Zaccheus and Jericho

Q: What does the Bible say about God's sovereignty over evil?

The Bible teaches that God is sovereign over all things, including evil, and that He works everything according to the counsel of His own will (Romans 8:28-30). Scripture affirms that God is sovereign and rules over all creation, including the presence of evil in the world. Romans 8:28 states, 'And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.' This teaches us that while evil exists and may perplex us, God’s ultimate plan is for good, demonstrating that even in tragedy, His purposes are at work. This understanding compels us to recognize our dependence on God's grace, as we acknowledge that without it, we too would be lost amidst the chaos of evil.

Q: How do we know that salvation comes only through Christ?

Salvation is exclusively through Christ, as He said, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life' (John 14:6). The Bible explicitly teaches that salvation is found only through Jesus Christ. In John 14:6, Jesus declares, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.' This claim emphasizes that there is no other means for reconciliation with God apart from Christ’s redemptive work. Moreover, in Acts 4:12, it states, 'Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.' This foundational truth underscores the necessity of faith in Christ alone for salvation, affirming the historic Reformed doctrine that individuals cannot save themselves or choose God on their own.

Q: Why is understanding grace important for Christians?

Understanding grace is essential as it assures us that salvation is not earned but given freely by God (Ephesians 2:8-9). Grace is a fundamental concept in the Christian faith, as it encapsulates God’s unmerited favor towards sinners. Ephesians 2:8-9 states, 'For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.' Recognizing that our salvation is a gift rather than a reward for our works leads to a profound humility and joy among believers. This understanding cultivates a heart of gratitude, propels us to live righteously, and empowers us to extend grace to others. Without a grasp of grace, believers may struggle with guilt and performance-based faith, challenging the assurance found in Christ's finished work.

Q: What is the significance of Zacchaeus in the story of Jesus?

Zacchaeus illustrates God's grace in saving the undeserving and shows that salvation is available to all, regardless of their past (Luke 19:1-10). The story of Zacchaeus serves as a powerful illustration of God’s grace and the transformative power of salvation. As a chief tax collector, Zacchaeus was deemed a sinner by society, yet Jesus sought him out, demonstrating that no one is beyond the reach of God's saving grace. In Luke 19:10, Jesus states, 'For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.' This encounter exemplifies the nature of God's mercy, as He willingly associates with sinners, offering them new life and calling them into relationship with Him. The drastic change in Zacchaeus’ life following his encounter with Jesus emphasizes that true repentance and salvation bring forth a genuine desire to rectify wrongs and live righteously.

Q: Why is it vital to understand that we cannot earn our salvation?

Salvation is a gift from God, not based on human effort but on His grace (Romans 3:23-24). Understanding that we cannot earn our salvation is essential within the Reformed tradition, as it upholds the core doctrine of grace. Romans 3:23-24 reminds us, 'For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.' This scripture clarifies that every person is a sinner, deserving condemnation, and that justification comes solely by God’s grace through faith in Christ. Recognizing this truth liberates us from the burden of performance, allowing believers to fully rest in the sufficiency of Christ’s sacrifice and confidently rely on God’s work in their lives.

The book of Luke chapter 19.
Luke chapter 19. And I will echo what our elder
said. It's a tragedy of which you cannot
really explain. We can make some theological
observations that would be accurate and true. God is in control. He is sovereign. All things work
together for good to those that love God. Everything is working
after the counsel of his own will. God made all things for
himself, even the wicked for the day of evil. And yet the
soul is perplexed by such a manifestation of evil upon children that it's
really only designed to cause you to stand back and pause and
say, if you have any sense, except for the grace of God, they go,
aye. That's what evil is designed to do. It's designed to arrest
you and let you know it's only the grace of God that distinguishes
you from them at that moment. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. The humanity is depraved by nature,
and it's only the mercy of God that restrains us and allows
us to practice relative good. Sometimes he allows these things
to break out in our lives to remind us that we are disproportionately
neglecting him as a nation. And that we have walked around
in our arrogance and pompousness, assuming that God always favors
us and that God's always going to be on our side and we don't
have to ever worry about the day of evil. And then it comes. These things are also designed
to cause you and I to be more empathetic. and prayerful for
people who go through these tragedies, put our feet in their shoes and
say, Lord, truly have mercy on us. Then I want you to pray for
the tributes, that couple that bravely chose to publicly open
their doors to a whole host of folks they don't know, and call
it a Christmas celebration. I guess that's what happened
in the day Christ was born. A whole bunch of people he didn't
know showed up. I hope you guys have a good time.
Let's learn some lessons in the book of Luke chapter 19, verses
one through 10. The title of my message is Zacchaeus
and Jericho. Now I'm doing this because I
am also enamored by the history and the geography, the outworking
of our Lord, excursion as he heads to Calvary. You and I know
where we are going in our text. This is without a doubt clear
to us. We are headed to Golgotha. And
yet, once and again, are we amazed at the dignity, at the poise,
at the wisdom, at the level of absolute royalty in the person
of Christ as he is headed to his own demise. He is still minded
to glorify his father in the salvation of sinners as he is
headed to Jerusalem where everybody's going to betray him. Everybody,
including those that right now will swear to die with him, they
will betray him too. In the process of our Lord's
heading towards that one point in human history where the world
will be changed, he chooses once again to demonstrate that he
has been and presently is about his father's business. And you
know, that's obedience, isn't it? You know, our kids might
obey us 10 minutes out of the day. And we might obey our God
10 minutes out of the day. But the master obeyed him until
he breathed his last breath. And what was on the heart and
mind of Christ was indeed the salvation of his people. Now,
what really brought about a curiosity to me is the fact that he frequently
made his excursion through Jericho. Remember, we talked about Jericho
a few weeks ago because of another notable event that took place
in Jericho. What is Jericho in relationship
to the Lord Jesus? Luke wants us to understand this.
And Jesus entered and he passed through Jericho. But what about
Jericho might we mark as we begin to take on once again, a very
remarkable account. Well, Jericho is a very complex
city. It's both a popular and wealthy
city, but at the same time, it is notorious and criminal. Jericho is both a popular and
very wealthy city, but at the same time, it's got a lot of
issues. So Jericho is one of these historically
notable cities, so historic that God had chosen as he was bringing
his people Israel into the promised land 1500 years before Jesus
to make their way up Jordan and cross Transjordan into Canaan
right over against Jericho. Jericho would be one of the first
cities that God would have to demolish, destroy, and subdue
before he enters into the whole of Palestine. You guys remember
that? Joshua and the children of Israel circle Jericho seven
times and the wall fall down. We make really good children's
Bible studies out of that. Do you guys remember that? Well,
for God, Jericho represented an obstinate people who lived
high, high, high on the resources of the land. Wealthy, prominent,
powerful. So powerful, so prominent that
they were able to build a wall around the city. A wall to keep
God out. That's what makes that account
so powerful, a wall to keep God out. And yet this is the first
city that God's going to overtake. And you remember what happened.
The walls came tumbling down, didn't they? Just at the voice
of the Lord, at the faith of God's people, the walls come
tumbling down. And Joshua said concerning Jericho,
let Jericho never be built again. Whosoever builds Jericho, he
will build Jericho in his firstborn. That means many people will die
as a consequence of attempting to erect once again this defiant
city against God. God opposes cities. He opposes
nations. And Jericho was one of those
cities. It had a long, long, long earlier before Israel even
got through his 40-year sojourn, heard that Israel was coming.
Remember that notorious harlot, Rahab? She said, we heard you. We heard you long ago. Now, I
don't know about the rest of the folks in these cities, in
this city, but I believe you. And God had mercy on a woman
who was a harlot. In the city, when God destroyed
Jericho, he saved Rahab and her own house. Isn't that amazing?
Isn't that like our God? Now remember what I said, Jericho
is wealthy, it's prominent, it's known for its resources, its
waterways, its agriculture, its fruit, its prosperity. And once
Jericho was once again rebuilt, and it was, mankind will always
try to rebuild what God tears down. Jericho became one of three
major Roman trafficking sources, one of Rome's avenues by which
mail and resource and commerce would run through. Capernaum
was one, and Jericho is another one. Quite strangely, Jesus goes
through Capernaum and through Jericho frequently. Now what
this does in my mind is it tells me that one of the methods of
Christ's ministry was to be where there was a lot of traffic, where
there was a lot of commerce, where there was a lot of activity,
where there was a lot going on. He did this even down to the
end of his ministry. Jericho was a prominent, prominent
place. But I like to think that the
reason why Jesus went through Jericho so much and dealt with
so many people, he healed lepers there. He saved sinners frequently
there. I like to think he went through
Jericho because he was constantly reminded that his grandmama lived
in Jericho. His grandmama was named Rahab
the harlot. Did y'all remember that? His
grandmama was named Rahab the harlot. And do you remember what
Rahab said? Joshua, I believe in your God. I want you to save
me. And what else? My house. Do you
know she was prophesying of her great, great, great, great, great,
great grandson, Jesus Christ. And look at what Christ is doing.
He's making his way through Jericho, fulfilling the very promise that
Rahab received from Joshua. Her name is in the hall of faith
in hebrews chapter 11. You know that right? So jesus
is just honoring his grandmama I'm here to tell you there's
more to talk about with the city of jericho We'll deal with that
back in the new year when we go through what I call the choice
cleanings of the old testament I just wanted you to think about
that. Jesus frequented jericho because he loved his grandmama
Now his grandmama was famous, but she was a harlot. Jericho
was popular, it was wealthy, it was prominent, but Jericho
was infamous for crime. Remember that fella that came
down from Jericho to Jerusalem and he was taken up by robbers
and thieves? Jericho is a mixed bag, isn't
it? See, Jericho is a type of you and me. We're a mixed bag. Did you get that? We're a mixed
bag. There's a bunch of stuff about us that's, well, God uses,
but there's a bunch of stuff about us that's all jacked up
too. But let me share something with you. This is exactly the
kind of person to whom Jesus comes. He comes to people that's
all jacked up, bad reputation, jacked up. And Luke wants us
to understand something about what's taking place in this account.
So I'm gonna run through seven principles with you today. Seven
fundamental principles. A lot of these are theological
foundational truths that we already know. First in your outline,
God draws sinners to himself only through Christ. Is that a legitimate proposition?
God draws sinners to himself only through Christ. Let me help
you. No one gets saved ever anywhere
unless God the Father draws them to Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ
reveals his glory to them. People don't get saved on accident.
People don't stumble into heaven. There's no back door in the glory.
There's only one door in the glory and that door is Christ.
No one accidentally gets saved. And I want you to understand
this. No one comes to God apart from the son. I'm the way, I'm
the truth, I'm the life. No one comes unto the father
but by me. Do you still believe that children of God? Because
most religious folk don't. Today, we are so smart and so
intellectually savvy and we're so much more scientifically evolved
that the notion that only one way of salvation is archaic and
ancient. But I believe the word of God,
don't you? I believe that the son of man came to seek and to
save that which is lost. And that's what's taking place
here. So understand theology behind historical narratives,
because if you don't understand theology behind historical narratives,
all you're doing is reading history. But until you read history with
a theological foundation behind it, you haven't really read his
story. Theology is his story. How is it that Jesus is passing
through Jericho? He's passing through Jericho
the same way he had to pass through Samaria. I must needs go through
Samaria, because there's somebody I've got to meet. He passes through
Jericho, the text says, and this is how Luke puts it, as he was
passing through the city of Jericho, he describes a certain fellow
for us. Notice what it says, and behold, there was a man named
Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans. I love the
way Luke puts this. He was the top dog among all
the crooks. Oh, by the way, this man was
filthy rich. That's exactly what he meant
for you to get out of this. That a man now is coming on the
scene of this excursion of our masters to calvary who now is
introduced into the scenario And he does not want you to think
that this that he is simply a normal everyday citizen So jesus comes
this way that man comes the other way jesus meets zacchaeus And
point number two in our outline very simply is this salvation
is never what an accident You guys got that Salvation is never
an accident. I still hear frequently from
people about how people get saved. One of the questions I have received
just recently talking with a young man this morning about it is,
Uh, uh, does, uh, is it possible for a person to live all their
life in hell and rebellion against God and come up against their
death bed and land on their death bed with cancer and be wreaked
with it? And they know they only got a
couple of days to live. And is it possible for them to
make a decision for Jesus and choose Jesus and accept Jesus
into their heart? And I said, no, that's crazy. Isn't it? What you mean? No,
it's no more possible for that man laying on his death bed.
about to breathe his last breath to make a decision for Jesus
than the person that's healthy and strong and well-off, than
the person that has all of the theological knowledge in the
world, than the person who is as sound in the faith as anyone
could be. It's no more possible for an
individual laying on his deathbed to make a decision for Jesus
than those other types of individuals apart from the grace of God.
Apart from God meeting the sinner where he is and doing for the
sinner where he is What the sinner cannot do for himself now see
many of us know this is true It's not emotionally satisfying
for you to hear this That there is no way for you and I to do
anything to affect our salvation if God doesn't save us We're
not going to be saved but you can go in the hospital room,
after hospital room, after hospital room, after hospital room and
plead and beg and cry and snot and cry with people laying there
and they won't receive Jesus. Am I telling the truth? So when
it comes to biblical theology, when it comes to salvation, let's
be very earnest and let's be very honest about what this matter
of salvation is. Unless God meets you where you
are and do something for you that you can't do for yourself,
You and I are going to hell. This is the sad reality of the
hardness of our heart. When after many, many years,
the truth has been preached and proclaimed to us and our soul
in its natural unsaved native state continues to say no. Am
I telling the truth? Ah, but this man here, this man
here by no accident has found himself in a most privileged
condition. Very much like the blind man
last week. Remember the blind man? Blind
bottom man. Hey, what's going on? What's
going on? What's this noise going on? Jesus of Nazareth is what? Passing by. Well, guess what?
He's passing by again today. And this notorious publican,
he's a wealthy publican, he's a rich publican, he's a very,
very rich, rich publican hears that Jesus coming by in verse
3 says and he sought to see Jesus who he was and he sought to see
Jesus who He was and he could not because of the press Because
he was little of a statue now Here's the scenario that we need
to paint to build this Jesus is not just walking with 12 disciples
through Jericho He's got hundreds and hundreds and hundreds and
hundreds of people following him Mark said it last week. We learned it last week great
multitudes follow Jesus as he went through Jerusalem to head
to I mean as he went through Jericho to head to Jerusalem
now Remember the feast that's in front of Jesus is called the
feast of what Passover? It's the feast of unleavened
bread so a lot of these are Jews and proselytes who are preparing
to celebrate one of the most Celebratory feast they have which
is Passover like we are going to celebrate the Lord's birth
next week and the world goes through its You know half cock
notions of celebrating his birth. We could argue about the controversial
nature of that but mark this Celebration is always about large
groups of people gathering together To have a time of festivity over
something. They are memorializing Jesus
therefore is encompassed about by lots of people. Now, this
is gonna be important to the storyline. Lots of people are
with Jesus. Jesus is passing through the
city of Jericho. Jericho is one of the prominent
cities in Rome. Jericho is well cared for by
the Roman government. It's one of those cities that
has great artifacts, great buildings. It's well taken care of in terms
of the geography and the landscape. You got all... Trees everywhere. A gorgeous city, if you will.
A gorgeous city to pass through. Just for your eyes to just enjoy
the visual of the city, I want you to get the scenario. A gorgeous
city to pass through. And quite naturally so. Zacchaeus
is the head of the tax company in that region. This man is the
head of the tax company. I mean, it's like one of the
big CEOs in the IRS. So, so Jesus is passing through
and Zacchaeus hears that Jesus is passing through and the text
tells us he is so interested. Now, Mark this Saint, he is so
interested in seeing Jesus. Verse four says, he ran before
and climbed up into a tree to see him because he knew that
this man was passing that way. Zacchaeus, this wealthy man is
about to meet his master. He like many other people have
heard of Jesus with the hearing of the ear. Christ is famous. Christ is known. He's three years
into his ministry. Everybody knows about him. Lots
of people know about him, don't they? They've heard about him.
And Zacchaeus is now just like the blind man, gonna have an
opportunity to meet Christ. What's going on in this man's
heart? What's taking place in the soul of this filthy rich
man that when he hears Jesus is in town, he's willing to go
out of his way, out of his way. The text implies that he had
to run a good distance in front of the massive crowd, a good
way. And then when he got in front
of the crowd, in order to secure a vision of this Christ, this
man gets out of his black escalate and climbs up a tree to get a
shot at the king of glory something's going on isn't it see what I'm
getting at is salvation is no accident Salvation is no accident. Luke is not giving us a storyline
for us to just laugh. He's teaching us something about
how God prepares a sinner and begins to draw a sinner and woo
a sinner to himself. When God gets a hold to the soul,
what will the soul do to get a revelation of Christ? Am I
making some sense? What will the soul do to get
a revelation of the glory of God in Christ? And I'll tell
you what I'm fascinated by. I'm fascinated by the fact that
it is this man who is coming to Jesus as he's headed to Calvary. See, listen, there were lots
of publicans who got saved. Luke's gospel tells us that Jesus
constantly ate and drank with what? Publicans and sinners. In fact, Luke chapter three puts
it this way. In Luke three, when Levi, who
becomes one of the apostles, was a tax collector and one of
the, Levi worked for Zacchaeus. He was one of the, and you know
what Luke 3 says? And Levi put on a great feast
for the master. A great feast for the master.
Christ hung out with notorious criminals. Christ hung out with
very wealthy, wealthy people. He hung out with people that,
well, a lot of people wouldn't hang out with. This just was
the nature of our master. And this needs to not be missed
too, even in this text. See, you and I, in our petty
jealousies of people and what they have, we will hate local
folks. And then the higher up they go,
the more we hate them. And then the higher up they go, the more
we just demonize them. I mean, that's just human nature.
There's kind of a jealousy of the class envy, class warfare.
I'm telling you the truth. You don't have to agree with
me. I'm telling you the truth. So here's the question, here's the
proposition I'm getting ready to make to you now to teach another
very important truth. The kinds of people that ended
up coming to Christ in a saving knowledge is worth marking. Here's the proposition. God is
not saving all mankind. He's not saving all men. All
men will not be saved. If it were left up to all men,
no man would be saved. Men don't naturally want God.
They really would work it out by themselves. Am I telling the
truth? Men would naturally work it out by themselves. The Bible
is very clear. There's none that seeks after God. The Bible is
very clear. You will not come to me that you might have life.
The Bible is very clear on that. We would rather pull ourselves
up by our own bootstraps and work out our redemption. So we
are amazed, are we not, that any would be saved. But I want
you to mark the kind of people that God saved, because that's
exactly what 1 Timothy 2, verse 4 means. God will have all kinds
of people to be saved. He will have all kinds of nations
to be saved. He will save extremely dirt,
dirt, dirt, dirt, poor, miserable sinners like Lazarus. He will
save miserable sinners like the blind man Bartimaeus, afflicted
sinners like our sister that was bent over with an infirmity
18 years. And then God will save some of
the richest people on planet earth just to test you and I
who are poor. He saves all kind. He saves all
kind. And that becomes an offense for
you and I. Verse point number three, all
men will not be saved but all kinds of men will be saved. And on this occasion, the chief
of the tax collectors is brought into a scenario where God's saving
grace will emerge and you and I will be taught some things.
You know what's getting ready to take place where this man
Zacchaeus is running up and climbing up in a tree. And I'm sure that
the people that watched and knew who he was was saying, what in
the world is that man doing? What's getting ready to take
place watch this now. I want you to hear this now is
the offense of the gospel What's getting ready to take place is
God? Acting in a way that you and
I would not generally act What's getting ready to take place is
what Isaiah said in Isaiah 55? God's thoughts are not our thoughts
his ways are not always as the heavens are higher than the air
So his ways are higher than ours. I That's what's getting ready
to take place here. And so in our next point, I want
you to mark something. Here's what I want you to think
about. Salvation is personal and really it's crystal clear.
Mark this now, Zacchaeus puts in enough energy to get himself
in a position where he can see Jesus. That's gonna be a point
of mission for some of you for the year 2013. Jesus, I'm sorry,
Zacchaeus gets himself in a position by which he can see Jesus and
him having been placed in this position affords him the blessing
of a relationship with Christ. How much energy will you put
in to get yourself in a position where you can meet Christ? Are
you hearing what I'm saying? And so the next thought is salvation
is personal and crystal clear. Verse five and six. Let me start
at verse four and go through verse six. And he ran before,
he climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him for he was to
pass by 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 your
house. Now watch this. And he made haste
and came down. Now see, again, the Holy Ghost
is using church terminology, tight, contracted words, but
they are constructed in the original language to teach us a lesson. And that's this. The voice of
the Son of God, when it comes to a chosen sinner, it's clear.
It's authoritative. It's proclamational. It's clear. He calls you by name. And when he calls you by name,
you hear his voice. My sheep hear my voice. Nothing ambiguous about it. Now,
you know, here it is. Our Lord is walking with his
disciples and there are tens of thousands of people with him
and he's teaching and he's communicating and he gets to a certain point
and he stops. And then he looks up, Zacchaeus!
Come on down. You know what that means, right?
God knew Zacchaeus before Zacchaeus knew God. God knew his name before
the world began. God knew his heart. He knew his
condition. He knew his desire because God
had placed in his heart a desire to see Christ. Somewhere down
the line, the word that was preached about Christ landed on his soul.
And we know that faith comes by what? hearing what? By the
Word of God. And so something was drawing
Zacchaeus to this place where he would ultimately get a call
by the Savior. That's how God works, isn't it?
That's how God works, you know people that you and I come to
know I have heard the Word of God you may have taught them
those of you who are teachers you may have shared with them
at work or on your job those of you who know what it means
to witness the gospel to people and they start to get just a
certain interest in the things of God right and we know however
that it is critically important for people to get right in gunshot
of the gospel for the Word of God to make that impact that
it's designed to make. And God graciously works in His
providence, doesn't He? To bring men and women to the
place where they can hear the voice of the Son of God so very
clearly. So we believe that salvation
is not some general experience where masses of people come into
some vague knowledge of Christ. We believe that the Bible is
clear that when Christ calls a sinner, He calls them by His
grace, He calls them by name, and they what? They come to Him.
We believe that, right? We believe that as John put it
again in John chapter 5 the hour is coming when the dead will
hear the voice of the Son of God and they that hear shall
live. Now what's interesting is Jesus said make haste and
come down and the text said he made haste and came down. Now
this is going to move us into another extremely important facet
of what we call redemption and that is this. Salvation is not
merely People going through an exercise of saying words by which
they as it were affirmed that they are Christian and then just
going about their business the scriptures always teach that
salvation is the consequence of God speaking powerfully into
the lives of men and women in such a way that it produces in
them a conversion and that they hear the voice of God and that
there's an obedience of faith that takes place by which they
enter then into a relationship with Christ. When Christ spoke
to Zacchaeus, Zacchaeus come down. Zacchaeus could not but
come down because it was now time for him to experience the
salvation which God had wrought for him in Christ. He was going
to be obedient to the gospel. We call this in Romans 16, 26,
the obedience of faith preached unto all nations. Zacchaeus therefore
comes down. He comes down because the master
has called him. And notice the last line in verse
six. This is to be understood very
clearly. He made haste, he came down and
what? Received him joyfully. Now this too gives us insight
into the man Zacchaeus. because Zacchaeus appeared too
long to know Jesus. And when the opportunity occurred
for him to have an acquaintance with Christ, he jumped on it
with all his heart. Now again, Luke loves to use
this phrase, gladly received him, gladly received him. Remember
how Luke uses it in Acts chapter two, verse 42, and they that
gladly received the word were that same day baptized, gladly
receiving him. And again, saints, that's a work
of grace that God must do in the heart because a lot of people
will come to church and they'll hear the word, but will they
receive it gladly? See the difference? Will they
be glad to have heard the truth of the gospel? Oh, man, this
guy Nicodemus is something else to me. God has prepared his heart,
hasn't he? He has prepared it. Now, you
know, he was shocked. To be in that tree, only wanting
a view of Christ and Christ walks by and stops dead at the spot,
looks up at that man, come down today, I'm coming to your house. He is able to do for us abundantly
above all that we think or that we ask. Nicodemus only wanted
to get, I'm sorry, Zacchaeus only wanted to get a vision of
him. This brother getting ready to have lunch with the master.
Are you hearing me? This also gives us insight into
the nature of Christ. Here's a biblical truth. If you
want Christ, he wants you. Do you hear me? If you want the
master, he wants you. If you want to fellowship with
the Son of God, the Son of God wants to fellowship with you.
I guarantee you this infinite glorious God who left eternity
to come into time and take on a human nature to walk and be
among men would never at any time refuse to fellowship with
anyone who wanted to fellowship with him. We could say that Christ
was hungry to fellowship with sinners. Is that true? Hungry
to fellowship with sinners. See, can I say something? Christ
and Zacchaeus actually got a lot in common. They are both filthy
rich, extremely wealthy, very well-known, and both infamous
at the same time. There's a bunch of people who
like them and hate them also. We were talking about this in
our men's meeting. Michael did a study for us last night as
to our indicative of being strangers in this world. And one of the
things God told his people, you are strangers and pilgrims in
this world. Don't get so settled in this world that to think that
this world is your home, you just passing through. But here's
what God taught his people. Now, just as you were a stranger
in Egypt and I kept you and I brought you out, be sure to be kind to
strangers. Because the strangers, that individual,
that's the oddball out. The stranger is in an environment
that is not his native territory. The stranger is in a place where
he's vulnerable. The stranger is in a place where
he can be taken advantage of. The majority is against him.
So I see parallels between Christ and Zacchaeus. Kind against kind. And so our Lord Jesus calls him
down out of the tree, which as I said, is going to create a
massive, massive controversy. Point number five in your outline.
The offense of the gospel. Now this is the component of
gospel preaching, teaching, theology, doctrine in the 21st century
that the church has altogether cast off as something that's
anticipated and also essential to the glory of God. Listen,
don't poise yourself or position yourself to be a teacher of the
word or an expounder of the scripture or a proclaimer of biblical truth
and not be willing to deal with conflict over truth. Don't poise
yourself to talk to people about the absolute truth of God's word
and the absolute God of the truth in a world that does not believe
in absolutes and not be ready to go to war. Don't claim a relationship
with Christ and not be ready to suffer for his namesake. Because
the very moment you mention Christ, you are mentioning to the conscience
of men and women a narrow way which most people don't accept.
Are you hearing me? The gospel is offensive because
of its implications, because of what it reminds us, and because
of what it demands of us. The gospel is offensive. But
the gospel is offensive also because of the way in which it
operates. Now mark this now, you got all
these people running around with the Lord Jesus, headed to Golgotha. Lots of these people are under
very flawed assumptions of their relationship with Christ. Lots
of religious people are like this, under flawed assumptions
of their relationship with Christ. And here's how you can find out
that you're under a flawed assumption in your relationship with Christ.
Are you ready? When God saves somebody you don't like. This is how you know you're under
a flawed assumption of salvation. When God saves somebody you don't
like. See, you got to ask the question.
Now, why am I thinking that I have the right to determine who God
saves? Why do I think I have the right
to waste any gray matter in my brain determining the appropriateness
of the person that God saves? You know what I'm thinking? Watch
this now. I'm thinking that I actually deserve to be saved and they
don't. Can I talk to you for a few more
minutes? See, that's what happens when you get to a place of failing
to marvel at the grace of God in your own life. These people have awakened day
after day after day after day for three years. Privileged to
see him privileged to hear him privileged to walk with him and
we beheld his glory The glory of the only begotten of the father
full of grace and truth and we continue to gaze upon him We
continue to hear of him. We continue to hear his voice
That's a privilege from God That's an absolute privilege from God
And then we're gonna start to contemplate who we would like
to see in the kingdom Do you understand that you are the most
likely candidate not to be in the kingdom? And then we aren't putting our
feet in the shoes of the individual who God has decided to enter
into his controversy. Because if you put your feet
in Zacchaeus' shoes, You know that Zacchaeus is going to pay
for his relationship with Christ. Are you hearing me? You know
that Zacchaeus is going to pay for his walk with Christ. See,
anytime you come to Christ, there's a trade off. We learned that,
didn't we? There's a there's a rate of exchange for believing
the gospel. There's always a rate of exchange.
Whenever God honors your desire to know him, he's going to demand
a rate of exchange. This is called witnessing. This
is called bearing record to the glory of God. This is called
the cost of discipleship. Are you ready? Listen to what
happens. Because Christ chose to stop
at this tree and call down this brother, and this brother accepts
the proposition to come to his house, verse seven says, and
when they saw it, got it? And when they saw it. Now, personally,
we shouldn't care Who sees? But I must let you know, people
are watching you. The gospel is designed to have
a certain public aura because the salvation of every sinner
becomes a challenge to every human being. It becomes a test. It becomes an opportunity for
self-examination. It becomes an opportunity for
God to bear record to the truth of his word that he is saving
people. from every nation, tribe, and tongue. He is saving people
from the low and the high. He is saving people of all kinds. And the question should be raised,
are you among those who are being saved? And you hear these people
respond when they saw it this way. Mark what they said. This
is the offense of the gospel. Watch this. And when they saw
it, they all what? Boy, you know, religious people
can be fickle, can't they? Here they are joining Jesus,
walking with Jesus to Calvary, and then the big dog gets saved. The big dog. And they all murmured. You know what that means? The
disciples murmured too. I'm here to tell you, Zacchaeus
was somebody, wasn't he? Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no. Hold it. Hold it. Hold it. Hold
it. Hold it. No. No. We cool with your with your disciples,
you know, these are fishermen's and even Levi We really don't
like him because Jews hated the IRS Jews hated the IRS But Levi was
not a chief Tax collector. He was not an archaic Poltan
Zacchaeus is the chief and see for the Jews what that man is
is How in the world is Christ gonna waste five seconds with
the person that draws up the plans to rip us off? He worked for Caesar and his
job was to watch over all the regions and go and collect the
money from all of the regions and peel Caesar off his stated
amount and he could keep the rest. The way the system worked
was you had lots of employees under you, and those employees
went out and enforced the toll taxes. and the agricultural taxes
from the people and they could adjust the taxes any kind of
way they want to, so long as Caesar got his stated amount
every year. Are you hearing me? Do you understand
what kind of room for latitude that gives? If Caesar is getting
10,000 a year and you can rip the people off and make 100,000,
no wonder the text said, and he was very rich. Got it? But publicly, Jesus calls him
down. And publicly, he lets everybody
know, I'm getting ready to go over this man's house. So this
is a long, long journey for the people who felt as if they had
something up on Zacchaeus. Verse seven says, and when they
saw it, they all murmured saying that he was going to be a guest
with a man that is a what? Sinner. like they weren't sinners. See
what happens? You go to church for five minutes
and then all of a sudden you're not a sinner anymore. He eaten with a sinner, I mean
a big sinner. It's all right to eat with a little sinner.
It's okay to eat with a sinner that nobody knows. It's all right
to eat with private sinners and secret sinners and irrelevant
sinners, but don't eat with a notable sinner This is the offense of the gospel.
What people are offended by is who God saves and how God saves
them. Because it becomes a threat to
the people that are really in charge of their own lives and
have never felt what it's like to be overtaken by grace. See, Nicodemus was overtaken
by grace. This is what I want you to get.
Grace had come to Nicodemus before Christ showed up in the preaching
of the word. It started stirring his heart,
making him interested in the son of God. And then a day came
when he heard that the son of God was actually going to show
up and grace gave him the capacity to act outside of the dignity
of his position and prowess. to run, pull up his skirt and
run, run, run. And when the last time you climbed
a tree, and would you climb one for God?
This man climbed a tree to see God. Grace is overtaking him. Grace is overtaking him. And
when the personification of grace says to Zacchaeus, Zacchaeus,
Oh, what a graceful word. When God calls you by name, isn't
that grace? Isn't that grace? Come down, I'm hanging out with
you today. Grace brought him down that tree faster than it
got him up there. His heart was full of joy, full
of joy at the prospects. Will this man fellowship with
me? You mean I'm going to have a hearing with Christ. Are you hearing me? So now watch
this now, but this costs you, this costs you. It costs you
and I to get to know the son of God. It costs you to make
choices and decisions that set aside time to get to know him. It's going to cost you friends.
It's going to cost you relatives. It's going to cost you more enemies.
Are you hearing me? It's always been true that the
men that hang around Jesus get in trouble for simply hanging
around Christ. It's going to cost you. And so
even the religious crowd are murmuring. And the text is so
very clear that their murmurings were loud, loud. Loud. How loud were they? Well,
they could have been loud enough to cause Nicodemus, I'm sorry,
Zacchaeus, like many people who initially sincerely consider
receiving Jesus and serving Jesus and walking with Jesus, walking
away from Jesus and not serving Jesus and not staying committed
to Jesus because of the cost. You know, a lot of people would
love to have Jesus if it didn't cost so much. Because they're
not ready to lose cousins and aunts and uncles. If you don't
understand what I'm talking about, read the book of Pilgrim's Progress.
Pilgrim was cool with his family until he put his backpack on
and started heading to Calvary. Then everybody in the family
said he was a nut. He was a fool. He was insane
because grace had overtaken him. Are you hearing what I'm saying?
Grace had overtaken him. The call had come into his soul.
It had gripped his soul and started drawing him to Christ. And nothing
can stop that when it begins. People don't understand it. They
don't understand it. But Nicodemus got to pay a prize. I'm sorry. Why do I keep calling
him Nicodemus? Sorry, Nicodemus, man, I'm jumping
all on you today. from the point of the call of
Christ to Zacchaeus to the point where they are now. And this
is verse eight. It's a journey that results in
repentance. And we are at the last couple
of points in our message. And I just want you to grasp this.
Christ sees Zacchaeus after Zacchaeus hears about Christ. Christ calls
Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus comes to Christ. The
crowd sees that transaction and the crowd murmurs, and Zacchaeus
is affected by the whole thing. See, these are all the components
that goes into the grace of God dealing with you in your life.
Verse eight says, and Zacchaeus stood and said to 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 it to him
fourfold. Do you guys see that? What compelled
him to do that? I want you to follow the storyline.
What compelled Nicodemus to tell Christ, there it is again. What
compels Zacchaeus to tell Christ, y'all got so used to it, you
missed it. What compels Zacchaeus to tell
Christ, that he had a repentant heart. What compelled Zacchaeus
to let Christ know that he valued what was about to transpire in
Christ coming into his door? What compelled Zacchaeus to openly
say, this is what I'm gonna do. What compelled him was his walk
with Christ. Mark this now, from the tree
to the door of his house. See, it's the walk with Christ
that transforms the soul. It's the walk with Christ that
changes the soul. It's the journey with the Savior
that brings about the grace of repentance. It's the beauty and
privilege of walking with the Master day by day and hearing
the message of redemption and it having such an impact on your
soul that you want to live for His glory. It's the privilege
of Christ desiring and longing to sup with you and you with
Him. So much so, Christ is willing to tell everybody, I'm fellowshipping
with that man. Do you know what the Bible says?
He's not ashamed to call us brethren. He's not ashamed to let the whole
world know he's my brother. He's not ashamed to let the whole
world know I left glory That come to his house And he let
the whole world know stay with me now boy. This is a test Because
Zacchaeus and jesus are headed to his house They're not there
yet And on their way to the house. This is the walk with christ
Zacchaeus has to hear the murmuring He has to hear the noise He has
to hear the complaints. He has to hear the accusations.
He has to hear the ridicule. He has to hear all of the statements
and comments that the people are making and they're true. He is a sinner. He's a big sinner. He is ripping the people off.
He is taking advantage of the widow. He is taking advantage
of the poor. He is taking advantage of the
farmer. That's what they do. He is ripping them off. And if
he's not ripping them off firsthand, this is how the CEOs hide, the
downline ripping them off. Well, I didn't know my employees
were doing it. I bet you didn't. Now watch this, their voices,
represented his conscience. And the truth is that I really
don't deserve to have a walk with Christ. I really don't deserve for the
public to know that he has received me in the fellowship with him.
And the truth is that me and Jesus by nature are not compatible.
He's holy. I'm unholy. He's righteous. I'm unrighteous. He's sinless. I'm sin full, full of sin. He's guiltless. I'm filled with
guilt. He committed no crime. I'm always
committing crimes. No one can blame him of sin.
No one can convince him of sin. He knew no sin. He did no sin.
And in him was no sin at all. But even one person in the crowd
rising up against me can condemn me. Are you hearing me? Oh, what
a trial. Zacchaeus is walking to his own
house at the bequest of Christ To have dinner with him and I
know what he's thinking. Are you ready? I wonder when
the master gonna stop I Wonder when he's gonna let me go I'm
wondering is he really hearing the coffee words of my accusation
of the adversaries accusations against me I wonder if he's going
to abort the mission to come to my house. Are you hearing
me? I I'm wondering whether or not this man whom I adore with
all my being is going to actually side with the crowd and abandon
a brother. Now watch this now. This is the
way he's thinking because this is part of the process of sanctification
that goes on in our own soul until he looks up and finds that
he and Christ are at the door of his house. Do you hear me? They're at the door. Zacchaeus
looks up at the master. He says, you heard it. You heard
it all. You heard it all. And here's
what I'll tell you, Lord. If I'm guilty of any of this
mess, I am ready to restore fourfold, fivefold. I acknowledge my crime. I acknowledge my guilt. I acknowledge
my rebellion. I want to do whatever is necessary
for you and I to close, for us to have fellowship with one another.
I acknowledge my rebellion. I acknowledge my sin. I'm a sinner
in need of a savior. Can you see it? Can you see how
the Holy Ghost was working on this man from the tree to the
door? And when they get to the door,
he looks up and he still sees the Son of God. Isn't that glorious? You know why he saw the Son of
God? Do you know why? Because there is there for now
no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus, to those
that walk in the Spirit, not in the flesh. Do you know why
he looked up and he saw Christ? Because he who has begun a good
work in you will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ. You
know why he saw Jesus when he got to the door? Because Christ
had chose him from the foundation of the world and the grounds
upon which they would have eternal fellowship is not based upon
Zacchaeus' good works, but Christ's own purpose and grace to save
him and bring him into a relationship with himself. Zacchaeus is blown
away. He's blown away. He's blown away
that they're still at the door. Now watch this. When Zacchaeus
confesses that he's ready to fix everything that's in his
power, he's let the whole crowd know that. Are you hearing me? And you know what Jesus does?
He rewards that act of repentance by saying to the whole crowd,
are you ready? This day salvation has come to
this man's house. This day, salvation has come
to this man's house. So that when they open the door
and they go inside, nobody is fooled. That Zacchaeus has experienced
nothing but pure, unadulterated grace. Grace, grace, grace. Are you hearing me? One other
point and we'll close. What a God, we got a great God,
don't we? What a God. Listen to what it says in our
seventh point. See if it's what's, yeah it is.
Draw me and I will run after you. I thought about that and
I said, this is a good and appropriate text here. Of course, this comes
from Song of Solomon chapter one, where the Shunammite woman
is absolutely blown away by the fact that Solomon would desire
to marry her, African sister. In her own self, she doesn't
feel worthy. But here's what she says, if you draw me, if
you draw me, I'll come. Isn't that what she said? Now watch this, this is what
she really said. If you draw me, I'll run. Did you get that? I won't just
come. I'm not even walking. I'm running
after you. I'm running after you. I'm running
after you. Zacchaeus ran after Christ. He ran after Christ because he
was drawn by Christ. Oh, and you know this fella found
him a sycamore tree. You know what a sycamore tree
is? It's a fig tree. Only it's one of the poorest,
raggediest, ugliest fig trees in all Israel. It's the sycamore
trees that brother Amos was a farmer of. Remember him? I'm just a
farmer of sycamore trees. Remember that? Now this sycamore
tree was one of these ugly trees that was just short enough for
a little stocky brother like Zacchaeus to climb. It might've
been six feet tall, just enough to get a bird's eye view of Jesus.
But guess who made that sycamore tree? The Lord Jesus Christ. And he comes to the very sycamore
tree that he made, and he finds a poor sinner, raggedy sinner,
broke down sinner, unseemly sinner and says I want to eat fruit
from your tree today that's how the grace of God is in the life
of men and women whom God chooses and God calls and God draws to
himself don't we have a great God amen amen

Zaccheus and Jericho

What does the Bible say about God's sovereignty over evil?

How do we know that salvation comes only through Christ?

Why is understanding grace important for Christians?

What is the significance of Zacchaeus in the story of Jesus?

Why is it vital to understand that we cannot earn our salvation?

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Zaccheus and Jericho

What does the Bible say about God's sovereignty over evil?

How do we know that salvation comes only through Christ?

Why is understanding grace important for Christians?

What is the significance of Zacchaeus in the story of Jesus?

Why is it vital to understand that we cannot earn our salvation?

Sermon Transcript

About Jesse Gistand

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