In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of true conversion and surrendering everything to follow Jesus. He uses the example of a wealthy chief publican who gave away half of his possessions and promised to restore four-fold to those he had cheated. The speaker relates this to the parable of the man who sells everything to obtain a valuable pearl, highlighting the need to prioritize the kingdom of God above worldly possessions. The sermon also reminds listeners of the desperate state of those who do not know Jesus and encourages them to remember their own need for salvation.

Hello, this is Brother Denny. Welcome to Charity Ministries. Our desire is that your life would be blessed and changed by this message. This message is not copyrighted and is not to be bought or sold. You are welcome to make copies for your friends and neighbors. If you would like additional messages, please go to our website for a complete listing at www.charityministries.org. If you would like a catalog of other sermons, please call 1-800-227-7902 or write to Charity Ministries, 400 West Main Street, Suite 1, EFRA, PA 17522. These messages are offered to all without charge by the free will offerings of God's people. A special thank you to all who support this ministry. Good morning. Greetings. What a blessing it is to be here this morning, to be in the house of God on this day. A year ago, I preached a message at the end of the year called, A Doomed and Shaken World, after the tsunami struck and killed hundreds of thousands of people there in Indonesia. I was thinking about just this week, all those people just lost, just swept away to eternity all in just a few moments of time. I'm not sure why I thought of that, but I did. I guess I was contemplating the trip that I'm taking. This is also my last Sunday here for a while. I'll be gone the next three Sundays as I go to Africa and visit over there, go to the missionary retreat. I thought, well, what shall I share here to finish the year, to finish 2005? I guess I'm a little bit like Weston this morning. I thought, well, what are some of the needs in my own life? What are some of the needs in my own heart? And I wonder if it's a need in my heart, could it be a need in your heart? Or our heart as a church? As I thought about that, I thought, yes, I think it is. I think it's for me, and I think it's for you, and I think it's for us. So I do have a message, a burden this morning that I'd like to share. I had actually asked Weston to have the main message this morning, but he said, well, he's pretty busy doing a lot of things, getting ready to go. But I think we sort of got a main message then, and now we'll get another one. So I have two messages, and I sort of thought it would go that way, and that's one of the reasons I actually canceled Don't Blame West children's lesson. I thought, well, you know, we're going to have a nice full morning here, so we'll let the children catch up next week, I guess. I'm going to write something on the board here. How many people here were born from 1981 till now? 1981 till now. Okay, wow, that's probably half the room. Okay, only you all are allowed to answer this question. Everybody else? Okay, those people that raised their hand. One of you. Can any of you answer what do those three letters stand for? Reuben? Missing in action. Is that right? Somebody born before then? Yes, it is. Now, for those of us that lived through the era where that was, I don't want to say every day, but it was a very common, sometimes weekly, sometimes more than weekly, phrase that you would hear either on the radio, if you were listening to the news, or in a newspaper, or just in conversations. During the 60s and 70s, during the Vietnam War, that was just a common phrase. There was a report given on the nightly news of how many people had died that day, how many were missing in action, and then they would give a weekly total, they'd give a monthly total, a yearly total, and then the total of all the people that were in these different categories, whether it was wounded, fatalities, or MIA. But there was something about that MIA category that was the saddest of all the categories. You may think that's a little bit strange. But what does MIA really mean? Missing in action. What does it mean? We don't know. They're lost. They're gone. We don't know where they are. They're lost. We don't know where to find them. We don't know how to get them to bring them back where we want them to be. We don't know what to do with them, in fact. We don't know. They could be dead. They could be alive. We presume most of them are probably alive. But we don't know. They're just missing. They're just gone. They're lost. And I remember growing up in that era. I was born in 1955, and I remember vividly being in high school during the era of these discussions of the MIAs. And there were bumper stickers. Anybody else remember that? There were bumper stickers that seemed like every other car during that era. Where are the MIAs? What are you going to do about the MIAs? Send money to support the families of the MIAs. There was a constant throb in the heartbeat of our civilization. And people were upset about it. People didn't know what to do about it. It was very frustrating. The families of the MIAs would often lobby Washington. There were demonstrations. There were parades. If then were now, there would probably be a thousand websites about it. We didn't have websites back in those days, praise God. But all this attention was given. So I thought about that. But you know, as time went on, as time went on, you know what happened? As time went on, they were talked about less and less and less and less until I was almost surprised that Reuben knew what it was. Maybe I shouldn't be. Do you read history or something? But we don't talk about it today, do we? Do you know there are still thousands and thousands and thousands of them that are still MIA? We never did find them. But I remember in the 80s, the government reclassified the MIAs. And they reclassified them. They would wait until they were about, I think the number was about 10 years. Somebody can look it up in history books and correct me, but that's the way I remember it anyway, because I'm going back 20 years now. They began to reclassify them as presumed killed in action. And the government got all sorts of counselors and psychologists to go counsel the families of these MIAs that were reclassified. And they found that when they reclassified them as presumed killed in action, it actually helped the families. And they counseled them that you're safe, you're in America, you need to move on with your life. They wouldn't use the word blessing, but you have the privilege of living in America. You need to go on. The freedom that was fought for is still here. And they would just counsel them and give them words of encouragement and comfort. But basically, the bottom line is you kind of need to forget about them and move on with your life. And that was a common psychological way they would help people get over it. Just forget about them and move on with your life. And I don't know what to do with all that, and I'm not here to discuss the politics of the MIA. It's a difficult thing to deal with. But what I do want to talk about this morning is the lost people that are in the world. There are a lot of lost people in the world, aren't there? Now, they're not missing in action in that we do know where they are, but the truth of the matter is they are missing. They're missing from where they need to be. It would be God's heart that all should come to repentance. Amen? That none should perish. And so they are missing. They are lost. They are cut off from Him. They are cut off just like those that were missing in action were cut off from where they should be. Cut off from fellowship. Cut off from the blessings and the pleasures of that fellowship. Those men are cut off. So are the ones that are lost in the world that you and I see every day. And how do we think about them? And this is the burden on my heart is how do we think about the lost? How do I think about the lost? How do you think about the lost? What is the right counsel for us to think about the lost? The United States counsel for the lost in Vietnam was set them aside. Move on with your life. After all, you have your life to live. You need to enjoy it. You need to enjoy the freedoms that you have. You've earned them. This country has given them to you. It won't be good for you to just keep thinking about them. You know, it's going to mess up your life. You're not going to be as effective. You're not going to be as productive to society. You need to just move on. You need to let them go and just move on. Is that realistic counsel? Well, it seems like it was realistic counsel for the MIAs, but is that the right counsel for Christians? Is that the counsel that we give one another? Is that the way we actually think? It may not be the counsel that we give each other, but is that the way we're living our lives? Is that the way you're living your life? Well, they're lost. I think I need to move on. There are a lot of blessings in the Christian life, aren't there? And amen for all those blessings, and we should enjoy them. Fellowship. It's good, like Weston said, to be here with one another. It's good to hear the Word of God together, isn't it? It's good to hear preaching together. I enjoyed the singing this morning, Brother Roy, and we should enjoy those things. So maybe the counsel is right. Maybe we can just forget about the lost, right? That's what the government told the families of the MIAs. It seems like it's working, I guess. I don't know. I'm not one of those families. I mean, the Scriptures do declare we are to grow up and enjoy the Christian life. We are to talk about doctrine and speak the things that become sound doctrine. You know, the problem is there's just enough truth in what I'm saying, there's just enough truth in it that it actually is a temptation to live that way. And I find myself living that way sometimes. Do you? Just moving on with your Christian life. I mean, it's a lot of work to raise a godly family and can spend a lot of time at it. And amen. And all those things are good things, aren't they? And all those things are good things. But what do we do with these things? What do we do? Well, one of the wonderful parts about Christianity is fellowship with Jesus Christ, isn't it? It's fellowship with Jesus Christ. To know Him who loved you. To love Him who loved you first. But if we want to worship Him and we want to have fellowship with Him and we want to grow in our Christian faith, that means that we will end up having a heart like His heart and He has a heart for the lost, doesn't He? And that's the bridge that you need to get on to bridge this gap of on the one hand, yes, we do need to move on with our Christian life. We do need to look at doctrine and we do need to learn how to fellowship and I do need to learn how to get along with my brother. And I do need to learn about church life. And there's so many things, may I say, in the internal Christian life of just being a Christian that takes a lot of time and effort and study even and attention. But what about the lost over here? What do I do with them? Do I just stay over there and move on with the Christian life? And the bridge, I hope, that gaps those two and brings them together is to have a heart like Jesus that would give us a heart for the lost. And that's the title of the message this morning. A heart for the lost. Because if we grow to know Him and as we get closer to Him, we cannot move on, we cannot be removed from the reality of people being lost. You know, men's hearts are interesting things. Have you ever noticed that? The largest thing in this world is not the wide open spaces. It's the capacity of the heart to open itself up to things. But also, do you know what the narrowest thing in this world is? It's the human heart. We can get so narrow in our thinking, in our hearts, that we exclude lots of things. You know, the human heart is an amazing thing. The human heart can see things that no eye has ever seen or will see. The human heart, it's an amazing thing, isn't it? The human heart. What the heart can see. But it's also amazing how blind the heart can be. How we just don't see what we need to see. And I think sometimes we get so good at church, we get so good at being Christian, we forget to see the right things. We forget. While we're doing very good things, we forget to see the right things too. And we forget to have a heart for the lost. I do. Like Weston said, I'm not here because I'm after anybody. I just thought of my own life. And I realized I don't see things the right way. Sometimes I'm moving on so much with my good Christian life, my heart isn't for the lost like it should be. So what do we do? What do we do? Well, I don't know what else to do but look at Jesus and look at His heart and then ask myself where my heart is. Turn to Luke 18. Luke 18. We're going to read Luke 18 starting in verse 34. Then we're going to carry through chapter 19 to verse 10. And in this passage, we're going to encounter one city, two men, and three hearts. One city, two men, and three hearts. I think, yeah, it's a long passage, but I think it would be good. Why don't we stand? And I'm not going to have you read it with me because of the length. There may be a couple of places where I have you jump in, so you follow along with me. And then if I call for you to read out loud, then you just be ready and be instant, as it were, in season here to help me out. I'll begin reading, I think actually in verse 35 here of chapter 18. And I'll read through chapter 19, verse 10. And it came to pass that He was come nigh unto Jericho. That's the city. A certain blind man set by the way. That's one of the two men. A certain blind man set by the wayside begging. And hearing the multitude pass by, he asked what it meant. And they told him that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by. And he cried saying, Jesus, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me. And they which went before rebuked him that he should hold his peace. But he cried so much the more, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stood and commanded him to be brought unto Him. And when he was come near, he asked Him saying, What wilt Thou that I shall do unto Thee? And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight. And Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight. Thy faith hath saved thee. And immediately he received his sight and followed Him glorifying God and all the people when they saw it gave praise unto God. Okay, chapter 19. And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. Now, again, we're in the same city. And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus which was the chief among the publicans and he was rich. The second man. One city. Two men. Three hearts. 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. Okay, I want you all to start reading with me in v. 5 here and read with me all the way through v. 10. Ready? 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 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 a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. Alright, you may be seated. Why did Jesus Christ come to this earth? To save the lost. He has declared in this one sentence what His heart is. Is that right? That's one of the three hearts. One city. Two men. Three hearts. Well, let's look at the city first. And you may say, Brother Rick, why are we going to look at the city? Well, I think if you understand the city of Jericho just a little bit this morning, it will actually help you to understand the setting of the story and the context of what Jesus is doing and why He is in this city of Jericho. If you're like me, you kind of wonder, why is He going to the city of Jericho? I mean, it's not a very nice place. And we'll learn that here together. Jericho is believed to be by archaeologists one of the oldest, and some of the archaeologists I research actually believe it is the oldest city in the world. I found that interesting. I don't know if that's true. But there are some who believe that it is the oldest city in the world. And besides being old, Jericho also has another very unusual physical feature. It is one of the lowest, and again, certain geologists believe it is the lowest city in the world. What do I mean by lowest? Sea level. It's over 800 feet below sea level. Now, I can't imagine a city being over 800 feet below sea level. I wonder, are there any cities in America even below sea level? Maybe Death Valley. Is there a city in Death Valley? Is that below sea level? New Orleans is below sea level. Oh, there you go. It was 10 feet below sea level. That's right. Okay, that was only 10 feet, and the hurricane wiped it out. Can you imagine a city 800 feet below sea level? It's a little bit more than that. It's so many meters they gave it. I figured it out. It's a little over 800 feet below sea level. It's like, how is it even there? But it's a very unusual feature. It's not that important. I just found that interesting. But where did we first hear about Jericho in the Bible? Joshua, right? Okay, Jericho is encountered there. What is that in Joshua 6 or 5 or wherever it is? No, is it 4 or 5 or 6? I guess all together there. It runs together. But anyway, we encounter Jericho as they've crossed over the Jordan River, and the first town they come to is this great walled city of Jericho. And of course, God gives them the victory there. We're not going to get into that story. But ironically, Jericho was captured by the Israelites then. But ironically, in 1994, when the Peace Accord was signed there with Yasser Arafat and Menachem Begin and all those guys that signed it, that was the first city that Israel gave up back to the Palestinians. It has an interesting history. It was the first city taken by the Israelites, and it was the first city given up. And it's now under the control of the Palestinians. And it's the home, therefore, it's the home of Yasser Arafat. That's where he actually lives. He just died recently. Somebody help me out here. I don't keep up with modern news that much, so you've got to help me. But the other interesting thing about it is in Jesus' day when He encounters it, do you know what it is? It's a resort. It's the Las Vegas of its day. It's Corinth. Do you know what it is today? Las Vegas. The biggest casino, the biggest casino, called the Oasis, is headquartered in Jericho. It's a place of gambling, prostitution. It's an evil city today. You know it's an evil city here. In Jesus' day, it's where all the publicans, a lot of them, would go to live. They didn't feel comfortable in Jericho, so a lot of them, I mean, in Jerusalem, they would live in Jericho. Jericho was a wicked city. It was the Las Vegas of its day. It was sin city, and it's sin city today. It's interesting how history repeats itself even in a city, and even though it's here today, it's been destroyed a couple times through history, but when it comes back, it usually ends up as a very sinful place. I'm not sure what to do with all those things, but that's the way it is today, and that's the way it was in Jesus' day when He founded. It's an interesting history. When Jesus talked about the city of Jericho, one of the favorite stories of Christians is the story of the Good Samaritan. And if you'll remember, what road were they on in the story of the Good Samaritan? The road to Jericho. Jericho, by the way, is about 15 miles, mainly east, slightly north of Jerusalem. And why Jesus chose that story, I don't know, but it's the road to Jericho. And there were priests on that road. There were Levites on that road. Jericho, even though it was a wicked city, the priests and the Levites often went there. All these things are part of the history of Jericho. One other thing that's part of the history of Jericho that's very interesting is there was a woman saved out of Jericho after it was destroyed by Joshua and the children of Israel circling it seven times. What was her name? And who did she marry? Salmon. And who was their son? Boaz. And who is Boaz? He's the great-grandfather or the grandfather of David, right? So it was Boaz, Obed, Jesse, David. Is that right? So the great-grandmother of David, who is the seed through which Christ would come, was a resident of Jericho. Interesting, isn't it? It's an interesting city. If you never study cities, you should do it sometimes. It's kind of interesting in the Bible. Certain cities just keep coming up again and you wonder, what is it with this city and the Bible? And often there are many stories about that city that will help you understand the Bible in a different way. So this is the city. Now you may again think, well, Brother Rick, why are you bringing all this up? Okay, here's the reason. And this is the Mediterranean Sea out here. Here is Galilee up here at the top. Jesus, if we would back up in 16, 17, 18 of Luke, you would see that He was up here and He was making His way to Jerusalem here. Okay? And He was traveling. Samaria is over here. And He was in Samaria. Jericho is over here. He was on His way to Jerusalem to do what? Why is He going to Jerusalem in this part of the Gospel of Luke? 18 and 19. What's He going to do? He's going to die. He is making His way to Jerusalem, to Golgotha, to face the cross and to face death. And His face is set like flint. He is going on that road that no one else in this world can, has, or ever will walk to die for all the sins of mankind. That's what He's going to do. And here He comes from Galilee, Samaria, and He's on His way to Jerusalem and all of a sudden, somewhere He goes over here to Jericho. It's out of the way. It's not on the way. He shouldn't be going there. He doesn't have the time. It's geographically wrong. But why is He going there? To seek and save that which is lost. Because He has a heart for the lost. Now we could say, well, there's only two men that we know that got saved there. Who are the two men? The blind man and Zacchaeus. We could say, it's only two men. I mean, there are thousands of others. I can't answer the question other than it shows the heart of Jesus. He knew that there were two men who were ready for a divine encounter with Christ. Because you'll notice something in both of these men. There was a desperation for Christ, wasn't there? Did you notice that in the passage? Both desperately wanted to meet Jesus. And so He changed His geography to see them. He's going there because there are two sinners there that need to get saved. His heart determined His geography. His heart determined His geography. You know, I wonder about you and I. Does your heart determine your geography? Where you go? When you go? Where you go? How you spend your time? It does, doesn't it? If we're honest. We do find time to do those things that we want to do. We do go where we want to go, don't we? I mean, if we're honest. That's what we do. And that's what Jesus did. He went to Jericho. Now, Jericho wasn't a nice place. I've never been to Las Vegas, and I hope to never go, I guess. But maybe after thinking about this sermon, maybe I should. I don't know how to look at all those things, but that's what Jericho was. It was a wicked place. It would be a place you would say, don't go there. It's a wicked place. It was. I keep making excuses for Jericho. It's a horrible place. But He went there. Now, He didn't go to live there. He didn't go to hang out there. He went there for a purpose. Look at v. 1 of chapter 19. And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. Don't miss the little parts of the Bible. By the way, are there any little parts in the Bible? Just think about this verse for just a second. Just let your heart understand. Don't miss this little... Jesus' trip to Jericho is a microcosm of His whole life. He entered and passed through Jericho. Jesus came to this world. He entered in this world and He passed through this world with one purpose. To seek and save that which was lost. Not to stay here. You know, I've entered into this world and to be honest with you, I like living here. And sometimes I think, wow, I hope I live as long as I can. Do you ever have thoughts like that? I mean, we like life, don't we? But I don't think Jesus thought that way. He entered to pass through this world to do a job. He actually entered into this world to die. Part of His passing through this world was to die for sinners. And Jericho is no different. He didn't come there to reside there. He didn't come there because He liked Jericho. He entered and passed through Jericho because He had a purpose. Maybe that's why after we're Christians, we're called strangers and pilgrims. It's to remind us that we're to enter and pass through this world, but not to stay here. But not to stay here. And if we can think of it that way, maybe it will help us to have a better heart for the lost. If you get some of these things right in your heart, it seems to get your heart right to have a heart for the lost. Or at least it helps me. Don't miss this picture, this object lesson of Jesus' life entering and passing through Jericho. It's a picture of His whole life in reality. Alright, well, that's the one city. Now let's look at the two men. I'm not going to spend a lot of time on the first one. A little more time maybe on Zacchaeus. But let's look at this blind man here. I'm not going to spend a lot of time. We could go into some other passages he's mentioned in other books in the Bible. I'm not going to go read all of those. We know that he was blind. It seems like maybe he was born blind. I don't know. And here he is. He almost seems to be a bit of a sad man. Almost a little bit bitter. A little bit pushy, isn't he? Maybe too bold for his own good, it seems at first. And Jesus asks him a question and he answers in faith that he wants to receive sight. And then he's healed. The interesting thing is after he's healed, the Bible says that he does what? A lot of times when Jesus healed people, they went away. But this man did something different. What did he do that was different? He says he followed Him. That's a very powerful phrase in the Bible because Jesus' call to His original disciples was what? Come, follow Me. Now, they didn't know everything that meant when He first called them. They learned what it meant. It meant lay down everything, even your life, and follow Me. And I'm not saying that this man understood all of that, but I think it's significant that this particular phrase is put in here. He followed Him. If he's going to follow Him, where is he going to end up in two or three days? If you know your Bible timeline, within a few days... Passover week has already begun. Passover week has already begun. If he's going to follow Him, where is he going to follow Him to? To Jerusalem. And if he goes to Jerusalem, what is this blind man going to see? He's going to see the crucifixion. He's going to see Jesus Christ. He receives His sight to only see what? Jesus dying on the cross. In just a few days. I can imagine being blind. I can't maybe better than some of you. I had an accident when I was 12 years old and had a dart in my eye. They wrapped up my eye. They actually wrapped up both of my eyes for I think a week or so. I was in the hospital. The doctor even told me that there was a good chance that I could be blind and that he thought it might have hit the optic nerve. And so I wrestled with blindness for a little while, for a month or two, not knowing if I was going to get my sight. Somehow I was healed. I believe God healed me. I'm not sure why. Back then He did. I do know there were people praying. But there was a time where I sort of understood at least for a short time in my life what it was like to be blind. And I imagined what it would have been like to live a life blind. And I had people come and talk to me about that. I remember my parents bought me some special books about blind people. Follow My Leader was one of them. My mom's here. Do you remember that book about the dog? I don't know if you remember that book you bought me. And I thought about being blind. What would that be like to be blind? I can't imagine. But here's a man who's, I'm assuming, maybe 30's or 40's. He's a man. He's not a boy. And he's been blind all of his life only to get his sight to see Jesus Christ crucified and die. But I tell you something. I tell you something. There are a lot of people in this world today who have 20-20 vision either naturally or because of these who have never seen Jesus Christ crucified. Isn't that sad? You may think it's sad that he saw Jesus Christ crucified. And it was difficult. I'm not taking away from that. But because he saw it, because he believed in Christ, because his faith is in Christ, he's a blessed man. But Jesus said what? Blessed are those that have never seen, but believe. Right? But the problem is, you see, the heart can see, again, the invisible things of the spiritual world clearer than any human eye can ever or will ever see. Or they can be more blind to them than you would ever think was possible. And that's the problem with the lost world. The problem with the lost world is they're blind. They don't see. Did you ever see a blind person? I noticed them. Maybe because I was almost blinded once. And I have pity for them. I want to go help them across the street. I want to go talk to them. But when we see lost people, do we have a heart for the lost that pities them because they're blind and they don't see? Or do we just see that they're lost? When I run into lost people, it's difficult. Because they're so lost, it's hard to know what to do with them. Because they're wicked. And I'm not making excuses for lost people. They are wicked. And it's difficult to know, I mean, what do you do? What do you say? Well, let's keep going. That's one city, two men, three hearts. The second man is Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus. It's interesting how the Spirit of God through the Scriptures can very quickly tell us a lot about a man. You know, there's actually not very many verses in the Bible about Zacchaeus. It starts in verse 2 and goes through the last time Zacchaeus is mentioned is really verse 9. Salvation for this man. It's really maybe only six or seven verses. But we all know the story of Zacchaeus. We all feel like we know a lot about him, don't we? Isn't that interesting? How the Spirit of God can take a man and give him to us in six or seven verses, and we all feel like we know a lot about him. And in a way we do. And isn't that the power of the Word of God that can open things up in ways that you and I could never do? And I feel like I do know something about this man. I don't know everything I should. One interesting thing as I was studying this, do you know what his name means? What does the name Zacchaeus mean? Anybody know? Oh, I got you on one. Okay. Nobody knows what the name Zacchaeus... I didn't either until I looked it up. I just thought somebody here would know. It means pure, clean, and just. That's what his name means. So here he comes, the publican, walking down the street. Hey, pure! Imagine the jokes told about him. Yeah, he's clean alright. Cleaned us out. I mean, you know. Can you imagine? See, back then, names. Your names meant something. Right? But now think back 30 or 40 years when he was a baby and he was born. He was born in a Jewish home. We know he was a Jew. Two maybe very devout parents. I don't know. And when they held that little baby... Parents, you know what it feels like when you hold that baby when it's first born. What do you think? It's clean. It's pure. It's just right. It's just. And that's what they named him. Zacchaeus. And they felt that, I'm sure, with their hearts to name their baby that. You know, we name babies things like Angel and Jewel. And why do we do it? Well, because it's a little angel to us or a little jewel. Well, he was a little baby once. But you know, somewhere along the line, whatever, 25, 30, 40 years after he was born, there was a dark, terrible night where this man sold out. Not only his life, but his country and his countrymen. You know how a man becomes a publican? You know how you do that? You make a deal with the devil. The enemy of your country. You go make a deal with the Romans. Because see, the Romans don't know how to tax the local people. They don't know who has money and who doesn't have money. They don't know where so-and-so hides their camels and where so-and-so hides their extra sheep. But a local man, he knows. So he goes to the Romans and he says, I'll be your publican. And the Romans say, okay. But it'll cost you something. And they'll give him a figure. And they say, but anything you collect over that, it's yours. Do you know how every publican became rich? But he wasn't just a publican. Do you know what he was? Do you know what Zacchaeus was? Do you hear what it said? He was a chief. He was a big dog. He had a big territory. He took in a lot of money, paid Rome and he kept a lot of money. And the Bible says he was rich. He would have been a millionaire, I'm sure, in our terminologies. But do you know how he got to be a millionaire? He sold out his neighbors. His family. His cousins. The people down the street. The people that he used to go to school with. Because he knew where their stuff was. He knew how much money they had. And the Romans taxed you on what you had. But they didn't know what you had. But the local man did. That's who this man... That's why when the publican came down the street, everybody went to the other side. They despised him. He was a traitor. A turncoat. A sinner. He sold me out to the Romans. He ratted on me. And they hated the publicans. But this man was the chief among the publicans. So they really hated him. Did you ever wonder, if you back up in your mind, to Luke 18.13, there's a publican there in the parable. Did you ever wonder who that publican was? It's just a parable, but I've often thought that was Zacchaeus. Jesus, in His mind, knew about this encounter with Zacchaeus. Because there it's the publican who beats his breast. Do you remember what he beats his breast for? Because he can't find mercy. He's asking for mercy. But see, once a publican, you need to understand this in their culture, once he sold out to the Romans, do you know what he couldn't do? He couldn't go into the temple. He had to stay outside. He had to stay in the back. The priest wouldn't pray for him anymore. He couldn't bring a lamb to have its throat cut anymore. They weren't allowed. They were declared by their culture and by their religion a sinner. They were bereft of the mercy of God. They were men without mercy. And they were shown no mercy or given no mercy. And they were outside of the temple rule. They were men part of the country, but ostracized by the country. That's who these men were. That's who Zacchaeus was. And he was the chief among the publicans. And you need to understand that to see what's going on here. Because here was a man who that one dark night made that decision and sold out to Rome. But somewhere along the way, something happened in his heart. And he wanted the mercy of God again. But he couldn't find it. And he didn't know what to do. And he began to hear stories about Jesus. And he began to hear about the mercy of Jesus and the love of Jesus. And he determined that when Jesus came to his town, he was going to see this Jesus. Because he needed mercy. He couldn't even go in the temple and get a lamb bled for him anymore. The mercy seat was excluded from his life. He couldn't go to the mercy seat. There was no mercy seat for Zacchaeus. You talk about lost. He was missing in action. I mean, he was lost. He had no hope. No help. Even from his own religion excluded him. That's who Zacchaeus was. Verse 3 says, And he sought to see Jesus. That's why he sought to see Jesus. He was desperate to see Jesus. Well, he climbed that sycamore tree. I've never understood that either. He must have really been desperate to climb a sycamore tree. Have you ever tried to climb a sycamore tree? We used to have a sycamore tree when we lived in Westwood. I used to shoot baskets underneath it. Sycamore trees have this slick bark. Have you ever noticed that? Kind of white and gray. The limbs are always up really high too. Have you ever noticed that? Sycamore trees' limbs are up. I've always wondered. He must have either had some help or he got a ladder. But he was desperate. Because sycamore trees are hard to climb. Maple trees, they're not too bad. But it's interesting that God chose a sycamore tree because they're not easy to climb. They're not tree climbing trees, if you know what I mean. Little boys know what I mean. There are some trees that are tree climbing trees. Sycamore trees, they're hard to climb. But that's the tree that he climbed. It must have been maybe right alongside the road. And he wanted to get up to see because he was little of stature. Meaning he was short. He was very short. So Jesus comes to the point there. Jesus calls him down and goes to his house to spend time with him. And of course, the people are murmuring. All these things happen. But one thing I want to show you here quickly on this man is in v. 7, it says that he was gone to be the guest with a man that is a sinner. Then v. 8 says, and Jesus stood. Now, you have to understand what's going on in the Bible here a little bit to understand this. Between v. 7 and 8, there is a pause of time. Whether it's two hours or eight hours, I don't know. But there's a long pause of time. And you might say, well, how do you know that? Well, it says, and Zacchaeus stood. He came to his house to have supper with him, right? When the Jews had supper, how did they eat? They reclined. We're not taken inside that supper. What Jesus shared with him, whether He told him He was going to the cross, whether He told him He was the Son of God, maybe He told him all those things. I don't know, but I do know that when Jesus encountered a man like Zacchaeus who was desperate to see Him, Jesus addressed two things. He addressed him for the need that was in his life, and then He gave him the answer to that need. Jesus always did that. And we know that because if you read the next three verses, Jesus Himself says salvation has come to this house. Now, we don't get to hear Jesus present the Gospel, quote unquote, but the Gospel was presented. It's very clear what's happened because Jesus tells us. But there's a pause of time. He goes to Zacchaeus' house. The doors are closed. We don't know what He says, but we do know what happened. And Zacchaeus stood and said unto the Lord Jesus Christ, Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. Now, he didn't go to the door and tell everybody, I've accepted Jesus in my heart. Do you want to hear my testimony? But he was converted, wasn't he? How do you know he was converted? A changed life is the best testimony to a conversion. I like us having testimonies down here, but you know, sometimes I flinch a little bit. I have to be honest with you. Because testimonies are good, but a changed life is better. I believe that. Testimony's good. But you know, a lot of people can say they have Jesus in their heart. But you know what this man did? He gave half of everything he owned. I don't think just his money. He said all of his goods. Now, he was a millionaire, I'm assuming, since he was the chief among publicans. Maybe he's worth two million dollars, so he gives away a million dollars. Boom. Then he says, I'm going to restore fourfold of every man I've cheated. Well, he's cheated every man. I mean, if you're a publican, you cheat. That's just what you do. That's how you get your money. I mean, it's almost as if he's going to be left with... Before he's done, he's not going to be left with anything. That's conversion. Because you know what Jesus said the Kingdom of God was like? In Matthew 13? It's like a man who finds what? A goodly pearl. And what does he do? He sells what? Everything. He gives it all up to obtain what? That one of great price. Is there any doubt this man's converted? There's no doubt, is there? There's no doubt. And he goes on, and Jesus declares, salvation has come, and Zacchaeus is converted. He's no longer shut. He may be shut out of the mercy seat of the temple, but he's found mercy. And he's so excited about finding mercy, half my stuff I give to the poor. You know, if you really find the real thing, you know those other things? They don't matter anymore, do they? They don't matter anymore. But you know, if you haven't found the real thing, it's hard to give up some of those things just because you go to a certain so-and-so church. You know? Religion is tough, but Christ is everything. A changed life. That old publican, he got converted. Well, one city and two men. Two men that are now converted. Jesus entered and passed through Jericho and two men got converted. You know, Jesus is still entering and passing through people's lives. He may do it over this pulpit this morning. He may do it on a visit that Mose made to Manitoba and preach the Gospel up there. But He does still come. He does still come. Because we are Christ for this world. We are the body of Christ for this world. And you know, there are people that are sitting here that are not converted in a crowd this size. There are people here. You need to let Jesus Christ enter and pass through your life. And you need to see your desperate need. But I'll tell you something, if you don't see your desperate need desperately like these two men, I don't know if you will get converted. I see a lot of people who say the right things, but you know what? They don't get converted. But if you can be like Zacchaeus and this man and be really desperate, you will be converted. You can be converted. I mean, you would have said the last man in Jericho that would ever get converted would be Zacchaeus. But we don't know of two men that got converted. Zacchaeus is one of them. Isn't God wonderful? Isn't mercy amazing? The temple wouldn't even let him in the door. But Christ accepted him in the family of God. Unbelievable. That's the story of Zacchaeus. Jesus entered and passed through his life. And he was never the same. Well, one city, two men and three hearts. A heart for the lost is what we need. What do we have? The first heart I want to look at is the heart of they. The heart of them. The heart of the crowd of people. As you go through this in chapter 18 and 19, did you notice there's always a crowd wherever Jesus goes at this point? His face is set. He's going to Calvary. He's going to Jerusalem to die. But it's Passover week. And during Passover week, if you know anything about Israel, what happens during Passover week? All roads don't lead to Rome during Passover week. They all lead to Jerusalem. The roads are filled with literally hundreds of thousands. Tens and tens and hundreds of thousands of people. Sometimes they say there would be 400,000-600,000 people come in to a city of already over 100,000 just for Passover week. They would crowd in from everywhere. The highways and byways. They were all religious people. This is not a crowd of gamblers. This is not a crowd of people at Atlantic City. This is not a crowd of people going to the Super Bowl. This is the religious people. And as they would go along the way, they would talk about religious things. And the rabbis, it was the habit or the practice of rabbis in that day to teach their disciples as they would walk. Just like Jesus did. They would walk along and they would teach them about the Scriptures and they would teach them about the Bible. They would teach them about what's going to be happening here during Passover week. They would explain to them the story of Moses. And all these people, they're pilgrims going to Jerusalem. They would be worshiping. They say as they would go along, sometimes they would break out into singing the Psalms. So they're worshiping God. They're singing. They're hearing about the story of the Passover. They're the religious crowd. They're us. They're you and me. This is the church group. Okay? That's who's here. That's who's here. So this is the first heart. The problem is, the very things that they held up so dearly, their religion, and characterized them as religious people, it seems like caused them to have the wrong kind of heart. And it seems like their heart, the things that they were counting as important, ended up being barriers to those that were truly seeking God. When the blind man wanted to see Jesus, what did they say? Shh! Hush! Get away! Push him to the back! And Zacchaeus, do you think anybody wanted him to see Jesus? He might have been a big man in terms of money, but in that crowd, he was a very little man. He had to climb a sycamore tree to even get a glimpse of Jesus. The distressing thing to me as I read this is I found that I fear my own heart and our heart too many times is a lot like the people in this story. The very things that we work so hard at can become barriers to people who are lost. And I know you don't mean it that way, and I know I don't mean it that way, but it does happen. And I'm not sure what to do with all those things other than Jesus has to be the bridge, like I said earlier. Remember, I said all these are good things that we do. Godly family. These are all good things. I live them every day. But over here are the lost. But the problem is are the things we're doing making us so unapproachable that we are creating barriers to the lost? And the barriers are in our own heart are the ones I'm worried about. I'm not worried about the things we're doing. I think they're right. But I'm worried about the barriers in our heart. Sometimes you don't even see the barrier in your own heart. And you ever notice whether a person's approachable or not? You know what I'm talking about? If you ever walked up to somebody, you can tell right away, they don't want to talk to me. They have a barrier in their heart. I'm just wondering. I know sometimes it happens to me if it doesn't happen to you. And that's the thing that distressed me about this crowd is I'm afraid my heart and your heart, we might be a little bit too much like this crowd and we might be a little bit more like this crowd than we would like to be or than we would even like to think we might be. Again, they're doing a good thing. They're going to the Passover. They're doing the thing they're supposed to be doing. Could it be that our ducks are all in a row, but our heart is out of sync with Christ? Is that possible to happen? It can. I'm not saying you want it to be. I'm just saying it can happen. I know it happens to me. A heart for the lost. The second heart I'd like to look at in this account is the heart of Jesus Christ. And you know, in many ways, Jesus' heart was like the heart of the people in the crowd. He was going to the Passover as well. He was interested in spiritual things. He was teaching His disciples as He walked along the way. Jesus did not speak ill of the worshiping of God that the Jews were participating in. Jesus always went to the synagogue and the temple Himself. He wouldn't have argued with the people about those things. He was concerned about being holy. He told us to be holy, even as your Father in Heaven is holy. He was concerned about all those things. Vitally concerned. Don't ever think that He wasn't. He was. He was clear where He stood on sin. He was clear where He stood on holiness. But He did not allow those things to become a barrier in His own heart to those that were seeking, to those that were lost. Because He still had a heart for the lost. And I think if you're like me, you can see that very easily in Jesus' life. And you can even agree, okay, I want my heart to be that way too. Right? Can't your heart say that? My heart can say that. But here's where I'm just taking you through what went on in my heart this week. Maybe your heart isn't like mine, but I think it probably is because I think in many ways, the Bible says, He frameth our hearts alike. And maybe your heart's like mine. So I'm just sharing you what I was thinking about this week. And I got to that point where I thought, yes, okay, well, I do want my heart to be like Jesus. But you know, then a thought came to me. This is what came to me. But there's a difference in Jesus and me. It seems like when He had a heart for the lost, He was effective. There was fruit. Something happened. And then I think over my life, and amen, I praise God for every person I've led to Christ. I've had the blessed privilege of leading people to Christ and being there when they're born again and all of those things. And I'm not unthankful for those, but I still see in my heart that it isn't the way it should be for the lost. I'm still not satisfied. It's still not right. And so I look at Jesus, but then I think, well, He was effective. It worked. And then I thought, well, I do want to help the lost, but are there any obstacles in my heart? Are there any hurdles in my heart that I need to get over or get around or get through? And then I realized there's a couple of things that can be in my heart. Maybe they're in your heart as well. The first one has to do with this blind man here. It seems like... Let's look at it from Jesus' standpoint. When Jesus encountered him, does Jesus' questions ever bother you? Sometimes they bother me a little bit. I have to kind of think about it. It seems almost a little bit harsh. Here's this poor blind man. You know what Jesus says? What do you want, basically? What do you want? What do you want? When I encounter people like that, I'm more tempted to give them money or something. You know, the social gospel that we have today, I think it's a detriment to lost people because we get satisfied in meeting people's physical needs. And I don't want to be out of balance. I know we need to meet people's physical needs. I know there's a place for that in the gospel. But it seems like if we just let our heart go towards pity, we won't ask the questions we need to ask. If all Jesus did was pity him, he wouldn't have asked this question. But what he asked him is, what do you want? What is it that you want? What wilt thou have me do? And it was a penetrating question. Again, Jesus has the big advantage over you and I. He's totally Spirit-led. But Jesus promised us we could be Spirit-led too. And He asked the very question to get into the gut, the core of who this man was. And by his answer, Jesus perceived there was faith. And then He declared him as saved. Not just to have sight, but He says you're saved. Your faith has saved you. But if all Jesus did was pity him and start a program for blind people to give them money, I may be wrong, but I don't think this man would have ever gotten saved. So, again, when we see people that are lost, I'm not talking about pitying them. And I'm not against pity. I don't have time to balance everything. And I know we need to help people. I love what Cam is doing. The tsunami relief. All those things. You know I wanted you men to go. I'm just working through my own heart out loud here, so if you'll just kind of let me do it. Because I need to get my heart right to have a right concern for the lost. The bottom line is he may be blind and he may need a little help, but he's still lost. What am I going to do about him being lost? Is my heart right for his state of being lost? You know, I find it easier for my heart to get right about him being blind than about him being lost sometimes. And I know that's not right, but it's easier, at least for me sometimes, to go, oh no, he's blind. I should do something. But do I go, oh no, he's lost. I've got to talk to him. Not as often. Not as much. Do you see what I'm trying to say? And that's a hindrance to having a right heart for the lost. So even pity can be a hindrance if it's the wrong kind of pity. The other hurdle I have to get through or that I encountered in my own heart, and I'm just sharing here and hoping some of this touches your heart as well or touches a need in your life, has to do with Zacchaeus. Let's think about Zacchaeus for a moment. Zacchaeus was a sinner. Right? Not just because they said he was, but he had sold out to Rome. He was a cheat. He would take from the poor and line his own pockets to become rich. He would overcharge people on purpose. That was what he was supposed to do in that job and then keep the money. And the Jewish people considered him a thief. Considered that he was stealing money and in effect, he was. But worse than stealing it, he was doing it with the enemy that had captured the country. So he was also a traitor. But here's the part that I'm not sure what to do with. He was good at it. He was successful. He was winning. You know, remember in the Psalms when David said that when he thought about the wicked and all their money, his heart almost went after them? It was like, but God, how come it's working out for them? But no, no, no, I'm not going to think that way. But here's Zacchaeus. He's a sinner and it's working outwardly. Now, you and I know because we've seen into his heart through the Scriptures it wasn't working. But outwardly, it was working. And so, my problem that I discovered in my own heart is I'm prejudiced against lost people. Successful lost people. When I think of the gay rights activists and the child psychologists and the NEA and the New Age movement and the humanists who are taking over our educational system and passing laws in our country to outlawing the Bible being read and prayer being allowed, I don't like those people. I'm just being honest. I'm prejudiced because they're lost, but they're good at being lost. They're winning some outward things. And so it's hard for me to go up and talk to that kind of person because they're not very needy, frankly. You know, missions are easier because the kunkumba are very needy. But you know, the president of the NEA, he ain't needy outwardly. Now, in his heart, he is no different than Zacchaeus. Trust me, I know the difference. But I'm just saying, when you meet the people of this world, your congressmen, when you meet the feminist who is getting her bills passed in her brazen audacity, and she wins, usually these days, I'm prejudiced. I just go, oh, that's disgusting. I have a hard time. And I turn my heart away. And there becomes a barrier in my heart for the lost. And the bad thing for me is that then spills over into my heart for lost people in general. I have a tendency to then just go, well, they're lost. I catch myself saying those things. Well, you know, they've chosen their sin. Zacchaeus chose his sin too. On purpose. He didn't accidentally become a publican. I'm not defending Zacchaeus. He was a wicked sinner. He was a cheat, a thief. But that cheat and thief is in heaven because Jesus came to seek and save that which was lost. You know, often, we have a hard time loving people who are successful sinners, if I can say it that way. It's much easier to love a wretched, poor, miserable, needy sinner who's a mess and they know it. That's a lot easier, isn't it? To have a heart for that kind of lost person. But you know, it's hard to have a... I sometimes envy my missionaries, and I'm picking on Wes here this morning, but it's easier to love the Concuba people than the people in downtown Ephrata. Frankly. I mean, they come up to you. They're needy. They're lost and they know it. How do you love people who are successful at sinning and being lost and they don't know it? And don't care. Or don't seem to care. That's hard to have a heart for those kind of lost people. And I'm just sharing my heart. I'm just kind of going through this as I thought over 2005 this last year and thought about my heart and where it went and all the places it was this year. I just thought, I'm not happy with my heart. I think my heart needs a little rejuvenation for the lost. I mean, I have a heart for the lost, but I'm not satisfied that I have the right heart for the lost. So I don't know how to sell that, but we live in a land full of sinful people who seem good at what they are. Lost. But this is where we live. We don't all live in Africa. Now, as we look at the third heart, this may help you. It helped me. The third heart is illustrated in both Zacchaeus and this blind man. There are three. Remember, one city, two men, and three hearts. The heart of the crowd. The heart of Jesus. But the heart of these two men. I'm just combining it into one heart, if I may. There is something that both of these men had in common besides being sinners. What was that? Did you catch it? Desperation. Desperation. Now, the blind man, you would have said, well, of course, he's desperate. But what do you do with Zacchaeus? If there's any man that shouldn't be desperate, it should be him. He was probably one of the richest men in town. Could have eaten in all the best restaurants. Could have whatever. You fill in the blank. He could have had anything money could buy, as the world says. But what we can learn here this morning is their lives say loud and clear something that you and I too often forget. There are people in the world who do not know Jesus Christ who are lost and they know it deep, deep, deep somewhere in the gut of their bosom and they're actually desperate for help and they don't know what to do about it. Do you believe that? I forget that, but it's true. I was one of those people. I wasn't born again until I was 29. All of my friends would have said, my, look at this guy. He's on the fast track. Owns his own company. Just built his own house. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But deep inside, there was a restlessness, an unhappiness, a stirring that something is not right. And I didn't know what it was. I should have known better. But I didn't. But there was something off. Now, nobody would have known it as far as my outward friends. You know, they would have said, my, look at him. And they did. But it was there. It was there. I don't know how to explain it, but it was there. And God met me in that desperate seeking. With me, I feel like it was more God than me. I wish I had been more desperate. I would have gotten through earlier. I feel like I was not near desperate enough. But I thank God for what desperation I did have. I thank God that He's the God of Lot who had to drag him out of Sodom and Gomorrah to save him. Sometimes I think that's what God had to do with me. He had to hit me over the head to get my attention to my shame. But I'm glad He did it. And I'm glad for what stirrings were in my belly. But you know, I don't think I'm the only one out there like that. I think there are other people that we pass by, be they feminists, be they gay rights activists, be they town councilmen here in Ephrata or local wealthy businessmen. I don't know who they are. But you know they're here. They're here in this town. They're here in your neighborhood. The person sometimes you least likely think will get born again, i.e. Zacchaeus, is actually inside desperately lost. And they sort of know it. Now they wouldn't be able to use all the right words, biblical words. I couldn't when I got saved. I couldn't describe everything that was happening to me. But it was real. But those are the three hearts. And you know, because I see this third heart here, it helps my heart to get retuned the way it should be. As I look at Jesus' heart and realize He didn't allow those good things in His life, holiness, to become a barrier, it helps me to balance myself and say, yes, I want all those good things. I want holiness. I want a godly family. I want fellowship. I want to speak the things that become sound doctrine. But I also want to have a heart for the lost. But my problem is, once I have a heart for the lost, I don't want to give up too quickly because I want to remember the third heart. There are people who are like Zacchaeus who are desperate for the Gospel. They may not act like it. If you'd probably talked to Zacchaeus two days before Jesus came, you'd have said, this is the last guy that's ever going to have anything good spiritually happen to. And probably if you'd have met me two weeks before I got born again, you'd have said the same thing or worse about me than you'd say about Zacchaeus. I can't explain all those things. But I know it takes a measure of faith on your part in my heart to have a heart for the lost is what I am saying. Do you understand what I'm saying? You have to have a faith, not in them. I don't have faith in them because I wouldn't have had faith in me when I got born again. But my faith is God is stirring. God is working in the hearts of the lost. Not in all of them. I know the Bible. Few there be that find Him. I know that. I'm not saying that thousands and thousands are going to get saved here in Ephrata because you suddenly get a right heart for the lost. But you know what? If you don't get a right heart for the lost, it could be that you're going to miss some opportunities like Zacchaeus that God has for you. In fact, you will miss them. Because if your heart isn't right for the lost, you'll miss these opportunities. These divine appointments like it was for Zacchaeus. You'll miss them. Because your heart will put up such a barrier that those people whose heart is beginning to stir, they'll shove away. They'll shove away. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 2. We won't turn there. 13, 14, 15, and 16. He talks about our lives being a saver. Both unto Christ and unto this world. And in there he says that if your life is a saver of Christ, two things are going to happen. Do you remember what the two things were? To some, life. But to others, death. That's right. Your life, just like the life of Noah, can bring condemnation. Because people, if you really have the aroma of Christ, a heart for the lost is that aroma, they will either come across that and reject it and it will be death. Or they'll come across it and it will give them a little breath of hope, if I can say it that way. That aroma, that savor of Christ. The word savor there means aroma or odor or fragrance. Then, it may just be the final push they need to let that desperation come up full and they get saved. See, they're lost and they don't know they're lost. Another reason it's hard to have a heart for the lost is they're lost and they don't know they're lost. Does that ever frustrate you when you're talking to people? It's hard to have a heart for somebody who doesn't know their condition. You know, the blind man, he knew he was blind. But how do you have a heart for somebody that's lost but they don't know they're lost? Well, you have to have a heart like Jesus. You have to look beyond that facade, beyond that hard veneer, that mocking sneer, that fat wallet or whatever it is they have and look and see they're lost. You know the other way you can have a heart for the lost? You need to have a broken heart. You need to have a broken heart. Because, you know, a broken heart sees things spiritually that cannot be seen any other way. A broken heart can see things spiritually that no other heart can see. Because if you have a broken heart, you'll do something. You know what you'll do? You'll remember who you once were. You know, it's really good to remember who you once were. How many people here were born again after you were 18? 18 or older? Do you remember who you once were? Do you remember what you were like? Would you have wanted to save you? Would you have wanted to spend time talking to you? Probably not. You'd have said, forget that guy. Forget that girl. She's too hard-hearted. He's too proud. But you got born again. But you know, if you can have a broken heart and remember who you once were, it'll give you a heart for the lost. Because you'll realize, I got saved. Miracle of miracles. If it can happen to me, I know it can happen to somebody else. Because I shouldn't be standing here. You shouldn't be sitting here. But for the grace of God. Well, I'm not sure how to end. I just wanted to share this with you this morning. Some of the things God's been putting on my heart. But I believe that somehow, we need to allow God to continually give us a revival, as it were, in our own hearts, to have a heart for the lost. And to bridge this gap between all these good things. I'm not against all these good things. Doctrine, all these things. Holiness. Amen and double amen. But, when you combine it then with a heart for the lost, and you bring it together, then I think you have church. I think you have real church. So may God bless His words. I just want to give my blessing to you. Thank you for listening to me all this year. I appreciate your patience with me, your prayers and your kindness. May God richly bless you in these next three weeks. Thank you for this morning. Amen. Amen. Thank you, Brother Rick. I recently just thought of the same, concerning heaven and hell and how easy it is to forget that those places actually exist and people go there and when you open up the newspaper and see the obituary or in the shopping news or wherever, people who pass away to actually believe and understand that these people either went to heaven or hell. And it's just a good exercise for us here this morning. I thank you for that, Brother Rick. And I know you're doing it, some in preparation for spending three weeks in Africa. I'm sure of that. But may it be the same for all of us as he goes to Africa and we think of the same things that Brother Rick being there and also other brothers there. But may we also see the same thing in the people we come in contact with here in this life. Especially, I find it challenging for the religious scene in which we live in. People are either saved or lost. They'll either go to heaven or hell. Amen. Well, this morning, we have Brother Rick leaving for three weeks and Brother Wes is leaving for maybe two or three years. I'm not sure what his next furlough is going to be in light of the interruption that he had here, but that doesn't matter. They're going into service again there to go back and preach the Gospel to the Konkuma people. Brother Rick is going to make his way around to the various missions and visit both his sons and some of the other missionaries as well, I believe. So, we'd like to have a time of prayer this morning for them. I don't think we're going to ask them necessarily to come up. We have had to send off for Western Charity, but especially be mindful, I believe, in these prayers to thank God for the healing of Brother Wes' back. Such good progress that was made without surgery or without paralysis that could have happened. He was close to that, I believe, with injury to his spinal cord when he came home. Things were in bad shape. And to see him stand up here this morning and move about just as normal and thank you for the email that gave the update just recently on how even in the last two weeks things have progressed. So, may we dedicate these brothers before God, and not only today, but also in the coming weeks as Brother Wes adjusts again to his people and his schedule and Brother Rick, the first time he goes to Africa here, he has many interesting challenges before him. So, shall we stand together? We're going to ask some of you brothers to lead out. Lift your voice. And then I'll close in prayer. Just two or three of you give a specific and short prayer for these men and also such a charity. Shall we pray? Amen. Father, I also be the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. Who has given us all these things, Lord, that pertain unto life and godliness. And thank You for the great commission to go into all the world and preach the Gospel, the message of hope and life, redemption, repentance from sin to a people that don't know that message. Father, we see ever more of the rising generation in this country, in North America, that likewise don't have it either. Oh, what a weight that should come upon us. And yet with grace to bear it, to see the needs of humanity, I pray to You for these brothers, Lord. So send Thy You, O God. We want to accept that from You, that You are sending these men and You are going to use them to labor in the vineyard of God preaching the Gospel in the airplanes, Lord, airports, through securities, soldiers, other officials, and then finally to encourage our missionary brothers and sisters and then to preach the Gospel to the native Africans. I pray, God, bless Wes with continued healing. We thank You for healing his back. We thank You, Father, for bringing him through that great trial when the future of his ministry was on the line and we didn't know what all You would say or were saying. But here we are today in thanksgiving and blessing and honor to Thy most holy name to give the doctors wisdom and the healing powers of God to be effective upon our brother. Oh, Father, I just pray, watch over the church while Rick is gone too, that we may be at peace among ourselves, that we may labor in godliness in the Gospel here at home and wherever we go. And we pray, God, make us and keep us a missionary church. And I do pray, Father, that You watch over us that we would not soon let these things behind and be caught up in other things and forget why we're here and what the reason is that You have saved us for and not taken us to heaven yet. That we're here to be a testimony and a witness of Thy great work and Thy great salvation. We pray in Jesus' name, Amen. You may be seated. God bless all of you with gracious traveling mercies.