December 23, 2012
Scripture:
Let’s turn to Philippians 2:9-11. “God also hath highly exalted him.” May we also do the same!
Hymn 323 - There’s a friend for little children
Prayer
1 Kings 21
A man named Naboth owned a vineyard that was very near the king Ahab’s palace. A vineyard is a garden in which grapes are grown. Now, Ahab wanted Naboth’s vineyard; he wanted to turn it into a herb garden. On day, he visited Naboth with a proposition: he asked Naboth to sell him the vineyard for either money or a better vineyard. There was one problem: this vineyard was an inheritance. According to the law, Naboth couldn’t sell Ahab his vineyard (Leviticus 25:24).
But Ahab was a wicked king and didn’t care about what God said, so he went home and pouted. He lay on his bed facing the wall and wouldn’t eat any food. Instead of being sad, he should’ve commended Naboth for doing what was right. Ahab was covetous, and the Bible warns us about being covetous (Hebrews 13:5). The Lord knows what we need and will provide for each need; we should find contentment in that.
When Jezebel arrived home. she found Ahab in this mess. She asked what the matter was and Ahab told her, but he didn’t tell her everything. He told her that Naboth wouldn’t sell his vineyard, but he didn’t say it was against the law of God. Jezebel, being wicked, devised a plan to get Ahab the vineyard. She thought that if Naboth was dead, they could get the vineyard. So her plan involved getting Naboth killed.
All went as planned, and Naboth was killed. God had seen everything and had a message for Elijah to bring to Ahab. Elijah told Ahab that since a life was taken for this vineyard, evil would come upon his house. Once Ahab realized his sin, he repented. God saw his repentance and said that he would not judge his family during his lifetime.
The lesson today is to be content with what we have and not want what others have. As we have seen in today’s story, nothing good happens when someone covets his neighbour’s belongings .
Luke 19:1-27
Here we have the story of Zacchaeus. A lot of the stories of Jesus are in more than one gospel, but this one is found only in Luke, and it certainly fits with the theme of grace.
Last week we had the story of blind Bartimaeus, and you could really tell what his need was: he was blind. Zacchaeus was wealthy and healthy, and so his need wasn’t as apparent. His only problem was that he was short! Zacchaeus knew what his real problem was, though. It was a spiritual need: he needed to take the Lord as his Saviour. At this point Zacchaeus wasn’t converted, but the Holy Spirit had started to work in his heart. He wasn’t crying out like Bartimaeus, but he wanted to see the Lord. And we find out that the Lord wanted to see Zacchaeus.
Now Zacchaeus was a publican, a group of people usually lumped with “sinners”. Publicans were Jews that worked for the Romans collecting taxes. It made them a good bit of money, but they were not well respected people.
Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus, but it wasn’t easy to get to Jesus because of the big crowd that followed Him. Often men hinder others from coming to the Lord. The Holy Spirit is working in a person’s heart, but they ask themselves, “What will my friends think if I get saved?” Zacchaeus couldn’t get through the crowd, so he ran ahead of it and climbed a tree. That’s a great way to get laughed at! Jesus came along, though, and wanted to be with Zacchaeus.
Verse five has a great phrase: “Jesus came”. Like the Samaritan who “came where he [the dying man] was”, Jesus so often met people where they were. To begin with He left His glory and came down to earth to save us from our sins. It’s a great phrase, “Jesus came”.
Zacchaeus didn’t cry out, but Jesus saw him in the sycamore tree. He had grace and knew Zacchaeus’ heart. “Make haste and come down,” is what our Lord told him. When we come to the Lord for salvation we need to come down in humility. The Lord is the only person that deserves glory. “I must abide at thy house,” is the next thing that Jesus told Zacchaeus. He had found someone that was looking for Him; a trophy of grace. Zacchaeus came down and received him joyfully. When we accept salvation, joy is the result.
The people, however, didn’t rejoice, but murmured that Zacchaeus was a sinner. Not everyone that followed Jesus was a disciple, and there were those that were always ready to criticize. Being a sinner made Zacchaeus eligible for salvation. Those that don’t think that they are sinners–like the pharisee praying in the temple in the last chapter–haven’t come down yet.
Zacchaeus returned any money that he had stolen, but that didn’t make him right with God. He still needed our Lord’s salvation. He received that salvation through faith, as a son of Abraham (Abraham was the father of the faithful). When we accept the Lord as our Saviour, our salvation is immediate and perfect. We don’t have to wait for it, we get it all when we are saved. Zacchaeus’ faith was in the right place: the Lord Jesus Christ.
v10. What qualifies a person for salvation? Being a lost sinner. We need a Seeker and a Saviour. Matthew 18:11 tells us that Jesus came to save children. Those that die under the age of accountability go to heaven, but as accountable older people, we are responsible to come to the Lord for salvation.
Hymn 357 - A certain man of whom we read
Prayer