Grace Assembly : Acts of Grace

There are three important words that I want you to keep in mind. There are “conversion”; “regeneration” and “salvation”. What is conversion? I am walking in one direction. I am getting away from God and going towards self-destruction. I am going my own way and suddenly I get a strong conviction in my heart and I seem to hear a voice and the voice says, "converta" or "convert". What do I do? I turn around. I believe it and I receive it. There is a change of mind and a change of direction. I turn around…and that is conversion. But salvation does not end here. In fact, this is only the beginning of the salvation process.

… work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. (Gal 2:12-13 NKJV)

The next thing we find is that the man begins to live a new life. He walks a new path. He walks in a different direction and his life is changed. The Holy Spirit in him guides him and helps him to have a new victorious life. That is called ‘regeneration’.

Luke 19:1-10 tells the story of Zacchaeus. Through it we get an understanding of man as well as an understanding of God's will for us with respect to our conversion, regeneration and salvation.

Jesus passed through Jericho and behold there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was the chief tax collector. People despised him because they felt he betrayed them as he was helping the Romans collect taxes. He was super rich yet he sought to see Jesus. He needed to see Him. With all the wealth and power he had, there was still a vacuum in his life.

Now Zacchaeus was short but nobody wanted to let him through the crowd. Whenever you want to come to the Lord Jesus, there is always a crowd between you and Jesus - a crowd that will discourage you, obstruct you, and deter you. But Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus so badly that he climbed up a tree, a sycamore tree. You have to climb some trees to see Jesus. You have to go ahead, press in and find a place to meet up with Jesus in spite of opposition and hindrance.

Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. (Matt 16:24 NKJV)

Zacchaeus was not ashamed. He ran and climbed up a nearby tree. He did not want to miss Jesus. And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up. Hallelujah! No matter where we may be in the crowd, when the Lord knows someone is desperate to see Him, He always stops. The multitude, the crowd that followed Jesus could not make him stop because they did not have the same kind of desire and passion that Zacchaeus had.

When there is such a hunger, such a cry, and such a need in your life, God always notices and He always hears. He stops and He looks at you. So Jesus looked up at this man He had never met before and called out to him, “Zacchaeus!”… He knew his name!

Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying: "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations." (Jer 1:4-5 NKJV)

God knows your name. He knows everything about you and he is concerned about you. And God is calling you. He is calling out the precious things that are in you, the purity, the cleanness, the justice that he has seen in you. He says, “I don’t see what other people see. I see something different and I am calling it out. You are my child. Come to me. Come! You are lost! Come!”

God is calling us into true transformation. Just believing in our heads is not good enough. There must be real change in our lives. May we, like Zacchaeus, be desperate to meet with Jesus. May we have a passion and a desire for a deep and personal relationship with Jesus so that conversion, regeneration and salvation can truly be ours.