Jesus, Guest of a Sinner

we'll pray and we'll get started we give you thanks we give you praise god just for who you are lord god you are king of kings and lord of lords and you are worthy of all of our god just help us to set everything else aside in our lives and to lift a joyful noise to you god help us to position our hearts rightly before you god and prepare our hearts to receive the word that you have prepared for us tonight we love you and we praise you in your precious and holy name amen and have a seat if you like in my sorrow and dead in my sin lost without hope with no place to begin mercy come arrested this was redeemed only my feet rose to dance rejoiced as though thank you for the new life that we haven't done for us on the cross

washes over us gives us new life lord in our communities lord but in our churches in our government lord lord help us to turn back to you god for give us for turning ever turning away lord forgive us for thinking we can make it on our own and help us to turn our gaze back to you lord our attention to you again soon help us to be ready to be attentive to you i pray this as brother robbie comes this evening lord god that you would just overflow him with your holy spirit lord with your with your gift of teaching fill his mouth with your words lord and prepare our hearts to receive it father we love you we praise you in your name amen okay i'm on mercy okay good evening greetings one and all and welcome to calvary chapel no i'm good yeah thank you

all right shall we pray well first of all turn in your bibles to luke chapter 19 luke chapter 19. i like it a lot i like it a lot i like it a lot i like it a lot i like it a lot i like it a lot i like it a lot i like it a lot this little thing that i'm standing on here this kind of a padded thing that's neat i know that sounds crazy but i have another purpose for that because i get worried that that with this circle table i start going one direction or the other but as long as i have my foot hung feet hang all the way this edge right here it's straight so that'll keep me straight yeah all right that's more information you probably wanted but anyway uh let's pray father we thank you for this opportunity to spend time in your word this evening father

we just ask that you would overflow us by the power of your holy spirit lord tonight fill us afresh move in each of our hearts lord speak to us impart your spirit of wisdom to us in the revelation of the knowledge of you lord just enlighten the eyes of our understanding that we may just sense and know the hope we have in you and the inheritance that we have in you lord we know with that same resurrection power you raised christ from the dead you've made us alive in you lord we thank you for that bless now our time as we study your word and just speak to us by your holy spirit in jesus name amen i've entitled the message um jesus guest of a sinner and it's from luke 19 and we're going to be looking at

verses 1 through 10 so what we'll do first of all is i'm going to read through the text and then we're going to jump in okay hang in with me this time i'm using a king jimmy so all right and jesus entered and passed through jericho and behold there was a man named zacchaeus which was a chief among the publicans we would call them text collectors right now text collectors and he was rich and he sought to see jesus who he was and could not for the press because he was little of stature and he ran before and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him for he was to pass that way and when jesus came to the place he looked up and saw him and he said i'm going to pass through jericho and behold there was a man named zacchaeus

and said on him zacchaeus make haste and come down for today i must abide at your well at thy or your house for he made haste and came down and received him joyfully and when they saw it they all murmured saying that he was a that he was gone to be guessed with a man that is a sinner and zacchaeus stood and said unto the lord behold lord the half of my goods i give to the poor and if i have taken anything from any man by false accusation i restore him fourfold and jesus said unto him this day is salvation come to this day for as much as he also is a son of abraham for the son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost amen okay so we've got the setting here actually jesus is on his way to jerusalem

and he's going to be he's it's this point that he's going to be heading to jerusalem for the triumphal entry and then of course you know the the people uh have their different responses you know and of course remember initially they're the the people who are thinking about jesus and who he is and and all they're thinking along the lines of man he's going to set up his kingdom now he's going to it's going to be wow rome's going to be dealt with you know no he was coming as a suffering savior but back to zacchaeus that wee little fella jesus is on his way to jerusalem and passes through jericho a city that had been cursed you remember joshua did that and it is what it was actually a resort type city and had great weather and apparently apparently a lot

of the rich folks hung out there dr mcgee kind of he's going to be there and he's going to be there too he said well you know maybe like the las vegas of our day or something you know and at any rates probably a lot of these tax collectors live there but i want you to think along this line as we go through this jesus had a purpose for going through jericho you see he had a purpose as he's going he could have gone different direction to jerusalem but there was a purpose in mind he had a blind guy too i think earlier but he had a purpose in mind and there's a little man there he plans to visit with with with whose name is zacchaeus and so zacchaeus was a chief among

the publicans or the tax collectors and was rich apparently as chief you know you think of somebody being in charge and and as you look at the uh the weiss translation and of course he uses the term you know collector of revenue and that kind of thing but he points out that he was you know he was he was in a region of course and would have been over a group of tax collectors probably because he was chief you know anytime you're chief is usually you know somebody's in charge of something you know so here's zacchaeus this this tax collector and you're thinking you know what is a tax collector interesting dr mcgee as i was listening to him he said that his name means pure zacchaeus's name

he and as he's sharing that as i as i was listening to him talk about this he said yes i was in my study looking through this section and my wife just heard me laughing and she comes and asks what you're laughing so much about because you're doing it as you're doing your bible study he explained apparently zacchaeus's name means pure rather interesting isn't it but it's it's really interesting because you know in in the day those names meant a lot and uh as dr mcgee also pointed out you know his parents when they named him zacchaeus they probably looked down in that crib and thought oh what a beautiful little baby you know of course i always remember mcgee talking

about when his daughter was born he said you know after a while i knew she was just a little sinner i know that's what i'm talking about i'm talking about i'm talking about i'm talking about i'm talking that's what we we really are right from the baby up but isn't it interesting that his name was zacchaeus meaning pure so as a jewish man growing up in the the roman empire zacchaeus basically had sold out to rome now think he's a jewish fella he's a little jewish boy growing up he'd he'd probably gone through the bar fits my thing the whole thing he he had a he had to have a knowledge of god you know and of the jewish faith and all puts me in mind also you know

one of the one of uh one of the apostles jesus called was also a publican matthew you see god he doesn't look at our various standing standing in life whether we're rich poor whatever we are he loves us you see he knows our hearts he knows what we'll become you see and so he's come here purposely going down through going into jericho passing through that area because he knows of this little fella named zacchaeus this jewish man growing up in the roman empire zacchaeus had sold out to rome and that he collected taxes and you might say he you know basically he would charge uh the jews what it what you know what he wanted now he made sure he charged he didn't only charge

what was needed to pay the what the roman empire hired him to do but apparently those tax collectors would you know get more and he became rich and so he would have and and which meant i doubt if his his uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh i doubt if he was real popular in the community do you he probably wasn't very popular he would have been uh rejected and and wouldn't have been welcome at the temple and so as we as we're going along look at what we have here we have this little fella named zacchaeus a publican who is in jericho there a kind of a resort town there's always nice, Jesus determines to go through that particular area, pass through there,

because he wants to meet this little fella. Well, interesting enough, this little publican wants to see who Jesus is too. Now, think about this. The crowd is large. And as Pastor Chuck said, it wouldn't have been safe probably for him, you know, to actually you know, to go through the crowd. They might have elbowed him. Who knows what they might have done? He wasn't popular. So, we look in verse 4 here, what he does, okay? Let's turn over here.

We had seen initially here in 1, 2, and 3 how he, you know, they come to the town, and Jesus is there, and he sought to, and Zacchaeus sought to see. He sought to see Jesus, and he couldn't do so, you know, because it wasn't safe for him to go through the town. But in verse, oh wait, sorry about that. Turn your hand back there. So, in verse 4, he ran before and climbed up into a sycamore tree. Isn't that interesting?

You know, what I, as I was thinking about that, and I've, I thought, was he wearing his tunic? You know, those long little things, did he have to gird up his tunic? That might have been interesting seeing him climb that tree, you know, and the way they might have been dressed. And he must have been in some kind of shape, you know, be able to, you know, jump up in that tree, probably, you know, an energetic little guy, but he wanted to see who Jesus was and couldn't do it because he was too old. So, I thought, was he wearing his tunic?

Too short, and the crowd was many there in the crowd. So, he climbs up into that tree. Now, as I think about him climbing up into that tree, do you, do you wonder what might have been going on, you know, in his mind, in Zacchaeus' thinking? What was he thinking when he did, when he heard Jesus was coming? He didn't, he hadn't seen Jesus, but apparently, he had heard about Jesus because when he learned he was

coming, he wanted to see him. I think we see God's providence in all this, you know, and I've told you that more than once, that little brief definition of God's providence, you know, God, their creator, unceasingly working in the affairs of man. I like that, unceasingly. He's in control. His providence is always in view here. And so, here we have Jesus as he's traveling through purposefully, going through Jericho. Now, Zacchaeus wants to see

Jesus. Do you think Zacchaeus knew he wanted to come to his house at the beginning? He's probably just wanting to, you know, view on who this guy is. Who is this Jesus we're hearing about? You wonder if there must have been, maybe, deep down, an emptiness that he was experiencing. And he realized that the riches were not providing the peace and contentment he had hoped for,

you see. So, Jesus, the Son of God, came through Jericho, again, for a purpose. And what was it? To be a guest in Zacchaeus' home. Now, Zacchaeus, this very unpopular, you see, Jesus, he wasn't concerned about what the crowd thought. He had a purpose in mind. He wasn't concerned whether the crowd would grumble or complain and, look at him. You know, he was cute. Wasn't he accused of being a wine-bibber and that

kind of thing? Because he, you know, he ate with the different ones that, you know, weren't the Pharisee sort, right? Now, in verse 5, Jesus lets... Zacchaeus, no, he is coming to abide at his place, you see. And isn't it interesting? Jesus, he always meets us where we are, doesn't he? He meets us where we are, no matter what situation we're in. Now, I'll talk about later, but he met us where we were,

and he still meets us where we are. Whatever the status and the circumstances of our life might bring, whatever condition our heart is in toward him, he meets us where we are.

And that's always a blessing. Jesus meets us there. We are right where we are. And that day, he was a guest of a sinner. And so, as we see the order of which this is all taking place, the providence of God has brought Jesus, and of course, Jesus is God, and has brought Zacchaeus, and he's given him an interest to see who Jesus is. And Jesus, as he sees him up in the tree,

do you think Jesus, do you think he might have chuckled seeing this guy up in that tree? What are you doing in that tree, man? Get out of that tree. Come on down, and I want to go to your house, you know. And of course, Zacchaeus scurries right down, you know. He comes right down out of that tree, now. Do you, you know, we probably all remember what kind of condition or situation we were in

when he met us where we were, too. Now, in verse 6, we see what Zacchaeus does. He receives Jesus into his home, but it's joyful, isn't it? You see, there's a, his heart, there's a, there's something going on in Zacchaeus' heart. He isn't rejecting Jesus like the other, like the Pharisees. Like the other Jews. He's joyfully receiving Jesus. There's something going on in Zacchaeus'

heart. I don't think he's a content man. He's certainly not a popular one, you see. And so, as he has come down, he's receiving Jesus into his home joyfully, you see. Now, in verse 7, we see the reaction of the crowd. Remember, he's a publican. And so, let's look at verse 7 here. I'll just, I'll just read 6 and 7. And he made haste and came down and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, now, this is all the crowd, right? They all

murmured. If you look at other, you know, translations, you know, they grumbled, you know, complained, you know, saying that he was gone to be guessed with a man that is a sinner. And what were they? You know what I mean? You see, it's like McGee said. He said, you know, they were no different than it is today. They were all gossiping and looking and seeing what

Jesus was doing. You mean this Jesus coming down through Jericho? And you've got Nazareth over here. You've got Zacchaeus over here. And he's going to see him. We know what he's done. We know how he has taken advantage of the people. But yet, Jesus is going to see him. And that's how the people reacted, you know, because he's a publican. You know, you wonder, you wonder if maybe had Zacchaeus been at a point where he was doing,

turn over here to, chapter 18 real quick. I want to, I want you to look at, this is the, this is, this is what makes you think. Let's see here. I think it's chapter, verse nine, I think. And he, and he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous and desired others, two men went up into the temple to pray the one, a Pharisee and the other, a publican, the one,

a Pharisee and the other publican. Okay. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself. Notice he prayed with himself. I think that's kind of interesting. God, I thank thee. All right. I thank you that I am not as other men are extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. And then he starts, you know, bragging about what he's done. I fast twice in the week. I give tithes of all that I possess.

Notice the reaction of the publican. So this guy's boasting. He's, he's, he's rather than praying to God. He's really, you know, he's praying, but he's really declaring, you know, his righteousness and his standing, you know, and the publican standing afar off would not lift up so much as his eyes and to heaven, but smote, upon his breast saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. And Jesus says, I tell you, this man

went down to his house justified rather than the other for everyone that exalted himself shall be abased. And he that humbled himself shall be exalted. Heavy duty thing there, isn't it? Okay. So you wonder what, you know, at this point, I don't know, Jesus coming to see him there, there had to be some kind of a, with his heart, re-seeking him joyfully. There had to be an openness there somehow in his heart,

you see, he was being prepared by God. And so the reaction of the crowd that, you know, they make a grumbling, about this whole thing, you know, and we don't know what Jesus and Zacchaeus talked about, but we do know that in verse eight, we see a change of Zacchaeus' heart, don't we? Let's look at verse eight and I'll probably be taught, you know, saying some more stuff about it, but in verse eight, he says, And Zacchaeus stood and said unto the Lord, Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.

Now that's interesting. He's, he's, you know, he's, he's wanting to make, you know, reconciliation and all. He's referring there about the fourfold back in, in, I believe it's Exodus 21 or 22, you see, where there's a discussion about that. So see, he is aware of the law, you see. He's a Jewish fellow. He grew up a Jew, but he sold out to Rome. And that he, he collected the taxes for him, but

enhanced that collection to make him rich. And so this is the lifestyle he's been living, but he hears about this Jesus who's coming through Jericho, and there's a desire within his heart to see him. And we see what takes place when Jesus says, Hey, Zacchaeus, come down from that tree. Or I'm going, it makes me think of that song, you know, that Zacchaeus was a wee little man song.

And anyway, he said, I'm coming to your house today, you know, and I want to, I want to dwell there, abide there with you, you know, and I think there's a true abiding that's going to start taking place in Zacchaeus' life. Now you remember earlier, we said that Zacchaeus meant pure. And this, this sinner, you know, that was his, that was what his name meant. But I want to say, without Christ, and we too fall into this, without Christ, he and we are not anything. Christ, he was anything but pure, you see. But he came to the master. Amen.

Amen. You see, he came to the master. We're all impure without Christ, and we're a mess with him, but because of what he did on the cross, you see. But he came to the master, and the pure blood of Jesus cleanses us all when we come to him, you see. Jesus knew Zacchaeus' heart, didn't he? This was providence. He meets us where we, where we are. And I think about, you think about others in the Bible, you think about the woman at

the well. Such an interesting story. I won't turn over and read all of that, but you'll think, are we going to finish? You know, but anyway, the woman at the well, such an interesting story. And so you've got Jesus there in chapter four of John. And he is, he's, he's going to be heading to Galilee, I believe it is. But he doesn't go the typical way they all go from where he is to get there.

He goes through Samaria. You see, there was an issue with Samaria and the Jews. Now, Samaria was all a part, you know, of the northern kingdom. But probably in, I think it was in the 900s BC, I think it was the Assyrians that, you know, that took them captive. And the typical way in which they handled this taking groups captive, they would bring people from other areas to another area to replant them there.

And the Jews were taking other areas. So you had a mixture here, you see. So you had Jew and Gentile alike there in this Samaria. And so as the years went by, so another 200 years later in 700 something, you remember? Judah and Benjamin, you know, the southern kingdom is taken captive by Babylon and all. And so there is always this, up to this point, there had always been a rift there between Samaria,

those of Samaria, who were not full Jews necessarily. And then you had the southern kingdom. And so what's Jesus do? He doesn't go around. He doesn't go around and avoid Samaria. He goes through Samaria. He goes to this little town called Sychar. And he, you know, in the weariness of his trip and in the providence of what he's, of what is going to happen, he goes up to this well and this well and it's spring there and all.

And he goes up to this well. His disciples go on into town and they're buying meat and all. And this woman comes. She comes to draw water and he asks her for a drink. She's kind of astonished. For one thing, she's a woman, you know, and they, you know, men and women weren't necessarily treated that nicely. And for a man, you know, to be talking with her and along with that, she's a Samaritan.

And so they have a little discussion. She says, you ask water for me, you know? He says, yes, you know. And they get to discussing about. The water and he and he, you know, goes into discussion that the water he if you only knew who you were talking to when you're asking me about, you know, the circumstances. And, you know, he's saying the water, you know, the water I give.

You'll never thirst. It'll be gushing, you know, and they're just talking along and she's getting interested in this. Yeah. I'd like not to have to draw. The water anymore. And he's explaining, you know, this that we're talking about eternal stuff here. And he says, hey, you know, go on down, call your go, call your husband.

He's meeting her where she is. As he asked her the question to go out and call for her husband. Now, I'm not I get I paraphrase that a whole lot because I didn't take time to read through all that with you. But. As he he has a purpose in saying, hey. Yeah, go and go call your husband, too, because, you know, all about this water that you don't have to thirst anymore.

She said, I don't have a husband. He said, how well you said, in fact, you had five. And the one you're living with now is not your husband. That gets her attention. You see, she basically confessed the condition of her heart and what was going on in her life. She wasn't very highly thought of, you see. Probably looked down on by the other women. But Jesus met her where she was.

There was a purpose. You see, God knew the outcome.

She says, I perceive you're a prophet. Don't you think you'd perceive that, too, if. He kind of laid out your life. That you'd lived, you see. But he met her where she was. She ends up having a change in life to the point they have a discussion about. Where to worship, you know. You Jews, say, in Jerusalem, and we're here in Samaria and all this. And Jesus gets down to the point of saying, hey, if you're going to worship God, you must worship him in spirit and truth.

It's not necessarily the place so much as the heart, you see. And oh, what a thing that takes place in her life, you see. You see, he met her where she was. He didn't condemn her. He met her where she was, you see. Nicodemus, you know.

He was a totally different kind of a situation, wasn't he? Because he was the Pharisee guy. And he was highly looked upon, you know what I mean? Of course, I'm sure he wasn't, you know, there were those that didn't like him either. But there's. There's something that took place in his heart. You see, God doesn't care what your status is. He loves you. He looks at the heart.

And Nicodemus comes to Jesus, you remember. And talks about, and he came by night and he said, man, you've got to be from God. You know, nobody does the things you do and so on and so forth. Jesus, he just immediately said, you must be born again. And, of course, Nicodemus says, you mean be born again out of my mother's womb again? Yeah, he's an old man. Well, obviously, Nicodemus knew that couldn't happen.

He's kind of talking, you know. But Jesus keeps on talking to him, you know. It's, it's, it's, you've got to be born of the spirit. It's, it's, without, without being born again, you're, you're spiritually dead before you come to Christ. He was spiritually dead, you see. He knew about God. But he had to be born. Again, Zacchaeus had to know who God was. You remember over in John 14, the disciples are, you know, asking about seeing the father and all.

And Jesus said, but don't you realize if you've seen me, you've seen the father, you see. And so we see Nicodemus of a different class than the woman at the well. But he met them both where they are. It's a beautiful thing.

Now, in verse 9, Jesus solidifies the change of heart. And I want to read verse 9.

Because I think it's, I think it's kind of neat. And Jesus said unto him, because remember, we see a change in Zacchaeus' heart. Because what does he do? He doesn't, he doesn't start making excuses. Oh, God. If only it weren't the parents you gave me, I wouldn't have become a tax collector. But man, I just was treated so badly. I had to find a way to make it.

You know what I mean? All the excuses that are made by people. No, there was a change that took place in his heart and Jesus saw it. Like I said, we don't know all that they talked about, but we know that we see a change. For a tax collector to be. To be willing to come to the point of giving half of his goods and restoring fourfold. There's a change in his heart.

So in verse 9, this day is salvation come to this house. For as much as he also is a son of Abraham. Now, isn't that interesting? Now. As far as inheritance. You know, he was the son of Abraham, right? Because you remember. God began to build the nation of Abraham of Israel, beginning with Abraham. But you want to remember. What Jesus, what God told. Abraham in chapter 12 of Genesis.

He discussed that how through his seed capital seed. Would all the nations of the earth. Be blessed. You see, God had a plan for Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The 12 boys, the tribe of Judah through which the Messiah would come. You see. Now. When I say this. Israel. God is still dealing with Israel, but we spiritually, as far as by faith, are children of Abraham, too.

Doesn't mean he's done away with Israel and we're all, you know. No, but by faith. You see, because remember, Abraham, God said through your seed, will all the nations of the earth be blessed. Because remember, Abraham was to be, I mean, Israel was to be a channel. They were to be a witness and they were a channel through which the Messiah came. You see, so it's a beautiful thing.

And so not only was he a child of Abraham as an inheritance, but he became a child of Abraham by faith. Didn't he? Very neat thing. Yeah. And so in verse 10, we see why he's come, you know, Jesus. Remember in John 3, 16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever would believe in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

And without turning there, it's along the lines of I came not into the world to seek the saved or the righteous, but to seek and save those which were lost. Okay, we're going to give that the right justice. Let me come over here real quick. And there's, man, I think there's a fly on my head or something. Sorry, Facebook, Facebook, all you people. Let's run over here to John 3, 16, so that we can do this correctly.

Okay, John 3, 16, here we go. Of course we go, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him, or believe in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life. That he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him or believe in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.

And that's a neat thing. And so that's what we see there in verse 10, you see, that the beautiful thing that he didn't come, you know, he didn't come to save the world. He didn't come to save the world. He didn't come to save the world. He came to just, you know, all of us that need a Jesus. Jesus came that we might have life. So again, we see that Jesus meets us where we are.

That's really the point and kind of the theme here as you look through this. Should we meet people where they are? I think of the title of Chuck's book. Grace changes everything. You know what it does, doesn't it? Grace changes everything. I think Zacchaeus experienced grace, don't you? Grace, God's favor. I think that Zacchaeus experienced gratitude. I don't think Jesus condoned what he was doing as a tax collector and his tax collector ways.

But we see a change going on in his life. It would be interesting to have really been able to follow Zacchaeus' life, you know, after this point. But he met him where he was. He wasn't a perfect person and never would be. But oh, a change took place in Zacchaeus' life. I think of John Newton, the slave trader, who Jesus touched at the right time, the right place.

Running those slave ships. In fact, when he met Jesus, what a transformation. He's the one that wrote Amazing Grace. How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I'm found. I was blind, but now I see. Oh, he understood that, didn't he? I'm sure just as I do, you remember too. God meeting you where you were. And still from that. And still from day to day.

Meets us where we are. Guiding us through the Holy Spirit. The power of the Holy Spirit. You know, I want to carry this a little further. I need to, I don't even know what time it is, but I need to close it out here pretty quick. But I want to, not only does he meet us where we are before we come to Christ. And becomes a guest and a resident in the home of our heart.

But as believers, he also meets us wherever we are. Sometimes it's a time in which, where we need restored. In Psalm 23, in the beginning of the Psalm there, David says, The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He leads me beside the still waters. No, he leads me, he leads me, come on Robbie. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures.

And leads me beside the still waters. Now, then he says, he restores my soul. So David knew what restoration was, didn't he? And we've known that too. I can think of various times I've been restored. With whatever I've gone through. Depression or whatever it might be. Maybe a relationship situation, whatever it might be. But he met me and still does meet me where I am.

And notice the next phrase, he restores my soul. He leads me in the path of righteousness. Isn't that beautiful? You see, as he's restoring us, he'll begin, as we realize where we are. And we come to him and say, I don't want to be that place anymore. And you begin to look at Jesus. He leads you in the paths of righteousness. And it's that which is right. And it's for his namesake, you see.

Isn't that wonderful? Remember that. If there's any of you here tonight. Or online, Facebook. Need restoration. He'll do it. You know, I think of Paul. And you see how he was guided by the power of the Holy Spirit. He was always available to minister wherever he was, like Jesus. Oh, and the beautiful conversion of his life. As he's out wreaking havoc on the church.

He called it the way then. And he's just wreaking havoc all over the place. And he's on the way to Damascus to collect more people, you see. To take the jail. And Jesus meets him right there. And the providence of God prepares his heart and prepares Ananias' heart. As he goes into Damascus. To pray for him. Of course, Ananias is a little scared. But Jesus, but this Jesus, God.

You know this man. He's rough on the church. Don't worry. I've got a plan for him. He's gonna, he's gonna speak to kings. He's gonna, he's gonna have to suffer. He's gonna go through some things. But I have a work for him. So don't be afraid. Don't be afraid to pray with him and meet him, you see. The providence of God. I think we too are given opportunities to minister.

My problem is I just don't always take advantage of them. I don't always take advantage of those opportunities. And there's various reasons why we don't. Sometimes we get fearful. Sometimes we just don't want to. Even though we know God is showing us. Oh, but the times that we respond to what. Because if we don't, you know, God will, he'll bring somebody else to do it.

You know, you think back there in Judges, you know. He'll use whoever will. And, but, oh, what a blessing it is, you see. Oh, that we could trust the Lord. To be used of him. You see, he said he wouldn't leave us comfortless. He would send, as orphans, he would send the Holy Spirit. And so now. As we have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us. And as we are empowered by the Holy Spirit.

He'll give us what we need to live this life in Christ. And to be his witnesses. To meet people where they are to for Christ. Right? Be a tool of Christ to meet people where they are. Of course, by the Holy Spirit, he will be preparing hearts. You see, we each heard a message sometime or other. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Oh, those words you heard.

Or somebody shared about Jesus from the word. Shared the message. You responded because the Holy Spirit drew you. Oh, Lord, help us to reach out. Reach out. To a dying world. Oh, and how we do it. Oh, may we be in your word. Let your word, your Holy Spirit guide us. May we pray. And by your strength, Lord, be obedient. Father, we thank you for meeting us where we are.

We thank you for the wonderful example we see of you coming through Jericho. To meet Zacchaeus. Being available for Nicodemus there, Lord. That Pharisee. And the woman at the well. The woman at the well who had gone through all she had gone through. But God knew. Jesus knew their hearts. And she ends up, of course, the woman at the well ends up going out and telling others.

Telling them about this man who told me things. Yeah, it's just heavy duty. Lord, I want to lift up each one here tonight online and on Facebook. And in our gathering right here. That you would strengthen us with your might. To be what you have us to be. Father, give us a desire for the things of you. A hunger for your word. Lord, may we meet each other where we are.

In Jesus' name. May we be used of you, Lord. Thank you, Lord, for meeting us where we are. Whatever we're going through. You are faithful. And we thank you in Jesus' name. Amen? The Lord bless you all.