Zacchaeus

Might we turn to the 19th of Luke's Gospel, just a few verses, in the 19th of Luke, verse 1. And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. Behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was a 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 to-day I must abide at thy house.

And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying that he was gone to be guessed with a man that is a sinner. And Zacchaeus stood and said unto the Lord, Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor.

And if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold. And Jesus said unto him, This day his salvation comes to this house, forasmuch as he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.

Now in the 23rd chapter, verse 6. When Pilate heard of Galilee, he asked whether the man were Galilean. And as soon as he knew that he belonged under Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who himself also was at Jerusalem at that time. And when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceeding glad, for he was desirous to see him, of a long season, because he had heard many things of him, and he hoped to have seen some miracle done by him.

Then he questioned with him in many words, but he answered him nothing. Now we brought before you tonight, in these verses we read, two men. Two men who desired to see Jesus.

One of these men saw him and was saved. The other man saw him and was lost. Each one of us has to see Jesus.

Every one of us is going to see Jesus. Every one has to do with him. For the word of God says that every eye shall see him.

Every man and woman that ever lived in this world, from the days of Adam until the very last creature that is created, is going to someday stand face to face with Jesus, either as a savior or as a judge. Everybody has to do with Jesus. Now this first man, this rather remarkable man, tells us here in the first verse that Jesus entered and passed through Jericho.

Those are wonderful words for us to consider briefly. The fact that Jericho is a picture or type of this world in the Bible, and we read about Jericho, we have a city brought before us. There's a type of this world.

And so Jesus entered into that city. Jesus entered Jericho and he passed through it. You know, we've been reading a lot about the different planets and man's desire to get to the planets.

They say, are there men on the other planets? And we don't know that. And either do they. But there's one thing that we do know, that there's a planet called Earth.

And Jesus has been to this planet. And that's why tonight many of us in this room know this person. We've met this person.

We know him better than we know our own loved ones. And we know that he loves us with an eternal love. And we have found in this person, unseen by our human eyes, we have found our Savior.

Jesus came to this world. He came to this world. And you know, I don't believe there's any people living on the other planets.

I don't say there are not, because I don't know. But I don't believe there are. Because the Bible tells us that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.

And the Bible tells us that Christ will never die again. So if there is other people on other planets, we know there's no Savior for them because he's never going to die again. He died once and he's never going to die again.

So I remember a reading years ago. The preacher said something like this. He said, if there are people on other planets, if, he said, then they must be sinless people because Christ is not going to go to those other planets to die.

He died once and he's never going to die again. These are his very words. I am he that liveth and became dead.

And I am alive forevermore. And so Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. And I believe that the reason Jesus passed through Jericho was because he had an engagement.

Let me speak reverently. The Lord Jesus had an appointment with a certain man that didn't know, apparently up to this time, anything about this. He had heard about Jesus, named Zacchaeus, but the Lord went through Jericho to meet Zacchaeus, just as he went to the wells of Sychar to meet that poor woman.

Because if you read the Gospels, you'll find the Lord went places to meet people because he came into the world for that purpose. He came to meet, to meet sinners and to save sinners. Now when the Gospel goes out in a little company like this, who knows who's in the room? Who knows your heart and who knows my heart but God? Only God knows our hearts.

So there may be somebody in this room tonight who'll look down and say, well, looks like they're all Christians here, but how do we know? How do we know? There was a certain brother told me, you know, when I'm asked to preach, he said, I get up on the platform and size up my audience, and when I see they're all Christians and I don't preach the Gospel at all, well, I don't believe in that. I don't believe in that. Because I come to the prayer meeting and we don't hear a brother say, well, let's change this to a Bible reading.

And I come to the Bible reading and I don't hear anybody say, let's change this to a prayer meeting or a Gospel meeting. And there's only one hour and 168 hours a week when the Gospel goes forth. And an assembly, I believe, that doesn't have the Gospel is an assembly that does not grow.

Generally speaking, let us preach the Gospel. And if nobody listens to it in the room, there's this wonderful comfort that God bends his ear down to hear the Gospel of his beloved Son. For I believe that God the Father loves the Gospel.

He loves the Gospel, and I believe that's why we often say he reserved to himself the privilege of being the first Gospel preacher. Genesis 3, verse 15, the woman's seed shall bruise thy head. That is to say, Christ was going to come and he was going to destroy the devil and his works.

Wasn't that good news? For Adam and Eve to hear as they stood there as fallen creatures, to have God declare to the serpent the Gospel of his beloved Son, the virgin-born Son of God was coming into the world and he was going to destroy the serpent. And praise God he did at the cross. And that great victory at the cross that the Lord Jesus won means the final doom of the devil.

As we find in Revelation chapter 20, verse 10, the devil is going to be cast into the lake of fire. That's a solemn thing because we're going to spend eternity either with the Lord Jesus or with the devil. Everybody has a choice to make, either to spend eternity with the devil or to spend eternity with the Lord.

And I'm sorry to say there's many people tonight in Los Angeles who have heard the Gospel and who have said in their hearts, if not with their mouths, I prefer the company of the devil. Just imagine. I don't say they say that with their mouths, with their heart at least.

By the decision they make against Christ, they say, I don't want Christ. I'd rather be with the devil and the damned in hell than to be in the glory with Christ. What a solemn thing to think of.

Oh, there's many, many tonight in Christendom who have heard the Gospel, who have received Gospel tracts and who have decided against the God of the Bible. Now it tells us in the second verse, Behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. Now notice that God knows everybody's name.

He doesn't have to be introduced to you. He knows your name. He knew this man's name was Zacchaeus.

We sometimes say that Christ can save from A to Z. A to Z, Christ can save Adam and Zacchaeus. He can save from the whole beginning of the alphabet right through no matter what your name is. Whether it starts with A or B or C or D, God can save you tonight.

And this man's name was Zacchaeus and God knew what position he held. He was the chief among the publicans and God knew he was a rich man. And he tells us this.

You'll notice in Luke's Gospel that it seems to be that the Lord brings forth the rich man in Luke's Gospel. The rich man. Here is one of the rich men of Luke's Gospel.

Now notice the third verse. And he sought to see Jesus, who he was. Now I want to stop there a few moments.

This is very important. Not only to see Jesus, but to see who he is. Because it was important, most important, to know who Jesus was.

Now there are those who say he was a great teacher. Others say he was one of the greatest teachers that ever lived. But if that was only true, then we would be hopeless tonight.

And also we'd be helpless because for Jesus to be a great teacher, as he was, and a great man as he was, would mean very little to you and me. He had to be more than that. First of all, he had to be who he said he was.

You know, I want to quote two verses that the Lord said who he was. In John 10, I think it's verse 36, he said, I am the Son of God. No doubt about it.

I am the Son of God. Then in the fourth chapter of John's Gospel, about verse 27, when the woman of Samaria said to him, we know that Messiah has come, which is called the Christ. When he has come, he will tell us all things.

He said, I that speak unto thee am he. There was a Jewish man said to me once, but Jesus Christ never said he was the Messiah. I said, yes, sir, he did.

He did, and I quoted that verse. I that speak unto thee am he. He was not only the Son of God, but he was the Jewish Messiah.

Isn't that wonderful? The Jewish Messiah is Jesus Christ the Lord. But also he must have something else. He must have an eternity that goes back again as long as God was living, which was forever in a past eternity.

Now, this person who Zacchaeus sought to see who he was, has he got these qualifications? Indeed, he has. For we read in the first chapter of John's Gospel, verse 1, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made.

In the first chapter of Colossians, we're introduced to the one who created all things. He created all things. That is to say, he made them out of nothing.

Man can't do that. You can get the best carpenter in the United States of America and take him into a room and lock him in the room, made of all cement, lock him in and say, now, I want you to make a chair. He can't do it.

He has to have something to make it from. But this blessed one made the world from nothing. He spoke and the world came into existence.

He was the eternal one. Now, here's another point. Also, he must be born into this world without a human father.

The world says this is impossible. But this blessed one was born of a virgin, born of a virgin. And we're told that the angel declared that thou shall call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins.

And so he was born of a virgin. He had no human father. And when Mary said to him, wish ye not that your father and I sought thee sorrowing, he said, wish ye not that I must be about my father's business.

He did not own Joseph as his father. Joseph was later on the husband of Mary, but he was not the father of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was born of a virgin.

And there's something else to see who Jesus was. He must be absolutely sinless. Now, every man that's been born into this world since Adam fell in the Garden of Eden has been born a sinner.

Everybody has been born with a nature, a life that is sinful. And it doesn't take very long as we start off in life to betray even as a babe the fact that we have something wrong with us, that we're sinners. We were born that way.

And I believe this is very important, but this child was not born that way. He did not have a fallen nature. And, oh, dear young Christians, I like to press this.

I know you've heard this before, but it bears repeating. You know, Mr. Hale used to say the same thing at every conference, every conference. And there's a sister in Montreal who lived in Ottawa, and she said, we used to hear Mr. Hale say that a hundred times.

But now he's gone. We thank God he said it because we never can forget it. And I want every young Christian here tonight, every born-again young believer to hear this, which I believe is vital, absolutely vital.

The Lord Jesus had no fallen nature. Absolutely not. That holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

And so this subtle lie that Satan is trying to introduce among God's people, that while the Savior never sinned, he could have sinned, is wrong. The Lord Jesus could not sin. And if we were to ask men and women this question, could God sin? I think even the unbelievers around the streets would say, no, we believe that God is holy.

Well, the Son of God is exactly the same. I and my Father are one. He could not sin.

Now, young Christians, get hold of that. May God grant that that truth will grip your heart and your soul. The Lord Jesus never sinned, and he could not sin.

So we have this perfect Savior. Then we have to have something else. We have to have one who could lay down his life.

Now, you can't do that, and I can't do that. Nobody in the world can do that. You know, we can take a gun and we can commit suicide.

We can take a glass of strong poison and drink it and commit suicide and we can die, but we cannot dismiss our spirit. We cannot say to our spirit, I commend you to God. Know that the spirit will not leave the body.

We have no power, but this person who came from heaven, who Jesus was, he had to have that power, and he had it. And he could say these words, I lay down my life. No man taketh it from me.

I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. He had power to lay his life down, and he had power to take it again. Now, no man from Adam had that power, and no man since, and no man to come will ever have that power to lay down his life, but the Lord did, because he was the Son of God.

He was God manifest in the flesh. This is who Jesus is. Now, something else.

He must have power, and I speak reverently. He must have power to be made sin and to bear our sins, and think of this now, beloved friends, think of this. He must be able to be forsaken of God.

No other creature in the universe could be forsaken of God for a second and live. But the Lord Jesus was forsaken, not by his Father, but he was forsaken by God during those three hours of darkness when he was made sin, when he bore our sins in his own body on the tree, and when the wrath of God fell upon him. No other creature had ever lived that could do that.

No other creature could ever do that. For three hours, the Lord Jesus was forsaken of God. He was alone.

As the judgment of God fell on his blessed head, friend, there's nobody else could do that. Now, this blessed Savior also, he must have power to be raised from the dead and destroy death and come forth out of the grave because death could not hold him. Now, death can hold you and death can hold me until the Lord raises us from the dead.

If we pass through death and it's coming again, we shall be raised. And the unsaved will also be raised because there'll be not one left in the grave. Every man and woman and boy and girl is going to take part in the resurrection of the just or the unjust.

They're going to all be raised. But this person had to come forth out of the grave himself, raised by the glory of his Father. Death could not hold the Son of God.

Now, all these qualifications, this blessed one who was called Jesus Christ, he had all these qualifications. He was, without a doubt, the Son of God. His words were with power.

His enemies had to say, never man spake like this man. His word was with power and his miracles had power. He was, oh friends, how could they ever miss it? He was the Son of God.

He was the Son of God. And no matter who stands here to speak, there's nobody can speak highly enough of him who was heaven's beloved one. The Son of God who loved us and gave himself for me.

Now, there's young boys tonight in this room, young girls, and we're glad to see you. Are you saved tonight? Are you saved? You know, you can say, I've got a Christian mother and a Christian father, and that's a wonderful blessing from God, but it won't save you. No, your father can't save you.

Your father can say, come on my boy, come on my girl, come on to the meeting. They can take you by the arm and bring you to the meeting, but they can't take you by the arm and take you into heaven. You have to do with this Jesus.

Now, this is what Zacchaeus did. He sought. He was an earnest.

He sought to see Jesus who he was, and he could not for the press because he was little of stature. And I want you to notice this is very interesting. Remember now, this man was the chief among the publicans.

He was probably well known and probably hated and despised, and he was rich. But notice what he did in verse 4. He ran before and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was to pass that way. Now, this is a wonderful thing because rich men don't do these things.

A rich man who's well known doesn't start climbing up trees to see the President of the United States. The boys in the school and the girls maybe climb up on fences. I remember when the Queen came to Montreal, there were many boys up trees on fences and everything, but I didn't see any rich men in Montreal climbing trees to see the Queen of England.

They just don't do that. But this man was an earnest. He didn't care what anybody said.

He climbed up the tree. True, it was a sycamore tree, and I understand they couldn't see him. He was hidden under the leaves, but he had to get there.

They saw him run ahead. The crowd wasn't going to stop him. The crowd.

Now, the devil has his crowds tonight to stop people from trying to see who Jesus is. The devil's got all kinds of crowds. The moment a man starts to think about heaven and about being saved, then the hosts of hell rise up against him.

You know, there's many men tonight who are working on great inventions, and the devil couldn't care less. He's just not interested. They can try to get to Mars and all the different planets, and the devil's not concerned in the least bit about it.

A man may try to invent some great plan to meet the energy of connection, the oil supply. They may work their brains out day and night, but the devil just isn't interested. But let a man, a boy or a girl or a young man or a young woman say, you know, I'm interested in my soul, and all the power of hell will be launched against that one soul.

One soul. If a man wants to follow the Lord, a man wants to take a stand for Christ, he'll find the devil's got his agents ready to block them at every corner. The devil is against Christ.

And so here, this little man climbs this tree and says to see him, for he was to pass that way. Isn't this beautiful? This man wanted to see a person. This man didn't want to see a synagogue.

He didn't want to see a priest. He didn't want to see a man of religion. He wanted to see him.

He wanted to see Jesus. Isn't this wonderful? There was something in this blessed person. He had heard about him, and he wanted to see him.

And he was willing to go to all these means to see this person. Now notice what happened. Verse 5, When Jesus came to the place, he looked up.

Notice, he saw him. Oh, he was hidden away from the crowd. They couldn't see him in the sycamore tree, but the eye of the Lord saw him.

You see, man cannot get away from God. He can hide under the bed. He can hide under the cover.

He can hide up in the tree, but the eye of God reaches into the very tree. And he saw him, and he said, Zacchaeus, make haste. Notice that.

Make haste. People say there's lots of time to get saved. Why get excited about this question? I was here last Sunday night, and here I am again tonight.

I'll be here next Sunday night. But God doesn't say that. You see, God doesn't promise to save one man tomorrow.

God doesn't promise to save one man in February or March or April. No, sir, he does not. But he does promise to save now, right tonight.

He says, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. And what God says about tomorrow is this.

He says, boast not thyself of tomorrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. You know, I want to say this to the younger ones that are here, because the devil is clever, and he tells young boys, especially boys. I think it's one of his favorites.

He says, you know, son, you're a strong fellow. You know, you've got big muscles, and you're big for your age, you know. You won't die.

You're going to live for another 50 years. You know, when you get to be about 75, then you start thinking about eternity. Well, there was a little boy in Montreal who came to Sunday school, and he did not know this.

He didn't know it, of course. But it was his last Sunday, the last Sunday on earth, his last Sunday in time. For the very next Sunday, he was in eternity.

We had said to his mother and father that Lord's Day afternoon, you see this boy of yours? It's his last Sunday on earth. They would have said, sir, you're crazy. No, sir, he's a strong, healthy boy.

He's a normal boy, and he was a normal boy, but he was in eternity. The next Sunday, he was in his grave. Now, that's, you say, you're only trying to scare me.

Oh, friends, if you're not saved tonight, I wish I had the power to scare you so much that you wouldn't leave this room though you knew you were saved. I wish I had that power to scare every man and woman that didn't have Christ, just to scare them under their skin so they'd come to Christ. You know, there was a man who used to preach, I think, in this hall named Mr. Martin from Montreal, and he told me many times that before he got saved, he said, the preacher took me right over the very pit of hell, and he shook me like that over the very pit of hell.

You know, we don't hear that preaching today, do we? We don't hear that. That's the old-time preachers, but today they say, oh, don't preach judgment. Now, friends, it's better to preach the love of God than the judgment of God.

To that I agree, but I believe the devil is trying to get the preachers to leave out hell, and he's succeeding. There is a hell, friends. There is a hell.

The same God who said there's a heaven, says there's a hell. If there's no hell, there's no heaven. If there's no heaven, there's no hell.

Because the same God who said there's a heaven told us there's a hell. So why would people believe there's a heaven and not believe there's a hell? Why do people believe the things in the Bible that tell us we're going to have an eternal life, but when they hear of judgment, they say, we don't believe that. Oh, friends, why do they say that? Well, we say they're foolish.

But who is behind this? The devil. The devil is behind this. And the devil is gradually trying to water down the gospel so people won't hear the truth.

But, oh, my friends, Calvary's cross proves there's a hell. And think of it. If God forsook his beloved son on that cross for those three hours when he bore my sins, what will he do to you or anybody else who rejects that son? What will he do to you? Friends, be careful.

It's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. That's what the Bible says. It's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Christ is the Savior of sinners. And so it tells us here. The Lord says, Make haste.

There's no time to waste. And come down. Oh, how man hates to come down.

But you've got to come down, my friends. He that humbles himself shall be exalted. Maybe I've told this story before.

But the colored porter, the child of God worked in the railway where I worked, a real child of God. And you'll forgive me if I've told you this story before, for I forget. But it's a good story.

When I was on the train, we were on the way to the gospel tent. And I knew that down the train this porter was. And I had to go and see him.

He was as black as coal. But, oh, beloved, he loved the Savior. It was good to see him.

And we went into this bedroom. We sat down together and we talked about Jesus, the Savior of the white and the Savior of the black. And, you know, as we sat there talking about Christ, we heard a knock on the door.

And a man said, Porter, my car is very noisy. I want to know if you can change me into your car. And he said, I will, sir.

But first of all, come in. I want you to meet my brother. Well, the man looked at him and looked at me.

It was in the summertime and we were sunburnt and rather red. But he was as black as coal. But he said, I want you to meet my brother.

And he looked first at me and he looked at the other man and he kind of got puzzled. And the porter said, You are a puzzle, sir. You don't understand that, do you, that he's my brother and I'm his brother? He said, But we're brothers in Christ, sir.

Brothers in Christ. Now, I want you to sit right down and listen to what I say. And this is what he said, and I'll never forget it.

In the world, he said, they teach you, up you go, climb up. If the man's in your way, climb over him. If another man gets in your way, climb over him.

But get to the top higher and higher and never stop but in the school of God. He said, God teaches you to come down. Down you come, down, down, he said, to the very bottom.

And then you look up into the blessed face of Jesus. And he lifts you up and he draws you up and he saves your soul. Isn't that wonderful? What a gospel message.

And that's what Zacchaeus had to do. He had to come down. Notice what he did.

He said he made haste. He obeyed the word of God. Have you obeyed the word of God? He made haste.

And notice what he did. He came down. Oh, what a hard thing it must have been for that rich man to come down and see his neighbors, to see his business associates, see him coming down and humbling himself.

He came down. What else did he do? Notice, he received him. He received him.

Now God says in John 1, 12, to as many as received him, to them gave he the power to become the children of God, even to them that believe in his name. Notice, he received him. Now, something else.

He received him joyfully. Isn't that wonderful? He received a person. You know, I'm so tired of this religion.

Oh, I think it's sickening. I really believe that God must absolutely hate it with all his power. Religion has sent more men to hell than anything else under heaven because it's to see them and to believe in a falsehood.

And they say, have you received baptism? Have you received church membership? Have you received this and received that? Friends, have you received him? Have you received Jesus? Have you received the Son of God? He received him joyfully. Joyfully. This is a wonderful word here, joyfully, because it really describes the Christian life.

It really describes the Christian life. Because the men in the world are all trying to find joy. And you can get from the American government, you can get from the Canadian government, figures that show the billions of dollars in this country, billions and billions of dollars.

I've read them. Billions of dollars. Men have spent to try to find joy.

They've spent billions of dollars on all kinds of things, big lists of things. There's a book you can get that lists them up. And it'll come to tens and twenties and thirties of billions of dollars that men have spent every year trying to find joy.

And they can't find it. They can't find it. But when you receive him, not only do you get Christ and the forgiveness of sins and salvation and a way to heaven and ready to meet God, but you get the joy too.

You see, the joy of heaven begins on earth. Isn't that nice? The little hymn says, or the chorus says, "'Tis heaven below my Redeemer to know." That's what heaven is. Heaven begins on earth for the Christian.

Of all the trials and tribulations, yet it's heaven below my Redeemer to know. Isn't that wonderful? To have that joy, to receive him joyfully. Now, no unsaved man has this joy.

You can't buy that joy. You could be a billionaire and you couldn't buy it. It's not for sale.

It's free. It's God's gift. The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

And notice, friends, whenever God speaks about salvation, he always brings Christ in. There is no salvation without Christ. The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

And so he received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all murmured, you know, that's what the world does. It doesn't take long for the world to make its decision.

That's one thing we can say about the world. It doesn't take them very long. You be on their side Saturday night, and you're a very, very fine fellow.

Oh, the world pats you on the back and says, you're a wonder. We'd like to have you in our society. You're an asset.

Then on Sunday night, accept Christ. And on Monday morning, they'll say, no, we don't want you. We don't want you.

They all murmured, saying that he was gone to be guessed with a man that's a sinner. Isn't that wonderful? Here's the sinner's friend. Are you a sinner tonight? Here's the sinner's friend.

He's gone to be guessed with a man that's a sinner. In fact, he is a sinner. I suppose he was ashamed of himself.

He was really a tax collector. He was chief among the publicans. He had probably been stealing money to get rich.

This is not new for politicians, but nevertheless, he was stealing money to get rich. This poor tax collector, and he says, Lord, unto the Lord, behold, Lord, he called of the spies Nazarene, the man they hated in the city he said, Lord, behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor, and if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him for, wasn't that a good speech? Wasn't that a wonderful speech thought Zacchaeus as he stood in the presence of the Savior? He was really going to make things right. But you know, that's not the way to make things right with God is at first.

You have to make things right with God. And Zacchaeus needed a Savior. He didn't need a reformation of his character.

He needed a Savior. And he was in the presence of the Savior. Notice verse 9. And Jesus said this day, this very day, the very thing he said to the thief later on, today thou shalt be with me in paradise.

He said, this day is salvation come to this house. Not all the house but this house where the sinner was. For Jesus is looking for sinners.

A young man said last morning after the gospel, he said, when I asked him this question, are you a sinner? He said, I am. And I said, good. That's the first step to heaven.

Now you've got into a position where the Savior can meet you. When you get into that position where you say, I'm a sinner, then the Savior of sinners is ready to save you. But you've got to be a sinner first.

For the Lord came to save sinners, not good people, for there's none. And he says, this day is salvation. Who was the salvation? Christ himself.

Salvation was there in the person of Christ. Come to this house, verse 10, for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which is lost. Now, before I turn just for a few minutes to the 23rd of Luke, I want you to notice that when it comes to children, little children that die before they reach the age of responsibility, the Scriptures say, the Son of Man has come to save that which is lost.

When it comes to adults who have reached the age of responsibility, who are lost and away from God, it says, the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which is lost. And so Zacchaeus, I believe, will meet him in heaven. Zacchaeus, I'm sure, was saved.

He's going to be among the redeemed. He's going to be there in the Father's house. We're going to meet that man.

Now, we know that he won't be part of the Church, but he's going to be there. It's the same with the thief and the cross. He's going to be there.

Oh, they're going to be there, beloved. He met the Lord. He met salvation.

And he found Jesus and he received him joyfully. Now, the second man, just in a few moments left, here's a rather sad case, Herod. He was a king.

He also was a rich man. In our verse 8, and when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceeding glad. He was desiring to see him for a long season.

Because he had heard many things of him and he hoped to have seen some miracle done by him. Sounds pretty good, doesn't it? You see, if Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus, Herod also wanted to see Jesus for a long season. And at last, the opportunity came when the one he wanted to see was standing right in front of him.

There was the king. And all he thought, he was a pretty mighty man. And there was the king of kings standing before this ungodly wretch, King Herod, the king of kings, the Lord of lords, the Son of God standing in front of a worm of the dust of the lowest clasp, a sinner like Herod who didn't know he was a sinner.

And it tells us here in verse 9, And then he questioned him in many words, many words. But notice the solemn answer. But he answered him nothing.

And my dear friend, there is nothing worse, nothing worse than a silent God, nothing worse than a silent God. Oh, for a God who speaks. But my friend, a silent God is a terrible curse.

Is God silent with you tonight? Does God ever speak to you? Thank God he spoke to me. I can't think of anything more terrible on earth than to have to do with a silent God. He answered him nothing.

He spoke to Pilate. Yes, he did. He spoke to the chief priest, the high priest, but he said nothing to Herod.

Oh, how terrible. Why didn't Herod say, Lord, speak to me? Speak to me, a silent God. Is there anything more terrible, I ask it again, that it may touch the conscience of any careless person, anybody in this room who, like Mary and Joseph, when they were returning home in Luke chapter 2, supposing that Jesus was in the company, you know, when they got away from that place a day's journey, they found that the Lord wasn't with them at all.

And they had to turn around. It took them three days to find them. He wasn't there.

They were going along life's way only supposing that Jesus was with them. And there are these multitudes tonight in America who are going to hell, going to hell. They don't know it.

They're lost in their sins, and they're supposing, they're just supposing that Jesus is with them. Are you here tonight, my friend, and you're supposing that Jesus is with you? Have you received Christ? Have you received Christ? I suppose that of all the people you get to talk to, the hardest people to reach, the hardest people to reach are those who have been brought up in Christian homes, because they're always supposing that they're saved. Oh, they say, of course, I'm saved.

Well, I went to Sunday school when I was five years of age. A man told me way back in Canada, he said, listen, sir, in that hall up the road there, when I was five years of age, I went to Sunday school. I went there when I was six years.

I went there for seven years. Of course I'm saved. He was a drunkard.

He was a drunkard. And I said to him, when he said to me these words, he said, listen, I was taught up in that hall on the hill there, once saved and never lost. Once saved.

And I said, Horace, that's true. I believe that with all my heart. But if you're lost, you're still lost.

And that Sunday school didn't save you. And that Sunday school can't save you. And it's wrong for you to sit there and presume that because you went to that Sunday school and you heard the gospel, that you were naturally saved.

There's no such a thing as being naturally saved. You have to do with God. You have to come to Christ.

You have to receive Christ. And Christ has to live in here. And if he doesn't, you're not saved.

You may know all about the Bible. You may be able to quote every verse in the Bible. But that means nothing unless you have received Christ.

And I really believe, beloved friends, that our young people need to have this pressed upon them tonight because there are many who are marching down the broad road to the destruction and they're only supposing that Jesus is with them. Now, I want to say this because you get accused of saying the wrong thing sometimes. And you do say it.

I want to be careful of what I say. I believe with all my heart and soul the words of my precious Savior that a sheep of Christ can never perish. But they have to be a sheep of Christ first.

They have to be a sheep of Not just to believe up here that a man named Jesus Christ came into the world, died on the cross, and went back into heaven. Friends, that is history. The same as Napoleon Bonaparte was the emperor of France, and Wellington was a great soldier, and so on.

All these men we read about in history. But it means nothing to me whether Napoleon lived or died. It means nothing to me.

But it means something to me that Jesus died. For he died for me. He died for me.

He died for my sins. He bore the wrath of God for me. When he hung on that cross, he bore the wrath and anger of a sin-hating God against me.

He took my place. He was my substitute. My substitute.

He took my place. Do you believe that tonight? Have you received him in your life? I ask you. A silent God.

Jesus answered him nothing. And you know, we never, never read in this book that Herod ever received Christ. Herod ever received Christ.

You know, in the 16th chapter of Acts, the jailer trembled. And in the 24th chapter, Felix trembled. The jailer trembled.

He trembled into God's salvation, and he was saved. But Felix trembled into hell, and he was lost. He was lost.

They both trembled. But trembling doesn't save you. The jailer came to Christ.

Friends, have you come to Christ? Have you come to Christ? I want to say, just before we close this message, you say, I'm a Christian. What kind of a Christian are you? Are you one of these easygoing Christians who says, well, I know all about the Bible. I've heard all these things.

I can quote John 3, 16 off my heart. But that doesn't save you. Have you received Christ? Is Christ your Lord? Is Christ your Savior? If you die today, if you pass out of this world tonight, where will you Where will you spend eternity? If the Lord Jesus comes tonight, will you be taken up or will you be left behind? Isn't that solemn? Oh, friends, the little poem, I can't quote it.

But it goes something like this. It says, if you were to know what the people who have died know, you wouldn't be without Christ for five minutes. Remember.

Remember, you have seen, and I suppose I have seen in the last few weeks, sometimes the funeral procession going down the road. Down the road they're going. Where is that soul gone? If that soul could come back tonight and speak through all the powerful radio stations in America just for two minutes, what would the message be? If they died without Christ.

And what effect would it have on the American people to hear a man who came back from hell to preach for two minutes on the radio? It would have no effect. No effect. It would have absolutely no effect if that man was to preach on the radio and say, I just came back from hell to warn you to come to Christ.

And the radio message ended on the spot. And the radio stations said there was an audience of a hundred million people heard that message. I don't believe there would be one of them saved by that message.

And I believe I have Scripture for it. For Jesus said, If they believe not the word of God, Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead. In other words, we are closed up to this book.

Is this the of God? Yes. It's the word of God. Do you believe this book? Do you believe about the Savior in this book? May God grant that his word may receive his richest blessing.

And tonight, if there is one in this room, a boy or a girl or a man or a woman who is tonight like Herod, like Herod, and you say, God never speaks to me. God never speaks to me as a man told me that in the office. He said, God never speaks to me.

Oh, then get down your knees and cry to God to speak to you. For there is nothing worse than a silent God. God is speaking, my friend.

And if you are deaf and close your ears, then that voice that says to you tonight, Come, will someday say, Depart. I never knew you. May God grant that everybody in this room tonight will be able to say, Christ for me.

Isn't that wonderful? Christ for me. May God bless his word. Amen.