Our music here doesn't showcase
human talent because it's not about performing, is it? But that being said, that was
just good, wasn't it? That was good. They're both very
talented. But most importantly, the Savior
was glorified. Oh, the love that sought me.
and oh, the blood that bought me." This man in John chapter
5 could have sung that because there's no denying that out of
pure, sovereign love, the Savior sought this man out and found
him. There's just not any denying
it. Not that anybody would want to unless they're trying to glorify
man's will. But that's what we do by nature.
We want to say, well, we sought the Lord. Yeah, I did. Once he found me, I sure did. But look at this story in John
chapter 5. I think we'll see, if the Lord
is pleased to meet with us, I know that we'll see something of the
free grace of God in Christ. Verse 1 it says, After this there
was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now
there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is
called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. In these
lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered,
waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down
at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water.
Whosoever then first, after the troubling of the water, stepped
in, was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. And a certain
man was there which had an infirmity thirty and eight years." I want you to notice the information
given. There was a great multitude there,
and there was a man there, a certain man. And somebody else was there. Jesus went up. He was there,
too. Surely this man was included
in the great multitude, and yet he's singled out. He's mentioned
personally and distinctly. And it says, When Jesus saw him
lie. Notice what he saw now. He saw
him just laying there. And he knew that he had been
now a long time in that case. He saith unto him, Wilt thou
be made whole? The impotent man answered him,
Sir, I have no man when the water is troubled to put me into the
pool. But while I am coming, another
steppeth down before me. Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take
up thy bed, and walk. And immediately the man was made
whole, and took up his bed, and walked. And on the same day was
the Sabbath. Now which feast this is? It says
there was a feast of the Jews. We don't know which one it was,
nor is it important to know that. What is important is who was
there and what happened there. The Lord Jesus Christ was there. He went up to the feast of the
Jews, and there was also a great multitude there, but as we mentioned,
there was a certain man there too. But I want us to try to
picture this pitiful sight, this great multitude of human suffering. These impotent, diseased, blind
and lame and withered folks. Picture this terrible scene.
All these folks are laying around this pool waiting with the hope
of being healed of their infirmity. There are a lot of ideas about
this phenomenon that involves this angel coming down and stirring
the water. commentators who try to explain
it away and say, well, that was the legend, that's what people
thought, and that's what he's saying there. That's not what
he said. He said an angel came down and troubled the water. And just briefly with regard
to that, is there any reason to believe that this is not literal? That an angel did not do that?
Does it bother you to think that God would assign one of his angels
to do this? We know that there are angels,
and we know that there are angels on the earth. God has given his
angels charge over his people to watch over us and to do his
bidding with regard to us in this earth. We know that angels
always do the bidding of God, so if one was coming down and
stirring this water, it was because God told him to do it. would we think that this would
not be true? And let me ask you this, why would God do such a
thing? Why would he assign one of his angels to go down and
trouble that water and make it so that the first one that was
in there would be healed of their disease, their problem? Well,
why does God do everything that he does? He does it for the glory
of Christ. We have this account here in
his word in connection with a miracle that Christ performs. So do you
reckon that God does this, that he orchestrated this angel, instructing
this angel to come down and stir that water and orchestrated this
entire scenario in order to set forth the gospel of his son?
You think maybe that might have been one of the reasons he did
it? That's what it accomplishes. and everything that God does
accomplishes that which he did it for. And so Christ is set
forth here, so we know why this was true, why this was the way
that it was. And can you imagine this scene
for a moment? Imagine when the water was stirred,
the stampede, blind people groping their way down there, and lame
people getting up and trying to hobble down there, and withered
people that didn't have use of one limb or another trying to
get down there, and rushing, and pushing each other out of
the way, and posturing to get an advantageous position to get
into the water first. Before it ever started, don't
you know they were nudging one another out of, I'm going to
be the first one, I'm going to get down there right on the edge.
But everybody can't be on the edge, can they? So there's going
to be some pushing and shoving and posturing. And I just imagine
that there were times, don't you reckon that a gust of wind
would come up and move the water? And everybody would run down
there and rush and splash and fall in. Several people would
fall in, only to find out that it was a false alarm. It was
just a little wind that moved. I know that happened. I know
that happened. What a sad state of humanity. Can you see that? That angel is for me. I'm going.
I'm going to be first. I'm going to push everybody else
out of my way. We're not told how often the
angel came. It may have just happened once or twice in a lifetime.
It may have just happened once a long time ago, and these people
had heard about it, but there they are waiting for it to happen
again. But how sad. that these are here waiting on
this angel to come. This multitude is laying there
waiting and hoping and putting their trust in this phenomenon,
and the one who commands the angels was walking right in their
midst. The one who says to this angel,
Go, and he goes, and to this one, Come, and he comes, was
walking right in their midst. He was standing right there,
and nobody paid any attention to him, not even this man. that we're reading about today.
Salvation is not a place. It's not an event. Salvation
is a person. If I could somehow say that in
such a way that it would penetrate your heart, that you wouldn't
look for any hope anywhere else but in a person, in the Savior,
I would say it that way, if I could. salvation is the man, Christ
Jesus. And these ones, they were waiting
for physical healing when the one that healeth all of our soul's
diseases was standing right there among them. And what would these
have, really, if they were the first one to get in? What if,
against all odds, you were the first one to fall into that pool?
What would you have? What would it gain you? A new
lease on life? What are you waiting for? What are you waiting for?
What is your hope this morning? What is it that you're anticipating? That you hope to gain in this
life? What's your pursuit? To get ahead? What is ahead? Where is that? I never was able
to get there, were you? Wherever ahead is, I hadn't made
it there yet. To make it big? These have positioned themselves
in such a way that they might benefit most in this life. And I just imagine that you've
done that same thing, haven't you? Me too. Speaking of earthly matters,
we position ourselves as best we can in such a way that we'll
receive the most benefit from this life. That's what these
did. They took up a position. And
they tried to figure out a way, how can I get that one out of
there and get that spot? He's got the best spot. And let me ask you this. If you
had this morning what you seek after the most, what would you
have? What would you have? I was out
cleaning the property a little bit. Eric and I get out every
now and then and pick up garbage that that blows onto the property
and gets thrown into the ditch. People like to throw stuff in
the ditch. And I found a used lottery ticket out there the
other day. And I couldn't help but think about that. Somebody
drove by that was after wealth. They bought that ticket thinking
this is the one. If they had known or thought
it wasn't the one, they wouldn't have bought that one. They would
have said, give me that one. They thought that was the one that
was going to make it big for them. The ship was coming in,
and they drove by here, and it wasn't the one, and they threw
it out the window. And they drove by a place where
the riches of Christ are preached week after week, and they'll
never come in and hear it. Does that paint a picture for
you like it did for me? The rich young ruler could not
turn from his wealth to Christ, but most people can't even forsake
the pursuit of wealth that they'll never achieve in order to take
the time to hear what God said. When the riches of Christ are
preached, God is speaking to sinners regarding him in whom
are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. And there
is no treasure to be compared. with wisdom. Solomon said, spend
everything you have to, but get that treasure. Nothing else can
even compare. In verse 5, we see that out of
all this mass of defective humanity, and I can just picture them there,
can't you? Pitiful, wretched. But it says
that our Lord set his eyes upon one man. And I would ask the
question, why? It says there were blind men
there, and there were some lame, and there were some withered
folks, impotent people. But he set his eyes upon one
man. Why did he do that? Was that
man crying to the Lord? Was he getting his attention?
And that caused him to look? No. Was he looking to the Lord? No. What was he doing? He was
doing the same thing everybody else was doing. He was looking
at that pool, waiting for that water to move, thinking maybe
this time, maybe everybody else will stumble and I can get down
there before they get in. He was taking up with the welfare
of the flesh. He was waiting for a break. He
was hoping that he would be the one, that he could be the one
that would get in that pool at the right time, hoping to see
some movement. And if somehow he could have
been the one, if somehow he could have gotten, even though he was
late, if he could have made it in there before anybody else,
he would have gone into the water, a dry, lame, hell-bound sinner,
and come out a wet, walking, hell-bound sinner. Is that right? There were blind men there. Why
didn't the Lord go to one of the blind men and speak? He had
done that before. He had gone to blind people and
made them see. He could do that. There were
multitudes. Why this lame man? Christ chose
to come to him and speak to him. The Lord made a choice. Isn't
that right? And this book is full of the
glorious truth that the Lord has made a choice. I don't want
to talk to you this morning about you making a choice. You've already
made a choice. You just don't know it yet. But
the Lord made a choice here, and he came and he spoke to this
particular man. He said to his disciples, you
have not chosen me, but I have chosen you. And he could have
said that same thing to this man, and it would have been absolutely
right, wouldn't it? He didn't choose the Lord. Let
me ask you this. Is this how you met the Master?
Or did you make a decision for Jesus? Notice what the Lord saw when
he looked at him. He saw him lie. He saw him lie. That's all a
dead sinner can do. Did you know that? You can't
do anything but just lie there. Just lie there. He didn't see
him making a decision. He didn't see him waving to him,
you know, over here. He saw him lie. What did he see
when he looked at you? Had you distinguished yourself
from other sinners in some way? Then you're saved by works. The
scripture says that doesn't happen. That there is no salvation by
the deeds of the law, by obeying God, by doing anything for God. So what were you doing when Christ
found you if he has come to you? What was that certain man that
fell among thieves doing when the good Samaritan came where
he was? He was laying there. He was just
laying there. Listen to this parable in Luke.
Turn to Luke chapter 15. This is the picture all through
the scripture of the sinner when Christ comes. and finds the sinner,
what is he doing? Luke 15 and verse 3, And he spake
this parable unto them, saying, What man of you, having an hundred
sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and
nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until
he find it? And when he hath found it, he
laith it on his shoulders, Now what do you think that sheep
was doing when he found it? Well, we know what he was doing.
He was lost in the wilderness. He was wandering away from the
fold. We just heard a song about the
grace that brought us to the fold. And that's what we're reading
about right here. That sheep wasn't even looking
for the way back to the fold. We're eating that dumb sheep
and we're wandering farther and farther enjoying a little grass
on our way to hell. That's what we're doing. But
he comes and he finds it. And when he has found it, he
lays it on his shoulders. He don't even say, OK, come on
back and then go back and show the way. That's not what he does.
He brings us in. He lays it on his shoulders,
rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls
his friends and neighbors, saying unto them, Rejoice with me, for
I have found my sheep, which was lost." That's our part in
it. We're lost. That's my part in
it. And I say unto you that likewise
joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repented more than
over ninety and nine just persons which need no repentance. Now,
let me ask you this. Which sheep were you? The ninety and nine here are
just there to illustrate something. Every one of God's sheep are
that one sheep, every one of them. And then he says in verse
8, "...either what woman, having ten pieces of silver, if she
lose one piece, does not light a candle, and sweep the house,
and seek diligently, till she find it." What was it doing when
she found it? Jesus saw him lie. It was just
laying there, lifeless and worthless because it was lost. How much
is that money worth that you lost that time? They're not worth
anything to you, is it? Because it's lost. But now, when
the woman comes and finds it, now it has value. And Christ
came and restored us unto God. Found us. And if she loses that
one thing, that she lights a candle, she sweeps the house, she gets
all the garbage out of the way, looking for that one thing that
she's seeking. And when she is found, she calls
her friends and neighbors together, saying, Rejoice with me, for
I have found the peace which I had lost. Likewise, I say unto
you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one
sinner that repenteth. And that sinner is going to repent.
When? when Jesus sees it lying there
and comes and says, get up. Is there any question that a
miracle was performed here? That man had never stood and
walked before in 38 years. Christ says, get up and rise
up and take up your bed and walk. And you're not going to do that
either until a miracle is performed. A miracle. And notice that the
Lord was intimately acquainted with this man's case. He saw
him lie and knew that he had now been a long time in that
case. He knew exactly how long because
the Holy Spirit records the very number of years that
he had lain there. Ah, perhaps there's one of the
Lord's little lambs here this morning. And you don't know it
yet. You don't know who he is. This
man didn't have any idea who that was that was walking up
to him. And you don't know what he did for you on Calvary. But
my friend, he knows you. If you're one of his, he's very
familiar with your case. He knows exactly who you are. He knows your heart. The very
hairs of your head are numbered by him. Not even a sparrow falls
without his notice, much less one of his little lambs. He's
intimately acquainted with your case, though you don't know who
he is. You will. You will. He has an appointment
with you, and you're going to keep that appointment. He said,
my sheep hear my voice, and they follow me. They follow me. He
has a question for you this morning, if you're one of those. Are you
interested? Will thou be made whole? That's
what he asks you. That's what he asks his sheep,
his people, sinners. Will thou be made whole? You
know who will be made whole? Somebody that's not already whole.
That's who. Somebody that's lame, sick, impotent,
needy, needy. If you don't know the Lord Jesus
Christ this morning, in the free pardon of sin. Be honest about
it now. You don't know Christ. You've
heard about him. You can say that was a nice sermon,
and you like to come to church because you've got friends here,
or whatever. But you don't know the Son of God in the free pardon
of sin. You haven't bowed to the Master
and begged for mercy. You know that if you haven't.
If you don't have life, because he that hath the Son hath life,
and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life," John said.
If you're getting your sins without Christ this morning, I know why.
Do you? It's because you don't need Him.
That's the reason right there. You don't need Him. You don't
need Christ. John 9.39, Jesus said, for judgment
I am come into this world, that they which see not might see."
He makes this statement after just having healed that man that
was blind from his birth. And he asked that man a question,
too. Do you believe on the Son of
God? It's the same question. Did you know that? Because if
you're going to be made whole, you're going to believe on the
Son of God. There's just one way to be made whole inside of
God. And that's to lay hold of Christ by faith. Does thou believe on the Son
of God? And he said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on
him? And he said, Thou hast both seen
him, and it is he that speaketh with thee.
Why do you think he put it that way? Because a few hours ago
that man wasn't seeing anything. Have you ever wondered why he
said it that way? Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that speaketh
with thee." And it made him remember, I was blind. But now I see because
this man wanted me to see. He willed it, and he had the
power to make it so. And he said, I believe, and he
fell at his feet and worshipped him. And then the Lord Jesus
stood there with those Pharisees that had accused that man, and
that man and probably his family And many had gathered around
there, and he said, I'm coming to this world for judgment, that
they which see not might see, and that they which see might be
made blind. What case are you in this morning?
Some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and
they said unto him, Are we blind also? Mocking him, mocking him. Are we blind also? And listen
to what the Lord Jesus said to them. If you were blind, you
should have no sin. But now you say we see, therefore
your sin remaineth. Do you see what he's saying there?
How is it with you? Can you see? Oh, I know my Bible. I know God. I've always loved
God. I've made my decisions. Me and God got a good thing going.
I got my ticket to hell, you know, on the Gloryland Express.
Blind. Blind. But if you're blind, if
you've come to Christ and said, Lord, I don't know anything.
I don't have anything. I've got nothing going for me.
I ought to go to hell. And my only hope is if you have
mercy on me. Mercy. He came to make those kind of
blind people see. That's why he came. And he came
to this man. And let me ask it to you this
way. Wilt thou be made whole? Let me ask you this way. Wilt
thou be made whole? I didn't say, do you believe
that sinners can be made whole? What I'm asking you is, wilt
thou be made whole? Do you see your need of being
made whole? Do you see that you're undone
before God? Like Isaiah, he said, I saw the
Lord high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.
And I said, woe is me, for I'm undone. I'm undone. I'm a man
of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean
lips. Is that your case? Wilt thou
be made whole? Do you see how he asked that
as a lame man? as a man in need of restoration
and healing. Will you be made whole? Let me
ask it to you this way. Will you be relieved of the burden,
the bondage of the law? Will you be made whole? Christ
said in Matthew 11, 28, Come unto me, all ye that labor and
are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Are you laboring? Are you heavy laden? under the
bondage of God's law? Did you know that that's where
people are by nature? You're toiling and laboring and
slaving to try to please God with your actions. Maybe you
came to church this morning just because you knew God would want
you to do that and you wanted to please God. You wanted to
have favor with God. You can't have favor with God
like that. There's only one way to have favor with God and that's
in His Son, in Christ. That's why Christ said, come
unto me. He said that on the day of the great feast when people
were there to come and observe that feast, and most of them
were coming there under the bondage of the law, because God said
to observe these feasts, and here we go, we're obeying God,
and we're doing what God said, and so God will smile on us.
No, he won't. Paul said, By the deeds of the law shall no flesh
be justified in his sight. We are all sown under sin. By
the deeds of the law, the law can only reveal your sin, show
you your sin. That's why God gave the law.
Paul said, the law is a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. And when
you see the law that way, Paul said, I was alive without the
law once. Not that he didn't know anything about the law.
He knew the law, the letter of the law, and he obeyed it as
far as he knew. But he said, when the commandment
came to my heart, when God revealed to me his law, sin revived and
I died. I realized what the law was saying
to me. Condemnation, wrath, judgment
is all the law. can bring upon us. But he said, then I looked to
cry. I forsook that, forgetting those
things which are behind, looking forward unto that which is before
me, oh, that I might be found in him. That's hope. That's laying
down that burden of the law. Will you be relieved of it? Will
you be made whole? Will you be healed of the disease
of sin? Or are you just happy just like
y'all? Do you want to be made whole? Or are you happy being
lame? It's pretty good being lame.
People bring me stuff. I don't have to work. People
have pity on me. I think I'll just lay here. Or
do you want to be made whole? Has God given you a loathing
of what you are? Don't you want to be made whole?
If you're a believer, Are you ready to be made whole in that
sense where even the presence of sin is gone? I would be made
whole, wouldn't you? I want to know what love really
is. I think I know now. Do you as a lost sinner, do you
want to know what love is? You think you know what it is
now. You think love is God giving you a shot at doing the right
thing. That's not love. Love is God coming where you
are. When you're all about self, all you're worried about is healing
this flesh, and promoting this flesh, and benefiting this flesh,
and Christ comes where you are in spite of that, and passes
by a thousand and comes to you and says, rise. That's love. That's love right there. Do you
want to know about that? Do you want to know what peace
is? You don't have any idea what peace is right now. You think
you do, because you find some solace in the things of this
life, and when things are going pretty good, you know, you're
making pretty good money, and you don't have a whole lot of
worries, you know, there's some nagging things, there's always
something, you know, but going along pretty good here, that's
not peace. Peace is being able to see yourself
standing in the presence of God Almighty. Perfect. To stand there in a
substitute, in the representative, the substitute for sinners, unto
Him that's able to keep you from falling and to present you flawless.
And to have that confidence, that peace, that in Christ all
truly is well with my soul. That's peace. Do you want to
know anything about that? That's what it is to be made
whole. You want to know what life is? Life. Well, I know what life is. Is
that right? You work to get the money to
buy beans to get the strength so you can work, to get money
to buy beans to get the strength so you can work. Is that life
to you? Well, I don't always eat beans. Sometimes I eat a
little ribeye, you know. Is that life? Is that what it's
about? Getting ahead, making it big, If you want to know what life
is, I'm talking about life, if you want to know why you exist
at all, and to rejoice in the fact that God has made you to
glorify his son, to be able to look and to see like John did,
a throne and somebody sitting on it, and to say amen. He's
on the throne right where he belongs, and he can do what he
wants to do with me, and I like it like that. That's peace and
life and love. All of these things. It's Christ.
It's Christ. To know Him. He said, I am the
way, the truth, and the life. And there is no life apart from
Him. And we think we know what these
things are, but if you ever meet the Savior, you'll realize that
you didn't. But you will in Him. Do you want
to be cleansed? Wilt thou be made whole? Will
you be cleansed of Your soul's disease and filth? There's a
fountain filled with blood drawn from Immanuel's veins, and sinners
plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains. Wilt
thou be made whole? Do you want righteousness? Christ
said, Blessed are they which hunger and thirst after righteousness. Do you make yourself sick? Do
you hate being what you are? Will thou be made whole? Christ
is my righteousness. Let me tell you about Him. Come
to Him and find out what life and peace and love, grace, what
these things are. Righteousness. Look at this man's
answer in verse 7. He answered the Lord's question,
or at least he responded. He didn't really answer the question,
though, did he? He said, Sir, I have no man when the water
is troubled to put me into the pool. But while I'm coming, another
steppeth down before me. He's still worried about getting
down to that pool. And so were you when Christ found
you. You were worried about this flesh. How can I just be? rid
of all my problems. Is that what heaven is to you?
Just all your problems going away? Then you don't know what
heaven is. You don't. No, that's not what it is. Look
at what he says. I have no man. Religion says
this. Oh, yes, we agree with you. Christ comes to the sinner and
he offers life to the sinner, but the sinner has to accept
it. Is that right? Is that your part in salvation?
You have to choose to accept salvation. Adam didn't. Scripture says he came unto his
own and his own didn't. Scripture says God looked down
on the children of men and said, if anybody did and they didn't,
are you going to now this morning? Now he's still trying to work
out how he's going to get down to this pool first after the
angel stirred the water. I'm lame. He's making excuses,
isn't he? If you'd just help me, maybe you could pick me up
and take me down to that water. You have to choose to accept. You have to make a decision for
Jesus. Christ asked this man a yes or no question. And he
didn't even have sense enough to say yes to a question like
that. Wilt thou be made whole?" Yes
would be a pretty good answer, wouldn't it? But we can't even
do that. That's what preachers are looking
for this morning, a yes about that. Everybody wants to go to
heaven when they die, but being made whole is not just about
that. We're talking about righteousness now. We're talking about being
healed of all of our soul's diseases. This man still didn't have a
clue. who this man was, and you didn't either when he came to
you. And yet, despite this man's absolute
ignorance, look at what Christ says in verse 8. Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take
up thy bed, and walk. Christ speaks in power. You know
how I know that he spoke in power? Because the man did what he told
him to do. And he had never done that before. Never. Was incapable
of doing it. Well, God wouldn't tell you to
do something that you couldn't do. Is that right? Your God might not. But every
time God saves a sinner, he commands that sinner to do something he
cannot. And that's so beautifully illustrated
here. That man can't get up. That was the whole point. That's
the definition of being lame. You can't do that. Christ said
do it. When the gospel command is exactly
the same. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. I can't do that. I know you can't.
But when Christ commands it and when he effectually speaks that
word of power to your heart. He said to Thomas, Thomas said,
unless I see the prince of the nails in his hands and put my
hand in his side, I will not believe. And Christ said, Thomas,
be not faithless, but believing. That's power. That's the voice
that said, let there be light. And there was light. And guess
what Thomas did? He said, my Lord and my God.
That's power right there. That's obedience to the command,
the effectual command of the gospel. Be not faithless, but
believing. And if Christ ever speaks that
word to your heart, might she appear in my voice and they ought
to follow me? No, they do. They do, and they
shall. They always will. And then verse
9, when Christ speaks in power, as I said, with the command goes
forth the ability to obey it. If not, Lazarus is going to lay
in that grave for a fifth day, and a sixth, and a seventh, and
from now on until Christ says, Come forth. And then he's coming. That's salvation, my friends.
And that's why we wait upon him. We're not trying to get the sinner
to do something for God. We're praying that God will do
something for the sinner. Because until a miracle takes
place, there won't be any salvation. There just won't. That man cannot
do what Christ told him to do until Christ told him to do it.
He didn't suggest that it might be nice if he would do it. He
said, rise. So, who gets the glory? When
Christ says to a dead sinner, believe, and he does, who gets
the glory? When Christ spoke this command,
the man didn't continue saying, well, wait a minute, what about
the pool? What about the, I can't get up, if you'll carry me down
there though, it'll be, everything will be great. Just get me in
that water, no? He forgot all about that fool,
didn't he? And he did what Christ told him to do. He obeys the
gracious command, as do all who hear it. Christ came to Matthew,
sitting at the receipt of custom, and he said two words, follow
me. And you know what Matthew did?
Who are you? Wait a minute, I've got things
to do here. He rose and followed him. He said to that old cheat of
a taxman, Zacchaeus. Nobody liked Zacchaeus, but the
Lord did. And he went to his tree and he
said, Zacchaeus, you hurry up and come down. Make haste and
come down. Because I was hoping that you
might invite me to your house today. No, because I must abide
at your house today. Has Christ ever said that to
you? When he does, he's coming to live with you, in you, by
his almighty, omnipotent, irresistible grace. Let's bow in prayer.