The Call of Grace

I usually read one or two or
three passages of scripture, verses, and use as my text or
topic. But today I'm going to read 10
verses because I want you to hear this story. I'd like you
to follow along with me as I read in the scripture. We're going
to be reading from Luke 19, verses 1 through 10. That's Luke, the
19th chapter, verses 1 through 10. And I'm going to speak to
you on this subject, the call of grace. answered by faith,
or just the call of grace. Now let's begin, Luke 19, verse
1. And Jesus entered and passed
through Jericho. And behold, there was a man named
Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was
rich. And he sought to see Jesus, who
he was, and he could not for the press, for the multitude
of people that were around at that particular place. and because
he was little of stature. So he ran before and climbed
up into a sycamore tree, for the Lord was to pass that way. He knew the Lord would have to
pass this particular point, so he climbed up in a sycamore tree
so he could see the Lord. And when Jesus came to the place
where Zacchaeus was sitting in the tree, he looked up and he
said, Zacchaeus, make haste and come down. For today I must abide
at your house." And he made haste and came down and received him
joyfully. And when the people saw that
Jesus was gone to be the guest in the home of this sinner, they
murmured, they complained. They said, why is this man, this
holy man, gone to be the guest of a man that is a sinner? And
Zacchaeus stood and said, half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have taken anything
from any man by false accusation, I restore unto him fourfold. And Jesus said, This day is salvation
come to this house, for he also is a son of Abraham. For the
Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost."
Now, I believe there is more here than the little ditty that
the children sing and Sunday school teachers teach, Zacchaeus
was a wee little man, and a wee little man was he, and he climbed
up in a sycamore tree, the Savior he wanted to see. So much scripture. It is not written, ten verses
in the book of Luke, chapter 19, it is not devoted just to
the historical account of one man's conversion. I just don't
believe that the Lord is devoting all of this just to give us an
account of this man's conversion. He's saying something to us about
our conversion. He's saying something to us about
every man's redemption. He's saying something to us about
the call of grace. I believe the call of grace,
which is extended effectually to every believer, is presented
and pictured right here in this scripture. Now let's see if I
can make good on that. First of all, this call of Zacchaeus. was a gracious call. It was a
gracious call. Now, I suppose that if you were
considering a candidate for salvation in this city of Jericho, Zacchaeus
probably would be the last one you would pick. First of all,
he was from a bad city. He was from Jericho. He was from
a bad city. You just would not have selected
Zacchaeus to be the one that the Lord would save. You wouldn't
have picked Saul of Tarsus. This man hated Christ. He hated
the gospel. This man, Saul of Tarsus, committed
people to prison for believing on Christ. He stood by and gave
consent to the death of people who believed on him. Would you
have chosen the harlot? If you'd been in Simon's home
that day when Christ was having dinner there, And all of these
fine, moral, religious representatives were sitting around, and a harlot
came in and bathed his feet with tears, and anointed his feet,
and wept at his feet. Would she be the one that you
chose to be a candidate for salvation? Well, no, she wouldn't. If you
had gone down to the land of the Gadarenes, all of those people
there, the rich and the poor, the educated and the uneducated,
where would you have found God's sheep? Would he have been the
man out in the tombs, the man out in the cemetery? that they
said was crazy, that they couldn't bind him or couldn't chain him,
he'd break the chains and cut himself with stones. Our Lord
chooses the foolish things, the base things, the things that
are despised, the things that are naught, nothing, to naught
the things that are. And here Zacchaeus, if you'd
been selecting a candidate for salvation, he wouldn't have been
the one. He was in a bad business. He was a cheap. He was a tax
collector. And in those days, taxes were
not regulated like they are now. The tax collector could collect
just about what he pleased, what the people owed the government,
and then could pick up some on the side for himself. He was
in a bad business. He was the chief of the publicans. And another thing, he was very
rich. And he was made rich by the misery of other people. And
did not our Lord say, how hardly shall they that are rich enter
the kingdom of God? Why, he said, it's easier for
Campbell. to go through the eye of an eagle, than for a rich
man to enter into the kingdom of God. Because with riches comes
greed, and the love of money, and selfishness, and self-indulgence. That's what comes with riches.
A lack of concern for the suffering of other people. You just wouldn't
have picked this man. And I'll tell you this, when
the Lord Jesus Christ called you and called me, it was a gracious
call. We were from a bad city, too.
We were from a bad heritage. We were from the Garden of Eden.
Our father was Adam. He was the one that rebelled
against God's law. And we were not only from a bad
beginning and a bad heritage, but we were in a bad business.
We were in the sin business. Our thoughts were sin, our imagination.
God said he looked down from heaven and saw that every imagination
of the thoughts of man's heart are evil continually. None good,
none righteous. The poison of snakes under their
lips. Their feet are swift to run in mischief, their hands
to shed blood. They do not seek God or know
God. They're all unprofitable, and we're rich in flesh and poor
in spirit. All of us have to say with Mephibosheth,
as he fell at the feet of David, who had extended to him the mercy
of the king, who am I that you should show such mercy to a dead
dog? I like what the hymn writer wrote,
I'm amazed that God could ever love me. so full of sin, so covered
over with shame. Make me to walk with Him who
is above me, cleansed by the power of His redeeming name.
I am amazed that God would ever save me, not but the cross could
take away my sin. Through faith in Christ, eternal
life, He gave me, and now He abides forevermore within. Zacchaeus, my soul, what a gracious
call of all people. of all people in this bad city
to call this fellow, to single out this fellow, to save this
fellow. What a gracious call. Notice
the second thing. It was a personal call, too.
It was not only gracious, but it was personal. Now, think of
the crowd, the multitude of people that were there. In fact, that's
the reason Zacchaeus climbed up in the tree in the first place,
is because there were so many people and he was so short. that
there was no way he could see the Lord without getting up in
a tree. There were hundreds, thousands probably, of people
in that tremendous group. And yet, there's no mistake about
who the Lord called, is there? No mistake. He stopped under
that tree and he looked up and he said, Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus. He called Zacchaeus just like
he called Matthew. Sitting at the receipt of customs
and our Lord came by and he said, Matthew, you follow me. Just
like he called Saul of Tarsus out yonder on the road to Damascus.
Saul, Saul. Just like he called Abraham down
there in his father's house. Abraham, get thee out of thy
father's house, unto land I will show thee. God calls his people
personally. Now don't you forget that. People
do not come to Christ, men and women do not come to Christ as
families. People do not come to Christ
in groups. People do not come to Christ as nations. but as
individuals. Whom he foreknew, he predestinated. Whom he predestinated, he called. He calls his own sheep by name. He said, I know my sheep, and
the good shepherd calls them by name, and they follow him.
One of the shortest sermons our Lord ever preached is a sermon
of three words, and this is all he said on this subject at this
particular time. He said to his disciples one
time, remember Lot's wife. And that was it. Remember what
about her? Well, you remember what happened
to her? Well, remember this. She was the wife of a godly man,
and yet she didn't know the Lord. She was the wife of a man who
was called out of a city, a most perverse, wicked city, the only
man God saved out of that city, and yet she perished. Remember,
she was with Lot when he went there, she was with Lot while
he was there, she was with Lot when he left there, she heard
the same warning, she heard the same message, she heard the same
exhortation, but she perished, and yet she was his wife. You
cannot hide in a group, you cannot slip into the kingdom of God
in a family, and you cannot move into the grace of God as a nation.
What think ye of Christ? And when our Lord passed under
that tree and looked up, he called this man by name. He said, Zacchaeus,
you come down. Has God dealt that way with you?
You. Has God dealt in mercy with you?
We must witness to others. We want to. We want others to
come to know Christ. But I can't tell what I don't
know. I can't tell what I haven't experienced. Any more I can come
back from where I hadn't been. And I've got to experience conviction
in my own heart, and repentance in my own heart, and faith in
my own life. I've got to come to know the
Lord myself. Oh, that I may win Christ and be found in Him. That
I may know Him and the power of His resurrection. The Lord,
David said, is my shepherd. The Lord is my salvation, my
rock. He's my refuge. And that's what
it must be, a personal pronoun. He's my Lord and my God, Thomas
said, not our Lord and our God, my Lord and my God. That's an
issue that must be settled personally. Now notice next of all, thirdly,
this call of Christ, this call that he extended to Zacchaeus,
was an imminent call, a hastening call. He looked up and said,
Zacchaeus, make haste and come down. Now, when a sinner is called
by an ordinary minister, I know when God's dealing with a man
and when I'm dealing with him, there's a difference. I know
when men are confronted by Christ and when they're confronted by
me and my logic and reasoning and arguments and witnessing.
I know when they're dealing with God or when they're dealing with
me. First of all, when they're dealing with me, they usually
say, well, tomorrow I'll give this some consideration. And
tears may come for the moment and later on they're wiped away.
And concern may appear for the moment, but after a while it's
forgotten. And a little reformation may
take place, but it soon grows weary, you know, and they grow
indifferent and they fade away. Those are folks that are dealing
with me. But I'll tell you this, when a sinner is confronted by
Christ, when a sinner is confronted by the Lord of glory, when Christ
himself speaks to a man's heart, not the preacher, but Christ
himself and his Holy Spirit, And he says, you make haste.
Now is the accepted time. Today is the day of salvation.
That man weeps tears that continue. He has concern that continues.
He has conviction that continues. He has a repentance that goes
on repenting. He has a faith that keeps on
believing. Like Jacob, he says, I won't
let you go until you bless me. Tomorrow is not on the believer's
calendar. That's the way Satan tells time.
Tomorrow. Tomorrow is the fool's pot of
gold at the end of the rainbow. Tomorrow is a delusion. Tomorrow
is a dream. Tomorrow doesn't exist. Boast
not thyself of tomorrow. Seek ye the Lord while he may
be found. Call upon him while he's near.
Jesus Christ is passing by. And he stopped under that tree
and he said, Zacchaeus, you make haste. Not next week or next
month. You make haste and you come back.
And my friend, I'm saying this to you, if God ever deals with
you. Now, when the preacher deals with you, the denomination or
the soul winner, you can argue and quarrel and debate and put
it off and all of these other things. But when Christ comes,
the power of his word, the sword of his spirit pricks your heart. You can't kick against the pricks.
You've got to give in. All right, fourthly, this call
of Zacchaeus was a humbling call. Our Lord said, Zacchaeus, come
down, come down. You never hear the call, come
up, until you hear the words, come down. Our Lord always strips
a sinner before he closes, always. Judgment always precedes grace. Our Lord Jesus Christ always
slays the sinner before he resurrects him. The Lord said, come down,
Zacchaeus. You're too high and mighty. You're
too important. You've got to come down. This
is what's got to happen, my friend. You've got to be brought down,
brought low. You've got to be like Saul of
Tarsus, smitten by the Spirit of God and laid in the dust,
in darkness, crying, have mercy on me, a sinner. You're too good
to be saved. You're too high, too important,
too much filled with yourself. God has to empty you before he'll
fill you. He empties you of your pride
and your self-importance before he fills you with his presence
and humility. Come down, the Lord said, and
I came down till there were very few beneath me. Come on down
further, the Lord said, and I came down till I was on the level
with all men. Come on down further, the Lord
said, and I came down till I was less than the least. I was beneath
every creature. Come on down further, the Lord
said, and I came down to the place where I felt there's no
hope for me. I despair even of mercy, and
that's when he spoke peace to my soul. Now you who know what
I'm talking about have experienced that. I am nothing, have nothing,
know nothing. Blessed are the poor in spirit,
theirs is the kingdom of God. Blessed are they that hunger
and thirst for righteousness, they shall be filled. When you
want Christ more than you want anything else, you'll have him.
When you want mercy more than you want anything else, you'll
have him. When you want redemption more than you want anything else,
that's when you'll get it. But not until. Our Lord will
not play second fiddle in anybody's orchestra. Our Lord will not
be next to your pleasures or next to your possessions or next
to your family or next to anything else. He'll be number one. And
everything else will be laid at His feet. That's right. Come on down, Zacchaeus. No place
for God's people up there in the high seats and the uppermost
seats. You come on down, Zacchaeus.
Come on down to the ground, down to the dust of repentance. All
right, notice the next thing. It was an affectionate call.
Zacchaeus, you come down, for I must abide at your house. You see something here? I'm going
to your house. The Lord didn't say, Zacchaeus,
now you can come to my house. Now, Zacchaeus, you're worthy
to associate with me. Now you're worthy to come to
the house of the Lord. No, he said, I'm going to your
house. I'm going to fellowship with you. I'm going to abide
in your house. I'm going to move in and dwell
with you." What mercy! What grace! What condescension! No wonder these people were amazed.
It says when the people heard this and saw this, they murmured. They complained. They said, what's
this holy man doing going to that fellow's house? He's the
chief publican. He's the fellow that's gotten
rich on everybody else's misery. We've been to his house. What
a terrible place it is. We've been called on the carpet
down there at his house. We've been mistreated and ill-treated
and abused by this man. What's this holy man doing going
to a house like Zacchaeus' house? Well, I'll tell you this. When
Christ comes in, it's a different house. He'll change that house. Where there was hate, he'll bring
in love. Whether it was pride, he'll bring in humility. Whether
it was self-importance, he'll bring in that self-abasement.
Whether it was self-righteousness, he'll bring in submission. That's
right. Whether it was hate, he'll bring
in joy. Our Lord will change that house. It'll be a different
house when he gets there, for where he dwells, he reigns. So
we don't go to church to meet God. When God dwells in our hearts,
that's what a man's saved. Now, the world goes to church
to meet God. And the religious professor goes
to, he keeps his religion down there, you know like he keeps
his golf clubs over at the country club in the locker? That's where
he keeps his religion. He keeps it down at the church.
He has all his supplies to play church down at the church. All
of his supplies to play religion down at the church. His smiles
down there, his honesty's down there, his love's down there,
his kindness is down there, his mercy and forgiveness is down,
it's all in the locker down at the church. And every Sunday
morning, or at Easter, or Christmas, or whenever he's pleased to go,
or at a funeral or somewhere, he's just Mr. Nicey Nicey, and
Mr. Piety, and Mr. Righteous. He
treats his family like a dog, but he's nice at church. He treats
his neighbor like a dog, but he's nice at church. He runs
his business like a crook, but he ties down to church. He curses God all week. He uses
that Lord's name in vain, but he keeps his Sunday school down
at the church, you see. He's got everything in his locker
down there. And that's where God lives, see? So he goes home
into his business, and he hates people, but he loves people down
at the church. And he won't speak to a man on
the street, but he'll send a missionary from down at the church. He's
a cripple. He's a hypocrite. Our Lord said, Zacchaeus, I'm
coming to your house, and if I don't come to your house, you
needn't come to mine. Now that's the way it is. If
I don't come to your house, if I don't abide in your house,
you're wasting your time to come to my house. And I wish I could
tell the whole world after Sunday, if God doesn't dwell in you,
Christ doesn't dwell in you, he that loveth not knoweth not
God. If you don't forgive, God won't forgive you. If you don't
show mercy, forget mercy and get ready to perish. That's so. That's what scripture says. I
know that's not what your preacher says, but that's what God says.
And I know that's not what you believe, but that's what God
says. The fact is, I'm going to your house. If I don't go
to your house, don't you come to mine. That's right. If any man hath not the Spirit
of Christ, he's none of his. Paul said, I prevail, though
Christ dwelleth in you. For Christ in you is the hope
of glory. Brother, I tell you, this was
an affectionate call. And this was a necessary call.
He said, Zacchaeus, I must, I must abide at your house. You know
why? Because he also is a son of Abraham. Well, now, there were sons of
Abraham all over that place that day. Sons of Abraham by nature. But this man, Zacchaeus, was
a son of Abraham by faith. He was one of God's sheep. He
was one of God's elect. He was one that the Father gave
to the Son. He said, Other sheep I have which
are not of this fold, them also I must bring. That's why he must
needs go through Samaria, because one of his sheep was down there. That's why he looked up in that
tree and said, Zacchaeus, come down, because that's one of his
sheep. He said to Paul, Paul was getting ready to leave the
town. He'd been there preaching and he'd raised all kind of trouble
and they were getting ready to throw him in jail or kill him.
And he was going to pack up and leave. And God came to him and
said, Saul, Paul, don't leave. Acts 18, 9 through 11, don't
leave. You stay right here. They're
not going to hurt you. They're not going to kill you. I've got some
people in this town. And you stay right here. I've
got some people here. And Paul stayed there for a year
and a half. And God saved many people. God
told him, I've got some people. And the Lord has some people.
Maybe there's some listening to me. You know how you can tell
God's people? You read the book of 1 Thessalonians,
chapter 1, verse 4 and 5. Paul said, I know your election
of God, because our gospel came not to you in word only, but
in power, in the Holy Ghost, in much assurance. That's right.
And you became followers of God. That's how you can tell one of
God's own. He says, my sheep, hear my voice. and they follow
me. That's how you can tell. They
hear my voice, they got a brand on the ear and a brand on the
foot. They're Christ's sheep. They hear his voice and they
follow him. They follow him. All right, notice
in the seventh place. This call, gracious, merciful,
personal, imminent, hastening, it was an affectionate call.
It was a necessary call, he also the son of Abraham, I've come
to seek and to save that which was lost. Not many lost people
in this world, most of them alright. But last of all, it was an effectual
call. It says, and he made haste and
came down. The Lord called him. He heard
the voice of his Lord. He heard the voice of his Christ.
And he responded. That's right, he responded. My
sheep hear my voice, and they follow me, and I give them eternal
life, and they won't hear the voice of a stranger. They'll
hear my voice. Back in olden days, the shepherds
used to bring their sheep into town. From the mountains at night,
they'd bring them into town, and there was what they called
a common sheepfold. And all the shepherds would put
their sheep in this one sheepfold. There'd be six or eight herds
in there. Six or eight folds of sheep. It was a sheepfold
for all of us. And then they'd go to the inn
and sleep. Next morning, the shepherd would come down, and
the porter would open the door and let him in. This is John
10. And his sheep would hear his voice, and they'd follow
him out. Now, the other fellow sheep wouldn't follow him, because
a stranger they won't follow. They know the voice of the shepherd,
and they follow their shepherd. And each shepherd would come
down and get his own sheep. And Christ said, I am the good
shepherd. I know my sheep and am known
of mine. I lay down my life for the sheep.
And other sheep I have which are not of this immediate fold,
them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and they
shall be one fold and one shepherd." My sheep. And Zacchaeus was one
of his sheep. And he heard the gospel. He heard
Christ. And he responded. He followed.
And watch this. He received him joyfully. I'll
tell you my friend, salvation, when it comes in the heart. I
know folks don't understand this. Why are Christians happy? Well,
hypocrites aren't. They're miserable. They're trying
to do what they can't do in their own strength. But when you enter
into His rest, when you enter into His peace, when you know
salvation is not something that you have to perform yourself,
but something Christ did for you, it gives you joy and rest
and you cease from your labors and you rest in Christ and you
build on that foundation that cannot be swept away, that cannot
be torn down. You have an everlasting hope.
You receive Him joyfully. And the joy is always there.
Oh, you have days of despondency and depression and burden. Somebody
said one time, a Christian is the happiest, most miserable
fellow on earth. He's the richest and the poorest fellow on earth.
He's the happiest and the saddest fellow on earth. He's happy with
the Lord and sad about his sins. He's rich in grace and poor in
this world's goods. But he's happy. Zacchaeus received
him joyfully. And let me tell you something.
Zacchaeus became a changed man. When he came down from that tree,
he said, Lord, half my goods I give to feed the poor. Now,
I don't hear the Lord telling him to do that. Did you see any
place in that scripture I read where Christ said, now, Zacchaeus,
you come down and give half your goods to the poor? He didn't
do it. He told that rich young ruler
that because that rich young ruler was trying to work his
way to heaven. He said, good master, what shall I do? I do,
that I might inherit life. Christ said, sell what you have
and give it to the poor. He didn't tell Zacchaeus that.
Zacchaeus came down, and out of his own heart, a changed heart,
a new heart, a broken heart, a contrite heart, he voluntarily
said, Lord, have my goods I give to feed the poor. We don't give
because we have to, but because we love. We don't have a set
of rules to follow and pray because we have to, because God demands
it, but because we love him. That's what motivated Paul to
love of Christ. Now these messages, how can a
sinner approach God, and the call of grace are on the same
tape. Two messages on one tape, cassette. You'd like to have
it, write to me. The address is given to you at
this time. God bless you, everyone.

The Call of Grace

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The Call of Grace

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