Good morning. Y'all turn to Luke
19 for me, if you would. Luke 19. I want to express to you what a
pleasure it is for me and Jamie to be here. We wanted to come
visit y'all for so long, and y'all know life gets in the way.
And so we're just thankful to be with you this morning. For
Bible study this morning, I'd like to look at Luke 19, the
story of Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus, a familiar story.
I'm going to read verses 1 through 10 to you. And Jesus entered
and passed through Jericho. And behold, there was a man named
Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was
rich. And he sought to see Jesus who
he was, and he could not for the press, because he was little
of stature. And he ran before and climbed
up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was to pass that
way. And 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 he made haste and came down
and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all
murmured, saying that he was gone to be a guest with a man
that was a sinner. And Zacchaeus stood and said unto the Lord,
Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And
if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation,
I restore him fourfold. And Jesus say unto him, this
day is salvation come to this house, for so much as he also
is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to
seek and to save that which is lost. Story of Zacchaeus. I love this story because we
see the conversion of one of the Lord's elect in real time.
And there's three major things I want to get from this story,
I'd like to look at. First, I'd like to examine the
character of this man who was called Zacchaeus. What is his
character? Second, I want to examine the call, this call of
irresistible, invincible grace that he was called with. And
third is my prayer this morning that the Lord would give us the
grace we may be able to examine ourselves and we would know if
we have truly been called of God. So if you look back in verses
1 and 2, I'm going to reread them to you. It says, And Jesus
entered and passed through Jericho. And behold, there was a man named
Zacchaeus, and he was chief among the publicans, and he was rich. And so in this first couple of
verses, we get some information about Zacchaeus and mainly his
occupation. Zacchaeus was a publican. Well,
what does that mean? Well, during this period in time,
the Jewish state, Israel, they were under Roman rule, Roman
dominion. And these publicans, they were tax collectors. They
were Jews. They were Jews who had sold out to their countrymen,
sold out their countrymen to the Romans. They'd become tax
collectors for the Romans against the Jews. And the Jews hated
these men. They were deceitful men. They
were extortioners. They would go to some of the Jewish people
and say, all right, your taxes, they're $100. That's what you
have to render unto Caesar. But you're going to give me $200.
And if you don't, I'm going to go back to the Romans. I'm going
to tell them you broke the law. They're going to come arrest
you. That's how these men made their money. Jews hated these
men. And when you read of these men
in the scriptures, the word publican is oftentimes followed by the
word harlot, or the word sinner. So that's the first thing I see
here. This man whom the Lord called, who was he? He was a
sinner. He was a sinner. But what is
a sinner? It's a word we use a lot, isn't it? It's a word
we hear a lot, but what's a sinner? Turn to Genesis 6, verse 5, if
you don't mind. Keep a bookmark there in Luke 19, if you don't
mind. What is a sinner? Genesis 6 verse
5 says, And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in
the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart
was only evil continually. The heart. What is the heart? What's it referring to here?
Is it talking about the organ that pumps blood to the body? No. No, the heart, it refers to the
whole man. Everything refers to the actions,
the works, the deeds. It speaks of the thoughts. It
speaks of the affections, what we love, the intentions, the
motives, and the will. It speaks of the whole man. And
when the scripture says that every imagination of the thoughts
of his heart was only evil continually, it is simply saying this. It
is saying every action, every thought, Everything we love,
every intention, every motive in our natural will is only evil
continually. And it's evil because of its
originating source, the heart of man. Now I would ask, is there
anyone who fits that description? Are there any sinners here this
morning? If there is, I have good news, good news. Turn to
Mark 2, please. Mark 2 and look at verse 17.
It says, When Jesus heard it, He
saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of a physician,
but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous,
but sinners. under repentance. Folks, this
is the good news. If you're a sinner, this is good
news. It's sinners the Lord calls to
repentance, to a change of mind where you take sides with God
against yourself. We see him for who he is and
you for who you are. And so it also says, I came not
to call the righteous. Who are these righteous? Who
are these men? Scripture says there's none righteous,
no, not one. So who are these righteous? These
are men who are righteous by their own estimate. These are
men who believe that they can accomplish their own salvation,
or they can contribute to their salvation in some way, or most
subtly, that if their circumstances were just right, maybe, just
maybe, I could produce a good work. That's a righteous man. righteous by his own estimate.
And that is a man the Lord has not called, and he does not call.
Now let me show you something from 2 Timothy. Turn there if
you would. 2 Timothy 1. 2 Timothy 1. Look at verses 8 and
9. I want to show you something about
being called. It says, Be not thou therefore ashamed of the
testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner. but be thou
partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power
of God who hath saved us. and called us with an holy calling,
not according to our works, but according to his own purpose
and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world
began. Now, particularly, I want you
to note the order here. He saved us, and he called us. And, beloved, here's the thing.
If I have not been called, if I have not been called with this
call of irresistible, invincible grace, understand I have not
been saved. And with that in mind, I want
to know something about this call, this call of irresistible,
invincible grace. What is it? I want to know if
I've been called. So look back to Luke 19, if you
would. Let's look at verses 3 through 6. I want you to see this call
that Zacchaeus received. It says, and he sought to see
Jesus who he was, and he could not for the press because he
was little of stature. And he ran before and climbed
up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was to pass that
way. And 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 he made haste and came down,
and he received him joyful. Now, verses 3 through 6, it illustrates
the Lord's effectual call, the call of irresistible, invincible
grace. But understand, this is different than the general call
or the external call. There is a general call. It's
where the Lord issues to every man. He declares it that he is,
and he should be sought. So somebody says, well, what
does that look like? How is the general call issued? Two ways
I see it in the scripture most clearly. Turn to Romans 1. Romans 1 and verse 20. The first way I see this general
call most clearly is through the creation. The creation. Romans
1 verse 20 says, For the invisible things of him from the creation
of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things
that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead, so that they
are without excuse. The creation. How many times
have you walked through the woods? You've seen the trees. You looked
at the mountains. You looked at a stream flow by.
You walked out at night, and you looked at the stars and the
universe and the vastness of it, the grandeur of it. Maybe
you witnessed the birth of your child. And you stood in awe,
knowing that there was a wise and all-powerful being that had
created all this. That's a general call. Every
man sees that call. Through the creation, the Lord declares that
he is and that he should be sought. But here's the thing. Men will
not. They won't. They should. They can't. They lack the spiritual
ability. And they don't. But understand
this. The fact that men will not, that
they can't, and they don't, it is all man's fault. Every man is commanded to seek
the Lord. It's the first part of the external call. Turn to
Romans 2. Flip over a chapter. Romans 2 and look at verses 14
and 15. This is the call to conscience. Call to conscience. It says,
for when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature
the things contained in the law, these having not the law are
law unto themselves, which show the work of the law written in
their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their
thoughts, the meanwhile, accusing or else excusing one another.
Now, this passage tells us the Lord writes his holy law on the
heart of every man that's born in this world. Every man that's
born into this world knows right from wrong. He knows it's wrong
to murder, that it is wrong to steal, that it is wrong to commit
sexual sin. And when a man transgresses against
that law, his conscience burns inside him, and it bears witness
that he has sinned, that he has broken God's holy law. And if
you backtrack that thought and you say, if all men know the
law, They must know that there is one who created the law. And
they must know that they are accountable to him. And they
should seek him. But yet again, I will say it
again, they will not. Their will is contrary to it.
They should. They can't. They lack the spiritual
ability. The natural man is spiritually
dead. And they don't. And whose fault is it? It's all
our fault. That's it. And understand this,
this general call, this general call when the Lord declares that
he is and he should be sought, this call has never been obeyed,
never once. No man has ever been brought
to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ through this
general call. And I'll tell you this as well, there is no such
thing as an atheist. A man tells you he's an atheist,
he believes that there is no God, he's lying. It's not true. I
was thinking of this, I used to work for a man who claimed
that he was an atheist and he would constantly declare there
is no God, there is no God. And he walked into our office
one day, and he was carrying a book. And he was very proud of this book.
The title of this book was How Jesus Became God. And the purpose
of this book was to disprove the very deity of the Lord Jesus
Christ. 480-some pages about how he was
just a man and how he was not God. And he's over there, and
he's talking to some guy about this book, and he's real proud
of it. And here's what I was thinking as I was overhearing
the conversation. Just one thought. For a man who believes that there
is no God, you spend an awful lot of time thinking about him.
If there is no God, why buy the book? Why research the topic? Who are you trying to convince?
He's trying to convince himself. He knows there's a God. He knows
that he is. He just doesn't like that he
is. He would dethrone him if he could. But before I'm too
hard on that man, understand this, that's me. And that's you,
apart from the grace of God, apart from His divine intervention. And so, like I said before, the
call we see in verses 3 through 6 in Luke 19, this is the call
of irresistible, invincible grace. This is not the general call.
This call, this call, this effectual call, I noticed three things
about it, three things I want to bring out to you. First, I
noticed that it was personal. Second, I noticed that it produced
obedience. And third, I noticed it was gracious. Three points.
So if you look back at verse three in Luke 19, if you'll notice
there's a word in there, it's the word press. It's another word for crowd.
There was a crowd of people that was following our Lord as he
walked through Jericho. See, our Lord was famous. The
tales of his miracles, everything he had done, they had been spread
abroad, and he was famous. And men were constantly seeking
our Lord for temporal blessings, for physical blessings. He had
heard that he had fed many. Maybe they were hungry. Heard
that he had healed many. Maybe they were sick. They needed
healing. They sought our Lord for temporal blessings, for physical
blessings. They had a worldly interest in our Lord, but he
had no interest in them. He had come to a particular place
at a particular time to seek out and to call a particular
man, Zacchaeus the sinner, Zacchaeus the publican. And it begs the
question, why Zacchaeus? Why any sinner for that matter?
And if you wanted to get more personal, why Aaron? Why Bob? Turn if you would, look down
at verse 9 of Luke 19. Lord tells us. Luke 19, 9 says,
And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this
house, for so much as he also is a son of Abraham. So why did
the Lord come to call Zacchaeus that day? Because he was a son
of Abraham. What does that mean? Does it
mean because Zacchaeus came from a Jewish heritage that he was
to be called? Because his mother and father
were of the Jewish nation? Because he was born in Israel?
Because he had Jewish blood flowing through his veins? No. No, the
Lord passed by many people who were born in Israel. Look at
the Pharisees. Passed them by. So what does this mean to be
a son of Abraham? Turn to Galatians 3. Galatians 3 and look at verses
26 and 29. What is a son of Abraham? What does that mean? For ye are all the children of
God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been
baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew
nor Greek. There is neither bond nor free.
There is neither male nor female. 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. Who
is the son of Abraham? Who are these seeds of Abraham? These are those that are Christ's,
those who belong to him, those he died for, his elect children. Who are these called? Who are
these elect? Who are these people? Turn if you will to Romans 8. Romans 8 looked at this very
familiar passage in verse 29 and 30. Who are these elect and called?
It says, for whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be
conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn
among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate,
them he also called. And whom he called, them he also
justified. And whom he justified, them he
also glorified. God's elect and God's called. These are those that the Father
foreknew and those he predestinated. Two words, two terms, foreknown
and predestinated. What does it mean to be foreknown?
Well, this word know, when it's used in the scripture many a
times, it doesn't speak of being able to just identify someone.
You know, I can tell that's Bob. No, it speaks of a much more
intimate relationship, as if Adam knew his wife Eve, Adam loved
Eve, Adam shared an intimate relationship with Eve. That's
what that word know means, it means love. To be foreknown means
to be loved before. Before when? Before the foundation
of the world. Before the foundation of the
world, Zacchaeus was loved as Zacchaeus was in the Lord Jesus
Christ. And here's the thing, folks.
Every believer has always been in an eternal union with the
Lord Jesus Christ. I don't understand that. I don't understand how
it works. I simply believe it because it's true. It's absolutely true.
But this also expresses Our complete hope of salvation, this union
with Christ, and it's this. It's when the Lord Jesus Christ
lived, when he came to this world, and when he worked out a perfect
righteousness, when he obeyed his father in all things and
he kept the law every jot and tittle, I was in him. And that's when I live. And while
I don't have a speck of self-righteousness, I have the very righteousness
of Christ himself. It's given to every one of his people freely.
And the Lord Jesus Christ died. When he went to Calvary and he
bore the sins of his people on that tree, it was my sins he
bore in his body on that tree. The punishment he received was
the punishment that was reserved for me. And when he died, that's
when I died. And when he was raised from the
dead, signifying that full satisfaction had been made with God the Father,
the work truly is finished. Resurrected, holy, blameless,
and unreprovable. That's when I was resurrected.
And I don't understand this either, but right now, as the Lord Jesus
Christ sits at the right hand of the Father, sharing a perfect
friendship and communion with him. That's where we sit right
now, in him. This expresses all our hope,
union with the Lord Jesus Christ. And it was the eternal love of
God the Father that had directed this call to Zacchaeus this day. And it says, for whom he did
foreknow, them he also did predestinate. Predestinate, what does that
mean? It means to be determined beforehand to an exact end. Election, that's what we're talking
about here. God the Father looked at the Lord Jesus Christ and
he says, he's yours. Zacchaeus is yours and he's mine.
You're gonna go and you're gonna redeem him and you're gonna bring
him safe and sound. And the son said, I will, I will. He stood at his, as his surety.
And I'll tell you what, the people of this world, they hate this
thing of election. They say it's unfair. They say,
how could a loveling God pass by some and save others? To answer that, that foolish
line of thinking, I would invite you to look for a moment to Calvary.
Calvary. The one time men were left alone
to do what they wanted with God, the Lord removed the restraints
And he let men do what he wanted with God. What did they do? They
nailed him to a pole, they shoved a spear in his side, and they
mocked him as he bled and died. Brethren, here's the truth about
you and me. This is the absolute truth. If we had been there and
the Lord had removed his restraining grace, it would have been me
who shoved the spear in his side myself. That's us by nature. And so, I would say this, I don't
stand in awe that the Lord could pass by some men. I stand in
awe that He saved any of us. And so we see that this call,
that it was personal. The Father foreknew Him. He predestinated
His salvation. The second thing I noticed about
this call, that it produced obedience. If you look back at the story,
the Lord issues Zacchaeus a command. He says, Make haste and come
down. Now think for a moment, what
was Zacchaeus' response to this call? Do you sit up in the tree
and say, well, that's an interesting offer. That's interesting. I'm
going to mill that over, and as an act of my free will, I
think I might choose you. But let me mill that over for
a while. Is that how the story goes? Now
Zacchaeus make haste, make haste, and he made haste, and he came
down. You see, this call, this call
of irresistible, invincible grace, it is always obeyed. And when
I hear this call, I must come down. down from lofty thoughts
of self-salvation, down from lofty thoughts of salvation,
conditioned by anything I've done, no, I come down to the
feet of the Lord Jesus Christ. I have no choice. But I'll tell
you this, and I know you all feel the same way, I have no
other choice, but I want no other choice. I've got nowhere else
to go. Where would I go? Would I go
to the law? The law that condemns me? Says
he's guilty. He's guilty. I've got it all right here. I've
got the evidence right here. He's guilty. Punish him. If I flee the law, where
would I go? I've got no other place to go
and I want no other place to go. We come to the feet of the
Lord Jesus Christ because that's the place of safety. That's the
place of security. This call produced obedience.
It was personal. It produced obedience. I want
you to look at this too. He received this call joyfully.
This call This call of irresistible, invincible grace to a sinner.
This is joyful news. That my sins are forgiven. That
there's nothing left for me to do. Believe. Believe. And with that command comes the
ability. What joy that brings our heart. If you're a sinner,
if you're a sinner, that fills your heart with joy. Third thing
I noticed about this call is that it was gracious. It was
gracious. The Lord said, Zacchaeus, make
haste and come down. And then he actually tells him
why. He says, for today I must abide at thy house. Let me ask
this question. Had Zacchaeus done anything to
earn our Lord's favor, to merit his favor in any way? Said no,
Zacchaeus was a publican. Zacchaeus was a sinner. There
was nothing appealing about Zacchaeus in and of himself, but yet the
Lord came to him. Graciously came to him and he
called him. He called him down. And when I am absolutely sure,
I'm absolutely sure that Zacchaeus dwelled, or I'm sorry, the Lord
dwelled in Zacchaeus' physical house that day. I think the greater
application is that he dwelled in Zacchaeus' heart. See, when
the Lord saves a man, He gives him a new man. We talked about
the heart earlier, that old wicked man. The Lord gives a man a new
man. He gives him a new heart. Let
me show you this from the scripture. Turn to Ezekiel 36. Ezekiel 36, and look at verses
26 and 27. It says, A new heart also will
I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you, and I
will take away the stony heart out of your flesh. And I will
give you a heart of flesh, and I will put my spirit within you,
and I will cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall
keep my judgments and do them." What an act of grace that the
Lord would give Zacchaeus this new heart, this new man, where
he actually dwells. He dwells. And I tell you what,
I have a special interest in this thing of having a new heart.
I desperately need it, because I see the old man. I see how
bad he is. I don't even see what it really
is. I see something of how wretched he really is. I need this new
man. And I desperately want the Lord to rule and reign in me.
Because where he rules and reigns, there's peace. There's love. There's love for Christ. I can't
muster that by nature. I cannot do it. But it's given
to me in the regeneration. There's love for his people.
Love for his people. How gracious was it that the
Lord would set up shop with this sinner, Zacchaeus? So in conclusion,
I hope that the question that is lingering on everyone's heart
right now is, has he called me? Because we saw, if I've not been
called, I've not been saved. And so, I want to ask you two
questions. I think we can know. I pray the Lord would give us
the grace this day to have confidence that we would know that we have
been called of God. First question I'm going to ask you is, are
you a sinner? Is every imagination of the thoughts
of your natural heart only evil continually? Is everything you
do sin, and is it sin because you do it, because I do it? Is
your sin or your fault? Are you a sinner? The second
question I have is, do you call on His name? Turn to 1 Corinthians
1. I want you to see this. 1 Corinthians 1, and look at verses
1 and 2. It says, called to be an apostle
of Jesus Christ through the will of God and Sosthenes our brother
under the Church of God which is a Corinth to them that are
sanctified in Christ Jesus called to be saints with all that in
every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord both
theirs and ours. What does it say? It says the
called call. Now I'm asking you right now
are you calling on his name? Are you calling on him to save you
with absolutely no help from you, your works excluded? Are
you content with him getting all the glory in your salvation
and you simply being a trophy of his power and his grace? Are
you calling on his name? Folks, if the answer to the question
is yes and yes, be of good cheer. You are a son of Abraham. The
Lord redeemed you on Calvary's tree, and you have been regenerated
in the Holy Spirit. I pray that it would give us
some assurance this day. Amen.