If you will, turn with me to
Luke chapter 19. We're beginning a new chapter this
morning, but it's actually a continuation of the last several chapters
in the book of Luke. And as we examine these verses,
I want us to all ask ourselves this question, because this is
where this winds up. Will Christ abide with us. Let's read these verses together.
Luke chapter 19 verse 1. 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, that is, he
got out in front of the crowd, in front of the multitude. And
he 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, the multitude,
and in particular the Pharisees, the unconverted They all murmured,
saying that he was gone to be guest with a man that is 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've taken anything from any man by false accusation,
I restore him for a fault. 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 has come to
seek and to save that which was lost. Now let me just briefly
give you seven things I see in the salvation of this man Zacchaeus. The first thing I see is a fallen
man. He's a fallen man. He's a sinner. I don't know why it shocks folks
when they see a person of God or Christ, the chief servant
of God, should go to visit a sinner. He came into this world to save
sinners. That's why he came. He said,
thank not that I come to call the righteous. I've not come
to call the righteous. I've come to call sinners to
repentance. Sinners is the reason for his
appearing here. And yet men, they're shocked
by it. They're shocked by it. But this
is a fallen man. He's a man subject to sin and
Satan and the world. And what do I mean by this? I mean that whatever traits he
may have had were of no advantage to him. He was a rich man. He
was a successful man. He was a smart man. No doubt
he was at the top of his class. He was the chief among Republicans. He was no dummy. He had good
sense about him, good business sense. He had a lot of natural
traits going for him. And no doubt this man worked
his way to the top. And he was a man feared and respected
by others. But those things have no bearing
on salvation. None whatsoever. And then he
had some things going against him. He was a rich man. The Bible
says quite a bit about the rich man. It tells us that his love
of money is the root of all evil. How hardly shall they who have
riches enter into the kingdom of God. It's easier for a camel
to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter
into the kingdom of God. And here's another thing, he
was small in stature. Boy, if that don't describe every
one of us. We're so small and insignificant.
Like Nebuchadnezzar, we got them fingers in them overalls. Boy,
we think we're something at the moment. We've done this. We've
said this. We've gone here. Boy, in goes
the thumbs and back goes the head. We're so insignificant. So insignificant. So small of
stature. How small and insignificant is
man outside of Christ? Job likens man to a maggot. To a maggot. You look up that
word worm that he uses and see if I'm not telling you the truth.
That word is maggot. Our Lord said that we were nothing
but pipsqueaks in His sight. The nations, He said, just a
drop of the bucket. Nobody knows what that means
today. I bet you, you pull the bucket up out of the well, dump
that water out in the pitcher and whatever's left, you don't
sit there shaking it and getting it out with a rag. The drop of
the bucket just goes back into the well. That's what he said
the nation was to him, just a drop of the bucket. When you go down
there and they're weighing in your silver and you're going
to exchange this stuff, they got a little set of weights there
and they call it the balances. There's a small dust that gets
on the balance. They don't even bother wiping
it off. It doesn't even affect the measurement. That's what
he says about us. He said, Who art thou, O man? That replies against God. Who
are you? Can you imagine? Go out here
and there's an old dead possum. He's full of maggots. One of
them maggots stands up and looks you up in the face. And start
telling you, why did you do this? What are you doing this for?
Huh? That's man. That's what our Lord
said. Who art thou, old man, that replies
against God? Nations, a drop of the bucket.
The isles, He said, just a small thing. And all the inhabitants
of the earth together, just grasshoppers. Oh, how small and insignificant
is man. outside of Christ. So I see here
a man. See him in his proper light.
He's a man. He's a sinner. And see him as God sees him.
The second thing I see here is the Savior. It's insignificant
to me that Or it's significant to me. I didn't mean to say it's
not significant. It's significant to me that the
Word of God says Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. Now think about this. This is
the Savior. He come to seek and to save that which was lost.
And He comes into this big city, Jericho. Popular city. Lots of construction things going
on in Jericho. Jericho was the place to go.
And our Lord just came up to Jericho, went through Jericho,
and was on His way out. Now how's that significant? Well,
Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people
from their sins. This is the Savior coming through
that city. Not just the son of a carpenter
passing through Jericho, this is the promised redeemer. Him
whose name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the
Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. He's going to sit on
his throne and by his authority order his kingdom, all his kingdoms
and parishes, and establish it with judgment and justice. That's
what the prophet said. And his passing through is as
significant as his pausing to speak to Zacchaeus. That's what
I want you to see. When nothing happened today,
oh yes it did. If the gospel was preached, something
happened. You might not recognize it. Might
not have been anybody said, but something happened. Something
happened. His passing through is every
bit as significant as His thoughts. And the blind man knew it, didn't
he? Jesus, Thy Son of David, have mercy on me. Our Lord said to His disciples,
Whom do men say that I am? And boy, they said Him in a good
light. Some say you're Jeremiah, some say you're Elijah, some
say you're Moses. One of the prophets gave him
the highest honor they knew. He said, whom do you say that
I am? Peter said, thou art Christ, the Son of the living God. The
Savior entered and passed through Jericho, the Son of God, walked
through that city, and nothing happened. I wonder how many cities
this could be said of as the gospel of Christ entered and
passed through their streets. Here's the Savior coming to save
sinners, seeking to save them that are lost. And I wonder this
morning if I truly realize who He is, why He's here, and what
He intends to do. Maybe one day somebody will say,
Jesus came and passed through Louisville. Might be. Might be. And then thirdly, I
want us to see this event in its proper context. Our Lord
had just sent a rich man packing, didn't he? He came. He said his say. The Lord told
him what he needed, what he asked him. If I'm going to save myself,
what do I need to do? Well, you need to keep the law.
Oh, I've already done that. He sent him back. And he did
so to demonstrate the utter impossibility of a man contributing anything
to his salvation. Also, this rich young ruler demonstrated
how hardly a rich man can be saved. Salvation is a surrendering
to the Lord Jesus Christ. If you surrender, everything
you have is surrendered. You need to understand that.
You're not going to sit all your stuff over here beside and you're
going to surrender and then your stuff is going to be over there.
No, if you surrender, everything goes with you. The whole house. He said, how hard it be easier
for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich
man. to enter into the kingdom of God. But now he's going to
demonstrate that he is God and he can do what's impossible with
man. He just finished telling them
what is impossible with man is possible with God. Now he's going
to demonstrate it. He will, in fact, make the camel
pass through the eye of the needle. That's what he's going to do.
And salvation as it's performed in the giving of faith is nothing
short of a miracle. It's a miracle of God. False
religion has taken that glorious work of God and turned it into
nothing but a decision. Exercise of your will. Talks about redemption and reconciliation
as if they were groceries on the shelf. Anytime you want them,
You can just go down there at the store and get what you want
and put it in your basket. It ain't so. These things are
gifts of God. And that's exactly what that
rich young ruler thought. He thought, well I'll just go
down here to Jesus and I'll get this and get that and I'll finish
completing my plan of salvation. Religion,
worldly religion, false religion tells men and women that God
wants to save everybody. He wants to save everybody. Why didn't He save Judas? He
didn't want to. Is that too hard? Huh? He'll save whom He will. They say that Christ died for
the sins of every son of Adam, and the success or failure of
God's purpose and work in Christ rests in the decisions of the
sinner. What a bunch of malarkey. How
ignorant man is of God. Where does his ignorance lie?
Everywhere. He's ignorant of the character
of God. He's ignorant of the purpose of God. He's ignorant
of the nature of sin. Ignorant of the means of salvation
and ignorant of the way of life. They said, show us the Father,
we'll be satisfied. Have you been so long time with
me? Have you not seen the Father? I am the way. Show us the way. We don't know the way. I am the
way. And the truth. Tell us the truth. He said, I
am the truth. Give us eternal life. I am life. One old evangelist used to say,
and I agree with him, God saves men against their will with their
full consent. That's exactly what he does. Zacchaeus had nothing stirred
in him but curiosity. You say, Lord's been working
on him. You know, he had this going for
him and that going for him. I get so depressed when these
old writers start talking about all the things he had going for
him. He didn't have anything going for him. He had a sinful
curiosity. He was a rich man. He knew everybody
there, he knew all about them, and this man's fame was going
like a bonfire, and he wanted to see it. He wanted to see what
he was all about, what he looked like, why are people following
him? He wanted to see, he was curious. The only thing stirred
in him was curiosity, and he wanted to see this man called
Jesus, whose fame was spreading like wildfire, and here's the
reality of the situation. Thousands of years of prophecy
are being fulfilled in every step our Savior took. Every word
our Savior said was a fulfillment of Scripture and prophecy. Thousands
of years being fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth. God and man in one
glorious person had appeared as a babe in a stable. God with us. The God-man mediato. And he appeared as a federal
head and representative, one like Adam, called the second
Adam. One who was and is in covenant
union with his people. Those chosen in him before the
world was given to him by the Father, made provision for by
the Father. One about whom all the inspired
Word of God is written. All the promises given to Abraham
were given to his seed, which is Christ, Galatians 3.16. None other name unto heaven given
among men, whereby we must be saved. And add to that what he
says in 2 Thessalonians 2.13, that God had from the beginning
chosen them to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit
and belief of the truth, and called them with his gospel.
called us out of darkness into his marvelous light, called us
from death unto life. And 1 Thessalonians 2.13 says
this, What you heard of us you received not as the word of men,
but as it is in truth the word of God, which effectually also
worketh in you that believe. What you heard of us, Paul said,
works effectually in you who believe. Think of the wonder, the grace,
the mercy, and power manifested when Jesus of Nazareth passed
by. And then I see in this meeting
the sovereign election of God manifested. We're not told whether
Zacchaeus was a Jew or a Gentile. And both held offices as publicans. Both were sometimes chosen to
that office. He found Matthew sitting at the
receipt of customs. But here he plainly tells us
that Zacchaeus is the son of Abraham. How'd he get to be a
son? Sovereign election, isn't it?
No, you say he's a son because, no. Because you were sons, God
sent forth his spirit. The sending forth of His Spirit
didn't make you a son. You were already a son chosen
in Christ, redeemed in Christ, and then God sent His Spirit.
Because you're sons, He sent forth His Spirit, the Spirit
of Christ. And therefore you cry, Abba,
Father. He was a sinner in the eyes of
false religion, verse 7, but a son, verse 9, and the heir
of the promise of God. And I see God's election so prominent
in the scriptures, and I believe it so strongly that I sometimes
forget how foreign it is to natural man. It's on every page, isn't
it? Boy, the first time I read it,
I thought, that can't be. I'm not understanding that right. And then I'd read a little bit
more. And then I read over in Romans. He said, before these
two were ever born or ever did any good and evil, that the purpose
of God according to election might stand, it was said unto
her, the elder is going to serve the younger. As it's written,
Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated. He said that before
they were born. Election is at the heart of salvation
as a chosen bride is at the heart of a husband's love. You think
on that. Honey, I love you just like I
do all the other men in the world. Try that on sometime, see how
that works. That's so ridiculous, isn't it?
But that's what we want to say in religion, that's exactly what
they say. Because this man was chosen of
God, Christ said to him, come down, for I must abide at thy
house. Sixthly, I see in this blessed
meeting a glimpse of God's providential grace, His provenient grace.
Oh, how the mind begins to see the little details when God gives
him eyes to see. I wondered why that happened,
why this happened, why this split, why this disagreement, why I
had to move, why this argument, why this, why that. Boy, when
He gives you eyes to see, huh? What do you see? I see His pervenient
grace moving me toward His Son. Is that what you see in your
past? Oh, I do. Every detail of it. Every detail
of this man's life was necessary to the saving of his soul. And
there was a time in religion when I longed to go back and
change some things. But not now. I wouldn't change
a thing. Now I see these things necessary
for the saving of my soul and necessary to bring me to Christ.
Prevenient grace brought this man to the Savior. Preserved
him from death. A lot of people wanted to kill
those tax collectors. Preserved him from death and
provided the means for him to be saved. I want you to think
about something. That tree, that sycamore tree,
why did he call it a sycamore tree? Because God created that
sycamore tree for that man of little stature to climb. That's
why. Boy, you say that's ridiculous,
is it? That tree wasn't there by accident. Its limbs were at just the right
height for a man of small stature to climb. He was exactly at the
right location. That tree was exactly where it
needed to be. And he ran before, and he climbed
up into the sycamore tree to see him, for he was to pass that
way. That tree was in the way, right
where he needed to be. Providence dictated the way he'd
pass, and pervenient grace provided the tree. And the sinner didn't
know anything about either one of them, but he climbed up that
tree. And here's another thing, God's irresistible calling. What's
an irresistible call? It's a call that results in obedience. That's an irresistible call.
Our Lord said, to whom you yield yourselves servants to obey,
his servants you are to whom you obey, whether of sin unto
death or obedience unto righteousness. But God bethanked you were the
servants of sin. So what happened? What brought
about the change? But you have obeyed from the
heart that former doctrine which was delivered you, the doctrine
of Christ, the doctrine of grace, the doctrine of Christ crucified,
the doctrine of substitution, representation imputed righteousness,
and you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was
delivered you, being then made free from sin. How so? Freed from its consequences,
freed from its governing power, freed from its chains of bondage.
Being made free from sin, you become the servants of righteousness.
You obeyed. You obeyed, and you have a principle
of obedience in you. Jesus said to Zacchaeus, here's
the demonstration of an effectual calling. He looked up to Zacchaeus
and he said, Zacchaeus, make haste and come down. What did
Zacchaeus do? He made haste and come down.
Ain't that what it says? He did exactly what Christ told
him to do. And then he tells him, I must
abide at thy house. How did he react? He received
him joyfully. And then I'll close with this,
a change of attitude. Our Lord didn't tell this man
to do anything. He told the rich man what to
do. He said, what yet do I lack? Well, you lack one thing. Take
all your money, get rid of it, give it to the poor. Sell everything
you got, give it to the poor. Take up your cross and follow
me. He didn't tell this man to do
anything. All he said was, I'm coming. I titled this message,
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. Our Lord came there to eat. I'm coming down to your house,
and I'm going to abide in your house. He didn't say anything
about saving him. He said he was a child of Abraham. Did he understand what he told
him? I think he did. I think he understood. He told
him he's an heir. He's as much a child as any saved
man in Christ. But he didn't tell him to do
anything. He said, I'm coming down to your house. And when
he said that, he said, Lord, I'm half. He was a rich man now. He wasn't poor. He was rich.
He said, half of everything I've got, I'm going to give to the
poor. And if I've done anything by false accusation, if I've
cheated anybody, you reckon he did as a tax collector? Well,
yeah, he cheated everybody. But he said, if I've cheated
anybody by false accusation, I'm going to restore him fourfold.
Nobody told him he had to do that. Why'd he do that? The presence of our Lord abiding
in his house. Oh, my soul. And this is a rich man talking
tight with his money. How different a believer is in
character when the Lord abides in his house. His house becomes
the house of grace. His house becomes the house of
mercy. His house becomes a welcome home. Come in. Be in tonight. Abraham
told them strangers. He told his servants, you go
kill the calves. You make ready. Bring the wine.
Huh? A generous house, a merciful
house, a kind house. What makes it that way? Our Lord
does. Our Lord does. Well, how does
He abide in the house? By His Spirit. By His Spirit. Here's the miracle of faith.
You want to see the miracle of faith? Here it is. Christ in
you. The hope of glory. sitting at the head of the table, influencing all that abide within. Oh, may the Lord of glory do
such a work in us today for His name's honor and glory. Amen.