told the mission and the message of our Lord Jesus Christ. When Matthew made the feast, there were mere publicans, sinners that came and sat down with the Lord Jesus and with his disciples. And in verse 11, when the Pharisees saw it, they said to his disciples, I reckon why they didn't say it to him. Because they were conniving, deceitful, busybody, the dividers of men, that's why they said to his disciples, why eateth your master Republicans and sinners? Well, surely he must be one of them. But when Jesus heard what they said to his disciples, heard what they said to them, he said unto them, they that be whole need not a position but they that are sick."

In other words, he said, these are the folks I came here to save, not you. I came as a physician to do my work among folks who need a physician. You need one? I came to save sinners who need saving. Are you one? I came to call publicans who need calling. Are you one? And then he says, this is my message. He said in verse 12 or verse 13, but go ye and learn what that meaneth. You can look it up for yourself in Hosea 6. I will have mercy and not sacrifice. For I've not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. He said, fellows, I've come here to proclaim mercy. I've come here to exercise mercy. I've come here to teach men to be merciful.

These Pharisees in their haughtiness and arrogance and self-righteousness, dotting every I, crossing every T, saying their prayers and giving their arms and doing their deeds of righteousness, thought themselves to be something and somebody. And our Lord Jesus said, all that you do is meaningless. Folks who've met God, folks who've experienced God's grace, folks who've come in contact with the master, exercise mercy. Be ye merciful as God your Father is merciful. Forgive ye one another even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you.

That's the message he teaches. He teaches that God gives mercy and God creates mercy in the hearts of sinners. Now then, let us then come to our Savior constantly as sinners in need of mercy. Never forget that. The Lord Jesus calls sinners, not the righteous. He's merciful to sinners, not to good folks. He's gracious to sinners, not to pompous, self-righteous people who imagine that somehow they stand above others and have a hold on God. Are you a sinner? I am, and I come to him as such. I am not skilled to understand what God hath willed, what God hath planned. I only know that his right hand is one who is my Savior.

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Learn What That Meaneth

What does the Bible say about forgiveness of sins?

Why is the call of Matthew significant in the Bible?

How do we know Jesus is God according to the sermon?

Why is mercy emphasized in the teaching of Jesus?

Sermon Transcript

About Don Fortner

Comments

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