The Calling of A Sinner
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bible Verses ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mark 2:14 And as He passed by, He saw Levi the son of
Alphaeus sitting at the tax office, and He said to him, Follow
Me. And he rose and followed Him.
John 10:27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they
follow Me ; 28 And I give to them eternal life, and they
shall by no means perish forever, and no one shall snatch them
out of My hand.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Words of Ministry ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The tax office was a toll house, where tax was collected for
the Roman government. Levi, also known as Matthew, was one of
the tax collectors, probably one in a high position (Matt.
10:3). The tax collectors were condemned, despised, and
abhorred by the Jews. Most of these tax collectors abused
their office by demanding more than they should by false
accusation. To pay taxes to the Roman government was very
bitter to the Jews. Hence, they were classed with sinners
(Mark 2:16). Even though Matthew was a tax collector, he was
called by the Slave-Savior and later chosen and appointed as
one of the twelve apostles (3:18). What mercy!
The record of the calling of Matthew is very simple. He was a
tax collector, one who was considered a traitor by the Jews
because he helped the Roman imperialists. In the New Testament
these tax collectors were classified with prostitutes.
Nevertheless, such a person as Matthew was called by the
Slave-Savior. The Lord simply said to him, "Follow Me!" We are
told that Matthew rose and followed Him. According to the
record here, it seems that this was the first time the Lord
met Matthew. There must have been some attracting power with
the Lord, either in His word or appearance, that caused
Matthew to follow Him.
To follow the Lord includes believing in Him. No one follows
Him unless he believes in Him. To believe in the Lord is to be
saved (Acts 16:31), and to follow Him is to enter the narrow
gate and walk the constricted way (Matt. 7:13-14).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(c) Living Stream Ministry. Bible verses are taken from the
Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from
Witness Lee, Life-study of Mark, pp. 71-72. Both are
published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA
Please visit us at www.emanna.com
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