The Conversion at the Toll-Booth
r 1 1HERE are very few startling religious experiences recorded in the New Testament. There is, indeed, one case of awakening which has much that was dramatic in it — the case of the jailer at Philippi. There was one most extraordinary conversion, as by a lightning flash, on the highway to Damascus. Paul was the most extraordinary human character in the Early Church. His regeneration was accompanied by some wonderful phenomena. But, if there had been no other awakenings recorded except the one by an earthquake, and no other conversions recorded except the one by a “light from Heaven” and a supernatural voice, we ordinary people might be perplexed and discouraged. We might be left to wait — and to wait in vain for something “sensational” to come upon us. Instead of that, we find that the spiritual transformations described in the New Testament were commonly produced in the most quiet, normal way — by calm appeals to the reason and the conscience.
The direct appeals made by our Lord and Saviour were eminently of that character. When Lot was to be hurried out of Sodom, threatened with a shower of fire, it was well that the Heaven-sent messenger should lay hands on him and urge him to “escape for his life!” But we do not read that Jesus Christ was accustomed to walk through the streets of Capernaum and Jerusalem shouting to tte people: “Escape for your lives!” He fully realized the guilt and the dangers of the unconverted around him; yet he knew the best way to reach these unconverted sinners — by calmly addressing their reason, their moral sense, and their affections. He convicted the erring woman of Sychar by applying the truth to her conscience. He reached Zaccheus by a personal kindness to him — by going to dine with him, even though he was an unpopular publican. His usual formula was a very short and simple one. It consisted of two words: “Follow me”, This brief formula he used in the cases of Andrew, of Philip, of Peter, of the two sons of Zebedee, and it is quite probable that the same words were addressed to the other apostles. We are not informed that the spiritual change wrought in any of the twelve disciples was accompanied by any powerful emotional agitation, either of deep distress or of sudden ecstasy. It is only in modern days that the idea has been held forth that a true change of heart and life must be evidenced by pungent distress, followed by a rapturous relief. Many a genuine conversion has been attended by the anguish of deep conviction and the rapture of a sudden joy, but we doubt whether a majority of the best Christians now living had precisely this experience. For a sinner to wait for such an experience or to demand it from God before he will obey the divine voice is both madness and presumption.
There is one case of conversion narrated in the Bible which is peculiarly instructive and encouraging to what Abraham Lincoln used to call “the plain people.” The man who was converted was not a genius; but one of ordinary natural abilities. He was not a comet but a very steady and modest fixed star. The most remarkable thing about him was that he belonged to a very odious order of men — the tax collectors for the Roman masters of Palestine. So keenly were Jewish patriotism and religion wounded by the foreign domination of the Csesars that every penny paid to a publican was paid with a grudge and a growl. The Jews had a proverb:” Take not a wife out of the family where there is a publican, for they are all publicans.77
One day Jesus, in the course of his walk from Capernaum by the sea-side, came across one of these detested publicans, sitting under his toll-booth. The toll-booth was a sort of
Oriental custom-house. Not a permanent building, but a mere shed or booth by the road-side. The one near Capernaum must have been at the junction of the roads leading to several important towns. The customs collector who sat there waiting for tribute was a Jew. His name, “Levi,” marks his nationality. His father’s name was Alpheus. Our Lord must have seen something in that man who sat at the toll-booth which made him the man for His purpose. The fact that his business was unpopular constituted no bar in the way of that unworldly Messiah, who could “evoke a Christian holiness out of the midst of heathen corruption.” Jesus was probably no stranger to Levi. The wondrous miracles of Jesus must have reached the publican’s ear; perhaps some of the divine words of Jesus also. Levi was waiting for’ the call. It came in the most simple and intelligible language: “Follow me.” This showed that Christ loved him and wanted him. This appeal was enough to kill his covetousness and to change the current of his life. He “left all, rose up, and followed him” — touched by the electric finger of a forgiving and renewing grace. From* that time onward he is known as “Matthew,” which signifies “a gift of God.”
What did Matthew leave? Certainly not his property, immediately, for we find him giving an hospitable entertainment to Jesus at his house. He left his old calling, with all its odious profits. He left his old spiritual errors. He left his sinful, worldly life behind. He found instead of these, a new calling. His knowledge of the art of writing he consecrated afterward to the preparation of that first “Gospel” which bears his name. He found peace of conscience. He found a field of holy and honored toil in the new kingdom. He found a Friend. He found an everlasting inheritance among the saints in light and glory.
Unconverted reader, don’t you think that was a wise choice made that day at the toll-booth? Could you make a better one than he made? Imagine what would have been Matthew’s future if he had said “no,” instead of “yes,” at the toil -booth. Who would have ever heard of him? Some one else might have stood where he stands, in the golden portals of the New Testament: but it would not have been Matthew the Apostle.
Remember, too, that the publican was a plain, e very-day man, working on in an even, level line of service. He was not an extraordinary character, nor was he converted amid a convulsion of excitement. He did not wait for a Pentecost. All the more is his case a model for your imitation. You are not an extraordinary character, and there may be no unwonted revival influence striking in upon you. Most of the converts in the New Testament came into Christ’s kingdom without such external pressure. Certainly, Matthew was in the ordinary attitude of his e very-day life. And right there, under the influence of the divine call, he decided for Christ. So can you. He acted from motives, not transient impulse. His reason was convinced; his conscience was in the step. Christ’s love awakened love in him. These are all vital points in solid, enduring conversions. And there is nothing in the world but your own stubborn, foolish, selfish will that keeps you from having the precious gift of life — life everlasting — which Matthew that day accepted. You are only required to give up what is wrong. You are only commanded to do what is right. You are to give up living for yourself, and begin to live for God, which means, also, to live for the good of others. You must quit your besetting sins. And do it voluntarily. The publican “rose up.” This implies immediate action. It was now or never with him. So must you act with prompt obedience. He did the first thing Jesus bade him do. Are you willing to do as much? If not, you are deciding against Christ, and that means death!
The chief thing which Matthew did was to “follow” Jesus. He did not lead or dictate. He had no track of his own, but chose to walk in Christ’s. Precisely so must it be with you, if you would attain the Christian’s peace, the Christian’s power, the Christian’s hope, and the Christian’s heaven. Christ goes before you. Follow him. He gives you his Word. Study and obey it. Do not linger at your toll-booth of a selfish, guilty, worldly life. Death will find you there by and by, and cut you down in your sins. Then comes the judgment. Up to that hour at the toll-booth Levi’s life was chaff; thenceforth it was wheat. The chaff was for the burnings; the wheat went into the garner. Your life, out of Christ, is chaff; it will go into the flames of hell. Obey Jesus, follow him, and your remaining life will be golden grain for the harvest of heaven. Will you?