From the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster we present Let the Bible Speak. It's good to have you join us today as we spend time around the Word of God, preaching Christ in all His fullness to men and women in all their need. O wonderful, wonderful Word of the Lord! True wisdom its pages unfold. Read them a thousand times more, They never know, never grow old. Each life has a treasury's promise of birth, That all, if they will, may secure. And we know that when time and the world pass away, God's Word shall forever endure. O wonderful, wonderful word of the Lord! The Lamb that our fathers above So kindly has lightened to teach us the way That leads to the arms of His love. Its warnings, its counsels are faithful and just, Its judgments are perfect and good, And we know that when time and the world pass away, God's Word shall forever endure. The wonderful, wonderful word of the Lord, Our only salvation is there. It carries conviction down deep in the heart, And shows us ourselves as we are. It tells of a Savior and points to the cross, Where pardon, renown, ways secure. For we know that when time and the world pass away, God's Word shall forever endure. A wonderful, wonderful word of the Lord, the hope of our friends in the past. His truth were so firmly they anchored their trust, through ages eternal shall last. A wonderful, wonderful word of the Lord, of changing, abiding, and sure. renew that when time and the world pass away, God's word shall forever endure. God's word shall forever endure. We would like to welcome you to this, another broadcast of Let the Bible Speak. I'm delighted to be here to be able to meet around and share with you a portion of God's Word. Before we begin, we want to still our hearts, please, in the attitude of prayer. Let us pray. Let us join together, please. Our Father, we do thank Thee for this yet another opportunity to come into Thy very presence. We thank the Lord that we are told that where the two or three are gathered together in thy name, there are thou in the midst. And we thank the Lord, even as we're united this very day in prayer, that we can be assured of thy presence. And Lord, we pray for particular help, even in this meeting today. In thy precious and holy name, for thy glory we do plead. Amen. I would ask you please to turn with me, if you're able, in God's Word to the New Testament, to the book of Luke, to Luke's gospel, chapter 19. I want to read the first 10 verses of this well-known passage. Luke chapter 19, verse 1 reads, And Jesus entered 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 price, 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 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 that is Christ was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner. 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. Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house. For so 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. And we know that the Lord himself will add to the reading of God's word, his own particular blessing. We've read today from Luke chapter 19, And I want us to take one of the verses from our reading as our text for the message today. It is what is contained for us in verse five of Luke chapter 19. It reads thus, I have to admit to you today that over this past number of years in my ministry, in fact in dealing with people, with dealing with individuals, and indeed as we study this book, the Word of God, in studying and in reading God's Word, especially from the gospel records where we've been reading today, the Lord has impressed upon me over and over again. just how important the individual is to him. Just how, in fact, the many examples that we read off in the Word of God, how he deals with individuals like you and me. Throughout our quiet time readings, as well as time spent in the study making preparation for pope administration such as this, We've noted time after time in the gospel accounts how the Lord Jesus Christ himself very often, and it's worthy of our note, worthy of our attention, very often he goes after the individual. And indeed many of those times the Lord goes further in so much as he singles the individual out of the crowd. A few examples of that, not so much the crowd, but examples of how the Lord Jesus Christ dealt with an individual and met them at the very point of their need. My mind is drawn immediately to what we discover, recorded for us in John chapter 3. In that well-known account in John 3, especially the early part of that chapter, we have the Lord's tailor made message to a man by the name of Nicodemus, the ruler of the Jews. how the Lord spoke to that individual and told him perhaps not what he wanted to hear initially at least in that conversation, but exactly what that man needed to hear. He must be born again. We find many examples. The very next chapter, for example, in John chapter 4, we have the Lord making a beeline to a particular place, the type of a place no self-respecting Jew would ever be seen. Right in the very heart of Samaria, in a city there, a city by the name of Sychar, John 4, we read about how the Lord went to meet and indeed graciously deal with that woman at the well. In Luke chapter 5, we have yet another example. We have the Lord Jesus Christ. despite the crowds that gathered around him that day, speak to and indeed call one of the number that day, an individual, and nobody at that stage, but one whom the whole of Christendom recognizes today, Peter, into act of service for himself. In fact, in all three synoptics, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Matthew chapter 9, Mark chapter 5, Luke chapter 8, we have the account given there in those chapters of how the Lord Jesus Christ dealt with yet another individual in the midst of a crowd, the woman with the issue of blood, how he healed her that day. In John 9, we have the Lord Jesus Christ healing the man who was born blind. I could give you example after example of how the Lord Jesus Christ dealt with and changed indeed the life and indeed the eternity of individuals. And today, we've been reading from Luke chapter 19. In fact, the very few verses before where our reading broke into at the very first verse of chapter 19, Luke chapter 18, verse 35 through to the last verse, verse 43, we have the blind man sitting by the way and how the Lord Jesus Christ dealt with him. Verse 42, the penultimate verse of the 18th chapter reads, Jesus said unto him, receive thy sight, thy faith hath saved thee. And let me impress this truth upon you, dear hearer, even today. The Lord was, this is important, the Lord was, and indeed the Lord is, never too busy to deal with the individual. Many occasions he was the one who dealt with the type of person that others would have rejected, would have ignored, would have taken a diversion to get around, John 4 is case in point of that. And I wonder what about you, the hearer today? What about you, dear sinner today? What about your need today? You realize the Lord loves the individual. I want us to think for a few moments upon this portion that we have before us, this chapter, the 19th of Luke's gospel. And I want us to think about the conversion of Zacchaeus. some very simple points that we want to bring out of these verses that we've read, these 10 verses from Luke 19. And the first one is very simply this, it is to do with his problem. He had an issue that day. He had a situation that was holding him back. In verse 2, we're told certain things about this man. Let me read the verse for you again. It says there, and behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, we're given his name, which was chief among the publicans, and he was rich. We're told quite a lot within the few words of that second verse. We're told his name, we're told his rank, we're told his occupation, we're even told something of his, the last words of the verse, his financial status. But we're also told in this passage at the end of the next verse, the third verse, that he had a problem. He had an issue, something that could have prevented him from seeing the Savior that day. He was, look at the words of verse three, the latter part, the last five words of that little verse, he was little of stature. The Word of God tells us that he had a desire. He had a will within him to see the Lord, to see Christ. Even if he were but to catch but a glimpse of the Savior, but he wasn't able to as there was something stopping him. I wonder today, what about you? I wonder, do you have a desire to see my Savior, to see the one who left the splendor of heaven's glory, the one who came all the way to this incursed earth to die for sinners? Do you have a desire to see him as Zacchaeus did? Zacchaeus would have had it all, humanly speaking, materialistically speaking. He would have had all that money could buy. He was rich, we're told that in the passage. But that day, that we read off here in Luke 19, that day, he desired something much deeper. He desired something that no money could buy. He wanted to see the Savior. Look at the third verse of Luke 19. He sought to see Jesus who he was, and could not for the press, because he was little of stature. Look at the first part again. He sought to see Jesus who he was. You know, there's something that all the vices and all the pleasures of this sinful world simply cannot satisfy. Money can buy a lot, but it cannot buy anything within this realm that we're speaking of today. However, it is my role and indeed my privilege, my delight as a preacher of the gospel today to tell you the good news today that Jesus sees. I thank the Lord that I come along with not only that what God's Word teaches about how if we go in our natural condition, we will be condemned. Yes, that is important to understand and get a grasp of that, but I'm here today to tell you also the other side of that, and that is the love of God and the fact that Christ came to save sinners. It is my role, my privilege, my pleasure as a preacher of the gospel to inform you of that today. In fact, let me direct your attention to what we read in Romans chapter 10, well-known verses. Romans 10 verse 13 tells us this, for, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. In fact, it goes on a couple of verses later and talks about the glad tidings that I'm able to bring you today. Verse 15 tells us of that. It tells us, in fact, in the latter part of that verse, as it is written, how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and, note this part of the verse, bring glad tidings of good things. Perhaps you've tried to satisfy yourself with worldly pleasures. Perhaps even with religious exercise, with do's and don'ts, with maybe attendance or something like that of a church or something else like that. But every time, each and every time, you leave disappointed. As the hymn writer put it so eloquently, perhaps you have, as he did, tried the broken cisterns, Lord, but ah, the waters failed. I commend the words of the chorus, indeed, of one of the hymns of our own hymn book. It reads as follows. Now none but Christ can satisfy none other name for thee. There's love in life and lasting joy, Lord Jesus, found in thee. Do you realize that even before you get to the end of this broadcast today, do you realize that you can have that peace, that assurance of having met the Savior as Zacchaeus did that day? You know Zacchaeus had a real problem that day, a real life where the rubber hits the road, problem and issue that day that caught up with him, that held him back, that stopped him fulfilling his desire that day, and so do you. In fact, Zacchaeus had an issue that day that goes even deeper than his physical limitations. He was, as each and every one of us are today, He was a sinner. He was, as the psalmist David tells us, born in sin and shaped in iniquity. You think about His physical problem that day, the fact that He was short of stature. He didn't allow the problem to stop Him getting to where the Lord was from seeing the Savior. Those issues of life that He had, He didn't allow them to stop him from getting to where the master was. Let me say this, in fact. The things that kept Zacchaeus from the Lord are different things from what keeps the rest of us. Maybe perhaps very different from the thing that keeps you from going to meet the Lord. His problem was specific to him. It was because of his height, or rather, as the scriptures tell us here, his lack of it. But he didn't use his problems as an excuse to give up. This man had a problem that was not merely seen on the outside. He had also a problem off the heart. The fact that he was a sinner. God's word reveals that very, very clearly. Multiple occasions throughout the Scriptures we're told that all have sinned. We're told the truth of that, that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. What is sin? It is to miss God's perfect standard. It is to miss the mark. What about you today? I thank the Lord today that I'm here as God's servant with a message to tell you. But there is a remedy for your sin, and it is only to be found in Christ Jesus. Oh, this man had a problem, but he also had a plan. Look at the fourth verse. What did he do? He ran before. He not only had a desire, but He did something about His desire. He ran before. Look at the verse, what it tells us. He ran before and climbed up into a second-world tree to see Him, for He was to pass that way. He knew that He would miss out that day. He knew that He would miss out in meeting the Savior that day, but He also knew that there was something He could do about it. Let me assure you today, ladies and gentlemen, young people, older people who may be tuning into this broadcast, that we have the written word of the living God, and it tells us everything that we need to know, not only about our sinful state, not only about man's fall that we read off right back in the Garden of Eden, but it also tells us what we need to do about it. The jailer at Philippi asked Paul and Silas that very question. Sirs, what must I do to be saved? Let me tell you today, on the authority of God's Word, there's nothing as such that we can do because Christ has done it all already. It is finished, was one of his cries upon the cross of Calvary. John chapter 19, verse 30. We must simply believe and trust in Him for our salvation. In fact, to put it very, very simply, I believe in the sovereignty of God, but there is an onus on you. You must but simply let Him in. Would you not turn to Christ this very hour? Would you not accept Him and that offer of grace and mercy, that invitation that He gives to you, that invitation that is to be found in the Scriptures, in the gospel? Let me read a verse to you from Matthew 11, verse 28. These are the words of the Lord Jesus Christ himself, where he says this, Come unto me, all ye that labour under heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. Look at that first verse again. Come unto me, all ye that labour under heavy laden. Would you let him in today? He stands and knocks on your heart's door. Has he been challenging you? In fact, we read in the last book of the Bible, Revelation chapter three, verse 20. The words again of the Savior, he says this. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come into him and will sup with him and him with me. There's something else that I want us to notice here as well. Look at verse five. from our reading in Luke chapter 19. When Jesus came to the place, Nicodemus had this problem, he had this plan, he put it all into action, he ran ahead, he shimmied up the tree, and he thought he would just hide there and he wouldn't be noticed by anyone. But the Lord Jesus Christ had a plan that day, a plan to meet this man. A meeting, in fact, that I believe was a plan from eternity past. When Jesus came to the place, I trust you're On the same verse as I am, Luke chapter 19, verse 5. When Jesus came to the place, that is the base of that sycamore tree, he looked up and saw him and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must abide at thy house. I want to highlight to you the fact today, the fact that Christ stopped briefly where Zacchaeus was. At the base of that tree, Whenever he reached the sycamore tree that day, the all-knowing Savior stopped just briefly for a few seconds, because he was seeking that soul that day. He knew why he was there. He knew that Zacchaeus was there, and for him he waited, and for him he pleaded that day, what about you today? Is the Lord ministering and speaking to you? We read in Genesis chapter 6 verse 3 of how the Lord says, my spirit shall not always strive with man. Is he striving? Is he challenging you today? Let me say this, on the authority of God's Word, let me say this, that today, for you, it is the best opportunity that you will ever have to get right with God, because it's the only one you can be sure of. You can never be sure of another gospel opportunity. Let me say to you, dear sinner friend, with all your getting, get to the cross. Oh, the Lord paused briefly under the tree that day. Oh yes, there are many who listen to the devil's lie. There are many who listen to that lie that says, you've got plenty of time, you've all the time in the world. What if Zacchaeus had said that? What if he had said, I'll get back to you? What if he put off his decision? He would have known in his heart of hearts he would have been badly disappointed. It would have been all for nothing. Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must abide at thy house. But look at the next verse. Look at his response to the Savior's invitation. Will you respond to his invitation positively as did Zacchaeus on that occasion? He made haste and came down and received him joyfully. Has the Lord been inviting you? Has the Lord been challenging you today? Has the Lord been speaking to you today? Has he been speaking to you of late? Oh, what joy Zacchaeus experienced that day. Look at verse 6. Of Luke chapter 19, our reading, he made haste and came down and received him joyfully. Joy, joy unspeakable. The joy of the world is but fleeting. Joy unspeakable entered his home, entered his heart that day. But what about you? Our prayer is that you might respond to his invitation this very day. and that you might accept Him, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, that you might accept Him personally, as did Zacchaeus on that occasion. I want to close our little time in prayer just now, please. You pray with me that the Lord might speak with the voice that wakes the dead. We do pray that thou would be pleased to bless in a special way even in this word that the Lord will have from the Gospels today. It is indeed for thy name's sake we do plead. In thy precious and holy name we do ask thee. Amen. Thank you for spending some time with us today around the Word of God. For further information visit our website at ltbs.tv. We look forward to joining with you next time as we seek to let the Bible speak once again.