Okay, we're going to do... One second. We're
going to do a brief activity together as a group.
So this is not rhetorical. I'm going to ask some
questions, but I'm not asking them for my own
sake. We're going to do a brief activity together
as a group. So our... spiritual discipline emphasis
is on meditation and prayer. So we've got about
two more months, a little over two months left
to focus on meditation and prayer, and then we'll
move on to another one or two spiritual disciplines
that we'll focus on. And we're really talking
about, because we're doing two at the same time,
we're really talking about the crossover point
between the two. So meditation, very simply put,
is when you think deeply about anything. So you
can meditate on other stuff. You can meditate
on the formula for water or a painting that you
see in an art museum. You can meditate on anything,
right? But the Bible calls us to meditate on
Scripture, calls us to meditate on things of
the spiritual realm, calls us to meditate on
how, for example, creation glorifies God and
so on. Prayer should really be an ongoing conversation
between you and God. You lift up your concerns.
You adore God in prayer. You tell Him how grateful
you are. You confess your weaknesses. You thank
Him for gifts. You ask Him for other things.
And that sort of follows the model of the Lord's
Prayer that we looked at before that Jesus taught
people. Zayden, I'm talking. Thank you. Appreciate
you. Good job. So, that follows the model of
the Lord's Prayer that we talked about. That
kind of adoration, confession, thanks, supplication.
But we really want to talk about the crossover
between the two. How did these two things really
work? Some people just, they think they're praying,
but really they're just meditating. They're just
thinking a lot about what they're going through
or whatever. Some people think they're meditating
when really they get into prayer. They're really
praying, asking God for things, hoping for things,
that kind of thing. And so we want to talk about
that crossover point for a second. So to that
end, I'm going to read a short passage of Scripture,
and then as a group, We're going to talk about
how we would meditate on that scripture. And
then we're going to talk about how we would move
from meditation into prayer. So I'm reading from
Luke chapter 20. Those of you who have your Bibles
and would like to go there and read, you can
do that. I didn't pick this for no reason at
all. So it's Luke chapter 20. Thank you. Praise
the Lord. And I'm going to start reading in verse
1. Alright, I'm just going to go for the first
like seven or eight verses. I'll explain, just
briefly explain just a little bit as we go. But
then we're going to do a meditation together
so that will get us all the explanation that
we need. Okay, so Luke chapter 20 verse 1 says,
And it came about on one of the days while he
was teaching the people in the temple and preaching
the gospel, that the chief priests and the scribes
with the elders confronted him. Sort of like
three groups, chief priests, scribes, and elders
confronted him. And they spoke, saying to him,
Tell us by what authority you are doing these
things, or who is the one who gave you this authority?
Now we're in verse 3. And he answered, that's
Jesus, and he answered and said to them, in my
Bible it's in red text, I shall also ask you
a question, and you tell me, was the baptism
of John from heaven or from men? And they reasoned
amongst themselves, saying, If we say from heaven,
he will say, why did you not believe him? But
if we say from men, all people will stone us
to death, for they are convinced that John was
a prophet. And they answered that they did not
know where it came from. And Jesus said to them,
neither will I tell you by what authority I do
these things. Okay? Alright, so now the meditation.
So if I was sitting, or if you were sitting,
reading your Bible, What are some things that
you would ask yourself or think about this text?
Give me an example. We'll follow up on whatever
you say. Alright, what do you got? What would
come to mind? Okay, so he knows they know and
they just don't want to say it. So they wouldn't
tell him where the baptism was from, so he won't
respond and say where his teaching's from. Good,
okay. It's kind of like the debate and kind of
the verbal gymnastics that Jesus goes through
with the repeated accusations and this is a great
example that just makes me think how... I guess
I'm trying to think of the best way to word this.
How consistently Jesus has the perfect thing
to say when leaders in the church come to him
and try to corner him. He turns right back around
and corners them and they have to drown him.
He's obviously inspired by God, but also incredibly
intelligent. Yeah, I really think that to some
degree that's the authority they're talking about.
Because everybody else who would come against
their teaching, they could easily corner them.
They could easily bottleneck them, trap them
to something that they wanted to be the case.
But with Jesus, he stuck with what God said.
So that didn't really work. That's very interesting.
Okay, so let's take a poll real quick. How many
people could tell me, based on this, what are
the names of the three groups that are confronting
Jesus in this story? Raise your hand if you can
tell me. And I might call on you, so don't lie.
Alright, so let's look at who the three groups
were. So we read it, but it doesn't just jump
out, does it? So he was teaching the people in
the temple, preaching the gospel, and the chief
priests, the scribes, with the elders confronted
him. Do you know what a chief priest is? This
is part of the process of meditation. So you'd
ask yourself, what is a chief priest? Somebody
tell me. Go ahead, Ariana. Right, so one of the
leaders, one of the leader types, the chief priest.
He leads the other priests, right? So these are
people responsible for the priests who are then
responsible for the people. So these people have
authority within the body of faith, okay? How
about, what is a scribe? That one's not too hard
if you know the definition of the word. Yeah,
so they wrote things down. And literally, they
were probably responsible for writing down the
scripture. They were copying copies of the scripture.
Now, they might do other scribe duties as well,
but they were copying, The Bible. What Bible
were they copying? What translation? None, right?
Okay, so what? Yeah, probably the Torah, right?
Probably the original Hebrew or whatever. Did
the New Testament exist at this time? No, it's
being formed during this time, right? So these
are the stories that have not yet been written
down, essentially. Okay, so these scribes knew
the Old Testament better than anybody. Because
they literally wrote whole copies. Most of us
probably haven't read the whole thing in one
long stretch. They wrote the whole thing over
months maybe, but they wrote the whole thing.
And then they performed hundreds of checks to
make sure it was perfectly accurate. They would
count to the exact middle character. They knew
how many characters were on every line. How many
characters were total from beginning to end.
They performed hundreds of checks to make sure
that it was flawless after they would write it.
So they knew it like anybody. So you've got the
chief priests there, big time teachers, right?
They're supposed to be teaching God's word to
the people and to the other priests. And now
you've got the scribes. And then what was the
last one? The elders. So who are the elders?
In that meeting, who would be the elders? Right.
Yep, so the literal definition, that is... What
an elder is, the literal definition means these
are the older, wiser people that probably started
the current body. They started it. They got it
going. When you start a synagogue, for example,
you have 12 elders, 12 men of the faith, devout.
They put in the money, they put in the labor,
they put in the time to get everything going.
So these are the people that got everything going.
So you think they know God's word? Probably pretty
darn well, right? So these are three of the...
The body of people that should know God's word,
should know, like when you say, well, where does
the baptism go? They should know. They should
know everything that there is to know about God,
pretty much, having lived a life like that, right?
Do you need something? Go ahead, come on. Yeah,
okay. But that's not what we're talking about
right now, but yes. Okay, so that's an example
of meditating as you think on the characters
in the story. And we've got Jesus. What was the
message based on what we read? What was the message
that Jesus was sharing? In the temple. Okay,
so we're meditating on the text. We look at it,
and it came about. One of the days while he was
teaching the people in the temple and preaching
the gospel. So it's two -fold. He's teaching.
What is he teaching? God's word. The Bible, right?
He's teaching the truth about God and God's creation
based on the Old Testament. But also, he's preaching
the gospel. Alright, now I'll put you on the
spot. Somebody tell me, just simply put, what
is the gospel? Remember, Jesus is not crucified
at this time. Right. So, everybody that's ever
been saved, going all the way back to Adam and
Eve, right, was saved by believing in a way that
God would make. As the Old Testament develops,
it's kind of explained what that person's going
to look like. Right? And then you get a... In
Isaiah 53, for example, and a few other places,
you get a pretty clear picture that it's going
to be a suffering servant, not just a king to
come and rule. And so those paint a real good
picture of who Jesus is if you compare the New
Testament to the Old Testament. Hundreds of prophecies
that the odds that they would be fulfilled in
anybody else is impossible. So the point is...
he's teaching them that a way was going to come.
He's teaching them the gospel. He's asking them
to believe, to be saved. In fact, there is a
moment in time that Jesus says that's why he
came. It was to teach the gospel. So now, we'll
stop there. We can go further. But if you'd say
you read it and you don't know what the three
groups are, then that's where you need to think
deeper on the text. When you read the text, you
go, okay, who are these three groups? Don't just
read. like it was a fiction book or something
you picked up off a shelf, but think about what
that means. That's meditating. Think a little
deeper. Then you follow that rabbit trail. It's
a chief priest. I know this about the chief priest.
So what would the chief priest have been like?
Who is possibly there? Some characters, some
other characters that might have been there.
Gamaliel. He was a great teacher and a chief
priest and a member of the Sanhedrin. He might
have been there. prominent men from that day
that might have been in this crowd. So then you
meditate on that. Now, when does it shift over
to prayer? Because that's what we're actually
after. When does it become prayer? So just think
about what we just talked about. Can anybody
think about anything to pray about out of there?
What would you pray about? Go ahead. Praying,
asking God to help you remember these things
and apply them in your life so that you can follow
them. Always valuable, right? Because until we
read that passage of Scripture, we might have
forgotten. How easy would it be to forget that
Jesus crossed godly men, extremely wise men who
knew the Old Testament and were supposed to apply
it. Now we know that in many cases they were
not. They're more like applying it to other people
and then not following it themselves. But the
point is, they were there in Jesus' day. Jesus
did not come into a world that didn't know anything
about God. That's not what happened. Right? And
so how easy would it be for us to forget? So
we beg God, help us don't forget. And God gave
us some very practical steps by which we can
do that. So then you can go into prayer about
that. Give me another example. What else might
you pray about? Yeah. Yeah, so that would be
very... That's conviction you're talking about.
To realize that we could do that. We could know
a lot about God, but not actually know Jesus.
And we want to make sure that's not the case.
In fact, there will be those who cry out, Lord,
Lord, and not enter the kingdom of heaven. So
we definitely don't want to be that. And these
probably could have been that, although most
of them probably never did miracles, healing,
or whatever. But it could be like that. So we
don't want to be like that. So we say, I want
to be a little more like Jesus. And I think you
find Jesus, and pretty much can find Jesus in
every story. If you meditate on it long enough,
you can go, well, what about this guy? Oh, this
is the Jesus -type guy in this story. This is
the thing about Jesus that I need to know in
this story. And then once you find that, then
you can pray about that. So we're going to pray
now. I'm going to ask Aaron, would you lead us
in this prayer? But I want you right where you're
seated. I want you to think of whatever it was
that we meditated up, whatever it was that we
brought up out of this text, whatever it was
you felt like God was, hey, pay attention to
that. You pray. And if you don't think of anything,
then you pray along with Aaron. But if you're
personally praying and you felt like God said
something to you out of that text, then you pray
about that. Okay? All right, here we go. Lead
us. Lord, thank you for your creation and for
putting us here. the opportunity that we have
to experience and see your beautiful world that
you created despite the separation from you that
has sustained it. It's still beautiful and speaks
magnitude to your greatness, Lord. Thank you
for giving us your word and your son to save
us. We pray that you would help us to see Jesus
in everything that he represents to help us to
embody those traits, help us to show him to those
around us in everything we do every day, Lord.
I pray that you're with us as we head back into
worship and into the sermon. The kids go to their
lesson that we can learn everything that you've
prepared through the teachers, through the through
our pastor and the sermon that you've given him,
through the worship order that you've laid out,
that we could learn and receive the message that
you've prepared for us today. And I pray that
your witness is to bring the offering, that you
give us an offering heart, a heart of servitude,
that we can be prepared and focused and play
it all out before you, Lord, and do the same.
we spent a little time on a visit to Bethany
and saw some interesting things there, which
was really, we noticed, brooking the opposition,
really stoking up the opposition toward Jesus
as he would head into Jerusalem. And from there
would be, that's really the origin of what we
call the triumphal entry. where he would walk
with literally thousands of people. But the truth
is that two -mile leg from Bethany to Jerusalem
is small compared to the leg from Bethany back
to Jericho. So today we're going to back up the
line and we're going to look at Jesus' essentially
last visit to Jericho before the triumphal entry
and then his crucifixion. So Jericho is an interesting
city. It has a commanding position there on the
side of the rise, if you will. From Jericho up
to Bethany was a 3 ,300 -foot rise over about
15 miles. And so the path snakes back and forth.
But those of you who have ever done any hiking
or been out there, moving over broken terrain,
that kind of thing. 3 ,300 foot change of elevation
is a lot, and it's a lot over 15 miles. So the
switchbacks don't make it a whole lot better.
Years ago, Sherry and I tried to hike down into
the Grand Canyon one afternoon. We started about
11 o 'clock in the morning, actually. We had
to be back to our train by 5 o 'clock, and it
was like this. It was left and right along the
top of the mountain, so it wasn't so steep that
you'd be falling. But as we were going down,
we covered about seven and a half miles going
down in there. And the elevation change, our
elevation change was about 1 ,000 feet. So it
was not as much, even as steep as what this is.
And I look back at that, I'm like, wow, that
was something. And so this is significant terrain.
Jericho was a lush, tropical oasis. It's a beautiful
place. It had water. It had green. And around
it was a lot of harsh desert, basically. And
so a lot of people would come to Jericho, and
if you'll just kind of like humor me a little
bit, a lot of people came to Jericho thinking
they were going to go to Jerusalem, and they
looked up that hill and went, oh sure, we're
going to do that after all. It was a real challenge.
Also, there were a lot of people who would walk
this road. that we're talking about here, up
through Jericho and then up into Jerusalem. And
they would walk it for the festivals. And so
if you jump on that road and you're walking up
from Jericho, there could be hundreds or thousands
of people as the festival is getting ready to
begin walking around you. And so if there was
some kind of an inciting event that would get
those people thinking about something crazy,
something exciting that was happening, then those
people would be all the way up that... I mean,
it's back and forth, but all the way up that
mountain, those people are on fire for God. They're
excited already going to the temple, to the festival,
and so on. And now, if there was something, it
could really be an incredible time, an incredible
walk. So that's what we're talking about. Now
grab your Bibles, if you would, and turn with
me to Luke chapter 18. So we get excited right
here. We usually say amen, a little hoot, holler,
hallelujah, something. As we go to the Word,
because this is God's Word. So let's try it again.
Luke chapter 18. That's better, but it isn't
great. Alright, so get excited as we look at
Luke chapter 18. We're going to see what is one
of the most miraculous events of God. And it's
right in the face of up to Jesus is walking up
into Jerusalem. So at the end of chapter 18,
beginning in verse 35. 1835, and it says that
it came about that as he was approaching Jericho,
so Jesus is coming into his last visit in Jericho,
a certain blind man was sitting by the road begging.
Now hearing a multitude going by, he began to
inquire what this might be. So he's like, he
couldn't see, can't see Jesus, can't see the
crowd, but he can hear people passing by. Now,
obviously the festival's going on, people have
been passing by, so this is something additional,
something that gets his attention above and beyond
that. And so he starts to ask, who is it? What's
going on? What's so special going on? Verse 37.
And they told him that Jesus of Nazareth was
passing by. So just to say the name Jesus of
Nazareth has already begun to mean something.
That's an important name. People have been healed.
People have been able to walk. People have been
able to see. It's important. But this man right
away jumps to something. And he calls out and
he says, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.
Now that's not built into the name Jesus of Nazareth.
Nazareth is not Bethlehem. So it's not built
into the name that he would automatically, so
he knows something about Jesus of Nazareth. And
he cries out, son of David, have mercy on me.
Now what's interesting about this is this is
the first time in the scripture, first time in
Jesus' entire public ministry, after all the
amazing things that... that he's getting this
direct connection to David, and that means a
direct connection to being the Messiah, and you
can basically say that this man is essentially
crying out to Jesus as God in the flesh, although
it stops just short of that, but it's close.
And he cries out to this massive crowd, Jesus,
Son of David, have mercy on me. Notice that the
Son of David would be on the throne eternally,
and that's part of why we know that When people
realize that's not just on the throne for a generation
or generations or have an offspring set on the
throne, but would be on the throne of God eternally.
Verse 39, and then it says, and those who led
the way were sternly telling him to be quiet.
So all this huge crowd's going by, and those
who were walking in front of Jesus are saying,
shh, come on now. But he kept crying out all
the more, son of David, have mercy on me. Verse
40, and Jesus stopped. and commanded that he
be brought to him. Mind you, this is a massive
crowd around. People already thought Jesus was
something really special, but also all these
people are going up to the festival. Massive
crowd. He commanded that he be brought to him.
And when he had come near, he questioned him.
What do you want me to do for you? What are you
asking for? He said, have mercy, but what does
that mean exactly? And he said, Lord, I want
to regain my sight. Verse 42, and Jesus said
to him, receive your sight. Your faith has made
you well. And immediately he regained his sight
and he began following him, glorifying God. So
they would tell him, shh, quiet down, quiet down.
Now he's glorifying God. But you can imagine
that lots of people are glorifying God, right?
After seeing that miracle, after hearing him
called son of David, after knowing who they're
actually traveling with. So there's a lot of
glorifying God going on. So now he fits in with
a crowd of people who are glorifying God. And
when all the people saw it, they gave praise
to God. And so the journey continues then up
that 3 ,300 foot walk toward Bethany. Alright,
so here we go. Now chapter 19. The first nine
verses. And he entered and was passing through
Jericho. So this is still in Jericho. And behold,
there was... The first one was on the way into
Jericho, theoretically. Now he's in through and
is passing through, through Jericho. It says,
And behold, there was a man called by the name
of Zacchaeus, and he was a chief tax gatherer,
and he was rich, and he was trying to see who
Jesus was, and he was unable because of the crowd,
for he was small in stature. So he was stuck
at the back of the crowd, and he couldn't see
past the people in front of him to see who Jesus
was. Verse 4. And he ran on ahead and climbed
up into a sycamore tree in order to see him.
For he was about to pass through that way. So
the crowd is moving. The rumors have circulated.
Jesus is coming. He wants to see Jesus personally.
So he crawls up in the tree to see over the crowd.
Verse 5. And when Jesus came to the place, he
looked up, saw Zacchaeus there theoretically,
looked up and said to him, Zacchaeus, hurry and
come down. For today I must stay at your house.
And he hurried and came down and received him
gladly. And when they saw it, they all began
to grumble, saying, He is gone to be the guest
of a man who is a sinner. I'll stop there for
one second. We'll come back in a second. So tax
collectors were looked down on pretty bad. They
were given the government's authority to collect
taxes. And their salary came from whatever extra
they collected. So there's this amount that's
got to go to the government. If they collect
10 % extra, that's their money. And they were
given the authority to make that extra any amount
that they wanted, and they had Roman soldiers
to enforce the taxes. So they were not thought
of well. And they were, a lot of times, Jewish
men who had become part, essentially, of the
government machine of the Romans. And they all
saw the Romans as like a yoke that needed to
be shaken off. So he's looked down on as a sinner,
as a dirty man, as a villain, as a man who uses
the Roman government for his own profit and already
said he was a rich man, so you know he's taking
a lot of extra taxes above and beyond what Rome
required. He's not a good man based on society.
So they're grumbling and they say, he's gone
to be the guest of a man who is a sinner. And
Zacchaeus stopped and said to the Lord, Behold,
Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the
poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything,
I will give back four times as much. So Zacchaeus
is now speaking about acts of repentance, works
arising out of repentance. Not sure he knows
exactly what repentance is at this point, but
he is talking about doing things in conjunction
with Jesus' willingness to call him out, to make
connection with him. And he starts thinking,
I've got to do something. I've got to make a
difference here. And he says, half of my possessions
I'll give to the poor. And if I have defrauded
anyone of anything, I will give back four times
as much. Verse 9, And Jesus said to him, Today
salvation has come to this house, because he
too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man has
come to seek and save that which was lost. So
during this trip to Jericho, Jesus essentially
encounters two men, blind Bartimaeus and short
Zacchaeus. Blind Bartimaeus is probably suffering
pretty bad. He's been a beggar his whole life.
He's not rich. He would really like to see. We
have a pretty good understanding that he lost
his sight somewhere along the way. He probably
knows what seeing is. He doesn't say he needs
to be able to see for the first time, but he
says he wants to receive his sight back. So he's
probably lost his sight. So he probably knows
what seeing is. He's suffering pretty bad. And
he sees the possibility of crying out to Jesus,
and he does. And then Zacchaeus, he doesn't really
have a hope of ever coming into direct contact
with Jesus. Any devout Jew would have distanced
themselves from Zacchaeus. Because they love
God, because they want to be clean, because they
don't want to be looked down on by the priests.
They don't want to be cast out. They were unclean
in their profession, who they were. They would
probably never come into the... presence of a
Jewish teacher. Maybe yearned for it, like a
Jewish man would probably want to be taught by
a teacher like that, but never could. Two men,
Bartimaeus and Zacchaeus, surrounded by a huge
crowd, right? He's walking, surrounded by a huge
crowd, going up to the festival. Some of them
know he's Jesus, some of them don't. There's
three things I want you to think about today
with this text that really the Lord sort of laid
in my heart. The first one is this, and it's
comforting. Jesus sees you. So in this room we
have people from different walks of life. We
have people that are wealthy -ish. Some in finances,
some in relationships. Some in where they live,
some in what they do. Some in the spirit. His
presence fully in you. Some in the knowledge
of the word. We have people that have a lot going
for them like that. And then we have people not
so much. You're scraping by. You're figuring
it out. You're hurting. You've got health concerns,
relationship concerns, doubts maybe, struggles
in your faith. Wherever you're at, Jesus sees
you. Not only that, but Jesus came to seek and
save that which was lost. So Jesus knows your
individual situation. He knows how boxed out
you might be or what barriers might exist between
you and having a good, profitable relationship
with God. Jesus doesn't casually scan humanity
and think, well, here is a mass of people that
need something. Jesus' vision is an intentional,
focused, personal recognition of your specific
circumstances and your heart condition, whatever
that is. Jesus knows when your heart would leap
from your chest and try to do something for God
and your mind would restrain you through doubts
and fears or what it might look like or what
it might cost you. Jesus sees you. In Genesis
16, 13, Hagar was now exiled. And as an exiled
servant of God in the desert suffering, she calls
God El Royi, meaning the God who sees me. No
matter how bad your situation gets, it does not
go unnoticed by the God of the universe. He sees
you. Psalm 33, verses 13 to 15 say, From heaven
the Lord looks down and sees. All mankind. He
who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything
they do. See, God sees you. God sees you when
your effort is good and you're putting in really
the work. You're spending a little time in the
Bible here and there. You're meditating. He also
sees you when your attention is divided. When
your heart is lukewarm. God sees you. Just being
seen by God ought to be a motivator then. You're
not hiding behind closed doors. You're not fooling
anybody really. You may come across as something
that you're not, but God sees you. Jesus sees
you. And while you're coming across as something
that you're not to other believers or on your
job site or whatever, you're a professional,
you're successful, you've got yourself all put
together. But while you're telling your children,
you need to listen to me because I know what
I'm talking about. Or while you're telling your
boss, I'll get it done, I'm dependable. Jesus
sees you. He sees right through you. All the
way to your very core. He knows what the real
truth is. Now that's greatly comforting. Because
you can just stop. Stop pretending. Stop acting
like you're good. You can stop because Jesus
sees you. And there really isn't any great advantage
of it. In Luke 12, 7, Jesus explains that even
the very hairs of your head are numbered. That
proves God's granular attention to detail. Like,
I know people will say, well, I had a rough upbringing.
I went through some stuff when I was younger.
That's why I act the way I do. Somebody introduced
me to these things and now they're tempting in
my life and I can't say no. There's a lot of
things that you can blame. But the fact is that
Jesus was there even then. He sees you. He sees
what you went through. He sees what you've become.
God knows that we are but dust. He sees our filth,
our uncleanness. And even in the face of all
of that, while we were yet sinners, he sent his
son Christ to die for us. Imagine the difference
between a searchlight and a lighthouse. A lighthouse
sits on the shore. You can see a lot of them
like in the upper peninsula of Michigan, on a
lot of the rocky coasts of the east coast. There's
still a lot of lighthouses. People are going
to tour lighthouses, right? And a lighthouse
shines its light out across the water. And it's
shining that light as a warning to say, look,
there are rocks here. The light doesn't shine
on the rocks per se. It's a searching beacon
so that wherever you're coming approaching the
rocks, whatever angle you're coming from, your
ship will see that there is a light there, and
that means there's a problem there, right? There's
something there to be aware of. That light is
not bright enough to light up the rocks so that
you can see the rocks and steer around or through
the rocks, right? But it is a warning that there
is something there to pay attention to. So it
is a good thing. A lighthouse is a good thing.
But now imagine a searchlight. The difference
between a lighthouse and a searchlight. A lighthouse
shines that broad beam to warn ships. But God's
attention is like a precision searchlight. It
doesn't just illuminate the life that you live
in. It doesn't just show you up on a screen.
It finds you as a specific person on a small
boat in the middle of a dark world. It highlights
your exact location and your exact need and gives
enlightenment for that need. There's a big difference
between What a lot of people think about Jesus,
thinking, well, he was this guy, and he came,
but it was a long time ago, and now he's not
really a personal God. He's not really in my
situation. He's not really making a difference
in my life. He's not really tending to each person's
cares. None of that's biblical. That's not what
the Bible says. Our God is a God who is engaged,
and he sees you, and he sees your exact need.
And because he sees every detail of your life,
he sees the thing that will strike you when you
go around the corner and you're not expecting
it. And he wants to help you with that. And sometimes
he'll even allow hardship one way so that you
don't face a crushing hardship another way. He
sees you. Like a searchlight. Not like a lighthouse.
The second thing I want you to see in the text
there then is that God connects with people from
all walks of life ever since the beginning. God
has called the rich and the poor and the sick
and the healthy and the man and the woman. and
every skin color and every culture and every
social background. If you could detail out everything
about you and all the inciting events of your
past and put it all on a piece of paper and call
it a character sheet or a dossier or a resume
and it's 5 ,000 pages long and you could then
feed that into AI and AI could make all of its
decisions for you just the way, based on who
you are, right, with about a 95 % probability.
If you could do all of that, you would find that
all told, each individual is unique. I recently
read a story about a train traveling through
California where a guy got on the train and then
a little while later, a half hour later, another
guy got on the train who had the exact same name
and the same basic description as him. And they
found each other on the train. They're like,
that's kind of freaky. You look a lot like me
and you have the same exact name that I do. That's
really freaky. And they went for like another
hour. This is in the 1950s, I think. Went for
like another hour on the train and another guy
got on the train with the same name, first name,
middle name, last name. I think maybe they didn't
have middle names, but anyway, the same first
and last name for sure, and looked basically
the same. So there's three guys on the same train
traveling across California that looked the same
and had the same name, first and last. They traveled
for a little while further, and before they got
to their final destination, a fourth guy got
on the train who had the same name and basically
looked the same as the other three guys, generically
speaking. At which point in time, the first three
guys all got off the train. They said, we're
out of here. They all got off the train before
they got to their destination. Out there in the
world, there's somebody that looks a little bit
like you. They've got basically your same hair,
same shape, same face. There's probably somebody
out there where I happen to know that there are
several other authors and several pastors that
have the same first and last name that I do that
most of them don't have the same middle name.
That's the blessing of middle names. The bottom
line is... You might look like somebody else.
And if somebody diagnosed you saying, oh, okay,
you came up through a rough childhood. You were
malnourished between the ages of 9 and 12. And
your parents were a little psychologically abusive.
And you had this job, this job. You might paint
a picture of yourself that looks a lot like somebody
else's picture. You go to court and you say,
my parents beat me all the time as a child. They
might have lenience on you. Because... Well,
we know that's when people are beaten as a child
that they usually turn out this way. But the
truth is, you're unique. You're you. The variables
are too vast and too far that ever you'll be
the same as somebody else. You can be a lot like
somebody else. You might pick out your similarities
and connect that way, but you're never going
to be somebody else. You can do everything in
your power to mimic somebody else and you still
couldn't be somebody else. You literally could
put your whole life, 50, 60 years together trying
to be another person and then wind up on your
deathbed and go, well, that was a failed effort.
You are who you are. That's what makes us equal.
Not that we're the same, but that we're all unique.
And people look at other people and they start
thinking, well... That person's like me, so they
expect certain things from them. Or that person's
not like me, so they expect certain things from
them. Right? Jesus desires to connect with people
from all walks of life. Unique individuals from
unique situations. So God consistently bypasses
generic social, racial, economic barriers to
reach people. He is proving His grace is not
a members -only club. You could be the dirty,
nasty tax collector. You could be the blind beggar
on the side of the road. You could be alright
in your own skin and feel like, I got my stuff
all together and it doesn't matter. You need
Jesus and He's coming for you. Because He sees
you. Because He desires a one -on -one relationship
with you. And yeah, there's going to be barriers.
Yeah, you might prefer to hang out with... Guys
who play video games all the time rather than
hanging out with a guy who created the universe
and asks things of you and works in you. You
might prefer to hang out with folks on social
media who will show you all the things of their
life and all the good things they have and you
can feel good about that for them and for yourself
because you get to control how fast you look
and so on rather than hanging out with the God
of the universe who did all that he's done. All
that he's doing and all that he's going to do
until the story comes to a conclusion with those
who have trusted him in eternity in heaven. And
God is able. He is able to get past your tendencies
to hang out with the wrong people, to watch the
wrong stuff. He is able. He can set you free
from that and get rid of the parts of your personality,
regenerate them really into something good that
would keep you. from having a relationship with
Him. Being a Christian is not a members -only
club. In fact, if anything, when you become a
member of the Christian club, if you want to
call it that, you realize that you now also have
become a seeker yourself, that you're supposed
to take your knowledge of Jesus to everybody
who will potentially listen, and you might have
something that's a social barrier or a cultural
thing in your life, and because you find a similarity
with somewhere else, that pathway then is used
to connect so you can share the gospel. Let me
tell you about the guy I met. Let me tell you
about the God who loves me. Let me tell you about
the one who's not like a lighthouse, but like
a searchlight. Let me tell you about the one
who's pointing me towards you today. God connects
with people from all walks of life. John 4, 7
through 26, there's a story. Jesus, who's a Jewish
teacher. initiates a deep spiritual conversation
with a Samaritan woman who he's not really even
supposed to be with at all, and he runs into
her at the well. In fact, they really weren't
supposed to be passing through that whole part
of the country. Jewish men would literally go
around through the desert an extra 30 miles or
whatever to avoid Samaritan land. But not Jesus,
and not his disciples. He engages that woman.
Even though she's had multiple men as husband
and the man that she was with right then was
not even her husband. And by no means should
a Jewish teacher be dealing with a woman. And
certainly not a woman like that. And yet Jesus
engages her in a deep spiritual conversation.
She was a social outcast with a complicated past
to say the least. And he breaks across gender
and ethnic taboos. And through her sin, to get
her to realize He is Jesus. And He wants a relationship
with her. In Acts 10, 34 -35, Peter realizes
that God does not show favoritism, but accepts
from every nation the one who fears Him and does
what is right. So wherever you're coming from
today, there's your entry. Are you willing to
have The Lord Jesus as your personal guide, director,
boss. The one who created everything and nothing
was created except that which was created through
him wants a relationship with you and he's seeking
you. It doesn't matter where you're coming from.
It only matters where he's coming from. It doesn't
matter who you are. It only matters who he is
and who he can help you be. Luke 19 then here
with Zacchaeus, a wealthy but hated tax collector.
Jesus shows that even the villains of society
are within Jesus' reach. Think for a moment about
global Wi -Fi. We're going to get to the point
where the Internet is available over the whole
Earth with this whole StarNet thing that they're
doing. With broad -reaching Wi -Fi or eventually
like that, whether you're in a high -rise penthouse
or a rural village, back darkest Africa or whatever,
a signal is available to everyone regardless
of your status. If you just have the necessary
technology, you can get on the internet. The
connection isn't actually then based on the quality
of the device, right? So you don't need a more
powerful phone than the next guy to be able to
connect to Wi -Fi. Just a phone that can connect
to Wi -Fi. The device that sends the Wi -Fi,
that's where the power is at. A better router.
A better satellite. It's available because you're
willing to receive it. The availability of the
network, which is God's grace. The availability
of the router, which you could say is the Holy
Spirit or Jesus. The bottom line is, God wants
to make a connection with you, and it does not
matter what walk of life you come from, He is
willing if you are willing. And we see Jesus
putting His thumbs on the eyes of unclean blind
men. We see Jesus kneeling down in the street
in front of paralyzed beggars. We see Jesus caressing
the skin of lepers. If God will go that far to
have you, how can you say no? And let's assume
then that you've said yes. If God will go that
far to have you and you've said yes, how could
you become one of the barriers? How could your
culture or your social attitude or your mental
state or your health or your finances or your
family or anything that you value in life ever
stand in the way of that seeking Jesus getting
to the people that he needs to get to? The answer
is it should not. Those things are meant to be
conduits for Jesus' love. So if you keep an aspect
of your culture, then it is only there so that
you can use it to spread the gospel. If an aspect
of your personality is regenerated, it is only
there so that you can then use that aspect of
your personality to reach somebody else for Jesus.
And that's why the church is full of so much
diversity, or should be anyway. Because that
diversity makes us able then to reach. Paul said,
I became all things to all men that I might reach
some. And the beauty of it is each one of us
individually doesn't necessarily have to do that
because we have in our midst others who are like
the person. So you're talking to somebody about
Jesus and maybe they're into a certain hobby
or whatever and it's going okay, but you're really
having a hard time connecting them because they
don't think the same way you do. They're thinking
about the things that they like and not the things
that you like. You have a different type. Maybe
you're into sports and they're into comic books,
right? But you know somebody in your church,
somebody in the kingdom that's a devout follower
of the Lord Jesus Christ that's in the comic
books. And you put those two people together.
And now they can speak the same language. They
have the same symbolism. It works. The kingdom
works because we are made up of unique people
coming from all walks of life. And regenerated,
that walk then becomes powerful for God. The
third thing to see and hear then, and it's a
contested thing. I get that. And I'm not going
to... prove it to you today. So if you contest
this, then I would say do your homework because
it is clearly proven in Scripture. And that is
that God was represented here. In fact, Jesus
is God. And to oppose Jesus is to oppose God.
The New Testament is clear that Jesus was not
just a representative of God, but God in human
form. Therefore, your reaction to Jesus is your
reaction to the creator of the universe. Now
again, if you struggle with that concept, I'll
give you a couple. But there are tons, right?
John 10 .30, Jesus states clearly, I and the
Father are one. Colossians 2 .9, For in Christ
all the fullness of deity lives in bodily form.
Colossians 2 .9. And Luke 10 .16, Jesus tells
his followers, Whoever rejects you rejects me.
But whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me.
And so whether or not you can jump, and solidly
stand on the truth that Jesus Christ is God the
Son, clearly Jesus taught that if you reject
Him, you are rejecting the God of the universe.
Now that's a pretty big deal. There was a number
of times when I was a young man that I got into
some fights. I did a lot of fighting and then
I spent about 20 years nursing my hands to try
to get so I didn't have pain every single day
after I did all that when I was in high school.
I wasn't a very good fighter either, just a real
stubborn fighter, you know what I'm saying. There
was one particular instance where I went up against
a guy who was about between 350 and 400 pounds,
and he decided he was going to stick my head
in the toilet. And I don't want my head stuck
in the toilet. Plus, I was in my underwear. It
was during gym class. And I really didn't want
him anywhere near me or touching me while I was
in my underwear. That was really creeping me
out. He was in his clothes. I was in my underwear.
At that time, I weighed about 117 pounds. He
weighed three times my weight. And he decided
he was going to pick me up and carry me in the
bathroom and stick my head in the toilet. That
was not a smart decision on his part because,
number one, I was very egocentric. I was not
a Christian. I was very concerned about appearances
and things like that. I'm like, you stick my
head in the toilet, I'm never going to get over
it. I'm like, there's no way that's happening.
So, this was in the Northwood locker room, guy's
locker room. That's where this event took place.
He's got me up on his shoulder. I'm elbowing
him and kicking him and stuff, and it was probably
like a stiff wind hitting him hard because he's
a giant guy. And then I realized there's certain
places you can hit a person who hurts a lot more,
but I couldn't reach to kick him in the privates
or anything like that. And so I grabbed the door
of a locker, and I grabbed his head, which even
a big guy, if you turn their head, it's hard
for them to stop that because a lot of muscles
in your neck, but my bicep versus his neck muscles.
And I turned his head, and I took the door of
the locker, and I went like this. Bang, bang.
And I kept going until he fell over. And then
I got my clothes on. It was like a rush to get
dressed. He went to the hospital and got 13 stitches.
So then at that point, you figure, I thought
from then on, anybody 350 pounds or more, I could
take them, right? No. If I see somebody that
weighed twice my weight, I'm giving them a wide
berth if I possibly can. I would never get in
the ring against somebody like Mike Tyson or
a major league boxer. I don't want to fight a
construction worker. If I can help, I don't physically
fight anymore at all. They're coming for me,
I'll give them what they got coming, but I don't
want to fight physically at all if I can help
it. And there are some men in this room that
are big men. Some of you guys are big men. And
I'm not. And so, I'm going to not. Right? God
is big. God is strong. God is intelligent. He
knows your tomorrow. God does what intervened
miraculously in creation. He changes the circumstances
of our lives on a regular basis. He says, oh
no, you're not going to go there. You're going
to go there. This is not going to happen to you.
This is going to happen to you instead. I'm not
going to let them do that to you. I'm going to
change that. You say, well, why doesn't God change
everything for the good? Why doesn't God make
everything go perfectly? I submit to you that
whether you can see it or I can see it or not,
God does do that. Suffering has a place in this
world. It's a sucky place. It's not a place that
we want or like or would ever desire, but out
of it comes something. And God turns out in the
long run for your good that which you despise
while you're going through it. That's why God
says through our brother James, consider it pure
joy when you face all manner of trials and tribulations.
Because the stuff that happens to you that you
really don't like is happening to you for a reason.
It's building something. It's creating something.
And if you want to be what it's building, you
want to be what it's creating, then you can go,
yay me, instead of, oh, me. Jesus tells his followers,
whoever rejects you rejects me, but whoever rejects
me rejects him who sent me. Do not reject Jesus.
Because if you do, you're rejecting the God of
the universe. And he has no limit to resources,
power, authority, intelligence, capability. He's
everywhere he wants to be. He has no limit in
power and he knows everything there is to know.
Consider a diplomatic ambassador. Like if we
sent, if the United States sent an ambassador
like Iraq, for example, or something. If a nation
sends an ambassador who carries the full legal
authority of the king or the president. That's
basically the way it is. They still have to check
in, but our ambassadors go to a foreign country.
And if they get attacked or killed or that embassy
gets destroyed, that's an act of war. The embassy
on foreign ground is considered part of your
country. It's the same way Nigeria sends an ambassador
to the United States of America. They build an
embassy in New York. When they're in that embassy,
that's considered part of Nigeria. And so you
mess with the ambassador, you mess with the king.
You mess with the ambassador, you mess with the
nation. You kill the United States ambassadors
and you can expect missiles within 24 hours.
This is the reality. And so people don't mess
with the ambassadors of the United States because
if they do, the United States will put them in
a hole. But people mess with Jesus. And I submit
to you, if you mess with Jesus, someday God's
going to put you in a hole. The kind of hole
you ain't going to come back out of. Do not reject
the Son of God. If you do, you reject God the
Creator. Any action of aggression against Jesus
would be legally viewed as an action of war against
God Himself. And so now, to the Christians in
the room, you say you're a follower of the Lord
Jesus Christ? Walk circumspectly. Walk soberly.
Submit yourself to what you know is right. James
4 .17 says, If you know what is right to do and
do not do it to him, it is sin. You do that.
That's sin. Do not ignore what is right. Do the
right thing whenever you have it in your mind
to do so. Pick your strength, your will, your
wisdom, your finances, your presence. Submit
and walk forward victoriously in the Lord. Because
if you reject Jesus now, after having come to
knowledge in the Lord Jesus Christ, do not think
that you are not rejecting God. No, it's still
the same. You may not lose your salvation, assuming
you have it. I question why, if you have it,
you would even do that. But if you have salvation,
you're not going to lose your salvation by sin.
Grace will cover that. But you cannot claim to
respect the king while striking the person that
he sent to represent his very heart and laws,
who is Jesus. Interesting that we see these lessons
arising out of these two encounters, Jesus' last
trip to Jericho, and from there, having heard
now... Blind Bartimaeus crying out, and I submit
to you over and over again as he glorified God,
that this is the Son of David. This is God in
the flesh. This is the Messiah. This is the One.
And thousands and thousands of people gather
around as they come into Bethany next, and they
spend a little time there before they make that
last two -mile walk into Jerusalem, right? As
that happens, as all of that happens, God is
getting the glory. Jesus, they're talking about
Jesus. And then, And a little over a week at
that point, or yeah, at the point of Jericho,
it's a little over a week. They will cry, crucify
him, crucify him. God sees you. God's calling
you right in your walk of life, right where you
are. And God is saying, do not reject my son.
As we sing a closing song today, I want to ask
you if you're here today, and if you have rejected
Jesus to this point in your life, and you realize
that God is calling you, that God sees you, seeking
after you, sent His own Son to die for you, then
you say, okay, I'm in. Just say it right now,
right where you're sitting. I'm in. I'm good.
Yeah. I'm with you, Jesus. Salvation is a lot
like that. The Bible says that in that moment,
you're born again. You're made new, made fresh.
You start over. Everything that was behind goes
behind and stays there. Your screw -ups, your
sin, it's all gone. All washed away in the moment
of accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
And then yeah, you're pitting yourself to live
no longer rejecting Him. Live for Him. Do your
best. Day in, day out. Your best knowledge. Your
best presence. So if you're here and you've never
accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, then
do that today. and the Bible says you believe
in your heart, confess with your mouth that Jesus
Christ is Lord, and that God raised Him from
the dead, you will be saved. And He'll never
let you down. He sees you. Maybe you're here
today and say, I'm already a Christian, but I
realize I've been doing some things that really
kind of almost amount to my rejecting Jesus after
the fact. The Bible says that He would just willingly
continue in sin after coming to Christ, basically
crucifies Him again. That's not good. So maybe
you say, no, I'm going to live for Jesus like
I thought I was going to live for Jesus. You
say, but there's that thing that's in my life
that tempts me. God knows that you are but dust
and he sees you. And you say, well, I might fall
to temptation again. Sure, probably. It's not
about whether you'll ever fall to temptation
again, whether you'll ever sin again. Grace covers
that. It's about your heart. Is your heart desiring
to follow God? You get that heart when you're
born again. So you might be sitting here going
like, if I decide to follow God, it's going to
be too hard. But you're going to get a new heart.
Like the broken down car that gets a new engine
and it can move again. That's going to be you.
And you can change the world around you uniquely
coming from where you come from, empowered by
Christ to deliver the gospel into your situation
wherever you wind up. And never reject Him again.
I'll ask the praise team to lead us in this song.
If you would stand with me, we're going to stand.
And then if you're led to sing, sing along with
the song. But if you're led to make some kind
of a decision, then you make that decision today
and come and make it publicly before the group.
And that would be great. Here we go. We're singing
or we're deciding. Jesus' last visit to Jericho
informs us. Praise God. Thank you.