Last week, those of you that
were here, we looked at Zacchaeus. What a wonderful, wonderful story
that is of God's sovereign grace. And I entitled that message and
even put an article about it in today's bulletin called, A
Little Man and Big Savior. And that's a good way of putting
that. Man, nothing, deserving of nothing,
little insignificant. And yet God in His mercy and
grace, a big, big Savior saved us by His grace. I would like for you to turn
to Luke chapter 19 again. And last week, as we looked at
the biggest portion of the first ten verses, I want to give a
little more attention to the tenth verse of this book, of
this story, which says, For the Son of Man is come to seek and
to save that which was lost. I want you to consider with me
this morning why Christ, the Son of God, took on flesh and
came into the world. I'll take this message as I said
from this same passage from the story of Zacchaeus, and I want
to say right off, the bat that this is a very important and
foundational thing to know. Why did Christ come into the
world? Why did he take on the likeness
of flesh? If we can see why Christ came,
dear friends, then maybe, maybe by God's grace, He'll be pleased
to show us that Christ came for us. Maybe He will be pleased
to show us that He came for us. Now we see the sovereign grace
of God in this story. If you'll look at verse 5 with
me again, we know that how Zacchaeus had heard of the Lord, he knew
that multitudes of people followed him wherever he went, and we
talked about the fact that a little thing like his curiosity caused
him to run ahead of the people before Christ came and to climb
up into a tree. to be able to see the Lord Jesus
Christ because he was a short man. He was a small man and in
order to see, he couldn't see over the people. And in verse
5 it says, when Jesus came to the place, do you think that
was by accident? We talked last week about how
God, before the foundation of the world, had planted that sycamore
tree in that exact place. He came to the place, he looked
up and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, you make haste
and come down, for today I must abide at thy house. Oh, what freeness, fullness,
what sovereignty of grace. Christ came to the place where
He was. Did you hear that? He came to
the place He was. That's the way God does. He comes
to where we are. We don't come to where He is.
We cannot come that we might have life. He comes to where
we are, and He sees this poor and needy sinner, and He called
him by his name. He invited Himself into His house. We don't invite Christ into our
house, but He invites us into His house, and that's what He
did. He said to Zacchaeus, Today,
I must abide at thy house. Do you ever think about that
word, must? He said, I must abide at thy
house. There was a must here that must
come to pass. Listen, if we're ever saved,
if we are to ever know Christ, Christ must visit us in sovereign
grace. He must. There's no other way
it will ever be accomplished. No other way it will ever be
done. He must. There's no other way by which
sinners can be saved. You remember the story of the
woman at the well. Concerning that woman, Scripture
says he must needs go through Samaria Why? Why must God do anything? Gonna
show mercy and grace to another sinner another chosen of God
One that God gave him before the foundation of the world and
he must need go to Samaria Because she must see the Savior in order
to ever have life eternal Oh, what a must that is. That word means so much, doesn't
it? He must. He must abide at the sinner's
house, dear friends, for the sinner ever to be saved. He must. Before the foundation of the
world, he had determined to seek and save this lost sinner, and
he must this day come to his house. I must abide, he said. I must abide. If you're ever
to be saved, I must abide today at your house." This is the method
of grace. This is the manner in which the
Savior calls poor souls to Himself. Old men would tell you, I have
decided to follow Jesus. I walked an aisle. I said a prayer. I made a decision. But He must
come to your house today. What you do has nothing to do
with it. Nothing to do with it. Salvation's of the Lord. It's not the work of man. Why
do people continue to say it's of their will? It's not of him
that willeth. It's not of him that runneth,
but of God that showeth mercy. God shows mercy. He must. He must come to our
house. Yeah, I'm sure it was a little
thing like curiosity that caused Zacchaeus to come to climb up
in that tree, dear friends, but I'm going to tell you something.
It was the sovereign grace of God in Christ that awakened that
curiosity in him. You can count on that. It wasn't
an accident. He may have woke up that morning
and heard about this and he said, I want to see this man. I want
to hear who they're talking about. But I'm going to tell you something,
God put that curiosity in his mind and in his heart. God did
it. God gets all the honor and all
the glory. You see, the eye of faith sees
the Lord's hand alone in the work of the sinner's salvation
every time. You trace your salvation back,
and you look closely now, and you'll see that God's hand was
somehow involved. God's hand. I must, I must, today
come to your house. I tell you, when my heart was
first inclined to seek Christ, it was Christ who inclined my
heart to seek. It just was. And yet all the
while, He was seeking me. Isn't that amazing? Oh, what love. What amazing love. The love of Christ for me. He must come to His own. His
lick will never be saved unless He does. His love for us demands
it, dear friends. His Father's purpose demands
it. His delight and mercy demands
that He must. His very heart and being demands
it. before the foundation of the
world. God gave you the sinner, the chosen sinner to Him. He
gave His life for the sheep and He calls them by name. He must
come to you. And you know the reason that
we're still here today? It's God still calling His sheep
home. That's right. When that last
one is called home, it's going to be over. It's going to be
done. His purpose and His will will
be accomplished. But there's still sheep that
are not yet of the fold. Are you a sheep that's not yet
come to the fold? Come now. You don't have to move
a muscle. You don't have to do anything
but bow, trust, believe, and love the Son of God. Oh, here's
the reason that God the Son left His throne to take on flesh,
dear friends. It was to save His people. This is a faithful saying, 1
Timothy 1.15, and it's worthy of all acceptation. Christ came
into the world to save sin. Are you a sinner? If you are,
that's good news. You're a sinner. And he came
to save sinners. That's the reason that God left
his throne on high, to take on flesh. Thou shalt call his name
Jesus, Matthew 121 says. Why? For he shall save his people
from their sins. His people. His people. Oh, let's take notice of this
little title here our Lord uses to identify Himself. Here is the Son of God, the Lord
of glory, the everlasting Father calling Himself the Son of Man. He might have called himself
the mighty God, the everlasting Father, wonderful Counselor,
the Prince of Peace, but he chooses to use the name that best identifies
with us, the Son of Man. Oh, all those titles are given
to him and many, many others to describe his glorious character
and his work. This is no mere man, dear friends.
This is God in the flesh. But that name and that title
which our Lord used to describe Himself more than any other is
the Son of Man. He who was the Son of God became
the Son of Man. Now listen, that He might make
us the sons of God. Let that sink in. He who is the
Son of God became the Son of Man that He might make us the
sons of God. Look at 2 Corinthians with me. I want to show you two or three
scriptures here. 2 Corinthians 5. This is one
you're familiar with all of these, but I want you to see them. I
want you to see them in your own body. I want you to mark
them. I want you to go back and read them again and again. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21. Most of you can quote it without
even turning, but look at it. It says this in your Bible. For
he who God hath made Him, who? Christ, to be sin for us. He knew no sin. Who knew no sin? Is that what your Bible said? that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. You know why he came? To seek
and to save that which was lost. He was made sin, who knew no
sin, that I, who am nothing but sin, might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. Now that's the gospel, dear friends.
If a man doesn't tell you that, he hasn't told you the truth.
Look over to 2 Corinthians chapter 8. Just turn over a page there
and look at verse 9. For you know, you know the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, and he was,
yet for your sakes, whose sake? His elect's sake, his sheep's
sake, his people's sake, the lost's sake, he became poor. That through his poverty, you
and I might be rich." That says the same thing, doesn't it? It
says the same thing. God made him sin that we might
be made righteous. He made him poor that you and
I may be made rich. Is that good news to you? Is
that good news to you? Look at chapter nine, verse 15. The last verse of chapter nine. Thanks be unto God for what? His unspeakable gift. This is a gift, dear friends.
You can't earn it. You can't merit it. You don't
deserve it. You can't buy it. It's an unspeakable
gift. You know why it's called unspeakable?
We can't, with mere mortal words, explain the grandeur and the
glory of this thing. I know this is a gift, and for
me to try to explain it would just be unspeakable. But as I
told you before, and I think it was Pastor Spurgeon that said,
there's nothing freer than a gift. It's free. It's free. Nothing
freer than a gift. Now with that in mind, let me
ask you something. How vain is it for us, as nobodies,
to desire great titles? I remember when I started early
in my career, I was working for a fellow, and he said, David,
I'm making you Vice President of Sales. And oh, boy, I had
a little tingle come over me. He said, it doesn't pay any more
money. But it was a title. Basically,
what it meant was, I'm not giving you any money, so I'm giving
you this title so that you might be happy with it. Appealing to
what? My flesh. Making me feel like
I was somebody. Nobodies don't desire to be anybody,
do they? No. No. I believe it was also Mr. Spurgeon
that said, the most distinguished worm of our race is still just
a worm. I like that. And that's true. The Son of God called Himself
the Son of Man when He had far, far greater names than that.
And what humiliation it was for Him to identify Himself with
fallen creatures such as man. He said, the Son of Man. The
Son of Man. What a stoop it was for Him to
come from heaven to be born as a man. What condescension it
was for the God of glory to take on the likeness of sinful flesh,
yet without sin. What a condescension. Christ
was the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. What
a stoop for Him to come from heaven to be born as flesh. Oh, I tell you, He dearly loved
those whom His Father gave Him before the foundation of the
world. He loved them so much that He promised His Father,
He said, I won't lose a one. Not a one. All that Thou hast given Me shall
come to Thee. I'll raise Him up the last day.
You can count on it. Because I'm God. Oh, dear friends, we can't fully understand the
marvelous grace in which God bestowed upon us. Our blessed
Savior seems to count it His high and great honor to be bone
of our bone and flesh of our flesh. He who is the Son of God became
the Son of Man. And that can only be called one
thing. Grace. Grace. Sovereign. Amazing. Wonderful. Marvelous. Oh, give me more adjectives.
What can I say? Grace tis a charming sound, harmonious
to the ear. God makes it so, doesn't he?
God makes it so. Look at the Gospel of John with
me. You familiar with this? Chapter 1. John chapter 1. Verse 1. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was
in the beginning with God, and all things were made by Him. The Word is a person. The same was in the beginning
with God, and all things were made by Him. And without Him
was not anything made that was made. And in Him was life. And the life was the light of
men, and the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended
it not." Now look down at verse 14. The same word. The same word that it talks about
in those first five verses. It says, And the Word was what?
Made flesh. Made flesh. And what dwelt among
us? And we beheld His glory, the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth." Now listen, Christ came for a specific reason, for
a specific purpose. For the Son of Man is what? Come
to seek and to save that which was lost. The Son of God came
into the world on a mission, my friends. Oh, I love, I think,
what Brother Spurgeon called it. He said, He came on an errand
of mercy. An errand of mercy. Oh, whatever Christ came to do. I'll tell you this, you can be
sure that He done it. This is where other Gospels fail. This is where other saviors fall.
God's trying to do something. Won't you just give Him your
heart? Mahaki. If Christ came to do it, you
can be sure it's done. He cannot fail. His purpose cannot
be thwarted. He cannot be frustrated. Not God. Not Christ. Isaiah 42.4. You know what it
says? He shall not fail. nor be discouraged." I hear about
a Christ who's discouraged. He's wringing His hands and saying,
Oh, won't somebody just believe in me? Won't somebody just come
to me? He shall not fail to be discouraged
till He hath set judgment in the earth. And the isles shall
wait for His law. We're talking about the God of
the Bible here. And you're aware that there are
many who tell us and tell others that the redemptive work of our
Lord Jesus Christ is not a matter of certainty. That's right. That's what they
say. They say that our Savior didn't actually redeem anyone
when He died, that He merely made it possible. for sinners
to be redeemed, if they'll consent, if they'll give their will to the will of God. They believe
that in what people call general redemption, universal atonement,
that Christ died for the whole world, shed His blood for everyone. They say that the intention of
Christ in the shedding of His blood was the salvation of the
world. Let me ask you a question. Is
there one person in hell for whom Christ died? Is there one
person in hell for whom he shed his blood? I'm going to tell
you what, if there is, then he's a failure. But let me tell you what, there
are people in hell Can it be that Christ came not
to save the world, but to save those who the Father gave Him
who were in the world? What did He say in the garden,
Gary? I pray not for the world. Why do people take John 3.16
and make a whole gospel out of it? For God so loved the world
that He gave His only begotten Son, and whosoever believeth
in Him shall not perish, but shall have everlasting life.
And you know what? That's exactly right. There's nothing false
about that verse. God so loved the world, His people
in the world. People of different tongues,
different kindreds, different nations. He loved the world,
His people in the world. And then He says in the Garden,
I pray not for the world. Who did He pray for, friends?
For those that Thou hast given Me. That's who He prayed for. You can take your general redemption,
you can take your universal atonement, and you can believe what you
will. But that is not the gospel. That
is not the truth. It makes His blood meaningless
to say those things. And we believe according to the
testimony of the Holy Scriptures that Christ came here, what?
To save His people. Now, we're in Luke 19, but turn
back to Luke chapter 1 with me, and we'll work our way back to
19. I just want you to see a couple more things. Luke chapter 1, verse 77. Why did Christ come? Well, according
to verse 77, to give knowledge of salvation unto who? His people, by the remission
of their sins. Look over at chapter 7, verse 16. And there came a fear on all,
and they glorified God, saying, that a great prophet has risen
up among us, and that God hath what? Visited His people." They
were His people. They were His people before He
ever came to save them. A man says, I'm now one of God's
people. If He came to save you, you were
before the foundation of the world. You were before this world
was ever made. He came to you in the time of
love, just like He did Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus was made a small man
before the foundation of the world. So he'd climb up in that
tree that God planted before the foundation of the world that
Christ might look up. Let me ask you something. Was
Zacchaeus up in that tree waving his arms and making noise? No. And yet it says Christ looked
up and saw him. Why? He knew he was going to
be there thousands upon thousands upon thousands of years before.
What a God! What a God! Oh, I tell you, All
God's intentions have the same results. Every single one. I will and they shall. I will and they shall. God's
intentions are His purpose. In whom we have obtained an inheritance. Ephesians 1.11 What? Being predestinated
according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things. after
the counsel of His own will. Well, I don't know if I believe
in a God like that. You better get ready to do business
with God. You're either going to bow to
that kind of God or you'll be lost forever, dear friends. We're
not playing games here. It was His intention to come
to that spot where Zakiah was. He brought salvation to that
sinner. He was a chosen son of Abraham.
He wasn't just a Jew after the flesh. He was a chosen vessel. He was of the seed of Abraham,
just like all who trust in Christ. We trust an almighty, effectual
Savior who actually saves sinners. He doesn't try to save. He saves. He saves them by His omnipotent,
irresistible grace. And this is a self-evident truth.
Whatever the intention of Christ was in coming into the world,
that intention shall most certainly be accomplished. Why? None can
stay His hand. None can say unto Him, What doest
Thou? He's God. He's God. And He's a God of mercy. If we believed in dancing, I'd
be dancing right now. I can't get over that. And by
the way, I do believe in dancing. I tell you, David danced, didn't
he? He danced when he saw the salvation of his God and he seen
the providence of his God. And let me tell you something,
dear friends, this God is I am that I am. None can stay His
hand and say to Him, what are you doing? I tell you, a God who could intend
something and then not accomplish it is no God at all. If Jesus were nothing but a man,
now He might be a failure. But He's more than a man. This
man is Himself the eternal God. And Paul said to Timothy in 2
Timothy 2.19, he said, the foundation of God standeth sure. Having
this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are His. He knows them. And He's going to save them.
He came, what? To seek and to save that which
was lost. To believe otherwise is to deny
that He's God. Has God ever purposed to do anything
that He did not bring to pass? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. God's purpose and providence
has never been frustrated, altered, ever. Well, if we go together to Calvary,
dear friends, And we stand at the foot of the Savior's cross. And we see in the light of Scripture,
by the revelation of the Holy Spirit, by the heart that God
has put within us. We'll say with that centurion,
we'll say with him, we'll say, surely this man is the Son of
God. It's by grace that we say it.
It's by grace. His love and grace shall not
fail to save its object. His power shall not fail to save
his elect. His justice shall not fail to
satisfy God. His mission shall be accomplished. His errand of mercy shall be
completed. And whatever He came here to
do, He's going to do. The Son of Man has come to seek
and to save that which was lost. Now let me briefly tell you this
and I'm finished. A lost person, what does it mean to be lost?
Well, a lost person is one who is justly condemned. He deserves everything that the
judgment and wrath of God brings upon him. A lost person is a person who
has no righteousness. All our righteousness is filthy
righteousness. He has no righteousness to call
His own. That's what a lost person is.
A lost person is a person who cannot, absolutely cannot change
his condition. What about that leopard that
came before the Lord? Do you think if he could have
changed himself that he wouldn't have? But what did he do? He came to the only one who could
change him. And he said, Lord, if thou will,
you can make me whole. That's what a lost person whom
God saves does. He comes before the Lord and
he says, Lord, if you will, you can make me whole. He can't change
his own condition. He's without hope. He's dead
and trespasses in sin. What can a dead man do? We ask
that question all the time. Nothing. And you know what? He
knows Himself to be a sinner. God shows Him. You're a sinner. You're deserving of hell. You
have no righteousness to call your own. And the judgment of
God lies upon you. He's shut up to one thing and
one thing only. The grace and mercy of God in
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now friends, What think you of
Christ? What think you of Him? Will you
leave Him also? Peter said, where else will we
go? Thou hast the words to eternal life. And listen, He will never
seek one that He does not save. And He'll never save one that
He does not seek. He did not come to save those
that seek Him. But He came to seek and to save
them which were lost. The problem is it's hard to find
lost people. The problem is it's hard to find
sinners. I'll tell you one thing, when
He's emptied you, He'll fill you. Won't He? Those of you that know Him, you
agree with that, don't you? If He's emptied you, He's going
to fill you. When He's stripped you of all that you called your
own, of all that old self-righteousness that was nothing but filthy rags. You know what? Then he'll bring
you his best robe and put it on you. When you're utterly dead before
Him, dead in trespasses and sin, when you take sides with God
against yourself and say, I am truly dead, you know what? He'll breathe life into your
nostrils, just like He did Adam. He breathed unto him what? The
breath of life. That's what we need, dead sinners.
That's the only way we can live. Well, come to Christ. Come just as
you are. You've got to come lost. You've
got to come as a sinner. But if you do, I suspect if he's seen that little
man up in that tree, I suspect he can see you. Don't you? I suspect he can.