and turn with me again to Luke
chapter 19. Luke chapter 19. The title of
the message is, The Purpose of Christ's Coming. The purpose
of Christ is coming. Here in Luke chapter 19, we have
the history of the salvation of this man
named Zacchaeus. The scripture says, And Jesus
entered and passed through Jericho. And behold, there was a man named
Zacchaeus, which was chief among the publicans. And he was rich. And he sought to see Jesus, who
he was, and could not for the press, because he was little
of stature. This man Zacchaeus, he sought
to see Jesus because of the great multitude. In Jesus' day, many
people followed Him. Many people followed Jesus. And
many of those professed to believe on Him, some followed Him because
of the miracles that He did. Some followed Him because they
were impressed with His authority, with His preaching. Even His
enemies said, never a man spake like this man. So some men followed
Him because of His ability to preach, His authority. Others
followed Christ. The others followed Him because
they thought He was going to establish an earthly kingdom
there in Jerusalem. But most of these followers were
greatly disappointed when Jesus told them in the house of this
man Zacchaeus of his purpose for coming into the world. Many of them were disappointed
by this, the Lord Jesus Christ even going to this man's house.
When Jesus said to Zacchaeus, come down, today I must eat in
thine house, what did they say? They said in verse 7, they all
murmured. They all murmured and complained,
this man's going to be the guest with the great sinner. Many people are disappointed
because they fail to see why Christ came into this world. Jesus Christ did not come into
this world just to perform miracles, nor did He come to tickle men's
ears, nor did He come to set up an earthly kingdom. Even so today, do many people
follow Jesus in the same way. They like Him because, and they
believe on Him, because of what He can do for them. Many people
believe Jesus came into this world so that they can be healthy,
wealthy, and happy. That's why people believe He
came into this world. But Jesus said, I am not come
to bring peace, but a sword. a sword, a division among men. And truly, does not this gospel
itself divide? I don't want to be a divisive
person. I have no intent to divide. The gospel divides. The gospel
divides. And he said, I've come to set
a man at variance against his father and his family and those
of his own household. Have you not found that to be
true, believer in Christ? That this gospel has not brought
you peace in the world, but brought you trouble. That's my confession. This gospel has not brought me
peace among the world. It's brought me tribulation in
the world. Our Savior said that. In this
world you shall have tribulation. But what did Jesus come into
the world to do? What was His purpose? If you
look at this in verse 9 and 10, He tells us His purpose. And
Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come 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 was lost. Jesus came to seek and to save
that which was lost, of which Zacchaeus was a type A picture
of all those that Jesus Christ came to save. This morning, as
we go through this, I pray that you can identify with this man,
Zacchaeus. I pray that you can identify
with this man, Zacchaeus, because he is a type of all of us who
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. He is a picture. He is a picture
of how God came to save the lost. This man Zacchaeus, first of
all, when he says he come to seek and to save that which was
lost, what does he mean? He came into the world to save
who? Sinners. Sinners. And this man Zacchaeus was a
sinner. It says in verse 2, Behold, this
man named Zacchaeus was the chief among the publicans. Among the
publicans. This man was the worst kind of
thief. Now there are thieves who rob
in the night time. There are thieves, and I'll tell
you, they're more honest than this type of thief. This man
was a legal thief. He did it lawfully. He did it
according to the law. He was not breaking laws and
doing it. He was a tax collector. And the
Romans did not care if they collected taxes. As long as the Romans
got their share, they didn't care how much percentage they
added on to it. And this man added a lot on to
it. This man was a notorious thief. He was a tax collector. And not only that, he was most
likely a Jewish tax collector, which means that this guy, this
guy was a traitor to his own people. He was a traitor. He worked for the Roman government.
And he made himself rich off of the backs of his own people. Off of the labor of his own people.
And this man only cared for one thing, and that was himself and
the treasures of this world. This man was a rich man. He was
a thief. He was a publican. He was a sinner. And yet there was such a multitude,
something arose that caused this man Zacchaeus to be curious. There was a multitude outside
of His window, and as Jesus was passing through Jericho, He noticed
the sound of this multitude and He began to be curious. What's
going on here? And so he headed outside and
he saw which way he was going and he couldn't see. He was a
little man. He was a short man. He tried
to jump up over the rest to see what was going on and couldn't.
So what he decided to do, he ran ahead. Ran ahead of the crowd,
got up in a sycamore tree so that when the Lord would pass
by, he would see him. That's all he wanted to do. All
Zacchaeus wanted to do was satisfy his curiosity. Zacchaeus was not looking for
salvation. Zacchaeus was not looking for
Christ. He was not seeking Christ to
come to his house. And yet Jesus revealed that it
was He who sought out Zacchaeus and not the other way around.
Notice the language of Scripture. Notice how Jesus, He entered
and passed through Jericho. You know, we read of a miracle
that the Lord did before He went into Jericho. He healed blind
Bartimaeus. And then, as He went through
Jericho, we read of no interaction whatsoever. Jericho was one of
the largest cities at that time. And yet, the Lord Jesus Christ
passed all the way through that city without saying a word. Passed
by all those people that were in that city. Went through the city and as
He come out of the gate of Jericho, we read that He healed two blind
men. And then we read of this account
where He comes here to this tree. It was no surprise to Jesus that
Zacchaeus was in that tree. Why? Because that's where he
was headed. Jesus passed by all those in
Jericho and he was headed to this particular tree to meet
this particular man at this particular time. We can see in this the providence
of God. We can see God working all things
together for the salvation of this one little man, Zacchaeus. That tree had been planted a
long time ago. That tree was there a long time
before Zacchaeus was probably there. But yet God purposed that
that tree be there, and that this crowd be following Jesus
at this time. And He purposed that Zacchaeus
should be curious as to what's going on here. And He purposed
that he should skimmy up that tree and wait for the Lord to
pass by. And Jesus Christ knew where He
was headed. He had His eye fixed. on this
one little tree where this man was to be. It was no surprise
that Zacchaeus was in this tree, because he had purpose to meet
Him in that place. Jesus passed through Jericho
and spoke to no one. He had his eyes fixed toward
this tree where this man was to be saved. For what purpose?
To save this sinner, Zacchaeus. This was the purpose of the Son
of God for coming into the world to seek and to save that which
was lost. Now is it not true that all men
by nature are lost? That's true. All men by nature
are lost. All men by nature fell in Adam. And in the day Adam sinned and
rebelled against God, we all fell in Adam. We all sinned in
Him, our representative. The Scripture says, Wherefore,
as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin,
so death passed upon all men. For all have sinned. Sinned in
Adam. And yet, God, in grace, had before
the fall, before the creation, even from all eternity, God in
sovereign mercy chose to save some. There are some of Adam's sinful
race that God has loved. There are some that God has loved. Loved with an everlasting love. In Jeremiah 31, in verse 3, the
Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, I have loved thee
with an everlasting love. Therefore, with lovingkindness
have I drawn thee. God was speaking to Jacob. He
was speaking to his people, his elect people that he loved. And He has taken out of the same
lump of Adam's fallen race and made them to be vessels of mercy. Zacchaeus was one of these vessels
of mercy. And how should he save them?
If he purposed to come into the world to save that which was
lost, how should he save them? How should he save sinners? Would
He wait for them? Is that how Christ would save
sinners? That He would wait for them? That He would wait until
they were good enough? Would He save them based on any
goodness or worth in them? No. No. But the Father gave them
to His Son to be all their salvation. When Jesus said, salvation is
come to this house, what was He saying? He was talking about
Himself. Salvation is come to this house. He is the salvation of God. He is the salvation of God. Jesus
Christ came into the world to save His people from their sins. How should He accomplish this
work? How should He do it? Well, first of all, he must have
become a man, a body, the Scripture says, thou hast prepared for
me. Sacrifice and burnt offering thou hast had no pleasure in.
A body hast thou prepared for him. For what? So that he might
obtain righteousness and suffer for all God's elect. It was by man that sin came as
a result of a representative. Adam was a representative man. He represented all of his race. And when he died, his race died. Even so, must righteousness come
by a man as a result of his representation of his people? Jesus Christ who
represented all His people came as a man to obtain righteousness
for them. For them. The fulfillment of
God's law is vital to salvation. The fulfillment of God's law
is vital to salvation. The law of God must be honored. It must be magnified. It must
be obeyed to perfection. But the problem is that none
of us could do it. None of us have obeyed the law
of God. None of us. We are all unrighteous. There is none righteous. No,
not one. There is none that understandeth.
There is none that seeketh after God. They are all together become
unprofitable. There is none that doeth good.
No, not one. No, not one. None of us could have obeyed
the law of God. We all have sinned and transgressed
the law, but this man, behold the man, Jesus Christ, came into
the world to seek and to save that which was lost by obtaining
righteousness that they themselves could not obtain. By honoring the law of God. over in Isaiah chapter 42. The
scripture says in verse 20, concerning the servant of God, which is
Christ, seeing many things, but thou observest not, opening the
ears, but he heareth not. The Lord is well pleased for
his righteousness' sake. He will magnify the law and make
it honorable. This was His work. This is what
Christ came to do. He came to honor the law of God,
to obey the law of God as a man. As a man. Behold now the only
righteous man, born not of Adam's seed, but the seed of the woman,
and escaped the corruption of our nature, He alone is the God-man,
and He alone has pleased God. Pleased God. And He did it not
for Himself. Did Christ need righteousness? Did He need this? He Himself
was God. He needed no righteousness. He
had righteousness. He was righteousness. He is the
Lord, our righteousness. And yet He, in grace, came to
obtain what we could not. Obedience. And yet, what about our sin?
God's justice demands that sin be paid for. How can He seek
and save that which was lost? Not only by obtaining righteousness
for them, but He must also satisfy the justice of God. The justice
of God says, the soul that sinneth, it shall surely die. Justice demands not only righteousness,
but payment for sin. This is why Jesus came into the
world. Not only to provide righteousness,
but to be made an offering for sin. He willingly did this. Is this not the greatest example
of love? That Jesus Christ gave Himself
for us. Gave Himself for us. He willingly
came for this purpose to give Himself. Look how He speaks in
chapter 18 of Luke. He says in verse 31, He took
His twelve and said to them, Behold, I go to Jerusalem, and
all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son
of Man shall be accomplished. For He shall be delivered unto
the Gentiles. He shall be mocked, and spitefully
entreated, and spitted on. And they shall scourge him, and
put him to death. And the third day he shall rise
again. Our Lord Jesus Christ knew what
He was doing. He knew what would happen. He
knew that He must die. He told His disciples that He
must suffer. He says in John chapter 12 and
verse 27, Jesus said, Now is my soul troubled, and what shall
I say? Father, save me from this hour? But for this cause came I to
this hour, the hour of His death, when God would make His soul
an offering for sin. Do you see how Christ had come?
What purpose He had come? He had come to die. He'd come to die. In 2 Corinthians
chapter 5. 2 Corinthians chapter 5. In verse
19. to wit that God was in Christ,
reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses
to them, and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did
beseech you by us. We pray you in Christ's stead,
be you reconciled to God. For He hath made Him to be sin
for us. Christ was made sin for us. How is it that God can forgive
you of your sins? Only through the payment of the
Lord Jesus Christ who was made sin. Who bore the guilt of our
sins. Who bore the shame of our sins.
In His own body on the tree. He bore all the sorrow and bitterness
of our sins. Behold, the sinless man who bore
our sins in his own body, and God seeing our sins, justly punished
them in his own body. Friends, it was not the Roman
justice or the Jewish law that hailed him there, that made him
to suffer, but it was the wrath of God The full measure of eternal wrath
was poured out on Christ for all His people. And what then was the verdict
of this? Christ had come as a man to suffer, to obtain righteousness
through obedience. He had come to die for our sins
on the cross. And what was the verdict? What
was the end of it? He said as He commended His soul
to God, He said, It is finished. It's done. It's done. This was not a cry of defeat. His death was not the cry of
a failure, but of a successful, triumphant victor, Jesus Christ
the righteous. He said it's finished. Justice
is satisfied. Isn't that what the Scripture
told us would happen? Isn't that what Isaiah 700 years
before prophesied of? He shall see of the travail of
His soul. And be what? Satisfied. Satisfied. God is satisfied. Satisfied with His death. With
His righteousness. And there was nothing that reveals
the success of our Redeemer like His resurrection. Our Lord Jesus
Christ died. He did die. He was buried, and for three
days He lay in the tomb. But, seeing that he brought his
own blood before the throne of God, seeing that God was satisfied,
death could no longer hold him. The grave could no longer keep
him. The Scriptures had prophesied that his Holy One should not
see corruption. And therefore, God raised him
from the dead. How essential is the resurrection
to our salvation? Paul said, if he be not raised
from the dead, then you are yet in your sins. But because He
is raised from the dead, because God hath raised Him from the
dead, you know for sure that His work was finished, that His
work satisfied God's justice. Therefore, God raised Him from
the dead, and not only raised Him from the dead, He also brought
Him into heaven itself, where He is now sitting on the right
hand of God. on the right hand of God. Up
in heaven God sits. The Lord Jesus Christ sits. And
what is He doing there? What is the Lord Jesus Christ
doing in heaven right now? He is doing exactly what He was
doing when He saved Zacchaeus. He is seeking and saving the
lost. That's what He's doing. He is
seeking and saving the lost. That's His purpose. It's still
the same. And as He said, as I said, all
men are lost, but not all men know they're lost. Is that not right? All men are
lost, but not all men know it. How is it that men know their
need of a Savior? Well, this is the work of God
the Holy Spirit. Zacchaeus, when he came to this
tree and he climbed up in there, he had no need of a Savior. All he wanted to do was satisfy
his morbid curiosity. Some of you today, you've come
for different reasons. I came to church because my parents
made me go. Now, I don't know why you came.
I came to church because my parents forced me to go. My dad often
told me, he said, son, if you're not dead, that's where we'll
be. So every morning I knew where I had to be. And so the day that
the Lord came and saved me, you know what? I didn't come to be
saved. I didn't come to be saved. I was already okay. I was like
Zacchaeus. Maybe I had some curiosity. Maybe
you've got some curiosity. But regardless of your intent, maybe the Lord would be gracious
today to send His Holy Spirit to show you your need of Christ. Zacchaeus was not seeking to
be saved. He did not know he was lost nor
his need of salvation until Christ came to him. Until Christ spoke
to him. And so it is with all of the
elect of God. We are lost sinners with no hope
and no need of Christ until God exposed our sin. Until God revealed
who we were. He brought us into the wilderness
and laid us low in the dust and said to us, I must abide at thy
house. Why did He save you? He must
do it. He must. If you're saved, it's
because He must save you. Jesus said in John chapter 10
and verse 16, Other sheep I have which are not of this fold, them
I also must bring. I must. I must. Are you a sinner in need of forgiveness
and righteousness? Are you like Zacchaeus, not having any consciousness
of what you are by nature? When God comes to you, you will.
If God speaks to you, you will. I spoke to you about blind Bartimaeus. When he came to the Lord Jesus
Christ, he came with a need, didn't he? He was blind. And when Jesus asked him a question,
I studied this question, I looked at it and kind of scratched my
head. What is it that you want me to do? Now, that blind man
would have said, Lord, have mercy on me. Son of David, have mercy
on me. And he's blind. And Jesus asked
him, what do you want me to do? Now, why did he ask that question?
Jesus knew what he wanted. Everybody in the whole crowd
knew what blind Bartimaeus wanted. He wanted to see. He was blind. He had a need. What do you mean,
what does he want, Jesus? When blind Bartimaeus was asked
that question, do you suppose he said, I need a new house? I need a new car. I need to have
some money. Is that what he's asking for?
No! He didn't have need for those things. And when God convinces
a man of sin, when God shows you what you are by nature, and
you sue God for mercy, that's what you'll ask for. You'll need
mercy. Do you need mercy? Do you need forgiveness? Do you
need righteousness? Oh, then come to Christ. There's
plenty. There's plenty. He needed sight. And I'll tell
you, when God opens your heart to show you your need, you'll
beg God for mercy. And He'll give you faith to believe
on Him alone. You know, faith is not a natural
act. You believe on Christ. If you have faith, do you realize
that that is not natural? That's not some simple act of
the will. Faith is a gift of God. It's
a grace. For by grace you are saved through
faith, and that faith is not of yourself. Faith is a gift
of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Faith is not natural, but it
is a grace. And I tell you, this man, Zach,
he has believed because of grace. And I tell you, I believe because
of grace. And if you believe, it's because
of grace. Blessed be our great Savior,
who is ever, even now, seeking and saving His people from their
sins. that God would call you. Because when God calls you, His
calling is without repentance. One preacher said, the Holy Spirit
is as the hound of heaven. He always gets His man. He always
does. He always does. I pray that God
the Holy Spirit would give you faith. and repentance to believe
on Jesus Christ. Now then, lastly, notice this.
Look at verse 8. When Zacchaeus came, and Jesus
came to Zacchaeus and saved him, notice in verse 8, it says, Zacchaeus
stood and said unto the Lord, Behold, Lord, half my goods I
give to the poor. And if I have taken anything
from any man by false accusation, I restore to him fourfold. You
know Jesus didn't have to hound this man about this. He didn't have to preach a whole
sermon on giving, did He? What happened? This man's life
changed. This man's life changed. I've
told you before, when the Lord saved me, I knew that either
I changed or the world changed, but something changed. And if
you believe on Jesus Christ and nothing changed, there's something
wrong. There's something wrong with
that. Because when Jesus Christ comes and conquers our hearts,
we change. How many are even deceived now
by some profession that they made in Christ? Either out of
fear or to be accepted by other men, but yet have no new heart, They're like that seed that's
planted on the stony and the thorny ground, who have no fruits
of grace, no evidence of grace. They still love this world, they
still love the friendship of this world, they love the lust
of their flesh, they love their sins, and yet have no love for
the brethren or the gospel. I'll tell you, if you don't have
any love for the brethren, the gospel, your faith is vain and
you are still in your sins. John says, how can you love God,
whom you've not seen, if you don't love your brother, whom
you see? Those who are loved by grace,
love those who are saved by grace. You know, there is nobody in
this world I love more than you. I love my family. And I'm talking
about my physical family. But I tell you, there's nobody
in this world I love more than God's people. I love you. And that's not natural, is it?
That's by grace. That's by grace. I love this
gospel. I love the Lord Jesus Christ.
And I love to hear it. Now, have I preached anything
new this morning to you? Have I told you anything new?
If I've told you something new, you need to question it, because
I tell you, there's nothing new. This gospel is old. It's ancient. And yet, here you are. You still
love to hear it. You still love it. Why is that? Grace! Free! Sovereign! Mercy! God had on
you. You've changed. Now, I'll tell
you what. The more I grow in grace, the
more I see my sin. Is that not so with you? I don't see the holiness that
God has put in me. But I don't have to see it. It
is by faith that we grab these things and hold to them. It's
by faith When the Holy Spirit comes, He will give fruits and
evidences, not for you, but for others. Your fruits are for me. They're not for you. They're
not for you. They're for me to see. I enjoy
them. I rejoice with you over them,
but you don't see them. I don't see mine. If I did, I'd
probably just brag, right? Isn't that what we'd do? If we
could see them. But I know this, Zacchaeus, he
changed. Why? For salvation has come into
this house. For as much as he is also a son
of Abraham, that is an elect man, one of the chosen, the sons
of promise, for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save
that which was lost. Are you lost? Being lost is a good thing. Because only the lost are found. May God, by His grace and mercy,
seek your soul and find you. And I'm thankful He has me. Aren't
you? I'm thankful. Let's stand. We'll be dismissed in prayer.