The Disciple from the IRS

0:43 Turn in your Bibles, please, to the Gospel of Mark. Since you're following Jesus, we want you to follow along in your Bibles in the second chapter of the Gospel of Mark. We're going to be in this book for a while. We've been in it a couple months already at least. And so you can tell by the pace we're at, we're going to be in it for a while. But I think there's no better way to spend one's time than deeply studying the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. So we're going to be doing that and are doing that in the gospel of Mark. Let's pray together. Father, we want to pause to invite your Holy Spirit to speak to us, to rearrange and redirect our thinking and our living. So we give you permission. We place our bodies before you as living sacrifices. We pray, Lord, that we would be renewed in our thinking and thus in our lifestyle. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. There was a father and a son at a restaurant, and the father cried out, help somebody. My son just swallowed a quarter, and he was choking.

2:02 So a man in the booth next door walked over quickly, as if rehearsed even, took the young boy and just squeezed from behind him appropriately and out popped the quarter onto the floor. The man who had done that reached down, picked up the quarter, put it in his own pocket and sat down. The father went over to thank the man who had performed this duty and said, I just got to ask not only thank you, but would you be a paramedic by any chance? Because this was effortless to you?" And the man smiled and said, no, I work for the IRS. we are about to study about a man who worked for the IRS by the name of Matthew. He is called Levi in the story, but he was the local tax man. Now, the United States tax code I discovered this week is, you ready for this, 70,000 pages long. 70,000 pages long. And in those 70,000 pages of the U.S. tax code, there are 4.3 million words. I want you to get that in perspective.

3:28 The entire King James Bible is about 780,000 words. The U.S. tax code is like five times longer than the biblical text. I also discovered this week, according to one source, no human has actually read. and fully understood the United States tax code. It's a very complex system. You probably didn't know this, but the IRS started during the Civil War by President Abraham Lincoln. he initiated the irs to recoup the cost of the civil war and principally to fund the northern the union army well after the war ended 10 years later the irs was repealed but you know how governments work in 1913 it was declared legal once again and it has been in place ever since. I heard about one guy who wrote to the IRS asking them to take him off their mailing list. I don't think that worked. Taxation has a long and ancient history.

4:48 The earliest records we have, 3000 BC from ancient Egypt is the earliest recorded tax system. now taxes get weird there are they are weird many of them but they get weird from place to place and time to time and they they have their oddities for example in the first century the Roman Emperor Vespasian put a tax on urine I know you're thinking did he just say that in church but he did. Roman Emperor Vespasian taxed urine because it was collected as a source of ammonia for laundry and tanning leather. Yeah, no. In 1705, the Russian Emperor Peter the Great taxed beards. beards. Men that had beards were taxed. He wanted to modernize his country with the clean-shaven modern look of Western Europe. And so if a man shaved his beard, he was given a beard receipt.

5:57 In 17th century Britain, there was a window tax. And they reasoned, the government reasoned, that the wealthier people had larger homes with more windows, so they would be taxed more. Well, what ended up happening is poor people started boarding up their windows or bricking up their windows so they wouldn't have to pay the taxes, and they ended up with very dark, poorly ventilated homes, which created health hazards. In 1695, Britain taxed bachelors. You know, the British love to tax, and they still do. The British taxed bachelors over the age of 25. This was to incentivize marriage and to boost their population. Now, I cannot think of a single country, a single culture, a single nation that enjoys being taxed. In fact, if you have ever gotten a letter from the IRS. I'm guessing when you look at it, you don't get the same fuzzy feelings you get as when you get a Christmas card. Am I right? In fact, something in the pit of your stomach arise and you go, am I being audited? It's never welcomed. Nobody loves tax collectors, except for one. He's the one we're about to read about. His name is Jesus.

7:22 And he loved Matthew, this tax collector. And that is saying something as we're about to discover. His name in the text is Levi. His other name that we know him by is Matthew. All three synoptic gospels have this story of Jesus calling Matthew. He is the fifth disciple Jesus calls. He first called Peter and then Andrew and said, follow me, I'll make you fishers of men, then James and John, and now Matthew. And the reason the call of Matthew is included in three of the four gospels is because it was a shock to most everyone of that era, and I'll explain why. Of all the people you would expect to get religion, it would not be Matthew, the tax collector. Let's begin in verse 13 of chapter 2.

8:19 Then he, Jesus, went out again by the sea, Sea of Galilee, and all the multitude came to him, and he taught them. As he passed by, he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting at the tax office, and he said to him, follow me. So he arose and followed him. Now it happened, as he was dining in Levi's house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many, and they followed him. And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to his disciples, how is it that he eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners. When Jesus heard it, he said to them, 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. Now get the flow of the text. It says in verse 13 that he went out again by the sea.

9:36 He went out from where? He went out from the house he was in in the previous verses. Remember, he was in Peter's house, Peter and Andrew's house. It was a large crowd pressing together. It was so crowded that those four guys had to open up the roof to let down their friend who was a paralytic. After that healing, Jesus went out from there and went out to the Sea of Galilee. Not to get away from people, but to allow for more people to get around him without the constraint of four walls. And he did what he always did with people. He taught them. He gave truth to them. He preached the gospel to them. Then, verse 14, as he passed by, now he's back in town in Capernaum from the preaching at the Sea of Galilee, and he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting in the tax office. Now, what I'd like to do is give you four features of this encounter that Jesus has with Levi Matthew. And I want to give you four items to make a note of. First of all, his profession, his profession. He is called a tax collector. He is sitting in the tax office. His name is Levi. Let me give you a few facts.

10:56 Fact number one, he's Jewish. With a name like Levi, you got to be Jewish. Levi was the head of the tribe of Levi. He was one of the sons of Jacob by his wife, Leah. He is called Levi the son of Alphaeus, and because the father is named, we presume that his name at birth, his original name was Levi. And I'm going to venture a guess that perhaps he was even a Levite. that he was named after the head of his own tribe, which was very common practice. And the reason I kind of lean to him being a Levite, even though I can't prove it, is that in the Gospel of Matthew, Matthew quotes the Old Testament more than any of the other gospel writers, which shows he had a working knowledge of Scripture, probably growing up with that knowledge. So it could be then that Levi Matthew is from the priestly tribe, that he was destined to become a priest, but he really backslid. Because you don't get more opposite of the priesthood than a tax collector. He was a renegade priest who became a tax collector.

12:21 Now, because he was a tax collector, he was hated by everybody. And you need to know that tax collectors were classed together with robbers, murderers, prostitutes, swindlers, lowlife, scum. Why? Well, just like we have a complicated tax system, the Romans also had one. I'm going to show you why. First of all, they collected what is called the poll tax. The poll tax was collected by every male who was age 14 to age 65. If there was a female, that began at age 12 to age 65. This is the tax for being alive. This is just for breathing air.

13:16 You got a heartbeat, you pay the poll tax. On top of the poll tax, you would be charged by the Roman government an income tax, a flat 1% of your annual income. On top of that, there were taxes like import taxes. You have goods brought in from elsewhere, you pay a tax on those goods, like we do today. If you send stuff out to a country, you have to pay an export tax. On top of all those, there was the ground tax. The ground tax was one-tenth of all grain, like wheat and barley, and one-fifth of all wine, oil, and fruit. On top of those was the fish tax. If you live by the ocean, the Mediterranean, or the Sea of Galilee, like Capernaum, you were charged tax per fish cot. Not only per fish cot, but per net cot. Then, because you have to transport those fish on a cart, you were charged, you can guess it, a cart tax. And the Romans assessed the cart by the number of wheels on the cart. So if you had four wheels on a cart because you had a hallmore, you were charged more tax. Three wheels, you get charged less. So the wheelbarrow is your friend, right? One wheel. Carry as much as you can with one wheel, you'd be taxed less. Then there were separate taxes for things like using roads, docking your boat in a harbor, or crossing a bridge. Now, when I read all this, my mind went back to the 1960s, a song by the Beatles called Tax Man. Anybody ever heard that song, Tax Man?

15:01 So a member of the Beatles, George Harrison, wrote that song in protest to the British government, taxing him 95% of his income went to taxes at that time. 95%. He was in that tax bracket. And so he wrote the song and some of the lyrics are, should 5% appear too small, be thankful I don't take it all. if you drive a car, I'll tax the street. If you try to sit, I'll tax your seat. If you get too cold, I'll tax the heat. And if you take a walk, I'll tax your feet because I'm the tax man. And that's what Matthew was. Matthew was the tax man. here's why he was so hated not only for all those taxes but the method of roman taxation was done by what they called tax farming they sold a franchise to people to collect the tax just like you'd buy a mcdonald's franchise or a chick-fil-a franchise you bought the right to have the restaurant you had to first of all be wealthy because once you became a tax collector through tax farming, you would become uber wealthy. And here's why.

16:20 the Roman government wanted the tax collector to deliver to them a specified amount at the end of the year, but they could charge anything above and beyond that specified amount and keep it for themselves. And there's no internet. There's no, there's no method of communication to know what is fair and not fair. So whatever the tax collector could get from you, he would keep himself above and beyond what Rome demanded. So basically, a tax collector was a trained extortioner, and he was hated by everyone, including Roman citizens. One Roman writer said, I have never seen a monument to an honest tax collector.

17:10 Jewish tax collectors were even more hated. Why? Because they are collaborating with the enemy. They have joined the oppressor class, and they are oppressing us as our brother. The Jewish Mishnah said, even the touch of a tax collector will render a house unclean. Tax collectors were barred from the synagogue. They couldn't go to church. They were barred from serving as a judge. They were barred from being a witness in a court case. and Matthew was one of them, which means Matthew was one of the most well-known, notorious, infamous, and most hated individuals in the city of Capernaum, and that's important to the rest of the story. When he set up shop, he set up shop on a road called the Via Maris. I'm going to show you a marker. That is an actual mile marker of the Via Maris taken in the city of Capernaum there to this day. The via maris is a word that means words that mean the way of the sea. It ran along the Mediterranean Sea and connected Egypt to Damascus to Mesopotamia. When you travel on that road, you go through Capernaum and Matthew was there with a smile on his face to be the tax man collecting your taxes. Now, Matthew would have known about Jesus. In fact, Matthew would have heard Jesus. This is well after Jesus has been there for many months. He set up headquarters in Capernaum. Matthew would have known about Jesus. He knew that Jesus healed a demonized man in the synagogue. He knew that Jesus healed a paralytic. And he probably leaned in from the outskirts of the crowd to listen to the sermon on the mount itself. And his heart stirred within him as he heard his words. That's his profession. That's who he is. Let's look at a second feature,

19:20 and that is his invitation. That is the invitation given to him by Jesus. Verse 14, as he passed by, he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting at the tax office. And he said to him, here's the invitation, very, very short. Follow me. when Jesus said follow me I am pretty convinced that that sent shock waves to the entire crowd why because no respected rabbi would ever invite somebody like Matthew to be a part of his group you want to stay away from people like this you don't want to you don't want people like that around you. Bad PR. Ancient rabbis said that it was okay to lie to tax collectors because they were outside the boundaries of justice. If a Jewish man became a tax collector, he was immediately stripped of his status, his status being a friend of Israel, a haver. He would be stripped of that status, excommunicated from fellowship, and treated as a spiritual backslider, persona non grata.

20:40 And you'll recognize that language even from the words of Jesus when in Matthew 18, remember he said, if your brother sins against you, you go to him, try to make it right. If he doesn't listen to you, bring somebody with you. If he doesn't listen to you guys, you tell it to the church. If he doesn't listen to the church, he shall be to you as a heathen and a tax collector. That's how they were viewed, an outsider, persona non grata. But Jesus stops, gives him an invitation. To an outsider, he says, be an insider. Join my intimate group of followers. Follow me. Same invitation that he gave to Peter, Andrew, James, and John. Now I want you to look at something in verse 14.

21:34 As he passed by, he saw Levi. Just muse on that. He saw Levi. I know what it means. He means this in a literal sense. His eyes fell upon him. But I also think he means this in a deeper sense. He saw him. We even use that term today, right? I see you. I acknowledge who you are. This is more than observation. It's as if he's saying, I see you, Levi. I know your heart longs for more. I know you're ready for change. Obviously, he's ready for change because all Jesus has to say is, follow me. He didn't give a long, I mean, begin in Genesis and explain. He just says, follow me. and boom, he followed him. He was ready for change. Now, I said that Matthew knew Jesus, knew who he was. He had heard him. He had seen him. But what Matthew knew about Jesus pales in comparison to what Jesus knew about Matthew.

22:42 What did Jesus know about Matthew? Everything. Everything there is to know. He is omniscient. And we already know he knows what people are thinking. So he knew everything. He saw into his heart. He saw the guilt and misery that Matthew was carrying. And he knows Matthew was ready to repent. Okay, now.

23:06 Matthew records this story a little bit differently. And I want you to know about it. You see, Mark and Luke say that Jesus saw Levi sitting at the tax office. Matthew writes saying when he saw Matthew sitting at the tax office. So if his birth name was Levi, he's been given a second name, Matthew. Where does he get that name? I don't know. He could have renamed himself. I mean, if your name is Levi and you're known as Levi, the tax collector of Capernaum, you want to get away from that as quick as you can, come up with another name. or and here's my guess i think jesus renamed him that's my guess that's my conviction and the reason i say that is jesus liked to rename people he did it a lot he did it with simon what did what did he call him peter simon means hearing jesus knew he's not really good at that so he names him rocky right? Peter, Petras, a little tiny pebble. James and John were known as the sons of Zebedee.

24:22 Jesus renames them. Anybody know? Sons of thunder, because they wanted to nuke the Samaritans. So sort of a tongue-in-cheek sons of thunder, not sons of Zebedee. So he liked to rename people. the word Matthew means the gift of God the gift of God that's how Jesus saw him Jesus knew that he could take a grifter and make him into a gift so he renames him he sees him differently that's what God does by the way remember remember the prophet Samuel he was looking for the new king and he went to the house of Jesse and goes through all the sons? And God says, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope. And then finally, God says, look, God does not see as man sees. Man looks at the outward appearance. God looks at the heart.

25:19 He saw Levi. He saw Levi. Andrew Carnegie, I don't know if you've heard that name. Andrew Carnegie came to America from Scotland as a young boy. He worked odd jobs in this country. Eventually, he became the largest steel manufacturer of his day. And at one point, Andrew Carnegie had 43 millionaires working for him. 43 millionaires working for him. So a reporter came by and asked him how he managed to hire 43 millionaires. And Carnegie explained, well, they weren't millionaires when they started. They became millionaires as a result. And so the next question, you could guess what that would be. Well, how did you develop them so they become so valuable that you pay them that much? And this is his answer. Men are developed the same way gold is mined. When you mine gold, Several tons of dirt have to be removed to get an ounce of gold.

26:31 But you don't go into the mine looking for dirt. You go in looking for gold. He saw Levi. He's looking for gold. He's willing to take out the dirt to get the gold. He knows what Levi Matthew can become by his grace. What did he become? Author of the Gospel of Matthew. disciple follower of Jesus in the 12, missionary to Persia, missionary to Ethiopia, missionary to Syria. That's what he would become. The third feature of this encounter is the decision, Matthew's decision. So he passed by, saw Levi, son of Alphaeus, sitting in the tax office. He said to him, follow me, two words. Here it is. Here it is. So he arose and followed him. See, his heart was ready. His heart had been yearning for an invitation like this. He'd been listening and watching Jesus for weeks, for months. All it took is a simple invitation to activate this decision. It was like the key that unlocked his heart.

27:46 never underestimate the power of a simple invitation. Hey, come with me to church next week. I'll pick you up on the way. Hey, come to freedom celebration, simple invitation. A while back, somebody walked up to me on a Wednesday night before the service had begun. He was in our worship team. He had a cell phone and he was on Snapchat. Now I've heard of that, but I've never used it. But he's using it. He goes, hey, I'm on Snapchat. I want you to invite my friend to church on Snapchat. So I gave his name. I forget what it was. And I invited him to church. At the end of that service, his friend had gotten the invitation and showed up and he was at church. So what it showed me is that was pretty simple. It was very, very simple to do. the institute of american church growth asked 10 000 churchgoers this question what is responsible for your coming to christ and coming to this church two percent said they had a special need three percent said they just walked in six percent said they liked the minister that's not very many 1% said they were just visiting 5% said they liked Sunday school one half of 1% attended a special event 3% said they liked the programs 79% said I'm here because somebody invited me to come that's almost 80% 80% of the people showed up because somebody invited him. So Jesus invited him. And so he arose and followed him. Now we read that and we don't get what that means. So Luke adds a detail that I want you to hear. Luke's telling of this story, Luke chapter 5, a little more dramatic. Luke says this, so he left everything

29:53 behind. He left everything behind, rose and began to follow him. Now listen, of all the 12 disciples, Matthew had more to give up in terms of material wealth. He was wealthy to begin with, to buy the franchise, to tax people. He had made money off the backs of people for years. He was uber wealthy. He left everything and followed him. Also, once Matthew leaves this post, there's no coming back to this post. The way Rome figured it is if you leave your post in the Roman government of taxation, we can't trust you going forward. You lose your trust with us because first of all, they look for cutthroat people to do the job. And if you walk away, your Roman bosses would never trust you again. I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back. No turning back. The cross before me, the world behind me, no turning back. There was no turning back for this guy. You know, if you're a fisherman and you follow Jesus, you could always go back to fishing. Peter did after the resurrection. He goes, I'm going fishing.

31:14 Matthew can't wake up when they go, I'm going to be a tax collector again. No turning back. He was all in, all in. Follow me. Boom. Put it down completely, 100%. I've been to India, I think five times. The first or second, I believe the first trip I was there, I met a young, vibrant Indian man who was a servant of the Lord, and I asked him to tell me his testimony. I said, tell me about your parents. He goes, I haven't seen my parents for maybe 20 years. I go, really? What happened? He goes, well, the night I gave my life to Christ, he said, my dad came at me with a knife to kill me because I had left Hinduism and gave my life to Christ. So he wanted to kill me, sacrifice me right then and there. So I fled. I had to run away from home that night, and I haven't been back since. No turning back. No turning back. So Matthew left everything to follow Jesus. But all that power, all that pleasure, all that money had lost its grip. If you were to ask Matthew, you're giving up so much, he would go, are you kidding?

32:35 I'm giving up nothing for everything. because the Bible says, if any man is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things pass away. All things become new. That's his decision. Now, the fourth and final feature of this encounter is the best part, the celebration, the party. Verse 15 says, now it happened. I like this. As he was dining in Levi. Hey, Jesus, come over to my house. Okay. That many tax collectors and sinners, just all the riffraff, also sat together with Jesus and his disciples. For there were many, and I love this, and they followed him. And when the scribes and the Pharisees saw him eating with tax collectors and sinners, they said to his disciples, how is it that he eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners? When Jesus heard it, he said to them, 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. What is this? This is a farewell dinner. This is Matthew's attempt to share his faith, to share his Christ with his friends. That's the natural reflex of a saved soul.

34:10 The natural reflex of a saved soul is to show appreciation to the one who saved you and get as many people in your circle as possible to hear that message. So this is Matthew doing evangelism the way he knows. Have a party at my house. It must have been a large sprawling house. So he invites all of the lost boys of Capernaum, all the unsavory characters, the other tax collectors, the sideline professions like prostitutes, gamblers, etc. They're all there, and they're hanging out with Jesus because he's the only friend of sinners that they've ever seen. There's a pattern I often see and have been guilty of. We get saved and then we start separating.

35:04 Now, that's a good thing. You want to be different and separate from the world in a sense. What it means is we're saved, but then we want to seek out people who are just like us. and what happens is over time we get fewer and fewer unbelievers in our lives so we attend bible studies that are 100 christian prayer meetings that are 100 christian we pray play pickleball with christians we eat dinner with christians we go to christian doctor and christian plumber and christian veterinarian we have christian dogs Thank you. no disrespect if your dog's a Christian. But remember what Jesus said when he prayed to the Father? He said, my prayer is not that you take these, my disciples, out of this world,

35:59 but that you just keep them, preserve them from the evil one. some Christians want to isolate themselves from the world or if not isolate at least insulate themselves from what they're exposed to if not insulate then vegetate just be apathetic toward them oh they're going to hell yeah whatever their choice this. worse yet, they try to imitate the world. I want to show the world that I'm as cool as they are, so they'll like me. They won't. They won't. What we should be doing is not to insulate, not to isolate, not to vegetate, not to imitate, but to permeate.

36:56 To permeate, to be light in darkness, to be salt in the corruption. to interface with them, to have dinner with them, to engage in conversations with them, to invite them in to our circle. That's what Matthew does. So he invites all these unsavory characters and they follow Jesus. But there's somebody else here at this party. Who is it?

37:22 Pharisees, right? Every party needs a pooper. And so they invite the Pharisees. Actually, they're not invited, but they came. Now, here's what I'm thinking happened. They overheard Jesus at the tax booth say to this scum of the earth, follow me as a disciple. And he gets up, takes him to his house. The Pharisees tag along. Now, they won't go inside because that would be to defile themselves in the home of a tax collector. But the way the Middle Eastern homes were set, they could be outside. The windows had no glass. They could just see the crowd on the inside from the outside having a meal. And so they are spouting off criticisms from the outside to the disciples sitting on the inside. Why did your master eat with tax collectors and sinners? That's what's happening here. That's how they did evangelism. The way they did evangelism is they were finger pointers. The way they did evangelism is they were fault finders, sin sniffers, pointing at all the bad people around them, denouncing them. Henry Drummond said, how many prodigals were kept out of the kingdom of God by those unlovely characters who profess to be inside. Pharisees. So Jesus answers the very simple medical metaphor. Hey, sick people need a doctor.

38:59 Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. If you feel great, are you going to go to urgent care? Even if you didn't feel great, it's going to take five hours to get in. You'll end up feeling worse. No, the Pharisees would be quick to say that this crowd of tax collectors and sinners, that they were spiritually sick. And so here's Jesus saying, you're right, because they are sick, they need a doctor. And I'm the great physician. And by the way. I make house calls. That's why I'm here. I make house calls. The gospel isn't for good people. It's for bad people who know they're bad. It's for people who admit they're sick. A lot of us don't admit we're sick. Most people don't admit they're sick. The Pharisees didn't admit that they were sick. But these tax collectors and these sinners did. And because of that, Jesus was willing to mine for gold, take them as they are, bring them on the inside, transform their lives, and give them as a gift to the world. Let me end with this fun story, true story, by the way. Centuries ago, don't put that picture up yet, wait till the very end. Centuries ago, there was a large block of marble hewn out of a quarry in the hills of Italy, the famous Carrara quarries. It was shipped to Florence for all the artists to examine to see if they wanted to make their next work of art.

40:42 So the great artist of Florence looked it over and one by the name of Donatello, not the Ninja Turtle, the Italian artisan. Donatello looked at it and rejected it. He said, nope, I see a flaw running through the entirety of the marble block. So he rejected it. And artist after artist rejected it. But one came along by the name of Michelangelo. And this is what he said. He said, I'll take it. And he said, I see an angel trapped inside, and I must set it free. He looked past the flaw to the finished product that he could see in his mind. And he made this. His most famous sculptor ever, the sculpture of David, which still stands in the city of Florence. You know, all of us have flaws running through us. God is willing to take you as you are, but you should know he won't leave you the way you are.

41:44 but he knows what you can become by his grace. Paul said, we are his workmanship, work of art, literally created in Christ Jesus for good works. When he saves people, he doesn't just put people in a Bible study. I'm going to save you and just make you just, just read that book from now on. And that's all you do. He's going to change the way you think and live and do life. He's going to transform you and make you valuable. That's what he's about. And that's what he did with Matthew. This is his personal testimony, the personal testimony of Levi Matthew, changed by his grace. Let's pray. Thank you, Lord, for the work that you do in the lives of those who respond to your invitation.

42:48 and your invitation is stated in scripture, behold, I stand at the door and I knock. If any man will open the door, I will come in and have fellowship with him and he with me. Lord, I can't help but think that you are knocking at more hearts this morning. You are saying to some who have come, maybe by an invitation of a friend or relative, or out of curiosity, you're saying, follow me. Follow me. And like Matthew, I pray that some will arise and follow you. Say yes to the Savior. keep your heads bowed, your eyes closed for a moment. I'm going to leave mine open because I want to watch this and I want to acknowledge you. If you are here today and you've never put your faith and trust in God by receiving his son Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you've never made a conscious decision to be a disciple of Christ. I'm not asking if you've ever had an intellectual agreement that there is a God or that Jesus existed, but you're not following him, but you're willing to do that today.

44:11 If you're willing to say yes to him like Matthew did, I want you to just raise your hand up and keep it up in the air just for a moment. Raise it up high enough. Keep it up. God bless you. Over to my right, right up here in the front. Who else? a couple of you right over here on my right.

44:32 Just raise your hand up high enough so I can see it. If you're outside, raise your hand up. There's a pastor out there who'll just shout it out and acknowledge you. That's all we're doing. Who else? Anybody else? Doesn't matter where you are, even in the family room. Just raise that hand up.

44:53 God bless you. Father, thank you for this act of faith, this acknowledgement of I need more in my life. I need more than I've already experienced. I need a Savior who will accept me the way I am, take me the way I am, and then change me into something that I am not. a living, fruitful child of God. Thank you for each one. Strengthen each one. In Jesus' name, amen. Now I'm going to ask everybody to stand up on our feet to make movement easier. If you raise your hand, this is where I get bold. This is where you get bold. I'm going to ask you to do what Matthew did. Get up from where you are and come right up to the front here. And when you're all up front, I'm going to lead you in a prayer to make Jesus Christ the head, the king, the ruler of your life. If you raise your hand, get up from where you're standing and come stand right up here. Just come on. Come on right now. If you're in the family room, come through those doors. If you're outside, come to the inside. If you're in the back, come on up to the front. Come stand right up here.

46:14 Lord bless you. Yes, yes, yes. Good. Now for those of you who have come forward, I'm going to lead you in a prayer. And I'd like you to pray this prayer out loud after me.

47:16 I want you to say these words from your heart. Okay? Say these words from your heart. Come on up. Come on through. Thank you. Yeah. Say this. Say, Lord, I give you my life. I know I'm a sinner. Please forgive me. I believe in Jesus, that he died for me, and that he rose again. I turn from my sin. I repent. I turn to Jesus. as Savior and Lord. Give me the strength to follow you today and every day.

48:11 It's in Jesus' name I pray. Amen.