I'd like for you to take your
Bibles this morning and turn with me to Matthew chapter 9.
In our last lesson, I told you that
there were two messages in those verses. And this is the second
part of that lesson which I titled, The Lesson of Grace. Our Lord
told those Pharisees He said, you go learn what this means.
There is a lesson here to be learned. Now after the calling
of Matthew, the Lord was invited to his house. You are not going
to find this out here in the text in Matthew. You are going
to have to read Luke's account and Mark's account. That is in
Luke chapter 5 and Mark chapter 2. You can go over there and
this is kind of a running account with what is taking place over
here in Matthew. But in Luke's account, in Luke
5.29, he says, Levi, that's Matthew's other name, Levi, made him a
great feast in his own house. And there was a great company
of publicans and others who sat down with them. And then Mark
sets the stage this way, saying, many publicans and sinners said
also together with Jesus and His disciples, for there were
many and they followed Him." That's in Mark chapter 2 verse
15. Now I think as I shut my eyes in my study and kind of
looked around from the account that I just read to you, I think
I can see three groups of people gathered in the room. You know
how you have a family reunion or you have a It doesn't really
matter what you do, any kind of an event where you have a
gathering, if you look, there's always groups. There's a group
here, and a group there, and a group over here. Well, I just
kind of shut my eyes reading these three accounts from Matthew,
Luke, and Mark. And I think I see three groups
gathered here in this house as this meal began to take place. I see first of all the Lord with
His blessed disciples. I believe they sat with him,
right beside him, as close as they could get to him to hear
every word he had to say. They were called out of this
world. These men were plucked from the burning. I used to read
that. I heard preachers preach about
that when I was just little. And they talk about like a brand
plucked from the burning. I had no understanding whatsoever
about what they were talking about. These are men that he
took from the powers of darkness. Something else I had no knowledge
of. I didn't understand what that meant. Powers of darkness. I thought that was like you see
on TV, on them horror movies and things like that. These powers
of darkness. These uncontrollable seizes of
men and all of this kind of thing. And I suppose some of those things
are in that. But he took them from the powers
of darkness, he said. delivered them out of this darkness
to the kingdom of His dear Son. And these men were men that He
delivered from the curse of the law. The law is a curse upon
man. It's a curse to him because it
demands what he can't give. It demands perfection. It demands
continual obedience and motive, thought, and deed. It commands
these things. It doesn't ask you to do the
best you can do. The law doesn't say that. The
Lord, when He gave the law, didn't say that. He said, this do and
live. If you don't do this, if you
break the least of these commandments, He said, then here's what's going
to follow. And He gave the curse the same
as He gave the blessing. And it says in Galatians, cursed
is everyone who continueth not in all things written in the
book of the law to do them. These were men delivered, snatched,
Snatched from the fire. Delivered from the powers of
darkness. And delivered out from under
the curse of the law. So that's the first group I see
here. And then secondly, I see the family, friends, and curious
followers who saw the miracles and saw these men that they knew
and were raised around just like Matthew and these other fishermen. They knew these people. They
knew what they were like. And all of a sudden, there was
a change. There was a change in them. There was a change in
their conversation. There was a change in their habits. There was a change in their looks.
Everything about them began to change. And they were curious
about that. They followed this man, Jesus. And these men wanted to know
why. And so they came, and as they followed Him, they saw Him
do things that other men couldn't do. They saw Him do great miracles
by the hand of God. They were curious to see what
was going on. There had been an interruption.
There had been something unnormal in their lives. And so they gathered.
They wanted to see. They were curious. And they came
into this house with Matthew. And then thirdly, there was the
Pharisees. These were religious men. And
I don't know how to really nail this down in the scriptures for
you. You're just going to have to read the scriptures until
you become acquainted with them well enough to know that what
I'm telling you is the truth. But when it talks about the Jews,
he's just not talking about any Jew born of Abraham. He's talking
about the Sanhedrin. He's talking about this council,
this high council of the Jews who came and followed him to
see if he was the Christ. That was their job. That was
what their office entailed. They were to look for the Christ.
They were to oversee matters of the church. This was a high
council under the high priest. And these men came out and they
looked and questioned. and so on. And as they were more
and more convinced that he wasn't the Christ, then they become
more and more opposed to him and begin to do things to trip
him up and trap him and so on, and especially as he exposed
them. But these were religious men,
highly esteemed men of strict morality, men whose outward conduct
was just impeccable. They were educated men, pious
men, reputable teachers like Gamaliel. and doctors of the
law. These were righteous men. They
were dressed to stand out in the crowd, and they wore broad
phylacteries and long trailing robes, and everybody knew who
they were. Their reputation had preceded
them. They knew who they were. So there
were three distinct groups here in this house, three divisions
of character and status, all under the same root. They were
gathered, one writer said, like a slice of humanity to show us
what's going on in this world at any one given time. Same thing
happens all over the world. These three groups represent
the whole gospel age. No matter who you are or how
you were raised, you'll find your place in one of these three
groups. You examine yourself. And these three groups were all
there for different reasons. Some of them were there with
the light of Christ and the experience of grace and a heart to worship.
And they were gathered in the presence of their Redeemer hoping
to hear Him speak who had already called them to life. They knew
something about His voice. He called them with an effectual
call and they waited for Him to speak. Never a man spake like
this man. And they saw in him the wisdom
of God. His simple illustrations and
common parables did not offend them. Not at all. I'm biting my lip not to say
something about something that happened not too long ago, but
I'm not going to do it. His words filled the room with
a savor of wisdom. Just filled the room to them.
To them. and wisdom, and mercy, and grace.
They saw in Him the kindness of God. And contrary to the religion
in which they were raised, this man was kind. The Pharisees were
anything but kind. They weren't kind. They were
strict. They were severe. This man was kind. They brought that woman, taking
in her daughter, and threw her down. There was nothing kind
in them at all. But the Lord dealt with her in
kindness, didn't He? There was a man laying down at
the pool of Bethesda. Everybody interested in somebody
else. Everybody there to help somebody,
but he didn't have anybody to help him. All these religious
men all gathered down there to collect the benefits of God and
nobody to give him a hand into the waters. But Christ came down
in kindness and didn't even use the waters. and gave him strength. They saw in him the kindness
of God. Contrary to the religion in which
they were raised, this man was kind and gentle, easy to be entreated. His words to them just dripped
with sympathy and compassion. They just dripped with compassion. Now you think about the people
that he dealt with, the harlots and the men who were sinners,
great sinners. Sick men that people just wrote
off as being under the curse of God, like the leper and so
on, forbidden to even mix with the public. You think about the
compassion and the kindness and the gentleness of Christ with
it. And then there was the multitude, this mixed multitude, publicans
and sinners, men of low reputation, men whose lives were questionable
at the very best. Their dress was rough. These
were fishermen. These were plain, and these men
were rough. Their dress was rough, and their
manner was about the same. And if there were any religious
in the bunch, their religion didn't show. It didn't show. They had a common morality. One
different from the Pharisees, but just as deadly. They overlooked
the strict code of religious piety and settled for a less
demanding character. They lived day by day the best
they could and made their living any way they could, and they
had no pretense or show about them. Pretty much what you see
is what you get. That's this other crowd. That's
this other crowd. Now as the crowd mingled, the
Pharisees looked on and they saw this man whose claims was
to be the Christ and Redeemer of Israel, both him and his disciples
eating and drinking with this crowd. And they said, to His disciples,
why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners?" Now if you go over
to Luke and Mark, you'll find out that they didn't just question
the Master, but they questioned them too. Why are you eating
with them? He goes straight to the heart
of this thing. The disciples wouldn't have eaten with them
if the Master didn't. So here's the question. Why eateth
your Master with publicans and sinners? If He's a holy man,
a righteous man, and a teacher sent from God, why is there no
separation between Him and the world? Why is He doing this,
John? This is the very God of very
God and yet man. This is the Messiah. This is
the only holy man who ever walked on the face of God's earth. And
He's mixing and eating and drinking with sinners. And they want to
know why. And I'll tell you the truth,
the Bible's pretty clear on this subject. These men weren't ignorant
in their statement. Their statement was correct.
That might shock you, but I'm going to show you that in the
Scriptures. In 2 Corinthians 6.16, it said, What agreement
hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the
living God. As God hath said, I will dwell
in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they
will be my people. Wherefore, come ye out from amongst
them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord." That's pretty clear,
isn't it? The law of Moses was perfectly
clear concerning these idolatrous nations in Canaan. You can read
about it in Numbers chapter 33. They were to drive out the inhabitants
of the land, destroy all their pictures. That's what it said,
pictures. And destroy all their molten
images. And go up into the mountains
and their places in what they called the high places, those
places of devotions. And tear them down. And dispossess. What's that mean? That means
what's his is now yours. What's that mean? Go in there.
This man worked all of his life for this house, but the Lord
gave it to Israel. You're to drive him out. Dispossess. Now listen to this. Dispossess
the inhabitants of the land. And then those they let stay,
he said, would be a prick in their eyes. A thorn in your eyes. And a thorn in your side. And
they're going to vex you all the days of your life. And if they yet insisted on letting
any of these men survive, he said, I'll do unto you as I thought
to do unto them. That's pretty clear, isn't it? The Pharisees knew the law. And
they knew their traditional understanding of it was correct. For any man
to be converted and stay among the idolaters that he once found
fellowship with reveals a problem. That's the problem. Fellowship
is fellers in the same ship. Paul said, of the unequal yoking
together of believers and unbelievers, he said, what fellowship has
righteousness with unrighteousness? There's no common ground. They've
got nothing in common. We stand on a different foundation,
on a different basis. We have different goals and different
motives and a different concept of God. And the Pharisees were
asking this question from the strict interpretation of the
law. That's what the law says to do. That's the right thing
to do, to be separated, come out from among them. So why does
your masters eat and drink with publicans and sinners? Now, there's only one man in
that whole crowd who could answer that question. The disciples
couldn't answer it. That group of sinners couldn't
answer it. And that group of Pharisees couldn't answer it.
There's only one man in that whole crowd who could answer
that question. Now let's read the answer here
in Matthew 9, verse 12. But when Jesus heard that, He
said unto them, The whole need not a position, but they that
are sick. But you go learn what that means.
He said, you're going to learn what that means. I'll have mercy
and not sacrifice, for I'm not come to call the righteous, but
sinners to repentance. The Lord Jesus Christ didn't
go to Matthew's house and invite all these men over there to have
fellowship with ungodly men. He was there as a physician. He was there to treat the sick.
He was there to have compassion on the sick. That's why He came
into the world. Why would God even speak to the
Pharisees if all have sinned and come short of the glory of
God? If you want to take that thing by the strict interpretation
of the law, He wouldn't have anything to do with them either.
Not just these men, but all men. But He came as a physician. He
came to heal. He came to serve. He came to
have compassion, to show kindness and mercy, to save sinners. Isn't
that what it says? He said, I didn't come to call
the righteous. Why not? Because they're unrighteous.
I come to call sinners to repentance. He wasn't there to have fellowship
with these publicans and sinners or to put his stamp of approval
on their behavior and their lifestyle. That's what the Pharisees thought.
And that's what they promoted across the land. They said, this
man, he said, you said John the Baptist, he was a separatist.
He wouldn't do anything. And you called the son of man
a gluttonous man and a wine-bibber. Why'd they do that? Because he
ate and drank with publicans and sinners. Russell, he sat
down and had a glass of wine. These old rough, rowdy fishermen. He was there at Matthew's request
to do for them what he had done for him. And he was there not
as their companion, but as a physician. He was there to show mercy. I
don't know if I'm making myself clear this morning or not, but
there is a difference between celebrating with ungodly men and going to
somebody's house to minister to their ungodly relatives. There's a difference. There's
a difference. Matthew invited him into their
home. They had a basis of fellowship. The Lord had saved him, called
him out of darkness. They had a basis. But Matthew
knew who did this. And he knew the story of these
other disciples. And if ever his friends are to
hear it, he's going to have to get them in contact with him.
So he invited them. But the Pharisees didn't discern
it that way. I appreciate Walter and William
and Nathan and the different ones for inviting me to their
homes over the holidays and on special occasions. And I feel
like you sincerely want me there or you wouldn't ask me. But I
hope it's not just on the basis of our fellowship, but I hope
it's also, because almost always when I go over, there's somebody
else there, too, who don't know the gospel. And I hope it's for
that cause, too, that the Lord might give me a word in season. He might. He might. Who knows? He has before. He might do it
again. He might do it again. Matthew
wanted the Lord in his house because he was his Savior and
Lord, but he also wanted others to become acquainted with Christ
so they might be healed like he was. So there's a difference
between doing this and having a drunken party with a bunch
of idolaters and rebels. and having something here with
a basis. You see what I'm saying? The
Pharisee said there's no basis. He's just out here promoting
himself. He's out here drinking. He's
a wine-bibber and a gluttonous man. He attends all their parties
and goes to their weddings and does all these things. The Lord
didn't do anything without a purpose of grace behind it. He didn't
do anything. And so the Lord tells him this.
There's a lesson to be learned here and you ain't learned it.
You haven't learned it. Now you go learn what this means.
I'll have mercy and not sacrifice. Don't bring me your sacrifice
and your pious righteousness and all these things. Don't bring
that to me. I'll have mercy. Mercy. This thing's about mercy. You
see what I'm saying? Let's just suppose here this
morning you came in here and We're all sitting around here,
and we're talking, and we're looking at these things of God,
and you're sitting there, and you're feeling pretty good about
yourself, but you look down, and all of a sudden, there's
spots all over your hand. Wasn't there when you come in
the door? And you look up your arm, and there's some more spots.
And somebody jumps up and says, well, that's leprosy. And you,
pfft. Ain't no leprosy in our day.
So, you go on home, but you're still suspicious, you see them
spots, and you go down to the doctor, and he runs some tests,
and he comes back in the room, and he said, you got leprosy.
Boy, things change, don't they? Huh? Things suddenly change. Everything changes. Well, that's
what it is to be enlightened and called of God. Everything
had changed with Matthew, Matthew knew what he was. Matthew
was a sinner. These other disciples were sinners,
saved by the grace of God. They learned this lesson. Now
he said, you go learn what it means. And told those Pharisees,
you go learn what this means. This will change your doctrine.
This will change your lifestyle. This will change your prayer
habits. This will change how you worship God. Right here,
you go learn what this means. You go learn what this means. The lesson of mercy begins with
a diagnosis of the disease with sinners. Fallen, depraved, helpless
sinners. Sinners by nature. That man with
leprosy had a disease within. Moses knew what it was. And his
brother knew what it was. And when God spoke Miriam with
leprosy, they both said, oh, don't Don't let her have such
a thing like those who are dead while they live. I've given an illustration that
I've given you often about a bunch of children. I said, you take
a bunch of children and put them back here in the back and give
them every kind of toy known to man. But point over here to
this back closet door and say, now none of y'all go in that
door, okay? Okay. And then come out here
and watch. See where they go first. They
go right straight to the door. Open that door and peek in, see
what's in there. And I was given that illustration
and a lady met me after the meeting. And she came to me and said,
Richard, she said, that's just children being children. That's
just the nature of them. I said, that's exactly my point.
That's exactly my point. It's man's nature. That's his
depravity. That's what sin is. It's his
nature. It's his nature. Every one of us has spots. Don't we? Do you know how God
spoke to Jacob and Jacob to his father-in-law? Do you know how
that He determined whose cows was His? They all had spots. That's how the Lord Jesus Christ
identifies His sheep. They all have spots. They all
have spots. They all have blemishes. We're
all sinners, dying and dead. His disciples were down here
with Him, eating with publicans and sinners. And then the second
lesson of grace is that we all need mercy. Works of righteousness
are wonderful things. There's wonderful things. I'm
not opposed to that. Somebody said, well, you're just
opposed to good work. No, I'm not. I'm not opposed
to works of righteousness. Not at all. Not at all. Works of righteousness is a wonderful
thing. All of them, they're wonderful
things. But the Lord called these pretenders of righteousness,
He called them hypocrites and blind. You know why? Because
they couldn't do works of righteousness. That's why. They couldn't perform
what God demanded. They were sinners, greater than
the sodomites. But they never had their spots
revealed. The diagnosis of sin shuts the
sinner up to the sovereign mercy of God. He's got no power in
him, no goodness in him, nothing to recommend him to the Lord.
Grace enlightens the sinner, and it shows him his disease.
and shows him his need of mercy. He's got nowhere else to go.
And then the third lesson of grace is to have the occasion
to see the great position. Oh, I'll tell you this, this
sinner can remember and tries to remember at all times, at
all times, What a gift of God's grace it was to have an occasion
to see Christ. I remember. That was mercy. That was mercy. My, so I floundered around and
creeping around on my knees like a fool, trying to find some kind
of righteousness in myself or in religion. All of them things. And then the Lord revealed Christ
to me. And everything fell into place. Just fell into place. There was a meeting called by
some grateful saints to celebrate the grace of God, just like there
was here in Matthew's house. And the means of grace, their
Lord and Savior, they was there to celebrate that. And this poor
sinner was in the house. I was in the house. Just like
you're in the house today. Could be today. Could be. What
a miracle of God's grace if He decided this morning to show
you who you are and show you His Son. What a gift of God's
grace. You see what's going on in this
house? And these Pharisees who were comfortable in their righteousness
and satisfied with their reputation in the community and satisfied
with that old traditional religion, the very Son of God, the glory
of God, the image of God was standing in a man right before
them and they didn't know who He was. They didn't know who
He was. Oh, I tell you, but Matthew knew who He was. Huh? And that
little band of disciples knew who he was, and they celebrated
it. They celebrated it. What in the world? Why was this
man, why would he eat Republicans and sinners? Why would this man speak to them? Because he came for that purpose. He came for that reason. Because the whole need not a
position, but to seek. Listen to this. Let me give you
just a couple of verses of this old hymn and I'll quote. He said, I heard the voice of
Jesus say, Come unto me and rest." Oh, would to God he tell us that
this morning. Come to me, he said, and rest. Lay down, thou weary one, lay
down. Quit running about, quit scrambling
about. Lay your zeal aside for a minute
and just listen. Lay down, thou weary one, lay
down, thy head upon my breast. So I came to Jesus as I was,
weary and worn and sad, and I found in Him a resting place, and He
has made me glad. That's what happened in Matthew's
house. That's the lesson of grace. He
said, now you go learn what this means. What does a man have to do to
serve Christ? He has to learn what this means. He has to learn
the lesson of grace, the lesson of mercy. Everything else just
falls into place. Just falls into place. Thank
you.