If you would, open your Bible
with me to Luke chapter 19. The message this evening will come
from the first 10 verses of Luke 19. But look at verse 10 with
me. Here we read, for the Son of
Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. I'd like to take the title of
the message from verse 10. The Son of Man has come to seek
and to save that which was lost. Look with me back to verse 1. Here we read that Jesus entered
and He passed through Jericho. Now the Lord seeks us before
we'll ever seek Him. Isaac sang that song, God leads
His dear children along. If He doesn't draw us to Himself,
we'll never find Him. We'll never have a desire to
seek after Him. Never know our need. to seek
after Him. But the Lord Jesus Christ is
on the trail of one of His sheep here. And we read also that He
passed through Jericho. Not a word of mercy, not a word
of grace, not a word of salvation to any but Zacchaeus. God's distinguishing grace. In this whole town, this whole
city of Jericho, there's one. One that we read of. Just as
there was one when the Lord passed through there back in the Old
Testament, when He destroyed Jericho. Remember Rahab? Rahab the harlot. Her and her
family were spared. They did not perish. Oh, that the Lord would not pass
us by. that He would not leave us to
ourselves, that He would not pass us by. Verse 2, And behold,
there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the
publicans, and he was rich. This is what we know about Zacchaeus.
He was chief of the publicans and he was rich. Our Lord, speaking
of one who was exceptionally wicked, He said this over in
Matthew 18. He said, let him be as a heathen and as a publican. That's no compliment to be referred
to as a publican. We also read here that Zacchaeus,
he was a rich man. He was a wealthy man. The Scriptures
declare it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle
than a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven. And then
reading on to the text, if we read on, we see that the people
of the town were upset because our Lord was guest. He went to
visit this man who was a sinner. If I count that upright, that's
three strikes against Zacchaeus before we know anything about
him. But let me ask you, is there any case that it's too hard for
our God. Zacchaeus, he was chief among
the publicans. Not just a publican, he was chief
among the publicans. A rich man. A sinner. Who had
a reputation, apparently those around him, the people knew this
about him. This man's a sinner. In verse
3 we read, he sought to see Jesus, who he was, and he could not
for the press because he was little in stature. And he ran
before and he climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for
he was to pass by that way." Here we see the Spirit of God
directing Zacchaeus to this tree, his steps ordered of God. And I was thinking about this
tree. Gene's got this big hillside
in front of his house. And though there's been a lot
of oak trees cut down over the years, and Luke's been responsible
for this too, there's been a lot of saplings that have grown up
that were cut down before they were anything. And I wonder over the years how
many of those have been, how many of those meaningless Little
saplings have been cut down, just run over by a lawn mower.
But this sycamore tree, nothing's going to chop it down. It's got
to be there. It's got to be there for Zacchaeus
to climb up into that tree. When it's grown and mature, that's
where he's going to see the Lord. That's where the Lord's going
to see him. That's where the Lord's going to come to him. That tree's left there by Him
who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will.
All things, we read all things work together for good to them
that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose,
even that sycamore tree growing there. Verse five, and when Jesus
came to the place, He looked up and He saw him. And he said unto him, Zacchaeus,
make haste and come down, for today I must abide at thy house. He came to the place. God knowing all things. He knows
where men dwell. He knows the time in which He'll
call them. He came to Peter, James, John,
the woman at the well. He sent Philip to that Ethiopian
eunuch. He came to the place and He looked up and He saw him
and He called him by name, Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus. Can you imagine what
must have went through old Zacchaeus' heart when the Lord looked up
and called him by his name? He calls His sheep by name. He
knows them. He calls them by name. And He's
known, He didn't just meet Zacchaeus. He knew Zacchaeus as He's known
all of His sheep. from everlasting. His name, written
in the book of life, given to Christ. Zacchaeus was given to
Christ by the Father. And Zacchaeus, just like all
those given to the Father, he will not be lost. He will not
be lost. And he tells Zacchaeus, he says,
you make haste and you come down. Make haste. Don't delay. Oh,
this is urgent. This is urgent. You know, when
Philip was sent after that Ethiopian eunuch, we read that he ran after
him. Philip knew something about that,
about that urgency. Isn't that what we do in a matter
of life or death? That there's no time to waste.
He ran after him and he tells Zacchaeus, he says, you make
haste, you make haste and come down. Remember those cities of
refuge? when a man would kill another
man unaware. He didn't do it intentionally.
But the threat of that manslayer coming after him, there were
those cities of refuge set up to where he could flee, where
he could run away so that the manslayer couldn't catch him
and kill him. I can't imagine a situation where
anyone just doddled along walking to the city of refuge. There's
safety there. There's rest there. I just picture that. They ran
as fast as they could go to the city of refuge. Make haste. Come down. Come down. Humble
yourself. And it's a command. You see that?
He says, come down. He doesn't say, Zacchaeus, would
you come down? He doesn't say, Zacchaeus, Please
come down." He didn't say, I'll help you down if you want me
to. God's not a beggar. He commands. And He commands
in power and He says, Zacchaeus, come down. For this day, I must
abide in thy house. Boy, there's nothing iffy about
that, is there? He said, I must abide. I'm going to abide in
your house, Zacchaeus. And look in verse 6. He made
haste. and He came down and received
him joyfully." Oh, make haste to Christ, our refuge. Christ,
our righteousness. Christ, our peace. Come to Him
for pardon, for life, for salvation. He says, make haste. Make haste
and come to Him. And when they, look at verse
7, when they saw it, these Pharisees, they saw, They all murmured,
saying that he was going to be guest with a man that is a sinner. The Pharisees murmured that Christ
would be guest to a sinner. But you know what? Isn't that
what Christ came to do? He came not to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance. Over in 1 Timothy 1, I want to
have you turn. This is a faithful saying, and
worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus Christ came into the world
to save sinners. Paul says, of whom I'm the chief.
And here, in our text, the Lord's going to save the chief of the
publicans. They may have murmured, but I
tell you what, We read it earlier in verse 6 that Zacchaeus, he
wasn't murmuring, was he? No. No, he received Him joyfully. And listen, over in Luke 15.10,
our Lord said, I say to you, there is joy in heaven in the
presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repented. There's joy in the sinner's heart and to think that The angels
of heaven rejoiced in one of his sheep being brought home. Sinners received joyfully. All that the Father giveth me,
he said, shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. Back to our text. Look at Luke
19, verse 8. And Zacchaeus stood, and he said
unto the Lord, We read earlier that Zacchaeus
was looking, he was looking to see Jesus. But now, he says, Lord, he was looking
for Jesus, but he found the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, half of my
goods I give to the poor. And if I've taken anything from
any man by false accusation, he said, I restore him fourfold. Here we see some evidence that
Christ dwells in this man Zacchaeus. Evidence of salvation. In chapter
18, remember that rich young ruler? There was that rich young
ruler. He asked this question. He said,
what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And our Lord told him,
he said, you obey the commandments. And the fellow said, well, I've
done all that. I've done that from my youth.
from my youth up. I've kept the commandments. And
the Lord says, you go and sell everything you have. Give it
to the poor. And then you come follow me.
What happened to that rich man? He went away sad, didn't he?
He had great possessions. He wasn't taken up with Christ.
He was taken up with himself. He was taken up with what he
had. But here, Zacchaeus, we see him
rejoicing. We see him repenting. We see
him restoring that which he had taken. Not to do some great work,
to be saved, to be seen of men, to be recognized, but as a result
of God's grace in the heart. This wasn't a condition of salvation.
This was evidence that the Lord had saved him. a new heart. How can Christ dwell in a man
and that not be obvious to somebody? Christ dwells in this man's heart.
He's passed from death to life. Verse 9, Jesus said unto him,
this day, this day is salvation come to this house for so much
as he also is a son of Abraham. This day is salvation. Come to
thy house. Salvation is of the Lord. He
can say that. The Lord Jesus Christ can say
that. Salvation is His. He is my salvation from beginning
to end. The sinner is delivered by Christ
and Christ alone. Jesus Christ, who is my salvation. The Lord Jesus Christ who took
my sin upon Himself as my surety, as my substitute, bearing our
sin. Listen, He bore the penalty of
sin. He bore the condemnation of sin. He bore the judgment of sin.
He bore our sins in His body on the cross. And He bore the
wrath of God, allowing God to be both just and justifier. in saving those who are lost,
even a great sinner like Zacchaeus. Do you know any great sinners?
Can you think of any in particular? Lost? Any lost? Well, listen,
there's good news. There's grace for the guilty. There's mercy for the miserable. Salvation for the sinner. God commanded His love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And then verse 10, for the Son
of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. Three things here. We see He
calls Himself the Son of Man. You know, there are many names
our Lord could have used to have described Himself. God's Word
declares Him as the true God, the only true God. He's Emmanuel,
God with us. He's declared to be the eternal
Son of God, the Messiah, the Savior. Call His name Jesus,
for He shall save His people from their sin. The Lord, our
righteousness. He's our prophet, our priest,
our king. He's our wisdom, our righteousness,
our sanctification and redemption. You know, men, we get hung up
on titles, titles for ourselves, titles for others. Our Lord over
in Matthew 23, He spoke to the people. Turn to Matthew 23 with
me. Matthew 23. Look here, beginning in verse
1. Then spake Jesus to the multitude
and to his disciples, saying, The scribes and the Pharisees
sit in Moses' seat. All therefore whatsoever they
bid you observe, that observe and do, but do not after their
works, for they say and they do not. They bind heavy burdens
and grievance to be born and lay them on men's shoulders,
but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.
All their works they do to be seen of men. They make broad
their phylacteries, enlarge the borders of their garments, and
love the uppermost rooms at feast, and the chief seats in the synagogues,
and greetings in the markets, and to be called of men rabbi. Be not called rabbi, he says,
for one is your master, even Christ. And all ye are brethren,
and call no man your father upon the earth, for one is your father
which is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters,
for one is your master, even Christ. But he that is greatest
among you, he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. Luke 19 10. Our Lord declares
Himself the Son of Man in humility. Turn with me to another scripture.
Turn to Philippians 2. Philippians 2, beginning with
verse 5. Let this mind be in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought
it not robbery to be equal with God. But he made himself of no
reputation, took upon him the form of a servant and was made
in the likeness of man. And being found in fashion as
a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross. Wherefore, God also has highly
exalted Him. We're not in the business of
exalting man. We're exalting Him, exalting the Lord Jesus
Christ and giving Him a name which is above every name. That
at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow of things in heaven,
of things in earth, things under the earth, and that every tongue
should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the
Father. Over in 2 Corinthians 8 verse
9, I won't have you read it, but it said, You know the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your
sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be
made rich. And then in John 1.14, the Word
was made flesh and dwelt among us. We beheld His glory as the
only begotten Son of God, full of grace and truth. He's the
Son of Man. The Son of Man. Our Lord called
Himself the Son of Man when He spoke of His death on the cross.
He said as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even
so must the Son of Man be lifted up. God in human flesh. He had to become a man. He was... He's a man. Yet He's God. Who can understand
this? Who can declare? That's all we
can do is declare that, isn't it? God became a man. He knows our troubles, He knows
our sorrows, yet He was without sin. Perfect in every way. The Son of Man. Back in our text. He came to seek and to save. He came with a purpose. He came
to do something. He came to seek and to save.
When the angel of the Lord appeared unto Joseph, the angel spoke
unto him, and he said, Mary's going to have a son. Call his
name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sin. That's
what he's going to do. It doesn't say he came to seek
and make men savable. It doesn't say he came to seek
men and let them accept him if they wanted to. It doesn't say
he came to help men save themselves. He didn't say He'd come seek
and save those who walked down the aisle and shake the preacher's
hand. He came to seek and to save that which was lost. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son
of Man, He came to seek and to save. And through His death and
substitutionary work, what He did, man contributes nothing. All man brings to the equation
is sin. The Lord Jesus Christ, He is
the only Savior of sinners. Turn with me to Acts chapter
4. Look, beginning in verse 1 of
Acts 4. And as they spake unto the people,
the priest and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees
came upon them, being grieved that they taught the people and
preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they laid
hands on them and put hold until the next day, for it was now
eventide, howbeit many of them which heard the word believed.
And the number of men was about five thousand. And it came to
pass on the morrow that the rulers and the elders and the scribes
Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and
as many as were the kindred of the high priest, were gathered
together at Jerusalem. And when they had set them in
the midst, they asked, By what power or by what name have you
done this? And then Peter, filled with the
Holy Ghost, said unto them, You rulers of the people and elders
of Israel, If we this day be examined of the good deed done
to this impotent man, by what means he is made whole? Be it
known unto you all, unto all the people of Israel, that by
the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you've crucified, whom God
raised from the dead, even by Him does this man stand here
before you whole. This is the stone which was set
at Nod of you builders, which has become the head of the corner.
Neither is there salvation in any other. For there is none
other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be
saved. Neither is there salvation in
any other. One name, one name given among
men, whereby we must be saved. He's the sovereign Savior. He can save us, or He can pass
us by. He can give life, or He can withhold
it. It's His. It's His. Over in Luke, that leper, that
one that was full of leprosy. He fell at the Lord's feet and
he said this, Lord, if You will, if You will, You can make me
whole. And the Lord Jesus Christ put
forth His hand and He touched that unclean man. Lord, if You
will, it's Yours. This is Your doing. If You will,
You can make me whole. And the Lord put forth His hand
and touched him saying, I will be thou clean." And immediately
the leprosy departed from him. The Son of Man, He came to seek
and to save. And of those He came to seek
and save, He'll get every one of them. He's not going to lose
one of them. You young ones, you probably
played hide and seek at some point in time. And I remember
the boys used to do this, and every now and then somebody would
find a really good hiding place. And they'd give up, and it seemed
like they'd say something like, come out, come out, wherever
you are. They'd give up, they couldn't find them. Listen, our
Lord Jesus Christ, He knows where each one of them is, and He'll
not lose one. He goes to them where they are,
and He brings them to Himself. He says, I'll not lose. John 6.39. Turn over to John
chapter 6. John chapter 6. Look beginning
with verse 37. Our Lord says, All that the Father
giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. I came down from heaven not to
do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me. And this
is the Father's will which has sent me, that of all which He
has given me I should lose nothing. I'll not lose one, but I'll raise
it up again at the last day. Back to Luke chapter 19. Verse 10. For the Son of Man
has come to seek and to save. Who? Who did He come to seek
and save? That which was lost. My third
point, he came to seek and to save that which was lost. You
know, there are very few people in our day that are lost. And part of the problem is men
will not declare from the pulpit man's lost condition. They want to make excuses for
themselves. They want to make excuse for
man. Preachers have refused to declare man's sinful condition
before God. to not declare, to refuse to
declare what happened in the garden when Adam fell. He sinned against God. He disobeyed
God. God's Word clearly declares that
man is dead in trespasses and sin. And you know by nature,
by nature we even struggle to say we're lost. Maybe I'm the
only one in there that this ever happens to, but you go on a trip
and somewhere along the way you make a wrong turn, and then Abby
or the boys will say, Dan, I don't remember going this way before.
Well, the truth is I've taken a wrong turn and I'm lost. I'm not looking for a new way
to get there, but we can't even admit, is that just me or am
I the only one who does that? We're lost. Our arrogance, our ignorance,
our self-righteousness, it will not let us say that we're lost. And listen, before Almighty God,
we've done far worse than just taking the wrong exit. We've
sinned against Him. We have disobeyed God. David said this, he said, against
thee and thee only have I sinned and done this evil. this wickedness
in your sight. Sinners by birth, sinners by
choice, sinners by practice. It's what we are. Romans 6.23
says this, that the wages of sin is death. And listen, if God's pleased
to reveal to me my lost condition, I'll know that. I'll know I'm
a sinner. Oh, I have no righteousness? I have no hope. I'm dead in trespasses
and sin. I'm a sinner. And if He doesn't
seek me out and save me, that's where I'll remain. Dead in trespasses
and sin. Are you lost? Oh, I pray that
God would reveal to each and every one of us our lost condition. Oh, that He would He would show
that to us. Let us see that. For the Son
of Man came to seek and to save.