The Apostle Matthew

We've been looking at the 12 apostles as we have opportunity on Sunday evenings. Of course, Sunday evening is our catch-all service that gets a lot of other things, business meetings, missionaries, other things as well. But we've been tracking through the 12 apostles when we have opportunity. And tonight we come to the Apostle Matthew. The choice of Matthew to be an apostle is proof that Christ attracted men from every walk of life to be his followers and entrusted to men from every walk of life the opportunity to be leaders in his work in the church that they would start after Christ went back to heaven. Now even some from a class that we would not expect to be disciples, Matthew certainly falls into that category. We would not expect someone of Matthew's profession to be among those who would be entrusted with the leadership of the church. But Jesus Christ called him and equipped him and used him greatly in his work. There are a few details that we know about Matthew before we jump into some of the lessons we can learn from his life tonight. First of all, Mark tells us that he was the son of Alphius. There was another apostle, James, the son of Alphius. We don't know for sure, but it's quite possible that those two were brothers. And so like James and John, there may have been another set of brothers in the 12 apostles. We also know that his given name was Levi. That was his Hebrew name, probably indicating that he was from the tribe of Levi, or at least indicating from his parents' perspective that they certainly wanted him to be one who would follow in that long line of spiritual leaders in Israel. And we'll see a little bit later that he became, I'm certain in their minds, a great disappointment to what they had hoped for their son. We also know that he was a tax collector. We'll say a little bit more about that in a few moments. We know that he probably was wealthy because he was a tax collector. We'll see that he also gave a banquet in his home that had a number of people there, a large home, probably indicating his wealth. We also know that he wrote one of the four gospels. Those are just a few of the details we know about him. There is not much activity recorded of Matthew in the four gospels or in the book of Acts. But there is enough recorded that we can learn some very important lessons from his life. And we'll look at some of those tonight. First of all, I want us to note his conversion. Luke chapter 5, please in your Bible. Luke chapter 5, where really this and the parallel account in Matthew and Mark give us the most extended information we have about Matthew in the gospels. His conversion in Luke chapter 5 is described in verses 27 and 28. After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. Follow me, Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything, and followed him. Now there are several interesting lessons about this conversion, this salvation experience of Matthew, where he is called to follow the Lord Jesus and become his disciple. First of all, Matthew was an unlikely convert. He was an unlikely convert because he was a tax collector. Now tax collectors, you have to understand, were people that were employed by the Roman government. They were Jews, but they were employed by the Roman government to collect the hated and despised taxes from the Jewish people. And so being a Jew hired by the Roman government, a symbol of Roman rule, and of the most oppressive aspect of that rule, which was the burdensome taxation system. Because of that, Matthew would first of all be seen as a cheat by his own people. You see, tax collectors in New Testament times were allowed to collect as much tax as they felt they could get by with. They had a certain quota that they needed to send a Rome. Whatever they wanted to collect above that, they collected and pocketed the rest. That's why most of them were very wealthy. And so they were considered cheats. We know another tax collector in the Bible that evidence is that same kind of greed and cheating of his own people. His name was Zacchaeus. And when Jesus came through Jericho and went to Zacchaeus' house, you remember that this hated tax collector, whom the people murmured about when Jesus went to his house. Jesus said the evidence that this man, Zacchaeus had gotten saved, was the fact that he promised to return fourfold of what he had cheated his Jewish brethren. He had promised to return fourfold, what he had taken from them to them. And Jesus said that indicates a real change of heart for this man. Well, the same would be true of Matthew. When John the Baptist was baptizing people and announcing the Kingdom of God was coming and that the King was arriving on the scene, John was preaching a message of repentance. And before he would baptize anyone, he was calling on people to repent of their sins. And if you read Matthew's gospel, you'll find that there are lots, or actually in Luke 3 as well. Lots of people who were coming to John and were saying, what do I need to repent of? If I'm going to really show that I'm genuine to the soldiers, John said, be content with your pay. And don't take more than you're supposed to from people that you are over in this nation. To the people along the bank who just the average person who said to John, what must I repent of? He pointed out some other things they must repent of, turn from in order to show their hearts were genuine. The Bible says there were some tax collectors that also asked John, what do we need to repent of? And without batting an eye, I'm sure. He said, don't take more than you're supposed to from the people that you take taxes from. And so tax collectors were well known for being cheats and no doubt Matthew had lined his own pockets, quite handsomely, with the prophets that he gained over and above what he was required to send to Rome. But tax collectors were not only seen as cheats, they were seen as traitors, they were seen as Jews, who were willing to sell out to the Romans. And that's why you often see them in the gospels coupled with with harlots and other sinners, tax collectors and other sinners, tax collectors and harlots. I mean, they were all seen to be on the same level of social standing. That gives you some idea of how much tax collectors were despised. Here is a man who because of his choice of profession and how he conducted it, here was a man who had separated himself from his home, had no doubt separated himself from every dream his parents ever had for him. He had separated himself from allegiance to his own country. He had separated himself from worship because no tax collector was allowed in the synagogues or in the temple in Israel in Jesus' day. They were so despised, they were considered traitors to the Jewish cause, they were not even allowed to worship in the temple. So he turned his back on all of that and probably in so doing had turned his back on his own conscience and had sold himself out to the Roman Empire and to his own riches. He was an unlikely convert, an unlikely disciple and a apostle, but the lesson we should learn is that there is no one beyond the grace of God. Think of the person that you know that you feel would be the most unlikely person to come to Christ. Probably a family member, right? Yeah, probably a husband or wife or something like that, but just think of that person. You don't have to name them. Just think of that person. Maybe a relative, maybe a neighbor, maybe a friend or a former friend. Think of the person that you would feel like would be most unlikely to come to Christ and then please understand that the grace of God can reach even that person. No one is beyond the grace of God. When it comes to salvation, Christ is able to save anyone and Matthew demonstrates that, what an unlikely convert he was. But there's something else about his conversion in this story and that he was an unspectacular convert. Unspecacular. You read the story and it almost just kind of reads so factually that Levi is sitting at his tax booth. Jesus says, follow me. Levi got up, left everything and followed him. There's no indication there's any great emotional experience here. There is no indication that there is any dramatic confrontation. It almost sounds like Jesus is just walking by, kind of glances over. Follow me. And Matthew just gets up and walks after me. There's nothing really spectacular here in this description of how he was converted. And there are no religious surroundings. They are not in the temple. They are not in a synagogue. In our day, we would say they are not in a church service. Matthew was working his job. Matthew was sitting at his toll booth, if you will, his customs house receiving taxes. And Jesus speaks to him there. You know, sometimes I think we get the impression from stories that we hear that people have to have some kind of spectacular events surrounding their conversion. And sometimes people who get saved will later question whether or not they were saved because they don't remember any of that kind of spectacular unusual stuff going on. Well, here's a man who shows us that apparently without a lot of emotion, apparently without some kind of dramatic confrontation or without even a church service or any religious surroundings. Christ can walk by and touch your heart and cause you to realize your need to be saved. It also ought to encourage us to be a witness wherever we are because it's not just in church services that the gospel becomes clear to people. It's sometimes as you're sitting across from them in the restaurant or sometimes as you're talking across the backyard fence with a neighbor. It may be as you're working day in and day out besides someone in your life has been a source of light to them that's been convicting them about the darkness in their own life. And then over lunch one day or in the break room one day or at the water cooler one day you have an opportunity to share the gospel. It doesn't have to be a spectacular confrontation doesn't have to be a religious surroundings. Matthew was an unspectacular convert and yet Jesus reached out to him anyway. But there's something else about his conversion that I think is instructive and that is he was an unhesitating convert. An unhesitating convert. Jesus said, follow me and verse 28 simply says and leave I got up left everything. And followed him. And again it's just such a factual account but Jesus in saying follow me is saying surrender everything to me. This is a call for surrender to a person. It is a call to salvation. It is a call to obedience. It is a call to fellowship. It is a call to leave everything behind potentially never to go back to that and follow give your whole life to Jesus Christ. And this man did not hesitate. He immediately got up. He offered no excuses as is often the case in the gospels. He simply got up and followed the Lord. You know some people do offer excuses. Jesus told a story in Luke chapter 14 of some people who heard a similar invitation. Jesus describes this story as people being invited to a banquet. What he was really talking about is people who were being invited to follow him just like Matthew was. But he describes it in that form of a story. People are invited to a banquet. And when the invitation goes out someone who hears the invitation says, well you know I can't come. I just bought a piece of property and I've got to go out and see it. Now what kind of an excuse is that? Who would buy a piece of property without first seeing it? Would you buy a house without ever seeing it? Of course not. Well the second person who makes an excuse says, I've bought five yoke of oxen and I've got to go test them. That's another foolish excuse, isn't it? Crazy excuse. Who would buy five yoke of oxen without testing them first? Would you buy a car without looking at it? Without test driving it, without checking it out a little bit? Probably not. And then the third guy who gives an excuse says, I've just gotten married and I can't come. Now that may have been the best excuse of all. I already got one time preached on that passage. He titled his sermon, the excuses of two fools and a hen-packed husband. And that's kind of what you've got there. You know a lot of people make excuses when Christ speaks to them and says follow me. You don't see any of that of Matthew. Unhesitating. Follow me, Jesus says. And He gets up immediately, leaves everything behind and walks after Jesus Christ. Now there's sacrifice involved in that. Think of what He's leaving behind. He's leaving behind a lucrative business. He's leaving behind a stellar career at least as far as what He gets out of it. He's leaving behind a lot. He's sacrificed and gave up a lot to follow Jesus maybe more than any of the other apostles. But you know, I think Matthew realized he wasn't really giving up anything. That's the reason why he didn't hesitate. My friend, you never give up anything to follow Christ. You never really give up anything. You know Jesus said one time to his disciples who said we've given up everything to follow you. Jesus said yes and I tell you you'll have much more to come. Both fathers and mothers and brothers and sisters and houses and lands because you never really give up anything to follow Jesus. Wherever He takes you, He provides for you. Whatever He does with your life, He provides for you. He meets your need if you follow Him. So Matthew recognized He really wasn't giving up anything. So unhazutatingly He stands up and follows the Lord Jesus Christ. His conversion was remarkable even though it stated so simply. This man who you would not expect to be a convert to Christ much less a disciple and an apostle who would help found the church. This man is called to follow Jesus in an unspectacular way, very ordinary surroundings and one who does not hesitate but follows Him. What about you, my friend? Do you know Christ is your Savior? Have you ever heard the call of Jesus upon your heart saying to you, you cannot get to heaven on your own? If you're going to be in heaven someday, it must be because you've received the free gift of forgiveness that I offer you through my death on the cross. And as He's spoken to your heart, have you recognized that's what you need and you have followed Him. You've turned your whole life over to Him and trusted Him as your Savior and Lord. It doesn't matter what the surroundings are. If He's calling you, will you following? Don't hesitate. Don't wait. Follow Him now. Matthew's conversion. But I want you to also notice Matthew's confession of Jesus. In the following verses, He confesses very publicly the Lord Jesus as His Savior. Look at it in verse 29. Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house. Let's just stop right there. I want you to notice something about the feast. You see, the feast was a banquet that Jesus gave in honor of Christ. The passage says this banquet was for Jesus. An interesting study sometimes, just if you're kind of into these kinds of things, would be to study the banquets that Jesus went to in the gospels. They're five of them. Five times Jesus is seen at a banquet. And what happens at those banquets is very interesting. In fact, that would make a good series of messages sometime, Judd. You might want to try that. Five banquets that Jesus attended. And what happened at those banquets? You see, there are very interesting occurrences, lessons that Jesus taught as He was sitting around the table with people that He was eating with. This banquet was a banquet given by Matthew for Jesus in His honor. And that tells us that He had a purpose in this banquet. Now, once you're noticed, if you will, the purpose of this banquet in the last part of verse 29. And a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. Now, why do you expect He invited a large crowd of tax collectors to a banquet in His home? Why do you expect He did that? They were His buddies, and probably nobody else would come anyway, not to Matthew's house, not that hated tax collector. The only people that He rubbed shoulders with, day to day, the only people He really had any contact with were other tax collectors. And then there were others there as well. The Bible doesn't tell us who they were. Whether or not they were family members, maybe. Whether or not they were neighbors, possibly. Whether or not they were other sinners in the community. Maybe, whether or not they were Roman officials. That could be as well. But He invites a number of people, people that He knows, people that He has contact with, people who are like Him, if you will, in their profession and their interests in life. He invites them to this banquet. They are His closest associates, and He has the courage to invite them to meet Jesus. That's the reason why they're at the banquet. You see, He has invited the people in His world, the people in His sphere of influence, to meet the one who has just changed His life. What a great model of evangelism this is. When you come to know Jesus is Savior, don't quickly leave behind all of your contacts that you've had before Christ. There are those who say that within two years of getting saved, most people don't have any more contact with unsaved people, with their friends that they had before they came to know Christ. And certainly part of that is due to the fact that we find a new family, and we begin to fellowship with believers in our lifestyle choices and choices for where we spend our time, change a lot. But in doing that, and all of those are good things, we should never lose contact with the associations we've had that we have the opportunity to reach out to and introduce them to Jesus. That's what Matthew did. Now I don't think at this point, Matthew had any idea that he would ever be in a apostle or a preacher or a teacher of the gospel, but he knew some people he could introduce to Jesus. He worked with them. They were fellow tax collectors. They were Roman authorities, possibly. And so these are the people that he could reach out. Who are the people that you can reach out to? Who are the co-workers or people who work in the same field that you do? Or people that you may know that you could introduce to Jesus? Not a bad idea to have a Matthew party sometime or a Matthew banquet where you invite some folks over to your house, have a cook out. And in some way, not in a preachy way, not setting up a lectern and opening your Bible and starting to point your finger at people, but just in a natural conversation, begin to introduce them to Jesus Christ, who is your Lord and Savior. What a great model for evangelism. But in a public way, he takes the initiative. He has the courage to let people know where he stands. Back in 1990, Brett Butler was one of the greatest center-fielder in the game of baseball. But he was traded from the San Francisco Giants to the LA Dodgers. And the first time the Dodgers went back to San Francisco to play, Brett Butler was met with a chorus of booze and a few cheers by the people who used to cheer him on in San Francisco all the time. And Butler did something very interesting. By the way, Butler was a strong Christian, had an outstanding testimony in the Major League. Butler did something very interesting though on that occasion. Before the game, he walked over to his new manager, Tommy Lasorta, with the Dodgers, and gave him a hug in front of all the San Francisco fans. And of course, everybody started booing at that point. But he said to a reporter after the game, he said, I wanted to make a statement. I wanted people to see that I was now a Los Angeles Dodger, and I was fully identified with that team. I would play my heart out for that team. Now friend, when you get saved, you change teams. You change allegiances. You no longer playing for the Prince of Darkness. You are now living for the King of Kings. Don't be afraid to let other people know in the stands where your allegiance lies. Have the courage to tell fellow workers, neighbors, friends, schoolmates, whatever it may be. Let them know where your allegiance is that you are now identified with Jesus Christ. That's what Matthew did. But it didn't go over well with everybody. Now there's the feast and there's the purpose of that, but there's also the murmuring in regard to this confession of faith in verses 30 to 32. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belong to their sect complained to his disciples. Notice that. We'll come back to it in a moment. Complain to his disciples, why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners? Jesus answered them. It is not the healthy you need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Now the Pharisees who were the self-righteous, self-proclaimed religious leaders of the day, that Jesus constantly rebuked and corrected in his ministry. The Pharisees didn't understand what was going on and didn't like it very much. They were always seeking some reason to criticize Jesus and here they criticized him for eating with a tax collector. Having no concept of the fact that this man's life had drastically changed and the purpose of this meal was to introduce others to the saving power of the Messiah. They had no concept of that. They just saw what was happening, didn't like it, began criticizing. And they misrepresented Christ to his disciples. They didn't have the courage to go to Jesus. They went to his disciples and tried to stir up strife among the disciples. Maybe put a question in their mind as to what their master was doing. You know, that's always the way Satan works. Satan likes to nibble around the edges. Satan likes to stir up strife and controversy with criticism that goes to this person or that person and never to the person who it really needs to go to. That's the way Satan works. You remember the children of Israel when they were going through the wilderness? And the Bible says that some of their enemies attacked the stragglers in the camp, the weak and people who were falling a little bit behind. They didn't have courage to attack the leadership. They attacked those who were weaker. Satan does that. The Pharisees did not have the courage to come at Jesus, but they thought maybe we can gain a hearing and manage disciples. And you know what? The Bible is clear that they had already tried that with John the Baptist disciples. If you look at the next verse, verse 33, it says, they said to him, John's disciples often fast and pray and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours go on eating and drinking. You know who they is in verse 33? If you read Matthew's account in Matthew chapter 9, and you read Mark's account, I think it's in Mark 5, if you read those two accounts, it makes it very clear that the they is John's disciples come to Jesus with the same complaint. And evidently the Pharisees have been working on them too, criticizing Jesus to the Pharisees. And so now they're trying to get at Jesus' disciples, they've already gotten to John's disciples, and John's disciples are echoing the questions of the Pharisees about Jesus. Why are you eating with these tax collectors, or why are you eating and drinking at all, because John's disciples fast, even the Pharisees' disciples fast. The response is not to rebuke them, but just to explain the liberty that his disciples had to eat and drink, verse 34, can you make the guests to the bridegroom fast while he is with them? But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, in those days they will fast. The response is very clear, very simple, very basic. There's a time to fast, there's a time to feast. And the time to feast is when the bridegroom is with you, when the bridegroom leaves there will be tough days ahead for my disciples, and they will fast at times then as well. You see, Jesus is responding to the murmuring, first of all of the Pharisees, and then of John's disciples themselves. And the murmuring is always engineered by Satan to try to attack through those who really are not in a position to make any changes. Jesus is the one that will make the changes in people's lives. And so he says in verse 31, it's not the healthy who needed a doctor, but the sick. I've not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Jesus was far more concerned about reaching the lost than he was about satisfying the Pharisees. So when the criticisms came, his answer was, I know what I'm here to do, I know my purpose. I've come to reach lost people. And that means Matthew and all of his tax collector buddies, I've come to reach them. And that is where the focus of my ministry will be, Jesus says. Not with the self-righteous Pharisees, but with the people who need him most. That's where the focus of his ministry will be. So the confession of Matthew draws this murmuring from the Pharisees. But I want you to see something else about this man. Not only his conversion and his confession. I want you to see his condescension, his humility. Now this is seen in all of the disciples, but with Matthew it is seen in three ways. We have to go back to Matthew's gospel to really see this. In Matthew 9 verses 9 and 10, this is Matthew's account of the story we've just read in Luke. In Matthew's description of following Jesus, we see his condescension, his humility, his unwillingness to exalt himself. Matthew 9 verses 9 and 10. As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. Follow me, He told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. Now if you remember Luke's account, or if you would compare the two, you would find out that Matthew, as he's writing his gospel, leaves out one detail. Luke says, Matthew got up, left all for sick all and followed him. Matthew leaves out that little detail about leaving all. Now if you're writing the story of your own conversion, or if you're writing the story of your own life, for you yourself to say, well I got up and I left everything behind and followed Jesus, could sound kind of self-serving. It might even come from that motivation. You might do that because you would want people to know how much you gave up to follow Jesus. Matthew is not concerned at all in people knowing that He gave up a lot to follow Jesus. Luke records that for us, but Matthew is silent as to that detail which leads me to believe that He's not interested in making a name for Himself. He's not interested in getting the glory for what happened. He's not interested in making Himself look good. He just says, I got up and followed Him. And then there's another evidence of this as the Bible goes on to describe the meal in verse 10 of Matthew's gospel. It says, while Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with Him and His disciples. There's more of a low key mention of the feast being at His house. There's no extended mention like there is in Luke of Matthew giving a feast, Matthew giving a dinner for Jesus and inviting all of His buddies to come. In fact, in Mark's gospel, it's not even mentioned that it was Matthew's house. It's just mentioned that it was, he was eating in a house. If you have a King James version, it doesn't mention the name Matthew either. Actually, in the original text, the word Matthew is not there. The NIV has supplied it to make it read more naturally because we know from Luke's gospel it was in Matthew's house. But Matthew's text simply reads, while they were in the house eating, again, he leaves out the fact that it was his house, not drawing attention to Himself. So his description of following Christ leaves out details which might be interpreted by some to exalt Himself. There's a second way in which you can see Matthew's humility is condescension. And that is in Matthew chapter 10 and verse 3. In the list of the apostles, there are several lists of the apostles in the gospels. This is Matthew's list. Matthew chapter 10, verse 2, he begins naming the 12 apostles, Simon, who is called Peter, his brother Andrew, James son of Zebedee, his brother John. Now notice verse 3, Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the tax collector. This is the only list, and I think there are five of them in the gospels, the only list of the apostles, where a tax collector is included. And it's in Matthew's account. The other gospels and the book of Acts do not mention that he was a tax collector. I think Matthew put that in under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, of course, but God used the personality and hearts of the authors in their writings. Matthew put that in in his own gospel because he never forgot where he came from. He never forgot where he came from. A key to genuine humility is to never forget where Christ found us when he saved us, where we came from. And Matthew would never forget that he had been wonderfully saved out of a background, out of a life that most considered him to be a traitor to his own people. And a cheat at that he never forgot that he was a tax collector. There's one other way that I think we can see Matthew's humility or condescension in his own writings. That is in his gospel. He is silent as to his own life. There is really not much at all about Matthew in Matthew's gospel, not even as much about his conversion and the meal and so forth as is found in the other three gospels. And it's the only list of the apostles where he is named after Thomas. Usually in the list of the apostles and that's an interesting study, they're listed in twos or threes. In every other list it's Matthew and Thomas. Matthew and Thomas. I don't know how important that is, but it's only in Matthew's list that it's switched and it's Thomas and Matthew. Again, there's just no desire to gain the top place. There's no desire on Matthew's part. Have his name listed first. Make sure it gets up there near the top of the list. There's just no interest in that at all. And you see here a man who never forgot where he came from, never forgot what Christ had done for him and was genuinely humble in his own heart and life. I remember reading one time about, you remember Alex Haley, the noted author of the historical bestseller roots. Alex Haley in his office has a picture on his wall. It's a picture of a fence post and on top of that fence post is a turtle. And it's kind of a conversation piece. People ask him what that's all about. And Alex Haley's response in describing that picture is always this. If you see a turtle on top of a fence post, you know he had to have some help getting there. He didn't get there on his own. And he said, that's kind of a picture of my life. I got where I am not on my own, but because of so many things that so many other people have done for me and helped me with. I think that's kind of the picture you get here of Matthew. He never forgot that he was where he was because of what Jesus had done for him, not because of himself, his condescension. And then I want to say just a few words about his commission. What God commissioned him to do. And by that I mean his commission to write the gospel of Matthew. And God's wisdom, Christ committed no messages himself to writing. But he did in his wisdom, choose some who would take careful note of what Jesus did and said and record those things in the four gospels. Matthew would be one of those recording under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the guidance of the Spirit, so he would make no error. But remember once again God chose people and used their own personalities and backgrounds. And in Matthew, he had a man, a biographer who was trained well to use a pen, to use systematic methods of keeping records. He was a tax collector. In our day he would probably be thought of as an accountant. He was a person who kept careful records, took note of details, was good with the use of the pen and God used him and his skills, his natural abilities to be able to serve him. You know God wants to use you. And sometimes I think we feel that God uses us in ways that are totally outside our personalities or our abilities. That's simply not true. God wants to take whatever you have because he made you. You see, and he made you with the unique personality and experiences and abilities that you have. He wants to take all of that and use that in some way to serve him. That's the way he used Matthew. Isn't it interesting? The gospel of Matthew is primarily written for a Jewish audience. You can tell because of the things that are included here and the way that Jesus represented as the king of the Jews, the Messiah. Isn't it interesting that the gospel that is specifically written for a Jewish audience was written by a man whom most would have considered at some point in his life a traitor to the Jewish cause. And here he is, the one chosen by God to present the life of Christ to a Jewish audience. And all does he ever exalt the Lord Jesus Christ and his words. There are 1,071 verses in Matthew. 644 of them are Jesus' own words. Matthew took careful note of Jesus preaching and teaching. It's in Matthew's gospel that you have the longest account of the sermon on the Mount. Chapter 5 through 7. It's in Matthew's gospel you have the longest account of the parables of the kingdom. Jesus teaching in Matthew 13. It's in Matthew's gospel that you have the longest recording of the Olivet discourse, the sermon that Jesus gave from the Mount of Olives just prior to his death in Matthew 24 and 25, which laid out a prophetic timeline, if you will, of what would happen to Israel. Matthew exalts the words of Jesus Christ in his gospel. Well, there's a tremendous example with this man of a man who was chosen by the Lord, converted to Christ, publicly confessed him as his Savior to his buddies and friends, and then was greatly used of God, not exalting himself, but exalting the Messiah and the one who saved him with the gospel. With the gospel that he wrote, transforming power of Christ in salvation and in the Christian life is seen wonderfully in this apostle Matthew. It ought to be our prayer that God would take us and do with us what he did with Matthew. As we walk with Christ, we will become more and more like him and reflect him to the world around us. Let's pray together. Father, we are grateful to you tonight for the life of Matthew and what we can see of him in the scriptures, what he teaches us about walking with you and following you. And Lord, we're thankful most of all for your power that we see in his life, how you transformed his life and used him as your instrument. Lord, it gives us hope that you can save anyone and you can use any of us. And we pray that we'll draw encouragement from the life of this apostle to live for you and serve you better every day of our lives. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.