Luke 19:1 And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho.
- Rom 8:14. “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.”
- God led Jesus through Jericho to the destination which God was revealing to Him.
- What is your source of motion? What is leading you, directing you, moving you, advising you? Holy Spirit?
- Can God tell you to go to the office on time, but not to the church on time? Or
- Would He tell you to be faithful to your employer and go to work every day of the week and not to come to His service(s) in the cool of the day or weekends?
- God gave you 168 hours in a week, only asks you to return at least 5-6hrs i.e. Tuesday (Digging Deep – 1hr), Thursday (Faith Clinic – 1hr) and Sunday (Service – 3-4hrs), yet, very difficult, how much more to ask from you the tithe of the time i.e. 16hrs : 8mins. Fear God!!!!!
Luke 19:2 And, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich
- This is a rich man, who still ran after Jesus
- When the Bible says someone is rich, just know that indeed such a fellow is rich. For us, what have we got that we wait for Jesus to send His ministers to run after us to call us and beg us to attend services?
- To be rich is good, but don’t forget your source.
- Do not forget your source like a meander around a river
Luke 19:3 And he sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature
- In Matt 7:7, we are told to seek and we shall find. Did he find Jesus? Please, read on…
- God’s Word can or will come to pass in our daily lives only if we seek Him consciously
- Matt 6:33 “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
Luke 19:4 And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycomore tree to see him: for he was to pass that way.
- This meant that he unknowingly behaved like an eagle and flew upward to see God clearly. What a sacrifice!!!
- This also meant that he went to stay at a place before Jesus could get there and went extra mile to even climb up on a tree just for Jesus. A man and not a boy for that matter.
- How many of us leave our homes to get to the place of service or worship before the service time starts?
- We all know that everything has its reward, for this, it’s in verse (Luke 19:5)
- Do you know that your prayers before the service begins in the presence of God can deliver to you your expectation and at this time (service period), you will be rendering to God thanksgiving, while others are just beginning to ask God for things.
- It is all about a life of dedication to God, which God REALLY expects from us.
Luke 19:5 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.
- Zacchaeus found Jesus. Not only did he find Jesus, Jesus found him first, Jesus gave him a surprise!! Rev 3:20 “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”
- Do you know that out of the multitude, he sought God with his whole heart?
- Proverbs 8:17 “I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.”
- Jeremiah 29:13 “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”
- One would say he did not come early, but later took the first position
o Don’t think of coming late to the church, if you do, little or nothing awaits you because
o Psalm 22:3 “But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.”
o You are not there to praise God, rushed in during praise period and before you say, Father, thank you for this morning, praise period has stopped and closing worship has started and while you are yet cleaning your face for sweat, the worship is ended. Will God be happy with you?
- He was so happy to see Jesus and he got what he had sown as Jesus was happy to stay with Him! V5
Luke 19:6 And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully.
- Jesus said, today salvation has come into this house
- John 1:12 “But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name:”
- I don’t know, is there any of you reading this right away that you grew up in a Christian home and you never for once said to Jesus, come into my life and be my Lord and Personal Saviour and so has not been saved. Check your life right now, and if you have not, please read these set of prayers and confessing them, saying…
LORD JESUS, I (YOUR NAMES), I AM A SINNER BECAUSE IT IS WRITTEN IN (Psalm 51:5) THAT IT IS IN SIN DID MY MOTHER CONCEIVE ME. PLEASE, FORGIVE ME OF ALL MY SINS.
I ACCEPT YOU TODAY AS MY LORD AND PERSONAL SAVIOUR. COME INTO MY LIFE AND USE YOUR BLOOD THAT YOU SHED ON THE CROSS OF CALVARY TO CLEANSE ME FROM ALL OF MY SINS.
JESUS, BE THE LORD OF MY LIFE AND HELP ME TO LIVE A SANCTIFIED LIFE IN YOU AND HAVE MY NAME WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF LIFE. IN JESUS NAME, AMEN
Luke 19:7 And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner.
- Remember the disciples of Jesus were accused on this as well in (Luke 5:30) “But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners?”
- When God blesses the faithful, some other people around may begin to say, look at his age, he just entered got the job, he’s just this, he’s just that….forgetting that the Bible says a man shall reap whatsoever he sows.
- If you sow prayers, holiness, good virtues and cheerfully give, you will reap fruitfulness roundabout.
- Remember, God is not a respecter of persons (Acts 10:34)
- Know this, you cannot decide for God on what to do
- Hear what God says below:
- Jeremiah 7:8-11 “(8) Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit. (9) Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not; (10) And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations? (11) Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the LORD.
- In actual fact, if we do what is right and just, God will bless us.
Luke 19:8 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.
- What is your testimony? Can any of these be said to be true in your life? Have you taken anything that has not been given to you?
- Have you returned any of such?
Luke 19:9 And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham.
- Zacchaeus worked for his salvation
- He ran to service, did extra thing by climbing up to a tree in the presence of God to attract God’s attention, etc.
- What extra thing have you done for God?
- What areas of operations or activities in the church of God can you boast that you have been useful to God and not to yourself?
- Did you see here that it was not Zacchaeus that even made the first step to ask for God’s salvation, Jesus Himself proposed salvation and stamped it on him and He defended His action with (Luke 19:10) that He actually came to seek and save that which was lost.
- Are you still being arrogant and thinking that you were never lost? Please, think deeply, because in (1Cor 10:12) “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.”
- Through arrogance, we pose to church at the time we like, how we like, but remember, God takes notes.
Luke 19:10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
- For some of us here, we don’t think we were once lost, but do you know that if only when you raise your hands in the crowd that you would be noticed and saved.
- Signify to God that you need help and He will help you
(Let me tell you a short story: A friend called Taiwo and two other guys and I went for a swimming treat at Federal Palace Hotel, Lagos, Nigeria. Before leaving home, he was just shouting, please; let us hurry to the pool because he wanted to swim, etc. unknowingly to us that he could NOT swim AT ALL. He washed at the tap and then went back to have a big leap into also the middle of the pool from the side. The rest of us just went and sat down and said to ourselves that when he’s tired, we would come out. Just suddenly, someone called our attention to him (because we came together) in the pool that he appeared not to know how to swim, we just laughed the information off and said that he was simply joking, until another person said “look, look, I don’t this this person is joking”. Truly, when I saw him, he went down to the bottom of the pool to touch the floor with his feet to be able to spring up very well for attention with the wave of the hands towards him signifying “come and help”. It was then that I jumped in and saved him, though, by God’s mercy”.)
- Don’t relent on your efforts of “I can do it and all will be well”. Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Tell God to help, save and deliver you and He will.
God Bless You
