Luke 5:27 And after these things he went forth, and saw a publican, named Levi, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he said unto him, Follow me.
28 And he left all, rose up, and followed him.
I love the simplicity that we see in these verses.......
Three of the Gospel Writers record Matthew’s call and they all record it with the same Simplicity.....
Jesus said to Levi (Matthew) Follow Me....and he left all, rose up, and followed Him.....
Matthew must have been a Man who KNEW what he wanted in life.....
He just HEARD the INVITATION and OFF HE GOES......
You may be thinking "well maybe it’s because he recognized who Jesus is and How much he needed Him"
I’m sure he did.....
We do have to Recognize our need.....
and We have to Recognize the FACT that He is the ONLY one who can Meet Our Need....
but those things ALONE doesn’t move most people.....
Let’s read on farther in Luke 5:29 And Levi made him a great feast in his own house: and there was a great company of publicans and of others that sat down with them.
30 But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners?
31 And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick.
32 I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
Those scribes and Pharisees knew better than anyone else what Paul quoted in Romans 3:10 ....there is none righteous, no, not one.
But they weren’t willing to LEAVE what they WANTED to get what they needed.....
They didn’t WANT Better ENOUGH to MOTIVATE them to ACTION....
Someone said "Everybody wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die"
....."Everybody wants to walk on the water but Nobody wants to get out of the boat"
BUT YOU CAN’T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS.....
Folks can tell you that Jesus is the Son of God....
that He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world....
They’ll say "I KNOW I NEED to......"
but MOST of them aren’t doing anything about it.....
Recognizing Jesus as the Saviour is PART of it....
Recognizing Our NEED is PART of it....
but the THING that made the difference .....was...
MATTHEW’S DESIRE for SOMETHING BETTER was Bigger than what he left behind....
Matthew not only recognized his own need....but he determined to DO SOMETHING about it.....
That’s the difference between those who RECEIVE what they need from God and Those who don’t......
It’s in the Determination to Do Whatever it takes to Get what you Want from God.....
Matthew’s Determination Super ceded Everything Else in his life.....
and that’s WHY you know his story 2000 years later.....
In John 5 the Bible tells about a lame man......
38 years he’d been Unable to walk.....
I don’t know HOW long he’d been in that spot.....
but the Bible says that he’d been there a LONG TIME......
He was just hanging out Doing what all the other sick folk were doing......
I’ve often wondered WHY that man, in all the time he’d been there waiting couldn’t get to that pool....
...seems like if you just moved a little each day....you could have gotten to the edge of that pool......
but he’d been there a LONG TIME.....
Sounds like some church folks doesn’t it? I shall not be, I shall not be moved....
Maybe he could have done better....maybe not......
But NONE of that mattered on the Day that Jesus came by and Called On him.....
You need to know today....that.......
When you Come to Jesus.....What’s in your past is past.....as far as He’s concerned.....
He doesn’t Hold a Grudge against you.....
There are without a doubt things that EVERY ONE of us COULD have and SHOULD have done different.....
but I’m glad God’s Grace is Sufficient today......
John 5:6 When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?
The Amplified Translations says it like this.....
Do you want to become well? Are you really in earnest about getting well?
The Question We have to answer is not Do you want things to be BETTER?
If I were to ask for a show of hands for WHO wants a BETTER LIFE?
Surely everyone in here would raise their hand.....
The Real Question is ARE we Serious Enough to Go After Him to get it.....
If we want SERIOUS CHANGE.....we’ve got to get Serious in our Approach......
Psalms 107:23-24 They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;
24 These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep.
You’re not going to see the Wonders of the DEEP hanging onto the SECURITY of the DOCK.....
"But Pastor Nick, I’m Waiting on God to do something...."
Then You’ve Missed the BOAT because Jesus has ALREADY said that His Work is FINISHED......
Paul said in Romans 10:6-7 ...... Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)
7 Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)
The TRUTH is ---God is Waiting on YOU to DO Something with What He has Already Given you.
Wanting Things to change without DOING ANYTHING to Effect Change is just going to make you miserable.
Paul said it something like this.
..."I know what I want....and I Press toward the mark for the prize...."
Some folks here today....are going to have to PRESS IN before you see your BREAKTHROUGH....
He’s waiting on you to CALL on Him so He can Answer you.....
He’s waiting on you to COME to Him so He can Give you Rest.......
He’s waiting on you to Start doing what you can ---where you are....
James 1:22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
James 2:20...... faith without works is dead.....
Well you say "there’s so little I Can do in my situation....."
He’s not Asking you BE GREAT so you can follow Him.....
He’s says Follow me and I will Make you....."
If you Follow His Word....He will provide the POWER to make it happen.....
That’s why Paul could say in Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
Jesus told that man at Bethesda’s Pool in John 5:8 ....Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.
You need to understand that UP TO THAT POINT....He COULDN’T Walk.....
Up to that point...there was no way that guy could walk......
but...Since Jesus came on the Scene -----There is a WAY......
Jesus said "I am the WAY, the Truth, and the Life"
Hear Him Say that to you today.....I am the Way.......
------there is a WAY you can be Restored ------you can be healed, delivered, set free.....
There is a WAY you can LIVE and NOT DIE...
..There is a WAY ----and His name is JESUS......
But you have to WANT TO CHANGE your situation enough to DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.
Jesus said in Matthew 11:12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.
Before the Days of John the Baptist only certain people could come to God.....
Only Jews could Enjoy the Benefits of God’s Kingdom....
but At the Appointed Time .....Jesus Came Forth
.....And Opened a New and Living Way to God....
Now the Blessings of God’s Kingdom are Available to WHOSOEVER WILL.....
The Question Today is Not WILL GOD -----but WILL YOU----How BIG is your WANT TO?
If you have a Little bitty WANT TO ---then any little thing will keep you from going forward.....
But if you have a Big WANT TO ----There’s nothing you can’t Overcome with Jesus....
If you will just get your WANT TO in Touch with His Ability......
Something will happen in your life.....
Mark 5:25 And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years,
26 And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse,
This woman had a Big Want to....
It was Big enough to what the Doctors said....It was Bigger than her Want for Money.....
She was willing to do Anything to Get Better......
It wasn’t Working-----But she was WILLING to Do Whatever it took to Get Better......
But then she Heard about Jesus....
and she said "If I may but touch his clothes, I shall be whole.
Plenty of folks SAY they want things to get Better......But it’s just TALK.....
But she didn’t Stop at SAYING ----She didn’t Stop as WISHING
27 When she had heard of Jesus, (she) came in the press behind, and touched his garment.
29 And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.
That Woman Wanted Healing enough to PRESS In to Jesus.
To put it all on the Line to get what she wanted.....
Jesus told her "Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; ......
That type of Faith will never Fail to get what it Goes After....
That type of Determination will cause Mountains to Move.....
Jesus said "If thou canst believe, All things are Possible to them that Believe....
It wasn’t Jesus Faith that made her whole ---it was Her Faith
As Jesus came to Jericho....Mark 10:46 , blind Bartimaeus,....., sat by the highway side begging.
47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me.
You need to Recognize that it is Jesus who can Help you....
48 And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me.
49 And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee.
50 And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus.
When Jesus called him ---Bartimaeus Left His Old way of Living Behind.
You can Leave your past Behind if your Want To is Big Enough......
You can Change what’s ALWAYS BEEN.....
They told Bartimaeus--"Be Quiet".....But He had a Strong Want To.....
He wouldn’t let his Family or Anybody else Shut him up----
He wasn’t worried about what the Crowd thought about it....
He Just Cried all the Louder....
Because he Knew there was HELP for Him in Jesus.....
Too many people Worry over what People will think about them.....
But when your Want To gets big enough ---You’ll Forget about Them....
It won’t matter WHAT THEY SAY about you......
We need to get an Attitude like that Syrophenician Woman in Matthew 15
She came to Jesus to Get her daughter delivered of a devil.....
Verse 23 says , Jesus wouldn’t even speak to her.....
Most of us would have gone home mad right then.
But not this woman------ She Kept on trying....
Until finally the disciples said "Jesus, You’ve got to do something about that woman....."
24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
25 Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.
26 But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs.
27 And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.
28 Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.
I know PEOPLE say "God doesn’t give us what we WANT, just what we need....
but that Woman Got What She WANTED ----
Because she REFUSED to Take NO for an Answer....
You can get what you want to, if you don’t Quit.....
All the Promises of God are Yea and Amen in Christ.....
But what you have to Know is this.....
Mark 4:15 says that "IMMEDIATELY" when you receive the Word of God.....satan cometh to STEAL it from you....
If he can’t STEAL it ---- he’ll try to PRESSURE you into GIVING UP.....
If that doesn’t Work ---- he’ll try to get you interested in everything else under the sun....
to get you to forget what you were going after.....
But if you Refuse to Let Go of That Word from God it WILL PRODUCE a Harvest in your life.
I don’t know what may be going on in your life.... or how long it’s been going on....
You may be like that man at Bethesda’s Pool.....
You may have been waiting for Years for something to change in your life.....
But You don’t have to Wait anymore.....
You need to hear Jesus ask you this Question today "Wilt thou be made whole?"
Do you really want to be made whole?
Do you really want your situation to Change?
Do you really want to be FREE from Sickness.....Free from Poverty.....Free from Sin.....
Do you really want to be Free from Habits......Free from Fear......?
Do you really want to be HEALED.......Delivered......Born-Again.....?
If you answered "YES" ----Then What are you Willing to Do About it?
Are you willing to Press in to Jesus today.....?
Is your WANT TO big enough to handle being called a HOLY ROLLER....
a Fanatic......Jesus Freak.....
Are you willing to Be Ridiculed by your friends and family if that’s what it takes....?
Are you Willing to Leave your Old Way of Living behind ....to leave your secure place.....?
The DIFFERENCE MAKER in Life isn’t What happens TO YOU....but what you do ABOUT it.....
Matthew became a Disciple of Jesus BECAUSE of HIS RESPONSE to the CALL.....
Peter became a WATER WALKER because of His Response to the CALL.....
Everyone of US today has a CALL to Come to Jesus.....
Matthew 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
John 6:37 ..... him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
Your Life will Not Change for the Better as Long as you Keep doing what you’ve always done.
You say "I Don’t Know if Anything can be done About my situation"...."Nobody else has ever been able to help me."
You may have an IMPOSSIBLE SITUATION today.....No MAN may be able to help you.....
Matthew 19:26 Jesus said that what’s IMPOSSIBLE with Men is POSSIBLE with GOD!
