The Call of Grace - Answered by Faith

Let's open our Bibles again to
the 19th chapter of Luke. I just can't believe that so
much scripture is devoted to the call of Zacchaeus just to give a historical account
of the conversion of one man. I just can't believe that. What
I do believe is this. that the Lord would have you
and the Lord would have me to see our conversion and our call
in the call and experience of this man Zacchaeus. Now, I have
seven observations that I want to make regarding the call of
Zacchaeus, and the first of which is this. It was a gracious call. Did you notice in verse 2 it
called him the chief among publicans? And did you notice down here
in verse 7 that when the people saw the Lord go to the house
of Zacchaeus that they raised quite a ruckus over it? They
murmured about it because they knew this man. They knew this
man. They knew what kind of life he
had lived. They knew what a cheat and traitor he was to his own
country. They were shocked. They were
visibly shaken, and they had a right to be. When our Lord
called Zacchaeus, I suppose if you were considering candidates
for salvation, that Zacchaeus would be the last one in that
whole group that you would consider. He was from a bad city. He was
from Jericho. Jericho was a wicked city. It
was a vile city, and he was in the machinery of that city. He
was one of their tax collectors. He was right in the middle of
all the wickedness. Zacchaeus was from a bad city,
and he was in a bad business. He was in a cheating business.
These taxes weren't carried on like yours are today. The tax
collector collected pretty much what he wanted to collect and
kept all above what was due the government. He was in a bad business.
And he was very rich. And he had gotten his riches
through other people's miseries. That's how he'd gotten rich.
So if you were to pick out a candidate for salvation among all the people
crowded in that great press, you never would have imagined
that God would be pleased to call Zacchaeus. So when our Lord
looked up in that tree and said, Zacchaeus, you come down, I must
abide at your house, it was a gracious call, a gracious call. Have you ever felt that way about
God calling you, huh? Have you ever said with a songwriter,
I am 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. Cleanse me by the power of his
redeeming name. Have you ever felt that? You're
from a bad city. You're from the city of Adam.
You're one of the sons of men. You're in a bad business. You're
in the business of sin. You've not only rebelled against
the government of men, but we've rebelled in our hearts against
the authority of God, the government of God. We're in on the rebellion.
We're in on the organized rebellion that cries, we will not have
this man reign over us. That's all right, God. If you
want to be God, that's all right, but don't cross my will. I'm
a free moral agent. I do what I please. I have a
free will. I'll do what I please. And in
God, it's none of your business what I do. We're right in the
middle of that business, aren't we? We're right in the machinery
of human rebellion. And that's what Zacchaeus was.
He was from a bad city, in a bad business, and rich. And that's
us. We're rich in flesh. We've got
plenty of that. But we're poor in spirit. Huh? We're poor in spirit. We're rich
toward the flesh and poor in spirit. Have you ever said, I
am amazed? These people were amazed. Zacchaeus
was amazed. Everybody was amazed. He called
Zacchaeus. Of all people, he saved Zacchaeus. Down in the land of the Gadarenes,
he saved that man over in the tombs. Out there at the scene
of Calvary he saved that thief on a cross. Down there in the
home of Simon he saved that harlot at his feet. You trace the steps
of our Lord and you'll find that every call he ever gave, Cecil,
was a gracious call. That's the only kind he gave.
And sinners are the only people he saved. And he said to the
religious people, I say unto you, the publicans and harlots
enter heaven before you. You're going to find them entering
in and yourselves shut out, he said. And that made them angry. I am amazed that God would choose
to bless me, choose me an heir to the riches of his grace, till
that perfection shall at last possess me. He has reserved for
those who see his face. I am amazed that God would save
me, not that the cross could take away my sin. Through faith
in Christ eternal life he gave me. And now he abides forevermore
within, a gracious call. That's why it's here, that you
and I might see that this is a gracious call. And every call
he gives is a gracious call. And the second thing I see here
is not only a gracious call, but personal call. Now, my friends, he looked up
in that tree and he said, as clear so that everyone could
understand, especially the man to whom he directed his attention,
Zacchaeus, you come down. Think of the multitude
of people there. That's one reason Zacchaeus was
up in the tree, because of the press. He was a short fellow.
And he couldn't see, there were so many people around. He knew
the Lord was going to, Jesus Christ was going to pass that
way, and he wanted to see Him, and there were just so many people.
So many people, he couldn't see Him. So he ran like a child,
like a little boy again, and climbed up in a tree so he could
see the Lord. I wish I could find interest
like that in this day. Folks won't come to an air-conditioned
auditorium and sit on padded pews to hear about the Lord.
Zacchaeus climbed up a tree and sat between the branches so he
could see the Lord. But there was no mistake about
the person he called. He said, There are many calls mentioned
in the Scripture. Over in Proverbs, God says, I
have called, I have called, and you have refused. I have called. He said in the book of Amos,
I have sent you famine, cleanness of teeth, whiteness of teeth.
I have sent you hardships and tribulations, and yet you haven't
returned. There are many calls. The Scripture
said many are called, but few are chosen. But this was a direct,
effectual, personal call. Zacchaeus, you come down. Much like the call of Matthew.
Our Lord walked by and Matthew was sitting at the receipt of
customs and he turned and he said, Matthew, follow me. Saul of Tarsus on the road to
Damascus, our Lord smote him, blinded him with that great light
and called his name, Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting
me? My friend, people do not come
to Christ as families, they come as individuals. And I warn you, dear ladies,
our Lord, one of the shortest sermons our Lord ever preached
was a sermon of three words, Remember Lot's wife. Remember
Lot's wife, that's all he said. Well, what about her? Well, first
of all, she was the wife of a righteous man, but that didn't save her. And she went where he went, but
that didn't save her. And she did what he did, that
didn't save her. And she heard the warnings that
he heard, but that didn't save her. She was Lot's wife, but
she perished, and he entered the kingdom of God. And you may
be the wife of a minister, you may be the wife of a missionary,
you may be the wife of an elder, you may be the wife of a deacon,
you may be the wife of one of the finest men in this world
who knows Christ, who deeply loves Christ, and miss Christ
yourself. You don't come to Christ as family
units. You may be the son of a minister, you may be the son
of an evangelist, you may be the son of a deacon, you may
be the son of a Sunday school teacher, you may be the son of
the most godly man God ever let live and perish in your sins.
Don't rest in daddy's fate. One of the things that shocked
me years ago was something my brother said. I love my brother.
Two or three things concern me. I had some encouragement about
his relationship with the Lord, but some discouragement. But
he said one time when we were over in Germany, and he was out
in the field, I was visiting with him, they were on maneuvers,
and I was sitting in the tent there having lunch with some
of the officers, and he said, my brother is a fine preacher,
he said, my brother has enough faith for both of us. I cried
about that. I don't have enough faith for
me, let alone for me and thee. I don't have it. And I'm telling you, I warn you,
don't rest on your affiliation with your church or your family
or an individual. They won't get it. Won't do it. It's a personal call. Matthew,
you follow me. And one day Peter said, well,
what about this fellow? And our Lord said, Peter, what
about this fellow? It's none of your business. That's
none of your business. If I will that he stay here till
I come back, that's none of your business. You take up your cross
and follow me. Men do not come to Christ as
nations. I hear preachers, America back
to God. America never has been to God.
How are they going to come back? God doesn't say nations, he says
people. And our Lord walked under that
tree and he looked up and he said, Zacchaeus, you better listen
to me. You come down. You come down. I'm going to wait up here on
my wife. We'll deal with your wife later. You come down. And
that's what this call is. It's personal. Thirdly, this
was an imminent call. He said, Zacchaeus, make haste. Make haste and come down. When a sinner, I say this all
the time, when a sinner is called by my ministry, by an ordinary
minister, tears may be shed, but sooner or later they're wiped
away. But if he's called by the Spirit
of the living God, if he's confronted by the Son of God, if it's a
Holy Spirit work, he'll never wipe those tears away. That's
right. If he hears my ministry and he
hears my message and he comes under law conviction or preacher
conviction, some concern may appear. He may be concerned for
a while, but after a while it kind of disappears. But I'll
tell you, if he has a confrontation with the Lord of glory, that
concern will never disappear. Oh, when he comes under my preaching,
and he's a little disturbed, and he begins to feel a sorrow
for sin, and after a while it kind of wears out. If he has
a confrontation with the Lord of glory, it'll never wear out.
That repentance will grow, and it'll get sharper, and it'll
get more fierce, and so will that faith. Some reformation,
yes, when he hears me preach, he joins the church and gets
baptized and works for a little while, but then it gets old and
he gets weary, you know, but the old story of Christ, to a
man who's heard it, never grows old. Never grows old. When a sinner is called to the
Lord of glory, it is a hastening call, it is an imminent call,
make haste right now! The man who hears me says, tomorrow.
The man who hears the Lord says, Lord, I won't let you go. You
bless me. Huh? That's right. Today is the
day of salvation, Zacchaeus! Right now! Right now. Tomorrow is not on the believer's
calendar. That's Satan's way of telling time. Tomorrow is
the idiot's pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Tomorrow
is a delusion. It's a dream. Tomorrow is the
covered rock where the ship is wrecked. If a man is doing business
with God, he does business today. Today. This call was a hastening
call. It was an imminent call. Zacchaeus,
make haste! Boast not thyself of tomorrow.
You don't know what a day brings forth. Now is the accepted time. Today is the day of salvation.
Seek ye the Lord. while he may be found." I'm not
going to be here tomorrow, Zacchaeus. I'm here now. Today, I must abide
at your house. You see that? And then the fourth
thing about this call, it was a humbling call. I tell you,
I looked at this word again and again, Zacchaeus! Come down. There's never been
a call to come up. until first of all there's a
call to come down. That's right. God always strips
a sinner before he clothes him. He will not put patches on your
garment. He will not put the wine in old
bottles. That's right. He makes all things new. God
Almighty will slay the sinner before he'll raise him. God Almighty
will always speak in judgment. Come down! before he ever speaks
in grace. Turn to Romans 5 and look at
this scripture. Romans 5, verses 5 and 6. Listen to this. For when we were
yet without strength. Have you ever been there? I tell
you two things wrong with us, and I'm warning you, two things
wrong with us, self-importance and self-righteousness. God's never saved an egomaniac
yet, and he never will. Self-importance. We feel our
importance. We feel we're somebody. God saves
nobodies. He doesn't save somebodies. God
saves sinners. Now, you listen to them. When
we were without strength, Christ died for whom? He died for the
ungodly and for nobody else. God, verse 8, God commended his
love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us. He didn't die for anybody else.
Verse 10, if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God. Brethren,
this self-importance and self-righteousness is the enemy of salvation. It's the enemy of salvation.
Your goodness and your comeliness is not going to help you to God.
It will keep you from God. It will hinder you. It's not
your sins that keep you from Christ, it's your righteous self.
All these sinners found Christ. He went to be the guest of a
man that was a sinner. He was the friend of sinners.
He ate with publicans and sinners. He said, I came to seek and to
save the lost. Christ came to the world to save
sinners. He died for sinners. It's not
your sins. That's not what's keeping you
from Christ. It's your self-righteousness. It's your self-importance. It's
your so-called goodness. You're not bad enough yet for
Christ. You're not low enough yet for
Christ. You'll have to apply to the religious crowd. They
do business with the righteous. Christ does business with the
lost. You have to apply to the preacher. He's the one that says
peace where there is no peace. He's the one that brags on you
and commends you and compliments you and talks about how good
you are and how he can't get along without you and how the
church needs you. You have to do business with
him. Our Lord does business with the folks God can do without. And folks the church doesn't
need but who need the church. And the people the Lord doesn't
need but who need the Lord. That's the people he deals with.
Come down, the Lord said. Well, I came down till there
were very few beneath me. Come down, said the Lord. Well,
I came down some more till I was on the level with most of them.
Come down, the Lord said. I came down till I was lower
than the lowest, lower than the beast, none lower than I. Come down lower yet, he said.
And I came down so low that I despised myself, and I cried with Job,
I abhorred myself, and I despaired of mercy, and I said, Lord, depart
from me, there's no hope. And then he spoke peace to my
soul. You say, I don't understand what you're talking about. Well,
maybe you will someday. I can't explain it. I can't explain the mysteries
of the gospel. Only the Holy Spirit can take
care of that part of it. I just know the Lord saves sinners.
I explain that. I just know that our theology
and his theology are the opposite. Our thoughts are not his thoughts,
and our ways are not his ways. And the religious people in his
day didn't understand him either. They didn't understand him either.
They didn't know why he did what he did either. They hated him
so much they nailed him to a cross. I suspect if he is here, that's
what the religious world today would do, because he wouldn't
find his way to our cathedrals and our temples. He'd find his
way to some sinner that needed his mercy. And I don't know whether
we'd be standing with that condemning crowd or we would stand with
the condemned, but I know where the Lord would stand. He looked
up and said, Zacchaeus, you come down. It was an affectionate
call. Number five, he said, I must
abide at your house. He didn't say, now, Zacchaeus,
I fixed you up and you're worthy to come to my house. Now, Zacchaeus,
you're worthy to associate with me. Now, Zacchaeus, you're worthy
to come to the temple. No, sir. He said, Zacchaeus,
I'm going to live with you. I'm going to fellowship with
you. Zacchaeus, I'm coming to your
house in order to break our hearts. The Lord of glory condemns sins
to dwell with you and me. Our Lord dwells not in temples
made with hands. He dwells in people. Zacchaeus,
I! The omnipotent God, the omnipresent
God, I, the Lord of glory, am coming to your house. And look
at verse 7, And when they saw it, they murmured, saying, Why,
he's gone to be the guest with a man that is a sinner. Some
of those folks had been to that house. They had been to Zacchaeus' house.
You see, he was the chief of the publicans. He was the main
tax collector. And they'd been to his house,
they'd been called on the carpet down there for taxes, and they'd
been snubbed and mistreated and ill-treated, and they'd been
to that place, they'd been called on the carpet to this no-count
publican. They'd been to his house, and
they saw the Lord going down to that house, and they said,
what's he doing going to that house? Well, I'll tell you this,
when he gets there, it'll be a different house. Yeah, it'll be a different house
now. He goes, but he makes all things
new. If any man be in Christ, he's
a new creature. Well, where he dwells, he reigns
where he dwells. He regenerates where he dwells.
He sanctifies where he dwells. He makes all things new. He brings
love in that place. He is love. He brings truth.
He brings happiness. He brings peace. He brings joy. I tell you, everybody else that
came to that house that knew it was a different house. Half
my goods I give to feed the poor. Quit robbing people and go to
giving to them. If I've treated a man wrongly,
I'm going to restore him full hope to a different house now.
a different house. I'm going to your house. We don't
go to church to meet the Lord. If the Lord is our Redeemer,
he dwells in us. The sixth thing. This call was
a necessary call. Two words here. And he said,
Zacchaeus, come down, for today I, M-U-S-T, must, I must abide
at your house. Tonight I'm preaching on the
subject, John 10, 16. Other sheep I have, other sheep,
which are not of this fold, them I must bring. I must. The salvation of Zacchaeus was
not a thing that Christ might do, it was something he must
do. It was a necessary call. When
our Lord talked about this trip to Jericho, he must needs go
through Samaria. One of his sheep there. Our Lord
said to Ananias, you go to Saul of Tarsus. Ananias said, Lord,
I've heard about that man. I've heard how he persecuted
the church and hates your name. I've heard about it. Ananias,
you go to Saul. He is a chosen vessel to me.
You've got to go. You don't have any choice. He's
mine. Our Lord said, Zacchaeus, come
down, I must abide at your house. Look at verse 9. Forasmuch as
he also is a son of Abraham. You Bible students know what
that means. Abraham, by nature, had about 4,000 sons running
around there. But the Lord didn't go to their
houses. You see what he's saying there?
This man, Zacchaeus, is a son of Abraham. Everybody who's a
Jew is not a son of Abraham. He is by nature. He is by natural
generation. But only those who are in Christ
are sons of Abraham by faith. And our Lord is saying this.
Here he walks. He walks under that tree. Now
you remember, you remember down there when our Lord in Acts 18.
Turn to Acts 18 just a moment. Acts 18th chapter. Now you need
to look at this. Acts 18 verse 9 through 11. Paul
was getting ready to leave this city. He's getting ready to leave,
getting ready to pull out. And the Lord came to him in the
night by a vision, verse 9, Acts 18. He said, Now, Paul, don't
be afraid. Don't be afraid to preach. Hold
not your peace. I'm with you, Paul, and no man's
going to hurt you, for I have much people in this city. And
Paul stayed there for 18 months. That's what the next verse says.
Teaching the Word of God. The Lord said, Paul, I got some
sheep here. And Paul said, I can do all things
for the elect's sake. I got some people here. I want
you here to preach. It's by the preaching of the
Word that they come to faith. It's by the preaching of the
Word they're convicted of sin. It's by the preaching of the
Word that they behold and receive Christ. It's by the preaching
of the Word that my people are regenerated. Now you stay here
and preach the Word. I've got some people in that
city. One of the clearest indications that God has a people in a city
is God's got a preacher in that city. And if God hadn't got a preacher
in that city, people tell me, well, there's no preaching in
Chillicothe or no preaching in Jackson. Maybe God got no people
there. If he had some people there, he'd have the message
there. Because where you've got the people, you've got to have
the message. Zacchaeus, I must abide at thy house, for he also
is a son of Abraham. There's no gentle knocking at
the door here. The door is broken down as the
walls of Jericho fell. Our Lord says, I must, I shall,
I will. Turn to John 6 just a moment,
and he will too. Our Lord sets his heart upon
a creature, a subject, a people, he'll have them. He shall not
fail. In John 6, verse 44, our Lord says, listen to it, no man
can come to me except my Father which sent me, draw him, and
I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets,
they shall be taught of God. And every man therefore that
hath heard and learned of the Father, he is coming to me, Christ
said. He shall, he will, he must. We're not playing games. You
may be, I'm not. I'm not trying to perform a biological miracle
and turn a goat into a sheep. I'm looking for his sheep. I
don't know where they are, I don't know who they are, but he does.
He said, I know my sheep, and they know me. And another shepherd
they'll not follow, and they'll hear my voice. They said, well,
if you mean to curse, tell us plainly. He said, told you, and
you didn't believe me. You didn't believe me because
you're not of my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. I know them. They
follow me. I give them eternal life. They'll
never perish. My Father which gave them me is greater than
all. No man can pluck them out of my Father's hand." Pretty clear indication the Lord's
got some people here as he's here. His word's here. His gospel's here. Not a whiny,
meaningless, easy-believerism, won't-you-hand-wringing, won't-you-let-Jesus-save-you. You won't let him do anything.
He does what he pleases. He does what he pleases. He said,
I'll be merciful to whom I will. Is that too hard? That's so.
He's a sovereign Lord. He's an omnipotent Lord. He's
a discriminating Lord. He walked under that tree, and
multitudes of people were there. And he looked up at one man,
and he said, Zacchaeus, come down. I'm going to your house. I go where I please. I must, because you want Abraham's
sons. You want Abraham's sons, discriminating
grace. Let me show you something. It's
a necessary, and last of all, it was an effectual call. I tell
you this, and this is always so, in verse 6, he said, You
come down, I must about just. Verse 6 said, And he came down. That's right. He made haste and
came down and received him joyfully. The call was from the Lord. The
response was from Zacchaeus. He came down. Now turn to John
6.37 just a minute, and I want you to glance at this for just
a second. I might touch on it again tonight. But in John 6.37
it says, "...all that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and
him that cometh to me I'll in no wise cast out." Now, Bruce,
there are a lot of people who want to camp on the first part
of that. This is where they want to camp. It's great, it's true.
All that my Father giveth me shall come to me. That's divine
purpose. That's divine grace. That's true. But don't leave
out the second part. Don't set one scripture against
another. And then I know a lot of people
who read the second part. They'll be preaching away and
they'll say, Him that cometh to me I'll in no wise cast out. That's half a sentence. That's
free grace. That's free invitation, that's
a willing response, but don't set one scripture against another,
especially when it's in the same sentence. I thank God for two
things, and I really mean this with all my heart. I thank God
that he's done these two things for me. Number one, I thank God
that I am able to believe what I don't understand. You say, if I don't understand
something, I don't believe it. You're a fool. You've made a
God out of your own imagination. You've brought God down to your
own logic and wisdom and understanding, and he's a false God. He's an
idol. I rejoice that God's given me faith in sovereign wisdom.
God doesn't have to explain anything to me. It's so because he said
it. It's so because he does it. God
doesn't do something because it's right. It's right because
God does it. God is the measurement of right and wrong. And I thank God that I am able
to believe what I don't understand. There's much of this Bible I
don't understand. The secret things belong to the
Lord. I thank God that I can still believe it. It's so. And
secondly, I rejoice that I have no problem with divine sovereign
inhuman responsibility. I don't see any enmity between
those two truths. In fact, that's one truth. God
enables and I perform. God calls and I respond. God
opens and I enter. The Lord didn't come down, Zacchaeus
did. But the Lord told him to. Where the word of the King is,
there's power. The Lord said, Zacchaeus, come
down. And Zacchaeus did what the Lord
said, not what he wanted to do or what he thought he ought to
do. He did what God told him to do. He came down. The Lord
didn't pull him down, it says he came down. The Lord didn't
force him down, he came down. The Lord didn't make him give
his things to the poor, he gave them to the poor. I wish we could
see that. The Holy Spirit doesn't repent, I repent. The Holy Spirit
doesn't believe, I believe. The Holy Spirit doesn't receive
Christ, I receive Christ. I've preached sermons up here.
and told people to seek the Lord. And I've been at the door and
somebody comes by and says, Well, you know, Brother Maynard, the
Bible says we can't seek the Lord. It does not. It says you won't seek Him. It
don't say you can't. The Bible commands you to seek.
Well, what I mean, Brother Maynard, is by nature we can't do anything. Is that so? Is that so? then it ain't right for God to
command me to do it. When the Lord told that young
man, stretch out your hand, he had a withered hand, the Lord
said, stretch it out. What if he'd have said, I can't?
He didn't say anything, he stretched it out. He did what God commanded
him to do. With the command comes the enabling
power. And when God commands you to
forgive people of their sins, he means for you to do it. He
means for you to do it. God doesn't forgive, you forgive.
You see what I'm saying? I'm saying that God commands
us. He enables us. He enables us to perform. God
forgives us of our sins, and we forgive others as God forgave
us. We do it. I hope I'm making myself
clear. What I'm saying is this, that
God enables me, but God doesn't do it, I do it. God enables me
to repent, but God doesn't repent. God has nothing to repent of.
I repent. I mourn. I grieve. I seek the
Lord. I confess Christ. I receive him. When God commands us to love
one another, he's not going to do it for us. He'll enable us. He'll give us the grace. But
we're going to do it. We're going to do it. Now Zacchaeus,
you get this picture, it's an effectual call, the call of grace
and the answer of faith. He said, Zacchaeus, you come
down. And the scripture says, he made
haste and came down. That's what it says. He came down. And I'm telling
you, our Lord commands us to believe the gospel and receive
Christ and trust Him and embrace Him. And we better do what He
says. We better do what He says. And
quit talking about what we can't do. By nature, we won't do it. We won't do it. That's the problem.
But when He commands a thing, He gives the grace. He gives
the grace. Our Father, bless the Word. Lord,
give us the grace and the wisdom to receive that which is written,
that which our Lord has commanded. Give us the grace and the wisdom
to walk where our Lord tells us to walk, to believe where
our Lord tells us to believe, to receive him, to trust him,
to rest in him, to build upon him, to grow in grace in the
knowledge of Christ. Lord, don't let us sit down and
wait with empty vessels, but let us bring them to Thee, and
say, Lord, have mercy, fill them. By Thy grace and for Thy glory,
fill me. Use this message for whatever
purpose it pleases Thee. In Christ's name I pray, amen.

The Call of Grace - Answered by Faith

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The Call of Grace - Answered by Faith

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About Henry Mahan

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