Celebrating Conversion

The conversion of a sinner is a

cause for great joy to any Christian!

When Levi (Matthew) was converted, as the apostle Luke recorded in Luke chapter 5, he made a "great feast in his own house" - a feast made for laughter and merriment. (Ecclesiastes 10:19.)

Levi regarded the change in himself, a change brought about by the Lord Jesus, as an occasion of rejoicing, and wished others to rejoice with him. While Levi was a publican (tax-collector), he invited his co-workers who the bible also tells us were present at this feast, along with Jesus and His disciples.

The Samaritan woman at the well, if you remember, after also being encountered by Jesus, and receiving from Him, not the water from Jacob's well, but the "living water," we're told, "left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men, Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ? Then they went out of the city, and came unto him" (John 4:28-30). Brethren, we can relate to this can't we? I've been telling people about Jesus ever since He saved me, and I've seen other brothers and sisters in Christ do the same. If we have the "light of the world," then why would we ever keep it hidden under a bush? No, we must not and cannot keep the greatest news, the Gospel, hidden. We will not be ashamed! We will not keep it hidden! We will share it with others, and through the joy of our own salvation, tell others what Jesus has done for us and what He can do for others.

And yet, many who were worldly/carnal saw Levi's conversion as a cause of grief. As to be expected, the scribes and Pharisees (just like the religous/lost world) showed up and asked "why do you eat and drink with publicans sinners?" Jesus answered 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 5:30-31). You see, in the scribes and Pharisees own opinion of themselves, they were free from the disease of sin, original (born as sinners) and actual (by their thoughts, words, and deeds). And so, as it relates to the righteousness that the law of God demanded (which no man, but Jesus could keep perfecly), they actually thought of themselves as blameless. They thoughgt that they didn't need him at all, the Great Physician, Who came to cure the sickness of all souls . . . sin. So, when Jesus says that He came "not to call the righteous," such as they hypocrital scribes and Phariesses who trusted in themselves, who refused to repent and submit to the rightouesness of Christ, He's affirming His doctrine of salvation as found in Matthew 22:14: "Many are called but few are chosen." Therefore, Jesus did not associate Himself with them! Why were the scribes and Pharisees so critical and self-righteous? It was because their hearts were hardended and they "loved darkness rather than light" (John 3:19-21).These men, with the world, did not see themselves as in any need of coming to Christ. They actually believed, in their own vanity, that they had merited eternal life elsewhere. They were ignorant and arrogant of/toward Jesus, and they hated Him with their depraved and perverse hearts. They had no inclination, no desire, and no will to come to Christ, any more than power; which is an argument against, and not for the so-called free will of man, unless it be to that which is evil. The pervertedness of their wills, being in bondage to their fallen nature, could not and would not come to Jesus in their own power because there is no power in a sinner to come to Christ in/of his/her own accord. They must be drawn to Christ, by the Father, through the Holy Spirit. These scribes and Pharisess were so corrupt, even thought they had the Scriptures which testified of Christ, and pointed at Him as the way of life, that they still would not come to him for it because they had no power to do so.

In their minds, they saw Levi as giving up a profitable calling to follow a man from Nazareth. They doubtless regarded Levi's conversion as foolish, and a cause for sorrow and held him in contempt, rather than joy. They, like wordly/carnal people, only looked at his temporal losses, as they viewed it, and not at his eternal spiritual gains - something they could neither see or understand. (Isaiah 44:18; Matthew 13:3).

In 2023, there remain many more scribes and Pharisees who, like these mentioned in Scripture, upon hearing of a family member, friend, co-worker, neighbor, or even a well-known person being converted, they consider it a misfortunate thing. Instead of rejoicing, they shake their heads and roll their eyes.

Brethren in Christ, for us; however, I pray that we'll settle it in our minds that Levi was right to rejoice! If we or others we know or hear about are converted by God through Christ and His Gospel, we should rejoice! Why? It is because nothing can happen to a man, woman, boy or girl that ought to be such an occasion of great joy as his/her conversion. Conversion is salvation in Christ, and salvation in Christ is a far more important event than being married, being famous, having great wealth, being honored by men, or having worldly power - ETERNALLY greater!!!!

I'm an Atlanta Braves fan, and so is my wife. We love to go and see them play. In fact, when I asked my wife where'd she'd like to go for our 25th anniversary, rather than somewhere tropical, she said "can we go spend a few days in Atlanta so we can see the Braves play some games?" Yes, I definitely won the marriage lottery, thanks to God! Now, every time we're there, you experience great excitement when someone hits a dinger over the fence or a Brave's pitcher strikes out an opposing batter. There's great laughter and an exciting atmosphere all the way around the stadium. You'll also see the ocasional 'human wave' too so, it's just an all-around place of fun for family and friends to celebrate and enjoy the game. The sound is incredible, almost deafening at times, with the thousands of voices all chanting and celebrating their team.

But...try to imagine an infinite number of voices shouting the victory - victory in Christ - for a sinner who's been redeemed from the curse of sin, death, and hell! Jesus said that "joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance" (Luke 15:7).

Why? Because we're talking about the new birth of an immortal soul! We're talking about the rescue of a sinner from hell! We're talking about a man, woman, boy or girl's passage from death to life! We're talking about some poor sinner, like us, now being adopted by God the Father, on behalf of God the Son, being affirmed by God the Spirit, into the noblest and richest of all families for all time - the family of God!

We're not just talking about some 'nice' person who lost his/her way for a moment, but we're talking about low-down rotten sinners, enemies of God, without of God and without hope. We're talking about men, women, boys or girls under the curse of sin, on the broad road to destruction, held captive by sin and Satan, falling towards the judgment of hell who now, by God's grace, have been redeemed by the blood of Christ! (Colossians 1:18; 1 Corinthians 6:11). Glory!

So when it comes to the world's opinions or feelings on the matter of a sinner being redeemed by Christ, let us not be distracted by the world for even a second because the world's opinions have no value or meaning - none. The world, in fact, speaks evil of things which they know nothing of. (Jude 1:10). So Brethren, let us, along with Levi, consider every sinner's conversion as a cause for great rejoicing and share the news of it with others! There should never be greater joy than when our sons, daughters, spouses, family, friends, neighbors and others are born again and brought to Jesus!

The words of the prodigal's father should be remembered, "It was fit that we should make merry and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and now is alive again! He was lost and now is found." (Luke 15:32.) Amen.