The NXR Podcast - THE SERMON - The Gospel & Evangelism ｜ Matthew 9_9-13

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00:00:26.800 amen please join me in standing for the reading of god's word we are continuing once more

00:00:33.720 through our sermon series on the gospel according to matthew our text for today

00:00:40.060 is matthew chapter 9 verses 9 through 13 matthew chapter 9 verses 9 through 13 i'll read our text

00:00:46.400 in its entirety when i finish reading the text i'm going to say this is the word of the lord

00:00:50.280 at which point i would appreciate very much if you would respond by saying thanks be to god

00:00:55.580 One final time, our text for this morning is the gospel according to Matthew, chapter 9, verses 9 through 13.

00:01:02.180 The Bible says this,

00:01:25.580 And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples,

00:01:30.080 Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?

00:01:34.080 But when he heard it, he said,

00:01:36.700 Those who are well have no need of a physician,

00:01:40.080 but those who are sick go and learn what this means.

00:01:44.440 I desire mercy and not sacrifice,

00:01:47.680 for I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.

00:01:51.640 This is the word of the Lord.

00:01:53.240 all right please be seated we'll go ahead and dive right in there's three main points that i hope by

00:01:59.840 the grace of god to convey this morning the first is in regards to the gospel and doing the work of

00:02:07.160 an evangelist which is the first work that we see matthew seeking to accomplish after being called

00:02:13.180 by jesus as a disciple he immediately begins the work of an evangelist so the gospel and evangelism

00:02:20.740 That's the first point that arrives from the text.

00:02:24.960 The second is a note about the Pharisees and the nature of quarrelsomeness.

00:02:30.840 The Pharisees were quarrelsome, but there are many, I think, in our day, even within the church,

00:02:38.500 that when they think of what it is to be quarrelsome,

00:02:41.740 if they were consistent in the way that they apply quarrelsomeness today,

00:02:48.340 They would have to say that the apostle Paul, for instance, or Christ himself, that these were those who were actually responsible for being quarrelsome and that the Pharisees were just great guys.

00:03:02.900 So we want to look at who the Pharisees really were and what it really means to be quarrelsome.

00:03:08.420 And then lastly, Christ came for the sick, not the healthy.

00:03:13.200 What does that mean?

00:03:14.020 that Christ came as the divine physician.

00:03:18.220 He came for those who were sick,

00:03:19.820 not for those who were whole. 0.98

00:03:23.040 In your notes, I've written the following.

00:03:24.660 There is no sign that Matthew was searching for Jesus

00:03:27.560 or intending to follow him.

00:03:30.000 Notice that.

00:03:31.100 It's implicit in our text,

00:03:33.020 but there's no sign,

00:03:35.300 there's no indication

00:03:36.400 that Matthew was following Jesus

00:03:39.520 in his public ministry,

00:03:41.380 looking on from the outside,

00:03:43.440 pursuing him. For instance, like Zacchaeus climbing up into a tree and calling out to him and wanting

00:03:51.660 to follow him and hoping to be noticed by him, hoping to be called by him. There's no indication

00:03:58.800 of that in the text. No sign that Matthew was searching for Christ or intending to be his

00:04:04.580 disciple therefore jesus called matthew first only then did matthew choose to follow christ

00:04:13.940 notice the order the sequence it is not that matthew is following jesus and then jesus takes

00:04:21.980 notice of him and says you know what you can be one of my top guys but instead matthew is busy

00:04:29.920 at his vocation. A vocation, for that matter, that was notoriously known for being immoral.

00:04:39.320 And not only immoral, right? Matthew's an IRS agent. Not only is it immoral, but in the case

00:04:46.100 of Matthew, who was an Israelite, he's actually a traitor and betraying his own people. He's sold 0.73

00:04:54.260 out and working for Rome and extorting and exploiting his own people financially.

00:05:01.820 So Matthew is not hunting down Christ, hoping to be his disciple.

00:05:07.600 Instead, he's busy at his work, a particular vocation that was immoral at best and traitorous

00:05:16.340 at worst.

00:05:18.140 And yet in this place, it's in this context that Christ finds him.

00:05:24.260 Matthew doesn't find Jesus, but Jesus finds Matthew.

00:05:28.200 And it's upon Jesus calling Matthew to be his disciple

00:05:32.740 that something is supernaturally awakened in Matthew

00:05:37.180 that changes him from a traitorous tax collector

00:05:41.520 to all of a sudden becoming someone who's going to be an apostle of Christ.

00:05:48.480 No one chooses Christ. He chooses us.

00:05:51.580 when Jesus said follow me his words carried the same divine power that healed the paralyzed man

00:05:59.400 which we've seen earlier in the gospel according to Matthew when Jesus said to that individual

00:06:04.760 get up and walk Christ is the author of our salvation according to scripture elsewhere

00:06:11.880 it testifies that he's not only the author but also the finisher of our salvation and what that

00:06:17.940 means is that there is no salvation outside of Christ. He's the one who begets it. He's the

00:06:24.120 founder and the author. He's the one who begins salvation. The one who initially works grace in

00:06:30.960 our hearts. But he's also the one who finishes our salvation. Meaning that the same grace that

00:06:36.740 saves us is the same grace that ultimately keeps us. Christ is the one who calls us to salvation

00:06:43.500 and he's the only one who can keep us in salvation.

00:06:47.640 Apart from Christ, no one will ever be converted.

00:06:50.940 And apart from Christ, even those who have been converted, 0.60

00:06:54.320 no one will remain in the faith.

00:06:56.380 Christ saves us and he keeps us.

00:06:59.500 And this is what we see in the case of Matthew.

00:07:01.660 And he does this through his divine and effectual call.

00:07:06.940 We're tempted to read the text at this point

00:07:09.540 and just think in human terms.

00:07:11.240 that Jesus, as a man, the God-man, albeit, but still a man,

00:07:17.520 he simply goes up to someone who's working in his vocation and says,

00:07:21.640 hey, I have an alternative job offer, and I think it's compelling,

00:07:26.580 and you should physically come and follow me and be my apprentice for a while.

00:07:33.380 And somehow Matthew found this to be a compelling, persuasive offer,

00:07:38.440 and so he left his trade and followed Jesus. Well, that's true as far as it goes, but there's a deeper

00:07:45.040 truth at work. When Jesus says, follow me, this is the voice of God, and it is the effectual call

00:07:54.680 of God. When Jesus says, follow me, something in the soul of Matthew supernaturally transforms

00:08:04.440 in that moment. He goes from spiritual death to spiritual life. All of a sudden, a man who was

00:08:11.440 dead in his sins, all of a sudden, a new creature springs forth. This is Matthew's conversion.

00:08:19.420 Matthew comes to spiritual life. And you have to notice, I find this humorous, but it's also

00:08:27.420 awe-inspiring. But all throughout the gospel narratives, when Jesus is giving divine supernatural

00:08:34.920 commands like this, he always has to be very specific. Have you noticed that? Like Lazarus,

00:08:42.100 come forth. And he has to specify, right? Because if not, every dead person buried on the planet

00:08:50.500 would all of a sudden spring to life and obey the voice of God. This is God in the flesh.

00:08:58.260 This is no one less than Christ Jesus, the second member of the eternal trinity. This is God. And

00:09:05.200 when he speaks, winds and waves submit to his voice. He's God. When he calls Matthew to follow

00:09:13.900 him? Conversion. Spiritually. When he tells a paralytic 0.87

00:09:17.920 to stand and walk? Conversion. Physically. 0.98

00:09:21.780 This is no one less than the Son of God. The very

00:09:25.580 Word of God who by whom and through whom

00:09:29.380 and for whom the entire created cosmos

00:09:32.820 exists. And this is the way

00:09:37.120 salvation continues to work even for you and I.

00:09:41.720 This has not changed.

00:09:43.740 No, you and I will not meet Jesus in this temporal life

00:09:47.340 in His public earthly ministry.

00:09:50.800 But Jesus, who now sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty,

00:09:56.220 is still the author and finisher of salvation.

00:09:59.520 And He is still saving dead, lifeless creatures,

00:10:04.860 dead and enslaved in their sin by His Word.

00:10:10.180 by his divine word that brings the dead to life

00:10:14.700 by his effectual call that when it is given

00:10:18.140 it always produces fruit.

00:10:21.980 It will be obeyed.

00:10:24.320 This is how Jesus saves.

00:10:26.140 He's the author of salvation

00:10:27.460 and his word is the means of salvation.

00:10:31.620 For the gospel is the power of God for salvation.

00:10:35.660 Romans 1 16.

00:10:37.480 And in Matthew's case,

00:10:38.780 the call of Christ was an effectual call.

00:10:41.940 He immediately got up and followed Jesus

00:10:44.380 without hesitation or delay.

00:10:47.620 So whether it's Jesus in the flesh 2,000 years ago

00:10:51.900 calling Matthew to follow him,

00:10:54.780 or whether it's Jesus still to this day

00:10:58.240 through his words, which is the means of salvation,

00:11:02.680 Christ, who is the author, the source,

00:11:05.060 and the founder of salvation,

00:11:06.420 In the same way, in that sense, 2,000 years has changed nothing.

00:11:13.220 Jesus is still the author of salvation.

00:11:15.960 The Word of God is still the means of salvation.

00:11:19.660 And when the Holy Spirit works sovereignly, is pleased,

00:11:23.920 and chooses to work in conjunction with the Word of God, which He inspired,

00:11:28.320 which is sent forth from Christ,

00:11:30.640 when that happens, dead people, just like Matthew, come to spiritual life

00:11:35.520 and begin to follow Jesus.

00:11:37.500 And it is not because that person

00:11:39.540 counted the cost,

00:11:41.740 evaluated the offer,

00:11:43.720 did some careful objective analysis

00:11:46.280 and made the right, you know,

00:11:48.360 superior decision to be a disciple of Christ.

00:11:51.400 No, it's because that person was dead.

00:11:54.580 But a miracle took place

00:11:56.400 and caused them to come to life.

00:11:59.700 That's how God saves.

00:12:01.300 It's always how God has saved.

00:12:04.240 He saved that way in the Old Testament.

00:12:06.740 He saved that way in the gospel narratives.

00:12:09.000 He saved that way under the ministry of the apostles,

00:12:11.760 among the Jews, among the Gentiles.

00:12:13.660 And He saves that way today.

00:12:16.100 That's how we are saved.

00:12:18.120 God sends His Word, and the Word of God never returns void.

00:12:22.180 And for those who die in unbelief and do perish in eternity

00:12:27.000 under the white-hot wrath of God,

00:12:29.340 Even in their case, the Word of God never returns void.

00:12:34.000 The Word of God accomplishes precisely that which it was sent out to do.

00:12:39.900 And in your case, it was sent forth in order to convert the soul,

00:12:46.380 to adopt you as beloved sons of God,

00:12:49.560 to magnify the glory of God by demonstrating His eternal grace.

00:12:55.260 And in the case of the reprobate,

00:12:57.280 the word of God is sent forth

00:12:59.020 and it doesn't return void.

00:13:01.040 It doesn't fail,

00:13:01.960 but it accomplishes

00:13:03.000 what it's meant to accomplish

00:13:04.360 in those cases,

00:13:05.520 which is to magnify the justice of God

00:13:07.960 by hardening the sinner's heart

00:13:09.580 so that they might experience 0.99

00:13:11.160 eternity in hell

00:13:12.120 to show the justice of God.

00:13:15.260 And in both cases,

00:13:16.720 blessed be the name of the Lord.

00:13:19.000 In both cases, God is glorified.

00:13:21.640 And in both cases,

00:13:22.700 he does no injustice.

00:13:24.440 In both cases, we can say, let God be true, though every man a liar, but the word of God

00:13:30.980 never returns void. So Jesus saved Matthew. Matthew Henry, different Matthew, he puts it

00:13:39.780 like this. When Matthew invited Christ, so this is after Christ first in the spiritual and the

00:13:45.780 truest and ultimate sense invited him. So Christ first spiritually invites him, come and follow me.

00:13:51.140 But immediately afterwards, what we're meant to assume implicitly in the text is that once Matthew begins to follow Jesus, one of the first things that takes place is Matthew says, I'd like to throw a party.

00:14:04.500 I'm honored that you've called me to be one of your disciples.

00:14:08.900 And before we begin the journey, I don't know what you have in mind, Jesus, but if it's not too much trouble, I'd love to have you in my home for a feast.

00:14:18.460 and not only you and the disciples at that point

00:14:23.340 who are already following Jesus,

00:14:25.160 but also we can tell implicitly in the text

00:14:29.140 that Matthew intends to invite his friends.

00:14:32.620 Jesus, I would like for you and your disciples

00:14:34.680 and myself as your newest addition to the team

00:14:38.740 to all have a meal together at my expense

00:14:41.820 in my home, a great party, a great feast,

00:14:45.000 and I would like to invite all of my friends

00:14:48.040 to join us. When Matthew invited Christ, he invited many publicans, that is, tax collectors

00:14:54.720 and sinners, to meet with him. This was the chief thing that Matthew aimed at in his treat,

00:15:01.800 that he might have an opportunity of bringing his old associates to be acquainted with Christ.

00:15:08.200 He knew by experience what the grace of Christ could do and would not despair concerning them.

00:15:16.880 Note, they who are affectionately brought to Christ themselves cannot but be desirous

00:15:23.140 that others also might be brought to him as well,

00:15:26.880 and ambitious of contributing something toward that end.

00:15:31.780 True grace will not be content to eat its morsels alone, but will always invite others.

00:15:40.720 Those who have truly been saved by the grace of God,

00:15:44.040 those who are truly, objectively, objects of God's mercy and salvation

00:15:48.380 will never be content to hoard God's mercy.

00:15:53.600 They will never be content to dine and feast

00:15:56.780 on the morsels of the grace of God and the goodness of salvation alone.

00:16:01.740 But rather they will be ambitious and desirous to share salvation with others.

00:16:07.520 And so instinctively, the first thing that Matthew thinks to do,

00:16:10.960 having now been called to be a disciple of Jesus

00:16:14.380 and answer that call by the grace of God

00:16:16.640 causing him to become alive

00:16:18.940 and to become a new creation

00:16:20.740 the first thing that he embarks on

00:16:22.760 is to throw a feast

00:16:24.920 and to have Christ as the center of this feast

00:16:28.100 but to do it in his home

00:16:29.680 upon the measures

00:16:32.240 and the expense of his own hospitality

00:16:35.280 and to invite all of his old associates

00:16:38.560 to be present

00:16:39.920 so that they too might look upon Christ.

00:16:43.280 So that they too might have the opportunity.

00:16:45.400 Ultimately, Christ will make the sovereign decision

00:16:47.900 whether He saves or whether He condemns.

00:16:51.300 But He wants as many of His friends

00:16:53.680 to have as much opportunity as possible

00:16:56.860 to be near Christ,

00:16:58.920 to be brought to Christ

00:17:00.720 so that they might be saved by Christ.

00:17:04.460 When Christ saves a man,

00:17:06.700 that man becomes ambitious

00:17:08.100 about seeing Christ save others.

00:17:11.240 And if we have no desire

00:17:13.020 at our own expense

00:17:15.720 to produce the context

00:17:18.500 where others might come to know

00:17:20.840 the saving grace of Christ

00:17:22.440 that we've experienced,

00:17:24.400 then we have reason to doubt

00:17:26.340 whether or not we've experienced

00:17:27.800 that grace ourselves.

00:17:30.680 One of the indicators,

00:17:32.880 one of the signs,

00:17:34.200 one of the confirmations

00:17:35.360 that you have in fact

00:17:37.100 come to Christ in salvation, is that you are earnest and ambitious about seeing others come

00:17:44.000 to Christ in salvation. And if you're not, it does not mean objectively that you're unregenerate,

00:17:51.580 but it is cause for evaluation and a cause for godly concern. Notice nobody had to teach Matthew

00:18:02.160 this, right? There are many things that we have to be taught. We need to be discipled. We need to

00:18:06.560 learn. We need to grow and be sanctified. But this is Matthew five minutes into conversion.

00:18:14.020 Matthew doesn't have to be taught. And it's not, as far as we can tell, it's not Jesus's idea.

00:18:19.140 Although this is something that Jesus likes to do because it was his idea in the case of

00:18:24.720 Zacchaeus. Remember Zacchaeus? He just wants to be near Christ. And then Christ says, Zacchaeus, 0.58

00:18:30.540 dinner's on you we're going to your house you're preparing a feast i'm going to be there bring

00:18:39.020 your friends we're doing some evangelism i said we're doing evangelism today that's how you know

00:18:45.660 jesus responds in the case of zacchaeus but as far as we can tell from the text of scripture

00:18:50.780 in the case of matthew matthew has the idea but there's no signs of jesus objecting it's matthew's

00:18:58.060 idea, but this is precisely what Jesus loves to do. Jesus loves to dine with sinners. He does.

00:19:06.920 And traitors. Now, let's temper that principle, which is a good, perfectly biblical, true principle.

00:19:13.040 But let's temper it with what's also biblical and what's just a little bit of common sense.

00:19:19.640 Some modern evangelicals will take a text like ours today and say, Jesus loves being a friend

00:19:25.720 of sinners. He was called a friend of sinners. And all of that is true. But first, let's recognize

00:19:33.560 that this label, friend of sinners, is not a title that Jesus bestows upon himself.

00:19:40.520 This is a title that's crafted and levied by his detractors. This is the opposition that comes up

00:19:48.260 with this label. It is the Pharisees and those Jewish religious leaders who hated Christ and

00:19:54.440 who ultimately produced the crucifixion of Christ. 0.90

00:19:59.220 It's their idea to call him a friend of sinners.

00:20:02.160 It's not a compliment.

00:20:03.960 It's meant to smear him and to sully his public reputation.

00:20:09.780 But Christ is content to work with this label.

00:20:13.100 Some labels you can't work with, but some you can.

00:20:16.780 But Christ, in a sense, receives the label friend of sinners,

00:20:21.820 but he operates as a friend of sinners on his own very specific terms.

00:20:27.160 What are those terms?

00:20:29.680 Well, Jesus will meet with sinners.

00:20:32.080 But he meets with sinners to call them to repentance.

00:20:37.340 And then very quickly he continues on his way

00:20:40.640 in obedience to his Father.

00:20:43.660 And all those sinners are given an offer to come.

00:20:47.640 But Jesus will not stay with them if they refuse.

00:20:52.440 Jesus is going toward the Father.

00:20:55.600 He's following the Father in obedience.

00:20:58.620 And any sinner who chooses to accompany Him is invited along the way.

00:21:04.440 But Jesus will not compromise obedience to His Father

00:21:08.420 in order to stay back in a perpetual, indefinite state of compromise

00:21:14.640 just so that He can be friends with sinners.

00:21:16.800 In other words, to state it plainly, Jesus is the friend of sinners.

00:21:21.820 But he is the friend of those who quickly become repentant sinners.

00:21:27.700 And there's a difference.

00:21:31.460 Jesus doesn't have a three-year-long regular friendship,

00:21:37.420 meeting with someone on a daily basis,

00:21:40.340 who is unrepentant and has no desire to follow him,

00:21:43.480 except Judas.

00:21:46.320 That's pretty much it. 0.51

00:21:48.680 And that's a pretty particular case.

00:21:50.740 right so if you feel like hey well i understand this isn't the principle but there are some

00:21:56.940 exceptions in this case we have a judas and i think that i'm the son of man and i'm ultimately

00:22:02.500 going to be betrayed and i'm you know ultimately the son of god i'm i'm jesus christ reincarnated

00:22:07.780 i'd come back a second well then okay that that would be an exception but also you're a heretic 0.99

00:22:12.240 and we should probably burn you at the stake right so in other words it's a funny way of saying there 0.99

00:22:17.140 are no exceptions. You're not Jesus. Jesus did this with Judas, and even in the case of Jesus, 0.99

00:22:23.000 he did it with one guy, so the scriptures might be fulfilled. The son of perdition. 0.87

00:22:29.100 In every other case, Jesus has friends. The other 11 disciples, and even beyond that, he has friends.

00:22:36.100 He's friends with Mary, and Martha, and Lazarus. These are friends, but Mary, Martha, and Lazarus

00:22:43.600 are not living in blatant, unrepentant sin,

00:22:46.960 saying, Jesus, we've heard your commands.

00:22:49.680 We absolutely refuse to obey them,

00:22:51.800 but also we'd still like to be friends.

00:22:53.420 And then Jesus says, okay, I guess I'll take it.

00:22:57.360 Said the Bible, never.

00:22:59.260 That's not a category.

00:23:01.420 So you having a regular close friendship 1.00

00:23:03.880 with an unbeliever who is in blatant, 1.00

00:23:07.180 unrepentant rebellion against God 0.96

00:23:09.240 and continuing that relationship long-term

00:23:12.180 is compromise because this is what should happen. You don't have to leave them. I'm not telling you

00:23:18.740 go and reject all of your non-Christian friends. What I'm saying is look like Jesus. That's it. 0.85

00:23:24.980 Do you know what happens when you look like Jesus consistently and unapologetically without

00:23:31.140 cowardice over a long period of time with unregenerate friendships? Do you know what

00:23:35.960 happens? They leave you. You don't have to leave them. They'll leave you. Or they'll convert to

00:23:44.140 Christ. They'll either reject you because they reject Christ and you actually look like him.

00:23:52.300 Or they'll accept Christ and now your friendship is far more deep and profound and genuine than

00:23:59.500 it ever was before. The only bad option, this third way option, there's your sign. It's not a

00:24:06.940 great option. The third way option is that you actually compromise fidelity and obedience to

00:24:14.300 Christ. And they actually hate the Jesus of the Bible, but somehow love you. Why? Because you look

00:24:23.080 nothing like the Jesus of the Bible. But again, this is a common practice, especially for Protestants. 0.79

00:24:32.120 Protestants, somewhere along the way, especially here in America, through the Seeker Sensitive

00:24:36.940 Movement, the Church Growth Movement, and all these different avenues, decided over the last

00:24:42.520 few decades, it's been a while now, that somehow we're better than Jesus. And it does need to be

00:24:48.360 said that way. Why do you say things the way that you do? Because it's offensive? No, because it's

00:24:54.940 clear. That's what it really comes down to. I want to cut through all the distractions and all the

00:25:01.760 fluff. Let's get down to what's true, what's real. If you think that you can be evangelistic and lead

00:25:08.580 people to Christ, but somehow do it in a way that you're not rejected by people, then what you're

00:25:13.940 essentially saying is, I see what Jesus did, and I think I can do better. So the only proper word

00:25:22.280 for that is arrogance. You're prideful. Jesus literally said, if they hate me, they'll hate you.

00:25:31.800 The student is not above the teacher. The slave is not above the master. If the world hated me,

00:25:35.580 they'll hate you. The only way that you can be an evangelist, but not experience any measure of

00:25:41.580 opposition, is ultimately to be so delusional and arrogant that you think you're going to be

00:25:48.300 able to accomplish something that Jesus himself could not do. To put it plainly, you literally

00:25:56.440 think you're better than Jesus. And so in love, I'd like to tell you, you're not. Right? I mean,

00:26:02.820 that's a pretty basic, you would expect a Christian pastor, like today, what we learned

00:26:07.040 is that we are not superior to the Son of God.

00:26:12.800 Radical, controversial sermon, you know.

00:26:16.140 No, you're not better than Jesus.

00:26:18.260 You are not going to find a way to be just as potent in your evangelism,

00:26:22.760 but somehow more likable and not experience any opposition.

00:26:26.920 That's what you're shooting for.

00:26:28.740 It may be subconscious.

00:26:29.980 You may be just coming to terms with it right now as I'm preaching,

00:26:32.720 but that's ultimately what you're aiming for.

00:26:35.040 That's ultimately what you've deceived yourself into thinking is actually possible.

00:26:40.620 That I can be just as effective and just as faithful to the truth

00:26:45.060 without any ounce of compromise in terms of my strategies and attempts of evangelism,

00:26:51.160 yet somehow mitigate all the opposition and the controversy.

00:26:57.280 In other words, I can achieve something that Christ himself could not achieve.

00:27:01.920 and the answer is let me save you the heartache let me save you some time you can't you won't

00:27:08.340 now what you can do is you actually can experience a lot less opposition than jesus

00:27:14.880 but you need to be honest with yourself and realize that the reason you're not experiencing

00:27:20.320 the opposition that jesus did is because over here you're actually not as faithful to the truth

00:27:25.280 as jesus was it's like well i'm actually telling people about jesus and i'm not experiencing a

00:27:31.200 bunch of people that hate me uh-huh which Jesus are you telling them about which one

00:27:39.440 because I can tell you right now it's not the biblical Jesus

00:27:43.020 it's not the Jesus who actually exists because that Jesus offends people

00:27:50.480 by God's grace many will come to saving to saving faith in him but there will also be many others

00:28:00.360 who don't and who are greatly offended.

00:28:05.960 This is the nature of evangelism.

00:28:09.140 This is the nature of being a disciple of Christ.

00:28:13.160 If Christ calls us to follow him,

00:28:15.820 instinctively we desire that others might follow him as well.

00:28:19.820 But what we do as evangelists is we're bringing people to Jesus.

00:28:25.180 Notice what Matthew does is he immediately takes opportunity

00:28:29.480 at his own expense.

00:28:31.860 He's paying for all the drinks.

00:28:33.540 He's paying for all the food.

00:28:34.860 Opens up his home.

00:28:36.660 And he brings as many of his associates,

00:28:39.080 as many of his friends as he possibly can.

00:28:41.200 But to do what?

00:28:42.440 To be near Jesus.

00:28:45.640 And you might say,

00:28:46.340 well, that doesn't sound really particularly insightful.

00:28:48.000 But here's what I mean by that.

00:28:51.120 He doesn't invite everybody to come meet with him

00:28:53.660 as he then tells them about who he thinks Jesus is.

00:28:57.360 His version of Jesus.

00:28:59.480 No, he actually brings people to be in close quarters and experience the real Jesus.

00:29:07.400 So when Matthew does this, Matthew's probably heard the rumors by this point.

00:29:13.480 Matthew is probably aware of what people say about this guy, Jesus.

00:29:20.320 Matthew knows that he's going to be having all of his friends, all the well-to-do elites in society.

00:29:29.000 The guys is his business partners

00:29:30.720 that he used to associate with.

00:29:33.940 And they're all going to come under his roof

00:29:35.940 and he's going to put them in close quarters with Jesus.

00:29:39.400 And he knows that Jesus is kind of radical.

00:29:44.220 Jesus has a bit of a reputation by this point.

00:29:48.660 But Matthew's not embarrassed.

00:29:52.020 I don't think that Matthew's in his home

00:29:54.200 with all these people and Jesus begins to speak.

00:29:58.080 begins to teach, begins to interact with these. I don't think that Matthew's sitting there

00:30:04.220 apologizing for Jesus. Oh, Jesus, don't say that at dinner. Right? It's like the little meme where

00:30:12.480 it's like, hey, babe, we're going to my parents' house for dinner. Could you please not talk about

00:30:16.120 politics? And then, you know, you see below, it's like five seconds in, you know, and I could feel

00:30:21.360 the demons rising, you know. It's like, oh my goodness. My husband, he just can't keep it

00:30:26.180 together like but that's that's what it's like when you invite jesus to dinner he's not a jerk 0.93

00:30:32.920 but he's also not fake jesus offends people's sensibilities jesus talks about things that are

00:30:42.520 true jesus has a way of very quickly getting to the heart of a matter right the rich young ruler

00:30:51.020 comes up to Jesus. This is not a three-hour conversation. What must I do to inherit eternal

00:30:57.460 life? Be perfectly righteous, attaining a position of sinless perfection, obeying all the law of God.

00:31:06.180 I've done that. You're a liar. No, you haven't. Here's just one thing to do. You can't do it. 1.00

00:31:11.800 See you later. Conversation over. And the guy walks away sad. He doesn't walk away saying,

00:31:18.520 you know that Jesus? I met him today. Really great guy. No, he's walking away, and Jesus just wrecked

00:31:26.820 his world. He just took his entire worldview, his entire, you know, self-perception, and crushed it

00:31:34.120 in about a 15-second conversation. That's how Jesus talks to people. That's what it's like to

00:31:40.780 have dinner with Jesus. And Matthew is able to take all of his associates and say, I want you to have

00:31:47.380 dinner with jesus matthew think about that for ourselves think about that for many of us we would

00:31:56.300 be tempted to say well pastor you know my parents are going to be in town this weekend

00:32:02.700 and and i don't want them to have dinner with jesus they think they're christians they think

00:32:11.040 they like jesus but they don't really could you actually could you actually tone it down a little

00:32:16.680 bit this week? Could you just be a little more subtle? Like I know winsomeness is maybe not the

00:32:24.820 most biblical, you know, approach, but hey, maybe a little winsomeness wouldn't hurt.

00:32:32.200 But that's not how Matthew thinks.

00:32:36.260 And you know what? I think part of this, it's not like, well, Matthew was truly converted and you

00:32:39.820 guys aren't. That's not my point. What I am saying is there's something about returning to your

00:32:46.460 first love. It's not that he's truly converted. It's that he's newly converted. It rhymes and

00:32:53.620 therefore it's true, right? I think that's how it works with preaching. That one just came to me.

00:32:57.400 But it's not that he's truly converted. He is. But I don't mean that, you know, to imply that

00:33:03.720 you're not. But it's he's newly converted. And there's something about coming to Christ for the

00:33:11.840 first time, and your entire life being transformed and being overwhelmed by the riches and the mercy

00:33:19.100 and the grace of God, to where all of a sudden, when you're thinking about the collateral damage,

00:33:24.520 you just don't really care. Like, I'll take Jesus. I'll lose my friends. I'll lose my job. I'll like,

00:33:31.500 I'll take Jesus. I love Jesus. He just saved me. He just saved me. I was a wretch. I was a traitor,

00:33:38.840 betraying my own people and selling them out. I was extorting. I was exploiting. And he called 0.52

00:33:44.900 me. He chose me. He picked me. So I don't care what people think. I don't care what friends I

00:33:51.420 lose. I'm going to bring them to Jesus. Not my own fake version of Jesus that's palatable,

00:33:58.680 that's tolerable. No, Jesus, the real Jesus. I'm inviting my friends. I'm inviting the in-laws

00:34:04.400 and the outlaws, they're all coming to my home to sit with Jesus. And I know he's going to say

00:34:10.680 some hardcore things. I've heard the rumors. I know they're true, but it doesn't matter.

00:34:16.620 He has the words of life. And if my family and if my friends reject him and by virtue of rejecting

00:34:22.960 him reject me, so be it. But he's the guy who just called me and chose me and saved me.

00:34:32.300 and all of it is a small cost

00:34:35.740 in comparison to what He's given me.

00:34:41.100 I don't think that's just true conversion.

00:34:43.060 I think that's new conversion.

00:34:44.440 And some of us this morning,

00:34:45.680 you need to return to your first love.

00:34:47.540 You need to be reminded

00:34:48.780 of what it was like

00:34:50.780 to be rocked by the truth of the gospel,

00:34:54.660 the weight of your sin

00:34:55.880 and the mercy of Christ

00:34:57.520 that bridges the gap.

00:34:58.580 And remember what it felt like

00:35:00.680 when you first came to Christ

00:35:02.360 that you'd be willing to pay any price.

00:35:06.600 You'd be willing to count any cost.

00:35:09.600 You'd be willing to endure a little shame,

00:35:12.720 a little personal embarrassment

00:35:14.740 because Jesus was worth it 0.99

00:35:17.060 because He saved a wretch like you. 0.99

00:35:20.140 Do you remember that, church? 0.99

00:35:22.020 Or has it been too long?

00:35:25.440 Do you remember when the gospel,

00:35:27.400 the power of God for salvation first saved you?

00:35:30.680 you guys know i like politics i like applying all of christ all life i like the culture war

00:35:39.360 i want to win i think we do win but remember your first love do you remember the gospel

00:35:47.700 do you remember your savior hanging on a tree do you remember who you were

00:35:55.160 how messed up you were

00:35:57.680 how deceived you were 1.00

00:36:00.300 how arrogant you were 0.99

00:36:02.320 how sinful you were 1.00

00:36:04.300 and he saved you

00:36:05.760 and you can't invite some friends

00:36:10.760 to meet with him

00:36:12.440 because it might turn them off

00:36:15.840 and they might think a little bit

00:36:18.160 more negatively of you

00:36:20.060 time for repentance

00:36:23.960 you know what sometimes you just you make a point and it's not about me but the spirit of god just

00:36:32.180 by his mercy and sovereignty you make a point and we have more time but sometimes you just

00:36:36.900 it's good to just have a one-point sermon and let that just sit so we're just going to let that sit

00:36:44.180 and uh we'll have to pick this up uh another sunday believe it or not because the other

00:36:49.780 points are good and there's more to the text. But I want us just to remember this. Christ saved us

00:36:59.080 and if we're truly saved, then we're not content to feast on the morsels of his grace alone. But

00:37:07.200 instead, we want to feast with others, inviting others to meet with Jesus. Pretty simple, pretty

00:37:16.480 basic but uh but good connor now you're scheduled to preach next sunday right so i'm not gonna it

00:37:22.820 wouldn't be fair to him to say like your text has changed overnight because connor connor is

00:37:27.740 bivocational and has a day job so i say we just we move on to the next text you preach what you're

00:37:33.760 prepared to preach next lord's day and then we'll just we'll come back if you're allowed to do that

00:37:38.400 it turns out uh with with expository preaching if you know this but uh there's a lot of there's a

00:37:45.160 lot of a lot of license there right you can do it puritans sometimes they would preach like

00:37:50.200 like two words they'd be like a sower went out to sow 14 part sermon series it's not even a whole

00:37:59.140 verse you know and and if i do that today you know people are like look he's eisegeting and he's just

00:38:04.820 coming up with it's like charles spurgeon the guy you claim to like that's literally how he preached

00:38:10.400 all the time Spurgeon would be like two words and here is a five-part sermon series on those

00:38:17.700 two words you know like where's that in the text and if Spurgeon was honest you know he'd be like 0.94

00:38:22.340 I made it up but all the reformers love Spurgeon so right so it's like he's Isagene nope I'm just

00:38:30.960 a true Puritan thank you very much all right let's pray father thank you for your word bless

00:38:35.500 it to your people and most importantly bring yourself great glory we pray this in Jesus name

00:38:39.780 Amen.

The NXR Podcast - April 27, 2025

THE SERMON - The Gospel & Evangelism ｜ Matthew 9_9-13

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