The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1904-04-30
Copyright, 1924, By ]. 4. Edson.)

| purity of His presence and trustfully and
gladly sought His side and were taken
In His arms and received His blessing.
The Devil-posssessed were conscious
they were in the presence Of the Di-
vine Lord and Master when they came
in contact with Him. and in fear cried
out: What have we to do with Thee?"
and besought Him not to torment
them. The poor and the needy. the
sick and diseased came to Him in
their distress. confident that they
would be graciously received. And the
publicans and sinners, those who had
yielded their lives to eXtortion and
lust, and yet who had an underlined
yearning for a better. purer life, were
drawn to Jesus like the steel is drawn
to the magnet, for they instinctively
felt that here was One Who could I'M
derstand, One Who would have COM
passion on them, Opa Who would help
them.
THAT cannot be, for Jesus last mes
J. sage to His disciples was: "Lo.
am with you always" And He told them
| plainly: And I, if I be lifted up. Will
draw all men unto Me" No. Jesus is
present in the world to-day through His
Holy Spirit more fully and completely
than ever before. He is everywhere, and
the influence of His Presence is felt. He
is known to-day, as rever before, as the
Friend of sinners. Our text gives us the
picture of Jesus dining IN the home OF
a publican at Capernaum. Imagine
President Roosevelt or some other dls-
tinguished parsonage coming to your
town and becoming the willing guest OF
the most despised man in town. Jesus,
the guest of honor at the hOuse OF Mat
thew. the publican! How the news must
have spread. Jesus eating at the table
of a despised tax gatherer. But there
He was. and. praise God! there He is
! to-day, in myriads of homes where He
is needed to cleanse and save. Jesus was
in the few homes then, but o in every
land and among every people there are
the multitudes of homes where Jesus
is still the honored guest. Homes of
the despised. of the hayward and the
sinful, who turn to Him and invite Him
to come. Jesus was at Matthew's house
because he had been invited.
THE story Of this publican's CONVEX
J. sion is interesting and helpful. He
was busy gathering taxes at he time.
following the business that in that day
was dishonoring. and almost without ex-
ceptiOn dishonest. The Roman govern
ment levied the tax. deciding just how
much each province and city and village
should pour into the Golfers of the Caes-
ars. The privilege of gathering these
taxes was rented out to certain individ-
uals. The Roman government cared
nothing as to how much was collected
or in what manner the work was done,
just so long as the tax collector turned
over the stipulated sum The tax gath
erer could have as his own profit all that
was collected above the amount the Ro-
mans demanded. It can be readily seen
what corruption would prevail, and how
great temptation would come to the tax
collector to make all he could. Matthew
was one of these tax gatherers, called
publicanS. The probabilities are that
he was more honest than the rest. but
however that may be he was a publican,
and identified with that despised class.
But he met Jesus, and it wrought a rev.
olution in his life. 1t always changes a
man to meet Jesus in heart to heart con-
tact. From the first meeting with Jesus
until he was called from his tax receipts
and money drawer forever, he realized
that Jesus was his Friend. 1t made him
long for a better life. 1t made him want
to be near the Friend who had spoken
kindly and helpfully 20 him. And during
those days in which he continued to serve
as tax collector, | I'M sure he handled
the business on a higher and more hon
est basis. | am satisfied that he was
anxious to show how fairly such distaste-
full work could be administered. And
after all it is not generally the business.
but the man behind the business that is
dishonest. The vast majority of the
! commercial enterprises and businesses
of the world are honorable and neces-
sary. But the men behind the business
determine whether honest or dishonest
LuSIHOuS Sudll D0 bEIOTe meet
ing Jesus. l imagine Matthew found it an
easy thing to follow the tricks Of the
trade" and got all the tax he could.
Others did it, why should not he? But
when he met the Friend of publicans and
sinners and his conscience was awak-
ened, he felt differently about it. Day
after day as he sat there at his post. the
influence of that new Friend drew him in
thought and purpose. He wanted to be
with Him. and when the call came:
Follow Me-" he was ready to respond.
XYTHAT a friendship that was! Jesus
Wv fellowshiping with Matthew!
Sinner, think of it! Jesus your friend!
Jesus willing to be in your company, to
be guest at your home. or your COM
panion upon the street! Jesus not
ashamed of you because you are a sin
ner-perhaps the worst man in town
but Jesus loving you and eager to put
his arm around you and longing to help
youi He is not your Friend because of
what He selfshly hopes to receive from
you, but He is your Friend because of