Now Jesus has entered into Jericho, and as
He is passing through the city, behold, there
was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the
chief among the publicans.
The city of Jericho was an oasis.
It was a resort town.
It was the Palm Springs, except even more
lush.
The winters can get quite cold in Jerusalem.
They get even an occasional snow.
But down in Jericho in the wintertime, the
weather is just really perfect.
The days are usually clear.
You get less than two inches of rain
during the year, and yet because it is
about 1,100 feet below sea level, there
are all kinds of springs and little streams
down there in Jericho because of your depth,
and there's just these artesian wells or springs,
and all of this fresh water, and with
the warm temperatures, which are usually in the
wintertime into the 80s during the daytime, it
just makes for lush growing and a year
-round growing season.
And there's just great citrus and all types
of fruits that are grown there in the
area around Jericho.
So, it became a retreat for the wealthy
people.
They would all have their winter houses down
in Jericho.
And Jericho was filled with publicans, that is
the tax collectors because they were the wealthy
people, and Pharisees.
And so, Jesus was passing through Jericho, and
there was a man named Zacchaeus, and he
was the chief of the publicans, the tax
collectors, and he was rich.
And he sought to see Jesus, who he
was.
He didn't...
Now, the blind men, when they said, it's
Jesus of Nazareth, they knew who he was.
This man didn't know who he was, but
he was curious.
Tremendous crowd of people moving along.
Who in the world are they thronging after?
Who is he?
And he could not see because he was
so small, short little fellow.
Could not see over the crowd, and he
dared not to venture into the crowd.
Because people knew who he was, and they
hated him.
He was public enemy number one.
He was the chief of the tax collectors,
and to go in and try and work
his way through the crowd to see Jesus,
he would have been beaten to death.
I mean, he would have been elbowed, gouged,
pinched, and I mean, they would have really
got him if he dared to get into
the crowd.
He knew better than getting into a crowd
of people.
So he saw that Jesus was going down
the street.
He ran ahead of him, climbed up into
a sycamore tree, and waited for Jesus to
pass under, just so he could see this
man.
Didn't know who he was, but he just
wanted to see him.
And to his amazement, as Jesus came to
the tree, he looked up and he saw
him, and he said, Come down, Zacchaeus.
Hurry up, because today I must abide at
your house.
It's interesting that even though Zacchaeus did not
know Jesus, Jesus knew Zacchaeus and called him
by his name.
John tells us, Jesus did not need that
any man should testify him of man, because
he knew man, and he knew what was
in man.
He knew what was in the heart of
this man.
Now, there are many ways that Jesus could
have gone to Jerusalem without going through Jericho.
I think that he went through Jericho just
because he knew there was this man there
whose heart was yearning for God.
I think he made a detour in order
that he might meet Zacchaeus.
And so, Zacchaeus made haste, he came down,
and he received him joyfully, probably because he
knew that it would upset the Pharisees.
Now, at this point, the door is closed
on us.
We are not taken into the feast.
We are not brought into the conversation.
But here, Jesus abiding at the house of
Zacchaeus began to talk to him, no doubt
about the kingdom of God, no doubt about
life and the real values of life, probed
his heart, his soul.
Outside, where we must stand with the crowd,
we hear only the murmuring of the Pharisees
against Jesus for going in to the house
of a sinner.
For they murmured against him, saying that he
had gone to be the guest of a
man who was a sinner.
Outside, there was that mulling around of the
crowd as they waited for Jesus to come
back out.
They probably heard an occasional roar of laughter
come from within the house.
You say, oh, you believe Jesus laughed?
You bet I do.
I think that he had a keen sense
of humor.
I do not picture him as always very
sober.
I think that it was a very tragic
period of the church when somberness became equated
with spirituality.
And it was a sign of unspirituality to
smile.
So the ministers took on such a...
well, they wore the black suits.
And they took on that quality of tone
in their voice and that very somber, serious,
sober, good morning.
And they would set their face in a
very...
And you think, oh, what a spiritual man.
So sober, so serious.
I think of Jesus as a regular fellow.
I can see him just laughing with the
disciples, slapping them on the shoulders.
Just a man's man.
But yet there were those periods of silence
where they didn't hear the laughter outside.
Those times when Jesus was probing, talking, dealing
with Zacchaeus.
Now the doors are opening again.
And Zacchaeus is standing there before the Lord.
Short little fellow, probably looking up at him.
Lord, a half of my riches I'm going
to give to the poor.
And if I've taken anything from a man
falsely, I'm going to restore to him fourfold.
And Jesus answering him said, Today salvation has
come to this house inasmuch as he has
become a son of Abraham.
Now, there are two ways to look at
that.
The translation in our King James is This
day has salvation come to this house for
as much as he also is a son
of Abraham.
And there could be a fine bit of
satire and humor in that.
Anytime you hear a Jew say, I'm going
to give away half of my riches, you
know that salvation has come to his house.
You know, one of these type of Jews
that Zacchaeus was.
But the other is probably the correct.
Inasmuch as he has become, and either translation
can be accepted, a son of Abraham.
Paul tells us that Abraham was not the
father, that it wasn't the physical descendants of
Abraham that would inherit the kingdom of heaven,
but the spiritual descendants.
For Abraham was not the father of the
physical seed, but of the spiritual seed of
those who would believe as their father Abraham,
who believed God, became the father of the
spiritual seed, those who would believe and trust
in God.
And so, we are children of Abraham through
faith.
Paul teaches us.
So, Jesus could be using that spiritual application.
Now, through the faith that is in this
man, he has become indeed a son of
Abraham.
That is, a spiritual descendant.
There were Jews who said to Jesus, we
are of our father Abraham.
Jesus said, if you were of your father
Abraham, then you would have known me.
Because Abraham testified of me, and he saw
me.
And they said, you're not fifty years old.
When did Abraham see you?
And he said, before Abraham was, I am.
Then Jesus said, but you're of the father
of the devil.
Not the sons of Abraham.
We have Abraham for our father.
And he said, don't say that.
Don't you realize that God can raise up
rocks as children of Abraham if he wanted?
It's the spiritual seed.
Those who believe Abraham was the father.
So, we have become children of Abraham through
our faith and heirs then of the promises
of God that were given to Abraham.
They are ours because we are the spiritual
sons of Abraham.
The man who believed God and we are
his spiritual sons.
Now, you can't carry that too far as
some people tragically do and say, well, the
church is Israel.
No, the church is not Israel.
And God is going to yet deal with
the nation of Israel as he has promised.
But, Jesus then said to the crowd, those
who were murmuring, for the Son of Man
has come to seek and to save that
which was lost.
You were murmuring because I was a guest
of a sinner.
But that's who I came to seek.
That's who I came to save.
And as they heard these things, he added
a parable, because they were near to Jerusalem
and because they thought that the kingdom of
God should immediately appear.
Now, they had heard Zacchaeus saying, all that
I have, half of it, I'm going to
give to the poor.
Now, Jesus accepted that, didn't he?
He said to the rich young ruler, sell
everything that you have and give to the
poor.
But now with Zacchaeus saying, a half of
the half I give to the poor and
I restore fourfold anything that I've taken dishonestly.
Jesus said, salvation has come to this house.
So, you see, it isn't a demand that
I have to sell everything to follow Jesus.
It's just that I can't let that be
my God.
No man can serve two masters.
You cannot serve God and mammon.
Now, Jesus, because they were getting near to
Jerusalem and because notice, they thought that the
kingdom of God should immediately appear.
He had just told them, I'm going to
be despised.
I'm going to be rejected.
I'm going to be slain.
I'm going to be spit upon and the
whole thing.
And yet, they still thought the kingdom was
going to immediately appear.
And so he spoke a parable unto them
to the intent that they would see that
there will be a delay of time before
the kingdom will be established.
And so, there was a certain nobleman who
went to a far country to receive for
himself a kingdom and to return.
Now, it is interesting that Jericho was the
city where Archilas had built his palace.
And Archilas was the Roman procurator over that
area.
And Archilas, prior to this, had gone to
Rome in order that he might be elevated
to the title of king because he felt
that procurator just wasn't a big enough title
for him.
And he was wanting the title of king
and that could only be bestowed by the
Roman Senate.
And so, Archilas had gone to Rome to
receive the title of king that he might
come back and dwell in his palace and
reign there in the area of Jericho.
And when he went to Rome, he left
his duties in the hands of some of
his subordinates with whom he left the funds
that they might run the affairs of state.
With Archilas, however, there were other emissaries who
went to Rome and spoke in the Senate
against him and rather than receiving the title
of king, the Roman Senate took away his
position even as the procurator of that area.
So, Archilas had sort of a bad experience
much as did Herod later who went to
Rome with the same desires and was actually
banished to Spain.
Not Herod the Great, but one of his
sons, Antipas.
So, it could be that Jesus in giving
this parable is touching on something that historically
had not happened too long ago and something
that they had all known about in Archilas'
leaving Jericho to go to Rome to get
the title of king.
But there was a certain noble man who
went to a far country to receive for
himself a kingdom and to return.
And he called his ten servants and delivered
to them ten pounds.
And he said unto them, Occupy till I
come.
Now, this is the word of Jesus to
the waiting church.
Occupy till I come.
We are not to sit back and say,
well, the Lord is coming.
There's no sense of finishing my education.
Well, the Lord is coming.
There's no sense of, you know, not entering
into this business venture or let's just wait
because the Lord is coming.
We are not to plan our lives.
Let's go out and charge everything because the
Lord is coming and we won't have to
pay for it.
We are not to plan our lives predicated
upon the Lord's coming in a particular span
of time.
But we are to occupy until He comes,
yet anticipating Him to come at any moment,
never getting so involved that I'm not ready
to drop things at a moment's notice because
that I may have to do.
I am to use the time that I
have wisely in my serving the Lord.
I'm to occupy until He comes, but never
to just sit down and say, okay, Lord,
we're just going to wait now here until
You come.
Oh, praise the Lord and have a glory
hallelujah meeting as we're waiting for the Lord
to come and rapture us.
Never.
We're to occupy.
We're to keep busy until He comes.
And so he delivered the ten pounds and
he said, now occupy till I come.
But his citizens hated him as did those
of Achilles.
And they sent a message after him saying,
we will not have this man to reign
over us.
And that's exactly what they had sent to
the Roman Senate concerning Achilles.
We will not have him reign over us.
And so it came to pass that when
he was returned, having received the kingdom, which
Achilles did not do, then he commanded these
servants to be called to him whom he
had given the money that he might know
how much every man had gained by trading.
Then came the first and he said, Lord,
your pound has gained ten pounds.
And he said unto him, well thou good
servant, because thou hast been faithful in a
very little, you will now have authority over
ten cities.
And the second came saying, Lord, your pound
has gained five pounds.
And he said likewise to him, be thou
also over five cities.
And another came saying, Lord, behold, here is
your pound which I have kept laid up
in a napkin.
For I feared thee because I know that
you're an austere man.
You take that which you did not lay
down.
You reap that which you did not sow.
And he said unto him, out of your
own mouth will I judge you, you wicked
servant.
You knew that I was an austere man
taking up that which I did not lay
down and reaping that which I did not
sow.
Therefore, you should have given the money to
the bank that at my coming I might
have required at least my own with interest.
And he said unto them that stood by,
take from him the pound and give it
to him that hath ten pounds.
And they said unto him, but Lord, he
has ten pounds.
For I say unto you that unto everyone
which hath shall be given and from him
that hath not, even that which he hath
shall be taken away from him.
But those mine enemies which would not have
that I should reign over them bring them
hither and slay them before me.
Those people that say, we'll not have Christ
to rule over us.
They'll be brought before judgment and destroyed.
However, those servants to whom he has entrusted
his goods will be judged according to what
they did, their stewardship of those goods with
which they were entrusted.
Now, it is interesting here that their reward
is in their place of rulership in the
kingdom.
When the Lord comes to establish his kingdom
upon the earth.
The Bible teaches that we will reign with
him over the earth.
To the church of Thyatira, to him that
overcometh, will I grant to sit with me
in my kingdom and they shall rule over
the earth with a rod of iron.
Actually, in the book of Revelation, the first
chapter unto him who loved us and gave
himself for us, who has redeemed us and
we shall reign as a kingdom of priest
with him upon the earth.
And then in Revelation, the fifth chapter, thou
art worthy to receive glory and honor.
No, that's fourth chapter.
In the fifth chapter, thou art worthy to
take the scroll and unloose the seals thereof
for thou has redeemed us by thy blood
out of every nation, kindred, tribe, tongue, and
people and hath made us unto our God,
kings and priests and we shall reign with
thee upon the earth.
So the church reigning with the Lord upon
the earth.
Now, reigning over five cities, reigning over ten
cities, reigning over two cities according to our
faithfulness with what God has entrusted us now
as I am a steward of God's things.
I don't know what it's going to take
to get Hawaii, but I'm working towards it.
Now when he had thus spoken, he went
before ascending up to Jerusalem.
You see, he's on his way.
He's moving towards Jerusalem and this parable was
on their way up because they thought the
kingdom was going to come immediately.
No, it's going to be like a king
who went away to a far country to
receive the kingdom and then he returns later
on and requires of his servants that which
they did with his goods and those who
sent the message and said, hey, we don't
want him to reign over us, they are
to be cut off.
Now they are arriving near Jerusalem.
When he had thus spoken, he went before
ascending up to Jerusalem.
From Jericho to Jerusalem, you're going from 1
,200 feet below sea level, you're ascending up
to about 2,700 feet above sea level,
so it's a good climb.
And it came to pass when he was
come near to Bethany.
And to Bethany, these are the little villages
that are on the wilderness side of the
Mount of Olives away from Jerusalem.
And the mount called the Mount of Olives.
He sent two of his disciples saying, go
into the village there near you at the
which when you enter, you're going to find
a colt that is tied whereon a man
has never sat.
Loose him and bring him.
And if any man ask you, why are
you loosing him?
You shall just say unto him, because the
Lord needs him.
And so they that were sent went their
way and they found even as he had
said unto them.
And as they were loosing the colt, the
owners said unto them, why are you untying
the colt?
And they said, the Lord needs him.
And so they brought him to Jesus and
they cast their garments upon the colt and
they set Jesus thereon.
And as he went, they spread their clothes
in the way.
And when he was come near, even now
at the descent of the Mount of Olives,
that is he come over the top of
the Mount of Olives and started now to
descend on the other side.
The disciples began to rejoice and praise God
with a loud voice for all of the
mighty works that they had seen.
Saying, blessed be the King that comes in
the name of the Lord.
Peace in heaven and glory in the highest.
And some of the Pharisees from among the
multitude said unto him, Master, you better rebuke
your disciples.
And he answered and said unto them, I
tell you that if these should hold their
peace, the stones would immediately cry out.
And when he was come near, he beheld
the city and he wept over it, saying,
if thou hadst known, even thou at least
in this thy day, the things which belong
unto your peace, but now they are hid
from your eyes.
The triumphant entry of Jesus, riding on a
colt, takes us back to the prophecy of
Zechariah 9.
Rejoice greatly, O daughters of Jerusalem.
Shout for joy, for thy King cometh unto
thee, but he is lowly, he is sitting
on a colt, the foal of an ass.
And so here he comes riding, the King.
Notice, on a colt that had never been
broken.
Showing again his mastery over nature.
No man had ever sat on this little
colt.
Yet he sat on it.
As he is riding in, the disciples began
to cry out the Hallel Psalm 118, or
not the Hallel Psalm, but Psalm 118, which
is a messianic psalm.
If you look at the Psalm 118, you
find that the prophecy concerning Jesus, there in
verse 22, the stone which the builders refused
is become the headstone of the corner.
This is the Lord's doing.
It is marvelous in our eyes.
When Solomon built the temple, the story is
told how that all of the stones were
quarried away from the temple site.
Actually, on up the hill on Mount Moriah,
above the site of the temple, you can
still see the stone quarry today.
In fact, you can go into what they
call the Solomon's quarries and see where many
of the stones were taken for the temple
building and all out of this huge cavern
that comes under Jerusalem.
And, of course, the quarried area that ultimately
made a canyon between the wall of Jerusalem
and the top of Mount Moriah, which was
later called Calvary because of the quarrying of
the stone.
The caves left, as they pulled the stones
out, left the impression of a skull in
the side of the mountain.
And so the name, the skull, Golgotha or
Calvary.
And so, the story goes that as they
quarried the stones, each of them were marked
and sent to the temple site where they
were placed in place without the use of
mortar for there was to be no sound
of a trowel or a tool.
But everything was just there at the site
itself.
No chipping of the blocks there.
But everything all cut to size according to
the patterns and numbered and labeled and then
sent.
And the builders just put the wall on
up.
And according to the story, there came to
the builders a stone which they did not
recognize.
They did not understand its place in the
building.
And so, according to the story, the stone
was just set aside as a mistake at
the quarry.
And in the years that it took to
build the temple, ultimately, they came to the
completion and the time for the dedication.
But they were missing one stone.
The chief cornerstone of the building.
And so, the builders sent the message to
the quarries.
We're ready to dedicate, but we're missing the
chief cornerstone.
You better send it.
And they said, we've already sent it.
They said, you can't.
We don't have it.
And, well, here's our records.
Look, it's been sent.
We've already sent it.
And so, finally, some fellow found this stone.
Now the bushes had overgrown and they pulled
it out, the stone that had been set
aside by the builders.
And sure enough, it was the chief cornerstone.
And so, they put this thing in place
and had their dedication.
That's the story.
Whether or not it is authentic or not,
I don't know.
But, here's a reference.
The stone which was set of naught by
the builders, the same has become the chief
cornerstone.
And Jesus, of course, is that stone.
The builders of that whole Judaic religious system
set Him aside.
But yet, as Jesus said, upon this rock
I will build my church and the gates
of hell shall not prevail against it.
The chief cornerstone upon which the kingdom of
God is to be built is the stone
that was set aside by the religious leaders
of the Judaic religious system.
So, definitely a prophecy of Jesus Christ.
Peter makes reference to it.
And the best commentary you can get on
the Old Testament is the New Testament.
You know that.
Now, going on.
This is the day which the Lord has
made.
We will rejoice and be glad in it.
What day?
The day that God establishes the King.
And then the cry, Hosanna.
I beseech Thee, O Lord.
O Lord, I beseech Thee, send now prosperity.
Blessed is he who comes in the name
of the Lord.
We have blessed you out of the house
of the Lord.
This is the psalm that the disciples were
crying.
Hosanna, Hosanna.
Blessed is he who comes in the name
of the Lord.
Because the Pharisees knew that that was a
Messianic psalm.
They began to rebuke the disciples.
They began to tell Jesus, you better rebuke
them.
And Jesus said, look, I'll tell you something,
if they would hold their peace, these stones
would immediately begin to cry out.
This is the day that the Lord has
made.
So, Jesus then, as he looked at Jerusalem,
he was coming down the Mount of Olives,
looking across the Kidron Valley, straight across from
the same level, Mount Moriah, the Temple Mount
on the opposite side, the city of Jerusalem.
He began to weep.
And he said, if you had only known,
even thou, at least in this thy day,
the day that the Lord had made, the
day when they should be rejoicing and be
glad in it, at least in this thy
day, if you only knew the things that
belong to your peace, if you only knew
that God was establishing peace with man, if
you only knew what God would do for
you if you just surrender your lives to
Him, but they are hid from your eyes.
And he is weeping first at their blindness,
but then at the result of that blindness,
the tragedy that would befall them.
For the day shall come upon you.
Your enemies will cast a trench about you.
They will come past thee round and keep
thee in on every side.
As Jesus is describing now, the siege by
the Roman legion under Titus, who in less
than 40 years would destroy Jerusalem and kill
over one million people in the process.
And so Jesus saw the devastation and the
desolation.
And He said, they shall lay thee even
with the ground.
This glorious, beautiful temple that Herod had built
is going to be leveled.
Not one stone will be left standing upon
the other.
These tremendous monuments in Jerusalem all to be
leveled.
And Jesus, looking at this magnificent city, weeping
because it's going to be destroyed and the
children within thee will be destroyed.
They will not leave in thee one stone
upon another because you did not know the
time of your visitation.
Because you were blinded to the work of
God.
This is the day that the Lord has
made.
This is the day that God had planned
the redemption of Israel.
This is the day for the unveiling of
the Messiah to the people.
Prior to this day, Jesus would not allow
any public acclamation of Himself as Messiah.
He would reveal it to individuals on an
individual basis.
But often He would say, don't tell anybody.
Go your way.
Tell no man.
But this day, He is encouraging the people's
demonstration.
He's getting that little cult in order that
He might fulfill the prophecy of Zechariah.
This is the day that the Lord has
made.
The day in history when the Messiah would
come.
It is to me very significant that this
day took place 173,880 days after the
commandment by Artaxerxes in March 14, 445 B
.C. to restore and rebuild Jerusalem.
Which according to Daniel, the prophet, that from
the time the commandment goes forth to restore
and rebuild Jerusalem under the coming of the
Messiah, the Prince, will be seven sevens and
sixty-two sevens or 483 years or 173
,880 days in the Babylonian calendar.
And exactly to the day, April 6, 32
A.D., this is the day the Lord
has made.
We will rejoice and be glad.
But they didn't rejoice.
Instead, they rejected Him.
And knowing that He was to be despised
and rejected, knowing that He was to be
crucified, He wept as He looked at the
city because of the blindness and the resultant
devastation that would result from the blindness.
And so He went into the temple and
He began to cast them out that sold
and those that bought, saying unto them, It
is written, My house is the house of
prayer, but you've made it a den of
thieves.
I believe that if Jesus came today to
His church, that He would be doing a
lot of cleaning up.
I think that He would take these fraudulent,
computerized letters that are being mailed out by
these TV evangelists and healers and rip them
up.
It is interesting to me that in a
lot of the mail that I receive, invariably
those letters that come from faith mission, the
faith broadcast, or wherever they put the name
faith in it, they are usually appeals for
money.
It causes me to wonder, where is their
faith?
Is it in man or is it in
God?
And these men who are willing through their
great faith to bring you God's
power and God's working, how is it that
they can't have enough faith to maintain their
fleet of jets in the Lord, but have
to rely upon their mailing list and their
gimmicks?
My house shall be called a house of
prayer, He said, but you've made it a
den of thieves.
I thank the Lord that I'm not as
other men.
You see, it's hard to be right.
No, it's sad and it's tragic.
The things that have been done in the
name of Jesus Christ, the things that are
being done in the name of Jesus Christ,
the whole fundraising gimmickry within the church, the
schemes and the professionalism that has been brought
in, it's tragic, it's sad.
Let's just pray a moment.
Father, we pray that You'll keep us from
the trap of overextending for our
own ambitions' sake, and thus creating financial pressures
as we're trying to keep alive programs that
were not given by You, that were only
designed to fulfill some ambition or need that
we have.
Father, we wish to thank You for the
way that You have abundantly provided for the
needs here at Calvary Chapel.
Thank You, Lord, that You have given us
far more.
A surplus.
That through this surplus, we can broadcast Thy
Word around the world, Lord.
And yet, just depend upon You and never
have to ask, Lord, how we thank You
for this, Father.
For we recognize it, Lord, as Your work.
You've done it and we thank You, Lord.
That You have provided abundantly so that we
have not been tempted to stoop to gimmicks
or some other method of raising funds.
God, I pray for those that have been
caught in that trap.
I ask, God, that You will convict them
of the distortions and fraud and lies.
And may they see, so, God, their fraudulent
ways.
And may they come to a real trust
in You.
And cut back, Lord, if necessary, on those
ambitious programs that cannot bring glory to You.
In Jesus' name, Father.
Amen.
Jesus taught daily in the temple, but the
chief priest and the scribes and the chief
of the people sought to destroy Him.
But they could not find what they might
do for all the people were very attentive
to hear Him.
So, Jesus was receiving the popular ear of
the people at this point.
They were attentive to hear Him.
However, the leaders had conspired and determined at
this point that He must be destroyed.
And so, we see now that movement towards
the plotting, the subterfuges that will lead to
the betrayal and the arrest and the crucifixion.
But the next couple of chapters, we get
into very interesting aspects as we get all
of it.
Discourse chapter 21, as Jesus deals with the
signs of the end of the age and
of His return in glory to establish His
kingdom.
So, next week, chapters 20 and 21.
You know, at the board meeting, it is
great that the first thing we usually do
after the minutes, well, we have a Bible
reading and prayer and then the minutes.
And then the treasurer's report.
And then we have a praise and worship
time as we just praise the Lord for
the marvelous way that He has provided for
the needs here at Calvary Chapel more than
what we need so that we are able
to expand the ministry and are constantly looking
for just new ways to extend and to
expand the ministry of the Word of God
that He has given to us here.
And so, as the result of the prayers,
the establishment of the Word for Today broadcast,
and we are presently negotiating time on the
radio in Monte Carlo that has a million
watts of power that covers all of Europe
and North Africa.
We are planning to go on the Far
Eastern Broadcasting Corporation that covers all of the
area of the Philippines on into large areas
of China, into India, and also into a
radio station in South America that covers all
of the South American continent.
And just continuing to expand the ministry of
the Word of God, just the teaching of
the Word of God to people around the
world, so that that which God has used
to bless us here can also become a
blessing to people around the country.
And it is thrilling to be able to
go into these various cities and to meet
thousands of people whose lives are being blessed,
strengthened, and are growing through the study of
the Word of God through the Word for
Today radio broadcast half hour daily all over
the United States and now moving out to
powerful stations that will cover the world actually.
So, it's a thrill that God has provided
that we can do this.
And it all is generated just right here.
The surplus funds that the Lord brings in
to expand His work this way.
And it's just wonderful.
So, we have a neat praise time every
month at the board meeting as we just
praise the Lord that He has so abundantly
provided.
Just like He said, He would do exceeding
abundantly above all that we ask or think.
And that's exactly what He's doing.
Exactly what He's doing.
And we just praise Him for it.
May the Lord be with you.
May the Lord bless you and keep His
hand upon your life this week.
May your life in Christ be enriched.
May you grow in your walk and fellowship
with Him.
May you enter into that fullness of the
walk in the Spirit.
In Jesus' name.