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We're going to read the first ten verses of this chapter as we talk about the IRS getting

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converted.

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Yes, that's enough to say amen about, isn't it?

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It says, And as he, Jesus, entered and was passing through Jericho, behold, there was

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a man called by the name of Zacchaeus.

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And he was a chief tax gatherer, and he was rich.

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That wasn't by accident.

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And as he was trying to see who Jesus was, and he was unable because of the crowd, for

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he was small in stature, he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree in order to

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see him, for he was about to pass through that way.

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When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, Zacchaeus, hurry and come

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down, for today I must stay at your house.

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And he hurried and came down and received him gladly.

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And when they saw it, they all began to grumble, saying, He's gone to be the guest of a man

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who is a sinner.

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And Zacchaeus stopped and said to the Lord, Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will

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give to the poor.

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And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.

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And Jesus said to him, Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is the

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son of Abraham, for the son of man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.

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In this passage we see the Lord Jesus Christ dealing with Zacchaeus, the curious man.

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There are a number of points in our narrative I first want you to look at with me at the

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curiosity of Zacchaeus.

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He was a small man who had a big reputation, and it was not good.

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He was a man who was involved in a despised calling in that day.

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If it's tough to work for the IRS today, it was a hundred times tougher being a Roman

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publican.

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That's not a Republican, by the way, that is a publican.

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And it means a tax collector.

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Often the tax collectors were Jews.

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The Romans felt it was to their advantage that they be Jewish.

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They were hired people, and it seems as though often there were contracts made with these

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publicans, so that a certain amount of money was to be raised from their territory.

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And anything they raised above that amount for the Roman government was theirs to keep.

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So that's why I say it was not by accident that it says here that he was not only a tax

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gatherer, but he was rich.

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And then there may have been kind of a pyramid involved in this because he was a chief tax

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collector.

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He was a man who had other tax gatherers working under him, and it is not unlikely at all that

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he got a cut from each one of them.

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And so here's a man who was raking it in.

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Undoubtedly he had been excommunicated by his fellow Jewish citizens because of his

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work for the Romans.

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He was not the kind of person that you would be seen with if you were a respectable Jew.

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He was not the kind of person you would want your daughter to date.

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You wouldn't want to be near this person in public.

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He was despised.

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But this little man had a very deep sense of curiosity about him when it came to Jesus.

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He had heard of Jesus somewhere, and as the crowd was gathering when Jesus was coming

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into Jericho, he was trying to see over the crowd, and he could not.

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And so he ran ahead of the parade.

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He found a sycamore tree.

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And if you visit Jericho today, they'll show you the sycamore tree that he climbed up in.

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And you can put your tongue on the side of your cheek there and believe it if you want

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to.

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But he went to a sycamore tree and climbed up in that thing so that he could see the

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parade, so that he could see Jesus as he passed by.

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He seemed to be oblivious to the crowd.

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And you know, really it's a good thing that he was, because this is the last time that

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Jesus was in Jericho to this day.

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Jesus has not been back in Jericho as he was in that day, as recorded here in Luke chapter

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19.

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He was on his way to Jerusalem where he would suffer and die.

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So here is a man who had a big curiosity, and that's what drove him to find out about

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Jesus.

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You know, there are some people who come to our church, not because they're necessarily

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really interested in us, but just because they're curious.

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You want to think about that?

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Great.

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I don't care why they're here.

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Let them come.

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If their motives aren't really to find out about our church, to become a part of it,

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if they're just curious to see what's going on, even if they're curious so they can criticize

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more intelligently, which is helpful for some of them, I don't care.

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Let them come.

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If they come out of curiosity, if they come out of sincerity, whatever their motive for

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being here, let's welcome people.

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I hope that just as Jesus gave people something to be curious about in that day, so in the

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ministry of our church we can do the same.

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I pray that God will do something here in our midst so that people are curious about

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it, so that there isn't an easy explanation as to what's taking place, and so that they

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might be pricked in some way to come.

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It says in Acts 2 regarding the early church on that day of Pentecost that the people heard

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something was going on.

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It says there in verse 6, now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together.

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That is, something unusual was taking place, and out of curiosity the multitudes came,

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and it was an opportunity for the disciples to preach, the apostles to preach to the

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people.

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So likewise, may God the Holy Spirit be doing something so real, so genuine, so deep in

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our midst that people will be provoked to come, even out of curiosity, to find out what

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God is doing.

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And may we welcome any who come, whatever their motive may be.

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I would have you notice, secondly, the command of the Lord.

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In the first place it was a personal command.

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He said, Zacchaeus, hurry up and come down.

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Now who had introduced Jesus to this man?

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No one, of course.

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Isn't it interesting that as the Savior was passing along with this multitude around him,

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his attention was drawn to the man in the tree?

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I don't suppose that that was too unusual to you.

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They didn't have grandstands in those days.

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I don't suppose it was too unusual for someone to be in a tree.

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And not only was this man in the tree when Jesus looked up there, Jesus also called him

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by name.

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It was a personal command.

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He said, Zacchaeus, hurry up and come down.

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Jesus knew his name, much the same way as Jesus saw Nathaniel sitting under the tree

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even before Nathaniel had heard a word about Jesus.

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The Lord Jesus Christ knew this man.

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It reminds me, doesn't it, of John chapter 10 when Jesus said, I know my sheep.

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They hear my voice.

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They follow me.

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I wonder how Jesus said his name.

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Normally when people said Zacchaeus, it was kind of a spit at the same time.

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Because they hated this man, this Jewish renegade, this one who had turned coat and worked now

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for the Romans, he was an absolutely despised individual.

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I don't believe Jesus said his name that way.

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I believe that there was love and grace, understanding as Jesus spoke to him.

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And then notice that the command of the Lord was also pressing.

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He says to him, hurry and come down.

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Hurry, hurry, hurry.

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My friend, when God speaks, that is the time to act, isn't it?

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Isaiah 55-6 says, seek ye the Lord while he may be found.

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Call ye upon him while he is near.

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This was a pressing command from Jesus.

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Hurry, Zacchaeus.

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Get down here.

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And then notice it was pointed.

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There was a point to it.

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Zacchaeus, hurry, come down.

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I believe that this was more than a physical come down, but it was also, in a sense, a

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spiritual command.

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He was saying to this man, Zacchaeus, you rich man, you well-known in this community

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and hated.

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You, come down.

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To others, Jesus said, come near.

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To others, he said, rise up.

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But to Zacchaeus, he said, come down.

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I think the point is this, that all sinners meet him on the same level.

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Someone has said the ground at the foot of the cross is level.

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That is where Jesus called Zacchaeus to come to him.

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And notice that it was a purposeful command.

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Jesus saw in Zacchaeus an urgent need.

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The urgent need of a sinner who needed and would accept mercy.

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He would not have known that by looking at the outward shell of this man, for I'm sure

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he seemed very hardened because he was not well-liked.

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He probably had a complex about that.

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To look at him, Zacchaeus probably appeared to be the kind of a person who did not need

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anything and wanted nothing.

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And yet Jesus knew that he was a sinner who needed and also would accept mercy.

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And that was revealed immediately, wasn't it?

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And Jesus saw as well that here was a man who was a person who would illustrate the

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sovereignty of his choice.

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For you see, here was not a good man.

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Here was a bad man, a real bad man.

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He was a man who cheated.

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He was a man who defrauded others.

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And it was he that Jesus called.

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The character of this man as it would be renewed would magnify the grace of God, showing once

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again that God's grace is that which is undeserved by us.

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There is a similar statement to what Jesus says in verse 10, the Son of Man has come

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to seek and to save that which was lost earlier here in the Gospel of Luke.

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Go back to chapter 5.

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Interestingly, it's in connection with the call of another publican.

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Luke 5.

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Well, let's start in verse 27.

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And after that he went out and noticed a tax gatherer named Levi sitting in the tax office.

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And he said to him, follow me.

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And he left everything behind and rose and began to follow him.

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And Levi gave a big reception for him in his house.

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And there was a great crowd of tax gatherers and other people who were reclining at the

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table with them.

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And the Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling at his disciples saying, why do

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you eat and drink with tax gatherers and sinners?

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And Jesus answered and said to them, it is not those who are well who need a physician,

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but those who are sick.

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I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.

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Those who think they are righteous place themselves beyond salvation.

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For you see, to be saved one must realize his need, his sin.

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I thought it was quite interesting the comment that one of the gentlemen on the panel made

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on the television program earlier this month.

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He remarked about the survey of religious people in Minnesota.

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And apparently a third of those who were surveyed indicated that they did not believe in sin.

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And this Lutheran theologian, as a matter of fact, said that it amazed him that that

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was the case.

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He couldn't imagine what Jesus Christ could mean to people like that.

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Because you see my friend, if you are not a sinner you don't need a savior.

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There were religious people in that day, Pharisees and others, who did not see their need of

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a savior.

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Jesus said, I didn't come to call the righteous, quote unquote, but I have come to call those

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who are sinners.

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That's the kind of a person Zacchaeus knew that he was.

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I want you to notice thirdly the condemnation of the crowd.

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It says that when the crowd saw Zacchaeus come down and receiving Jesus and heading

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toward his home, that they all began to grumble.

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That makes me think that these must surely have been Baptist Jews.

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And I can say that being a Baptist.

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You'll notice they said the same thing with Levi.

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They grumbled about it.

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They said, what in the world is going on here?

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He's supposed to be a prophet.

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He's supposed to be a preacher.

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And look who he's running around with.

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I heard this week about a man who is preaching to several thousand people every Sunday morning

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down the Chicago area.

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I don't even know his name, but he apparently has a unique ministry.

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He tells his people on Sunday morning not to come unless they have an unsaved person

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or family with them.

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Their worship service is held on Wednesday nights in that particular ministry.

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And interestingly, this fellow prepares his sermon all week and then he goes to the local

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pub to preach it on Saturday night.

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He has a table there that's reserved for him.

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And the people who are in the bar sit around the table and pick a sermon apart as he preaches

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it.

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And after that experience on Saturday night, he feels he's ready to preach it Sunday morning

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to the crowds.

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Oh my.

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Oh dear.

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Look where that man goes on Saturday night.

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Now frankly, that's not me.

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I don't intend to reserve a table down here wherever.

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I don't even know where they are.

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But there's a man who in his particular style of ministry feels that that is appropriate.

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I'm not going to condemn him for that.

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Indeed, what he is doing there on Saturday nights may be doing more good than what he

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does on Sunday morning.

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I don't know.

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He's certainly reaching some interesting people and allowing them the opportunity to criticize

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what he wants to say or at least to make comments on it.

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Well, you see, the people who looked at Jesus heading down towards Achea's house felt like

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some who would criticize that preacher in Chicago.

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I want to tell you something.

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You listen to men.

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You listen to the crowd, my friend, and you'll never be saved.

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If you're sitting here tonight and you've never trusted Jesus Christ because you're

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afraid of what other people are going to say about you, I want to tell you something.

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You'll probably go to hell.

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If you wait until the crowd says it's okay to get saved, I'll guarantee you you'll go

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to hell because the crowd will never say, go do it.

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Likewise, if you're a Christian and you'll say, well, I'll live for God, but I want everybody

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to say it's okay first, then you'll never live for God.

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Because the crowd will never tell you to do that.

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You'll never accomplish anything worthwhile in life if you listen to the crowd around

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you.

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This crowd was self-righteous.

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It was angry.

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It condemned Jesus.

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It condemned Zacchaeus.

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But that is where the work of God was being done.

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Don't listen to the crowd.

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Don't expect to be a popular person if you're going to take a stand for Christ.

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You won't be popular with men, but you will be with God.

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Notice as well the confession of Zacchaeus.

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Isn't it interesting?

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It says that he hurried and came down and received him.

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And along the way, apparently as they were heading toward his home where Jesus was to

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be a guest, Zacchaeus stopped and said to the Lord, and now here is his confession,

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Behold, Lord.

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Isn't that interesting?

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Who told him he was Lord?

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You see, Zacchaeus knew that.

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And when it says that he came down and received him gladly in verse 6, it seems to me that

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there may well be more than just a personal reception of a host, but here is one who truly

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received him in the sense of John 1.12, where it says, But as many as received him, Jesus

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Christ, to them he gave the power to become the sons of God, the children of God, even

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to those who believe on his name.

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Think of what Zacchaeus did when he climbed up in that tree.

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It was going to be rather obvious he was up there.

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You can't very well hide when you're up in a tree.

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And he was a man who was well known in the city, and obviously a man who had reason to

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be proud and a little arrogant.

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But he put all of those feelings aside to climb up in the tree out of his curiosity

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as to who Jesus was.

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And then Jesus invited him, or indeed commanded him to come down, and he came down immediately

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and received him.

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I believe that Zacchaeus was saved that day, indeed in verse 9 Jesus says, Today salvation

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has come to this house.

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Why?

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Because he says he's the son of Abraham.

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That may mean that he was the son of Abraham physically, and Jesus made it clear earlier

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in his ministry as recorded in Matthew 15.24 that he had come to the house of Israel.

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That was where his ministry was.

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It was not until after his death, resurrection, and ascension that it went beyond the house

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of Israel.

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More than just a few exceptions.

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The focus of his earthly ministry was the house of Israel.

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Zacchaeus was a Jew, if not a renegade of course, but a Jew, and in that sense he was

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the son of Abraham.

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But I believe there's more involved here.

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For in Galatians 3 verses 6 and 7 it says, Abraham believed God and it was counted to

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him for righteousness.

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Know ye therefore that they who are of faith, the same are the sons of Abraham.

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So Zacchaeus was the son of Abraham in two ways.

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He was also a son of Abraham by faith.

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Now I'm not a Jew by birth.

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I am Irish.

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I'm glad I'm Irish.

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And it's a good thing I am because I always will be.

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I'm not a Jew by birth.

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But you know something, I'm a Jew in one sense in spirit.

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In that I am a son of Abraham because I am in faith in Jesus Christ as is Abraham.

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He looked ahead, says the Old Testament, and saw the Messiah way off down the corridor

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of time and he rejoiced at what he saw.

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He believed by faith.

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Are you a son of Abraham tonight?

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Are you one who is in faith?

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Have you trusted Christ?

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Notice that Zacchaeus made this immediate open and public confession.

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It wasn't something he tried to hide.

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He wasn't a secret service Christian.

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He says, Lord, half of my possessions I'll give to the poor.

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Now he wasn't saved because he said that.

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He was saved because he had received by faith the Lord.

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But as a proof of his faith, we have this record of his confession.

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He said, half of everything I own I give to the poor.

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Not only that, he says, if I have defrauded anyone of anything, and the chances of that

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are about 100 percent, I will give back four times as much.

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Now he could have gotten away with giving back 20 percent over what he had cheated.

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He could have gotten away with that.

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But instead he goes back to the law in Exodus 22.1 where it talks about thievery.

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And he approaches his financial, shall we say, dealings as thievery.

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And he says, I will give back four times as much as I have stolen from anyone.

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Here's a good indication this man was genuinely converted because his billfold was converted

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at the same time.

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We sit today in a beautiful auditorium in a lovely building.

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And I know that Northwestern College is so grateful for the lady who largely made this

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possible.

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What happened to her?

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Well, what?

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Is it 15 years ago now?

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I've forgotten the exact date.

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She was driving down the highway, so as I hear this story, and was listening to KTIS,

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and came to trust Christ as her Savior.

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And in the process of time, she was so overwhelmed with gratitude for the ministry of the college

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that she made it possible for this building to be built.

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You see, her billfold got saved with her.

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It's funny, there are some Christians it never happens to.

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Here's a man who not only gave half of his goods to the poor, but he is a man who made

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restitution.

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You know, that's important.

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I believe that's proper.

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It is not enough that we confess our sins against other people, but if restitution is

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needed, we need to make restitution, to go back to people and make it right.

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Zacchaeus would not have a conscience that offended, that was offended, because of his

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dealings with people before he was saved.

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You know, it could be there's somebody here tonight, I don't know.

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Maybe you've been saved, you've trusted Christ as Savior, but in the back of your mind, you

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remember someone that you have cheated, you've defrauded in the past.

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And that has been nagging at you and has been a guilt problem for perhaps years.

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I want to challenge you to do something.

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You go back to that person that you've defrauded, and you make it right.

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You offer to do whatever is necessary to set it right.

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God will bless you for that.

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Your conscience then will be void of offense.

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Now it seems to me that in this text there is a challenge to us.

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We see the Lord Jesus Christ involved in personal soul winning here.

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Notice that he met this curious man head on, a man who was a stranger in one sense, but

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a man who was one of his sheep, and he called him by name.

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Jesus took no regard of what people thought about what he was going to do.

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I want to tell you, if you are concerned about what people think of you before you witness,

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you'll never get around to witnessing.

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Jesus took no regard for the multitudes who were crowded around him.

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He did not care what the self-righteous religious people would say.

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He spoke to Zacchaeus and dealt with him about his soul.

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He made a personal appeal to Zacchaeus, commanding him with love and grace to come to him.

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Zacchaeus responded.

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Notice that Jesus concludes by saying, the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that

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which was lost.

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To seek involves time.

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So does winning someone to Christ.

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There are a few times when we approach somebody cold turkey, that is, for the very first time

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and we witness to them and they trust the Savior.

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Occasionally that will happen.

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Normally when it does happen, we still are not the first to talk to them.

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Someone else has been planting the seed along the way and we just happen to be the one to

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be there at the right time to reap.

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Normally when we are used of God to reach somebody for Jesus Christ, it's because we

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have taken time to seek them, to go out after them, to build that relationship with them,

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to prove ourselves to them as friends, as trusted people.

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And because of that bridge then, they will receive what we have to say.

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Who are you seeking?

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Who are you seeking?

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Jesus said, I've come to seek and to save that which is lost.

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Are you?

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Some of you may need to consider being involved in D.E.

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As I said this morning, you don't know how to begin.

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There's one place to learn.

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You need to let us know today if you want to be involved in that.

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Stop by the information desk afterward.

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There's something else interesting here and a challenge to me and that is that Jesus did

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all of this within the context it seems of Zacchaeus' home.

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But that is where he went to be a guest.

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How good it is for us to use our homes as a means of contact with people.

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What a natural thing to do.

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One other thing that I learned here and a challenge to me is that we should never consider

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anyone impossible to reach for Jesus Christ.

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Now most people would probably look at a man like Zacchaeus and say there is a guy who

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will never trust the Lord.

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He is so hardened in his sin.

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He is so despised.

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He's such a standoffish person.

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He's so mean and wicked.

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He'll never trust the Lord.

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We should never consider someone that way.

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Back in chapter 18 verse 27, and really in the context again of salvation, Jesus says

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this, the things impossible with men are possible with God.

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It may be that as you look at your family member or at that neighbor or that person

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at work you say, wow, I don't see how that person can ever be saved.

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My friend, don't be small in faith.

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Keep praying.

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Keep working.

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Keep seeking.

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Keep building that relationship.

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Keep sharing a word here and there as you have opportunity and see what God will do.

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With you it is impossible.

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You can't win them to the Savior, but he can win them to himself.

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Be his tool.

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Be his instrument.

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Jesus Christ is heaven's greatest soul winner.

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He dealt with all kinds of people, including a man like Zacchaeus, a curious man.

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I hope that we will be faithful as was he, that we too might be one of heaven's soul

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winners upon the earth, dealing with all kinds of people, whatever their motive may be for

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seeking us out, whatever their motive may be for coming here to church, whatever their

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motive may be for asking us a question, that we seek them, that we immediately go to them

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with the gospel.

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Jesus Christ said, I've come to seek and to save that which was lost.

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Are you interested in the same things that Jesus is interested in?

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He's interested in people.

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He's interested in people being saved.

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That's why he came.

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And my friend, that's why we're here.

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Let's be involved.

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Heavenly Father, I pray that we may be reflective of our Savior and seek those who need to be

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saved.

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I pray, Father, that we will be willing to seek out the unpopular, even make it a point

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to go to them as Jesus did with Zacchaeus, as he did with the woman at the well, and

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on other occasions, to seek out those that are rejected even by society, that they might

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hear the gospel and perhaps trust the Savior, receive him.

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Lord, we thank you that you're a friend of sinners.

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That means you're a friend, a friend of people like us, for we too were sinners.

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You sought us out and brought us to yourself.

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Like a shepherd with sheep, you called us by name and we responded, thank you so much.

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Our shepherd, for calling us to be a part of your flock.

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Father, if tonight there is someone here who does not know the Lord Jesus Christ and who

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for one reason or another is putting it off, I pray that that one tonight will trust him

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and be saved.

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And I pray this in Jesus' name and for his sake, who came to seek and to save the lost.

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Amen.

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We're going to sing a chorus.

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The conclusion is found on page 262 in your hymnal.