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In the name of the glorious 
Trinity, Father and Son and Holy

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Spirit, forever Amen. 
Glory be to the everlasting 

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mercies which sent you to us. 
O Christ, the light of the world

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and the life of all. 
Give us wisdom by Your law and 

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enlighten our impulses by Your 
knowledge. 

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Sanctify our souls by Your truth
and grant that we may be 

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obedient to Your words and may 
fulfill Your commandments at 

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every hour. 
O You who enlightens the 

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rationale with the knowledge of 
Your greatness, do enlight, O my

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Lord, our thoughts, that we may 
meditate upon Your holy and 

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divine Scriptures at all times. 
O Lord of all, Father and Son 

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and Holy Spirit, forever. 
Amen. 

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saying you can't teach an old 
dog dogs that go after the last 

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four. 
You can't teach an old dog new 

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tricks. 
Now that saying is true in the 

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secular realm and within the 
limitations and the power of 

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men, and even going further to 
say in the desire of men, the 

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love of men, the care of men, 
the compassion of men, the mercy

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of men. 
It is somewhat true within that 

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realm, however, when learning of
the perfect, holy, sanctified, 

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everlasting, continuous will and
desire of God in the name of 

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Jesus Christ and by the power of
the Holy Spirit. 

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We understand and are taught 
otherwise when we come across 

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such scripture characters as 
Zacchaeus. 

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Let's describing a little by the
little information that we have 

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given him, given on about him in
the Scriptures, yet the 

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interpretations of the fathers 
because they were there, they 

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had asked, they knew, knew the 
history. 

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Zacchaeus was basically we learn
a fraudster, a thief, an 

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extortionist, a cheat. 
Remember, he was chief tax 

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collector, meaning in today's 
term the chief of IRS. 

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And he was so preoccupied and 
busy with his everyday deception

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of people. 
Now he was the chief. 

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He must have had agents under 
him working for him. 

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So they were cheating people, 
They were extortionists. 

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So they were basically, lack of 
a better term, ripping people 

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off, deceiving people. 
And then when they got their 

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share, he would then they would 
give him what they were supposed

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to give him after taking their 
share, obviously. 

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So what he got was not the real 
money or the the true amount. 

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Then he would also pocket. 
So it was deception upon 

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deception, extortion upon 
extortion on the people. 

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This was the type of man. 
Zacchaeus was a pretty old dog 

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to the Jews. 
He was a stink worse than a dead

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animal corpse decayed for weeks.
What we say in the Divine 

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Liturgy. 
Dreadful stench now when mum, my

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Syrian brothers and sisters, 
when mum is cooking dolmat 

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kalama. 
Dolma from cabbage when she's 

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boiling the cabbage, right, That
smell. 

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Putrid but beautiful taste 
afterwards, right, Dolma. 

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Don't ever knock Dolma. 
I love Dolma. 

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Zacchaeus to the Jews was worse 
than the smell of cabbage. 

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Kalama being boiled and made 
ready for Dolma. 

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No hope of changing, no way of 
being convinced to honesty and 

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integrity. 
Definitely, As I said, another. 

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An old God who couldn't be 
taught new tricks, that is, who 

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couldn't be made to change his 
established patterns of opinion 

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and behavior. 
And that couldn't be by man. 

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Man could not do this. 
No one could do this. 

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But yet however, when Jesus said
in Matthew 19 verse 26 this is 

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impossible with man, but 
everything is possible with God,

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that changes the whole ball 
game. 

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Now we have a different look 
upon this old dog. 

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Now Zacchaeus must have heard 
about Christ while possibly in 

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the depth of His heart and 
intent. 

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And who better than Jesus our 
God to know what was in His 

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heart and His intent? 
Now there must have been a 

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desire to quit, to let it go, to
make things right, 

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righteousness, to repent. 
He probably hated himself, he 

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probably was disgusted with, 
disgusted with himself, and he 

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wanted to change. 
With man it was impossible, but 

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with Christ and with God nothing
is impossible. 

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Jeremiah chapter 17 verse 10 
states I the Lord God searched 

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into the heart and proved the 
kidneys, that is the rains. 

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And according to Grohl to 
Google, the rains, the inward 

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impulses, the affections and 
passions formerly supposed to be

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located in the area of the 
kidneys. 

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So this is where the rains are 
now after the encounter of 

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Zacchaeus and Christ at home. 
The old Zacchaeus was certainly 

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made new by what he said, not 
just simply receiving Jesus in 

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his home or in his heart or in 
his mind. 

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No, it was actually after what 
he proclaimed that he would do. 

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And it was genuine because if it
wasn't, Jesus then would have, 

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would not have declared that 
today salvation or life has come

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into this, into this house. 
Why didn't Jesus declare that 

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when he entered or when 
Zacchaeus received Christ in his

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house, in his heart, in his 
life, in his mind? 

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No, no, no. 
When he stood up and he 

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proclaimed, and he promised and 
he declared before Christ the 

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Lord God, then he was made anew,
He received life. 

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So with men you can't teach an 
old dog new tricks. 

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But with Christ, that same dog 
cannot only be taught new 

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tricks, but moreover, it can be 
completely renewed. 

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Now there's the other saying, 
beating a dead horse that is 

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wasting time and efforts trying 
to do something that is 

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impossible. 
Once again, let's go to the 

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scripture characters. 
And who better than one person, 

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one woman who caused this idiom 
to somewhat be stand stood 

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corrected and that is the 
Samaritan woman at the well and 

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the dialogue with Christ the 
Lord as they say in Assyrian 

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told of her a Joe Bitcho. 
That is her insurance and her 

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outs. 
Now the church fathers write 

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about this woman that she was 
known to be a husband killer 

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since she had buried five of 
them and the one living with her

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was not her husband but rather 
her partner in a de facto 

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relationship probably too scared
to marry her. 

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She was known as the keep away 
from her type of woman. 

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She was known as the feet of the
ground. 

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The husband killer is in town 
woman, yet after a short 

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religious conversation as 
recorded in the Gospel of John 

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chapter 4, she causes a whole 
city to come to Jesus as in 

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verse 29 which states her saying
come see a man who told me 

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everything that I have done is 
this the Messiah? 

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And the men departed from the 
city, and they came to Jesus 

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once again. 
With men beating a dead horse 

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may be a waste of time, but yet,
however, with Christ's gracious,

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merciful, loving, compassionate 
and righteous beating, that same

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horse is brought to life. 
Why? 

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Because every word that 
proceeded from the mouth of 

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Christ while on earth, preached 
and practiced. 

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Proclaimed by the Apostles of 
the early Church immediately 

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after His ascension. 
Recorded in the Holy Scriptures 

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by the Evangelist Apostles and 
their disciples decades after 

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the dissension of the Holy 
Spirit. 

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Interpreted by the Fathers of 
the One Holy, Apostolic and 

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Catholic, that is Universal 
Church and active within the 

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framework and life of the same 
Church. 

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Taught and preached today is a 
lamp to the feet and light to 

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path according to Psalm 119 
verse 105 goes forth like fire 

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and like iron that cuts rock. 
According to Jeremiah chapter 23

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verse 29 will not return to God 
empty handed, but surely does 

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the thing that God pleases and 
accomplishes that for which God 

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had sent according to Isaiah 
chapter 55 verse 11. 

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So, beloved, let's take this 
message until the next episode. 

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Let's ponder on this message 
this coming week. 

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If you're trying to teach an old
dog new, new tricks, don't. 

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Let's not try to, idiomatically 
speaking, that is, teach an old 

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dog new tricks when it comes to 
people we know, but rather allow

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Christ to renew that entire dog.
Let us not beat a dead horse, 

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but rather allow Christ to 
restore the entire life of that 

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horse. 
Because Christ is, and when we 

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state rightly that he is, we 
denote. 

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We mean we confirm He was. 
He is and will eternally be the 

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definite article, the Lord, God,
King, Saviour, Life Giver and 

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the Forgiver of sins. 
Praise and glory be to His holy 

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name now and at all times and 
forever. 

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Amen. 
The We hope you enjoyed this 

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week's message. 
Please don't forget to rate and 

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review this podcast and share 
with your friends and family. 

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For any future topics, 
suggestions, or to give us 

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detailed feedback, please visit 
our link in the show notes 

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linktr dot EE forward slash 
double edged sword. 

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Until next time, God bless you 
all.