Luke chapter 19. We'll read the
first 10 verses. And Jesus entered and passed
through Jericho. He wasn't there very long. 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 of
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 guessed 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 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 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. As we read in verse 1,
Jesus is passing through Jericho. In chapter 18, verse 40, we read
that he came to Jericho, verse 35 rather,
and it came to pass that he was come nigh unto Jericho, and a
certain blind man was there. Verse 40, hearing the cry of
this poor blind man for mercy, we read that Jesus stood, stood,
and commanded him to be brought unto him. He performed a miracle
as he entered Jericho, and now he performs another miracle as
he leaves Jericho. There's no limit, is there, to
omnipotence. No limit to he who possesses
all power. There's no lack, can never be
a lack of he of whom it was written, he's full of grace and truth. Always, always. Verse 2, we read,
and behold, behold. Every time I see that word, I
visualize a caution light. It doesn't mean stop the gas
and get through as quick as you can. That doesn't work, I found
out. It means to pause, slow down,
prepare to stop. Behold, look at this wonder. Christ not only comes to Jericho,
an accursed city of all places, but he comes to Zacchaeus of
all people. He came on purpose that day for
this specific reason, to find a Zodkius of all people. Zacchaeus, it seems to me, came
merely out of curiosity. Like most of the people that
followed that day, the press, the multitude, they came out
of curiosity, following the crowd. Oh, but the Lord of glory, he
came on a mission of mercy. Zacchaeus may have came for curiosity's
sake, but our Lord came with salvation to bring to this chief
among the publicans. Our text will be taken from verses
9 and 10. Two things. In verse 9, it speaks
of this great salvation. And verse 10 tells us very plainly
the reason for it. The reason for it. What was done
to this sinner, Zacchaeus, and the reason that it was done.
It could well be described as every believer's biography, could
it not? Could it not? Every child of
God can identify with this. It's a saved sinner's biography. It's a day to remember. This
was a day that Zacchaeus would never forget. as long as he lived. A day to remember. Oh, happy
day. The hymn writer wrote, happy
day, oh, happy day, when Jesus washed my sins away. Never been a day like that. Never
been a day like that, and made me to know it, that he had washed
my sins away. Often, when our Lord spoke of
the real reason of his coming into this world, his disciples
didn't understand it. Look again at chapter 18. You
have an example of that right here at verse 31. Then he took
unto him the twelve and said unto them, We go up to Jerusalem,
and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the
Son of Man shall be accomplished. There's no question about it.
As John read to us a moment ago from Acts 4, everything was determined,
the counsel of God beforehand. Verse 32, for he shall be delivered
unto the Gentiles, and he shall be mocked and spitefully entreated
and spit upon. and they shall scourge him and
put him to death and the third day he shall rise again. That too is a fact. That too
is without question. He shall rise again. Then look at verse 34, and they
understood none of these things. They understood none of these
things. It's speaking of his disciples. And this saying was
hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken. It just didn't enter into their
concept, their idea of what the Messiah was coming into the world
to do. They believed him to be the Messiah.
As Peter said, we know who you are. You're the Christ, you're
God's anointed, you're the sent one, the son of the living God.
But why he came? They didn't understand. They
looked for him to set up an earthly kingdom. Remember what he said
to Pilate when he stood before him as our substitute, as he
stood before him as the shepherd of the sheep. He said, if my
kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight that
I shouldn't be delivered unto you. But my kingdom is not of
this world. And so it is. Even here, look,
if you will, at verse 11 of chapter 19 again. When our Lord spoke
of his mission, look how the people mistook it. And as they
heard these things, he added and spake a parable because he
was nigh to Jerusalem and because they thought that the kingdom
of God should immediately appear. They were wrong. What was the
reason? What was the reason that God
became man? Now, don't let that go by too
quick. Think about that. God became man. The eternal God. He who had no
beginning. I can't get my little brain wrapped
around that, can you? He had no beginning and had no
end. He became man. He who spoke all
into existence. John said that made everything
that is made and nothing that is made was made without him.
He did it all. He became a man. He became flesh
and bone. That babe in the manger, in the
arms of Mary, that little dark-skinned Jewish male infant is nothing
less than God Almighty. He never ceased to be God. Yes, his glory was veiled, but
he never ceased being the mighty God, the everlasting Father,
the Prince of Peace. Think of that. He who was rich,
became poor. He who knew that it wasn't robbery
thought it not robbery to be equal with God, yet took upon
himself the form of a servant and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. Imagine that, such great condescension. What a stoop! Why? Why did he do that? What was
the purpose of that? Did he come to be an example
of morality? Did he come to give us an example
how to obey the golden rule? Was he just a martyr? No. No. He came to save his people
from their sins. That's what Gabriel told Joseph.
That was his mission of the Son of Man. As he said here, I've
come to seek and to save that which was lost. Paul said Christ
Jesus came into the world for one purpose only, to save sinners. He's the great shepherd of the
sheep, God in that everlasting covenant of grace. gave the sheep
to him, the great shepherd, and he became responsible for them. Turn back, if you will, or rather
turn over to John's Gospel, chapter 6. Let's read these precious
verses again, the words of the great shepherd. Listen to what
he says. He tells us very plainly here.
what his mission was. And notice how he speaks as he
always did with certainty. No ifs, no babies, no perchances. Oh, no, but with absolute certainty.
Verse 37. Well, let's read verse 36. But I said unto you that ye also
have seen me and believed not. You believed not. Does that make
God's purpose void? Does that make the mission of
the Son of Man to be a failure because they believed not? Oh,
no. Look what he says. All that the
Father giveth me shall come to me. You may not come. You will not come. You believe
not. But all that the Father gave
me, when did he give them to Christ? When did God the Father
entrust into the hands of the great shepherd all his chosen,
a multitude that none could number? When did that take place? Before
the world began. In John chapter 17, he says,
Father, they were yours. Thine they were, but you gave
them to me, and I've kept them, and none of them is lost. All
that the Father giveth me. She'll come to me. And him that
cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out. For I came down
from heaven. Here's the purpose. Here's the
reason of my coming into the world. Not to do mine own will,
but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father's
will. which hath sent me, could words
be plainer, that of all, A-double-L, which he hath given me, O hear
our blessed, glorious Redeemer, I should lose nothing, nothing,
but should raise it up again at the last day." Turn over a
few pages to chapter 10 of John's Gospel and hear him say again
much the same thing. In John 10, verse 25, Again, he's speaking to the religious
crowd. Those that believed not. Those
who said, this is Joseph's son. We know who he is. We know his
brothers. He's nobody. He's deluded. He's deceived. Jesus answered
them, I told you and you believed not. The works that I do in my
Father's name, they bear witness of me. but you believe not because
you are not of my sheep as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice."
Again, he speaks with absolute certainty. With absolute certainty,
my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. That's why he came to Jericho
this day. That's why he came to Zacchaeus. Look at verse 5 again in Luke
19. Now, as we said earlier, Zacchaeus, I believe, came as
a matter of curiosity, and that was all. But that's not why the
Son of Man came. In verse 5, when Jesus came to
the place, he looked up. He knows where his sheep are.
And he saw him and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste and
come down for the day. I must abide at thy house. He calls him by name Zacchaeus. Did you read in this passage
that anybody introduced him to one another? He said in John
10, I know my sheep. I know my sheep. I call them
by name. They hear my voice and they follow
me. Zacchaeus? Make haste. Make haste. All today. When I looked over this passage,
each time I looked over this passage and read it and thought
about it, prayed that God would allow me to preach it, I thought
of that verse in Hebrews 13. Jesus Christ the same. Brother Joe read for Malachi
the same. I am the Lord, I change not.
Jesus Christ the same, yesterday, and today, and forever. And I prayed, oh great shepherd,
great shepherd, would you be pleased to visit us today? Would
you come to this house? Would you come to where we are? Would you call by your mighty
grace some poor Zacchaeus to yourself? Would you come and
say, make haste and come down, because today I must abide at
thy house. Come down. Oh, that's worthy
of notice, is it not? Come down. Because we are all
so proud by nature, so proud by nature, we must be brought
down. We must be stripped. must be
stripped. If we're never stripped, we'll
never know our need. We'll never know our nakedness.
We'll never bow to King Jesus and plead that he would clothe
us in the robe of perfect righteousness. Zacchaeus, come down. Saul, come down. Paul said, I bear witness. of my brethren, my kinsmen, according
to the flesh. They have a zeal for God, but
not according to knowledge. Doesn't this sound familiar?
This could have been written today. For they, being ignorant
of God's righteousness and going about to establish their own
righteousness, have not submitted." Have not submitted. Even though
they're going about, to establish their own righteousness. Though
they dress themselves in their own righteousness, though outwardly,
as our Lord said, they appear righteous to men inwardly, inwardly
like a grave. Dead men's bones, they've never
submitted. never bowed to the claims of
Jesus Christ. The sinner must bow. He must
be made. I didn't misspeak there. He must be made by sovereign
grace to bow before King Jesus and say, if you will, like the
leper, you can. Make me clean." And notice what
he says in verse 5. For today, I must abide at thy
house. I must abide at thy house. Oh,
I like that, don't you? People say, oh, God won't interfere
with a man's will. He's a gentleman. And Christ
won't come where He's not wanted. I hope that He does. I pray that
He does, and I know that He does. He said, I must abide at thy
house. Oh, I thank God for His sovereign
grace. Don't you? I thank God that it's
not of Him that willeth. nor of him that runneth, but
of God that showeth mercy. I'm glad that it's not of him
that willeth. I'm glad that God didn't leave
me to my will, because you know what? I will not come to him. John 6, our Lord said, ye cannot
come to me. No man can come to me. In chapter
5, he said, ye will not come to me. You search the scriptures,
he said. You do that. You search the scriptures. Because in them you think ye
have eternal life, but those scriptures testify of me, and
ye will not come to me. Who then can be saved? Look again
in chapter 18. Look what our Lord said. At verse
27. The things which are impossible
with men are possible with God. The things which are impossible
with men My four brothers, it's impossible for them to save themselves. It's impossible for them to do
anything to recommend themselves to God. It's impossible for them
to believe. It's impossible for them to repent. It's impossible for them to be
willing to come to Christ. Left to themselves, it's utterly
impossible, all but not with God. Not with God. He can bring those rebels down
just like he brought this rebel down by his mighty grace. Zacchaeus,
I must abide at thy house. He comes and he brings his welcome
with him. Behold, I stand at the door and
knock, but he has a way of entering in inside the door and opening
the latch himself and bringing himself in. and his people become
willing in the day of his power. Do they not? Blessed is the man
whom thou choosest and calls us to approach unto thee. Yes, they shall be made willing.
And they won't mind. They won't mind. They won't mind. They'll thank him the rest of
their days. that he crossed their paths,
that he made them willing in the day of his power, that he
brought them down. that he came to where they were
and he spoke effectually, come down, Zacchaeus, I must abide
at thy house. Zacchaeus is an example of what
he said in Luke 18 was impossible except for grace. Zacchaeus is
an example of that camel going through the needle's eye. by
God's mighty grace. Look what he says in verse 6,
and he made haste and came down and received him joyfully. He was in the world, John wrote,
and the world was made by him and the world knew him not. He
came unto his own, and his own received him not. But to many
as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of
God. Zacchaeus received that power.
Zacchaeus received him, the very chief of sinners. And Zacchaeus
proves that he was made a new creature in Christ Jesus. He says in verse 8, 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. If any man be in Christ, he's
a new creature. All things are passed away. Behold,
all things become new. James wrote, show me thy faith
without thy works and I'll show you my faith by my works. Verses 9 and 10. This day, our
Lord said, this day is salvation come to his house, this house,
for as much as he also is the son of Abraham. What happened
this day? What happened this day? Salvation
came. Salvation came, brother Will.
Nothing greater than that. Nothing more needed than that. Zacchaeus experienced the grace
of God that day. Grace had already been purposed.
Our Lord didn't come here by accident. No, he came on purpose
to find this one lost sheep. Grace had been purposed, but
grace must be experienced. There's no way that I can know
that I was given to the great shepherd before the world began
by the Father, there's no way I can know I was chosen. I can't
know that on the cross Jesus was bearing my sins away. There's
no way for me to know that until I'm brought to him by sovereign
grace, till I experience the grace of God that's in Christ
Jesus. That's what happened to Zacchaeus.
Until the Lord comes. and spreads his skirt over me
and says, live, live. And my time was a time of love
until he comes like he did to Saul who said, when it pleased
God, who called me. Saul never got over that, did
he? He never got over that, did he? He called me by his grace. He never got over that. The wonder
of that, the miracle of that, the marvel of God's mercy to
that rebellious, self-righteous Pharisee. Paul, till his dying
day, never got over the wonder. He saved me. Oh, happy day? Happy day. Zacchaeus tasted this
day that the Lord is gracious. A day in this sinner's life like
none other, before or ever after. this day would cause rejoicing
in heaven. That's right. What happened this
day as our Lord came through and passed through Jericho, what
happened this day caused rejoicing in heaven. Turn back to chapter
15. This is what our Lord taught,
did he not? That the salvation of one sinner causes rejoicing
in heaven. It sets the angels to singing.
In this parable, in response to the Pharisees who said again,
like they did in Luke 19, this man receiveth sinners. Would
you look at that? Isn't that disgusting? Oh, how
can he bear it? How can he bear it? Would you
see that? Look who's sitting at the table
next to him. Sinners, publicans. Look, look,
look. He's letting that woman, that
harlot, we all know her. She's filthy. She's unclean. Who even let her in this house?
and he's allowed her to approach him and wash his feet? My soul. Oh, yes. Bless his name, he receiveth
sinners. In response to that accusation,
look what he says at verse 7. After speaking of the lost sheep
being found, I say unto you that likewise, Joy shall be in heaven
over one sinner that repenteth. More than over 99 just persons
which need no repentance. Again, after speaking of the
lost coin that was found, verse 10. Likewise, I say unto you,
there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one
sinner that repenteth. Every time a chosen sinner is
brought to Jesus Christ by His sovereign grace. Every time the
great shepherd is pleased to go find one of his lost sheep
and bring him to himself, every time he's made by grace to confess,
I'm the sinner, and the great shepherd says, thy sins are all
forgiven thee, there's rejoicing in heaven over that one sinner. Because the Lord sees in that
sinner being brought home to himself the travail of his soul. And he's satisfied. He's satisfied. Look concerning the parable of
the prodigal. Look what our Lord says again
at verse 24. For this is my son was dead,
this my son was dead and is alive again. Look what amazing grace
has done. It's only right that we should
rejoice. It would be wrong if we didn't.
Oh, and he was lost and he's found, and they began to make
merry. Verse 32, it was meet. Proper
fitting. It's the right thing to do. That
we should make merry and be glad for this, thy brother was dead
and he's alive again. He was lost and he's found. Let's sing. Let's sing amazing
grace. How sweet the sound that saved
a wretch like me. Oh, yes. This day, what happened
in Jericho to Zacchaeus had everlasting consequences,
did it not? Did it not? Paul said, he that's
begun a good work in you will complete it, will carry it on,
will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Salvation without
end. No wonder, no wonder that sinners
can very well sing, oh, happy day, happy day, when Jesus washed
my sins away. This day salvation came to this
man, to this house. Salvation from sin's penalty? The wages of sin is death. Oh,
but not for Zacchaeus. There is now, right now, do you
hear that? There is now. Well, I don't know
if I'll be saved until I get to heaven if my good works outweigh
my bad works. If that's what you're trusting,
I'll tell you right now, you'll not be there. Oh, no. There is only no condemnation
now. Now, to those who are aware in
Christ Jesus. In Christ Jesus. Oh, I love those
words, don't you? Saved from sin's condemnation,
from sin's dominion, and one day from the very presence of
sin, Jude said unto him, that is able to keep you from falling
and to present you faultless, Jude, Say what? Faultless. Faultless before the
presence of his glory. John said, I saw them before
the throne of God, and they were without fault. Without fault. How can that be? How can that
be? This is how. Listen. This is
how. And thy renown went forth among
the heathen for thy beauty, for it was perfect, For he was perfect
through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the
Lord God, with his holy garments on, as holy as God's own Son."
Perfect. Perfect. It must be perfect. It's Christ's own righteousness.
Christ's very own righteousness is what clothes his people. It
must be perfect. And when time shall be no more,
Zacchaeus, this despised tax collector, will stand with the
multitude of redeemed sinners singing salvation to our God
and unto the Lamb that was slain and has redeemed us to God by
thy blood. Our Lord said, this day hath
salvation come. As I've said about this great
salvation, Or if he is pleased to do so, it could happen this
day, today, today. The Lord may come to this place
because he's the Lord, Joe. He changes not. Someone may experience
what Zacchaeus did. Salvation has come. Zacchaeus,
can you imagine? Can you just picture? He lies
down that night. and the joy of salvation experienced. The joy of God's amazing grace
fills his heart to overflowing. He lies down that night as never
before. Oh, he sleeps the sleep of one
reconciled to God. He lays down with peace with
God. Someone with the forgiveness
of all his sins. The sweet experience of the grace
of God that bringeth salvation. Like that other public. that
our Lord spoke about. He went home justified. Justified. Today, if you hear
his voice, pass me not, O gentle Savior. Hear my humble cry. Do for us what you did for this
man today. Come here. Don't leave us alone. Oh, God. Remember our Lord said
concerning the Pharisees one time? They, as always, was upset
at our Lord's teaching, and the disciples were concerned about
their master's safety, and came to him and said, Master, you
know what you said upset the Pharisees? They're upset. And he said, don't be concerned
about it. He said, leave them alone. Leave
them alone. For years, years, I shoved my
fist in God's face and said, leave me alone. Just leave me
alone. When my 16-year-old friend died
in the back seat of a mangled, demolished car, drunk from alcohol
that I'd give him, and I woke up in the hospital And some preacher
came in to talk to me about God's mercy. I said, get out of here
and leave me alone. Don't want to hear it. Leave
me alone. I'm so glad God didn't leave
me alone. He wouldn't let me go. He wouldn't
let me go. Our Lord tells us why, why this
sinner experienced such a great salvation, verse 10. For the
Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. Why did salvation come to this
house, to this man? Because Jesus came there. Jesus
came there. He came to Jericho to that very
spot and said, today I must abide at thy house. The great shepherd
seeks and saves his sheep. That's why this man was saved.
That's why. Because Jesus Christ himself
is salvation. He that hath the Son hath life. The great shepherd seeks and
saves. He seeks for the purpose of saving
always. That's why in John chapter 4
we read, he must needs pass through Samaria. Why? Was there not another
route to take? Not for the great shepherd. because
there's a woman he's going to meet at noon. She doesn't know
it. She's not aware of it. She doesn't
have a clue, but the great shepherd knows that very day, at the very
hour, that certain woman, that lost sheep, is going to come
to that well, and he's going to be there, and he's going to
meet her, and he's going to give her the water of everlasting
life, and she'll never thirst again. Oh, glory to his name. That's why he says, because he's
the great shepherd, let us pass over into the other side. Why? Why? They encounter a storm. They're in jeopardy. The disciples
even wake him and say, don't you care that we're going to
perish? Why must we pass over unto the other side? Because
the great shepherd has another sheep that he promised his Father
he would go in the fullness of time and do everything required. He would live for that sheep,
and die for that sheep, and arise for that sheep, intercede for
that sheep, and bring him all the way to glory, and present
him back to the Father. Let's pass over into the other
side because there's one over there that the Father gave me. He's living in the tombs. He's
a demoniac. All he does all day long is run
about insane, breaking the fetters that they tried to bind him with
and cutting himself, hurting himself with stones. Let's pass
over into the other side. And we read when our Lord passed
over, and that demoniac saw him, he bowed down. He bowed down
and worshipped him. And the Lord said, you unclean
spirit. And the next picture we have
of that man, he's sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and
in his right mind. Salvation comes by him. When
he comes, grace and mercy comes with him, does it not? Salvation
is having him. This is what he said. And this
is life eternal that they might know thee, the only true God
in Jesus Christ, whom thou didst send. Paul said, I know whom
I have believed. I don't want folks to join a
church, to join this church. I want them to know the living
God. I want them to be reconciled
to God through the Lord Jesus Christ. You read through the
book of Acts, not one time did the disciples ever urged people
to join the church. Not once. Not one time. People
did that after they were saved, after they were converted. Yes,
they didn't have to be coached into doing it. They wanted to
do it. They wanted to be where God's people met. They wanted
to identify. They didn't have to be bribed
into doing it. They were glad to go into the
house of the Lord. What the disciples preached,
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. The blind man experienced the
grace as our Lord entered Jericho. Zacchaeus experienced that same
grace as our Lord left Jericho. Why? Because he's able to save
to the uttermost all that come to God by him. Let's wrap this up, but let me
read or turn with me to Luke's Gospel again in chapter 4. Our
Lord has come from the wilderness after his baptism. He comes to Nazareth where he's
been brought up, and he goes into the synagogue, and the ruler
hands him the scroll of the book of Isaiah, and our Lord opens
it, and in Luke chapter 4, verse 18, look at what we read here. The Spirit of the Lord is upon
me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.
He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, and he does, to preach deliverance
to the captives and the recovering of sight to the blind, to set
at liberty them that are bruised, and he still does. to preach
the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book and gave
it again to the minister and sat down. And the eyes of all
then that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he
began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled
in your ears. He said, That's me. Isaiah wrote of me. This day is salvation come to
this house. I've had folks tell me, I don't
know if I'm elect. My oldest brother, a few months
ago, spent time with him and he said, Larry, you believe God
chose people to salvation? I said, I most certainly do.
He said, well then, what if I'm not elect? I said, Jim, you've
got the cart before the horse. That's not the issue. Here's
the issue. Are you lost? Are you lost? Do you want salvation? Do you
want the great shepherd to find you? He says, look unto me and
be ye saved because I'm God and there is none else. Today, salvation
has come to this house. Come to Jesus Christ. Oh, Lord,
come to us and prove again, prove again this day, this hour, this
place. Prove that you're mighty to save.
Prove the power of your grace, great shepherd of the sheep,
by seeking and saving the lost for your everlasting glory. Amen.