Salvation Is In This House

Luke 19:9  And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.

To begin with brothers and sisters, The best thing is to get Salvation and The worst thing in the world is to live your whole life, then die lost, die with eternal banishment, die separated from the Good Lord forever.

Some people give the rhetoric that there are multiple paths to heaven to eternal bliss.

Some don’t even call it heaven. They even call it enlightenment. or the Illuminati. But I beg to differ with all of those fake fony fuddy duddy religious claims.

Some say we are the epicurean society and they have for an organization for their philosophy. Their philosophy is to eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we die and after that that’’s it.. And during Mardi Gras season a newscaster had the Epicurean Society on the news.

The news celebrated them and that said to me the world loves it’s own. As I studied the Philosophy of world religions and then Philosophy of Christian Religion I found out several different things.

1. Our claim to salvation is based on belief. theirs is not.

2. Our Savior Jesus the Christ is real theirs is not .

3. Our God has the where withal and ability to save us theirs can not. I don’t want to over illustrate the facts but scripture says in I Samuel 5“the Philistines brought the ark of the covenant and put it along side of a statue of their false god dagon. The bible says and in the morning dagon has fallen. The Philistines put up their false god dagon in their temple and the next morning The Powerful Ark of the Covenant of our God not only did it again but broke the false god dagon to pieces. The Philistines were afraid and brought the Ark of the covenant back to the land of Israel where they had taken it from. dagon was a false god. And we have to be careful not to serve false gods. Listen we serve an invisible God. Our God does not have to be rebuilt after it falls to the floor. If the false god buddha falls to the floor some man has to repair what ever breaks or bends. If the false god the dialima falls to the floor during an earthquake the have to repair their false god. If the false Hindu god falls to the floor they have to repair their faulty god. If baal falls to the ground they have to repair their false god.

Our God is everlasting and His Salvation is eternal. I don’t know about you but I’d rather serve a God who has no beginning of Days and who has no ending of days. Our God has always been is. God said I Am that I Am.In other words I’ll always be AM. Always will be IS. Always will be ETERNAL.

And so with that construct of mind let’s see how this particular biblical story unfolds.

In Luke 19:1 the bible says that Jesus entered into Jericho. The crowds came from all throughout the city. And Jesus of Nazareth was going through Jericho. And in the town of Jericho, there was a crooked tax collector, by the name of Zacchaeus.

The people obviously didn’t like Zacchaeus probably because he cheated them out of their tax money. Everybody has to pay taxes but if you got a crooked tax man you might be paying more than you ought to pay.

Another reason why they might have hated Zacchaeus was because he was chosen by the Roman Government to collect taxes. And anybody chosen by them must be a snitch. And everybody knows that snitches get stitches right, so the regular folk didn’t like Zacchaeus.

And lastly they probably didn’t like Zacchaeus because he was noise and short. Zacchaeus could slip in and out of tight spots all around Jericho. So he probably was privied to secret and sensitive information that may have made people have to pay exuberant taxes. At any rate they the general public didn’t like Zacchaeus.

Zacchaeus was curious and he wanted to see who Jesus was. And no matter who we are, there come a point in time when we all are curious as to who Jesus really is. Rich or poor we need Jesus. Sick or well we need Jesus. Short or tall we need Jesus pretty or not so pretty we need Jesus. Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus for himself.

Zacchaeus was rich Zacchaeus, and he is an important man. Zacchaeus is the chief tax collector meaning he’s the supervisor over other tax collectors. And it would seem that in the normal course of events that the people of the town of Jericho would have parted the sea if Zacchaeus was walking through town to find Jesus. Right? I mean next to the top government officials Zacchaeus is very important to the municipalities budget. If Zacchaeus doesn’t collect sufficient tax money the government officials doesn’t get paid right? But nobody is giving a hoot about Zacchaeus.

And I almost feel sorry for him. In fact I do feel sorry for him. Verse 3 says Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus but he’s too short. Zacchaeus wanted to get to Jesus but nobody in the crowd likes him to let him through. Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus but he can not command the respect that an important government should be able to. wow 2x So instead of pushing the issue.

Zacchaeus does something different. Church if what you have been doing isn’t working then it’s time to try something different. The bible says that Zacchaeus took off running as fast as his little midget legs could carry him. yes indeed ! Zacchaeus runs and finds a sycamore tree and climbs up in a sycamore tree.

Zacchaeus climbs to a spot that Jesus has to pass and has to be able to see him. And so I asked the 64 million dollar question why did Zacchaeus climb into a sycamore tree? And the answer is that a sycamore tree has low bearing branches and is easy for a child to climb. Zacchaeus is a midget and so he’s short and other trees wouldn’t be suitable for his stature.

In other words Zacchaeus recognized his short coming and relied on his strengths. That says to me “Use the things you’re strong at”. A great coach was asked how did he get a certain player to play at his peak performance? And the coach said that’s simple. We didn’t focus on his limitations we focused on what he did well and improve those skills to excellence. And that’s what I’m trying to do with Pilgrim.. I ain’t try to change you.. NO NO NO I’m try to build on what you already do well and help you do it exceptionally well. Come on say Amen.

Zacchaeus worked with what he had. Listen to me too many folk looking at what other folk have wishing you could have what other folk have, and if the Good Lord profoundly blessed you with their situation “it wouldn’t even work for you”. 3x.

Just be the best you that you can be and I guarantee that will be enough. Zacchaeus couldn’t be nobody else but himself because he was a short man. And verse 5 say that when Jesus reached the spot where Zacchaeus was Jesus looked up, and saw Zacchaeus. If you truly need Jesus to be in your life then right at the precise moment that you need Him, He’ll be there. He may not come when you want Him but He’s on time. Because He’s an on time God. Jesus said Zacchaeus Come down.. Come down Come down… And God is saying to somebody today Come Down off your high horse, humble yourself before the Mighty Hand of God and He will exalt you in due season. Somebody’s season is getting ready to change and God is saying get your mind and your heart ready for the change.

Jesus said Come down out of that sycamore tree Zacchaeus. I must stay at your house today. And the bible says Immediately Zacchaeus was obedient to the will of God and came down.When Zacchaeus came down out of the sycamore tree everybody in the crowd was astonished and said what??? Don’t Jesu know what kind of fellow Zacchaeus is . we hate him, he dirty he crooked he rotten he low down he cheats us out of our money!!! Jesus you are going in the wrong direction you are going to sit down and actually eat at that crooks house. Jesus he’s a sinner. In fact in these parts of Jericho Zacchaeus is the chief sinner! Jesus how you gon go to his house. In other words Jesus I thought you were just for us. Because it’s us against them. But Jesus says 9 And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. Jesus is saying in essence I’m here for everybody. And wait nah! Isn’t Zacchaeus a son of Abraham? And this is where Jesus legitimize the person of Zacchaeus not so much the character that Zacchaeus had displayed in the past. Zacchaeus is still deserving of Salvation. And there may be people that some of us have said are not worthy of being here, but that’s wrong as two left shoes. Everybody is worthy of being at this Great Pilgrim BC, because If Jesus can save an old bum like me and a sinner like you then I’m sure he could look past Zacchaeus’ faults and see the need for Salvation. It’s all about saving souls. Listen 3x we all need Salvation. We all need our soul saved. And the doctrine of Salvation is called Soteriology. In the doctrine of soteriology there is safety, deliverance,rescue, health and there is liberty. And Jesus takes it up a notch or two because Salvation in the Old Testament is slightly different from the NT because In the NT Jesus says He’s the salvation for mankind’s sins Jesus says I am the way the truth and the Life . Jesus says I am the Good shepherd and I lay down my life for my sheep. Jesus says I am the door and there is no other door to salvation. Jesus says I am bread in a starving land and I’ll rain down manna from above. Jesus says I am the gate that keep the sheep from going astray and keep wolves from coming in. And jesus says to the people murmuring about Zacchaeus that He is come for to seek and save the lost house of Israel.

Then a miraculous Conversion took place. Zacchaeus was converted meaning he had repented and changed his mind from his evil ways. Zacchaeus is regenerated meaning that in the process of Jesus talking to him Zacchaeus had a change of heart and now it’s a loving caring heart, and then Zacchaeus has been converted meaning Zacchaeus is changing his lifestyle choices. And we k ow it’s true because the word of God says Zacchaeus publicly said Lord Jesus I’m rich and I’ve been crooked but I’ll give up to half of my wealth to the needs of the poor. And the people I’ve cheated I’ll give them up to four times more than what they owe me. Lord Jesus I’ve been such a crook, Please look past my faults and see about my needs here today. And the bible says in verse 9 that Jesus say Zacchaeus Today Salvation has come to thy house.

Brothers and sisters when God has changed the projector y of your life and has brought you back from a dark place. Anybody ever been in a dark space in your life? And Jesus pick you up fro the muck and miry clay Have he ever picked you up and turned you around then put your feet on solid ground? If you let me tell it I should have been dead sleeping in my grave.I flipped over 15x and the State Trooper said I don’t know how you’re still living. You should be dead! and I asked about the man that brought me to the Assumption Hospital, and everybody in the hospital said what man you walked in here by yourself. And so if God could change a sinner like me and give me another chance then Jesus can do the same thing for you. Salvation is for anybody who accepts Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior. Is there one today that will step out on faith and accept Jesus. And make Jesus your choice?