• Immersing yourself in technology can physically change your brain.
• Internet usage, especially social media, can affect your mental wellbeing.
• Social media can change our perception of reality.
• Signs of Internet dependency:
  • You are spending more and more time online.
  • You are spending less and less time with friends or family.
  • You feel preoccupied with Internet activities and the next online session.
  • You feel restless or irritable when not online.
• If you don’t have an Internet dependency problem, someone in your circle of influence probably does!
• I Timothy 5:8
• James 1:27 – Personal contact is a must!
• Galatians 5:13-14 – It is difficult or impossible to fully show love for a brother without personal contact.
• Luke 10:33-34 – The Samaritan could not do what he did with a text message. It took personal contact.
• Titus 3:8
• Matthew 25:34-40
• If we see someone with an Internet addiction, we need to have an uncomfortable conversation and help them.
• I Corinthians 5:9-11
• Acts 20:35
• Acts 20:37

“And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose and followed him.” (Matthew 9:9)

This is Matthew speaking about himself. In just thirty-two words he gives the complete account of how he came to be an apostle of Jesus Christ. Just thirty-two words; that is all he said about himself. And even then, he did not use the personal pronoun “I.” We know very little about Matthew. But what we do know should make him a role model for every Christian. The place of custom was where taxes were levied. They were living under Roman rule and the taxes were set by the Roman government. Matthew was a tax collector – a publican. Publicans were generally considered to be very low in character. The indication is that most of them collected higher taxes than Rome required and pocketed the override (Luke 3:12-13). Not all tax collectors were sorry characters, however. Zacchaeus was chief among the publicans; yet he was an honest man (Luke 19:1-8). This brings us to our first major point about Matthew.

Matthew was better than his surroundings would indicate

He was a good character among sorry characters. If you and I had been looking for prospects, we would likely have passed Matthew by. But Jesus did not judge him by others of the same trade. He saw that Matthew was far above his fellow tax collectors. Thus, He said, “come follow me,” and immediately Matthew obeyed. What an example for us; the Christian does arise above his surroundings (John 17:15-16; Romans 12: 1-2).

Matthew was a busy man; not the most prestigious occupation, but he was working

Jesus never called one who was idle! If you want work done, get a busy person to do it. A busy person who has priorities is the one who will get the job done. Matthew was such a man; he was not too busy to follow Jesus. Again, what an example for us.

Matthew was willing to pay the price

Jesus stated the price of being His disciple. “And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” (Luke 9:23) We must follow Matthew’s example; he had a good job, but he left all to follow Jesus. Is a man following Matthew if he works on Sunday morning because it pays double time? If he makes a trip to the Holy Land, but cannot be with a local church on Sunday to break bread, rather has shipside supper? If he goes on Saturday to set up college camp and on Sunday has “camp supper” instead of going to a local church? Brethren, if heaven is worth anything, it is worth everything.

Matthew was a modest man, an humble man

In just 32 words he told us about a man called Matthew who was called by Jesus. Even then, he did not say “I” was called. He did not say, as Luke did, that he left all (Luke 5:28). That says a great deal about Matthew. In a together situation, probably no single factor causes more trouble than ambition, wanting attention, looking to be noticed, or having one’s own way. Like Matthew, we must be humble in relation to one another (1 Peter 5:5-6). Matthew did not make the mistake that James and John made (Mark 10:35-37). Like Matthew, let us be modest, humble, and do what we can.

Matthew was interested in the souls of others (Matthew 9:10; Luke 5:29)

Matthew was too modest to say, “I made a feast.” But Luke tells us that it was Levi who made a great feast and invited others to come learn from Jesus (Luke 5:27-32). We do not know whether any of those invited became followers of Jesus. But we know that Mathew did right and set us a great example. We do not know the outcome of our efforts to teach others but let us do like Matthew and make the effort and be content to leave the increase to God (1 Corinthians 3:6). This man called Matthew sets before us five notable traits. In this he is an example for us. Brethren, let us be sure:

1. That we arise above our surroundings and follow Jesus.
2. That we do not get too busy to Follow Jesus.
3. That we are always willing to pay the price of discipleship.
4. That we are humble enough to deny self and serve.
5. That we are interested enough in souls to put forth some effort to introduce them to Jesus.

Jesse Jenkins

Introduction

• Daniel 9:1-19

Is prayer my first reaction?

• Daniel 9:1-3
• Jeremiah 25:11; 29:10-11 – Daniel must have been reading these verses.
• We must train ourselves to think about spiritual things and make time to pray.
• I Thessalonians 5:16-18
• Daniel 9:4-15

God is just.

• The Israelites were being punished for their sin – not for no reason.
• Deuteronomy 28:1-2, 15 – The people knew the arrangement God had made with them.
• Hosea 4:6
• Romans 3:3-5; Psalms 51:4
• Let us revere God!

We are guilty.

• Daniel 9:5, 8 – We need to be honest like this with ourselves.
• I John 1:8
• I Peter 3:21
• Psalms 51:12
• It is good for us to feel guilty when we sin because that motivates us to come back to God.

“O Lord, forgive!”

• Daniel 9:16-19
• Romans 3:23-24
• Am I appealing to God’s loving nature or am I ignoring Him?

Numbers 13

• Numbers 13:2 – Compare Genesis 12:7. God is fulfilling the promise He gave to Abraham. God repeated the promise in Genesis 15:18; 17:8; Exodus 3:8; 12:25.
• Numbers 13:4-16 – The spies are chosen.
• Numbers 13:17-24 – It is estimated the spies walked 350-500 miles over forty days – 9-14 miles a day.
• Numbers 13:25-33 – The spies give their report. Most of the spies give a bad report, saying that giants live in fortified cities that they wouldn’t be able to take. Caleb spoke against them, joined by Joshua in the next chapter.
  • Numbers 13:33 – Note that the spies said they seemed like grasshoppers to themselves.

Numbers 14

• Numbers 14:1-5 – The Israelites grumble and want to return to Egypt.
• Numbers 14:6-10 – Caleb and Joshua try to encourage the people, but the people want to stone them.
  • Compare Acts 20:29. This internal strife can happen in the church also.
• Numbers 14:11-12 – God wants to disinherit the people and make a new nation from Moses.
• Numbers 14:13-19 – Moses intercedes with God on behalf of the people.
• Numbers 14:20-25 – God listens to Moses and doesn’t destroy the people, but sends them back into the wilderness to wander until the current generation dies off.
  • See Joshua 4:19. This is within five days of being exactly forty years from Exodus 12:29-41, the Exodus from Egypt.
• Numbers 14:39-45 – Some try to go fight in Canaan anyway, but God is not with them and they are defeated.

• Matthew 18:1-6
• I Corinthians 6:9-11
• Scotty’s House
• One in six high school students under 18 reported sexual abuse in their lifetime.