From Sinner to Saint

Open your Bibles to Luke chapter 19 and meet me at verse 1. We're going to read through to verse 10, Luke chapter 19, verse 1, and we'll read through to verse 10. Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was very rich. And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature.

So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was going to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and saw him and said to him, Zacchaeus, make haste and come down for today. Somebody shout today. I must stay at your house. So he made haste and came down and received him joyfully. But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, He has gone to be with a guest with a man who is a sinner.

Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor, and if I've taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold. And Jesus said to him, Today, somebody shout today. Today, salvation has come to this house because he also is a son of Abraham. And let's look at verse 10. We'll conclude here. For the son of man has come to seek and save that which was lost.

I don't know about you, but matter of fact, I think I do know about you. You haven't had the opportunity to preach, most of you, majority of you, on Resurrection Sunday. I dare say that most of you hadn't had the opportunity to come and find a passage of Scripture and to see what the Lord is saying so that you can deliver to the people of God.

I talk to a lot of pastors, and Resurrection Sunday is typically one of the most difficult days to preach because we're always looking for something new and something fresh regarding the resurrection. But how many of you know the resurrection doesn't really need anything new or fresh? It is what it is, praise God. But there's always something in there that we haven't seen before,

we don't know. And as I was praying and as I was studying about teaching on this Resurrection Sunday, the Lord kept leading me back to this passage of Scripture. And I said, Lord, I want to teach on the resurrection. And I want to teach on the tomb is empty. And I want to teach on the grave is defeated. And I want to teach on death has been destroyed. He said, that's good. That's exactly what we should be teaching on.

But this Sunday, for somebody, whether here, and we welcome everybody online, everybody listening to the podcast later, wherever you are, today there's something for you in this passage of Scripture that I want to deliver to you that is really impressed upon the Lord's heart. And so we see in this passage, there is a man, his name is Zacchaeus.

Somebody say Zacchaeus. now Zacchaeus is a tax collector he works for the IRS okay and I don't know about you but it is time for you to do your taxes okay I've already done mine and your time is running out okay that's just a plug get your taxes done because I don't want you going to jail all right so Zacchaeus is a tax collector. And the Bible says that he's actually a chief tax collector.

And that's the only time the Bible uses the word chief tax collector is in describing the occupation of Zacchaeus. So not only is he a tax collector, not only does he work for the IRS, he's the president of the IRS. And the Bible describes him as a very rich man. man. Now understand this, that tax collectors should only be taking what is necessary. And if Zacchaeus is considered a rich man, we can assume that he's taking more than what's allocated.

He's taking more than he should. And so Zacchaeus is a hated man. I don't know if we really like the IRS. How many of you really like the IRS? Okay, you don't have to raise your hand. I know no, you don't. People looking around. No, we don't really like the IRS because the IRS appears to be taking something from us. And so Zacchaeus is a man who is taking from his own people. And so he probably doesn't have family that's associated with him. He probably doesn't have a lot of friends.

He probably is someone that has always been despised, talked about, not invited to come and fellowship. He's not invited to hang out anywhere, come out to eat. He's a hated man and he's mocked. And it also hurts him that he is short. All right. So the average male in America is 5'9". So this is the average male. Take a look at me. I am the average height of a male in America. Imagine now if Zacchaeus is 411, okay, as a grown man, right? He's probably getting talked about.

He's probably getting mocked and ridiculed. He's already a chief tax collector.

He's already taking from people or appears to be taking from people in what people feel like is their own possession and so he's short and he is rich and he is probably stealing and he is hated but he hears that Jesus is coming to town now in Luke chapter 15 verse 1 I want you to see something in the New Living Translation Luke chapter 15 verse 1 in the New Living Translation It says tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach.

Now, this is very interesting, this passage of scripture, because tax collectors are considered to be evil, ruthless thieves. And then other notorious sinners, they enjoyed listening to Jesus teach. In our society, we like to hear, I grew up on this, hell and fire and beat up over the head and kicked outside and you leave church and you feel so terrible. And I used to come to the front and give my life to the Lord every Sunday because the preacher made me feel terrible.

But it's interesting that the wicked people in Jesus' day actually enjoyed listening to Jesus preach. And so Zacchaeus is a tax collector, and he hears that Jesus is coming to town. And so this rich, wealthy tax collector decides, I want to see Jesus. Jesus. I remember the day when I wanted to see Jesus for the first time. It was exciting. I had a revelation.

I had heard about Jesus, and I had seen some good things that he had done in scripture and in some of my friends' lives, and I wanted to see Jesus too. And so this wealthy, wealthy, rich tax collector, he runs ahead because he's short. And he says, I can't see Jesus over the crowd, but I really want to see him. So he begins to climb a tree. Now, I don't know if you know this or not, but I don't know a lot of wealthy people climbing trees.

I don't know a lot of rich people saying, I'm going to go out and climb a tree. I don't even know a lot of poor people climbing trees. And so I don't know a lot of people, adults, climbing trees. But this man so wanted to see Jesus that he didn't care about his status. He didn't care about his money. He didn't care about his fame. He didn't care about his pedigree. All he wanted to do was see Jesus. So he did something that was uncommon.

He found a sycamore tree up ahead and he climbed the tree only for the sole purpose of seeing Jesus. This is childlike faith right here. This is hunger right here. This is somebody that needs something. This is somebody that's in a desperate situation. And although he had a lot of money, there was something missing in his life. And so he runs ahead and he climbs the tree and Jesus now is passing by. And in the first verse of Luke chapter 19, it says he went to Jericho.

So he's in Jericho and he's passing by and we see that when Jesus sees Zacchaeus in the tree, Jesus stops and he says to Zacchaeus, Zacchaeus, I'm coming to your house today. Now this amazes me because all Zacchaeus wanted to do was see Jesus, but what he didn't realize was that Jesus was actually coming to Jericho to see him come on somebody say amen and then what's interesting is he knew Zacchaeus by name. He didn't say, hey, short guy, hey, midget, hey, young fella.

He said, Zacchaeus, knew him by name. He says, today, I'm coming to your house to fellowship with you. Now, the cool thing about this to me is that Jesus didn't say, I'm coming to convert you. I'm coming to preach to you. I'm coming to get something from you. No, he calls him by name. Somebody say by name. John chapter 10 says that Jesus knows his sheep by name and he calls them by their name. It's important when you know somebody's name. It's important when you call them by name.

It's important when you remember their name. I tell our staff here is when people come in and ask for their name and then remember their name because there's something vitally important about you having a name. There's individuality with that. There's character in that. There's personality in that. Then when you know somebody's name, you know them.

And Jesus called them by name. There are places that I've been, and when someone remembers my name, maybe I hadn't been there in a while, but they remember my name, man, there's something about that on the inside of me that makes me feel accepted. Somebody say accepted. It makes me feel accepted when they remember my name. And so Jesus looks up, stops, says, Zacchaeus, call him by name. I'm coming to your house today. Zacchaeus immediately climbs down the tree, runs on home ahead.

Jesus follows him, prepares his house. Now, the Bible says he was very rich. He probably had a really nice house. And Jesus walks into Zacchaeus' really nice house, and he sits down, and all he wants to do is break bread with Zacchaeus. All he wants to do is have relationship with Zacchaeus. All he wants to do is to impart into Zacchaeus. All he wants to do is to be a friend to Zacchaeus. It wasn't about let me convert him. It was about let me get in relationship with him. There's a difference.

And so Jesus is in Zacchaeus' house, and he is talking to him and breaking bread with him and listening to him. Now, the haters are saying, what in the world is Jesus doing going to Zacchaeus' house? What in the world is Jesus doing hanging out with this notorious sinner? What is he doing hanging out with this despicable man who is stealing from us? Why is Jesus with him? What scripture tells us, Jesus said, I didn't come to save the healthy. I came to save the sick.

I came to seek and save that which was lost. And so Zacchaeus is entertaining Jesus. And Jesus is talking to him. And all of a sudden, out of the blue, Zacchaeus says something that is so remarkable. Zacchaeus says, Lord, if I have stolen from anybody, I will repay even up to four times the amount of money that I've stolen. Now, this is amazing to me because we don't have any record of Jesus saying anything to him about this.

All of a sudden, Zacchaeus, in the presence of Jesus, begins to repent. And he literally says, I want to give my money away. Now, as soon as I said that, some of y'all are like, oh, Lord, he's trying to get my money. That's what Zacchaeus said. I'm not trying to get your money. That's what Zacchaeus said. I am going to give my money away. What he did there was he repented. And your heart is always connected with your finances.

Let me tell you how I know this to be true. OK, somebody tried to get get get get over on me this week financially. financially. They tried to lie and say they were selling something and I was going to buy it and then come to find out I had to check in my spirit and all this that they was just trying to dupe me and the thought of them trying to dupe me caused me to want to fight. Why? I mean, we're just, why did it cost money? Because my heart is connected with my money.

Just lose some money and see what happens. Let someone steal some money from you and see how you respond. Let someone take full advantage of you financially and see how you respond. You're going to respond a different way. Why? For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. so. And so as soon as Zacchaeus said, I want to give my money away and even restore up to four times the amount. So if he stole a thousand dollars from someone, he said, I'm going to give 4,000 back.

That's a good, that's a good deal right there. What he said in this statement was, I repent. But here's the key that I want you to see today on this celebratory day. What Zacchaeus really said to Jesus is, before I get right with you, I need to get right with other people. Now, I'm going to camp here for a minute. Ain't going to be a lot of running around today. We're not going to run and shout. We're going to reflect.

It is easier to get right with God than it is to get right with somebody else.

We can go to God all day long and say Lord forgive me but when you offend your brother and sister, you have a hard time saying forgive me matter of fact some of y'all have not even said in years I apologize you just that that has not even come out your mouth in a very long time and then there's There's relationships that have been broken, family relationships, mother-daughter relationships, father-son relationships, marital relationships, relationships broken, brother and sister relationships,

friends, relationships altered, broken, because we think we're right with God, but we're not right with people.

See, it's quiet. I can hear the platform creaking because it's quiet. In order to be right with God, you're going to have to get right with people. You cannot, hallelujah, okay, I love the Lord, and then hate your brother and sister. You can't act real spiritual and not have a relationship with your daughter. You can't act real spiritual and not have a relationship with your brother and sister and act like everything's right with me and God, but everything ain't right with me and my brother.

It ain't right. But it's easier to say everything's right with me and God.

Oh, Lord, you're so merciful, forgiving. given and you go out there and and and kill and fight and bite bite and get somebody in the choke hold and then think everything is all right with you and God everything is not all right with you and God and what Zacchaeus realized in just sitting with Jesus you know the scripture we read earlier was tax collectors and notorious sinners love to listen to Jesus teach it wasn't because Jesus was hanging out in the club,

in the bars with them and doing what they're doing. No, he was challenging them to change their behavior. And in order to change their behavior, they're going to have to change their heart. And in order to change their heart, they're going to have to give something away. And that giving could be anything that you need in order to release the debt that you feel is owed to you or the debt that you owe somebody else. So for example, if we take a look at even what is anger? Well,

I'm angry. I don't even know why I'm angry. I'm just angry. I'm angry at my parents and I'm angry at my grandchildren. I'm angry at my husband. I'm angry. What is it? Why you're angry? Because you feel like there is a debt that they owe you and you've not released it. Well, I'm really, really frustrated. I'm really upset. Yes, that's normal. You can be frustrated. You can be upset. But unless you are not trying to get it right with the person, you're not right with Jesus.

You know, y'all follow me with the cameras. I got to come down here because some of y'all looking at me like, oh, let me get close to you. I got to get close. I want you to know that if you are not right with people, you are not right with Jesus. How can you love Jesus whom you've never seen and not love your brother who you see every day? I know I want to talk about something different, but the Lord said on this special day, I want my people to get right with other people today.

Yeah, we're going to shout hallelujah. The grave is open, but I hate my brother. Can't do it. Hallelujah. The grave is open, but I hate my son. Can't happen. We're going to have to get right with people. And that means we're going to have to give something. And the first thing we're going to have to give is an apology. Say, I'm sorry. You can barely even say it. Did you hear how weak that was? You can barely even say it. This is why I'm preaching the right message today. Say, I'm sorry.

It got better after you got challenged. Say, I apologize. Say, I was wrong. that's very hard to say, say I mistreated you some of y'all didn't even move your mouth because you can't even get it out your mouth, because these are things that we think I'm right with God and God and I are good but I got this brother right here or this sister or this daughter or this son or this ex or Or whatever the case may be that I am not right with.

And there's an issue. Now, I want to talk a little bit to you today about what it means to be right with someone. It doesn't mean that y'all are chummy chummy. And y'all are going out to dinner and hanging out. And yes, let's hang out all night long. I know you stole $10,000 from me, but let's hang out all night. That's not what I'm talking about. out. What I'm talking about is releasing them, saying, I forgive, and when I think about them, I don't even have a harsh feeling towards it.

Now, I may not ask them, Wayne, to go out to eat. I don't have to hang out with everybody. My time is very valuable. We're not going out to eat. I've had people that have really, really mistreated me, and we've forgiven and had, and now they want to be friends again. We're not going to be friends again. That, that, that, listen, a relationship that hasn't been tested can't be trusted. And I trust it and it got tested and you stabbed me in the back.

You think I'm going to get stabbed back and again? No. Now I forgive you, but we're not eating tonight. Okay, we're moving on to better and bigger things. Somebody say amen. Amen. The feeling that you have when you think about somebody. Amen. The feeling that you have when you consider somebody is what I want to talk about today. Because what Zacchaeus said was he encountered Jesus and what Zacchaeus said was, I want to get right with people.

So here's how I'm going to do it. I'm going to give some money away. Sometimes money is the conduit used that can help you get right with people. Listen, everybody like $100 I'm sorry I hurt you, forgive me, here's $100 am I right Josh? We all like $100, forgive me but it has to come with, don't just give the $100 without the forgive me, I keep giving money where's the apology? Where is the the recognition of I missed it I hurt you. I did.

I let you down. I frustrated you. It's got to come with that.

And I think the cool thing in this passage of scriptures was when Zacchaeus said that, he said, listen, I'm going to restore and I'm going to get right with people. And I've stolen from people and I've been wealthy because I've taken advantage of people and I'm going to get right. I'm going to make it right. I'm going to give and I'm going to make it right. Like the very next thing Jesus said was, today salvation has come to this house. The very next thing he said, today.

When did salvation come? Today. Today. Why did it come? Because he repented. Repent means to change your mind. To change the direction or the course of life that you're on. To change your behavior. I'm not going to remain the same. So he told Jesus, I'm repenting. I'm not remaining the same. I'm changing my behavior. I'm changing the way I'm acting. I'm changing the way I'm reacting. I'm not doing it in my own power. I'm doing it in the strength of the Lord.

I'm doing it in the power of the resurrection. And I'm going to change my behavior. I'm going to change the way I see about that, change the way I think about that.

And I'm going to change. and that is called repentance and if you ever want to change the first thing you need to do is change the way you think about it that's the very first thing you need to do i'm going to change the way i think about this situation stop feeling like a victim i'm the victim i'm the one getting misused and abused stop it and start thinking i am the victor god has given me the the victory. And I miss the mark sometimes. I make mistakes. I have to apologize a lot.

I do. There was one particular time I have to tell this story. We had this couple come into our church, and I got invited to another church, okay, to speak. And the other church that I was going to was on a Friday night. And I had said a statement. I said out loud, I said, I want everybody to come. And then I said, and I mean everybody, will you come with me, Darren? I said something along those lines. I want everybody to come. Will you come with me, Darren?

I found out later he got offended by that. He felt like I called him out. And I thought, well, that's not what I did. I was just kind of talking. I apologized. You know, forgive me. I heard that he had felt offended by that. Forgive me. I didn't mean to call you out. I was just, you know, I was just trying to invite everybody. And I saw you and I said it. But you know what? That doesn't matter. Forgive me and I won't do it again.

Everything was fine. I had to apologize. Apologize. Everything was fine. Just because you don't think you did something wrong doesn't mean you don't make it right. Now, let me say something else to you that's rich. Are y'all ready for this? If someone's trying to force you to apologize, that's called manipulation. OK, you don't succumb to that. All right. That is demon inspired. All right. They're trying to control you.

I'm not you ain't going to force me to do something. But if the Lord tells me to do something and I want to get right with people, I want to apologize. Even if I think I didn't do anything wrong. Somebody say, I'm sorry. Even when I think I had good intentions. In that situation, I felt like I had good intentions. But he took it as I called him out. And I had to apologize. Apologize. I apologize. I didn't mean to call you out.

Today, salvation has come to your house. Salvation is not just you going to heaven. That is the least of what salvation does for you. OK, we want we go into heaven. Praise God. I am bypassing hell. Never to go there ever, ever. Jesus went there for me.

I'm not going. he's my ultimate substitutionary sacrifice he did it for me i'm in him and i'm going to heaven glory be to god i've got a hope i've got a victory i'm excited that's where i'm going but that is the least of what salvation does for you and i salvation includes wholeness deliverance.

Protection, safety, prosperity. Salvation includes being prosperous in your mind, being prosperous in your body, healing and wholeness, deliverance from any sickness or disease. This is what salvation includes. But before we receive salvation, there must be repentance. And if we're going to ever change our behavior, the first thing we must do is change the way we think. After that, we're going to have to change the way we speak.

Because our thinking affects our feelings. And our feelings affects us and how we speak. And our speaking affects affects our actions. And our actions are going to create habits. And our habits will determine our character. And our character is what's going to lead us to a destination. So if we don't like the course of life that we're on, we're going to have to change our character. And if we don't like our character, we're going to have to change our habits.

And if we don't like our habits, we're going to have to change our actions. If we don't like our actions, we're going to have to change our words. If we don't like our words, we're going to have to change our feelings. If we don't like our feelings, we're going to have to change our thoughts. It all starts here. Repentance all starts right here in your thought life. And then you declare it and you begin to change the behavior and course of life that you're on.

But most people want to make excuses. Well, this is how I was born. this is how I feel you know you can change the way you feel I don't know if you know that but you can change the way you feel if I'm ever feeling down. I always ask myself, what am I thinking about? If I'm ever feeling down, if I'm ever upset, if my wife said, you're a little cranky today. And I have to go back and say, what am I thinking? And I'm thinking something negative.

And so I say, okay, I need to change what I'm thinking so that I can feel a certain way. And one of the best ways to get out of a funk, I'm just teaching y'all practical stuff this morning. Y'all all right? One of the best ways to get out of a funk is to work out. Go outside, take a walk, get on that treadmill, get some free weights and moves on. Y'all looking at me, I ain't never going to do that. That's how you get out the funk.

Just take a walk. We have a treadmill in the home. I'll just turn it on and run a mile, just a quick mile. I'll run it and I come back and I feel a whole lot better. And so when we want to change the way we feel and walk into repentance, it's always going to start with giving something.

It always starts with giving, whether it's an apology, whether it's a seed, a financial seed, whether it's support and help to someone else, whether it's availability, whether it is giving something in your home away, whatever the case may be, it always starts with giving. And when you you give, Then you are then a candidate, watch this, to walk in the totality of the salvation that Jesus has for you. So Jesus told the man, today salvation has come to your house.

So this man has now received deliverance, health, wholeness, prosperity. He had money, but prosperity is not just money. Let me say it again. I thought I'd get a better amen than that. Prosperity is not just money. Amen. Amen. Prosperity includes money, but it's not just money. He was missing something. Even though he had money, he was missing something. And what he was missing was being right with people and being right with God. And Jesus said, today's salvation has come into your home.

And then Jesus says what I love. He says, I came to seek and save that which was lost. lost. So Zacchaeus thought that he was going to see Jesus, but Jesus was actually seeking Zacchaeus. This is the cool part of the story, is that you and I, who encountered Jesus for the very first time, you thought you were seeking him, but the truth of the matter is he was seeking you, and he knew you by name and he called you by name.

The fact of the matter is when you finally realize the grace and kindness of the Lord Jesus Christ, he was wooing you the entire time. He was calling you to himself the entire time. He was drawing you to himself and he anointed you and he appointed you for such a time as this, the entire time. The truth of the matter is Jesus knows your name. He knows the situation you're in right now. He knows what you're going through. He knows what you're feeling. He knows what you are up against.

And he still says to you today, salvation is here for you. That means complete wholeness is yours. Nothing missing, nothing broken. That means you have more than enough. You are an overcomer of any sort of trial, tribulation, any sort of demand up against you, any sort of adversarial opponent coming against you. You have Jesus with you, and he is more than enough. Matter of fact, he is salvation. When you see Jesus, you see salvation. When you are in him, you are experiencing salvation.

And that is what the resurrection is all about. It's all about salvation, saving, seeking that which is lost. He wants not to convert you to Christianity. And I want to say something here. Jesus didn't come to create Christianity. Christianity, Jesus came to create a relationship with you and I and to bring us the kingdom. And in the kingdom, the king is our father. And we are sons and daughters of a kingdom here on the earth.

And this kingdom on the earth is advancing and it's growing and it's spreading. He didn't come just to say, I'm a Christian. Matter of fact, 88% of Congress says they're Dear Christians, do you believe that? Something like over 69% of Americans say they're Christians. Do you believe that? He didn't come to create Christianity.

He came to create a kingdom and have a relationship with sons and daughters just like you and I. He wants a real, authentic, genuine relationship with you and I. I was in the barbershop. This was several years ago. I was in the barbershop. And the barber, my barber's a good Christian man. And a lot of people were in the barbershop, and they were all talking about the troubles of America, the troubles. Look at the troubles.

And I was sitting there, and the barber put me on the spot. I knew he did it on purpose. Pastor, pastor, will you tell us what is the answer? That's what he said. What is the answer to all the troubles? And I said, the answer is Jesus. Jesus. And they looked at me and said, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I said, no, what you heard me say was the answer was Christianity. What you heard me say was the answer was read your Bible. What you heard me say was the answer was go to church.

No, the answer is Jesus. A real authentic, encounter with Jesus, the Christ, the son of the living God will change your life just like it did Zacchaeus and said I want to give my money away who says that a changed man or woman.

Who says I want to be different a changed man and woman who's encountered Jesus in Luke chapter 3 I believe it's verse 8 guys put on the screen Luke chapter I think it's 3 verse 8 yeah watch this I'm just going to read the first portion of this scripture prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. How do I do that? By the way I live. I have to prove by the way I live that I've really repented and really turned to God.

It's not just come up here and say a prayer. We're going to see it today. A lot of people on social media is going to say, we had 79,000 people give their life to the Lord. They just said something we're going to see later. Did they give their life to the Lord because there must be a changed life? I knew it would be quiet in here today. I knew it would be quiet in here today. Because we're going to have to be the Bible that some people will never even read.

People, I don't need to bring a Bible to work and sit on my desk and say, I'm a Christian. You should be looking at my life. I was in a hotel recently. My wife and I was in the buffet line. And a lady turned to me. She said, you are a preacher. I said, how do you know? I just sense, I sense something on you. You're a preacher. I said, that's because God has brought salvation, glory to God, into my life and I've repented.

Now you could be a dirty preacher. That ain't me. You can be a heathen preacher. That ain't me. But when you are a man of God, a woman of God, not just a preacher, a son of God, a daughter of God. And your heart is to be right with God and to be right with people. That shows change behavior. And people will recognize the fruit on your life because of your heart's desire to be like him, to be with him. And this is what Zacchaeus said. I want to be like you. I'm going to give it away.

True repentance takes place so real quick number one jesus accepted him number two he repented number three jesus brought salvation into his life and then he says i am still seeking and saving that which is lost part of our mandate church is to look for people like jesus looked for zacchaeus. And to get in the relationship with them. Find out a little bit about them. Get to know them. And let Jesus on the inside of you bring salvation to them.

Sometimes we have this tendency to only be around people that we look like. That we have things in common with. This is why Sunday mornings sometimes is the most segregated day of the week. Because most of the time we go places that look like us. And that ought not be the case. Heaven is diverse. Did you hear that? There ain't a black section and a white section. If God, like any group of people, is to Chinese, why is that? Because there's billions of them.

So there's no group of people that he likes more than another well I'm the black race and he loves my race no no no no no no he loves everybody Sierra said today the cross doesn't discriminate and our job is to.

Find people. This is what I want to end with today. Get in relationship with people. Talk to people. I talk to a lot of unsaved people on purpose so that I can begin to bring salvation to them. And more often than not, I have one particular guy and I'll end with this. I've been talking to him for years about the Lord and and not just I'm going to convert your brother. I need you to say this after me. Come on, repeat. Come on, say these words. No, no, no, no. Just in relationship with him.

And he's observing my life and looking at my life. And I go through tough times too, but I don't go through it with a defeated mindset. I have Jesus with me. And he's helping me and he's telling me what to do. And this man began to see it at one particular night. He called me. It was like 2 in the morning. I answered the phone. I normally don't do that. As a matter of fact, if you ever call me that late, I will not answer. Just give your heads up. But this particular time I did. I answered.

He goes, I'm sitting in a taxi cab right now. I just come from the club. I've been drinking all night long. And the taxi cab driver told me that Jesus loves me. And he said, I just, I can't stop crying. And I was on the phone with him. I said, man, let's get home.

I said, let's talk tomorrow. he wakes up get up and I begin to lead him to the Lord amen and now he's serving the Lord today amen listen our responsibility seek and save you're not the savior but you can lead them to the savior on this resurrection day I want you to know salvation belongs to you amen.