Who Knows 2?
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Introduction
Introduction
Read Jeremiah 29:13
Jeremiah 29:13 (ESV)
You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.
God’s people are facing discipline for sin and the consequences of sin which is separation from God.
Is there hope? Is there a future for them? Who knows the way back to God and to life in His presence?
God invites us to seek and to find Him.
To Seek and Find God
2 Men -
Zacchaeus
He entered Jericho and was passing through. And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
The Paralytic
And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them. And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
We Must Admit We Are Sinners
We Must Admit We Are Sinners
Before we can seek God, we must admit we have a problem.
Both Zacchaeus and the paralytic were seeking Jesus because they first realized they had a problem.
Zacchaeus was a rich and wealthy man who realized that his wealth and possessions did not fulfill him like he thought they would. He was still left empty inside and his possessions did not give him the joy or the hope he thought they would.
The paralytic man could not walk. Of course, we might think that was his main problem, but we are going to see that there was a bigger problem for him. But he could not get himself to Jesus.
In both of these cases, these men had a problem that caused them to want to seek out Jesus.
Before we can seek out Jesus, we too must admit we have a problem that we cannot solve on our own.
Our problem is our sin. Because of our rebellion against God, we are separated from the God who created us and loves us.
(Show the image of the gorge)
And like the paralytic we cannot make our way to him on our own.
Like Zacchaeus, there is nothing within us that makes us worthy of coming to God on our own.
We are not essentially good people. We are sinners in need of salvation!
We Must Want to Find Jesus
We Must Want to Find Jesus
We must not let the obstacles keep us from Jesus
We must not let the obstacles keep us from Jesus
Both Zacchaeus and the paralytic had obstacles that could have potentially kept them from Jesus. But they both so wanted to see Jesus they would not let those obstacles keep them from Him.
Fear of others
Our past
Our sins
We need to realize that Jesus is seeking for us and wants to be found.
We need to realize that Jesus is seeking for us and wants to be found.
Jesus is not playing hide and seek with us
He wants to be found
He came to these towns knowing that these men would be making their way to Him.
He came to them first before they could come to Him.
How do we know that Jesus is seeking for us?
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
And His entire mission in life was headed for the Cross. His very purpose in coming was to come and take care of the sin problem so we could be saved!
but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
He did not wait for us to seek Him out. He loved us first and demonstrated that love while we were still sinners! He came to seek us out. If you are here seeking for Jesus, it is because He is seeking for you first and is drawing you to Himself.
We Must Believe Only Jesus Can Save
We Must Believe Only Jesus Can Save
If we are to seek and find Jesus, we must believe that He is the Only One who can save.
There are those who seek out Jesus, but still put their faith and hope in other things. They simply come to Jesus hoping that He can give them what they really want.
The Rich Young Ruler
Judas Iscariot
Both Zacchaeus and the Paralytic believed only Jesus could actually save them.
What does it mean to believe?
It is not simply to acknowledge certain facts.
We’ve mentioned him before, but I’d like to share about Charles Blondin again.
Charles Blondin - In the nineteenth century, the greatest tightrope walker in the world was a man named Charles Blondin. On June 30, 1859, he became the first man in history to walk on a tightrope across Niagara Falls. Over twenty-five thousand people gathered to watch him walk 1,100 feet, suspended on a tiny rope, just 160 feet above the raging waters. He worked without a net or even a safety harness of any kind. The slightest slip would have been a fatal one. Then, with all eyes watching him, he began to walk across the chasm. When he safely reached the Canadian side, everyone cheered in relief.
In the days that followed, he walked across the falls repeatedly. He walked across, taking a chair and a stove with him, sat down at the midway point, cooked an omelet, and ate it. Another time, he walked across on stilts, and another time he pushed a wheelbarrow loaded with 350 pounds of cement across the tightrope. One of his most memorable times was when he asked the cheering spectators if they thought he could push a man across in a wheelbarrow. The crowd cheered in agreement. Seeing a man applauding loudly, he asked,
“Sir, do you think I could safely carry you across in this wheelbarrow?”
“Yes, of course,” the man replied.
“Get in,” the Great Blondin said with a smile.
The man refused.
However, one man trusted Blondin, his very own manager, Harry Colcord. Colcord agreed to ride on Blondin, piggyback style, across the tightrope. With 10,000 spectators watching, Colcord climbed on Blondin’s back and held tight as the daredevil walked across Niagara Falls.
To believe means that we not only know about something, but that we put our faith and trust in something.
The people knew Blondin could do what he said. But no one except his manager trusted that he could actually carry him across the Niagara falls.
We have a gorge we have to cross, but cannot on our own. We try to trust in our own good works. We trust in our riches or in our power. We trust in other false gods.
But the only One who can carry us across is Jesus.
Zacchaeus and the Paralytic both trusted Jesus for their salvation.
Zacchaeus quit trusting in his riches and wealth when he experienced the love of Christ. Because of God’s grace he ended up making things right with all those he defrauded. He did not do this to earn God’s grace, but because he had already received God’s grace. He was trusting in Christ and as a result began to live in submission to who God is.