Participants: Martin Fancher (Host)
Series Code: FC
Program Code: FC000287
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00:31 Welcome to Faith Chapel.
00:32 My name is Pastor Martin Fancher. 00:35 I pastor the Seventh-day Adventist Churches 00:36 in DeFuniak Springs and Fort Walton Beach, Florida. 00:39 It's pleasure to be here today to bring to you 00:41 a message I have entitled 00:43 "When Saying You're Sorry Just Isn't Enough." 00:48 Would you bow your head with me 00:49 and let's begin with prayer. 00:51 Gracious Father in heaven, 00:53 we thank you so much for giving us your word. 00:56 Now as we open that word, may we get a blessing 01:00 from the Holy Spirit that we may understand 01:02 and apply what we hear. 01:05 In the way that you would have us applied 01:07 in our lives that would ultimately 01:09 draw us closer to you. 01:11 For these things, we pray in Jesus name. Amen. 01:15 A young man in his early teens who routinely 01:18 was stealing money out of his mother's purse. 01:21 He would sneak into her room. 01:23 He would take the money out of her purse 01:25 and straightened every thing back up, 01:26 so that no one would know especially his mother. 01:30 In fact he got so brazen with it that occasionally 01:32 when the mother made some comment about it. 01:34 He made an absolute denial that he had anything 01:37 to do or had any knowledge of what was going on. 01:41 But one night he needed some extra cash, 01:44 and he snuck into that mother's room one more time 01:47 and as he was going through the purse, 01:49 he heard a click and the light came on. 01:53 And he turned to face his mother. 01:56 In a moment he was convicted of his wrong doing. 02:01 He immediately felt sorry for what he had done 02:04 and he broke down remorsefully 02:06 and begged his mother for forgiveness. 02:10 She said to him son, you know I readily forgive you. 02:16 And, you know, how much I love you. 02:19 However, to trust you again is going to take some time. 02:27 You see when we have faith with someone 02:29 and we break that faith, it is very difficult 02:33 to put the pieces back together and win back 02:36 that trust it was once so blessed upon us. 02:41 We have a heavenly Father whose love and trust 02:45 is so important and vital too us. 02:47 Is it possible, we've broken that trust? 02:49 And if we have is our Savior remorseful, is He sorry, 02:53 is He trying to restore us to Him. 02:58 Well, there are times when we might feel this way. 03:02 There are times when we may feel that our Savior 03:03 is ashamed of us and wants nothing to do with us. 03:07 But my friend, have I got good news today. 03:10 There is no sin too great to keep Jesus from loving us. 03:17 Because Jesus is willing to forgive our sins 03:20 and we must confess those sins. 03:24 And the Bible tells us that He is faithful and just 03:27 to forgive those sins and to cleanse us 03:31 from all unrighteousness, isn't that wonderful? 03:33 Jesus has such love for us. 03:36 I want to share with you a story from scripture today. 03:39 It's a story we're all familiar with. 03:40 The story comes from the book of Luke. 03:43 Luke Chapter 19, we'll be reading versus 1-10. 03:49 Then Jesus entered 03:51 and passed through Jericho. 03:53 Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus 03:55 who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. 03:58 And he sought to see who Jesus was, 04:01 but he could because of the crowd, 04:03 for he was of short stature. 04:05 So he ran ahead and he climbed up 04:07 into a sycamore tree to see Him, 04:09 for He was going to pass that way. 04:11 And when Jesus came to the place, 04:13 He looked up and saw him, and said to him, 04:16 "Zacchaeus make haste and come down, 04:20 for today I must stay at your house." 04:23 So he made haste and came down, 04:25 and received Him joyfully. 04:28 But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, 04:31 "He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner." 04:34 Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, 04:36 Lord, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor, 04:40 and if I have taken anything from anyone 04:42 by false accusation, I restore fourfold." 04:47 And Jesus said to him, 04:48 "Today salvation has come to this house, 04:51 because he also is a son of Abraham; 04:54 for the Son of Man has come to seek 04:56 and to save that which was lost." 05:00 Isn't that a wonderful story? I love that story. 05:04 We read it to our children but it's a story for us. 05:09 This man Zacchaeus had heard about Jesus. 05:14 And when Jesus came that way, he went on a search. 05:20 He wanted to meet this man. 05:21 Something had sparked within his life, 05:24 this tax collector, this one who was hated by most 05:30 found love 05:32 and acceptance in the mere knowledge of Jesus. 05:37 And so the Bible tells us, that he went 05:39 and he found where Jesus was, 05:41 but because of his stature, he was just too short. 05:46 And, of course, as the children song goes, 05:48 he climbed up in a sycamore tree for the Lord, 05:52 he wanted to see. 05:53 Well, the crowd had been in his way. 05:58 He needed to be above the crowd to see. 06:02 There was probably children on either side of him 06:04 in the tree. 06:07 I'm here to tell you that the crowd still 06:11 gets in our way of seeing Jesus. 06:14 When we want to find Jesus, 06:15 our Savior all too often the crowd, 06:18 the world gets in our way and we don't see 06:21 what we think we need to see. 06:23 Well, the Bible goes on and tells us, 06:27 not only did Zacchaeus want to see Jesus. 06:31 But my friend Jesus had an appointment with Zacchaeus. 06:36 Now if that doesn't open our eyes 06:38 and make our heart jump with gladness, 06:40 not only do we want to see Jesus my friend, 06:43 but Jesus wants to see us. 06:46 A divine appointment, a destiny 06:49 that He wants to see each one of us. 06:53 What gets in our way of being able to see? 06:57 Well, let's take a look at Zacchaeus, 06:59 his story once again. 07:00 Jesus stops underneath that tree. 07:02 He looks up, 07:03 He sees Zacchaeus sitting in the tree. 07:06 Zacchaeus, I need to come to your house 07:09 today Jesus tells him. 07:12 Now immediately the Bible says, 07:14 those that were around Him, the leaders, 07:16 church leaders of that day. 07:18 They were not too happy and impressed that Jesus 07:20 was going to eat at the home of a sinner. 07:24 They believe that Jesus had 07:27 not come by divine appointment. 07:29 They knew that He was messing up all that 07:32 they knew to be true. 07:34 He was causing their religion to loose 07:38 its meaning and its value. 07:41 In their eyes that is. 07:43 What they didn't understand was that 07:45 as the Bible tells us, Jesus came to give the religion life 07:49 and to give it more abundantly. 07:51 He came to make the religion personable, 07:56 not something we do but it's someone whom we believe in. 08:02 Well, the Bible tells us 08:03 that Zacchaeus didn't make haste. 08:04 Zacchaeus came down out of that tree 08:08 and may I imagine with pride in his heart. 08:11 He sought after Jesus, 08:13 leading Him down the streets to his house. 08:18 As we mentioned earlier, forgiveness doesn't always 08:23 reinstate trust as the boy who was stealing from his mother. 08:31 He received forgiveness, but trust was something 08:34 he was going to have to rebuild. 08:36 He was going to after earn that trust with her. 08:39 My friend, we don't earn trust with Jesus Christ, 08:42 He grants it to us, He gives it to us. 08:46 He gives us the power to trust in Him. 08:50 Sometimes it just seems so hard. 08:55 The Pharisees were complaining 08:57 and let me tell you the church leaders 08:58 still complained today. 09:00 They've, sometimes want to make things so hard. 09:05 But my friend Jesus wants things so easy. 09:08 He wants us to understand that true Christianity is not 09:12 just seeing Jesus, its encountering Jesus 09:15 as Zacchaeus did on a personal level. 09:18 A level that says that the rubber has met the road, 09:21 that the hand has shook the hand. 09:24 I once shook the hand of a man who shook 09:27 the hand of Elvis Presley. 09:30 But never can I say that I shook the hand 09:32 of Elvis Presley. 09:34 I don't want to be said of me that I shook 09:36 a hand of the hand of Jesus Christ. 09:39 But rather that I shook the hand of Jesus Christ 09:44 and never let go. 09:45 That's the promise that God can give to us today. 09:48 See the agenda for the Pharisees were very different, 09:50 their agenda for Jesus was to trick Him. 09:52 Their agenda was to make people depended upon them. 09:56 Zacchaeus saw through that, Zacchaeus had a need 10:02 that only Jesus could fulfill. 10:05 Do, you know, what there is another lesson 10:06 that we can learn here that Zacchaeus found. 10:09 And that is even if you've been committed 10:11 of doing something that is wrong. 10:15 In order to make it right, 10:17 you may have to go out on a limb. 10:19 Not as Zacchaeus did, but go out on that limb 10:24 and make restitution for the wrong. 10:28 Well, I can imagine that boy who took money 10:30 from his mother's purse. 10:32 I can imagine him saying it will never happen again 10:35 and turning and walking away. 10:36 I can imagine, he hugged his mother. 10:38 I imagine that he did his best to restore the money 10:44 which would in end help restore his mother's trust. 10:49 So he had something that he had to do, 10:51 there's something that Zacchaeus had to do. 10:54 See Zacchaeus, as the habit was 10:57 and the practice was in Bible times. 10:59 They auctioned off the tax areas and Zacchaeus purchased 11:05 his area that he would collect the tax. 11:07 And there was a certain amount of tax it was owed. 11:10 Anything that he collected 11:11 above and beyond that was his. 11:14 So no wonder that IRS of that day 11:16 was despised as much as it was, because they were 11:19 taking an unfair tax on the people. 11:22 And they were keeping it for themselves 11:24 and probably living a much higher lifestyle. 11:28 But Jesus comes into Zacchaeus' life, 11:32 invites Himself over to Zacchaeus' home. 11:36 And on the way, Zacchaeus has his eyes opened, 11:42 and he realizes and the Bible tells us that he said 11:47 any man that I have taken from, I will restore, 11:54 well it would been good enough in most of our eyes 11:57 if that's what he had truly said. 11:59 I've taken money from you here, 12:00 I'm giving the money back 12:02 that I shouldn't have taken from you. 12:03 But that's not what Zacchaeus said, 12:05 Zacchaeus said that if he had taken from any man, 12:10 he would restore the money fourfold. 12:16 Now you and I can think about that 12:17 for just a moment. 12:18 If he took a dollar, more than he should have 12:20 from someone, he owed $4. 12:24 If he took a $100 more he would promise 12:27 to repay $400, $4000 the dollar value 12:33 was not important to Zacchaeus my friend, 12:36 the importance was being right 12:37 with his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 12:39 And a true encounter with Jesus my friend 12:42 will draw us closer to Jesus Christ. 12:44 And the Bible tells us that by holding, 12:46 we'll become changed into that which we behold. 12:49 Zacchaeus have been beholding the world far too long 12:51 and he was beginning to look like the world. 12:54 Now he wanted to see Jesus. 12:56 And he wanted to be changed into that image 12:58 that Jesus wants for him to have. 13:03 Oh, my friend, it's time 13:04 for a grand image change on each one of us. 13:07 It's time that we allow Jesus to come on the inside 13:09 and to changes into that which He wants us to be. 13:13 Well, I think I know what I want from my life. 13:15 And I think I know what I need. 13:17 But I need to pray that God will have 13:19 His will and His way with me in His time. 13:24 Well, I want you to realize that Jesus affirms Zacchaeus. 13:29 Jesus tells us in the scripture that we read, 13:34 that he was happy with what Jesus did. 13:36 Today Jesus said, salvation has come to this house. 13:42 Oh, I can imagine those words were extremely important 13:47 for Zacchaeus to hear. 13:49 See, he didn't even know that he was lost, 13:53 until he heard of Jesus. 13:56 And then somewhere in his past, he discovered 13:59 and when Jesus came to that city, 14:01 he made it his first priority 14:04 to find Him and find Him he did. 14:08 What he didn't realize 14:09 was the Jesus was there to find Zacchaeus. 14:15 It says to us Zacchaeus has come to this house 14:19 with Jesus and that salvation would be his free and clear. 14:27 Zacchaeus' entire household becomes followers of God. 14:33 What a testimony Zacchaeus will have. 14:36 What a testimony, his living testimony there 14:40 in that day and age with those friends and neighbors. 14:44 Imagine if the Internal Revenue Service called you. 14:48 And said oh, no! We've made a mistake 14:50 and we've discovered that we owe you 14:52 a $1000 back and since we owe you 14:55 the $1000 and it's our mistake, 14:57 we're going to repay a fourfold. 15:00 We don't imagine them calling to admit a mistake, 15:02 let alone calling to repay it fourfold. 15:05 That's a dream. 15:08 But my friend, with Jesus Christ, 15:10 it is no hollow dream. 15:13 It is 100 percent reality and fact 15:18 and the story is valid for us today. 15:22 Jesus proclaimed His mission in verse 10. 15:25 The Son of Man has come to seek and save the lost. 15:28 This is what the Pharisees didn't understand. 15:32 They didn't understand that Jesus was coming to seek 15:34 and save the lost, but Jesus was. 15:38 It's a wonder that Pharisees were upset that Jesus 15:42 was going to eat with sinners, with prostitutes, 15:48 with the poor, with those who have diseases. 15:52 They were not happy, but Jesus kept company 15:56 with those who needed His company and more than that 16:01 He was with people who wanted Jesus 16:05 to be with them. 16:07 My friend I hope that you want Jesus to be with you, 16:12 because Jesus does want you. 16:15 And He wants to spend time with you, 16:16 but you have to want to spend time with Him. 16:20 And I as always, that's another story. 16:23 Well, I love picturing with my children. 16:28 The story of Zacchaeus and climbing up in the tree, 16:31 trying to get through the crowd, making his way 16:34 in there and he can't find Him. 16:36 He climbs up into that tree. 16:37 Jesus looks up and sees him and Jesus changes his life. 16:43 That's what Jesus is here for. 16:45 Jesus wants to come 16:46 into the heart of each and everyone of us. 16:48 He wants to change your life 16:50 and He wants to change my life. 16:53 He gives us the hope to do that. 16:57 Jesus in Bible gives us many stories of people of faith 17:00 who came to this encounter with Jesus Christ, 17:03 from the little girl who healed Naman 17:06 by causing his faith to grow. 17:09 If the prophet asks a little thing, can you not do it? 17:13 All the way through the children of Israel 17:16 marching around the city and blowing the trumpets 17:20 and seeing the walls of Jericho fall down. 17:22 God wants an encounter with each and every one of us. 17:25 And all through scripture we have biblical examples 17:29 of the very same walk with Jesus 17:33 that Jesus wants to walk with us. 17:36 Isn't that wonderful? 17:38 Jesus wants to walk with me. 17:41 Bible tells us in Genesis, 17:43 when Jesus came down to the Garden of Eden, 17:45 says God walked among them 17:48 with Adam and Eve in the garden. 17:51 When sin came into the world, God could no longer walk 17:54 in person with them and they were cast out of the garden. 17:57 You and I are living in a world, 17:59 the results of the fall of sin. 18:01 You and I cannot walk hand in hand 18:04 physically with Jesus Christ, or His Father in this world. 18:08 You and I have that spiritual relationship 18:10 and that's spiritual relationship Jesus Himself 18:12 came to prove, it's possible to live in a close 18:16 spiritual relationship with Jesus Christ. 18:19 He came personally and that personal walk 18:24 ended on Calvary's tree. 18:28 My friend the price He paid was an exorbitant price, 18:32 but He considers it worth it all. 18:36 Another thing we can learn from the story of Zacchaeus. 18:39 The Pharisees had written Zacchaeus off. 18:41 Zacchaeus was a sinner and therefore 18:43 they didn't need to do anything else with him. 18:47 They had already written him off 18:48 the books of life, so to speak. 18:51 They would not work with him, 18:52 they did not need to deal with him. 18:54 In fact, the Bible doesn't even record 18:57 they tried to save him or witness to him. 19:01 But Jesus doesn't write any of us off. 19:05 Jesus comes searching for us and whether my friend 19:09 you are in a tree, or whether you are in a bush, 19:13 or in a car or in your home. 19:16 Jesus will find you because He wants to be 19:21 in a saving relationship with you. 19:24 And He will not write us off. 19:27 Jesus proclaimed His mission to seek and save the lost. 19:31 My friend, do you know you are lost? 19:34 Do I know I'm lost? 19:35 Without Jesus Christ 19:38 there is nothing I can do it to be saved. 19:41 Someone once put it this way. 19:43 Well, is Jesus love conditional? 19:48 And the response was, there is nothing that you can do 19:53 to make Jesus love you anymore 19:55 than He loves you today. 19:59 But they continued, there is nothing you can 20:03 do to make Jesus love you any less. 20:07 That's true love my friend, a love that doesn't end. 20:14 We find the road to Jericho being passed by many people. 20:18 The crowd had thronged Jesus; 20:21 they cut off any way for Zacchaeus to find Jesus 20:25 and Satan himself is doing the same today. 20:28 Oh, we may be caught up in the cares of the world, 20:30 our priorities may be misaligned 20:31 and in the wrong places. 20:33 But if we look for Jesus, we can find Him. 20:40 We may have to climb up above your tree. 20:44 We may have to find Him in a still small voice. 20:49 But wherever we go, we need to be searching for Jesus, 20:54 because my friend He is searching for us. 20:58 The Bible says that 20:59 today salvation has come to this house. 21:03 Wouldn't that be wonderful words for each one of us 21:05 to hear today that salvation has come to our house today? 21:08 It's come to your house today, it's here today. 21:12 The words of scripture are not hollow 21:14 and empty my friend. 21:15 They are filled with power, wonder working power paid 21:18 for by the blood of Calvary. 21:20 That's where true life comes from is through the death 21:24 and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. 21:27 And though Jesus had not yet died, 21:29 Zacchaeus begin to understand forgiveness 21:33 in a dimension that many of us need to understand. 21:35 When we say we're sorry, it's not all over with yet. 21:38 It's not done yet when we say a sorry. 21:42 Well, let me give you an illustration. 21:45 I was eating in a restaurant. 21:47 Something wasn't done quite right 21:50 and I asked to see someone in charge. 21:56 Person in charge brought over the waiter 21:57 and the waiter said I'm sorry 22:02 and turned and walked away. 22:04 I wasn't sure whether he was sorry that something 22:07 had not happened right with my food or he was sorry 22:10 that I had called the manager 22:11 and got him in trouble which was not my intension. 22:14 But you and I need to know why we're sorry 22:17 if we're truly sorry. 22:18 And my friend the sins that stain you and I today 22:22 are the same sins that stains Zacchaeus so long ago. 22:26 But his sins caught up with him in his conscience, 22:30 in his very being and he knew 22:32 something was not right. 22:33 And he wanted to make it right, 22:35 and when he heard of Jesus and what Jesus could do, 22:37 he sought him out. 22:40 I hope that the life that each one of us are living, 22:45 is a life that calls us 22:47 and draws us to Jesus Christ. 22:50 Because Jesus wants us to ask Him 22:54 for forgiveness, for no one else can. 22:57 You can't ask to have my sins forgiven 22:59 and I can't ask to have your sins forgiven. 23:01 But praise God today, we can call upon God 23:06 and our sins will be forgiven and Jesus Christ 23:10 in essence will say to us the same 23:11 that He said to Zacchaeus. 23:13 When He said that today, 23:16 salvation has come to this house. 23:19 My friend, what must we do to seek Jesus? 23:26 What we must do is to look in all the right places. 23:32 If we take our Bibles, if we would read, 23:34 if we would study, if we would pray, 23:37 we will find Him. 23:39 Zacchaeus had to leave the comfort of his home. 23:42 He had to leave the comfort of what he had always known 23:46 and done in his life and he had to walk away 23:49 and leave that all behind him to find Jesus. 23:53 You and I need to walk away 23:54 from the comfort of our home. 23:56 Sometimes we don't even pray over our food 23:58 in a restaurant for fear 23:59 of what someone else might think, 24:01 who happens to see us sitting near us. 24:03 But my friend as Paul said in the scripture, 24:06 I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. 24:10 If Jesus is not ashamed of me in my sinfulness. 24:16 Then why in the world would I be ashamed of Him. 24:23 I don't know, but I do have the answer. 24:29 I can invite Jesus into my life 24:32 and He can and will give me the power to overcome, 24:38 because He loves us so much. 24:40 We talked about the boy who stole from his mother 24:43 being forgiven and having to rebuild back trust. 24:47 Jesus gives us trust. 24:50 Jesus tells us in His word that He is faithful 24:54 and just to forgive us and to cleanse us. 24:59 And my friend I'm dirty, I'm very dirty. 25:04 I'm a sinner who comes home. 25:08 God calls each one of us to salvation. 25:12 Each one of us need to have that right walk with Jesus. 25:18 Maybe you'll find it in your daily devotions. 25:21 Maybe you'll find it in your daily prayer time, 25:25 daily Bible study time. 25:26 And if you don't have any of these times, 25:28 then my friend you need to find time. 25:32 Jesus is making time for us. 25:36 Can we make time for Him? 25:40 Salvation comes free and clear. 25:45 All wrongs can be made right as far as possible. 25:49 There are things that in my life, though I'm forgiven. 25:54 I still live with the consequences of that. 25:58 But praise God, I'm forgiven and you can be forgiven too. 26:03 And very soon Jesus will cleanse us and call us home. 26:12 My friend, now as salvation comes to this house. 26:18 Now the offer is placed on the table 26:21 and Jesus calls us to repentance. 26:24 Will you give your heart to Him? 26:26 Will you offer up time and circumstance 26:29 that you will commit to spending time with Him 26:33 this day and everyday? 26:37 For He wants to spend that time with you. 26:41 Shall we pray? 26:43 Gracious Father in heaven, 26:44 we thank you so much for the opportunities 26:47 that we have to come to you. 26:50 Thank you Father for sending Jesus. 26:52 You loved us so much the Bible said 26:55 that you send your only Son. 26:58 Thank you Jesus for going through. 27:00 Thank you for dying on Calvary 27:02 and forgiving me of my sin. 27:04 And now Father, give us strength to make 27:07 a wrong to right where we have hurt others. 27:12 And give us the strength to overcome, 27:15 not on what we can do but on what we allow 27:19 You to do through us. 27:21 To that end, we pray 27:23 in Jesus precious name, Amen. 27:27 My friend, don't put off the decision. 27:31 For today salvation can come to your house 27:34 and mine. 27:36 But you must ask Him, you must call upon Him. 27:43 Only you can make that possible 27:47 and then Jesus will do the rest. Thank you. |
Revised 2014-12-17