You're listening to A New Beginning with Greg Laurie, a podcast made possible by Harvest Partners, helping people everywhere know God.
Visit our website and learn more about Harvest Partners at harvest.org. We can learn from the example of those who've come into the faith more recently. We all begin following the Lord at different times and from different backgrounds, but we're all united in finding forgiveness for our sins and sharing a calling to bring others into a saving relationship with God. Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie helps us look at the way Jesus bid his disciples to come follow me. We'll examine that calling, what it costs and what it offers, and we'll consider the blessing of being used by God to accomplish his kingdom business. Hey, we're at a brand new series that we're calling The Gospel for Busy People based on the gospel of Mark, and we're in Mark chapter two.
The title of my message is Follow Me. Go to Mark chapter two to verse 13. Then Jesus went out to the lake shore again and taught the crowds that were coming to him. As he walked along, he saw Levi, son of Alphaeus, sitting at the tax collector's booth. Jesus said to him, follow me and be my disciple.
And Levi got up and followed him. Later, Levi invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. Levi, also known as Matthew, collected taxes for Rome. Rome was an occupying force.
They're forcing their will upon the people of Israel. So Levi or Matthew, for some reason, we don't know, decided to work for the enemy. He would be thought of as a traitor, like a Benedict Arnold, a turncoat, even a backslider.
How dare you work for these horrible people who are oppressing us and collect taxes for them? There was some good money in it, but I don't know if that's what motivated Matthew to work for Rome. But it's interesting that he seemed to have gone out of his way to offend his fellow Jews. And also, he would have been familiar with Jesus, because Jesus was doing his ministry right around that region, being a tax collector.
Matthew would sit at his table. He was aware of what was going on around him. And we also know that he was a great student of scripture, because he began to piece things together. We know he was a great student of scripture, because when we read his gospel, it is filled with Old Testament prophecies. There's 99 Old Testament references in his gospel, showing how Jesus was the Messiah. So this is a man who knew the word of God, but had chosen to rebel against it.
But there was something that Jesus said and did in this moment when he said to Matthew, follow me, that softened his heart that had grown so hard. Why do people turn from God? Why do people turn from the church?
It's an interesting question, maybe because a tragedy happened. I've heard people say, well, this tragedy happened, I lost a loved one, or something horrible happened to me, and I've lost my faith. I don't have faith anymore. Well, you might be surprised to hear me say this, but maybe it's good you lost that faith.
Because a faith that cannot be tested is a faith that cannot be trusted, and that's not a real faith. But some people turn away from God because they say, well, I saw hypocrisy. That person was not a good representative of Jesus Christ. Well, look, I know there are hypocrites in the church. I often say the church is filled with hypocrites, but there's always room for one more.
I'm kidding. But seriously, we're all going to fall short. We're all going to mess up. But here's what I want to say to you. That excuse, and that's all it is, an excuse, will not hold water on Judgment Day. When you stand before God Almighty, and he asks you what you did with this son, Jesus Christ, and you say, well, I didn't accept him because they were hypocrites, you think that's going to help you? Jesus never said, follow my people.
He said, follow me. Put your eyes on Christ. That's exactly what Matthew did. Now, he watched Jesus. Clearly, he admired Jesus. He would love to have been one of the followers of Jesus, but he would never think of being so presumptuous and going up to Christ and saying, uh, don't know if you need a tax collector in your crew. But I would love to join because he would be sure that Jesus would say, sorry, I'm not that desperate, hit the road, Jack.
Don't come back no more, no more. No, he was shocked when Jesus came to him and called him. Look at verse 14 of Mark 2.
As Jesus walked along, he saw Levi's city. The word that is used here for saw is very suggestive. It means literally to gaze intently upon, to stare, or to fix one's eyes constantly on an object. Have you ever had someone stare at you just staring, almost looking right through you? So here's Matthew sitting at his tax booth. Most people, when they walk by, would avert their gaze. They don't want to make eye contact with them or they would glare at him. And here comes Jesus from a distance. Jesus is looking at him. Jesus doesn't break eye contact with them. Jesus comes right up to him, looking at him, staring intently, and then he says those two words that reverberate through the soul of Matthew. And those words were, follow me.
Wow. Jesus is calling me? Jesus wants a person like me, a traitor, a turncoat, a backslider, a failure?
Yes. And it's interesting because this phrase, follow me, can be translated, walk the same road. It would be almost as though Jesus said, walk with me. Come with me. Don't just stand behind me and follow.
No, let's walk life's road together. And by the way, that word is in the imperative mode, meaning it's not just an invitation, it's also a command. It's also in the present tense, meaning you start it and you continue in it habitually. In other words, Jesus is saying, allow me to loosely paraphrase Matthew. I want you to follow me each and every day.
And guess what? He says the same to you and to me. Not just follow me once and then you're good.
No, follow me each and every day. Paul the Apostle writes in the book of Romans 13, he says, put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for your flesh. The J.B. Phillips translation translates as follows, let us be Christ's men from head to foot and give no chance for the flesh to have its fling. So the verbiage that Paul is using in put on the Lord Jesus is like putting on clothes. You know, like I like to wear jeans, I don't know about you. Most of the time I'm wearing jeans and maybe a T-shirt or a comfortable shirt.
I don't like to wear shirts that are stiff or too heavy. And the idea of clothing is clothing moves where you move. And so what the Bible is saying when it says put on the Lord Jesus Christ is make Christ a part of your life each and every day, wherever you go.
Put on Jesus. Also this phrase follow me could be translated follow with me, follow with me, which speaks of companionship, relationship and friendship. So it's not just follow me, just do it if you want to or not. No, follow with me. Let's enter into friendship.
Let's enter into relationship together. Yes, I want obedience from you, the Lord is saying, but I also want your companionship. Effectively, Jesus is saying, Matthew, I don't want you to just be one of my disciples.
I want you to be one of my friends. And did you know Jesus offers that same invitation to you? We often view God as harsh and austere and angry.
Nothing can be further from the truth. God is loving. God is compassionate.
God is caring and he wants to enter into a friendship with you. You can bear your heart to him. You can tell your secrets to him. He will bear his heart to you. He will reveal his secrets also to you.
Jesus said in John 15, 15, no longer do I call you servants for a servant doesn't know what his master is doing, but I've called you friends because whatever I've heard from my father, I've made known to you. Yes, follow me. Follow with me. Start and finish. Don't just do it at the beginning of your life. Do it through your life right to the end. I love how the apostle Paul wrote, I finished my race with joy. Keep following Jesus each and every day. And look what happened. Verse nine of Mark two, Levi or Matthew got up and followed him.
I'm in. He had thought about this for a while. He never thought he would be called by Jesus. But the moment Jesus said, follow me, Matthew said, Yes, sir, I'm on board. Let's go.
Where do you want to go? I love that. Now, there's a little detail that is left out here in the Gospel of Mark. And as a matter of fact, Matthew doesn't mention in his gospel either.
But it's an important thing for us to know. Luke fills us in and he tells us Matthew left all rose up and followed him. You have to understand tax collector. That's a pretty sweet business. He was making good money because a tax collector not only collected taxes for Rome, he also collected extra money for himself. So he was leaving an affluent, luxurious lifestyle and all the friends that went with it. And I think it's interesting that in his own gospel, he doesn't mention what he gave up for Jesus, but it is mentioned to us by Luke. I think of all the disciples, Matthew materially at least gave up more.
I mean, yes, Peter, James and John gave up their nets and their fishing business. But hey, this guy gave up a lucrative career and gave up everything to follow Jesus. He may have lost a career, but he gained a destiny. He lost his material possessions, but he gained a spiritual fortune. He lost his temporary security, but he gained eternal life. And he also lost his emptiness and loneliness and found fulfillment and companionship. He gave up all that the world has to offer and he found Jesus. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment.
Hey, everybody. Greg Laurie here. You know, my uncle, Fred Jordan, had one of the first Christian TV programs out there. It was called Church in the Home.
I remember watching it as a little boy when I was living with my grandparents. Well, we have Church in the Home for you every weekend. It's called Harvest at Home. And you can find it at Harvest.org. We have worship and a message from God's word. So join us this weekend for Harvest at Home at Harvest.org. Well, we're in Mark chapter two today as Pastor Greg presents a message simply called Follow Me.
Let's continue. I love the final movement of this story in verse 15. Levi invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. So he invited Jesus over to his home with all of his weird friends. He had some pretty unsavory people he hung out with.
Fellow tax collectors, birds of a feather flocked together. Other people that were known for wickedness. And Jesus, seemingly with great comfort, walks right into this setting. Don't forget Jesus was called the friend of sinners. By the way, that wasn't a compliment. That was a criticism.
But I think it is a compliment. When a godly person can be someone that a non-believer is drawn to. Jesus didn't lower his standards to walk in this room. He was building a bridge instead of burning one.
And he was accessible to them. And we see this in other passages of scripture as well. Look at Jesus in John four with a woman at the well.
A woman who had been married and divorced five times and was living with some dude. And Jesus engages her in a conversation about the thirst deep in her soul. Look at Jesus with another tax collector named Zacchaeus. Who was a little guy who scurried up a tree and saw Jesus passing through. And Jesus suddenly stops and looks up at Zacchaeus and says, Come on down.
I'm coming over to your house today. And what happened was Zacchaeus put his faith in Jesus and was transformed. Look at Jesus with a woman caught in the act of adultery. Caught in the actual sin. And they throw her in front of Christ. And he looks at her and says, Let him that is without sin among you cast the first stone.
And the Bible says they left from the oldest to the youngest. Jesus looks at her and says, Woman. And it's interesting the phrase that is used there for woman means lady or man. So it's not just girl. It's like man. Lady.
Where are your accusers? I don't think she had been called lady or ma'am for her entire life. But he didn't just see her for what she was. He saw her for what she would become. Ma'am.
Lady. Where are your accusers? She says, I have done, Lord.
He says, Neither do I accuse you. Go and sin no more. That's Jesus entering into people's lives. Not condemning them but getting to the heart of their problem. Which is their sin. Which he alone can forgive.
I love the fact that Matthew invited him over to his house right after he believed him. I love the zeal of a new believer. New believers are the best at evangelism. Question. Why is it that those who know the most do the least? And those that know the least do the most?
Let me explain. Those that know the least do the most. The brand new believer with a thimbleful of theological knowledge is immediately out there sharing the gospel. Trying to bring people to Christ because they're so close to what God has done in their life. They realize that he forgave them. They want others to know. But then there are believers who have known the Lord for 10 years, 20 years, 30 years or longer. Who can't even remember the last time they engaged in a conversation about Jesus.
Ah. The zeal. The excitement. The passion of the new believer. It's sad when we lose that zeal.
Isn't it? Let me conclude by re-asking a question I started this message with. Which is, are you a follower of Jesus?
Now you might have initially said, yes I am. But now as you've discovered what it means to follow him, maybe you're rethinking it. Again, what does it mean? It means to follow him each and every day. It means to obey him.
It means to complete what you've started. Are you following him? Or are you a fair weather follower?
Or following from a distance? I want you to know no matter what your state is right now, God can forgive you and give you a second chance. Maybe I'm talking to somebody right now who's been hurt in life. A tragedy has befallen you. And you don't know why this has happened. And you're mad at God. Why did you do this to me?
Well I can't answer that question but I can tell you this. God loves you. And even your tragedy can in some way ultimately be worked together for good if you love him. Hey if that thing will bring you to Christ, that is something that God has used to get your attention. But here's the reality. Sometimes we go out and make a lot of bad decisions and then we get mad at God because of what happens.
So you go out and you're unfaithful to your wife and your marriage falls apart. I'm mad at God. Why are you mad at God? Be mad at you man.
You did it. God gave you a free will. But listen, even though you've messed up, he can turn your mess into a message. He can turn things around if you'll come to him and say, Lord I failed.
I'm sorry. Are you running from God like Matthew was? If you will call out to him right now, he will forgive you.
Just as surely as Jesus looked at Matthew and said, Follow me, Jesus is saying the same to you right now wherever you are. He wants a relationship with you. He wants friendship with you. He wants to walk with you through life so you'll never be alone again.
But he can't force his way into your life. Matthew had a choice. Jesus said, Follow me. Matthew could have said, No way. I'm not going anywhere. I have a pretty nice life here.
Making a lot of money. I don't want to follow you. And he could have done that. But he said, Follow me. And Matthew bolted. Bolted from the table. Okay, where are we going?
Let's go. Not a moment's hesitation. I hope that you will follow Jesus.
And if you've not done that yet, I'd like to give you an opportunity to do so. Jesus had a goal. And he had a purpose. Jesus said, The Son of Man, speaking of himself, has come to seek and save that which was lost.
In other words, Jesus came to this earth with the express purpose of going to the cross and dying for the sin of the world. Yes, he healed the sick. Yes, he cleansed the lepers. Yes, he raised the dead.
Yes, he cast demons out of people. But his ultimate purpose was to die for our sin and then to rise again from the dead. And if we'll turn from our sin and put our faith in him, we can be forgiven. We can hear Jesus say, Son, daughter, your sins are forgiven.
Can you imagine? That can happen for you right now. The Bible says that we will confess our sin. He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. What does it mean to confess your sin? It just means to acknowledge you're responsible. It means to realize that you've done this and you need to get right with God.
It means to agree with God that sin is bad and destructive. Stop making excuses for it. Stop blaming people and other things.
Just take responsibility. Say, God, I'm a sinner, and I ask you to forgive me. If you would like to do that, I'd like to lead you in a prayer. So by the time this prayer is done, you can have the confidence that your sin is forgiven. You can have the confidence that you are a child of God. And you can have the confidence that you will go to heaven when you die. If you don't know that, pray with me right now, and let's get this settled.
And you'll be so glad you did as you begin to follow Jesus Christ. If you want Jesus to come into your life, if you want him to cleanse you of your sin, if you want to go to heaven when you die, I want you to pray this prayer after me. In fact, you could even pray it out loud if you like. Let's pray together. Pray these words.
Lord Jesus, I know that I'm a sinner, but I know that you're the Savior who died on the cross for my sin and rose again from the dead. I turn from that sin now, and I choose to follow you from this moment forward. Thank you for hearing this prayer and answering this prayer. In Jesus' name I pray.
Amen. Well, hopefully you prayed along with Pastor Greg Laurie just now and entered into a relationship with Jesus Christ. If you did, we'd like to first of all say congratulations.
You've just made the best decision of your life. But we'd also like to make available our New Believers Growth Packet that'll help answer some questions you might have and help you build a solid foundation for your relationship with the Lord. You can request it free of charge when you write A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514. Or you can call us anytime at 1-800-821-3300.
That's 1-800-821-3300. Or go online to harvest.org and click the two words, Know God. And then we're so excited to make available a brand new book from popular news anchor Shannon Bream. You may see her on Fox News at night.
She's also the chief legal correspondent for the network. And Pastor Greg is talking with Shannon about her new book, The Women of the Bible Speak. Hey, Shannon, in your book you write about the women that interacted with Jesus Christ and of course the woman caught in the act of adultery, the woman at the well. What would you say to a woman who has a past that she's ashamed of?
What hope can she find from the stories of these women you write about in your book? I hope that chapter, if she picks up the book, will be the first one she turns to because Jesus went to women who were considered outcasts or undesirable, who were on the fringes of society, who were accused very publicly of sin. And he didn't shy away from them or say, Clean up your act and then you can hang out with me. I mean, he broke all kinds of norms and going to them, he showed up when that woman was about to be stoned for adultery and he just started to ask simple questions about the religious leaders who were so pious and ready to take her out saying, Who among you is without sin? Let him cast the first stone. And then we see his interaction with her and it wasn't that he said to her, What a terrible thing you've done.
You must go banish yourself from society. He forgave her, had compassion on her. He did tell her to go and sin no more. So he didn't write off that part of the equation, but he treated her with such compassion.
The woman at the well, the Samaritan and Jewish people, were not friendly, to say the least. And the fact that he went into Samaria, he went to that well knowing he would see her. She's there in the heat of the day without the rest of the women because she was shamed and she was shameful with many relationships and husbands and broken relationships that she'd had. So not only does he go and speak and interact with the Samaritan woman, he has compassion on her. He identifies himself as the Messiah to her. Now she has such a transformed life. Think about all the people that she then goes back to who have known her as this woman who has had shame and has had circumstances that are not enviable in her life. But to see how she has changed incredibly in a moment by her interaction with this man who was the Messiah. So he went to people who were in pain and that were unacceptable and weren't cleaned up, and that's what he wants from us. We can't get our act together without him, so we shouldn't say, Let me straighten out all the messes I've made then go to Christ.
He says, Come bring them with you to me and let me help you put your life back together. And I love that about his interactions with these women in the New Testament. Well, that's well-known news anchor Shannon Bream talking about her brand-new book, The Women of the Bible Speak. The subtitle is The Wisdom of Sixteen Women and Their Lessons for Today. It's full of great inspiration for Christian women, but really for all of us, the truths are universal. And we'd like to send a copy of this new book your way to say thank you for your partnership in bringing Pastor Greg's studies each day.
It's only through listener support that that's possible. So send your donation today and ask for the new book, The Women of the Bible Speak. You can write us at A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, California, 92514. Or call 1-800-821-3300. We can take your call anytime around the clock, seven days a week. Again, 1-800-821-3300.
Or go online to harvest.org. Well, next time, Pastor Greg continues his series, The Gospel for Busy People, with a look at the unique privilege we have of being a part of the family of God. Join us for important insight next time on A New Beginning. This is the day, the day when life begins Thanks for listening to A New Beginning with Greg Laurie, a podcast made possible by Harvest Partners, helping people everywhere know God. Sign up for daily devotions and learn how to become a Harvest Partner at harvest.org
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