Well, I should say thank you for your very warm welcome. It's always good to be among you. I almost feel that coming every year, I'm almost an extended member of the family. So thank you for your warm welcome and very good to see new faces and encouragements aplenty. I'd like us also, I should Sorry, bring greetings from Beacon Park Baptist Church. They all tell me where I'm going this time. So I tell them I'm going to our dear friends in Hellsham. We do mention particularly one very unwell at the moment and her husband in our prayer meetings on Monday, although I shan't be there tomorrow. And we do pray that you'll know the smile of heaven and the blessing of God and the healing hand in answer to prayer upon those for whom we all beseech the Lord in these difficult times. What I'd like us to turn to the passage that we read in our second scripture reading, this is a familiar account of Zacchaeus. Who was Zacchaeus? Well, we know who Zacchaeus was. We're told in Luke chapter 19, aren't we? We're told that he was chief among the publicans. That's the tax collectors. He was rich. And in verse 7, he was a sinner. We could say he was a chief of sinners. We could remember the Apostle Paul. It's a faithful saying. It's worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. But again, if we're not familiar with the idea of the publican not being someone running a hostelry, but someone who is a tax collector, tax collectors were hated in those days. Who were the tax collectors? Well, they were of the local population, And they had come to a deal with the Romans. You probably know they paid the Romans a certain sum for access to a particular district. Zacchaeus, presumably because he was chief, had jurisdiction over all of Jericho and perhaps part of Jerusalem as well, since it wasn't too far away. And having paid whatever the going rate was to the Romans for the right to collect taxes, They were able, with Roman authority, to use whatever means they wanted to extract whatever amount they wanted from the population. They were hated and Zacchaeus would not have been a popular individual. But interestingly, verse 10 tells us, as we read, but the Son of Man is come. to seek and to save that which was lost and what an illustration Zacchaeus is of that. Again that scripture referred to its morning but in 1 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 15 rather than 16 this is a faithful saying worthy of all acceptation. Christ Jesus did come into this world to save sinners he's still seeking such as should be saved and he will continue to do so until all those for whom he suffered and died on Calvary's cross have been brought in have been received and then end will come the scripture tells us. Well I'd like to make three points about Zacchaeus very simply this morning and apply it perhaps to those who are still strangers to grace but also apply to those of us who know and love the Lord Jesus Christ perhaps like the Greeks who came to Andrew was it one of the disciples and said sirs we would see Jesus And if we are followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, then we would wish to see him, perhaps day by day. And where do we see him? We see him in the scripture, we'll look at that, and we see him in the local gathered church. We see him in his people and therefore if we're a little downcast, if perhaps that initial flush of love for the Lord has dimmed somewhat, if perhaps there have been particular afflictions, trials that the Lord has brought us through, if we've lost, as with the hymn writer, where is that blessedness I knew when first I saw the Lord? Where do we go to get it from? We go to the local church, the gathered church of the Lord's people. We go to the open scripture where we see the Lord. And in thy book revealed, I see the Lord. What a wonderful view we have of the Lord Jesus Christ in scripture. So first of all, I'd like to think of Zacchaeus He sought to see Jesus. That's nothing smart on my part, it simply says that in Luke chapter 19. He sought to see Jesus, who he was, there in verse 3. Secondly, I'd like us to think of he was seen of Jesus. Again, that's nothing smart on my part, that's what the scripture tells us. When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and saw him. Jesus saw him. He sought to see Jesus, Jesus saw him, and thirdly, he was received By Zacchaeus, Jesus was received by that chief of sinners, the tax collector, the rich tax collector. How do we know that? Because verse 6 tells us, and he made haste and came down and received him joyfully. But we also read, don't we, in verse 9 there, the Lord's words, this day is salvation. Come to this house to receive. Salvation is to receive the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, it couldn't be simpler, could it? He sought to see Jesus, who he was. Jesus saw him, and he received salvation. He received the Lord Jesus Christ. We could say, as John 1 tells us, but as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God. even as many as believe in his name. Well first of all he sought to see Jesus who he was. Why did this rich tax collector, chief tax collector, Why on earth would he seek to see Jesus who he was? Well, let me suggest a few reasons that come to us straight from the scripture. First of all, he sought to see Jesus who he was because Jesus was doing some remarkable things. That's why we read from chapter 18, the account of the blind man who as the Lord Jesus Christ entered into Jericho called out have mercy upon me thou son of David in verse 35 we see this man begging by the wayside and in verse 43 immediately he received his sight now it's a good test of whether we have a high view of scripture or whether we don't have such a high view of scripture, when we hear, but isn't this what we've already come across in Mark chapter 10? We even know who that individual was. That was blind Bartimaeus, son of Timaeus. And exactly the same seems to happen. Bartimaeus calls out, Mark chapter 10 verse 46 to 52 if you wish to check it, Bartimaeus calls out, Jesus, our son of David, have mercy upon me. The crowd tell him to be quiet. He cries all the more. Jesus stops, comes. What wilt thou that I may receive my sight? He received his sight immediately. That sounds very familiar, doesn't it? So surely this is the same account, but no. Why do we think like that? Perhaps we've been subject to a certain measure of unbelief from this vain and passing world. It may be from religious instruction teachers in school, which would be the case with myself. It may be for all sorts of other reasons. No, it's clearly not the same. How do we know it's not the same? Well, because Luke here tells us that Jesus was on the way into Jericho and there was a blind man and he received his sight. Mark tells us that Bartimaeus was begging as Jesus was on the way out of Jericho. That can't be the same incident. And just to compound things, Matthew In chapter 20 he makes things even worse for us because he has, in verse 30 to 34, we read of two blind beggars on the way out of Jericho and they called out and the Lord Jesus Christ gave them sight. Now, do we read here that perhaps there was a little bit of copying difficulty or people didn't get their stories straight? I would suggest exactly the opposite. We should have a high view of Scripture. We should start off by saying Scripture means what it says and says what it means. We read of four blind beggars who received their sight as the Lord Jesus Christ went in and as he went out of Jericho while on the way in here in Luke. One on the way out in Mark, Bartimaeus, and two others on the way out, unnamed, in Matthew. What we actually begin to say is something like this. There were probably an awful lot more. Why limit it to four? Those who were in charge of the care of blind beggars would put them where there were lots of people passing. And when news went round that Jesus of Nazareth had been seen, then goodness me, they would be seeking those perhaps relatives, friends, neighbours to put their relatives or their blind beggar friends where Jesus was going to pass. You ever wonder how did Zacchaeus know that Jesus was going to pass that way when he climbed up the sycamore tree? What intelligence did he have? Can I suggest that that's where a lot of blind beggars had been placed because news had gone round Jesus of Nazareth is in town. Oh, if we can only make sure that he passes our father, brother, uncle, grandfather, neighbor, they would call out. What do they call out? They knew what to call out. They knew they were ready and waiting. They were to call out Jesus, our son of David. Have mercy on me. And the Lord Jesus Christ would appear not to have heard. Be ready for that. If you're serious and you call out with earnest desire, Then he will stop. He'll ask that you're brought to him. He'll say, what do you want? You can tell him that I may receive my sight. and he will give you and you will be immediately given your sight. Isn't that a much more worthy understanding of what was happening in Jericho and throughout Galilee as well? That sometimes we read that the Lord Jesus Christ healed every single person. There wasn't a single unwell, presumably blind, deaf, lame, dumb person left. Jesus healed them all. So why do we have to limit it to just one blind beggar? Now, hardly surprising, Jericho would have been alive with news of all these blind beggars receiving their sight. Not surprisingly, therefore, Zacchaeus would have been aware. There was a great change in the air. Something was different. Something was happening. Who is this? What's the explanation? The explanation is that the Lord Jesus Christ has come. he has power to open blind eyes. Now that's worthy of perhaps application before we move on. Lives being changed rather attracts us doesn't it? You know Zacchaeus wasn't attracted for any other reason it would appear might suggest another one very briefly other than this man made a difference in Those who had once been blind, now as with John chapter 9, the account in Jerusalem of the man born blind, one thing, this thing I know. Whereas I was blind, now I see. Do you remember the man who was lame in Acts chapter 3? He had been lame for many years. He was known by many. And when the temple police went out to arrest Peter and John for preaching in the name of Jesus, they made a very significant mistake. How could they have done this? They not only arrested Peter and John. Do read the account, please, in Acts 3 and 4. But they arrested the man who had previously been lame. We know that because the scripture tells us. And they could not deny it. They're the exact words. And there he was standing, a grown man. Everyone recognized him. That rather undermined their case against Peter and John. They had to recognize that Peter and John had been with Jesus because there was this 45-year-old man, I think he was, wasn't he, but anyway, standing. He was proof that what Jesus had done, These two, Peter and John, ignorant fishermen, but they were doing too. And there was quite a commotion in Jerusalem and they couldn't deny it. Now, I wonder if, how many testimonies, how many accounts of how people have come to salvation have you heard or have I heard, where it goes something like this. Someone I work with, someone who lived next to me. Actually, perhaps I can just give this if I haven't given it before. A dear friend, he went to be with the Lord in January in North Devon, and his testimony is this. His wife, Amy, who is also now with the Lord, she noticed that there was a couple living next to them, and they never put any washing on the line on the Lord's Day. And Amy was very interested in this and she spoke to Sue and said, do you mind, but I can't help noticing you never put any washing on your line on the Lord's Day. Why is that? And Sue said, it's because to us it's the Lord's Day. And what we can do on six days of the week, we do. So we can keep the Lord's Day separate and free for worship and for other spiritual activities. And Amy was so amazed, she came along to the church and she was converted. Little later, actually there is someone here who may know who I'm speaking about. Little later, her husband, Brian, was enticed along to church, he'd seen a change in his wife, and Brian was converted too. Isn't that remarkable? They had seen a change in someone else. Well, here was a change. It might not be such a dramatic change as a blind beggar receiving his sight, but we can see, can't we? sometimes we've been talking about a certain girl who I remember very well in Plymouth and she was changed so much when she came to the Lord she's now in Coventry and knows some who were here this morning that she warned me not to go and see her parents because they would be so cross because they weren't happy that she'd become a Christian but they had seen a change and that's I would suggest the main reason that Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus and Who is this man? How does he do this change? What has he got that other religious leaders haven't got? He sought to see Jesus, who he was. You know the hymn, I don't think it's in your hymn book, but do forgive me if it is, but, O for a thousand tongues to sing my dear Redeemer's praise. It has these verses in it, he speaks. and listening to his voice new life the dead receive the mournful broken hearts rejoice the humble poor believe hear him ye deaf his praise ye dumb your loosened tongues employ ye blind behold your savior come and leap ye lame for joy, the change in someone. Maybe a son or daughter, might be in my case, my father. My father is the most changed man I've ever seen. You wouldn't be able to recognise him. My children used to say to me, did your dad this? Did your dad that? Of course, they never knew the dad that I knew when I was young, but he was as though he was a changed man. He was a changed man. He was the most changed man I've ever seen, and it's a wonderful thing to see. And I suspect that Zacchaeus had seen this. Do you remember when Philip wants Nathanael, his brother, to come and see the Lord Jesus Christ? And in John 1, we're told, I think it's verse 45, we have found him. We've found him of whom Moses taught, and Nathanael, Philip actually says Jesus of Nazareth and Nathanael says Nazareth no good thing can ever come out of Nazareth and Philip realizes and no point arguing what does he do come and see Nathanael came to see well we'll pick up with Nathanael in a moment but he came to see. We would see Jesus and not to be easily put off. And I would suggest that's why Zacchaeus knew that Jesus was to pass that way because the intelligence had gone round, Jesus will come this way because this is where the blind beggars have gathered to hear him. I'm sure a second reason was, as the scriptures tell us, the common people heard him gladly. Why did they hear him gladly? Because he spoke, he preached and taught with authority, not as the scribes who had no authority. There was something about the Lord Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth, that was different. He spoke of experience, he spoke of truth. He didn't speak as a hypocrite. He didn't speak being self-righteous and pompous. He had a genuine desire for the salvation, for the deliverance of sin. of men and women and young people and he healed and to show as Charles Wesley in that hymn shows us that those who are blind to the truth concerning themselves and God and the future, those who are deaf to the glorious invitations and promises of the gospel, those who never spoke the name of the Lord Jesus Christ in praise and worship rather in cursing and blasphemy, that they would have their hearts opened that they would be given spiritual sight, that they would be able to worship in spirit and in truth. There was something genuine, something sincere, something undeniable about the Lord Jesus Christ. We know he was holy, he was harmless, he was undefiled, he was Separate from sinners, the scriptures tell us. In all points, tempted like as we are, yet without sin. What an individual he must have been. I personally don't have much time for those who say, well, there must be something about his appearance and try and imagine what he looked like. I don't think that's very profitable at all. But he clearly had an authority and a sincerity because people gathered. We never hear that he set up to preach and there's no one there. We never read of small congregations. He would withdraw himself, but the multitudes would follow him because they loved to hear him. And it's only when he spoke of the cost of following him that they began to dissolve away. Now as a believer, I wonder if we say, we would see Jesus. You know, there's so many places we could go to, but I always like to go to the Song of Solomon. In the Song of Solomon, chapter five, there is an individual and she is set forth to represent Christian people. And she's been a little bit complacent. She's in bed. And the Lord Jesus Christ has come and knocked on the door. And she said, well, I'm ever so sorry. My puppy shouts out, sorry. And the Bible tells us that she's awake, but she's asleep. And the thought of getting out is just a bit too much for her to open the door. When she does go and open the door, he's gone. She's distraught. What has she done? And the chapter, chapter 5, tells us of her searching. She goes out onto the walls of the city. And she asked the daughters of Jerusalem, have you seen my beloved? And the daughters of Jerusalem say, what's special about your beloved more than any other beloved? What is thy beloved more than another beloved? And then we have probably the most wonderful description of the Lord Jesus Christ I would suggest in the entire Bible. And she describes the Lord Jesus Christ. And she comes to the summary, the conclusion. What's the conclusion? He is altogether lovely. Everything about him, his truth, his graces, his beauties, his promises, his power, his love, his faithfulness, all of his offices where the prophet, he is altogether lovely. And the daughters of Jerusalem say, well in that case, where is he? Whither is thy beloved gone that we might seek him with thee? And where does she find him? She finds him in the local church where his people are gathered. It's referred to as the garden in the Song of Solomon, the walled and watered garden. It's a wonderful picture. You're feeling a little low. You've lost that first flush of blessedness. Perhaps you haven't known any warmth or any presence of the Lord in your devotions. What do you do? You don't stay away from the local church. That's where he is. You go to where he is. He's promised to be where two or three are gathered in his name. And therefore, if you say, well, I haven't known any of his blessing, I haven't known any sense of his smile or of his love, it's almost as though it's distant. It's almost as though I'm living the Christian life on autopilot. You'll need to go to where he is. Where is he? He's in the local church. Now, secondly, where is he? He's in the scripture. And in thy word revealed, the hymn writer puts it, I see thee, Lord. Do you remember, it is in the Song of Solomon again. There's a voice. Ah! Someone leaping over the hills and mountains. It is my beloved, the voice of my beloved. Where do you hear it? You read it in the scripture. This is the Lord speaking and it's wonderful, isn't it, to sit at his feet and hear him. We would see Jesus. Zacchaeus sought to see Jesus. who he was. Now secondly, he was seen of Jesus. Now this is just too wonderful to be. Before Zacchaeus had decided that he wanted to see Jesus who he was, Jesus had seen him. Now of course he saw him up the sycamore tree but he saw him long before he climbed up the sycamore tree. You know if we go back into John 1 and verse 46 we pick up the account with Nathanael Philip has said, come and see. And Nathanael's probably said, oh, well then, I suppose if it keeps you quiet, I'll come and see. And as Jesus sees Nathanael coming to him, behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile. You know the account. Nathanael's a bit troubled that he knows something about him. And the Lord Jesus Christ says, I saw thee. I saw you sitting under the fig tree. And that's enough for Nathanael. One minute, can anything good come out of Nazareth? The next minute, he cries, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God. Thou art the King of Israel. No wonder Jesus says, goodness me, you're going to see better things than this. And of course, he speaks of some of the things that Nathanael will see. Before Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. Isn't that wonderful? The Lord Jesus Christ saw Nathaniel, even before he heard the invitation to come. It's almost as though he says to Zacchaeus, Zacchaeus, before you climb that sycamore tree, I saw you. There's a hymn again. I haven't checked if it's in your hymn book, but it goes like this. I sought the Lord, and afterward I knew. He moved my soul to seek him. seeking me. It was not I that found, O Saviour true, for I was found by thee." How wonderful. Zacchaeus was found by the Lord Jesus Christ. He was only moved to go up to that height to look down because Jesus was seeking him. And just as Nathanael was seen under the fig tree, Zacchaeus was seen having a desire to see Jesus, who he was. And therefore, as Jesus walked by, you know, we sing the hymn, I know it will be in your hymn book, I found a friend, oh, such a friend. He loved me ere I knew him. He drew me with the cause of love and thus he bound me to him. Isn't that a wonderful thought? In eternity past, knowing our sins, our duplicity, our iniquity, our deception, knowing all about us, he still loved us with an everlasting love and he saw us in Eternity past, sometimes preachers say this, he saw us in his mind's eye even when he was suffering on Calvary's cross. Isn't that an amazing thing that in view of all his sufferings, in all that he was to bear, he still could see in his mind's eye those like you and me, if we have come to be able to say he loved me and gave himself for me. Thirdly, and finally of course, he was saved by Jesus or he received Jesus or he received salvation. Passage says he received him joyfully, he received salvation. Verse 9, this day is salvation come to this house. What is receiving Jesus? What, therefore, is receiving salvation? Well, receiving Jesus, first of all, must be, from the passage, calling Jesus Christ Lord. That's one of his names, isn't it? Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, acknowledging him, Master. Master, Lord. I'm a servant. I come humbly before you, Lord. And Zacchaeus says, Lord, as we read. Secondly, to receive the Lord Jesus Christ comes to understand that he came to seek us, not that we first were smart enough to think, I'll seek him and see. That's what verse 10 means. The son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. How does he do that? He plants by his spirit a desire in the heart. We would see Jesus. Zacchaeus would climb the sycamore tree. Perhaps we were young and we responded to an invitation to go to Sunday school. Perhaps we responded to an invitation to come to a church service. Perhaps we responded to receiving a Bible when we're at school or when we're at college. Why was that? My dear wife, since we're talking about my wife receiving what was a Gideon's Bible in former days, which was the beginning of what we might call her spiritual journey. In her testimony, she, why me? Two brothers and a sister, parents, no one remotely interested. No one worshipping apart from her. Why? We sing with the children, don't we? Why did he love me? I never can tell. Why did he suffer to save me from hell? Nothing but wonderful grace from above could have worked out such a story of love. Grace, grace, infinite grace flowing to you and me. Grace, grace, infinite grace from the cross at Calvary. We acknowledge him as Lord. We realise that he saw us long before we saw him. and we understand why he came to seek and to save that which was lost. How did he save that which was lost? He saved that which was lost, Zacchaeus, people like us, He saved us from our just deserts, from the judgment, the justice of God. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. That's how he saves. How do you work that out? Well, it means instead of me having to face God as judge and to be consigned to the torments of hell forever, I can know of a certainty that the Lord Jesus Christ suffered all that in just a few hours on Calvary's cross if my trust, if I believe that, if I accept him as Lord and Saviour. And what's more, I also believe that on Calvary's cross he offered himself an offering of righteousness, holiness, purity, sinlessness, so I could be counted righteous for his sake. Now we do struggle, we're blessed with numbers of children from unchurched families and teenagers and we struggle to find illustrations. And we don't like to copy illustrations unless they're good illustrations so this is one of ours, don't let me take any credit for this. But you'll set some homework to do, we call it coursework in Plymouth, I don't know if it's homework or coursework here. There's some coursework to do. You have to do it. You go home. Mum, Dad, I can't do this. Can you do it for me? Oh, well, you'll get in trouble if I put Dad did this on this. I'll tell you what, I'll do it, but I'll try and make my writing look like yours. So when you hand it in and you get full marks, no one will know it was me that did it. You know, that's quite a good illustration of what the Lord Jesus Christ has done. When Almighty God looks upon us, he sees us, if our trust is in Christ, he sees us as perfect, spotless. Have we done that? No. The Lord Jesus Christ has done that. But for his sake, we receive If we go back to the illustration, we receive the top marks. You know, the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary's cross did two particular things, did other things as well as it happens, but two particular things. He died as if our sins were his, and he gave us his righteousness as if it was ours. That's wonderful, isn't it? And that's coming to receive the Lord Jesus Christ. You believe him, you call him Lord, you take him at his word, and you understand how he came to seek and to save that which was lost by giving himself a ransom for many by shedding his blood that those for whom he came may be saved from shedding his blood from those who will believe upon him we should have suffered what he suffered But that wonderful hymn we sang, was it for sins? I do prefer that to was it for crimes, but I don't think we're going to fall out over words in hymn books. Let me use my words. Was it for sins that we had done? He bled upon the tree. Amazing pity. Grace unknown and love beyond degree. This is believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. This is receiving salvation. This is the Lord Jesus Christ entering in, if you like, to our lives, or we receiving him. We don't like to encourage people to invite or call the Lord Jesus Christ to come into our hearts, he will come in but we need to believe and trust first and then when our trust is in him and we acknowledge him as Lord he will come to us. That's a wonderful thought isn't it to receive the Lord Jesus Christ. I wonder if perhaps we love to receive the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, how do we do that? Well, we come to him humbly. We ask him to be our Lord and Saviour. We trust what he did on Calvary's cross. We surrender our lives to him. Lord, here I give myself away. It is all that I can do. those who follow in the steps of the Lord Jesus Christ evidence that they have given themselves away and they have received him and salvation has now entered their lives what a wonderful thing a changed attitude a changed heart a changed man you know when he said When he said, half of my goods I give to the poor, that doesn't mean that's the sum total and no more, and I'm keeping the other half for myself. It means he would give half away, done, and of the other half, he would restore fourfold to anyone from whom he had made false accusation, he had used extortion, dishonesty, whatever he had done. I wonder how much he was left with. Well, we're not told. I wonder how long he continued as chief among the tax gatherers. I suspect he didn't last a day but perhaps those who saw what a changed man he was and he was giving his ill-gotten gains away perhaps it might feel that he probably wouldn't be a good bet for the next round of tenders for tax districts in Jericho but he didn't worry about that because he was now a son of Abraham. What does that mean? Well, it doesn't mean that his father and his, he could trace his genealogy back to Abraham, although he probably could. The Bible tells us what it means. It means anyone who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ is a son of Abraham, Galatians 3 verse 15. We won't look at that now, but it means that he was a true believer in the living God. His life was changed. He was saved. He was numbered among the children of God. He was a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. And as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, sons of Abraham, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. Well, have we received the Lord Jesus Christ? It's very easy to tell. It's not quite the same as looking in a mirror and admiring ourselves. Our outward appearance is rather looking at our hearts. What's the most important thing to us? Where would we rather be on the Lord's day? Who would we rather obey? What brings us greatest joy, peace and hope? What sustains us in times of trial and difficulty? Is it this world? Is it our possessions, our bank account? Is it our families, precious and important as they are? or is it the Lord Jesus Christ? Well, if our love and our devotion and our service is for him, then we can say that we have passed from death to life. We sought to see the Lord Jesus, who he was. Actually, we realised he was seeking us first all along, and now we have received him. Now, let me just read this as we close. This is very moving. There's a church in Plymouth. It's a church which has gone through many transformations, but it's very early. You know, the signatories of the old Baptist confessions came up from Plymouth. It was the church where the Pilgrim Fathers set sail from in 1620. And someone has written a history of this church, and it's the history of George Street Church, Plymouth. Now, the West Country, or the Southwest, is often identified with the Wesleys, John and Charles Wesley especially, quite rightly. But there was another man who, in certain circles, doesn't receive too much acknowledgement, a man called George Whitfield. This is George Whitfield, and he visits Kingsbridge. Kingsbridge is, if you can think of South Devon, a little bulge between Plymouth and Exeter. Down there, that's Kingsbridge. Let me just read this as we close. George Whitfield came to Kingsbridge in July 1744. when Philip Gibbs was between 13 and 14 years of age. The youth was with his master, a tailor. While he was at work, a mother in Israel, a member of the Baptist Church in Kingsbridge, came up on horseback and said to him, here's a minister of the establishment come to town, a Church of England man, you will certainly hear him. Accordingly, he got up on the horse behind her. Mr. Gibbs says this, I went to hear him preach in a field, and being then little of stature, got up, not into a sycamore, but into an elm tree, as I well remember. His text was, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? The way of salvation was open to me, and in that single sermon I saw both my disease and remedy. I threw myself as a poor sinner upon the Son of God for mercy and salvation. George Whitfield's account is, one young man who was then called, is since a preacher, and he was in a tree. I spoke to him to imitate Zacchaeus, come down and receive the Lord Jesus. The word was backed with power, he heard, came down and believed, and now adorns the gospel. Mr Gibbs subsequently joined the church at Kingsbridge, being baptised in 1745, the next year. Three months later, he was called to exercise his gifts in preaching, and he goes into membership. He's ordained as a minister, and he ends up as minister of the church in Plymouth in George Street. Isn't that wonderful? A real life Zacchaeus. He believed. He came down, and he was transformed by the grace of God. So was Zacchaeus. Do you seek to see the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you appreciate that he was ever seeking you first? He came to seek and to save that which was lost. And have you received him? And if not, then call upon him while he is near. Believe him. Confess your sin. Trust him. Follow in the way. And you can then say, salvation has visited this house. May it be so. For his glory. Amen. Let's all pray together. Oh Lord our God, how we do thank thee for such clear examples of changes in life, whether blind men being able to see or whether that tax gatherer giving away all his possessions. Oh Lord, may we give diligence to make our calling and election sure. And if we cannot say, this Lord Jesus Christ, who loved me and gave himself for me, is my Lord and Saviour, who I'll follow through thick and thin, even till the end of life, and then in glory above forever. O Lord, deal with us mercifully and woo us and win us. Draw us to thyself as thou didst draw Zacchaeus down that tree. Hear us then, O God, because we ask in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and for his sake. Amen. And our closing hymn is number 551, Just As I Am. Number 551. ♪ As I am without one thee ♪ ♪ But that thy blood was shed for me ♪ ♪ And that now this may come to thee ♪ ♪ O God of all ♪ my God. Just as I am and praise him not, do in my soul the one and all. To thee is my and bend his law, the law of North Carolina. Just as I am, though tossed about, With pain and heartache, pain and doubt, ♪ Fightings and fears within, without ♪ ♪ O Lamb of God, I come ♪ ♪ Just as I am, all flesh and blood ♪ ♪ Sight rich as healing of the mind ♪ ♪ Yea, all I need in need you find ♪ ♪ O Lamb of God, I come ♪ ♪ Just as I am, thou wilt receive ♪ ♪ Wilt welcome, pardon, and relieve ♪ ♪ Because I promise my belief, O Thou ♪ ♪ Of God, my God ♪ Just as I am ♪ My God on earth ♪ Has worked in every way and how ♪ How to be like ♪ Yea, I know, Lord ♪ ♪ O Lamb of God, my God ♪ ♪ Just as I am ♪ ♪ Hoped and dreamed of ♪ ♪ The redneck death ♪ ♪ And minded women ♪ ♪ If o'er season ♪ ♪ Then of God ♪ ♪ The love of God ♪ ♪ I am loved ♪ And now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion, the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.