Following Christ in Salvation
"And as Jesus passed forth from thence, He saw a man, named Matthew, * * and He saith unto him, Follow Me" (Mat_9:9).
Matthew was a Jew, but a despised Jew. He was a collector of the taxes imposed upon the Jewish people by the Roman government.
It would seem that a man of Matthew’s character and position, would have been one of the last men that Christ would have chosen as a follower. Our Lord, however, knew what was in men. Christ saw Matthew not as he was, in his sin, but as he would become in grace.
What Christ did for Matthew He has done for many another sinner who was even deeper dyed in sin.
Illustrations:
1. The Lord Jesus coming along the way saw Isaac Newton. Newton was a man who had gone to the deepest depths in sinning. He had traveled from shore to shore, and, finally, had landed in Africa and lived in the most abominable and heinous way with the natives. But, the grace of God found Newton, and he was saved.
2. The Lord Jesus, coming along the way, saw Sam Hadley. Hadley was one of those men wholly given to drink. He was a drunkard, and a wharf thief. He had spent years in prison, and seemed an absolutely hopeless case.
Jesus Christ said unto Sam Hadley, "Follow thou Me," and he arose and followed Him. We heard him once at Northfield as he stood on Round-top, near Mr. Moody’s grave, and sang the pulsings of his very heart.
"Oh, it is wonderful
Very, very wonderful.
All of His love,
So rich and free.
"Oh, it is wonderful,
Very, very wonderful.
All of His love,
And His grace to me."
3. The Lord Jesus, passed by, and saw Thomas Needham. Needham had gone so far from God that no one would have dreamed that he could be saved. Yet, Christ saw him, and said, "Follow thou Me," and he arose and followed Him.
We heard Thomas Needham tell his story, as he stood in our own pulpit. He pulled up his sleeve and showed the audience where a sea-captain had once tattooed upon his arm a picture of Christ hanging upon the Cross. Later on the captain put Needham off the boat, on the shores of Brazil. Some cannibal tribes were about to kill him, when they saw the tattooed form upon his arm. They became afraid and released him. Needham said, "That was the first time I was saved by the Cross."
After years of sinful life Thomas Needham dropped into a church in Boston where his brother George was preaching Christ crucified. That night Thomas said, "I was saved, the second time, by the Cross."
The first time he had been physically saved, the second time he was saved for Glory.
Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR