Well, we've been thinking in
recent weeks about redemption, about redemption that is particular
redemption. In other words, the redemption
of a specific people whom the Father gave to the Son before
the beginning of time out of all humanity, out of every tribe
and tongue and kindred and race, a multitude which no man can
number, but a number which were placed in the Lord Jesus Christ
out of pure, sovereign grace, undeserved, sovereign grace,
for whom the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, the Word
of God, the mind of God revealed, the one who speaks the word of
God no man has seen God at any time but he has made him known
the one who makes known the Godhead because in him dwells all the
fullness of the Godhead bodily and he became a man he took upon
him flesh and blood why because he was to be the redeemer of
those people of that specific people that was put in him judicially
before the beginning of time he was to come and redeem them
and how would he do that? the soul that sins it shall die
pursue holiness without which no man shall see God there's
a need for holiness there's a need for sins to be paid for, to be
punished and that was done in the Lord Jesus Christ on behalf
of that elect multitude that the father placed in him before
the beginning of time that's why it's particular sovereign
grace but because it's particular it's effectual it gets the job
done it works it pays the specific debt just like in finances there's
no such thing as this open-ended offer of debts to be cleared
there's a specific clearing of specific debts for specific people
and this is what God did for his people in saving them from
their sins. He forgives their sins. How does
He forgive their sins? By paying for those sins, by
taking those sins, by nailing them to His cross, by putting
them away, by removing them, by blotting them out as a thick
cloud by transgressions. He removes those sins and thereby
He saves His people. Because you know the election
of God, election is not in itself salvation but election is unto
salvation. The objective, God's objective
in electing a people was to save those people. It's salvation,
election unto salvation through belief of the truth and sanctification
of the spirit and belief of the truth. And what does it mean,
salvation? It's salvation from eternal ruin. It's salvation, being saved,
being rescued from eternal ruin, from loss, from pain. It's salvation
is as vivid as his rescue from a raging sea and certain drowning. You know if you ever see the
sea when it's absolutely raging. I read the account a year or
so ago of the Union Star and the loss of the lifeboat, the
Solomon Brown, down at Pen Lee in Cornwall. And when you read
the vivid account, that ship was so close to the shore, it
was no further from the shore than the edge of the school playground
is from where we're sitting now. And yet 16 people died that night. Why? There was not the slightest
chance of them being saved. That was such a raging, raging
sea. You imagine if you fall overboard
in the middle of the Atlantic. You imagine that the sea is as
calm as a mill pond. If they don't notice that you've
fallen overboard, I don't care how strong a swimmer you are,
you're going to drown. You be the strongest swimmer
in the world, you're going to drown. because your energy will
sap and gravity will drag you down and your lungs will fill
with the sea and that will be it. You will be gone. It's like
that. God's law, God's justice, God's
judgment, man's sin and its consequences are as certain and unavoidable
and unchangeable as gravity is written in creation as a fundamental
law of creation. We know for a fact, you let go
of something, gravity's going to attract it to the earth. It's
going to fall. I don't understand it, but that's
the way it is with the law of God, with sin, with his justice
and his judgment. Just as the strongest swimmer
left long enough in the calmest ocean, as it seems, will end
up drowning. So, so, all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. and all are under the judgment
of God. And the justice of God must condemn
sin. It must. And so you must be saved
if you are not to drown. You must be saved. You mustn't
save yourself, that's impossible. But you must be saved if you're
not to drown. The rescuers must find you and
save you if you're not to drown. This is what salvation is about.
This is the concept of salvation. Now let's make it practical.
We've been looking almost theoretically at doctrines. I'm not saying
there's anything wrong with looking at doctrine in theory, but we've
been almost looking theoretically. Let's make it practical. How
does God save an individual? How does he save you? How does
he save me? How does he take us from that
state where we're just like everybody else all around us with no interest
in the things of the true God to being one who is his child
and knowing that he's amongst that number whom the Lord Jesus
Christ came and lived for to earn righteousness and died for
to pay the penalty of their sin. And so I want to look at this
very familiar story. I think the last time I spoke
on this was probably teaching it as a Sunday school teacher.
The account of Zacchaeus Zacchaeus in Jericho and Jesus coming that
way and you know there's the chorus that we used to sing about
it about Zacchaeus being a very little man and he climbed up
into a sycamore tree for the Savior he wanted to see and as
the Savior passed that way he looked up into the tree and said
Zacchaeus you come down for I'm coming to your house for tea
remember that one we're all smiling because we remember that chorus
but this is what I want to look at Look at the amazing transformation. This man was saved. How do I know? Look at verse
nine. Jesus said to him, this day is salvation come to this
house. That's the title of the message.
This day is salvation come. There's a day and it was this
day for Zacchaeus. This day is salvation come to
this house for so much as he also is a son of Abraham. Look at the transformation that
took place on this day when salvation came to Zacchaeus' house. It's
an amazing transformation. Do you know who he was? He was,
it says in verse two, he was the chief among the publicans. The publicans were not those
who, as in our day, are the license holders of a public house. They
were the tax collectors. They were the They were the civil
servants of the Roman governors, whose responsibility it was to
collect the taxes, to collect the taxes for everything that
they could collect taxes on, so that the Roman Empire had
the wherewithal to do what it did. But, as is the case in so
many cultures around the world, where there isn't the tradition
and the checks and the balances to stop corruption, there was
no doubt a lot of corruption. and the powers, you know, there's
still today, there's plenty of places in the world. If you just
want to simply cross from one country to another, don't go
thinking that your passport will do the job. You have to have
a wad of notes in your pocket. and you have to hand over bank
notes to the people that are there, because they're in a position
where they're corrupt, and they exact money to get you to do
what they want. This is the case. And no doubt
it was the case here, because the publicans, the tax collectors,
were pretty much despised by the people. They were mistrusted,
because what were they? Look, it says, he was rich. How
did he get rich? No doubt he had a decent salary
for doing the job, that the Romans didn't like to do. No doubt he
had a decent salary for that but I'm sure some of the money
that passed through his hands stuck to his fingers and so he
enriched himself. I'm sure that there were situations
where such and such was the taxation that was due and he added a bit
more on and kept some for himself. He was rich, he was prosperous
No doubt this man was a selfish man, a greedy man. He was powerful. How do I know that? Look, he
was chief among the publicans. He was good at it. They promoted
him. He'd got the top job in that
area. He was the top publican, the
top tax collector, greedy, powerful, disliked, and distrusted, and
feared. He was a man who was, it says,
short in stature. He was a little man but nevertheless
he was big in terms of his intellect and his business acumen. And
no doubt he was sharp, always looking for things whereby he
could exact a bit more tax from the people. Yes, what he lacked
in physical stature he more than made up for in being so sharp
and ruthless in the way that he went about his business. He
was a greedy man. He woke that morning This day
of salvation, he woke that same greedy, selfish man, disliked
by the people, distrusted, feared. But he met with Jesus and looked
by the end of the day. He received him joyfully. Verse eight. He stood and said
to the Lord, behold, Lord, half of my goods I give to the poor.
And if I've taken anything from any man by false accusation,
I restore him fourfold. And he was saved. This day is
salvation. Come to the house. He'd met with
Jesus. He was humbled. He was humbled. Not proud of his own goodness
and ability to do what he did. He was joyful. He received him
joyfully. He was kind hearted. That which
was selfish and greedy became kind hearted and liberal. Generous
spirited in what he did. He was practically repentant. One thing to say you're repentant
but he put his money where his mouth is almost literally. He
did that which was right. He restored fourfold where he'd
taken things by false accusation, by lying, by twisting, by cheating. He was practically repentant.
He was saved. This day is salvation. Come to
this house. And as a result, whereas he woke
a man who was just proud of his own self, But with no soul peace
at all, I'm sure that night he went to sleep peacefully. As
Psalm 4 verse 8 says, I will both lay me down in peace and
sleep for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety. He went to
sleep knowing it is well with my soul. He went to sleep knowing
the peace of his sins being forgiven, that redemption's price had been
paid to God's justice, and he went to sleep thankful and joyful
and peaceful, not as rich, but glad of what he had. not as rich,
not by any means, but glad of what he had, for now he was rich
beyond measure, for God had blessed him with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places in Christ and he knew it. Let's look at
this day of grace for Zacchaeus and try and think how it is for
us, for anybody that's outside of Christ or how it was for you
when you believed, this day of grace In verse one, this is Jesus
at the height of his public ministry. And he's going about, and wherever
he goes about, there's a huge amount of interest. A huge amount
of interest in what he is and what he's gonna do. Jesus entered
and passed through Jericho. You know, God had been gracious
to Jericho in the past. God had been gracious to them.
There was a woman there called Rahab. In the days of Joshua,
when they first came into the land, And she was a harlot, but
God showed her grace and mercy. And she put down that red cord,
remember, and all her family in the house, and they were saved
while the rest of the city was destroyed as the Israelites came
into the land. God had been gracious there,
but you know, we only read about Zacchaeus hearing Jesus. We only read, although there
was huge interest, we only read about Zacchaeus being interested. There were great pressing crowds. When it says the press in verse
three it's not talking about the newspapers. No, not in those
days. It's talking about the crush,
the crowd, a great crushing crowd, the press. But we only read of
Zacchaeus in his encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ. Is there
a warning here? about complacent curiosity in
the things of the gospel about an arms-length interest you know
people are interested but don't let it affect me no I don't want
this I don't want to touch I want to have a look but I don't want
to be involved I don't want it to touch me personally no arms-length
only but verse three Zacchaeus was like that in that he wanted
an arm's length encounter. With who was this man? His fame
had gone before him. It was known that Jesus was coming
into Jericho and there would be a certain route on which he
would walk through Jericho. They knew this beforehand. It
was almost like there was a presidential or a royal motorcade going to
come and you know the route so you stand lining the route ready
for when he comes. And he sought to see Jesus who
he was. He just wanted to see, who is
he? What's all this fuss about? And he could not for the press,
for the crowd because he was of little stature. And he ran
before and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him. There was these
trees all lining the roads into Jericho for he was to pass that
way. He knew he'd be coming this way.
I'll get up in a tree and then I'll see over the heads of the
crowd when he comes by that way. he sought to see Jesus. He was
curious about him. He'd heard about him. He wanted
to know what did he look like? Would anything happen? What was
going to happen? Here, see, arm's length curiosity.
Maybe, you know, he was head of the tax collectors, maybe
he thought, you know, like those who are sharp in business, like
to keep up with what's going on in the news. You know, they
watch the news, they read the newspapers, they try and make
sure they're well informed because it might affect a business decision.
You know, let's be sharp about this. Something might be going
on here. I need to know about it. Maybe he was just making
sure. Maybe there's some fiddle going on where people are avoiding
my tax. Maybe I'll see something. I'll go and watch what happens
as this crowd comes by. Maybe he thought he needed to
be aware. in case there was any sort of tax avoidance going on. So he was seeking to have a look.
You know that hymn, don't you? I sought the Lord and afterward
I knew. I thought it was me that was
seeking to look at him from a distance, out of interest. I sought the
Lord and afterward I knew. He moved my soul to seek him,
seeking me. So the initiative all seemed
to be with Zacarias. Sorry, with Zacchaeus. All the
initiatives seemed to be with him. But all along, it was Jesus
was doing his work of seeking and saving. Look at verse 10.
The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. To seek and to save that which
was lost. Zacchaeus thought he had taken
the initiative. He would go and have a look at
this interesting person to see what all the fuss was about,
to see whether he could see what the trickery was, what the sham
was. You know like when you maybe watch a magician on the television
and you're looking hard to see, I know it's a trick, I know it's,
but can I see how he does it, how he pulls this con trick. I wonder if he was looking like
that at him. The initiative seemed to be all
with him, but all along it was Jesus doing his work of seeking
and saving that which was lost. Do you remember right at the
start of John's gospel, Jesus saw Nathanael when he was calling
the disciples. He saw Nathanael sitting under
a fig tree, you know, How did you see me?" said Nathanael.
And he called him there, you know, the son of David. You are
the son of David. You're the Messiah. You're the
promised one. You couldn't have seen me with physical eyes. It
must be spiritual. It must be spiritual power with
which you saw me. And so it was, Jesus saw Zacchaeus
in the sycamore tree. Even though Zacchaeus was trying
to hide among the leaves of the thick sycamore tree. And it would
be virtually impossible for Jesus, humanly speaking, to notice this
man. But he knew him before the beginning
of time. And he'd come to seek and to
save that which was lost. Do you know when he went to Galilee
from Judea and he must needs go via Samaria. He had to go
via Samaria. Why did he have to go via Samaria?
It was because there was a woman there by a well. And he had to
have that encounter with the woman by the well. And that encounter
with those people there from that village who came out when
she said, come and see a man who told me all things I ever
did. He must needs go via Samaria to encounter that Samaritan woman. He was seeking and saving that
which was lost. He must needs go to Jericho to
call this son of Abraham, verse 9, for so much as he also is
a son of Abraham. I wonder if anybody listening
to this has an arm's length interest in the Bible. Just a curiosity
about what's it all about. why do people still believe this
you know I sometimes I've seen online comments like I just can't
believe that people can seriously believe this nonsense speaking
about the gospel I know one or two people who believe this nonsense
of the gospel you know but the natural man is just almost fascinated
by what on earth it is that makes people believe this stuff and
I you know Do you have, does anybody listening have this arm's-length
interest in the Bible, in this person Jesus Christ, in this
idea of salvation and of judgment and of heaven and of hell? Could
this be what the scriptures call prevenient grace working in you. Prevenient, or as it is in the
scriptures that we read, in the psalm that we read, Psalm 21,
preventing. It doesn't mean stopping as it's
come to mean in our modern language. It means coming before, that
which comes before. Could it be prevenient grace?
Grace that comes before working in you, giving you this curiosity,
this interest, well Zacchaeus wanted an anonymous impersonal
covert meeting or vantage point from which he could observe without
getting involved and so he climbs up into this sycamore tree to
see him come that way he thought he was safe up there didn't he
anonymous impersonal not having to interact directly hidden away
amongst the branches and the leaves and he could he could
indulge his curiosity in that moment pretty safe there wasn't
a crowd to get in his way he had a good view he could see
over their heads he wasn't going to be seen himself he could just
watch it happen and then he could go away thinking oh so that's
what it was all about but his curiosity in a moment is turned
into a personal and public call from the Son of God look at this
when Jesus came to the place Now, Zacchaeus didn't do anything
to attract his attention. I'm sure the very opposite. He
was trying to hide. But Jesus knew him. Jesus knew
him before the beginning of time. And when Jesus came to that place,
verse five, he looked up and saw him in that tree and said
to him, Zacchaeus, make haste, hurry up, come down, for today
I must abide at thy house. Today there's an appointment.
I must abide at your house. Not, oh, while I'm here, we might
as well. No, today I must abide at your
house. Today is the day of salvation
for Zacchaeus. This day, salvation is coming
to the house of Zacchaeus. There he is. Although Zacchaeus
thought it was just an impersonal curiosity that he had, no, Christ
had an appointment with him. Zacchaeus, hurry up, come down. For today, I must abide at your
house. I haven't invited you. He didn't
need to invite him. He didn't need to. Today I must
abide at your house. Oh, this is an irresistible call
that's coming. Irresistible. It says in 2nd
Timothy chapter 1 verse 9 that God has saved us and called us. He's called His people with a
holy calling. Called us by name. He calls out
His sheep by name. And it's an irresistible call
because as you know we quote this often, Psalm 110 verse 3,
He makes these people willing in the day of His power. Zacchaeus
didn't bow or scrape to anybody but the Roman governor. He was
the chief publican. But the son of God, the son of
man, came seeking and saving that which was lost and looked
up in the tree and called him by name. He hadn't been introduced,
but he knew him. Knew him before the beginning
of time. Zacchaeus, you come down. And he came down. And he
came down joyfully. He came down and received him
joyfully, not reluctantly. He received him joyfully because
he was made willing in the day of the power of God. For the
gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes.
He was made willing in the day of his power. He came down, he
hurried up, he received him joyfully into his house. willing in the
day of his power, and called by name, called him by name,
Zacchaeus, you, come down. This was a loud and clear call. You know, there would be a noise
of the crowd, wouldn't there? The press of the crowd, Zacchaeus,
come down. It was clear. And John 5.25 says
this, Jesus says, Verily, verily, I say unto you, the hour is coming,
and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of
God, and they that hear shall live. dead in trespasses and
sins, just like everybody else. When we were dead in trespasses
and sins, He quickened us. He made us alive. He gave us
ears to hear His gospel and His call. Verily, verily, I say unto
you, the hour is coming, and now is when the dead, even those
who are dead, you go talking to a dead body, you'll get no
response, none whatsoever. When the dead shall hear the
voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live. John
11. the tomb of Lazarus. Lazarus,
come forth. And Lazarus came out bound in
the grave clothes. He who was decaying with death,
four days dead. Don't do that. Don't roll that
stone away. There'll be an unpleasant smell.
He's been dead four days. Lazarus come forth. Even the
dead shall hear the voice of the son of God. Those he demonstrated
that the spiritual truth of it in the miracle of raising Lazarus
by the physical miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead, the dead. shall hear that voice. It's a
powerful voice. Look at Psalm 29 with me. When God speaks,
when the Son of God, when the Son of Man speaks, it's a powerful
voice. Those of you who believe, those
of you who know the truth of this, you know that there was
a time when you didn't hear anything of the voice of God speaking
to you, but you'll know that there was a day when he spoke.
And it wasn't what others told you, he said. He spoke to you,
and you heard his voice. Look at it in Psalm 29, verse
three. The voice of the Lord is upon
the waters. The God of glory thundereth.
The Lord is upon many waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful.
The voice of the Lord is full of majesty. Zacchaeus, come down,
make haste, for today I must come to your house. The voice
of the Lord breaketh the cedars. We were reading about cedars
being used in Isaiah 44 as the basis of the idols that men carve. The Lord breaketh the cedars
of Labranum. He maketh them also to skip like
a calf. The voice of the Lord, verse
seven, divideth the flames of fire. The voice of the Lord shaketh
the wilderness. The voice of the Lord maketh
the hinds to carve. It's a strong voice. He calls
with a strong voice, a powerful voice, and yet it's a still small
voice. You remember Elijah when he was
running away from Jezebel. He'd had that great triumph on
Mount Carmel, but now he's running away, fleeing, scared for his
life, and he ends up in a cave. And how's God going to speak
to him? And so a great earthquake comes, and the voice of God was
not in the earthquake. It was impressive and flashy
and Awesome as it was. And there was a wind, a dreadful
wind. We're not talking a breeze, we're
talking a wind that tears the hair off your head. A powerful
wind. And the voice of God was not
in the wind, however powerful. And the fire, a great fire. And
the voice of God was not in that, but the voice of God was in the
still, small voice where God speaks inside the heart. And
God speaks, and though he said, Zacchaeus, come down, something
spoke inside. And that was the spirit of the
living God, making him willing and giving him ears to hear and
eyes to see, to respond, to come down and receive him joyfully.
It was a sweet, loving voice, the voice of Christ. The savior
of his people is a sweet, loving voice. Song of Solemn, chapter
five, verse two. I sleep, says the Shulamite,
but my heart waketh It is the voice of my beloved that knocketh,
saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled. The voice of Jesus is a loving
voice. It's a personal voice. It's directed
to Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus, you come down. Crowds
and crowds of people there, but Zacchaeus. You come down. I'm
coming to your house today. Salvation has come to this house.
Proverbs 22 verse 19, that thy trust may be in the Lord. I have
made known to thee this day, even to thee. You see, the sense
is it's personal. Nobody else at this time in this
huge crowd, just you, Zacchaeus, come down, come down. There's
an eternal appointment. that you must fulfill today,
an eternal appointment that you must fill. Today, I must come
to your house. I must abide at your house today. Why must you? Because it's foreordained. It's predestinated. It's foreordained. He must come to the house. And
verse six, he made haste. Zacchaeus made haste and came
down and received him joyfully. It was a joyful reception. What
was it a reception of? It's not just of Jesus the man
that he saw, but it must be of his message of redemption. We
hear nothing about what it was that Jesus said to him by way
of the core of the message of the gospel, but we know from
the scriptures this man was saved This man had faith. How does
faith come? Faith comes by hearing and hearing
by the word of God. What did Jesus do? He must have
proclaimed to him the gospel of his grace. We read in Mark's
gospel right at the very start how Jesus went out preaching
the gospel of the kingdom. What is it to preach the gospel
of the kingdom? I believe it's to preach and
proclaim as Jesus did again and again. the particular redemption
of the people the Father had given to Him. How can I say that? Read John chapter 6 and tell
me that's not true. All that the Father gives to
me will come to me. This is the will of Him who sent
me. Of all that the Father has given me, I should lose nothing,
but should raise them up at the last day. This is the purpose
of God. This is it. He preached to him that message
of the kingdom, of a people saved, of justice satisfied for God's
elect, that there was a people that he, the suffering servant,
was coming to save from their sins, to pay redemption's price,
of repentance and of faith. And the actions of Zacchaeus
spoke louder than any verbal testimony. He said, Lord, I give
half of my goods to the poor, and if I've taken anything from
any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold. You see,
it wasn't law that constrained him. It wasn't the threat of
the law or the hope of some reward in eternity that caused him to
do that. It was the love of Christ that
constrained him. This is what Paul tells us, it's
the love of Christ that constrains us. So this man Zacchaeus woke
that day a child of wrath as Ephesians 2,4 says, children
of wrath even as the others, just like everyone else. He was
judged a sinner by the religious folks. Look, verse 7, when they,
that's the religious Jews, saw it they all murmured saying that
he, Jesus, was gone to be guessed with a man that is a sinner.
a publican, a sinner. He's gone to be the guest of
a man who is a sinner. Oh, praise God that the Son of
God comes to sinners. He didn't come to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance. These Jews were going about to
establish their own righteousness. That's what Romans 10 verse 3
tells us. The Jews, they had a zeal for God, but not according
to knowledge. They went about to establish
their own righteousness, but had totally missed the righteousness
of God. For Christ is the end of the
law for righteousness to everyone that believes. Oh, he woke a
child of wrath that day, but he went to sleep in the arms
of his Redeemer. And why was all of this? Because
of the eternal covenant. Why Zacchaeus? Why was it him? There was this great big crowd
there. Didn't Jesus preach to them? Didn't he try to get them
to believe him? Didn't he throw out an open offer
that they should come to the front and sign a decision card
and all of these things that go along with modern day religion?
Didn't anybody else decide to follow Jesus? Why was it just
Zacchaeus that we read about here? Look at verse 10. Verse
10. He told us, Jesus told us, the
Son of Man told us, for the Son of Man is come to seek and to
save that which was lost. To seek and to save that which
was lost. Note he says to seek and to save
that. He doesn't say to seek and to
save those who were lost. Everybody's lost. They just don't
know it. Everybody is lost. Everybody
lost. But it's the lost sheep of the
house of Israel that he came to save. He came to seek and
to save that which was lost. His elect is the that which was
lost. It's his elect which was the
lost thing that he came to save, that's what he came to seek and
to save his elect. It's the sons of Abraham that
he came to seek and to save in so much as he also is a son of
Abraham. The sons of Abraham was who he
came to seek and to save. You say, oh, isn't that just
restricted to the male of the species? Not at all. Galatians
3, 28-29, There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond
nor free, there is neither male nor female, for ye are all one
in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are
ye Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. By belief of
the Lord Jesus Christ, you evidence the fact that you are a son of
Abraham. John 6, 39, all which the father
gave to the son. This is the that that he came
to seek and to save. Verse 65 of the same chapter,
John 6, verse 65, no man can come unto me except it were given
unto him of my father. Did you hear that? Did you hear
those words? Let me read them again. Jesus
said this, no man can come unto me except it were given unto
him of my father. He didn't say, who wants to come?
And Zacchaeus said, oh, I will. No. He says, no man can come
unto me, except it were given unto him of my father, and it
were given unto Zacchaeus of his father. John 10, verses 26
to 29, those who believe Christ's gospel Those are the ones that
He came to seek and to save, because they are the sheep the
Father gave to the Son, and they are the ones who hear and follow. And by whose will? By their own
will? No, John tells us, John 1.13,
not by the will of man, nor by the will of the flesh, but by
the will of God. It's the will of God. The that
that he came to seek and save, the lost that that he came to
seek and save, are the ones whose names, Revelation 13, 8, are
written in the Lamb's Book of Life. from the beginning of time. They're the ones who escape the
judgment, for the books will be opened, Revelation 20, 14
and 15. The awesome picture of the judgment. The records of every deed ever
done against the law of God will be opened and all will be judged
and receive the due reward of their sins, except those whose
names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. Why? Are their
sins just okay? No, they've been paid for. Their
sins have been paid for. God cannot be just and call anything
to account for them, for Christ has cleared their debt to the
law in its entirety. Now their names are written in
the Lamb's Book of Life. His elect that was lost in its
sinful Adam nature, He, the Son of Man. See, He calls Himself
the Son of Man. He loved to call Himself the
Son, He's the Son of God, but He's God who became man. The Son of Man came to seek and
to save. He's the second Adam. We were
ruined in the first Adam. But as in Adam all die, even
so in Christ shall all His people be made alive. He came to seek
and to save them from the bondage of sin. What has He saved you
from? What does this salvation mean? You're saved from the guilt
of your sins if you're saved by Him. Why? Because He's borne
that guilt. He bore our sins in His own body,
on the tree, on the cross. And by bearing those sins, He
bore the guilt of those sins, and so He's taken that guilt
away. You're no longer guilty if you're in Christ. He's saved
you from the filth, from the pollution of sin. By the washing,
it says. By washing with blood. The blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ, for the blood of Christ cleanses
us from all sin. And by water, that water of sanctification
of the Spirit by the word, Ephesians 5, 25. He saves his people from
the love of sin by the new birth because he imparts this new holy
nature in the new birth. And He saves from the power of
sin, because we're told, sin shall not have dominion over
you, for you're not under law, but under grace. He saves from
the practice of it. Oh yes, we sin continually in
this flesh, but there's an imparted new nature which loves the things
of God, which hates sin, which flees from it. And He saved us
from the judgment of it. For God made Him who knew no
sin to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. And this he did for his lost
people, for people like you and me, his lost people. This he
did and he came to seek and to save that which was lost. Romans
8, 29 and 30 says he foreknew them before the beginning of
time. Didn't just foresee, foreknew. loved in an electing way, a gracious
way, and those he foreknew he predestinated. He ordered all
the events, and those he predestinated he called in time, like on this
day when Zacchaeus was called down. A preacher crosses the
path, Might be by a message on the internet or something you
read in a book written by a preacher But a preacher God sends a preacher
and calls calls with that irresistible call and those he called Well,
he's justified them in the Lamb slain from before the foundation
of the world But in the Son of Man who became man that he might
shed human blood for human sin and thereby pay the penalty And
those he justified? Well, we're not there yet in
our experience, but in the reckoning of God, it's done. We're glorified
in him. Are you curious about him? Anybody
listening, are you curious about him? Perhaps, perhaps he's calling
you to believe him.