Greg Laurie - Follow Me (07/17/2017)
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Pastor Greg Laurie shares how Jesus called Matthew with two simple words: "Follow Me." Using Matthew 9, he explains true discipleship means daily commitment, leaving the old life behind, loving other believers, and reaching the lost—far beyond just admiring Jesus like a Twitter follower or Facebook friend.
The Call to Follow Jesus – "Follow Me"
Good morning. Let's pray together. Father we are so happy to be here this beautiful morning to worship You as we have sung. We lift the cross. Lift it high. Lift it high. And we raise that white flag and we surrender. Lord we recognize Your plan for us is better than our plan for us. We recognize that You love us. And whatever You do or allow to happen in our lives goes through that grid of love. So we pray now as we open Your Word that we will learn more about what it means to follow You. What it means to be a disciple. Especially in the times in which we are living. We ask all of this in Jesus' name. Amen.
Well good morning again. Also good morning to Orange Crest, Wood Crest, East Vale, and South Corona. It is great to have all of you on board. This is my cheat sheet. They didn't want me to miss this. So it is not that I would have forgotten you otherwise. But I just... Good morning. This is not... I am not doing this to you. I am just doing that. Okay. All right.
Well let's grab our Bibles and let's turn to Matthew chapter 9. We are in our new series that we are calling God Came Near. A chronological look at the life of Jesus from all four Gospels. The title of my message is Follow Me.
From Twitter Followers to True Discipleship
How many of you are on Twitter? Raise your hand. You are on Twitter. This is the low tech service. So what is Twitter? It is sort of like a micro blog. One of the challenges of tweeting is you are limited to 140 characters. So whatever you say you have to say it short and sweet. And if you are on Twitter and other people read your tweets they are called followers. And the top Twitterers are number one. Who do you think? Katy Perry. Number two. Justin Bieber. 50 million followers on Twitter. Number three. The President of the United States Barack Obama. Beat by Katy Perry and Justin Bieber. Followed by Lady Gaga. The list goes on with Taylor Swift, Britney Spears, Rihanna, Justin Timberlake, and me. No. Not me.
It is interesting to see what people will tweet about. Sometimes it will be a little saying. Sometimes it might be a comment on something. Sometimes it is as random as I am having lunch. I am taking a nap. Or I am going to the bathroom. Can you imagine tweeting that? Levi Lusko did once. Well actually he did not do it. I did it. See he did go to the bathroom. That part was true. He made the mistake of leaving his phone on the table. So I tweeted under his name. I just went to the bathroom. He came back and checked. Realized what I had done. One guy tweets back. Too much information bro.
So if you tweet you have followers. Right. Then there is Facebook. Now people that check out what you say on Facebook they are called friends. And I actually think Twitter and Facebook are great platforms for us to utilize. It is free social media that we can take and use to spread the message of the gospel. And spread our views. And especially with the crusades we found these to be fantastic ways to get to people quickly.
Admiring Jesus vs. Truly Following Him
One of the things I like on Facebook is if someone says something I don't like I can delete it. And sometimes I will put up something. A statement or a little article or whatever. And someone will come and start arguing with me. And my response says, wait a second. This is my Facebook page. This is my little world here. This is not an open forum. So if I find it super contentious or mean I will delete it. And if they are really aggressive I will block them. And block them means they can never come and opine to my Facebook page again. You ask, Greg, have you ever blocked anyone? Absolutely. And you know what? I enjoyed it. I wish I could do that in real life. When someone is talking to me I wish I could just go delete. And they would just say with me sign the seminary. Block. They are gone. Can't do that.
Why do I bring this up? Well it is interesting these phrases. You follow someone on Twitter. You are a friend of someone on Facebook. But I recognize that these people that come on my Facebook page are not actually my friends. Trust me. I don't have that many real friends. And I recognize someone that reads my tweets in response or retweets it. It is not really my follower.
But I think Jesus Christ has a lot of followers and friends that are more like people on Twitter and Facebook than they ought to be in real life. You know they sort of admire Him. You know throughout history it has been clear that Jesus Christ has always been the most admired figure. Time magazine did a cover story on the 100 most significant figures in human history. And number one was Jesus Christ. Followed by Napoleon, Mohammed, William Shakespeare, Abraham Lincoln, and George Washington.
In a poll taken in 2001. Jesus Christ was identified as the most widely admired hero in the history of the world. We say, well that is good, right? Well it is good in a way. We admire Him. We think good thoughts about Him. But listen. Jesus did not say, admire me. Jesus said, follow me. That is why I called this message, Follow Me. Because those are the words of Christ Himself.
Jesus Calls the Unlikely – The Story of Matthew
At the end of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7 Jesus said, many will come in that final day and say, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name? And in Your name did we not cast out demons and do wonders in Your name? And then He says, and I will say firmly, I never knew you, you who practice lawlessness. Jesus is saying, look there is a lot of people that will state my name. But do they really know me.
And then He went on in the Sermon on the Mount to point out that the wise man or the wise woman is not just the one who hears the Word of God. But they are the one who hears the Word of God and does it. And I feel that there is a lot of people today that say they are Christians that really are not Christians. They are more like Facebook friends or Twitter followers. They don't have a genuine commitment. They don't really even know what it means to follow Christ.
Now let me take a quick poll. How many of you right now are a follower of Jesus Christ? Raise up your hand. Okay. That is good. Now we are going to define that. You may not raise your hand after. No. I think you all will still. But I want to look at the statement that Christ gave some 2,000 years ago to a man named Matthew, also known as Levi. He was handpicked by Jesus Himself. I might add much to the chagrin of the others to be one of His disciples.
This man, Matthew, Levi, left his career, his wealth, his power to be a true follower of Jesus Christ. Chronologically this happened on the heels of the last event that we looked at together. The cleansing of the leper and the man healed of his paralysis. Now we might ask, why did Matthew change so quickly? Two words. That is it. No long drawn out sermon. And we don't know of any miracles that he necessarily saw. There was no extended conversation such as Jesus had with Nicodemus or the woman at the well or many others. He just said two words to Matthew. Follow me. And Matthew bolted from his table, left everything, and followed the Lord.
Why Matthew Responded Immediately to Jesus
Why did that happen? Let's try to figure that out. Matthew 9 verse 9. We will read to verse 12. As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And he said to him, Follow me. So he arose and followed him. Now it happened as Jesus sat at the table in the house. And behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw it, they said to his disciples, Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners? When Jesus heard that he said, Those who are well have no need of a physician. But those who are sick.
I don't know about you, but there are two places I don't like to go. The doctor and the dentist. Now I have a great doctor and I have a great dentist. And they both take great care of me. But I do not like to get strapped down in that dentist chair. I have this one person that cleans my teeth. And as she is working away, she, before she starts, she takes, those things are like torture instruments that dentists use. It is some little hook pointed thing. And she starts poking around. And I just said, You are looking for trouble, aren't you? Well she is. She is trying to find out, Is there any decay? Is there any problem?
And then I hate it when she says, She calls the dentist. His name is Troy. Troy, come in here and look at this. Oh, don't, don't say that. Because that is bad when you want him to look at it. Just don't find anything and clean my teeth and let me get out of here. But I know they are looking out for my benefit. But when they pull out those drills and all that stuff I just can't stand it. And the one, the two words you do not want to hear are root canal. Right?
And the other person I don't like to go visit is my doctor. I was just watching a news report and they said that men are far more reluctant to go to doctors than women are. And I think, guys, we just don't want to hear the bad news. I heard about one man who went to a doctor and after a long checkup the doctor said, I am sorry to say I have bad news for you. And the man said, Well, what do you mean? The doctor said, You don't have long to live. How long have I got? The man asks. The doctor responds, Ten. Ten. Ten. The man asks. Ten what? Ten years. Ten months. Ten weeks. Ten days. The doctor says, Nine. Eight. Seven. Get it? One person clapped. Thank you.
But look at verse 12. Jesus refers to Himself as a physician or a doctor. When Jesus heard that He said to them, Those who are well have no need of a physician but those who are sick. Generally you don't go visit the doctor if everything is fine. You go to the doctor when you are having trouble. And for some people you only go to the doctor as a last resort.
In Mark's version of this story the statement is added in Mark 2.17. Those who are well have no need of a physician but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. So this is what Jesus is saying. He has come to us to change us. He has come to us to heal us. And He comes to each of us in a way that we can understand.
Jesus Meets Us Where We Are
You know it is interesting. To Peter a seasoned sailor and fisherman Jesus said, Follow Me and I will make you a Fisher of men. By the way He said that after Peter had fished all night and caught nothing and the Lord told him to go out into the deep for a great catch. And Peter had so many fish he couldn't contain them all. The point is Jesus entered Peter's world in a way that Peter could understand.
But then to the military man Joshua Jesus comes as a warrior. To the conniving Jacob Jesus comes as a wrestler. To the astronomer, astrologer, wise men of the east. God comes to them through a star to bring them to the Creator of the stars. My point is God will always meet us where we are.
Psalm 18.25 says, To the faithful you show yourself faithful. To the blameless you show yourself blameless. To the pure you show yourself pure. But to the crooked you show yourself true. E. W. Tozer in his excellent book The Knowledge of the Holy makes this statement and I quote, To the self condemned He is generous and kind. To the frightened He is friendly. To the poor in spirit He is forgiving. To the ignorant He is considerate. To the weak He is gentle. To the stranger hospitable. End quote.
So the doctor was making a house call, so to speak. In contrast to other people that voluntarily followed Jesus, Christ Himself goes directly to where Matthew was and makes that statement to Him. Follow Me.
Now let's consider who this guy was, Matthew. Let's think about his position. How he made his living. Verse 9. As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. Now that may not mean a lot to us. But Matthew was effectively sitting with the enemy, the occupier Rome. These Jews, excuse me, these tax collectors were looked at with great hatred by the Jews. Point being Matthew was a Jewish man who was working for the enemy.
Now the way it worked was the Romans tax people. Their taxes were high. But plus the tax collector had the luxury of adding his own personal tax on top of the already heavy Roman tax. And that is what he would personally pocket. So as a result many of these tax collectors like Zacchaeus were quite wealthy. And that was bad enough. But what was even worse in the eyes of his fellow Jews is they saw Matthew as a collaborator, a turncoat, a traitor, and really a backslider.
Think of an ambulance chasing lawyer mixed with a sleazy used car salesman who works as a telemarketer at night. And that is how most people saw tax collectors. These guys ranked barely above plankton on the food chain. So Matthew had aligned himself with the enemies of his own people. It is almost as though he had gone out of his way to offend God.
Why Some Turn Away from God – Matthew's Background
You know when I see people that are atheists or I see people that are very vocal about their opposition to the Christian faith I often wonder why. Like how did they get this way? Is this just through careful study and intellectual application to the facts and they concluded that there was no God and thus they are an atheist? No. Something happened in their life that turned them this way. And I don't know what it was. And I don't know what turned Matthew this way.
You know I actually feel great sympathy for people that have been raised in Christian homes where their parents were hypocritical. In some ways I think it puts them at a distinct disadvantage. See I wasn't raised in a Christian home. I was raised in the opposite of a Christian home. There was nothing to remind me of Christianity. There was no faith or church or moral base that I was rebelling against. So when I heard the gospel I was like a blank slate. I was ready to hear it. And I came into this relationship with Jesus Christ. And it was after I saw some hypocrisy in the lives of some. But I already knew how real God was for myself. So frankly it didn't matter. If someone is a hypocrite they are a hypocrite. But Jesus was everything He promised He would be to me.
But the problem is some kids are raised in a home where mom and dad talk about Jesus and they go to church. But when they get home there is hypocrisy there. There is profanity there. There is drunkenness there. There is abuse there. And so that kid looking at the parents as sort of representatives of God rebels against God. And that sets them on the wrong course. Maybe that happened to Matthew.
And then sometimes there is a minister that will misrepresent God. A priest who will molest someone. A pastor who will have an affair. These things happen. I am sorry. This is life. And if someone has misrepresented Jesus to you, if someone has done something wrong in the name of Christ to you, I am sorry that happened to you. Okay. But Jesus did not say, follow my people. He said, follow me. That is what you need to do. Follow Christ.
Something teed Matthew off. Got him going in the wrong direction. So here he is now as a tax collector. Now tax collectors knew what was going on. Especially if you were making any extra money they knew. Because they wanted their pound of flesh. He would be in sort of an elevated position there. Sort of looking over the people. Watching what was happening. Not unlike a lifeguard.
I remind you of a story of a pastor that was moonlighting as a lifeguard. And it turned out like 20, 30 people were drowning every week on his particular beach. And they think, what is going on with this pastor? And so they went over and they observed him. And as someone was waving for help, the pastor or lifeguard looked at him and said, God bless you. I see that hand. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you over there. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. And I am sorry to say that was me. No.
So here is Matthew. Levi. A tax collector. Working for the enemy. Aware of everything that was going on. And because of that he was acutely aware of Jesus of Nazareth. How could you not be? His name was on everyone's lips at this point. He had just given the restoration of the ability to walk to a man who was paralyzed. He had just touched a man who was a leper. He turned water into wine. He was a miracle worker. He overturned tables in the temple of the religious people that were ripping people off. He was very popular at this point.
And Matthew clearly was a student of the Scripture. How do we know that? Because in his own gospel that he wrote later he had 99 references to the Old Testament. This was a man who knew the Bible. And I think as he watched Christ being a good Jewish man who studied the Torah he thought, could this be the Messiah? Is this the one we have been looking for? I think he was realizing it already even before Christ called him. Because there are over 99 references as I said to Jesus being the Messiah.
So his hardened heart began to soften as he watched and heard more about Jesus. And maybe he would even daydream. Oh man. I wish I could be one of his followers. I mean look at those guys. I mean if I could just be one of them. If I could be one of his handpicked guys to spend all my time with him. That would be a dream come true. But I know if I were to volunteer to Jesus. Hey Jesus. Can I be a part of your traveling group here? Can I be one of your disciples? He would reject me clearly. Who would want a tax collector working for them?
See tax collectors were isolated. They were alone. The only people who would hang around with tax collectors were other tax collectors and sinners. So he was isolated. He never thought Jesus would call him.
The Personal Call – Jesus Sees and Calls Matthew
You know before I was a Christian I used to hang around down in Newport Beach at this area called the Fun Zone. It is over when you take the ferry there. And I would just lean up against a wall. And I had hair back then. Kind of in my eyes. I would look real tough. I remember that these Christians would be handing out their literature. And I remember I had this facade that I had pretty much developed to be very believable. Like I didn't care about anyone or anything. But in my heart I wanted someone to tell me about Jesus.
And I remember looking at these Christians and thinking, Why don't you come and talk to me? Come and talk to me. They would just walk up and take one of their tracts and walk off. And I kept those tracts. I would grab it. Sneer at them. Shove it in my pocket. But I never threw those tracts away. And I had a drawer at home. And I kept all religious literature in this drawer. I had tracts from Christians. I had information from Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, Hare Krishna's, Amway, you name it. It was there.
I always say that because it ticks Amway people off and they write me mad letters. Why do I do this? I don't know. But at every now and then I would pull the drawer out and I would dump it on my bed. And I would try to make rhyme or reason out of all this literature. I wanted someone to tell me how to know God. No one ever did.
Fortunately the Lord didn't give up on me. And the Lord didn't give up on Matthew. Because now we see, as I said earlier, the doctor is making a house call. Verse 9. It says, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. By the way the word used here for saw is very suggestive. It means to gaze intently upon, to stare, to fix one's eyes constantly on an object.
Have you ever had someone look at you that way? I mean look at you? Well you are just standing there and they are just like staring right through you. That is what Jesus was doing. So here is Matthew. He is shuffling papers. He is looking around. And all of a sudden he looks over and Jesus is walking toward him. And Jesus is making eye contact. And he is not turning away. And he is staring at him. And Matthew says, Why is he staring at me? What is happening? Jesus was looking right through him.
And then he comes right up to Matthew. Matthew is stunned. He stopped everything. He is just looking at Jesus. And Jesus says those two words now. Follow me. Jesus was calling him. Jesus was handpicking him. Jesus was selecting him.
If you are a football fan it would be like watching the Patriots play. And you are there in the stands and Tom Brady points to you and says, come and join the team. Or if you are a music fan you are at a U2 concert. Bono says come on up here and join the band. Or you see the president and his entourage walking by and the president points to you and says, come join my inner circle. Maybe that wouldn't be so good. But the others are pretty interesting.
But listen. Better than that Jesus Christ has called you to follow him. And here you are. Because you responded to that. You are on the team. You are in the band. You are in the inner circle. This is the greatest privilege you could have ever been offered. And I think only in heaven when rewards are meted out will we see how privileged we were to be able to serve God.
That is why we should never balk at sharing our faith. Or investing our finances in the work of the kingdom. It is a high privilege. Right? 1 Peter 2.9 It says, You are a chosen people. A royal priesthood. A holy nation. A people belonging to God that you may declare the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.
God chose you. Now that is good news if you were the last person chosen for the team when you were a kid which I was. Whenever you would put teams together I was the last person. And that is humiliating. I mean and I don't mean this in a denigrating way but you know it is football and they are picking girls over you. Okay. I mean they are picking anything over you and finally they say, Okay. I will take glory. Oh you know. I am like, Okay. You know. It is precious. No one wanted me. Jesus chose you. Jesus has called you.
He said, You have not chosen me but I have chosen you and I have ordained you that you should go and bring forth much fruit.
Opposites United in Christ – Matthew and Simon the Zealot
Now think about how this worked in the real world of the disciples. Up to this point Jesus has chosen what we might describe as blue collar workers, salt of the earth types, fishermen, Peter, James, John. Add to this the fact that there was another guy on the team called Simon the Zealot. Now we could read that and not know what that means. Zealot. He maybe was just very excitable. No. To be a zealot meant that you were committed to the violent overthrow of Rome. Zealots believed in their zeal for God as Jews and it was their duty to drive the occupier out who in this case was Rome. So zealots would engage in guerrilla like tactics. They would kill people. The Romans would probably think of them as terrorists.
But Jesus chose Simon the Zealot to be on the team. But now He was choosing Matthew. And this was a little problematic because you couldn't find greater polar opposites than Simon the Zealot and Matthew the tax collector. Here is one man who is dedicated to destroy Rome. Here is another man who is actually working with Rome.
Years ago we had a Bible prophecy conference here at the church and we invited Mosab Hassan Yosef. Now Mosab is the son of one of the founders of Hamas and was actually being groomed to be a terrorist and to elite others in acts of terror, especially against Israel. He was raised as a Muslim to worship Allah and to commit jihad. And Yosef became a follower of Jesus Christ. And not only that but he worked undercover for Israel and prevented dozens of terrorist attacks.
But the Israeli code word for Yosef was the Green Prince because of the flag that is green for the Hamas. And he was the son of the leader. He was called the Green Prince. So we had the Green Prince speak at our conference about his faith in Christ.
Also at that same conference we had General Jerry Boykin. Now General Boykin was the United States Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for President George W. Bush and served 13 years in the Delta Force. And for two years he was their commander. He was actively involved in the war on terror. He was the one who presided over the so-called Black Hawk Down incident. A movie was made about that.
So here you have a general who hunted terrorists and a man who was being groomed to become a terrorist. You are the leader of Delta Force meaning the Green Prince. The general and the terrorist. So I am in the back room. And General Boykin had not met Yosef. And so I said to General Boykin and I introduced Yosef. And General Boykin is just so classic he shakes his hand and says, Son in another life I would have been hunting you.
And I thought what a classic moment. I mean here are two people who would never talk to each other. In fact would have been trying to kill each other. And because of Jesus Christ here they are both serving the Lord. Only God can do something like that. Right.
Jesus said, By this shall all men know you are my disciples that you have loved one for another. You know sometimes people or God will put an unlovable person in your life. Someone you don't want to hang around. Someone you don't want to be with. Someone that can irritate you. But the problem is they are a fellow Christian and they are in the family. You need to love them. But those people often are the ones that drive us to the Lord. God help me with this person.
That is what was happening for Simon with Matthew joining the team and certainly with Matthew to mix in with these other guys.
What "Follow Me" Really Means Today
But what does it mean to follow Jesus Christ in the 21st century? There is a fascinating twist on the phrase follow me in the Greek. It means to walk the same road. Follow me. What does that mean? It doesn't mean just walk behind me. It means walk the same road. That is very important. To walk the same road.
And this word is in the imperative mode meaning it is not just an invitation but a command. It is also in the present tense commanding the beginning of an action and continuing habitually in it. Put it all together. Here is what Jesus was saying to Matthew. I command you to follow me each and every day.
That means the same thing to us today. You say I am a follower of Jesus. How many of you are followers of Jesus? I am. Okay. That means to follow Him each and every day. Not just Sundays. For some people it is like a Sunday Jesus. Well yeah Sunday is the Lord's Day. And we get up and we go to church and okay good. What about Monday? Well Monday is my day. Saturday is definitely my day. Wait, wait. Every day is the Lord's Day. Every day.
He wants to be Sunday Jesus. He wants to be Monday Jesus. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday Jesus. He wants to be a part of everything you do. Not just your worship time but your work time and your leisure time. Does that describe you? Follow Him each and every day.
Romans 13 says, Put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh. That is an interesting phrase. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ. Because the idea that it is being communicated is sort of like your clothes. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now I don't know about you but I have certain default garments I go to. In other words things I wear over and over. My wife would say, You wore that yesterday. Is it true? And I am probably going to wear it tomorrow too. You know things I will wear. Certain pairs of jeans that are broken in to perfection that I like to wear. Certain things that I just find comfortable so I wear them. Certain pairs shoes I like to wear.
And here is the idea being communicated. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ like clothes where He is a part of everything that you do. Now some people look very put together. You know they have outfits. I have a friend that used to always wear outfits. And I don't know. For a girl it is one thing. For a guy it is another. Everything was so matchy and if this color was here it was down there and over here.
I said, Do you have to always wear an outfit? Could you ever just put on a wrinkled shirt and just some regular shorts. Does everything have to be a certain way? You know. And other people they get up and they look like they slept in their clothes. Right. They have a very disheveled look. But I want you to know with some of these people everything is planned. There is a lot of effort that goes into looking disheveled. I want to point out to you. Just a, you know, everything that the hair is in a certain disheveled way. And there is a perfect wrinkle in the shirt and the jeans and that patterns that don't match. Actually they really match. But they want them to look like they don't match. But they are very concerned about the way that they look. Ok. That is my point.
There is nothing wrong with that. Far better to be concerned about the way that you look than they have no concern whatsoever. So here is the idea of being communicated. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ. Put Him on when you get up in the morning. Make Him a part of your life that day. Intend that He go with you everywhere you go and act through you in everything that you do.
Romans 13.14 from the Phillips translation puts it this way. Let us be Christ's men from head to foot and give no chances for the flesh to have its flame.
You say, well that sounds really interesting in theory, Greg. But how do you put on the Lord Jesus Christ? Well for starters every morning when you get up take time for the Word of God. Well I don't have time. Then get up earlier. And go to bed earlier. And make time. Some things you have to make time for. Make time for the Word of God. Make time to commit your day to the Lord in prayer.
Proverbs 8.17 says, God speaking, I love those that love me and those that seek me early will find me. So follow me Jesus says to Matthew. Follow me Jesus says to us.
Following with Companionship and Obedience
It has another connotation. It means follow with me. Speaking of companionship and friendship. So Jesus is saying, yes I want obedience. But I also want friendship and companionship. Jesus was effectively saying, Matthew, buddy, I want to be your friend. And God wants that with us as well.
Now I have a problem of walking too fast. And when I am with my wife she doesn't always walk as fast as I do. Now to the point she can walk as fast as I do when she wants to. Because when we go out in the morning we have our walking shoes on. She is right up there with me. Sometimes she is ahead of me. But then there are other times you know it is usually the footwear she has chosen. Right. So if there is a little elevation you know there is the thing you know and I am just chugging along like I normally do. And Greg slow down. Wait for me. So I have to wait for her. That is walking with my wife.
Or maybe even a better illustration would be walking with one of my grandchildren. Now they are much smaller. And you take their little hand especially when you go on the street. Okay. We are going on the street. Hold my hand. And you walk with them. You don't drag them behind you. You don't throw them ahead. You walk with them.
God is saying I want you to walk with me. I don't want you to run ahead of me. I don't want you to lag behind me. I want you to walk with me. Yes I want you to obey me. Yes I want you to serve you. But I also want you to be my friend.
Jesus said you are my friends. If you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you a servant. For a servant doesn't know what his master is doing. But I have called you a friend. Because whatsoever I have heard from my Father I have revealed to you. That is so cool. That Jesus would share his secrets with us.
You know you are someone's friend when they share a secret. A lot of people say to me, Now I want to share something with you. I don't want you to share it with anyone else. I say, You tell me not to share it. It goes in lockdown. Unless it is like illegal. If you murdered someone I am sharing. But anything else you ask me not to tell anyone I won't tell anyone.
God is saying, I want to share my secrets with you. I want to reveal my heart to you. That is so amazing. There are so many people running around who say they are friends of Jesus. But again they are more like Facebook friends. They are more like Twitter followers. They don't really know what it means to be his friend.
But Jesus also says, You are my friends. If you do whatsoever I command you. So there are people that will say, Oh I am a friend to Jesus. I follow Jesus. Do you? Yes I do. What would you think of someone who said they were your friend? Hey buddy. How is it going? It is going well. How is it going with you? Great. And then they belted you right in the face. Punched you. Oh. What was that for? I don't know man. Why did I do that. That was so bad. I am really sorry. Please forgive me. Your face is still hurting. Wow. Okay. Okay. I will forgive you. But please don't ever do that again. Don't ever hit me in the face. I won't.
And then a couple of moments go by and they give you a blow to the solar plex. Boom. Oh. I can't breathe. Why did you do that? I don't know man. I am your friend. I love you so much. I just don't know why I did it. Don't ever do it again. I will never hit you in the solar plex again. Then they kick you in the shin.
Listen. I don't know what kind of a psycho this person is. But I don't want to be around them. And they call themselves a friend. There are people that say, Oh I am a friend of Jesus. I am a follower of Jesus. I love Jesus. And they are having an affair. I am a friend of Jesus. They are looking at porn. I am a friend of Jesus. They are lying and ripping somebody off. I am a friend.
Wait. Wait. You are my friends Jesus says if you do whatsoever I command you. It is not about saying you are a friend. It is by proving you are a friend by what you do. The proof is in the pudding. I don't know what that means by the way. I have eaten pudding. I have never found any proof. But the idea is it is shown in action not just words.
So when I say, Are you a follower of Jesus? We are quick to say, I am. Are you a Twitter follower or a real follower? Are you a real friend or a Facebook friend? I mean do you really know what it means?
Well Matthew knew. He got it. Verse 9. He arose and followed Him. Now in Luke's gospel we have an important detail that Matthew left out of his gospel. Luke tells us, He left all, Rose up, and followed Him. He left all, Rose up, and followed Him.
See Matthew is the author of this gospel. Yeah. I followed Jesus. But he doesn't talk about what he gave up. Matthew recognized the immense privilege being offered here and without hesitation stood up and followed Christ. But he left a lot. He left a very promising career. He left a position of power and authority. He understood as an agent of Rome. Once he got up from that table and walked away he could never go back again. He had effectively burned his own bridge.
Of all the disciples Matthew doubtlessly made the greatest sacrifice of material possessions and power. Yet he himself makes no mention of it. I like that. He doesn't talk about what he gave up. He could have said, well let me tell you what I gave up. He got up and followed Him. That is all he wanted us to know.
Reminds us of the words of Paul in Philippians 3.8, Yes everything is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Jesus Christ my Lord. I have discarded everything else. Counted it all as garbage so I might have Christ.
Listen. When a person really meets Jesus they cannot leave the old life fast enough. Old habits, standards, and practices no longer appeal to them and they gladly leave them behind.
Jesus said if we want to follow Him in Luke 9.23. We must take up the cross daily and follow Him. For whoever will seek to save his life will lose it. Whoever loses his life for his sake will find it.
So Jesus says you want to follow me? Check it out. I am going to carry a cross. And if you are going to be my follower you are going to have to carry a cross too. Now what does that mean? Because that can sound very ominous and very frightening. Some people say, well I don't do crosses. Okay. Well then you are not going to do Christianity. Because if you are going to be a real Christian you have to take up the cross.
But what does it mean practically to take up the cross? Jesus really defines it. He says you deny yourself and take up the cross daily. Every day there are thousands of opportunities to deny myself. And glorify God. Or deny God and glorify myself. Do I have to break it down? You know what I am talking about. Those things that you know you should not do so you say I am not going to do that thing. Those things that you know you should do you say I am instead going to do this thing. That is what it is.
And it is not a miserable life. Actually it is a wonderful life. Paul said, I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless I live. Yet it is not I. But Christ lives in me. There is life in this. Life in turning away from the things that tear you down spiritually.
And I love the fact that Jesus says if you will lose your life for my sake you will save it. You know there are people today that talk about finding themselves. Discovering themselves. Esteeming themselves. Loving themselves. Right? Jesus said deny yourself and take up the cross and follow me.
If you would stop thinking about yourself so often and think about what God has for you instead you will find the fulfillment you have been looking for. Not by seeking it but by seeking Him.
That means you take your plans. You say, Alright Lord. Here are my plans. Here are my aspirations. Here are my dreams. Here are my weaknesses. Here are my shortcomings. Here are my sins. I present everything that I am to You. And I want Your will above my own.
D.L. Moody the great evangelist once said, Spread out your petition before God. And then say, Thy will, not mine be done. Moody concludes, The sweetest lesson I have learned in God's school is to let the Lord choose for me. End quote.
Far from being depressed about what he left behind. Levi's heart was overflowing with joy. He 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. He lost his emptiness and his loneliness and found fulfillment and companionship. He gave up all the world has to offer and he found Jesus.
Matthew's Response – A Party for Jesus
Matthew was so excited he decided to throw a party for Christ. Look at this line at verse 10. It happened as Jesus sat at the table in the house. Behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. Now another gospel tells us these people were notorious sinners. So these were hardcore sinners. Other tax collectors, prostitutes, thieves, common criminals. They were all there. And here is Jesus in the middle of them loving them all.
Now Matthew was a classic new believer trying to reach his old friends. And it is sad when we lose this zeal. And many do. Here is what I found. Those that know the most usually do the least. And those that know the least usually do the most. Does that make sense?
I found that those who are new in the faith that really don't know all that much yet are the most willing to volunteer to serve the Lord. Then there are those who have known the Lord for years. In some cases for decades. And they can't remember the last time they have done any act of service or tried to engage someone with the gospel.
Stats show that 80 to 90 percent of people who hear a personal gospel presentation receive it from someone who has known the Lord for two years or less. Did you hear that stat? 80 to 90 percent of people who have heard a gospel presentation receive it from someone who has known the Lord for two years or less. Those that know the least do the most. And those that know the most do the least. It is a sad thing when we lose that zeal. Because we are missing out on what God wants to do.
So really are we all followers of Jesus Christ?
Five Marks of a True Follower of Jesus
So let us sum up and close. The follower of Jesus Christ follows him each and every day. Remember the word follow speaks of the beginning of an action and continuing habitually in it. Jesus says, I command you to follow me each and every day.
Number two. The follower of Jesus cannot say goodbye to the old life fast enough. Matthew bolted up from his tax table and left everything to follow Christ. Old sins and vices that slow us down are gladly forsaken to keep in step with Jesus.
Number three. The follower of Jesus loves other followers of Jesus. Matthew was thrown in with a lot he would not have hung around normally. He needed to love them and let them love him.
That was one of the hardest things for me as a new Christian. It wasn't loving as much as it was being loved. See I was raised in a home where love was never expressed. So when someone would come up and say, I love you, it was very hard for me. I am like, uh, I didn't know what to do. And this was the person that said it. But they are leaving. I don't. But see the thing is when someone would say it I didn't know how to react because I had never been taught how to receive love from someone else.
But this is being a part of the church. And you know some people when they join the church they have a hard time becoming really a part of the church. And some people never join the church at all. They say, well I love God. I just don't love church. Well that actually doesn't work. If you love God you will love to be with God's people.
In fact it is a real litmus test of where you are at spiritually. If you are walking with God you will want to be around godly people. But if you are not walking with God you will be uncomfortable with godly people.
1 John 4.20 says, If anyone boasts, I love God. It goes on heeding his brother or sister. Thinking nothing of it. He is a liar. If you won't love the person you can see. How can you love the God you can't see? The command we have from Christ is blunt. Loving God includes loving people. You have got to love both.
Don't tell me you love God and you hate someone. Especially a fellow Christian. It is unacceptable. How can you love the God who you can't see and then not love someone who is one of his followers who you can see? So Matthew loved other followers of Jesus. And we should too.
Number four. The true believer, the true follower of Christ cares about non-believers and wants to reach them. Like Matthew will have a deep desire to reach others.
Number five. The true follower of Jesus should be able to say, Follow me as I follow Christ. Let me say that again. The true believer, the true follower of Jesus should be able to say to anyone else, Follow me as I follow Christ.
1 Corinthians 11.1. Paul says, Follow me as I follow Christ. Or another translation, Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ.
Now can you say that right now? Could you say to another Christian, Follow me just like I follow Jesus. Hey man, who could live up to that? That is too hard. Well Paul said it. And guess what? You are the only representative of God that some people are ever going to see.
There are non-believers out there living near you or working with you or members of your family that are forming opinions about God based on you. That is a lot of pressure. I know. That is why you want to be a good example. None of us are going to be perfect. None of us are going to be flawless. We are all going to fall short. But should we not be seeking to live a life that others could emulate if they want that would lead them to Christ Himself?
You see you are the only Bible some people are ever going to read. Christians are walking epistles written by God and read by men. Follow me as I follow Christ.
What if the whole church followed Jesus the way you followed Jesus? What kind of church would we have?
The Invitation – Jesus Calls You Today
So in closing you may be a little bit like Matthew. You were the last person chosen for the team. You don't have many friends. You feel all alone. Jesus Christ Himself is looking at you and He is saying, Follow me.
Jesus is saying, I want to enter into a relationship with you. I want to enter into a friendship with you. I will forgive you of your sin. I will give you the hope of heaven. I will give you peace instead of turmoil. Friendship and companionship instead of loneliness. Heaven instead of hell. But you must come.
See Matthew had a choice. Jesus walked up to him. Follow me. Matthew could have said, No way. Jesus wouldn't have let him be. Jesus wouldn't have grabbed him and, Your fault. Get out of it. Come here. No. It was a choice. Like everybody else He had a choice.
Jesus says to you right now. Follow me. What are you going to do? Well you are either going to follow Him or you are not going to follow Him. There is no in between. So the choice is yours.
Jesus Christ of course went to the cross and died for the sins of Matthew and every other person, including us. And then Rose again from the dead. And now stands at the door of our lives and He knocks and says, If we will hear His voice and open the door, He will come in.
I mean can you imagine? Jesus wants this kind of friendship with you right now. And what you need to do is say, Lord, I want to follow You. I want to know You.
And if you have never done that yet, why don't you do it as we close now in prayer. Let's all bow our heads.
Father, we thank You for loving us so much that You sent Jesus. And Jesus, we thank You so much for coming and laying Your life down. And right now, Lord, You are saying, Follow Me.
There may be some folks here listening, watching, that have always thought they were Your followers. But after hearing this message and understanding what it really means to follow, maybe they are discovering they have not been Your followers at all. Lord, I pray that they will come to You.
There might be some here, Lord, that have never, ever followed You. They have never thought about You. They have never considered being a Christian. But here they are hearing this message. Would You help them to see their need for You and help them to come to You?
Now while our heads are bowed, and our eyes are closed, and we are praying together, how many of you would say today, Greg, I want to follow Jesus. I want to know Jesus. I want to know that I will go to heaven when I die. I want to enter into this friendship with God you have been talking about. Pray for me. I am ready to say yes to Jesus Christ right now.
If that is your desire, if you want Christ to come into your life, if you want Him to forgive you of your sin, would you lift your hand up wherever you are and let me pray for you today. God bless you. Lift your hand up. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you up there in the balcony. God bless you watching by video screen. Raise your hand up. I can't see you, but the Lord sees you. Take that first step towards Jesus Christ.
The Bible says draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Anybody else? If you haven't lifted your hand yet, lift it now. Let me pray with you. You want Christ in your life. God bless you.
Maybe there are some here that have always thought you were His follower, but you have discovered in this message you really haven't been. But now you want to become a follower of Jesus. Would you raise your hand? Let me pray for you. God bless you.
Maybe there are some here that have fallen away from the Lord and they need to come back to Him again. You have been a backslider, a prodigal, but you want to return to Jesus. Would you raise your hand? Let me pray for you. God bless you. God bless you.
Now, while our heads are still bowed, I am going to ask if you raise your hand with me during that last moment of prayer. I want you to stand to your feet. And I am going to lead you in a prayer of commitment to Christ. Stand to your feet. You that raise your hand. You that want to follow Jesus. You that want Him to forgive you of your sin. You that want to know Him in this friendship, in this relationship. You that want to go to heaven instead of hell. Stand up and I am going to lead you in a prayer.
Wherever you are stand up. There at the satellite site stand up. Let me lead you in this prayer. One final moment. If you haven't stood stand now. Anybody else stand now. God bless you. God bless all of you. One final moment. You want to stand and make this commitment. You want to pray this prayer with me. Stand now. God bless you.
All right. You that are standing I am going to lead you in a simple prayer. And I am going to ask that you would pray this prayer out loud after me. This is a prayer where you are asking Christ to come into your life. You are saying, I want to follow Jesus.
So as I pray this prayer you pray it out loud after me. Pray this after me out loud right where you stand.
Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner. But you died on the cross for my sin and Rose again from the dead. Now I choose to follow you from this moment forward. Be my Savior and my Lord. Be my God and my friend. Thank you for choosing me. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for calling me. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.
God bless you that prayed that prayer. God bless you. Amen. Praise God.
Hey listen. You that just prayed that prayer we want to give you a Bible that looks like the one I am holding here. This is called the Start Bible. And this is the New Testament with some notes that I wrote that will encourage you in this commitment or recommitment you just made to Jesus Christ.
And over in the corner here there is someone holding that Start Bible. Hold it up if you would back there. And I am going to ask all of you that just prayed that prayer with me here in the main sanctuary. If you would please get up out of your seat and make your way over to the corner. And we are going to give you the Start Bible.
So you that just prayed that prayer we are going to wait on you. We are not done here yet. You that prayed that prayer get up out of your seat now. Go on over to that room there in the corner. Right over there. That is right. Up in the balcony. Go on down the stairs. Go on over to that room. God bless you. You outside in the amphitheater come around to the back of the sanctuary and go to the same room.
Again you outside in the amphitheater come around to the back of the sanctuary and go into the same room. And let us encourage you as you start following Jesus. God bless all of you.
And let's continue. Amen. Let's continue our worship through giving. Let's pray.
Father, thank You for this work that You have done. And we want to follow You each and every day. We want to say goodbye to the old life. We don't want to try to live in two worlds. And then Lord we want to take the resources You have given us and use them for Your glory. Because You have chosen us. You have called us into this friendship. And frankly everything that we have is Yours.
So now we bring our tithes, our offerings, our percentage of our income back to invest in Your work so more people can learn what it means to follow You. Bless this time of giving we pray. In Jesus' name. Amen.