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-- in humility receive the
word implanted, which is able to save your souls.
YOU Are Very Important To God Preface Scripture reference: (Lk. 19:1-10) ---; “He entered Jericho and was passing through. --- And there was a man called by the name of Zaccheus; he was a chief tax collector and he was rich. --- Zaccheus was trying to see who Jesus was, and was unable because of the crowd, for he was small in stature. --- So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree in order to see Him, for He was about to pass through that way. --- When Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, ‘Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.’ --- And he hurried and came down and received Him gladly. --- When they saw it, they all began to grumble, saying, ‘He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.’ --- Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, ‘Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.’ --- And Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. ‘For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Now, the publicans or tax collectors worked for the Roman government, and the government had a certain amount they needed, and they said; --- “This is how much you tax collectors must give us, and anything over this amount is yours!” --- So consequently, they became scoundrels and thieves; -- And not only did they become turncoats and traitors in the eyes of their fellow Jews; --- But also, they were outright crooks, or at least most of them were! And no doubt, Zaccheus was one of those crooks! --- He was a chief tax collector and he was rich. -- And no doubt Zaccheus felt that he wasn’t very important to anyone, except maybe to himself; --- He was like most people today, out to get all they can and poison the rest, always looking out for number one!! --- And he didn’t think anyone cared about him. Some of you young people, do you ever get that sinking
sensation, nobody cares for me?? --- I have!
And if I could only get this truth firmly planted into your tender hearts (especially you young people); --- Jesus Christ sees you today. --- He sees everything you do; --- He knows all about you; --- And I can guarantee you on the authority of His word, HE WANTS YOU!! --- Who is very important to God? --- YOU are!! Have you ever considered that God doesn’t love us so
much as a local congregation; --- as He does one by one?? --- The very
hairs on your head are numbered! --- Jesus said it like this in (LK. 12:6-7);
Get these three thoughts firmly fixed in your hearts
and minds today, and never forget; --- Our heavenly Father and His only
begotten Son; --- They see you! --- They know you personally! --- And they
want you today!! --- There is no need for you to be out on a limb without
Jesus Christ!! --- Zaccheus was out on a limb, but we can be thankful today
that Zaccheus had a searching heart!!
Don’t you pity the atheist? --- He doesn’t know where he came from, why he’s here, or where he’s going when he dies!! --- He’s just situated between two nothings! --- He doesn’t understand the past, nor does he comprehend the future! --- And all he has to look forward to, is a six foot deep hole in the ground; ---That’s all; --- Just rotting and decaying!! --- Embalming might help some, at least enough to get him past the funeral! --- But dear friends, you are headed for rottenness and decay, but is that all? --- And you know what? --- If that was all I had to look forward to after this life, there would be no doubt in my mind; --- I would probably go out and join the drinking crowd! --- Just get drunk and stay that way; --- IF that was all I had to look forward to!! No wonder, people try to blow their minds on drugs, and stay in a stupor with alcohol; --- They’re out on a limb without Jesus Christ! --- And without Jesus Christ, there is NO HOPE!! --- Life has no meaning!! --- This is not only the attitude of the atheist, but way too many of our men, women, boys and girls of our sin-sick society!! --- They feel no guilt in God’s sight over anything they do; --- For after all, they're just a by product of nature and an accident of the universe! --- And so, they don’t feel that they have any responsibility toward anybody or anything, let alone, God!! --- They may feel they are ill, but not evil; --- They may be sick but not sinful, and so they reject any sense of responsibility!! And beloved, we are seeing much more of this attitude in today’s world. --- We see it in our schools, government, our homes, and as tragic as it may be; --- It’s even invading the Lord’s church!! Isn’t it wonderful you young people, to know where we came from? --- To know who we are? --- And where we’re going?? --- Just to know we have a very personal God!! --- One who sees me, --- One who knows me, --- One who wants me! --- And who wants YOU!! Lesson: Now, what was it about Zaccheus that attracted Jesus’ attention? --- How was Zaccheus changed?? I’d like for us to consider three things about Zaccheus’ faith; --- And the first point I’d like to bring out, that it was an; --- 1. ORTHODOX (intelligent) FAITH: And the Bible says in (Lk. 19:3); --- “Zaccheus was trying to see who Jesus was,” --- But not to see Jesus in the sense one might go to see some rock star or somebody like that; --- But he sought to see Jesus who He was!! --- Zaccheus wanted to know the truth about this man called Jesus! --- Who is Jesus Christ?? --- It’s not enough for you to have a passing relationship with Jesus; --- It’s not enough for you to have a mere glimpse at Jesus; --- And it’s not enough for you to see Jesus, --- unless, you can see in your seeing, WHO Jesus Christ is!! --- Who is Jesus Christ?? --- He’s the one (young hearts), who is the loftiest fact of all creation, this universe!! --- Jesus is the one who split time between BC and AD; --- He’s the centerpiece of humanity! --- And He’s the one you must understand before anything else in this crazy mixed up world we live in!! --- This mother gave her little first grader son a jig saw puzzle; --- On one side it showed the world; --- And on the other side was a picture of a man. --- She figured; --- “That will keep him busy for a while!” --- A few hours later, she peeked in to see how he was doing; --- He had the puzzle all finished, every piece perfectly locked in place; --- She was amazed and said, --- “I didn’t know you knew so much about geography! How on earth did you do that?”--- The little boy explained, --- “Well mom, I just turned it over and worked the man first; --- And when I got the man right, --- the world was right!” --- And dear young people, you will never understand this world until you know and understand the man; --- The Man, Jesus Christ!! Zaccheus had an orthodox faith, an intelligent faith, and when he had seen Jesus, who He was; --- he made another discovery; --- that Jesus is Lord!! ---Please notice in (Lk.19:8) where Zaccheus says; --- “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.” --- It took Zaccheus just a short while to discover that Jesus was Lord! --- Have you made that discovery?? --- The Greek word Lord = kurios; translates, supremacy, or supreme in authority, also, controller!! Now, if I were to ask some of you young people out there; --- Do you believe in the Lordship of Jesus Christ? --- Most likely you would say “yes”! --- But if I also were to ask; --- Is Jesus Christ Lord over all that you are and all that you have?? --- I just might get a very disturbing and revealing answer; --- IF you were to answer honestly and truthfully. --- HMMM? --- And I’m wondering if you might be one of those in this religious world who nod their heads and quietly acknowledge that Jesus is Lord; --- That Jesus is Supreme Ruler!! --- But you look at the way they live, the things they say and the influence they show; --- You will see a very different tale!! What a shame and disgrace it is. --- I’m persuaded that this religious world is brimming over with baptized pagans! --- Honoring Jesus with their lips, but their hearts are far, far from Him!! --- So it’s not enough for you just to say intellectually, Jesus Christ is Lord; --- But dear friend, you MUST make the application in your life, and in your practice, everyday!! --- Jesus deserves to be LORD in your life! --- The apostle Peter proclaimed in (Acts 2:36); --- “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ-- (WHO?) --- this Jesus whom you crucified.”- God has said Jesus is LORD and this leaves absolutely no room for argument! The beloved apostle Paul put it thusly, in (Rom. 14:8-9); --- “for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. --- For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.” --- Is Jesus Christ YOUR LORD? --- I mean, is He truly your Lord?? Don’t get the idea that salvation is like a cafeteria line, where you can say; --- “I’d like a little Saviorhood please; --- But no Lordship, thank you!!” --- Friend, if Jesus Christ is not your Lord, He is not your Savior!! --- And the problem with a lot of people (young and old alike) is simply this; ---They’ve obeyed a form of doctrine; --- believe, repent, confess and baptism; --- and have never yet submitted their hearts and lives to Jesus, as Lord and supreme Master!! --- Again, I ask; --- Is Jesus Christ your Lord?? --- Think about this, IS HE?? We hear a lot of talk today in this religious world about “Taking Christ as our Savior!” or “Receiving Christ into our hearts!” --- But friends, that’s not Bible talk. --- No where in all of God’s word does it say, “Receive Christ as your Savior!” --- Now, He is Savior; --- But you receive and obey Christ period!! --- You might say, “What’s the difference?” Well, let’s just suppose we were to have a wedding ceremony; --- The preacher asks the groom; --- “Do you take her as your lawfully wedded wife? --- And suppose he responds; --- “Well, I’ll take her as housekeeper!” --- And to the bride the preacher says; --- “Do you take him as your lawfully wedded husband?” --- And she answers; --- “I’ll take him as provider!” --- No! You see, you don’t take him as anything; --- You take him! --- And you take her and all that comes with her!! --- And dear friends, when you enter into that holy union with Jesus Christ in repentance and baptism; --- One of the things that comes with Jesus, is His Lordship, His authority over you and all there is about you!! --- “Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of (by the authority of) the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.” (Col. 3:17) Zaccheus sought to see Jesus, who He was! --- And Zaccheus discovered that the Savior was also Lord and Master! --- What does it mean to submit to Jesus as Lord? --- It means simply, that your entire life is to be in absolute surrender to Him!! --- Have you surrendered ALL? --- The British admiral, Lord Nelson, after a notable victory over the French had this French admiral to come in to surrender; --- And this French admiral came up with a smile on his face, and a sword dangling at his side, --- And he put out his hand toward Lord Nelson to greet him; --- But Lord Nelson did not offer his hand, but rather replied; --- “Your sword first, sir! --- “Your sword first!!” --- And may I submit to you my friend, --- Before you get the smile of Jesus Christ, --- and before you place your hand in His nail scarred hand; --- You must lay down your sword of rebellion at His feet! --- And pick up the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God!! (Eph. 6:17) If there is any area of your life which is not under Jesus’ control; --- Or when you say; --- “I still have the ”right” to rule over this particular part of my life; --- To that degree, you have disgraced the name of the one you call Lord!! --- But not only does it mean your entire submission; --- It means His complete ownership of you!! --- Do you want to know what one of the biggest blunders us older folks have? --- I mean we adults have really fouled up a lot of things; --- But one of the stupidest blunders of all that really takes the proverbial cake; --- Is that we have let Satan con us into believing that when Jesus, the Righteous Judge comes to judge us, somehow, we are going to be accountable for one tenth of our earnings and one seventh of our time. --- But, dear friends, that’s a fallacy, --- that’s a false notion!! But when the Lord Jesus comes on that last day in judgment, He’s not going to slice our lives up into little sevenths and tenths and judge only that portion of the pie; --- Oh no, Jesus is going to judge the whole pie, my friend, the whole pie!! --- Every minute of your time, every penny of your earning, everything you have, and all that you are; --- It ALL belongs to God!! --- And if you don’t honor God with your time, talents and money, --- you don’t love God very much!! Sometimes we hear about individuals who get all excited and sentimental, and they say, --- “Oh, I don’t want you to preach about money; --- just preach the Bible!!” --- “I don’t want to hear any sermons on the evils of drinking, smoking, gambling, immodest apparel, forsaking the assembly; etc.; etc.! --- Just preach the Bible!!” --- “Enough with the negativity!” --- Ever heard that before? --- This might come as a great shock to some; --- But you can’t preach God’s word in all it’s purity; --- Unless you preach good stewardship and condemn the filthy sin that nailed Jesus to the cross!! They may want to hear a sermon about the third toe of the left foot of some beast in Revelation; and maybe even about the polish on that toe; --- But when you start stepping on their toes, and start getting close to home; --- You’re being “controversial” and “opinionated”, and you’re going to hurt someone’s feelings!! --- And I submit to you, today, as well as in Paul’s day; --- There are far too many “church goers” who would much rather have their ears tickled!! --- Paul stated it thusly, in (2 Tim. 4:3-4); --- “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, --- and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.” But the Lordship of Jesus Christ means, not only your complete submission, when you lay down your sword at His feet; --- But it means His total ownership of you and everything you have!! --- And it means your unquestionable obedience!! --- Jesus said in (Lk. 6:46); --- “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord’, --- and do not do what I say?” --- God, the very God of heaven puts it in a slightly different way, but says the same thing back in (Mal. 1:6); --- “A son honors his father, and a servant his master Then if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is My respect?” Oh, dear young hearts; --- Whatever your Lord tells you to do, by His word, you must obey from the heart!! --- That means your reading, your recreation, your time, your friends you choose to associate with, your music; --- And when and if it comes around to it, even your marriage! --- Anything and everything must be under His Lordship, under His control!! --- As a Christian, you have no right to your life! --- Yes, you heard me, --- You are not your own!! --- “For you have been bought with a price; ---” (1 Cor. 6:19-20) --- Jesus lovingly requests; --- “come down, for today I must stay at your house.’ (Lk. 19:5) --- But at the same time, He jealously insists; --- “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord’, --- and do not do what I say?” Yes, Zaccheus had an orthodox faith, --- he sought to see Jesus, WHO He was; --- and in his seeing, discovered that Jesus Christ is Lord!! --- Not only did Zaccheus have an intellectual faith; --- but he was able to make the application!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2. APPLIED FAITH: And this is really where the true test comes. Let’s go back and pick up our reading in (Lk. 19:5-6); “When Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, ‘Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.’ --- And he hurried and came down and received Him gladly!” --- Now, here’s where you and I need to learn a vital lesson from the word of God; --- When you obtain the Bible kind of faith, --- It is not simply “propositional” truth; -- I.e. propositional means, a subject to be discussed and proven, as in a debate. --- But rather, it’s “relational” truth! --- In other words, being a Christian is not a matter of just believing things about the Lord; --- But, being a true Christian means that you and I must apply the proper spiritual relationship between us and the Lord! Friends, this religious world is jam packed full of people, young and old who believe right; --- But are going to be lost in an eternal hell! --- WHY? --- Because of hardened hearts, they have never learned to apply that spiritual relationship in their day to day lives!! --- “holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power;” (2 Tim. 3:5) --- It’s people like this who Paul says are; ”always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (Vs. 7) But Zaccheus had much more than just propositional “head faith”; --- Please don’t get me wrong, it does require “head faith”; --- But folks, Zaccheus took Jesus home with him!! --- And if you love and obey Christ in your life, --- He will go home with you. --- And if Jesus does not go home with you, I don’t know what kind of faith you have; --- but you don’t have the kind of faith that saves; --- You don’t have APPLIED FAITH!! --- There’s too many people who leave their Christ behind when they go home from worship services; --- He just doesn’t go home with them!! ---They come to the assembly and nod their heads, and maybe even say “amen”; --- They believe the facts!! --- What was it that our good brother James wrote in; (Js. 2:19-20)? --- “You believe that God is one You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. --- But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?” --- James continues in (Vs. 24); --- “You see that a man is justified by works (application) and not by faith alone.” --- What this tells you and me that we need to understand once and for all; --- It’s not enough to just show up on Sunday morning and say; --- “Oh, yes, I believe about Jesus Christ; --- and I want Jesus to be my Savior; --- and I expect someday to go to heaven!!” --- But, are you willing to ACT on that faith?? --- Zaccheus did, and it transformed his life!! --- Which brings up the third thing we’ll notice in regards to Zaccheus ‘ faith. --- Zaccheus had an orthodox faith, and because he was able to turn that “head faith” into faith applied; --- This gave him a; --- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 3. TRANSFORMING FAITH: Look again in the last portion of our Scripture reading in Lk. 19:8-9); --- “Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, ‘Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much’ --- And Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham.” --- Now, when you start hearing about someone who is willing to part with his gold, --- you’d better perk up your ears! --- Because this doesn’t sound like Zaccheus, the tax collector; --- It sounds more like Jesus!! --- “I’ll give half of my material wealth to the poor!” --- Something has happened to Zaccheus!! --- Zaccheus’ intellectual faith, in it’s spiritual application; --- TRANSFORMED him! --- It made him a new man!! The apostle Paul later wrote in (2 Cor. 5:17); --- “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” ---No longer is Zaccheus a money hungry, dishonest penny pincher; --- He’s been transformed by the mercy and grace of God who cried out; --- “ Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house!” --- And the change which took place in his mind and life was repentance. The Greek for repentance is metamorphoo, from this comes our present day word, “metamorphous”. i.e. (like changing water to ice) --- Of course, we must understand that baptism into Jesus’ death was not required at this time, as Jesus had not yet been crucified, buried in the tomb, nor resurrected! --- And of course that’s what baptism for the forgiveness of sin represents ever since the day of Pentecost in 33 A.D., and today it represents exactly the same. --- What is the Bible meaning of “transformation”? --- Listen again to the inspired words of Paul in (Rom. 12:1-2); --- “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. --- And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” But listen, Zaccheus was saved! --- Jesus told him; --- “Today salvation has come to this house!” --- And Zaccheus was not saved from hell only; --- But he was saved from his sins! --- The angel told Joseph that Mary would bear a Son; --- and in (Mt. 1:21) he says; --- “And you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” --- And beloved, if we are supposed to be saved from our sins; --- what right do we have to keep calling ourselves Christians, if Jesus Christ is NOT delivering us from our sins?? --- Zaccheus was transformed; --- he turned about completely! --- Do you have the heart of Zaccheus?? --- I hope you do! --- And you young people who are Christians; --- Has your love for Jesus truly brought about change in you life?? --- If it has, you’ll know the difference; --- Jesus will know the difference; --- and certainly your parents will!! The old Zaccheus had been slaving away all this time for financial freedom! --- And the more freedom he sought, the deeper he he got caught up in the slavery of greed; --- until Jesus came and set him free!! --- Because in the Bible, the word “freedom” is not some privilege to do what you want; --- But rather the “power” to do what is right in the sight of God!! --- And that’s freedom from sin!! Let me ask you all a question; --- How many of you have ever laid your eyes on one million dollars in cold hard cash? --- That’s $1, 000, 000 with six zeros! --- $1, 000, 000 is a whole lot of money anyway you look at it. --- I did see a million silver dollars once at the Seattle World’s Fair!! Now, let me ask you another question; --- and please answer this one strictly between yourself and God alone. --- I wonder just how many of you who would be willing to postpone your soul’s salvation for twenty four hours, for $1, 000, 000 cash?? --- Now, think seriously about this; --- God sees your heart!! --- Or, let me put the question to you in another way; --- How many of you out there would honestly sell your Lord Jesus for $1, 000, 000 ?? --- Or any amount of money?? You say; --- “Not me!!” --- And yet there are some
of you out there who might be selling your souls and selling your Lord
for far less than a million dollars; --- just a few sinful pleasures of
this world!!
Dear friend, (young and old), may I remind you; ---
JESUS CHRIST SEES YOU; --- HE KNOWS YOU; --- and HE WANTS YOU!! --- YOU
are most certainly Very Important To Him!! --- Why not say with Zaccheus;
--- “All to Jesus, I surrender, all to Him, I freely give; --- I will ever
love and trust Him; --- In His presence daily live!! --- I SURRENDER ALL!!
Questions and comments more than welcomed: ewilburn@austin.rr.com
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