Matthew 9:9-13

As they're making their way down, if you have

a copy of the scriptures before you, you can

turn to Matthew chapter 9. This morning we will

Matthew 9 · chapter mention

return to our study in Matthew, which we've been

out for about three weeks. Two weeks to the fair,

and of course we had a missionary, Chris Fry,

to Peru. So I like it when the church is gathered

if we're in the study. So we took a little bit

of a mini break and we will pick up the text

this morning beginning in verse 9. As Jesus passed

on from there, this is where he had just healed

the man that was paralyzed and the four men brought

him to the Lord. So Jesus passed on from there.

He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax

office and said to him, follow me. So he arose

and followed him. Now it happened as Jesus sat

at the table in the house, that behold many tax

collectors and sinners came and sat down with

him and his disciples. And when the Pharisees

saw it, they said to his disciples, why does

your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?

When Jesus heard that, he said to them, those

who are well have no need of a physician, but

those who are sick. But go and learn what this

means. I desire mercy and not sacrifice, for

I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners

to repentance. Would you join me in prayer? Father,

this morning would we bow before you, Lord. God,

in this we see great hope. Lord, we see the call

of a very unlikely disciple. Lord, help us to

see our own calling there. Father, I would pray

that you'd give us a deeper understanding of

our own sin and unworthiness. and a greater sense

of your grace and mercy this morning, Lord. Father,

I thank you for your word. It gives light, it

gives instruction. Would you feed us from this

manna on high this morning, Lord? We pray this

in Jesus' name, amen. Let me ask you this question.

If you were a monarch, if you were a king or

a queen, and you had sovereign authority over

those who would be in your kingdom, who would

you choose? Who would you allow to enter into

your personal kingdom? I think most of us, if

we were the ones that were choosing, we were

able to do this. Certainly we would choose the

wise ones. That's going to bless our kingdom.

The noble, the strong, the ethical and kind,

the gracious, the beautiful. We would also want

the talented to enter our kingdom. Well, who

would we reject then? No doubt we would reject

the thief, the traitor, the unskilled who offers

nothing, because that's how the kingdom of man

operates. You choose that which is going to bless

you and enrich your life, and you reject that

which might be problematic. But that is not the

way of God's kingdom. It's not how it operates

at all. In fact, the Apostle Paul told us in

1 Corinthians chapter 1, he said, for you see,

1 Corinthians 1 · chapter mention

your calling, brothers, that not many wise, according

to the flesh, not many mighty. He doesn't say

no mighty or no wise, but not many. Not many

wise, not many mighty, not many noble are called.

Okay, who does God call? Well, God has chosen

the foolish things of the world to put to shame

the wise. And God has chosen the weak things

of the world to put to shame the things which

are mighty. And the base things of the world,

the things which are despised, God has chosen.

and the things which are not, to bring to nothing

the things that are." Well, why would God do

that? Why would He choose a kingdom like that?

That no flesh should glory in His presence. What

we're going to see this morning is that God chooses

the most unlikely to be part of His kingdom so

that He alone gets the glory. Now we return this

morning to our study in Matthew chapter 9. And

Matthew 9 · chapter mention

we're going to see a disciple, Matthew, who's

called. And on the surface, it looks like we're

just an ordinary calling. But as we look at it,

we're going to see he was very unlikely to be

called by the Lord. Now, if we're going to understand

this, we have to remember what the book of Matthew

is all about. Matthew is written to show that

Jesus is the Messianic King. He is the one sent

from heaven, from God, to bring God's kingdom

to earth. In fact, in chapter 1 verse 1, Matthew

opens the gospel with these words, the book of

the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David,

the son of Abraham. Now, there are two very,

very important titles in that first verse. Son

of David. The son of David, I should correct

myself. The son of Abraham. The son of David

is referring to Jesus' lineage, his royal line

linking him to King David. and the promise that

God made with David in what is known as the Davidic

Covenant. We read about that in 2 Samuel 7. God

made a covenant with David, the great Israeli

king, that a future son, a future descendant

of David's would be born into his family and

he would serve as a king and he would rule forever

over God's people. This future king would have

an everlasting kingdom. He would sit on the throne

of his father David forever. Matthew lets us

know very clearly, in no uncertain terms, that

Jesus is the son of David. He is the fulfillment

to that promise. He is that messianic, that messiah

king who has come to bring the kingdom to us.

But Matthew also says Jesus is the son of Abraham.

Not just a son of Abraham, but the son of Abraham.

Now this title links Jesus with that patriarch

Abraham. God made a promise to Abraham, known

as the Abrahamic Covenant, that a future descendant,

someone in Abraham's line, would be born. This

seed that's going to be born in Abraham's line

would be a blessing to all the nations of the

world. The entire earth would be blessed through

this one singular descendant. And Matthew says,

Jesus is the fulfillment to that promise. He

is the son of Abraham. And we read that clearly

in Galatians 3. Now to Abraham and his seed where

the promise is made, he does not say, and to

seed. This is not talking about more than one,

as of many. There's one particular seed, and

to your seed who is Christ. The Lord Jesus is

the son of David, the son of Abraham. He's the

true Israel who has come to bring light to the

nations. Now this is important. And it's important

to our text this morning. So he is both the son

of David, King, brings the kingdom, and the son

of Abraham, the Savior who came to bring blessing

to all the nations of the world. So you have

two things here. Very clearly, the Lord Jesus

is God's rightful King, and he is the world's

unique Savior. All those covenant promises, whether

to David or to Abraham, find their fulfillment

in Jesus Christ. Second Corinthians 1, Paul says,

for all of the promises of God in him are yes

and in him, amen, to the glory of God through

us. Jesus is the one we are looking for. So as

the true King and as the true Savior, we find

him in the Gospels calling all people, Jew and

Gentile, to come into his kingdom by way of faith

and repentance. Now let me give you the context,

Matthew 9. The last time we looked at Matthew

is about a month ago now. We did see a paralyzed

man and he was brought to Jesus by four acquaintances

and we assumed to be friends. Now there's a large

crowd gathered in the house where Jesus was so

when they arrived at the house they couldn't

get the paralyzed man into the room with Jesus

so they came up with a novel idea. They take

the man up under the roof they began to open

up the roof and they lowered this man down into

the presence of Jesus. Matthew tells us this,

upon seeing their faith, talking about the four

men who was lowering him down, Jesus looked at

the paralytic and he did not say, be healed.

He looked at that paralyzed man and says, your

sins are forgiven. Now the Pharisees and scribes

were gathered in that room and they were outraged.

They were outraged because they said, this man's

guilty of blasphemy because who does he think

he is? Only God can forgive sin. That's a true

statement, by the way. So the Lord Jesus, he

knows what they're thinking. So in order to prove

to them that he had the authority on earth to

forgive sins, he then looked at the paralyzed

man and he said to him, rise up, basically get

up, pick up the mat, pick up your bed, and go

home. What happened? Verse 7. He arose and departed

to his house. Jesus healed that man on that day

to prove to the religious officials and all who

were gathered that he indeed possessed the authority

to forgive sin. Now that's winging in the air.

That's the context. Jesus has the ability to

forgive sin. Now we come to our passage. Look

at verse 9. As he passed on from there, what

I just said, he sees another man, Matthew. sitting

at the tax office or tax booth, your verse may

say, and he said to him, follow me. Guess what?

He got up and he followed him. There's another

man, not paralyzed, but equally in need of forgiveness.

So Jesus had just left that house. He's walking

down a road and he sees another man, Matthew.

Now Luke calls him Levi. It's the same man. And

a lot of Bible characters had two names, by the

way. Simon Peter, then you also have Matthew

and Levi, Thomas Didymus, also called Didymus.

So you find this quite often. So you have Matthew,

Levi, same man here, and Jesus looks at him and

says, hey, come and follow me. This man here,

Matthew, Matthew 9, he would become one of the

12 apostles, and he is the one who wrote this

gospel. But we're told that he's sitting at a

tax booth when Jesus called him, and that's an

incredibly important detail. For the very first

thing that you're going to learn about this man

is that he was a tax collector. Now when we think

of tax collectors, we're thinking like IRS. Now,

we don't love paying taxes, but we don't hate

IRS agents. But that's not what this is about.

Tax collectors were despised and hated by the

Jews because they were traitors to their own

nation. They betrayed their own people for personal

gain. So here's the situation. Matthew is a Jewish

man. He is working for the Roman government,

which meant he then would take money from his

Jewish brothers and send it to Rome, and Rome

then would subsidize their army with Jewish money.

So in essence, you have Jewish money is helping

to pay for Roman occupation of Israel, and the

Jews hated that. They hated that Rome was in

their land. Moreover, these tax collectors had

a great or sordid reputation. They were infamous.

Why? Because they were greedy and very corrupt.

What they would do, they would exploit and take

advantage of poor countrymen, if you will. Now,

Rome, how did they do this? Rome levied many

taxes on Israel. There were taxes on crops. There

were taxes on imports and exports. You had taxes

on infrastructure like roads and bridges. In

certain places, there was a tax if you were going

to go to a market town. And for certain Jewish

men, there was a tax on the head of Jewish males.

Now, Daniel Doriani in his commentary says this,

tax collectors often had the right to assess

the value of the good they taxed. So they grew

rich by taking the wealth of their own people,

sending most of it to Rome, and then pocketing

the rest for themselves. So basically what you

find here is these men got very rich by overtaxing

their own countrymen. They were corrupt. Now

you see this very clearly with what we know as

the wee little man named Zacchaeus who climbed

up into a sycamore tree, Luke 19. Now behold,

there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief

tax collector. Now notice this little appendage

here. and he was rich. How do you suppose Zacchaeus

made his money? By exploiting his own people.

Now in verse 8, we don't have to turn to Luke

Luke 19:8

19 verse 8, he even admitted to such because

when Jesus called Zacchaeus down, here's what

Zacchaeus said in verse 8, he stood and said

to the Lord, Lord, Lord, I give half of my goods

to the poor, and if I've taken anything from

anyone by false accusation, I'm going to restore

fourfold. He knew he had taken stuff by false

accusation. See, tax collectors, Matthew being

one of them, they were seen as the scourge of

society. They were not welcome in the synagogue

because they were unclean. Their testimony was

not admissible in court. They were social outcasts.

They were considered ritually unclean. And whenever

we read of tax collectors, we often find their

association with sinners and prostitutes. That's

how the Bible would say it. So what you have

here, you have no good self -respecting Jew would

ever want to associate or be close with a tax

collector. That is no one except Jesus. Jesus

called one of these despised men to be his disciples,

forever showing church that no one is beyond

the reach of God's mercy and forgiveness. Notice

when Jesus called Matthew to himself as he was

sitting at the tax office. He was there doing

his corrupt job. He was being a traitor to his

own people, and that's when Jesus called him.

What we find here, Jesus did not wait for Matthew

to ask to follow Jesus. Jesus did not wait for

Matthew to leave his corrupt job. Jesus did not

wait for Matthew to get his act together or clean

up his life. Jesus came to him. Salvation has

always been by divine initiative. No one on their

own ever seeks for God. no one ever is looking

for God. God is the one actively seeking and

saving sinners. Now Jesus had just healed that

paralytic where? In Capernaum. That's northern

Israel. That's Galilee. Capernaum is where Jesus

would have his home base, if you will. It's not

his hometown. That was Nazareth. But Capernaum

was his home base. Now where is Matthew? He's

on a road outside of Capernaum. So what does

that mean? This means Matthew had heard of Jesus.

It's a small area. Jesus is wildly popular, massively

popular, all over Israel, because even those

in Jerusalem had heard of him, but particularly

in Galilee. So Matthew would have known of Jesus.

He's heard the stories. This man has the ability

to do miracles. This man's doing the impossible.

And then when Jesus tells Matthew to come and

follow me, he arose and followed. I am sure that

Matthew was shocked. when he heard Jesus summon

him. No one of Jesus's caliber or of Jesus's

reputation ever wanted to be his friend. He was

shunned that he was about to meet Jesus, the

friend of sinners. Now what did Jesus mean when

he said, follow me? It was a summons. Matthew,

leave behind your old way of life and embrace

the life of discipleship. And friends, Matthew

embraced Jesus' call, which was evidence of the

work of this God's Spirit at work within him.

We're told in Luke, Matthew left all to follow

Jesus, which meant leaving behind a life of financial

security, a life of wealth. So the days of his

getting rich off the backs of his own countrymen,

well, they were over. Luke 528. It says Matthew

left all, rose up, and followed him. He left

it all behind. Why? Because he believed Jesus.

He believed Jesus when he said, what shall profit

a man if he shall gain the whole world, yet lose

his own soul? What shall profit a man? There's

no profit in that whatsoever. To gain this world

and lose your soul is the worst trade ever. And

Matthew saw that. Now Luke tells us that Matthew

then threw a big, great party after Jesus had

called him. Luke 5 .29. Notice what he said.

Then Levi, same person, gave him a great feast,

big party, in his own house. The fact that he

could hold a big party in his own house tells

you he was rich. And there were a great number

of tax collectors and others who sat down with

him. Matthew says it this way, now it happened

as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that

behold many tax collectors and sinners came and

sat down with him and his disciples. What do

we find here? Matthew had just invited his friends

to this big party. It's one big feast. Well,

who's Matthew's friends? other tax collectors

and sinners because no one else wanted to be

his friend. So Matthew then, and his friends,

all these social outcasts of the day, they stood

by Jesus, and Jesus stood to lose much, a whole

lot, by having dinner with this group. Jesus's

reputation was on the line now. Because all polite

society would have avoided Matthew and his friends,

no one's going to that party. Remember, they're

ritually unclean. But why do you think Matthew

invited his friends? He wanted them to meet Jesus,

too. I suspect that he knew Jesus could do for

them what he had done for him. But why did Jesus

then accept that invitation to a party where

notorious sinners are going to be present? Why

did he do it? We don't have to guess. For the

Son of Man has come to seek and save that which

was lost. That is a wonderful verse. The Son

of Man, what's his purpose? He's coming to seek

and save the lost. You have to understand though,

all Jesus is doing is sharing a meal. You're

like, what's the big deal? In that day, sharing

a meal meant acceptance and fellowship. There

was a united purpose to dying with someone. That's

why you find devout Jews, they had very strict

table regulations about who could come to eat

at their table and who couldn't. Gentiles could

not come. But if you were to eat with those who

were considered unclean, well that was viewed

as a religious compromise, and that's what Jesus

accepting this invitation meant and made it even

more shocking. That's why the Pharisees are over

here and they can't believe what they're seeing.

This man claims to be from God and he's eating

with these people? They were watching Jesus's

every move. Now they would have been absolutely

fine had Jesus gone to Matthew's house to rebuke

those filthy sinners. had he gone to instruct

them or rebuke them, but he had gone to eat with

them. And that outraged the religious leaders.

Here's what they're wondering. How can he claim

to be a legitimate teacher when he eats in fellowship

with such people like this? These are sinners.

Verse 11. And when the Pharisees saw it, they

said to his disciples, why does your teacher

eat with these people? Tax collector sinners.

I mean, Jesus just claimed to forgive sin. He

claimed to be the teacher sent from God. He claims

to be the Holy One. So tell me, how can a holy

man of God, if he's the real deal, fellowship

with such unclean people? Basically, the Jews

saw them, you are so dirty and so corrupt that

if I'm in your presence, you make me dirty. That's

how they saw it. Now you have to understand,

the Jews knew that all people in general were

sinners. They knew that in their theology. But

when they were referring to people as tax collectors

and sinners in this sense, they're referring

to a certain class of people who were so immoral,

so polluted, that to fellowship with them or

have close contact with them would make you ceremonially

defiled. I become dirty by your dirt. So what

they were saying is Jesus, by eating with them,

is now unclean, ceremonially speaking. And this

was just further proof to the religious leaders

that Jesus is a charlatan. He's a fake. Because

they can't reconcile in their mind how could

God, if he sent him, how could this man fellowship

with these people because they are so notoriously

corrupt. But they don't go to Jesus because they're

cowards. They go to Jesus' disciples and they

ask them this question. But Jesus overheard the

question, verse 12. When Jesus heard that, he

said to them, those who are well have no need

of physician, but those who are sick. But go

and learn what this means. I desire mercy and

not sacrifice, for I did not come to call the

righteous but sinners to repentance. Now think

about this. The Lord Jesus, He had just heard

their complaint and He takes them to task. They

are instructors in religion. They're the leaders

of the people. They should have known what he

was doing, and they should have known why he

was doing it. In fact, they should have rejoiced

that you have Jesus going to reach the loss and

to simply teach about God to those who needed

to hear him. But that's not what you see. They

did not like it at all. Jesus was always making

them mad, because if you look in the Gospels,

Jesus did something. Jesus pursued the pain.

He went to where the leper was, the one who's

unclean. We saw him go to where the demon -possessed

man was. He went to where the grieving mother

and father were. Wherever there was suffering,

you'd find Jesus. Why? He went to pursue the

lost and the broken, and with them, he's building

his church, folks. Who needs a doctor? Healthy

man or sick man? It's the sick. Who needs the

Savior? The righteous or the lost? The lost.

What was the mission? Seek and save that which

is lost. Saving sinners was the very reason Jesus

had come. And he says, I did not come to call

the righteous to repent, but sinners. Now, let

me explain that. Jesus is not saying that there

are some righteous people out there who don't

need to repent. You'd miss the point of that.

He's inditing the Pharisees who think they're

righteous. The Pharisees were never able to grasp

the fact that they were just as lost and just

as sick as the sinners who came to Matthew's

house for dinner that night. They couldn't see

it. Paul will later expand upon that in Romans

3 when he talks about there's none righteous.

No, not one. There's none who seeks after God.

They're all corrupt. They're all defiled. But

that was a stumbling block for these religious

leaders. Oh, yeah, Gentiles, yeah, they were

certainly needed to repent. The other pagans

needed to repent. But as we open the Gospel of

Matthew, we have John the Baptist and then later

Jesus. They come on the scene calling the Jews

to repent. God's people. See, the grace of God

is available to everyone. but only to those who

recognize their need will avail themselves of

that grace. If you don't understand your sin,

you will not appreciate grace. You can't do it.

The problem with the Pharisees is that they were

blind, and although they were blind, they thought

they could see. That meant they were self -righteous.

They were unable to see their own need for the

saving mission of Christ. It never dawned on

them. Who were the Pharisees? Well, they're the

ones that thought, if you study God's law and

you apply yourself to obey it, even with the

help of God, well then you can be righteous.

You've got to do X, Y, Z. And the righteousness

that is required before God must be perfect.

For God is perfect. He is absolutely holy. No

one, even with divine help, can make himself

absolutely righteous before God. All of us, the

best and worst of us, need to be rescued. Everyone.

We need someone who is absolutely, pristinely

righteous to stand in the gap for us, and that

is exactly what the word Jesus does for his people.

There is a problem sometimes with religious folks.

There is an inherent problem with moral people

like the Pharisees. Because when you put the

question to them, they cannot see why God would

possibly reject them and deny them entrance into

the kingdom. They assume that if anyone enters

the kingdom, it'll be them, because they're fine,

upstanding, pious pillars of the community. But

they don't get sin. For them, sin is merely external.

It's just a problem with behavior. But that's

not the way the Bible teaches about sin. Sin

is internal. It's a problem with our heart. Our

behavior simply flows from the desires and thoughts

of our heart. See, sin corrupts, but sin corrupts

not just what we do, not just our actions, but

who we are by nature. We're corrupt in the innermost

part of our being. So yeah, sure, you can make,

someone can make their outer behavior conform

to a moral code. Yeah, you can do that. but you

can never, ever change your corrupt heart. See,

the Bible doesn't say you need to be fixed. The

problem with sin, it is so pervasive, so tied

to our DNA that we need a new birth. We need

to be born again. But if you're self -righteous,

you don't understand the gravity or the weight

of your sin, and thus you fail to understand

grace. You talk about it, but you don't get it.

Ephesians 2, for by grace you have been saved

through faith. And that, not of yourselves. Listen

folks, it is what? The gift of God. All of it.

The faith to believe, the grace that you receive,

all of it's a gift of God. Why? Paul said this

in 1 Corinthians 1, that no flesh should glory

in its presence. He says that again here. It

can't be of works, lest anyone should boast in

the presence of God. There will be no bragging

before God. There will only be humble rejoicing

for His grace and mercy. Only those who understand

their sickness will ever come to the doctor.

I mean, most of us don't call the doctor and

make an appointment when we feel well. It just

doesn't happen. That's the problem with Pharisees.

They didn't recognize their need, and they will

not come to the Savior. But they boasted in knowing

the law of God. That's what they boasted, and

they knew. They were great at Bible trivia. They

were great at sword drills. They knew the Word,

but they didn't understand it. So Jesus takes

them back to the Word of God. He says, but go

and learn what this means, and he gives them

a Bible verse. I desire mercy and not sacrifice.

Jesus is quoting from the book of Hosea chapter

Hosea 6:6

6 verse 6, which says this, for I desire mercy

and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more

than burnt offerings. True religion before God

is not about what you do, but about what he has

done for us in Christ. It's not about rituals

and ceremonies. Rituals and ceremonies can be

fine. They can have their place. Liturgy is great.

But it has to be a heart that reflects the heart

of God. It's a heart that reflects what? God's

mercy and God's compassion. This is what's going

to please him. Sproul said this. Christ. has

not commanded us to shake our fingers at every

center and every outcast of our society. He has

called us to a ministry of mercy. That is what

he did and that is what he wants us to do. Amen.

Friends, the world is the world. The world's

lost and lost act like lost people. Now let me

give you a little caveat here. Sproul was not

referring to those within the church. He's referring

to those outside the church. There are two standards.

We have a different standard for those who have

come to faith in Christ. Immorality must be judged.

Outside, they need to be rescued. They need to

be saved. But the Pharisees didn't get it. They

needed Jesus. They could not see it. So Jesus

tells in the shocking statement, I can't imagine

the look on their faces when Jesus said this.

He said, listen, tax collectors and prostitutes

will go into the kingdom of heaven before you

do. Matthew 21, 31. Assuredly. Mark it down.

I say to you that tax collectors and harlots

enter the kingdom of God before you." Wow. And

that's such a strong skating indictment. Jesus

had just quoted the book of Hosea. Why Hosea?

Because the Pharisees were acting just like the

people did in Hosea's time. They were religious,

but they did not grasp the relationship with

God that was necessary. See, their hearts were

cold, censorious, proud. Because of their religious

devotion, they thought they were right with God.

But had they truly valued mercy above sacrifice,

there would have been no boasting, and there

would have been instead great humility, and there

would have been rejoicing that Jesus was reaching

the lost. I want you to listen to these words

that Jesus spoke. He later on, he was so fed

up with them. He speaks a parable to them that

illustrates perfectly Matthew 9. In Luke 18,

Luke 18:9–14

verse 9 to 14, it says also He, that is Jesus,

He spoke this parable to some who trusted in

themselves that they were righteous and despised

others. Who are the Pharisees despising in Matthew

9? Tax collectors and sinners, all right? He

says two men went up the temple to pray, one

a Pharisee and, ah, let's just take, for example,

the other a tax collector. It's a parable he's

choosing on purpose. He's contrasting the two.

One, you have this well -respected, zealous follower

of God's law, and the other was a notorious corrupt

thief. Verse 11, the Pharisee stood and prayed

thus with himself, God, I thank you, that are

not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers,

or even as his tax collector. Let me just say

that would please God. God doesn't want you to

be an extortioner and adulterer. They go on,

I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that

I possess. And the tax collector, though, he

has nothing to offer to God. He stands afar off.

He's not going to draw near. He would not so

much as even raise his eyes to heaven. He knew

he wasn't worthy. But he beats upon his breast

saying, God, be merciful to me a sinner. Now

remember, what did Jesus say that God delights

in or God requires? He desires mercy and not

sacrifice. So then Jesus gives a conclusion to

the parable, and he's looking no doubt straight

at these men. He said, I tell you, this man,

this tax collector, he went down to his house

justified rather than the other. The other is

not justified. The other is condemned. This is

how tax collectors enter into the kingdom before

you. For everyone who exalts himself, you want

to be proud before God? God will humble you,

and it will be a terrible humbling. But if you

will humble yourself before the great and strong

arm of God, you will be exalted. God will justify

you. Friends, there's only two takeaways here.

There are two ways. That's it. You are either

going to seek to earn God's favor through your

self -effort. It's a fool's errand. You can try.

You can fast. You can tithe. You can give. You

can pray. Your heart's far from God. You'll be

cast out and shut out of the kingdom. Or secondly,

you don't lift your eyes to heaven. You beat

upon your breasts and say, God, be merciful to

me, a sinner. This means you cast yourself upon

the mercy of God. given to us in Christ Jesus.

It's what we see in Matthew, an unlikely convert,

the call of an unlikely disciple. No one, friends,

no one in here, no one out there is beyond the

saving reach or arm of God. So what about for

us, for the church? Jesus called Matthew to be

his disciple and we're told that Matthew left

everything. He left a job of great financial

security. His trust could no longer be in this

money. It had to be in Christ. Do you remember

when Jesus called Andrew and Peter and James

and John earlier in Matthew? What were they?

They were fishermen by trade. And when Jesus

walked by and He called them, what are we told?

It says they left their nets and their boats

behind to follow Christ. They left their old

way. Matthew got up from the tax office and he

leaves it. So what about us? You're like, well,

those are special cases. Yeah, those are apostles.

They're disciples. When we come to Jesus, we

leave behind our old life as well. You and I

are called to abandon ourselves to Him and Him

alone. What does that mean? It means seeking

His will and His kingdom above everything else.

Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.

That's what we're called to do. So here's the

cry of the disciple. Lord, do with me whatever

you will. Whatever you want. Because we are not

our own. We've been bought with a price. And

we are to therefore glorify God in our bodies.

It means, friends, everything. We give everything

to Him. Your life, your home, your family, your

job, your security, it all belongs to Him. He

purchased you. But you and I know that He's good,

right? And it's a choir saying He's faithful.

So we trust Him. He only has good plans for you.

Realize this, folks. He is the true King, son

of David, and the true Savior, son of Abraham.

And you and I bow our knees before Him today,

confessing Him as our Lord. This is the message

that Matthew wants you to get. Cast yourself

up on the mercy of Christ. The saving reach and

arm of God is there for you. You humble yourself,

He'll receive you. You in refusal and pride,

He will humble you on that great day of judgment.

Come to Christ today. Let's bow our heads and

prepare our hearts for the table. Father, we

thank you, Lord, for your word. Lord, it is good.

It's so very good. And Lord, I thank you for

the calling of Matthew. Lord, it reminds us of

our own calling. Lord, help us to see ourselves

as him. Lord God, we are the tax collectors.

We are the sinners. Lord, we are the notoriously

corrupt ones, as Paul wrote about in Romans 3.

Lord, we were the ones who were far off in Ephesians

2. Lord, we have nothing to brag. We can't bring

to you our piety. We can't bring to you the works

of our hands, for if we did, Lord, we would be

consumed. Lord, just as Cain was. Lord God, we

come to you casting ourselves upon your mercy.

Lord, we don't want to lift up our eyes to you.

We bow our hearts to you, but we do this. We

confess your son is Lord. He's the king, the

son of David, and he's the savior, the son of

Abraham, and we trust in him. All our hope is

in him. All our security lies in him. Thank you,

Father, that he is faithful. Lord, we know that

he cannot renege. We know that he cannot fail.

He has died and risen again, has ascended to

the most exalted place in heaven, and we trust

him, Lord. Father, I pray for my brothers and

sisters this morning. Some may be going through

difficult trials. Lord, help their faith to grow

to see Jesus. Lord, I pray for them, Lord, who

are just wavering and being tossed about. Lord,

help them to be fully fixed and Lord, firm and

resolute in their trust in Christ, Lord. Father,

may your spirit work, Lord, in those who are

lost. Lord, awaken them. Maybe there's someone

like the Pharisee here this morning that in their

pride, they come to church and they are clean

living and moral and give and they even pray,

but their heart is far from you. Lord, I pray

that God in your grace, you would open their

eyes. Lord, help them to see their need and to

cast themselves. upon your mercy to humble themselves

before you, Lord. For there will not be a proud

man to enter to heaven, for you actively resist

the proud. I pray this in Jesus' name and for

his glory alone.