October 26, 2025 • 48 mins
Listen to Pastor Chris for his weekly sermons and lessons. Enjoy his down-to-earth and experiential style of communicating the Truths of an Eternal Life with Christ, which starts now and continues throughout all eternity.
It is made complete not only by His Sacrificial Act of the Cross but also by the Love, Grace, and mercy He has demonstrated, and serves as the model of how we should treat each other daily!
https://www.talknetworkradio.com/hosts/TNR
It is made complete not only by His Sacrificial Act of the Cross but also by the Love, Grace, and mercy He has demonstrated, and serves as the model of how we should treat each other daily!
https://www.talknetworkradio.com/hosts/TNR
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
We continue today to look at the series molded by
the Master. Has God been molding you this week? Well,
that's the foolest question, isn't it. Of course God's been
molding you this week. But the real question is have
(00:21):
you been aware that God is molding you this week?
This is God's molding, And sometimes we resist his molding
because I don't like what they said about me. I
don't like that my boss got on me. I don't like.
I don't like and why has this happened? This is unfair,
that's unfair. And God be molding on our lives, trying
(00:42):
to shape us to be some ugly old org. No,
that's not But why do we sometimes feel that way?
Why do we resist God? He's working in our lives.
He loves us. We know he loves us, He tells
us he loves us, and yet we resist. I was
(01:04):
at a boy a NonStop conference this week. Left Thursday,
and I didn't get to bed before twelve o'clock Thursday
or Friday night, and it was teaching time almost non
stop Friday night after the or Thursday night after the teaching,
(01:25):
and that we had a time of worship and then
the fellow that was leading it. He asked us, what's
a promise? A promise verse that you know? So I
want you to think about that, and we're gonna go
around in a minute. We're gonna share those. And then
he said, what's an alignment verse? These are pretty much
(01:50):
mostly pastors. There's a few. One guy's a pit. Jason
knows what that's like, pastor and training kind of thing.
I remember when that's like you do everything and if
the past doesn't want to do it, you do it.
And it's a it's kind of funny when he said
he was a pit. I never heard that used in
that context. I thought it was pretty good though, because
(02:12):
that's being molded in shape. But think about that a
promise verse in an alignment verse, you say, we don't
think that way. We usually don't recognize that God is
trying to align our lives. Boy, when he asked that,
I thought, man, I'm glad I'm about the middle. You
(02:35):
know why gives you time to think? Man, if you're
the first one and you're whah alignment verse, Well, what
does God try to what verse? Do you know? It?
Verse that he's trying to get you back in line
when you're molded by the Master. He's going to align you.
And if he's not, well, he is, but you're missing it,
(02:56):
you're fighting it, you're resisting it. God is trying to
align us all the time because he's trying to mold
us into his purpose, that which he wants us to
be conformed to the image of Christ. And you know,
how do you say that's a bad thing? So why
do we wind up resisting him? Just something to think
(03:16):
about as we continue on this today, we're going to
be looking at Matthew. And I tell you upfront, not
a lot of verses about Matthew. We have a few
Mark two fourteen and Matthew ninety nine. There's just not
a lot. In all likelihood, none of the twelve was
a more notorious sinner than Matthew. And think about that policy, Man,
(03:42):
I'm the worst of sinners. Well, Matthews, what's his function
in life at this time? Matthew is a tax collector.
Matthew is Jewish and a Jewish tax collector. He's a publican.
And when Jesus, and that's the condition he's in, when Jesus,
he's a publican, he's a tax collector, and he is
(04:06):
the last credentialed individual you would expect to find as
an apostle, a tax collector, someone that the Jewish people hated.
And yet this man has called to be an apostle,
he's called to be a leader of the church, he's
called to be a preacher of the gospel. Because you see,
tax collectors were the most despised people in Israel. Think
(04:30):
about that. They were the most despised. They were hated,
they were vilified, they were looked down upon by the
entire Jewish community. They were deemed lower than those that
supported Herod, the Herodians, Herold's dynasty. They were low because
(04:50):
they were not pure Jews. But the tax collectors are
even lower than that. And they were more worthy of
scorn than the Roman occupy. It's another incredible thought. They
hated the Romans, but they hated even more soul the
tax collectors. Republicans were men who bought a tax franchise.
(05:13):
And we don't buy tax franchises today, but you could
buy a Burger King franchise, and you can buy a
lot of other franchises. But imagine if we had irs
tax franchises. They're already the criminal arm of the guard.
I mean no, I didn't mean that. They're already are
in our pockets plenty. Imagine if they bought that franchise,
(05:33):
they wanted to make that money back. They gave money
to the Roman Emperor, the very enemies of the Jewish people.
They extorted money from the Jews. They padded their own pockets.
They would oftentimes most times raise the taxes. There are
certain taxes they couldn't be but they would tax other things.
(05:55):
They would have excise taxes, road taxes. Oh, you have
too much weight on that, there's an extra tax there.
And so they would just continue to raise those taxes.
They were despictable, vilified, and unscrupled individuals. They were scoundrels.
That's how the Jewish people looked at them. Now, imagine
(06:17):
that's how people looked at you. Would you feel like
you'd have very many friends. You know, every place you
went people look down upon. It is tough enough in
our schools today to be a teenager, to be a
kid that doesn't only have to be in high school.
It could be in any of the grades. It's tough
enough because you're trying to measure up. You want to
have friends, and boy, Glory and I were talking about
(06:37):
that this week. And you know what, kids don't necessarily
understand that you could have more than one friend. Well
you're my friend. Well i'm this person's friend. I can't
be your friend anymore. What's with that? We so limit ourselves.
But imagine being one that nobody wanted to be your friend.
(06:57):
The movie that just showed the youth and going to
be shown to their friends to save a life. I
had to think of the title of it. Boy that
gives you a picture of a couple of kids that
are kind of ostracized by the world. Doesn't feel too good,
doesn't feel good at all. In fact, we find kids
(07:18):
today more and more thinking of hurting themselves to try
to get attention instead of trying to live in this
positive format that the Lord's presenting. That's the life of
a publican. That was the life of a tax collector.
Matthew was a tax collector turned disciple, and later writes
(07:38):
to the Gospel look in Mark chapter two, fourteen, verse
fourteen says, and as he passed by he saw it,
says here Levi, that's his Jewish name, son of Elpheus.
And once he's at work, when Jesus sees him he's
working taxes. And he said to them follow me, and he
(08:04):
Matthew LEVI arose and followed him Matthew nine verse nine.
And as Jesus passed on from there, he saw a
man called Matthew sitting at the tax office, and he
said to them, follow me, and he arose and followed Matthew.
Describing his self and one short verse does he give
(08:28):
us much information. He only refers to himself as Matthew here,
and Luke refers to them as Matthew well here. And
then when he lists the twelve apostles, he uses his
name Matthew. That's really all he mentions about himself. We
don't know a lot in this call of Matthew comes
(08:49):
out of nowhere. It is completely catching you by surprise.
You're reading along in Jesus calls the most hated of
the Jewish people, calls a man, and the ironic part
is the guy follows. How many times has Jesus called
you to follow him and his will and his way?
(09:10):
How often do we instead of getting up and following,
walking away from what we know is wrong or not
the right way, and do what we want to do?
Follow me? Not much that Jesus says to him. He
just says, follow me. He don't give him any explanation.
(09:31):
He doesn't try to persuade him or anything. He just says,
follow me. I want you to consider for a while
the conversion to Matthew as the author of the Gospel.
You might expect there to be a lot of information
about him, because he is, he's the author. We know
more about John, we know more about Peter, we know
more about Paul. We know more about a lot of
(09:52):
the other disciples than what we really know about Matthew.
Because there's not a lot said. We might expect to
hear more about his character, but it's all limited to
his identity as a tax collector. The only thing that
we know is that he was modest. How do we
(10:12):
know he was modest because he doesn't write much about himself.
He doesn't say much, and he's reserved. He's a fairly
quiet individual, stays in the background. Oh today, we fight
sometimes in the church to be up in the foreground.
Being here, I don't get enough recognition in the background.
But Matthew was content being in the background. I imagine
(10:36):
part of that might have been because he was in
the foreground so much and so hated because of what
he did, that maybe it was just easier to stay there.
But Matthew gives us a lengthy account of the life
of Jesus, doesn't say much about himself in his entire gospel.
As I said, he mentions himself twice, and that's it. Matthew,
(11:02):
more than any other disciple, think about this. Did you
know what was expected when you became a Christian? Did
you have a boy? I have a real clear understanding
that it's going to cost. I thought when I became
a Christian and wrote to my mother and my family
told him I was a Christian, I thought they'd be happy.
(11:23):
I did not have a clue how they would really feel.
And when my mother said God gave you a brain,
why don't you use it, It's like Wow. I thought
I had a brain, and I thought, I'm using it
for the first time, and you know, but they were upset,
and I got nasty letters about that. Matthew had a
clear idea of what it was going to cost him
(11:44):
to follow Jesus more than any other of the apostles
and probably disciples. He had a clear idea of what
it would cost him upon leaving that textbook booth. He
was guaranteed of one thing, for sure, unemployed guaranteed because
there is other people standing in line. Hey, it was
a profitable business. You could make some good money on it.
(12:08):
You might be hated, but you could do okay. And
for him to leave that would meant to have nothing
after that many other disciples. They could have returned to fishing.
In fact, doesn't Peter and them return to fishing for
at least a day or part of the day after
Jesus is crucified. You know, I'm going to go fishing.
(12:29):
I'm going to go back to what I know. Can
Matthew go back to what he knows? He's forfeited all
that he's walked away from it. He has proclaimed Jesus
as being in his head and his leader, And what
did he have? Jesus says, consider the cost? Consider the cost?
(12:50):
And I wonder how much Matthew in that moment, because
that's all really what he had was a moment. Did
he consider the cost? Did he say, you know what
I have seen Jesus, I've heard Jesus man, I want
to be with him. I don't know, because we don't
have a lot of other things said. Alls we know
(13:10):
is that he was called and he left everything behind. Well,
Jesus says, don't turn around and look back. You know,
you walk away, don't go backwards, continue to move forward
in your life. And Matthew does that. On your outline,
we find two changes happened to Matthew when he decided
to follow Jesus. Jesus gave him a new life, a
(13:35):
new life. And you know what that hasn't changed today.
If you've asked Jesus to be your savior, he gave
you a new life. And that's why you have to
consider am I resisting that life? He not only belonged
to a new group, he belonged to the Son of God. See,
(13:58):
we need to think that way. We need to think
that way. We need to teach our kids to think
that way because life is tough and if we could
teach them and help them to realize they belong. Boy,
you know I was older when I became a Christian.
I realized that I was joining a new family. My
(14:20):
family was rejecting everything that I had turned to and
I was going to be in a new family. And
the Church has been my family has been that. When
we went to see Amanda and Glenn. We went into Omaha.
We stayed overnight at my friend Bill and his wife's
Colleen's house, and Gloria hadn't seen them in over twenty years.
(14:41):
Mandon and I stayed there when we came back from
Liberty when she got married, twenty years not seeing her.
You would not believe that when we sat at the table,
when Bill was standing out in front of the house
when we pulled up, and he gave Gloria a big hug,
And when Colleen came in, she gave Gloria a big hug.
Years and you know, we sat down at the table
(15:02):
and we talked for quite a while, and it was like, Wow,
we've been there just yesterday. We'll be caught up on
some things, but what an incredible family time. And then
I said, Bill, man, I han't seen his parents for
twenty one years. I said, Man, I'd sure like to
have breakfast with your folks tomorrow, because I've told you
about the Blacks. They're my adopted family, they are my
(15:25):
spiritual parents. And so Bill said, yeah, says you gout,
You and Glory go to the restaurant. I'll go pick
up mom and dad and we'll come there and you
be at another table, so they don't see. And Dale
doesn't He doesn't see. He's got macular degeneration, so he
just sees the aura around you. He doesn't see distinctly.
(15:47):
And so they sat down at the table and Bill's
big real estate guy and he does a video blog,
and so he has this cameraman come in and they're
starting to record things, and Glory and I walk up
the table. He gives me a thumbs up. We come up.
So you're at our table? Do you care if we
join you? And Estelle looked turned back and she just
(16:09):
did that double take, you know, and it was family.
Do you realize you're in a family as that attitude
that we need to be having. Matthew had a new life.
He belonged to the Son of God. Everything was different
for him. He's not just accepting a different way of life.
He is now accepted as a person. He's accepted where
(16:32):
he was, folks, I'm telling you that's a big point
to remember. He was accepted by Jesus where he was
at despicable, despised by his own people. And you know
what that did. He now has to deal with the
others that were called and guess what happens. They seem
to have accepted him. Why because he is suddenly so great.
(16:58):
He's still a notorious I mean, there's not a big
change yet except that he followed. They accepted him because
Jesus accepted him. You know what, we need to be
accepting people that Jesus is accepting. We want to mold
them instantly into what we want them to be. You
know what, it's a process of time. Keep going back
(17:20):
to that movie that just I read the books. She
gave me the book. First book was great, and then
you see the movie. You know, sometimes movies really grab
you differently because you're seeing this kind of life lived out.
The rejection. You see the hurt a little bit clearer
sometimes than reading it. How many kids at school just
(17:43):
need a friend. How many people that we work with
just need a friend. Matthew has a brand new life
from outcasts to accepted and that must have been a
wonder But maybe it was a little unnerving. Maybe. You
know what, when I became a Christian man, I was
rude and crude and raw. I was a despicable pagan.
(18:06):
First time they met me, I swear, and that's a
great foundation to begin bill on, look what is with
this guy? But you know what, it's not what they did.
Oh there was one that had a hard time with that,
and I thought if she had a dagger, she might
have stuck me. But afterwards we became friends when she
realized that I wasn't even a Christian yet. I was
(18:28):
just in that process of coming alongside. When you become
a Christian in your later teen years and beyond, it's
often that same way, man, we think, how will I adapt?
That's what I was thinking. Nobody else swore at this
single adults picnic that I was at, and here I swear,
(18:51):
it's like, oh, man, I'd never been embarrassed in my
life until that time. And I wanted to dig a hole.
I wanted to be an ostrich Io, waned to bury
my head. I was so embarrassed, man, I have really
look what I did to these nice, clean people, you know.
And the pastor's wife put her arm around my shoulder
and said, it's okay, Chris. We slipped. We all slip sometimes.
(19:12):
That's incredible. It's incredible. Sometimes we're quick to jump on people.
And they weren'dering that how will I adapt? Will the
church people accept? Me, Will they like me? What if
I say the wrong thing? What if I do the
wrong thing? What if I act the wrong way? If
(19:33):
you became a Christian in your young age, those fears
and thoughts might not be a concerned for you because
you're already part of the family. But then you go
off to school and I've listened to Gloria talked some
about being in school and some of the friendship issues
and things and things that she wasn't real glad about.
(19:53):
You know, sometimes how we treat people, we Christians need
to express an understanding of new believers. We need to
love them where they're at, where they're at, and then
try to take them to where the Lord wants them
to be, but show what we have to be living
that way ourselves. They're going to be looking at us,
They're going to be kind of measuring themselves by us.
(20:16):
So how are you living? How have you lived this
past week? Have you been that example of Christ? Has
that been an issue for you? Have you been judgmental
towards somebody that's stay in that movie that just jumps
out at you. One the things for me judgmental and
the pastor in the movie. I wanted to slap him
(20:36):
upside the head, and I thought, boy, can I be
that way? Oh? You know, man, when it comes to
roost on your door, it makes you think. And working
on this part of Matthew's life stop me in my tracks.
It made me think, how am I? You? See? The
disciples have provided us a rich example, didn't they? Jesus
(21:00):
provides us a rich example of that acceptance and allowing
him to work in lives that It doesn't mean we
never correct each other. We need to because sometimes I
don't see what I'm doing wrong and I need that correction.
And I think we have the example of doing that
in love. But Jesus does another thing, be on your outline.
He also gave Matthew a new purpose for his skills,
(21:23):
a new purpose for his skills. When he followed Jesus,
the only tool he had from his past job is
that he carried was a pen. Think about that. I mean,
that's all he had. He was a ledger keeper, a
record keeper, and so he didn't have much else From
the beginning. God made him that. And see that God
(21:46):
made him a record keeper. Jesus's call eventually allowed him
to put his skills to the finest work he would
ever do, to the finest work he would ever do. Man,
I don't know where you're at right now in your life,
but are you doing the finest work for the Lord
that you could do. Is he's still molding shaping that
(22:07):
life of yours? Is he still working in there refining you.
You know, it's not that you get refined all at once.
So the reality is, yes, he is. He's refining. He
continues to refine us. Matthew is a keen observer. He
had to be to be in that position, and he
undoubtedly recorded what he saw going on around him. As
(22:29):
a tax collector, he would do that, and we see
that as the writer of the Gospel, he records what's
going on around him. He records so that people will
understand who Jesus is. And then Roman number number two,
we learned from Matthew's experience that we each are a
work of God in progress, in progress. You know, you
(22:55):
go to a conference from with a bunch of pastors
and it's just like being with a bunch of other people.
You know, we're not all super spiritual. We all have
issues that we're working through. We all have struggles that
were going on while I was there one of the
pastors got a call and had a teen in his
church threatening suicide and very overtly, and that was a
(23:20):
struggle and he had to leave. He had to go
deal with the situation. Look at Ephesians chapter two, verse ten.
Ephesians two, verse ten, so great, great verse to reflect on.
Sometimes it's not up on the wall, so you'll have
(23:41):
to turn in your bible. There Ephesians chapter two, verse ten.
So you have the Gospels, you have Acts, Romans first,
second Corinthians, then Galatians, Ephesians Ephesians two, verse ten. For
we are his workmanship. Now think about that. You are
his workmanship. You know George's son Adam, he does jewelry.
(24:06):
It's pretty incredible. They can show you some of the
things he's done, and he's a craftsman at it. But
it was something that he learned and now he can
work that jewelry and he's making knives and pretty incredible
doing that. And that's what the Lord is. He's working
on your life. We are his craftsmanship created in Christ
(24:26):
Jesus for good works, for good works which God prepared
beforehand that we should walk in them. And he's working
in your life. He's preparing you for a good work.
And he continues. And that's what he did in Matthew's life.
He was the craftsman. He had given Matthew's skills, talents
(24:47):
and abilities. Guess what, he didn't only give them to
the twelve. He gave you and I gifts, talents and abilities. Incredible.
He even gave them to you before he called you.
He gave you gifts, talents and abilities while you were
still lost when he created you. He gave you gifts,
talents and abilities. He created us for a fine purpose.
(25:10):
And then as we come in Christ, we need to
be seeing what he's molding and shaping in our lives,
how he's crafting us into this fine vessel we call it,
this fine person, for what purpose? To touch the lives
of other people. Indeed, pray for Vicky and the others
that are teaching VBS because God is using them and
(25:35):
they're challenging and crafting young people and trying to lead
them in the way of the Lord. And more than
likely there will be some that won't like it. The
woman that seen the tank commandment sign freaked out. She
went and called the Boise Park District on us, and
they sent people out to come and look praise. God
(25:56):
had two more people we could witness to, you know,
but we could have said, oh, man, get that woman.
You know, she's an enemy of the Cross. Instead, God
brought other people that we could share with. It's a
different perspective. God is working and crafting in your life.
God created you and me with the purpose. He's planning,
(26:18):
gifts those talents, those abilities and skills in our life,
and he trusts us with those. He entrusts us with
them to be used. You're predestined to be conformed to
the image of Christ and to be used. Boy, as
God desires to touch the lives of other people, he
(26:41):
made each of us capable of being a servant. Are
you a willing servant? Are you a resisting servant? Servant?
You will be if you're a believer. But we surely
can resist that too when we trust Him with what
He's given us, and we begin a life of adventure,
a journey that continues on another verse Philippians one six.
(27:06):
He that is molding and shaping this craftsman. Look what
Paul says, some encouraging words for you and I about
what God is doing. He says, for I am confident. Man,
I am confident in this very thing that he who
began a good work in you, that's God, that he
began it, he will perfect it until the day of
(27:29):
Christ Jesus. And that tells us he's still molding and shaping.
He's still working, and we need to be looking at
him working in our lives and seeing how we can
join him, and accepting that what he's saying in our lives.
When you read his word and it challenges you, that's
God molding you, as God trying to get your attention.
(27:51):
One of the reasons we need to be in the
word so we see that. Otherwise, woy, You know the
pastor said this, and then is the pastor the one
that's molding the shape in your life? I actually know
as the Lord's working. Matthew couldn't have known what God
would use his skills for as he sharpened them as
(28:13):
the tax collector. He didn't know what God was going
to do. He didn't have a clue. He was just
doing what he always did. And you know he's making moneys,
supporting the Roman Empire, things that the Jews couldn't stand.
God has no less meaningful purpose for each of us.
(28:34):
Jesus calls us as he called Matthew in that day,
and as he called then and he calls today. There's
many that don't hear. But you know, Jesus kept on.
The disciples didn't give up, and then they spread throughout
the world at that time, teaching, baptizing, calling people to Christ,
(28:58):
maturing them in him. Roman numer number three. Jesus is
still calling. He still says, follow me. It's still a
current call on our lives, in the lives of people.
He has the same promise of blessing and hope in
store for you and me that he had for this
tax collector, Matthew, and the same call that he had
(29:20):
for Andrew. The fishermen a Peter, a fisherman, James a fisherman,
John a fisherman. He still has the same call that
he had on those two seekers, Philip and Nathaniel. They
were seekers, that's what they were, and he had a
call on their life. And the same as he had
a call on them, he has a call on you.
(29:40):
As he endowed them with gift, talents and abilities. He
has endowed you and I with gift, talents and abilities.
And what are they for? There? A gift to be
a blessing to God. We're to bless him by using
that gift. We're to bless the world around us by
using that gift. And it's to be a blessing to
us individually. But it's a growth process, it's a journey process,
(30:09):
and it calls for us to look at these examples
of those that were molded in shaped, to look at
them and see there wasn't resistance. In fact, every time
he called one of these guys, they followed, Oh, we
see the others as he goes on, Man, let me
go bury my father, let me go say goodbye to
my friends. Boy, give everything I have to the poor,
(30:33):
and follow well. Of those were tough things, they're still
tough today, and yet the call is still there. Come
follow me, be my disciple. But there's a cost a
on your outline under three, there's a cost. Think about this.
(30:56):
Matthew is at his richest when Jesus called him to
be a disciple. He was at his richest. Man. He
had wealth. We know that, and we'll see that more
next week. Because he throws a big party, he throws
a banquet. Man that you know what it's costly today
to throw a banquet, you know the thing. It was
(31:16):
less costly then, and he could afford to do that.
He was at his richest when he was called, when
Jesus spoke to him, the pull of the world and
the pull of his wealth was at its greatest. And
sometimes today when Jesus is calling us, boy, he's calling
us to reach out to touch somebody, to provide help,
(31:38):
to to move somebody along. And sometimes that's not what
I want to do. And the pull is great, and
we have a choice, you know, He's always given you
and I a choice. As he called all these things,
all those riches, as he called Matthew, were forgotten in
(32:00):
an instant. I had asked myself, how do I measure
up at that point? How do I measure up? Forgot
them for the opportunity to follow Jesus. He didn't know
(32:20):
what he was in for. Peter, James, John, and Andrew,
and Philip and Nathaniel didn't know what they were in
for at that time, but yet they each followed because
they believe he had the answer to life, he had
the answer for eternity. They believed he was the Promised One.
And he's still all those things today. But do we
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believe it. Do we believe he has the answers for
our life or do we think, boy, the world's got
the answers for my life. One of the pastors at
the conference, he was a builder. He was bivocational, and
he was a high school wrestling coach and coached other things.
And they built a house in California that when he
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came here his wife was still there at the time,
was worth over a million dollars and they had looked
at that and that would be their retirement. When they
sold that house, that would be their retirement. He lost
the house because in the three years that he was
here pastoring couldn't get it sold. Andy and he came
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here and then his wife finally came and then I
can't remember what the health issue he had, but they
were doing a minor surgery and they pierced his heart
and they had to open heart surgery, lost his house,
lost his health. There's a cost. And yet he listened
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to him how he loves the Lord. You know, they're
trusting that God's still providing. It's an incredible thing. And
that's where each of us are at. We don't know
what the future holds, but I know who holds the future.
And we see that in Matthew. He doesn't know what
the future holds. He knows it holds not having a job.
He knows that all this wealth, that he is a
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master at this time, that that's going to be a
cost to him and later. You know, if I've cheated, anybody,
let me know? Or is that chis if he cheats anybody,
let him know? Not Matthew wasn't incredible. Matthew knew those things,
didn't know all these things, and he follows because he
believed Jesus had the answer for life. Do you believe
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that today? Because the same issue faces you and I
in this twenty first century. We have a choice about
what we will pursue. You have a choice what you
will pursue every day? Will you pursue to be more
like the world. That's a choice. And that's not just
a hard choice for our kids. That's a choice for
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you and I as adult. It's a choice we all
have to face. What will you pursue? Will you pursue
the things of God? You see, we're back to the
two altars, aren't we. Yeah, here's the altar over here
of self and my wants, my desires. I got to
a mass, a big retirement fund. Man. We live in
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a volatile world. The stock market dropped these some of
the pastors there follow that stuff. Man, I'd have ulcers
if I followed it. And every time we get a
thing I read guide someone that says you've lost this
much money, I think, man, and they tell me it's paper. Man.
Don't feel that to my gut. And when the pastors
on Friday said, or I guess it was Friday, we're
(35:49):
eating breakfast, said why the stock market dropped three hundred
points yesterday? Chance, I needed to hear that. But you
know what, God's in control. Who are you pursuing? Are
you running to your altar to a mass everything you can?
Are you going to the Lord's altar and lay in
everything you have at the altar and saying, God, I can't,
(36:11):
but you can. That's what Matthew did. He had been
at his little altar, his tax table, that was his altar. Man.
He was serving himself. He was serving Rome, despised by
his own people because he had a job that took
advantage of them, and he left it to go to
the altar of Christ. What will you pursue? Who will
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you serve you See, those are questions that are there
for you and I today. Every day you get up,
you have a choice. What will you pursue? Now, if
you work for a company, man, you need to be
pursuing the company's improvement. But how are you doing it
and your own skills? Are you doing it? To the
glory of the Lord? Al says, do all your work
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is unto the Lord? Now, boy, young people, he's talking
to you too. Do all your work under the Lord?
What work? Do your school work? Unto the Lord? You
have chores around the house? Do your chores under the Lord?
You have a job, do your job as unto the Lord.
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Be a person that people will look up to, say, man, yeah,
he's a Christian. But there's a person of integrity. There's
a person that's honest. There's a person you can trust.
That's a person you can share with. Colleen asked me
twenty nine years ago, Well, maybe a little less than
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maybe because Amanda, Well, yeah, Amanda had been born, So
that's about twenty five years ago. Just under came home
from my Tuesday night, which was my long night at
the mental health center counseling, and they were at the
house we had Bible study at our house and I
came in and I don't know what they were talking about.
I was beat. I hated Tuesday nights because there were
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so difficult worst cases. And she says to me, Chris,
if every Christian had a good friend, a true friend,
would we need psychologists and counselors. And I said to her, Clean,
you're trying to put me out of business, trying to
(38:24):
ruin my income, because the reality was if we had
true friends, if somebody shared some pain with you and
you were there for them and didn't go gossip about them.
You know this whole thing that been on TV this
past week about the texting and the picture texting stuff
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and kids being hurt because they've taken pictures of them
that they shouldn't have done, sent it to somebody, and
then they text that out to everybody in the world.
And they were saying that happened at one of the schools,
and within an hour, perretty much, every kid in the
school had a cellphone had the picture of this girl,
and they made fun of her. We can make a difference,
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I wondered as I listened to that on Channel seventy
other night, how many of those kids might have been Christians,
and they text, they forwarded that picture of that girl onward.
I wonder how many of those she said that she is.
This was last year, and she still gets picked on
about that today, and I wondered how many might have
(39:37):
been Christians. How often does do we join the crowd
when they make fun of somebody at work, when they
insult somebody? How often do we get caught up in
the gossip that takes place? You see, we face the
same issues today and He's still molding and shaping our lives.
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Be on your outline. We cannot succeed in our spiritual
lives if our whole heart isn't into it. You will
not succeed in your Christian life. If your whole heart
isn't into it, you will struggle all the time. It's
not that you won't struggle some of the time, but
(40:20):
you will con constantly struggle until you put your heart
into it. It is said that the greatest success can
only be achieved by giving yourself totally to the things
that you wish to achieve. I love the Olympics. Well,
I really like Apollo Ono. Man, It's just a neat
guy and he has put his entire life into skating.
(40:48):
I figure the girl from Korea. All that pressure that's
put on that young girl sixteen years old, and she's
one of the richest people in Korea now, but the
pressure to win gold, and if she failed, she would
have been a failure. And I wondered how many believers
might think that of her. Consider the cost those young
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people have dedicated their lives to that. Man, I look
at the football players, you know. One time when I
was still youth pastor down in Burley, I said, okay,
let's figure out how many colleges. There are a lot
of colleges, and figure out how many football teams, how
many people on a football team, and go down into
high school and then then now we got pee wee
(41:33):
football and all and all those kids that want to
be great football players. How many of them make it
to the top. Not that many, but they've dedicated their
lives to that to try to be the best. Should
we do any less as believers dedicating our lives to
(41:54):
Lord being the best of the best, the best that
we can be. It will cost. It will cost us
to follow Jesus, just as it costs Matthew. Will you
pay the cost Have you considered the cost? Are you
(42:15):
willing to step out? Are you willing to make that difference?
If you've chosen to follow Jesus, I commend you for
making that kind of a decision in your life. But
if you're struggling with that decision, man, then I challenge
you to look at the promises. I challenge you to
(42:35):
find a verse that's an alignment verse that will bring
you back under alignment. One of the verses, and I
say it's the marriage verse, but God keeps speaking it
to me, is to not it's Hebrews thirteen sixteen. Do
not fail to do good and to communicate, order to
share for with such sacrifice as God is pleased. When
(43:00):
the phone rings and I'm tired, I have to think
of that verse because I don't want to answer the phone.
I'm tired. I've talked to people all day. When Gloria
wants to talk, and I've man, I have been talked out.
I've used all my words up and beyond, and Gloria's
got words to use. It's a sacrifice. Are we willing
to sacrifice for the Lord. One of the immediate things
(43:25):
that the conversion of Matthew did was aroused his concern
for his friends. One of the first things that did
it aroused his concerns for them. And I think it's
interesting because I think their inquisitiveness was aroused because look
at what Matthew did. He walked away from everything. After
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I became a Christian, I went back to Chicago. I
went to visit some friends, and I realized that life
was radically different. And they realized that my life was
radically different. Now what it gave me an opportunity to
share with them. It was a struggle. It was a
struggle not to participate in the things that they were
participating in at that time. Next week, we're going to
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look more at this part of Matthew's life, of his
response to follow me, his response to Jesus, and what
he does with it. You see, that's the next step
of our lives. What are we going to do with
it when we've made a commitment to follow Jesus. I
hope you will make a commitment today. I hope that today,
as you've considered his life of Matthew, that it will
(44:31):
spur you on to say, boy, will I consider the cost?
Will I follow Jesus? Am I willing to give up
my way for his way. It could mean radical changes
in your life. It should to follow him. Are you
willing to pay the cost? Are you willing to say,
(44:53):
as Jesus did, Father, not my will, but your will
be done? Look at Jude one, twenty four through twenty
five up on the wall. Now, all glory to God?
Can you say that? Now? All glory to God who
(45:14):
is able to keep the way? It says you. You
put your me there, who is able to keep me
from falling away and will bring me with great joy
into His glorious presence without a single fault. All glory
to him who alone is God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ,
our Lord. All glory, majesty, power and authority are his
(45:38):
before all time and in the present and beyond all time. Man,
is that your heart? That's how the new living translation.
Can you say that today? Will you make that as
a choice today? Man? I want to follow him who
is able to keep me. I want to make a difference.
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I'm willing to walk away from that which isn't of
him to embrace that which is of him. You see,
we have to make that choice every day. It's before us,
whether we make it for him we're going to make
a choice. You don't have that. It's crazy. We have
all these choices in life, but you don't have a
(46:24):
choice about making a choice. You have to make one,
and it comes down to will I follow Jesus. Will
I walk away from that which is a not of
Him in my life to embrace that which is of
Him in my life? Will I do that? Let's go
to him in praym Almighty God, we come before you
(46:47):
in the name that's above every name, the name of
him who is able to keep us. Lord, before time,
you are thinking about us. Before time, you have prepared us.
You had given us gift, talents and abilities. And Lord,
as with Matthew, Boy, you came into his life. And Lord,
(47:11):
we see that you have used those gift, talents and
abilities boy to write a gospel, to look at the
details of life, and to put in those details so
that we might understand more about you. Lord, you have
written into our lives. Help us to see that. Lord,
(47:38):
Help us to embrace life that you, the great craftsmen,
are crafting into our lives. Lord, help us to consider
the cause right now as we go before his throne.
In a moment, John's gonna lead us in the song
(47:59):
of Boy Contemplation, Meditation, Invitation Boy. At the end of
many parts of Palms, David says, Cela, stop, pause, consider this.
Will you do that? Now you have a choice to make.
Will you pursue Jesus? Will you choose to be his servant?
(48:28):
What will you do with Jesus
We continue today to look at the series molded by
the Master. Has God been molding you this week? Well,
that's the foolest question, isn't it. Of course God's been
molding you this week. But the real question is have
(00:21):
you been aware that God is molding you this week?
This is God's molding, And sometimes we resist his molding
because I don't like what they said about me. I
don't like that my boss got on me. I don't like.
I don't like and why has this happened? This is unfair,
that's unfair. And God be molding on our lives, trying
(00:42):
to shape us to be some ugly old org. No,
that's not But why do we sometimes feel that way?
Why do we resist God? He's working in our lives.
He loves us. We know he loves us, He tells
us he loves us, and yet we resist. I was
(01:04):
at a boy a NonStop conference this week. Left Thursday,
and I didn't get to bed before twelve o'clock Thursday
or Friday night, and it was teaching time almost non
stop Friday night after the or Thursday night after the teaching,
(01:25):
and that we had a time of worship and then
the fellow that was leading it. He asked us, what's
a promise? A promise verse that you know? So I
want you to think about that, and we're gonna go
around in a minute. We're gonna share those. And then
he said, what's an alignment verse? These are pretty much
(01:50):
mostly pastors. There's a few. One guy's a pit. Jason
knows what that's like, pastor and training kind of thing.
I remember when that's like you do everything and if
the past doesn't want to do it, you do it.
And it's a it's kind of funny when he said
he was a pit. I never heard that used in
that context. I thought it was pretty good though, because
(02:12):
that's being molded in shape. But think about that a
promise verse in an alignment verse, you say, we don't
think that way. We usually don't recognize that God is
trying to align our lives. Boy, when he asked that,
I thought, man, I'm glad I'm about the middle. You
(02:35):
know why gives you time to think? Man, if you're
the first one and you're whah alignment verse, Well, what
does God try to what verse? Do you know? It?
Verse that he's trying to get you back in line
when you're molded by the Master. He's going to align you.
And if he's not, well, he is, but you're missing it,
(02:56):
you're fighting it, you're resisting it. God is trying to
align us all the time because he's trying to mold
us into his purpose, that which he wants us to
be conformed to the image of Christ. And you know,
how do you say that's a bad thing? So why
do we wind up resisting him? Just something to think
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about as we continue on this today, we're going to
be looking at Matthew. And I tell you upfront, not
a lot of verses about Matthew. We have a few
Mark two fourteen and Matthew ninety nine. There's just not
a lot. In all likelihood, none of the twelve was
a more notorious sinner than Matthew. And think about that policy, Man,
(03:42):
I'm the worst of sinners. Well, Matthews, what's his function
in life at this time? Matthew is a tax collector.
Matthew is Jewish and a Jewish tax collector. He's a publican.
And when Jesus, and that's the condition he's in, when Jesus,
he's a publican, he's a tax collector, and he is
(04:06):
the last credentialed individual you would expect to find as
an apostle, a tax collector, someone that the Jewish people hated.
And yet this man has called to be an apostle,
he's called to be a leader of the church, he's
called to be a preacher of the gospel. Because you see,
tax collectors were the most despised people in Israel. Think
(04:30):
about that. They were the most despised. They were hated,
they were vilified, they were looked down upon by the
entire Jewish community. They were deemed lower than those that
supported Herod, the Herodians, Herold's dynasty. They were low because
(04:50):
they were not pure Jews. But the tax collectors are
even lower than that. And they were more worthy of
scorn than the Roman occupy. It's another incredible thought. They
hated the Romans, but they hated even more soul the
tax collectors. Republicans were men who bought a tax franchise.
(05:13):
And we don't buy tax franchises today, but you could
buy a Burger King franchise, and you can buy a
lot of other franchises. But imagine if we had irs
tax franchises. They're already the criminal arm of the guard.
I mean no, I didn't mean that. They're already are
in our pockets plenty. Imagine if they bought that franchise,
(05:33):
they wanted to make that money back. They gave money
to the Roman Emperor, the very enemies of the Jewish people.
They extorted money from the Jews. They padded their own pockets.
They would oftentimes most times raise the taxes. There are
certain taxes they couldn't be but they would tax other things.
(05:55):
They would have excise taxes, road taxes. Oh, you have
too much weight on that, there's an extra tax there.
And so they would just continue to raise those taxes.
They were despictable, vilified, and unscrupled individuals. They were scoundrels.
That's how the Jewish people looked at them. Now, imagine
(06:17):
that's how people looked at you. Would you feel like
you'd have very many friends. You know, every place you
went people look down upon. It is tough enough in
our schools today to be a teenager, to be a
kid that doesn't only have to be in high school.
It could be in any of the grades. It's tough
enough because you're trying to measure up. You want to
have friends, and boy, Glory and I were talking about
(06:37):
that this week. And you know what, kids don't necessarily
understand that you could have more than one friend. Well
you're my friend. Well i'm this person's friend. I can't
be your friend anymore. What's with that? We so limit ourselves.
But imagine being one that nobody wanted to be your friend.
(06:57):
The movie that just showed the youth and going to
be shown to their friends to save a life. I
had to think of the title of it. Boy that
gives you a picture of a couple of kids that
are kind of ostracized by the world. Doesn't feel too good,
doesn't feel good at all. In fact, we find kids
(07:18):
today more and more thinking of hurting themselves to try
to get attention instead of trying to live in this
positive format that the Lord's presenting. That's the life of
a publican. That was the life of a tax collector.
Matthew was a tax collector turned disciple, and later writes
(07:38):
to the Gospel look in Mark chapter two, fourteen, verse
fourteen says, and as he passed by he saw it,
says here Levi, that's his Jewish name, son of Elpheus.
And once he's at work, when Jesus sees him he's
working taxes. And he said to them follow me, and he
(08:04):
Matthew LEVI arose and followed him Matthew nine verse nine.
And as Jesus passed on from there, he saw a
man called Matthew sitting at the tax office, and he
said to them, follow me, and he arose and followed Matthew.
Describing his self and one short verse does he give
(08:28):
us much information. He only refers to himself as Matthew here,
and Luke refers to them as Matthew well here. And
then when he lists the twelve apostles, he uses his
name Matthew. That's really all he mentions about himself. We
don't know a lot in this call of Matthew comes
(08:49):
out of nowhere. It is completely catching you by surprise.
You're reading along in Jesus calls the most hated of
the Jewish people, calls a man, and the ironic part
is the guy follows. How many times has Jesus called
you to follow him and his will and his way?
(09:10):
How often do we instead of getting up and following,
walking away from what we know is wrong or not
the right way, and do what we want to do?
Follow me? Not much that Jesus says to him. He
just says, follow me. He don't give him any explanation.
(09:31):
He doesn't try to persuade him or anything. He just says,
follow me. I want you to consider for a while
the conversion to Matthew as the author of the Gospel.
You might expect there to be a lot of information
about him, because he is, he's the author. We know
more about John, we know more about Peter, we know
more about Paul. We know more about a lot of
(09:52):
the other disciples than what we really know about Matthew.
Because there's not a lot said. We might expect to
hear more about his character, but it's all limited to
his identity as a tax collector. The only thing that
we know is that he was modest. How do we
(10:12):
know he was modest because he doesn't write much about himself.
He doesn't say much, and he's reserved. He's a fairly
quiet individual, stays in the background. Oh today, we fight
sometimes in the church to be up in the foreground.
Being here, I don't get enough recognition in the background.
But Matthew was content being in the background. I imagine
(10:36):
part of that might have been because he was in
the foreground so much and so hated because of what
he did, that maybe it was just easier to stay there.
But Matthew gives us a lengthy account of the life
of Jesus, doesn't say much about himself in his entire gospel.
As I said, he mentions himself twice, and that's it. Matthew,
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more than any other disciple, think about this. Did you
know what was expected when you became a Christian? Did
you have a boy? I have a real clear understanding
that it's going to cost. I thought when I became
a Christian and wrote to my mother and my family
told him I was a Christian, I thought they'd be happy.
(11:23):
I did not have a clue how they would really feel.
And when my mother said God gave you a brain,
why don't you use it, It's like Wow. I thought
I had a brain, and I thought, I'm using it
for the first time, and you know, but they were upset,
and I got nasty letters about that. Matthew had a
clear idea of what it was going to cost him
(11:44):
to follow Jesus more than any other of the apostles
and probably disciples. He had a clear idea of what
it would cost him upon leaving that textbook booth. He
was guaranteed of one thing, for sure, unemployed guaranteed because
there is other people standing in line. Hey, it was
a profitable business. You could make some good money on it.
(12:08):
You might be hated, but you could do okay. And
for him to leave that would meant to have nothing
after that many other disciples. They could have returned to fishing.
In fact, doesn't Peter and them return to fishing for
at least a day or part of the day after
Jesus is crucified. You know, I'm going to go fishing.
(12:29):
I'm going to go back to what I know. Can
Matthew go back to what he knows? He's forfeited all
that he's walked away from it. He has proclaimed Jesus
as being in his head and his leader, And what
did he have? Jesus says, consider the cost? Consider the cost?
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And I wonder how much Matthew in that moment, because
that's all really what he had was a moment. Did
he consider the cost? Did he say, you know what
I have seen Jesus, I've heard Jesus man, I want
to be with him. I don't know, because we don't
have a lot of other things said. Alls we know
(13:10):
is that he was called and he left everything behind. Well,
Jesus says, don't turn around and look back. You know,
you walk away, don't go backwards, continue to move forward
in your life. And Matthew does that. On your outline,
we find two changes happened to Matthew when he decided
to follow Jesus. Jesus gave him a new life, a
(13:35):
new life. And you know what that hasn't changed today.
If you've asked Jesus to be your savior, he gave
you a new life. And that's why you have to
consider am I resisting that life? He not only belonged
to a new group, he belonged to the Son of God. See,
(13:58):
we need to think that way. We need to think
that way. We need to teach our kids to think
that way because life is tough and if we could
teach them and help them to realize they belong. Boy,
you know I was older when I became a Christian.
I realized that I was joining a new family. My
(14:20):
family was rejecting everything that I had turned to and
I was going to be in a new family. And
the Church has been my family has been that. When
we went to see Amanda and Glenn. We went into Omaha.
We stayed overnight at my friend Bill and his wife's
Colleen's house, and Gloria hadn't seen them in over twenty years.
(14:41):
Mandon and I stayed there when we came back from
Liberty when she got married, twenty years not seeing her.
You would not believe that when we sat at the table,
when Bill was standing out in front of the house
when we pulled up, and he gave Gloria a big hug,
And when Colleen came in, she gave Gloria a big hug.
Years and you know, we sat down at the table
(15:02):
and we talked for quite a while, and it was like, Wow,
we've been there just yesterday. We'll be caught up on
some things, but what an incredible family time. And then
I said, Bill, man, I han't seen his parents for
twenty one years. I said, Man, I'd sure like to
have breakfast with your folks tomorrow, because I've told you
about the Blacks. They're my adopted family, they are my
(15:25):
spiritual parents. And so Bill said, yeah, says you gout,
You and Glory go to the restaurant. I'll go pick
up mom and dad and we'll come there and you
be at another table, so they don't see. And Dale
doesn't He doesn't see. He's got macular degeneration, so he
just sees the aura around you. He doesn't see distinctly.
(15:47):
And so they sat down at the table and Bill's
big real estate guy and he does a video blog,
and so he has this cameraman come in and they're
starting to record things, and Glory and I walk up
the table. He gives me a thumbs up. We come up.
So you're at our table? Do you care if we
join you? And Estelle looked turned back and she just
(16:09):
did that double take, you know, and it was family.
Do you realize you're in a family as that attitude
that we need to be having. Matthew had a new life.
He belonged to the Son of God. Everything was different
for him. He's not just accepting a different way of life.
He is now accepted as a person. He's accepted where
(16:32):
he was, folks, I'm telling you that's a big point
to remember. He was accepted by Jesus where he was
at despicable, despised by his own people. And you know
what that did. He now has to deal with the
others that were called and guess what happens. They seem
to have accepted him. Why because he is suddenly so great.
(16:58):
He's still a notorious I mean, there's not a big
change yet except that he followed. They accepted him because
Jesus accepted him. You know what, we need to be
accepting people that Jesus is accepting. We want to mold
them instantly into what we want them to be. You
know what, it's a process of time. Keep going back
(17:20):
to that movie that just I read the books. She
gave me the book. First book was great, and then
you see the movie. You know, sometimes movies really grab
you differently because you're seeing this kind of life lived out.
The rejection. You see the hurt a little bit clearer
sometimes than reading it. How many kids at school just
(17:43):
need a friend. How many people that we work with
just need a friend. Matthew has a brand new life
from outcasts to accepted and that must have been a
wonder But maybe it was a little unnerving. Maybe. You
know what, when I became a Christian man, I was
rude and crude and raw. I was a despicable pagan.
(18:06):
First time they met me, I swear, and that's a
great foundation to begin bill on, look what is with
this guy? But you know what, it's not what they did.
Oh there was one that had a hard time with that,
and I thought if she had a dagger, she might
have stuck me. But afterwards we became friends when she
realized that I wasn't even a Christian yet. I was
(18:28):
just in that process of coming alongside. When you become
a Christian in your later teen years and beyond, it's
often that same way, man, we think, how will I adapt?
That's what I was thinking. Nobody else swore at this
single adults picnic that I was at, and here I swear,
(18:51):
it's like, oh, man, I'd never been embarrassed in my
life until that time. And I wanted to dig a hole.
I wanted to be an ostrich Io, waned to bury
my head. I was so embarrassed, man, I have really
look what I did to these nice, clean people, you know.
And the pastor's wife put her arm around my shoulder
and said, it's okay, Chris. We slipped. We all slip sometimes.
(19:12):
That's incredible. It's incredible. Sometimes we're quick to jump on people.
And they weren'dering that how will I adapt? Will the
church people accept? Me, Will they like me? What if
I say the wrong thing? What if I do the
wrong thing? What if I act the wrong way? If
(19:33):
you became a Christian in your young age, those fears
and thoughts might not be a concerned for you because
you're already part of the family. But then you go
off to school and I've listened to Gloria talked some
about being in school and some of the friendship issues
and things and things that she wasn't real glad about.
(19:53):
You know, sometimes how we treat people, we Christians need
to express an understanding of new believers. We need to
love them where they're at, where they're at, and then
try to take them to where the Lord wants them
to be, but show what we have to be living
that way ourselves. They're going to be looking at us,
They're going to be kind of measuring themselves by us.
(20:16):
So how are you living? How have you lived this
past week? Have you been that example of Christ? Has
that been an issue for you? Have you been judgmental
towards somebody that's stay in that movie that just jumps
out at you. One the things for me judgmental and
the pastor in the movie. I wanted to slap him
(20:36):
upside the head, and I thought, boy, can I be
that way? Oh? You know, man, when it comes to
roost on your door, it makes you think. And working
on this part of Matthew's life stop me in my tracks.
It made me think, how am I? You? See? The
disciples have provided us a rich example, didn't they? Jesus
(21:00):
provides us a rich example of that acceptance and allowing
him to work in lives that It doesn't mean we
never correct each other. We need to because sometimes I
don't see what I'm doing wrong and I need that correction.
And I think we have the example of doing that
in love. But Jesus does another thing, be on your outline.
He also gave Matthew a new purpose for his skills,
(21:23):
a new purpose for his skills. When he followed Jesus,
the only tool he had from his past job is
that he carried was a pen. Think about that. I mean,
that's all he had. He was a ledger keeper, a
record keeper, and so he didn't have much else From
the beginning. God made him that. And see that God
(21:46):
made him a record keeper. Jesus's call eventually allowed him
to put his skills to the finest work he would
ever do, to the finest work he would ever do. Man,
I don't know where you're at right now in your life,
but are you doing the finest work for the Lord
that you could do. Is he's still molding shaping that
(22:07):
life of yours? Is he still working in there refining you.
You know, it's not that you get refined all at once.
So the reality is, yes, he is. He's refining. He
continues to refine us. Matthew is a keen observer. He
had to be to be in that position, and he
undoubtedly recorded what he saw going on around him. As
(22:29):
a tax collector, he would do that, and we see
that as the writer of the Gospel, he records what's
going on around him. He records so that people will
understand who Jesus is. And then Roman number number two,
we learned from Matthew's experience that we each are a
work of God in progress, in progress. You know, you
(22:55):
go to a conference from with a bunch of pastors
and it's just like being with a bunch of other people.
You know, we're not all super spiritual. We all have
issues that we're working through. We all have struggles that
were going on while I was there one of the
pastors got a call and had a teen in his
church threatening suicide and very overtly, and that was a
(23:20):
struggle and he had to leave. He had to go
deal with the situation. Look at Ephesians chapter two, verse ten.
Ephesians two, verse ten, so great, great verse to reflect on.
Sometimes it's not up on the wall, so you'll have
(23:41):
to turn in your bible. There Ephesians chapter two, verse ten.
So you have the Gospels, you have Acts, Romans first,
second Corinthians, then Galatians, Ephesians Ephesians two, verse ten. For
we are his workmanship. Now think about that. You are
his workmanship. You know George's son Adam, he does jewelry.
(24:06):
It's pretty incredible. They can show you some of the
things he's done, and he's a craftsman at it. But
it was something that he learned and now he can
work that jewelry and he's making knives and pretty incredible
doing that. And that's what the Lord is. He's working
on your life. We are his craftsmanship created in Christ
(24:26):
Jesus for good works, for good works which God prepared
beforehand that we should walk in them. And he's working
in your life. He's preparing you for a good work.
And he continues. And that's what he did in Matthew's life.
He was the craftsman. He had given Matthew's skills, talents
(24:47):
and abilities. Guess what, he didn't only give them to
the twelve. He gave you and I gifts, talents and abilities. Incredible.
He even gave them to you before he called you.
He gave you gifts, talents and abilities while you were
still lost when he created you. He gave you gifts,
talents and abilities. He created us for a fine purpose.
(25:10):
And then as we come in Christ, we need to
be seeing what he's molding and shaping in our lives,
how he's crafting us into this fine vessel we call it,
this fine person, for what purpose? To touch the lives
of other people. Indeed, pray for Vicky and the others
that are teaching VBS because God is using them and
(25:35):
they're challenging and crafting young people and trying to lead
them in the way of the Lord. And more than
likely there will be some that won't like it. The
woman that seen the tank commandment sign freaked out. She
went and called the Boise Park District on us, and
they sent people out to come and look praise. God
(25:56):
had two more people we could witness to, you know,
but we could have said, oh, man, get that woman.
You know, she's an enemy of the Cross. Instead, God
brought other people that we could share with. It's a
different perspective. God is working and crafting in your life.
God created you and me with the purpose. He's planning,
(26:18):
gifts those talents, those abilities and skills in our life,
and he trusts us with those. He entrusts us with
them to be used. You're predestined to be conformed to
the image of Christ and to be used. Boy, as
God desires to touch the lives of other people, he
(26:41):
made each of us capable of being a servant. Are
you a willing servant? Are you a resisting servant? Servant?
You will be if you're a believer. But we surely
can resist that too when we trust Him with what
He's given us, and we begin a life of adventure,
a journey that continues on another verse Philippians one six.
(27:06):
He that is molding and shaping this craftsman. Look what
Paul says, some encouraging words for you and I about
what God is doing. He says, for I am confident. Man,
I am confident in this very thing that he who
began a good work in you, that's God, that he
began it, he will perfect it until the day of
(27:29):
Christ Jesus. And that tells us he's still molding and shaping.
He's still working, and we need to be looking at
him working in our lives and seeing how we can
join him, and accepting that what he's saying in our lives.
When you read his word and it challenges you, that's
God molding you, as God trying to get your attention.
(27:51):
One of the reasons we need to be in the
word so we see that. Otherwise, woy, You know the
pastor said this, and then is the pastor the one
that's molding the shape in your life? I actually know
as the Lord's working. Matthew couldn't have known what God
would use his skills for as he sharpened them as
(28:13):
the tax collector. He didn't know what God was going
to do. He didn't have a clue. He was just
doing what he always did. And you know he's making moneys,
supporting the Roman Empire, things that the Jews couldn't stand.
God has no less meaningful purpose for each of us.
(28:34):
Jesus calls us as he called Matthew in that day,
and as he called then and he calls today. There's
many that don't hear. But you know, Jesus kept on.
The disciples didn't give up, and then they spread throughout
the world at that time, teaching, baptizing, calling people to Christ,
(28:58):
maturing them in him. Roman numer number three. Jesus is
still calling. He still says, follow me. It's still a
current call on our lives, in the lives of people.
He has the same promise of blessing and hope in
store for you and me that he had for this
tax collector, Matthew, and the same call that he had
(29:20):
for Andrew. The fishermen a Peter, a fisherman, James a fisherman,
John a fisherman. He still has the same call that
he had on those two seekers, Philip and Nathaniel. They
were seekers, that's what they were, and he had a
call on their life. And the same as he had
a call on them, he has a call on you.
(29:40):
As he endowed them with gift, talents and abilities. He
has endowed you and I with gift, talents and abilities.
And what are they for? There? A gift to be
a blessing to God. We're to bless him by using
that gift. We're to bless the world around us by
using that gift. And it's to be a blessing to
us individually. But it's a growth process, it's a journey process,
(30:09):
and it calls for us to look at these examples
of those that were molded in shaped, to look at
them and see there wasn't resistance. In fact, every time
he called one of these guys, they followed, Oh, we
see the others as he goes on, Man, let me
go bury my father, let me go say goodbye to
my friends. Boy, give everything I have to the poor,
(30:33):
and follow well. Of those were tough things, they're still
tough today, and yet the call is still there. Come
follow me, be my disciple. But there's a cost a
on your outline under three, there's a cost. Think about this.
(30:56):
Matthew is at his richest when Jesus called him to
be a disciple. He was at his richest. Man. He
had wealth. We know that, and we'll see that more
next week. Because he throws a big party, he throws
a banquet. Man that you know what it's costly today
to throw a banquet, you know the thing. It was
(31:16):
less costly then, and he could afford to do that.
He was at his richest when he was called, when
Jesus spoke to him, the pull of the world and
the pull of his wealth was at its greatest. And
sometimes today when Jesus is calling us, boy, he's calling
us to reach out to touch somebody, to provide help,
(31:38):
to to move somebody along. And sometimes that's not what
I want to do. And the pull is great, and
we have a choice, you know, He's always given you
and I a choice. As he called all these things,
all those riches, as he called Matthew, were forgotten in
(32:00):
an instant. I had asked myself, how do I measure
up at that point? How do I measure up? Forgot
them for the opportunity to follow Jesus. He didn't know
(32:20):
what he was in for. Peter, James, John, and Andrew,
and Philip and Nathaniel didn't know what they were in
for at that time, but yet they each followed because
they believe he had the answer to life, he had
the answer for eternity. They believed he was the Promised One.
And he's still all those things today. But do we
(32:43):
believe it. Do we believe he has the answers for
our life or do we think, boy, the world's got
the answers for my life. One of the pastors at
the conference, he was a builder. He was bivocational, and
he was a high school wrestling coach and coached other things.
And they built a house in California that when he
(33:08):
came here his wife was still there at the time,
was worth over a million dollars and they had looked
at that and that would be their retirement. When they
sold that house, that would be their retirement. He lost
the house because in the three years that he was
here pastoring couldn't get it sold. Andy and he came
(33:31):
here and then his wife finally came and then I
can't remember what the health issue he had, but they
were doing a minor surgery and they pierced his heart
and they had to open heart surgery, lost his house,
lost his health. There's a cost. And yet he listened
(33:57):
to him how he loves the Lord. You know, they're
trusting that God's still providing. It's an incredible thing. And
that's where each of us are at. We don't know
what the future holds, but I know who holds the future.
And we see that in Matthew. He doesn't know what
the future holds. He knows it holds not having a job.
He knows that all this wealth, that he is a
(34:18):
master at this time, that that's going to be a
cost to him and later. You know, if I've cheated, anybody,
let me know? Or is that chis if he cheats anybody,
let him know? Not Matthew wasn't incredible. Matthew knew those things,
didn't know all these things, and he follows because he
believed Jesus had the answer for life. Do you believe
(34:41):
that today? Because the same issue faces you and I
in this twenty first century. We have a choice about
what we will pursue. You have a choice what you
will pursue every day? Will you pursue to be more
like the world. That's a choice. And that's not just
a hard choice for our kids. That's a choice for
(35:04):
you and I as adult. It's a choice we all
have to face. What will you pursue? Will you pursue
the things of God? You see, we're back to the
two altars, aren't we. Yeah, here's the altar over here
of self and my wants, my desires. I got to
a mass, a big retirement fund. Man. We live in
(35:26):
a volatile world. The stock market dropped these some of
the pastors there follow that stuff. Man, I'd have ulcers
if I followed it. And every time we get a
thing I read guide someone that says you've lost this
much money, I think, man, and they tell me it's paper. Man.
Don't feel that to my gut. And when the pastors
on Friday said, or I guess it was Friday, we're
(35:49):
eating breakfast, said why the stock market dropped three hundred
points yesterday? Chance, I needed to hear that. But you
know what, God's in control. Who are you pursuing? Are
you running to your altar to a mass everything you can?
Are you going to the Lord's altar and lay in
everything you have at the altar and saying, God, I can't,
(36:11):
but you can. That's what Matthew did. He had been
at his little altar, his tax table, that was his altar. Man.
He was serving himself. He was serving Rome, despised by
his own people because he had a job that took
advantage of them, and he left it to go to
the altar of Christ. What will you pursue? Who will
(36:36):
you serve you See, those are questions that are there
for you and I today. Every day you get up,
you have a choice. What will you pursue? Now, if
you work for a company, man, you need to be
pursuing the company's improvement. But how are you doing it
and your own skills? Are you doing it? To the
glory of the Lord? Al says, do all your work
(36:57):
is unto the Lord? Now, boy, young people, he's talking
to you too. Do all your work under the Lord?
What work? Do your school work? Unto the Lord? You
have chores around the house? Do your chores under the Lord?
You have a job, do your job as unto the Lord.
(37:19):
Be a person that people will look up to, say, man, yeah,
he's a Christian. But there's a person of integrity. There's
a person that's honest. There's a person you can trust.
That's a person you can share with. Colleen asked me
twenty nine years ago, Well, maybe a little less than
(37:41):
maybe because Amanda, Well, yeah, Amanda had been born, So
that's about twenty five years ago. Just under came home
from my Tuesday night, which was my long night at
the mental health center counseling, and they were at the
house we had Bible study at our house and I
came in and I don't know what they were talking about.
I was beat. I hated Tuesday nights because there were
(38:03):
so difficult worst cases. And she says to me, Chris,
if every Christian had a good friend, a true friend,
would we need psychologists and counselors. And I said to her, Clean,
you're trying to put me out of business, trying to
(38:24):
ruin my income, because the reality was if we had
true friends, if somebody shared some pain with you and
you were there for them and didn't go gossip about them.
You know this whole thing that been on TV this
past week about the texting and the picture texting stuff
(38:46):
and kids being hurt because they've taken pictures of them
that they shouldn't have done, sent it to somebody, and
then they text that out to everybody in the world.
And they were saying that happened at one of the schools,
and within an hour, perretty much, every kid in the
school had a cellphone had the picture of this girl,
and they made fun of her. We can make a difference,
(39:13):
I wondered as I listened to that on Channel seventy
other night, how many of those kids might have been Christians,
and they text, they forwarded that picture of that girl onward.
I wonder how many of those she said that she is.
This was last year, and she still gets picked on
about that today, and I wondered how many might have
(39:37):
been Christians. How often does do we join the crowd
when they make fun of somebody at work, when they
insult somebody? How often do we get caught up in
the gossip that takes place? You see, we face the
same issues today and He's still molding and shaping our lives.
(40:00):
Be on your outline. We cannot succeed in our spiritual
lives if our whole heart isn't into it. You will
not succeed in your Christian life. If your whole heart
isn't into it, you will struggle all the time. It's
not that you won't struggle some of the time, but
(40:20):
you will con constantly struggle until you put your heart
into it. It is said that the greatest success can
only be achieved by giving yourself totally to the things
that you wish to achieve. I love the Olympics. Well,
I really like Apollo Ono. Man, It's just a neat
guy and he has put his entire life into skating.
(40:48):
I figure the girl from Korea. All that pressure that's
put on that young girl sixteen years old, and she's
one of the richest people in Korea now, but the
pressure to win gold, and if she failed, she would
have been a failure. And I wondered how many believers
might think that of her. Consider the cost those young
(41:13):
people have dedicated their lives to that. Man, I look
at the football players, you know. One time when I
was still youth pastor down in Burley, I said, okay,
let's figure out how many colleges. There are a lot
of colleges, and figure out how many football teams, how
many people on a football team, and go down into
high school and then then now we got pee wee
(41:33):
football and all and all those kids that want to
be great football players. How many of them make it
to the top. Not that many, but they've dedicated their
lives to that to try to be the best. Should
we do any less as believers dedicating our lives to
(41:54):
Lord being the best of the best, the best that
we can be. It will cost. It will cost us
to follow Jesus, just as it costs Matthew. Will you
pay the cost Have you considered the cost? Are you
(42:15):
willing to step out? Are you willing to make that difference?
If you've chosen to follow Jesus, I commend you for
making that kind of a decision in your life. But
if you're struggling with that decision, man, then I challenge
you to look at the promises. I challenge you to
(42:35):
find a verse that's an alignment verse that will bring
you back under alignment. One of the verses, and I
say it's the marriage verse, but God keeps speaking it
to me, is to not it's Hebrews thirteen sixteen. Do
not fail to do good and to communicate, order to
share for with such sacrifice as God is pleased. When
(43:00):
the phone rings and I'm tired, I have to think
of that verse because I don't want to answer the phone.
I'm tired. I've talked to people all day. When Gloria
wants to talk, and I've man, I have been talked out.
I've used all my words up and beyond, and Gloria's
got words to use. It's a sacrifice. Are we willing
to sacrifice for the Lord. One of the immediate things
(43:25):
that the conversion of Matthew did was aroused his concern
for his friends. One of the first things that did
it aroused his concerns for them. And I think it's
interesting because I think their inquisitiveness was aroused because look
at what Matthew did. He walked away from everything. After
(43:46):
I became a Christian, I went back to Chicago. I
went to visit some friends, and I realized that life
was radically different. And they realized that my life was
radically different. Now what it gave me an opportunity to
share with them. It was a struggle. It was a
struggle not to participate in the things that they were
participating in at that time. Next week, we're going to
(44:09):
look more at this part of Matthew's life, of his
response to follow me, his response to Jesus, and what
he does with it. You see, that's the next step
of our lives. What are we going to do with
it when we've made a commitment to follow Jesus. I
hope you will make a commitment today. I hope that today,
as you've considered his life of Matthew, that it will
(44:31):
spur you on to say, boy, will I consider the cost?
Will I follow Jesus? Am I willing to give up
my way for his way. It could mean radical changes
in your life. It should to follow him. Are you
willing to pay the cost? Are you willing to say,
(44:53):
as Jesus did, Father, not my will, but your will
be done? Look at Jude one, twenty four through twenty
five up on the wall. Now, all glory to God?
Can you say that? Now? All glory to God who
(45:14):
is able to keep the way? It says you. You
put your me there, who is able to keep me
from falling away and will bring me with great joy
into His glorious presence without a single fault. All glory
to him who alone is God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ,
our Lord. All glory, majesty, power and authority are his
(45:38):
before all time and in the present and beyond all time. Man,
is that your heart? That's how the new living translation.
Can you say that today? Will you make that as
a choice today? Man? I want to follow him who
is able to keep me. I want to make a difference.
(46:03):
I'm willing to walk away from that which isn't of
him to embrace that which is of him. You see,
we have to make that choice every day. It's before us,
whether we make it for him we're going to make
a choice. You don't have that. It's crazy. We have
all these choices in life, but you don't have a
(46:24):
choice about making a choice. You have to make one,
and it comes down to will I follow Jesus. Will
I walk away from that which is a not of
Him in my life to embrace that which is of
Him in my life? Will I do that? Let's go
to him in praym Almighty God, we come before you
(46:47):
in the name that's above every name, the name of
him who is able to keep us. Lord, before time,
you are thinking about us. Before time, you have prepared us.
You had given us gift, talents and abilities. And Lord,
as with Matthew, Boy, you came into his life. And Lord,
(47:11):
we see that you have used those gift, talents and
abilities boy to write a gospel, to look at the
details of life, and to put in those details so
that we might understand more about you. Lord, you have
written into our lives. Help us to see that. Lord,
(47:38):
Help us to embrace life that you, the great craftsmen,
are crafting into our lives. Lord, help us to consider
the cause right now as we go before his throne.
In a moment, John's gonna lead us in the song
(47:59):
of Boy Contemplation, Meditation, Invitation Boy. At the end of
many parts of Palms, David says, Cela, stop, pause, consider this.
Will you do that? Now you have a choice to make.
Will you pursue Jesus? Will you choose to be his servant?
(48:28):
What will you do with Jesus
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