Living for God

I'd like you to turn with me to the Gospel of Luke chapter 19. Luke chapter 19 and we'll start reading at verse number one. Luke 19 verse 1 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 press because he was little of stature.

Verse 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. Verse 9 and Jesus said unto him this day is salvation come to this house for as much as he also is a son of Abraham for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost and as they heard these things he added and spake a parable because he was nigh to Jerusalem and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear. He said therefore a certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return and he called his ten servants and delivered them ten pounds and said unto them occupy till I come but the citizens hated him and sent a message after him saying we will not have this man to reign over us and he came to pass that when he was returned having received the kingdom then he commanded these servants to be called unto him to whom he had given the money that he might know how much every man had gained by trading.

Then came the first saying Lord thy pound hath gained ten pounds and he said unto him well good good servant because thou has been faithful in a very little thou has have thou authority over ten cities and the second came saying Lord thy pound hath gained five pounds and he said likewise to him be thou over five cities and another came saying Lord behold here is thy pound which have kept laid up in a napkin for I feared thee and so on now just for sake of time verse 24 and he said unto them that stood by take from him the pound and give it to him that has ten pounds and they said unto him Lord he has ten pounds for I say unto you that unto everyone which hath shall be given and from him that hath not even that he has shall be taken away from him but those mine enemies which would not that I should reign over them bring hither and slay them before me now farther down the chapter verse 32 says and they that were sent went their way and found even as he had said unto them and as they were loosing the colt the owners thereof said unto him why loose ye the colt and they say the Lord hath need of him and they brought him to Jesus and they cast their garments upon the colt and they said Jesus thereon verse 38 saying blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord peace in heaven and glory in the highest now that's all we need to read and we know that God will bless the reading of his word I was reading this chapter recently in my regular reading and I noticed something I hadn't noticed before of course that happens quite often when you read the Scriptures what I noticed was that it started off with a kingdom and that man Zacchaeus was working for the enemy's kingdom for the Emperor of Rome and then I noticed when we come to the end the Lord Jesus is riding into Jerusalem and as he's riding into Jerusalem they thought the kingdom is coming he's going into Jerusalem now and he's going to set up a kingdom and he's going to reign and we're going to be the head of the nations and so on and they thought that was wonderful but the Lord said wait a minute there's a little time period that comes in between not going to reign right away but the fact that they saved Zacchaeus it would seem to me that must have something to do with the fact that they thought the kingdom was coming here was a man it was an enemy but he had a desire to see Jesus who he was and he went and he climbed a sycamore tree a man asked me one time years ago why he climbed a sycamore tree sometimes you think you know the answer and I thought well must have been an easy one to climb with a lot of branches and so on but well he said you know it says in the days of Solomon there were sycamore trees in abundance there were sycamore trees all over the place and here's a person had a desire to meet the Lord Jesus and I thought in a way you know that's just like you and me there came a time in our lives for those of us who are saved when we wanted to see the Lord Jesus we knew about him we had learned about him from we were children likely most of us and the time came when we saw our need and we wanted to know more about the Lord Jesus and that was true of this man the case he was an enemy of the Lord's people really at least working for the enemy and we were the enemies of God ourselves but yet the Lord had a desire that we might have salvation and I've often wondered why the Lord ever choose me to be saved I'm not talking about the truth of election I'm just talking about the fact that God had a heart to see me just as he had Zacchaeus Zacchaeus come down what a surprise it must have been for that little man wanted to see the Lord but the Lord said I want to see him and the Lord said come down and he came down and you remember where he met the Lord we love to say this when we're preaching the gospel he met the Lord at the foot of the tree and that's where we met the Lord at the foot of the tree and it's marvelous isn't it we should appreciate it more and more the older we get that God saved us and the Lord Jesus he was going that way last chance likely for Zacchaeus and the Lord saw him and he said come down and he forgave him his sins and Zacchaeus was really convicted he said if I've taken anything falsely I'm willing to pay it back I must have had a tremendous effect on the those who were with the Lord because they said you know the kingdom's coming and the kingdom is coming and we're looking forward not only to the rapture but to the time when the Lord will have his rightful place and that would come from a heart that's yearning to see the Lord and from a heart that has an appreciation of the fact that the Lord saved them I wonder do we appreciate it enough I often pray and say Lord make me more thankful we're prone to forget we take things so easy and we forget all the agonies of the cross and what inspired or transpired rather so the Lord would save us so then they said you know the I shouldn't omit verse 10 or mr. Christofferson will not be very kind to me because God used that verse in his salvation it's wonderful how God uses and I I've never met a person called Zacchaeus have you well maybe I'm not so truthful I met a man called Zacchaeo over in Zambia and I'm sure it was really Zacchaeus a little black man and you know I'll tell you he came to the house where I was staying and he said we're glad you have come and he said we're praying that God will make you a blessing to us I tell you can I felt like coming down just like Zacchaeus it humbled you and and there's no electricity but they had a tape recorder a battery recorder and he recorded the messages and he took them all around these little African villages and he played them and I thought imagine of course he interpreted them too maybe he made them better but hope he did anyhow and that others would enjoy it it kind of humbled you the thing of how God would use that little man he rode a bike no cars for those men they rode a bicycle and when he couldn't ride through any the bush and a bicycle he just left it there and went on through reaching out others with the gospel well here he said they said this is marvelous so this is a man that's working for a Roman now he's been saved and and the kingdoms going to be set up we're waiting for the kingdom when we are to for that when the Lord will have his rightful place but then the Lord said no I want to tell you a little story and he said there was a certain nobleman verse number 12 right now and he went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom you'll notice there are bondmen in this story that should represent you and represent myself there are citizens in this parable they would represent the nation of Israel and then later on he seems to bring the both together and when he talks about coming in in judgment he speaks about mine enemies that would be Jew or Gentile but he said you know this no man he's gone into a far country and I was thinking and I want you to think not so much of where he has gone but it was a far country that he was going to it must have been a far journey down into this country into this world I'm not just talking about the time we know that on the Day of Atonement we heard of that this morning the the Lord Jesus wasn't like Aaron who came from his tent and went to the labor and the altar and so on the Lord Jesus came from the sanctuary imagine coming from the glories of heaven I want you to think of this regarding your salvation regarding my salvation he came from the glories of heaven didn't need to go to the labor absolutely pure but he went to the altar shed his precious blood and I thought the far country the journey brought him right to Bethlehem where he was found as a babe in a manger the psalmist had said O Lord my God thou art very great clothed or crowned with glory and honor talked about him walking on the wings of the wind making the clouds his chariot and he came down born as a little babe in Bethlehem and trace his path I'm not going to trace it all for you I will be here for quite a while but I don't want to do that but but trace this path perfect and perfection we've heard of the heavens being opened the voice saying this is my beloved son and whom I am well pleased think of the day the heavens were closed and the voice was my God my God why hast thou forsaken me we need to have our hearts touched you see because we're living in this interim period and the Lord says I've got something for you to do that's what I want to try and get at really I've got something for you to do we're not just sitting twiddling our thumbs and waiting for the the Lord to come his old brother in Arizona 105 and he wasn't quite with it but when there's a hundred and three I said to him what do you do all day oh he said I twiddle my thumbs and he says when I get tired I twiddle them in the other way but God didn't save us to sit and twiddle our thumbs and that's why he's telling us here he's setting these people up the idea is he's setting them up in business he said you're going to go into business for me while I'm away and there were ten of them and he said I'm going to give you a pound eats it doesn't matter how much the pound was worth or anything like that but he gave him the money to set up a little business now you're self-employed I know we all work together and so on but you're preaching brother you know the government looks on us as self-employed we're employed by the Lord but that's the way they look at it but we have our own little business as it were and I've got to make profit and I'm not talking about dollars and cents I'm talking about things for God well you see God has given everyone something you could look at it as gifts there are so many gifts everybody has a gift he's given us some kind of an ability he doesn't want us to be just sitting doing nothing but he said he'll be helping one another and and how did Paul mentioned that Timothy it gave me deposit he gave him something and he said God was able to preserve it but it was given to him and God has given us all something to to work with wonder what he's given you I wonder what he's really given me am I using it for his honor and for his glory I don't know if you noticed but there were ten men but when it comes to the end he only mentions three I wonder why that is but anyhow there's one man traded and he lived a life that was pleasing to God and a helpful life he was a channel as we've been singing in our hymn not just to the unsaved but to the saved and and when I say a channel I know she ever heard of Martin Lloyd-Jones dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones wasn't among us by any means but he wrote a book preachers and preaching and you know what he said I thought it was very interesting he said a preacher should not just be a channel we don't study we've been reminded that we don't study just to get something for other people although we do that but he said a preacher should be a well and from what we have learned we should be able to draw out of it even as we preach so we need to get into the Word of God to know what God's will is for us that's number one and we need to realize that we're all in business and we trading are we multiplying what God has given us are we reaching out to others for sisters can help where brethren can't help and they can be a tremendous example we were just talking in some time recently about an assembly so-called with only three brethren no sisters all right I knew an assembly only had one sister and I said you know what this wouldn't be an assembly of you weren't here because the sisters teach the angels things that the brethren couldn't teach them by the long hair and the hair covering head covering so it's a they have their part and they can help one another and they can teach at home we've been hearing about women's conferences it's contrary to the Word of God should be an elder at every meeting shouldn't there but but they take things into their own hands and the assemblies will never prosper and you don't even have to prove it as our brother I think this is what he said or the gist of what he said from the Bible just go back and look at the countries that have practiced this and where it has led sad need to just go be simple enough to go according to the Word of God and there's going to be a reward and this person that really traded and multiplied what God had given him and really worked for God and did a good work why he said when the time of raining comes you're going to be over ten cities there's another one and he said you had five pounds and you made your point into five pounds and and you're going to be over five cities and the other one said well he said you know I still have my pound I didn't lose it suppose he tried to justify himself he hit it in a rag and you likely know that this is the word for a sweat rank that the bond servant worn his girdle now this boy didn't have any sweat he didn't have any need he wasn't working didn't get to get worked up we need to get worked up in the things of God if we don't we're going to die out and whether it's reaching out in the gospel or personal conversation God maybe has given you that ability and and if you put it into practice you'll you'll get experience and I know that too I was quite timid one after I was saved but I tell you you just learn God God will help you don't be afraid all he can do is kill you and if I kill you you'd be home in heaven you'd be better off so how about we need to have a little courage and I know we all fail at times but don't give up keep at it this man lost the reward what about the other seven that aren't mentioned I don't know but it might suggest they just didn't have much any interest at all in the things of God they just drifted along are you really in assembly fellowship sometimes they would say maybe joking that how many are in fellowships here oh but half them how many are really in fellows are really in fellowship in the assembly we're really into it I have told this often but it comes back and I'm getting older too so I can do these things and yeah you can attribute it to old age or something but anyhow mr. McGee Charlie McGee you never forget him he went to assembly my folks went to over in Ireland a large assembly and we're walking home after the breaking of bread and Charlie kind of runs up and catches up with my dad and I was a little boy walking beside my dad and my dad looked at Charlie and he said well Charlie were you in the meeting this morning he says sure you saw me I was in a regular seat he said I didn't ask you if you were at the meeting I asked you if you were in it how often are we not really in it I love the assembly don't you love it because the Lord's there and and and again if I'm like Zacchaeus and appreciate salvation that's what gives me the motivation to to work so we need to day by day to remember our salvation the day or the night why what a wonderful thing it was I never forget and I know people and they forget everything else Larry Perkins grandmother was saved one time attending meetings down in Windsor really Essex Ontario later on she was in an old folks home should not only say but she was baptized it was 80 years of age she went to Stark Road Conference she said it's the best birthday party I ever had she went on for God and I'm talking to her at the war machine home up there in Ontario and she started talking about how she was how God saved her and I tell you that's wonderful you go to some of these places and try to cheer people up and they cheer you up and after she told me about how she was saved she forgot all about who I was and she gave me an elbow she says isn't that Bill Lavery really something I said he sure is should have said he's something else maybe but I'll tell you I don't she could forget me it wouldn't be important but you never forgot the Lord who saved her what a wonderful thing if we could just live in the joy of our salvation it would change our lives we settled down we all do and we just kind of drift along and the kids say today we go with the flow that's not what the Lord wants us to do he said I've set you up in business you run this business to make a profit we would say today you run this business and use what I've given you whether it's a gift or ability or or whatever women can bake visit those that can't get out it's not only women even mr. Surgeon or can bake and I'll tell you he bakes they're they're real loaves like door stops I think he gives some to the Saints at Mary and they choked them all but anyhow it says it's a good way that he has of reaching out to others I'm not going to do it you would not rather be shot than poisoned I'm sure but there's something we can all do just you find out what what what am I happy and doing and can I do it may not be something big but it's just as important so remember the Lord has put you in business and there's a reward when the motivation is correct and when is it going to come and what's going to happen we're going to have a place in the kingdom now wonderful that's what we're coming here although the Lord the ones that shouted for his exaltation are the ones that brought him down but nevertheless the kingdom is coming and the Lord's going to come back Hosanna and the highest what a wonderful day that's going to be and you know what one of the great wonders is I'm going to be there and you're going to be there and I tell you then we'll be able to think it's worth it all just to be with him I heard about the mighty men some of them did great exploits some of them didn't seem to do much they're just their names are given what made the mighty they were with the Lord in his rejection they were they would do anything for him even though there's not a lot recorded when they came to him they came to the cave of a dolom were distressed and in debt and discontent that's the way we were with the world and conditions around us how did he ever become mighty men they learned from David how could they say a line Oh David someone that would teach him how to do that so we spend time in his presence and we use what God what little ability or whatever it is that God has given us but we use it for his glory and when the time comes it won't be just forgotten like those seven or like the one that hit it up and and thought the Lord was a nastier man but it'll be like those that trade for him work for him work for the night is coming so may the Lord bless his word to us and stir up our souls for his name's sake