Power Point - October 14, 2005

October 14, 2005

Then He went out again by the sea; and all the multitude came to Him, and He taught them. As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him.

Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi’s house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him.

--Mark 2:13-15

Levi the tax collector became Matthew the apostle of Jesus. By the grace and love of Christ, this despised and wretched man became a believer and he was radically transformed by Christ. But before that…he lived the life of a sinner.

Levi had many tax collector friends and others friends who were sinners that he would party with often. During that day, tax collectors weren’t allowed in the Temple. They weren’t welcomed among the Jewish brethren, so they had virtually abandoned religion a long time before and had given themselves over to having a good time. They were the original party animals.

But, Matthew (once Levi) came to know Christ. In order to get his carousing friends to know the Lord as he had, he had to come up with a plan. Inviting them to the Temple from which they were banned was a bad idea. And he couldn’t exactly stand up on a stool in the middle of them all and preach a sermon. So, instead he decided to throw a great party—something they knew and loved to do.

He invited all of his non-believing friends over and then invited Jesus and a few of his friends to drop by. At the party, it wasn’t long before Jesus was fellowshipping with his wayward buddies. Jesus was probably laughing and telling a few jokes, and the people were having a great time with Him. And like He could do so well, Jesus turned it to spiritual things and they became enamored with talking to Him.

Jesus was certainly surrounded by sinners of all kinds in his day and age. While today seems to have grown increasingly worse, sin is still sin and it still exists. You and I must step down from our stools and develop relationships with those people who are desperately hurting and looking for someone to show them a truly good time—an everlasting friendship with the Prince of Peace.

GET OUT IN THE WORLD AND TAKE WITH YOU THE MESSAGE OF HOPE, PEACE, AND TRUTH FOUND IN THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST TO A LOST WORLD.