Dennis Gillett – Bible Men The Way They Were – Class 5 – Zaccheus The Poor, Rich Man

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My brothers and sisters in
Christ, we’re ready to begin our

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first class.
We will now call upon our

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brother Dennis Gallop to deliver
the 5th class in his series on.

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Bible men the way they were
entitled.

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Zacchaeus the poor rich man to
help introduce our brother

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Dennis’s spots this morning.
He has asked that we read from

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Luke Chapter 19.
Good morning everyone.

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You may be wondering why
Zacchaeus has been included in

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this list of Bible men.
Because I mean only 10 verses,

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10 verses tells the whole story
of this little known man.

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Now why is the case of this
little known man then so

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interesting?
Well, because it tells us.

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Of the recovery of a man from a
life of wilderness to a life of

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God.
And surely no man who has had

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any experience of the forces
which arranged against the

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disciples of Christ can ignore
the implications of this story.

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It has to do with a man who
triumphed over his hindrances.

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And which of us can honestly say
that we can afford lightly to

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pass over such an example?
Surely, by the very nature of

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our own lives, we are compelled
to be interested.

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Light art.
Life, after all, is a a varied

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trial that are temptations
within, and there are

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temptations without.
That are days of victory and

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their days of defeat.
Men are not born Saints in the

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generic sense.
They struggle to say, mortifying

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their members, fighting the good
fight of faith.

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Sometimes they fall back.
Sometimes they only just hold

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their ground.
Sometimes they push forward.

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Disciples know about weights.
They know about hindrances.

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Just occasionally they live
above the snow line.

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But.
Mostly they live in the valley,

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and their experiences are, as I
say, varied.

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Winning New Hope out of failure,
gaining strength out of the

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realization of their weakness,
resting victory out of defeat.

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Sometimes men are greatest,
sometimes in the hour of defeat

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now.
The account of that Zacchaeus,

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therefore, is interesting for
people such as I have described,

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and that’s why we’ve included
Zacchaeus in the list, A poor

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rich man.
The first thing we need to

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notice, then, is a sentence in
the 19th chapter of Luke.

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It’s in verse 10.
Luke 19, verse 10 For the son of

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Man is come to seek and to say
that which was lost.

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Now you could say that the world
is lost, but in this case it

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seems that the references to a
special class of people, people

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who are lost in a particular
sense, lost like sheep, are

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lost.
Sometimes that is straying from

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the fold and being scattered in
the wilderness.

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Now, why do I say that a
particular class of people?

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Well, because of the context in
which the words were spoken, and

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in particular that little
conjunction which introduces the

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words that we’ve just recalled.
The Son of Man is Tom, so you

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can say that which is lost now.
Notice the little conjunction

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that introduces that sentence.
It says for for the son of Man

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has come to seek him to say that
which was lost.

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The word for is used as a means
of introducing an explanation of

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a proof of the things which have
just gone before now.

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Remember what had gone before,
That is before verse 10.

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The narrative which tells us of
a man who was lost in a peculiar

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sense, and the recovery of that
man from a life of worldliness,

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as I said, to a life of God.
This shows us what redemption

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can sometimes mean to certain
people.

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Because Jesus said salvation has
this day come to this house and

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please God.
That may be true of every house.

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Where the Saint Sergeant and
where they assemble.

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But observe then that salvation
comes to some men in unusual

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ways because they are lost in a
special sense.

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If I could just illustrate what
I mean by being lost in a

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special sense, some men are lost
because of their own passion, as

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Balaam was by his.
Love of gold, as Saul was by his

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pride, or as Heyman was by his
envy, or as Judas was by his

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secret dishonesty.
This means that some men are

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lost because of subjective
forces within themselves, lost

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because of the nature of their
own character.

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That is to say, lost because of
internal causes.

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Some men are like that, but it’s
not always the case.

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Some men are lost because of
outward circumstances which,

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humanly speaking, make escape
impossible, mastered and

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corrupted by forces external to
themselves, and which somehow

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cannot be removed or evaded.
Now you see, the man we read

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about in Luke 19 today was in
this category, Zacchaeus.

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Zacchaeus was a man who was lost
because of external forces from

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which, humanly speaking, there
was no escape.

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That is to say, Zacchaeus was a
publican and more the chief of

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the publicans.
And you see, a publican’s

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profession exposed him to
temptation and to the forces of

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evil and to corruption in three
ways.

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I’m going to ask you to think
with me of those three ways in

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which Zacchaeus was exposed to
the forces of damnation, one in

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the way of opportunity.
You see, the public was a

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gatherer of Roman taxes from the
Jews, as you know.

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But not in the way in which our
England revenue officials

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collect taxes today.
Not in that way.

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The publicans paid the Roman
government a rent for the

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privilege of collecting the
taxes.

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They paid the Roman government a
lump sum, and then they

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themselves, as it were,
collected the taxes.

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For themselves they paid a rent
for the privilege of collecting

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the taxes, and and they bought
through that rent the right to

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take for themselves whatever
taxes they could ring and rest

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from the poor taxpayer.
There was consequently A

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temptation to overcharge and to
oppress.

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Blackmail was sometimes used to
extort tax from the victim of

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this vicious system, and in
consequence the very nature of

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the work made Republicans to be
hard men and dishonest, and men

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corrupted and men degraded.
They were the very nature of

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their work.
The avarice of it made them to

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be men without feeling, without
sympathy, and without honour.

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So that in that way, first of
all the publican was exposed to

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the forces of corruption, and
then secondly, another aspect of

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their temptation was to live
satisfied with the low morality

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which was torment amongst
publicans.

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In a sense, I suppose, every
profession has its conventional

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standard of what is right and
what is wrong.

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We know this, I expect from
their own experience.

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Let me give you an example to
the kind of truth which is often

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they must be safe, mustn’t say
often, perhaps, but the kind of

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truth which is sometimes
recognized amongst lawyers seems

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to be to plain men falsehood.
Or in the armed forces, That

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which is reckoned as reasonable
to us seems sometimes to be

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unfair and twisty.
Or business.

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Business has its special kind of
honesty, if that’s the right

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word.
Which to plain men seems to be

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fraud.
Now, by these examples I mean

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there is a kind of conventional
standard of that which is right

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and wrong.
And in all these cases,

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therefore, the temptation is to
be content with the standard of

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one’s own profession or or or
society.

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Indeed, that may be the
difference between a worldly man

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and a man of God.
And a worldly man accepts the

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standards of his own age and
lives below them, or certainly

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no higher than, whereas a man of
God lives above the standards of

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his own age.
But in the case of these

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publicans you see in the way of
goodness, well, very little

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would count as a great deal.
That perhaps, which would be

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utterly shameful to a fallacy,
would be reckoned as strict

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morality amongst the publicans.
So that was the 2nd way, the

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temptation to live satisfied
with the low morality which was

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common amongst the publicans,
and then the 3rd way in which

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they were exposed to corruption
and temptation.

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They made no profession of
goodness, and therefore they had

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no character to support.
See, when a man has a reputation

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to live up to, it is a spur to
keep him up to scratch.

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Indeed, it’s the only thing that
sometimes keeps people on the

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right way.
Their reputation, if they’ve got

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a reputation they’re so anxious
to.

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Live up to it that it keeps them
straight.

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But when a man has no
reputation, when he has no

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character to support, gradually
he becomes degraded.

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I mean, his fellows regard him
as bad.

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They say he is bad, and so bad
he becomes in a way.

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To stigmatize a man could very
well be to ruin him.

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To take away a man’s character
is often to take away the one

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thing that.
That keeps him good.

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When a man has lost his self
respect, when he’s no respect

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for himself, even sin becomes
much easier.

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A man who you.
You can see this a man who is

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near the end of his tether
financially, for example.

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Think of that.
A man who’s near the end of his

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tether financially and knows it.
You will discover that he will

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indulge at the last in some
extra, extra, extra extravagance

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in the spirit.
But it doesn’t matter.

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No, the great bankruptcy is
here.

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It doesn’t matter if a man is or
Seal feels himself to be

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hopelessly bad.
He will plunge more deeply into

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dark sin.
This is human nature.

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You can test it.
Let anybody.

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And you might not be able to
enter into this experience, I

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realize that.
But let let any man out of a

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number of transgressions,
compare the 1st and the last,

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and and this will be shown to be
true with the first, with the

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first transgression of a
particular failure, shall we

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say.
There is a an utter should that

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it could happen.
There is a feeling of horror.

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There is a violent struggle, a
feeling of impossibility.

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That’s the first.
With the second, there is a a

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feeling of impossibility.
There is a a feeling of

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revulsion, but it’s not so
strong as the first.

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With the next, the feelings are
there, but less strong.

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With the next, they are milder,
much milder.

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With the last, the job is done
almost unconsciously, without

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conscience, without remorse,
without turning a hair.

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That’s the measurement.
It’s a picture of a man who has

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lost self respect, a man with no
character at last to believe in,

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nor to support.
In short, a publican.

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Well, that’s an assessment of
this man’s life.

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These are the forces which
compassed him about, that made

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him to be lost by circumstances
which humanly possible, provided

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no escape.
And the passage in Luke 19 is

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telling us that Christ came.
To save such as this, the Son of

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Man has come to seek and to say
that which was lost in this

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peculiar sense to deliver them
from this present evil world.

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And the man we see Christ
delivering is Zacchaeus.

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Now let’s notice how the
deliverance was accomplished

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when Jesus came to Jericho.
He came as a rabbi, that is, as

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a teacher, as a man of religion.
Without them knowing it, the

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Redeemer came to Jedica.
Now it could well be that

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Zacchaeus has heard had heard
about this rabbi.

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It could well be that he heard
that this one was able to shed

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peace upon restless spirits.
He was able to revive weakened

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consciences.
He was able to enlighten and and

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and enforce stifled wheels.
But there was one hindrance.

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There was one difficulty.
Zacchaeus was a little man.

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Is he is.
The Bible says he was.

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He was small of stature, and a
great a great crowd surrounded

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the rabbi.
Therefore it says, he ran and

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climbed into a Sycamore tree.
Now we ought to be thinking

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that.
Carefully about this because I

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do not think it was an act of
mere curiosity.

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That is to say, climbing the
tree was an act of faith.

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It was an act of religion.
This was man’s part in the great

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salvation.
You can see that Zacchaeus was

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in earnest.
He was prepared to take steps to

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overcome the difficulties which
seemed to prevent him from

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seeing the Redeemer.
He was in earnest.

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He had a peculiar difficulty
being short of stature.

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He invented a peculiar means of
getting over it.

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He climbed a tree.
Now that was his part.

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Let’s notice God’s part.
God’s part is expressed in these

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00:18:31,880 –> 00:18:32,960
words.
Zacchaeus.

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00:18:33,480 –> 00:18:37,680
Make haste and come down.
For today I must abide at thy

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00:18:37,680 –> 00:18:40,280
house.
It’s interesting in a way.

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00:18:40,280 –> 00:18:45,760
That man’s part was climbing up
the tree.

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00:18:46,840 –> 00:18:49,560
God’s part was getting Zacchaeus
to come down.

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00:18:51,640 –> 00:18:56,320
But notice two things in God’s
part, invitation and sympathy.

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00:18:58,080 –> 00:19:01,600
You might think as you read
those verses that Zacchaeus was

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00:19:01,600 –> 00:19:04,560
seeking Jesus.
He is running.

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00:19:04,600 –> 00:19:06,040
He is looking.
He is running.

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00:19:06,040 –> 00:19:08,600
He is climbing up the tree.
You might think that he was

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00:19:08,600 –> 00:19:13,560
seeking Jesus, but surely it’s
more true to say that Jesus was

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00:19:13,560 –> 00:19:18,720
seeking him because for whatever
reason that Jesus come to

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00:19:18,720 –> 00:19:20,560
Jericho.
But to seek and to say that

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00:19:20,560 –> 00:19:24,280
which was lost.
You see, for long years perhaps

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00:19:24,280 –> 00:19:27,880
this man had lived in Jericho,
this man Zacchaeus, and in a

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00:19:27,880 –> 00:19:32,200
difficult situation and in a bad
profession.

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00:19:32,840 –> 00:19:35,640
Having only perhaps a dim
consciousness of God and his

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00:19:35,640 –> 00:19:41,400
service and his purpose.
And then one day the Redeemer is

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00:19:41,400 –> 00:19:46,200
born into the world, comes to
Nazareth and to the synagogue,

238
00:19:46,200 –> 00:19:50,960
and then appears in Judea, and
then eventually comes to Jericho

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00:19:51,720 –> 00:19:58,440
Zacchaeus’s town, and passes
down Zacchaeus’s street and

240
00:19:58,440 –> 00:20:03,120
right by Zacchaeus’s house.
And right up to Zacchaeus

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00:20:03,120 –> 00:20:07,240
himself.
Now I put it to you, What is

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00:20:07,240 –> 00:20:09,360
that in God’s name?
What is that?

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00:20:09,360 –> 00:20:14,200
But seeking the Father seeketh
such to worship.

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00:20:15,640 –> 00:20:21,200
And one word was an invitation,
One word, Zacchaeus.

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00:20:21,720 –> 00:20:27,160
That was the word Zacchaeus.
The son of man has come to seek

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00:20:27,160 –> 00:20:33,000
him to say that which is last.
Zacchaeus Behold, I stand at the

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00:20:33,000 –> 00:20:35,240
door and knock.
If any man hear my voice and

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00:20:35,240 –> 00:20:37,960
open the door, I will come into
him and shop with him, and he

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00:20:37,960 –> 00:20:40,640
with me.
Self invitation.

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00:20:43,160 –> 00:20:48,000
That’s what we mean by grace in
the matter of our salvation.

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00:20:48,000 –> 00:20:51,680
God is first.
In the matter of our redemption.

252
00:20:51,680 –> 00:20:57,920
He has taken the initiative and
he comes to men self invited,

253
00:20:57,920 –> 00:21:00,800
and names them by name and gives
them a sense of personal

254
00:21:00,800 –> 00:21:03,240
recognition.
And the blessing is on their

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00:21:03,240 –> 00:21:10,200
house.
I wonder how long it was, how

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00:21:10,200 –> 00:21:14,800
many years it was that anybody
had ever said Zacchaeus in that

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00:21:14,800 –> 00:21:21,040
tone.
Zacchaeus, This day is

258
00:21:21,040 –> 00:21:23,320
salvation.
Come to this house for as much

259
00:21:23,320 –> 00:21:29,440
as he also is a son of Abraham.
Now they did you notice the

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00:21:29,920 –> 00:21:33,760
personal pronoun they?
Well, you know who they are,

261
00:21:34,040 –> 00:21:35,880
don’t you?
They?

262
00:21:36,880 –> 00:21:40,200
They said that Jesus had gone
into shock with a man who was a

263
00:21:40,200 –> 00:21:43,240
Sinner.
They were indignant.

264
00:21:43,640 –> 00:21:47,280
They were protesting.
They were shocked.

265
00:21:47,680 –> 00:21:52,680
They were outraged.
They thought that they knew

266
00:21:52,680 –> 00:21:57,840
Zacchaeus very well indeed.
They weighed him up, they

267
00:21:57,920 –> 00:22:03,440
categorized him, they’ve named
him, they defamed him and they

268
00:22:03,440 –> 00:22:11,520
dispensed with him.
Because if you will use your

269
00:22:11,520 –> 00:22:17,960
imagination, think of Zacchaeus
walking along the High Street in

270
00:22:17,960 –> 00:22:23,400
Jericho.
And what happened was that when

271
00:22:23,400 –> 00:22:28,480
they went by, they would lift up
their skirts, lest they should

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00:22:28,480 –> 00:22:34,400
be contaminated or step aside,
or if that wasn’t possible,

273
00:22:34,400 –> 00:22:36,920
crossover the street onto the
other side.

274
00:22:38,400 –> 00:22:46,680
That’s what they did.
He was despised and rejected De

275
00:22:46,680 –> 00:22:52,680
Sacchis and they knew him well.
They said about the rabbi, he

276
00:22:52,680 –> 00:22:55,240
has gone in to Sup with a man
who is a Sinner.

277
00:22:56,440 –> 00:23:00,360
But you see, here’s the mystery.
Jesus knew him better than they

278
00:23:00,360 –> 00:23:07,160
did, said Jesus of him.
He also is a son of Abraham,

279
00:23:08,920 –> 00:23:12,040
which was, which was something
that he was not able to say

280
00:23:12,040 –> 00:23:16,880
about them.
Ye are of your children, Ye are

281
00:23:16,880 –> 00:23:24,320
of your father, the devil.
Now this is grace.

282
00:23:26,080 –> 00:23:29,680
Notice the grace of Jesus, the
sympathy of Jesus.

283
00:23:30,000 –> 00:23:34,600
Let’s notice what happened as we
read the verses we we could see

284
00:23:35,040 –> 00:23:38,800
Jesus didn’t conduct condole
with Zacchaeus about his

285
00:23:38,800 –> 00:23:42,680
difficulties.
He didn’t talk to him about the

286
00:23:42,680 –> 00:23:46,560
state of his soul.
He didn’t preach to him about

287
00:23:46,560 –> 00:23:49,640
his sins.
They didn’t force his way into

288
00:23:49,640 –> 00:23:51,120
the house and give him a
lecture.

289
00:23:53,240 –> 00:23:55,400
Now I got to Porsche for a
moment because you’re going to

290
00:23:55,400 –> 00:23:58,640
say Dennis Skillet said at the
Midwest Bible School that

291
00:23:58,640 –> 00:24:07,600
lectures are no good.
And I’m not saying that I know

292
00:24:07,600 –> 00:24:11,440
that it’s important to condole
with people about their

293
00:24:11,440 –> 00:24:14,200
difficulties.
I know that although it’s

294
00:24:14,200 –> 00:24:17,360
important to speak to them
sometimes about the state of

295
00:24:17,360 –> 00:24:21,120
their soul, and I know that we
ought to be preaching about

296
00:24:21,120 –> 00:24:24,960
sinfulness, and I know well
enough that lectures are very

297
00:24:24,960 –> 00:24:30,880
important, I know that I’m only
saying in this case this was not

298
00:24:30,880 –> 00:24:38,040
the method the rabbi said to
Zacchaeus, I must abide at thy

299
00:24:39,800 –> 00:24:43,560
In other words, he identified
himself with a rejected man.

300
00:24:44,960 –> 00:24:48,560
He identified himself with a man
who had lost his self respect.

301
00:24:49,280 –> 00:24:52,720
He identified himself with
Jacchaeus the publican, with

302
00:24:52,720 –> 00:24:55,680
Zacchaeus the Sinner.
Why?

303
00:24:58,720 –> 00:25:04,120
Well, he may be Zacchaeus the
publican and Zacchaeus the

304
00:25:04,120 –> 00:25:10,480
Sinner, but he is a man.
Say what you will he is a man.

305
00:25:11,480 –> 00:25:15,800
Perhaps he feels the cut of
harsh words as other men do.

306
00:25:17,520 –> 00:25:20,800
Perhaps he has a sense of human
honour, as other men have.

307
00:25:22,800 –> 00:25:25,000
Perhaps he longs with a kind
word.

308
00:25:25,000 –> 00:25:30,440
Sometimes, as all of us do.
Perhaps he feels the shame of

309
00:25:30,440 –> 00:25:40,520
disgrace as well as we Well,
perhaps he’s lost now.

310
00:25:40,520 –> 00:25:42,600
The Son of Man is brother to the
lost.

311
00:25:42,600 –> 00:25:48,080
That’s what the sentence means.
Salvation came that day to the

312
00:25:48,080 –> 00:25:54,520
House of poor Zacchaeus.
Did the gospel come to that

313
00:25:54,520 –> 00:26:01,480
house that day as well?
Well, I think it did on this

314
00:26:01,480 –> 00:26:04,240
occasion.
Of course not in the form in

315
00:26:04,240 –> 00:26:08,320
which it’s come to most of us,
and certainly to myself.

316
00:26:08,720 –> 00:26:13,360
Not in the form of strong
theology and doctrine and dogma.

317
00:26:15,960 –> 00:26:17,960
Not on this occasion, not at
first.

318
00:26:18,440 –> 00:26:22,400
It came at first.
In its essence the very centre

319
00:26:22,400 –> 00:26:27,120
of the gospel came to Zacchaeus,
That is the personal love of God

320
00:26:27,320 –> 00:26:31,520
manifested for this man in the
face of Jesus Christ.

321
00:26:32,360 –> 00:26:35,400
And you see, so great was the
power of it, but it caused him

322
00:26:35,400 –> 00:26:38,640
to open the floodgates of his
own heart and his own soul.

323
00:26:40,200 –> 00:26:44,160
That is to say, he was touched,
this man, to tell him the tale

324
00:26:44,160 –> 00:26:47,600
of his secret life.
He said, Behold, Lord, half of

325
00:26:47,600 –> 00:26:50,600
my goods I give to the poor, and
if I’ve robbed any man, I

326
00:26:50,600 –> 00:26:54,520
restore him full fold.
Now here is something to

327
00:26:54,520 –> 00:26:57,640
meditate upon.
Brother and her sisters was

328
00:26:57,640 –> 00:27:02,120
Zacchaeus, in those words,
revealing that he was not as

329
00:27:02,120 –> 00:27:06,680
black as he had been painted.
Touched by the sympathy of the

330
00:27:06,680 –> 00:27:11,240
Redeemer, was he constrained to
tell out the secret of his life.

331
00:27:11,880 –> 00:27:16,320
But while he was being slandered
and despised and scorned, there

332
00:27:16,320 –> 00:27:20,000
were acts of secret benevolence
in his life which he’d never

333
00:27:20,000 –> 00:27:23,760
paraded, and through which he’d
never sought to be vindicated,

334
00:27:26,120 –> 00:27:28,760
and, being touched by the
sympathy of the Lord, found

335
00:27:28,760 –> 00:27:33,280
himself no longer an outcast.
You see the tense of the words

336
00:27:33,280 –> 00:27:39,640
in that passage, the tense, the
present tense suggest that that

337
00:27:39,640 –> 00:27:44,960
is what Zacchaeus meant.
In the minds of some Bible

338
00:27:44,960 –> 00:27:48,280
students, that is.
Some Bible students think that’s

339
00:27:48,280 –> 00:27:53,360
what he meant.
Now I must tell you that for my

340
00:27:53,360 –> 00:27:59,120
part, I am inclined to the view
that Zacchaeus was not telling

341
00:27:59,120 –> 00:28:03,920
out what his life had been like
hitherto, but what it was going

342
00:28:03,920 –> 00:28:10,200
to be like hereafter.
He was confessing A reformation,

343
00:28:11,200 –> 00:28:20,360
He was revealing a conversion,
He was to be a changed man, so

344
00:28:20,360 –> 00:28:24,040
that really the tense, by the
very nature of the case, is

345
00:28:24,040 –> 00:28:26,800
future.
Behold, Lord, half of my goods I

346
00:28:26,800 –> 00:28:30,520
will give to the poor, and if I
have in the past robbed any man,

347
00:28:30,720 –> 00:28:35,200
I will now restore him.
For for Zacchaeus was the man

348
00:28:35,200 –> 00:28:40,800
who was lost, and it wouldn’t
have been true to have called

349
00:28:40,800 –> 00:28:44,680
him lost, if secretly he was one
of the best men in Jacob.

350
00:28:48,040 –> 00:28:51,080
He was a man not only who was
lost, but who had lost his self

351
00:28:51,080 –> 00:28:53,520
respect.
As I said, a man despised A

352
00:28:53,520 –> 00:28:58,880
rejected man by his fellow
citizen, a man who was rich, as

353
00:28:58,880 –> 00:29:05,440
it says, but really desperately
poor, without friends, without

354
00:29:05,440 –> 00:29:15,400
love, without hope.
And then on a certain day, on a

355
00:29:15,400 –> 00:29:19,520
certain day in the calendar of
God, the Redeemer, whose high

356
00:29:19,520 –> 00:29:22,880
purpose is to seek and to say
that which is last, came to

357
00:29:22,880 –> 00:29:29,360
Jericho, sought him, found him,
named him Zacchaeus, and saved

358
00:29:29,360 –> 00:29:32,600
him the process of personal
recognition.

359
00:29:33,240 –> 00:29:37,240
The rabbi identified himself
with a despised publican.

360
00:29:37,440 –> 00:29:42,800
It was the divinest sympathy of
the divinest man, the fellowship

361
00:29:42,800 –> 00:29:48,000
of the Son of God.
Now it could well be that

362
00:29:48,000 –> 00:29:51,560
Zacchaeus had spoken to God from
the loneliness of that Sycamore

363
00:29:51,560 –> 00:29:55,320
tree should never know.
Perhaps he spoke to God, heart

364
00:29:55,320 –> 00:29:59,760
to heart, and pulse to pulse,
and the son of God had sensed

365
00:29:59,760 –> 00:30:03,480
it, knew it, and treated him
like a son of Abraham.

366
00:30:04,520 –> 00:30:08,000
And so the God of Abraham
pronounced upon that lonely man

367
00:30:08,000 –> 00:30:11,480
the benediction of grace, and it
fell from the lips of the man

368
00:30:11,480 –> 00:30:14,160
who once said before Abraham was
I am.

369
00:30:17,760 –> 00:30:21,400
Well, that’s that’s the story of
Zacchaeus as it appears to me.

370
00:30:22,680 –> 00:30:29,800
The thing to ponder now is on
this day, so long afterwards,

371
00:30:30,480 –> 00:30:32,440
how shall we mark it and measure
it?

372
00:30:33,200 –> 00:30:36,640
Remember, at the beginning I
said we are concerned with this

373
00:30:36,640 –> 00:30:41,000
story because it reveals a
method of triumph over

374
00:30:41,000 –> 00:30:43,000
hindrances.
That’s why it’s interesting.

375
00:30:44,200 –> 00:30:48,040
Here is a man who triumphed over
his hindrances, the things which

376
00:30:48,040 –> 00:30:52,120
were setting.
He triumphed over them,

377
00:30:52,440 –> 00:30:56,840
mastering the forces which we
call weights, which hold us

378
00:30:56,840 –> 00:31:01,120
back, which impede our progress.
Now what does it teach us, this

379
00:31:01,400 –> 00:31:04,360
narrative of Jericho about
mastering hindrances?

380
00:31:05,200 –> 00:31:08,400
Well, this surely, brother
sisters, that in the process

381
00:31:08,400 –> 00:31:13,240
there is God’s part and there is
man’s part, and both are

382
00:31:13,240 –> 00:31:17,040
essential.
What I mean is, the Divine Grace

383
00:31:17,040 –> 00:31:22,320
cannot dethrone that which we
insist on not repudiating.

384
00:31:23,000 –> 00:31:27,280
The Divine Mercy cannot master
that which we insist on nursing

385
00:31:27,280 –> 00:31:31,800
ourselves.
So man’s part is your part and

386
00:31:31,800 –> 00:31:35,760
my part.
Now it may not be identical,

387
00:31:35,760 –> 00:31:40,640
your part and my part, but in
principle it will be the same.

388
00:31:40,640 –> 00:31:44,320
I mean, no man ever tried
exactly the path of his brother.

389
00:31:44,680 –> 00:31:48,200
Every life is a new life.
Every day is a new day.

390
00:31:48,200 –> 00:31:53,920
Every case is a new case.
But making allowance for that

391
00:31:54,360 –> 00:31:59,200
our part, it seems to me, is a
definite act of commitment.

392
00:31:59,400 –> 00:32:03,120
To detach ourselves in some way
from the forces which are

393
00:32:03,120 –> 00:32:06,880
hindering us, facing the forces
which are hindering us.

394
00:32:07,080 –> 00:32:11,960
We have got to make an effort to
detach ourselves to some extent

395
00:32:12,120 –> 00:32:15,640
from those forces.
I know it may not come all at

396
00:32:15,640 –> 00:32:19,240
once, but we’ve got to commit
ourselves to an act of

397
00:32:19,240 –> 00:32:23,280
detachment, a clear act of our
will.

398
00:32:23,280 –> 00:32:27,360
Now I know it’s not easy.
I know when you’ve lingered in

399
00:32:27,360 –> 00:32:30,520
the valley, the light on the
hills gets dim.

400
00:32:30,520 –> 00:32:39,440
I know it may mean going home 2
miles further round in order to

401
00:32:39,440 –> 00:32:41,280
avoid the thing which is
tempting you.

402
00:32:44,760 –> 00:32:48,960
Perhaps after all, well, you’ll
just have to tell the truth that

403
00:32:48,960 –> 00:32:53,800
you’ve been hindering so long.
You better come out and tell the

404
00:32:53,800 –> 00:32:56,760
truth and take the consequences
and be done with the

405
00:32:56,760 –> 00:32:58,920
association.
Finish it.

406
00:33:01,440 –> 00:33:04,720
Perhaps, after all, you will
have to refuse the claimant cry

407
00:33:04,720 –> 00:33:08,800
of the fresh, because if you
refuse it once, then the next

408
00:33:08,800 –> 00:33:15,480
time it is less claimant.
But there is no escape from this

409
00:33:15,480 –> 00:33:19,560
act of detachment.
The fight is in the economy of

410
00:33:19,560 –> 00:33:23,000
your salvation and my salvage
who?

411
00:33:23,240 –> 00:33:27,400
What does hinder you that you
should not obey the truth, Said

412
00:33:27,400 –> 00:33:32,280
the apostle.
We, you and I, we have got to do

413
00:33:32,280 –> 00:33:36,040
it sooner or later, and later is
bad.

414
00:33:38,240 –> 00:33:40,400
So here is an argument to help
us.

415
00:33:41,560 –> 00:33:44,160
You see, the awful thing about
hindrances is this.

416
00:33:46,360 –> 00:33:51,160
That to go on keeping them and
to go on nursing them and to go

417
00:33:51,160 –> 00:33:59,240
on fostering them is in the end
to defame Christ on the highways

418
00:33:59,240 –> 00:34:01,320
and in the city.
And everywhere we go.

419
00:34:02,320 –> 00:34:05,320
We name His name, we are called
after His brethren.

420
00:34:05,520 –> 00:34:10,199
We we own his allegiance, and
yet other men, seeing our

421
00:34:10,199 –> 00:34:16,639
unloveliness, noticing our two
facedness, measuring our

422
00:34:16,639 –> 00:34:20,960
emptiness, will think badly of
the one we profess to follow.

423
00:34:23,480 –> 00:34:27,360
They will esteem his gospel of
no value because we have

424
00:34:27,360 –> 00:34:30,760
devalued it.
That is the awfulness of

425
00:34:30,760 –> 00:34:34,080
persistent refusal to face
hindrances.

426
00:34:36,320 –> 00:34:41,199
So whatever our individual
problem is, the one problem we

427
00:34:41,199 –> 00:34:45,840
must all face and master is this
problem of procrastination.

428
00:34:48,520 –> 00:34:55,400
There is in the Hebrew letter in
chapter three one word which you

429
00:34:55,400 –> 00:35:00,320
will remember well.
Or it’s about verse 12, as I

430
00:35:00,320 –> 00:35:03,200
remember it, Chapter Hebrew.
See about verse 12?

431
00:35:04,520 –> 00:35:08,240
And there’s one word in the
sentence there which is

432
00:35:08,480 –> 00:35:11,800
dignified with a capital letter
in the middle of a sentence.

433
00:35:12,200 –> 00:35:16,320
Grammatically speaking, it’s an
unusual thing because the word

434
00:35:16,320 –> 00:35:18,800
itself does not deserve a
capital letter.

435
00:35:19,040 –> 00:35:22,160
And yet the Hebrew man has given
it a capital letter, and it’s

436
00:35:22,160 –> 00:35:24,880
the word today.
Today, if you will hear his

437
00:35:24,880 –> 00:35:31,400
voice harden, not your hearts.
Today is a word warning us

438
00:35:31,400 –> 00:35:34,440
solemnly of the possibility of
peril.

439
00:35:34,640 –> 00:35:38,160
But also it’s the good news of
immediate possibility, of good.

440
00:35:40,040 –> 00:35:43,240
If we put it off any longer, we
may lose the sense of urgency.

441
00:35:43,240 –> 00:35:46,360
And if we lose the sense of
urgency, we may lose the

442
00:35:46,360 –> 00:35:50,200
resolution.
Too often, I think it’s been

443
00:35:50,920 –> 00:35:54,320
like this.
We’ve said to ourselves, the

444
00:35:54,320 –> 00:35:57,240
thing must be done.
Yes, it shall be done.

445
00:36:00,240 –> 00:36:03,720
And it’s not done.
That’s the trouble.

446
00:36:04,880 –> 00:36:11,080
We’re always going to do it.
That’s my experience, and we

447
00:36:11,080 –> 00:36:14,800
don’t.
Did you hear that story about

448
00:36:14,800 –> 00:36:19,320
the philosopher who was
instructing his students one

449
00:36:19,320 –> 00:36:22,240
day?
And he said to them, my sons,

450
00:36:22,560 –> 00:36:27,080
the real point of our philosophy
is that we shall be ready for

451
00:36:27,080 –> 00:36:30,440
death when it comes.
And one of the students said, O

452
00:36:30,440 –> 00:36:33,000
master, thou hast spoken wisely
and truly.

453
00:36:33,440 –> 00:36:36,160
I intend to be ready for death
when it comes.

454
00:36:36,880 –> 00:36:40,680
And the master was very pleased.
And he said, well done, my son.

455
00:36:40,680 –> 00:36:42,880
And when do you intend to start
preparing?

456
00:36:42,880 –> 00:36:46,480
And he said, well about 12
months before I die.

457
00:36:49,040 –> 00:36:53,240
It makes us laugh.
Yes, it makes us laugh.

458
00:36:53,400 –> 00:36:57,040
And, you know, too many of us
are living on that philosophy.

459
00:36:59,840 –> 00:37:03,240
We’re going to do it.
There’s always time.

460
00:37:03,440 –> 00:37:06,560
We’ve measured it.
And the truth is we don’t have

461
00:37:06,560 –> 00:37:13,320
that sort of calendar.
I believe that more people miss

462
00:37:13,320 –> 00:37:17,080
the highest and descent of the
lowest through this matter of

463
00:37:17,080 –> 00:37:19,800
postponement of the one thing
that ought to be done.

464
00:37:20,120 –> 00:37:25,240
And for any other course,
Zacchaeus was short of stature,

465
00:37:26,200 –> 00:37:29,000
but he was not short of
resolution.

466
00:37:29,720 –> 00:37:33,240
He ran to the trees.
It says Every word in the Bible

467
00:37:33,240 –> 00:37:35,480
is important.
He ran to the tree.

468
00:37:35,480 –> 00:37:38,280
That was his eagerness.
He had a sense of urgency.

469
00:37:39,800 –> 00:37:43,800
That’s why he dined with the
Redeemer that day and doubt this

470
00:37:43,800 –> 00:37:49,440
was dying again.
Now, Burner sisters, if you’ve

471
00:37:49,440 –> 00:37:54,400
read your Bible carefully and
reverently, if you prayed humbly

472
00:37:54,400 –> 00:37:57,760
and sincerely, if you’ve
listened to your enlivened

473
00:37:57,760 –> 00:38:02,560
conscience openly and
attentively, then you will not

474
00:38:02,560 –> 00:38:05,480
need any speaker to tell you the
one thing you have to do,

475
00:38:05,640 –> 00:38:08,120
because it’s not his business
and he wouldn’t know anyway.

476
00:38:08,480 –> 00:38:12,360
You know, if you’ve done those
things that I’ve just related,

477
00:38:12,520 –> 00:38:15,840
you know that Christ has put His
finger upon the thing which you

478
00:38:15,840 –> 00:38:19,840
have got to do.
It may be the thing that must be

479
00:38:19,840 –> 00:38:22,000
abandoned.
It may be the new duty which has

480
00:38:22,000 –> 00:38:24,840
got to be faced, or the new
attitude which has to be

481
00:38:24,840 –> 00:38:27,880
assumed, or the restitution that
must be made.

482
00:38:27,880 –> 00:38:32,120
You will know.
And now the word which He speaks

483
00:38:32,120 –> 00:38:35,200
to you and to me in the light of
the realisation is this.

484
00:38:35,280 –> 00:38:41,280
Today, today, if you will hear
His voice harden not your heart.

485
00:38:43,280 –> 00:38:46,760
Now that is your part and my
part in the process of

486
00:38:46,760 –> 00:38:52,160
overcoming hindrances.
Let’s think finally of God’s

487
00:38:52,160 –> 00:38:56,080
part.
God’s part is discovered in the

488
00:38:56,080 –> 00:38:58,960
sentence from the lips of the
King today.

489
00:38:59,240 –> 00:39:04,840
I must abide at thy house.
He is the same yesterday, today

490
00:39:04,840 –> 00:39:09,000
and forever.
He was susceptible then in

491
00:39:09,000 –> 00:39:13,160
Jericho.
He is susceptible today in

492
00:39:13,160 –> 00:39:16,400
Midwest.
If that’s not true, then we have

493
00:39:16,400 –> 00:39:18,720
been grossly deceived and LED
astray.

494
00:39:20,640 –> 00:39:23,320
So let’s be sure there is
nothing in our house that makes

495
00:39:23,320 –> 00:39:26,240
his present impasse, his
presence, impossible.

496
00:39:26,960 –> 00:39:29,240
And then we can depend upon the
promise.

497
00:39:31,600 –> 00:39:34,520
It means in practice that in
your act of resolution you will

498
00:39:34,520 –> 00:39:37,640
be encouraged.
You will be strengthened.

499
00:39:37,880 –> 00:39:42,520
You will be fortified by His
word, by commerce, with heaven

500
00:39:42,520 –> 00:39:46,000
in prayer, by the fellowship of
the Saints in this place and

501
00:39:46,000 –> 00:39:50,160
everywhere else.
And if that’s not true, then the

502
00:39:50,160 –> 00:39:54,920
Bible is false.
It says that if we yield to

503
00:39:54,920 –> 00:39:59,440
Christ’s words, we can translate
our resolution into victory.

504
00:40:00,760 –> 00:40:03,480
Faith creates power.
That’s what it says.

505
00:40:03,880 –> 00:40:07,800
It’s doubt and procrastination
that make for weakness and

506
00:40:07,800 –> 00:40:11,160
cramps their energy.
This is the victory which

507
00:40:11,160 –> 00:40:15,840
overcometh the world, the
hindrances, our faith.

508
00:40:18,240 –> 00:40:21,520
You know, in the Philippian
letter the great apostle Paul

509
00:40:21,520 –> 00:40:25,480
said something with superlative
confidence, which you’ve already

510
00:40:25,480 –> 00:40:29,320
remembered this week.
I know I can do all things

511
00:40:29,320 –> 00:40:31,080
through Christ which
strengtheneth me.

512
00:40:32,240 –> 00:40:36,320
Now surely that’s he wouldn’t
deceive us, would he?

513
00:40:37,280 –> 00:40:40,400
Not this man, he said.
I can do all things through

514
00:40:40,400 –> 00:40:47,600
Christ, which strengthens me.
He wouldn’t deceive us again.

515
00:40:47,680 –> 00:40:52,760
Now unto him who is able to
guide you from stumbling, would

516
00:40:52,760 –> 00:40:55,400
such a good man lead his
comrades astray?

517
00:40:57,720 –> 00:41:01,160
But again, work out your own
salvation, for it is God that

518
00:41:01,160 –> 00:41:03,840
worketh in you.
Would he speculate only?

519
00:41:05,240 –> 00:41:08,000
Isn’t this?
Isn’t this the truth?

520
00:41:09,640 –> 00:41:11,360
Isn’t it telling us something
vital?

521
00:41:11,360 –> 00:41:16,840
That is, telling us that the man
or woman who truly progresses is

522
00:41:16,840 –> 00:41:19,400
the man or woman who is truly
linked with God.

523
00:41:20,440 –> 00:41:23,760
Acknowledge him in all thy ways,
and he shall direct thy paths.

524
00:41:24,840 –> 00:41:27,880
And when he directs, it must be
for our good and for our

525
00:41:27,880 –> 00:41:31,640
victory.
It’s in the path of progress.

526
00:41:31,640 –> 00:41:34,120
Always, Of course.
Not always in the way we would

527
00:41:34,120 –> 00:41:37,880
have expected, nor perhaps in
the way we would have wanted.

528
00:41:38,840 –> 00:41:41,760
Many a disciple has lived to
thank God that he didn’t grant

529
00:41:41,760 –> 00:41:45,120
their most urgent appeals.
They’ve lived to see that had he

530
00:41:45,120 –> 00:41:46,880
done so, it would have been a
disaster.

531
00:41:47,160 –> 00:41:52,120
An act of love was that which
provoked the answer.

532
00:41:52,120 –> 00:41:58,160
No, he refused their most urgent
appeals for Love’s sake.

533
00:42:00,440 –> 00:42:04,320
He is so careful about your
progress that he will make no

534
00:42:04,320 –> 00:42:08,400
truce with anything, but can
hinder and harm those upon whom

535
00:42:08,400 –> 00:42:13,480
his love is set.
Our God, it says, is a consuming

536
00:42:13,480 –> 00:42:17,400
fire.
Now that might seem to be quite

537
00:42:17,400 –> 00:42:19,760
out of harmony with what I’ve
been saying about his tender

538
00:42:19,760 –> 00:42:23,080
care and compassion, but it
isn’t.

539
00:42:23,920 –> 00:42:29,200
He is a consuming fire for the
destruction of that which halts

540
00:42:29,200 –> 00:42:32,600
and hinders and hurts the
progress of his servants.

541
00:42:33,240 –> 00:42:37,480
If they will yield themselves to
him, he will restore the years

542
00:42:37,480 –> 00:42:42,480
that the Cankerwormeth Eaton.
His care is constant.

543
00:42:42,880 –> 00:42:50,640
He care for you.
Either that’s true or this is

544
00:42:50,640 –> 00:43:01,080
false love.
The Prince of poets, Yes, the

545
00:43:01,080 –> 00:43:06,840
Prince of Poets once said, love
is not love, which alters when

546
00:43:06,840 –> 00:43:14,400
it alteration finds and his love
never alters.

547
00:43:17,000 –> 00:43:19,640
His love does not falter when we
fail.

548
00:43:22,080 –> 00:43:25,000
It may be that the voice is
saying to somebody in this house

549
00:43:25,000 –> 00:43:32,520
today, today I must abide at thy
house, and that self invitation

550
00:43:33,600 –> 00:43:42,240
a sense of personal recognition,
Zacchaeus, or your name upon the

551
00:43:42,240 –> 00:43:47,720
soul who is willing to respond
Now upon search, upon search,

552
00:43:47,720 –> 00:43:50,960
wherever they are, in whatever
condition they may be.

553
00:43:50,960 –> 00:43:54,600
If they respond, he will
pronounce his benediction.

554
00:43:55,600 –> 00:43:58,400
And so, for our souls sake,
brothers and sisters, let us

555
00:43:58,400 –> 00:44:01,960
each one now this day avow
ourselves to be his.

556
00:44:03,520 –> 00:44:07,760
More and more listen to the
voice which speaks to us the

557
00:44:07,760 –> 00:44:10,040
thing we must next do.
We shall know.

558
00:44:11,160 –> 00:44:13,320
We shall know without any doubt
what it is.

559
00:44:14,280 –> 00:44:18,880
Let’s listen carefully, and
knowing it, let us be true, and

560
00:44:18,880 –> 00:44:24,160
let us do it, consenting without
demur without argument.

561
00:44:26,480 –> 00:44:30,040
This one thing I do, said the
man.

562
00:44:31,360 –> 00:44:36,560
I forgot This one thing I do,
forgetting the things which are

563
00:44:36,560 –> 00:44:42,200
behind I press forward toward
the mark of the high calling of

564
00:44:42,200 –> 00:44:49,040
God in Christ.
May God grant to us this day to

565
00:44:49,040 –> 00:44:53,480
feel in our deepest heart that
that is true.