My story – “I was a corrupt official.” Luke 19
I wonder if you see any connection between this man 2000 years ago and yourself. You may say, “He was a man, but I am a woman.” Perhaps you are thinking, “He is an adult and I am still a child.” We could add things like: he is employed and I am unemployed, he is an office worker and I am a manual worker, he is healthy enough to climb trees, but I can barely get down the stairs without a chair lift.
In this story some things will be different, but we are looking at a person who got converted. Some things in this story are fundamental to Zacchaeus, but incidental to you. Some are fundamental to us all.
I need to say something about this story. If you have no connection with it at all, then you can be sure of one thing: you are not yet converted. Jesus made a serious point about conversion. Matthew 18:3 and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
Some people do not want to be converted. They like the status quo.
What is the difference between an atheist and an agnostic? The answer is that an atheist says, “I know there is no God.” How he or she knows, he cannot explain. Sometimes he will say, “How can there be a God when there is so much suffering?” But that is not an argument proving anything. It is not evidence. In fact, you cannot prove that there is no God who is outside time and space. It is impossible to prove it. You have to believe it. It is a position of faith.
The agnostic says, “You cannot know whether there is a God or not.” We may ask this agnostic how he knows you cannot know. It is true he may not know, but he cannot know that no one knows!
I have never yet met an atheist who really wants to be convinced to believe in God. Rather, I have found that, to the man, (or do I mean, to the person,) they are vehement and even violently anti-god.
Being an agnostic may appear to be the more respectable and honest position, but sadly, it doesn’t hold water. If there may be a God, surely the agnostic should want to know one way or the other. If there may be a creator, a saviour, a heaven, a hell — surely this should be his passion to find out. But agnosticism seems to be used as an excuse for indifference and lethargy.
Committing to another religion is also a way of avoiding conversion. It means I do not need to accept I am a sinner, nor that I cannot help myself, nor that my good works are useless. A person deflects conversations away from the issue of God, repentance and Jesus Christ by saying, “I am a Catholic,” or “I am a Muslim,” or some other religion.
I have even met people who have said they don’t want to be converted because it means they will have to stop doing something they want to keep doing. I think they are quite honest! The rich young ruler is a case in point. He did not want to become a generous philanthropist, well, at least not a poor one! Perhaps others may see that conversion will affect their moral life, or rather, their immoral life, their sports, their use of Sunday, their friendships. Whatever the issue, there are some people who do not wish to be converted because it will inevitably affect what they want to be and what they want to continue doing.
Zacchaeus was different. We do not know whether he wanted to be converted, but we know what he did want. He wanted to see Jesus. We do not know why. Perhaps he was just curious just to catch a glimpse of this man who was causing such a stir. Perhaps he was concerned and was looking for answers. Perhaps he was convinced he needed to know Jesus.
We aren’t told why he wanted to see Jesus, but perhaps that will help you.
Are you curious? Who is Jesus? Why has he come? What is He teaching? What is He doing?
Are you concerned? You see your life is not what it should be. Perhaps you know you will one day face God, and maybe not as a cheat like Zacchaeus, but you know you cannot meet the standard. There is something that concerns you. You agree that all have sinned, and that includes you. Is there a way out? Is it possible to find forgiveness Can a person leave this world with any certainty of being welcomed in the next?
Are you convinced? Convinced, that is, that Jesus Christ holds the keys of heaven. Are you convinced that only if you are accepted by Him can you be accepted by God? Are you convinced that if He is willing, He is able to save you?
Do you want to be truly converted? If so, listen on. If so, speak to me or Julian afterwards. If so, don’t wait until the end of this message.
In your heart, right now say to the Lord, “Heavenly Father, your Son was sent to save sinners. He died to save sinners. He rose again to save sinners. I am a sinner. I come to you now to ask that you would forgive me for what I have been and what I have done. I ask you to change my heart and make me the person I ought to be. I take you as my Lord and Saviour. I trust you to take me as your adopted son. Thank you, that you love sinners. Thank you, for loving me. Amen.”
Let us join Zacchaeus in Luke 19. Perhaps you join him as a person who has only just sought Jesus as your Saviour.
Today there are 10 things I want to emphasise about this person. What do we know about him from this short story? The answer is that everything we know about him is here. We know nothing of his parents, birth, education, family. They are irrelevant to this story. The truth is that these things may influence what we are, but they do not cause us to be what we are. One child is placed in a home. There is abuse. They fill with resentment. They become an abuser. Another child, like my mother, has the same thing happen. She decides her home will become a haven for children and abused women. Each person’s background did not cause them to go different ways. Something within them did that.
We know nothing of this person’s life afterwards. All we know is that before he met Jesus he was one type of man, and afterwards he was a different type of man.
Luke 19 1Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho.
1. He was successful
2 Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich.
This man was top of the class. He had worked his way up in a greedy and grasping job. He wasn’t bothered about reputation. The Jews hated what he did. The Romans used him, and despised him. He wasn’t bothered about friendships. What mattered was success. He wanted the job as chief tax collector, and we cannot doubt why. He had power and he had money. There are those who are taxed and there are those who collect the taxes, and along with collecting for the Romans comes collecting for yourself. But what if you can have more than one slice of the cake? What if you get a cut from every tax collector in town? That is Zacchaeus.
He may not be popular, but he was prosperous. He was rich. He could eat what he wanted, wear what he wanted, live where he wanted.
How many people think that if only they get rich they will be happy. A man said it to me, “Pray that I will win the Lottery.” I said, “But, Danny, it won’t make you happy.” He said, “I know.” I asked, “Why do you want to win the lottery then?” He said, “I want to prove it won’t make me happy.
In 2003, Callie Rogers was 16, living with foster parents in the U.K. and working as a shop clerk earning £3.60 an hour. And then she bought a lottery ticket. Rogers won a whopping £1.9 million. Drugs and waste followed until she took up working as a maid again. Not until she was pregnant and virtually penniless did she say, “For the first time I feel like I have everything I need.”
In 2002, Michael Carroll won the U.K.’s National Lottery, netting a £9.7 million boost for his bank account. By 2012, however, the former refuse collector was living on public benefits, having squandered the money in myriad ways.
Carroll purchased — and then destroyed — a mansion, threw lavish parties for friends, and made a daily habit of smoking $3,000 worth of crack cocaine. He also bought pricey cars, wrecked them on the self-made “race track” circling the grounds of his mansion and then left them to rust on the property’s outskirts. A fair amount of his lotto payment went to prostitutes and overstated gold jewellery, and he developed a penchant for drinking alcohol and then driving around the otherwise quiet streets of Norfolk, England. The disturbances occurred on such a predictable basis, a hotline was established so neighbours could report Carroll to the local council.
Eventually, financial shortfalls forced Carroll to sell the mansion at a loss and he was later caught leaving a grocery market without paying for the sandwich and drink he grabbed off store shelves. The £10 items ended up costing him nearly £110 in court costs.
“I only started to think about three things — drugs, sex and gold,” lamented Carroll after his downfall. “The dealer who introduced me to crack has more of my lotto money than I do”
The stories go on of those who either won their money, stole it or earned it by fair means or foul.
Jay Gould was a multi-millionaire, (May 27, 1836 – December 2, 1892) was a leading American railroad developer and speculator. His success made him the ninth richest American in history. When dying of tuberculosis he is reported to have said, “I suppose I am the most miserable man on earth.”
How many tragic cases we hear of those of whom we are envious, yet they end up in misery, perhaps even taking their own lives in despair.
2. He was seeking
3 And he sought to see who Jesus was,
I have already made the point that we don’t know why he was seeking, but we do know who He was seeking. This is vital for you. Many are seeking something, but if you are to be converted you need to seek someone. Some people think the answer is found in religion, or the church, but that is like a man thinking that he will be well because he has found the hospital. What he needs is not a hospital, but a doctor. He needs a person. You may have come to this church for years. You may call it your church, but if you have not found the Saviour, you are as unconverted as the day you were born.
You need to see who Jesus is. You need to understand that He is the Son of God. You need to see that He is a sinless man. You need to see that He is the friend of sinners. You need to see that He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
Zacchaeus could have settled down and lived out his life. Perhaps he could have been like the rich fool who had built up his pension fund until he knew that he just could not spend it all. As quickly as he bought things his bank balance was topped up by his pension, bank interest and investments. But that man lay on his bed congratulating himself and heard the words, “You fool, this very night your soul is required of you.” It is good knowing that your money will last a lifetime, especially if that lifetime is rushing to its end. “How much did he leave?” was the question as they read the will. “Everything!” was the answer.
We know something was already happening in his heart. Why? The scriptures answer in Psalms 10:4 The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God; God is in none of his thoughts. I have met people who are not converted, but they are seriously thinking and seeking. Are you like that?
It also says that times will come when Psalms 45:12 The rich among the people will seek your favour. Zacchaeus seems to have come to that point in his life.
But also, he knew Jesus was near and he took his chance. The scriptures encourage us to do it. Isaiah 55:6 Seek the LORD while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near.
That is true. There are times in our life when the Lord seems near, when our hearts are ready and when we can take the moment to seek to see Jesus.
3. He was short!
but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature.
His enthusiasm to find and see Jesus was cut short. Why? Because he was cut short! I do not know if this means he was 5ft tall or so, but he was noticeably short, or rather unnoticeably short! He could not see over the crowd. We are not told he was pushed, or shoved or abused by an angry crowd. We are simply told that he couldn’t see!
What are the personal limitations in your life that are hindering you from seeing Jesus for the Saviour He is?
I have known people say, “I can’t understand it. I am not clever enough.” Short on education. I know a number of people who suffer from Downs Syndrome, but I know a number who are converted and love and trust the Lord. While we were in Garforth there was a man named Geoff who had both severe physical and mental disability. He loved the Lord, and baptising him was quite an episode. I think everyone got wet as he could not keep his arms and feet quite still enough and he was terrified of water anyway, but he wanted to be baptised and the strong swimmers among us obliged! If you have more mental capacity that him, then that should not stop you. There is something you can do, if you really want to know Christ. It is the equivalent of climbing a tree. I know of a number of people who could not even read as adults, but because they wanted to know about Jesus they were desperate to climb that tree of knowledge and get that skill.
Mary, was a Welsh girl. She wanted to see Jesus in the pages of her own Bible. She was desperately poor, but she climbed the tree of working hard in any small job to save that money to get to see Jesus on the pages of her own Bible.
Perhaps you are shy. You are short on self-confidence. It makes you unwilling to ask people for help. I know a man like that. He was a coal miner and the son of a rag and bone man. He was short on everything; education, money, self-esteem, friends. The only things he had were a job and a foul tongue. One day he picked up a bus ticket and it said printed on the back, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.” He didn’t know what to do, but somehow he climbed up the tree of confidence and began asking people what it meant to be saved. He endured mocking, but he got a sight of Jesus one day which led him to trust Him and follow him. For a number of years he was my landlord in Garforth, and has never lacked the confidence to tell anyone and everyone about Christ from that day to this, now in his late seventies.
I don’t know what you might use as an excuse to give up your search to see Jesus, but don’t If Zacchaeus had turned round and given up at the first hurdle this story could not be told — his story would not be told.
4. He was single-minded
4 So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way.
Are you determined to be saved? Thomas Edison’s teacher said of him that he was too stupid to learn anything. He eventually invented the electric light bulb. When asked if he felt a failure for having made so many attempts at creating a light bulb and yet failing. He replied, “Young man, why would I feel like a failure? And why would I ever give up? I now know definitively over 9,000 ways that an electric light bulb will not work. Success is almost in my grasp.” Shortly after that, and over 10,000 attempts, Edison invented the light bulb. He also invented the phonograph and the movie camera.
Colonel Harland David Sanders was fired from numerous jobs before he travelled across the United States to get someone to sell his fried chicken. Today there are over 18,000 KFC outlets around the world.
Are you single-minded about Christ? Is it your goal to understand who Jesus is? Jesus has said, “Ask, and it shall be given to you, seek and you shall find.”
I can remember as a child staring at a blackboard with chalk marks on it. Others were reading words from it, and I desperately wanted to read. Suddenly, and I have no idea how, I saw a letter and knew it was an ‘a’. I saw others and put them together. I recognized a word. I wanted so badly to be able to do what others could, but I just didn’t understand how to do it. In a moment my eyes were opened, and I was off! I remember it distinctly as one of those life-changing moments in my youth.
Are you desperate to see Jesus? Are you desperate to be saved? It is true that some people seem to just stumble into His path. It is true that he seems to seek out others, but there are others still for whom there are obstacles to overcome and those obstacles test whether you really want Jesus and what He is offering at all. @@@ half-hearted
There is no more important area of life where the proverb, “If at first you do not succeed, try, try, try again.” Whatever else you think you want in life, set your sights on Christ and do not take your eyes off that goal.
5. He was spoken to
5 And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.”
One thing I am sure of, no one is converted until Jesus speaks to them. I have met people who boast they have had visions of Jesus, or meetings with Jesus, or a personal word with Jesus. One thing I know. Jesus does not speak directly today. He has said so unmistakably. Word of knowledge and prophecy and so on, as a direct revelation have ceased, and the Bible makes that clear in 1 Corinthians 13. But Jesus speaks through His word to the heart by His Holy Spirit.
He calls powerfully. He speaks powerfully and personally through scripture. Christ called Saul of Tarsus personally. He said to Peter and Andrew “Follow Me.” (Matthew 4:19) Through His word He says, “Whoever comes to me I will never turn away.” (John 6:37) The Old and New Testaments are full of short, sharp personal words. “Come to Me.” “Turn to Me.” “Return to Me.” “Repent.” “Believe.”
This call requires three things:
1. Haste! When Christ speaks we are meant to respond. “Make haste.” In another place He says, “If you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.” (Hebrews 3:15)
The second thing is:
2. Humility! Come down. Now you may think I am reading too much into this, but he could have said, “Who do you think you are speaking to, you penniless preacher?” Everyone one who comes to Jesus has to firstly come down. We all have to kneel. No one is man enough to look the sinless Son of God in the eye.
The third thing is:
3. Home! Christ is coming into your home to stay! Christ will step inside the house of your heart. I wonder how Zacchaeus felt. I know when we have suddenly had an unexpected visitor Colette has sometimes said, “I’m glad we cleared up yesterday!” But Zacchaeus had the Lord Jesus look round his home just as he left it. I wonder, what would happen if he came into your house.
One poem speaks of this:
If Jesus came to your house to spend a day or two
If he came quite unexpectedly, I wonder what you’d do.
I know you’d give your nicest room, to such an honoured Guest,
And all the food you’d serve Him, would be the very best.
And you would keep assuring Him, you’re glad to have Him there
That serving Him in your own home is joy beyond compare.
But-when you saw Him coming, would you meet Him at the door
With arms outstretched in welcome to your heavenly Visitor?
Or would you have to change your clothes before you let Him in,
Or hide some magazines and put the Bible where they’d been?
Would you turn off the television and hope he hadn’t heard
And wish you hadn’t uttered that last, loud, hasty word?
Would you hide your worldly music and put some hymn books out?
Could you let Jesus walk right in, or would you rush about?
And I wonder-if the Saviour spent a day or two with you,
Would you go right on doing the things you always do?
Would you keep right on saying the things you always say?
Would life for you continue as it does from day to day?
Would your family conversation keep up its usual pace?
And would you find it hard each meal to say a table grace?
Would you sing the songs you always sing,
and read the books you read?
And let Him know the things on which your mind and spirit feed?
Would you take Jesus with you, everywhere you’d planned to go,
Or would you, maybe, change your plans for just a day or so?
Would you be glad to have Him, meet your very closest friends,
Or would you hope they’d stay away, until His visit ends?
Would you be glad to have Him stay forever on and on,
Or would you sigh, with great relief when He at last was gone?
It might be interesting to know, the things that you would do,
If Jesus came in person to spend some time with you.
– Charles William Daugherty
Haste, humility, and the home of your heart. Jesus speaks and says that He must come and stay there. He must come into your heart if you are to be converted. My friends, Jesus did not come from heaven just to get inside your head. He came to get inside your heart. It is evident that this had a profound effect on Zacchaeus. He had come to take a look at Jesus, and discovered that Jesus was taking a look at him.
6. He was surprised
I say he was surprised. Jesus stopped and looked up and spoke. I am guessing, but I do not think I am far wrong when I say that he was surprised. Jesus spoke to a sinner. Jesus said he was interested in a sinner being saved, and in eating with a sinner.
I went to a meeting. I was interested in meeting with Christians again. I was not just surprised, but shocked to know that Jesus Christ was speaking to me, through the scriptures and through the preacher that day, out of all the people in that room. He was singling me out that day and saying that he wanted to come into my heart. I was firstly shocked, but then I bowed and desperately wanted Him to come into my heart.
It was a dirty heart. It was a godless heart. It was a sinful heart. It was a stubborn heart. In some respects it was a shameless heart. But Jesus said through His written word that He would come into it, and for the first time ever, that is the only thing that mattered to me.
7. He was speedy
6 So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully.
How tragic to hear of some people’s reactions to the call of Christ. Acts 17:32 And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while others said, “We will hear you again on this matter.” Following this it said, “However some joined themselves to the disciples…” Don’t be like this group of people. It is a common response. Felix was the same, but he put off the issue because he was afraid of facing up to the voice of his conscience: Acts 24:25 Now as he reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and answered, “Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I will call for you.”
There is a poem about this procrastination, this putting off until tomorrow what ought to be considered today.
Tomorrow, he promised his conscience,
Tomorrow, I mean to believe.
Tomorrow I’ll think as I ought to,
Tomorrow my Saviour receive.
Tomorrow I’ll conquer the habit that
Holds me from heaven away.
But ever his conscience repeated
One word, and one only, today!
Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow,
Thus day after day it went on.
Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow,
Till youth like a shadow was gone.
Till age and his passions had written
The message of fate on his brow;
And forth from the shadows came Death
With the pitiless syllable — now!
Zacchaeus can teach us a lesson. He was thrilled to think that Jesus Christ was interested in him. Think of it. Before the world was made, God loved Zacchaeus. He gave Zacchaeus by name to Christ. Christ agreed to come into the world to find the sheep, Zacchaeus, that was lost. He hunted for him and found him half way up a tree. Because Christ was interested in him he responded quickly and immediately.
It’s all sounds a bit silly really, but Zacchaeus came down that tree quickly and happily. We can imagine this little man and his ungainly clambering. Yet if we can imagine that, let us set that same imagination to picturing the Lord Jesus naked and bloodied, up a tree, fixed and unable to come down. Hebrews 12:2 (Let us look) unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame. He stayed up on that tree.
Up that tree on Calvary Christ laid there and He stayed there, to take in His own body the sins that a greedy, successful, godless, sinner had committed.
I am sure Zacchaeus was not a drunkard, an adulterer, a murderer. He was not known for that. Perhaps you are, but it’s not the point. He was just a little greedy. He fiddled his taxes, but expected others to pay theirs. (Sounds like a politician expecting us to be honest, while fiddling their own expenses.)
He came down straight away. He did not put off until tomorrow what must be done today.
8. He was sinful
7 But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, “He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.”
It is at this point that many find the Christian message hard. They know others are sinners. They can see that and accept that. Hitler was a sinner. Jimmy Saville was a sinner. Suicide Bombers are sinners. Liars, child abusers, cheats and… But there we are. Those who cheat are liars and thieves. Those who get paid and don’t declare it are worse thieves than those who pilfer from Lidl. A Liar must hate the person they spread untruths about, surely, and hatred is murder, said the Lord Jesus. Yet a person may actually tell the truth specifically to destroy a good reputation.
A truth that’s told with bad intent,
beats all the lies we may invent.
Zacchaeus was a sinner in his neighbours’ eyes, but what did that matter? You may think that Jesus is unfair to pick on the worst of people and save them, but to leave you in complete confusion about salvation. My friends, what do your neighbours say about you? I know someone who thought he was above needing to be saved, but he knows a few people who do need to get right!
Peter and the others were in the boat and Jesus was there. Once Jesus performed a miracle of filling a net with fish. Peter did not say, “Wow! Incredible.” He said, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” As soon as he recognized who Jesus was, he recognized what he was.
Those who recognise that they are sinners will be overjoyed if the Saviour takes an interest in them. They will not even try to hide what they are.
9. He was sorry
8 Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor;
How can you tell if someone is sorry? My mother used to say, “If you are sorry, you won’t do it again!” Paul writes about people who were truly sorry for their sin.
This is how it showed itself.
2 Corinthians 7:9 your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. 10 For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. 11 For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter.
Zacchaeus showed this godly sorrow. He showed that he was turning from his selfish ways. He had been greedy and self-centred, but now he would give half away. Do you ever wonder why he only gave half away? We are going to find out. For now it is enough to say that when you get converted a complete transformation takes place.
We read something of it in Ephesians 4. Let us list the things that change when a person is truly converted:
Ephesians 4: 25 Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” for we are members of one another. 26 “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, 27 nor give place to the devil. 28 Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. 29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.
Zacchaeus adds to his new found loving and caring spirit of generosity:
and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.”
The reason he kept half back was that he was going to make restitution. Imagine the thief who steals someone’s deposit on a house. He has stolen more than the money. He has stolen that man’s home. He owes him more than the money he stole.
Someone passes on a story about a man. It may be true, it may be a lie, but the person has no idea which. Even if it is true, he has no idea what the man has done to make amends for whatever he did wrong. How can he make restitution?
A boy gets a girl pregnant. It is no good to think the remedy is an abortion. It is rather that he makes an offer of marriage.
Zacchaeus has falsely accused others, and he knows it. But whatever was extra to what they should have paid he will restore four times over. They should have paid 20 shekels, but he charged them 25. He will now pay them 4 times the 5 he overcharged. He seems to know that he will need half of his money to pay off those bills!
When a person’s repentance reaches their wallet you can be pretty sure it is genuine.
He was not sorry he was caught. He was not primarily sorry others got hurt. First and foremost he was sorry he had sinned.
Are you thinking about your life now? What are the regrets? What are the sins? Some you cannot remember. Some you cannot forget. With sadness confess them to Christ and whatever needs to be done in repentance and restitution, do it. Do you owe people money? Do you owe an apology? Should you admit to a crime, even? Have you some secret sin that others have no idea of, but someone else is suffering, not knowing who hurt them? Have you such sorrow for sin that you can go to them, and even if they refuse to forgive you, you will confess the sin?
10. He was saved
9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham;
Jesus declares that Zacchaeus is saved. Salvation had come to the house because the Saviour had been welcomed in. Salvation had come to the house because sin had been put out.
Don’t be misled. He had not bought his salvation. Zacchaeus knew he owed people that money. If I steal from you and then pay you back, how have I earned salvation! All I may have done is lessened my deserving of punishment. If the only reason I paid you back was to avoid punishment, why is that a good thing.
Imagine meeting a man who had just been awarded a knighthood. You say, “What great thing had you done to be awarded such an honour?” He says, “I once stole the crown jewels, and when I got caught I said I would return them and so they gave me a knighthood!” You would tell me that is ridiculous. Yet many people believe that they can steal and cheat and lie, blaspheme and hate, and be unkind, and when they realise they will be judged, condemned and face eternal punishment, they change and do a few good things and God rewards them with heaven. It is just as ridiculous.
We are not save by our repentance, but we are not saved without it. We are not saved because we are sorry, but we are not saved without being sorry. We are saved because we come as sinners to ask God for mercy and recognize that Christ alone has taken the punishment we deserve.
Jesus shows His own joy in saving people. “There is joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, more than over ninety nine that need no repentance.” “Your sins are forgiven,” he said to the paralysed man. “Your faith has saved you,” to a woman. “Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more,” to a woman caught in adultery, yet so obviously sorry.
11. He was sure
10 for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
Finally, we know he was saved. How do we know? How did he know? He could be sure he was saved. How? “He said it.” Whether it is true I cannot find out, but it is said that a private once saved Wellington when his horse stumbled. Wellington looked at him and said, “Thank you captain.” The surprised private nevertheless said, “Of which regiment sire?” “Of my dragoons.” The private did no more than leave his rifle there and go to the dragoons. When challenged about whether he was a private or a captain, he turned and pointed to Wellington and replied, “He said it.” That was the end of it.
Whether the story is true or not, this is true, that Jesus has said it. He has declared that if we believe we shall be saved, if we come to him we shall not be turned away. He said it. We can be sure of it.
This is a short man, in a short story, but it has taken a long time to tell it.
Shortly, we shall be finished.
At the beginning of this message I asked if you wanted to be converted. I am asking it again. Do you want to be truly converted? If so, speak to me or Julian afterwards. If so, don’t wait.
Remember those three words showing what Jesus called Zacchaeus to do:
Hurry. Come right now. Don’t wait. Ask the Lord Jesus to save you right now.
Humility. Don’t think you are too good. Humble yourself. Come down from your tree and remember the One who was nailed to another one for you. He humbled Himself to save you. Will you not humble yourself to be saved?
Home. He is coming into the home of your heart to stay. The chorus says it as a prayer:
Into my heart, into my heart, come into my heart, Lord Jesus.
Come in today, come in to stay
Come into my heart, Lord Jesus.
Will you pray it and mean it?
In your heart, right now say to the Lord, “Heavenly Father, your Son was sent to save sinners. He died to save sinners. He rose again to save sinners. I am a sinner. I come to you now to ask that you would forgive me for what I have been and what I have done. I ask you to change my heart and make me the person I ought to be. I take you as my Lord and Saviour. I trust you to take me as your forgiven and adopted son. Thank you, that you love sinners. Thank you, for loving me. Amen.”
Handling the Word 