Hey, you know, in 1966, I became a freshman at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. I joined one of the 33 social fraternities that was on campus. Our fraternity was about 80 fellows, about 50% Jewish, about 50% Gentile.
And we were everything that the movie Animal House portrayed, only worse. Well, when I became a junior in Chapel Hill, I got deeply involved in the drug culture because I was really looking for some answers to life. You know, who I was and where I was going and what the meaning of my life was.
And I also convinced a lot of my fraternity brothers to use drugs and even sold them the drugs that they used. But then in 1971, Jesus Christ entered my life and suddenly I found that I had the answers to all the questions that I'd been looking for. Plus I had peace. Plus I had joy. Plus I had wholeness of life. And so almost immediately I stopped using drugs.
I stopped cursing. I stopped partying. And I made it my goal to try and share Christ with all 80 of my fraternity brothers before I left Chapel Hill. Well, most of them were utterly disinterested. In fact, most of them thought I had completely lost my mind.
And it wasn't long before I became the running joke of the fraternity house. You say, well, Lon, if your actions made you an object of so much mockery and and so much ridicule, then why did you keep living that way? Well, friends, the answer is because Jesus Christ had called me to a new way of living. Jesus Christ had called me to a new life, and I was determined to do everything I could to live that new life in the power of God, regardless of what people thought of me. Now, today, in part six of our series, People Jesus Met, we're going to watch as Jesus meets a fellow named Matthew. And as Jesus calls Matthew to the very same new way of living that he called me to some 30 years ago. And we're going to look and see what Matthew's response was. And then we're going to bring all that forward and we're going to talk about, well, what difference does that make to you and to me? So we're in Luke, Chapter five, verse twenty seven.
Here we go. The Bible says that after that, you say after what? Well, after healing the paralyzed man that they lowered through the roof that we talked about last week. After that, Jesus went out and noticed the tax collector named Levi sitting at his tax office. Now, we learn from the other gospel accounts that Levi's nickname was Matthew and Matthew was a tax collector. You know, if I were to ask you in today's modern world, what was the most despicable occupation that you could think of? Some of us might say porn shop owner or a pimp or a heroin dealer. But, you know, if we were to ask the Jewish people at the time of the Lord Jesus what the most despicable occupation was, ninety nine out of one hundred of them would have given us the same answer. They would have said a tax collector.
And let me tell you why. Tax collectors were Jewish people who collected taxes for the Roman government that was occupying Israel at the time. And the deal was as long as tax collectors handed over to the Roman authorities the required amount of tax money, they were free to keep over and above that for themselves. However, much more they felt like collecting from people backed up by the Roman army.
Nobody could oppose them. These guys basically engaged in legalized extortion and they became filthy rich. So you can understand why the Jewish people loathed them, why the Jewish people hated them with a passion. In fact, tax collectors were considered traitors against their own people. They were not even allowed to enter a synagogue. Their testimony was inadmissible in Jewish courts. And the rabbis forbid Jewish people to even talk to tax collectors. You say, well, if that's the case, then who did tax collectors hang around with?
Well, they hung around with other tax collectors and they hung around with drunks and with criminals and with prostitutes, with all the other outcasts from Jewish society. And that's important for us to remember because it's going to explain what happens in just a minute. So, OK, Jesus passes Matthew sitting at his tax booth and Jesus said to him, Luke 527, come follow me. And immediately, the Bible says, I love this immediately. Matthew left everything behind and rose up and followed Jesus. And the Bible is clear that Matthew never, ever came back to his old life of tax collecting.
Now, I love what happens next. Verse twenty nine. Then Matthew gave a big reception for Jesus in his house. And there was a great crowd of tax collectors and sinners who came and were eating with them. You see, Matthew wasn't content just to follow Jesus himself.
No, no. He wanted all of his friends to experience the same peace, the same joy, the same life changing salvation that he had experienced in the Lord Jesus Christ. Just like I wanted for my fraternity brothers. And so he threw this huge gala party and invited all of his friends to come and meet Jesus for themselves. But remember who Matthew's friends were. They were the off scouring of Jewish society. They were the untouchables of Israel, as we said.
Fellow tax collectors, prostitutes, drunks, criminals. And then at some point during the evening, during the dinner, I'm sure Matthew stood up and he said something like this. He said, you know, folks, something happened to me a few days ago that I want to tell you about.
Something that radically has changed my life. And that is I committed my life to Jesus Christ as my Lord, my Messiah and my savior. And, you know, he's actually here tonight. Jesus is.
And I'd like you guys to hear directly from him. And as Jesus rose to speak, I'm sure everyone in the room brace themselves, expecting to hear the same kind of rejection, the same kind of threatenings, the same kind of deprecations from him that they were used to hearing from the rabbis day after day. But instead, Jesus stood up and told them about how God loves them. And Jesus stood up and told them about how God wants to forgive them. And Jesus stood up and told them about the newness of life that he wanted to give them. It's interesting, the Bible never says how many of these outcasts from Jewish society made a decision for Christ that night at Matthew's house.
But I have a feeling that when we get to heaven, we're going to meet a lot of folks there who were at this party at Matthew's house that very evening. Now, what the Bible does tell us is that the rabbis were not happy about what was going on. Listen, verse 30, but then when the rabbi saw what was happening, they said to Jesus's disciples, why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners? How can Jesus, they said, call himself a holy man, a man of God, and rub shoulders and eat dinner with scum like this?
We would never be caught dead as a rabbi in a place with these kind of people. But Jesus heard what they said. And when he did, verse 31, he said, it is not those who are healthy that need a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call righteous men to repentance, but sinners.
Wow. Jesus uses simple human logic to answer the rabbis. He simply says, hey, fellas, doctors are for sick people. And since I'm a doctor for sinners, it only makes sense that I go and hang out where my patients are. Now, the real tragedy here is that the rabbis in their arrogance saw themselves as healthy people who didn't need a doctor, who didn't need a savior. But you see, friends, the truth is, the reality is that we're all sick people spiritually.
We are all sinners in the sight of a holy God. You, me, the rabbis, all of us and every one of us need the healing touch of the great physician in our life. Now, if you're here today and you've never let Jesus Christ bring his healing power to bear on your life, I would like to invite you to consider that seriously today. Jesus came for sick people, and it's when we finally admit that we're a sick person and that we need a doctor. That's when we're ready to do business with the Lord Jesus. And I hope that's where you are.
And I hope that you'll do that. Well, that's as far as we're going to go in the passage now, because it's time to ask our most important question. So are we ready? And I want to hear everybody on the Internet and everybody loud and shout with us now. Come on now.
One, two, three. There you go. You say, Lon, great story.
Love it. So what? I mean, what difference does this make to me? Talk about it. OK, what was let's think back for a moment. Remember when Jesus passed Matthew sitting at the table? What did he say to him? You remember, he simply said, what?
Follow me. Now, the interesting thing is that this is the consistent invitation that the Lord Jesus gave to people everywhere he went. For example, in Mark Chapter one, he said to Peter and Andrew, follow me in Mark Chapter one. He said to James and John, follow me in John Chapter one. He said to Philip, follow me to the rich young ruler in Luke 18. He said, follow me. John, 10, 27. Jesus said, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they what? Follow me.
Exactly. Mark Chapter 10, verse 28. The disciples said to Jesus, Lord, we have left everything. And what? Followed you.
And finally, in Matthew 16, 24, Jesus said, if anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross. And what? Follow me. You say, all right, enough. Stop.
Whoa. You made the point. Jesus wants us. Jesus calls us to follow him.
I got that. But the question is to follow him where? To follow him.
How? To follow him into what? Well, that's a great question.
Why don't we answer it? The Bible says that there are three things that the Lord Jesus Christ calls us to follow him into. Number one, he calls us to follow him into a life of biblical obedience.
I love First Samuel Chapter 15. The Bible says, does the Lord delight as much in burnt offerings and sacrifices? And we might say today, does the Lord delight as much in going to church, being a church member, singing in the choir, putting money in the offering plate, whatever, as he does in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than to sacrifice or to be a church member or to sing in the choir. And this is why Jesus said, Luke 646, why do you call me Lord, Lord, but you do not do what I tell you to do? Folks, people who follow Jesus correctly, number one, are people who make biblical obedience priority, number one, in their lives.
Number two, Jesus calls a second of all to follow him into a life of godly service to the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, throughout the New Testament, the terms follower of Christ and servant of Christ are joined at the hip. For example, in Romans 1, 1, the apostle Paul called himself a servant of Jesus Christ. In James 1, James calls himself a servant of Jesus Christ. In 2 Peter 1, Peter calls himself a servant of Jesus Christ. In Jude 1, Jude calls himself a servant of Jesus Christ. In Revelation 1, John calls himself God's servant.
You save it long. Whoa, stop, whoa. God did not call me into full-time Christian work. God did not call me into full-time service for Christ the way he called John and James and Peter and the apostle Paul. Oh, yes, he did.
Oh, yes, he did, my friends. God calls every one of us as followers of Christ to serve the Lord Jesus Christ full-time with our lives. He calls every follower of Christ to define our very life by being servants of Christ, to derive our very meaning in life by being servants of Christ. Listen, whether we ever get any salary for it or not.
The salary is inconsequential. The deal is we're servants of Christ for life. And this is why Colossians 3 says, whatever you do... That pretty well covers it. Whatever you do, do it heartily as unto the Lord and not on demand.
Watch now, knowing that in everything you do, it is the Lord Christ whom you serve. Friends, number two, people who follow Jesus correctly are people who define their lives by their service to the Lord Jesus Christ. And finally, number three, Jesus calls us into a life of telling other people about Jesus Christ. In Mark 1 verse 17, when he called Peter and Andrew, remember what he said? Jesus said, come, follow me, watch, and I will make you fishers of men. And hey, isn't this precisely what Matthew did? I mean, the first thing Matthew did after he came to Christ is throw this big party.
That's the very next thing he did and invite all of his friends so he could tell them about Jesus Christ. Acts chapter 1 verse 8, Jesus said, you will be my witnesses. This is Jesus' commission to every follower of Christ in every nation, in every age. And therefore, number three, people who follow Jesus correctly are people who see themselves as missionaries 24-7, 365.
And so let's summarize. As Christians, Jesus says, come, follow me, number one, into a life of biblical obedience, number two, into a life of godly service to Christ, and number three, into a life of telling people everywhere about the Lord Jesus Christ. My point is that following Jesus correctly, folks, is a radical thing. It's not a Band-Aid treatment that we take and stick on top of our existing lifestyle.
No, no. When we follow Jesus correctly, it is radical surgery that completely redefines our life, that completely redefines our lifestyle forever. Listen, into a Christocentric life, a Christ-centered life, instead of our old egocentric life, our old self-centered life. Now, when we follow Jesus correctly, we may keep the same job, we may hold on to the same house, we may keep the same hobby and the same carpool and the same automobile that we had before, but these things are no longer the central focus of our life.
Jesus Christ is. And this is precisely the kind of radical commitment that Jesus called Matthew to, wasn't it? I mean, remember, Matthew was a wealthy man. He had enough money to invite all of these people to dinner and feed them all, and he had a house big enough.
Think about this. He had a house big enough that he could put hundreds and hundreds of people in his house. Not only was he a wealthy man, he was a powerful man.
He could walk around town unchallenged by anybody, because as a tax collector, he had the whole Roman army there to back him up in anything he did and in anything that he said. So when Jesus said to Matthew, follow me, you know, Jesus was asking Matthew to walk away from all of that, to walk away from all the money, to walk away from his lavish lifestyle, to walk away from his position of power in town and to let Jesus redefine his whole life. Matthew knew what walking away and following Jesus was going to mean for him. And yet what does the Bible say? The Bible says immediately.
I love this. Matthew left everything behind and he rose and followed Jesus. And my friends, this is precisely the kind of response that the Lord Jesus Christ is looking for from you and me and each one of us in our world today. When he calls us to follow him, he wants us to rise up and leave behind our old lifestyle and come follow him into a complete redefinition of what life is all about. You say, well, Lon, I understand what you're saying, but, you know, I got some concerns about doing that.
Well, I'd love to hear you say, well, I actually I have three. Well, OK, you say my first concern is how about the problems that this kind of radical walk with Christ that you're talking about? How about the kind of problems that's liable to cause in my family? Well, hey, being Jewish, I totally get this. You understand what I'm saying? I totally understand that, you know, if you come to Christ in the kind of radical way that the Bible talks about, there are going to be people in your family who are not going to like it.
I get that. But, you know, when I was a brand new Christian, I read Matthew Chapter 10, verse 37, where Jesus said, anyone who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And anyone who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And anyone who does not take up his cross and follow me.
Oh, there we go. Is not worthy of me. Listen to me, friends, to follow Jesus Christ correctly. A person has got to decide who they love more, whether they love their family more or whether they love the Lord Jesus Christ more. You got to make that decision.
You say, all right, well, my second concern is, how about all the creature comforts? They I may have to give up like Matthew did to follow Christ as radically as you say. I mean, maybe if I agree to follow him like this. I mean, he may send me to the other side of the world to be a missionary where I got nothing. Or he may ask me to join a church staff. Or even if he doesn't ask me to do that, if I take obedience to God seriously and I start giving to God the way the Bible tells me to.
It's certainly going to have a big effect on my finances. Well, you're right. You're right. But Jesus said nobody can serve two masters. You cannot serve God and money. And Jesus also said, my friends, what good is it if a person gains the whole world and loses their own soul?
Hey, money can't go to the other side of the grave. God's on both sides, friends. Why not throw our lot in with the master who's not just here, but who's in eternity as well? See, to follow Jesus correctly, we've got to decide which master we're serving.
Whether we're serving the Lord God of money or whether we're serving the risen Lord Jesus Christ. You've got to make that decision. Finally, number three, you said, Lon, my last concern is how about if part of me, just part of me wants to keep hanging on to some little pieces of my old lifestyle? You know, I really I'm kind of divided. You know, I mean, I really kind of want to follow Christ, but then part of me wants to hang on to some of the old stuff.
Well, folks, you know what? When it comes to following Jesus, having a divided heart like this is a real problem. Because Jesus said, Luke Chapter nine, verse sixty two. No one who puts their hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.
You cannot live the Christian life looking in the rear view mirror, friends. This is why Jesus said in another passage, Luke 17, remember Lot's wife. You know, one of my favorite stories in the Bible is the story of Elisha, the great prophet, being called into the ministry. God sent Elijah to call Elisha into the ministry. And Elisha was a farmer. In fact, when Elijah showed up to call him into the ministry to serve Christ, he was actually out in the field plowing with his oxen in his plow. And after Elijah called him, I love what Elisha did.
Look at this. First Kings 19, 21. Then Elisha took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. And he cooked their meat by burning up his plowing equipment. Then he gave the meat to all of his friends to eat.
He obviously had called a little banquet together. And after this, he arose and followed Elijah the way God had told him to and serve him. Now, what was Elisha telling all of his friends by burning his plow and killing his oxen? Folks, he was telling them that he had decided to follow Jesus and he wasn't coming back. There was no need to preserve the oxen or to put the plow in the barn because he wasn't coming back to his former life ever. And, you know, to follow Jesus correctly, friends, we got to burn the plow and we've got to slaughter the oxen of our whole life.
And we've got to say we're not coming back to that period. Let me say this in conclusion today, that it's my firm belief that the greatest scourge we face today in American Christianity is all the people who claim to be followers of Jesus Christ, but who follow him incorrectly. They follow him without a passion for biblical obedience. They follow him without being servants of Christ. They're really servants of self. And they follow him without being bold, outspoken witnesses for the Lord Jesus Christ. And what these people do is they undermine the very credibility and the very authenticity of the faith that we preach and that we believe. It would be better.
This is the truth. It would be better for the church today. It would be better for Christianity today if we had far fewer people who claim to be followers of Christ, if at least the ones we had who claimed it live the Christian experience correctly and follow Jesus correctly. And I believe that with all my heart. Now, look, I know things are tough in our world today for a lot of us.
And I know a lot of us are having to cut back on a lot of things. But friends, the one thing we dare not cut back on is our one hundred percent dedication to follow the Lord Jesus Christ correctly, to follow him biblically, to follow him radically the way he calls us to follow him. And this is my challenge to you today. This is my challenge to myself today, that with the help of the Holy Spirit, that we will rise up like Matthew and that we will rise up like Elisha and that we will dedicate ourselves to being the kind of biblical follower of Christ, the kind of radical follower of Christ that the Bible calls us to.
That's what happened to me back in nineteen seventy one, thirty eight years ago. And the man who led me to Christ made it very clear, Lon, don't even get into this unless you're serious. If you're not going to follow Jesus the way that he tells us to follow him, just go away. Don't cheapen him and don't cheapen yourself by being a halfway follower. And I appreciated that man challenging me because it forced me to make a decision that has lasted for thirty eight years, that I decided to follow Jesus, not my way, but I decided to follow Jesus his way.
And I can't tell you what a blessing that's been. I've never given up a thing to follow Jesus, but that I wasn't eternally glad I did because of what Jesus gave me back. And, folks, Jesus is asking every one of us to make that decision.
If we're going to follow him, let's follow him correctly. Let's bow our heads together, shall we? And with our heads bowed and our eyes closed, here's what I want to ask you today. I want to ask how many of us here today are willing to do this? To follow Jesus correctly, biblically, radically the way he calls us to. To let him completely redefine our life.
No going back. If you're willing to do that, I want you to take these quiet moments right now and I want you to tell him that. If you told Jesus that you're willing to do this, whether you told him for the first time today or whether you've told him before, but you still mean it today, either way, in just a moment, I'm going to ask you to stand as a sign that you mean business. And let me just say before I do that, that I don't expect everybody here to stand.
I don't. I only expect you to stand if you're serious and you mean business. So if that's where you are in your life, then I want to ask you to stand up today right here, Loudon, to stand up.
If you're watching on the Internet, you stand up. Come on now. Who wants to stand? God bless you.
Anybody else? All right, now let's sing what we believe. I have decided to follow Jesus.
Sing with me. I have decided to follow Jesus. I have decided to follow Jesus.
I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back. No turning back. Though none go with me, still I will follow. Though none go with me, still I will follow.
Though none go with me, still I will follow. No turning back. No turning back. The world behind me, the cross before me. The world behind me, the cross before me.
The world behind me, the cross before me. No turning back, no turning back. Pray with me. Lord Jesus, no turning back. This is the only way to follow Christ. With the world behind us, the cross before us. Lord, if nobody else wants to go, fine.
This is where we're going. Thank you for all the men and women here around the world at Loudon standing. Lord Jesus, you don't need a million people to follow you this way. You just need a few who mean business. And we can shake a world. And so Lord Jesus, cement in the hearts of the folks that are standing this commitment today. And make it not a commitment of a day or a week or a month or a year, but of a lifetime.
There is no turning back. And Lord, we wouldn't even want to. And use us in a mighty way to make an impact on our world, Lord Jesus, as your servants. And I want to pray for all the folks who weren't able to stand today. I want to pray, Lord, that you would so work in their hearts that the next time we do this, they will be able to stand. Because Jesus Christ has so changed their life that they have decided that they're going to put the world behind them and the cross before them.
And there's no turning back. Lord Jesus, thanks for the example of Matthew and Elisha. By the power of your Spirit, may we walk in their footsteps, Lord Jesus, for your glory and your honor and your credit in our lives. And we pray these things in Jesus' name. And people said, Amen. Amen.
