Absolute sway. Total. If you did not hear the previous
message, Brother Sam, if you would make a few copies please. I want every member of this church
to hear that. Luke chapter 19. Luke 19, verse 9 says, Jesus said unto
him, Zacchaeus, this day is salvation come to this house, for so much
as he also is a son of Abraham, one of God's chosen people. When the Lord Jesus Christ comes
to a person through preaching the gospel, and this is how he
does it, when he reveals who he is, and he will then convict
you of your sin, us of our sin, and show us our need of the Lord
Jesus Christ give us a love for him. Salvation has come to that
person. It has come to their house. And when the Lord saves someone,
their whole house benefits. The Lord says salvation has come
to this house. When the Lord saves a sinner,
the whole house will benefit. Brother Barnard used to say,
when God saves a man, even the old hound dog will know it. His once mean master is now kind
all of a sudden. Salvation is to be saved from
the penalty of sin. We read there where the Lord
said, bring all these that hate me in and slay them. Hell is
a place reserved for those that hate God Those deserve it. And salvation is to be saved
from the penalty of sin. But salvation is to be saved
from the power of sin, the reigning influence of sin. There's an
old man in us that's a devil. He's a devil. Someone said there's
enough hell in us to start another hell. And salvation is when the
Lord comes and subdues at least You know, has that fellow under
control and gives a new man, and sin no longer reigns over
that person. No longer controls that person.
It bothers them. It hounds them. But the Lord
subdues that. And salvation is someday going
to be saved from the presence of sin. We'll be without sin. And so will everybody else. But if sin, you see, if sin,
the power of sin, if sin no longer controls a man or a woman, Christ
does. They're being made like Christ.
That's what he said, predestined the people to be conformed to
the image of Christ. And this is where that starts.
They begin a new man, then they grow in grace like Christ. And if he does that, when he
does that, everyone Everyone, especially in his house, everybody
in his house will benefit to some degree. Everybody around
him will benefit somehow if the Lord saves that man or that woman.
Quite often the Lord saved the whole house when He saved a man.
Simon Peter, I believe, he was a married man. His mother-in-law
was living with him. I bet he didn't like it at times.
Maybe they didn't even get along. You know, in-laws sometimes don't,
most of the time. But I believe, Jeanette, after
the Lord saved Peter, I believe he saved his wife, saved his
mother-in-law, because the Lord was in that house all the time,
wasn't he? And his mother-in-law ministered to the Lord. She got
sick, remember, and the Lord healed her. But I believe they
got along just fine after the Lord saved that old fisherman
named Simon. I believe he loved his mother-in-law,
and she loved him. See, the Lord saves a man, his
whole house. Salvation comes to his house.
You see that? How many times have you seen
this, heard this story? Lots. I just saw that. Salvation has come to this house.
This house. The woman at the well, she was
a harlot. You reckon things changed around
her house? Oh my, sure did. Lydia. Remember Lydia. The Lord saved
her whole house. Her whole house. The jailer.
The jailer saved his whole house. That's how good the Lord is.
Here's another story. Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus, a little
rich publican. Not republican, but publican. The Lord saves Republicans and
sinners. Now, I've never seen this either.
This is in context. He gave a parable right after
this that applied to this. That's why he gave the parable.
I never noticed it. He just dealt with another rich
man before he got to Zacchaeus. I mean, I did, but I didn't.
He just dealt with another rich man, and the Lord told that rich
man, sell everything you've got. Remember that? The fellow was
a rich young ruler, and he was moral, he was religious, he was
a devout Jew. He was religious, he was moral.
He said, I've kept the law all my life. The Lord said, one thing
you lack, sell everything you've got, distribute it to the poor,
and come follow me. And that fellow, the Lord told
that fellow what to do. And he couldn't, he didn't do
it. And he went away sorrowful. He
left Christ rich. He was still rich. But he was
sorrowful. Sorrowful. And buddy, if he died
rich, he was really sorrowful, didn't he? He not only lost all
his riches, he lost his soul. So the Lord just dealt with that
man. Then he passed through town, well, on the way in town, and
healed a blind man on the way into town. Now, this is something
I want to show you. Chapter 18. The Lord said, chapter
18, He said to this fellow Sellout, And when he heard this, he was
sorrowful. Verse 24, those that were with him, disciples, he
said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom
of God. It's easier for a camel to go
through a needle's eye than for a rich man to enter into the
kingdom of God. And they heard it. They all heard
it. And they all said, and they all
knew, And they weren't all poor. None of the disciples were poor
when the Lord found them. No sir. And they all said, Lord,
then who can be saved? And the Lord said, with man it
is impossible. The things which are impossible
with men, though, are possible with God. Possible with God. Remember what he told Peter.
No man has left anything for my sake. He won't receive it
manifold now and in the time to come, life eternal." Impossible. It's impossible to make a man
part with things that he sees for things he doesn't see. That's
impossible. You can't do it. It's impossible
to make people, men and women, part with the riches of this
world that they have their hearts set on, if their hearts are not
set on things above. It's impossible. This goes well
with the morning message, doesn't it? I didn't choose it for that
reason. But you see, the law won't do
it. The law won't do it. Religion won't do it. It didn't
do it to the rich young ruler. Religion didn't do it. It didn't
make him part with the world. Only Christ can do it. Only the
Lord can really convince a man or a woman, only the Lord can
open a blind man's eye to the vanity of this world to see the
unsearchable riches of Christ. Only God can make a man like
Moses, who is destined for the throne of Egypt, esteem the reproaches
of Christ greater treasure than all the riches of Egypt. That
takes the miracle of God. That takes the power of God Almighty.
One time, he healed a man sick of the palsy, remember? Before he did that, he said,
your sins are forgiven. And he said to those people arguing,
he said, what's easier, to make a man say, get up and walk, or
say, your sins are forgiven? Both are impossible. With man,
and not with me. Not with God. Not with Christ.
And he did it. And then right after that was
when he called Matthew the publican, a rich man. And he walked by
his table and there he is counting his money. The love of money is in everybody
by nature. And the Lord walked by Matthew
and said, get up and follow me. And he got up and left all his
money. He left all his money to follow
Jesus Christ. He didn't have a dime now. Now,
that's impossible with man, but with God, it happens every time. This is what happens. What happened
to Zacchaeus, Matthew, happens to every person. They're willing,
first of all, and if they have to, they will, to leave everybody
and everything to follow Christ. Because God puts in their heart,
salvation has come. Salvation from self. Salvation
from loving this world, from loving yourself. Salvation from
sin. This stuff is lying to you. The
deceitfulness of Satan, the God of this world, who lies to it.
This is it. This is great. Don't you want that? He tempted
the Lord with that. Don't you want that? Yeah, I do want that.
But give me Christ. Give me Christ. That takes the
power of God. And it happens every time. Every
time. That's salvation. And only the
Lord can do that. Only the Lord. So right after
he healed that rich man, I mean, did not heal that rich man, did
not save him, left him sorrowful, opened the eyes of a blind man,
look at this, chapter 19, verse 1, he entered and passed through
Jericho. On the way in town, there was
a blind man, just an old blind man. What does the Lord need
with him? Nothing. He can't do anything
for the Lord except bring him glory. But the Lord asks, Jesus,
our son of David, have mercy on me. And the Lord stops and
passes through this vast city of Jericho. It was a large city
full of people. That's his prerogative. That's
the sovereign God. You don't have to save anybody.
No, sir. Passed them by. And on the way
out of town, though, on the way out of town, there's this little
fella, Zacchaeus. I'm glad the Lord saves little
fellas. There's another rich man. He's
no different than That other fellow, he's rich, he's worse. Stan, he's worse. It says here
in verse 2, Behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, chief
among the publicans, and he was rich. Now, publican people is
the equivalent today of a litigation lawyer. A lawyer who sues people. Does anybody like those fellows?
Have you ever met an honest one that can't be one of those to
be honest? You're out to sue and do whatever you can to make
a buck for yourself and you sue your mother. Yes sir, that's like a used car
salesman. Does anybody like those fellows?
Is there an honest one? You can't. You can't do that. Take advantage of people. That's
a publican. That was a publican. They were the worst. Nobody liked
publicans. They were the chief of sinners. Even sinners, harlots,
thought, these fellows are worse than I am. Publicans. Who can save such a fellow? What
does the Lord need with such a fellow? Nothing. But that's who he came
to save. Amazing. Why? Why does he do
that? Harlots and publicans. He said the harlots and publicans
to the Pharisees, the harlots and publicans are going to enter
heaven before you do. Why does he do that? Save these
despicable. Because he gets greater glory
that way. He shows that salvation is not by the will of man. It's
not by the choice of man. It's not by the power of man.
It's not by him accepting me. It's not by him doing anything
for me. Salvation is not in man. It's not of man. It takes the
power of God. And he proves that by saving
people. Don't give a flip for God. Don't give a flip for anybody
else but themselves. That takes the power of God.
Salvation is of the Lord. Of the Lord. This man is going
to be saved. The Lord said later, he's the
son of Abraham. What's that name? He's one of my elect. There you
go, preacher. You can't get through a message
without saying elect, can you? No, I can't. Because you can't preach the
gospel if you don't start there. Because that's where this whole
thing started. When God, before the world began, looked down
on a mass of sinful humanity and said, I'm going to have mercy. Why would you do that? The angels
thought. Why would you do that? They don't want you. They want
you to come, but they need me. And I'm going to show my glory,
my mercy, my infinite love for the unlovely, my grace for those
that don't deserve it, can't do it. Watch me. You've never
seen this aspect of me. What's this? He killed the angels. He put them in hell who rebelled
against him. And Adam and Eve shook their
face in God's fist. These ungrateful creatures shook
their fist in God's faith. And the angels were waiting for
God to smite them down. Surely he's going to kill these
worms. Surely he's going to kill these undeserving creatures,
these ungrateful. Surely he's going to do that.
God said, no, watch. I'm merciful. I don't always give what people
deserve. And I give what they can't earn. Watch me. I love them freely. I'll come
down and die in their place." Oh! Behold, what a matter of
love. Never seen it like this. It's
His greatest glory. The chief of sinners. Well, verse 2 said, Behold, there was
a man. A man. Just a man. And with man,
we already saw that. With man, this is impossible.
There's a sinful man named Zacchaeus, the chief among the publicans,
and he was rich. And it says he sought to see
Jesus, who he was. Most men are curious about Jesus. Most men and women are curious
about Jesus. You cannot live in the world
and not know who Jesus is. Everybody does. All the Muslims
know it. The Buddhists know it. They all
know you cannot live in this world and not know who Jesus
is. Even the calendar tells that
about someone who lived here named Jesus. And most people are at least
curious about him. And many come to go to church
and they are like this fellow, spectators at first. Curious. And they go away, many
if not most, go away no different than when they came. Maybe some
of them, like that other rich fellow, got religion and became
moral. But they don't know Christ. Well,
I told you my story. Why I started coming. I wasn't
seeking the Lord. I was seeking a wife. And there's
this pretty young female, just a teenager at the time, that
I kind of got my eye on. I didn't know someone else's
eye was on me. I ain't talking about her. I wasn't seeking the Lord. I didn't
know. He was looking for me. That Lord
said, I am sought of them. I am found of them that sought
me not. Nobody comes by accident. And nobody finds salvation by
accident. Nobody seeks the Lord unless
the Lord first seeks them and finds them. And He finds them
all. Didn't the Lord say that? I have come to seek, verse 10,
and to save that which was lost. What? My sheep. My sheep. Sons of Abraham. My elect. So it started all before the
world began when God said, I'm going to save some of these poor
creatures. I'm going to save them, chosen.
Zacchaeus is a little fella, but he thinks he's big. I know
that about little fellas. You have to act big, you know,
talk big if you're smaller than everybody else. I know that from
experience. Or you have to have big friends
around you. If you're going to be talking
big, you better have some big friends around you. Yeah. We'll show you all. Show him,
Mack. That's right. Or you have to
be faster than everybody else. And I was pretty fast. A little
fellow thought he was big. Most people do think they're
pretty big, especially if people have money. He had money. Somehow money makes
people think they're big. The Lord is going to show him
how little he is. It says he ran, in verse 4, he
ran before he climbed up a sycamore tree. This story is not just
so our children can have a cute little nursery rhyme. Zacchaeus was a wee little man. A wee little man was he. He climbed
up in the sycamore tree for the savior he wanted to see. We all
learned that. This is, like Brother Chapman
said, to show us that the Lord will put a man up a tree. on purpose. Put him up a tree
of all the places, of all the predicaments. This is to show us what the Lord
says, jump, you will jump. The Lord says run, you'll run. But the Lord says come, Brother
Henry, you will come. Thank God. We're talking about
election. We're talking about sovereignty.
Thank God! Salvation is of the Lord. Aren't
you? Thank God! He gave commandment to save me.
Thank God He didn't leave me. He said, well, go on your way.
I can't do anything for you. Thank God! He said, stop! Huh? It ain't arguing doctrine
here. We're talking about a fellow
headed split for hell. But God, for His great love,
worthily loved him, even when we were dead, said, Stop! Hitherto have you come like the
ocean that would kill us all. Stop! Stops our wild career and
says, Turn around. Come to me. Salvation from yourself. We can't save ourselves. We love ourselves. A man climbed a tree. I love to quote this verse, Proverbs
26, I believe it is. It says, The lot is cast into
the lap, but the whole, Proverbs 16, the whole disposing thereof
is unto the Lord. The Lord put him up that tree,
had him climb that certain tree at a certain time because the
Lord was coming by this very place that very day to meet him.
This was a divine appointment made by God before the world
began. Before the world began, God said at a certain, certain
time in the year zero, or 30, whatever year it is, and we don't
know what year it is. I'm going to pass through Jericho,
and we'll save this fellow on the way in, and we'll save this
fellow on the way out. He's going to be at a certain
tree at a certain time, and I'm going to stop by and I'm going
to save his soul for all eternity. Known unto God are all his works
from the beginning of the world. Known are all his people, known
are all things. Everything has been preordained,
predestined before the world began. Because God said that. Because God has an elect people.
Chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. And Christ said,
all that the Father giveth me shall come to me. Shall come
to me, but He comes to them first through the preaching of the
gospel. And that's when they come to Him. And everything,
believer, if you're one of His, everything from the cradle to
the point you meet Christ, everything is leading you to the exact moment
in time ordered by the Lord to a particular place where the
gospel, where the truth is preached, where you will meet Jesus Christ,
the Lord Jesus Christ, confronted by Him just like Zacchaeus. And
you'll go from there. From then on, your life just
starts then. Salvation has come to your house. And the Lord, like Zacchaeus,
we're going to see, reveals himself to you, reveals what he's done,
and will tell you what to do. He won't ask you. He will tell
you what to do. I love it. Verse 5, when Jesus
came to the place, he looked up and saw him. Who saw who first? Well, Zacchaeus is looking, but
he can't tell Jesus apart from the rest of the people. And neither
can men, can they? That's why they still call him
Jesus. And that's who he thought he
was, Jesus. What do you call him saying after this is over?
Lord. Every mouth will whom the Lord
reveals himself to. Confess that he's Lord to the
glory of God the Father. Well, the Lord Jesus Christ saw
him first. That's who saw who. And the fact
is, the Lord's not looking up. He says, Jesus stopped and looked
up. This is the high and lofty One
who came from heaven itself, who before the world began, looked
down on this poor, lowly sinner and said, I'm going to have mercy
on him. He's not really looking up. He's looking down on this
fellow. If I tell you who's high and
who's not, Christ is the high One. We're the lowly ones. And if He looks at us, He's going
to look down in mercy. And he does, every one of his
people. And he'll bring us down. He'll bring us down. And he said
in verse 5, Zacchaeus, make haste, come down. As we would say to our child or even a dog, come
here, quick, get down, come here. He said it. I'm not him. But he said it in kindness, but
he said it firmly. He said it with authority. But he said it, didn't he? Come
here. Get down. Hurry. Now, he did not say Zacchaeus. And this is what religion said,
that he would have said. Here's what Jesus would have
done if he's the Jesus they call, talk about. Zacchaeus, would
you please, would you please come down? I want to save you. I love you so much, and I'm trying
to save you, and my Father wants to save you. And if you'll just
come down and give us your heart. If you'll just make a decision
for us, let us into your heart. Zacchaeus, please, we need you.
Us and the disciples in the church, we can't be church without you,
Zacchaeus. Would you please come down? I'm
passing by. You're going to miss out this
opportunity, but I'm going to pass by, please. I'm offering
you salvation. No, sir. Did it. Zacchaeus, hurry, come down. What happened? He came down. You've heard this story. There
was a young preacher holding a revival in a town years ago,
one of these Armenian fellows that preached like that, like
I just illustrated. He was holding this revival in
town and he went door to door and he came to a house in Farmer
Johnson. Farmer Johnson, he came to the
door and said, Farmer Johnson, I'm Reverend, I'm Reverend so
and so, holding a revival down in town, and I sure wish you'd
come, and I'm preaching there, and I wish you'd come and let
Jesus into your heart. And the farmer said, no, no,
I'm not coming. He said, the farmer, he said,
you need to come, you need to let Jesus into your heart. He
said, nope, don't want to. Don't want to. Well, the young
man said, oh, I'm so sorry to hear that. He said, if you don't
come, though, I've got to warn you, if you don't come, Jesus
will send you to hell. And the farmer said, nope, won't
let him do that either. Nope. Tries to save me, I won't
let him. Tries to damn me, won't let him
do that either. That makes sense, doesn't it?
Huh? That's another Jesus. That's
another gospel. That's not the Lord Jesus. He
came by this tree, and here's a fella, nobody can do anything
with him. And the Lord says, come down.
What happened? Hit the ground. As I said, I'm
so glad it's that way. This Zacchaeus is so glad. And the way up is down. The Lord
brought him down first before he lifted him up. See, he made
haste and came down. Made haste, came down. Came down. When the Lord saves a fellow, He comes down. The way up is
down. The Lord takes a fellow who's
high and makes him low. A fellow who thinks he's something,
thinks he's somebody, makes him think he's nobody. Makes a rich
man first, makes him poor, that he might be rich in faith. The
Lord told him to come down, and he made haste. He came down to
the salvations of the Lord. And we will come, and my hope
for everyone that I pray the Lord will save is that the Lord
has chosen that person, because if they are one of His elect,
they will come. And when will they come? When
it pleases God. That's what Paul said, that when
it pleased God who separated me from my mother's womb and
called me by His grace. I came to reveal His Son in thee."
When it pleases God, when the Lord comes and calls us, somebody
argues, well, don't you have to repent? Don't you have to
seek? Don't you have to call? Yes. But this is how you know
He's called you. That everyone He saves, He calls. Just like the Lord said in the
beginning, God said, let there be light. What happened? There was light. There was something that was
never there by the Word of the Lord. Even so, God shines in
our hearts, calls us from death to life. A dead man can't come,
but he gives life. He says, come, you come. Salvation
is of the Lord. And whoever He calls, calls on
Him. Every one of His people call.
That's how you know He called them. They seek the Lord. Mindy and I were running, jogging. I know it's
foolish, but we were doing it anyway. Running through a neighborhood,
and a bunch of dogs started barking at us. One of them was coming
after us, wasn't he? And barking at us. In fact, we
went through several neighborhoods, and all of them barked at us. Everywhere. Barking at us. At us. That one would have bit
us, wouldn't it, if I hadn't stopped. I didn't tell you what I wanted
to tell you. But anyway, all the dogs throughout the neighborhood
were barking at us. It was Brother Sam. I went home
and walked in. We came in the driveway and there
was an old dog in there and he barked to me. There's a difference. The whole
world is saying, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God. Barking at God. But some, by
His grace, that belong to Him, that He bought with a price and
taught them They barked to him. He said, Oh my God, have mercy
on me. Oh my God, thank you. Oh my God,
I'm a sinner, forgive me. Oh my God. He realized that's
the only reason we do that. It's the only reason that we're
not just like everybody else, blaspheming God. Well, I want to quit here. Here's
what happened. What happened to Zacchaeus? The
Lord said, Salvation has come to this house. Here's what happened. In verse
6, he came down in a hurry and received Christ joyfully. He didn't argue, did he? He didn't
say, You have no right to order me. You know, people do that. They
argue about the gospel until they meet Christ. They argue about sovereignty
and argue about election until they meet the Lord Jesus Christ.
And you quit arguing, don't you? Say, I don't believe that. I
don't believe that. And he says, listen. And you say, I believe it. I
believe it. I believe it. I believe it all. I believe it
all. I believe you're Lord. That's
what I believe. Salvation comes to a house, you
quit arguing, you receive the Lord joyfully. So glad He's Lord. You receive the truth joyfully.
You receive Him. Him. Not just doctrine. Oh, I, I, okay, I believe. No,
no. It's Him. Joyfully. And they said, here's what everybody
else said, verse 7, they all murmured. They said, He's gone
to be a guest with a man that's a sinner. He's going to be guest. No, you've
got it all wrong here. The Lord's never asked him if
he could come to his house. Did he? The Lord said in verse
5, I must abide at thy house. I must. That other rich man said,
what must I do to inherit eternal life? The Lord said, all right,
here's what you must do. And he couldn't do it, wouldn't
do it, and didn't do it, and miscried. The Lord came to this
fellow and said to him, here's what I must do for you. I must come to your house and
live there and take control there. If I don't, salvation is not
going to come to your house. I must come into this world and
live the according to the law, for you. You can't do it. I must
come into this world and be made sin for you, because that's the
wages of sin, and you can't pay it. I must. Go to that hill like
Abraham and Isaac alone and do this work for you. I must ascend
to the Father with my holy blood and pour out my blood on the
mercy seat for you to put away your sins. I must do this or
you won't be saved. Everything must be fulfilled
written in the Scriptures concerning me. And I'm the Christ and I
must do it. And every single sheep I chose
must be saved. I must come to your house. You're
one of my elect. I'm coming." He didn't ask him,
would you let me? I'm coming. I'm coming. What does Zacchaeus
say? Come on. Come on. Receive them joyfully. Thank
you for coming to me. Thank you. And our Lord said, this does. Well, here's what happened. What
happened to Zacchaeus? Zacchaeus stood in front of everybody,
verse 8, and said, Behold, the Lord hath... Behold, Lord, he
called him Lord. He said, Lord, the half of my
goods I give to the poor. Now, he's a rich man. And if
I had taken anything, whatever I've done in the past, I'm going
to undo it, and I'm going to do more than that. I'm going
to restore it fourfold. Because I've caused so much problem,
I'm going to go way over that and just try to undo some things
I've done. And our Lord said, salvation
has come to this house. Salvation has come to this house.
Salvation. has come to this house. And here's
what happened. Okay? Zacchaeus went home. The Lord entered his house. But the Lord was in his heart.
On the way home, it could have happened. It happens all the
time. They stopped for a bite to eat. And Zacchaeus picked
up the tab. He'd never done that before,
see? He'd never done that before. He was a taker. That's how he
got rich. As a giver. A little lady served
his table and he tipped her big. He'd never done that before.
Before, he sure didn't get shortchanged. Now, hey, I've got $1.98 coming
to me. I gave you $5.00 and my bill
was only $3.00. Oh, no. Now he makes sure she doesn't
get shortchanged. Here, honey, you don't make anything
at all. I'm a rich man. Here!" Salvation
has come to this house. On the way home, he had a kind
word for his neighbor. He used to hate this fellow.
There's that old Joe Bill. He put his fence right beside
my pocket where I don't want it. Who does he think he is?
I'll get him one of these days. Hello, Bill. Hey Bill, I feel sorry for that
fellow. He didn't know the Lord. The
Lord had been gracious to me. What happened here? Salvation
has come to this house. Well, he stopped to speak to
his children. They're playing in the yard.
He hadn't paid any attention to his children in years. He's too busy
making money. He thought, and he told him,
little Jimmy, son, we're going fishing tomorrow. Yes, sir. Sally,
we'll spend some time with you. Yes, sir. Salvation has come
to this house. Pet the dog. He used to kick it. Get out of
the way, Charlie. Pet the dog. Stop to pet the
dog. That's me, he thought. That's me right there, that old
dog, just like me. Totally dependent. The Lord's
been so good to me. I've been so mean to Him. Came in the house
and kissed his wife. Hello, honey. Kissed her. Noticed her old worn out dress.
He said, we're going shopping. You say, how do you know this
happened? Because it happens all the time. When salvation
comes to a house. Saves a man from himself, he
said. He begins to love Christ, and because he loves Christ,
he loves others. Honey, we're going shopping. Before, he only
spent things on himself. Spent all his time and his money
and his vacation time and all that on himself. And he said
to Honey, I'm not going hunting this weekend. You and I are going
out to dinner. Well, huh. Salvation has come to this
house. And he said, I tell you what,
too, honey, come Lord's Day, you and me and the children,
all of us, we're going to be in the Lord's house thanking
Him for all the wonderful things that He's done for us. Yes, we
are. I haven't done it all in a year.
I'm going to make up for lost time. We're going to thank Him.
And I noticed the church house on the way in, it's getting real
shabby. We've got to do something about that. The Lord said, Salvation has
come to this house. Everybody in it was a recipient
of it, weren't they? That's what happens. Something like that. Yes, it
does every time. He'd have come home still mean
as a snake. The Lord didn't save him. Pity. If he'd been still miserly and
still out to make a dollar as he was before, no. We've got
religion. The Lord's not in his heart.
That's not what the Lord does. The Lord's in a man's heart.
Now, mind you, for your comfort, we've still got an old fellow
there, Noah, that raises his ugly head all the time. But our
Lord said he won't have dominion. He won't. I let him go every
now and then to show you that without me, you can do nothing.
Without me, you're still a devil. I won't let him do that. Let
everybody else see that, too, so they won't judge you. They'll
look to the Lord. But in reality, He is there. The Lord is there. And there's
something there that wasn't there before. Salvation saves a whole
man. And everybody benefits from it. The house. Okay. Brother Gabe,
you've come. Let's turn to hymn number 297
and stand together. Two hundred and ninety-seven.