Gospel—Robert Boulard
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I'd like to welcome everyone to the Gospel meeting tonight.
I'd like to begin with #7 in the hymn sheet.
The chorus says this.
Twas all Twas love, Twas wondrous love, the love of God to me. It brought my Saviour from above to die on Calvary. It wasn't a matter of convenience, dear friends, tonight that God sent his son. That was the most inconvenient act that ever took place. God in love, great inconvenience to himself, but in great love.
Sent His well beloved Son from the purest heights of glory into the filth of this wicked world in love to redeem your soul. He didn't send him just for the person next to you. He sent his own son for you to night. And perhaps you're miserable in your seat. Perhaps you don't even want to be here.
Perhaps you've never received Christ as your Savior, but in love. The message of love and kindness and free forgiveness of sins is being offered to you tonight. So perhaps we can rise and sing this little hymn together #7 someone started, please.
Umm, eating at all about. It's pretty good. It's pretty well.
And.
I hope they gave me some uh, no problem with the problem and really had the same price problem.
And brought my sake and villain from the blood.
I don't know how everything.
Umm 100 and 2800 and 22,511.
18 * 7 Umm and it is uh, I'm fine. I'm planning to plan to change through the club.
Oh.
My God.
The good blah blah blah and then once you come out, also another period.
Let's ask God's blessing.
Our loving God and our Father, we thank Thee for the truth of this little hymn that we've been able to sing together of Thy love, that wondrous love that brought thee down from above into this world of sin and woe, Blessed Saviour. And now that's come with a blessing, with a word of love and kindness, and at great cost to thyself, not its gold, Blessed Lord Jesus, in obedience to thy Father's will to the cross of Calvary. And there thy precious blood was shed.
The efficacy of which is sufficient to cleanse all from sin, but it is only upon those that would receive him as Savior our God. We just pray that as thy word goes forth tonight, that if there's anyone in this room without God, without hope and without God in this world. We just pray that they might come to the Lord Jesus tonight that they might feel the awfulness of the filthiness of the sin that they go on in and their wicked filthy condition before the are gone.
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And we just pray that they might receive the Lord Jesus as Savior, that they might lay hold on Him for eternal life.
And for those of us that know Thee as Savior, Lord Jesus, we just pray that Thou mayest be more precious to us. As we leave this room tonight, having been able to spend a little time together over Thy word, we ask Thy blessing. Commend the hour to Thee in the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
I'd like to spend the hour together a few minutes here, largely in the book of Luke or the Gospel of Luke, and, uh, look at some of the houses that the Lord Jesus entered into and, umm, we know.
That he left the best house in all of the universe.
He left that place, that home of love and kindness. You know, I was thinking.
Enjoying in my own soul hymn #93 in the Little Flock hymn book.
Says from the palace of His glory, from the home of joy and love, came the Lord Himself to seek us. He would have us there above. There, from that eternal brightness have His thoughts flowed forth in love. He and His great love would have us there, have us ever there with Him above trembling. We had hoped for mercy some lone place within His door. But the crown, the throne, the mansion were all were ready long before.
And in past and distant ages, in those courts so bright and fair ere we were, was He rejoicing all He won with us to share. You know, dear friends, tonight it would be a lonely place, as it were, without you in that heavenly scene. And God, in His desire to have His house filled, sent His Son from those courts of glory, from that home so bright and fair to the cross of Calvary.
And in love for your soul, desired that his Son would bear the judgment for your sins.
That He would bear the judgment there in those three long dark hours, and that His blood might be shed to cleanse you and they make you fit for His holy presence. Well, the 1St house that I'd like to look at is in Luke chapter 2.
In verse 46, we're just going to go from 1 little place to another, but I just want to point out in the life of the Lord Jesus at the age of 12, that age of responsibility.
That he was found in the temple, it says in verse 46, Luke two, and verse 46. It came to pass that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them and asking them questions. And then if you just hold your place there and go to Mark's Gospel Chapter 11.
Verse five, I think it is. Well, let's read verse 11, Mark.
Chapter 11 and verse 11 Jesus entered into Jerusalem and into the temple.
And when he had looked round about upon all things, and now the even tide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the 12 verse 15 And they come to Jerusalem. And Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money changers, and the seats of them that sold doves, and would not suffer than any man should carry any vessel through the temple. And he taught them, saying unto them, It is, Is it not written, My house shall be called?
Of all nations, the House of prayer, but ye have made it a den of thieves. Well, dear friends, tonight I read these verses in Mark's Gospel Chapter 11 and in Luke's Gospel chapter 2 to show that the Lord Jesus, even though he was in this scene as the perfect Son of God, he was the Son of man, and He in perfect communion with his Father, desired to be where his Father was, where his Father's authority was owned.
He wanted to be in the temple and we find him as a young boy in 12 years old.
He wanted to be in the temple. He wanted to be in his father's house. He wanted to be in that House of prayer.
That place where it ought to have been characterized by prayer, but we find at the end of.
The Lord's life when he was approximately 33 years old, the house was characterized.
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By those that were using it as a den of thieves, they were using it as a shortcut in taking a shortcut through the temple and taking their vessels. There was a market apparently at the rear of the temple and they were using it as a shortcut to go through. They had no respect for that place, but the Lord Jesus had a desire to be in the presence of His Father and He had the respect for that place and all He could do is look upon it as He went in.
And think of how they were using it. And He gave a space, as it were a space for repentance. And God in his love tonight is giving you a space for repentance. You may have come to these meetings and you may have just enjoyed the company of those that know the Lord Jesus as Savior, but you go on in an ungodly way. You go on in an unrighteous, an unholy way in your practical life. And you go on perhaps even in a religious way, but it's not going to satisfy the heart of God.
There needs to be repentance, there needs to be a relationship with himself. And so the Lord Jesus came.
Into this scene, and I say this, He longed for that home above. He longed for it. He wanted to be in the temple. He says He was in the temple daily teaching. What was he telling them about? He was telling them of the Father's glory. He was telling them of heavenly things. He was telling them of the grace of his God, the love of the Father, and he was telling them of what it might be to walk in practical righteousness that would be acceptable to God.
And they would refuse him. He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
Daily he told them, daily he spoke of his Father and his love, and they wouldn't receive that love. All I want to ask you tonight, have you come to the Lord Jesus? Have you received the Lord Jesus as Savior? Do you know that he came?
From heaven itself.
From heaven to the cross, From heaven to the filth of this wicked world.
In love to your soul, that you might have your sins forgiven, that you might be.
In that glorious Father's house, that you might be a part of that heavenly company in a soon coming day, when he gives that shout and were received into his glorious presence. Well, let's turn to Luke's Gospel chapter 4 and read a few of the homes that the Lord Jesus entered into the houses and the lessons that we learned there.
Luke chapter 4.
In verse 38. And he arose out of the synagogue and entered into Simon's house. And Simon's wife's mother was taken with a great fever.
And they besought him for her, and he stood over her.
And rebuked the fever, and it left her, and immediately she arose.
And ministered unto them. Well, I think this is so lovely that the Lord Jesus entered into the House of Simon Peter, Simon, one of the apostles, one that was the perhaps you might call him the apostle of action. But here, you know, the apostle of action, the apostle of great activity could do nothing for his mother-in-law. There was nothing that he could do. There was no medicine. There was nothing that could be anything that could be done to relieve this woman of the fever that she had. And it's a picture, dear friends, tonight of the helplessness of man in sin.
And make no mistake of this, sin has brought suffering and sorrow and tragedy, heartache into God's creation. And you don't have to be very old to understand what I'm saying tonight, that there's heartache, there's sorrow, there's tragedy in this world. And as you grow older, if the Lord allows you to live in this scene for just a few years, you'll experience some of that heartache and sorrow. But there is a Savior on high in the glory who loves you and who desires to be the comforter, that you might comfort you in this scene of sorrow and tragedy. And he came right to where this woman was.
She was there lying with a great fever. And the word great here is one of the words that Luke uses. It's one of the words that, uh, Matthew uses in his gospel as well. But it was a great fever. It was something that was not able to be overcome except by the power of the divine intervention of the Savior, the Lord Jesus. And you need to have deliverance from the power of sin, from the effects of sin. You're powerless to deliver yourself.
And from the effects of sin, you're dying in your seat as you sit there in your seat.
I'm dying where I stand. Our bodies are naturally speaking dying, and it's going to take the divine intervention of a holy God in your life to give you life, to give you eternal life. And so the Lord Jesus came, He says I'm come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly. God wanted you not only to have new life, but he wanted you to be indwelled with the Spirit of God and have power to live in a new life and the power to live for the glory.
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Of God in this scene. So with a word he rebuked the fever.
And immediately she arose and ministered unto them. So perhaps there was service before, perhaps there was.
Activity and service and God tonight, dear friends, doesn't want your service. He doesn't want your religion, He doesn't want your money. He wants you to come as a Sinner, bankrupt and hell deserving, and to come to receive his love, to receive the free forgiveness of sins. The most tender hearted man that ever walked the face of the earth came into this scene and entered this home where there's a sorrow and tragedy and he desired to bring blessing.
And every home that the Lord Jesus entered into, there was blessing that flowed forth from the person.
Of God's well beloved Son, and God desires that there would be a blessing that would flow to you tonight.
If you would receive the Lord Jesus as your Savior and allow him entrance into your the privacy of your own life, well, let's just turn over one page to chapter 5 and verse 27.
And after these things he went forth and saw a publican named Levi sitting at the receipt of custom, and said unto him.
Follow me. And he left all, and rose up, and followed him. And Levi made him a great feast in his own house. And there was a great company of publicans and others that sat down with them. But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, Why you eat and drink with the publicans and sinners? And Jesus answering, said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.
To repentance.
Well, here we have this House.
Of a publican, the House of a man that was a tax collector. And the Lord Jesus says that there he saw this man. He saw a publican named Levi. And God sees you where you are tonight. He sees you where you're sitting, and he knows what kind of work you do. And perhaps you're at school, perhaps you're at work. He sees, he knows in tenderest love, he enters into the realities of how we earn our living.
He re enters into the reality of where we are in life and he meets us right where we are. Isn't that lovely? How the Lord Jesus could meet this dear man right where he was? And he was perhaps a despised man, a despised publican. But the Lord Jesus saw this man, He was busy a man of activity and he said just two words, follow me, follow me. And this man in obedience. God says and records here that he left all rose up and followed him. Isn't that nice? And then he made him a supper in his house.
You know, if you or I were writing this, we would have written it this way. Perhaps we might have written that, uh, he rose up. He left all and followed him. But that's not how the Spirit of God records it. Dear friends, tonight God wants us in our hearts to forsake, to abandon every prospect that this world has. This world is going on to judgment. And this man, Levi, when he heard those two words, follow me.
He abandoned all in his heart. He abandoned all his prospects for getting ahead in this world and he desired to follow the Lord Jesus. He rose up, there was an energy of faith. He got up and he began in a new direction. He followed the Lord Jesus. I want to tell you tonight, dear friends, that if you rise up in faith and lay hold upon the person of Christ for salvation, you desire to have your sins forgiven. You cry out and.
Cry for the mercy of God that he is a worthy 1 to follow. He'll never leave you astray. He'll never lead you in a path of unrighteousness or a path of unhappiness. There may be the circumstances of life that he allows in your life and mine that test us and that try us and that perhaps, uh, seem to be difficult in the circumstances that we go through. But he's in all the way home Savior, and he's worthy of being followed. Oh, he's worthy of you and I receiving him as Savior and then not just having our sins forgiven, but following him in a path of faith.
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And leaving every prospect, every aspiration that this world has, and leaving it behind in our hearts. Rising up in faith and following him. Well, this man received a blessing. But there was a feast here in his own house. And he took of the goods that he had. He used the wealth that had fallen into his hands. He used his home as a place where others might come to know the Lord Jesus. He used his home.
In a way that might be used for the Lord in blessing to others. And so the Lord was pleased to come.
And to dwell in his home, to eat in his home. And then he was criticized. You may have tried to do something, you know, for the Lord. You may have desired to follow the Lord Jesus. You may have perhaps desired to do a little service for the Lord, as this man did. And perhaps you were criticized. Perhaps you were misunderstood. I want to say this, that there was no man more criticized upon the face of the earth than the Lord Jesus. Every day of this pathway, he was criticized, He was hounded, he was harassed. He knows what it is.
To be harassed. He came in love with a tender heart and affection for your soul and mine. And what did he receive? The cold, hardened harassment of this world. The cold hearted harassment of religious people. But he came in love not to save the religious.
Not to save those that didn't have that sense of their unworthiness and their sinful condition. No, he came to call.
Sinners to repentance. And so tonight as you sit in your seat and you need that knowledge, dear friends, that you're a Sinner before God. If you've never received the Lord Jesus as Savior, don't try to come to the Lord as a righteous person. Don't come.
As a good person come as a Sinner. Oh, he receives sinners, and he saves them.
He has that desire and so repentance here is brought out. Repentance, rethinking our position before God, rethinking and not having thoughts of ourselves that are above what they ought to be, but seeing us ourselves as God sees us and repenting. Well, let's just turn a couple of pages over and see another house in Chapter 7, Luke Chapter 7 and verse.
UH, 36 And one of the Pharisees desired him, that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisees house and sat down to meet. And behold a woman in the city, which was a Sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisees house, brought an alabaster box of ointment or of myrrh, and stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wiped them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet and anointed them with ointment.
Now when the Pharisee which had been him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known.
Who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him? For she is a Sinner. And then just to the end of the chapter here, verse 47 Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much, but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven. And they that sat at meet with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also?
And he said to the woman, Thy faith hast saved thee, Go in peace.
Well, you know, this man was a Pharisee.
He had a house, perhaps a nice house, and he desired that the Lord Jesus would come into his house.
And he sat down to meet, and the Lord Jesus desires the entrance into your heart.
The Lord Jesus desires the entrance into your life. He doesn't just want to have you saved.
And then go on in independence of himself. Here this man, this Pharisee, desired the Lord Jesus to come into his house and we're not told his name.
Levi, we're given his name, this man, we're not given his name and this woman that came into the house were given her name. I believe in John's Gospel Chapter 11. Maybe we'll just look at that, how the Lord Jesus just presents it in a chapter, Chapter 11 of John's Gospel in verse two, it was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.
So we're given Mary's name in another Gospel. But this man here, he desired to have the Lord Jesus in his house. It was a popular thing to do. And he went along with the crowd. He wanted to have to say that he had had that great teacher in his house. He wanted to have the privilege perhaps of having a famous person in his home. And he had the Lord Jesus there. You know, this man, he was critical of the Lord Jesus for eating with sinners and this woman that came.
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Into his presence and he didn't receive a blessing. We don't find that he received a blessing.
But someone else in his home came and received a blessing that lovely Oh, she came not highfalutin Sinner, a lowly Sinner. And she stood at his feet. All that speaks of a low place, doesn't it? She was behind him. She took the 2nd place. She took a low place. She didn't take the 1St place. God doesn't want you, dear friend, to have this idea that you're worth anything, because you know, He says the flesh profiteth nothing.
And there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all.
And he came to save sinners. And she took her place at his feet as a Sinner, held a lovely little picture, and she began to wash his feet with tears. Perhaps a picture of refreshment to the blessed Savior. He didn't receive that refreshment.
At the hand of the Pharisee, but at the poor, This poor woman.
He received that refreshment with the hairs of her head. She was in humility and with affection. She kissed his feet and she anointed them with the ointment. Oh, there was communion, perhaps with the sufferings of the Lord Jesus, what He would go through.
At the cross of Calvary for her then. So dear friends, tonight God desires you to receive a blessing. And here we find that the Lord Jesus, this tender hearted man who loved this Pharisee went into the Pharisees house.
Got nothing but criticism from the Pharisee because of who was there and who received the blessing.
And God desires the blessing to flow forth. And if you will not receive it because of a haughty spirit, because of pride, why there may be someone else sitting beside you that might receive that blessing. Oh, God has a heart full of love for your soul, and He wants the blessing to flow forth. And so he sent the Lord Jesus, I say from heaven itself, that there might be a blessing that would flow forth, and it could have gone out to this Pharisee. He could have received the blessing. But the woman?
This woman, I believe Mary received the blessing. And then it says a little further on that, uh, you know, the Lord Jesus read the mind of this man and what he was thinking. He spoke to him. And then it says that in verse 48, they began and they that sat at me with him began to say within themselves, who is this that forgiveth sins also? Well, it brings before us that we've all trespassed. Every one of us has trespassed against the holy God, none of us.
Has could lift up our heads and say I've not trespassed, not sinned against a holy God. But you know, there's two kinds of people in this room. There are those that are forgiven, the Saints of God, holy ones separated from those.
That are under judgment, there are those I say that are forgiven, and those that are not forgiven, those that the judgment of God, the wrath of God abideth upon their heads. And if you sit in your seat tonight and you've never received the Lord Jesus as your Savior, you don't know what it is to be a forgiving Sinner. And you have the guilt of years of walking in sin, the guilt of years, whether you're young years or older years. Why? There's that conscience, that clear conscience that God wants you to have tonight.
And you can only have a clear conscience if you come to the Lord Jesus and acknowledge your sinful condition before Him.
And come to the Lord Jesus and receive forgiveness of sins, while I'm here to tell you on the authority of the word of God that He has power.
To forgive sins. He has the authority to forgive sins, and there's no sin so great.
That can't be forgiven by a holy God on the basis of the blood that was shed on the cross of Calvary. Why? That blood is sufficient to cleanse us from all sin. Luke chapter 10 and.
Just at the end of the chapter, verse 38, another house that the Lord Jesus came into.
And it came to pass as they went, that he entered into a certain village, and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus feet, and heard his word. But Martha was cumbered about with much serving, and came to him and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? Bid her therefore that she helped me. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things.
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But one thing is needful, and Mary hath chosen that good part which shall not be taken away from her. Well, there were two women in this house. It was Martha's house, and Martha loved the Lord. But it was a House of activity, busy activity for Martha, and it was a House of humility and learning for Mary. The same house on that wonderful that there was liberty given that this sister Martha or Mary.
Could sit at the feet of the Lord Jesus and hear His word. And God desires tonight that if you don't know the Lord Jesus as Savior, that you would sit at His feet and hear that blessed word of salvation, of the offer of free forgiveness of sins. And He desires that every one of us would come unto him. Come unto me, all ye that labor, and our heavy laden, and I will give you rest. While Mary knew what that rest was, Mary knew what it was to sit.
At the feet of the Lord Jesus, and to listen to that tender hearted man speak of the Father's house.
And to speak of what it was to come into the scene and to bring a blessing, to speak of those things that were of heavenly character. She listened to those words. She wanted to enter into the realities of heaven itself and to enter into the realities of the blessing of God's people in this scene. Oh, they looked for the Kingdom to be set up. And then in, in the Jewish way of things, perhaps they, they looked at him as king and they wanted to have the Kingdom set up in this scene.
But she had this woman had a an appreciation for the man of Calvary. She had an appreciation for the Lord Jesus who had come into Martha's house and Martha received him into her house. All I want to say this, perhaps you have been busy with activity. Perhaps it's been service and you've busied yourself with all kinds of work. But there hasn't been that resting in the word of the Lord. There hasn't been that resting and that patience, that waiting in the presence of the Lord Jesus.
To learn of Him, to learn of Him, for I am meek and lowly in spirit, and I will give you rest. Oh, He wants you to have rest to night. He wants you to have the portion that Mary had in sitting at His feet. Well, in this particular house, I believe both of these women received a blessing. Both of them received a blessing. And one perhaps had to be corrected. And that one had the approval, the approbation of her Savior. And my dear, dear friends, tonight, not all of us.
Can say none of us can say that we've gone on in our Christian lives without mistakes, without failures, in one way or another. And isn't it nice that whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth? And so hear this loving rebuke to Martha was given. And God is not going to tell you what you want to hear tonight if you're a Sinner sitting in your seat without the Lord Jesus. He's not telling you what you want to hear. He's telling you that you need to humble yourself and come to Him to receive your sins forgiven.
But if you're a believer and you haven't walked in a way that is characteristic ought to have characterized you as a believer. Why? There may be the word of correction given in these meetings. There may be a word of correction even spoken in the gospel meeting. There may be a word of correction that you read.
In the Word of God. And His desire is that it would bring you to His feet to hear His tender words of love, to hear of heaven's glory itself, and not to be taken up with the filth of this world that He came to deliver you from. Oh, He desires that your heart would be one. He desires that would be tender towards Himself, and the hardness of sin might be erased from your life, and that there might be an affection for that glorious man who loved you and came to Calvary's cross.
To bear the judgment for your sins and to make your life worth living tonight. Who won't you receive Him as Savior?
And come and sit his feet and learn, hear his words, and if there is correction needed, receive the correction from his heart of love and go on in obedience to that word. Well, let's just turn over another couple of pages here, Chapter 14 of Luke's Gospel.
Chapter 14 and verse one.
It came to pass, as he went into the House of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath day, that they watched him. And behold, there was a certain man before him, which had the drop seat. And Jesus answering, spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath day? And they held their peace, And he took him, and healed him, and let him go, and answered him, saying, Answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an *** or an ox fallen into a pit?
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And will not straightway pull them out on the Sabbath day. And they could not answer him again to these things. You know, the Lord Jesus could say, my Father worketh, I work and my Father worketh hitherto. And every one of us had fallen into the ditch of sin. The *** would speak of the unclean Gentile perhaps, and the ox of the clean animal, perhaps the Jew. They'd both fallen into the pit and needed to be taken out of the pit of sin. And I don't know what your life is tonight. I don't know.
I'll let you go on with and you may be covering up what God sees clearly in your life and perhaps you've fallen into the ditch of sin tonight. Oh the Lord Jesus came in love to.
Pull you out of that ditch of sin, that you might be rescued from that ditch of sin. Here gives this little picture. And he came into the House of one of the chief of the Pharisees, perhaps a House of pride, a house. This man was very proud of the fact that he was one of the leading Pharisees of the day. And he had the Lord Jesus come into his house, and here they watched him on the Sabbath day. Oh, the Lord Jesus came into this world to bless and to be a blesser.
He came that we might have life, that we might have it more abundantly. I am come that they might have life, that they might have eternal life. No man can pluck them from my Father's hand. I and my father are 10. He desired.
That you might have eternal life. And he came into this home.
And instead of being received with affection.
He was watched there. You know, the Lord Jesus knows the spirit of things and what it is when we gather around himself. Perhaps he we have a Bible reading at home and perhaps there is one in the family, perhaps a child, perhaps an older one with a critical spirit, something that isn't right with God. But you know, here we have the Sabbath day. It says they held their peace when he said this.
He said to this man.
It says he healed that he took him and healed him and let him go.
Took him.
Healed him and let him go. And so God wants to in His grace, in his love, in His kindness, release you from the prison, from the ******* of sin, from the service of sin, from Satan and from this world wants to set you free to please him. And so you know, this man had a medical condition. Perhaps he was had a body build up of fluid and here he was helpless. And the Lord Jesus took him, healed him.
And let him go. And his blessing, he had a blessing. He came into the House of the chief of the Pharisees. And the chief of the Pharisees didn't receive a blessing, but this man did. And here in the gospel meeting, dear friends, God is desiring that the blessing would flow forth. And I want to ask you, have you received the blessing? It's flowing forth tonight from the heart of the Lord Jesus. Well, they didn't. They couldn't answer him, and they held their peace.
And so it just brings before us the grace of God. The law came by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Well, let's turn a couple of pages over here in Luke's Gospel.
Chapter 19, verse one.
Luke 19 and verse one. 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. And he ran before, and climbed up into a Sycamore tree to see him, for he was to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must abide 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 I have take. If I have taken anything from every any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold. 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.
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Well, we know the story very well.
This man, Zacchaeus, his name means pure and clean. That's what his name means.
And they came, you know, he didn't feel very pure and clean. He felt the filth of the place that he lived in. And it's a good thing if we feel the filth of the world that we live in. And he lived in a place called Jericho means a constant pleasant odor to the flesh. It's really a picture of the flesh, that which appeals to the flesh, a constant pleasant odor, a picture of this world in his ease and luxury. And here he lived in a wonderful place.
As it were. But he was unhappy, he was unhappy, he was unsatisfied, his heart was.
Not satisfied, He was the chief among the publicans. He probably had the best job in all of the city. And the Lord Jesus knew how his heart was desirous. It was burden. And the Lord Jesus came to relieve the burden of his creation and soul. This man, he put the heart's desire in it, in the man's heart to see the Lord Jesus. Do you have a desire to see the Lord? Every one of us is going to see the Lord Jesus, every one of us.
Is going to see him with our eye. Everyone of us. God is decreed that every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Every one of us is going to see the Lord Jesus. Those of us that know the Lord Jesus as Savior, we're going to see him in his glory.
We're not going to see him with a crown of thorns. We're not going to see him as the man of Calvary there.
As He was suffering at the hands of men and then at the hands of God, we're going to see Him in His glory. It's going to be a wonderful sight. He's going to look upon us and He's going to receive us into the Father's house.
And here this man, the Lord Jesus, knew who he was.
He wanted to see the Lord Jesus, and he ran before he was in earnest. He climbed into a Sycamore tree.
And then the Lord Jesus said, Come down, said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must abide.
Thy house, and so someone has said, have enjoyed it in my soul, so that he has had to come down from the tree so that the Lord Jesus could go up onto the tree.
So that the Lord Jesus could go up there and bear the judgment for his sins.
In those three awful dark hours, and every stroke of the wrath of a righteous and the sin hating God was laid upon the Savior, upon His blessed person, and God forsook His Son.
God forsook the one who he sent when he was made sin, He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. O Zacchaeus came down.
And he humbled himself, and he came down, and the Lord Jesus said, I must abide at thy house. Is there a place in your heart? Is there a place in your house for the Lord Jesus? Could he come into your home?
You know, I was remembering.
Brother Brown I think it was chapter Brown little story that he told and I heard on tape that he went around visiting and he came to a brother and a sister's house and knocked on the door. And he knocked on the door and he heard a lot of someone came to the door and looked out and and with a little bit of surprise that his brother Brown and they spent about 5 minutes straightening up the house and perhaps.
Throwing things in drawers and whatever, and then afterwards came and invited it into the home. So he stood on the doorstep for a few minutes waiting for the house to be prepared for him to come in. And dear friends, tonight God wants standard your life.
In tenderness don't try to straighten up before He comes in. He just wants you to come as a repentance Sinner to acknowledge your sinful condition before Him. Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. All He wants you to come tonight. You know Brother Jim Thompson.
In his Bible, you know, he's a man of detail, and I looked through that Bible.
And in one of the very last notes in his Bible in Revelation chapter 22.
I'll just read it so that I won't misquote it. He had this little note above the.
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Word come says in verse 12, Revelation 222 and 12. Behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me.
To give every man according as his work shall be. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. And he said this in verse 17. The note was in verse 17. The Spirit and the Bride say Come, and let him that heareth say come.
And let him that is athirst come, and whosoever will let him take of the water of life freely, he said. Above this little word, it's mentioned 1900 times in Scripture to come 1900 times has come.
And God is diligent tonight to have you come. He's diligent. He's left no leaf unturned, as it were. He's done everything. That you might come tonight and have your sins forgiven. That you might start on the way to heaven tonight. That you might have your thirsty soul satisfied, not with the filth of what this world has, but with His blessed Person. He is the water of life and the bread of life. Well, the Lord Jesus came into the house.
Of Zacchaeus to abide. It speaks of communion. It speaks of a place of rest.
A place that the Lord Jesus could rest in this world, this place that he saw.
Can come into the home of a Pharisee and be criticized. Could come into the House of another Pharisee, the chief of the Pharisees. And they watched him there to see whether there would be any works, any blessing that would flow out from His heart of love. Well, he could come into Zacchaeus's house and he could abide. There was a home that he could rest in, as it were in this whole in this scene, even in Jericho. And so he came and he says that they in verse seven, that he was gone to be a guest with a man that is a Sinner.
Well, you know, Zacchaeus tried to defend himself and he revealed that his character of life, that he was consistent, that he continued, he was always giving half of the goods of his goods to the poor. But it didn't give himself any peace. It didn't give him any peace of heart, and the rest of soul didn't give him any conscience. Rest of conscience. He if he took anything by a false means, he would restore fourfold, but he still had a guilty conscience.
And it was the work of Christ, it was that meeting with the Lord Jesus that set him free. You know, I sometimes have told this little story and I, I just like it in connection with how it illustrates how we need to come to the Lord Jesus. There was a young girl in Ohio. I went to a little factory in Ohio to visit a man that was doing business with. And I got there a little early, about 7:45. The place of business are opened at about.
8:00 And so the young girl, her name was Jessica, and she was sitting at the front desk, and she said, you know, you come, Jim isn't here, and just sit down here in these chairs here, and we'll visit for a little while and Jim will come about. 8:00 And so there was a little sign above her computer and it said this If you meet me and forget me, you've lost nothing. But if you meet Jesus Christ and forget him, you have lost everything. And then there's these verses.
In Revelation were referenced and John 5/24.
And I said to Jessica, I said, Jessica, is that your sign by the computer? She said, yes, that's my sign by the computer. She said, I'm pleased to be numbered among those that have vowed the knee to our Lord Jesus Christ in this life.
Oh, what a confession of faith. 1617 year old girl on a summer job. She says, I'm pleased to be numbered among those that are bowed the knee to our Lord Jesus Christ in this life. She said every knee will bow. Oh, we had a wonderful visit. We had a wonderful visit as we spoke of that Lord, that Savior. Well, dear friends, God has decreed that every knee is going to bow to the Lord Jesus and this man entered the Lord Jesus entered this man's house.
And there was a blessing that flowed forth. Well, let's just turn to another one in Luke Chapter 20, Chapter 23. I think it is. Maybe it's chapter 22.
Yes, chapter 22 and verse 54.
Says then took they him and led him and brought him.
Into the high priest house and Peter followed far off and then just verse 63, the men that held Jesus mocked him or mocking him and smote him. Mr. Darby's translation says beating him.
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Then when they had blindfolded them, they struck him on the face and asked him, saying, Prophecy, who is it that smoked thee?
There was a blessing that could come into this house. There was a blessing that could have come. There was a blessing that could have flowed forth to this man, this high priest, perhaps the most religious person in the nation of Israel, at the day that the Lord Jesus lived and he came into the high priest house.
And instead of receiving the affection of his people, instead of being received as a prophet that Moses has spoken of, that they should hear.
Why? He was taken by the men in that house and he was mocked, he was abused, he was beaten.
And he was struck as he was blindfolded. He was abused in that house, that tender hearted man that came from heaven's highest courts of glory, to bring blessing into this wicked scene.
Was taken and abused in the high priest's house. Ohio, dear friends, this is a House of responsibility. This is a House of eternal responsibility. This man is going to stand before the Lord Jesus. He's going to stand before the Lord Jesus. He's going to look upon that one.
Who was treated that way in his house and God is going to require man.
How his Son is treated. And if you have despised and refused the grace of God tonight until this late hour. If you despise the Son of God who loved you and gave himself for you, if you've despised that one.
And mistreated him and used his name in a guilty way. The Lord will not hold him guiltless. That taketh his name in vain. Oh, if you've used him and abused him, I want to tell you tonight that he's a forgiving savior.
Why if you turn to Luke's Gospel chapter 23, you'll find there that the cross verse 34, it says then said Jesus, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.
And they parted his garment. And then in verse 42, that thief on the cross, he said unto Jesus, Lord, Remember Me when thou comest into thy Kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be.
With me in paradise. And it was about the 6th hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the 9th hour. And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was right in the midst. When Jesus had cried with a loud voice he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. And having said thus, he gave up the ghost. Why say tonight that if you've been abusing that blessed One?
If you've been rejecting His grace, His love, His kindness, His tender hearted entreaties tonight.
Up until this hour, there's forgiveness and that blessed man, he desires to have your company. He desires to have your sins forgiven. And this thief that stood, that was nailed beside the Lord Jesus heard those blessed words. Today shalt thou be with me in paradise. Is there anyone else that you would ever desire to be with other than the Lord Jesus? Oh, there's an eternity coming, dear friends.
Every one of us is going to pass off of this scene, this scene of sin and sorrow, and God has decreed that we're going to leave. And if you leave this scene without this man, Christ Jesus.
You're not going to be in the father's house.
You're not going to be there, you know, he says in Luke's gospel. I think it's chapter 14.
Speaking of the Spirit of God.
Compel them to come in that my house may be full.
Oh, that house, that heaven, that home above the Father's house is going to be full. Heaven is going to be full because the Lord Jesus came down from those courts of glory and came into this scene of woe and sin to accomplish His Father's purposes. God for a blessing. Heaven is going to be full. That house all. I'm going to be received into that house very shortly.
You're going to be received if you know him as Savior, not house, and all of those things that we've done in disobedience to the Word of God and without that tender conscience perhaps that we ought to have had. Why those things will never be mentioned after the judgment seat of Christ. Why there's going to be that tender hearted love and enjoyment of the divine things eternally. I want to just turn to one more verse and Luke's gospel chapter one.
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Says in verse 78.
Luke 1 and verse 78. Through the tender mercy of our God.
Whereby the Dayspring from on high hath visited us to give the light, to give light to them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. And the child grew and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his showing unto Israel. While this is Speaking of John the Baptist.
But you know, it's through the tender mercy of our God, the tender mercy.
Of our God, that we've been able to speak of the loving Savior tonight, the tender mercy of our God, that grace can be presented and that forgiveness of sins can be presented tonight. But if you refuse the Lord Jesus tonight, if you refuse to accept the Lord Jesus as Savior, refused to confess that you're a Sinner on the way to a lost and ruined eternity. Why?
Instead of being in that home so bright and fair, God is going to take the Lord. Jesus, I should say, is going to cast you into the lake of fire. You're going to be cast into a place.
You will be forever forgotten of God. The door is going to be sealed. It'll be forever shut.
It's not a House of love, it's not a House of comfort, it's not a House of blessing. The door is going to be.
Shut, sealed, never to be opened again, and you will be forever forgotten. But tonight you have the opportunity to receive the Lord Jesus as Savior and to come into blessing in that House of love and that home so fair.
Listing number six.
Cheltenham.
Let's go ahead and have anything.
And.
Shining.
And I I don't think I got anything.
And I had a great day.
I was like, congratulations.
On my name.
Bloody nature.
And I don't think.
I'm.
Uh, it's for a while and I didn't blah blah blah and again, super blah blah blah blah.
We're on.
The right hand.
01:00:00
In the top of the groundwater so I don't hear anything and I have a great.
One, she's not surprised it's not blah, blah, blah, blah, blah blah blah blah blah blah.
Oh no, no, no, it's not 12 every day. Oh, my grandma.
Can I say anything respected?
And I think that's the first round of all.
Right.
Our loving God and our Father, we thank Thee for the Son of God who loved us and gave himself for us. We pray that if there's anyone here still sitting in their seats that knows Thee not Lord Jesus as Savior, that they might just desire.
Be convicted of Thy spirit, of their sinful condition before Thee, and desire to have their sins forgiven. Desire to hear those words. Son, thy sins be forgiven Thee, so we just ask Thy blessing upon Thy precious word.
And just commend ourselves to the for the remainder of the evening and the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.