(Atlanta 2013) 2. Loving the Truth — Zac Poonen

Or whether you'll stick to that doctrinal mold into which somebody poured you into many years ago and you hold on to it and say, no, I can never fall away from the faith, I was taught that. Well, if you don't love the truth, you'll be deceived, that's all I can say.

Falling Away Through Deceitful Spirits

And scripture says, the Spirit explicitly says, 1 Timothy 4 .1, that in later times, it's our time, some will fall away from the faith. They were in the faith, they fell away, because they paid attention to deceitful spirits.

The first sin mentioned in the Bible is lying. When Satan told Adam, told Eve, you shall not die. That's the first lie in scripture. And the first sin that you see was not Eve's disobedience. That came afterwards.

First lie mentioned in scripture is a lie. And Jesus said, Satan has been a, Satan's a liar, Jesus called him a liar. And if you turn to the last chapter of the Bible, you'll find the last sin mentioned in the Bible is also lying.

Those who, in Revelation 22, it speaks about those who love and practice lying. Verse 15, they are categorized with murderers and idolaters and immoral adulterers and those who practice lying. Revelation 22, 15.

So isn't that significant? The first sin mentioned in the Bible is lying. The last sin mentioned in the Bible is lying. And the first sin that God judged in the early church was lying. Have you seen the seriousness of it?

Loving Truth More Than Tradition

And then Jesus saying, I am the truth. Sanctify them through the truth. I will never be sanctified if I don't love the truth. The truth about myself and the truth about God's word. The truth that I see in God's word which may go contrary to everything I have been taught.

In whatever denomination I was in from childhood or whenever I switched denominations, I went to some other church because I thought that had the truth. And then I discovered something in scripture, which is beyond what I heard.

I mean, this has been my journey. I started off in what was known as the Syrian Orthodox Church. That's what I was born into that, baptized as a baby. But after I was born again and I started reading the scriptures, I had to switch and give up that and go to another church which I felt was more in line with scripture.

And after a while I found that they were not teaching some things in certain portions of scripture. And my life was a journey like that. I remember, so I went to another church and then another one. So somebody who heard my testimony said, Brother Zach, you've been such an unstable person.

Going from one church to another church to another church. I said, I've been unstable all my life. I started out in first grade and I went to second grade and then from there to the third grade and fourth grade.

I wasn't like these rock steady people who stayed in first grade all their life. I just moved on because I wanted to press on in my education. And you know that our life on earth is an education. And we are to complete it.

And if you discover something now in God's Word, which after careful study, I'm not just saying that you should superficially see something and pursue it. But after careful study of God's Word, you see that it's completely contrary what you held as sacred truth for so long.

Will you love the truth so as to be saved from deception? Or do you love your honor so much as to say, I can't say after all these years that I was wrong. Why not? That's what keeps some people in a deception.

25 years I believed this. And I've taught that to others. How can I now get up and say, I was wrong. That's why God will test your honesty. To see whether you love the truth of God's Word. I know I've had to get up and say at different times, I was wrong.

I was wrong when I believed that the church would be raptured before the tribulation. When I searched scripture, I couldn't find a single verse anywhere that taught it. So I said, OK, I'm going to proclaim the truth, even though there's perhaps less than 3 or 4 percent of believers in the world who believe it, that's fine.

It's always a small number that knows the truth. On the borders of the promised land, it is a small minority, Joshua and Caleb, that were right. Two people were right. 600 ,000 were wrong. Where do you stand?

In many, many situations I found in my life, it's a very small minority that's right. Thousands of Pharisees were wrong. Bible scholars were wrong in Jesus' time. 11 disciples were right. Now we can understand all that in the past.

Yeah, that's right, Joshua and Caleb were right. 600 ,000 were wrong. 11 disciples were right, and all the other scribes and scholars were wrong. But when you apply it to today, is it possible that a lot of people you stand with could be wrong?

If you've got the Bible in your language, and you don't study it, then you deserve to be deceived. Dear brothers and sisters, we will never be free the way we should be if we don't love the truth. And the second part of that statement, I want to come to that in 2 Thessalonians 2, it says, Love the truth so as to be saved.

So I said the truth is, first of all, the truth about myself, and the second, the truth in God's Word. Because the truth is found in Jesus. I am the truth and God's Word is the truth. So as I compare myself with Jesus, I see things wrong in myself.

You know, like Isaiah, when he saw the glory of the Lord, that's the first time he realized how corrupt his speech was. He didn't realize it till then. And when we see the glory of God in Jesus Christ, then we see selfishness and pride in us like we've never seen before.

And that's why the Bible says we must run the race looking at Jesus. And as we look at Jesus and we see the truth, we see what is not truth in us. And if we are willing to face up to it, God will cleanse us from it.

The same way when I see the Word of God, and I see the truth, and I compare myself with it, and I face up to it, I can be cleansed from it. But the question is, do I want to be saved from what I see? It's wrong.

Those who love the truth, 2 Thessalonians 2, and who want to be saved, not just academically, yes, I know, I realize now God is a trinity. See, that type of Bible knowledge even the devil has and it doesn't save him.

There's no doctrine of the Bible, the true doctrines in the Bible which the devil doesn't believe. He knows it all. And he knows it better than us. Knowledge of the Bible by itself is not a proof of holiness.

Bible Knowledge Without Holiness

I've been in different groups where people can quote this verse, and that verse, and the other verse, and a lot of dumb believers sit there and watch that and say, wow, what a spiritual man. He's not a spiritual man.

He just knows the Bible like the devil. That's all. I mean the devil could get up and quote a lot more scriptures than that guy. So knowledge of the Bible doesn't make a man holy. Being able to quote this verse, and that verse, and the other verse, and the other verse.

You know the devil quoted a verse to Jesus Christ. He picked out exactly the right verse from the Old Testament, from Psalm 91. When he wanted to tempt Jesus to jump off the temple and commit suicide.

Why don't you jump off the temple? Because there's a verse. It is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, so that lest you dash your foot against a stone. And Jesus said, ah, but it is also written, you shall not tempt the Lord your God.

So the truth is found not just in it is written, but in it is written and it is also written. Like a bird's got two wings. Truth has got two wings. If you have only one, you just keep going around in circles.

And so that's why we must remember that Bible knowledge by itself is not spirituality. The devil's got it, and he's got it better than all of us. But if I love the truth so as to be saved, the devil doesn't want to be saved.

He may know the truth, but he doesn't want to be saved. That's the thing that will deliver me from deception. Let me give you one example. As I told you, this is from my personal testimony I find in my own life.

Honest Self-Examination and Controlling the Tongue

James chapter 1 and verse 26. Here's a verse of scripture. And it's a good verse with which I can see whether I love the truth and want to be saved. James 1, 26. If anyone thinks himself to be religious or spiritually minded, then I'd say perhaps most of us fall into that category.

Otherwise you wouldn't have taken all the trouble to come here for this conference. Spending so much money, so much time. You do consider yourself to be spiritually minded. Not like those other guys who are sitting watching television this morning.

If you consider yourself to be spiritually minded, and you cannot control your tongue in your daily life, at home, in your place of work, on the roads, when people are not obeying the traffic rules or they cut in front of you, whatever it is.

You're just deceiving your own heart. And your whole Christianity is worth zero. Lord, is it true? That if I cannot control my tongue, my whole Christianity is worth zero? I mean, surely all the other things in my life are worth something.

Well, if you believe that what Jesus said is true, Thy word is truth, sanctify them through the truth. Thy word is truth. I hold up that as the truth and say, Lord, I fail. I've got zero. I can't control my tongue.

I say I'm born again. I speak in other tongues, but I can't control my mother tongue. What's the use of that? My religion is zero. Even though I speak in other tongues. I can't control my tongue when I'm speaking to my wife at home.

Can't control my tongue in different situations. I have to face up to it, Lord. My Christianity is worth zero. Do something about it. Please help me. God loves honest people. One of the greatest truths I discovered in 50 years of being a Christian, more than 50 years, is this, that God loves honest people.

If a person is ruthlessly honest with himself, when he sees a verse like that, God will lead him where that word becomes flesh in his life. When it says about Jesus that the word became flesh, I see that God's word must become flesh in our life too.

That is how Christ will be manifest in us. That's God's desire. That the life of Christ must be manifest in his children. And so, here is just one example. I could point out a number of verses like that.

And say, is it God's will? I'll give you another verse. I won't give you too many. I'm not here to condemn anybody. But I'm trying to challenge you. This is what God's called me to do in my life. To challenge people, not to unrealistic standards, but to the standards of God's word.

Forgiveness Without Unrealistic Standards

I'll give you an example of an unrealistic standard. Which I never preach. There are preachers who say, when somebody has hurt you, you must not only forgive them, but you must forget completely what they did.

That's a lie. That's impossible. That's an unrealistic standard and if you ever try to attain it, you'll torture yourself and condemn yourself because it is impossible. You cannot forget what the evil that other people have done to you.

You may try to, but you have no control over your memory. God has given us control over our will, but not over our memory. And so you don't have to torture yourself saying, Oh, I've forgiven that person, but I keep remembering it.

Well, you'll remember it all your life. But you say, doesn't God say that he'll forget our past? Nowhere does the Bible say that God will forget our sins. Nowhere. Did you know that? Maybe I should show you that before we go further.

In Hebrews chapter 8, what exactly does God say? Learn to read the Bible exactly. Hebrews 8 verse 12, one of the blessings of the new covenant, the Lord says, I will be merciful to their iniquities, Hebrews 8 verse 12, and I will remember their sins no more.

Do you know there's a lot of difference between saying, I choose not to remember your sin, and to saying, I've forgotten about your sin. There's a world of difference. I mean, I haven't forgotten the stupid things I did 60 years ago in my life.

How in the world can Almighty God forget it? I remember very vividly the sins I committed before I was born again and after I was born again. I remember them very vividly. God's forgiven me. The blood of Christ has cleansed me completely.

I stand before God as if I've never sinned. But I still remember what I did. I have no condemnation over it. And I'm absolutely certain God remembers it too. But He chooses not to remember. That's what He says here.

I will not remember. He hasn't forgotten it. It's very important to remember that, brothers and sisters. Don't torture yourself by unrealistic standards. So, I have to forgive people. If I don't forgive them, God says He won't forgive me.

But the fact that I remember what that person did does not prove I've not forgiven him. Forgiveness is an act of the will. I say, Lord, I choose to forgive that person. I do not wish him any evil. But I remember what he did.

So, that's what I mean by an unrealistic standard that some preachers preach, which is never found in scripture. That's why you must always check everything that anybody preaches with scripture. You say, show me, where is it in the scriptures?

The Bereans and Testing Every Teaching

It says in Acts chapter 17 about the Bereans. They were more noble than the people in Thessalonica. Now, when God compares two groups of believers, they are both born again. The believers in Thessalonica were born again.

The believers in Berea were born again. But the believers in Berea were more noble-minded. The Holy Spirit says that, there must be a reason for it. The reason is in Acts 17, verse 11. The people in Berea were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica because, first of all, they received the word with great eagerness and examined the scriptures every day to see whether it was really like that.

Now, remember one thing, that those days they never had a Bible like this. They couldn't go home and say, OK, I'm going to search the scriptures. We've got the luxury of doing that today. But do you know what it cost them those days to search the scriptures daily?

There was usually only one place where the parchments of the scriptures were in scrolls and that was in the synagogue. They had to go to the synagogue and turn the scrolls and say, let me check up whether what Paul preached last Saturday at the Sabbath was right or not.

And then he said something else, let me check the scriptures. And they had to roll the scrolls and check every single day. They searched the scriptures daily. They finished their work and during their spare time, they went to the synagogue, which is the only place where there's a Bible.

And the Lord says, these Berean Christians are really noble-minded. Look at the effort they took to go somewhere and search the scriptures just to check up whether what the great apostle Paul was preaching was scripture or not.

That's why they were protected from deception. Have you ever wondered why there's no letter to the Bereans in the New Testament? You know why? There was no need to correct anything there. Because whichever preacher came up and preached, they'd say, well, brother, good to hear you, but we'll let you know next week whether we believe you or not.

We don't have a Bible right here. I mean, you folks don't have to say that, you've got a Bible in front of you. But they didn't have a Bible in front of them. How do you know whether this preacher was just fooling them?

So they'd go, take time next week to go through all the references he gave, find if it's right and come back next week and say, yeah, we believe you now. Such people can never be deceived. Those are the Bereans, more noble-minded.

Are you noble-minded? I find multitudes of Christians today who know more about a lot of worldly things, know more about politics and about the clashes between the Democrats and the Republicans and what's happening in the Senate and the Congress than they know about the Bible.

That's the problem. They're not noble-minded. And so there's deception. So if I can urge you this weekend to recognize what Jesus said, God's Word is the truth. And His prayer, Father, sanctify them through the truth.

And love the truth so as to be saved. Read it exactly. So I told you I was going to give you another example. Philippians in Chapter 4, Philippians 4 and verse 6. What a word for the particular time in which we live with financial struggles and many other problems, many sicknesses spreading around the world.

Anxiety, Prayer, and the Command to Rejoice

Philippians 4, 6. Be anxious for nothing. The previous sentence is, The Lord is near. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing. But in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

The peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. And that is the truth. Father, sanctify my disciples through your truth. Thy Word is truth. And what is God's standard?

To be anxious for nothing. Nothing, by the way, means zero. Be anxious for nothing. I need to love that truth if I want to be saved. And I look at that and say, Lord, that's not true in my life. I said it to the Lord many years ago.

I said it's not true in my life. I'm born again. I have no doubt about it. I was baptized in water, baptized in the Holy Spirit. But I'm anxious. Not all the time, but every now and then. I certainly can't say that this Word has become flesh in my life.

Be anxious for nothing. Now the sad thing is that many believers read that. I say, yeah, it's just another verse. Read it. Maybe write it or hang it on their wall or something. But it's never true in their life.

And they're not even bothered that it's not true in their life. That's the worst part of it. Not that it's not true in their life. But they're not even bothered. Because they think God's Word is full of suggestions.

If possible, be anxious for nothing. But if it's not possible, don't worry. Do you know that there's only one verse in the Bible which says you've got to do if it's possible. There is a verse like that.

I'll show it to you right now. Romans chapter 12. As far as I know, I mean, what comes to my mind. There's only one verse in the Bible which says obey it if possible. And it's very interesting. Romans chapter 12 verse 18.

If possible, as far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Why does it say if possible? Because the peace depends on the other guy as well. It doesn't depend entirely on me. So what can I do about it?

I want to be at peace but he doesn't want to be at peace. So there is no peace between us. So there it says if possible. But nowhere else. Be anxious for nothing. If possible, no. So if I face up to it and say, Lord, this is the way you want me to live.

Because this is the way Jesus lived. And this is the way we are called to live. What shall I say? Shall I love the truth and say, Lord, it is impossible that you would give me a command that is impossible to be fulfilled.

How many of you would tell your little 10-year-old boy to carry 10 ,000 pounds on his head and rebuke him if he can't do it. Or give him some impossible task which even you can't do. He wouldn't do it.

No father would do it. Is it possible that Almighty God can give us commands which are not possible to be fulfilled? That's the old lie of the devil. Has God said that you should not eat of every tree?

That's how we started with leading Eva straight. Has God really said, be anxious for nothing? No, no, no, no, no. Doesn't really mean that. Has God said you can't eat of this tree? No, no, no, it doesn't mean that.

It's okay. Take it, Eve, it doesn't matter. That's how the devil takes believers through. Many, many verses. Has God really said, be anxious for nothing? No, no, no, don't take God so seriously. It's not really true.

Philippians 4, 4. Rejoice in the Lord always. 24, 7. And the devil says, has God really said that we should rejoice in the Lord always? And once the devil has convinced us that always does not mean always.

And verse 6, nothing does not mean nothing. He's got us. I know he got me for many years of my Christian life after I was born again. Because I did not love the truth. That's all. I wasn't free. I was slave to so many things because you should know the truth.

The truth will set you free. I want to say to you, my brothers and sisters. The devil's got a lot of us in bondages that we should not be in. And I hope you will confront Satan and seek to be free from it by believing God's word.

It is not God's will. Let me tell you straight to your face that you should have anxiety for anything. It is God's will that you should take that matter to God in prayer, to your loving Father. And say, Father, here's a thing that's bothering me.

I want to bring it before you. And I want you to hear me. And I want to thank you. And believe that you will hear me. Now remember that in prayer, Jesus once used this example. You know the story, so I don't need to turn to it.

In Luke chapter 18, He said there was a widow who wanted something. Justice. The enemy was oppressing her. It's a picture of the devil troubling us. And Jesus pictures the church and believers as helpless widows.

We're helpless. And here was this mighty enemy oppressing the widow. And she goes to the judge, to an unrighteous judge. And he says, no, don't bother me. And she keeps on going, going, going, going, going.

Finally, he says, lest she wear me out, okay, I'll do it for her. And then the Lord says in Luke 18, you can take your own time to read it. Don't you think a father in heaven would be better than that unrighteous judge?

And the next verse, but when the Son of Man comes, will He find such faith among His people? What is the mark of faith? Persistence. Will He find such faith? He says, Lord, I haven't got there yet. Be anxious for nothing.

But I'm gonna get there. The devil's oppressing me still. It's better than it was last year, but I haven't got there yet. A lot of people don't persist like that. They allow the devil to occupy a whole lot of territory that's supposed to belong to God, and they say, okay.

So this is God's will for all of us, and I hope over this weekend it'll be a weekend of liberation for you. For every one of us. I remember when one of the verses that I took very seriously, as I began to take God's word more seriously, was rejoice in the Lord always.

And I said, Lord, that's not true in my life. So frequently I'm discouraged. So frequently I'm depressed. And I call myself a Christian. For a lot of people, Christianity is mainly their Sunday service.

Christianity Measured by Everyday Conduct

Someone asked me once, Brother Zach, what's the difference between your church and other churches? I said, we don't claim to be better than any church. We don't say that there are no hypocrites in our church.

There are hypocrites in every single church on the earth. We're not perfect. But if you ask me for a difference, I would say one difference is this. For most churches, their important day is Sunday. In our church, the important day is Monday.

And Tuesday. And Wednesday. And Thursday. And Friday. And Saturday. And Sunday afternoon, after you go home from the church service. In other words, how you live at home, how you behave in your office, how you behave when everybody else is having road rage on the roads.

That is what we emphasize. Not, how good was the music on Sunday morning? I couldn't care less. How fine was the sermon? Not so important. How many people came for the service? Doesn't matter. How did you live at home on Monday?

Did you control your tongue? Were you free from anxiety? Did you rejoice always? Dear brothers and sisters, that is the Christianity that will matter when you stand at the judgment seat of Christ. Not how well you sing and preach and do all the other things.

You do activities and Sunday school and this thing and mission work and so many other things. Well, praise the Lord for all of that. I'm not against ministry. I'm 73 years old and I'm still running around the world preaching.

So nobody can say I'm against ministry. But that is not the main thing for me. It is not. I say to me, much more than ministry is how I speak with my tongue every day. Whether I'm free from anxiety, whether I'm depressed, whether I'm gloomy.

Those are the things that bother me much more than whether I preach well or not. I'm a preacher. I've been preaching more than 50 years. But that's not the main thing in my life. I'm a worshiper first.

Number one, a worshiper. Dear brothers and sisters, there's a shallowness in our Christian life if we don't love the truth about these areas in our life. The opinion of men is fit for the garbage bin.

People think you're a great Christian. Throw it in the trash can, that opinion. What does God think about you? What does God think about your life? Can He say that you're a person who loves the truth?

That when I speak the truth to this child of mine, he or she faces up to it and says, Lord, that's true. I'm guilty. Guilty exactly as charged. And I want to change. I want your will to be done in my life.

The Love of Money as a Secret Sin

I'm going to show you another verse that God began to speak to me. You shall know the truth. The truth shall set you free. 1 Timothy chapter 6. Now remember, Paul was writing to Timothy who was the most wholehearted among all his workers.

Now, Timothy was probably around 45 years old when he got this first letter from Paul. He joined Paul when he was a young man of around 20. He'd already been with Paul for 25 years. And when Paul looks around at his workers, he says, there's no one like Timothy.

He's absolutely top class. He's the best of the lot. The best of my co-workers. So remember that when you read these letters to Timothy. He's writing to the best of his co-workers. And what's he telling him about?

He says in 1 Timothy chapter 6, verse 6, let me paraphrase it. Make sure that godliness or religion or Christianity or preaching is never a means of financial profit. What a word that today's preachers need to hear.

Most preachers today that you hear, particularly on television, are in for financial profit. John Wesley used to tell his co-workers in the 18th century, Never let it be said that you became rich by preaching the gospel.

I mean, if you became rich doing a business or working a secular job or through an inheritance you got from your parents, fine. But never let it be said that you became rich by serving God. Godliness.

Some people think, it says here that, verse 5, that godliness is a means of profit. But the profit it brings us is contentment with what we have. And then he goes on to say, verse 9, those who want to get rich.

It's a little phrase. Those who want to get rich. You can be a poor person and want to get rich. You can be a rich person and want to get rich. But it's, when I read a phrase like that, I want to love the truth.

I say, Lord, do I fall into that category of those who want to get rich? It's pretty searching. If you're honest about yourself and with yourself. They fall into temptation and snare. Just look at this verse.

They fall into temptation and a snare. Many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. Wow! Who wants to get into all that? And then he goes on to say, the love of money. Lord, do I fall into that?

Not having money, but loving it. Is a root of all sorts of evil. And some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith. And pierced themselves with many sorrows. They live defeated, third-rate Christian lives.

Their usefulness to God is ruined. They should have been prophets. But they are backslidden Christians. Or they started out well as great preachers when they were young men. But 25 years later they are backsliders.

Because they love money. Now you say, Paul, surely you must be just warning people about other believers, right? You are telling him what to preach to other people in the church. Paul says, nothing doing.

Verse 11. You, man of God, run away from these things. Timothy, I'm speaking to you. Do you get that? Paul, are you talking to your faithful, wholehearted co-worker? Whom you already named as the best of your co-workers.

Walked with you for 25 years with uprightness. Never sought his own, but the things of Christ. As you read in Philippians 2, 20 and 21. Always seeking the good of others and the glory of Christ. You are telling him to flee from the love of money.

You mean even such a man can be in danger of that? You are telling him that if he wants to get rich, he will pierce himself with many sorrows. You, man of God, verse 11. Run away from these things. My brother, sister, let me ask you.

Do you think you are better than Timothy? I don't think so. About myself. If I got into Paul's team, and even if Paul said that I was his best co-worker, he would tell me, Zach, flee from the love of money.

Don't seek to get rich. See, Paul, are you telling me this? Yes, to you. Do you face scripture like that? Those are the people who love the truth and will be saved from the love of money. I'll tell you my honest opinion.

Most believers that I've met and most preachers are not saved from the love of money. It's deep-rooted in them. They think because they are poor, they don't love money. I've never met a beggar or a tramp who doesn't love money.

Have you met one? You got any tramp or homeless man? Show me one who doesn't love money. You don't have to be a millionaire to love money. Every human being loves it. Till Jesus saves us from it. I remember once reading about Zacchaeus.

You know, it says in Luke chapter 19. What was Zacchaeus' problem? He was a lover of money. He was a tax collector like all other tax collectors. He loved money to such an extent that he would cheat and swindle others and get them to pay more taxes and pocket most of it himself and swindle so many people in his lifetime till Jesus came into his house and delivered him.

What did Jesus deliver Zacchaeus from? His problem was not adultery. His problem was not religious hypocrisy. He had no reputation in the synagogue. He was considered a sinner. His problem was the love of money.

And when Jesus confronted him, He said in Luke 19 verse 8, Lord, I know I've cheated a lot of people. I'm going to give back four times whatever I took from people. And I'm going to give half my goods to the poor.

You know, if you look carefully, this is one of the blessings I get from reading scripture carefully. Luke 19 verse 8. I don't know whether you see this. Supposing Zacchaeus had said it like this. Listen carefully.

Lord, I will first give back four times what I've taken from people. Then I will give half my possessions to the poor. That's not what he said. He said first I'll give half my possessions to the poor and then give back four times as much.

If you do a little mathematics, you will see that the shrewd man will say I'll first give back what I've taken from others. Then I will give half my goods to the poor. I'll be left with more. I mean, if that's too complicated for you, go and ask a mathematician.

He'll explain that to you. He'll be left with more. Whereas if I first give away half my goods. Let's take an example. I got a hundred thousand dollars. I give away fifty thousand to the poor. And then from the remaining fifty thousand, I give away four times.

And I'm left with, say, twenty-five thousand left. And if I put it the other way around, I first give back the twenty-five thousand. How much am I left with? Seventy-five thousand. Then I give away half my goods to the poor.

How much am I left with? Thirty-seven thousand five hundred. Now Zacchaeus was a shrewd calculator. Don't forget that. But he doesn't say it like that. You see how free he has become from the love of money by saying I'll first give half my goods to the poor.