Invitation To Follow Jesus

Raul Ries: When I go to the gym, I'm among sinners. When I go surf, I'm among sinners. When I do the martial arts, I'm among sinners. Why? Because that's where Jesus wants us to be, so that we can make contact with them. Yes, they're sinners, but I love them. I don't want them to go to hell.
Guest (Male): I am falling in love. I am falling in love with You. I am falling in love. I am falling in love with You. Welcome to Somebody Loves You radio, the Bible teaching ministry of Raul Ries in Diamond Bar, California. It is great to have you along today as Raul launches a new series, exploring how to live life in step with the Lord Jesus. We'll begin today by reflecting on the invitation that Christ extends to each of us to receive His salvation and to enjoy an eternal relationship with Him. And as we'll hear today, that relationship essentially redefines the way we act and make daily decisions. His glory becomes the center of everything we do. Now, with today's teaching, here's Raul Ries.
Raul Ries: If you have your Bibles, turn with me to the book of Matthew chapter 9, verses 9-13 this morning, as we look at the character of Matthew. The title of my message, an invitation to follow Jesus. Can you imagine how many invitations Jesus had given to so many people to follow Him? When you go back and you read the Gospels, there were so many people following after Jesus Christ. But He never forced anyone to follow Him, unless that person made a choice. And I think that a lot of times when people are approached and they are talked to about the Lord Jesus Christ, people set up their defenses immediately. You can say, my great-grandmother was a Christian and so that makes me a Christian. No, it doesn't. Salvation is the free gift of God given individually to each person as they seek for it. That's why we have to be seekers, true seekers of God. Here we see Jesus leaving Peter's house after attending to the four that brought their friend from far away distance. And they lowered him down in front of Jesus and Jesus touched him and gave him salvation first and then healed him. And now as the crowds are moving out of Peter's house and they're all leaving, Jesus begins to walk out and all of a sudden, this is not the first time, but Jesus already had seen Matthew the tax collector. And to us, tax collecting may be something very simple, but in that culture, tax collectors were hated. They worked for Rome and they charged a lot of money. They enriched themselves from the people. Matthew was not liked at all. And yet Jesus, coming by, saw him at his tax office. Let's read the story in Matthew chapter 9, verse 9. "And as Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office and He said to him, 'Follow Me.' So he got up and he followed Him. And now it came to pass 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?' And 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, not sacrifice. For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.'" I love that scripture. Isn't it amazing how the Gospel is so clear? It is amazing the way Jesus calls people from all kinds of walks to follow Him. You could be a Muslim, you could be a Buddhist, you could be a Mormon, you could be a Jehovah's Witness, you could be a Roman Catholic, you could be a Protestant. It really doesn't matter what your denomination may be. The problem is, have you known Jesus as your Lord and Savior? Have you repented? That's the keyword, repentance. Because if people do not repent, then they cannot be saved. The call of Matthew is in the context of having been not only a tax collector, but he hung out with a lot of sinners. And for Jesus to enjoy the hospitality of going home with Matthew after Matthew responds to the call of Jesus, it is amazing because it sets the stage for Jesus to be known among those that never go to church, the kind of people you work with, and the people you should be hanging out with, not partaking in their sin, but to be a witness to them. When I go to the gym, I'm among sinners. When I go surf, I'm among sinners. When I do the martial arts, I'm among sinners. Why? Because that's where Jesus wants us to be so that we can make contact with them. We don't preach to them, we don't live like self-righteous people, but we begin to be empowered by the Holy Spirit. And as the Holy Spirit begins to empower my life, then people begin to ask questions and we have the answers to give to them. Never, ever forcing ourselves on any person or taking the Gospel and shoving it down their throats. We don't do that. We don't stand in corners with magazines and try to push people to believe what we believe. We are empowered by the Holy Spirit. And yet it seems that a lot of times when Christians isolate themselves, then we become like the Pharisees, self-righteous, and we start criticizing people. We can't do that. And it's really important that we're very careful in the things that we do and the things that we say as believers. Because when Jesus finally came and He came immediately to the house and what's really amazing is as He's leaving Peter's house, He's on His way. And on His way, He comes across this place where actually Matthew is sitting there in the corner in the tax office. And Jesus has seen him before, this is not the first time they meet. He's seen him before. But what's amazing, it says that as Jesus was passing by from after he left the house of Peter, that all of a sudden he saw this man by the name of Matthew. Notice how observant Jesus was to the sinners. How do you see sinners in your own life? In your own neighborhood? At work? Are you aware of the sinners that are around you and thinking, how am I going to bring them to Jesus Christ? How am I going to lead them to Christ? And here is Matthew now, sitting there at the tax office and Jesus comes by and He says one word to him, "Follow Me. Follow Me." That's all He said to him. "I want you to follow Me." Can you imagine how many millionaires, billionaires, or middle-class people that have a lot, that have been actually called by Jesus will say, "Not now, Lord. Maybe later." And they always have an excuse why they don't follow Jesus. Just like that man we talked about where his father was going to die, he was not dead yet, and Jesus said, "Come follow Me." He says, "Let me wait until my father dies and I'll come and follow You." And Jesus said what? "Let the dead bury their own dead. You come and follow Me." When Jesus calls you, it's an immediate response. You cannot delay your coming to Christ. You cannot procrastinate. Matthew, immediately after being called, he was called immediately and Jesus said, "Follow Me." He jumped up and immediately followed the Lord. Can you imagine? He's actually coming to a place where he is saying, "You know what? I'm going to go broke." Like Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus, get off that tree, come down, I'm going to your house. I'm going to go eat with you. And he prepared Him a dinner. And then Zacchaeus went back and paid everybody that he ripped off and then followed Jesus. He made everything right. But let's come back for a second to verse 9. Because here he says he got up and he followed Him. Remember the new birth in John chapter 3, verse 3 and all the way down, when Nicodemus came to Jesus and Nicodemus said, "Lord, what must I do?" And Jesus told him, "You must be born again of the Holy Spirit." And again, many people, they get this idea that to follow Jesus Christ makes them a convert or a believer because they were baptized when they were infants. And that's not what the Bible teaches. Or because they signed a piece of paper and they joined the church and now they're members of that church. No, it doesn't make you a Christian. The Bible says that the key to really inheriting the kingdom of God is what? Having faith in Jesus Christ by coming to repentance and accepting Jesus Christ by faith as my personal Lord and Savior and doing a 180-degree turn and now going to the cross instead of going the way of Satan. There's a change of life. My speech changes, my hearing changes, my thinking changes, my actions change as a real child of God. And the next thing we have in the scene here is so beautiful. Look at verse 10 what he says. Because now as he's now departing from the tax office, observation number two now, is he actually summons all his friends to a great party in his house. He has the means, so he's going to have a party. And what is he going to do? He is going to take the opportunity to be able to call the people that he loves in the world and to give them an opportunity to hear Jesus. Imagine that. And now it happened as Jesus sat at the table of the house that behold, many, notice that, tax collectors and sinners came and they sat down with Jesus and His disciples. Can you imagine people that would say, "What is Jesus doing with sinners and tax collectors, prostitutes, whoremongers?"
Guest (Male): You're listening to Somebody Loves You radio with Raul Ries. Visit somebodylovesyou.com for resources to deepen and strengthen your faith. And our free app can also help you infuse the Bible's uplifting truth into your day with digital Bible studies and live-streamed Bible teaching. Now, back to more with Raul Ries and today's study, the invitation to follow Jesus.
Raul Ries: Did you know that Jesus was always around publicans and sinners? Always. And we should be too. I have a lot of friends that are non-believers. I don't partake of their sin, but when I'm with them, I try to be a light to them and I try to influence them to come to Christ. And when they start doing their thing, I'm gone. I will not stick around to partake of sin. But He's called me to be a light. Yes, they're sinners, but I love them. You know what I love? I don't want them to go to hell. That's why we need to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit. And Jesus, instead of ignoring it and saying, "Oh, I'm sorry, Matthew, but I can't come to your house because I don't associate with non-believers," that's not what Jesus said. He was joyous to go. He was happy. And he made a big party, a huge party. And when they came to that house and they were sitting there and they were eating and drinking, and Jesus and His disciples were in that house, it says many of the tax collectors and sinners came and they sat down with Jesus and His disciples. And imagine they were conversing back and forth. And Jesus says, "I call sinners to repentance." Imagine that. I'm a Christian doctor. I'm a Christian whatever. It's so cool how the Lord uses people in their lives. We notice first of all here, coming to the house, the hospitality that Matthew had with Jesus and all the people he invited. Why? Because of his changed life. He was excited! That happened to me. When I got saved, the first thing I thought about was my friends. My friends, man, I've got to get them to Jesus. And so I would go out to the parties. I would not drink at the parties. I would not fornicate at the parties or commit adultery at the parties as before. And I would sit there with my big fish, my big tuna, my big Bible, and I would try to share with them. And some would receive it, some would not receive it, but I didn't really care. And if they got tough with me, they know that I could beat them up, so they didn't mess around. It's so neat because I would go there and I would get home sometimes weeping and crying because they were that close to the Lord. And I thought, "Lord, nobody received You tonight." And then a year later, as I told you before, I made a piece of paper and I put down the names of the people and the date that I started praying for them. And one by one began to call me and one by one began to be saved and over some 30 friends of mine today are saved. People that I thought would never get saved. But I didn't do nothing. It's the Holy Spirit. You have to be open to the Holy Spirit. You have to make yourself available to God and say, "God, here I am. Use me." And imagine Jesus sitting there in fellowship. And remember when you're grabbing that piece of meat and there's no forks, no spoons, no knives, no napkins, but the pita bread and you're dipping in the same dish with the dirty fingers of everybody else. You're becoming one when you eat with them. And here is Jesus eating with sinners. But He's not partaking of their sin. Imagine that. Not partaking of their sin, He's there to be a witness, and so are the disciples. And Matthew, he's excited, excited. "Man, my friends get to meet Jesus today and they get to hear what He has to say." Observation number three, check this out, this is so cool. In the next verse, verse 11, the enemies of Jesus. "And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, 'Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?'" He's becoming one with them. "What is wrong with your master?" How come they didn't ask Jesus? To me it's amazing how the presence of the publicans and sinners evokes criticism from the Pharisees, who were always seeking an occasion against who? Jesus. They didn't love Jesus. These people were sitting down there very comfortable, they were eating, having a lot of fun. Jesus was being a light to them. And these guys come along and what do they do? They try to grieve the Holy Spirit of God. God working in the midst of a bunch of sinners and they try to quench the Holy Spirit of God. That's what people do today when they criticize. How sad it is because there's a lot of people outside of this church that need Jesus. They need Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. And we don't always eat with righteous people. We eat with unrighteous people. Why? Because we want to be a witness to them. You don't have to say one word. They'll be able to see it in your personal life. They'll see it as you stand back and you watch what God does in your lives. And then check this out, verse 12-13, observation number four, Jesus' response. When He hears it, He's inside and He hears what happens. "And when Jesus heard that, He said to them, to the Pharisees, 'Those who are well have no need for a physician or a doctor, but those who are sick.'" Notice that. He lets them know, "Listen, sick people need doctors. And the reason that I'm sitting here inside of Matthew's house with all the scum of the earth is because these people, not physically but spiritually, are sick. They need Jesus and I'm the great physician, Jesus." Isn't that beautiful? He just demonstrates it to them all completely and fully. "I am the great physician." Check this out, verse 13. "But I want you to go and learn what this means." What was he doing? "Go back to your rabbinical writings." Notice, "Go back to your Jewish writings and see what this means. Go back to the scriptures." They knew the scriptures but what were they arguing? Now Jesus will quote from Hosea chapter 6, verse 6 and also from the book of Micah chapter 6, verses 6-8 and He says this. He says, "Go and learn what that means. I have desired mercy and not sacrifice. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Notice that. I love what He says here. Sacrifice, what do you mean? God only honored the sacrifice from the Old Testament. This was a new dispensation. Remember that. Jesus Christ had come with this great love that He had. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, that whoever believed in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. God desired a humble spirit, not a proud spirit like the Pharisees. Jesus begins to defend His disciples here and the people that are sitting down with sinners there, eating, partaking with Him. And yet Jesus here, He says, "I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." There has to be a change. There has to be a transformation. It's not a religion. It's a relationship with Jesus Christ. That's what it's all about with all of us here. It's really important that we understand that repentance is the change of life, a change of heart. It's when you're going one way and you do a 180-degree turn and now you're going to the cross of Jesus Christ and you're turning your back on Satan and the world. And you're going to be regenerated. You're going to have newness of life. Your speech will change, your behavior will change, your attitude will change, your thinking will change. You can't do it, but the Holy Spirit can as you begin to study God's Word. As you begin to read from Genesis to Revelation, as God begins to cleanse you and wash you and refine you, and to lead you and guide you, and as He begins to build your character, and He begins to call you and anoint you and to use your life to bring glory and honor to Himself and not to yourself. And as you begin to see your friends get saved, then you really begin to understand what true joy and happiness is.