Good morning. If y'all would
turn to Luke 19. Luke 19. Express how happy Jamie and I
are to be here with y'all. Never been up here before. It's
the first time, you know, you got kids, it's hard to travel
around. You guys know what I'm talking about. It's a pleasure
to be here. Luke 19, we're going to consider the story of Zacchaeus
this morning. Zacchaeus. Luke in verse one,
let me just read the story to you real quick. 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 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 it 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 unto
the poor, and if I have taken anything from any man by false
accusation, I restore him fourfold. And Jesus said unto him, This
day is salvation come to this house, forasmuch as he also is
a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to
seek and to save that which was lost. The story of Zacchaeus. And I love this story because
I think we get to see the conversion of one of the Lord's elect in
real time. And there's really just three things I want to consider
in this story this morning. First is, what is the character
of this man who is called? Zacchaeus, this man whom the
Lord called, what was his character? And second, let's talk about
the call, the call of irresistible, invincible grace, the call that
Zacchaeus received. And third, very simply, I pray
this day that the Lord would give us the grace that we would
be able to examine ourselves, and we might leave here knowing
whether we had been called, whether I'd been called. So if you look
back up at verses one and two, and I'm gonna reread the verses
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. We get a little bit of information
about Zacchaeus in the first couple verses here, and mainly
his occupation. He was a publican. A publican,
what's that? Well, during this period in time,
the Jewish state, Israel, was under Roman rule, Roman dominion.
These publicans were tax collectors. Tax collectors, they were Jews,
who would become tax collectors for the Romans against their
own people. And the Jewish people hated these publicans. They would
go to their own people, the Jewish people, and say, OK, you owe
Caesar $100, 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've
done something wrong. They're going to come arrest you. These men were
extortioners. This is how they made their money. And if you
look at this word publican in the scripture, time and time
again, it's followed by the word harlot, or the word sinner. And
so the first thing I notice here is the character of this man
whom you will recall. He was a publican. He was a sinner.
Now that's a word we use a lot. It's a word we hear a lot. What
does that mean though? What does that mean? What does
it mean to be a sinner? Let's see what the Lord has to
say about it. Turn to Genesis 6 verse 5. Genesis 6 verse 5. What is it? to be a sinner. 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. Speaks of the heart. What is
the heart? That's what we're referring to. It's not talking about the
organ in the chest that holds blood. It's talking about the
whole man. Speaks of everything. Speaks
of the actions. Speaks of the thoughts. Speaks of the intentions,
the motives, the desires. The natural will speaks of the
whole man. What does the Lord have to say about it? Every imagination
of the thoughts of our heart are only evil in that continuum.
All I do is sin. And it's sin because it comes
from me. Now, does anyone else here fit that description? Is
that you? If it is, there's really good
news. Turn to Mark 2. Mark 2 and look at verse 17. If every imagination of the thoughts
of your heart is only evil continually, you will find this to be good
news. 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 to repentance. Folks, this is the good news.
If you are a sinner, If you are one who every imagination of
the thoughts of your heart are only evil continually, you are
the one who the Lord has come to call. Now, it says, I came
not to call the righteous. What's meant there? Because the
scripture says there's none righteous, no, not one. So what's meant?
This type of righteousness is a estimation of yourself. Men
who are righteous in their own estimate. Men who believe that
they can accomplish their own salvation. That maybe they can
contribute to their salvation in some form. Or most subtly,
if you put me in the right circumstances, line up my circumstances just
right, maybe just maybe, I could produce a good book. That's a
righteous man. The Lord said, that's the man
I have not come to call. He came to call sinners. Now,
a thought on this thing of being called. If you would, turn over
to 2 Timothy 1, and look at verse 8. There's an order by which things
take place, and I'd like to show it to you concerning this call.
2 Timothy 1 verse 8, 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, don't miss this, 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 before the world began." Notice the order there. He saved
us and He called us. Now, noting that order, what
that means is if I have not been called, if I have not been called
with this call of irresistible, invincible grace, that means
I have not been saved. And in understanding that, I
want to know something about this call. I want to know if I've been called.
If I've been called. So if you would, turn back to
Luke 19, and pick up in verse 3. Verses 3 through 6 is an illustration
of this effectual call, this call of irresistible, invincible
grace. And he sought to see Jesus who
he was, and 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. That is an illustration of the
effectual call, the call of irresistible, invincible grace. Now understand
that is different than the general call. There is a general call
that the Lord issues to every man that is born in this world
where he declares that he is and that he should be sought.
There is a general call. And we see this general call
in many ways, but there's two ways specifically from the scripture I see most
clearly, I want to show them to you. Go to turn to Romans
1 verse 20. Romans 1 verse 20, we're talking
about the general call. The general call. 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. It's part of the general call.
And how many times you walked out, let's say, into the woods,
and you saw the trees. Maybe you saw, like, a river
go by. You looked at the mountains. Maybe you walked on your back
deck at night, and you looked up and you saw all the stars
in the sky. Perhaps you were in the delivery room, and you
saw your child being born. And he has stood in awe, knowing
that an all-wise and all-powerful being had created all this. We
see that all the time, don't we? Well, every man sees this.
Every man sees this. Every man sees the creation,
he knows that there is an all-wise and all-powerful being that created
all this. And he should seek Him. But you
know what? He won't. He will not do wars
against Him. He can't. He lacks the spiritual
ability. And he doesn't. Don't understand
the fact that we won't, we can't, and by nature we don't. It's
all our fault. All our fault. Part of the general
call. Give you another example of the general call, turn it
over to Romans 2. Romans 2, look at verse 14. For when the Gentiles, which have
not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law,
these having not the law are a law unto themselves. which
show the work of the law written in their hearts, the conscience
also bearing witness in their thoughts, and meanwhile, accusing
or else excusing one another. Now, this passage tells us that
the Lord writes his holy law on the hearts of every man born
in this world. Every man born in this world
knows right from wrong. He knows it's wrong to kill. It's wrong
to steal. It's wrong to commit sexual sin. When we sin, when
we transgress against that law, what happens? Our conscience
burns inside of us and bears witness of our sin. If you backtrack
this thought, knowing that all men know the law, then we must
know that there is one who created the law, and we must know that
we are accountable to him, and we should seek him. Yet, we won't. By nature, we will not. We can't,
spiritually unable, and we don't, by nature. The fact that we won't,
we can't, and we don't, once again, it's all Now understand,
this general call, this call has never been obeyed. Never
once. No man has ever come to a saving knowledge of the Lord
Jesus Christ through this general call. You also understand this,
there's no such thing as an atheist. Not deep down. There's no such
thing. Man says he doesn't believe there's
a God. He's lying. He's not being honest. Now, remember
this story. So I had a boss one time who
claimed to be a very staunch atheist. He said, there's no
God. There is no God. And we're sitting in the office,
and he walks in one day, and he's carrying a book, and he's
very proud of this book. And the title of this book is, How Jesus Became
God. And the purpose of this book
was to deny the very deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
the whole purpose of the book. And he's sitting there, he's talking
with another guy about this book, and he's very proud of it. And I
had this one thought as he's having this conversation. This
one thought. For a guy who believes there
is no God, you are spending an awful lot of time thinking about
him. I mean, honestly, if there is
no God, why research the topic? Why buy the book? Who are you
trying to convince? He's trying to convince himself.
He knows there's a God. He doesn't like there is a God. And he would
dethrone him if he could, but before I am too poor to mandate.
Understand this, that's me, and that's you, apart from the sovereign
grace of God. That's us. It's a general call,
but the general call is different than the effectual call, the
call of irresistible, invincible grace, the call that Zacchaeus
received. Now, I have three thoughts on this effectual call that we
see through this story, three points really. First, I noticed
it was personal. It was personal. Second, I noticed
it produced obedience. And third, I noticed it was gracious.
It was gracious. So if you look back up at verse
three, it talks about the press or the crowd that followed the
Lord as they walked through Jericho. That's what that word press means,
it means crowd. And so you have to understand that the Lord at
this time, he was famous. He was very famous. The tales
of his miracles had been spread abroad, and men were always seeking
him, always thronging to him for temporal blessings. They
may have heard that he had fed many, and they were hungry. They
may have heard that he had healed many, and they were sick. They
were always thronging the Lord and seeking him for temporal
blessings. They always had a great interest
in him for this reason. But if you notice here, 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 kind of
begs the question, and I think it's a fair question, why Zacchaeus?
Why any sinner, for that matter? If you want to make it more personal,
I'll put your name right in there. Why Aaron? Why Sean? Why any
of us? The Lord actually answers that
in verse 9 of Luke 19. Look down there. And Jesus said unto him, This
day is salvation come to this house, for so much as he also
is a son of Abraham. Now what does it mean to be a
son of Abraham? Was the Lord saying that because
Zacchaeus was born in the Jewish state, Israel, that he would
receive salvation? Because his mother and father
were true Jews, that he had true Jewish blood flowing through
his veins. Is that what was meant? No. No, the Lord passed by many
true Jews. Look at the Pharisees. They were
born in the state. He passed them by. So what does
this mean? What does it mean to be a son of Abraham? Turn
to Galatians 3 and look at verse 26. Galatians 3, 26. 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, for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be
Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to
the promise. Who are these seeds of Abraham?
They are those who be Christ's. Those he died for, those he purchased,
his elect people. Well, who are these elect and
called people? Familiar passage of scripture, turn to Romans
8, point to verse 29. Most of you can probably recite this. Who are these elect and called? Verse 29 of Romans 8, 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 are those that
the father foreknew and those he predestinated. Two terms to
describe it. Foreknown and predestinated.
What does it mean to be foreknown? This word no, as y'all well know this,
this word no, when it pops up in the scripture, it doesn't
normally speak of just being able to identify somebody. I
can tell that's Sean. I know Sean Thornberry. I can
see him. I can identify him. It speaks of a greater relationship,
as if Adam knew his wife Eve. Adam loved Eve. He spoke of an
intimate relationship with her. That's what this word no means.
It speaks of love. So when it says the Father foreknew us,
it simply means to be loved before. Before when? before the foundation
of the world. Before the foundation of the
world, Zacchaeus was loved by God the Father as Zacchaeus was
in Christ. And every believer has always
been in a union with the Lord Jesus Christ. I don't understand
that. I don't understand how that works. I just know it's
true. It is in the scripture. But this also expresses our hope
of salvation, our complete hope, our union with Christ, that when
he lived, when he lived that perfect life, When he walked
the paths of righteousness completely, and he honored his father in
all things, and he kept the law, every jot and tittle, I was in
him. And that's when I lived. And
that righteousness he worked out, that is my righteousness.
That is your righteousness before God himself. It really is yours.
Then when he died, when he went to the cross, and when he was
made the sins of his people, and when he was punished and
he died, I was in him, and that's when I was punished. And that's
when I died. And when He was raised from the
dead, signifying the full satisfaction for the remains of the Father,
truly, it is finished. That's when I was raised from
the dead. And right now, as Christ sits at the right hand of the
Father in glory, sharing all the Father's favor, all His love,
all the perfect communion with Him, that's really where we sit
right now. Don't understand that, but it's
absolutely true. It's where we sit right now, seated at the
right hand of God. It was the eternal love of God
the Father that had directed this call, Zacchaeus the son,
to Pornhom. Pornhom, and he predestinated
him. Predestinated. What does this mean? Predestinated
means to be determined beforehand to an exact end. Once again,
before when? Before the foundation of the
world. Before the foundation of the world, God the Father
looked at the son and said, Zacchaeus is yours, and he's mine. And you're going to go and you're
going to redeem him. And you're going to purchase him and return
him to me safe and sound, not one scratch on him. And you know
what the son said? I will. I will. We're talking
about election here. Election. God and his sovereignty
choosing a people unto salvation before the world began. And the
world hates election, don't they? They say it's unfair. It's unfair. How could a loving God save some
and pass by others? How can that be fair? Well, to
answer that, I would invite you for a moment to look to the cross. The one time the Lord removed
the restraints and men were allowed to do what they wanted to do
with God. Here's what we did. We nailed
him to a pole, we shoved a spear in his side, and we mocked him
as he bled and died. And if you want to know the truth
about you and me, here it is. If we had been there and the
Lord removed the restraints, I would have shoved the spear inside
myself. That's how bad we really are. I don't marvel that the
Lord would pass by some. I marvel He saved any of us.
What if it was your child? This call was personal. It was
personal. It wasn't only personal, it produced obedience. The Lord
said to Zacchaeus, Zacchaeus, make haste. and come down. What was Zacchaeus' reaction
to this? Did he sit up in his tree and be like, well, that's
an interesting offer. That is certainly enticing. I'm going
to sit up here, and I'm going to mill that over. And perhaps,
as an act of my free will, I might come down. I might obey your
command. Is that how the story goes? He said Zacchaeus come
down, and he made haste, and he came down. You see, this call
is always obeyed. It's a coming down, coming down
from lofty thoughts of a personal righteousness. lofty thoughts
of a free will, lofty thoughts of any salvation based on our
own personal merit. We come down from all that and
we come to the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ, the place of safety,
the places of security, the safe place of salvation. And when
I hear this call, while it is absolutely true that I must come
down, I have no choice. You ever hear this call, you're
going to come. No choice. I have no choice. Tell you what,
I want no other choice. I've got nowhere else to go.
Where would I go? I'm going to go back to the wall,
the wall that condemns me. It says he's guilty. I've got
all the evidence right here. He's guilty. I'm going to go
to the wall. Where am I going to go? I come
to defeat the Lord Jesus Christ. I have no choice, and I want
no choice. And he received him joyfully.
I'll tell you what, if you're a sinner, if you're a man who
every imagination of the thoughts of your heart is only evil and
that continually, if you have nothing to bring, then this coming
down, this call, this is good news. good news that I get to
just come as I am and all my sin and all my wretchedness just
as I am. It's called produced obedience.
Third thing I noticed in this call was gracious. It was gracious. The Lord told him Zacchaeus come
down and then he tells him why. He says for today I must abide
at thy house. Now I would ask this question. Had Zacchaeus done anything to
earn or merit our Lord's favor in any way? Had he earned it
at all? He had the favor and the presence
of God himself. Had he earned it in any way?
You say, no, Zacchaeus was a publican. Zacchaeus was a sinner. There
was nothing meritorious about Zacchaeus in any way. No, this
was an act of sheer and sovereign grace. He came to him the way
he was. And while I have no doubt that
the Lord actually dwelled in Zacchaeus' physical house that
day, I think the greater application is that He dwelt in his heart.
Let me show you this from the Scripture eternity, Ezekiel 36.
The Lord calls a man, the Lord saves
a man, He gives him a new heart. We'll see this. Ezekiel 36 and
look at verse 26. 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 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 come to this publican who had earned nothing, and he
would dwell with him. And not just with him, but in
him. He gives him a new heart. And that's where the Lord rules
and reigns, in His people, in their heart. And I have a vested
interest in this new heart, because I want Him to rule and reign
in me. Because where He rules and reigns, there's peace, there's
love, there's faith, there's joy, there's contentment. And
I need all those things. What an act of grace is this. So we'll wrap this up. So I hope
that the question is kind of lingering on your hearts and
minds right now is, has He called me? Has he called me? Can we know him? Let me ask you
two questions. Just two questions. Let's see
how we fare here. Number one, are you a sinner?
Truly, is every imagination of the thoughts of your heart only
evil in that continuum? Everything you do is sin, and
it's sin because it comes from me. It comes from you. Is your sin
all your fault? No room to blame Adam. No room
to blame the sovereignty of God. Are you a sinner? A real sinner?
That's the first question. The second question is this.
Do you call on his name? Let me back this up with the
scripture. Turn if you would to 1 Corinthians
1, verse 1. 1 Corinthians 1, look in verse
1. Paul called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will
of God. And Sosthenes, our brother, unto
the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified
in Christ Jesus, don't miss this, called to be saints. With all
that in every place, call upon the name of Jesus Christ, our
Lord, both theirs and ours. What did the called do? They
called. I would ask you right now, are
you calling on his name? Are you calling on him to save you
with no help from you in a manner to where he gets all the glory
and you just reap all the benefits? Are you calling on his name?
Are you a sinner? Because if the answer is yes,
and yes, you know what that means? It means you're a son of Abraham. You're a called child of God.
and the Lord has purchased you back to himself.