of Luke today, Luke chapter 19. And we'll be reading the first ten verses of that chapter, and I definitely feel impressed. This is the way the Lord has directed me, and I trust you'll pray with us and for us as we give you what the Lord has given us in study and meditation. And I believe with all of my heart that every word in this book is inspired. Amen right there. And there's not a wrong text you can take. They're all here for the glory of God and for the edification of the saints of God. And so let's turn in our Bibles to the 19th chapter of the Gospel of Luke. You are familiar with the story that's recorded in verse number 1 through verse number 10. And so, I appreciate that. Please read along with us and then we'll go to the Lord in a word of prayer. Thank you, my brother. We'll go to the Lord in a word of prayer. Beyond that, we'll get into the message. Luke chapter 19, verse number 1. And Jesus entered in and passed through Jericho. And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich. And he sought to see Jesus, who he was and could not for the press because he was a 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 said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must abide at thy house. And he made haste and came down and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying that he was gone to be the guest 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 house, for so much as he also is the son of Abraham. Now, verse number 1 through verse number 9 gives us the story, but verse number 10 gives us the truth. And if you look at verse number 10, the Bible says, For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." I'd like to preach for the next few minutes on this subject matter, a seeking Savior and a seeking sinner. We ask, Lord, that You would help us by filling us with the Holy Spirit today. May the Lord Jesus Christ have the preeminence in this message. I pray that You'd give the pastor and the men of this church, the ladies of this church, the desire of their heart. May some sinner be saved today and then revival. I pray, Lord, that You would stir the fires of revival in all of our hearts. Thank You for the privilege of standing once again In this pulpit, we ask, Lord, that You would help us to be obedient servants, profitable servants for the church, and we'll thank You for all that You do for us, through us, and in us. And the name is above every name we pray. In the name of the lovely Lord Jesus Christ, amen and amen. Years ago, I preached in a camp meeting over in Culpeper, Virginia. Our pastor has been there before, and some of you folks have been there as well. And after a morning service of preaching there for our good friend of years ago, where there was an especially convicting atmosphere, it seemed the Lord, the Spirit, was speaking to hearts with strong conviction and a strong call to believe the gospel. The pastor of that church stood in the pulpit and made this statement. I wrote it down in the back of my Bible. I've never forgotten it. He made this statement. A seeking sinner and a seeking Savior will always find one another. And we see that to be true in verse number 1 through verse number 10 of Luke 19 that we have read from this morning. And I think that statement really captures the truth of this passage. I'm going to go ahead and let the cat out of the bag early in the message. I could really conclude all of my thoughts by reading once again the words of verse number 10 where the Lord Jesus gave us this truth. For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. If we miss that message in this truth, if we miss that message in this passage, we miss the entirety of what the Lord is revealing to us. In fact, I just sat down previously yesterday evening in preparation for this and went through some of this again in my mind and I come to find out that that verse of 16 words sums up the entirety of the Bible. You could fit Genesis to Revelation right into verse number 10 of the story that we've read this morning. You see, the gospel cannot be stated more simply. It is simple as this. The Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost. When I looked at this, I came to realize that there's not one word in that verse that has more than one syllable in it. The Spirit is making it very simple for us. In fact, as I looked at that verse, there's not a word in that verse that has more than five letters inside of the word. This is why we are saved. Because God sought us. This is why we are saved. Because God sent His Son to save sinners. And we certainly all fall into that category. We are all sinners. Not only by birth, but we are sinners by action. We are sinners by nature. And so if you're here today and you're lost, you're exactly in the right place. The Lord has put you here to meet a Savior who's been seeking for you. The fact that God is a seeker is spelled out throughout every portion of the Bible. We find Him as a seeker in the very opening pages of the book of Genesis and all the way into the book of Revelation. Invitations to come to God as a seeker are written into our Bible. Remember when Adam and Eve fell? Remember the Lord comes into the garden in the first statement that He makes to fallen man? Adam, where art thou? Genesis chapter 3 verse number 8 through verse number 9. Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord among the trees of the garden. And the Lord God called unto Adam and said unto him, Where art thou? And that set in motion an understanding that God at His very nature is a seeker. God continues to seek. He never has stopped seeking for the sinner that is lost. It all began in the garden. And it goes on and on and on on every page of the Scriptures. The nature of God to be a seeker unfolds. In one of the most beautiful passages of the Old Testament, in Ezekiel chapter 34 and verse number 16, the prophet recorded these words, We could hit the fast forward button on this and go all the way into the Gospels that we're reading from this morning and previous to this in Luke chapter number 15 we there find once again that God reveals himself as a seeker. Remember in Luke chapter 15 there's three parables. One of those parables has to do with a lost sheep. One of those parables has to do with a lost coin. One of those parables has to do with a lost son. And we find out that God is a seeker of those things which are lost in all three of those parables. Remember that shepherd that had 100 sheep? The Bible tells us that when one of those sheep was lost, he left the ninety and nine and went after that one sheep that was lost and he sought for that sheep until he found it. That sheep speaks to us of the vulnerability of a sinner. And each one of us in our sins are vulnerable individuals. The world destroys our lives and our purity and our future and our families as a vulnerable sinner. We're out there on the hillside alone. We can fall and we can break a bone and be left there to freeze in the darkness. Jesus illustrates the sinner in his vulnerability by saying he's a lost sheep. Then you remember the second parable in that story is the woman who had ten coins. She lost one of those coins. Of course, most of us would agree that that was part of her dowry. It was required for her to put a down payment on a husband. Amen. And as she lost that, it would ruin her wedding experience. and so she sought for that coin and the Bible tells us when she found it she called her neighbors together to rejoice because one coin that was lost was found. That sheep speaks of the vulnerability of a sinner, but that coin speaks of the value of a sinner. And there's great value in finding that which was lost in that story. As a matter of fact, Jesus said there's joy in the presence of the angels over one sinner that repenteth. When a sinner is found in the grace of God, there's great grace and rejoicing and joy. in heaven. And then that lost son, he's a picture of the volition of the sinner. The Bible tells us about a prodigal who left home and went out into the far country. And the Bible tells us when he came to himself, he said, how many hired servants of my father have bread enough to spare and I perish with hunger. I will arise and go to my father." But you remember the story? The father saw him a great way off and he went out there where he was and fell on his neck and kissed him and brought him back home. That son is a picture of the volition of the sinner. You can ruin your life out there. Amen. You ruin your life out there in the far country, given to the world what the Lord has given to you. And so the call of the gospel is, come home, come back to the cross, come back to the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen? When I read this story, there's so much that can be said, so much can be added to this, and we could use several other stories to illustrate these same truths. Here the Lord has us this morning. Go back to verse number 10 one more time. I'll show you several points of interest in that and then we'll move into the message. Notice with me in verse number 10, "...for the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." I don't want to overcomplicate this, but there are five major doctrines right there in that one verse. If you'll notice with me in verse number 10, in that statement for the Son of Man, that's the doctrine of condescension. You see, He did become a man. The Bible tells us that God took upon Himself the form of a servant in the form of the Lord Jesus Christ and became a man. And I know it's not quite Easter season yet, but thank God for the... pardon me, Christmas season, but thank God for the virgin birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. that He was born of a virgin, that God sent His Son into this world to be the Son of Man. There's not only that, but there's the doctrine of incarnation. The Bible said He is come. And if God was going to send His Son into the world, we would think He would do it different than any man has ever been born. And boy, didn't He do it that way. Born of a virgin womb, He sent His Son into the world to save sinners from their sins. Condescension. Incarnation. Here's one. Conviction. The Bible says in that verse, in verse number 10, he's come to seek. Boy, do you remember that feeling when you knew the Lord was hot on your trail? You remember that feeling when everywhere you turned, everywhere you went, there was a reminder? There was a signpost? There was a message. There was a testimony. There was a sense of conviction everywhere you were that your life needed to be changed. And I want to say this morning that only the gospel can change a man's life. There's no program that can change a man's life. There's no church that can change a man's life. Only the gospel can change a man's life through condescension, incarnation, conviction. And then, of course, the doctrine of salvation to save and the doctrine of redemption, that which was lost. In the very language of that passage, verse number 10, God communicates to us that He has a purpose. In fact, let's take some time to look at that purpose for a moment. You'll notice with me in verse number 10, look especially at these words, to seek. and to save." Do you see those two statements? To seek and to save. If Brother Henderson was here with us today, he would teach us that those are Greek infinitives of purpose. That is, that God gave purpose to these things. To seek and to save. That's why He came. That's why He did what He did. To seek and to save. Not only to teach, not only to help, but to seek and to save. And that's what we needed more than we needed anything else in this world. Aren't you glad Jesus didn't just come to be a teacher, but He was a teacher. Thank God He said, learn of me, take my yoke upon you and learn of me. That's wonderful that He's a teacher, but He didn't just come to be a teacher. He didn't just come to be a moral leader. He didn't just come to be a revolutionary or give us religious ideas. He came to seek and He came to save. That was His very purpose in coming was to seek and to save. He came into this world for one purpose and one purpose alone and that is to rescue doomed sinners from hell. That's the gospel in message. And when I open this passage, verse number 1 through verse number 10, now we could spend the rest of the morning in verse number 10, but there's a passage that precedes it. And when I look at the life of Zacchaeus, I see a seeking Savior in this story. And I find a seeking sinner in this story. And I'm so glad that preacher made his statement that day. I wrote it down that a seeking sinner and a seeking Savior, they'll always find one another. If I could break this down into three simple thoughts today, and I'm getting hungry so I'll keep this short, alright? Three factors in this story that tell us about what happens when a seeking Savior and a seeking sinner find one another. Let me give them to you real fast. Number one, notice with me in verse number 1 through verse 4 there's a short sinner. Now, some of y'all in here are vertically challenged and I'm sorry for you that you're not tall like the rest of us are, amen? I'm not here to offend you, that's for sure. But the Bible tells us that Zacchaeus was short. And short people need to be saved too, amen? Tall people need to be saved. I used to make fun of short people a lot until I started studying the Bible and come to find out that all the tall people were the wicked people. like Goliath and Saul and men that were head and shoulders over everybody else. It seemed like God used the short people more than He used the tall people. Here you have in verse number one. Watch it, Brother Josh. Here you have in verse number one through verse number four a short sinner. Now there's a context that's pointed out. Don't you believe every word is in our Bible for a purpose? Notice with me in verse number one that he gives us a location context. In verse number one, Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. That's there for a purpose. This is the last time, according to what I have read, this is the last time that Jesus will go through Jericho. And that's important. If it weren't important, the Lord wouldn't have put it there. Just southwest of... I looked at it again on the Bible maps when I was getting ready for this in the back of my Bible here. And just southwest of Jericho, there's a little town called Bethany. And if you studied the New Testament, you're familiar with the community of Bethany. And just beyond Bethany is Jerusalem. Of course we know what's going to happen at Jerusalem. The Bible tells us Jesus has set his face to go to Jerusalem and there at Jerusalem he will die on a cross. He will rise again from the dead on the third day and he will ascend back to his father. But before he gets to Jerusalem, he's going to make his way one more time through Jericho. Bethany is very close to it. If you were to open your Bible maps, and I'm not going to ask you to do that now, but if you were to open your Bible maps you'd see Jericho and just right outside of Jericho is this little community called Bethany. Bethany is where Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. The people in Bethany had seen the greatest of miracles. The people of Bethany and Jericho knew very well that Jesus was able to save and Jesus was there to seek. In fact, it was only a matter of weeks before that He had raised Lazarus from the dead. And the people of Jericho knew that He had power over diseases. He knew that He had power over demons. He knew that He had power over deformities. And they knew He had power over death. What a master! What a lord! What power they must have heard about in Bethany and Jericho. And so it wouldn't catch any of us by surprise that somebody like Zacchaeus, who was a man who was chief among all of the publicans, would have heard about this man named Jesus that came through Bethany and raised Lazarus from the dead, who came through Jericho performing miracle after miracle, showing power over distance and disease and deformity and demons and death. Oh, what a Savior He must be! So all of a sudden, can you experience this with me this morning? All of a sudden, there's an awakening in the heart of Zacchaeus of a need to see Jesus. I want to know this man. I want to meet this man. I want to see and experience what so many others have seen and experienced. According to geography of our Bible, Jericho has three highways coming in and out of it. Three major highways passing through it. The highway going north out of Jericho led to Tyre and Sidon of Damascus. Those were trade centers to the north. And the highway heading west out of Jericho went through Jerusalem, the capital city, ended up in the Mediterranean Sea at the ports. and the highway going south out of Jericho ended up in Egypt where all kinds of products were being imported and exported through that highway. And over all of that business was a man named Zacchaeus. As a matter of fact, the Bible said that he was a chief among all of the publicans. And Jericho was a great exchange center. And so this city would have had many, many tax collectors. Many men. Maybe even dozens or even a hundred men that worked for the government collecting taxes. In fact, in verse number two of the story that we read this morning, verse number two tells us this man is identified as the chief among the publicans. So this is a man who has, wow, jurisdiction over Jericho and Bethany and portions of Jerusalem, and that area where so much business is coming in and going out, ports and highways, and there's a lot of revenue being created in this area. And then the Bible tells us that there was a man there that had never met Jesus before and he was a rich man. Notice in verse number two, let's meet the sinner. Notice in verse number two, and behold there was a man named Zacchaeus which was chief among the publicans and he was rich. I want to stop one more time and I know y'all already believe this. I'm beating a drum that's often beating this pulpit. We just believe every word in our Bible is there for a purpose. I mean, there's a reason why the Bible told us he was a tax collector. There's a reason why the Bible told us he was chief among them. There's a reason why the Bible told us he was rich. This is a rich businessman that has a desire to meet with Jesus. There was no other ethnic group. There was no other race. There was no other political party that was hated more than tax collectors were. In fact, there's still a bit of disdain with that, isn't there? There's still a bit of a little unsavory way about those that work for the government taking our money from us. Y'all know what I'm talking about. Man, it got quiet when I said that. I hope we don't have any IRS agents that get offended by that here at Turkey Ridge, but for a Jewish man to collect money to give to the Roman government, it would be like one of our American senators collecting money to give to the Taliban. I mean, they hated Rome. They hated the Romans. They hated the domain of the Roman government. They hated the jurisdiction of the Roman government. But they were under the forces of Rome. And this man collected taxes for the Romans. So he defies what I would call the conventional wisdom and the attitude of the people of his day. a system that is oppressing everyone in his community. And it's notable that this was an honest profession according to the words of Jesus. Jesus said, "...render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's." I had a feeling it was going to get quiet when I said that right there. Jesus did say, render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar and render unto God the things that are God's. There are some things that belong to Caesar and there are some things that belong to God. And Caesar has no business trying to tend to the things that belong to God. That's right. But we are to render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's. The Apostle Paul made that clear in Romans chapter 13 verse 1 through verse number 7. Jesus didn't put this into this story to lead us to the conclusion that this man was wicked because of his job. It wasn't his job that made him a sinner. It wasn't his job that made him wrong with God. He was a tax collector. And like many other tax collectors in the community, by the way, Jesus saved another publican. His name was Matthew. And the first gospel in your Bible was written by that man that was hated among his brethren. The entire theocratic kingdom of Israel was taxed according to the Old Testament. In the book of Leviticus especially, we come to realize that about a 15% tax was placed on people at times. And the Lord never had a problem with taxation. It was written into the Old Testament law. It was written into the New Testament economy. But there was another kind of taxation that was above and beyond that. You see, the government began to overreach. And I think I might get a few amens out of these next few statements here. When the government begins to overreach through taxation, then it becomes unbiblical. The government has a function according to the Bible. That's right. It is to edify works of righteousness. The government is supposed to support works of righteousness and condemn and punish works of darkness. Beyond that, whatever the government gets involved in is extra-biblical. It's beyond what the Bible gives them a purpose to do. And Rome would charge a tax. I mean, when you traveled Roman roads, you could be taxed. Man, I'm getting depressed even thinking about this right now. But according to what I've read, When you travel to Roman Road, you could be taxed by how many animals you had hooked to your cart. You could be taxed by how many axles were in the cart. You could be taxed by how many wheels were on the cart. You could be taxed for any letters that you had with you that you were carrying to another city for the purpose of communication. You could be taxed like a stamp tax. You could be taxed on commission. You could be taxed by the load that you were carrying. You could be taxed for the weight that was inside of the cart. Does this sound familiar to anybody in here? Now beyond all of that, these taxes were collected and given to the Roman government and then the men who collected these taxes, they could augment the tax by a large percentage to put that money into their own pockets. In other words, you pay Rome your taxes and you pay me for collecting your taxes. Oh boy. That was Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus was that man. The roads that came in through Jericho went over to Jerusalem. All those people that traveled those roads, they knew Zacchaeus. The roads that came in and went over to Bethany and out down into Egypt, those three major thoroughfares, those major roads of commodity, those roads, everybody who traveled those roads, they recognized the name Zacchaeus. Whatever else a publican could put in his pocket, he put it in there freely. And the people hated the publicans because they became rich off the backs of freedom-loving people. Now look at verse number two again. And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was of the chief among the publicans, and he was rich. By the way, let me stop right there. This comes to mind. When Zacchaeus' mom and dad named him, they had good things in mind for him. When you name someone in the Bible, that name has a meaning. And the name Zacchaeus means, by definition, it means clean, innocent, pure, and righteous. But Zacchaeus had not lived up to the level of the name that he was given by his parents. And interestingly enough, Jesus often had fellowship with publicans. Have you noticed that? As a matter of fact, in the Gospel of Luke... Man, I've got so much to unload here. I've got to get it going. In the Gospel of Luke only, we have six interactions with publicans and Jesus. And every one of those interactions with a publican in the Gospels is always a positive interaction with the Lord. Only two of them are named. One of them, Matthew, the other is named Zacchaeus. And both of them, according to church history, would go on and do great things for the kingdom of God. Matthew, of course, would write the first gospel that's in our New Testament. But Scripture...history tells us that Zacchaeus would be saved and church history tells us that he ended up the pastor of the church in Caesarea and he discipled a man by the name of Cornelius. You putting all this together? God saved Zacchaeus in the wretched state that he was in. He had not gone too far to be rejected in the story of the grace of God. The Bible says he was chief... Oh my! He was chief among the publicans. Isn't that how we all felt when we got saved? I was the worst. I didn't just feel like I was the worst in my family. I felt like I was the worst in the whole state of Georgia. There was a load on me that bore me down. The load of my sins, it strained my mind. And every time I thought about it, I thought about how could God ever forgive somebody like me? But with hope in my heart, I reached out to Jesus. And I'm gonna tell you, He'll change your life. I wanna say it again, I wanna say it again, a seeking sinner and a seeking Savior, they will always find, they will always find one another. You remember what happened? Look at verse number three again. Verse number three tells us that Zacchaeus had two problems that money couldn't fix. Number one, the crowd was too big, and number two, he was too small. And because the crowd was so big and he was so small, he could not get to Jesus. But he was seeking. He had heard of Jesus and he had a desire to meet with Jesus. It was more than just a desire to have a conversation, by the way. He had a desire for Jesus to change his life. Hear me and hear me well. When you were a publican, Your family rejected you. You weren't allowed to go back into the temple. Religiously, you were blackballed in the community. This man had no friends except for sinners and other publicans. But you remember what the Bible said about the Lord Jesus? He'd come into communities like Jericho. He'd come into communities like Bethany and Jerusalem. And the Bible said that the religious but lost, they ridiculed Jesus. They castigated Jesus because he was a friend of publicans and sinners. Boy, you better thank God for that today. That he's a friend of sinners. Because if he had not been a friend of sinners, we would have never found him. The seeking Savior and a seeking sinner are always going to find one another. That's the short sinner. Then notice with me in verse number 5 through 7, the seeking Savior. Now this is where the story really picks up. The Bible says in verse number 5, "...and when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must abide at thy house." When I read verse number 5, there are several things that jump out to me. when Jesus came to the place, the Bible said. And this is a shocker. Three shocking things happened when He was in that place. Number one, I believe this with all of my heart, He looked Zacchaeus right in his eyes. Now I don't think you'll find that anywhere in the passage, but when Jesus had this conversation, I don't believe for one moment that it didn't start with eye contact. There was a sense of connection between him and Jesus when he looked up into that tree and there was that short sinner. He was way up there by himself and so he could see Jesus. And when he saw Zacchaeus and Zacchaeus saw him, they made eye contact. And boy, isn't that how it all starts? Isn't that how it all starts? Do you remember that first personal interaction that you had with the Son of God when you felt like He was looking into your soul? When you felt like He was looking into your heart? When He could see into the depths of the greatest need of your life? He not only looked him in the eye, and that's shocking, but secondly, He said His name. He called him by name. That's a reminder that the Son of Man knows who He's looking for. He knows exactly who you are. He knows exactly where you are. Nothing is going to surprise Him. Don't be ashamed. Listen to me. He already knows what you are. All you have to do, praise God, is provide Him with a sinner. He knows what you've done. He knows where you've been. He knows the wreckage of your past. You're not going to surprise Him. Don't be ashamed to come to Him. He looked him right in his eyes. And the Bible tells us that he said his name. He called him by name. And then the Bible tells us, thirdly, in a shocking turn of events, he commanded him. Notice down here. He said, "...make haste and come down, for today I must abide at thy house." By the way, that term, abide at thy house, means he was going there to spend the night. This is a terminology that's common in the New Testament. And today was Zacchaeus' day. This was the day. Can you imagine it, Preacher Jones? Out of all the thousands of people that are going to pass through Jericho that day, as Jesus made his way through the multitudes, it was Zacchaeus that he made eye contact with and called his name and gave him a commandment. Come down, for today I must abide at thy house. It's like Hebrews chapter 4, verse number 7, said it would be again, He limit a certain day, saying, Today, after so long a time, it is said, Today, if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts. Harden not your hearts. Friend, I want to tell you something this morning. I believe in a whosoever will salvation. But I do not believe in a whensoever salvation. If He's calling your name, you better respond today. You are not promised tomorrow. We're not guaranteed, friend. I'm not here to tell a bunch of sad stories and make a psychological plea on you, but I've sat in church services where people died right there in the church service while the gospel was being preached. I'll never forget there was a lady down on the pews of a church down in Florida and she came to church with a headache that night. She told her husband, I don't feel very well. I think I'm going to sit down during the song service. She sat down on the pew. She dropped her song book down into the floor. She laid over on the pew, had a brain aneurysm, and with about three hours they took her off of life support in the middle of the night. She was gone right there in a church service. Y'all listening? There is no promise that you'll make it home this afternoon. There is no guarantee you'll make it back for the service tonight. There is, listen, today is the day of salvation. If you will be saved, if you feel the Spirit of God drawing your heart, now is the accepted time. Today is the day of salvation. He commanded him, Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must abide at thy house." And you would think that this call of compassion, you would think that this call of salvation would have brought great joy to those that were watching these circumstances, but verse number seven said, when they saw it, they all murmured, saying that he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner. Amen. You can't think about, oh friend, please hear me and hear me well. You can't think about what the people around you are going to assume if you give your life to the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen, this is between you and the Lord. And there is no greater decision that you can make than to give your life to Jesus today. Don't worry about what your neighbor says. Don't worry about what your family's going to think. Don't worry about what your friends are going to say about it. You need to give your life to Christ today. Today is the accepted time. The Bible tells us that those that were around them, they all just murmured about it, but Jesus was there for a purpose. And I'm telling you again, a seeking Savior and a seeking sinner, they're always going to find one another. I want to close the message in verse number 8, 9, and 10 with a sure statement. Notice this sure statement. It comes in verse number 10. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost What the Lord Jesus did for Zacchaeus that day was revealed to him, his lost condition. And verse number 8 through verse number 10 records a scene change. Now they've moved from a public venue into the house of Zacchaeus. Jesus is there making a personal plea to Zacchaeus. And notice in verse number 8, Zacchaeus stood and said unto the Lord, Behold, Lord, this is in his house now. The half of my gives I give to the poor, and if I've taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold. You know what that is right there? That is a picture of repentance. And whatever, friend, whatever the Lord tells you to do, you do that. You do that. There were a handful of things, and I'm gonna tell you, getting saved doesn't mean you become perfect. There's a handful of things in my life that I knew it when the Lord was dealing with me, He put His finger right on those things right there. And not everybody gets saved like Zacchaeus got saved. And not everybody gets saved like the woman at the well got saved. Amen? Not everybody gets saved like blind Bartimaeus got saved. We're not all in those conditions, but I'm gonna tell you this, we all have one thing in common, that is we repented of our sins. And you know what happened after he repented of his sins? He began to call Jesus Lord over and over and over again. You know what Zacchaeus said? He said, Lord, this money has defined my life. This money has been everything to me. My goods, that I have for all of these years of labor that I've stored up, that means more to me than my own soul. And he came to a place where he realized there are only empty promises in the promise of money. He came to realize his money would not help him in eternity. And what he needed was the Savior. He needed Christ to become the Lord of his life. And that's the same call of the gospel that's going out right now in this service. Come, give your life to the Lord Jesus Christ. Whatever it is that's got a hold on your life, repent of that sin and give your life to the Lord Jesus Christ and I can make you some promises. I'm closing my message but I can make you some promises. He'll make a new man out of you. If you'll come right now, He'll make a new man out of you. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away, and behold, all things are become new." Let me tell you something. I don't have time to share a lot, but I want to say this to you. You know why I got saved? Because I didn't want to be like the rest of my family the rest of my life. Rot gut sinners. The worst of the worst. I made my mind up. I wanted to be different. And when I was in high school, I started looking for a way, Brother Jacob, how can I be different than the rest of the Baileys? And somebody sent me to youth camp. And I found out through the preaching of a good man of God that the only thing that will make you different is the gospel. That's right. So you know what I did? I abandoned all of my plans that I'd been making to be different than everybody else and I gave my heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ and He made me different. He changed my life. That's right. He did it for Zacchaeus. He did it for Matthew. He did it for multiple other publicans and He can do it for you. Your greatest need today is the Lord Jesus Christ. Can I make you a promise? If you'll come and give your life to the Lord Jesus, He'll change your life. And I'll make you a promise. He'll give you a new family. Oh my! The Bible talks about year of your father, John 8, 44, year of your father, the devil, and the lust of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, an abode not in the truth. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it." Two times in that text he calls the devil a father. You know the Apostle Paul said that the devil is the prince of this world. Jesus said, the devil's like a father, and look at what kind of father he's been to people. He said he's like a prince, and look at what kind of prince he's been to people. He said he's like a king, and look at what kind of king he is. He is an unscrupled ruler of men's dying souls. He molested your life all the way into hell and laughs at you for eternity because you believed him and didn't believe God. That's right, isn't it, church? I can make you a promise. If you'll give your life to the Lord Jesus Christ, He'll not only make you a new man, He'll give you a new family. Then I want to make you a third promise. If you'll give your life to the Lord Jesus Christ, He'll make heaven your home. You'll never have to worry about that again. You'll never have to go to sleep wondering if you might die and go to hell. You'll never have to worry another day of your life whether I need to get saved again. Once you're saved, you are always saved. Let's stand together this morning.