Thank you. If you would take your Bible, join with me in the Gospel of Mark and Chapter 2, please. Mark and Chapter 2. As we're kind of continuing down, you might say, the journeys of Jesus, or His journey, events that happened in the life of our Savior, And the titles to the tax man, you might say, oh, I don't like that at all. I don't either. I don't know of anybody who likes to pay taxes. I mean, I don't like to pay taxes. But, of course, I like the benefits of paying taxes. I like having a police force. And when they do plow the roads, that's nice. Sure want the fire truck to show up if the house is burning down. You know, all those kinds of things. Certainly, I'm not so sure they always use the tax money correctly. I know, I could step on some toes. Anyways, having worked for Uncle Sam for a little bit in the Navy, I know a little bit about waste, fraud and abuse. Abused? Abuse, whatever, yeah, it's bad. You know, when you're 50 miles out from shore, you're in international waters, and there are no restrictions. Anything can go over the side. Five-gallon paint, buckets of lead-based paint, bloop, over the side. And various other things I won't mention. No bodies that I know of, but anyways. Tonight we're not looking at Jesus paying taxes, though there are a couple of incidents where we find Him paying taxes. So, as much as we may not like to pay taxes, If we're going to enjoy the benefits of our government and what it provides, then we have to pay for it. And that's logical. But that's not what we're talking about. We're talking about the Lord meeting a tax man. And what happens there? I had mentioned before about George Smith of Penzance. who became a Baptist preacher and he pastored his whole life in one church. Right there. But while there, because of his background in the Royal Navy, developed and became what some would say is the father of maritime missions. Reaching out to sailors and not just sailors in the navies of various governments, but also merchant marines, there we go, and professional fishermen, and anybody who works on the sea. That was quite a heartbeat of him. But, I might have mentioned that George Smith was a prodigal son. Raised in a good home, went to Sunday school. His parents were, by his testimony, were godly people who prayed and read the Bible and made sure he was in Sunday school. We're talking late 1700s. And they were an influence in his life, except he became a prodigal son and left. Ended up serving on the high seas and almost dying, but the Lord was gracious and met him. I suspect all of us may know of someone who was a prodigal. Maybe still is a prodigal. But they're not hopeless. Otherwise our God is not a very big God, is he? our God can reach down and touch the heart of the prodigal and draw them back and do an amazing work in their life. I mention that because of who we're about to read about. Mark chapter 2 and verse 13. It says, and he went forth again by the seaside And all the multitude resorted unto Him, and He taught them. He's not left Capernaum yet. That's kind of where Jesus has been. He's been preaching, calling His disciples, etc. healing Peter's mother-in-law. And, you know, last time we were looking at He was in the house, and there was this great crowd of people, and many people were healed. There's the man who was carried by his four friends, and that's a phenomenal story. So he's still there. So he leaves the house at this point, and he goes back down to the seaside. And all the multitude resorted unto him. So it's kind of like everybody piled out of the front yard, and they followed him down there to the harbor, you might say. And he taught them. And as he passed by, he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting at the receipt of custom and said unto him, follow me. And he arose and followed him. Father, we thank you for this day and the privilege we have tonight to gather around your word and to once again be challenged by its truth. And I pray you would just give me the right words And what it is that you've impressed upon me, I can share that in a way that might be a benefit to others. Would you work for your glory in our midst, please? We pray in Jesus' name, amen. I think Levi was a prodigal son. Now, why would I say that? Because he's a publican, that's why. He's a Jewish young man serving the oppressor. I'm sure his family's not real happy about that. The Jews of the day hated the Romans. They hated Herod Agrippa and his constricting control upon them. I'm sure they didn't like paying taxes any more than we like paying taxes. At least there's kind of the show of I was gonna say fairness, but I don't know if you can apply that word to taxes, but at least, you know, you get the tax booklet out and you follow all the guidelines and then you pay your tax, okay? Well, in these days, you went to the tax man and he said, yeah, I think your taxes are X amount, and half of that might have gone into his pocket. He was skimming right off the top, most of them. I don't know that Levi was a cheat, I'm not saying he was a cheat, but it is obvious he's sitting at the receipt of custom, he's there doing the bidding of the Roman government, extracting the tax money from the people, and even if he didn't cheat them, the fact that they had to pay taxes to Rome was a great offense. By that regard alone, I would say Levi was probably a prodigal son. But there's some interesting things here. Jesus is walking by, and there is, I don't think this is coincidence. Nothing that happened to the life of our Savior is a coincidence. Just like when he went to Samaria, it said he must, needs go through Samaria. And so I think Jesus went down the street on purpose. He knew that's where Levi was. And he was going to bump into him on purpose. Levi, the son of Alphaeus. Who is this guy? Turn over, if you would please, to chapter 3, and starting at verse 13, there's a listing when Jesus chooses his 12 apostles. And he goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto him whom he would. And they came unto him, and he ordained twelve that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach, and to have power to heal sicknesses, and cast out devils. And Simon he surnamed Peter, and James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James, and he surnamed them Bonergus, which is the sons of thunder, and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddeus, and Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, which also betrayed him, and they went into an house." Now it's significant in verse 18 there Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, and Matthew. There it is, that's the guy we're talking about. Matthew, and Thomas and James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddeus, and Simon again. Back here in chapter 2, it says, and as he passed by he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus. Over in Matthew chapter 9, And verse 9, this is Matthew's account of this event in his life and in the life of Christ. It says, And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man named Matthew. sitting at the receipt of custom and he saith unto him follow me and he arose and Followed him over in chapter 10 of Matthew and verse 3 in the listing of the disciples Again, it says Philip verse 3 and Bartholomew Thomas and Matthew the Publican James the son of Alphaeus and Lebeus, whose surname was Thaddeus. Now we could look at some other places and incidents where it talks about the various disciples and their names are mentioned. But back here in Mark, it's Levi the son of Alphaeus, but then there's another apostle, James, sometimes referred to as James the Less, he's the son of Alphaeus. It could be that it's just coincidence that their dads had the same name. That's possible. But if you look at all the other events and the listing of the disciples and when they're mentioned and their names are given there, et cetera, et cetera, we find that James the Less is probably the brother of a couple of others. Potentially, Levi, who's also Matthew, this is the same person, Levi is his Aramaic name, Matthew would be his Jewish name. He's also a brother, and their dad is Elphias, who is potentially Jesus' uncle, who's married to Mary's sister. I can't be dogmatic about that. But, I don't think the names are mentioned to fill up paper. They're there on purpose. And I know I've mentioned this before, sometimes we, when we think about our Savior, because he's our Savior, It's almost like we forget that he had brothers and sisters and aunts and uncles and went through the normal things of life. Now if that's so, potentially five of the 12 apostles are Jesus's cousins. Now if that's true, Don't you think Jesus knew what happened to his cousin Levi? And where he was? And what had happened to him? Why does Matthew call him a man named Matthew? He didn't even name his dad. Well, what would happen in a Jewish family in those days, if you did, and actually not just in those days, but even today, if a young man who's a Jewish, from a Jewish family, and he gets saved, he's as good as dead to his family. He no longer has a family. It's quite likely Matthew references himself that way because he knows what's happened and he's still ashamed that potentially he got disillusioned or whatever happened to him that he ended up working for Rome, violating everything perhaps that his culture, his heritage stood for. which is also quite likely why the other disciples in the other Gospels when they reference him it's as if he's separate because in many of their cultural settings he's no longer a part of the family but he actually is part of the family. So I think Levi's a prodigal because he is working for Rome But there's enough evidence to suggest Jesus knew him personally. And yet, he doesn't cut him off. He's gracious. That's a wonderful thing, isn't it? That the prodigal can be restored. We don't, you know, if it's one of your own family members that maybe you're thinking of, the situation is not hopeless. Because Christ is the personification of hope. And he can restore. How long do you think the father sat on the front porch looking down the lane for the prodigal son to return? Years? You notice it's not his brother who's looking down the lane. He's basically given up. He's not coming back. And that's why he's mad and jealous when the party's there. But in Luke 15 in that wonderful story we see that the prodigal is restored. The Lord worked. We might say, well, the prodigal, he got his act together and came back to his father. Yeah, after God saw that all his money's gone and now he works for a pig farmer and he has no food, it's almost as if the Lord put him in that very difficult place on purpose to cause him to look up. And sometimes that's what the Lord has to do with the prodigal, he has to break them. so that they'll finally see what they need. But my point tonight is just that they're not hopeless. God can restore. There are two people I'm thinking of right now that I have been praying for. for decades actually, that God would do something to bring a reconciliation. And it's not happened yet. And at times it's like, why even pray about it? But God can work and He can do something amazing. So, the first thing I want you to see here is the invitation. Because Jesus sees him at the receipt of custom, and what does he say? Follow me. It's actually a command, it's in the imperative. Jesus is telling him, follow me, and follow me right now. It's almost like, alright Levi, this is the day. This is the day. Now what's interesting is after that invitation, I want you to notice the intention or the intentionality of Levi himself because it says, and he arose, he got up from his seat, he's sitting at the receipt of custom. He's receiving all the tariff money. He's receiving the tax money from all the goods that are going through Capernaum. He's right there on the main thoroughfare, and the wagons are coming through, or maybe the fishermen are coming from the harbor, and they're going to the market, and he's like, no, sorry, it's a shilling for every fish in that basket. You've got to cough it up to roam. And he's collecting all the money. As one commentator said, there he sits amongst the piles of money and fish. but no friends. And Jesus shows up and says, come to me now. Now's the day. And Levi, it says, and he arose and followed him. Just like that. Now, I don't want to get into a big grammar lesson, but it carries the weight of, it was a done deal. When he stood up, that was it. There was no turning back. It's done. I'm done with this. It wasn't like, well, I'll go down the street for a while, and let me just, I want a trial period. The grammar itself implies there was no trial period. It was once you got up and you left the table, it was done. No going back. He was quite intentional about it. In fact, he's so intentional about it that there's a gathering in verse 15, and it came to pass that as Jesus said it, meet in his house, and whether that's Jesus' house, which probably would be Peter's house, or that's Levi's house, it doesn't matter whose house it is, there's a house and there's a gathering. Many publicans and sinners, these are all the people that, these are his co-workers, if you will, his associates. And they're all gathered. I don't know if it's a goodbye party. I don't know if it's a retirement party. I don't know if it's a, hey, I want you to come and hear what happened to me kind of party. Whatever kind of party it was, there's all these people there. And he's impacted them. They're there because Levi's followed Jesus. The fact that he gets up and leaves, and I can't prove it. Is there anybody here tonight that when you heard the gospel for the very first time, I mean, there was nothing, you heard the gospel, and you got saved. Anybody like that? No, I can't raise my hand either. Because there was a process. Now there was a moment, there was a moment in time that I got saved. And that was instantaneous. But it wasn't the very first time I heard the gospel. I had to ride that Sunday school bus. week after week after week, sit in the Sunday school class, hear the junior church workers explaining the gospel, and even then, it wasn't even at church, it was a different event, after a school, I've shared my testimony before, and that's when I finally put my faith in Christ and asked Him to save me. So salvation is an instantaneous thing. but it doesn't always happen instantaneously the first time you hear it. So I wonder, on the assumption that Levi is the prodigal, and he's Jesus' cousin, and a bunch of his brothers are disciples, I just wonder if Levi, as he sits at that table of money and fish, if he's like the prodigal son, look where I'm at. I can't stand these Romans, but I'm working for them. You know, I never should have left home. I can't prove it, but I suspect that Levi's already heard Jesus speak, probably John the Baptist speak, and God's been picking at him, just like with Paul. The Lord said, it's hard for you to kick against the bricks. I think old Levi's been poked and poked and poked and poked, and he's at the point when Jesus shows up, now if it is his cousin, I just wonder, he's bent over, he's got the record books and he's counting and all of this. And next thing, Jesus is standing right there. And Levi's like, oh, it's a customer. And he's looking in the eyes of his cousin, who is the son of God. And Jesus says, follow me. And Levi knows it's now or never. It's now or never. And he says he arose and it just left, there's the piles of cash and there's the record books. He leaves it all instantly. The intentionality of Levi. But then there is the influence of others. That's the party we mentioned, and there they are. Isn't it interesting? There's the scribes and Pharisees again. They were there complaining about the miracle of the man, the paralyzed man. Here they are now. Now they're complaining about the salvation of Levi. They're just crotchety old people looking for problems. It's easy to criticize. But putting them aside, I just want you to notice that there's many there. Many publicans and sinners sat also together with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many. Now notice, Jesus says, follow me to Levi. It says that Levi arose and followed him. Because of Levi choosing to follow Jesus, there's a gathering of many, and they're introduced to Jesus on another level. He's not just the preacher down the street or the miracle worker who comes and goes, but now they're in his presence. And what happens to those people? And they followed him. You know that's what's supposed to happen? It's the people that we know When God does something in our heart and in our life and changes us, I'm pretty sure the Lord intends for us to use our influence in their lives. Paul talks about us being ambassadors, having the ministry of reconciliation, that's our responsibility. That's the people that we know, we live by, we work with, our families, friends, fellow teammates, schoolmates, whatever the case may be. We're supposed to be touching their lives. Many. Many. That quite likely, if it wasn't for Levi, that many wouldn't have been there. They'd have stayed on the edge, the crowd But it was Levi's influence that drew them to the house Makes me think of Zacchaeus Same thing happens to Zacchaeus and others that God touches their lives and that leads them to be able to touch the lives of others. And that's what the Lord wants to do through us. Through us. Nobody's hopeless. There's hope enough for everyone, amen? We sang the song, there's room at the cross for you. There's room for you. There's room for your friend. There's room for your family member. There's room for the prodigal. There's room for the town drunk. There's room for everybody at the cross. That's a great thing, isn't it? We ought to be so thankful there was room for us. We can't help but invite others to come. Father, we thank you for your love and grace. And even though tonight was brief and nothing new, just the wonderful grace of God worked in the life of Levi and then touched the lives of others. And how we ought to be open to be used by you to touch the lives of those in our life. And would you help us please?