Levi is Matthew, the son of Alphaeus,
and he was a publican. A publican was a Jew who worked
for the Roman government. The government had the right
to tax everyone in Israel, and the publican would tax these
people and they would add on to what was owed to them and
they had the support and backing of the Roman government and no
one could do anything about it. Can you imagine how that would
infuriate you if that took place with you? The publican was hated. He was the most hated man in
Israel. He was the lowest person on the It was said of Zacchaeus that
he was the chief of publicans and he was very rich. You could say that about every
publican. They were all very rich at the
expense of their Jewish brethren. Here says Levi, or Matthew, the
one who would become one of the 12, And he's sitting at the receipt
of custom, taking money in, overcharging people, getting rich. And the Lord gives this command,
follow me. Question, could Matthew have
said no? That is what I've entitled this
message. Could Matthew have said no? Well, if he could have, he would
have. You can be sure of that. If a
man can fall away, he will fall away. You can write that down. Now, if he could have, Listen
to this statement. Salvation is not by grace. It's up to a human decision. Matthew was given a choice. Will
I follow him or will I not? And whether or not he would follow
him would be up to the decision he made. Now, if that were the
case. And let me say it's not, but
if that were the case, salvation would not be by grace. It would be dependent upon a
human decision. But this call, Matthew, follow
me. It's not an invitation. It's
a command. Matthew, follow me. This is the
call of invincible irresistible grace. You know, when the Lord
said to Zacchaeus, Zacchaeus, make haste, come down today.
I must abide at thy house. Could Zacchaeus say no? No, there
was a divine necessity to this. The Lord said, I must abide at
thy house. When the Lord said to Lazarus,
Lazarus, come forth. Could Lazarus say no? Well, of
course he could not say no. This is the call of invincible
grace. He that was dead came forth. If Christ says to you, follow
me, you will follow him. And if you do not, it's because
he never said to you, follow. me. Everybody he says, follow
me too, follows him. Now we believe the doctrine of
grace. It's the gospel. It's what the
Bible teaches. It's a declaration of a Trinitarian
salvation. You can't preach the gospel,
not preach the work of all three persons of the Trinity in salvation.
Men are dead in sins. God elected a people before time
began to be saved. Christ died for the elect and
paid for their sins. God the Holy Spirit comes invincibly
and irresistibly and gives life to that one the Father elected
and the Son redeemed. And they persevere all the way
to the end. God's grace cannot be resisted.
Aren't you thankful? John 6, 37, all that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. Everyone that has heard and learned
of the Father, the Lord says, comes to me. Every single one
of them. Now, there are three different
words in the New Testament that are translated follow. One means
to imitate. It's where we get the word mime
from. And we ought to imitate the Lord
Jesus Christ, shouldn't we? In every way. There's another
word that means to pursue, to pursue eagerly and earnestly,
like make charity, follow after charity, make it your pursuit.
And we ought to pursue Christ eagerly and earnestly. Everybody
that knows him agrees with that. But here the word means to look
upon. Someone that's out front, you
look at him and you don't take your eyes off of him. Now I remember the first time
I went to Mexico, Walter Groover took us downtown and it was quite
an adventure to me. It was like being in a third
world country for the first time. I'm scared to death. And Walter,
He was not one of these nurturing guys that made sure everybody's
following him. He'd plow on, and if we lost sight of him,
there we were in this terrible place. And I remember we did
lose sight of him. And I remember Henry Mahan goes,
well, I feel like an Arminian preacher leading men not knowing
anywhere where I'm going. And, uh, we just waited around
and finally he did. He figured out that we weren't
there. And, you know, from that time on, I didn't let him leave
my side. I watch it wherever he was going.
I stayed close and I watched, I followed him carefully. That's what this word means to
follow carefully. Now, the Lord had just demonstrated
who he was earlier in this chapter. We looked at this last week,
look in verse Five, when Jesus saw their face, he said unto
the sick of Paul's son, thy sins be forgiven thee. But there were
certain of the scribes sitting there, reasoning in their hearts,
why did this man speak blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God
only? They were right. And immediately when Jesus perceived
in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto
them, why reason ye these things in your hearts? Whether is it
easier to say to the sick of palsy, thy sins be forgiven thee,
or to say, arise, take up thy bed and walk. It's a lot easier
to say, thy sins be forgiven thee. I can say, your sins are
forgiven. What's it mean? Absolutely nothing. It's easy to say that, but the
reason it's easy is because it can't be verified. If I say it,
it doesn't mean it's so. But it's a lot harder to say
to somebody who is a paraplegic, rise, take up your bed, and walk. And this man, let's go on reading. But that you may know that the
Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins. That's the power
that only God has. He's letting them know he is
God. That you may know that the Son
of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins. He sayeth to the
sick of palsy, I say unto thee, arise. Take up thy bed and go
thy way in our house. And immediately a rose took up
the bed and went forth before them all. Obviously, this man
is God. And this is the one who is speaking. And as he passed by, he saw Levi. Look at verse 14. As he passed
by, he saw Levi. He saw one who he had eternally
loved. He saw one who he was eternally
united with. One of his elect. One he came
to die for. One he came to pay for their
sins. One he came to save. You know
that scripture, thou shalt kill his name Jesus for he shall save
his people from their sins. This is one of them. This is
one of them. He saw him. I like to think it's
very much the same way he saw Zacchaeus up in that tree. He
knew who he was. He called him by name, Zacchaeus.
Don't you know Zacchaeus was astounded? How's he know me? Well, Zacchaeus, he's always
known you. There's never been a time when he didn't know you.
Zacchaeus, make haste. Come down today, I must. abide at thy house. And he made haste. He came down
and he received him joyfully. Now he sees Matthew in his covetousness,
in his blindness, sitting at the receipt of customs, collecting
taxes. Somebody says, had he heard anything
before? You know, I don't know. Maybe
he did. I don't know. It doesn't say one way or the
other, but I know that when the Lord says, follow me, There must
be obedience. You see, the Lord never told
somebody to do something and they didn't do it. When he says,
follow me, he follows him. This is the call of irresistible
and invincible grace. Follow me. Not follow some other
man. Not follow some church or some
religious dogma. Follow me. and we follow him
in his isness. We don't follow some false concept
of Christ that is in religion. We follow him as he is. He that cometh to God must believe
that he is. This is the one we follow. And
when he said to Matthew, follow me, Luke's account says he forsook
all, rose up, and followed the Lord Jesus Christ. Now I'm gonna
ask you to turn to several passages of scripture. Turn with me to
Luke chapter nine. Luke chapter nine. Beginning in verse 57, and it
came to pass that as they went in the way, A certain man said
unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.
I reckon that sounds good, doesn't it? It sounds good. But anything
that begins with a human I will, will not work. Look what the
Lord says to this man. He didn't say, well, good. I'm
glad you've made that decision. That's a good thing for you to
do. He says, Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests,
but the son of man hath nowhere to lay his head. He was not commending
this man. And he said to another, this
is him initiating this, follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer
me first of all and bury my father. Jesus said unto him, let the
dead bury their dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of
God. You're going, you're going to follow me. And another said,
Lord, I'll follow thee, but let me first go bid them farewell,
which are at home at my house. And Jesus said unto him, no man
had he put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the
kingdom of God. Now, the two times men initiated
this, I will follow thee, it was no good. But when the Lord
initiated it, it took place. Turn to John chapter eight. Verse 12. Then spake Jesus again unto them,
saying, I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall
not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. It is
only those who follow him that do not walk in darkness, but
have the light of life. Now in the context, a woman taken
in adultery, guilty, no doubt about it, was brought before
the Lord by the Pharisees. And they asked him this question. Now the law says that someone
has done this. She's been caught red handed.
We've all witnessed it. There's no doubt this woman is
guilty. Now Moses in the law says that such one should be
stoned. What do you say? And they thought they had entrapped
the Lord. If he says, stoner, we can say,
thought you were merciful. Thought you were the friend of
publicans and sinners. You're all talk. If he says, let her
go, we can say, where's your respect for the law of God? Why,
God's word says stoner, and you're saying let her go. You don't
have any respect for the scriptures. They thought, I think it's so,
this is kind of funny. These fools thought they could
entrap omniscience. And you know what the scripture
says he did? He answered not a word and he
kneeled down and started writing something in the dirt. And I
know you've heard me say this, but I love to speculate about
what it was. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou has been weighed in the
balances and found wanting. But they keep bugging him. What do you got to say? And he
got up and said, he that's without sin. And I have no doubt he's
talking about this sin. He that's without sin among you,
let him throw the first stone. And he stooped back down. And
they, beginning with the oldest, being convicted by their own
consciences, went away. And he was left alone with the
woman. Best place, Mary, you could be.
Alone with Christ. And he said, Woman, where are
those thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee? She
said, No man, Lord. Neither do I condemn thee. Go
and sin no more. Now the reason he could not condemn
her is because his blood had put away her sin. And she stood before God on the
grounds of absolute perfection. That's what Christ does for everybody
he dies for. And he is the light. Following
him is the light of how God can look at me and say, I don't condemn
you. There's nothing to condemn you for. You're perfect. You
stand without sin. Only those who follow him have
this light. Turn to Mark chapter eight. Verse 34, and when he had called
the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto
them, whosoever will come after me, this is Mark eight verse
34, whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself Take
up his cross and follow me. Now, this is what is involved
in following the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm to deny myself. I'm to take
up, willingly take up my cross and follow, keep my eyes upon
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I know what my biggest problem
is. It's not you. It's not circumstances. It's not people. It's self. Self. I am my biggest problem. Self. Self-righteous. Self-indulgent. Self-seeking. Self-willed. It's what's called selfish. Self-ish. Would that describe
you? Self-ish. Self-ish. You're about self. Several years
ago, I saw a couple coming out of a drugstore, and they were
fighting. And the man said to his wife,
you think of nobody but yourself. I thought, well, there's the
common problem of everybody, self. What's the Lord say to
do? Deny yourself. Deny sinful self. Deny self-righteous self. Deny
self-willed self. Deny self. That's the only thing
I know to say to do with self, deny it. It's no good, it's rotten. It's your biggest problem? Deny
self. Take up your cross, the Lord
said. Someone says, this is my cross to bear. That's not what
he's talking about. He's talking about that willingly taking up,
confessing what the cross's message is. The gospel of Jesus Christ
and him crucified and the trouble that comes as a result of confessing
that message. Take up your cross and follow You see, following Christ is
what the sheep do. Turn to John chapter 10. And when he put forth his own
sheep, verse four, John chapter 10, verse four, And when he put
forth his own sheep, he goeth before them and the sheep follow
him. That's what sheep do. They follow
their shepherd. For they know his voice. You
know, something a sheep knows, he knows the voice of the gospel.
He knows the gospel. She knows the gospel. To follow
him and to believe the gospel is the same thing. My sheep hear
my voice. I know them and they follow me. To know his voice is to hear the gospel and know
it's the gospel. Look in verse 24 of this same
chapter. Then came the Jews round about him and said unto him,
how long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ,
tell us plainly. Jesus answered them, I told you
and you believe not. The works that I do in my father's
name, they bear witness of me, but you believe not because you
are not of my sheep. As I said to you, my sheep hear
my voice. I know them and they follow me. Every single one of them. I think it's interesting that
he doesn't say, because you don't believe, that
makes you not a sheep. He says, you believe not because you're
not my sheep. You see, there's sheep and there's goats. There
are believers and unbelievers. There's the elect. And the rest,
his sheep follow him. They follow him wherever he goes. Turn to Revelation 14. Revelation chapter 14. Verse one. And I looked and lo,
a lamb stood on the Mount Zion. And with him, 144,000, having
his father's name written in their foreheads. Now that number, 144,000,
represents an exact number. A big number, but that doesn't
mean there's only gonna be 144,000 people in heaven. It's a metaphor that means an
exact number that's a very large number, 144,000. And they have
their father's name written in their foreheads. Every one of
them have this name, Jehovah Sikhenu, the Lord, our righteousness. That is the name of the believer. Let's go on reading. And I heard
a voice from heaven as the voice of many waters and as the voice
of a great thunder. And I heard the voices of harpers
harping with their harps. And they sang, as it were, a
new song before the throne and before the four beasts and the
elders. And no man could learn that song but the 144,000 that
were redeemed from the earth." You know, the only people that
can understand the gospel are people who are redeemed. They
understand because God gives them understanding. An unbeliever
cannot possibly understand the gospel. This is not something
known intellectually. It's known by revelation. And
when God reveals the gospel to you, you believe and you understand. Nobody else can. I don't know
how many times I thought, well, an unbeliever never understand
that. After I preached, I thought,
well, why would I think anything different? Of course they won't.
No one can learn this, but the ones who are redeemed from the
earth. For these are they which were not defiled with women for
their virgins. Now, what that is a reference
to is the fact that they were faithful to the covenant. They
looked only to the gospel of the covenant. Same covenant that
David spoke of when he said, although my house be not so with
God yet, have he made with me an everlasting covenant ordered
in all things ensured. This is all my salvation and
all my desire. The fact that it says they're
virgins means they were chaste virgins to Christ. They were
not corrupted from the simplicity of Christ. They looked to Christ
alone. They didn't have anywhere else
to look. Now let's go on reading. These are they which follow the
Lamb, whithersoever he goeth. Now I love the Lord's character
here. We follow the Lamb. The Lamb. The Lamb that taketh away the
sins of the world. We follow Him in His character
as the Lamb of God. My Savior, my Redeemer, my Substitute. We follow the Lamb whether so
ever He goes. And that's what we wanna do.
Look what it says in verse, let's go on reading. They which follow
the Lamb, whithersoever he goeth, these were redeemed from among
men. The redeemed. Everybody Christ
died for, from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and
to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no guile. They preach
the truth. They preach the gospel. They believe the gospel. They're
not gonna preach guile, deceit, they're gonna tell the truth.
And they are without fault justified before the throne of God. Turn to John 21. Now, let me
make this comment before I read this passage of scripture. In
this thing of following the Lord Jesus Christ, Don't be worried
about how well somebody else is following. Just think about
yourself. Now, you're gonna see that in
this passage of scripture very clearly. John chapter 21, verse 15, so when they dine,
Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me
more than these? He saith unto him, yea, Lord,
thou knowest that I love thee. He said, feed my lambs. He saith
to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou
me? He saith unto him, yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee.
He said unto him, feed my sheep. He saith unto them the third
time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved, because
he said unto him the third time, lovest thou me? And he said,
Lord, thou knowest all things. He appealed to the omniscience
of Jesus Christ. Thou knowest all things. Thou knowest. Thou knowest that
I do love your person. I love you. Jesus said unto him,
feed my sheep. Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
when thou wast young, thou girdest thyself, and walkest whither
thou wouldest. But when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch
forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee
whither thou wouldest not. This spake he signifying by what
death he should glorify God. He was crucified. It doesn't
say it like that, but that's what church tradition says it
anyway. As a matter of fact, it says he was crucified upside
down because he felt like he didn't deserve to be crucified
the same way the Lord was. But he tells him, I think that
is glorious, by what death you'll glorify God. You know, every
believer sees that the gospel's worth dying for. And by his grace,
they're willing to die for the gospel. Every believer's a martyr
in that sense. Every believer sees that kind of value in the
gospel. This spake he, verse 19, by what
death he should glorify God. And when spoken this, he saith
unto him, follow me. Verse 20, then Peter turning
about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved, John, which also
leaned on his breast at supper and said, Lord, which is it that
betrayeth thee? And Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, what
about him? You tell me I'm gonna die? What
about this man? And the Lord said, if I will,
that he tarry till I come, what business is that of yours? You follow me. You don't need to worry about
how well somebody else is following Christ. You don't need to be
discouraged by their lack or intimidated by how well they
do. Don't even think. You follow the Lord Jesus Christ. And you know, this is what every
believer wants to do. I love it when the Lord said to Bartimaeus after
giving him sight, go thy way, thy faith that made thee whole.
You know what he did? He followed Jesus in the way. That was what he wanted to do. And that is what every believer
wants. Don't you want to be a follower
of Christ? I want to be someone who follows Him. Now, remember how the word follow
me means keep your eyes on me. Look at me and don't look anywhere
else. Don't lose sight of me. Turn
with me to Hebrews chapter 12. Now the only way you can follow
someone is by keeping your eyes on them. Hebrews chapter 12. Verse one,
wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great
a cloud of witnesses, the men mentioned in chapter 11, let
us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily
beset us. Now, I've heard preachers call
these constitutional sins. Some people are beset by one
sin, others are beset by another. And I wouldn't deny that, but
that's not what this is talking about. The sin that does so easily
beset every one of us is unbelief. Unbelief. Let us lay aside every
weight and that sin which did so easily beset us and let us
run with patience the race that is set before us looking unto
Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Now, this is the
only time this particular word, looking, is used in the New Testament.
And it means to look at so as not to look at anything else.
Looking unto Jesus. Keep your eyes fixed upon that
one object. Now, I cut my grass, and I cut
it diagonally. I think it looks better that
way. I'm probably kind of anal about the way my grass looks,
but I cut it diagonally. And so I have to start right
in the middle going from one corner to the other with a diagonal
line. Now, how do I do that? Well,
I fix my eyes on a particular corner of the sidewalk, and I
don't look away from that. And I just push that lawnmower
right toward that. Now, if I look to the side, what's
gonna happen? Crooked line. If I look down
at my feet, if I walk, what's gonna happen? Crooked line. The
only way to look. is to fix your eyes right on
that object. Don't let him move and move toward
that. That's what he means when he's
saying, looking unto Jesus. I'm to look to him and not look
anywhere else. I'm to look to him and not my
experience. I'm to look to him and not my
faith. I'm to look to him and not my walk. I'm to look to him
and not my feelings. I'm to look to him only as everything
in my salvation. I don't look for a thing out
of me. And look at how he says, look
at the way he's described. Looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of faith. Yes, he's the author, finisher
of faith. If you have him, he is our faith,
but notice the hours in italics. He's the author and finisher
of faith. I'm to look to him for my faith.
He's the author of it. I can't come up with it. He's
the author of it and he's the finisher of it. He's the completer
of it. Looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before
him, endured the cross, despising the shame. Now I love to think
about this. Looking unto Jesus. You know that scripture in, I
think it's Nehemiah. It's one of the prophets where
it says, the joy of the Lord is your strength. I can't remember
exactly where that is, but it's in there somewhere. The joy of
the Lord is your strength. You can look it up in New Concordance
when you get a chance, but here's what that means. Looking unto
the Jesus, looking unto Jesus who for the joy that was sent
before him. The joy of doing his Father's
will. This is the will of him that
sent me, that of all which he hath given me, I should lose
nothing. but raise it up again at the
last day, the joy of pleasing his father and the joy of saving
his people. Do you know he got joy out of
saving you? And heaven would not be heaven
for him without you. Now that's how much he loves
his people. And this joy caused him to endure
the cross. Let me tell you what that means.
That means he suffered the full equivalent of hell. And he did
it for the joy that was set before him. And he despised the shame. And you know what it is? Have you ever been exposed before
people and caught and made to be totally humiliated and embarrassed
and ashamed of yourself? Now, the Lord never sinned, but
the sin so truly became His that He felt the shame of it. And
do I understand that completely? Of course not. Nor do I understand
how much shame, but he despised, he counted as nothing the shame
that he experienced for the joy that was set before him. And
that's the way I'm to look at it to him as the author and finisher
of my faith, as the one who, for the joy that was set before
the joy of glorifying his father and saving me, he endured the
cross, despising the shame. And I'm to look at him in this
light. He sat down. He said, I'm to look to the sitting
Savior. Not the one pacing back and forth,
worried because he's afraid his will's not gonna be done. He's
the sitting Savior. When he had by himself purged
our sins, he sat down because the work was finished. Look in Hebrews chapter eight. Now the things which we have
spoken, this is the sum. We have such an high priest who
is set on the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the
heavens. In chapter 10. Verse 9, Then said he, Lo, I
come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, the
first covenant, the covenant of works, that he may establish
the second, by the witch will, by God's will, we are sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. It's a perfectly completed action.
No repetition to it. It's done. It's finished. Verse
11, every high priest under the Levitical economy, the Old Testament
high priest, every high priest standeth. He's not setting. He's standing daily, ministering,
offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take
away sins. But this man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of
God, from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his
footstool. For by one offering, he hath perfected forever them
that are sanctified. We look to a sitting Savior. Now what that means is we're
looking to one who has already completed the work. Looking. unto Jesus. May that be a description
of me and you. Somebody who is looking, not
you looked or you're going to look. Right now, you're looking
to him and that's what it means to follow him. If you're looking
to him, you're following him. If you're following him, you're
believing his gospel. Could Matthew have said no? ain't no way. The Lord says to me or you, follow
me. We're going to do the same thing
Matthew did. We're going to rise up and follow
him. Let's pray. Lord, I ask in Christ's name,
we ask in a united way by your grace, in Christ's name, that
you would say to each heart here, follow me. In Christ's name we
pray, amen.