“A Publican Named Levi”

    “And after these things he went forth, and saw a publican, named Levi, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he said unto him, Follow me. And he left all, rose up, and followed him. And Levi made him a great feast in his own house: and there was a great company of publicans and of others that sat down with them. But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners? And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:27-32).

    We have before us the story of an immortal soul, a man who had managed to amass a considerable measure of wealth, wealth gained, very likely, by oppression, but wealth nonetheless. Yet, this man was empty inside. He was troubled in his soul. His wealth could not buy him peace, or silence his conscience. Though he did not know it, this man was a chosen object of grace, an appointed vessel of mercy, for whom the time of love had come. Here we see him visited by the Son of God and called by his irresistible power and grace.

    This is a story which ought to be of great interest to all who know the value of their immortal souls and desire God’s salvation. These verses describe the conversion of Levi (Matthew), one of Christ’s first disciples.

    Like Levi, you and I were born in sin. Like him, we lived according to the course of this world, walked after the lusts of our flesh, and were by nature the children of wrath. “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great loved wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ” (Ephesians 2:4, 5).

    Had he not come to us, we would never have come to him. Had he not called us, we would never have called upon him. Had he not turned us, we would never have been turned. Had he not converted us by his almighty grace, we would never have been converted.

    Our Lord Jesus Christ tells us that we must be converted, or we must perish forever in hell. This conversion is God’s work. It is the turning of our souls to God. Conversion is accomplished by God the Holy Spirit turning sinners to the Saviour. He turns chosen, redeemed sinners from unbelief to faith, from rebellion to surrender, from enmity to love, from sin to righteousness, from self-righteousness to Christ. Have you been converted? Are we being converted? Is God working in us, turning us to himself? If we have been converted, we are being converted. This work of grace is not over until it is finished. Believing sinners continually cry unto the Lord for converting grace (Psalm 85:10; Jeremiah 31:18, 19; Lamentations 5:21).

    Let us see what God the Holy Spirit teaches us about conversion in the story of Levi’s conversion, as it is preserved for us by divine inspiration here in Luke’s Gospel. May he give us grace to honestly compare our own experience to Levi’s. If we are converted, the changes which were wrought in him by the grace and power of God have also been wrought in us.

    “And after these things he went forth, and saw a publican, named Levi, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he said unto him, Follow me. And he left all, rose up, and followed him” (vv. 27, 28). Here we see the power of Christ’s grace in effectual calling. Here was a publican called by the Son of God. As soon as he was called, he willingly left all and followed Christ.

    Levi is called Matthew, meaning “gift of God”, throughout the New Testament because he was given by God the Father to the Son. He was given to Christ in the covenant of grace before the world began. He is now given to Christ in saving grace (John 6:37-45). Here the Holy Spirit tells us how he received that salvation, which is the gift of God.

    Levi was a publican, a tax-collector. He was thoroughly absorbed with his good career. He thought of nothing but money, how to get it, how to spend it, and how to get more. He was not seeking the Lord. He appears not even to have any consciousness of need in his soul. There were no preparations that preceded the Saviour’s call. Levi did not first experience deep feelings of guilt, experience a great time of mourning and repentance, or even acquire great knowledge. The Saviour called; and, as the result of the Saviour’s call, Levi followed him. What grace there is here, surprising, omnipotent, free grace! He who said, “I am found of them that sought me not” (Isaiah 65:1), found Levi, and graciously caused Levi to find him by the effectual, distinguishing call of his omnipotent mercy.

    Can you imagine how utterly surprised Levi must have been on that day when grace overtook and conquered him? The fact is, God’s saving grace is always surprising in the experience of it. Here is the blessed, sovereign intervention of grace. The Lord Jesus passed by. He saw Levi; and he called him. That is the way he works yet today.

    Here is the blessed choice and decision of faith. “He left all, rose up, and followed him.” Because he followed Christ, this worthless, useless, hated man became a useful man of indescribable benefit to the souls of men. Effectual grace always produces effects in the lives of saved sinners. Levi (Matthew) wrote one of the four inspired gospel narratives known the world over. He became a blessing to millions. He left a name never to be forgotten. He was a man used of God for much good to many. As soon as the Saviour called, he obeyed. No sooner did the Lord Jesus open his heart to receive him than Levi opened his house to the Saviour; and this publican, who obtained mercy from the Lord, invited other publicans to come and find mercy also. Christ is all; and there is enough in Christ for all.

    We should never despair of any. Had we seen this man in this situation, I do not doubt that most, if not all, who read these lines would have said, “There is a man consumed with the world” and passed on, presuming that he would never come to Christ. May God the Holy Spirit keep us from such arrogant folly. None are too wicked, too hardened, too worldly, too lost to be saved by Christ. No sins are too bad, too vile, too many to be forgiven. No heart is so dead, so corrupt, so consumed with the world that it cannot be conquered by the Lion of the tribe of Judah. None are beyond the reach of God’s saving arm. “With God nothing is impossible”!

    Are you converted? Has the Lord snatched you from destruction, lifted you from the pit of corruption, raised you from the dead? Have you “left all and followed” Christ? I urge you now to come to Christ. He who called Levi is still calling sinners. There is atonement still in Christ’s precious blood. There is righteousness still in the Son of God. There is yet forgiveness with God. The Son of God still clothes naked, needy sinners with the garments of salvation.

    “And Levi made him a great feast in his own house: and there was a great company of publicans and of others that sat down with them” (v. 29). This was a feast for laughter and celebration (Ecclesiastes 10:19). Levi regarded his conversion as a matter of great joy. He wanted others to rejoice with him in what he had experienced; and he wanted others to know the grace he knew, the Christ he knew, the God he knew. No doubt, many of his friends looked upon his conversion as a thing to be pitied; but Levi knew he had reason to celebrate!

    There is not a higher day, a day more to be celebrated, a day more to be remembered than the day of grace. Graduation, marriage, the birth of a child, all pale compared to this. When God saves a sinner, when a lost soul is converted to Christ, it is the birth of a soul, the rescue of a sinner, the pardon of a condemned prisoner, the opening of the prison doors, the coronation of a king, the making of a priest, the adoption of a son, the forgiveness of all sin, the bestowing of righteousness and the acceptance of a sinner.

    This sinner, converted and saved by the grace of God, was concerned for the souls of others. He wanted others to be converted and saved by grace. So when he made his party, he invited a great company of publicans and sinners to come. He knew what their souls needed and did what he could to meet the need. J. C. Ryle rightly observed …

    “It may be safely asserted that there is no grace in the man who cares nothing about the salvation of his fellow men. The heart which is really taught by the Holy Spirit will always be full of love, charity, and compassion. The soul which has been truly called of God will earnestly desire that others may experience the same calling.”

    He went to great expense and trouble to get his lost friends into the company and presence of Christ the Saviour. Saved sinners are never content to go to heaven alone. The expense of providing such a large, lavish feast for a huge number of guests (as the word “feast” implies) was great. It appears that Levi considered no cost too great to get sinners in the company of the Saviour. May God give us each the grace to use our place, our property and our possessions for the everlasting benefit of immortal souls. Having received mercy, we ought to make it our business to show others the mercy, love and grace of God in Christ.

    Perhaps, you think, “What can I do?” Do what you can to bring Christ to sinners and sinners to Christ. As Moses said to Hobab, you can say to others, “Come thou with us, and we will do thee good” (Numbers 10:29). As the Samaritan woman said to the men of the city, you can say to those around you, “Come see a man who told me all things that ever I did. Is not this the Christ?” You can say to your family what Andrew said to his brother, Peter, “We have found the Christ.”

    “But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners?” (v. 30). They are hardly worth mentioning, but since they are barely mentioned by Luke, I will barely mention them, too. If you seek to walk with God and serve the souls of men, you will have plenty of people around to find fault with what you do. I recommend that you handle critics the way Levi did. Do not handle them. Leave it to the Lord Jesus to handle them as he will.

    “And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (vv. 31, 32).

    “What a lovely view,” says Robert Hawker, “to behold the Great Redeemer, encircled at Matthew’s table, with Publicans and Sinners! The murmuring of the Pharisees is just as might be expected, and such as hath marked Pharisees in all ages. But what a lovely answer the Lord gave to the charge. The very character of Christ, as the Physician of the Soul, naturally led him to haunts of sickness, for the exercise of his profession. And by referring them to that memorable passage in the prophet (Hosea 6:6). Jesus took the words as applicable to himself in confirmation of his office Jehovah-Rophe, I am the Lord that healeth thee (Exodus 15:26).”

    The Lord Jesus Christ came to call sinners to repentance. None but sinners will come to Christ. And every sinner who comes to Christ is received by him. The only way we can come to Christ (walk with him in faith) is as sinners in need of mercy (Colossians 2:6).