Luke 19:6-14, 1Tim 4-11-16,1Cor 11:23-26

I'd like to look at Luke 19, Luke 19, and read from verse 6. And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully. Verse 8, And Zacchaeus stood and said unto the Lord, Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.

And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come 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. And as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought the kingdom of God should immediately appear.

He said, Therefore, a certain noble man went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. And he called ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come. But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us.

Now to 1 Timothy chapter 4. 1 Timothy chapter 4, and we'll read from, we'll break in for the sake of time at verse 11. These things command and teach, Let no man despise thy youth, but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.

Neglect not the gift that is in thee which was given thee by prophecy, which with the laying on of the hands of the Presbytery. Meditate upon these things, give thyself wholly to them, that profiting may appear to all. Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine, continue in them.

For in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee. Now 1 Corinthians chapter 11. 1 Corinthians chapter 11, and read from verse 23.

For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, Take, eat. This is my body which is broken for you. This do in remembrance of me.

Afterward, the same manner, also he took the cup, when he had sup, saying, This cup is a new testament in my blood. This do ye as often as ye drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death until he come.

Now the Lord will bless to us the reading of his precious word, and what we've already heard in this day so far. The ministry has been real good, and it should be a blessing to each and every one of us. I think of this man Zacchaeus.

I'm not going to speak the gospel, but I might bring out a few thoughts on the gospel. This man Zacchaeus, he was a man who sought to see the Lord Jesus, and he got ahead of the press. And there was a press in his life, and he was short of stature, we all know that.

But he got ahead of the press, and he ran and he climbed up into a sycamore tree. But he wasn't in the sycamore tree very long, and the Lord saw him. He come, and he said, Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must abide at thy house.

Well, Zacchaeus, he came down. And what did he do? We read that he received Him joyfully. Isn't that wonderful? My, you know, we can all go back to that day.

When we received the Savior joyfully. And truly, we did have joy in our souls the moment we received the Lord Jesus. The moment we received the Lord Jesus, you know, we were a changed person.

And that's one thing I like to bring out about this man Zacchaeus. And it was said of the Lord about Zacchaeus in verse 8 there, 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. Now you can plainly see that he was going to restore what he had taken in a false pretense.

He was going to restore that in its fullness. And I think of that today. That was a complete change.

And that should be in the lives of every one of us as believers this afternoon. We should be changed when we get saved. And when you think of that, it says then, And the Lord said of that, This day is salvation come to thy house.

What a joy that must have been when Zacchaeus heard those words that This day is salvation come to thy house. But then we go on to see that the Lord added a parable And he said, And the people that were there, They thought that he was going to set up his kingdom immediately. Well, that would have been impossible Because he was going to come to receive a kingdom unto himself.

And then he chose out ten men and he gave them each a pound. And when you think of that this afternoon, Each one of these men, they had a pound. And a little while later when he was going to return, He was going to find out how much they had gained.

And the one man had gained ten pounds. And then the other one had gained five. And the other, he wrapped it up in a napkin.

And my, how sad it is. The man that gained ten pounds, he gained ten cities. And the man that gained five pounds, he gained ten cities.

And the one that wrapped it up in a napkin, He didn't receive anything. And his pound was given to another man that had gained ten pounds. Now over to Timothy there, When I think of Timothy, And the Lord said to Timothy, He says, Let no man despise thy youth.

Now I could say more about that other, But we'll pass on to this. Paul says here to Timothy, Let no man despise thy youth, But be thou an example to the believers of a believer. When I think of that today, When you consider that, Let no man despise thy youth.

And dear young brethren and sisters here, Don't let anybody despise thy youth. But be an example of the believers. Not only just as an example, But in word and in conversation.

And then it says, In charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. Why wouldn't that be wonderful? If we could be an example of the believer in word. And when I think of Timothy being told these words, As I understand, Timothy probably was a person that was a little timid.

And he was afraid to speak up on many occasions. But nevertheless, Timothy, you're up there in Ephesus. There's a lot of older men in the assembly there.

And don't let any of those older brethren despise thy youth. If you have a word on your heart, Timothy, You give it out. And dear young brethren, Today, if you have a word in the ministry, And the Lord has laid it upon your heart, Don't be afraid to give it out.

Get up for 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes. Don't be afraid to give a little word To edify the people of God And build them up in their most holy faith. That's the only way that a young person can get his start.

He has to get up. And you know, sometimes they say, Well, that person, he's way too young to get up. And I can speak for myself Because I'm getting to be an old man.

And not that I'm saying that that's a reason, But we all had to have our start as a young person. And if we wouldn't have had our start when we were young, Then we would never have gotten anywhere for the Lord. But here it says, Be an example of the believer.

What is the example of a believer? In the Word of God. My, to have this example, That we have the Word of God And that we can tell out the good news And the glad tidings of the Gospel. And then our conversation.

I remember one time being out in the state of California. And it was on a Friday night of a conference Beginning in the Monrovia Assembly. And in the home that we were staying in that night, I says to some of the brethren, There was a couple of preachers there that night.

And I says, Give me a little help on what it means there When the Lord says, If it be possible that this cup would pass from Me, Nevertheless, not My will, but Thy will be done. Well, one of the preachers said to me, You brought it up. He says, You must have something on your mind about it.

No, I said, I'd just like to understand it a little bit more. But I did say a few words on it. And you know, we got to talking about that.

What it would be for the Lord Jesus to say those words. And He said it three different times. If it be possible that this cup would pass from Me, Nevertheless, not My will, but Thy will be done.

And you know, we talked for about an hour and a half on that that night. And when I consider that, it was a touching conversation. Talking about the Lord Jesus and that cup that He was going to take before He went to the cross.

And that load that was upon the Savior. My, when you think of that this afternoon, that's very touching. But here in conversation.

So our conversation, you know, there's a lot of things that we can talk about. And I don't know if you've ever experienced in being in a home, it don't take very long to get off of the words of the Savior. You know, we can get occupied with the farming and all these different things.

And we can get occupied as a veterinarian or all these things. And they're doctors or whatever it might be. But here He says, in charity.

And I think of charity, that word love. That's quite a word. When you think of the fruit of the Spirit is love.

And I think that the qualifications of an elder is the fruit of the Spirit. If you see an elder, or you see any brother in the assembly, when he has the fruit of the Spirit, and that is love. And if you have love, you have peace within your soul.

And you not only have peace within your soul, you have joy. And you don't only have love, peace, and joy, then you're a person that has long sufferings. And that would be the example of a believer to really have long suffering.

And when you show love, and you show peace, and you show joy. My, that is very touching to the believers in the assembly. And if you have to deal with something in the assembly, my, to show that love, that tenderness, that peace that you have, and the joy, and then the long suffering, and then kindness, and goodness.

Isn't that wonderful this afternoon? That we as believers should have the fruit of the Spirit, and then faith, and then meekness, and then tenderness, and then what's the next? When I think of that this afternoon, if we really had the fruit of the Spirit, we would all be a little better off in this world. But then he says, in spirit and in faith, to have the right spirit about all things. That's quite a thing.

I remember speaking on that one time, and a brother came up to me after the meeting, and he says, you know, Roy, he says, I don't really have the right spirit about some things. And I'm glad you touched on that. Now that's wonderful when somebody sees that they haven't had the right spirit, and they make a change.

My, that change that Zacchaeus made in his life. To think of that, every one of us had that change in our life. And when we think of going back to Zacchaeus, I don't know whether Zacchaeus was ever baptized or not.

I don't say that in the Word of God. But every believer that comes into this world, God's intentions is that they go under the waters of baptism. When they have faith in Christ, they want to go under the waters of baptism, and then they want to be added to the assembly, be part of the assembly, and all these things.

That would be an example of the believers. And then continue steadfastly in the Apostles' doctrine. Wouldn't it be wonderful if everyone... And when you think of Zacchaeus, I don't know if he ever was baptized, but if he was, you know what? I really believe he was an example of a believer.

So here we see faith and then purity. In all things, in purity in your life. But then he gives another thought here.

Till I come, give attendance to reading. Now that's quite an exhortation, and I think that's an exhortation for every one of us. Till He come.

Till the Lord comes. We're to occupy till He comes. And here it says, till He come, give attendance to reading.

An exhortation. Now, it isn't only reading the Word of God. But it's reading the Word of God for exhortation.

Reading the Word of God for myself in our daily reading of the Word of God. And that Timothy did, I really believe. And then, not only for yourself, Timothy, but you read the Word of God for exhortation to exhort others in the way they should live in this life.

So when you consider that, now it goes on to say, neglect not the gift that is in thee. Now you know that man that wrapped everything up in a napkin? He neglected his gift. And we have to be very careful for neglecting the gift that God has given us.

Every one of us have a gift of some kind and some sort. And don't let it lay idle. And when you think of that, and don't neglect that gift that God has given you.

Maybe you've got a gift in preaching the Gospel. Maybe you've got a gift in teaching the Word. But don't neglect it.

Don't let it lay idle. Exercise that gift. And then you can see, which was given thee by the Presbytery with the laying on of the hands of the Presbytery.

Now, meditate upon these things. We should meditate upon these things that are thyself holy to them that our profiting may appear to all. That our profiting, that our meditation from these things might appear to all men.

Wouldn't that be wonderful if we could do that? And then take heed unto thyself, unto the doctrine. We should continue in the doctrine that is set before us. That's what the Christians did in Jerusalem there.

They continued steadfastly in the Apostles' doctrine. So, there are many things. Now back over to 1 Corinthians 11 there.

When I think of that Scripture, now it says here, Paul says he has received a word from the Lord and that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus the same night in which He was betrayed took bread and we know that when He broke the bread, He gave thanks for it and He breaketh it and He says this do in remembrance of me. When I think of that this afternoon, when the Lord Jesus broke that bread, and here we have this privilege, each Lord's day to come together to break bread, to remember Him, to remember the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then He says again, He says when He gave thanks for the cup, He said, remember me.

Now if you would go to Luke's Gospel, you would find that the Lord Jesus when He broke the bread in remembrance of me, He only said that when He broke the bread. He didn't say it when He gave thanks for the cup there, but here it is mentioned and I really believe that Paul got that vision from the Lord that he had received by the Spirit of God and he mentioned the remembrance on both ones. The person of the Lord Jesus and the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus.

Am I that we will never forget the person of the Lord Jesus and the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus. What He did for us there at the cross of Calvary. When I think of that this afternoon, that touches my heart.

That we ever come into the good of this great salvation. I don't know this afternoon whether you're happy that you're saved. You know, I'm glad I'm saved.

And I'm glad I know I'm on the way to heaven. When we look around at the world and we see the conditions of the world today, it only makes us to realize that the coming of the Lord Jesus is drawing very near. And we can almost hear His footfall on the threshold of the door.

At any moment, we're going to hear that shout and then we're going to be with Him and like Him throughout the countless ages of eternity. What a day that's going to be. And sometime we'll get all occupied with who the President is going to be.

And it's all well to pray for who will be elected as the new President that will be here in the United States of America. But I really believe today that the Lord already knows who's going to be our next President. We don't have to make it known to Him, but it's well to pray.

And the reason we're to pray for those that are in authority is that we might live a quiet and a peaceable life. Wouldn't it be wonderful that the new President that we're going to have and we pray for the older President that we do have. And these things we should pray for every day.

I think President Bush did a very good job in a time like we are in. But when I think here how that this man that had that pound and he put it in a napkin and he knew that the one that he was going to face was an austere man. What would it be some day when we get home to Heaven and we have just wrapped it up in a napkin and we have nothing to show for? How nice it is if we can show something of what we had accomplished in this life for God.

That we might set our life out for Him. I know the night that I was saved. And you know they always tell us that Christians on the way to Heaven should be in before 11.

And I've said this before. And I really believe that too as far as that goes. But you know that night when I was saved before I got to bed that night, it was 2.30. You know why? Because I was so filled with joy that night and I had such a peace in my soul that I started speaking to others telling them how I was saved.

And I don't know how many of them that I told that night that I was reached and saved. And when I got home that night, you know what I did for the first time? Not the first time that I ever was on my knees, but that was the first time in my life that I could get down on my knees and thank the God of Heaven for ever saving an ungodly sinner like me. And you know what, dear brethren and sisters, this afternoon, don't ever forget to thank the God of Heaven for ever saving us.

We'll never be in hell. We'll never be in the lake of fire. And I have never ceased to praise Him for that.

As our brother Thompson has told us, he goes back over that little day every morning. Well, I look in the mirror every morning and I go over that little foundation and I search it out. And you know what? The Word of God still says the very same thing it said that night when I was reached and saved.

Christ died for the ungodly. And that's what I rest on. And that's what every one of us rests on.

We rest on what God says in His Word. And that's why He says to Timothy, don't let anybody despise you, Timothy. Be an example of the believer in Word, in conversation, and all these things.

So, may these two words touch our hearts this afternoon.