[0:00] Well, if we could, this evening, with the Lord's help and the Lord's enabling, if we could turn to Luke chapter 6. We didn't read Luke chapter 6, but these are the verses we've been reading in our study, this list of learners.
[0:15] Luke chapter 6 and verse 13, where we're given the list of the 12 disciples whom Jesus chose.
[0:30] Luke 6 and verse 13, and when day came, Jesus called his disciples and chose from them 12, whom he named apostles, Simon, whom he named Peter, and Andrew, his brother, and James, and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James, the son of Alphaeus, and Simon, who was called the Zealot, and Judas, the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
[1:05] Now, this evening, we'll continue in our study of the disciples of Jesus. And as we've discovered, the disciples, they were just 12 ordinary men who had been called, commissioned, and commanded to serve their extraordinary God.
[1:20] They weren't rich or religious men. They weren't the best or the brightest men. They weren't the smartest or the sharpest men. They weren't the clearest or the cleverest men. They were just 12 ordinary men.
[1:32] They were 12 ordinary men. But, you know, it's because the disciples were just 12 ordinary men that we should study them. Because as disciples in the 21st century, we're just ordinary men and women.
[1:50] We're ordinary men and women who have been called, commissioned, and commanded to serve our extraordinary God. Which is why it's good for us to learn from these disciples, to learn from their experience, and to learn from their example as ordinary disciples of Jesus.
[2:07] Because as we said before, a disciple is a learner. And that's what the word disciple means. It means learner. We're all learners. We're all learning. And this evening, we're learning from the experience and the example of the seventh disciple in this list of learners.
[2:25] He's called Matthew. Matthew. Matthew. And I'd like us to consider Matthew this evening under three headings. Matthew's family. Matthew's focus.
[2:36] And Matthew's feast. Matthew's family. Matthew's focus. And Matthew's feast. Maybe I should have had a fourth question. What are tonight's headings? Matthew's family.
[2:48] Matthew's focus. And Matthew's feast. So, first of all, Matthew's family. Matthew's family. You know, we're familiar with the name Matthew. Because, as you know, Matthew's gospel, it's the first gospel listed in the New Testament.
[3:01] But, boys and girls, Matthew didn't write the first gospel. Because Mark wrote the first gospel. Mark wrote the first gospel around the year 55 AD.
[3:12] And Matthew wrote his gospel about ten years later, or over ten years later, around 66 AD. And yet, Matthew's gospel, as you know from your Bible, Matthew's gospel is the first gospel listed in the New Testament.
[3:28] But the reason Matthew's gospel is the first gospel listed in the New Testament is because the teaching in Matthew's gospel, it became so important and so integral to the expansion of the early church.
[3:41] Not that the other gospels of Mark, Luke, and John weren't important to the early church. But that Matthew's gospel, it had this helpful link where it linked the Old Testament to the New Testament.
[3:55] There was this beautiful and seamless link between Malachi and then into Matthew. And we see that because Matthew quotes from the Old Testament 99 times.
[4:07] Which is more times than Mark, Luke, and John put together. And the thing is, Matthew quotes from not just one section of the Old Testament.
[4:18] He quotes from all three sections of the Old Testament. He quotes from the law. He quotes from the prophets. He quotes from the writings. And the reason Matthew quoted so much from the Old Testament was because, of course, he was a Jew.
[4:35] And as a Jew, Matthew himself, he would have been brought up to read the Torah and to recite the Shema. That saying that all the Israelites would say every morning and every evening, they would recite the Shema.
[4:49] Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And so, Matthew would have been taught to read the Torah and to recite the Shema. And therefore, he would have this wealth of knowledge.
[5:01] He would have this great understanding of all the Old Testament laws and the Old Testament prophecies and all the Old Testament promises. But now, as he wrote his gospel as a converted Jew, Matthew wrote with the purpose of emphasizing and explaining that Jesus is the fulfillment of all the Old Testament laws.
[5:27] Jesus is the fulfillment of all the Old Testament prophecies. And Jesus is the fulfillment of all the Old Testament promises. And, you know, Matthew does that all the way through his gospel.
[5:37] He emphasizes and explains who Jesus is because he wants us to know that Jesus is the King of Kings. Jesus is the King of Kings.
[5:48] In fact, when you read through Matthew's gospel, you'll see that Matthew begins his gospel with this genealogy. We love genealogies. We love knowing where we came from and our ancestry.
[6:00] But Matthew begins with a genealogy of Jesus where he claims and confesses that Jesus is the son of David, the son of Abraham. In other words, Jesus is the promised King and he's the promised Son.
[6:16] He's the promised King and he's the promised Son. He's the Christ. He's the Anointed One. He's the Messiah. He's God's King in God's world. He's the Son of the living God.
[6:27] And that's how Matthew begins his gospel. He's God's King in God's world. And by the time you reach the end of Matthew's gospel, Matthew has not only demonstrated to us who Jesus is and displayed to us who Jesus is through all the miracles that Jesus performs, but Matthew also declares that Jesus Christ is one who has been given all authority in heaven and on earth.
[6:53] And, you know, when you read Matthew's gospel, you see that Matthew's gospel is the gospel of the King. If you want to know what Matthew's gospel is about, Matthew's gospel is the gospel of the King.
[7:05] And that's important to remember because Mark's gospel, which was the first gospel, boys and girls, Mark's gospel is the gospel of the suffering servant. He's the servant who came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.
[7:23] All the gospel writers, they look at Jesus from a different angle. So for Matthew, he's the King. For Mark, he's the suffering servant. For Luke, he's the Son of Man who came to seek and to save that which was lost.
[7:37] And for John, in John's gospel, Jesus is the eternal Son of God who became flesh and dwelt among us that we might behold his glory.
[7:48] The glory is of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. And all the gospel writers, they have this great emphasis upon who Jesus is. They all want us to understand who Jesus is.
[8:01] Because if we misunderstand who Jesus is, we misunderstand the gospel. But for Matthew, for Matthew, Jesus is the Christ.
[8:12] Jesus is God's King in God's world. Jesus is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. And yet, you know, you look at Matthew and you think, well, there was a day in Matthew's life.
[8:29] There was a day in Matthew's life, just like there was a day in your life and a day in my life, when Jesus Christ wasn't the King of kings.
[8:40] There was a day in your life and my life and Matthew's life, when Jesus meant nothing to us. He wasn't upon the throne of our heart.
[8:50] He wasn't King of our life. He wasn't Lord over our life. And the reason, well, the thing about Matthew was he had this great understanding of the Bible.
[9:01] He had all this head knowledge. But he didn't have heart knowledge. As we said, Matthew was brought up as a Jew. He'd been brought up to read the Torah, the Bible.
[9:13] He'd been brought up to recite the Shema, to recite Scripture. Matthew would have had this wealth of head knowledge of all the Old Testament. He would have known his Bible inside out, all the laws, all the prophecies, all the promises.
[9:26] But the thing is, prior to his conversion, Matthew's head knowledge, it would have been so extensive and so exhaustive, more than many Jews. And the reason it was more than many Jews is because I believe Matthew was a Levite.
[9:43] Matthew was from the tribe of Levi. And I say that because what I've read and understood of Matthew is, I believe that he was nicknamed Levi by the other gospel writers, Mark and Luke.
[9:58] He was given that nickname Levi, not only because he was a Levite, but also because he was from the tribe of Levi. But even more so, he was given the nickname Levi because of his biblical knowledge, his biblical understanding.
[10:15] They called him Levi because when it came to the Bible, Matthew was someone who could give you chapter and verse straight away. You want to know a text of Scripture, you go to Levi.
[10:28] He'll quote it for you. He'll quote it verbatim for you. Matthew had this great wealth of head knowledge. He had this great wealth of head knowledge. So they called him Levi.
[10:39] Now, as you know, the name Levi, it originated with Jacob's first wife, Leah. Their third son was called Levi, which means to attach or to join.
[10:53] And it was from Levi that the tribe of Levi was formed. As you know, there were 12 tribes in Israel. They were all named after the sons of Jacob. But it was a tribe of Levi.
[11:04] They were the tribe that were set apart. They were the tribe that were sanctified to be part of this Levitical priesthood. Where the Levites, they were those who led in worship.
[11:15] They led in the singing. They led in offering sacrifices to the Lord. But you know, what's interesting is when you look at the history of the Old Testament and the Lord's people, when the Israelites entered the promised land, the Lord allocated and he apportioned the promised land to each tribe.
[11:33] But he apportioned and allocated the portions of land only to 11 out of the 12 tribes. Where 11 of the tribes, they would live off the land by providing for their families and pasturing their animals.
[11:50] But because the tribe of Levi had been set apart, they'd been sanctified for the service of the Lord, this tribe of Levi, they weren't allocated a portion of land.
[12:02] They weren't given this allotted place to pasture the ground and to provide for their animals. Instead, the Levites were to keep serving. Their life was a life of service.
[12:15] They were to serve the Lord by serving the Lord's people. And so the portion and the provision that came to the Levites came from the Lord's people.
[12:26] Where all of the Lord's people were to provide for the Levites, who had been set apart and sanctified for the service of the Lord. And you know, it's this provision given to the Levites, that's where we get our principle for ministry.
[12:40] And even the principle of the manse for the minister. Where the minister in our congregation has been set apart and sanctified to the ministry of word and sacrament.
[12:51] And his portion, his provision, is to be provided by the Lord's people. And you know, that was Matthew's background. That was Matthew's background.
[13:03] That was Matthew's family. That was his upbringing. Matthew was a Levite. He was from the tribe of Levi. Matthew was Levi the Levite.
[13:14] You could even say that Matthew, Matthew was a son of the manse. Matthew was a son of the manse. And that growing up, Matthew was brought up with the Bible.
[13:29] He was brought up with family worship. He was brought up with having to attend church and be part of worship. Matthew had this wealth of biblical knowledge.
[13:40] More than that, Matthew knew that as a son of the manse, as someone who was part of the tribe of Levi, he was destined for the Levitical priesthood. He was destined to take over his father when he was of age.
[13:55] Matthew had been brought up with this ministry focus. But that wasn't Matthew's focus. That wasn't Matthew's focus, which is what we see secondly.
[14:06] So Matthew's focus. We see Matthew's family. He was from the tribe of Levi. He was a son of the manse. But Matthew's focus. Matthew's focus. You know, although Mark and Luke describe Matthew as Levi the Levite, they do it in both their Gospels.
[14:24] They call Matthew Levi the Levite. That's not how Matthew saw himself, though. Matthew knew what he was and what he had become.
[14:35] Matthew knew what he had been brought up as. He knew that he was part of this tribe of Levi. He knew that he was a Levite. He knew that he was a son of the manse. And yet that's not how Matthew described himself.
[14:48] Matthew, question two of our questions, boys and girls, Matthew describes himself as Matthew the tax collector. Matthew the tax collector. In fact, as we said before, there are four lists of learners in the New Testament.
[15:02] There are four lists in the New Testament where these 12 ordinary men are listed and named. We have it here in Luke chapter 6. It's also in Mark chapter 3, Acts chapter 1, and Matthew chapter 10.
[15:19] And in Matthew's Gospel, in Matthew chapter 10, when Matthew gives his list of the disciples, the list of learners, he doesn't describe himself like the others, where they call him Matthew the Levite.
[15:30] Instead, he describes himself as Matthew the tax collector. He doesn't describe himself as Matthew the son of the manse who had been brought up with the Bible.
[15:42] He doesn't describe himself as someone who was part of this Levitical family who had been set apart and sanctified for the service of the Lord. Matthew doesn't describe himself like that at all.
[15:52] Instead, Matthew the disciple describes himself as Matthew the tax collector. He wanted everybody to know who he was and what he was prior to meeting Jesus.
[16:08] He was Matthew the tax collector. And you know, I believe that Matthew does that because Matthew never forgot who he was before he met Jesus. He never forgot who he was or what he was before he met Jesus.
[16:24] Matthew never forgot that he was this fallen sinner. Matthew never forgot. He never lost sight of how lost he once was and how blind he once was without grace and without God in his life.
[16:39] And you know, Matthew's showing us that we should never forget either. We should never forget the sin and the shame that the Lord found us in.
[16:50] We should never forget the fearful pit and the mighty clay that we fell into. We should never forget how lost we were and how blind we were and how dark it was without Christ and without hope in this world.
[17:04] You know, far too often we do forget. But we should never forget the grace of God that saved us or the mercy of God that met us or the love of God that has kept us each and every day since then.
[17:19] Because, you know, when we do, when we forget, when we lose sight of our salvation, when we forget the grace that saved us and the mercy that met us and the love that has kept us day by day by day, it's then that we become self-righteous.
[17:35] And when self-righteousness seeps in, we lose sight of Jesus and it all becomes about self. But, you know, we have no reason to be self-righteous.
[17:50] Matthew certainly had no reason to be self-righteous. None at all. Because prior to his conversion, Matthew was as far away from his family and as far away from his focus as possible.
[18:07] As we said, Matthew was from the tribe of Levi. He was a Levite. He was Levi the Levite. He had this biblical understanding, this biblical upbringing. He had this wealth of head knowledge.
[18:17] He knew the Bible. He could quote the Bible. He was a son of the manse. He'd been brought up to know all these things. And that when he came of age, he would be set apart to serve the Lord in the Levitical priesthood.
[18:30] He was, Matthew, you could say, was someone in his teens who would have been primed and prepared to just go into the Levitical priesthood. But when the time came, when the time came for Matthew to take his place, Matthew, you could say, did the complete opposite.
[18:51] He became a tax collector. He went in a completely different direction to what his family and what the Lord had planned for him. And you know, from a family perspective, Matthew would have been a great disappointment to his family.
[19:06] Maybe he was even disowned by his family. From a national perspective, from everybody else in the community and the neighborhood, Matthew would have been vilified.
[19:18] He would have been this man who was victimized within the community because of his career path that he had chosen. He was Matthew, the tax collector. Needless to say, no one likes the tax collector.
[19:32] No one likes the tax man. Everyone in every generation grumbles and groans about the amount of tax that's docked and deducted from their wage. And yet everyone knows that paying tax is needed and it's necessary.
[19:46] But not when the amount is always increasing. Not when the amount is always being imposed upon us so that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. And yet when the Pharisees asked Jesus about paying tax, do you remember what Jesus said?
[20:02] He simply said, render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's. But Jesus said that because at the time, Israel was under this rule and regime of the Roman Empire where Rome demanded and Rome deducted tax from everyone on almost everything.
[20:22] And the thing is, everyone knew that the Romans were corrupt. But what made things worse was that tax collectors were Jews. They worked for the Roman regime.
[20:35] They were known as publicans. Not because they ran a public house selling alcohol, but because they dishonestly helped to fill the public purse of the Roman Empire.
[20:47] As one commentator states, this is what he writes, publicans were men who had bought tax franchises from the Roman governor and then extorted money from the people of Israel to feed the Roman coffers and pad their own pockets.
[21:03] Tax collectors often strong-armed money out of people with the use of thugs. They were the most despicable, vile, unprincipled scoundrels.
[21:14] And as such, publicans, they were perceived by their own people as traitors and turncoats. They were deserters and defectors.
[21:26] They were the most despised and disowned people of Israel. They were the lowest of the low. They were on the same par and the same page as prostitutes. And this is what makes Matthew so interesting.
[21:39] Because as a Jew, he knew all this. As a Levite, as a son of the manse, with this biblical understanding, Matthew knew that he was being primed and prepared for holiness, for holy things of the Levitical priesthood.
[21:58] And yet Matthew ran away from his role. He ran away from his role and responsibilities as a religious leader to his chosen career of corruption. He ran away from it all.
[22:10] You know, John MacArthur, in his commentary, he writes, Matthew's occupation made him a traitor to his nation, a social pariah, the rankest of the rank.
[22:23] He would have been a religious outcast, forbidden to enter any synagogue. And you know, it's remarkable. Here's this son of the manse who turned his back on his family, his church family, to the point that his chosen career of corruption left him forsaken and forbidden to enter the synagogue to worship the God he had been brought up to worship.
[22:51] And yet, as someone who was despised, as someone who was disowned by all the people around him, Matthew could relate to Jesus more than he realized.
[23:03] because Jesus, as you know, was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. And you know, it's this relationship with Jesus that made him realize this even more, more and more.
[23:21] And that took place at Matthew's feast. It's what we see lastly. Matthew's feast. So Matthew's family, he was a Levite. Matthew's focus, it wasn't what he was meant to do.
[23:34] Matthew's feast, lastly. Matthew's feast. Matthew was, looking at him, you'd think, well, he's a real prodigal son. He's a real prodigal son.
[23:45] He was the son of a man's biblical upbringing, biblical understanding, knew his Bible, knew a lot about the Bible. He was prepared and primed to be a servant of the Lord.
[23:57] But unlike the prodigal son in the parable whose pockets were empty and whose place was in the pig's mire, Matthew's pockets were full. Matthew's pockets were full as he sat at the tax booth of the tax collector.
[24:11] Matthew had acquired and amassed this great amount of wealth through his chosen career of corruption as a tax collector. But even though his pockets were full, Matthew's heart was empty.
[24:26] There was something missing in his life. And Matthew knew it. Despite all his money, there was this massive emptiness, this feeling of lostness, this feeling of loneliness, sitting at my tax booth, taking in all the money.
[24:43] And that feeling of lostness and loneliness, it continued until one day Jesus came to his workplace. It's amazing how often Jesus came to the workplace.
[24:53] He came to Matthew's workplace and called Matthew using those simple and yet stunning words, follow me. Follow me.
[25:05] And like all the disciples before him who were effectually called from their nets, Jesus went to their workplace. He called them from their fishing nets. He said, follow me and I will make you fishers of men.
[25:16] And just like them, Matthew was effectually called from his tax booth to follow Jesus. Matthew was called personally and he was called powerfully by Jesus to follow him.
[25:29] Come, follow me. But you know, what's beautiful is that when Jesus called Matthew to follow him, we read there and it's actually in Luke chapter 5, we read there that when Jesus called Matthew to follow him, the very next thing Matthew does is prepare a feast.
[25:49] He prepares a feast so that Jesus can call even more people to follow him. When Matthew became a follower of Jesus, the first thing Matthew does is go and invite all his work colleagues.
[26:05] He tells all his work colleagues to come round to his house to have a feast with him and to meet Jesus. They want him, Matthew wants his friends and his work colleagues to meet his new friend, Jesus.
[26:18] And you know, it's just as we were saying last Lord's Day about evangelism around the dinner table where we're to invite people to our table. We're to invest our time in people so that we get to know them.
[26:30] We build a relationship with them because the kingdom of God, it's not about religion. It's about relationships and that through our relationships we'll show others that we all need a relationship with Jesus Christ.
[26:43] And that's what Matthew was doing. Very simply, he was inviting people to his home that they would meet with Jesus. But as you'd expect, and as we read, the Pharisees thought that the kingdom of God was all about religion and not relationships, which is why they immediately questioned what Jesus was doing, why he was eating with the tax collectors and sinners.
[27:09] You see there in Luke 5 and verse 30, the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples saying, why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?
[27:20] To which Jesus responds to them all saying, those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
[27:36] And you know, that's the thing about Matthew's feast. none of those who Matthew invited, all of his friends, all of his work colleagues, none of them thought that they were religious because they weren't religious.
[27:49] They weren't allowed in the synagogue. None of them thought that they were righteous because they were all outcasts. They weren't allowed to be part of society because they had chosen their lot with the Roman regime.
[28:02] They knew that they were traitors and turncoats. These people, these tax collectors, they knew that they were deserters and defectors. They knew that they were despised and disowned by all the people in Israel.
[28:13] They knew that they were the lowest of the low. They knew that they were on the same page as the prostitutes. They were sinners. Because despite their full pockets, these tax collectors, they all knew that their hearts were empty.
[28:30] They all knew that there was something missing. Despite all that they had in money, they knew that there was something missing. And yet the glory of the gospel is that there was no boundary or barrier to which Jesus was not willing to cross.
[28:46] There was no person or people to which Jesus was not willing to speak to. Because as you know, Jesus lived for the whosoever. Jesus loved the whosoever. Which is why he says to all present, those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.
[29:04] You need to see that you're sick in order to come to Dr. Jesus. Because Jesus says, I have not come to call the righteous, but only sinners to repentance.
[29:20] But you know, this meal at Matthew's house where he invited all his friends to the feast, I believe that those words of Jesus, when Jesus said, those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.
[29:35] I believe that those words sparked an interest in the heart of another tax collector. Because when you read on in Luke's gospel, you come to chapter 19.
[29:49] And you see there this small and short tax collector climbing and clambering up a sycamore tree in order just to get a little glimpse of Jesus. Zacchaeus would have been at Matthew's feast.
[30:02] He was the chief tax collector, of course. Matthew would have invited his colleague to the feast. But it seems that Zacchaeus had this interest that was sparked in Jesus.
[30:13] He had an interest in the gospel. He had heard Jesus speak and he wanted to hear more. There was this desire growing in his heart all the time to the point that Zacchaeus was even willing to clamber up a sycamore tree just to hear Jesus speak.
[30:30] But as Jesus passed by, as we read there in Luke 19, as Jesus passed by, Jesus looked up and effectually called Zacchaeus to come down. And Jesus said to Zacchaeus, today salvation has come to your house for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.
[30:55] Zacchaeus discovered that he was sick. He discovered that he needed Dr. Jesus in his life. He discovered that he needed this Jesus to save him because he was lost.
[31:11] And you know, what we ought to learn from Matthew's experience and Matthew's example is that you might have a biblical upbringing. You might have a biblical understanding.
[31:24] You might have been brought up in a Christian home with Christian parents. Maybe your father's an elder, your mother's a godly woman. You've been brought up with family worship.
[31:35] You've been brought up attending church. You've been brought up reading your Bible and yet, like Matthew, you've chosen to run. To run away from all that you've been brought up with.
[31:47] Yes, you come to church or you watch online, but you're not committed. And like Matthew, you might have full pockets from your chosen career, but you feel completely empty on the inside.
[32:02] There's something missing. You know that you're sick. You know that you need a doctor. And you know that Dr. Jesus is the only one who has the remedy.
[32:13] The remedy to your ruin. And you know, you might even feel like Matthew fell, like the lowest of the low. You might know that you're a sinner. Know that you are unworthy of the least of his mercies.
[32:28] And yet, the glory of the gospel. And this is what we need to see with Matthew. Jesus loves sinners. Jesus loves tax collectors. Jesus loves the publican.
[32:41] That's why he told the parable of the publican's prayer. The publican or the tax collector who wouldn't even lift his eyes to heaven.
[32:53] But just kneeled, beating his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. God, be merciful to me, a sinner.
[33:07] Do you know, my friend, that's all that's required when coming to God in prayer. there was one man who prayed at our prayer meeting for the first time.
[33:19] And that's all he said. Those who were there will remember him. That when Sandy stood up to pray for the first time, that's all he said. Heavenly Father, God, be merciful to me, a sinner.
[33:36] Amen. You know, that's all you need. That's all you need to say when you come to this Jesus. It's not about our upbringing or our understanding.
[33:47] It's not about what we do and what we know. It's not about bright lights and voices from heaven. It's about simply coming to Jesus empty and coming to Jesus earnestly, coming with the publican's prayer, God, be merciful to me, a sinner.
[34:07] God, be merciful to me, a sinner. So may we learn from Matthew, the tax collector who became a gospel writer, who presents to us Jesus, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.
[34:25] May the Lord bless these thoughts to us. Let us pray. O Lord, our gracious God, we give thanks to Thee for the wonder of salvation. Let the Lord of God who saves to the uttermost, a God whose arm is not shortened that it cannot save, neither is thine ear heavy that thou canst not hear.
[34:48] But the Lord of God who deals with us so graciously and who hears the cries of the publican, where he prays, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. Lord, hear us, we pray, hear our cries for those who are coming before Thee empty and those who come before Thee earnestly, that Thou wouldst hear them and answer them, Lord, to Thy glory and the furtherance of Thy kingdom.
[35:15] Hear us then, we pray. Bless us, we ask in the week that lies before us that whatever is in our providence help us to keep our eyes firmly fixed upon Jesus, to know Him, to love Him, and to keep confessing Him as the author and the finisher of our faith.
[35:32] Cleanse us, we ask, for Jesus' sake. Amen. Well, we're going to bring our service to a conclusion this evening. We're going to sing in Psalm 103.
[35:45] Psalm 103, it's in the Scottish Psalter, page 369. We're singing from verse 8 down to the verse Mark 12.
[36:01] Psalm 103 at verse 8. But before we sing, three questions or four questions, maybe. Who wrote the first gospel?
[36:15] Mark, good, well done. How does Matthew describe himself? Well done. Good job, Matthew, the tax collector. What is the publican's prayer?
[36:30] God be merciful to me, a sinner. Now, bonus question. What are the three headings? Matthew's family, Matthew's focus, and Matthew's feast.
[36:45] Well done. Good job. Great. The adults were rubbish. Psalm 103, it was singing from verse 8. The Lord our God is merciful and he is gracious, long suffering and slow to wrath and mercy plenteous.
[37:02] He will not chide continually nor keep his anger still. With us he dealt not as we sinned nor did requite our ill. We'll sing down to the verse marked 12 of Psalm 103 to God's praise.
[37:15] The Lord our God is merciful and he is gracious, long suffering and he is gracious.
[37:40] He will not shine continually nor keep his anchors with us he dealt with us he dealt not as we sinned nor did drink white out ale for us the heaven in its height the earth our march and far so great to those that do navigate in a
[39:24] From us removed in his love All of our iniquity The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ The love of God the Father And the fellowship of the Holy Spirit Be with you all now and forevermore Amen