Keep On- With Kenny Jones

Hello, this is Matt Slick from the Matt Slick Live Podcast, where I defend the Christian faith and lay out our foundations of the truth of God's Word. Your chosen Truth Network Podcast is starting in just a few seconds. Enjoy it, share it, but most of all thank you for listening and for choosing the Truth Podcast Network.

This is the Truth Network. Do you feel like your efforts to reach God, find God, and please God are futile? Do you feel like your faith is dead or alive? Today, Pastor Russ Andrews will walk us through Scripture to answer these questions. Join us on Finding Purpose, glorifying God by helping men find their purpose for living. For more information and to connect with Russ Andrews and Finding Purpose, you can visit us online at findingpurpose.net.

or connect with us on Facebook. Now let's listen to Russ Andrews as he teaches us how to be a Christian without being religious. I have three girls, three beautiful girls, and two of them were born when I was the leader of the men's study. And so, so many of you in here have shared the highs and the lows with me. And so, but that word keep on is what has been coming to the forefront of my mind as I was thinking about the men's study, because you are here to be a student of the Bible. You, that's why you're here, to grow in the holiness that God has called us to live for, to live peaceful and quiet lives, for us to walk in the grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why you're here.

You're not here to see each other. Well, that's one perk, but you're here most importantly to encounter a living and holy God. And that's what you do each and every week. And so that's why you're here.

But you're here most importantly to encounter a living and holy God. And that's what you do each and every week. And so those two words, like I said, keep coming to the forefront of my mind. Keep on. Keep on attending the Bible study.

I know coming every Tuesday may seem hard sometimes, getting off of work and coming here, maybe not seeing your family and missing time away, but I'm telling you what it's doing and the benefits that it's reaping are eternal. And so don't ever forget that, men. And so in that same vein, turn over into your Bibles to Luke chapter 19. And with that similar message of keeping on, that's exactly what we're going to be looking at tonight in Luke 19.

Now, I know you're looking at your outline and they are much better than what Russ makes. And so don't worry. Three pages.

I am a Baptist. You're probably thinking here, we're going to be here for another 50 minutes. We'll probably be here like at 51 minutes. And so at the most. So anyway, all jokes aside, just joking, guys.

A little context here. I love a good joke. I love to laugh. I pop these jokes out of capital every Sunday morning and they land just as flat there as they do here. And so I'm encouraged to hear what that's called, which is I think is a laugh.

Maybe it would be contagious at capital. So anyway, I'm just joking. But anyway, Luke chapter 19. So as you have been studying over the last week, you have probably realized that there is a common theme through these 27 verses. The theme is that the Gospel changes lives.

Let me repeat that. The Gospel changes lives. Two famous passages here in these 27 verses. We first encounter the Gospel of Luke.

Excuse me. In the first half of Luke chapter 19, the story of Jesus in Zacchaeus, a short, rich tax collector. And the dialogue that he has with Christ and the transformation he has. And then we learn about the terrible parable of the 10 minas or minas, depending on what part of North Carolina you're from. But within those 27 verses, there is a theme of the Gospel work, how it changes people's lives, transforms people lives for their good.

And that's what we see. And so tonight, what I'd like to do very briefly is I'd like for us to walk through three points that you can see in your outline that aren't going to help us understand these 27 verses. Point one, we will see how the Gospel is seeking a seeking heart. The Gospel demands a seeking heart. Number two, the Gospel saves anyone.

It saves anyone, any man, any woman. And then number three, how the Gospel demands obedience. The Gospel demands obedience. And those three points are wedded deep within these 27 verses that we have tonight. What I'll do is instead of reading all 27 verses, I will read them as we unpack them so you don't have to hear my most beautiful and eloquent voice.

And so we'll read them as we go along throughout these points and as we study God's Word. So if you will, but before we get started, we need to go to the Lord in prayer, don't we? David, I ask the Lord to teach us and allow His Spirit to apply these truths to our heart.

Bear heads with me in prayer. Father, I ask simply and humbly, teach us through Your Word. Convict us of sin. Encourage us in our walk with You. Lord, help us to behold the wondrous mystery and the beauty of the cross. Help us to see the supremacy of Jesus in all things. And help us to be men who make our lives count for the kingdom of God. Teach us now through Your Spirit and through the authority and the power of Your Word. It's in Christ we pray. Amen.

Let's look at our first point tonight. Look with me in Luke 19 and verses one through seven. He, that's Jesus, entered Jericho and was passing through. And 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 the count of the crowd he could not because he was of small of stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up to 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 is gone and to the guest of a man who is a sinner. Under our first point, underneath our first header, we can see that a gospel demands a seeking heart.

This idea of a seeking heart is right here in the context in verses one through seven. And where we are in this journey is that Jesus has now entered the city of Jericho. And the city of Jericho is a very beautiful city. It's economically vibrant.

It's beautiful because it's close proximity to water. It's very different from the Jericho that we read about in Joshua. And so here, Jesus, right at the beginning, we are in to identify Zacchaeus, who is known as a tax collector. He's rich and he's short. That's all we know about him. We don't know much more about this man, but that's what we find here in the text. If you know anything within the scripture, tax collectors were not well liked people.

They would not get the senior superlative of getting the most popular guy in high school. And I mean that literally. They were despised people. You can find in all the gospel accounts where you see over and over and over again that they were known tax collectors and sinners go hand in hand. In Mark chapter two, we find when Jesus was calling Levi to be a disciple, who is also known as Matthew. We find in Matthew chapter two, as he reclined at his house, that's Levi's, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. If you go a little bit further, the Pharisees ask, why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners? Jesus was not naive to the occupation of a tax collector. They were known for their tricks of stealing, being fraudulent.

That's the M.O. they carried all throughout the region. But if you notice anything within Jesus's ministry, as you guys have studied in the gospel of Luke, Jesus associating with sinners and tax collectors was his standard operating procedure.

Everyday life. This was right up Jesus's alley to be known to hang out with these tax collectors. But of all these people that Jesus was known for, and specifically here Zacchaeus, Jesus came to them because they needed salvation. That's why he came. They needed salvation. They needed to know that he was the Messiah, the anointed one. He came to a people that were seeking him. And that's what we see in verses one through seven. And in the context here, we see Zacchaeus being small, climbing to a tree, and look at the response.

Look at what happens. Jesus cast his eyes on this tax collector and everything changes. Zacchaeus was seeking the Savior. He had a determined purpose of climbing that tree.

Yes, there was a crowd. Yes, Jesus was famous because people had heard about his miracles and his teaching with authority. But more than what we see here is that he was seeking, Zacchaeus was seeking as Savior. And there in verse five, the seeker is now found. Look at what it says in verse five. Jesus looks at him and says, Zacchaeus, hurry and come down.

I must stay at your house. This is one of two times where Jesus demands to stay at his house. Remember, Jesus didn't have a home. Foxes has holes, birds have a nest, but the Son of Man does not have a place to lay his head. But this is the one of the two times where Jesus says, I need a place to stay.

And here we see the response. He immediately comes down and welcomes him joyfully into his home. But there in verse three, we don't need to miss it. And this is what the gospel demands. He was seeking. He knew what he was doing in that tree, Zacchaeus.

He knew his response when Jesus encountered him and immediately he welcomed him into his house. He was seeking him. And what does this idea of seeking look like? What does it mean here in verse three that the gospel demands a seeking heart?

What does that mean? First of all, the word seeking, as you can see in your outline, the Greek word is zateo, which means to search for a desire to seek a resolution to get to the bottom of it. Zacchaeus at the end of the day was getting to the bottom of that. He knew he was lost. He needed Christ. He needed salvation. He realized he was poor in spirit. And Jesus was the only way of salvation.

That was his only hope. That's what we see as a response there in verse three. Zacchaeus had the heart as described in Jeremiah 29 13. You will seek me and you will find me and you will seek me with all of your heart. He very much is the epitome of Luke chapter 15 of the parable of the lost coin.

You remember studying it. Remember the woman searches diligently in her house for what? One coin.

One out of ten. She seeks everything, sweeps everything in her house to find it. And when she does it, she thinks that she praises joyfully because she has lost what she has found. And now Zacchaeus has been found because he is pursuing Christ. That's the heart that the gospel demands. That's the heart that we see here in Zacchaeus. And this is, by the way, in the knowledge of what he was trying to look for, Zacchaeus that is. He knew that he was the anointed one. And we see that he was the anointed one in Luke chapter 3 when he was baptized. And the Heavenly Father spoke the blessing over his son and anointed him as the Messiah and then commissioned him to go out and to, as we see in verse 9, to seek and to save the lost.

Zacchaeus knew this. And this is what we find that the gospel demands. That heart that is wanting. That heart is that it is desiring to be saved. To be saved from what? From sin. From man's plight. For to be saved from the wrath of God. For the penalty of our sin.

Zacchaeus was hopeless. And then this is the heart that the gospel demands. And this is the heart that Jesus is wanting all men, men and women alike to have. Because as we know in scripture, there's always two hearts. There's a hardened heart, like the heart of Pharaoh. Remember, after even all those plagues, his heart was hardened towards Yahweh, towards the Lord. We see over and over and over again two different hearts described in scripture. But what we see that the gospel is seeking, the heart that is prepared to receive Jesus by faith is one who is seeking. The one that is humble.

The one, like I said a moment ago, as we see in the Beatitudes, one that is broken, that is poor in spirit, that is hungry for salvation. Men, whether you realize it or not, that's all of us in this room. It's all of us in this room. All of us fall short of the glory of God. All of us.

All of us are sinners. And the reality is this. Jesus came to save. And this is the heart that transforms. And this is also something that we need to understand very clearly.

And there's two points of application here. One, if you are not a Christian, and if you feel in your heart tonight that pricking, that anxiousness of, I am seeking. I do feel lost. I am anxious about my eternal state. Come to faith in Jesus now. Today, I beg you to do it. Don't wait.

But here's the other side. If you are a Christian, and that's a big if. If you are a Christian, we don't ever stop seeking the Lord. Never stop going after Him. Never start growing deeper in the love and the grace and the mercy and the joy of the Lord. Do you seek Him now as a Christian? Do you seek Him daily in the Scripture? Do you realize that the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword? Do you realize it's helping us to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness? Do you realize that this is going to awaken you to a holy God? Do you search the Scriptures like the lady looking for the lost coin in Luke chapter 15?

Or, if you're honest before the Lord and yourself, or are you described by the church in Ephesus in Revelation chapter 2? You've grown lukewarm. You're dull. I'll get up later. I'll get up tomorrow and read the Bible. I'll pray later. When's the last time you prayed? When's the last time you have poured out your heart like the psalmist does and said, I sought the Lord, and He answered me, and He delivered me from all of my fears. Are you dull in heart?

Are you lukewarm? Be honest. Not for me, but for your own sake and before the Lord. Pray like George Whitefield did, the great evangelist and the great awakening. Father, give me a deep humility and a well-guided zeal, a burning love in a single eye, and let men or devils do their worst.

Pray that every single day, because our life needs to count, which then leads us naturally to number two. The gospel saves anyone. Look with me in verses 8 through 10. 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's salvation has come to his house, since he is also a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. Salvation has come to Zacchaeus. He is a believer. He is a fellow disciple, a fellow brother in Christ, because he believed in Jesus. And note this, the giving to the poor, this is not what we find is the opposite of Galatians, that our works do not save.

The fruit of his actions are because he is saved. And man, does he recoup everything that he has stolen. To give you a little Old Testament background, if you were to be caught stealing in the Old Testament, you were to give back what you stole plus 20%. What we find here in the scriptures, he's going to give back fourfold. Fourfold. To give you a little context, it's basically giving over a thousand percent of what he stole.

Isn't that amazing? This is a very rich man. He's built his wealth, his notoriety, yes on thievery, yes on being a fraud, someone who steals, but now the man is giving everything away. R.C., excuse me, J.C. Ryle said, it's like a thank offering to the Lord for a changed heart. He wants to give everything away because of the impact of the gospel in his life. It's like the Christmas carol, Ebenezer Scrooge. Remember Ebenezer Scrooge? Remember on Christmas day he wakes up, what does he do? Gives to the poor. Remember he even gives money to his employee, Bob Cratchit. A heart that's changed.

I know you remember that famous Christmas carol story by Charles Dickens. And look what happens. Look what changes him. Look with me in verse 9. And Jesus said to him, Today salvation has come to this house since he is also a son of Abraham. What does that statement mean coming from Jesus? It's true saving faith. It's true genuine faith. You've seen your outline, but if you want to flip with me, turn over to Galatians chapter 15 for just a moment.

And I want you to see this idea of true saving faith. Abraham, God's covenant with Abraham. He said, After these things the Lord came to Abraham in a vision.

Fear not, Abram. I am your shield, your reward shall be very great. But Abraham said, O Lord God, what will you give me?

For I continue to be childless. I'm going to come down to verse 5. And he brought him outside and said, Look toward heaven, and number the stars if you are able to number them. And then he said to him, So shall your offspring be. And he believed the Lord and accounted to him as righteous. Turn to Galatians 3 in the New Testament. It's there in your outline as well. Galatians 3, 10.

Actually, I want to start back. Yeah, I'll start there in verse 10. For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse. For it is written, Cursed be anyone who does not abide by all these things.

Written in the book of the law and do them. Now it is evident that no one is justified before the law of God. For the righteous shall live by faith. It's faith is what saves. The faith that saved Abraham, the faith that saved Paul, the faith that has come to Zacchaeus, true saving faith is what has transformed the heart of this tax collector. Salvation has come to his house. And this is what Jesus came to do. You may remember Luke chapter 4 when Jesus entered into the synagogue right there at the beginning of his ministry. He read, excuse me, Isaiah 61. And basically he's reading his job description right there before the people in the synagogue. And he comes there and he states that I'm coming to seek and to save the lost which he is doing right here in Luke chapter 19 with Zacchaeus. If you were an employer and you were to review your employee's job description, you would say, well done, he's doing great. He's fulfilling what he has said he can do.

And then some. He is doing, Jesus here is coming with a purpose. To give the people the message of hope of that he is the Messiah. To come and to save people from their sins.

And to remember men. This comes on the heel of Luke chapter 18 of the parable of the rich young ruler. Do you remember the response of the rich young ruler when Jesus said, Sell everything you have? What did he do? He went away sad.

He went away angry. What does this rich, short young, or old maybe, ruler do? What does he do?

He gives it all away. Two polar opposites that we find ourselves here. But here's also the response we need to see from the power of the gospel. It saves anyone. It saves anyone, men. It does not matter your background, your race, your vocation, your past sin. Whether you're married, you're single, divorced, rich, or poor. Jesus came to save sinners like you.

Like me. And men, again, I plead with you now. If you are not a believer, come to faith in Christ today.

If you hear his voice, do not harden his heart. I beg you with every fiber of my being, come to Christ today. I'll be here at the end of our time. Come to me. Come to Jim. Come to any small group leader who has the orange tag.

Go see them and ask, I'm lost. I'm lost like Zacchaeus was at the beginning of the story. Come to Christ today. But knowing that the gospel saves anyone. If you are a believer, this should also fuel your fire to share the gospel. We are commanded in Matthew chapter 8 to share the gospel. We are commanded to share the gospel to people. Knowing that anybody can be saved should not only give you that bulletproof mentality, but also it should help you to know when you go and you share, it doesn't matter where they've come from.

It doesn't matter where their background is. God will save them. God can save them. And number three, it should humble you. Humble you men to realize what you have been saved from. This should be the daily virtue of being a recipient of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Daily should be the call of a disciple to be humble. And then number four, if you've received Jesus as your Lord and Savior, now you have the responsibility to act. You have the responsibility to act. And this is where the rubber meets the road.

This is where it gets a little tough sometimes. The obedience to act. And this leads us to our third and final point that you can find in your outline.

It's to see the progression in this story. The gospel demands a seeking heart. A heart like Zacchaeus seeking the Savior. Now we know that it saves anybody. Sinner like a tax collector.

It doesn't matter where your background has come from. And now we come to the parable of the ten minas or minas. However you like to say it. And here's where we see that the gospel demands obedience. If you are a Christian, you are commanded to obey the Lord's precepts. You're commanded to obey the word of God. The commands of Christ. You are called to live accordance to his eternal truth. His word. John MacArthur said obedience is the hallmark of the Christian faith. The hallmark of the Christian faith.

And let's set the stage for the ten minas. Same crowd from Zacchaeus has followed Jesus to his home. They're grumbling.

And why are they grumbling? As we can see in verse 11. They're wanting a Savior who's going to conquer Rome. They don't want a Savior who's come to save lives. They want to save them from the wrath of God. They want someone who's come to conquer Rome.

We see then that this parable that Jesus is teaching. There's a nobleman. And guess who the nobleman is? Jesus. This nobleman gives money. Three months of wages.

That mina there. And he gives them to his servants to go out and make the money go to work. Invest the money is another way to say it. Here is what we see the heart of this parable. The servants are given a responsibility. Note that.

The servants are given a responsibility. Why? Because they have been commanded to invest the money.

And why is that? It's because it's coming from the nobleman. He has authority over them.

Why? Because they are his servants. If you know instead of the scripture another word for servant is also slave. We see in Romans chapter 6 that we find over and over again. We see in Romans chapter 6 we are even called to be not slaves to sin but slaves to what?

Righteousness. We are servants under Christ. And what we see here right in the heart of the text is that the Christian. We are the servants. We have been given a responsibility to obey under the lordship of Jesus Christ. Right in the heart of the parable that's in mind is the lordship of Jesus Christ.

And that's where we see the lordship reigning and being over the servants. Because then what does he do? The responsibility is given. He judges how their investment went to work. See how the return. See this reward that he is expecting coming from these servants.

And notice a couple of things. Notice the name change. The nobleman now is Lord.

The nobleman is now is Lord or King depending on what version of the Bible that you have. Then notice this. The servants their language changes. It's not their mina. It's whose mina? Your.

It's your mina. It's your wages that you've given us. And then we see the response to this judging. It's praises for their work or punishment.

To invest one hides the money. And in this parable Jesus does not mince words. He is pointing to that if you accept me as Savior you have to accept me as Lord.

And the reality is this. So often we want the Savior but we don't want the Lord. If we're really honest. When Jesus says don't lust rubs us the wrong way men. When Jesus tells us not to lie it rubs us the wrong way sometimes. When we're supposed to live peaceful and quiet lives. To be humble. To be meek. When someone hurts our feelings someone cuts us off on the road.

That pretty lady is walking on the street you want to take a glance. Everything says no and you feel that rub. You feel that rub. Why? Because Jesus is Lord.

He's told you not to do that. Being a Christian is not about being religious. But about having a dynamic alive relationship with Jesus Christ. You've been listening to Finding Purpose with Pastor Russ Andrews. Glorifying God by helping men find their purpose for living. You can discover more about finding your purpose in life by checking out the resources at findingpurpose.net. Or connect to Finding Purpose on Facebook. Pastor Russ would also like to extend a special invitation for you to join him and over 300 other local men. To study God's Word together every Tuesday night at 7 p.m. in downtown Raleigh. Find out more at findingpurpose.net. This is the Truth Network