I knew those racks under the chairs would come in good for something someday. We had
originally hoped to put our hembooks under there, but that of course doesn't work because
the hembooks slide back too far. You can't get them out without standing up and turning
the chair upside down. That's a little disruptive to the service. So if you have one of those
registration cards to turn in, would you please take a moment right now to put it underneath
the chair and we'll collect those after the service.
Battles rage along many lines in our day, but none is more fierce than that for our
homes. Satan knows that our homes are not only the cornerstone of human society, but
they are also the womb of the next generation. His destructive powers have been unleashed
against the homes of our land. Dr. Don Jennings, who is president of Tennessee
Temple University and Seminary in Chattanooga, stated,
"'Since the Garden of Eden, when the devil got a foothold in the first family, every
family has been the focal point of wicked satanic attack. The devil wants families disrupted,
divided, and doomed forever.'" Surely these last days in which we live are
characterized by a hellish assault, unequal since the days of Noah, which were before
the Flood. God is the designer of the home. We know that. While the perfection of the
Garden of Eden was lost in the fall and is found in no home, nonetheless the blessing
of God can be observed in some homes, that is, those homes where Jesus Christ is Lord
and King. Since most of us profess the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, we assume, naturally,
that He is also the Sovereign in our homes. But that does not necessarily follow.
That is why the theme of our false spiritual adventure is so exciting and significant—opening
our homes to Christ, that is, making Him feel welcomed and comfortable in our homes.
What we're going to talk about in the fall spiritual adventure is applicable to other
personal relationships as well. So if you're not living in the context of a family unit—maybe
it is a dorm or the college campus or it's an apartment with other singles—what we're
going to talk about is applicable to those relationships just as well, to make Jesus
Christ comfortable in that setting where you live.
It is a decision and a commitment on our part to open our homes to Christ and to make a
commitment to His Lordship in our homes. In Joshua 24 and verse 15 in the Old Testament,
we have an example of such a commitment. I'd like you to open your Bible and turn there
with me if you would please.
Joshua 24, verse 15.
Moses had led Israel to Jordan, but then God called him home. He died. Joshua was appointed
by the Lord to succeed Moses and to lead the people in conquering the land of Canaan. That
was done and the land was divided among the tribes or the family lines of Israel. And
then sometime later, near his death, Joshua called the people of Israel together for some
farewell addresses. The one in chapter 24 of the book that bears his name was delivered
at the city of Shechem in the middle of Israel. The purpose of this address was to reaffirm
the covenant between Israel and Jehovah God. On that occasion, Joshua challenged Israel
to serve the Lord faithfully. And yet he points out that there was a prerequisite for serving
the Lord. First, they had to put away the false gods among them. It may seem rather
strange to us that the people of Israel would be worshipping some false gods. After all,
they had seen the mighty power of God as they were brought across the flooding Jordan River.
They had seen the power of God in the destruction of the city of Jericho and other cities in
the land. After seeing those great miracles, it is an amazing thing that they were still
worshipping some of the false gods, not only the Canaanites, but of the gods of Egypt as
well. Now, we think that is amazing, and it is, but it is no more amazing that we should
have false deities in our lives today. Other gods than the Lord, even if it is the God
of self with a capital S. For we too have seen the mighty power of God in our redemption.
We have heard the gospel message of Christ coming into the world, dying for our sake,
being raised from the dead, exalted to the right hand of God the Father. We have experienced
the miracle of our faith in him, and our being born into his family, and the transformation
that he makes in the life. With all of those amazing experiences, is it not also amazing
that we also have false deities? Joshua gathers the people of Israel. He tells them that before
they can serve the Lord, they must get rid of their false gods. Notice verse 14. He says,
Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and truth. In other words, no
longer let it be hypocritically that you serve the Lord. No longer let it be with a divided
heart. No longer let it be with the words of your mouth, but with a heart that is far
from God. Indeed he goes on to say, Put away the gods which your fathers served beyond
the river and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. So that is the prerequisite before you and
I can welcome the Lord Jesus Christ into our homes. Before we can proclaim him sovereign
and king in that setting, we have to deal with the false deities that we worship and
serve. Joshua goes on to the people and says to the people in verse 15, And if it is a
disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will
serve, whether the gods which your fathers served, which were beyond the river, or the
gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. But as for me and my house, we will
serve the Lord. And so before these thousands of people, Joshua boldly announced his decision
for himself and for his family. Now in that culture, he spoke for all of his family. Joshua
was an aged man by this time. He had sons who were even old, grandsons, and undoubtedly
great grandchildren, perhaps great great grandchildren. Because he was the patriarch, he was the leader
of his family line. He announced the decision for all of them. And he said, As for me and
for my family, we will serve Jehovah. Now today it is somewhat different in our culture.
We don't have patriarchs of families as they did in that day. But you see the principle
is still the same. The principle hasn't changed at all. We today must choose whom we are going
to serve. Jesus said, You cannot serve God in heaven and mammon money, things of the
world. We cannot serve God and serve another deity. We cannot proclaim Jesus Christ the
King of our lives and of our homes, and yet give allegiance, priority, preference, preeminence
to other gods in our lives that we serve. Now it may be that there are some idols in
your home. We are living in a day when idols are becoming known again in homes because
of the influence of foreign cultures upon our own. There are many people within ten
miles of this church who literally have false gods upon shelves in their homes. They cannot
serve those gods in Jesus Christ. No more than we who come from the American, quote,
Christianized culture can serve God and the God of materialism, the God of selfishness,
the God of pleasure, the God of television, the God of entertainment, and on and on we
go. Choose whom you will serve, either those false deities or God, one or the other, but
don't try to straddle the fence. One or the other will dominate and control our lives.
That's the point. There's no such thing as giving 50% to God and 50% to whatever else
we may want to do and serve and worship. One will dominate the decisions, the motives,
the goals, our money, our time. One will dominate. And what the Word of God tells us through
Joshua, the prophet of old, is choose whom you will serve and serve that God. If it's
disagreeable with you to serve the Lord, then don't serve Him and serve those other gods,
but don't claim to serve the Lord. That's the point. Be honest about it. Choose whom
you will serve, one or the other, but not both. I think it's important to state positively
what you and your family believe is important and what you determine by God's grace to
do. I see Joshua doing that here on behalf of his family. He states to them that the
worship of Jehovah is what is important in their family. And he announces to the whole
nation gathered before him what they intend to do. We will serve the Lord, he says. I
think it's important for our families to do similar things today, to say these kinds
of things together and to say them publicly. I have an idea for you. It's not a part of
our fall spiritual adventure discipline series, but it's an idea that you may want to try
to incorporate this fall. I would encourage you to work together to develop such a statement
for you and your family, you and your roommate, you and the people you live with there that
are in that apartment. Develop a statement for that grouping of yours, for your family,
which states in a few words what is important to you, what you believe, and what you intend
to do as a family in light of that. And after you've developed that statement, let me encourage
you to have someone print it for you or ask someone to write it in calligraphy or maybe
in your own handwriting you'll want to put it up on the wall of your home. Frame it and
put it right there so that you can see it. It doesn't become the law, the Medes, and
the Persians. You may want to change that as your family grows. It may be that there
are some other things later that will want to be added to that. But for now, develop
a statement of what is important to you, what you believe as a family. Who is the God you
serve? And then in light of that, what you intend by the grace of God to do. I not only
encourage you to put it in a visible place in your home so that you're declaring that
publicly, but I encourage you as a family to read it together out loud at least once
a week at some appointed time. Maybe it's Sunday dinner when all of you are together.
Maybe it's one night during the week when you have a family night. Maybe it's at some
particular prayer time that you have together as a family. But read it through at least
once a week. What does that do? It reinforces in a positive statement who the God is that
you believe in and how you together as a family will serve Him. We're going to be talking
in these upcoming weeks about doing just that, welcoming Jesus Christ into our homes as Lord,
telling Him that we are serving Him in various ways.
I think in Luke 19 we have a New Testament example of a similar commitment to Christ
to welcome Him into the home. It is the story of the wee little man as the chorus goes.
Luke 19, verse 1, And Jesus entered and was passing through Jericho. 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. 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. And when Jesus came to the place,
he 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 has 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. 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 to save that which was lost.
We have in verse 10 Jesus giving us His purpose for coming into the world. It's summarized
there. It is illustrated for us in Luke 15 in the three parables of the lost sheep, the
lost coin, the lost son. And it is illustrated in this real-life incident in Luke 19. Zacchaeus
was a chief tax gatherer for that whole region. This is the only time this particular title
appears in the New Testament. Jericho, the city, was located on a main road in the Jordan
Valley near the Jordan River. The road that ran through it was from the Transjordan, that
is the east side of the Jordan, up to the city of Jerusalem. Because of the city's
location, it was a busy customs station. Zacchaeus apparently was responsible. He was the head
honsho of this customs station in the city of Jericho on the main thoroughfare from Transjordan
to Jerusalem. He became rich. Those two facts I've just mentioned are not necessarily
independent. He became rich because he was a tax gatherer. Lawfully he could have become
rich, but apparently he was very rich because he gathered some of his income unlawfully.
That is suggested at least in what he says in verse 8.
Now why is it that Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus? Well, the answer undoubtedly is that
he was curious about Jesus. What was the basis of his curiosity? Perhaps it was his miracles.
But I think more likely it was that Jesus' reputation of being a friend of tax collectors
went before him. You see, tax collectors like Zacchaeus did not have many friends. They
were not the well-liked popular people in their society. Indeed, they were hated by
the Jews in particular because often they were Jews, as is the case with Zacchaeus,
who worked for the Roman government. And there was nothing that was more reprehensible and
reprobate to the Jew than to do that. Zacchaeus was a man who had few friends, but he heard
about this rabbi, this Jewish teacher named Jesus of Nazareth, who befriended tax gatherers.
And so, as he saw the crowd approaching around Jesus, it seems that he ran ahead and found
a tree and climbed up into that tree to gain a little more advantage in trying to see this
man, for he was short in stature. I want you to notice with me several things.
First of all, when Jesus came to that tree, he stopped. And he called Zacchaeus by name.
There is no indication in the word of God they had ever met before. It is highly unlikely
that anyone would have pointed out Zacchaeus to Jesus. Undoubtedly, Jesus knew this man
because as he did in other cases as God, he knew the identity of people before he met
them. Zacchaeus, he said, come down. The second thing I want you to notice is that Zacchaeus
technically didn't invite Jesus to his house. Jesus invited himself. Jesus said, Zacchaeus,
come down. I must go to your house today. The only time that Jesus ever did that, right
here, where he invited himself in. Notice also the joy of Zacchaeus. It says that he
made haste. He came down quickly and received Jesus gladly into his home.
I also want you to notice the response of the Jewish multitude. Predictable. They grumbled
among themselves. One translator has put it this way. They kept buzzing angrily among
themselves. You get the picture here of a nest of hornets that has been disturbed and
they are flying around buzzing angrily because of what Jesus has done. He has entered the
home of this terrible sinner, this turncoat of the Jews who worked for the Romans as a
customs agent. So they were angry about that and they said he has gone to be the guest
of a man who is a sinner. How can he be a rabbi and do that?
Notice the result of the visit. The home visit occurred between verses 6 and 8. At some point
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.
That was in strict accordance with the law Exodus 22.1.
What do we see here? We see a man who is repentant and who shows the fruit of repentance. He
wants to make restitution. Not only that, he has a heart of generosity. He says, half
of everything I own I give to the poor. We see the fruit here of a man who has genuinely
welcomed Jesus Christ not only into his home, but into his heart, into his life as well.
The lesson that I see here is this. When Jesus Christ comes into a home, he transforms it.
He makes it different. When Jesus Christ comes in, things change.
I received a wonderful letter this last week from a lady in our church. She thanks God
for the ministry of the church and for you, the body of believers, who are kind, loving,
and patient. Then she goes on to say this, I am a sinner and deserve nothing. Even a
fraction of this inner peace is more than I deserve. Yet each day I am given more and
more, and each day I think surely I will burst from so much joy and peace and happiness.
How fortunate I am at this early age to have been given what some people strive a lifetime
for and never reach. She is a new believer, but in that statement she said something very
significant, to have been given what some people strive a lifetime for. There is a difference
there, isn't there? The peace and the joy, the salvation that the Lord Jesus Christ gives
is just that. It is a gift of grace. We cannot strive for it. We cannot work for it. We can
try a whole lifetime to gain it and come short because it is something we simply reach out
and receive. She has got a hold of that. She goes on to say each day my awareness grows
and I see more clearly our world as it is in reality, and I feel as if I have touched
the sky and I will live forever like this. Praise God. When I became a Christian there
was only one desire left in my heart. I thought I had all the happiness I could handle just
knowing the Lord and was content with my new life in Christ. When I learned from the Bible
that by following the Lord He would give you the desires of your heart, I said I am happy,
I am content, and my only desire would be for my husband and I to get back together
again and have our family restored. She had been divorced. But I said, Lord, knowing your
grace is enough for me and much more than I deserve, and I would not disobey you by
marrying a non-Christian no matter how much I loved my husband. I was content to say,
may your will not mine be done. I was happy to obey him and be able to turn from my desires
toward his, and I rejoiced that I had grown to be obedient to his commandments. The Lord
is so good, so loving and forgiving. I gave up my will, my ego, and my human desires concerning
my husband, and He rewarded me with what I call my own special miracle. First of all,
He is true to His word. He changed my husband's heart and he became a Christian. And today
we are married, and by the grace of God our family has been restored. He can move mountains,
planets, and people as I have seen and know only too well.
When Jesus Christ comes into a life, when He is welcomed into a home, He makes a difference.
He does. And He can make a difference in your life. He can make a difference in your home.
You see, it is possible for us to be Christians and not to have a Christ-centered home. It
is possible for us to be born-again believers in the family of God and yet have homes where
Jesus Christ is not comfortable. That is why the truth that we are going to be focusing
on in the next few months is so important—welcoming the Lord Jesus into our homes as King.
So not only are we a home of Christians, but we are a Christian home where Jesus Christ
is King and Lord. That is a truth that we will develop through the fall adventure during
the Sunday preaching. There are going to be eight specific results in our homes as we
open them to Jesus and welcome Him as King. First of all, we will discover the wonder
of His closeness. And we are going to talk about that next week. Secondly, we will treat
ourselves and one another with dignity as Christ does. When we open our homes to Jesus
and welcome the King, third, we will ask daily what we can do to serve our King. Fourth result,
when we welcome Jesus into our home, we will adjust to Christ's thinking that Sunday
is a very special day. Five, when Jesus is welcomed into our homes, we will invite those
with needs to meet Him. And following our discussion of that emphasis, we will enter
into our missions festival—what an appropriate spot to break and talk about missions. When
we welcome Jesus into our home, sixth result, we will view our material possessions through
the Lord's eyes. Seven, we will allow the Lord to manage our crises. And eight, we will
feel unbelievably privileged when we welcome Jesus into our homes. And that Sunday will
be Thanksgiving Sunday, and we will have a lot of rejoicing to do.
Last week we discussed the cycle of spiritual growth. A period of growth in our lives is
often followed by a time of resting, even testing, to see if the growth was real. It
is true of all of us, and we need to admit it, that we do not always experience the same
intensity in our walk with God. It seems as though God has chosen that there be a certain
sacred rhythm to this process of our growing in Christ. And all of us know that. Our fall
spiritual adventure is an opportunity for all of us to concentrate on growth at the
same time. Now you stop and think about the impact of that. In any given week, there are
some of us who are in one of those periods of growth. There are probably many more of
us that are in a period of resting or testing. But now we are coming to a time when all of
us can choose to discipline ourselves to grow. Think of the impact that that can have in
our church when we do it this way all together. That is why I sincerely hope that every one
of you is planning to be an adventurer with the rest of us. Yet I realize that there are
some of you that cannot do that. There is no coercion, there is no arm twisting, and
certainly you will profit just by being with us on Sunday and hearing the preaching and
going through this theme with us. But I do want to encourage you to be an adventurer.
And I hope that the enthusiasm that we are going to have for the adventure in the weeks
to come will not be offensive to those of you who choose for some reason not to be a
part of it at this time. But we are going to be enthusiastic. We are going to talk about
it. And so I ask, have you gotten your journal yet? They are available today. Some of you
got them last Sunday night. But we have plenty of them. We ordered a certain number. They
sent us 400 more by mistake. So we have got plenty of them. We can send back what we don't
use. But there is a journal for you waiting. Have you determined to do all five of the
disciplines we talked about last week? Or which ones of the five you will do? The Word
of God says in 1 Timothy 4, 7, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness. That
is our responsibility. By the grace of God to discipline ourselves for the purpose of
godliness, you will be able to measure your progress in the next several weeks by use
of this adventure journal. You will be able to look back and see exactly what God has
done in your life and measure that progress. I want to tell you, that will be an encouragement
to you. I believe this is going to be one of the most exciting, encouraging things you
have ever done in your Christian walk. The next Sunday we are going to talk about the
wonder of the closeness of our King. We are going to ask God to open our eyes to see that
He is here, that He is working through circumstances in our lives to prove Himself every day. And
we are going to talk about a very special discipline that I hope all of us will do,
even if you are not going to do all five. Here is one I hope you will do. It is called
the God Hunt. We will talk more about that next week. For now I want to know if you will
ask the Lord every day this week to make this spiritual adventure a time of accelerated
growth in your life, number one, and in our church's body life. You say, well why are
we concerned about the church? Well the fact is that the church, any local church, is only
as strong as its weakest member. Did you know that? Any church is only as strong as its
weakest member, just like a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. And so as we
emphasize growing individually, the purpose of that is so that we as a church also may
grow and be stronger. I believe that this will could be a key to revival in our church.
People all around are hungry for the personal presence of God in their lives. Many right
here. That is what revival is all about. It is being hungry for God. It is being willing
to be broken before God and say to God, whatever you want Lord, that is what I want. Your will
be done in my life, in my home, and in my church. Of course it is unconfessed sin that
hinders that. And we need to bring it before the Lord. Bring it before the Lord even right
now so that we can be ready to grow together for the glory of God. Would you bow together
with me please? I would like us to have just a few quiet moments so that you personally
can respond to God. Perhaps you are here and like Zacchaeus, you are curious about Jesus.
You have heard about Him. He would come to your house today. He would come into your
heart and save you. Will you invite Him to come in? Would you by faith reach out and
say Jesus I receive you as Savior, as Lord of my life. No other gods do I worship but
you. Save me from my sin. Many of you are children of God already. Are you willing to
confess sin if it is there? To bring it before Him in confession? Are you willing to pray
and ask Him to make this time of spiritual growth real in your life and in our church?
Let's talk to the Lord right now individually. Lord, because a child is born, a child is
raised, and a child is raised, I pray that you will make these next few weeks significant
times of growth in our lives so that we individually can be stronger, so that our homes and personal
relationships can be stronger, and so that our church will be stronger and experience
the revival of awareness of your presence with us. Be the King, the Sovereign, the Lord,
and if there is anything in our lives, Savior, which hinders your working, which grieves
and quenches your spirit, oh do now make that known to us in such a powerful way that we
will acknowledge it and repent and bring forth the fruit of repentance. In Jesus' name we
pray, Amen.