As it may please Almighty God
to bless us this morning as we meditate in His Word, let us
turn to the Gospel of Luke chapter 19 and we'll read verse 10. The Gospel of Luke chapter 19
and reading verse 10. For the Son of Man is come, to
seek and to save that which was lost. We've just sung together a hymn
and the last verse is really very appropriate to such a word
as this in the last verse. Read, I read it. You all sung
it. You may not notice what you sung, but anyway, I'll read it
for you now. And it's one of Gadsby's hymns. And he tells
us, once I rolled in guilt and sin, he did not a heart unclean,
but I now with wonder tell Jesus saved my soul from hell. and it's a very appropriate verse
and I just thought I would read another verse to you I don't
often refer to hymns as you know but a verse which I think is
very appropriate to this tenth verse and that's in hymn 199
which is a well-known hymn and it's headed Free Grace and the
last part of the second verse reads this way Jesus sought me
when a stranger, wandering from the fold of God,
he, to save my soul from danger, interposed his precious blood. Well, we have in this account
that we read this morning, the case of Zacchaeus, who was a
man, no doubt, without any real concern about his soul's condition. He'd heard about Jesus, he'd
heard about his miracles, and he was inquisitive to see Jesus. And we see the wonderful work
of grace. We could say, and we should say,
the wonderful work of sovereign grace in the life of this man
Zacchaeus because we're told he was chief among the publicans
and we may not know but publicans of course are what were termed
tax collectors in those days, and tax collectors were usually
unscrupulous and wicked people that took money from people unnecessarily
to just feather their own pockets, hence the reason why he was very
rich. And so we're told he was chief
among the publicans and was rich, And he sought to see Jesus, who
he was, and could not for the press, because he was little
as statue. And he ran before and climbed
out into the sycamore tree to see him, for he was to pass that
way. Well, no doubt he thought that
being up in the tree he'd get a good view of Jesus, and that
perhaps he wouldn't be noticed, and therefore there he was in
the tree. But, of course, Jesus knew where
he was. And Jesus knows where we are.
He knows where we are from the moment we're born. He knows exactly
where we are. He knows where we will go in
our life, every place. He knows all our thoughts, every
thought. Nothing is hidden from Almighty
God. And so we're told that although
Zacchaeus was up in this sycamore tree, When Jesus came to the
place, he looked up and saw him and said unto him, Zacchaeus,
make haste and come down, for today I must abide at thy house. And it's good and interesting
to notice the response of Zacchaeus. He didn't say, well, I don't
think I want to. I think I'll stop here. I don't really want
to come down. But we're told he made haste and came down and
received him joyfully. What a great blessing that would
be if God, in his sovereign mercy and in his sovereign grace toward
us, speaks to us. Perhaps we weren't aware that
Jesus knew where we were. Perhaps we weren't aware that
Jesus knows what we're thinking. And yet what a mercy if he looks
upon us looks upon us and speaks to us to our heart that's obviously
not in a physical way but it's a wonderful realization if we
recognize that God has taken notice of us and therefore God
is dealing with us and speaking to us and our reaction is the
same as Zacchaeus we don't prevaricate we don't think well I don't think
our listen to the words that Jesus speaks. I don't think they're
suitable to me. No, Zacchaeus made haste and
came down and received him joyfully." And again, that's a wonderful
statement, isn't it? To receive the Lord Jesus joyfully. That means willingly. That means
he was pleased to receive Jesus. He hadn't expected, of course,
a word like this. And sometimes we may not expect
the Lord to come and graciously speak to us. But what a great
blessing it is when the Lord does speak to us through his
word, when he comes and applies his word to our hearts. And we don't reject it, but we
receive it joyfully. Many people reject the Word of
God. Many people will not listen to
what the Lord says. But here we have a glorious example
of this man. He received the Lord joyfully. And then we're told when they
saw it, they all murmured saying that he was gone to be a guest
with a man that is a sinner. Well, that's a great blessing
for us, is it not? If Jesus comes to us and Jesus is a guest with
us, if Jesus comes where we are and encourages us and draws near
to us, and then Zacchaeus comes and speaks and says, Lord, behold,
half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I've taken anything
from any man by force accusation, I restore him fourfold. Well, Jesus didn't make any comment
on that. See, no doubt Zacchaeus was trying
to perhaps justify himself. Well, the Lord didn't make any
comment. But in actual fact, he made a great statement, a
most wonderful statement, a far more important statement than
making any comment as to what Zacchaeus had said. And the statement
was very good and very simple. And it was this. This day is
salvation. And that means, of course, the
saving of his soul. This day is salvation. Come to this house,
the house of Zacchaeus. It had come to Zacchaeus. Salvation. What a wonderful day
that was in the life of Zacchaeus. What a wonderful day it will
be in our lives. Perhaps it's a day which has
been. Perhaps it's a day that will
be. What a blessing even if it's
a day today when the Lord says this day is salvation. come to this house for as much
also as he also is a son of Abraham. That means obviously that he
was a child of God. What a great blessing for Zacchaeus. Well, it's quite a short account,
isn't it? But it's a very telling account.
And it's good if you and I can recognize the great truths which
lie beneath the surface of these statements. And then we come
down to this great statement in this 10th verse, where we
read, and Jesus said unto him, this day, sorry, for the Son
of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. So what do we read there? We
read this, Jesus is come to seek and to save that which was lost. Well, all of us, all of us left
to ourselves are lost. We're lost. We're wandering around. We're born into this earth, born
in sin and shaken in iniquity. And we need, all of us need God
to come and to seek us out and to save us, to save us from our
sins, to come and speak to us and come to encourage us. And so the Lord makes this glorious
statement, a statement clearly to Zacchaeus, a statement to
those that were there, a statement to the whole Church of God, And
what a blessing if such a statement has a wonderful application to
our very souls, even the day for the Son of Man is come to
seek and save that which was lost. Well, the Lord saw us. ruined in the fall, yet loved
us notwithstanding all. Nothing in ourselves of any value,
nothing in ourselves which was good at all. But what a wonderful
favour it is to think the Lord is gracious and the Lord deals
with us in love to our souls. What a mercy. You see, the Lord
preached Wonderful words, as you no doubt know, I hope you
do, as you read through the Gospels. Wonderful words of the Lord Jesus
Christ, which he speaks. And in the fifth chapter of the
Gospel of Luke, we read some wonderful words. in the fifth
chapter, and he was speaking to the scribes and Pharisees.
They murmured against his disciples saying, why do you eat and drink,
Republicans and sinners? And Jesus answers some of them,
they that are whole need not a physician, but they that are
sick. I came not to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance. What a blessing then to have
a realisation that Lord Jesus came to call sinners. And it's a mercy if the Holy
Spirit of God has shown to us that we are a sinner. That's
what he showed to Zacchaeus. He showed Zacchaeus what he was. came where he was and spoke to
him and said, this day salvation comes to this house for as much
as he also is a son of Abraham. For the son of man is come to
seek and to save that which is lost. That's what the Lord Jesus
came into this earth for, to save unworthy sinners from their
sins. What a great truth this is. The
Lord says, I came, I came, not to call the righteous, those
who were self-righteous, those thought they had a religion,
their religion, which would get them saved to heaven, but those
who were utterly dependent, not on what they'd done, but upon
what the Lord Jesus Christ had done. And so how glorious his
truth is. I came not to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance. That means he calls his children
who are all sinners, who are brought to know that they're
sinners and to brought them to this gracious and wonderful condition
of repentance, confession of their sin. And the Lord tells
us, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to
forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So let us be encouraged. by such
a word as that, to realise, yes, we have a kind and gracious God
who doesn't deal with us as our sins deserve, but indeed has
loved us with an everlasting love. It's very humbling, isn't
it? It's very humbling when God shows
us what we really are. We don't deserve anything. I
think the Lord has loved us, I think the Lord has been gracious
to us, They think the Lord has been mindful of us and they think
the Lord has indeed dealt with us in love to our souls. And to such an extent that the
Lord Jesus Christ seeks us. Yes, like this word tells us
here. He came to seek. He came to seek. He came to find us. He knew where
we were. He always does and we have this
A wonderful example of a parable in the 15th chapter of Luke,
where we're told, what man of you, having a hundred sheep,
if he lose one of them, does not leave the ninety and nine
in the wilderness and go after that which is lost until he find
it? And when he found it, he layeth
it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, He calls
together his friends and neighbors saying unto them, rejoice with
me for I found my sheep which was lost. And then he draws the
analogy and says, I say unto you that likewise joy shall be
in heaven over one sinner that repenteth more than over 99 just
persons which need no repentance. Well, what a blessing then for
us today to have a conscious realization that this word is
appropriate and applicable to you and to me. And it should be exceedingly
humbling to think the Son of Man, nonetheless, the Lord Jesus
Christ, is come came into this world, what a wonderful blessing,
what a wonderful favour. He came into this world to save
sinners, as the Apostle says, of whom I am chief. And you and
I will perhaps argue with Paul that, well I think I'm the chief
sinner. What a good thing that is. when
the Holy Spirit convinces us of our sinfulness before a holy
God and to realise, yes, the Lord Jesus, he found me. I'd wandered away. I said really in my heart, I
would not have this man to rule over me. I'm going to please
myself. I'm going away. Remember we have
that parable about the about that one who ran away. Yes, he ran away. He was going
to please himself. And so he did for a time. For
a time. But then he came to himself. He'd spent all that his father
had given him. Yes, in riotous living, he wasted
his money until that time when we're told he began to be in
want. What did we read then in the
Prodigal? Well, he realized and he considered his father's house. He considered the comforts that
were there. He realized how he turned his back on them. But he was given grace to repent. He was given grace to be sorry
for his sin. And he said, I would arise and
go to my father and say, I've sinned against heaven. and against thee and am no more
worthy to be called thy son make me as one of thy hired servants
and so he returned it's a great blessing when we see repenting
sinners return sinners who may have wandered
away it may not be physically but it may be in heart You see,
I don't know what you're thinking. Only God knows what you're thinking.
You may be thinking all kinds of things. You may not be listening
at all. You may not want to listen. But
you see, in the prodigal's case, there was a time came when he
began to be in want. Yes, the Lord opened his heart
to receive the truth of God. And what a wonderful thing it
is. when God comes and opens our heart to receive the truth
of God so that we recognize then, yes, for the Son of Man is come. He'd come to the prodigal. What
a mercy if he's come to us. What a mercy for the Son of Man
is come to seek and to save that which is lost. Well, it's only
known between the sinner, the saved sinner, and the Saviour,
whether this is true. And it's a great and glorious
blessing if it is true. It's a time for true rejoicing,
it's a time for true thankfulness, to acknowledge the Lord's wonderful
goodness and mercy to such unworthy sinners. We've always got to
realise we're less than the least of all saints. It's good always
to come to that situation and to come to that condition to
realize we indeed are truly unworthy of the least favor from Almighty
God. Well, Ezekiel really has a very similar statement. Sometimes we don't always recognize
that in these glorious prophecies which the Word of God contains
these wonderful truths. And the Lord tells us in the
34th chapter of Ezekiel and from verse 14, this is when he speaks
to the Church of God, I will feed them in a good pasture and
upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be. There shall
they lie in a good fold And in a fat pasture shall they feed
upon the mountains of Israel. We may be amazed at that. We
may be amazed that such a word should be written, but it's written
there for the encouragement of the church of God. And he says,
I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith
the Lord God. A devil says, you won't, receive
any food, you won't be fed, you'll wander around. No, says God,
I will feed my flock and I will cause them to lie down, saith
the Lord God. I will seek that which was lost
and bring them again, that which was driven away and will bind
up that which was broken and will strengthen that which was
sick but I would destroy the fat and the strong. I will feed
them with judgment. Well, and as for you, O my flock,
thus saith the Lord God. Behold, I judge between cattle
and cattle, between the rams and the goats. Seems it a small
thing unto you to have eaten up the good pasture. You must
tread down with your feet the residue of your pastures. and
to have drunk of the deep waters, that ye must fowl the residue
with your feet. And as for my flock, they eat
that which ye have trodden down with your feet, and they drink
that which ye have fowled with your feet. You see, the Lord
looks after his people. He looks after his flock. As
we read in that chapter, the previous one, he goes after The
One. He leaves the 99 and goes after
the One. What a great blessing it is for
us to have that spiritual understanding that the Lord has not left us,
He's not forsaken us, He's gone after us. And He's found us. Wandering away. Perhaps wandering
around. Lost. Lost. Not knowing where to go. Not
knowing what to do. Not knowing what to think. Not
knowing what to say. Well, what a favour it is when
God comes to us and blesses us. For the Son of Man is come. Is come. Don't let's pass that
away. Is come. For a very specific
reason. To seek and to save. that which
was lost. That's a wonderful gospel truth,
isn't it? Now, we don't realise we've been
saved until we realise we've been lost. Until we realise we've
wandered away from God. Until we realise we've perhaps
gone far off. And yet we have a kind and gracious
and merciful God who does not deal with us as our sins deserve. You know, it's such a wonderful
encouragement really in the very first chapter in the New Testament. We read about the birth of the
Lord Jesus Christ and that of course was a most wonderful and
very necessary occasion in that first chapter. We have that occasion
when the angel appeared to Joseph. And this is what the angel said
with regard to Mary. And she shall bring forth a son. And they shall call his name
Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. The purpose of the life, the
purpose of the birth and the life and the death and the resurrection
and the ascension and the intercession of our great and glorious Saviour
was for this purpose, spelt out here to Joseph so many years
ago, for he shall save his people from their sins. That's why he
was called Jesus. That's what it means. For he
shall save his people from their sins. Well, sinner this morning, have you abide the evidence that
Jesus has come to save you, to save me? What a blessing if that
is so. to realise that we haven't been
left to perish in our sins. We haven't been left to wander
on aimlessly in this poor world, but to realise that the Lord
Jesus Christ sought us. As we mentioned in that 199th
hymn, Jesus sought me, sought me and found me. Well, you know
whether that is so or whether it's not so and whether you seek
it may be so. Jesus sought me when a stranger
a stranger to the things of God. You see, you and I may be brought
up to attend chapel, to listen to the Bible being read, but
until the Holy Spirit touches our heart, it won't mean anything
to us. It would just be dry words. It would just be words of history. But when the Holy Spirit applies
the Word, It is a life to the soul. Life. And it's that life which will
never die. Never die. Jesus taught me when a stranger
wandering from the fold of God. Yes, we may have wandered afar
off. far off. He, to save my soul from danger,
interposed his precious blood. And what occurs in the life of
the true believer when the Lord's come to seek and to save that
which is was lost? What occurs in the life of the
true believer is this. He brings us, the Holy Spirit
brings us to where? To Calvary. He brings us to Calvary. You
might say, why? Why does the Holy Spirit bring
us to Calvary? Because it was at Calvary that
the blessed Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, gave his life. so that you and I might be redeemed,
forgiven all our sins. It was at Calvary. What a blessing. Therefore, if the Holy Spirit
leads you and me to Calvary, and there we see
the law of Jesus Christ, In the words of the hymn writer, suffering
all incarnate God could bear with strength enough and none
to spare. But for the mercy of almighty
God, indeed, for the great and glorious plan of God, for the
wonderful sovereign grace of God, for the love of God, never lose
sight of that. Never lose sight of God's love.
Yes, and as we refer sometimes to the epistle of John, not that
we loved God, but that he loved us. Just think, unworthy sinner,
wandering away, gone off away from God. It's because He loved us, He
sought us and found us. Yes, He came to seek, yes He
found us and to save us. To save us through His great
and glorious death upon that cross at Calvary and He saved
us. through the shedding of his most
precious blood. Well, I hope you're familiar
with that first chapter in the Apostle Peter, which is very
wonderful. And we're told for as much in
verse 18 in the first chapter, the first epistle, for as much
as ye know. Now, it's good if we know. we can read we may know it naturally
in our minds but it's good if we know it in our hearts for
as much as ye know and we must know for as much as ye know that
ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from
your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers. Again, you see here, it's very
clear. Many people have just a conversation,
they can talk about the things of God, but in actual fact, what
is it? It's vain conversation. received by tradition from their
fathers. It's phraseology, which they're
familiar with. Some people can quote lots of
hymns because they've been brought up. My friends, that's not saving,
it's good and not wrong, nothing wrong in that at all. But my
friends, you and I need more than that. Vain conversation,
received by tradition. from your fathers. You see, he
concludes with this. For as much as you know that
you were redeemed, that you were not redeemed, rather, with corruptible
things, et cetera, but with the precious blood of Christ. That's why I say we need to come
to Calvary, because at Calvary we see the glorious Saviour,
shedding His most precious blood in order to redeem our souls,
in order to save our souls. The Son of Man has come to seek
and to save that which was lost. Now again, this is backtracking. You won't realise, you won't
understand, you won't appreciate being saved unless you know you're
lost. Unless you know there's no hope
apart from the glorious death of the Saviour who stood in your
place and my place to bear the punishment due to us. He bore the punishment instead. but with the precious blood of
Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, who verily,
truthfully, verily was foreordained before the foundation of the
world. This is so vital and so glorious. Christ Jesus. Listen and take
it in. Christ Jesus. was foreordained
before the world was formed, before the foundation of the
world, but was manifest in these last times for you, for the whole
Church of God, for the whole household of faith, who by Him,
only by Him, do believe in God that raised Him from the dead,
and gave him glory, that your faith and hope might be in God." Well, where's your hope today? You might say, I haven't got
any hope. Well, we need a hope. We need
a good hope. And we need a good hope in God,
that this word suits us and this word is appropriate in our heart
and appropriate to us to know for the Son of Man is to come
to seek and to save that which was lost. Can you therefore today praise
and glorify God for such a wonderful and glorious truth? What a wonderful
and glorious truth. And as the Apostle Paul, who
knew well this great and glorious truth, he tells us in the seventh
of Hebrews, verse 25, wherefore, wherefore he is able to save
them to the uttermost that come unto God by him. That means the
very worst of sinners, the very worst of sinners. Wherefore he
is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto
God by him. seeing he ever liveth to make
intercession for them. What a wonderful, great and glorious
saviour we have. And what a wonderful truth it
is to realize here we have a saviour who came into this sinful world
in order to redeem our souls. Yes, the apostle describes himself. It's good to realize what the
apostle describes himself. And where his hope is, because
sometimes such words pick up, pick us up, and we recognize
the application. And he says in the first epistle
to Timothy, his son in the faith, he wrote, and what a wonderful
thing it is when he speaks something of his experience. There are
many occasions when the experience of God's people is recorded in
the word of God, for our encouragement. And so he tells us, he says,
and I thank Christ Jesus, our Lord, who has enabled me for
that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry,
ministry who was before a blasphemer and a persecutor and injurious,
but I obtained mercy. I obtained mercy because I did
it ignorantly in unbelief. Perhaps we have been unbelievers,
perhaps we're still an unbeliever. God knows where we are, where
the apostle Paul was able to say he did it ignorantly in unbelief. Unbelief and the grace of our
Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love, which is in Christ
Jesus. The grace of God, my friends,
was and is exceeding abundant. His unmerited favor. to unworthy
sinners. And so the apostle goes on to
say, this is a faithful saying. It was and it still is. And worthy of all acceptation
that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Again, not the righteous, to
save sinners. of whom I am chief. Well, it's good when the Holy
Spirit brings us to a condition to realise that we need exactly
the same mercy that all the saints of God have received. We can't
say, well, I'm not very bad. We are bad, every one of us.
We're all unworthy of any mercy. We're all unworthy of any love.
But I think that God so loved the world that he sent his only
beloved son into this sinful world, that whosoever believeth
in him should not perish, but have eternal, have everlasting
life. All my friends today, that's
God giving you and me Grace to believe the great and
glorious gospel and to believe this word. It's a very simple
word, isn't it? The Son of Man is come to seek
and to save that which was lost. It's here. It's written clearly. And my
friends, you and I need something special. And do you know what
that is? It's application. We need the word to be applied
to our heart with divine power from on high. Now, that power
may not perhaps be like you expect some great earthquake in your
life. It may be like Elijah when he
was in the cave And the voice of God wasn't in the earthquake,
it wasn't in the storm, it wasn't in the wind, but it was in this,
the still, small voice. A quiet voice. What a mercy. If God comes, just like that. Perhaps you've been expecting
an earthquake in your life, and it hasn't come. Perhaps it's just. is still small voice. And that voice says, the Son
of Man is come to you, is come to me to seek and to save that
which was lost. You see, that is so. What reason
to rejoice? What reason to praise God? to realise that, in fact, you
do, we do have a hope in his mercy. We have a hope to believe,
unworthy as we are, that it is indeed well with our soul.