Welcome to another message from God's Word. We're going to study about a rich little rat. A rich little rat. Now, in the 18th chapter of the Gospel of Luke, we just had a rich young ruler of the Jews refuse to be saved when Jesus told him how to be saved. This was a rich young ruler and a rich young, what you might call, religious leader. And he said, Master, what good thing must I do to obtain the prize of eternal life? And Jesus told him plainly, go out and sell everything you have. Give to the poor bakers and everything and then come and follow me. And he went away sad because he wasn't going to do it. And then Jesus told a parable about a camel. A camel is a very large beast, like a Mack truck in the Middle East. And this animal is large and kind of aggressively not too much what I call docile. And he says, It's easier for a camel to go through the eye, the slot of a surgical needle, which is impossible, than a rich man to get into heaven. And the title of that message is, Problems That Money Causes. Problems That Money Causes. Now we come to a different story. It's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich man to get into heaven. Now we come and we find a very ungodly thief, liar, cheat, and a rich man. But his reception of Christ is totally different. Totally. This rich man here is different. He's a thief. He has been pillaging people's pocketbooks and their property for many years. And he's rich. Kai eis elthon. Dier keto tein eriko. And having entered Jericho, he kept on passing through Jericho. Now, verse number two. And behold, the man, Now, it doesn't have a definite article there, but Greek doesn't have any indefinite articles. It's not talking about a man, it's talking about the man. The man, onomatopoeia, the word onomatopoeia there is name. Now, what name means is your legal name. This is your legal name, this is your signature, and the signature, the name, calling this man Zacchaeus. Now Zacchaeus is a Hebrew name, so this guy is probably a Hebrew tax collector. And this Hebrew tax collector's name means pure one, clean one, righteous one. And he had completely, Judas' name meant praise Jehovah, and yet he betrayed Jehovah. He betrayed his name, and Zacchaeus had betrayed his name also. Now, the Greek word for this is katharizo, which means clean. We get the word Kathleen or Kathy as a name in English. It comes from the Greek word. This is the Hebrew word, though. Zacchaeus, and he kept on being a head architeleones. He was the head tax collector. The very top dog. And he was, he kept on being very, very, very, very rich. He kept on being very rich. Now how did he get these riches? How did he get them? Still, he stole them. He stole his way to the top, like many politicians do. You go and tell me how a man can spend $3,000,000 to get a job as a senator or a representative that pays $100,000 or $50,000 a year and when he leaves the office he's extremely wealthy. Bald-eyed millionaire or billionaire. What's going on there? Well, Zacchaeus is one of these type of politicians. He is, now, what the law said, now, if you're a tax collector, now this guy is a head tax collector. He's the very one at the top. People to get a job as a tax collector are giving him bribes. Bribes. Bribes and bribery right and left. Verse number three, chi ex ate. Eden, ton, esu, tis esten kai uk, idon ato. Apo tu oklo, hoti te hik hilikia mikros ein. And Zacchaeus, he kept on seeking to see the Jesus, who he was, or who he is, who he keeps on being. And not He kept on being able because of the crowd or from the crowd because he was a little bitty short guy. Here we got a real short little midget, so to speak, a rich man, a little bitty rich rat, so to speak. He is a conniver, a thief, and bilking people out of much money. People are paying him to get jobs. So he'll set another tax collector over here. And what they would do is, according to the law, they could exact the tax, which might be $1 in our vernacular. Instead of getting one dollar taxes, it says you can also charge for your fee as a tax collector. So now this dollar might turn into ten dollars, ten times more than what the tax actually was. So now he's getting rich. And he kept on seeking to see Jesus and he kept on being able, because of the crowd, there's at least five to ten thousand people here that were to Oklahoma. because his statue was very small. And he continued to be small, but little and rich, so to speak. 19 and verse 4. Kai pro drommon, eis te im prosten, ane be epi, sico morion, hina Ede, auton, hote, ekenes, emelen, dierkeste. And then having run forward, prostramon, having run forward into the presence or in front of him, he went up upon a sycamore tree. We call it a sycamore tree. It actually is a mulberry tree. They call it the mulberry fig tree. In order that he might see him because that way he kept on being about to pass through. Now, this sycamore tree here, or mulberry fig tree, so to speak, gave him the ability to get up higher. And he could climb a tree. Evidently he was in pretty good shape. So he climbed up the tree. And now let's see what happens in verse number 5. Kai hos elthane, epitone topone, ana blephsos, ho eisous, epen prosaltone, zakeia, spousos, kadabethe, seminorone, Gar-en-toh-oy-koh sood-day-may-manay. And he came upon the place. And having looked up, Jesus went this way for one reason. This rich little rat is going to meet his savior. In the last one, we had a rich young ruler that was very wealthy, and Jesus told him exactly what he had to do to attain a certificate of eternal life, and he would not do it. Now, let's see the attitude of this scoundrel, so to speak. And having looked up to Jesus, he said to him, Zacchaeus. Remember what this means now. It's like Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus, hurry up, having made haste, come down today, for in the house of you it is binding less necessary for me to remain with you. Oh boy! Now here we have the God of Heaven, the Savior of the world, Soterra Cosmo, coming down and just like he met the woman at the well in Samaria, that one that was looked down upon by everybody in Samaria because she was a very loose woman, a woman of poor morals, and now we have a man of poor morals because he's been stealing all his life. He's a thief. Let's see how Zacchaeus responds to the Savior. kai spousos karabe kai hipa dexato alton kairon. And having made haste, having heard up that word spousos, that comes from speedo, this is where we get our word speedometer and speed from, he came down and he welcomed for himself Jesus, or him rejoicing. Forgiven sinners ought to rejoice on this man was a sinner Now the other man thought that he was righteous Yet he wasn't now this man is sinner. I Had an old preacher tell me one time He said, I'd rather have the dirtiest, low-down sinner in the world than some church members. Some church members are so self-righteous you can't do anything with them. I wish they'd go out and commit adultery, go rob a train or something. At least I could get them, bring them to repentance. But they are so self-conceited. But this man knew he was wrong. This man knew he was a sinner. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life." That rich young ruler and lawyer perished. Zacchaeus, the thief, he hears. Forgiven sinners ought to praise the Lord because they have passed from death to life. From eternal death to eternal life, from the bondage of sin to the freedom of God and forgiveness of Jesus Christ. 19 and verse 7, then we're going to go back, when we read this, we're going to go back and read it one last time in the Amplified Bible. Caedotes, Pontes, Deergugizone, Legontesote, Parahamartalo, Andreeseltane, Karelissane, And having, now who's following Jesus around? Trying to catch him up all the time, the Pharisees, the religious elite, the Sadducees, the atheist Jews, but yet they were religious. We have the Levites, we have the religious head priest or high priest. Following Jesus now, these are the ones now now we have a sinner that's repenting And he's gonna start talking about what he's done He's gonna confess his sins to the Lord but before this happens He said and having seen all of these people around the Pharisees and the scribes They kept on murmuring and grumbling saying that with sinful men he entered to watch. He's going to have fellowship. He's going to lay down and come down there and take his shoes off and set in this man, this rich rat's house. But now let's see about this rich rat. Let's see what kind of a state of mind he had. We know what kind of state of mind that the last man had, the rich young ruler, the Pharisee, one of the Doctors of law and the religious heads of Israel refused to believe and to trust and follow Jesus. 19 and verse 8, Stathes Dei Zachios, Epentros ton Kyrion, Idu ta hamesia mu ton, hi par kon ton, And Zacchaeus stood up, having stood up, and said to the Lord, Half of everything that I own, I'm going to give to the poor. I'm going to give half of my possessions to the poor. Right now, he's given up half of what he owes. Did Jesus tell him to do that? No. The man may have heard about this rich young ruler. He may have heard about some of the other people following Jesus. He heard about him, but he wanted to see who and what he looked like and who he was. He said, I'm going to give away half of the things that are possessions of mine, Lord, and to the ones beggars, I'll give. I shall keep on giving. And since, since I have perjured myself, I have accused falsely, I restore fourfold to everyone I've cheated. Now, first of all, the money that he got, he stole. He's rich because he stole. He's a real robber, except he's a legal robber like a politician or some lawyer. And now when he sees Jesus, his heart is undone, his heart is melted, and he begins to confess his sins to Jesus. He said, I have perjured myself A long time ago, there was a term in the land of Israel as a figwood fellow. Now this mulberry tree, this mulberry fig, so to speak, mulberry wood isn't very good to burn. Figwood isn't very good to burn. And if a person was called worthless, he was called a figwood fellow or a mulberrywood fellow. Now this guy was up in a fig tree, so to speak, up in this mulberry fig tree, and he was a worthless fellow. But now this little rich rat is converted. The little rich rat is converted. The rich, young, religious man was not converted, but Zacchaeus Pure one, clean one, that's what his name is. He had not been pure and clean before, but now he is. All of those I have perjured, all of those I've accused falsely, I will restore four times. Pretty rich one in Maryland. Pretty rich boy. Pretty rich boy because he'd been stealing. and he said to him the Jesus that today salvation has come has become in your house Because even he the son of Abraham he is he's a son of Abraham because he believed The true sons of Abraham believe One last verse now. Let's look at this last verse L saying gar hole wheels tone on triple to offer poo that is they taste a Chi, so say toe a polo loss For the Son of Man, He came to seek and to save the thing having been lost, the perishing and the doomed. Adam lost his title deed to this earth. He handed it over to Satan when he took that fruit that was God's. He stole the fruit off of God's tree. God said, don't do it. my tree, the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Now, if Adam would have just waited a little longer, he would have learned everything good. Because that tree was a knowledge of good, good first and then evil. When Adam partook of that fruit, he realized what real goodness was. And he realized how bad he was. We're all headed to hell because of that fruit on that tree that was stolen. Now let's go back and read all of this over again from the Amplified Bible. The rich little rat, the rich little politician, tax collector that gets converted. He had a total different mindset than that rich young ruler in the 18th chapter. How hard is it for a camel to go through an eye of a needle? It's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich man to get into heaven. And they said, well, who can be saved? And Jesus said, all things are possible with God. And here he proves it, right here. And Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through it. And there was a man called Zacchaeus, the chief tax collector and very rich. And he was trying to see Jesus which one he was, but he could not on account of the crowd and because he was a very small, short man, a rich little rat. And he ran on ahead and climbed up into a mulberry or sycamore tree, in order to see him, for he was about to pass that way. And when Jesus reached the place, he looked up and said to him, Zacchaeus, hurry, come down, for I must stay at your house today. Now look and see what happened to Zacchaeus. He didn't slurk away and sneak away with his head hung low, like that rich young ruler did. It's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a surgical needle than a rich man to get into heaven. And they said, well, who can go to heaven? And Jesus said, with God, all things are possible. Oh, yes. The camel went through the eye of a needle. And he heard and came down and received and welcomed him joyfully. And when the people saw it, they all murdered among themselves and indignantly and complained, he has gone to be the guest and lodge with a man who is devoted to sin and preeminently a sinner. Man devoted to sin, but now this man has changed. Verse number 8, And then Zacchaeus stood up, and solemnly declared to the Lord, See, Lord, half of my goods now I give by way of restoration to the poor. Since I have cheated each and every one out of anything, I now restore four times as much, according to Exodus 22 and verse 1, Leviticus 6 and 5 and Numbers 5, 6 and 7. He's following the law. He knew the law. Now he's going to follow the law. before he was the lawbreaker, an outlaw, an outlaw, a religious outlaw before had spoken to Jesus. He wouldn't believe now we have an outlaw, a man that was a thief and a robber, but legally a politician stealing, making himself rich. But this politician, this rich man is now gonna be saved. The rich little rat is gonna get converted. And Jesus said to him today, Messianic and spiritual salvation has come to all the members of this household since Zacchaeus too is a real spiritual son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save, those things are that which is lost. That which is lost. What a story. The other story ended with doom and gloom and this story ends with joy. Yeah, Zacchaeus with great joy received Jesus Christ as Savior and His Lord. With you this day, will you receive Jesus as your Savior? Will you ask Him to be the God of your life, put Him on the throne of your life? Will you? All of you out there that help us and pray for us, I thank you. The Cowan Boys in Birmingham, Alabama, thank you for your prayers and your help. Donald Grewar, thank you for your prayers. All the way over there in Wales and Marna and Don in Australia. all the way down in the Philippines. Thank you for all of you that listen to our messages and use them as your seminary. China, India, we thank every one of you for your prayers and your help. Up in Canada, back in New Jersey, all of you, we thank you. Please keep on praying for us. We need your help. And I pray, Father, that you send the blessings to these. I pray that you use this message to convert sinners and save souls. Father, thank you for all the blessings you give us in this world. Thank you for those that love us so much so far away that they'll take from themselves and give to us. Thank you for Nancy that makes all the comments and sends the help to in her prayers. All the way from Pennsylvania. Father, thank you for all the blessings you give us. Let this message touch people's hearts wherever they are. In Jesus' name we pray. And please forgive me where I fail you. Amen.