Transcript
Speaker: Well, good morning. Would you turn with me to Luke chapter 19, Luke chapter 19.
Speaker: I do encourage you, if you have not voted, to pray, then to vote, then pray again. And ask God to lead us as a nation. I was deeply relieved when I heard that song that everybody stayed on point that it's about Zacchaeus.
Speaker: I could hear in my head, Victor Lewis was a wee little man. I was thinking, Lord, don't take it in that direction. Anyway, you were gracious there. Jesus was on a journey in this passage in Luke 19, verses 1 through 10.
Speaker: He was on a journey to Jerusalem He was going atone for your sins, for my sins, for all the world's sins. Just think about where he was headed. And in chapter 18 and chapter 19, we keep seeing Jesus have these personal encounters with certain individuals on the way chapter 18 and chapter 19. For example, you remember we watched in chapter 18, verses 18 through 30, Jesus as jesus lovingly And truthfully, such balance there, lovingly and truthfully reached out to a young man searching for eternal life.
Speaker: He did not know for certain that he had eternal life. Do you know for certain that if you were to die today, that you would go to be with the Lord in heaven? This man didn't know.
Speaker: And so he went to Jesus and he talked to him about it. But then we went from Luke 18, 18 to 30, few verses later, verses 35 to 43, Jesus encounters another specific individual.
Speaker: He listened as a desperate man cried out for healing of his congenital blindness. you know, there are people who have spiritual blindness. Sometimes we have eyes, but we're not seeing what the Lord wants us to see spiritually and biblically.
Speaker: But in chapter 19, verses 1 through 10, today the biblical lens is going to zoom in on yet another individual, a man named Zacchaeus.
Speaker: He was chief tax collector, but there's something very unusual about Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus, it says, was seeking to see who Jesus was.
Speaker: I want to say on behalf of our church family that we're so glad that you're here. I believe the fact that you're here on a Sunday morning to worship him tells us you're seeking to know who Jesus is.
Speaker: Who is he? Can he help you in your life? And the answer to that question is absolutely he can help you with your life. But there's something that it goes a step beyond just zooming in.
Speaker: If you zoom in and everything goes by really fast, it doesn't matter that you zoom in. Sometimes we need something to be slowed down. And that's when we have this hour. That's when we have this time together when we slow everything else down.
Speaker: Maybe you've got a busy week. Would you just put it to the side for a second and look at Jesus and learn about him? What we're gonna see is salvation in slow motion.
Speaker: This man got saved instantly, but when you slow it down like Luke does in Luke chapter 19 verses one through 10, you're gonna be able to learn more about salvation, how it happens.
Speaker: Now, as we go through different scenes, as we pause and look at each scene, it could be that you're going to say, i didn't realize that about salvation. I can see myself in that scene or no, not that one, but this one.
Speaker: So maybe that's going to be the case. I was shocked to learn this week that the first slow motion film was an animation film made back in, get this, 1898, it was called the Humpty Dumpty Circus. I don't know if you've seen it, but anyway, it was definitely a stop animation film.
Speaker: But you know, they're still making those. I don't know if you've heard about Wildwood, but they're still producing these films that take tremendous amounts of time to produce it and so forth.
Speaker: But I thought, man, you know, it's incredible when you think about this one called Wildwood, it took six years. to produce that film. They slowed it down and they would take all of these different painstaking times to change the little boy's suit, let's say, the jacket that he was wearing or to to prepare this eagle. I heard it took 3,000 hours to create an eagle.
Speaker: But you know, even today, that's 1898 and that's also today, but I was wondering, what about today? How do we use slow motion? Well, I think if you like me, you watched a lot of football games, college football games over the weekend, certainly it's important for the sports world because it can determine if someone steps out of bounds.
Speaker: It can determine if someone truly had possession of the ball whenever they fell or were they still bobbling it. It can help if there was targeting in a tackle. So as one of the members of a panel of judges, I had to be asked to be a judge of the Awana Grand Prix.
Speaker: And um it may seem like, hey, that's not as big as college sports. Yeah, but it's big if you don't call the the things right. And so when those cars would come across there, they were racing them, I don't know, four or five at a time. And so you had to really look closely. And I appreciated all of my fellow judges. But I want you to i want to show you what I'm talking about.
Speaker: I want to show you what it would look like if there's three cars. These are the top three cars. So you tell me when you see this film clip, did the brown car win? Did the red car win or did the orange car win? Why don't we roll the tape there and you decide as you see it go by. It's only three seconds. So let's see what it, oh, there there it is.
Speaker: No, that looked like the last one. Okay, that's take two. Maybe that's ah that's the last one. Can we go back to takee take one? Let them see this. Can you tell which a car win? Whoa. Whoa.
Speaker: That was rather fast, wasn't it? i mean, it's really hard to tell. Now let's go to take two and let's put it in slow motion and take two is the top two. Could you tell which one? How many think that the red car won?
Speaker: Okay, how many think the orange car won? Okay, the orange car did win. it So anyway, it's just, it helps whenever you slow it down to see something. You can learn facts better.
Speaker: So as we look at this passage in Luke 19, one through 10, I want you to watch with me as Jesus totally transforms a man's life. Pay close attention to how his life is changed so quickly. But when we see it verse by verse and we stop it and we make note of what's going on,
Speaker: I think it's going to take on a whole nother level of understanding. So let's stand together. You can read in your copy of God's word or you can follow on the screen. I'm reading for the ESV translation.
Speaker: He entered Jericho. This is Jesus. Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich.
Speaker: And he was seeking to see who Jesus was. But on account of the crowd, he could not because he was small in stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him.
Speaker: For he was about to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, Zacchaeus, hurry and come down for I must stay at your house today.
Speaker: So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all grumbled. He's gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.
Speaker: And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.
Speaker: And Jesus said him, today salvation has come to this house since he also is a son of Abraham. For the son of man came to seek and to save the lost. Let's pray together.
Speaker: Lord, I'm so glad you came. You left heaven and all the glories, all the honors that were there. You left all of that to come for us, to come for me, but to come for each one sitting on each of these pews.
Speaker: Make this message personal. I know that we understand that this passage was about Zacchaeus. But as we go through this passage, I pray it wouldn't be about Zacchaeus.
Speaker: I pray that it would be about each one that's listening today, whether they're in the sanctuary or watching by live stream. I just thank you so much for what you want to say through this passage.
Speaker: So help us, Lord, have a better understanding of what we mean When we say someone was saved. When we say salvation has come this day.
Speaker: So bless us as we look into your word. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Thank you you. may be seated. Well just recapping again. You know remember he extended an invitation to a burdened man.
Speaker: That rich young ruler. He knew he didn't have eternal life. And so he was burdened about it. Are you burdened if you don't have assurance of salvation? But then when you go to the blind man, he was extending an invitation to him. Would you like to see?
Speaker: What would you like for me to do for you? And the guy said, I just want to see. Wouldn't you just long to see that Jesus is here today? Wouldn't you just long to see that Jesus loves you?
Speaker: He went to that cross for you. Well, here we see I'm extending an invitation to a busy man. Maybe I'm talking to a lot of busy people. You got a lot of things going. But would you just say, okay, Lord, right now, all of that I'm going to put on hold. And I just want to get to know who you are.
Speaker: I want to understand salvation better. You know, it is interesting that Jesus reached out to tax collectors. Tax collectors were among the most hated in that society.
Speaker: Maybe you would say, I don't really care for them either. But anyway, back then it was really bad. Luke records tax collectors six times. Now you may not believe this, but sometimes somebody we're writing off God may be saying, I'm so close.
Speaker: I am so close to winning that person. Don't write them off, no matter who they are, no matter what they're going through. you know that out of the six times in all six instances that Luke records some kind of tax collector and what was going on in his life, all six were not moving away from Jesus.
Speaker: They were moving toward Jesus. Isn't that amazing? Six times in all six, they're moving toward Would you say, if you were honest, you're moving toward Jesus?
Speaker: Or are you joining the world and moving away from Jesus? Well, in chapter 3, verse 12, some tax collectors were lining up to be baptized. Chapter 5, verses 27 to 32, some were being called.
Speaker: In chapter 7, verse 29, some were testifying. Luke chapter 15, verse 1, some were gathering close to Jesus. Remember the man in Luke 18, verses 10 through 13, who humbled himself and repented?
Speaker: Pharisee didn't want to humble himself and repent, but oh, the tax collector, he beat his chest. He said, Lord, be merciful to me. But then now here we are in chapter 19 and this tax collector is interested.
Speaker: And that's where we're going to begin. Did you notice in scene one verses one through four, the readiness for salvation? you know, the Bible says clearly in Romans 3 11, no one seeks after God.
Speaker: No one. So when you see somebody that's interested in God, somebody that's kind of drawing closer, you know what? God's at work in that person's life. Something's happening.
Speaker: And so that's a rare thing if somebody's seeking God because on average, Romans 3 11, people do not seek after God. Amen. As a matter of fact, in Acts chapter 10, you'll see another man besides Zacchaeus in Scripture who sought after God. This man was a military man, Cornelius.
Speaker: Cornelius was seeking after God because the Holy Spirit had readied his heart. And he said, I need to get that guy Simon Peter to come over here. And he got all of his relatives, he got all of his friends to gather in his house. And he said, we're all gathered here to hear Peter, you tell us about Jesus.
Speaker: I'm telling you, sometimes people go against the grain because they're saying, I'm ready. I want to know more. I don't know enough yet, but I'm so ready. Do you remember Lydia, a lady? She was a businesswoman in Acts 16 verse 14. You know what it says in scripture about her?
Speaker: It says in Acts 16 verse 14, the Lord opened Lydia's heart to pay attention. The Lord opened Lydia's heart to pay attention.
Speaker: If you'll pay attention today, God may give you the answers you've been searching for. That's why you're here. But it may be somewhat like it was for Zacchaeus. It may be an interruption.
Speaker: Can't you picture in verses 1 and 2, perhaps Zacchaeus was doing business. People were paying their taxes. And someone said... Jesus is passing through Jericho and the whole group just up and leaves. And he's saying, wait, wait minute. You haven't paid your taxes yet. Hold on.
Speaker: So he's like, did they say Jesus? I've heard about this Jesus. And so something interrupted Zacchaeus' life. And maybe today may be viewed by you as somewhat of an interruption.
Speaker: But it's going to be worth it because this working man was interrupted by a processional. They're all following Jesus. But this wealthy man was also about to live up to his name.
Speaker: he You know what his name meant, Zacchaeus? It meant purity. It meant purity. But this man was not living a pure life. He wasn't living up to who he was created to be.
Speaker: This man was an evil man, wicked man. He was ripping people off. He was adding to what the Romans were going to charge for taxes. He was adding a little bit extra for himself. So I thought, wow.
Speaker: But you know, in the eyes of those that were around Zacchaeus, they hated him. Three strikes and you're out. He was a career tax collector. Strike one. He also was crooked by adding extra for himself.
Speaker: Strike two. And you know what? He worked for Rome. Strike three. And you're out as far as they were concerned. But something happens in verse three. How did this happen?
Speaker: And he was seeking to see who Jesus was. But on the crowd on account of the crowd, he could not because he was small in stature. So I thought, look at that interest.
Speaker: in Jesus. Did you come today because there's a genuine interest in Jesus? You're not ready to make any kind of big decision right now, but maybe you'd say, you know what? I really would like to know if he really is there.
Speaker: I would really like to know. And so because Zacchaeus put himself in a position to see Jesus physically, now he can meet Christ in personally you have chosen to put yourself here today physically in this building and I believe this may be the day of salvation for somebody because you came and put yourself here and so the Lord is going to speak to your heart today because you have interest in Jesus but notice the initiative taken by Zeke Zacchaeus moving toward Jesus in verse 4 so he ran on ahead
Speaker: And climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him. For he was about to pass that way. My brother, my younger brother, Keith, he got off on the wrong path.
Speaker: He had the same upbringing and I did in a Baptist church. But he later got into the world. He became a drug dealer. He would make runs over from Tennessee to California and back.
Speaker: But you know i thought it was interesting when Keith made his decision for Christ. You know what he did? When they stood at the end of the service and they said, if you would like to ask Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior, would you just come down the aisle and talk to the pastor?
Speaker: He would be glad to help you. to put your faith and trust in Christ. You know what my brother did? He said, i ran. He said, I was so desperate. I was so tired of what I'd done to my life that when he was given the opportunity to go to Jesus, just like Zacchaeus, he said he ran. Zacchaeus ran on ahead.
Speaker: He even had to climb up a sycamore tree. Why did he run? Why did he climb? Oh, it's stated. We don't have to guess. You don't have to guess. It's stated to see him For he was about to pass that way.
Speaker: When you open the Bible in your quiet time each morning, when you go to a Sunday school class, when you come to a worship service, you know what you're doing? You're putting yourself in there and you're saying, you know what?
Speaker: I'm going to take another step toward the Lord. And I'm just wanting you to know we're glad that you're here today attending in worship. We hope you'll go to one of our Bible study classes later. You'll get to know some friends, some people that i care about you.
Speaker: But let's go from scene one in the readiness to scene two in the reception. The reception of salvation. See, the next frame features a gracious invitation followed by a glad reception.
Speaker: So let's closely and slowly examine the gracious invitation. What would you notice about it in verse five? Did you notice that it was personal?
Speaker: Did Jesus know the man's name? He sure did. Zacchaeus, man, how about that? Do you know that the Lord knows your name? The Lord knows all about you. He knows all the the hard things. He knows the blessings and all those kinds of things.
Speaker: He even knows the hairs on your head. That's not saying a lot for some, but that's still, he knows how many are up there. I'm just joking. Somebody's going to get me down one of these days with a razor and to we're gonna fix you. Those little ball jokes.
Speaker: It was personal. But did you notice it's urgent? You know, maybe you've you've come before and you keep on kicking the can down the road. Why you doing that? Why do you postpone? Why do you procrastinate?
Speaker: When the Lord's saying, hurry. He said, hurry to Zacchaeus. What you're doing, you're gambling. You're gambling on the fact that you'll have more time. There'll be another day.
Speaker: But you're gambling on that. What if today is that day? And so the Lord would say, hurry, it's urgent, it's personal, but it's also a humbling. See, Zacchaeus was up in a tree and he had to come down.
Speaker: But maybe the tree that you have is a tree of pride, self-sufficiency. I'm a pretty good person. i don't think I need Jesus. Someday you'll have to come down out of that tree of pride, of self-sufficiency. And you'll have to say, you know what? I need, I need what Jesus is offering to me Yep, I believe that that gracious invitation was an invitation, come down, come down Zacchaeus, come down out of that tree.
Speaker: But did you notice it's also an important invitation? Because when Jesus spoke to him, he said, Zacchaeus, hurry and come down for I must stay.
Speaker: I must stay. at your house today, I must stay. it was important. It was an important invitation. This is not something you put off and say it's optional. No, it's not optional.
Speaker: We must be born a again is what the Bible says.
Speaker: You know, isn't it interesting that John chapter 1 verses 10 through 13 says that there were some who did not receive Christ, but to those who received him, to them he gave the right to become the children of God, even to those who believed upon his name.
Speaker: So I thought to myself, it's interesting, you know, as a former missionary, I remember reading about all of the people groups that are around the world. Did you know that there's 16,400 people groups?
Speaker: The reason we've and but invited Mark Prosodic with the seed company to tell us how can we help translate the word of God into the language of all the people groups?
Speaker: is because this is vital. They might not understand. It's like it's putting it in slow motion for them when you speak to them in a language they can understand, their heart language.
Speaker: But isn't it amazing that out of 16,400 people group, the Word of God says you can take the 8.3 billion people in the world. And really, there's only two categories.
Speaker: There's those that are saying yes to Christ and those that are saying no to Christ. Those who have received Christ, those have rejected Christ. That's really the only two categories God sees from heaven. Oh, I know he knows our race. He knows our nationhood and he knows all of those kinds things.
Speaker: But I'm just saying, what about spiritually? There's only one of two positions you can be in today. And so notice the glad reception by Zacchaeus. Oh, I bet if he becomes a Christian, if he starts following Jesus, that's going to be a downer for him. It's going to be a bummer. He'll be bored for the rest of his life.
Speaker: Now, that's what Satan wants to say to you. That's what he said to me when I was a college student. Don't do it. You're going to be bored for the rest of your life. Nope. Here's what it says he did.
Speaker: The glad reception by Zacchaeus was described as he hurried. Will you hurry? He humbled himself. He came down. But also it says he received him joyfully.
Speaker: Do you know that Jesus is where happiness is truly found? If you came today and you're saying, I'm just so unhappy, I'm so depressed, I don't know what to do, I would say, go to Jesus.
Speaker: Jesus can really give you joy and can give you happiness. He can give you that incredible gladness that only comes from him. Well, let's go to the third scene.
Speaker: There is a third scene in here. You know, I've been serving the Lord as your pastor for 19 But do you know, i was really serving Jesus from the day I got saved.
Speaker: You don't have to have a position to serve the Lord. You can serve the Lord anytime. So I've been serving the Lord for 47 years, if you go all the way back. And you know what I've observed is that evangelism, outreach, it's raw.
Speaker: It's not polished. It's not perfect. Evangelism is not polished. It's raw, but also I've observed this when you're discipling someone who's a new Christian, you know what that that's also messy.
Speaker: That's raw. There's nothing polished and perfect about that. You know what I've observed about churches and I would put myself in here. so i'm talking about myself. We're not perfect.
Speaker: We're not polished. There's a lot of rawness in each one of us, but here's the thing. With all the brokenness in this world, we really only have two choices about the rawness that comes with salvation.
Speaker: When you see someone who is very, you know, living a terrible life or whatever, when you see that, when it's you, maybe, here's the two choices you have.
Speaker: One is you can grumble about those without Christ. Or the other thing you can do is you can say, I'm going to go. I'm going to go to those who are without Christ.
Speaker: And that's what I saw when I read verse 7. And when they saw it, they all grumbled. But then they said, he has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.
Speaker: So these people that were grumbling, they were most likely the Pharisees. They were religious, but they were not redeemed. They didn't know what it was like to receive amazing grace, to receive mercy.
Speaker: And so when they saw it, it says they all grumbled, but there was One who went. There was one who went. says, he, there's nobody else in this equation.
Speaker: He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner. Wow. You know, the gospel is for the rawness, right? That's what we're supposed to do. We're supposed to take the good news of Christ to the world, to the other people that are broken and hurting and so forth.
Speaker: But we're not supposed to grumble about them. As a matter of fact, do you know that three times in the New Testament, it absolutely commands me and you, don't grumble.
Speaker: For example, if you're writing notes, write down 1 Corinthians 10.10. Don't grumble. That's exactly what the Word of God says. But then you go to James chapter 5 and verse 9. You know what it says?
Speaker: says again, don't grumble. And then you go to 1 Peter chapter 4 verse 9. It says the same thing. Don't grumble. So grumbling is disobedience to Lord. We don't want to do that.
Speaker: What we want to do is let's go. Let's go. Run to those that are in the the sin and all of these things that are going on. You know, it's interesting in chapter 5 verse 30, it says that the Pharisees were grumbling In chapter 15, verse 2, it says that the Pharisees were jump grumbling.
Speaker: In Luke chapter 19, verse 7, it says that the Pharisees were grumbling again here. And I thought, you know, they've been grumbling the whole way. In John chapter six, verses 41 and 43, saw that a couple of different times, you know Jesus is telling the Pharisees something and it says that it they they got offended by it so they didn't wanna do it.
Speaker: And so, you know what I wrote across the top of my Bible in in John chapter six, verse 41 to 43? I wrote down these words, graduated from the school of criticism with a degree in grumbling. Is there anybody you've ever met that's got that?
Speaker: Well, let me go to scene number four. Scene number four is repentance. Repentance not that's forced. Repentance that's real. It's authentic.
Speaker: It's genuine. It just sort of rises up. No wonder Jesus said in Mark 115 in his first sermon, repent. and believe in the gospel. Paul said to those that he had been training over there in Ephesus in Acts 20 verse 21, he said, you know what I've been doing?
Speaker: From the very beginning I've been testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. That's the balance.
Speaker: Did you notice that this guy actually makes a profession of faith in verse 8? It's kind of interesting, you know And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, there's probably people all around.
Speaker: What did he call him? He said, Lord. Behold, Lord. Man, when you call Jesus Lord, something has just changed. Because until you call him Lord, you're Lord.
Speaker: Or if you're not Lord, then the crowd is Lord. Or social media is Lord. Somebody's gonna be Lord. Somebody's gonna decide. But isn't it great? That Zacchaeus, even being a chief tax collector, he's the boss man.
Speaker: Even being a wealthy man, he says, Lord, behold, Lord. He makes a public profession of faith. Have you ever made a public profession of faith? But also notice in verse 8, he turns in repentance from sin.
Speaker: And he says, behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. You know what he had been doing? He had spent his whole life cheating.
Speaker: He had spent his whole life overcharging. And so now suddenly the conviction of the Holy Spirit, he feels terrible about it. You know what? He says, I'm done with that life. I'm done with that life. I don't need all this anyway.
Speaker: So he's going to start sharing some of the things that he had in his life because he knows I didn't get these right anyway. What do you call that? I call that repentance. It's where you've been going that way in your life.
Speaker: Now suddenly you're going to make an abrupt turn and you're going to go the opposite direction. He resolves even to give restitution for stealing. He said, if I've frauded anyone of anything, I'm going to restore it fourfold.
Speaker: I mean, this guy, what I want you to see is he's serious about this. He's serious about this. And so I go back to verse seven and I think, isn't that amazing? I mean, you've got these guys that are grumbling and they're saying, this guy, this man, what did they call him?
Speaker: This man is a sinner. But notice what Jesus called this man. I love this. He doesn't call him a sinner anymore. He calls him a son. He calls him a son.
Speaker: Because of salvation, he declares him, this is a son of Abraham. This is a son of someone who believes and trusts in me. And then I think it's interesting how in scene five,
Speaker: We have the rescue that is involved in salvation. Do you know that salvation actually means rescue? That's what that word means. So it's like Jesus says in verse 10, I'm going to search a rescue mission.
Speaker: Who's going to go with Who's going to go with me on this search and rescue mission? Because we're going to go and we're going to tell them that I came to seek and to save the lost.
Speaker: So three observations about verse 10. The first one is this. You do know that's the reason Christ came, right? It's one of his purpose statements, one of his mission statements that he gives in scripture.
Speaker: He says, for the son of man came. I just encourage it sometime you if you're a note taker, write down Philippians 2. If you go back to Philippians chapter 2, you'll see what did he give up in know order to come and become a man, be born in the manger.
Speaker: to grow up like a man, to go through all of the scourging, all of that whipping that he took for my sins and your sins, to go to the cross when they drove those nails in his hands and in his feet.
Speaker: When he finally died and experienced death, why, like what's going on? He said, that's my mission. What is your mission? What is your mission? And is your mission eternal or is your mission material?
Speaker: Or is your mission social? Jesus said, no, what I'm doing, man, it's eternal. And he said, that's why I left. But then notice not only the reason that Christ came, but how about...
Speaker: The reach that Christ makes. The reach. Do you know that the Lord has been reaching out to you? He's been reaching across the table of eternity. He's been reaching from heaven all the way to earth ever since he sent his son Jesus.
Speaker: He's trying to say to you, I care about you. I want you in my family. I want you in heaven. And that's why he uses the word to seek. It means to search.
Speaker: He's searching and searching and searching. If you go back and rewind the biblical tape all the way back to Genesis 3, you know what sin does?
Speaker: I'll tell you what sin does. Sin causes mankind to hide from God. So what does God do when man hides from him?
Speaker: He comes looking for him. Remember? Adam, Adam, where are you? God's been calling your name. God's been calling out to you. As a matter of fact, in Luke 15, Jesus told three parables. We looked at those together on a previous Sunday.
Speaker: Three parables that all had the same problem. First parable was about lost sheep. Second parable, lost silver. Third parable, a lost son.
Speaker: I bet you can guess what's lost. I bet you can guess what was the problem. It was being lost. But then notice also, he came to seek and to save. Oh, I love that word, to save.
Speaker: It means to rescue, to rescue the lost, to save the lost. You might be poor like the blind man. You might be wealthy like the young man.
Speaker: You might be hated like the tax man. But I want you to know Jesus looking for you. He's looking for He's searching for you. He's reaching for you. When he reached out his hands, that's what he was trying to say. Man, I love you this much.
Speaker: I want you in my family this much. Some of you know that I did go to Ethiopia. I think I went maybe about eight different times. And I remember one of those times I discovered the the button.
Speaker: You know, everybody's got the button. They're like, yes, that's the message. Well, do you remember in Jeremiah 38 when Jeremiah was rescued out of a deep pit? No, they had put Jeremiah in there and he couldn't get out.
Speaker: I mean, it was way deep. It was muddy down in there. All of the the walls of that cistern, it it was so slippery. There's no way he could ever get out of that pit by himself.
Speaker: But there was one man who said, he's on my heart. So he goes to the king and says, can I have some soldiers go with me? He's going to die down there. He's not going to make it.
Speaker: And so the king said, sure. He sent the soldiers with him and they lowered down a rope. And that man said, Jeremiah, we're going to rescue today. But there's one thing you've got to do.
Speaker: We're here. We're going to pull you up. Here's the rope. It's right there. But you're going to have to put the rope over your body and put it underneath your arms. You can read it for yourself in Jeremiah 38.
Speaker: And so guess who that was that did that? When I said it's an Ethiopian, all of Ethiopia rose up. but Ah, you know, they were so excited, you know. He wasn't American, dude. He was an Ethiopian. So he anyway, was like, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's right, that's right.
Speaker: Anyway, isn't that exciting though? I mean, that to think that Jesus came to rescue you and rescue me. He left heaven. He left heaven.
Speaker: Zacchaeus had no idea his life would be changed that day. All he learned was Jesus is passing by. I don't know what this is gonna mean.
Speaker: But in Titus chapter three, verses three through six, there's another man like Zacchaeus that was changed, totally changed by the Lord Jesus Christ. His name was Paul.
Speaker: And so he was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write. And I feel like he's writing about himself, about his life. But maybe as we look at this, you'd say, I believe he's writing about my life.
Speaker: He's writing about Zacchaeus' life. He's about writing about every human being's life. For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.
Speaker: Wow. That's what it's like when somebody is without salvation. When somebody doesn't know Jesus, they're just so full of all those kind of things. I call those some of sin's jail cells.
Speaker: But look what happens in verse 4. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, things are just about to change.
Speaker: They're about to change. That's what's going to happen during salvation. When Jesus comes and says, would you like to be rescued? Whenever you say,
Speaker: Yes, I would like to be rescued. Verse five goes on to say, well, he saved us not because of works done by us in righteousness. No, we're like Jeremiah.
Speaker: You can't get out of it. You can't get out of that pit of sin. But according to his own mercy, the rope is made of mercy. He throws down by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit. So now Paul's flipping it.
Speaker: He went from the before picture, the during picture, and now the after picture. When he says, whom he ah the by the washing of regeneration, you ever wish, I wish I knew something that could wash away all my mistakes, all those bad decisions I made in my life.
Speaker: Well, that all happens when you come to Christ. And renewal of the Holy Spirit, man, the Lord gives you power to obey. And then verse six, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ, our Savior. Yep.
Speaker: The rich man, Zacchaeus, he learned about real riches, spiritual riches. Do you know about those spiritual riches whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ?
Speaker: Do you remember what Jesus said to Zacchaeus? Jesus said, today, not another day, today. Today, salvation has come to this house What if it were today that you experienced salvation?
Speaker: What if it was today? The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 6, 2, behold, now is the favorable time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. We would love to walk with you as salvation starts.
Speaker: It'll be in slow motion maybe, but that's okay. It's a wonderful journey. It's a wonderful life knowing Jesus as Lord and Savior. I encourage you, if you don't know Christ, we're going to sing this last song together. i invite our musicians and our song leader, Marsha, to come and to lead us in this song that simply says one thing, only trusting.
Speaker: Only trust me. Would you put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ? Let's all stand together. Let me pray. and then we're going to sing this closing song of invitation. I'll be standing down front in case someone needs to come forward.
Speaker: But I would love to pray with you and talk with you. We can talk about it today. We can talk about it another day. But you just let me know where you are. But let's pray together. Lord, thank you so much that you went through is Jericho.
Speaker: And when you went through Jericho, there was Zacchaeus. He was up in that tree. And you called him by his name. And you told him, hurry, come down, for I must go to your house today.
Speaker: Lord, it could be somebody's going to go home with Jesus today. I know that, Jesus, you're in Columbus. I've seen you so many times through your people. I was thinking about that verse that says that the fragrance of Christ is with us everywhere once we become a Christian.
Speaker: But maybe today someone realizes from that fragrance, I'm not yet in. i don't know Christ personally. I'm not in the family. I don't know if I'm going to heaven or not.
Speaker: They can't know. And the way we'll know that they've come to know is when their life just starts changing. It's not going to be the same. And we will love it. We will love to see you at work in someone's life today.
Speaker: But bless our time. Bless this invitation. In Jesus' name, amen.
Speaker: This is a ministry of First Baptist Church located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas.
