Alright, little ones can go with Mr. Shorter to class. And the rest of us can be seated. And we'll open up our Bibles to Luke chapter 19. And this great gospel story that we get to look at this morning. The story of Zacchaeus. You know, when I was over in Israel, Our flight, I got in the night before, and I got in about, I don't know, 3.30 in the morning, the time there in Tel Aviv when I arrived. So I went to the motel and got back to the airport at 12 to meet our group that was supposed to come in at 4. And found out before I ever got there from my wife that that flight was delayed coming out of New York City about four hours behind. So we had quite a wait at the airport. I looked around to see if I could find anybody else with our group, and I found one lady. Her name was Kim. Kim is a missionary in Brazil. She's with BWM. It was actually kind of a nice thing that I found her because Kim didn't know the flight was late. She'd lost the details about the flight, and so if I hadn't told her, she would have been wondering where everybody was. We were there at the airport and just nothing to do except watch people coming off the planes and everything coming out and there were a lot of Jews. It makes sense. Israel, you know, all these flights from New York City bringing a lot of Jews over from other places of the world coming to Israel. And a lot of Orthodox Jews, so a lot of the guys with the hats and the curls and everything. And I remember just seeing this one guy, and I don't know how tall he was, but he was probably about, I would guess, four and a half feet tall, this little Jewish man walking along. And I just wanted to go say to him, how are you doing, Zacchaeus? You know, that's what we think, isn't it? We think of this man, Zacchaeus, just a wee little man, like the song says. And I don't know, I tried to find online who wrote that song, and perhaps it's somebody in Scotland, because it sounds very Scottish. Zacchaeus was a wee little man. A wee little man was he. He climbed up in a sycamore tree for the Lord he wanted to see. And we all know that Bible story about this little, little man that the Bible calls Zacchaeus that lived there in Jericho. When we were on our tour over in Israel, they told us that the average height of men at the time of Christ was only five feet tall. Okay, the average Jewish man. And so Jesus himself would have probably been of average height. You know, there was nothing the Bible says remarkable about our Lord that when you should see him, you'd desire him. And so he's likely that height. So Zacchaeus was probably a wee wee little man. I mean, he's probably a very, you know, not a very big man at all. But our Lord, and some people might have thought, well Zacchaeus, because of that your height makes you insignificant, or the Lord's going to overlook you somehow. But the Bible says about Zacchaeus that Jesus Christ knew that Zacchaeus was lost. And when he talks about coming to Zacchaeus particularly, and it's a neat story, I'm excited to share it with you this morning as we look at Christ coming to Zacchaeus. The Lord went to Zacchaeus on purpose because the Bible says here in our text in verse 10, the Lord said to the crowd that said, why have you gone to this man's house? He said, for the son of man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. Our Lord cared about Zacchaeus. Now we're going to talk about what was going on in the Lord's life as he got to this point. There's a lot of things taking place, but the Lord had time for this man that was lost. Being lost is an awful thing. I don't know about you, but I don't handle being lost really well. I get frustrated pretty quickly and my wife hears my frustration coming out. If you're lost, you can't find where you need to go. You want to go, you're trying to get somewhere, maybe even on a time schedule, you're trying to get there and you can't get there because you just don't know which way to go. And sometimes, you know, these motorways, you have an off ramp or a slip road and no slip road back on to get back on. And so you got a way off, but not a way back on. And New York City is that way, too. You can get off, but you can't get back on. And I mean, you're just trying to find your way. That's not a very comfortable feeling, especially if you don't just want to go there, but you need to go there. If it's a need, the burden's even greater, because you've got to get there. I mean, there's something important. Say it's a wedding, and you're running late. I mean, it's a one-off thing. They're not going to hold up the wedding for you to get there. You're going to miss it. Or if it's a funeral of somebody, it's important that you get there, that you be there, and you need to be there. It's a very frustrating thing not to be able to get there. So being lost is very frustrating. You think about somebody that's not saved that are lost, They may not, I hope they're frustrated by it, but they may not even understand it. They may not even realize the seriousness of their condition. Maybe even more like somebody that's out in the woods somewhere. They think they know how to get back, but they don't, but they haven't thought about it yet. They don't realize it yet. And a lost person might be like that. Or they could be more like what I said. They could be anxious about it, burdened about it. You know, I know I'm lost. I'm trying to find my way to heaven. I'm frustrated by it. I don't know how to get there. But what we're going to look at today is this truth that Jesus Christ cares about that person and that He wants to reach that person. And as believers, our burden ought to be since it's our Lord's burden to reach those lost people, that it ought to be my burden to seek to reach them as well. And I trust God will work in our hearts in that way as well this morning. But let's pray, ask God to bless his word to our hearts. Father, we're thankful for this true story and the word of God. We love parables, the stories that Jesus told with a heavenly meaning, but this isn't a parable this morning. This is a story from the life of Christ. This is somebody that our Lord reached in personal one-on-one evangelism. And Father, I pray that the Spirit of God would use this story in our lives this morning, that it'd be refreshing to us, that it'd be a challenge to us, that the Spirit of God help me as I speak, to speak clearly, that you guide fully and direct in this time, and that you'd be glorified. It's in Christ's name we pray, amen. Jesus and Zacchaeus, as we come to the story, here's Zacchaeus' loss. Jesus and Zacchaeus are on two different paths through life. They're just each following a way. And at this point in our story, as we're going to look at it, their paths converge. And paths do that sometimes. I remember when we were traveling on deputation, we traveled all over the United States. And Colorado is a state my dad grew up in. I love Colorado. Colorado is out in the West. They call it the West. But it's really, it's almost central US. It is a little bit more west than east. But it's kind of in the middle of the plains and then the mountainous area of the United States. And the Rocky Mountains run right through Colorado. It's a beautiful area. But we're there in Colorado Springs. We've got a meeting from our home, like where we're from. If you could say we're from somewhere, we're traveling, you know, at that point in our in our lives. But Wisconsin, where I grew up from there is about fifteen hundred miles away, you know, east. So quite a ways away from Colorado to California is probably another fifteen hundred miles. OK, so it's 1,500 miles that way to California, 1,500 miles that way to where I grew up. And we're at this restaurant. It's called Cracker Barrel. And Logan, back then, he's kind of like, well, what child do we have? Nelson, I guess. He's loud. He just got a big voice for a little guy. He never, Logan never had a baby cry. Logan's kind of quieter now, which is kind of interesting. Because when he was young, he was very, very loud. I never had that infant cry. I heard an infant cry the other day. I was going into Costco. I felt like the dad was stressing a little bit, hearing that little, eh, eh. And I'm thinking, that would so not bother me, having had six children. I mean, just wait to what's coming, you know? And Lothan was, so he's loud. And we're there in Cracker Barrel. And the restaurant's full. We've got a meeting that night. It's a Wednesday night. And we're all dressed up nice and just getting our tea before going to the meeting. This man that was sitting on the other side of the room, when they left, they had to walk past her table. And he stopped. He was an elderly gentleman. And he said, I just want you to know you've got a nice family. I said, that is very nice of you to say. I said, this guy is loud. And I pointed at Logan. He goes, well, maybe he'll be a preacher someday. I said, well, his dad is and his granddad is. He said, really? I said, yeah, I'm a Baptist missionary. And we're traveling here, raising support. Go to Scotland. He said, I'm a Baptist pastor out in California. I said, well, that's great. Wow. And I said, well, he said San Jose, California. So I said, my uncle started a Portuguese speaking church in San Jose. He came back from Brazil. He was a missionary there, came back from Brazil to San Jose and started a Portuguese speaking church there. He said, what was your uncle's name? I said, Earl Shore. He said, I know your uncle. I've stayed in a tent with your uncle. Our church supported your uncle when he started that church. And we all began to sing, it's a small world. No, I'm just kidding. But I mean, it's just like that sometimes, isn't it? Sometimes life converges. You know, that was a very specific divine appointment that God gave. And see, I challenge unbelievers to answer how God can do things like that. I could tell another story about my dad when he had his back was broken. Remember my dad? Twenty years later, he's in Iowa, hundreds of miles from where he had the accident, and an x-ray technician saw his x-ray and came out and told my dad everything about his life, how he lost his family in a car accident, and how he's a preacher. And dad goes, okay, how do you know? And he said, I studied your x-ray at the Mayo Clinic, and they challenged us to show how it is that you can walk. Wow, how does that happen? God put it together. How does it happen that I meet this guy, you know, we're 3,000 miles from each other, we meet in Colorado, and he knows my uncle. God put it together. Why did he stop? Why did he say something to me? God put it together. And so when we come, to a story like this, we like to call this a divine appointment. That means it's something that God orchestrates, even though it takes place with man, it's God has brought it together, and God's gonna bring something together here. Jesus is just passing through Jericho. Verse one, it says, and Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. He's not stopping. This is, according to the Believer's Bible commentary, this is his third and final time through Jericho. He's just passing through. You know where he's going? He's going up the Jericho Road to Jerusalem. There in Jerusalem, we find him in Jerusalem, or on his way to Jerusalem, verse 12 tells us, or 11. When he gets to Jerusalem, it's a triumphal entry. It's that week of the passion of Christ and his entry into Jerusalem. On the Friday of that week, he's gonna be taken and crucified. Now, our Lord has this on his mind, on his heart. but he still has the time to care about souls that are lost. He's on the way to the cross, he's gonna die to save them, but he's still got the time to meet individual needs. You think about that. Our Lord is so busy, he's so busy, he's got so much to do, but he still has time to meet that one person's need, Zacchaeus. You know, D.L. Moody, there's a story about Moody. Moody made a covenant with God that every day, best he could, he was going to witness to somebody. And it got to be late one night in Chicago and Moody realized that he hadn't witnessed to somebody. So at 10 o'clock at night, he went out of his house and there across the way against the lamppost was a man standing and he went up to that man And he asked him, he said, are you a Christian? The man flew into a violent rage and threatened to knock Moody into the gutter. And that man later went to an elder at a church and complained that Moody was doing more harm in Chicago than 10 men were doing good. And that elder came to Moody and begged Moody, please, just don't cause these problems and temper your zeal with knowledge. And three months later, D.L. Moody at the YMCA, there's a knock on his door, and this man that he had witnessed at the lamppost came in and said to him, he said, I want to talk to you about my soul. And he said, he apologized and he said, I've had no peace ever since that night on Lake Street when you witnessed me. Moody led the man to Christ and he became a zealous worker in the Sunday school. So you can look at it and say, that's not a divine appointment. You walk up to the man, and the man goes off and says, get away from me. You know, Kaylee and I had this experience in Krakati on Saturday. We were coming out of the mall there. We'd gone in there to get some juice and stuff. Walking out, and I saw a man sitting on the bench, and this message was on my heart. I was thinking about it, and I just took a track from my back pocket, and I said, I'd just like to give you this. And he didn't want it. I said, well, it's really not about my church, it's about God's love for you. God loved you and God died for you. He went off blankety blank. I can't even come close to giving you a hint as to what he said, because what he said was so violent, so wicked against God. And he's shouting it. And I mean, it's busy. If you've ever been to the mall in Kirkcaldy, I mean, it's that road that runs in front of the mall. It's just covered. It's a walking road. It's not for traffic. And so it's just covered with people. And he's going off blaspheming God. And we walked away with him yelling and blaspheming God. I mean, I'm telling you, people 100 meters away turning around to look and say, what's going on with that guy? And you can look at that and say, it's not a divine appointment. But you know, I prayed for him last night. And you know what I'm asking God to do? I'm asking God to convict that man's heart about his response to the gospel. Because we don't know. We might look at that and say, well, if I take that time, if I take that opportunity, What about repercussions? Well, let me say this. Jesus just took the time. Jesus had a lot going on, but Jesus took the time. When's the last time that you went out of your way to tell somebody about Christ? Are we that sensitive? We cross the road to tell somebody about Christ, or we stop and go, you know what? I just feel like I got to go back to that person and try to speak to them about the Lord. When's the last time that the Spirit of God spoke to your heart in that way? And so Jesus, he's passing through, but their paths are gonna converge. And I know Jesus is on his way, and he's gonna come into direct contact with Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus, on the other hand, in Jericho, he lives there in Jericho, and Zacchaeus is a big man in Jericho. He's a wee little man in stature, but he's a big man in Jericho. Verse two says, and behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus had a big position. It says, which was the chief among the publicans. Okay, he's not like our publicans. Our publicans steal money from people through their lust for drink or through their intoxication with drink. They're thieves as well, but thieves in a different way. The publican in our story is a thief because he steals as he takes taxes from people. He's a tax collector. And so he's getting into people's pocketbooks through charging them too much tax and keeping some of that tax. But he's not just a thief. What is he? He's the chief of the thieves. The Bible says that he was the chief among the publicans. Zacchaeus is breaking one of the Ten Commandments, and Exodus 20 verse 15 says, Thou shalt not steal. But Zacchaeus is a thief. I asked some kids at a park over in Bonnyrigg, as we were there, the kids were playing, and I was speaking to a group of teenagers. And I said to them, I said, you know, God's law is for our good. Every time that God says something, it's for our good, it's to protect us, it's to protect others. And so God's law is always good. And I said, to illustrate that, I said, name one sin that doesn't hurt somebody. And the girl thought about it, and she said, stealing from the rich to give to the poor, you know, like Robin Hood. And then I said to her, I just leaned forward like this, and she had this necklace on, I said, then you won't mind if I take your necklace. Of course, and then she's like this. See, sin always hurts. And Zacchaeus is a sinner. Zacchaeus is a big sinner. Zacchaeus is a thief. Zacchaeus has appropriated money from others that was not his money. But he's a big man. He's got a lot of power. He's got a lot of authority. He's not just a publican and a thief. He's the chief of the thieves. So he might be even taking a cut from all these others that are stealing as well. But he's involved in taking even more as well from them. So he had a big position. But then he had a big purse. And it says, and he was rich. Zacchaeus has power, and he's using that abusively, and he's rich. He's profited from it. He's acquired a lot of finances. The Bible says in 1 Timothy 6 verse 10, For the love of money is the root of all evil, which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith. and pierce themselves through with many sorrows. Zacchaeus had a deep love for money. And so, look at Zacchaeus and think, how likely is this guy as a candidate for salvation? He's a big sinner, he's a thief, he's rich. Those two things make it humanly very difficult for us to even conceive that Zacchaeus could get saved. I mean, he's against God, he's breaking God's law, and he's got finances that cover him for everything. He's well to do. You know, the Bible says about rich people, it's very hard for them to get saved. Matthew 19 and verse 24 says, and again I say unto you, It's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? And Jesus beheld them and said unto them, With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. It's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. And whether it's speaking about the eye of a needle or a door that was called back in the day the eye of a needle, it doesn't matter. Either way, it's not possible. Humanly speaking, there's no way to get that camel through the eye of a needle. And the disciples hear that and they say, if it's that hard for a rich man to get saved, who then can be saved? And our Lord says, with men it's impossible, but not with God. All things are possible with God. I was speaking to a 93-year-old German woman yesterday. As we knocked on doors, Logan was with me. And I said to her, she said, you know what? She grew up in Germany. She said, we weren't allowed to go to church. And she said, My parents didn't believe in God. I don't believe in God. Very nice, very, I felt like this woman was very articulate and very clear thinking, 93 years old. And I said to her, I said, you know what? I told her about Paul. Paul was against God, and God saved Paul. And I said, God can do anything. You might be surprised, but you could come to faith in God. And she said this, she said, I like to say nothing is impossible. And I said, you know what? I said, you just quoted some of the Bible. The Bible says, nothing is impossible with God. For with God, all things are possible. You know, that dear lady can get saved. You might look at your life this morning, and frankly, I get a bit frustrated when we think about what's keeping men from getting saved. Well, just go up to Straighten today and walk through the car park and see the car park full of people, and you'll realize that our society is rich. Yeah, our society is rich. Our society has wealth. I mean, there's people in third world countries that, I mean, if they had what we had, they would be like the richest person in the nation. I mean, they just don't have what we have. We're rich. And it's hard, we're also big sinners. Speaking about love of money, you know, when we got, I mentioned it a couple weeks ago, but I had a guy say to me again two days ago, he goes, do you hear the good news or something like that, or the big news about all those lottery winners? And 175 people in Lone Head won the postcode lottery. And I said to him, no, that's not great news. Money, the Bible says, is the root of all evil. The love of money is the root of all evil. And you think of the heartache that's going to happen. There's a girl right now, she won a million pounds playing poker. And you know what she's doing? She's suing the poker place for letting her win so much money because it's wrecked her life. See, we got a problem. Our society is a very sinful society. Again, I mentioned in Sunday school, I live across from a pub, Friday night I had to get up because two men are screaming and using obscenities and cursing each other and they're being held apart because of intoxication with alcohol. Yeah. You know, we've got a sin problem. But I can look at that today, and I can look at this story, and I can say, you know what? Zacchaeus had a sin problem. Zacchaeus had finances, but we know in the story that Zacchaeus is going to be converted by the great grace of God. The great grace of God. So these paths are converging. And so he had a big possession, he had a big purse, but he had a big problem. He had a big problem. Verse 3 says, you sought to see Jesus who he was and he could not for the press. There were too many people because he was little of stature. I believe it's very interesting. This story in the Bible is such a clear picture of somebody coming to Christ. But you look at Zacchaeus, he's gotten to the point where he's curious. He's not seeing Jesus. He wants to see Jesus, but he can't see Jesus. It doesn't matter that he's got a big purse. It doesn't matter that he has a big position. I kind of think people saw Zacchaeus coming and they just kind of leaned over because they knew who Zacchaeus was. We're going to find in the story, there's a lot of hatred against Zacchaeus because he's a thief. And so it didn't matter what Zacchaeus had financially, he still couldn't get to God. The Bible says, Matthew 16, 26, for what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? I'd rather be an impoverished Christian than Bill Gates if Bill Gates isn't saved. Because what's the point of having superabundance in life and going to hell? I'd rather have superabundance in eternity and nothing in Christ. Zacchaeus wasn't satisfied. Zacchaeus, he was a thief. People despise a thief. He had money, but I mean, his money was from his sin. His money reminded him every time of his thievery, his robbery. He had nothing. He didn't have Christ. And so there's this lack that's in his life. But he's determined to see Jesus. And this is a great story. We know it's a great story for children because it's visually an exciting story. Because what we see Zacchaeus do next is Zacchaeus runs. He ran. It says, and he ran before. Can you picture this tax collector? I don't know what Zacchaeus was like. The Bible says he's short. It doesn't mean he's skinny, you know. I don't know if he's a bigger guy or a skinny guy, but you picture him grabbing his robes, hiking them up, you know, in his sandals. You can see his little feet just flying, you know, as he's running along. You can see he's going to get to somewhere where he can seek and find Jesus. He's making a great effort. You know, he doesn't really care what people think. That takes energy. I don't know how far Zacchaeus had to run. I don't think Jericho was that big of an area. But Zacchaeus didn't go, oh, I guess I can't see Christ. It's not worth the effort. It's not worth putting myself out. I've got to kind of swallow my pride a little bit, you know, put on my running shoes here and get up to where I can see Christ. I don't know that I'm willing to do that. He didn't do that. He didn't care what people thought about him, and he didn't care about the effort. He was going to get to that place where he could see Jesus. You know, I wonder today, how many people never find Christ because they never take the effort. Our world is so lazy, they sit in front of the telly, click, click, click, click, click, click, click. Sit and watch sports. Sit and do nothing. I'm not going to go outside, I'm not going to take a walk. I mean, they don't even do physical exercise, let alone walk to church. let alone let their fingers walk through a Bible and their eyes walk through the pages. You know, they're not willing to put that effort into finding Christ. Sad, isn't it? We're gonna talk about the verse in a second. If you seek me, you shall find me. If you search with all your heart, if you seek me, you shall find me if you search with all your heart. But I wonder today how many people in our community aren't saved because they put no effort into seeking after Christ. Zacchaeus ran. Zacchaeus climbed. It says, and he climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him. And again, it's a great children's story. We see the man pumping along, running, and then he sees a tree. And it's not a big, tall tree. It's kind of a tree that grows out, and there's lots of bent branches, kind of similar to some trees that we have here in Scotland that are great climbing trees. And so he shinnies up the tree. And I don't know, in Zacchaeus' day, if that was more common. You know, to me, and probably to you as well, you think about a grown man standing in a tree, you know, just seems a bit odd as the Lord comes along. And I don't think in their culture that was too common to see a grown man in a tree, but he really wanted to see Christ. Again, he didn't care what people thought about him. You know, I read an article online, I think it was, that a lot of people choke to death because of pride. Because when they start to choke, rather than go like this, you know, get somebody's attention, choking, you know, they stand up and go to another room. Because of what? Pride. And I understand. I mean, that's decent. You don't want to cause a problem or something. But let me tell you, if you start choking, pound the table or something, get somebody's attention, because people die physically because they care more about what people think and not bothering people than they do about saving themselves. You know, there's a lot of people, again, I think within our community, that if they're honest, they say, you know, I've thought about going to visit that church. I've thought about going to Free Baptist Church. I've thought about walking in there, but I can't go there. And I can list reasons why I think people in their pride say, but I'll not go there, but I'll not go there, but I'll not go there, to any church that is a gospel preaching church, I'll not go there, because they care more about what people think than about their soul. Zacchaeus, at this point, doesn't care. He's going to put the effort in. He's going to climb the tree. And then he waited. He waited. It says, for he was to pass that way. Okay, what's that tell us in the story? It means that there's no parade route for the Lord. It means that the knowledge is that this road is the main road. It goes up to Jerusalem. Jesus had gone to Jerusalem, so he's going to pass this way. And even though he's going to have a crowd around him, Zacchaeus has a high point. He knows he's going to see Christ and he waits. You know, again, if we could just suppose, I wonder how many people never see Christ because they're not willing to wait. It doesn't happen as quick as they think, you know. Well, I tried. You know, I picked up a Bible. I read it for a day. I picked up a Bible. I read it for a week. I went to church for a week. I went to church for a month. Sure, there's some times where that's all it takes, somebody gets saved quickly, but there's times where the Bible says, faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the word of God, that there's a process of time and weeks and maybe years before somebody comes to Christ, but they continue to wait, not because they're just doing it for socialization, but they are seeking after God and they wait. And I wonder again, how many people don't get saved because Christ didn't show up on their timetable. They're impatient. And they're not going to wait upon the Lord. But Christ is coming. He's going to come in our story here. So there's Zacchaeus waiting in the tree. And Jesus had a divine appointment. We've already talked about it. Jesus has a divine appointment with Zacchaeus. But it goes back to that verse I already mentioned. Jeremiah 29, 13 says, And ye shall seek me and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. God's promised that anybody that seeks, and Zacchaeus, is there any doubt this morning that Zacchaeus is seeking after Jesus? He's run, he's climbed a tree, he's waiting. I mean, that answers to this verse. This verse says Zacchaeus is seeking after Jesus, and we know based on that verse that he's going to get a chance to see Him, and have an encounter with Him. There were times in the Bible where Jesus, the Bible tells us Jesus wanted seclusion. He's very busy. Can't imagine what a day was like in the life of Christ. And I mean, you've got, how do you turn somebody away that wants to be healed? How do you turn somebody away that is demon possessed and has a great need? And you know that you're the answer to their need. And so our Lord's very busy. Mark 7, 24. says that he arose and went into the borders of Tyre and Sidon. He entered into a house and would have no man know it. Okay. So Jesus goes into that house desirous of nobody knowing that he's there. So he could just maybe have his time with God or be just have a little time to himself. Okay. But then it says the, in that verse, but he could not be hit. Why couldn't our Lord be hid? Because of that verse that says, if you seek me, you shall find me. If you search for me with all your heart, there were people that would not give up on finding Christ. And so what happens here with Jesus? Well, Jesus came. It says in verse five, and when Jesus came to the place, the place. Zacchaeus may have thought he found Jesus, but Jesus found him. Jesus is on a long journey, but it's like what Jesus said when he went through Samaria, I must needs go through Samaria because there's that woman at the well that he's gonna witness to in that crowd that's gonna come out of that Samaritan village and are gonna get saved because they're gonna put their trust in him as the Messiah. And so he gets to that place, that specific place. The Bible says about Nathanael in John 1.48, When he came to Christ, he's one of the 12 disciples, but when he comes to Christ the first time, as he comes to him, he says to him, whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. I personally believe that Nathanael was praying. I believe he might have been praying about the Messiah. God, send the Messiah. God, it's time. How long before, you know, it's been 400 years since we've had new revelation. We know the Messiah is coming. God, send the Messiah. Perhaps that was a conversation that took place that the Lord said to Nathanael. Nathanael, I saw you in that place. But the Lord came. The Lord came. And then Jesus saw it. It says, and he looked up. It's interesting, I mean, the Lord's busy, he's going along. He could have been looking anywhere, but the Lord looked up. Why? Because what's the verse tell us? The Lord came to seek and to save. Isn't that a precious idea that God's passing by and he doesn't just pass by the place. As he passes by the place, he searches with his eyes and he finds there in that tree, Zacchaeus. But he didn't just, again, seek, he found him. It says, he looked up and he saw him. Have you ever looked at somebody and you felt like they could see your soul? I've looked at people and it felt like God gave me that kind of contact with them and it's a biblical idea. I remember Peter and John, they're going into the temple. It says about Peter, he looks steadfastly upon Him, that there's that connection, that we have the Spirit of God within us, that the Spirit of God is able to speak, not just to the physical man, but to speak to the spiritual man. Zacchaeus, those eyes of eternity, those eyes of the Creator God are looking at Zacchaeus. And I think Zacchaeus saw love. Remember what the Bible says about that rich young ruler that came to the Savior? I love what it says. It says that in Mark 10, 21, And Jesus beholding him loved him. Isn't that precious? That the Savior, looking at that man, I mean, there was an affection that the Savior had for him. Beholding him loved him. and said, hey, one thing you lack, go sell everything that you have, give it to the poor, then come and follow me. And the guy went away sorrowful. But that's the love that's coming from the eyes of the Lord as he looks at Zacchaeus, and Zacchaeus looks at the Lord, and then Jesus called him by name, and he said unto him, Zacchaeus. You know, I like times in the Word of God where you read something and you go, nobody reacted. You'd think Zacchaeus would go, stop, wait a second, how do you know my name? Looking around perhaps to see who it was that said to the Lord, hey, Zacchaeus is up in that tree. And then the Lord looked up and said, Zacchaeus, no. It's just that the Lord knew the name of the man in the tree, Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus. Remember, there's other stories like that in the Bible that you just read and you go, you'd think somebody would be shocked to be talking to a donkey. It's shocking. But there's a, when things like that happen in the spiritual realm, like what we're gonna see tonight as Mary Magdalene talks to the angels in the tomb of the Lord, it's like there's no shock that she's having this conversation. It's because there's a spiritual depth to it, there's something taking place that Zacchaeus understands this is on a supernatural level. There's a spiritual application that's taking place and Zacchaeus doesn't expect anything else other than that the Lord knows his name. He feels as if that man can see right into his very soul. He sent him Zacchaeus and then Jesus commanded, he said, make haste and come down for today I must abide at thy house. You know, nowhere else in Scripture does the Lord Jesus invite himself into somebody's house. And again, it's a great picture of salvation, isn't it? As the Lord says, today I must abide at thy house. He commands him, come down. Pastor Barker, our pastor in New York City, when my wife and I were working out there, right out of Bible college, Pastor Barker had been an Irish Catholic New Yorker. I mean, that was him, all his upbringing. He was Catholic, he was strong Catholic, Irish Catholic, and his family was very strong that way. But he went to a Bible study out in a place called Montauk. Montauk's way out on the end of Long Island. Long Island comes up to New York City, where it connects with New York State, and it's a long island. I mean, obviously by the name, but I think it's close to 100 miles long. He's out on the end of the island at Montauk. He's in a Bible study. I forget how he got in the Bible study, but they quoted a verse in Revelation chapter three, verse 20. It says, behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come into him and will sup with him and he with me. As you heard that verse, God worked in Pastor Barker's heart this way. Jesus Christ is standing there, outside the door, knocking and saying, I'd like to come in and fellowship with you. To have Christ come in, what do you need to do? You need to open the door, let Christ come in. You know, it's very similar to our story, isn't it? That's how Pastor Barker got saved, that's how Zacchaeus got saved. Zacchaeus, come down, make haste, I have to go to your house. And it's a great picture of salvation. Because Zacchaeus didn't just let him into his physical home. Zacchaeus let Jesus Christ into his heart. You know, are you letting him knock in vain? Has God been saying in vain, hey, I stand at your door and knock. I must come into your house today. Notice, did the Lord say to Zacchaeus, hey Zacchaeus, would you like me to come to your house? He didn't, did he? He said, get out of that tree quick, because I'm coming to your house. See, it's a command. What I think people don't understand about the Gospel, is that the Gospel is not optional. Salvation is not optional. To reject the Gospel is sin against God. It's disobedience against God. The Bible says in Acts 17.30, that God commandeth all men everywhere to repent. It's not optional. God didn't say, repent if you want to repent. God said, repent. It's a command. Romans 10, 16 says, but they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah said, Lord, who hath believed our report? If they've not obeyed it, what is the gospel then? The gospel is a command. Do you know there's a lot of people breaking that command? God said, get saved. God said, obey the gospel, accept Jesus Christ. But they disobeyed. Praise God, Zacchaeus didn't. The Lord said, hey, make haste, come down today. I gotta come to your house. And Zacchaeus was delighted to receive Jesus. Verse six says, and he made haste and came down and received him joyfully. Did Zacchaeus get up that morning and think to himself, you know what, today's the day of my salvation. Do you think, you know, today's the day, and if you told them in the morning, Zacchaeus, by the end of today, you're not only not gonna be a thief, you're gonna repay those you stole from, you're gonna get right with God, and you're gonna accept Jesus Christ as the Messiah. Zacchaeus probably would've laughed. But when he encountered Christ, and the Lord said, Zacchaeus, get down out of that tree quick, I'm coming to your house, Zacchaeus obeyed very quickly, and he received him, the Bible says, what? Joyfully. Joyfully. What a burden that is gonna be lifted from this sinner's heart as he receives the Savior. You know, praise God for sudden conversions. I was speaking with the Church of Scotland minister in Lonehead, and who said to me that he believes conversion is gradual. In other words, that somebody would come, and over time, at some point, unknown, some unknown, unspecific point of time, they get saved. And then they're a believer. You know, that's not biblical conversion. Biblical conversion is a man that's drowning, and he's drowning, and he's drowning, and then the life vest or something gets thrown to him, and he grabs onto it, and in that moment, he gets saved. Just like Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus didn't gradually get saved. Zacchaeus got saved when he obeyed the Lord. He got down out of that tree and he let Jesus Christ come into his heart. At the same time, he also repented. He repented. He did, and we'll see this in the story, he gets saved, he accepts Christ despite what others knew of his past. Verse 7, it says, and when they saw it, they all murmured. Murmuring is one of those onomatopoeia words that sound like what it is, murmur. Right? You can hear the little crowd. And what are they saying about Zacchaeus and the Lord? That he, Jesus, was gone to be guessed with a man that is a sinner. What's the Lord doing spending time with that guy? You know, you might want to get saved, and there might be murmurs. What's that guy doing in church? What's that guy doing seeking after God? He's a big sinner. Everybody knows, what a hypocrite! If that guy goes to church, what a hypocrite! I mean, look out, the building's gonna fall if that guy walks in the door. But what? Does God up in heaven say, don't walk in the door? He's saying to that person, He's saying, look, hey, today, I gotta come to your house. Zacchaeus didn't care what other people thought about him. And you know what? If he was, and he would be honest, and he will be honest with the Lord, he knows the right. He knows the right. He's the last person that ought to have Jesus Christ come into his heart. You know, somebody that gets saved, they ought to know that they're the last person that ought to have Jesus come. They ought to still receive him, but there ought to be that understanding, you know, they're right in what they say about me. But Christ said, he was coming to my house. So he gets saved despite what others knew of his past. He gets saved despite what he knew of his past. Verse 8, Zacchaeus stood and said unto the Lord, Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And I've taken anything from any man by false accusation. I restore him fourfold. That was more than the law required. If somebody was found out that they were a thief, that was above and beyond. Zacchaeus goes, okay, half my fortune I'm giving to the poor. And then from my half that I've got left, anybody that I've stolen from, and I've stolen from a lot of people, I'm going to restore them four times what I stole from them. I think everybody that had anything stolen by Zacchaeus is going to be a little bit thankful. when he pays them back, because they're going to get back four times what he stole. Let me ask you, is Zacchaeus serious about receiving Christ? Yeah. See, God is not about half-hearted Christianity, where somebody says, okay, I prayed a prayer, but my life's going to stay the same, I'm just going to continue my sin, and I hope God just accepts me as I am. God doesn't accept sin. Zacchaeus knew the seriousness of what his life was against Christ. He knows in receiving Christ, he is saying goodbye to the old life, that that thief that was in his past is in the past. That he's going to be the first honest chief of the tax collectors. I wonder if he reformed the whole system, or if he lost his job. Zacchaeus was real when he accepted Christ. The Bible says in Ephesians 4.28, Let him that stole, steal no more, but rather let him labor, working with his hands, that thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. Some of that stole, the Bible says, when you get saved, don't steal anymore, work, so that you can earn money to give to people that have needs. Replace it with something that's right. A work ethic and investing in others. You know, when somebody gets saved, they might look at their life and they might say this, and let me say this about Zacchaeus. What if Zacchaeus had said, as he had the Lord into his house, but if I get saved, I gotta give up half my fortune. I gotta repay people fourfold, and I'm not willing to. Zacchaeus, is it worth dying and going to hell? Really? Really? I mean, is Satan that good at arguing with you? That he can say, hey look, you keep your money, you can keep it. In life. Yeah, you're gonna die. Yeah, you're not gonna get to enjoy it very long, but you can keep it. And you can go to hell. And you give up heaven? I mean, is Satan that good at making heaven seem so bad, and Christ for all eternity, and forgiveness of sins, and everlasting life seem so worthless that you keep your sin instead of receiving Christ? My, praise God, Zacchaeus wasn't that way. Zacchaeus looked at it and said, that life stinks. In the sight of a holy God, I'd rather get rid of that thing so I can please Jesus and lived his life for God. He lived his life for God. What a picture of salvation. You know what? Zacchaeus was lost, right? But now he's what? Found. Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost. Past tense. Once he saves it, it's not lost anymore. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I'm found. Was blind, but now I see. Zacchaeus was a lost man that came to Christ. Verse 9 and 10. I've quoted verse 10, but verse nine, Jesus said unto him, this day is salvation come to this house. Is it gradual? No. It's a point in time. This day is salvation come to this house. For as much as he also is a son of Abraham by faith, for the son of man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. Let me ask you this morning, are you lost? Are you lost? You may not know it. But if you're not saved, if you're not accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you're lost. Don't let it discourage you. Jesus Christ came to seek and to save that which was lost. But has salvation come to your house? Have you answered that command? You know, Zacchaeus, today, today, I must come to your house. Have you jumped down out of that tree and said, yes, Lord, and opened the hearts door to him and said, come on in, come on in. I wanna fellowship with you. That stuff in my life that grieves you, that has displeased you, God, I get rid of it. I get rid of it so that you could come into my heart. Have you become a child by faith? Have you been saved by the one who seeks after the lost? Praise God. If you're not saved, you could get saved today. Just like Zacchaeus. Just by obeying the command. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Call. ask and receive. And then believers, as we think about this message today, how many Zacchaeus's are we walking by? I've been thinking about this this week. I've been meditating on the verse where there is no vision that people perish. You know what vision is? It's not, we misapply that verse. A lot of times we think about that verse, I've got to have vision for the Lord. If I have a vision for the Lord, it's going to help somehow. And we think about it in our American, not American, but modern English idea. Okay, we modernize it. It's not what it means. In those days, speaking about Samuel, there was no open what? Vision. What was it speaking about? Revelation. Where there is no revelation, the people perish. In other words, if I don't take this book, open it up with people, and say, that's what the Word of God says, they can't get saved. How shall they call upon Him whom they've not heard? How shall they hear without a preacher? How shall they preach except they be sent? Where there is no vision, the people perish. So if I'm walking along, the Spirit of God says in my heart, hey, give that guy a track. Speak to that person about the Lord. Or if I'm not looking for those opportunities, and as they come, taking them, I'm passing by Zacchaeus after Zacchaeus after Zacchaeus that are left in their riches and left in their sin and have no encounter with Christ because I wasn't ready to give that opportunity to them because I'm too consumed with my life. Jesus Christ is on his way to the cross. He's got a week and a half or something like that left in his physical earthly life before the cross and his death. But he's got time to stop and say, Zacchaeus, come down. I'm coming to your house today. God, help us be the witnesses that we need to be and to seek those divine appointments. Let's pray. Father, take your word and put it deep into our hearts. This is a good story. It's a fun story. I mean, this is just good literature. But Father, more than that, I mean, this is how a man that was lost was found. And Father, I heard that story this week about that Tesla owner that saw the car out of control on the road. It took a 75,000 pound vehicle, put it in front of that other vehicle and stopped it to save a man that had had a health need at the wheel and had passed out. And father, I thought, you know, Tesla honored him by doing the repairs free, expediting them. And I thought, man, I'd like to be a hero like that guy, save somebody. But Father, we get to be heroes every day if we're obedient to the command of God to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Father, we can save lives for all eternity. And I pray that the Spirit of God help us be aware of the Zacchaeuses or the others that are about us, that the Spirit of God give us compassion for the lost. And Father, if somebody has heard this message this morning and they know in their heart that they're not saved, Father, I pray that they'd obey the Gospel, no matter what it takes, that they wouldn't go easy on themselves, they understand they're a great sinner, that they need the Savior, that there's repentance to be done, but God, that they'd obey the Gospel and get saved. And Father, thank You for such a great picture of salvation from Your Word this morning. It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen.