(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You Good morning and welcome. Let's find our seats take our song books turn to song 413 Song 413 413 let's see it out on the first Oh On the second To the Good morning want to welcome you to verity baptist church. We're glad you're with us this morning Let's begin the service with the word of prayer. Let's fire our heads together. How many father lord? We do. Thank you for allowing us to gather together today lord We pray that you're blessed The time that we have set aside for the preaching of your word lord And we pray that you would meet with us and help us to draw close to you in jesus name We pray. Amen Turn the song 230 Two three zero Heavenly sunlight 230 on the first walking in Thank you Five Shadows Never Close I Sing it out on the last Is So Amen, all right. Well, let's take our bulletins this morning We'll look at some announcements If you do not have a bulletin just raise your hand and one of our ushers can get one for you If you need a bulletin just put your hand up and we'll get one for you the verse this week luke 16 10 He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also In much and that's a good verse there. We like that If you open up your bulletin, you'll see our service times sunday morning service 10 30 a.m And we're glad you're with us. Of course on sunday morning on the lord's day for church Sunday evening service at 6 p.m We do invite you to be back tonight for the evening service The evening service is different than the morning service different songs that are sung Different sermon that's preached just one more opportunity to be in god's house With god's people under the preaching of the word of god, of course And then our wednesday evening bible study at 7 p.m. We'd love for you to join us for the midweek service If you look at our soul winning times Our main soul winning times on saturday mornings at 10 a.m And then we have additional soul times on thursdays fridays and sundays at 2 p.m So if you'd like to go soul winning this afternoon We'll have a time set aside for you to be able to Do that if you're a first-time guest if it's your first time here at verity baptist church We're glad you're with us We have a gift we'd like to give you as you walk out of the church building this morning as you go through the main Foyer or if you go out our secondary foyer, you'll see a little table set up and on that table you'll see These little gift bags, please grab one on your way out as a gift from us to you for being our guest this morning There are several resources in this bag that we'd like you to have The one I like to highlight is this uh documentary that our church made it's called being baptist very well made very interesting We think you'll like it want to give this to you as a gift So please make sure you don't leave here this morning without grabbing one of these gift bags on your way out And if you are a guest we'd ask that you please take a moment and fill out the communication card Which is inserted in your bulletin if you need a pen just raise your hand and one of our ushers can bring you by A verity baptist church pen you're welcome to keep the pen as a gift from us as well And we're not going to do anything odd with your info We would just like a record of your attendance We actually would like to send you a little gift But we need your information to do that So please take a moment to fill the card out when we're done with the announcement We're going to sing a song when we're done singing We're going to receive the offering as the offering plate goes by you can drop this card in the offering plate Or you can hand it to me after the service. I'll be standing at the main door greeting people on The way out if you look at our announcements there. We of course are a family integrated church What that means is that children and infants are always welcomed in the church service We do not separate children from their parents for any reason However, we do have mother baby rooms and daddy rooms available for your convenience All of the rooms have comfortable seating. They have monitors set up so you can watch the service and listen to it So if you're not sure where those rooms are, you can look at the back of the bulletin It'll show you a layout of our church building It'll show you where the mother baby rooms are where the daddy room is. It'll show you where the restrooms are So if you have a child that's being distracting during the service or if you need some privacy We would encourage you to please use the mother baby rooms as needed And of course if you need to be baptized, please let us know we'd love to baptize you The baptistry is filled the water is warm And you can let us know on your communication card on the back of the card There's a place for you to check off that you'd like information about baptism and we'll Follow up with you and get you situated for baptisms if you look at the announcements and upcoming events We of course are going through a series called journey with jesus And it's a verse by verse study of the gospel of luke. We're going to continue that this morning and next week We want you to know that is our worker appreciation sunday next sunday Is when we take some time to appreciate all the volunteers And workers here at verity baptist church, and we want to make sure that you are here for that So don't forget about that sunday november 20th. Also. We have our annual pie social coming up on wednesday november 23rd And that's of course at the wednesday Night service after the service. We'll be enjoying Some pie after the service. So if you can bring a pie we would appreciate that you can bake it You can buy it whatever you'd like, uh, but we'll have pie after the wednesday service november 23rd Of course, that's the wednesday before uh before thanksgiving and then of course We have the turkey bowl coming up on thursday. November 24th. It is at 7 a.m. This is for guys that want to play Football on thanksgiving morning. There is a sign-up sheets in the foyer So please use those as needed music ministry dinner and training Uh, this is a an evening for all of the musicians Uh, if you're a song leader if you are an orchestra member or if you're a panist at our church We need you to be at this music ministry dinner and training Uh, you should have received a text message. You can rsvp through the text message or on your communication card, please Make sure you do that and then of course choir today at 5 p.m And children's choir at 5 15 in the playroom homeschool group. They've got pe class on thursday, december 1st There's other things there for you to look at Please don't forget to turn your cell phones off or place them on silent during the service So they're not a distraction to anybody if you look at the back of the bulletin birthdays and anniversaries for the month of november Uh, today is brother shaw's birthday. November 13th And then this week we have a jude nel tescu and isaiah gonzalez's birthday on november 15th Amelia gonzalez's birthday november 16th everly usher's birthday. November 17th Brother jose and miss michelle cruz have an anniversary on november 17th. Weston. Chandler has a birthday on november 17th And faith santos has a birthday on november 18th praise report money matters. All those things are there For you to look at and I think that's it For all of the announcements, so we're going to go ahead and sing the chorus of the week, which is the insert in your bulletin And we will sing until then As we prepare to receive the offering this morning my heart can sing when I pause to remember let's sing it out on the first my heart When I pause to remember That's winding always upward Oh Oh Good singing out on the second the things They're borrowed Is Remember Until Joy This Is When it's released When Until then Until Okay Amen good singing while the guys come up and help us with the offering at this time And let's go ahead and bow our heads and have a word prayer Heavenly father lord, we do. Thank you for allowing us to gather together today We pray that you bless the gift and the giver lord We ask that you meet with us as we take time to open up your word and look at another portion of scripture together In jesus name we pray. Amen So So So So So So Turn your rivals to luke chapter 19 Luke chapter 19 if you do not have a bible raise your hand or not. She'll bring you one Luke chapter 19 this morning. We'll read verses 1 through 10 Luke chapter 19 Just keep your hands up and an usher will bring you a bible Luke chapter 19 the bible reads And jesus entered and passed through jericho and behold there was a man named zachias Which was the chief among the publicans and he was rich And he sought to see jesus who he was And could not for the press because he was little of stature And he ran before and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him for he was to pass that way And when jesus came to the place he looked up and saw him and said unto him Zachias make haste and come down for today. I must abide at thy house And he made haste and came down and received him joyfully And when they saw it, they all murmured saying that he was gone to be a guest with a man that is a sinner And zachias stood and said unto the lord behold lord the half of my goods I give to the poor And if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation I restore him fourfold And jesus said unto him this day is salvation come to this house for so as much as he also is the son of abraham For the son of man has come to seek and to save that which was lost Let's pray Father god, thank you for this day. Thank you for the opportunity to come together Please bless pastor and the message. Let it bring glory and honor to you in the name of jesus christ. I pray. Amen Amen All right, we're there in luke chapter number 19 And this morning we of course are making our way through the gospel of luke verse by verse chapter by chapter We're in a series entitled Uh journey with jesus and we of course are on a journey with the lord jesus christ We've been studying the life of christ through this gospel Gospel of luke is probably the most comprehensive gospel in the bible regarding the life of the lord jesus christ And this morning we find ourselves in a very familiar passage, especially if you grew up in church and we find ourselves looking at the story of a character a very well-known story Of a man by the name of zacchaeus if you're there in luke chapter 19 In verse one the bible says and jesus entered and passed through jericho. We saw last week that he had an encounter He stopped to speak to a blind man in on his way into jericho now he's passing through jericho We know that he is making his way we're going to talk about it tonight. He's making his way to jerusalem He's about ready to enter jerusalem in what is known we'll learn about this tonight in the evening service as palm sunday And he's going to present himself As the spotless lamb of god to be sacrificed for our sins and as he passed through jericho The bible says there in verse two and behold there was a man named zacchaeus This is a very well-known story and it's an important story. It's really the last encounter of the lord jesus christ before his Resurrection the last encounter that he'll have with an individual outside of jerusalem on his way to jerusalem And of course if you grew up in church, you know the name Zacchaeus when I was a kid growing up We would of course have many lessons in sunday school about zacchaeus and we would sing about zacchaeus all the time There was a little song about zacchaeus. Who knows the song i'm referring to the the children's song when I was a kid We were saying 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 when the savior passed that way He looked up in the tree and said Zacchaeus come down from that tree for i'm going to your house today For i'm going to your house today and we would sing that song and of course that is in reference to the story here in Uh luke chapter 19 and that's pretty much the story so we can pray and be dismissed and i'm just kidding There are some things we can learn about zacchaeus in this passage of scripture here And i'd like to as quickly as possible break these down for you and give you some thoughts regarding Uh zacchaeus this morning if you're taking notes And I always encourage you to take notes on the back of your course of the week There's a place for you to write down some things like you notice first of all this morning zacchaeus condition Zacchaeus condition and of course the most famous thing we know about zacchaeus what he's probably known the most for Is his short stature you're there in luke 19 if you notice again Look at verse two and behold there was a man named zacchaeus Which was the chief among the publicans and he was rich notice verse three and he this is zacchaeus sought to see jesus who he was and could not for the press He could not see who jesus was for the press the word press there is in reference to the the crowd the multitude We know that jesus has been on his way traveling with a crowd of people and of course this will climax in Jerusalem Zacchaeus could not see jesus for the press notice the last part there verse number three because he was little of stature because he was little of stature now the Gospel writer of luke we know is luke the physician and luke the physician is Very detailed about his writings. He's given us probably more details in the gospel of luke than any other gospel writer It's a comprehensive gospel on the life of the lord jesus christ and here he gives us this detail About zacchaeus that he was little of stature. He was a Short man, and I will say this I personally take offense to this You know, I don't understand it kind of just upsets me when I get to heaven i'm going to have a talk with uh, the apostle luke because He he feels the need to throw this into the story And you know what I want to say to luke is, you know You don't tell us anything else about anybody else. You don't tell us the mary the the color of hair that mary had You didn't tell us how big Peter's nose was uh, you didn't you didn't tell us that, you know You don't tell us that john had really big hands or small hands You don't feel the need to tell us these things But for some reason it feels the need to tell us that zacchaeus was short of stature And this is what the story is known for right? Zacchaeus was a wee little man. He was a uh, Short man, he was short of stature and he could not see the story And obviously the reason that he tells us this is so that we understand why it is that zacchaeus is climbing upon a sycamore tree in order to try to see the lord jesus christ, but I would like you to notice and I would like you to just Give some thought to this keep your place there in luke chapter number 19. That is our text for this morning Go maybe what to the old testament book of first samuel first samuel chapter 17 if you find The one and two books in the old testament they're all clustered together first and second kings first and second chronicles Uh first like a samuel, of course first second kings first second chronicles if you can find first samuel chapter 17. I do believe that there may be a spiritual illustration if not an application regarding the height of Zacchaeus the fact that he was short of stature And let me maybe try to explain this to you a little bit and i'll do it as tactfully as I can In the bible, uh height is associated Uh with arrogance with ability. Yes. I know the short pastor is going to preach about uh, the sins of being tall But I want you to understand and some of you had this coming for a long time And That god connects these tall these ideas of being tall or being at bringing height and you may think i'm joking and and I Half am but I want you to to notice this God associates this idea of of height with ability And oftentimes with personal ability comes arrogance Let me just give you a couple examples and you can do what you will with it first. Samuel 17 looking verse 4 This was probably the most famous uh story of a tall person in the bible a man by the name of goliath, right? First samuel 17 4 and there was and there went out a champion by the way Let me just say this that phrase A champion or that word champion. This is the only time it's used in the entire bible champion Uh, it's an arrogant term to say i'm the champion right and there went out a champion out of the camp of the philistines Notice named goliath of gath who's notice what is highlighted about this man, of course he's a giant whose height was six cubits and a span and six cubits in a span would be About nine feet nine inches tall. He's a called a giant for a reason He's nine feet nine inches tall and he's highlighted here as a champion and what does he do? He is filled with pride and arrogance luke, uh for first samuel 17 look down at verse number 10 Notice what the bible says about goliath and the philistines said I defy The word defy means to challenge boldly or openly I defy the armies of israel this day Give me a man that we may fight together. If you look skip down to verse number 16 same chapter the bible says and the philistines drew near The philistine, excuse me referring to goliath drew near morning and evening and presented himself 40 days So we have this uh giant right nine foot nine inches tall six cubits and a span And what we see is that because of his personal ability? There's some arrogance there and and here's what i'm interested This is not the only time in in this book that this is highlighted go to first samuel 9 1st Samuel chapter 9 look at verse 2 remember the first king of israel His name was saul if you're familiar with saul, you know that he was not a good king He started out good, but he ended bad now. I want you to notice what's highlighted about uh about uh saul in the bible first samuel 9 in verse 2 The bible says and he had a son whose name was saul. This is of course talking about saul's Uh father and we're about to be introduced to saul who will become the first king of israel He had a son whose name was saul a choice young man and a godly a goodly Excuse me, and there was not among the children of israel a goodlier person than he that word Goodly or goodlier is a reference to appearance. He was a good looking young man He his name was saul and he was a choice young man and a goodly There was not among the children of israel a goodlier person than he notice what the bible says about him when we just got done Being told how good looking he was how his appearance was good what's highlighted for us notice? From his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people So what's highlighted about saul the fact that he was taller than most people in fact people looked at saul And they thought to himself that guy should be king that guy should be in charge Why because from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people now I realize some of you are thinking pastor you're just saying this because you're short and you're bitter about it and there may be some truth to that, but Let me Highlight something else for you go to first samuel 15 Remember when saul goes back? When saul ends up, uh turning against the lord, what is it that samuel says to saul? What what were we told when saul started that he was a shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people Then when he gets fired When he gets fired as king, what is it that samuel says for samuel 15 verse 17 and samuel said? when thou Was don't miss it little When that was little in thine own sight Was thou not made the head of the tribes of israel and the lord anointed the king over israel And I want you to notice that god says hey saul you used to think very little of yourself And when you thought little of yourself, that's when I promoted you but when you got when it got into your head Wow, look at how amazing look at how wonderful look at his ability. He said you got a little too big for your own bridges And look and again, I just want to point this out to you that this is highlighted throughout the story go to first samuel 16 first samuel 16 Saul gets replaced why because when thou was little in thine own sight Was thou not made head of the tribes of israel the problem was that he was no longer little in his own sight god replaces Saul with a boy named david God sends samuel the prophet to the house of david to anoint david king. The problem is that david had several brothers And god was going to tell they uh, samuel which one of the brothers it was that he was choosing as king of israel first Samuel 16 6 notice what the bible says and it came to pass when they were come that he this is samuel Looked on eliab so samuel gets there samuel knows he's there to anoint the next king of israel but he doesn't know exactly he knows that it's one of the uh, sons, uh, The brothers of david here, but he's not sure which one one of the sons of jesse Not sure which one of the sons of jesse or which one of the brothers. Uh, uh, he's going to Uh be the one that he anoints as king and notice what the bible says there He looked on eliab and said surely the lord's anointed is before me So he gets there and he sees eliab who's the eldest and he says this is the guy this has to be the guy Surely the lord's anointed is before me. This is who god has chosen as the next king verse 7 But the lord said unto samuel look not on his countenance Notice what god says Or on the height of his stature He said I don't want you to make the same mistake we made with saul I don't want you to look at how tall he is. I don't want you to look at his countenance He says because I have refused him For the lord seeth not as man seeth for a man looketh on the outward appearance But the lord looketh on the heart and here's what god is telling samuel. He's telling samuel samuel I am not concerned with the man's height. I am concerned with the man's heart He said david was a man after god's own heart See saul had the height to be king, but he did not he did not have the heart to be king and here God says look not on his countenance or on his height of his stature. Now I bring this up to say this in the bible height Seems to be connected with this idea of ability Which is not a bad thing. God has given everybody different abilities But sometimes when people have a lot of ability they get arrogant as a result Why is it that we are told go back to luke chapter 19 about zakiah's? stature It's because of this He did not measure up and and and the thought regarding the stature because Height is associated with arrogance due to ability in the bible But let me say this being low or being little is associated with humility to do your due to your own awareness of your inability And there's a lot of bad things about zakiah's and we're about to see about a lot of bad things But one good thing that zakiah's knew was that he was short Zakiah's grew up of course being short and was well aware of the fact that he was short But let me just explain something to you Spiritually speaking no matter how tall you may be physically Spiritually speaking we all come short Of the glory of god, isn't that what the bible says? For all have sinned and come short of the glory of god So we see first his stature that he was a short man and I want you to understand something This is important to know not only because physically we need to understand why it is that zakiah's climbed up into a tree but I think luke is telling us this because Zakiah's may have also had Something else in his life due to his short stature and it's what's often referred to as a short man complex Right zakiah's felt like he had something to prove you ever heard of a guy by the name of napoleon Trying to take over the whole world why to he had something to prove Notice what the bible tells us about zakiah's luke 19 in verse 2 And behold there was a man named zakiah's now in verse 3 We were told that he was short in stature But that's actually not the first thing that luke tells us about this man zakiah's the first thing Before luke actually tells us about his short stature. He tells us about his superior status Notice verse 2 and behold there was a man named zakiah's which was the chief You see that that phrase there the chief What does that mean? He was the boss? He was the guy in charge Which was the chief among the publicans don't miss it and he was rich Now, please understand something when the bible says you're rich you're rich Okay, it's not like that. He was like, hey look, uh, look how how you know It's not like he is on on facebook trying to brag about how rich he is No This is the holy spirit of god telling us this man was rich and there are some rich people in the bible So for the bible to tell us that zakiah's was rich. He must have been rich It means the kids wasn't driving a prius. He was he was driving a bentley this guy. He he had a home and a summer home He was the kind of rich he wasn't the kind of rich that went on vacation He was the kind of rich that went on certain vacations depending on the season of the year I summer in the aspens and I you know all these things. I mean this guy was rich. Why was he rich because he had Climbed the ladder of his job. He was not just a tax collector He was not just a publican which is what publicans are they're tax collectors. He was the chief among the publicans What we're told about zakiah's I think it's very interesting we're told that he was short of stature And we're told of his superior status We're told that this guy What he did For whatever it's worth and what he did by the way was not good. We're going to see that here in a minute But what he did for whatever it's worth he was good at it When it came to being a publican, he was the best. In fact, he was the chief. In fact, they put him in charge He was the one that ran the entire organization. He was the chief among the publicans He was short of stature and He had superior status Now, let me say this His status was that of a sinful state Notice there in luke 19 when the bible tells us that he was rich I want you to notice how the bible tells us. He got those riches look at verse 8 And zakiah stood And said unto the lord we're fast forwarding in the story a little bit But I want you to see this And zakiah stood and said unto the lord behold Lord the half of my goods I give to the poor And if I have taken anything from any man notice what he says by false accusation I restore him fourfold now. Why does zakiah's feel the need to say, you know, if I've stolen anything by false accusation I'm going to restore that. Why does zakiah feel the need to say that? Here's why because that's what zakiah's had done So he does not get rich by being honest. He got rich by extortion He got rich by false accusation See zakiah was a publican and we've actually if you've been on this journey with us with the lord jesus christ We've learned a lot about the publicans on the way I seem to think that jesus had a a soft spot in his heart for publicans because Publicans come up in the story of the lord jesus christ a lot and what's always highlighted about them is not good Let's just run a few verses real quickly. Luke, uh, you're there in luke 19 go to luke chapter number five luke chapter number five Luke five and verse 27. Here's another famous publican Of course zakiah's a famous publican. He's a chief among the publicans and he was rich But here's another famous publican luke 527 And after these things he went forth. This is jesus and saw a publican named levi. Who's this? This is A man who you probably know better by his other name matthew He will become one of the apostles. He writes the gospel of matthew and he the bible tells us that he was a publican So I'll just just back on. Okay, but david doesn't like me preaching against saw people Luke 5 27 and after these things he went forth and saw a publican notice named levi Sitting at the receipt of custom and he said unto him follow me When the bible says that he was sitting at the receipt of custom the word custom there means, uh taxes or Government fees a publican was a tax collector now Here's what I want you to understand being a tax collector is already not a popular job In fact, i've never met anybody who when I asked them what do you do for a living? They said to me, you know, I work for the irs no one's going to tell you that right because that's not a great job I I mean, I don't know but I would imagine that all the irs agents when they tell people I work for the government I work in the revenue Internal Service something like that Being a tax collector is already not a popular job, but please understand this in this culture in this context Not only was it not popular it was treasonous To be a tax collector In jerusalem in judia in jericho in juda in the first century Means that you were working for the enemy It means that you were on the payroll of the roman empire It means that you were collecting taxes for the people who were holding you who were occupying your land. So a Publican was not only a tax collector Which if they were a tax collector for their own nation that already would not be a very popular Uh job or a job that would get you a lot of positive recognition But this man was a tax collector for the enemy He was collecting taxes from the jewish people for the nation the empire of rome Being a tax collector meant that you were being a publican meant that you were a trader But it gets worse than that Go to luke chapter 18 Not only is being a publican make you a tax collector, which is already bad You work for the irs. You take my taxes Not only it gets worse than that though because you're a tax collector for the Wrong side the bad side the the enemy of the land the people that are occupying us the people that Won't allow us to have our own king and our own Government you're you're collecting taxes for the enemy. So not only only are you a tax collector, but you are a traitor But It gets worse than that. You say worse than trader. Yeah Because these publicans were not only tax collectors. They were not only traders But they were extortioners Remember luke 18 we saw the parable of the Pharisee and the publican Again, I want you to notice that jesus highlights these people these individuals publicans a lot Remember what the Pharisee said about the publican Luke 18 look at it verse 10 Two men went up into the temple to pray The one a Pharisee and the other a publican Now we know that the that in this story The Pharisee is the self-righteous one and the public is the one that gets saved we understand that But I want you to remember what it is that the Pharisee said about the publican luke 18 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself. Remember the Pharisee. He prayed with himself about himself god I thank thee that I am not as other men that I am not as other men are And the context when the Pharisee says I thank thee that I am not as other men are The context is in reference to the publican Because there's only two guys there Two men went up into the temple to pray a Pharisee and the publican the Pharisee is speaking to himself praying to himself He's praying thus with himself and he says god. I think the that I'm not as other men are specifically as this guy Notice what he says. I think that i'm not as other men are extortioners Unjust adulterers and then he says this or even as this publican You say why would the Pharisee say Extortioners unjust adulterers and even as this publican. Here's why because that's what the publicans were known for They were known to be extortioners Okay, what is an extortioner an extortion is the crime of obtaining money? Or some other thing of value by the abuse of one's office or authority See it's it's already bad that these guys are tax collectors and it's already bad that they're traitorous tax collectors Collecting taxes for the other side, but what makes it even worse is that these people were extortioners The way it worked in the first century was this Rome told the publicans you need to collect X amount of dollars and send that and give that as a payment for our taxes But you can collect more than that. In fact, we don't mind you collecting more than that We're going to allow you to collect more than that because we want you to be motivated To collect what you need to get for us So you need to get x amount of money for us for taxes But you can collect above that as much as you'd like and anything you collect above that you can keep This is why these publicans were known as extortioners Because of the fact that they have the power and the authority of the roman empire to go to their own countrymen And collect more taxes than were actually due so that they could take off the the the top And take their cut and the bible says when it comes to publicans zacchaeus was the best He was the chief among the publicans and then the bible tells us and he was rich How do you get rich through extortion? How do you get rich through being unjust? How do you get rich remember the pharisee i'm thankful that i'm not as other men are extortioners unjust Adulters or even as this publican Go to go to luke chapter number three luke chapter number three, by the way Let me just say this and I won't take the time to run all the verses But you can study this throughout the bible and throughout the bible You will find this phrase comes up this phrase that's used throughout the new testament and it is this publicans and sinners Publicans and sinners When they would accuse jesus of spending time with the wrong people They would say he's spending time with publicans and sinners publicans and sinners The term publican the phrase publican was used synonymously with the word sinner. Here's another phrase that's used throughout the bible publicans and harlots publicans and harlots I want you to understand that these tax collectors were despised and hated because not only did they gather taxes But they gathered taxes for the roman empire from their own people and they were allowed to take More than was owed to keep for themselves So these people They were hated And just to give you another piece of proof that this is The story with the publicans remember when john the baptist we saw it already when we were in luke chapter three Remember when john the baptist was preaching and the public the different individuals came and they asked him. What shall we do? What shall we do? notice the publicans asked the question and notice what it is that john responds luke three and verse 12 luke chapter three and verse 12 Then came also the publicans to be baptized and said unto him master What shall we do? So john the baptist was preaching in the wilderness the publicans come they get saved they get baptized He baptizes them then they ask the question. What shall we do notice the response from from john and he said unto them? Exact no more than that which is appointed you Now, why did john feel the need to tell the publicans exact no more than that which is appointed you Here's why because they were exacting more than what was appointed them Because they were stealing from their own people because they were extortioners and here's what I want you to understand when it comes to levels of society These publicans were as bad as it got they were the lowest of the low everyone looked down on them You say why because they were tax collectors but worse than that because they were traders But worse than that because they were extortioners They were sinful people And what's interesting to me? Is that when luke feels the need to tell us the story? of this man's achias He tells us two things That he was short of stature and that he had superior status That he was short of stature and that he had superior status now I asked a couple of men to help me with an illustration of this morning I'm gonna ask one of them to come up ask brother jay if he would come up here and he's gonna help me with something I'm gonna have brother jay come up here. This is brother jay also known as saul and uh Brother jay is a good man. He's up here to help me Here's what's interesting to me about the two things that we're told about zakias. We're told I want to stand over here if that's okay We're told That he was short And we're told that he was rich We're told that he was short and we're told that he was rich and here's the interesting thing about those two things That those two things are relative To comparison I mean, is that true? Obviously, i'm a short guy If you're wondering just to answer the question because you're not paying attention. You're just thinking about this all the time. I'm Five foot four and a half inches tall All right, don't don't take that half for me And brother jay brother jay is six feet tall Now it would be easy for brother jay to to obviously physically he could look down on me But he could also just look down on me and say look at that short guy, right? I mean look at this guy proud arrogant just like tall people are But here's the thing about height That it's relative Because brother jay is very tall to me. In fact, most people are very tall to me But You know that there are other people that could make brother jay feel short. That's another Man in our church to help me out brother joe. Would you come up here? Brother joe is six feet tall. Oh, excuse me. Brother jay is six feet tall brother joe However, let's get goliath up here Is six foot three And brother joe Could make brother jay feel short Because here's the thing about height. It's relative And and and here's the honest truth I could call my good friend pastor aaron thompson from shirt foundation baptist church Who's six foot eight inches tall and have him stand next to brother joe and brother joe will feel short Next to pastor thompson who towers over him by five inches Here's what's interesting is that height because look some some people there are some people not a lot But there are some people that could make me feel tall And there are some people that make me feel short But there are other people that make the people that make me feel short feel short And there are other people that make the people that make the people that make me feel short short make them feel short You say why because height is relative to comparison You can always find somebody and pastor thompson Feels very tall everywhere he goes but he goes if he goes to an nba basketball players convention He may not feel that tall Because it's relative height is relative. Here's the interesting thing wealth is relative You might feel like i'm a pretty I mean i'm pretty successful person I mean have you seen what I drove in? Compare what I drove into what everybody else drove look at that parking lot. I got the nicest car out there Look at look at that the house. I live in that's the nicest house in this church Look look at this and look at that and you might feel very rich around poor people And you might say well look i'm very rich till a guy by the name of bezos walks in Till a guy with the last name buffett walks in Right Till the guy with the last name gates walks in then all of a sudden you're like, oh i'm broke i'm poor Because the interesting thing is this that both height and wealth are relative to Comparison someone may be taller than you, but there's probably somebody who's taller than them. Let's give these guys a round of applause. Thank you Here's the point that i'm making Zacchaeus was short And maybe that compulsion to prove something caused him to want to strive for a superior status But here's what's interesting about zacchaeus What's interesting about zacchaeus and what we learn about zacchaeus is this that though he was short and though he was rich The bible says he was searching Look at verse three luke 19 verse three and he zacchaeus Sought to see jesus Who he was? I want you to understand something about zacchaeus zacchaeus was rich It's like he was wealthy. It's like he has had money. It's like he has had climbed the corporate ladder It's like he has had gone up the social economic Staircase zacchaeus was as far as his height. He might have been short But as far as his status he was superior he was up there. He had made it Let me tell you something those things will leave you empty And what matched zacchaeus's physical height was his social economic height and it is this that no matter how high you soar You'll always come short No matter how successful you are, they'll always without jesus. There'll always be something missing You say i've climbed i've i've i've success I have wealth I have I have gone as high as I can But you still come short Without jesus you still come short None of those things will fulfill None of those things will fulfill the hole In your heart None of those things will give you The purpose you need It's like he has had a big house It's like he was a small man with a big house But you know the problem with zacchaeus he had a big house and no one to invite to You I mean he had a big house, but that's all he had He he he had he he he didn't have any friendships he didn't have any relationships He didn't have anything every we walked down the road and people looked down on him physically And spiritually Because he was a traitor Because he was a tax collector Because he was an extortioner It's like he has had a big house, but he had no friends. It's like he has had a big house But nobody that loved him. It's like he has a big house, but nobody that respected him Some people you know, it's it's it's it's it's poverty richness or rich poverty Some people let me tell you something. Some people are so broke. Some people are so broke. All they have is money Because like height Wealth Can always be compared to someone who has more And like height Climbing the social ladder climbing the business ladder going higher and higher in life Will always leave you feeling short So we see Zacchaeus's Condition. What was it his short stature? his superior status But in both areas something was missing and in both areas he continued to come short I'd like you to notice secondly this morning Not only do we see Zacchaeus's condition But we also see Zacchaeus's conversion This guy gets saved Notice what happens here in our story luke 19 verse 3 and he Zacchaeus Notice his desire. He sought to see jesus who he was He was interested He wanted to see jesus. We don't know why he wanted to see jesus, but I could imagine if I had to take a guess Most people were not nice to publicans. Most people did not respect Publicans most people did not like publicans. Why because they're tax collectors. Why because they're traders. Why because they're extortioners Zacchaeus must have been really in awe when he heard That jesus had chosen 12 disciples and one of them Was a man named levi a publican I mean when the stories went out about the parables of the lord Jesus christ said that jesus told a story of two men that went up to A temple one a Pharisee who in that culture would have been the hero one a publican who in that culture? Would have been the zero and yet jesus turns that on its head and in his parable and in his story The pharisees the villain and the publicans the hero the publicans the ones that get sick that must have intrigued the kids When zacchaeus heard that jesus would spend time with publicans and sinners that he preached the gospel to publicans and harlots When zacchaeus must have heard these things it must have intrigued them that there was somebody out there Who might love him And he sought To see jesus who he was And could not for the press Because he was of little stature So the bible tells us I love this story Mainly because the hero is a short guy But also because just the way the way we see zacchaeus All of these stories are placed here for a reason they're within their context for a reason if you remember we just got done I mean we just talked about it not that long ago the parable of the pharisee and the publican And in that parable when jesus tells us about the pharisee who trusted in himself and the publican who lowered himself humbled himself Smote upon those his breast and said be merciful to me a sinner in that context Jesus says that if we are going to enter the kingdom of god, we must do it as children We must humble ourselves like a child. It's interesting to me that when uh, zacchaeus has the opportunity He hears that jesus is coming into jericho and he wants to see jesus. He starts acting like a child Look at him luke 19 verse 4 and he ran Isn't that what kids do? I mean i've got six kids and sometimes they just they run for no reason I mean, what were you sitting at home? My wife and I were sitting at the couch having some coffee and talking or whatever and our and our children And you know, especially our little ones they just run around I mean literally just running from one wall tag the wall or other wall tag the wall Well, and my wife and I just you know, we're getting exhausted just looking at it I'm, like what's the point of this game? And she's like, I don't think there is a point in this game And they're just running for no reason just running and we're like i'm like, I don't know if this homeschool thing is working Kids just run You know, we look at it and I think to myself man. I wish I had that energy I might take a nap just after watching this thing They run, Zacchaeus ran And he ran, why did he run? He ran before Before what? Before the crowd because he goes to where Jesus is and he's trying to see Jesus, but he can't we've already made the point because he's short of stature and he can't see the crowd So he gets this idea and he says i'm gonna run as Jesus is coming down the road. I'm gonna run before he ran Why'd he run? Maybe because he was excited Maybe because you know, why do children run? They run because they're excited They run because they're excited and they run because they're gonna get spanked Maybe Zacchaeus ran because he was excited or maybe Zacchaeus ran because whenever he got near a crowd people started hitting him Kicking him out there goes Zacchaeus And he ran before but notice notice the childlike faith of Zacchaeus and he ran Before and then he does something else that's a little childish and climbed up into a sycamore tree He climbs up a tree He climbs up a tree. Why? Because he wanted to see Jesus to see him to see who Jesus for He was to pass that way and I want you to understand something in the story that this little man Zacchaeus He had this desire to see Jesus And I think that something might have attracted Zacchaeus to Jesus This idea that Jesus was kind to publicans that Jesus loved publicans that even publicans Could get the attention of Jesus It's interesting to me that Zacchaeus thought That he was looking for Jesus He runs ahead of the crowd He climbs up into a sycamore tree and he perches there like a little bird waiting to see Jesus pass by that way But notice what happens in our story verse five And when Jesus came to the place I want you to just put yourself in the story Who we have Zacchaeus up in a tree? He sees the crowd coming down the road. He says Jesus is about to come I just want to get a look at this guy. I just want to see what this guy looks this was before internet This was before pictures. This was before newspaper articles Yeah, I just want to see you this guy this is Jesus who who tells stories of publicans and loves publicans except publicans He gets up in the tree and he wants to just see Jesus notice what the bible says He just wanted to see for last part of verse four for he was to pass that way He just wanted to see Jesus pass by but as Jesus passes by Jesus stops And When Jesus verse five came to the place Came to what place? to the place where the sycamore tree was Came to what place? To the place where Zacchaeus had climbed up to see Jesus when Jesus came to that place And here's the thing the bible is about to tell us that he looks up But in order for Jesus to look up he had to stop to look up And I don't know this the bible doesn't say this I will just say that this is maybe my my opinion But when Jesus stopped right under his tree, it makes me wonder what it is that Zacchaeus was thinking Because remember Zacchaeus has a short man complex He was a short of stature, but his superior status. I mean Zacchaeus must have been very proud of himself You know how it is whenever you're going through a situation your mind is thinking a lot faster than the situation Which is occurring as Jesus came down that road he's coming on that way and then he stops right there He stopped Jesus. Zacchaeus just wanted to see Jesus pass by but then Jesus stops right there and for that half a second when Jesus stopped under that sycamore tree. I wonder if Zacchaeus in his superior Arrogance his superior status. I wonder if he thought to himself man. Look at me. Don't I know how to pick him? I mean Jesus didn't just stop at the he he needed a break. He didn't just stop at any sycamore tree He stopped at my sycamore tree I'll tell you what I didn't get I didn't get to the place where I am in life by just climbing any old sycamore tree I mean i'm the chief of the publicans when I pick a tree I can pick them I always want to see Jesus pass by But now Jesus has stopped. He's taking a break I get a real good look at this man Jesus and when Jesus came to the place But then I want you to notice the bible says he looked up He looked up this must have been odd to Zacchaeus you say why Well, you may Not understand this You never lived the life of a short man Just the struggle is real, you know But we're not used to people looking up to us Zacchaeus was used to people looking down to him They looked down to him physically They looked down to him emotionally They looked down on him socially They looked down on him spiritually This short man has ruined our lives He's built up his wealth built up his money built up his status at our expense He's a tax collector and worse than that. He's a trader and worse than that He's an extortioner and he's ruined our life. I mean think about Zacchaeus was the the ancient world version of uh, uh, Bernie Madoff Taking people's wealth and taking people's life savings taking people's uh earnings The bible tells us in luke 19 5 and when Jesus came to that place he looked up this must have surprised Zacchaeus This must have surprised everybody because generally speaking I can tell you short people aren't just hanging out in trees And This crowd is going with Jesus walking with Jesus. Stop. Why is he stopping? He looks up. What's he looking at? And then Jesus says this The bible says in luke 19 5 and when Jesus came to that place he looked up And saw him saw who Zacchaeus and said unto him Zacchaeus Zacchaeus That must have surprised Zacchaeus I mean Zacchaeus is up there. He they've never met Zacchaeus doesn't even know what Jesus looks like in fact Zacchaeus is up in the tree because he just wants to get a look at who Jesus is and Jesus stops with his tree Looks up and says Zacchaeus and Zacchaeus. It must have startled him for a second at the realization that he knows my name He knows who I am He knows who I am he knows where I am Nobody would guess that Zacchaeus the chief of the public is Zacchaeus with the biggest house in the neighborhood Zacchaeus with all his status with all his wealth with all his achievements is up in a tree Running and climbing trees like a child But he not only knew where Zacchaeus was he knew who Zacchaeus was Here's what's interesting That those Zacchaeus thought that he was looking for Jesus the reality is that Jesus was looking for Zacchaeus This is why Jesus says at the end of the story luke 19 look at verse 10 For the son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost See you you might have thought oh I was searching on youtube when I saw this documentary and that's why I came to this church I saw this video or someone invited me or a friend said I should come check it out And you might think that you are on a search for something you were on a search for Jesus But let me tell you something the reality is that we love him because he first loved us And he came to this earth to die on the cross for our sins And you might have been under the impression that you were searching for Jesus But the reality is that Jesus was actually looking for you And Jesus knows who you are And Jesus knows where you are And Jesus knows everything about you And that day The bible tells us Jesus looked up at that tree And he said Zacchaeus make haste and come down For today I must abide at thy house He said what happened in that house? We don't know the bible doesn't tell us But here's what we do know Zacchaeus got saved that day Look at our verses again Luke 19 5 and when Jesus came to the place He looked up and saw him and said unto him Zacchaeus make haste and come down for today I must abide at thy house and he Zacchaeus made haste and came down notice the bible says and received them joyfully Zacchaeus must have been happy. Nobody's ever asked to come to my house Nobody nobody ever comes to see me He he came and received them joyfully and at the end of the story the bible tells us luke 19 verse 9 The bible says and Jesus said unto him this day is salvation come to this house Zacchaeus got saved I don't we don't know what happened in that house if I had to guess Jesus said so here's let me explain something to you for all have sinned and come short of the glory of god I don't know. Maybe jesus quoted john 3 16 to him. I know the god the new testament was not yet written Whatever jesus said jesus got him saved Now oftentimes there is a confusion with the stories that he is and I want to I want you to help I want to help You understand it And so when we interpret stories in the bible, we must always interpret stories based off clear statements People often try to create these new doctrines based off stories, but let me explain something to you We should interpret stories based off. Here's a a a bible study Principle we go with the clear statements in scripture not with stories The thing about the story is that jesus heads into the house with zacchaeus And the next time we see zacchaeus verse eight The bible says and zacchaeus stood and said unto the lord behold the half of my goods I give to the poor and if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold And people try to use the kids to teach a workspace salvation That zacchaeus got saved because he gave all his money to the poor First of all, we don't know what conversation was had in the house with jesus But here's what we do know that salvation is not by works of righteousness, which we have done Here's what we do know that for by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves It is the gift of god not of works lest any man should boast Here's what we do know you don't earn your salvation So salvation is not of works You say well, what do you do with this? Story of zacchaeus who stood and said unto the lord behold lord the half of my goods I give to the poor and I have taken any if I have taken anything Uh from any man by false accusation. I restore him fourfold He said i'm going to give half of my riches to the poor and then i'm going to go back And anyone that I stole from by false accusation i'm going to restore them not just what I stole Not just twice as much which is what the law required, but i'm going to give him fourfold You say how do you explain this in regards to salvation? And here's what I want you to understand go to uh, roman's chapter number two In fact, you know what go to ephigians ephigians chapter two You're there in luke you go past romans past first second gryndians belatians ephigians ephigians chapter two Let me help you understand something salvation is not of works Zakehia's selling all he had was not an act of salvation It was an act of discipleship Because you remember in the previous step remember i've been i've been saying this over and over to you As we study the gospel in its context verse by verse moving our way through the gospel We understand why it is that these stories are are put together. They're gathered together for a reason We talked about it last sunday morning in luke chapter number 18 with the story of the rich young ruler The rich young ruler thought he was saved And jesus knows he's not saved but jesus says okay if you are saved then let's go to the next step which is discipleship He says come follow me sell all your riches and give it unto the poor and come follow me And he was unwilling to do that and jesus was highlighting to him It's not that you weren't willing to to to do that That's not the reason you're not going to go to heaven It's the fact that you are a sinner and you love your money more than you love god And I want you to understand something. You're not as good as you think you are Here was that kids he's already saved but he's willing to do in discipleship What this uh rich young ruler was unwilling to do sell all that he had and follow jesus It was an act of discipleship But I understand uh, I thought salvation was not of words. Are you there any fusions too? Look at it verse eight, you know the verse for by grace are you saved through faith and that notice these words not of yourselves? You don't save yourself. There's nothing you do that produces salvation You don't repent of your sins to be saved. You don't turn over a new leaf to be saved You don't get baptized to get saved. You there's nothing you do for salvation. It's not of yourselves You say why it is the gift of god salvation is a gift that god gives you you don't earn a gift You don't pay for a gift a gift is given to you Verse nine not of works lest any man should boast Because if you and I earned our salvation we would boast about it We would brag about it like the rich young ruler. I've kept all these from my youth up I'm, so good. I think i'm gonna go to heaven But please understand something about salvation Though it is true that salvation is not of works So The purpose of salvation should be the key words should be to is to lead us to good works It's interesting to me that in the two the probably the two quintessential verses about salvation not being of works Ephesians 2 8 for my grace is safe through faith and that not of yourselves It is the gift of god not of works the same man should boast after those two quintessential verses Paul says this verse 10 for we are his workmanship Now look you're not saved by works, but when you got saved god started working on you We are his workmanship created, uh in uh in christ. Jesus notice his words unto good works Which god had before ordained that we should walk in them? You say well pastor you're saying somebody's not of works, correct? Why are you saying that if there aren't works and we're not saved I didn't say that Because romans 4 says he that believeth It says that if you have no works And to him that you know, i'm just going to quote it wrong. So let's just look at it If you want to look at it romans 4, let me just make sure I quote it correctly to you Romans 4 Verse 4 now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace but of debt Look if you work for it, then it's not grace Because if you work for it, then it's not free and that's what the word grace means free Look at verse five but to him that worketh not This guy did no works But believe it that's the faith. What did this guy in romans 4-5 do he worketh not? But believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly his faith is counted for righteousness It's counted for righteousness So is it possible to believe and have no works according to romans 4-5? Yes, it is And can you get to heaven with no works? Yes, you can go back to effusions You know, then what is this workmanship stuff? What is this created unto good works that we should walk in them? Here's the point you're not saved by words and you don't have to have works to be saved But god does want to produce works in your life That's not salvation. That's discipleship This is why philippians says to work out your own salvation The bible says to work out your own salvation for it is god which worketh in you both to will and to do Of his good pleasure working out your own salvation doesn't mean that you're working for salvation. You already have it It's already in there. You're already safe. God wants you to work it out God wants it to come out. You say what if it doesn't you're still saved But The purpose of salvation that is not of works is that it might produce works in you go to effusions 4 effusions 4 What we have with zacchaeus is a peculiar situation Which happens but is not common and it is this Zacchaeus both got saved and got right with god on the same day He got saved and began to walk with god on the same day began to be a disciple of jesus on the same day That doesn't always happen. In fact that almost never happens I think one of the reasons that we're told the story of the kids because it's so peculiar Most people get saved and never walk with god Never go down the road of discipleship never deny themselves take up their cross and follow him Most people that get saved never do that and the few that do usually it's after a long time They get saved and they got to come to verity baptist church and they got to hear this short preacher Preach at them and hack at them and tell them you got to read your bible. You got to read your bible You got to read your bible. You got to pray. You got to be a soul winner You got to do this. God wants you to do this. God wants you to forgive God wants you to see mother and after a long time people are like, uh, I guess i'll read the bible That's the average christian But there are some christians and i'll tell you, you know, i'm married to one of them my wife My wife got saved at the age of 17 and the day she got saved her life changed I mean literally she got saved and instantly was three to thrive sunday morning sunday night wednesday night Instantly was reading her bible praying and a soul winner within a couple of weeks talking at the door That's rare I could use a few more of those That's that's that's not normal That's a rare thing, but it happens. You know, who else had happened for the apostle paul You know what has happened for that kids, you know who it it doesn't happen a lot though Most people are too stubborn and too proud Most people need to get beat down by life before we start Doing what the bible says Don't be confused that kids did not give away his goods to get saved. He gave away his goods because he was saved You said what's the lesson here's the lesson that god saved you look look look, please understand this please get Jesus loves publicans They're tax collectors he says I love them They're traitors. He says I love them. They're extortioners. He says I love them I came to seek and to say that which was not they that are holding not a physician, but they that are sick But let me tell you something when jesus saves you he does not save you to keep you a publican He does not save you to keep you a traitor He does not save you to keep you an extortioner He wants to change your life He saved you that he might begin to work in you We are his workmanship created in christ. Jesus unto good works that we should work in them He wants to transform you You say why did why did it's like he does give away half his goods and please people, you know They get nervous. They're like am I gonna have to give away all my goods? Well, here's the thing. No, but if you're worried about that, maybe you should Because here's the thing about a transformed life go to ephesians 4 real quickly God saved you to change you He loves you the way you are But he doesn't like you the way you are Yeah Ephesians 4 22. I just want to I just want to point this out real quickly. I know i'm out of time Ephesians 4 22 That you put off concerning the former conversation. That's the old lifestyle the old man He said I want you to put off the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the people lost And be renewed in the spirit of your mind. I want you to start thinking differently than you've been thinking I want you to put off the former conversation the old lifestyle the old way of man Life the old man. I want you to be renewed in the spirit of your mind verse 24 And that you put on the new man. I want you to become somebody new. I want you to become somebody different I I want i'm not trying to reform you i'm trying to transform you If any man be in christ, he is a new creature all things have passed away behold all things have become new And that you put on the new man, which after god is created in righteousness and true holiness You say but what what does that look like because that just sounds like pastor talk that sounds like spiritual talk What does that look like practically here's what that looks like practically verse 25 wherefore putting away lying Speak every man true You say what does a transformed life look like here's what a transformed life looks like the compulsive liar The compulsive liar you say when does the compulsive liar stop being a liar? Do they stop being a liar when they stop lying? No They don't stop being a liar when they stop lying they just start they're just a liar who at that moment For whatever reason maybe because of the context of the situation is not able to lie Say when does a liar Stop being a liar when they become honest I mean look at it Ephesians 4 25 wherefore putting away lying speak every man true See when it comes to counseling and discipleship the work that my wife and I do In in in trying to help people We're not trying to tell the compulsive liar now. Look you got to stop lying I know you want to lie you in your heart you want to lie you want to just keep lying But you got you can't you got to resist the the urge to lie. That's where we start. That's where we start But that's not the goal. The goal is not to get the lives to stop lying The goal is to become take the person who's dishonest the person who's a liar to make them an honest person that doesn't want to lie Honest person that doesn't want to lie Ephesians 4 28 look at it. Let him that stole Steal no more When does a thief stop being a thief when they stop stealing? No, they might stop stealing because they got thrown in prison But as soon as they get out of prison, they're going to start stealing again Because the the act of stop Of the fact that you stop stealing doesn't make you not a thief let him that stole steal no more Here's when a thief stops being a thief but rather let him labor When does a thief stop being a thief when he stops stealing and he starts working for what he has But rather let him labor working with his hands Notice the thing which is good that he may give When does a thief stop being a thief when they start working for what they have and when they start being generous for what? They have you say why because those are the two things that are opposite To stealing that he may give to him that needeth You say why does that kids have to give his money away because the way he got it was through covetousness And extortion So you have to make those two things, right? He said i'm going to become a generous person Give give away the half of my clothes. Let me help you with something whatever sin you're struggling with You said I got a temper. I can't control my temper is out of control Okay, then. Here's what you need to start doing you need to start doing with people who don't have a temper do Because you don't get control of your temper by i'm really angry, but I want i'm just not gonna say i'm gonna bite my tongue I'm gonna bite my tongue now. You have to start there But we want to get to the point where you don't have to bite your tongue because you're just not the person who would say those things You say what is the story of zakias the story of zakias as they transform life We see his condition. We see his conversion and then we see his contrition and The bible says in romans 2 4 That the goodness of god leadeth thee to repentance Not for salvation, but the goodness of god the grace of god what happened was that something happened in life It's a gift where jesus loved him and cared for him and accepted him And then the goodness of god led him to repentance And he became a different person I'm, just here to tell you something God doesn't just want to save you. He wants to transform you Go back to luke 19. We're done. We'll finish up luke 19 Here's the story of zakias It doesn't matter who you are and how far you've gone obviously we're not talking about reprobates The story of zakias it doesn't matter who you are and how far you've gone You're i'm a tax collector. He says i'll take you I'm a traitor. He says i'll forgive you i'm an extortioner He says I want to come to your house I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come into him and sup with him and heal with me Jesus says I want to save you and I want to fellowship with you and I want to transform you And jesus said unto him luke 19 9 This day salvation come to this house For as much as he also is the son of abraham For the son of man has come to seek and to save that which was lost Jesus No matter who you are god can change you He can transform you So, how do I do it spend time with jesus? You can't spend time with jesus What did jesus do he went to his house for supper? You can't spend time with jesus and not have him change your life Let's bow our heads and i'm going to pray. Heavenly father What do we thank you? Thank you for the story of zakias Thank you And really it's just the story of a transformed life It's the it's the success story of the great commission Somebody got saved and they got discipled and as a result of discipleship as a result of them spending time with jesus their life was changed Lord I pray you'd help us I pray you'd help us to change many lives I pray you'd help people that aren't saved help us to get them saved And people who are saved help us to Get them to fellowship and spend time with jesus To sup with jesus Because he will transform their lives We love you In the matchless name of christ we pray Amen We're going to have brother matt come up and lead us in a final song. Just want to give you a couple of reminders First of all, don't don't forget that. We've got church tonight at 6 p.m. We'd love for you to join us For the sunday evening service and if you've uh, I said this on wednesday night, but if you've ever wondered why Jesus would tell people after he healed them Or did some miracle. He'd tell people not to tell Everyone else you ever wonder why jesus did that? We're going to talk about that tonight and answer that question for you We're going to look at a story of jesus triumphant entry into jerusalem And then of course, I want to encourage you to be back with us next sunday And I want to encourage you to invite a friend bring somebody with you Invite somebody to church if there's anything we can do for you Please let us know we'll have brother matt come up and lead us in a final song We're gonna song 138 Song 138 138 on the first So And I See I Heard My Oh Since So My God Is Oh Oh Amen good singing before we leave here if anybody has questions about salvation church membership or baptism pastor will be at the door He'd love to talk to you or direct you to suit to someone who's training to talk about that and ask brother Matt, would you close the prayer for us? Me Amen So So