LIMAVADY INDEPENDENT METHODIST CHURCH
SERMON NOTES FROM SUNDAY 30 APRIL 2023 pm
LUKE 19 VERSES 1 – 10
THE GREATEST OPPORTUNITY
A very familiar story but
don’t allow that to distract from its real message. Last week we were thinking of the greatest
privilege man could ever have – hearing the word of God. It is the word that
brings salvation through faith in the Lord.
The greatest opportunity – “how shall we escape if we neglect so great a
salvation.” There is no plan B. God has the remedy for sin. There is one door to bring us into
heaven. There is one mediator, Christ
Jesus. There on the cross he suffered
and died that we might be saved. He
grants the opportunity ever afforded.
This man was wealthy, successful, a tax collector. He received the greatest opportunity the day
he came face to face with Christ, the day he stood in the presence of Christ
himself. He heard the voice of God
speaking directly to him. It is the
greatest opportunity. The crowd all came
out to see Jesus as he passed through Jericho.
Zacchaeus was the only one who took the opportunity to be saved that
day. Paul when he came to Thessalonica
went into the synagogue for 3 Sabbath days.
He preached Christ. He showed that
God sent a mediator, his Son to be the only remedy for sin. Paul preached about Christ crucified and
resurrected. What an opportunity was
given to Thessalonica on those 3 Sabbath days, an opportunity to be saved. In Luke 13 the Lord is asked a question “are
there few that be saved?” The Lord responded
“strive to enter in at the straight gate.”
Salvation is a tremendous thing but we need to strive to enter in. The question tonight is “can I be saved?”, “will
I be saved?”, “will I be in heaven?”
What an opportunity.
The first thing this was a
faithful opportunity. When you
think of the Lord, the Son of God, the perfect Son of God who never sinned, he
left heavens glory. What has salvation
cost the Lord? His only Son, heavens
very best, Jesus’ blood on Calvary. He
was doing his father’s will. He was
coming into the world to die on Calvary that man might be saved. In John 17 Jesus said “I have finished the
work that thou hast given me to do.” That
was the salvation plan for this old world – to die and be crucified. Sin entered into the world from Adam’s day
forward. God’s remedy for sin was in
sending his son to die on Calvary for you and me. On that day in Jericho there was no doubt on Jesus’
mind. He knew where he was heading. He realised what was before him – the cross,
the suffering, the death. He realised
what was going to take place. How the
religious leaders would turn their backs on him, how the disciples would flee
from him. He realised he would be taken
into Pilate’s Judgment Hall, would be beaten, scourged, rejected then taken out
to be hung on the cross and crucified.
He realised all that was before him yet he had time to stop with this
man who had climbed into sycamore tree.
He had time to stop. Just think,
the Lord would have time with a man for whom the people in his own town never
gave him the time of day. Jesus has time
for him. Remember the day when Jesus made
his way through the village and mothers and fathers brought their children out
for his blessing. The disciples got in front
of the people and said the Lord had no time for them. Jesus stopped and rebuked them. He said “suffer the little children to come
unto me for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”
God has time for you tonight, to stop and tarry with you. In John 4 the Lord needed to go through
Samaria. He had a meeting with a woman,
a sinful, immoral woman. He had time to
stop with her that day. God has time for
you tonight. No-one else has time to
stop with you, to deal with your sin, to save your soul.
The focus of this
opportunity. There was nothing in Zacchaeus
himself. If you are to be saved it has nothing
to do with us. It is to do with
Christ. He was the focus of Zacchaeus’ salvation
on this day. The opportunity to have his
sins forgiven, to have his past dealt with.
That is what he grasped. He
wanted to know the Lord as Saviour. He
knew the path Christ would take. There
was nothing in him to merit God’s salvation, not even the desire, the keenness
to see Christ. If Zacchaeus is to be
saved he has to be saved as a poor lost sinner.
Remember the 4 friends who brought the man to the Lord. He couldn’t walk to Jesus. He was simply a sinner. The house was crowded so they lowered him
down through the roof. The Lord said “thy
sins be forgiven thee”. Those words
brought hardness in the house that day. He
turned and said “which is easier to say, thy sins be forgiven or take up thy
bed and walk but that ye may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to
forgive sins, he turned to the man and said take up thy bed and walk.”
It was a fleeting
opportunity. Jesus entered and
passed through Jericho on his way to the cross.
He never would travel that way again.
Had to ask for salvation there and then.
Are you prepared to grasp God’s salvation tonight? Zacchaeus heart was convicted of his sins. He
knew he needed to find out more. Maybe
you have a desire to hear the Lord. He
takes all the things of the past and makes a complete change. The opportunity for God’s salvation comes at
2 points in our lives, from the day we are born and the day of our death. You will never have the opportunity when you
have died. There is no grace beyond the
grave. Maybe it is a fleeting
opportunity just for you. It comes to
the young and old, rich and poor. God
wants to save you. The people of Athens
let it slip. They wanted to hear Paul
again. We never hear of them hearing
Paul again. Agrippa heard Paul one day
and said “when I have a more convenient season I will call for you.” The opportunity slipped away for him.
It was a fruitful
opportunity. Jesus came to the tree
and he stopped where Zacchaeus was. He
came to Jericho, he had to stop at the very tree where Zacchaeus was. Maybe not many of the people knew he was
there but it was God who knew his hiding place.
Maybe you are sincere tonight.
You long to be saved, to know that if anything were to happen you would
be in God’s eternity. God knows where we
are tonight. He said to Zacchaeus “make
haste and come down.” Zacchaeus came
down to Jesus. Jesus told him “I must go
to your home, I must abide with you.” He
took Zacchaeus by the arm and they walked down the street together. It didn’t go well with the people of Jericho. They looked and said “he is going to the
house of a man who is a sinner” but they didn’t realise “Jesus came to seek and
to save that which was lost.” A great
opportunity for you. Why not come to
Christ, trust him as your Saviour. Make
him yours tonight. You will be saved for
time and eternity.
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